Life has gotten "semi" back to normal, but still crazy. How do people with more then one child, a job and a life get by? I have one child, a job and a life and barely make it some days!
Things have been a little more hectic now that we are back to school and my PTA obligations are in full swing. It seems we go from one event/fundraiser to the next. With the Halloween Spooktacular behind me, now all I have to do is get the banking done for the 10 events before it and I will still be behind 10 more! I'm struggling with the taxes and extremely frustrated. But enough complaining!
I went for a consultation to finally have my tubes tied...that's good right? Well, you would think so, but I had to use a whole new Dr due to our new insurance. Not really thrilled so far considering he sent my for a mammogram because he found 2 lumps, and those lumps didn't show up on the mammo so then they did an ultrasound and it was nothing, but yet an MRI was "suggested". Oh and on top of that I have a bacterial infection and the medication is causing back pain like there is no tomorrow...and the Dr office says it's "normal". So I am all set to be sterilized on 11/11/11, lucky right? I just hope this guy listened to me and remembers to take out my IUD (which is most likely the source of my infection according to webmd) because he didn't even want to talk to me about the procedure....UGH!
Okay DOUBLE UGH!
XXXOOO
Sunny Spot
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
I do not blog enough...do I?
Do I? I want to, but it always seems like there is something going on and it gets pushed to the background.
Lately I have just been bogged down in volunteering and PTA stuff and it seems night and day there is always something that needs to be done...lists made, money collected, ego's stroked. This list goes on and on. Today, I have gone through all I could and now you have my full attention. So, let me tell you about our 2011 vacation. Let me remind you this is the ONLY family vacation we take each year, all the others it's usually just Danny and I.
It started out GREAT, the weather on our trip to TN was beautiful. It wasn't a bright sunny hot day, but overcast and warm and it didn't rain (which is ALWAYS does). Ryan and I didn't fight too much over driving or music selection. We got to TN and the days were nice and I got to relax a bit when we were there. Usually I go into mode and feel like I have to do everything for everyone, because I am there.
On Sunday morning we woke up and weren't in a hurry to get on the road, but were ready for the next 10 hours in the car and then 7 days of fun in the sun, fishing, ice cream and a good book. Can I tell you that's NOT how it happened? For some reason I downloaded the directions to my car improperly and we took a route that added 3 hours to our tip getting us in late, very tired and even more hungry. The drivers on the road were rude (very unlike the south) and the traffic was horrible. Okay, so we shake that off...
Monday morning we wake up and the boys want to go get fishing licenses and hit the pier, I want to get to the grocery store and sick up so I can hit the beach. Done!
Tuesday, the same thing minus the grocery store. I wanted to go over to Oracoke for the day since we missed out last year, but Ryan said we would go Wednesday. While at the pier that morning, Ryan hears the Oracoke has been evacuated due to the predicted Hurricane, so much for that! Now we start to wonder what is going to happen. We start our planning, if the hurricane is due Saturday we will leave on Friday....or do we wait for the evacuation orders? We hem and haw and decide we aren't going to ruin the nice days we still have ahead of us and get back to our vacation.
The days are beautiful, the sky is clear the waves are rough, but I don't spend much time in the water....only go in ankle deep to cool off. Wednesday evening the town is a buzz about the storm. I walk up to the local gift shop / book store to look for a new book again this year about the history of the Outer Banks and strike up a conversation with the owner. She is a local and very sweet...every time I go in there she is very talkative and helpful and he book suggestions are always good. I ask her what she thinks about evacuations and she said they usually do it 24 hours ahead so we still have a day or two. She also said we should relax and enjoy the nice days ahead, orders won't be issued until Friday. I had also been at the realty office earlier that day and that was also the consensus.
So I go back to the house and the phone is ringing, not my cell phone, the house phone to which I have NO idea what the number is....I answer. "Good Evening, this is the Dare County Sheriffs Department. Please note with the impending storm all visitors are under a mandatory evacuation orders. Please proceed immediately and you are asked to check out and depart by 10am tomorrow morning Thursday August 25th".....FUCK! (sorry)
Can you say Crisis mode? I start going room by room, picking up dirty laundry to wash and dry and get packed. We have to bring in all outdoor furniture and gather up everything we have spewed throughout the house thinking we had another 5 days. We need to try and get the car repacked, now in a hurry, and on the road.
We make it out as you may have guessed. It took us over 16 hours to get home because they started evacuations right up the coast, so as we hit major vacation areas the traffic hot worse and worse...and Interstate 95 was the evacuation route they opened. Any of you who have traveled this road knows it's hell on a good day, but make it the only major road open it SUCKS ASS!!! We spent 5 hours in Maryland alone because we hit just as DC was ending it's day and Ocean Beach was being closed. We got home late that night and only took in all the food we opted to tote back with us....everything else would wait.
The next morning we got up and had to go into hurricane preparedness mode ourselves. I got up and hit the grocery store before everyone bought the last of the milk and bread, because those were 2 things I DID NOT have. I did get what I needed with the exception of water in bulk, I bought a few cases of bottled water to have to drink and I figured mother nature would provide us with the rest of the water we would need if we lost power. So I put our heaviest pots outside for the rain to fill, took in all the furniture and stoed the rest of the outdoor "flying objects". I filled buckets and took out candles and dropped the AC temp a few degrees so the house would stay cooler longer if we lost power.
Right about this time is when Ryan got called into work...state of emergency is called and off he goes. FEMA was setting up a command center and God forbid they miss a meal! He left Friday morning and came home on Monday night. Danny and I fared well by ourselves. The roof didn't leak and we never lost power, the only damage sustained was the one lonely branch (more twig then branch) fell in our yard. We did have a casualty during the storm, my VERY low lying garden met it's demise and drowned....so we didn't get any cucumbers for pickles and even less tomatoes for sandwiches.
Do you think I earned another vacation? I mean I did COMPLETELY miss mine....48 hours of driving and all I had was a long weekend.
Lately I have just been bogged down in volunteering and PTA stuff and it seems night and day there is always something that needs to be done...lists made, money collected, ego's stroked. This list goes on and on. Today, I have gone through all I could and now you have my full attention. So, let me tell you about our 2011 vacation. Let me remind you this is the ONLY family vacation we take each year, all the others it's usually just Danny and I.
It started out GREAT, the weather on our trip to TN was beautiful. It wasn't a bright sunny hot day, but overcast and warm and it didn't rain (which is ALWAYS does). Ryan and I didn't fight too much over driving or music selection. We got to TN and the days were nice and I got to relax a bit when we were there. Usually I go into mode and feel like I have to do everything for everyone, because I am there.
On Sunday morning we woke up and weren't in a hurry to get on the road, but were ready for the next 10 hours in the car and then 7 days of fun in the sun, fishing, ice cream and a good book. Can I tell you that's NOT how it happened? For some reason I downloaded the directions to my car improperly and we took a route that added 3 hours to our tip getting us in late, very tired and even more hungry. The drivers on the road were rude (very unlike the south) and the traffic was horrible. Okay, so we shake that off...
Monday morning we wake up and the boys want to go get fishing licenses and hit the pier, I want to get to the grocery store and sick up so I can hit the beach. Done!
Tuesday, the same thing minus the grocery store. I wanted to go over to Oracoke for the day since we missed out last year, but Ryan said we would go Wednesday. While at the pier that morning, Ryan hears the Oracoke has been evacuated due to the predicted Hurricane, so much for that! Now we start to wonder what is going to happen. We start our planning, if the hurricane is due Saturday we will leave on Friday....or do we wait for the evacuation orders? We hem and haw and decide we aren't going to ruin the nice days we still have ahead of us and get back to our vacation.
The days are beautiful, the sky is clear the waves are rough, but I don't spend much time in the water....only go in ankle deep to cool off. Wednesday evening the town is a buzz about the storm. I walk up to the local gift shop / book store to look for a new book again this year about the history of the Outer Banks and strike up a conversation with the owner. She is a local and very sweet...every time I go in there she is very talkative and helpful and he book suggestions are always good. I ask her what she thinks about evacuations and she said they usually do it 24 hours ahead so we still have a day or two. She also said we should relax and enjoy the nice days ahead, orders won't be issued until Friday. I had also been at the realty office earlier that day and that was also the consensus.
So I go back to the house and the phone is ringing, not my cell phone, the house phone to which I have NO idea what the number is....I answer. "Good Evening, this is the Dare County Sheriffs Department. Please note with the impending storm all visitors are under a mandatory evacuation orders. Please proceed immediately and you are asked to check out and depart by 10am tomorrow morning Thursday August 25th".....FUCK! (sorry)
Can you say Crisis mode? I start going room by room, picking up dirty laundry to wash and dry and get packed. We have to bring in all outdoor furniture and gather up everything we have spewed throughout the house thinking we had another 5 days. We need to try and get the car repacked, now in a hurry, and on the road.
We make it out as you may have guessed. It took us over 16 hours to get home because they started evacuations right up the coast, so as we hit major vacation areas the traffic hot worse and worse...and Interstate 95 was the evacuation route they opened. Any of you who have traveled this road knows it's hell on a good day, but make it the only major road open it SUCKS ASS!!! We spent 5 hours in Maryland alone because we hit just as DC was ending it's day and Ocean Beach was being closed. We got home late that night and only took in all the food we opted to tote back with us....everything else would wait.
The next morning we got up and had to go into hurricane preparedness mode ourselves. I got up and hit the grocery store before everyone bought the last of the milk and bread, because those were 2 things I DID NOT have. I did get what I needed with the exception of water in bulk, I bought a few cases of bottled water to have to drink and I figured mother nature would provide us with the rest of the water we would need if we lost power. So I put our heaviest pots outside for the rain to fill, took in all the furniture and stoed the rest of the outdoor "flying objects". I filled buckets and took out candles and dropped the AC temp a few degrees so the house would stay cooler longer if we lost power.
Right about this time is when Ryan got called into work...state of emergency is called and off he goes. FEMA was setting up a command center and God forbid they miss a meal! He left Friday morning and came home on Monday night. Danny and I fared well by ourselves. The roof didn't leak and we never lost power, the only damage sustained was the one lonely branch (more twig then branch) fell in our yard. We did have a casualty during the storm, my VERY low lying garden met it's demise and drowned....so we didn't get any cucumbers for pickles and even less tomatoes for sandwiches.
Monday, September 12, 2011
September 12th
I spent the better part of yesterday between trying to avoid the reality of the day and tears. Although I did not lose anyone I knew, it has always been a very emotional day for me. I remember that day like it just happened and relive it every year in my mind.
On that fateful morning I was 6 months pregnant and successfully sleeping in until my phone rang. I rolled over and ignored it, then it rang again...ugh! Who would be calling my at this ungodly hour? Don't people realize I am gestating here and trying to get as much sleep as I can before this baby arrives? I lumber out of bed and answer the phone is my VERY best annoyed voice..."ahhh HELLO", it's my mother and she asks me how I can possibly be sleeping with everything that is going on...well mother I'm hatching your grandchild and I'm entitled to a little extra sleep! I look outside our 2nd story apartment window in Fairlawn, NJ and it is a glorious day...you are right, how can I let this day get away from me! I ask her what's going on and why she is up so early and calling me, "turn on the TV, we are under attack"..."huh? Attack, what do you mean?"..."Jody, your father is in the city and I can't get a hold of him, you are the only line I can get out to". I turned on the TV in the mean time, just in time to see the second plane hit and my mother gasp, probably for the second time that day. I told her I would call her back, I needed to get myself together. At the time Ryan and my brother in law were working in Westchester, NY. I needed to call and be sure they were okay and then my sister and the girls. Before that happened my phone rang again, it was my father he was in Lodi, NJ...he stopped at the shop and got held up and never made it into the city that day, but he couldn't get a line through to my mother, so I was going to be the go between. I called my mother and told her my father was okay and still in NJ...one tragedy divered. I spent the balance of that morning on the phone making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be and safe...they were! In the mean time my mother insisted I pack up the dog and come and stay with her, she didn't want me alone and that close to the city. It was days before things got "back to normal" for us, but for others, nothing would ever be the same.
As the days and weeks passed I found myself watching endless hours of coverage, people jumping out of buildings, walking away covered in debris, firefighters in full gear combing the falling buildings, a debis field in PA where a plane went down, families waiting to hear...it was endless and I couldn't stop watching. My heart broke and I cried...I wanted to help but couldn't.
Although a lot has changed since that day, if I close my eyes I can feel the warm sun on my face and the fear in my heart as I watched our lives and skyline change forever.
On that fateful morning I was 6 months pregnant and successfully sleeping in until my phone rang. I rolled over and ignored it, then it rang again...ugh! Who would be calling my at this ungodly hour? Don't people realize I am gestating here and trying to get as much sleep as I can before this baby arrives? I lumber out of bed and answer the phone is my VERY best annoyed voice..."ahhh HELLO", it's my mother and she asks me how I can possibly be sleeping with everything that is going on...well mother I'm hatching your grandchild and I'm entitled to a little extra sleep! I look outside our 2nd story apartment window in Fairlawn, NJ and it is a glorious day...you are right, how can I let this day get away from me! I ask her what's going on and why she is up so early and calling me, "turn on the TV, we are under attack"..."huh? Attack, what do you mean?"..."Jody, your father is in the city and I can't get a hold of him, you are the only line I can get out to". I turned on the TV in the mean time, just in time to see the second plane hit and my mother gasp, probably for the second time that day. I told her I would call her back, I needed to get myself together. At the time Ryan and my brother in law were working in Westchester, NY. I needed to call and be sure they were okay and then my sister and the girls. Before that happened my phone rang again, it was my father he was in Lodi, NJ...he stopped at the shop and got held up and never made it into the city that day, but he couldn't get a line through to my mother, so I was going to be the go between. I called my mother and told her my father was okay and still in NJ...one tragedy divered. I spent the balance of that morning on the phone making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be and safe...they were! In the mean time my mother insisted I pack up the dog and come and stay with her, she didn't want me alone and that close to the city. It was days before things got "back to normal" for us, but for others, nothing would ever be the same.
As the days and weeks passed I found myself watching endless hours of coverage, people jumping out of buildings, walking away covered in debris, firefighters in full gear combing the falling buildings, a debis field in PA where a plane went down, families waiting to hear...it was endless and I couldn't stop watching. My heart broke and I cried...I wanted to help but couldn't.
Although a lot has changed since that day, if I close my eyes I can feel the warm sun on my face and the fear in my heart as I watched our lives and skyline change forever.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Confessions of a recipe hoarder
I have a confession to make, which I think I may have made in the past...I am a recipe hoarder.
I LOVE to collect recipes. It started a few years ago with the Food Network Holiday Cookie edition and has become a labor of love and a collection of papers. Now mind you, I try all these recipes at LEAST once, if it's good we will try it again and it goes in the "keep pile" if it sucks, it get thrown out. So no, I don't just clip them...I try them and try to sort them.
Over the last year the cabinet I keep all these papers in has become a bone of contention. When my husband opens it and a flurry of papers comes out, I am reminded that I need to cook more and collect less...to be honest it looks a lot like my container cabinet and has the same effect on my husbands sanity. These papers are in binders held together with the biggest rubber band I could find and when you open it, it's like a Jack-In-The-Box. Other are stuffed in like category cookbooks, other are stuffed in between other binders, it's a total mess but I LOVE RECIPES....I will say it over and over again! I love to cook them by the book, play with them to my own tastes, and sometime make them TOTALLY different. Food can do so many things and sometimes a basic recipe can become your signature dish with just a few additions and tweeks. I haven't found my "signature dish" YET, but I'm working on it...but I digress.
The recipes I have contain appetizers, main courses, sides, salads, beverages, late night munchies, game day fare, desserts, kids party ideas, you name it I probably have a recipe or "how to" on it...food and parties make me VERY happy, but then again doesn't that make everyone happy??? My friends laugh at me because they can issue an invite to me at noon and at 2pm I can show up with warm cookies, cake or brownies (NO NOT FROM A BOX!)...I always have ingredients for a yummy on hand. Yes, I have a few key recipes I use over and over again, but those mostly come out of the Joy of Cooking with hand written notes in the margin of tweeks I've made or a note my mother made me of variations. And don't forget, when in doubt, call mom and write the same recipe 10 times and stick it in the same JOC and shrug when you see the other 9 copies and put it in anyway!
So the moral of this story is this: I AM GOING TO ORGANIZE MY RECIPES!!! I have been to Borders and picked up a "RECIPE" book where I am going to start with my "BEST OF" and most used recipes. Then I am going to sort the rest by their intended use...BBQ's, Kids Parties, School Parties, PTA events, etc...you get the idea. I am going to try and do this before the end of the year so I do not have to go into the New Year Resolution about getting it done...I will just have to resolve to maintain it. If you don't hear from me in 4 months, come by a poke me with a stick as I may have been buried alive by my own collections of recipes.
Happy Thursday XXXOOO
I LOVE to collect recipes. It started a few years ago with the Food Network Holiday Cookie edition and has become a labor of love and a collection of papers. Now mind you, I try all these recipes at LEAST once, if it's good we will try it again and it goes in the "keep pile" if it sucks, it get thrown out. So no, I don't just clip them...I try them and try to sort them.
Over the last year the cabinet I keep all these papers in has become a bone of contention. When my husband opens it and a flurry of papers comes out, I am reminded that I need to cook more and collect less...to be honest it looks a lot like my container cabinet and has the same effect on my husbands sanity. These papers are in binders held together with the biggest rubber band I could find and when you open it, it's like a Jack-In-The-Box. Other are stuffed in like category cookbooks, other are stuffed in between other binders, it's a total mess but I LOVE RECIPES....I will say it over and over again! I love to cook them by the book, play with them to my own tastes, and sometime make them TOTALLY different. Food can do so many things and sometimes a basic recipe can become your signature dish with just a few additions and tweeks. I haven't found my "signature dish" YET, but I'm working on it...but I digress.
The recipes I have contain appetizers, main courses, sides, salads, beverages, late night munchies, game day fare, desserts, kids party ideas, you name it I probably have a recipe or "how to" on it...food and parties make me VERY happy, but then again doesn't that make everyone happy??? My friends laugh at me because they can issue an invite to me at noon and at 2pm I can show up with warm cookies, cake or brownies (NO NOT FROM A BOX!)...I always have ingredients for a yummy on hand. Yes, I have a few key recipes I use over and over again, but those mostly come out of the Joy of Cooking with hand written notes in the margin of tweeks I've made or a note my mother made me of variations. And don't forget, when in doubt, call mom and write the same recipe 10 times and stick it in the same JOC and shrug when you see the other 9 copies and put it in anyway!
So the moral of this story is this: I AM GOING TO ORGANIZE MY RECIPES!!! I have been to Borders and picked up a "RECIPE" book where I am going to start with my "BEST OF" and most used recipes. Then I am going to sort the rest by their intended use...BBQ's, Kids Parties, School Parties, PTA events, etc...you get the idea. I am going to try and do this before the end of the year so I do not have to go into the New Year Resolution about getting it done...I will just have to resolve to maintain it. If you don't hear from me in 4 months, come by a poke me with a stick as I may have been buried alive by my own collections of recipes.
Happy Thursday XXXOOO
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Oh Come On...Really?
So today I had some time to burn and decided to get back on track with the regular blogs I read and post some comments that I have neglected...well as it turns out Google won't allow me to do this now! It's the strangest thing, I can see my blog and can write a response...but when I choose my Google ID, it kicks me out. Google Help is of NO help at all...does anyone have any suggestions?
I have been very laxed on my good reader/commenter side of the blog world and read some very good posts that I wanted to leave feed back on, but again maybe my bad blogger is being punished by the cyber gods!
Know that I am reading and trying to comment but not being successful...Happy Tuesday XXXOOO
I have been very laxed on my good reader/commenter side of the blog world and read some very good posts that I wanted to leave feed back on, but again maybe my bad blogger is being punished by the cyber gods!
Know that I am reading and trying to comment but not being successful...Happy Tuesday XXXOOO
Friday, May 13, 2011
Grace
I have heard this used often of late and I find myself thinking about this terms and it's beauty.
When I hear the word I think of Grace Kelly, a classically beautiful women...elegant!
I also think of a beautiful blond hair, blue eyed little girl who is a perfect mix of her parents.
I see a dancer, not a performer of today, but a classic ballerina like I had in my musical jewelry box as a child.
A simple word that means so many things. Webster's has 8 different definitions of the word...example:
unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification
Of late this is how I see grace. People use it to express how they see other deal with or react to a situation. Today, for example, a fellow blogger used the word grace to describe how a friend dealt with a terminal illness. Every time I see the term, I wonder how others feel about it. How do you feel about grace? Do you see a women or a young girl? Do you feel it or see see it? In yourself or other? So many questions...share, I would love to know!
XXXOOO
When I hear the word I think of Grace Kelly, a classically beautiful women...elegant!
I also think of a beautiful blond hair, blue eyed little girl who is a perfect mix of her parents.
I see a dancer, not a performer of today, but a classic ballerina like I had in my musical jewelry box as a child.
A simple word that means so many things. Webster's has 8 different definitions of the word...example:
unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification
Of late this is how I see grace. People use it to express how they see other deal with or react to a situation. Today, for example, a fellow blogger used the word grace to describe how a friend dealt with a terminal illness. Every time I see the term, I wonder how others feel about it. How do you feel about grace? Do you see a women or a young girl? Do you feel it or see see it? In yourself or other? So many questions...share, I would love to know!
XXXOOO
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Bad Blogger
I know that I have been very negligent about writting since the first of the year. But let's face it, I've never been very consistant! I always have good intentions, but they don't always work out the way I plan.
Last I posted we were going to pick up the new car and we did. I am still suffering with some anxiety driving and am trying to get past the 1600 mile post at which I had my accident and looking forward to making my first payment on the car next week.
Speaking of next week, Danny and I are heaing out on our annual road trip to Tennessee to see my parents. We are leaving Saturday morning and will come back next weekend...plan on heading home Saturday but we will see how the week goes, maybe I won't come back at all! Not that I have any desire to live in TN, but I would love to relocate to a warmer southern climate and be closer to my parents.
While we are gone my husband has a guy coming in to re sheetrock the house. Over the years we have had "repairs" made that weren't the best jobs and some roof leaks that have now been fixed. So we need to get new drywall up so I can have a summer filled with lots of painting! These kinds of projects need to be done while I am not in residance for a few reasons:
1) I have some MAJOR anxiety when it comes to opening walls and exposing what has crawled up and died. Or worse, old wood that now needs to be replaced and more $$$ to be spent. I like to leave this kind of thing for my husband to have to deal with since I get everyday reality, he can have the construction reality!
2) I cannot stand the mess or the disorder that comes with major projects. I don't like to have strangers in and out of the house with mud and dirt on thier shoes because I clean behind them...just like my grandmother! I would clean up the night after they left and have to do it everyday because I couldn't sleep knowing there was dirt and dust and squalor sleeping with me.
3) I tend to cook to ease my anxiety so there are WAY too many breaks to make any job productive. When we had the roof done last fall it was a 6 hour project that turned into a 3 day project, everyone needs to eat! They need a snack and coffee every 2 hours and 3 good meals to keep them strong. My husband disagrees with me, but I can't have a house full of Testostrone and not feed it.
As you can see I have some definate issues, but I'm working on them by doing my part and leaving town for 7 full days so it can get done.
So as you can see I have no good reason for not blogging, I think I've just gotten lazy. I will work on this while I am away and see if I can put aside an few minutes to let you know how it's all going.
Happy Wednesday
XXXOOO
Last I posted we were going to pick up the new car and we did. I am still suffering with some anxiety driving and am trying to get past the 1600 mile post at which I had my accident and looking forward to making my first payment on the car next week.
Speaking of next week, Danny and I are heaing out on our annual road trip to Tennessee to see my parents. We are leaving Saturday morning and will come back next weekend...plan on heading home Saturday but we will see how the week goes, maybe I won't come back at all! Not that I have any desire to live in TN, but I would love to relocate to a warmer southern climate and be closer to my parents.
While we are gone my husband has a guy coming in to re sheetrock the house. Over the years we have had "repairs" made that weren't the best jobs and some roof leaks that have now been fixed. So we need to get new drywall up so I can have a summer filled with lots of painting! These kinds of projects need to be done while I am not in residance for a few reasons:
1) I have some MAJOR anxiety when it comes to opening walls and exposing what has crawled up and died. Or worse, old wood that now needs to be replaced and more $$$ to be spent. I like to leave this kind of thing for my husband to have to deal with since I get everyday reality, he can have the construction reality!
2) I cannot stand the mess or the disorder that comes with major projects. I don't like to have strangers in and out of the house with mud and dirt on thier shoes because I clean behind them...just like my grandmother! I would clean up the night after they left and have to do it everyday because I couldn't sleep knowing there was dirt and dust and squalor sleeping with me.
3) I tend to cook to ease my anxiety so there are WAY too many breaks to make any job productive. When we had the roof done last fall it was a 6 hour project that turned into a 3 day project, everyone needs to eat! They need a snack and coffee every 2 hours and 3 good meals to keep them strong. My husband disagrees with me, but I can't have a house full of Testostrone and not feed it.
As you can see I have some definate issues, but I'm working on them by doing my part and leaving town for 7 full days so it can get done.
So as you can see I have no good reason for not blogging, I think I've just gotten lazy. I will work on this while I am away and see if I can put aside an few minutes to let you know how it's all going.
Happy Wednesday
XXXOOO
Monday, March 14, 2011
New Car and a Vacation NEEDED
I know it has been a few weeks...okay a month...since I last posted, but I've been busy and distracted. You see, my husband bought me a new car, she was beautiful and perfect and I loved her and named her Candy. Well after only having the car for 4 weeks, she was totaled...and I hadn't even made the first payment! Can you imagine? Well long story short was that she used to look like this:
Wasn't she pretty? Well Now she looks like this:
I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but let's say this...I'm happy to be hear complaining that my car is destroyed and having to go through all the hassles that go along with it. The entire frame was shifted and moved about 2"...I guess that's what getting hit be a car doing 50mph will get you. My husband and son were in the car with me when this happened and my son was sitting behind me. If I had been in another car I do not believe I would have walked away with a few aches and my boys with nothing.
So over the weekend knowing the insurance issues would shortly be resolved, I picked out a car. She is another beautiful girl, but I will not be naming her and I feel it is bad JuJu now. Pictures will be posted after her delivery to me tomorrow night.
Happy Monday
XXXOOO
Wasn't she pretty? Well Now she looks like this:
I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but let's say this...I'm happy to be hear complaining that my car is destroyed and having to go through all the hassles that go along with it. The entire frame was shifted and moved about 2"...I guess that's what getting hit be a car doing 50mph will get you. My husband and son were in the car with me when this happened and my son was sitting behind me. If I had been in another car I do not believe I would have walked away with a few aches and my boys with nothing.
So over the weekend knowing the insurance issues would shortly be resolved, I picked out a car. She is another beautiful girl, but I will not be naming her and I feel it is bad JuJu now. Pictures will be posted after her delivery to me tomorrow night.
Happy Monday
XXXOOO
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day
Well it's here again, St. Valentine's Day or as some say Valentimes Day...UGH! I won't go off on a tangent this early in my writing for the day. Let's just say HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY and leave it at that!
Okay so the point of this entry is to give you a feel of who I am and how I have evolved. It's an insight into the women I am today...are you ready?
When I was younger I LOVED Valentines Day and all it stood for...I could swoon over the boy I liked because it was a day for love. You gave and received cards from all your classmates and secret admirers. Girls giggled, boys ran...girls cringed, boys kissed and ran, boy I miss those days.
When I was a teenager, Valentines Day was for holding hands and receiving single roses. Stolen kisses by your locker in between classes and hot make out sessions in your boyfriends car after school. It was sharing a pizza for your "date" and feeling like the luckiest girl on the planet.
When I was a young adult I HATED Valentines Day. I felt it was a suckers excuse to make boat loads of money off of poor people who felt it was important to show that special someone they loved them. It is, for all intents a purposes, a Hallmark holiday. I always felt that paying $100 for a dozen roses, $50 for chocolate and having to sit down to a meal that was "set" was a lousy way to show someone you loved them. What happened to a card? Pizza? Stolen kisses and hand holding? Why had it become a money sucking holiday?
So now I am a wise middle age women who likes the day enough to make it special for others. I don't ask for much, but I guess that has paid off. For Valentine's Day I got a beautiful new Coach bag and matching wallet...guess I was a good girl this year! We also went out for a nice quiet dinner, just the 3 of us, on Saturday night. Tonight I will make a meatloaf for dinner and we will snack on the chocolates I spent WAY too much money on for my husband and son...isn't irony a bitch?
Happy Valentine's Day
XXXOOO
Okay so the point of this entry is to give you a feel of who I am and how I have evolved. It's an insight into the women I am today...are you ready?
When I was younger I LOVED Valentines Day and all it stood for...I could swoon over the boy I liked because it was a day for love. You gave and received cards from all your classmates and secret admirers. Girls giggled, boys ran...girls cringed, boys kissed and ran, boy I miss those days.
When I was a teenager, Valentines Day was for holding hands and receiving single roses. Stolen kisses by your locker in between classes and hot make out sessions in your boyfriends car after school. It was sharing a pizza for your "date" and feeling like the luckiest girl on the planet.
When I was a young adult I HATED Valentines Day. I felt it was a suckers excuse to make boat loads of money off of poor people who felt it was important to show that special someone they loved them. It is, for all intents a purposes, a Hallmark holiday. I always felt that paying $100 for a dozen roses, $50 for chocolate and having to sit down to a meal that was "set" was a lousy way to show someone you loved them. What happened to a card? Pizza? Stolen kisses and hand holding? Why had it become a money sucking holiday?
So now I am a wise middle age women who likes the day enough to make it special for others. I don't ask for much, but I guess that has paid off. For Valentine's Day I got a beautiful new Coach bag and matching wallet...guess I was a good girl this year! We also went out for a nice quiet dinner, just the 3 of us, on Saturday night. Tonight I will make a meatloaf for dinner and we will snack on the chocolates I spent WAY too much money on for my husband and son...isn't irony a bitch?
Happy Valentine's Day
XXXOOO
Friday, February 11, 2011
When I grow up...
When I was in the early days of my marriage I wanted to be Martha Stewart. I decorated our first apartment together with all her "good things", cooked her recipes and planted all her herbs and flowers I could find. I dreamed of my first home being an old farmhouse with a potting shed, greenhouse, herb garden and lots of gardens. I even went so far as to buy the paint in corresponding colors, as suggested by Martha, for her decor...then she went to prison and I could no longer love her, I lost respect for her.
In the last few years I have come to love Paula Deen. I love her southern belle ways, her recipes, her view on life. I don't love her taste in decor or her "Mama Boy" sons and I find Michael to be a bit of a drip. But I do love her good old fashioned southern values and food.
In the last few months I have become TOTALLY addicted to a new blog that is full of great recipes, witty stories and beautiful photography. I now love "The Pioneer Women" http://thepioneerwoman.com/! She is the salt of the earth as far as I'm concerned. She is a city girl who now lives on a ranch in Oklahoma and is sweet and funny and...ya know what, read her blog...you will love her I promise! I picked up her new book last weekend and cannot wait to dig into it, but am also behind a library book and an ebook...so I am building up the anticipation of reading it.
So now I think I need a new name, MarDeRee or StewPaulDrum...you know like Bradagilina, what do you think? Can I be a New England, Southern, Oakie?
Happy Friday!!! XXXOOO
In the last few years I have come to love Paula Deen. I love her southern belle ways, her recipes, her view on life. I don't love her taste in decor or her "Mama Boy" sons and I find Michael to be a bit of a drip. But I do love her good old fashioned southern values and food.
In the last few months I have become TOTALLY addicted to a new blog that is full of great recipes, witty stories and beautiful photography. I now love "The Pioneer Women" http://thepioneerwoman.com/! She is the salt of the earth as far as I'm concerned. She is a city girl who now lives on a ranch in Oklahoma and is sweet and funny and...ya know what, read her blog...you will love her I promise! I picked up her new book last weekend and cannot wait to dig into it, but am also behind a library book and an ebook...so I am building up the anticipation of reading it.
So now I think I need a new name, MarDeRee or StewPaulDrum...you know like Bradagilina, what do you think? Can I be a New England, Southern, Oakie?
Happy Friday!!! XXXOOO
Thursday, February 3, 2011
On this day in history...
Today I am finally back to work after 2 days of being iced in the house. Don't get me wrong, I love a good snow day as much as the next person, but you can keep your ice...nice fluffy white snow beats the pants off of glistening, fall on your ass ice ANY DAY.
So being back to "work", at least in the office, means that there is a lot of paper to weed through to see what's important and what can wait. Well it was all semi important, so I tackled it early and hard, so I would have some time to surf the web and cross a few things off my "to-do" list. As I was cruising through sales orders and making really good progress (I could see the light at the end of the tunnel) my phone dinged, the ding of a date reminder. Now this is linked to my desk top, so I waited for the reminder to come up on my screen. Well the reminder finally came up to remind me that on this day last year my Grandmother passed. I took a moment to try and and clear my head because it had gone foggy for a minute, then checked my phone to see if it said the same...it did.
This was my last surviving grandparent and it felt kind of weird to know that she was gone. To know my grandmother was to love her...although without her I wouldn't be the women I am today. When I was younger she lived within walking distance of our home, so I would go over often and slept over there every Monday night. I was my grandfathers girl, but I loved to visit my grandmother...she used to make us Creme De Mint Parfaits, you the booze kind! That wasn't the only reason I loved her, she use to make us whatever we wanted. When we'd sleep over if my sister picked dinner, I go to pick the next week. There was always popcorn and dessert and the Muppet Show...it was Monday night in the 80's!
When I was 19 my grandparents decided to move back to PA and live out their retirement years. I didn't really feel that void without them here, because they came back ofter and I would go out to see them.
Today when that reminder popped up, I remembered a happier time...a time when my grandparents laughed and loved and were together, as I hope they are today.
XXXOOO
So being back to "work", at least in the office, means that there is a lot of paper to weed through to see what's important and what can wait. Well it was all semi important, so I tackled it early and hard, so I would have some time to surf the web and cross a few things off my "to-do" list. As I was cruising through sales orders and making really good progress (I could see the light at the end of the tunnel) my phone dinged, the ding of a date reminder. Now this is linked to my desk top, so I waited for the reminder to come up on my screen. Well the reminder finally came up to remind me that on this day last year my Grandmother passed. I took a moment to try and and clear my head because it had gone foggy for a minute, then checked my phone to see if it said the same...it did.
This was my last surviving grandparent and it felt kind of weird to know that she was gone. To know my grandmother was to love her...although without her I wouldn't be the women I am today. When I was younger she lived within walking distance of our home, so I would go over often and slept over there every Monday night. I was my grandfathers girl, but I loved to visit my grandmother...she used to make us Creme De Mint Parfaits, you the booze kind! That wasn't the only reason I loved her, she use to make us whatever we wanted. When we'd sleep over if my sister picked dinner, I go to pick the next week. There was always popcorn and dessert and the Muppet Show...it was Monday night in the 80's!
When I was 19 my grandparents decided to move back to PA and live out their retirement years. I didn't really feel that void without them here, because they came back ofter and I would go out to see them.
Today when that reminder popped up, I remembered a happier time...a time when my grandparents laughed and loved and were together, as I hope they are today.
XXXOOO
Monday, January 3, 2011
New Years Resolutions and 10 Years of "Bliss"
So it's that time of the year again when we start anew and start working on our goals to set our resolutions into place. A few years ago I made a resolution not to make anymore resolutions and work on the aspects of my life that need addressing.
The way I see it, a new year doesn't necessarily make for a new start...we have that option every day. When you wake up it's a new day and you can start with a clean slate and be "the person you want to be" EVERYDAY. I don't have to start a diet on January 1st, I can start it on Friday February 11th if I wake up that day and feel that is what I should do. When I quit smoking it was Sunday July 3rd...and you know what? I never went back because that was the day I was ready to quit, so I did. I personally feel that starting a new year making a promise that you aren't ready to keep is setting yourself up for failure.
So with all of that said, set goals for yourself, but do it when you KNOW you are ready. Don't do it because it's January 1st and you feel you have to to keep your "resolution". People don't change over night and habits learned over a life time cannot be changed that way either. It's 2011, what are your goals for the YEAR?
On another note, 10 years ago today I walked down the beach in Jamaica and stood before strangers and a Reverend and married Ryan...hopy crap, what was I thinking! The man asked, " Well do ya Mon?" and "yeah Mon"...it was a day I don't think I will ever forget.
If I have learned anything in those ten years it's that you can work through almost anything with a little perseverance.
Happy New Year and Monday!!!
XXXOOO
The way I see it, a new year doesn't necessarily make for a new start...we have that option every day. When you wake up it's a new day and you can start with a clean slate and be "the person you want to be" EVERYDAY. I don't have to start a diet on January 1st, I can start it on Friday February 11th if I wake up that day and feel that is what I should do. When I quit smoking it was Sunday July 3rd...and you know what? I never went back because that was the day I was ready to quit, so I did. I personally feel that starting a new year making a promise that you aren't ready to keep is setting yourself up for failure.
So with all of that said, set goals for yourself, but do it when you KNOW you are ready. Don't do it because it's January 1st and you feel you have to to keep your "resolution". People don't change over night and habits learned over a life time cannot be changed that way either. It's 2011, what are your goals for the YEAR?
On another note, 10 years ago today I walked down the beach in Jamaica and stood before strangers and a Reverend and married Ryan...hopy crap, what was I thinking! The man asked, " Well do ya Mon?" and "yeah Mon"...it was a day I don't think I will ever forget.
If I have learned anything in those ten years it's that you can work through almost anything with a little perseverance.
Happy New Year and Monday!!!
XXXOOO
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