Just Another Mom's Eye View

Merged Blogs

2009-03-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

For some reason, my Shelly Knits blog has always worked better.

I will be updating there instead of here.

Join me at www.shellyknits.blogspot.com

Thanks!

All Right Already! I stink at blogging!

2009-03-07T12:26:00.002-05:00

I have no excuse except that things got a little bit crazy at the beginning of the year. Here's the Reader's Digest Condensed Version:

*Started school at SCC (local community college)to pursue degree in nursing
*Loved school, doing great, very busy!
*Found out I was a high school drop out (shorter version-California and SCC can't seem to get along)
*Got kicked out of SCC
*Hate SCC and their lack of Customer Relations and stupid non-logical bureaucracy
*Took FL GED
*Still hate SCC, etc...
*Will be waiting on GED results for 8-12 weeks so I can be a high school graduate once again.
*After I get the results back, I'll have to decide just how bad I hate SCC and if I want to go back or go elsewhere that is way more expensive.

I sound bitter, don't I? I'm getting over it a little.

On the knitting front, I've got lots of projects going! I have finally fallen into the black hole that is Ravelry. I could look at patterns for months there. Could be the reason for my serious case of startitis. Currently on the needles and being worked on (the ignore pile is way to big to list) are 2 baby blankets (charity for hospital)and feather and fan shawl made from Euroflax and a Branching Out lace scarf made from Kidlin.

For some reason, blogger won't let me post a pic. What's up with that?
Better a post with no pic than no post at all I suppose...

Reason for the long stretch between posts...

2008-12-27T21:01:00.013-05:00

Or also titled "I've been knitting constantly since November!"

*Warning-this will be a picture heavy post!*

I knitted a lot of Christmas gifts this year. These were all knitted from stash so no immediate cash outlay. You might call it a stash busting Christmas. Yippee!

These are slippers for my grandma in her favorite color, purple. This is a pattern that she knitted for us for years. I found it on the internet, ironically called "Grandmother's Slippers". Go figure.

This is a camo cap for Parker. Generic hat pattern.

Brown wool hat for Pete, again generic hat pattern.

Feather and Fan scarf and generic hat pattern for Lilli.

Feather and Fan scarf and generic hat for Katelyn.

Green and Purple nubby scarf with fringe for my neice Sara.

Dishtowel for my sister.

Brown and cream garter stitch scarf and generic brown hat for my nephew Jordan.

Pink seed stitch scarf and hat and 5 baby doll hats for my neice Kendall.

Kendall and Jordan (neice and nephew) graciously modeling said handknits (and making their aunt ever so happy and proud!)

So now I'm past all my deadline and stealth knitting. What's on the needles now? A feather and fan scarf in raspberry Euroflax for me. Also starting 3 matching hat and scarf sets (mother and daughters) for a friend of my sisters in a pumpkin color. Always glad to have a project on the needles.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time...

2008-12-27T20:36:00.003-05:00

We are very blessed. These are my children holding their favorite presents. And this is before we went to Gramsy's house and does not include cash. (which is ALWAYS a favorite gift, especially to teens).

We spent Christmas Eve day together. We had Lasagna and Broccoli for dinner. Went to CCC's Christmas Eve service and then spent time afterward with friends at a bonfire out our house complete with s'mores. Despite the drizzle, a good time was had by all. Traditionally the kids open one present on Christmas Eve which is always pajamas. This year was no exception. Lilli woke us up promptly at 8 am (as promised, even though she says she woke up at 6:58). The gifts were attacked and enjoyed. A new tradition this year was for everyone to write a letter to each member of the family and place it in their stocking. I loved this and will likely continue this tradition. Then we had orange rolls, fruit salad and real thick cut bacon (we usually eat turkey bacon only). We relaxed and enjoyed gifts until we went to my sister's house. We ate, opened more gifts, ate some more, played guitar hero and ate some more. A great time was had by all.

I will conclude this post with quite possibly my favorite gift ever. A scrapbook made by Katelyn. Love this.

Subway Gift Card Giveaway

2008-12-01T22:11:00.003-05:00

I'm a regular reader over at The "Centsable" Sawyer. Lots of great tips/ideas there.
Anyway, she's giving away a $15 Subway gift card. Go now and check it out!
http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/2008/12/subway-give-away.html

November Stamping

2008-11-30T17:40:00.003-05:00

Okay, I slacked off on the blogging quite a bit last week, but I was busy!

Pete sent out about 60 business Thanksgiving cards and I'm pleased to say I made each one of them. I will confess however that I totally copied cards from Linda Heller's Stamping School. If you are not a member you should be! Great video tutorials added every week. Love it. So much easier than losing hours at a time at splitcoast. (nothing against splitcoast, it's just a time black hole for me)

Also I made up a batch of gift card holders for Lake Mary Jazzercise. The pattern/directions for these are also at Stamping School (www.stampingschool.com) and they are easy peasy!

Next post will be a knitting update. Yes, I've been in a knitting frenzy and will need to keep it up to accomplish all my Christmas gift knitting.

A List...

2008-11-26T07:33:00.003-05:00

I saw this list on someone else's blog and decided it would be fun to steal it for my blog! (Thanks Dawn!) You are supposed to bold the things you have done. Going along with my blessing theme, look at all these blessings! Wow!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band ....at school
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Way too much fun!

2008-11-25T13:16:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Today's Blessing Count Remains High...

2008-11-25T09:07:00.001-05:00

The freezer (although it's insulted with only bread and a few assorted odd ball things to keep cold) is still chugging away at 20 degrees.

Water Heater is still working hard, but hanging in there!

The surviving turkey (survived the freezer incident of 08) who was left alone in the dark all nite to defrost did not fit in my crockpot! Horrors. What? That doesn't sound like a blessing? Well my oven (that has been dead except for the stove top) suddenly decided to rise (in temperature) to the occasion! Said surviving turkey is enjoying warmer climates (shh.... don't speak of his fate!).

Lastly, yesterday ended so productively, that this morning there is clear white space on my desk top (signifying lack of paperwork, bills, etc). Sweet!

All these blessings and it is only 9am.

Developing an Attitude of Gratitude

2008-11-24T17:30:00.001-05:00

Our sermon yesterday was about having an attitude of gratitude. I'll admit straight up that I'm not very good at that. It is a habit that I really need to develop.

So this weekend was looking like a complete and total disaster. I had a lot of work to do for the business, had a whooping sinus headache, our freezer alarm starts going off (with a freezer FULL of meat I just picked up from Angelfood ministries) and the water heater appears to be on the fritz. I'm thinking about our Pastor's words and really trying to adjust my grumbling attitude. At best I can say that I didn't complain out loud. I went to bed with a very heavy heart last night, but prayed myself to sleep. Do you think God minds when you fall asleep in the middle of a convo? I hope not.

I get up this morning and my sinuses are worse. The freezer alarm is going off and I have a desk full of bills to sort to even see the top of my desk. It could be worse I tell myself. I have a desk. I have a computer. Heck, I've got Facebook even. Pete takes Lilli to school for me. Blessing! He makes me cheese toast=yum! Blessing (so not So. Beach friendly, oh well)! I sort some more. I make a dent. I call the Sears repairman for the freezer. He can come today. Blessing! I make more headway on the paperwork. Blessing!

Then the repairman comes... (cue the music from Jaws). In my freezer (which was alarming at 20 degrees, everything is frozen, but not optimally) I have 3 eleven pound turkeys (2 really cheap from Aldi's, one free from Angelfood), steaks, 10 pounds of chicken breasts, ribs, pork chops, 2 roasts, and much more. I'm not counting the bread, veggies, popsicles, etc. So the repairman comes in, takes a look, mutters, looks in his computer, mutters some more and then proceeds to tell me stuff that sounds like the adults on Charlie Brown cartoons (wah wah wah wah wah). Basically the freezer is shot to heck. It's 7 years old (don't appliances live longer than 5 years anymore?) and will cost more to fix ($1000) than to buy a new freezer. All I can think about is, "What am I going to do with all this food?" We can't eat it all, can't afford to replace it. The food is okay at the moment, but the repairman is shocked that anything is frozen at all. The freezer could breathe its last any second. He's punching part numbers into the computer as fast as his fingers can type and then says, "hmmm.... You still have 4 months left on your service contract". "WHAT??? Huh??? So I don't have to pay the $70 service call fee?" "Um, no... you don't have to pay for the whole repair either, plus you get $250 towards food replacement cost" I think I swooned!

BLESSING!

The repairman (who is now my favorite person in the whole world) tells me I'd better get the expensive stuff into the refrig freezer fast. I'm thinking about those 3 dang turkeys that take up way too much room. So I do what any deperate woman would do. I hand one to the repairman. He was tickled. Hadn't bought a Thanksgiving turkey yet and thought his 9 year old son would be excited to see what he was bringing home. Blessing! Our neighbors next door are in a situation much like us. The dad is self employed in the construction industry and work has been slow for him. The mom just got her hours cut back. Like us (like most of us) it's not the easiest of times. So I pack up a turkey and other random frozen stuff (about 4 bags full). They are excited. Blessing!

Katelyn and I get all the important stuff transferred to the little freezer. It fits too. Blessing!

I am a very rich woman indeed. Thank you God for the real and practical application of yesterday's sermon. I needed that.

What a Week...

2008-11-23T22:10:00.002-05:00

I've been away from the blog for a bit. It was a crazy week. One of those weeks that was busy, but I can't really tell you with what. If you're a mom, you know exactly what I mean. Maybe those of you who aren't moms know what I mean, I just can't remember not being a mom.

I've managed to get 3 knitted scarves done and made a batch of cards for Pete's business. I'll post those when it's not dark so I can get a decent picture. This week should be a little slower and I'm looking forward to staying a home a little bit. Maybe I'll get something done. If I'm really lucky, I'll manage to see the top of my desk. Do miracles still happen? Not usually when it concerns my desk.

Saw a production of the Canterbury Tales at the kids school. It was very entertaining. Will post pics of that too. I just remembered my camera batteries are dead. I have spares somewhere... Probably on my desk.

Loving the cooler weather. It feels like fall. This is a novelty as it is often in the 80's or better on Thanksgiving in Florida. The Thanksgiving bonfire will be fun this year! I hate sweating while I'm roasting my marshmellows!

I'm off to try to find camera batteries!

2008-11-16T16:45:00.002-05:00

I've seen it all possibly. This is a cross usb stick from geekalerts.com. One question... why?

We sang a praise song today in church that has left me pondering all day. It's called Knowing You by Graham Kendrick. Here's the verse that I just can't get out of my head today:

Now my heart's desire is to know You more,
To be found in You and known as Yours,
To Possess by faith what I could not earn,
All surpassing gift of righteousness

This is my prayer for the week. I want to be known as His. We get caught up in debates and differences in theology. But really, the bottom line is it's a giant leap of faith at it's very core. You believe by faith (and really faith alone) that you possess something that you could never, ever earn (an everlasting relationship with God). There it is. Simple really. Yet we all too often junk it up. I hate that.

It's not what we do, how we act, what we own (including a cross usb memory stick) or even a fish on our car. It's a leap of faith that many years ago, changed the world. And it should change me too.

After that leap, it's really not a hard journey. Although the day to day stuff can get rough and messy for us all-it's part of the human experience. It can really be summed up quite easily. Love God, love others.

It's what the sermon was today. In the book of John, Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me? Feed my sheep."

Because I've made that leap of faith, I do love Him. And now I walk out what it looks like daily to love others. Lord, help me to keep that focus this week.

Thank you Pastor Jeff for that reminder. I needed it.

(I usually try to stay away from religion on this blog, but this blog is me and this is who I am. I don't mind discussion, but will immediately shut down anything that gets nasty. Thanks!)

Sometimes I'm tossed about...

2008-11-10T16:40:00.003-05:00

I'll fess up right now. Sometimes I waver in my faith. I get so caught up in unimportant details (well, they seem so important at the time). It's kind of like heading out into the ocean and picking up your feet. You become subject to the whims of the waves. Tossed to and fro. It's kind of scary being subject to such a powerful force.

But here's the thing. At any point (assuming you haven't wandered too far out)you can just put your feet down. Sure, you get pushed around a bit, but you are back in business heading the direction you want to go.

And so it goes with me spiritually. I wander a bit (but really never too far out). I analyze each and every wave and the potential it has to hurt me. So much so that I often miss the bigger picture, like a gorgeous sunset, perfect weather, beautiful shells and sea life. I need to put my spiritual feet down and stand in what I know. That even in the midst of uncertainly, He has always been faithful indeed. And when I stop looking at every little thing and look at the big picture from His perspective, it's all good. I am loved and safe and well.

This gorgeous picture was taken by my favorite 15 year old.

Oh yea, we live in FL

2008-11-09T20:30:00.004-05:00

Every Floridian at some point in August, after preparing for a few hurricanes (or actually toughing one or two out), when the temperature is about 98 degrees with 250% humidity, we ask ourselves, "Why do we live here?"

Along about October or November when we see national news with forecasts of snow, we say, "Oh yea, this is why I live in Florida!". Truly this is my favorite time of year. The evenings and mornings are crisp (that means the 60s to us) and the days are sunny and in the 75-80 degree range. Surely this is the weather in Heaven.

Oma and Opa are in town and so we spent the day at their place with my sister, her husband and the cousins. We ate, we talked, we laughed. Some of us took a sunset walk on the beach.

We are more blessed than we deserve.

Sweet Saturday

2008-11-09T20:26:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since Lilli's BFF Patrick lived across the street. We still miss them. About a month ago a new family moved in right next door to us with a girl Lilli's age.

This is how they spent much of Saturday. From 10am until 6pm when I called her in, Lilli had the time of her life with sidewalk chalk, moonboots, basketball, jumprope, sidewalk chalk, popsicles and a picnic lunch.

These are the things childhood are made of.

Quick! Go here now!

2008-11-06T19:53:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm a first born and prone to fits of bossiness!

I have been a follower of the blog Thepioneerwoman.com for quite some time now. I enjoy her blog more than words can say. She lives about as opposite a life from me, but yet manages to make me feel like us women folk have a kinship.

Anyway, there is a group of bloggers on a Compassion International trip in the Dominican Republic. The Pioneer Woman's husband (marlboro man) and 2 daughters are on this trip. The posts have moved me to tears more than once.

Please go read the reports and be encouraged by the difference that one ministry is making, one person at a time in a real and tangible way.

When you're done, click on over to www.compassioninternational.com and pray about what you can do.

For your enjoyment...

2008-11-04T16:35:00.001-05:00

I don't care who you like for prez, this is cute! I think she nailed it!

Kingdom Coming Download

2008-11-04T16:27:00.001-05:00

Some thoughts on Election Eve

2008-11-03T16:41:00.002-05:00

For me the election is over, meaning that a week ago I cast my ballot.

But on this evening before election day, I am feeling very uneasy. It's always the unknown that is the most unsettling.

If you have read even a small bit of my blog, you could probably correctly figure out how I voted. But that's not what I want to talk about.

These are interesting times we are living in. Right now. The future seems so uncertain. Optimism is low. The economy seems so bleak. There's a dark cloud hanging over this country. It's really easy to buy into the media's spin. They have an agenda. There is no unbiased media in this whole country. On either side. I think they work the people into a frenzy that wouldn't have happened in the days when there were no 24/7 news outlets.

I do believe we are in a time that our grandchildren will ask us about. The first black presidential candidate and a woman VP candidate. Historical. I feel like this nation is on the very edge of something. Depending on your politics we're on the edge of a great change or a very bad change.

We've had dark days and worry in this country before. What makes us great is that we eventually come around and get it at least mostly right. That's what I'm holding out for - the mostly right (not right wing/conservative right).

With all our problems and division, slanted media and dirty laundry this is still my country and a great one at that.

No matter the outcome tomorrow, God Bless America!

The End of an Era

2008-11-01T18:14:00.003-05:00

The economy sucks. Yea, you heard me.

One of the casualties of this sucking economy is the taekwondo school my son has attended for 7 years. This place changed his life in a real and tangible way. It was necessary physical therapy for him. He worked hard and earned his black belt.

But it is no more. I guess people consider this type of thing a luxury when they are tightening their belts. I understand that really.

It still hurts me. Makes me sad. Makes me mad.

We are thankful for your time, love, patience and skills, SSMA.

We will miss you.

This is NOT a Flashback...

2008-10-11T15:09:00.004-05:00

It's a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. No, really. It is. Yup, they used the original language but it was set in Atica, NY in the 80's. I really wanted to not like it. I didn't like the idea of tampering with a classic. But when your eldest child is performing in it, you go and try to keep an open mind.

Truth be told, I really liked it! And not just because my kid was in it. It was fun. It's a comedy anyway so why not shake things up a bit. Mine is the one with the big hair in the purple. What? Oh yea, they all have big hair don't they? Didn't we all have big hair in the 80's...

So thankful that as a homeschooler she has really great opportunities to do fun things and work with such giving and talented adults.

A Grand Success!

2008-10-08T20:04:00.002-05:00

I've been away. Really away. So. Cal. to be exact. I had a great time at my High School reunion. I reconnected with a lot of roots. Where I hung out and lived as a teenager (hmmm... fun to look at it from the other side), and with some family that I haven't seen in years. Really. Over 20 years.

Anyway, I love my new Flip video camera and I've been playing with Windows Movie Maker. It's fun and pretty easy to figure out.

So here's a long (the full version is 45 minutes) snippet of my weekend. Hope you enjoy!

DHS only

One Week From Today...

2008-09-25T07:18:00.003-05:00

I'll be leaving on a jet plane. I DO know when I'll be back again.

I'm going to my high school reunion. Desert High School class of 1980. There I said it out loud for the mighty Internet to hear. Home of the fighting Scorpions.

Issues...? I have a few. I have a recurring nightmare that nothing/no one will ring a bell. Nothing but crickets chirping in my brain. That I will remember absolutely nothing. If that's the case, it's going to be a very long weekend. Then there are the usual chick issues (which, btw, my husband has dealt with very well). You know, things like, "Will I have a bad hair day/week?", "Am I wearing the right outfit?", "Can I really stand to wear these shoes all day?", "How am I going to fit in a mani/pedi before we go?". Shallow, huh?

Then there's the whole take care of everything before I leave thing. Things like write a book explaining to my mom where the kids have to be and what they need to do every minute of the time I'll be gone. Medical power of attorney, insurance cards, maps to birthday parties and other kid events. Then there's packing for 5 people and the dog (he's going to a friend's house). Jeez, I'm getting tense all over again.

Could any trip possibly be worth all this? I'm not setting the bar (of expectations) too high. It is what it is. If the reunion is a bomb (for me anyway)we aren't far from Los Angeles at all. I'll be alone with my husband for 5 days straight (2 of those days will be in an airport!). I'm going to see some family I haven't seen in oh... about 25 years. Those are all great things that make this trip very worthwhile.

Maybe I'll re-read this post next Tuesday or Wednesday when I'm having a screaming hissy in my attempt to get everything taken care of.....

The Amazing Amazon Kindle

2008-09-24T16:56:00.003-05:00

So maybe this blog is becoming one big advertisement. If so, I'm a terrible business person-no compensation for me!

If you haven't heard of the Amazon Kindle ebook, go straight to amazon.com and watch the video! If you are a reader, prepare to be in serious want.

Oh precious Kindle, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

1. Space. You can store 200 books on this thing and that doesn't even count adding in an SD card.

2. Newspapers and Magazines. For a monthly fee, you can subscribe to many newspapers (our Orlando Slantinel, oops, excuse me) is available for only $5.99/month. Much less than the home delivery price. I haven't subscribed as of yet, see above comment. I have subscribed to Readers Digest. That makes me sound old, huh? My Grandma got me hooked on those!

3. Samples. Any book you are interested in, you can download a sample (usually a couple of chapters) for free.

4. Speaking of free, how about free internet? This baby uses Sprint wireless to get you to your email, blogs, etc. Now it's only black and white and you need to use the mobile version of your email, but did you hear me say free????

5. Makes my waiting time oh so much more bearable. Let me say simply this about that. Study hall monitor. Four periods. Enough said?

Downsides? I really haven't found any yet. Maybe the price. Maybe I'm spending more on books (the most expensive book I've purchased was NY Times best seller Audition by Barbara Walters and it was only $9.99). There is plenty of free content out there. I recently uploaded about 25 classics (based on a Harvard reading list) all for free. Sweet.

Bottom line? File this under better than an Iphone. Really.

(btw, the cover doesn't come that way, I decorated it myself! Yup, I'm crafty that way...)

Wacky Wednesday

2008-09-17T19:37:00.001-05:00

So maybe it is because I was a theater kid. I don't know. I still have this side of me that's wacky, funky and a little too young for my age.

I had to order Katelyn some fingerless gloves for a play she's doing. In case you're wondering, it's an 80's style Midsummer Night's Dream. (Yup, can't wait to see that one.) Anyway, I saw these while I was ordering and they jumped in my cart. Since I'm being youngish anyway, I heart them! <3 <3 <3 (For you ancients, those are not less than symbols and 3's, those are hearts!)

I think the closer my high school reunion gets, the more I'm regressing. I'm totally feeling some valley girl coming on. If you don't know what that is, your mom is probably calling you to dinner right now...

Why is wrong thinking so hard to get rid of???

2008-09-15T10:44:00.002-05:00

I'm gonna make some wild confessions here.

Two years ago, I started a wild and wonderful journey. I started a healthful diet and exercise program. I lost a crazy 100 pounds (and still had just a few to go). I was training for a triathalon. Okay so it was less than a sprint tri, but a tri just the same! For the first month, I can honestly say I hated every minute of it. Really. Cussing under my breath every single second. I played mind tricks to push myself. "If you still think you're dying in 10 minutes, you can quit" (the first 15 minutes of any exercise always kills me) Then after a full month of exercise 5 days a week, I had a breakthrough. Something switched in my brain. I loved it. I found my inner jock. I never had an inner jock. I was in the band and drama in high school. In fact I can't remember taking a PE class. I must have... My tri goal seemed like it would happen. I wasn't going to place, or break any records, but I was going to finish and not dead last!

Then Pete's mom got sick. The whole world fell off its axis while we scrambled. The Y was not even an option. We were in survival mode and eating out of hospital vending machines. Does anyone else see the irony in the crappy, nutritionally devoid food they serve in a hospital? The fall off the wagon was long and painful.

It's been 5 months since my mother-in-law's death. We sure miss her.

Am I exercising again? Yes and no. The mental battle is worse than before. On what planet is that fair?

This morning started out poorly. Heading for a craptastic day early on. Last night I had packed my bag for the Y. I had planned to go to a water boot camp class that I really enjoy. Good thing I packed that bag, because I never would have gotten it together this morning. But the battle raged on. I felt horrible. Headache, nausea, I took a new vitamin/herbal supplement and felt jittery. Excuses? I've got a gazillion of 'em. Even though I know how good the exercise makes me feel when it's done, the battle still rages.
.
So I played the head game again. "Head toward the Y." "If you feel worse at the next light, you can head home." All the way there. Made it to the parking lot. "You have your bathing suit on, all you have to do is go relax in the pool, no pressure." The water was lovely. Perfect in fact. There's an open lane. "Maybe I'll just swim a couple of laps before class starts." I got in 20 laps and the boot camp class and it felt even better than I remembered.

I will fight another day (tomorrow is spinning class which I love dispite the spandex shorts).

Sunday, Day of Rest?

2008-09-14T12:41:00.003-05:00

I suppose it's a matter of what you call rest. In my opinion, a day of rest is any day that I don't have the whole day scheduled to the minute.

The only thing on the agenda today was worship. Mind you, that's not a duty to be crossed off the list for me. It's a time of refreshing, a time to check in with friends that are busy during the week like me. A time to bring home a thought, idea, or spiritual lesson to be pondered, prayed over and applied to my daily life.

Now that worship is done, what will the day hold? If all goes well, my husband and I will have a productive date. We will head off to 2 grocery stores (one because it has cheap Kashi and South Beach products and one because they have great produce). After we drop off the groceries (it's good to have big kids who unload and put away!), we'll head off to my favorite (for the moment) chain restaurant - Qdoba to finish off our time together, before we both tackle the busy week to come.

I think it's so easy for couples during this stage of life (you know, the stage with kids) to be too busy to connect as much as we need to. Much like the refreshing time I get from corporate worship, I need that focused time with my husband as well. It starts my week out on the right foot, each of us knowing what the week holds for each other as we are pushed in different directions.

Is Our Health Care System Broken?

2008-09-09T15:31:00.002-05:00

I swear I'm not going to get political on this one. Upfront I'll say that having been employed in the health care field, I am adamantly opposed to socialized medicine. I do NOT want the government making my health care decisions. I will say that I believe that is where we are rapidly heading, because people are so desperate and frustrated with the current system.

Okay, stepping off my soapbox now...

As I've mentioned before, we've spent our summer learning new and exciting medical terminology. Terms that even as a medical professional, I was not familiar with. We went in for a follow up with the neurologist today. More obscure terms and the realization that genetics are very complicated! Bottom line is that we need to see a hematologist and a geneticist. The specialists that we were referred to specifically, are so specialized that they really don't want to see your average Joe. In fact upon hearing Katelyn's initial diagnosis, their reaction was that 10 percent of the population has that and without clinical findings, it's really not that interesting. Fortunately, I understood enough to say, "ooh but we have clinical findings!" After hearing more, and with the promise of the faxed records to back my story up, they will consider hearing our case and offer an opinion.

Oh boy...

Then it was the phone call to our pediatrician to deal with all the insurance paperwork that it's going to take to be allowed to see these specialists- assuming they grant us an appointment. So even though the neurologist feels the other doctors are important, everything must be cleared by the pediatrician.

How many phone calls does it take to get an appointment? The world (mostly me) may never know... I spent 2 hours on the phone this afternoon and still don't have a single appointment. I did get a really great genetics lesson from a sweet and wonderful soul (a genetics counselor) at Dr. Wheeler's office. She said that most likely this is all much ado about nothing. Really that's what I needed to hear. It will make the waiting much more tolerable. Because waiting is as far as I can get right now.

Remember that nice bullet pointed list yesterday? Yea, the stuff I was hoping to get done... Not even close. Took care of the 2 medical appointments. That's it. Two productive days in a row? Nope, not here, not now.

Once in awhile it happens...

2008-09-08T20:51:00.002-05:00

but just once in awhile.

I'm talking about having a day where I feel like I've actually accomplished something. Maybe even a couple of somethings. Most days feel like I've just spun my wheels all day.

There are lots of odds and ends to wrap up before Pete and I head off to the California desert in less than a month. When you are a mom, you don't get ready to leave by just packing your bag. I've got my stuff to contend with, plus the stuff of 4 others. In my younger, pre-family days, I could often put things off until the last possible nanosecond. Those days are long gone.

What did I take care of today?

-shopping for a special occasion dress for a 15 year old

-costume requirement for the above mentioned 15 year old

-marketing strategies mapped out for my husband's business

-making a table in MS Word with the help of a friend. Yay Linda!

-PSAT and PLAN tests scheduled and paid for again for the 15 year old

-MS Word reinstalled on my laptop (after massive hard drive failure)

What's left to get done tomorrow?

-bills, ick

-attack the disaster that I call my desk

-execute the maketing strategies

-rental car reservations for California

-hotel reservations for California

-homeschool reports for child #3

All this needs to get done in between finding time to exercise (oh spin class how I long to attend tomorrow), 2 children's doctor appointments, and assorted school instruction/direction.

When I type it all out, I begin to understand why on earth I can't manage to keep my eyes open past 10 p.m.

Latest Vera Aquisition

2008-09-06T19:46:00.003-05:00

I haven't really talked about my love/obsession with all things Vera Bradley on this blog. So I'll just jump in.

My latest additions to my collection are the Chain Link Handbag in Espresso and the Tote in Puccini. I can't say how much I love both of these. I am also getting a lot of use out of my Caffe Latte Messenger and Out to Lunch bag. I carry them with me to school every Wednesday (packed with stuff to keep me occupied while I'm monitoring Study Hall).

Carrying the Chain Link bag helps me feel a little less like frumpy old mom and gives me just a little sass and style. This forty-something will take everybit of that I can get, thank you very much.

It's that time of year...

2008-09-05T20:43:00.006-05:00

Time for class reunions. I'm working on booking tickets to mine. Where did I go to high school, you ask?

Desert High School, home of the fighting Scorpions!

No, that's not a joke. It's an actual high school located in the Mojave Desert. More specifically Edwards Air Force Base. You know, where the space shuttle lands when the Florida thing doesn't work out so well.

I haven't been back to the desert in a really, really long time. Think longer than 20 years (that's as much as I'm giving up). It was a great place to be a teenager. My memories are all good. I'm looking forward to sharing some roots with my husband.

The ticket booking is stressing me out. Do I fly into Palmdale (it's been a long time since I've tackled LA traffic-yikes!)? Burbank? Las Vegas? Really, it's all the same price and either way you slice it, it's a long dang trip from Florida. I have decided where we will stay. Whoopie, 1 whole decision made. Of course there is the real burning question all us women must face... What will I wear????

Election Ups and Downs

2008-09-04T18:47:00.003-05:00

I'd like to promise you that this will be my last political post... but it probably won't be.

I got so mad the other day watching the convention reporting on Fox. Now I know all you good liberals out there are screaming at your computer right now... "why were you watching Fox????". Oh come on now. They are all slanted. I am more convinced than ever that there is absolutely no unbiased media to be found in this entire country. In fact here's what would happen in Shelly's perfect world: There would be several news channels. One called RPC (Republican Party Channel), DPC (you get it, right? Democratic Party Channel), the Independents and the Libertarians would probably come up with more entertaining names. Then I want them to play the news without inviting dissenting parties to argue with. That way I know exactly what I'm getting and I don't have to watch the talking heads have a stroke while arguing with "the enemy". I'll watch them all with their slants, and decide on my own which way I want to swing.

Never gonna happen, is it?

Anyway, back to Fox. I was watching Tuesday morning because to be honest, I wanted to hear the latest drama going on with Mrs. Palin. Megyn Kelly, co-anchor of America's Newsroom, was interviewing Liz Trotta, Professor of Media at New School University (I have never heard of this place, have you?). Let me just try to embed this clip...

http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3062313&referralPlaylistId=search|gender%20bias

(stupid blogger. Couldn't embed it, but there's the link)

Did you see it? Megan Kelly (as a supposedly unbiased member of the media) lost her crap. She was way too busy being offended.

Why can't we all just quit the politically correct stuff and be honest here. I think it's an unfortunate, but honest question to raise. How does one mother 5 children and do one of the most demanding jobs in our great nation??? I know dang well that no one poses that question of a man. Let's get real again. What father do you know leaves for work and says to his wife, "hmmm... what are we doing with Janie Sue today? Should I pack her lunch and pick out an outfit for her?" None, nada, zip, huh. It's really just not the way things work in our culture. Granted there are exceptions. Something about pregnancy and childbirth just makes the mom more prone to taking care of the kid business. Who usually picks the daycare, school, etc., etc.? Right or wrong, it falls on the mom. To call it otherwise is to be seriously out of touch, not sexist, Ms. Kelly. Why is it a crime to say, "How are you going to handle it all?". I'd love to hear her answer. I'm betting she has one and wouldn't back away from that question.

In the name of tolerance and being politically correct, we're just lying and covering up what we really think. I thought what made this country great was that we can all have our own unique opinions. Just because we may disagree doesn't mean we must be offended! I can disagree with you without being offended by you. When did we become so thin skinned? Seriously.

I listened to Gov. Palin's address last night. She's spunky and tough and yet still very much a woman. I don't feel that way about Mrs. Clinton. She's just tough in my book. I don't connect with her as a woman. If I believe that a woman can do that job (whoo boy, I just treaded into dangerous waters), I believe Gov. Palin can. Can she handle the media? I think she's shown us she can.

And everyone getting upset about this whole Tina Fey thing. Oh for crying out loud. The first thing I said when I saw the picture of Gov. Palin was "Tina Fey has got a great gig for at least 4 years if McCain/Palin wins this thing!". That's nothing to take offense at either. It's just show biz people! Comedians have made fun of politicians for decades in this country. We aren't above poking at our own.

Lighten up folks! And as Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that.".

What do you call a woman who is the opposite of a feminist????

2008-09-01T18:49:00.002-05:00

Is she a chauvinist? Go ahead and call me one. Maybe you should just call me a hypocrite right up front too.

I'm just sorting out my thoughts about this whole Gov. Palin thing. Am I shocked about a 17 year old girl being pregnant? Aw heck no. It can happen in absolutely any family, mine included. It's a mistake, plain and simple. One that numerous teens have made.

Here's what I find troubling about the whole situation. That 17 year old child is going to get ripped to shreds, chewed up, and spit out only to be raked over the coals. And that's just what the conservatives will do to her. I feel that the conservatives (of which I claim to be one) tend to eat their own young (which I do not condone). The liberals are dancing in the streets. Come on now, this is the stuff of Obama's dreams. He even came off quite gallant when telling the press that this was off limits. He looked like the cat who ate the canary. When Governor Palin put herself out there to be governor and then a vice presidential candidate, she offered up her whole family. Particularly a member she had to know was "gonna get it". Did she tell McCain? What was he thinking? Is he belting back some good stiff drinks today? Hmm... I've got a lot of questions.

Here's where my struggle with feminism comes in. We aren't exactly the same as men. We can be equally important, but very different. We can get pregnant. Men can't (I'm not counting the fake ones on the Internet or the one People magazine tried to pass off as a man-no man has a uterus thank you very much). Does this mean we are not "equal" to or have the same rights as men? Nope. But it does make our life very complicated. When we elect a woman to one of the highest offices in our country, we get a few complications. Men more easily distance themselves from their families. I'm not saying it's right, it's just how it is. It's not politically correct for me to bring this up, but it's my blog and a free country, so I can say what I think. Women come with children, PMS, post pregnancy bodies, hormone surges, and "mama guilt" (you know all that stuff we somehow think is our fault). I haven't noticed my husband having all those same issues in the 16 years we've been married. Maybe I'm an unobservant dolt.

My wonderful mother-in law (good liberal that she was - who passed away in April, before Obama had firmed up the nomination) told me that if Ms. Clinton got the nomination, McCain was definitely going to be our next president. She was 89 and lived through all the civil rights struggles and believed our country would much sooner elect a black man before a woman. At the time, I found it interesting she couldn't imagine that a woman had a shot at it. I'd chew off my right arm now to hear what she'd have to say about all this.

Maybe Bristol Palin is a very, very, very strong young woman. Her mom's gotta be some kind of tough too. I know it makes me a horrible feminist, but I could never put my daughter in that position. I'd give up my career advancement before I'd knowingly send my daughter to the wolves.

I'm not a career woman. Really all I ever wanted to be was a wife and mom. I haven't held a "real" job in 16 years. Maybe I'm completely and totally out of touch with working women. Because of my lifestyle and homeschooling, I'm surrounded by SAHMs. My sister works. My mom was a working single mom. But I just can't imagine subjecting my family to the scrutiny. No job would ever be that important to me. Especially when our family was going through some rough waters. I would have told Mr. McCain, "I'm sorry, now is not my time, I'm going to have to pass." Of course that kind of attitude would have never gotten me to be a governor, now would it?

See I'm conflicted. Truthfully, I long for those days when we swept all this stuff under the rug. It was your private business and we all kept our noses out of it. It was a kinder, gentler nation then, wasn't it?

See....it's complicated.

I'm Gonna Get this Off My Chest in a Public Forum Just Because I Can...

2008-08-30T15:35:00.003-05:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

A day when the emotions ran the complete gamut. From extreme pride (a significant rite of passage in our society, obtaining your learner's permit) to extreme fear (a doctor fearing your child has a brain tumor). It's a day just like our wedding day, the birth of 4 children, the Christmas we almost lost Parker, that will be burned into my mind forever.

This child is a stellar student (and she'll have to be to accomplish all that God has called her to). A visual problem never hit my radar. Ever. She taught herself to read at 3 years old. No credit to me. She just did it. She reads like a fiend. I did the usual homeschool thing and took her to the eye doctor in Kindergarten. Fine, no problems.

But after her struggle with the eye test at the DMV, I was shocked. When our eye doctor suspected a brain tumor, called our pediatrician and sent us directly to the ER, well there just aren't words for those feelings. They sent us home with no answers, but they did know that Katelyn had almost no peripheral vision on her right side. We had a big medical term: Hemonymous Hemiopsia, but no rhyme or reason or idea of what it all really meant. My medical background did not serve me well here. It was one of those times ignorance would have been bliss. I went over and over what I could have missed and wondered if they were missing a brain tumor. What if, what if, what if ad nauseum...

After a gazillion phone calls to get appointments with just the right doctor. We got the news. A stroke, probably in utero or shortly after birth. In hind sight, I feel bad for the doctor who gave us the news. The word stroke is never a word you expect to hear in a sentance talking about your child. We must have looked like he slapped us with a 2x4. I really couldn't come up with an intelligent question (boy that was new for me, I've always got questions for doctors). We left the office and headed across the street to a pizza joint. It was all I could do to keep my crap together (and I didn't do it all that well). Somehow, this had to be my fault. Did I take a tylenol when I shouldn't have? Was her beautiful, planned homebirth a big fat mistake? I never ate food as heavy as that day in the pizza joint.

I'm forever grateful for our church family and our wonderful pastor. www.touchandchange.com
He put it in perspective for me. Katelyn is not and never will be "ours". God has a plan for her life and though we are her earthly custodians for a very short time, we are on a need to know basis with God. And He proved Himself faithful to us once again. When she was in danger (for her, driving a car would be a huge danger!) He made sure we had the necessary info at the perfect time. He has a plan for her and cares for her in a way our earthly and human hearts can't even really comprehend.

Here's the thing that kills me most. This kid worked hard to pass that test. She wanted so badly to drive just like any other kid her age. Did her whole life fall apart? Nope. I saw her shed a few tears, but you want to know why? Because she wanted to lift the burden of some of my chauffeuring duties and was disappointed she wouldn't be able to. Maybe she grieves in private. She's always been kind of private with her feelings. Maybe we'll grieve all over again when ALL her friends and her younger brother have their licenses. I don't know.

I do know that she's one of the coolest/best kids I know. I was proud for her to take the city bus all by herself and be able to have a modicum of independence. I'm thankful for the grace under fire that God has given her. Will this be a stumbling block to her dreams/goals/plans for the future? No. I've got way too much faith in this child to believe that for a second. If you know her, you know just how cool of a kid she is.

By the way, we went back to that dreaded pizza joint, just her and I and ate a delicious meal after everything had settled down a bit. It felt good to me to do that.

Weekly Crafting Update

2008-08-30T15:21:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd post each week about what projects I've completed for the week. I've often got several things brewing at a time, but I'll just post what I've finished.

The first picture is a washcloth/dishcloth and hand/dish towel gift set. I completed these in my all day study hall monitor session. It's a pretty retro avocado green that is much prettier IRL without my poor photography skills. The pattern can be found for free at

http://tabitha-web.tripod.com/Patterns/EmeraldsLace.pdf.

I love her website and she has several beautiful, free patterns.

The cards were all completed at classes or meetings held by the best Stampin' Up! demonstrator I know and a kind and wonderful friend, Linda Heller. If you're looking to getting into card making, let me know and I'll give you her info. Out of ten thousands of demonstrators for Stampin' Up! I'm proud to say she's number 55 (I think). Super talented too.

That was a bit of a commercial, wasn't it. I didn't intend that, I just got excited. Hope you have a project going that gives you pleasure.

Bigfoot Sighting

2008-08-30T14:25:00.003-05:00

Thursday afternoons are free at the Orlando Museum of Art. For the youngest patrons they offer Creative Stations and this week's project was a collage of the work of William Joyce, most famous for his drawing of Rollie Poly Ollie, George Shrinks and Dinosaur Bob. You'd have to be watching a bit of Disney channel and have a 4-10 year old to really have a clue. There were other fine things to see like an African exhibit of native costumes and bead work and some fabulous sculpture. I couldn't get a picture of my favorite glass sculpture because a docent was standing right by it and fussed when I brought out my camera. Why is photography forbidden??? Oh well, I took this one before I got caught. It was a fun Thursday afternoon diversion. I think those 3 children standing there were truly the greatest works of art in the whole place. (naw, I'm not a proud mama)

History in the Making

2008-08-29T19:42:00.003-05:00

It has been an exciting 24 hours historically speaking. First Barak Obama accepts the Democratic nomination and becomes our first African American presidential candidate. Then McCain follows up with Sarah Palin (governor of Alaska) as a running mate. No matter who wins the election, we get historical significance!

I confess I did not watch the convention all week. I did watch last night. I wanted to hear Obama's speech. I felt the historical significance. It must have been an amazing moment as a human being for Obama to step out onto that platform last night. The whole scene felt very scripted and directed to me. I thought the bio beforehand was a beautiful piece of cinematography. I have never seen pictures of his mom and she was very beautiful.

I got a chuckle when he talked about the disadvantage of his name. I think my very favorite moment was when at the beginning he acknowledged his wife and the camera catches his youngest daughter excitedly poking her mom as if to say "Mom, Mom, he's talking about you!!!!!".

My opinions about last night are mostly apolitical and mostly mom thoughts. Although I don't agree with him on numerous points, I do agree with him that politics in America is broken. I want change, but I don't think Obama can deliver. Can McCain? I don't know...

I'll be reading up more on Governor Palin. I want to like her and the snippets that the talking heads are buzzing about make her out to be just what McCain needs. Can we just have her instead?

On the other hand a mom like me says, "how in the heck do you lead our country with a 4 month old baby???" That's sexist of me isn't it? I've never claimed to be a feminist. Ask my daughters. I've always told them that you CANNOT have it all. Something will suffer. No judgement on the Governor. Maybe she's just a better woman that I am. I'll say she's tougher, just based on the fact that I could never, no way, no how live in Alaska. I'd love to visit, but my Florida blood could never survive the winters.

The next couple of months I'll be watching and listening. Trying to tune out the yammering of the pundits, analysts, talk show hosts and every talking head that wants to chime in with their own 2 cents. I'll be forming my own opinions and not spouting off what is fed to me. And after swearing that I'd never be able to cast a vote for either party (for the first election since I've of been of legal voting age) I'll do my research and cast my vote.

That my friends is what makes these United States great.

This is my face on drugs....

2008-08-28T09:20:00.003-05:00

What kind of doofus posts a picture this horrible/unflattering? Someone who's doped up on Novocaine from the dentist of course! Did I mention how much I despise going to the dentist? I have the world's sweetest dentist. A result of his sweetness and desire to never hurt a fly, he numbed the heck out of me for what turned out to be a fairly minor procedure. So here I sit, biting my cheek, drooling and looking like the victim of a stroke. Sheesh! Lilli keeps looking at me funny. I hope its gone before I have to get the big kids. You know teens... how dare I show up looking like that!

Interesting note... a local pastor Joel Hunter (from Northland, A Church Distributed and also where my whole brood attended preschool) was tapped for the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention. That's interesting enough in itself, local boy makes the big time and all. What I find more interesting is that he is very pro-life and his congregation (large) is what I would condsider very conservative. He has stated he is not making an endorsement. He's taking a lot of heat from the local press. I say why not? (not for the media heat, but for the prayer opportunity) Another interesting note about Joel Hunter. The man is an absolute genious when it comes to remembering names. Long ago I taught Bible at the church for the preschoolers. I used a classroom next door to his office. I introduced myself once, and he always called me by name after that. I think that is such a gift! One I don't have myself.

Enough politics for today.

Rain, Rain Go Away...

2008-08-22T18:21:00.003-05:00

This has been the view out of my front window for at least the past 3 days. I'm over it. Completely and totally. Did I mention that I'm over it? Fay is not my friend. She can pack her bags and get the heck out of my state. At this point I don't even mind if she goes and plays with someone else as long as she leaves me alone.

On the plus side, unlike the terrible trio (that would be Hurricanes Charlie, Francis and Jeanne) of 2004, we have suffered no damage (if you exclude psychological). Also, it makes for wonderful knitting, sleeping and tv watching (mostly Olympics). My husband has been home and getting me coffee and such (yes points for him). So all is not lost I suppose. Many places are without power in our area but our air is running great and we've not really even had an interruption in the satellite tv signal. Really for the joy that is living in Florida, it's not too bad of a price to pay. I'll be strongly reminded of that come January and February when I'm seeing national news coverage of various blizzards while we spend weekends at the beach or using our Universal passes in shorts and short sleeved t-shirts.

Rant over. I've counted my blessings and come out quite a bit ahead.

Long time no blog...

2008-08-21T20:05:00.003-05:00

Lame, I know. Do I have an excuse? Not really. Life moves at an extremely fast pace. So, I'm starting over and I'm going to do my best to document life in my little part of this big world.

Summer is over! The kids and I have discussed how we feel that we kind of missed summer this year. We lost Pete's mom in April. We hadn't even begun to recover from that when we learned that Katelyn had a stroke (probably in utero) and has no peripheral vision and will never drive a car. All of April and most of May was spent either in the hospital or at doctor's appointments. I think we spent most of June in a vegetative state of shock and recovery. Which brought us to July and the big kids went off to church camp. It was Parker's first year and I'll confess I was more than a little nervous for/about him. He seemed to enjoy it and despite a flat tire on the way home, everyone made it home safe and sound and a good time was had by all.

So here it is August. We are 2 weeks into school. It feels really great to be back into the routine of it all. I completely fell off the diet and exercise bandwagon during all the hoorah and it's time to get cracking again. I've gained about 20 pounds back. I really hate having to re-loose it, but I've got to tell you, it's darn near impossible to eat in a healthy manner from hospital vending machines or cafeterias. Seriously, I've never seen greasier or more sugar and fat laden food as I saw in the hospital cafeteria. Who needs to be slapped?

We had a really great family picture session at the beach recently. The photos are on a cd somewhere on this pile of stuff on my desk. I will find it and post some soon. I really love the pictures. We plan to pick one to enlarge and hang in Pete's demo room at the shop. Guess I need to get on that!

I have a knitting blog and a stamping blog, but for now I think I will just post everything here. Maybe I'll have better luck keeping up with just 1 blog instead of 3.

As I post this we are being hammered by Tropical Storm Fay. Man, she's a tough one for a tropical storm. By the time it is over they are forcasting that we will have had 15 inches of rain in our town. At the rate it's going, I'm thinking that's a conservative guess. Makes great sleeping and coffee drinking weather for sure.

I found the picture cd. For some reason that only blogger knows, they are posted at the top.

Father's Day

2007-06-28T08:40:00.000-05:00

Father's Day this year included a "Daddy Daughter Dance" at the Y. Lilli decided she would like "curlies" for the occasion. Thank God for sponge rollers!
Here they are ready for their Saturday night date. Katelyn was not really interested in going, but she provided the jewelery for Lilli's ensemble. I thought it was a very sweet gesture.
Sunday afternoon? Ummmm.... yea, he's asleep in the Lazyboy with a book in his lap. For Pete, that's darn close to Heaven.

Shop Space

2007-06-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

Months ago, Pete and I decided that our 2 new businesses (his home theater and my embroidery) had officially over run our home. There were piles and stacks everywhere. The hardest hit was the porch. After months of searching and praying then praying some more, we rented shop space. A front space for me with windows and a glass door and a back office for him. In exchange for painting ourselves the landlord gave us a month free. Sweet. I picked a Stampin' Up! color called Cool Carribean. I really like it. Pete hasn't painted his area yet. This is my embroidery machine (above).
With much thanks to my friend Linda I learned the glories of slatwall. Look how nice and neat all my hoops, threads and tools are. I can grab anything I need in a flash. Do you know how much faster the jobs get done when I don't have to dig through several boxes before I find what I need? The door on the right is the door to Pete's space. It also serves as storage for all my punches. That's right, I moved all my stampin' stuff to the shop too. You'll have to go to my stamping blog to see that. Pete was concerned that I'd miss my crafty stuff. Truth be told, I love it at the shop. First off, it gives me something to do while the machine runs (you can only watch the thing sew so much!). Second of all, stamping and scrapbooking is a get-a-way for me. I love getting way from the house to stamp and scrap! Linda and I made the table skirts and curtains for the front window. I hate sewing but I'm really glad I did. I don't know how I would have done it without Linda! She shopped with me and ironed and pinned and cut and tried to make sense of the measurments with me. That's a true friend!

A Wonderful birthday!

2007-06-09T21:59:00.000-05:00

We won't be mentioning how old I am. If you really want to know, Lilli sings like a canary. I had gotten away with telling her a much younger age for a long time, but Pete spilled the beans! Mom took us all to Osaka, a local Japanese steakhouse. I had steak, lobster, and shrimp, hold the noodles and rice. Man was it fabulous. Mom, G.G. and the whole Morris clan came. The day before I got some birthday and weight loss money. Pete took me to the Coach outlet where I bought myself a Coach purse and makeup bag. From Mom I got a new denim Vera purse and wallet. Joy picked me out some wonderful jewelry (which I have gotten many compliments on every time I wear it!). GG gave me cash which went towards some knitting supplies.
That was all Memorial Day weekend. On my real birthday, I had to spend some time at the shop doing some embroidery. While I was gone, the kids did a CRAZY great clean up job on the house (in fact I wish it was still that clean) and surprised me by jumping out when I came in. There was also a banner on the door that said "Celebratin' going on inside!". Cute, huh? Katelyn made the tissue paper flowers and they are very pretty. Pete gave me an Ipod Nano for the Y, which I love and immediately downloaded my Mother's day cd "Donny Osmond Sings the Love Songs of the 70's". Yup. Still love Donny. So I'm old and pathetic. There's a certain satisfaction to being so old that you don't care that you are pathetic and uncool. It's rather freeing!

So it was a great birthday, despite the fact that I am no longer 29...

Yup, Pirates part deux...

2007-06-09T21:54:00.000-05:00

Um, how many people do you know look like this at church on Sunday morning. If you go to CCC, you know a lot more than you'd think! It was our first even sequel. Legacy, part II. It was a spin off on the Disney ride. Pete even got pulled up out of a well and spit water! Pirates and spitting in church! Crazy, yet fun and meaningful. Maybe you had to be there, or at least watch it online. Won't be long before the birthday (the church's). Can't wait for that one.

A Bowling Birthday

2007-06-09T21:47:00.000-05:00

Here we are in our classic family birthday pose. I worked hard on those bowling shirts and you can't even see the embroidery! I should have thought about that when we posed! Oh well. I made cute pink mini bowling bag purses for all the girls too with their initials on them. They were so cute I made myself one! There was bowling, eating, cake and a sleepover (although there wasn't much sleeping at all!). I can't believe that 14 years ago I was holding a tiny newborn. Dang, time flies!

Annie Get Your Gun

2007-06-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

Nope, this is not a call to arms. It's Katelyn in her first school musical. They really did an incredible job. A lot of talent in this group for sure. I was really impressed by the professionalism of the production. Kudos to all involved especially Ms. Tracy who was the director extrodinaire! Look how cute my big girl is!

He's Perfect!!!

2007-04-28T13:18:00.000-05:00

Not once, but twice!!!!!! Today was the big State Bible Drill. He had to do a drill last weekend at our church just to be able to attend this one. The first drill he got a perfect score which moved him up to Super Drill. One more nerve wracking drill and he comes up with a perfect score again. You know it's hard to find a specific portion of scripture in 10 seconds. Especially when you have 1 hand! I can't do it with 2 hands! One of the judges said that she told a kid who was complaining of a sprained finger to "suck it up" after she saw Parker. We are so proud of him. We are going to celebrate with dinner at the restaurant of his choice- Osaka. A japanese, cook it at your table place. It is a very good day!

I Did It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-21T08:58:00.000-05:00

Fitness Goal number one achieved!!! I walked a 5K this morning. You can see my finish time. I was hoping to get in under an hour. Maybe I should have run that last little bit. Yea, right!!!!!!! Katelyn finished at 55 and change and my good friend Kimberly took a dive and let me go first, finishing right after me. That's true friendship!

What has this taught me? A lot. I am learning to trust my body. I can be out of breath, tired, sore, muscles hurting and not die. (I used to think I would) Being tired from exercise feels good. It's not really like being tired at all. I do have a competative inner jock and I kind of like her. I love my Y and the people there.

What's next? I really want to do the Danskin Women's Triathlon at Disney in May of 2008. It's not even a sprint level Tri (I can't believe I know that!). Quarter mile swim, 9 mile bike, 2 mile run. I've got a year to get ready. The trainers at the Y say it's possible (hard work, but possible). I've really got to brush up on my swimming (which will be fun for the summer anyway). And figure out a way to ride my bike without my behind protesting greatly! Rode a mile on Monday and thought I'd have a bruise for sure!

Am I dreaming big? Yup. But I've come along way, so I have reason for hope!

It's Saturday morning, 10 am, I've finished a 5k, had coffee, looked at the pictures and blogged about it. And that my friends feels great!

I know it's a lame excuse...

2007-04-16T12:47:00.000-05:00

But it's all I've got! This beauty, this whopping, hulking, waaaaay heavy piece of commercial grade machinery is a small part of why I haven't blogged in almost a year. It's a commercial embroidery machine. I can embroider on whatever you'd like. Tshirts, bags, towels, hats,... you get the idea. I'd like to say it's making me a rich woman. I can't. I'm working on it. The sucker comes with a learning curve you wouldn't believe.

Lots of other stuff too. The kids are busy. Which means I'm busy with chauffeur duties. I don't mind, I can always find some knitting time while I'm waiting for them. Soon (like in 2 weeks) we will be done with school and maybe the days will slow down a bit. Probably not, but one must hope.

Big lifestyle changes too. Ended up in the hospital the end of January having chest pains. In fact, I really thought I was going to die. I'm fine. But the cardiologist assured me in the plainest of ways that I wouldn't be for long if I didn't do some drastic changing. I've known what I needed to do for a long time and I don't know exactly why I've been able to stick with it so far this time. I'll just count my blessings and ride this wave. So far I've lost 40 pounds, 11.75 inches (4.5 from my waist alone) and have been to the YMCA six days a week for 3 months straight. I feel great. I'm going to do the first athletic thing I've ever done in my adult life. I'm going to walk a 5k this Saturday. I'm excited.

So that's it. I miss posting and I'm going to do better. I love the little record of the daily stuff.

More soon!

Oh my golly! I'm a soccer mom!

2006-10-03T08:59:00.000-05:00

How did that happen? First 2 kids, I somehow escaped the whole soccer thing. Not with Lilli. She's her own gal. Well, that and her 2 best friends are playing.

Our team is the "White Tigers".
Here's Coach Andy and the whole gang. The first game went very well. And although the Y doesn't keep score officially at this age..... mom does! Yup, the White Tigers kicked butt! The other team had a little bit of a time figuring out which goal was theirs.
Here she comes..... Soccer girl!

Couldn't be prouder...

2006-10-03T08:56:00.000-05:00

Of our young man Parker. After 6 long hard years of work (that's half his life folks!) he officially earned his First Degree Black Belt. Wow! Now we have to buy him a new uniform! You get one with a black collar and your name on the back when you hit this level. Fun.

Knight Vision

2006-10-03T08:40:00.000-05:00

Yup, that time of year again. Church birthday time. This year's theme: Knight Vision: One, King, one Lord, one mission! This picture here? Ummm... that's our highly trained, highly professional church staff riding their gallant steeds. The morning included jousting and other games of knightly skill.
Here's Pete and I. Can you believe this is how we went to church? Fun, huh?
The celebration continued with an evening trip to Medieval Times. Here's the kids with the King and the princess.
Hail, hail, the gangs all here. It was really fun. The food was pretty good, the show was great. Our Knight even won! Not just the tournament, but the hand of the fair princess as well. sigh.....

School Days, School days....

2006-10-03T08:34:00.000-05:00

What has happened to my babies? They sure are growing up fast! Here are the pictures of everyone's first day of group classes. Katelyn's schedule is a challenge, but she'll get the hang of it. Lilli is so glad to be back to her "gang", little miss social that she is. Parker is glad to have a group of guys to hang with. So far so good. It's a quick zip to Christmas break!

One last hurrah!

2006-10-03T08:30:00.000-05:00

Here we are. The whole gang. One last blow out before school starts. We went to Pinochio's Marionette Theater. It was great! Kendall and Jordan weren't too sure about it.

We also went bowling and to the Science Center. Then the big finale was Chuckie Cheese. A good time was had by all. Are we ready for school? Darn! The summer sure seemed short!

Can you really call this church?

2006-07-20T18:51:00.000-05:00

Yes, and according to Lilli, "we have the best church in the world!". Our summer Wednesday night series concluded this week with "Speedworld". An evening at a local go kart track. A fine and grand time was had by all. Lilli got a feel for the road (and left quite wound up!).
That's Katelyn zooming out of the picture.
Here is Katelyn coming up on a wipe out.
And Parker, glad to be ahead of his sister who is front and center in a spin out.

This has been a fun summer series. Full of fun and fellowship and not totally without spiritual insight. We visited "Fiestaworld" (tacos and pinata bashing), "Waterworld" (ice cream and water games) and "Gameworld" (board games). Now just a family break and then the big event! The church's birthday event called "Knightvision". Can't wait.

A Recipe

2006-07-05T12:33:00.000-05:00

for July 4th fun. Ingredients: cousins (how ever many you have), water (as much as your water bill will allow, preferably ice cold!), some balloons (for filling with said water and tossing), enough food to feed a small country, and fireworks. Mix all ingredients and enjoy!

Kendall being schooled in the fine art of watermelon seed spitting.
Look out! Baby with a water bomb!
Relaxing and chilin' with Uncle Pete.

A good time was had by all.

How to or...

2006-07-05T12:26:00.000-05:00

or how NOT to slip and slide. Jordan wins. He's the champ. Uncle Mike gets points for bravery and manning the hose.

Insert "Jaws" Music Here

2006-06-27T16:03:00.000-05:00

Sure she's cute. Lookin good in her suit and googles. BUT... this girl is fearless in the water. While I was innocently sitting on the pool steps (with a firm grip on girlfriend's swimsuit straps) I had to make a quick reach with my other hand to save Lilli. Somehow, when I looked down at Kendall, she was on her back, about 6 inches under, looking at me, calm as could be. Now it was one of those moments that happen in an instant. I snatched her out. Her back, thankfully was to me and she was facing my friend Kimberly, who fortunately is a genius and clapped wildly and said, "yay Kendall". While I'm trying to remember to breathe again and get the blood back into my head. She spit once I think and was ready to go again. She'll jump in too. Look out for this one folks!

Home Safe and Sound

2006-06-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

Yup, it was a strange week. We missed her. The kid we've had around the longest. The experimental child. She had a seriously great time. We have new respect for LeeAnn, "the youth guy". She's got guts and patience that woman!

We celebrated with dinner and shakes at Steak and Shake.

Yes Sir, That's My Baby...

2006-06-12T19:54:00.000-05:00

There she is. At the hideous hour of 5:30 a.m. On her way out of state to her first ever church camp. I am so excited for her. I hope she loosens up and has a great time (without getting in trouble of course!). We're all gonna miss her this week, but I'm glad she gets to go. Adults, take some time to wax nostalgic about your summer camp adventures (or misadventures). Fun stuff! If you thing of it, say a prayer for my baby girl and the other kids (15 I think). Mostly pray for the 2 brave adults on the journey with them!

Just 2 More Pictures

2006-06-11T15:16:00.000-05:00

This is me and my bestest cowboy-honey.

Here is Adriano (red shirt, black hat, back to us) accepting a gorgeous prize saddle. So good to see him win one!

Big PBR Night in Orlando!

2006-06-11T14:56:00.000-05:00

There it is... Me and one of my favorite bull riders Mike Lee. He didn't manage to git-r-done last night, but I forgive him! Everyone's allowed an off night.

This is Brendan Clark. Aussie rider from Beyond the Bull fame. Nice accent. Bull riding.... well, we'll cut him some slack...

This is the big opening! "This is no rodeo..... "THIS IS THE P... B.... R....!" Insert grand pyrotechnics and screaming fan noise.

This is Tater Porter, local boy done well in professional bull riding (despite Silver Spurs and others, Florida is not really known for producing a lot of bull riders). He was the host of last night's show.

I didn't manage to get a good picture of my very favorite PBR rider ever... JW Hart. Unfortunately, he didn't ride his bull either. That's okay. I'm a loyaly JW fan and he's still my favorite.

Running a close 2nd, is Austin Meier (as far as my favorite riders go). He's doing so well for being so young! Unfortunately, last night was not his best either. His first bull was a total loser. He stayed on and got a re-ride. They didn't say the bull score or the total score, but if I was a judge, I would have given that bull (named Vickie Did It) about a 10. Seriously, it was sorry. Poor Austin was not a happy cowboy. Alas, the re-ride was not kind to my rider Austin and he ended the night with a no score.

The short go riders were as follows: Clay McIntyre, Jay Palhke, Greg Potter (great ride for 90 points), Tyler Thomson (a promising young Canadian), Jake McIntyre, Steven Shelly, Jason Bennett, Luke Dotson, Jared Farley and the big news of the night... Adriano Moraes. In the long go he rode and got 71 with the option of a re-ride. Took it. Guess what? Next ride, re-ride city. Can you believe Adriano had to ride 3 in the long round. Final score on the last bull 87. Gets him into the short go. Short go he shows us why he's the 2 time champ with a beautiful ride for 92.5 points on the bull Niagra. And takes home the prize!

Is that enough commentary for you? Bet that's more than you ever wanted to know. This fun filled and exciting night was a birthday gift from my favorite cowboy ever... My wonderful, sweet hubby Pete. Thanks for the funnest birthday ever.

They love me, they really love me...

2006-06-02T19:38:00.000-05:00

Yup, here's what the Bible study gals brought me for my birthday. In case you can't tell it's a slurppe with a big bow on it. Do they know me or what? I had a great dinner at Pam's, another feast at my moms and breakfast in bed on the morning of my real birthday. With the exception of getting sick(ear infection, sinus infection, throat infection) is was a great birthday and a good year. In addition, my hubby is taking me to the Challenger Series of the PBR on June 10th to watch some bull riding. YeeHaw!

Oh Sweet Girls Night Out

2006-06-02T19:33:00.000-05:00

Yup, we did it again. This time manis and pedis and dinner at Macaroni Grill. How good is that. There was lots of girl talk and laughing. And of course coffee to top it all off. How about those green toes! They were the bomb! Can't wait for the next time.

The end of an era and a school year...

2006-06-02T19:27:00.000-05:00

Here is Lilli officially finished with her first year of school. Kindergarten. She is very proud to be a First Grader and doesn't quite get the whole summer break thing.

Parker is finishing 5th grade and is headed to a new homeschool group for middle school. He will also be doing some school on the computer this fall.

Katelyn is off to the same middle school group as Parker. She is looking forward to branching out socially.

Katelyn will hate moving on without Coach Benz, quite possibly the best math teacher in the universe. Although Katelyn found him to be a little too "military" at first (what do you expect, he's a West Point Grad), she quickly grew leaps and bounds in her math ability and her appreciation for just the right teacher. She's not sure how math will be without him, even though he assures her she's ready for Algebra.

Family Time

2006-06-02T19:24:00.000-05:00

We felt great need for family time. Dad was on his way to Sioux Falls, SD. Who the heck goes there? Right? Anyway... We decided to go bowling. We had a great time! Lilli darn near beat us all. The computerized scoring and bumpers are way too cool. This in something we need to fit in a little bit more.

Oh yea...

2006-06-02T19:22:00.000-05:00

about the ice skating? Kendall is officially convinced that we have all lost our minds!

Trying something new

2006-06-02T19:18:00.000-05:00

Our end of the year homeschool party this year was at a skating rink. What a fun thing to do with a group of Florida kids! They thought that I was crazy when I told them they needed to take coats with them. It's the middle of May in Florida. Very quickly the were assured of my sanity. Thankfully, their mom hasn't always lived way down south and soon became the official skate lacer. (got to get those ankles tight!) There was a lot of wall hugging going on, but everyone was ready to try it again soon.

Our Musical Stars

2006-06-02T19:16:00.000-05:00

Yup, it was that time again. Time for the Kickstart Musical. I'm so thankful that Ms. LeeAnn takes this on. The musical was the "Amazing Jerusalem Makeover" The kids did a great job and we were all very proud of them and their hard work.

A 13th to remember...

2006-06-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

Can't believe it was 13 years ago that my sweet first born came along. Where did the years go. I guess I blinked. We celebrated this monumentous occasion by a trip to Daytona Beach. It was a great time. Here she is in all her glory, the birthday girl.

Kendall enjoyed the cake. I'm sure she'll be 13 all too fast too.

What a way to enjoy the view.

Here's the gang doing a little shopping and eating at Johnny Rocket's.

It was a fabulous weekend that we will all remember and tresure.

Invaded!

2006-06-02T19:07:00.000-05:00

By Mumaws that is. These are relatives that we don't often get to see. How to explain? My grandma's (in the center) brother's children and grandchildren and spouses. Ohhh.... You got it now, right? It was great to see them and all the kids. It was a short, but fun visit.

Bible Driller Extrordinaire!

2006-06-02T19:04:00.000-05:00

That's our Parker. He went to the big Bible Drill and went all the way to Super Drill and made a perfect score. How great is he?! We are proud of all the hard work he has done.

Sniff.. Sniff...

2006-06-02T19:02:00.000-05:00

They're getting so big and grown up. Here they are all polished and spit shined for Easter. Parker is complete with blue hair gel. What's not to love about these great kids?

Baby from the hood...

2006-06-02T18:58:00.000-05:00

See what happens when you let at 13yo, 11yo, and 6yo play with a 1yo? Please don't call the fashion police on me!

MIA....

2006-04-06T20:05:00.000-05:00

I've been MIA from blogging. A lot going on and nothing going on at the same time.

On a sad note, my friend Donna passed away. There's a whole lot of good stuff I could say about Donna. Truth is, I'm missing her. In the past couple of years I didn't get to see her nearly enough. That bums me out. I will miss her laugh, smile and her stories. I'm thankful I had the chance to tell her I loved her before she died. I'm sure she knows how we all feel. My text in this post is purple in her memory.

So creatively I've expanded my repitoire a bit. Hooked up with some Creative Memories folks through Stampin' Up! and have been to some crops. I got all 3 kids' baby books done! It felt so good! Like a giant weight has been lifted. I can feel like a better mom, knowing they have baby books! Crazy, huh? I was seriously impressed with how the company has changed. No more boring Mrs. Grossman's stickers! So if you need to or are curious, I can hook you up. Going to another overnite crop at the end of April. Call me. You'll get a lot done. Really!

Next thing... I went with my friend Pam tonight to a knitting store and learned to knit. I loved it. I'm not gonna say what I'm making cuz it's for Easter. But I'm really diggin' it. Big shout out to Pammie for letting me hone in on her peeps! Just what I need, another addiction....

BTW, if you're ever in dire need of a slurpee... send Pam into 7-11. Here's what she'll come out with....

Well, darn it! I can't upload the pic for some reason, but it's a 64 oz Double Gulp size slurpee! The poor clerk didn't quite know what to do with her. He told her that they usually didn't do that. Pam just told him she doesn't usually buy the darn things! He let her go ahead and only charged her $1.39. Heheehehehehe. I had a great laugh over that one. I haven't even had half of it, but I bet I'll be up all night in the bathroom! hm..... Maybe that will be a good place to knit!!!

Gotta go take some Motrin for my sore knitting muscles. More later...

Something I Bet You Didn't Know About Me...

2006-02-25T10:56:00.000-05:00

Okay. I'm gonna make a world wide web public confession. I am a PBR (no not Pabst Blue Ribbon-Professional Bull Riding) fan. Make that Fan (with a capital F). I am not a redneck. I don't listen to country music. I have all my teeth and don't smoke or chew. (have I broken down all the stereotypes yet? I used to think of all those stereotypes too!) I would like to own a pair of cowgirl boots and a hat. A girl's gotta accessorize you know.

So last night, my wonderful husband, and our youngest daughter and I drove to Daytona Beach for the Enterprise Invitational. This is the Minor Leagues in the PBR. The Built Ford Tough Series is the Major Leagues. I'm guessing that this is probably way more info than you wanted. Too bad! It's my Blog!!! 8)

Here are my pictures (or at least the best ones). The joy of riding and getting off safely and the agony of defeat. The poor cowboy sitting down hurt his knee and most definately had a hitch in his get-a-long! And last but not least me and my forever corrupted daughter who now knows how to cheer for the cowboys and stand up to look and make sure no one is hurt!

Some more info. Although the crowd was small, it was diverse. From the way older than me to the very young. All types of people. And they started with prayer. Nice to see all those cowboys on one knee with their hats off and heads bowed. Guess you feel pretty strongly about talking to God when you're about to get on a 1500-2000 lb bucking bull.

So there it is. I laid it out. Love me anyways and maybe next time you should join me!

(btw, PBR can be seen every Sat and Sun night at 8pm on the OLN (outdoor living network). It really is a sport and there's lots to learn about bull riding)

Where Have I Been?

2006-02-11T22:28:00.000-05:00

That's a really good question. Truth be told, busy in the day to day grind of life. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

I have decided to step up my Stampin' Up! business. This too is a good thing. Unfortunately, blogging has suffered slightly. I'm feeling busy with classes and projects. Hanging with good people, enjoying it and making some money. Ah....

The kids are all doing well. Growing up. Being independent. This is a weird thing. I'm still adjusting to the changes. I think they'd like me to hurry up and get with the program!

Here are a few favorite things at the moment:

1. My crockpot. Did you know you could cook a meal in a crockpot every single night of the week! Fabulous! The less time in the kitchen for me, the better.

2. Scrap 2 It. My favorite local scrapbook store. Great things to look at, great people.

3. Soduku Puzzles. I'm addicted. Try it... you'll like it....

4. My new haircut. The stylist cut it with a razor and I love it. Nothing like a good razor cut.

5. Donna Downey's year long scrapbooking class at bigpicturescrapbooking.com. Worth every penny and heaps of fun projects. Hard to keep up with the weekly assignments, but I do my best.

That's about it for now. Hope your favorites list is long.

Girls Nite Out

2006-01-22T21:07:00.000-05:00

Well, this year we got smart. The hens that is. Okay, I'll explain. First of all a group of 5 of us girls get together on Wednesdays for a Bible Study. One of the husbands jokingly referred to us as "the hens" and it stuck. We do a lot of clucking when we get together!

So about the smart part. We decided this year instead of buying each other a Christmas gift, we would spend that money on a girls nite out. It took a while to coordinate everyone's schedule, but we finally had our night out. We went to a Greek restaurant and I swear our waiter was the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. He even said, "No Greek salad for you!". Then we went next door to Starbucks. It was such fun and such a success we decided to have girls nite out for each one of our birthdays.

I'll leave you with a few pictures!

No, Tia is not being holy in this one. Seriously, she is not praying!

A Croppin' Good Time

2006-01-07T16:16:00.000-05:00

Got to go to a crop at my lss. Oh it was a great nite out! I spent most of my time making all sorts of books. If you know me at all, or have been in my house, you know that I love books. I have found I especially like making and/or altering them. Here are a few examples:

This is the Planner from Simple Scrapbooks. It is fabulous. A great value at $12.50. I am taking Donna Downey's year long class at Bigpicturescrapbooking.com. This was our first assignment: to alter our planner. Fun. And useful.

This is an address book for my mom. She has a poor pathetic one that I have teased her about for a long time. This came from Sarabinders. They are great and easy to do. Some acrylic paint and paper and bam! You've got something cute.

This is a notebook I got at Target and altered. It is 8.5 x 11 and I will use it for my handouts from Bigpicturescrapbooking.com classes.

This is a small notebook for me. Another Sarabinder. For whatever jotting down I want to do. Church notes, prayer journal, grocery lists, crafty ideas... you know, the stuff of every day life. This is Stampin' Up! paper and I really like it.

And last, but so not least. This is going to be a circle journal to share with my Sister sister (she's a nun) in Oklahoma. I had to sew and bind and everything. It really wasn't hard at all. I used Making Memories foam stamps and white MM acrylic paint for the flowers on the front and back covers. This one is gonna be hard to part with! At least it will come back to me on a regular basis.

Not bad for a night's work. I felt creative and productive. Something I rarely get to feel at the same time!

Oh yea, I also completed 15 baby shower invites for a friend.

Yup, feelin' pretty good.

z becky brown design

2006-01-07T15:47:00.000-05:00

Got a chance to make panels for a Z Becky Brown for a lss with a Valentine's Day theme. Used the new Basic Grey Notch Tool for the "corset thingy" on the sides. I liked the tool. It did take a little getting used to though.

Also made a couple of Valentine's Day cards with the leftover "scraps". It was great fun to use different supplies.

Goodbye 2005...

2005-12-31T21:13:00.000-05:00

It's been a good, solid year all in all. Maybe not the best, most terrific year ever, but far, far from the worst year. The new year is full of wonder for me. I anticipate what is to come.

Resolutions? Yea, I've got a few. Mostly I want to be me only better. I'll be sharing the specifics later.

As the year winds to a close I'll share a last picture with you.

That's Lilli and her very best bud Jamie at Libby Lu's for Lilli's all girl birthday. Sweet.

Happy New Year! May it be your best ever.

My Wonderful Christmas Eve Kids

2005-12-25T02:32:00.000-05:00

I think that when you are a parent, every once in a while you should get a pass to brag. I'm taking mine right now.

They are growing up so fast. And they are really cool people. I enjoy them more and more every day. They looked so great tonight. I couldn't resist these shots at church as imperfect as they are.

The pink hair? For those of you who are Nick Jr. illiterate, that is in imitation of Stephanie on Lazytown. I love that Lilli has a sense of style and is not afraid to show it.

These 3 and my fabulous hubby... The best gifts I've ever gotten.

A boy and his pocket knife

2005-12-25T02:20:00.000-05:00

Yup. If you have a son, I bet you know exactly where this story is going. We had Christmas at my mom's on Friday. We got home and the kids wanted to watch a dvd that Parker got. They did and it ended late. Not being one to miss a chance to stay up late, Parker went to his room to check out another present he had received that night. A really big bin of Legos. Now in this crazy world, for some reason the toy manufacturers see to it that each and every toy is packed to stay intact in case of a nuclear holocost. The dang thing was strapped shut. So doing what he'd seen his dad do at least a million times, Parker pulled out the pocket knife he received for his baptism. Instead of cutting away from himself, he cut toward himself. Cut through his brand new jeans and sliced his thigh. This happened about midnight.

Out of his room he comes, "Dad, I cut myself". I was in the bathroom before I realized I had even put my feet on the floor. I hemmed and hawed -- it was a good gap and would have a hard time healing on an active 11 yo boy. On the other hand, a scar wouldn't matter there and I could butterfly the heck out of the thing. Pete and I debated until 2 a.m. Off to the ER we went. After a wait until 5:30 am, we were seen, stitches were placed and we got home about 7 am. Not only could Parker brag that he had survived stitches, but he'd stayed up the whole night.

3 kids, 12 years and this is the first time anyone has had stitches. I feel very blessed.

Parker says, "This is a Christmas Eve I won't ever forget!" Yeah, me neither kiddo.

So am I a dealer?

2005-12-23T10:16:00.000-05:00

It usually happens this time of year. I get called a "crack dealer" by a husband in desperate need of gift ideas. Confused yet? Okay, I'll explain.

I love my friend Kimberly. For a lot of reasons. A lot of the reasons are because she is so different from me. Ask her if she's into scrapbooking, card making, paper crafts in general. She'd probably give you a resounding "bahumbug!" . Not me, no way. Yuk. In fact, last year my Bible study group was making some gift bags and tags for a community service project. Kimberly barely agreed to participate. Crafting is just not her "thing". Can you believe I'm still her friend? Anyway, come to find out she likes coloring the little stamped images in. Who settles into the community service project looking like she could do it all day? Yup. Kimberly. But still she shows no sign of "addiction". Fast forward to this November. "I need some Christmas cards", she says to me. Well that's right up my alley, so I hook her up. Fun way to spend an afternoon, I think. It was fun. What's more... Kimberly thought it was fun. I saw a little glint of something in her eyes. Hmmm... what's that? Nah, can't be.

A few weeks ago, I get a stampin' windfall. Big time. Lots of fun stuff. Begging to be shared. So I do what any bonafide crack dealer, er, I mean stamper would do. I pass some to Kimberly. Basics. Stamps that beg to be colored (not my thing at all, I have the patience of a gnat when it comes to coloring in images). A paper cutter, a black ink pad. Stuff I'm ashamed to say that I have waaaay too much of. There it is! That spark! A stamper is born!!!!

So her husband calls me. "You're like a crack dealer. You give enough stuff for free to get my wife hooked. Now, what can I buy her? She was up late last night cutting out those stamps. I already had to clean and adjust the scissors." A grin spreads across my face. This is not the first time I've heard this one. Alas, I'm not a very good dealer though because I give him some suggestions, none of which requires money in my hands.

The funniest part? Not much later Kimberly calls me. "You know what? You're kind of like a crack dealer...." I bite my tongue trying not to laugh out loud! Yeah, I've heard that before I say...

Making Stuff...

2005-12-22T15:57:00.000-05:00

I've been busy this Christmas. You should see my scrappin' place. Actually, I'm glad you can't. It looked better last year when the hurricane hit it! I've made glass ribbon ornaments, Making Memories frame ornaments, name frames, and cards. Still need to get the mess cleaned up! Here are some pictures of the frames and my Christmas card for the year.

Girl Time

2005-12-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

What a treat. Me, my mom and my sister all got to go out last Saturday. It was so much fun! First we got manicures and pedicures. Do I need to say more? Scrumptious! Then we went out to lunch. The kind of place you wouldn't want to take the kids. Again... wonderful!

Here we are with our beautiful hands and happy at the restaurant.

It was a great Christmas treat. Thanks Mom!

Exercise

2005-12-08T21:34:00.000-05:00

Let me start this by saying I detest exercise. Any and all forms. Always have. Even when I was young... er younger than I am now. But now I've settled in to middle age and all that accompanies it. I am learning to not take my reasonably good health for granted. So as a family we have all joined the local YMCA.

They have a super facility. A pool, the latest greatest equipment, all computerized and personalized. Tons of cool, fun activities for the kiddos. BUT, did I mention that I hate exercise? Oh yea, I thought I did.

I got myself all set up with the personal trainer who told me what to do to start out. The goal is to not kick my own butt. Slowly build up to the grown-up machines with time. So I had a little test run on Tuesday while they were showing me the ropes. Since for now 3 times a week is sufficient, I went back today. The thought of going loomed over my head all day and taunted me. I was filled with dread. But I have kids who were chomping at the bit to get back to the Y. It's new and all exciting to them. Not so much for me. But, I suck it up and go. Filled to the top with dread. But I got there, got the kids settled and started in. You know what? I kind of liked it. I doubled my time on the stationary bike. Actually did 2 miles. Not so impressive, but you gotta consider where I started! I'm feeling just a little tight this evening. My muscles are protesting just a little. They've become very used to the easy life.

Here's the question. Will I still dread heading off to the Y 3 days a week? I'm guessing so. Maybe just for a few weeks or so. The best part? Katelyn is working out with me. That pushes me in a good way. I'm really proud of her. She's doing great!

So if you see me or talk to me or email me.... ask me if I've been to the Y lately!!

Christmas in Florida

2005-12-04T18:41:00.000-05:00

This is the palm tree in our front yard. It looks festive with the lights on it. I look forward to that lighted palm every year. That and the swag on my door. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house.

The annual Christmas store at CCC was a whopping success. A great time was had by all. It is amazing to see how things come together just right every year.

It was a productive weekend for us. Pete and I had a nice dinner together Friday night. Then we hit the shops and actually finnished our Christmas shopping. I could tell you all about it, but certain almost teens in this family happen to read my blog. This is the first year that we've been done this early. Saturday we worked at the Christmas store and then Pete helped GG pick out a new tv. Today there was church and Pete has attacked the lights with gusto. Can't have Michael across the street make him look bad!

It's a new week and time to hit the ground running once again. Here's to a great one.

Hmmm....

2005-11-30T19:26:00.000-05:00

Went to the Dr. today. My sinuses and my jaw have been bothering me. Diagnosis? Clenching my teeth and a sinus infection. Ugh! Gotta hate that. My weight shocked me as well. I've always had a problem in that area, but dang! it's out of control at this point. Doctor's advice? No more than 30g of fat/day and as few carbs as possible. Also add exercise preferably in the form of a stationary bike. Why? Less chance of injury. You get hurt, you quit. Yea, that sounds familiar. Everything in life is not fun, huh? Sounds like something my parents should be saying to me. Time to slap myself and get with the program.

Now on to better subjects. I just got some new pens in the mail. Haven't been able to find them locally so got them from the 'net. Sakura gel pens. One of them is a clear "stardust" pen. Basically, it just glitters when you write. Very cool!!! My friend Linda has one and I admittedly have been coveting it. So I got 4 of my own. I probably owe Linda at least one for how much I've used hers! Then I got a Sakura Glaze Pen. This is alot like Crystal Effects that Stampin' Up! sells, you just put it on with a pen. Makes whatever you write "feelable". That's not a word I bet. Anyway, they are cool pens! Can't wait to play with them.

I'm off to pop some pills and hit the sack!

My Latest Scrapbooking Project

2005-11-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

This is an 8x8 album that I made for my friend Gretchen who just had a beautiful baby girl.

It's done with a very simple formula that makes it so fast to put together.

It's called Snappy Scrappin'. I got this done in an afternoon at my friend Linda's house. You pick your colors and stamp a couple of sheets all over with any stamp you'd like. I chose flowers for this one so it would be "girlie". Then you follow a template for the layouts. Super quick and easy! This book has a couple of pages up front for first pictures with family. Then there is a 2 page spread for each month of her first year. The last page is a single for a picture of her on her first birthday. I recommend that the mom puts a sticky note on each month to jot down significant events in that month. (ie; first tooth 5/21) and then you tuck your pictures for the month into the page protector for the month taken. When you have time, you just go back and adhere the pictures and journalling.

Katelyn's a great holder, huh?

Bring on the Tree

2005-11-27T20:23:00.000-05:00

Big day today at our house! Time to put up the Christmas tree.

This is Katelyn and Lilli putting up the Nativity.

Parker and Lilli are adding ornaments.

What does Buddy do? Hide with a rawhide bone!

Yup. It's the disco boy of the house, bustin' out his moves to Christmas music.

Here is Katelyn taking over the tradition of putting the angel on the top of the tree. She is happy to finally be tall enough! I'm thinking by this time next year, she'll be taller than me.

I had to spend some time at Sam's and the mall today. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Grouchy shoppers and all! Got a little shopping done. Mostly got some exercise.

Pete and the kids worked at the church to help set up for the Christmas store and a set change to the "Toy Store Christmas".

Please join us in praying for the 75 teens and their parents who will come through the church doors next Saturday morning. They will be fed a pancake breakfast and pick out a small, medium and large gift for their teen. It is a gift to be a part of this ministry. God always provides exactly the right thing! Amazing!

Thanksgiving

2005-11-26T22:39:00.000-05:00

This was the invitation that I stamped and sent to everyone. This was the tablesetting out on the porch for the "adult table".

We started a new tradition this year. Everyone (including adults) signed our tablecloth. It was great fun! We will add to it each Thanksgiving. The kids got a big kick out of writing on the tablecloth. It took a little convincing at first, but then they got into it!

This is Kendall after she got a shot at the tablecloth! Yep, that's a Sharpie Marker (read permanent!). I thought Joy would kill me for sure! Here's the fun at the kid's table! I'm thankful that the kids have cousins close by to hang with on holidays. That is a special blessing!

So you can see that a great time was had by all! I think for the first time ever I did not have a meltdown just before everyone arrived. It was alot of work, but absolutely worth it!

When it started to get dark, Pete started a fire in the pit. The kids always have a great time playing in the dark and making s'mores. Our friends the DePaolo's stopped by for the fire and then we all retired to the "theatre" for a showing of Napoleon Dynamite.

I'd say that it was a great holiday. We as a family have so much to be thankful for. The blessings are too numerous to list or count. Truly Lord, we are grateful.

Migraines

2005-11-17T15:47:00.000-05:00

Pain. Intense pain. Big black hole of pain. Makes you miss things. Like a whole day. Yuk.

Can't Sleep...

2005-11-17T00:39:00.000-05:00

I hate it when I can't sleep. I'm going to be tired tomorrow. Duh. There's a bunch of junk rattling around in my head. And the dog's insides are making some strange noises.

Things that rattle around in your head at night are strange things. There's the big stuff. I have learned to deal with that a little better. Seriously. You think about them for a little bit, realize you can't do a darn thing about them. Totally out of my control. So I pray about it and forget it until another point in time. (hopefully not at bedtime) When it rattles around in my head again, I repeat the routine. Think about it some, pray about it, forget about it. Kind of like lather, rinse, repeat.

Now the small things... for me they're the killers. Things like Katelyn wants to make spinach artichoke dip for Thanksgiving and I need to find her a recipe. How far behind am I with grading school work? What am I going to do at my next workshop? What pictures am I going to scrap next? Blah, blah, blah.... All stuff within my control. But unfinished business. When I finish this business there will be more! And so it rattles around like screws in a jar. Yup, i've got a screw or 2 (or more) loose. Sigh...

I will do my best in the morning to cross some items off my to-do list. Maybe that will help. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to Stamp Day at Linda's. It seems like 10 years since I've hung out with Linda! I'm looking forward to getting out the Christmas decorations. All great stuff. Just wish it would all quit rattling. I'm hoping I've blogged it out!

Goodnight, Sleep tight (hopefully).

The List... (revisited)

2005-11-15T18:21:00.000-05:00

Time for another list. I'm loving a few new things!

1. Crocs shoes. Have you seen these? I have. Back in my old work in the medical field days. They are about as pretty as Birkenstocks only in prettier colors. I think they feel even better than my Birkis too. Best of all, they are a lot cheaper than Birkis. $30. Gotta get me some. Soon.

2. Chinese Jasmine tea. Wow. Thanks to George (who recently came back from a trip to China). It comes in tiny little balls that you put in hot water and it unfolds and looks like pretty, smallish, green leaves. Not small like coffee grounds. Very easy to drink around or spoon out. The smell is to die for! With a little honey the taste is great too. So much fun!

3. Sisters. I really like mine. When I was a teenager and she was a little bugger, not so much. But now, she's really cool. A great person. I'd do anything for her.

4. Friends who feel like sisters. Like my friend Kimberly. She challenged me to do something spiritual. It was HARD, real HARD. But girlfriend, I did it. I think I was grinding my teeth the whole time, but I did it. Do you think God minded me grinding my teeth? Maybe I'll do better tomorrow, but 30 days is a long time...

5. My PDA. Palm One Tungstun T5 if you want the specifics. My life is pretty much on it. Cute pics of my kids. My favorite songs, and all the other boring details.

6. Which brings me to Soduku!!! Was downloading free software for my PDA and came across this. It's a Japanese number puzzle. Now normally I don't like number puzzles. But these are fun! No adding! Just 1-9. Beware, they are extremely addicting. You can find Soduku puzzle books in bookstores and even Target. Apparently its a trendy thing right now.

7. Still loving my new(ish) digital camera. I just got Picasa2 (another internet freebie) and it is great for managing all my pictures. Real easy.

Okay, that's it for now!

Finally.....

2005-11-15T18:10:00.000-05:00

I have been in a funk lately. It's awfully darn hard to get anything done when you're in a funk. But my husband was helpful and made me go for a walk the other day. Don't tell him, but it helped. And I liked it. (I'm really trusting you here...) We all went. Around the big block. Even Buddy the dog. Then we went to Super Target. It was good.

So finally I got a couple of things done. Like upacked my stuff from my Saturday night workshop. It's a lot more fun getting things out than putting them away! Don't tell my kids that. (man, I'm sharing lots of secrets today!)

I updated my poor neglected PDA. I got on a paper planner kick for awhile. And of course I remembered why I hate my paper planner... it's too darn big! Back to the PDA for me. I added some files (free stuff - yay) and put some pictures and music on it. Sweet!

Last but not least, I finally made and sent out my Thanksgiving Dinner invitations. Merely a formality, but I'm proud of them. First time I've ever made real dinner invitations. I have more high and lofty ideas for Thanksgiving. Let's see if I actually get them done.

Here's a picture of the invite:

How Can it be November??

2005-11-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

Wasn't it summer last week? Now we're breathing down Thanksgiving's neck! And of course you know what that means...... Yup........ Christmas, New Years, the whole slippery slope!

Okay, now that that little panic attack is out of the way. On with my mindless ramblings...

I'm glad Martha Stewart is not coming to my house for Thanksgiving. Forget that she spent a Thanksgiving in jail (at least I think so, didn't she?). My house has to be better than jail! In my heart, I'm a Martha Wannabe. In real life, I'm not a total loser. I'd like things to look nice, be welcoming, and fun. In real life, I get hurried and anxious. My main focus this year is to enjoy myself and for everyone else to do the same. I'm trying to make a plan to achieve that goal. What I don't want is for me and everyone else in my family to blow their top because we are trying too hard to get stupid stuff done in way too little time. In my mind I picture table decorations, placecards, favors, my new heirloom crystal on the table, flowers and candles. Will I get that done? Not likely. And to boot, I'll feel frustrated by that. Nevermind the fact that I'm homeschooling 3 great kids and enjoying the challenges of my 1 year old neice during the work week. What I need to learn most is that I should enjoy what I do get done. Fun, peaceful, and happy memories are much sweeter than floors that can be licked (and not just by the dog) or the perfect placecards. Great times with family and friends is what is important. When the day is done, what will be remembered? The favors, the food, the table setting? Not likely (unless something disasterous happens, and then it is hysterically funny family history!).

So that my friends is November's prayer. To do what I can and be at peace about it. To focus on what really matters. To be thankful, truly thankfull for all the blessings God has given. And His blessings are many.

One last picture....

2005-11-01T11:58:00.000-05:00

I tried to get this one in last night, but for some reason, it wouldn't work! Today's a new day, so here it is. This is Katelyn and her friend Zhaleh in their "Whack a Youth" trunk. Fun!

Pumpkins, Treats and Fears...

2005-10-31T23:20:00.000-05:00

is officially over. After working shifts in a pumpkin patch, creating a carnival type game and giving out candy from the back of our truck, and spending 12 hours over 4 days in a pitch black cubby hole in a maze, I can say that it all was fun and a success. Aren't these kids cute??? They are standing in front of Mike's trunk. It was his first year doing a trunk and I think he did a super job! Katelyn was with the youth in a trunk called "whack a youth", patterned after the old "whack a mole" arcade game. They got whacked with a pool noodle. I would have liked to try my hand at that one!

I'm exhausted and hoarse. This week promises to be no slow down. I have a crop, a workshop, a baby shower, and a meeting with a dear friend that I haven't seen in 15 years. It's all good.

Life is good and I'm feeling very thankful. Thankful for a church that cares about and reaches out to our community. Thankful for dear friends and family who show their love in so many tangible ways. Thankful for fun and safe things for my children to do without feeling "left out" or restricted or deprived. And for how dog gone cute my kiddos are!

Pumpkins, Treats and Fears...

2005-10-28T21:40:00.000-05:00

Oh my! Just got home from dress rehearsal for our church's Face the Fear House. I had so much fun scaring people, I thought I'd laugh myself silly! If you want the details/story line go to www.facethefearhouse.com. It's a fun time without evil or gore and you even get a free dvd at the end. If you come by, I'm in the maze, but you'll never find me! (insert evil laugh here)

We will be finishing up the work on our trunk for Trunk or Treat on Sunday. Again, another church activity that is an outreach to our community. A safe place for the kids and a local radio station (Magic 107) will be there. We are repeating what we did last year. A mystery trunk. Some spray painting and we will be done. (No, not my truck, some cardboard) The youth are doing a trunk called "whack-a-youth". Just like the old "wack-a-mole". I thought they should charge $1. I'd pay it to hit a teenager! It could be a great fundraiser.

Last of all in the news for today, we worked in our pumpkin patch. Here are a couple of cute pictures of Kendall. She was really good and had a fun time. Even took an hour nap. The weather was absolutely heavenly! A perfect afternoon to be outside. I made about 30 cards for them to sell. The patch is a fundraiser for the youth and hopefully the cards will be a little something extra.