Operation Stay Awake

So... since my surgery (and especially since the kids have gone back to school) I have either
a. slept in until 10 a.m. OR
b. taken a nap at some point during the day. 

I know, I know... this is to be expected.  I had major surgery.  I am still recovering.

However, I am (if everything looks good at the doctor on Monday- cross your fingers!) going back to work on Tuesday... and I don't think that I will be allowed to come in at noon after sleeping all morning OR  be allowed to lay down under my desk around 2 p.m. and take a little nap.  So... in my attempt to get things back to normal, I figured I needed to start trying to stay awake all day and get back into a routine.  Now, a smart person probably would have started that earlier than today, but hey, I never claimed to be smart....

Operation Stay Awake was my attempt today to get up with the kids and stay up all day without napping.  I started the day by working on Shutterfly some more.  (My pics are updated, I am now working on some old photos from 2005 AND working on the family yearbooks from 2008 and 2009.)  I have to admit, I love Shutterfly and I enjoy getting caught up on my photos.  I really get a sense of accomplishment by keeping this site updated.

Then I wrote a post for this here blog about overreacting to the rain....

Next, I made pie.  Peach pie AND cherry pie.  My dear friend Margie lost her husband this week, and the folks from work are providing some of the food for at her house after the funeral... thus the pies.  (I also baked brownies last night... yummy!)  Forgot to take photos though... sorry!

Then came laundry.  (Laundry seems to be NEVERENDING these days.  I think it's because we are wearing winter clothes and they take up more room...)  About this time, I decided that I *might* like to lay down for a little while, but I hung in there and stuck with it.....

A shower was next (no photos... I know you are bummed about that, but hey, a girl's gotta leave something to the imagination right?).

I took the pies into work and then met Joe for lunch at Charlston's.  Ohhh... heaven.  Have you ever had their croissants?  Out of this world.  Their soup on Friday is Clam Chowder too.... let me tell you what, that was one good lunch.

Next was grocery shopping (oh wait, I had one *little* stop before that... Dress Barn was having a 'Closing This Location' sale and everything was 85% off.  So I stopped in.  Got a pair of dress pants for $3, a top for $4 and a top for $2).  Okay, back on track to groceries..  I had found 6 or 7 new recipes I wanted to try, so I took my list and hit Super Target for a major grocery run. 

Home then...and the desire for a nap was HUGE.  I hung in there though... unloaded the groceries and started cooking.  First two recipes out of the gate were Spicy Shrimp on Twice Baked Potatoes (Paula Dean) and Big-Batch Jambalaya (Taste of Home).  We had the Spicy Shrimp for dinner tonight and we'll have the Jambalaya this weekend and Joe will have leftovers for lunch next week.

So, now, it's 9:00.  And I'm goin' to bed.  'Cause Operation Stay Awake is OVAH.  :)
Night all.
C

PS  Think I can do it again tomorrow?  :)

Rain.Rain.RAIN.

We have gotten more rain here in the last several days than we've gotten in the last few years combined.  Last night there was a Tornando Warning in our neck of the woods..... it has just been crazy.  Tons and tons of auto accidents on the streets (seriously, folks DO NOT know how to drive when it is wet here... just because they never have to do it!).  My pool has begun to overflow onto the pool deck.  (I would take a picture and post it here, but that would mean that I would have to go outside in this rain... and I'm still in my jammies folks!).  Here is a photo of the street in front of our house... doesn't really do the amount of water justice... there is about a foot of standing water next to the curbs.

And, even with all of this, the media response to this whole thing has been HYSTERICAL.  Storm 2010.  Seriously.  Okay folks, it is rain.  I know we don't get it often.  I know we rarely get it more than one day in a row.  I know that there has been a lot of wind too (my umbrella got turned inside out yesterday when I was going to pick up the kids from school!).  And I think it is interesting and noteworthy (thus the blog entry).  But, still, just rain.  So, stop complaining about it, stop worrying about it, drive like sane people, and enjoy it.  We probably won't see it again for another year or so!  And get prepared... because a rain like this now... is gonna lead to LOTS and LOTS of these in a week or two.... (and yes, this group is ALREADY growing in my rock bed near the entryway... sigh.)

Have a great day all!

C

Resolutions

Do you all remember my New Year's Resolution?  Live more, stress less?  Stay in the moment?  Live life to it's fullest....

Well, truthfully been having a really hard time with that resolution during the past few days- even though I've gotten lots of reminders that that is ABSOLUTELY what I MUST do...

Seems that every time I turn a corner I hit a wall.  Multiple family situations that I simply cannot understand no matter how much I try (to understand it OR change it), work that is PILING up while I am on leave (and my general nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, this isn't the job for me anymore?), a darling daughter who gets frustrated so easily (gee, wonder where she gets that from?), medical bills that just seem to appear out of nowhere (especially when we thought we finally had it all paid).... it all seems to overwhelm me at times.  And I get lost in all of that 'stuff' (this is a family blog or you KNOW what word I really would be using...) and I forget to remember my resolution.  I forget to cherish my moments.  I forget to take my daily picture.  And I get lost.

A dear friend lost her husband several days ago to cancer.  He started feeling poorly around the time that Joe had his blood clot.  And now he is gone.  Another family member has found out some health news that is not good (not life threatening, but yet, not good).  And I know that I need to look at those events, support those that need supporting, and use them as reminders to appreciate all that I have- all that I have been given- and to (just like the darn resolution says) live life to its fullest.

But it's been a dark few days my friends and I'm having a hard time doing that.  So, I'm putting it out there that I've had a hard time for the last few days.  And now I'm MOVING ON.  Because tomorrow... tomorrow just has to be better.  'Cause I resolved it.  And I gotta do it.

Night all.
C

Love, Love, Love

I ordered this on New Year's Eve and it arrived in my mailbox on Friday.  And I love it!

If you love it too, you can visit Beki's blog here, and her Etsy shop here.

More love for these brownies!  They are so AWESOME!  Super gooey, caramely, chocolate goodness.  Want the recipe? You can find it here.

Love for family trips and the spread that we all put out... here's the snack table.  Yes, you read right... these are just the 'snacks'.

And last but not least, I love these kids (these aren't the only kids I love (note my Miss Julia is missing...), but the ones I caught on film today.  Cousins Asher and Gundry as well as Mr. Colin enjoying the snow.

Who or what do YOU love today?  I'd love to hear....

C.

Legos, Legos, Legos....

The kids got their report cards for second quarter this week.  I have to say that I was VERY proud of both of them.  They are working hard and it shows from what their teachers have to say about them. 

The tradition in our family is that we do something special if the kids get good report cards.  I don't believe in paying kids for grades, but I do believe in celebrating a job well done.  If Joe or I get a promotion or have a good review at work, we often all go out and celebrate.  Since I view school as our kids' version of work... I want to celebrate them as well.  Our 'something special' has been all kinds of different things during the past few years....

So, of course, as we are talking about the report cards over dinner, the topic of what their 'something special' would be came up.  And Colin jumped on it RIGHT AWAY.  He was very clear that what he would like to do is go to the Lego store.  And could we go right now?  Tonight?  As soon as dinner is over?  (Julia didn't really have an idea of what she wanted to do... and she still doesn't.  She tried telling me she could just take the money, but I explained that it doesn't work that way... and she's been thinking ever since.  I can't wait to see what she dreams up!)

After crushing his little heart and letting him know that we couldn't go RIGHT NOW... I told him that we would try to fit it in later in the week.. which we did on Tuesday night (not bad- just had to wait one night).  The funny thing is that I had figured that I would take Colin and Julia to the mall to hit the Lego store and give Joe a night off (he's had A LOT of kid responsibility lately as I have recovered and I figured he could really use a night to himself) but he REALLY didn't want to miss the Lego store either, so he met us at the mall so he and Colin could shop.

And shop they did.  Colin started by just wandering around for about 20 minutes and looking at everything.  They have these great displays with little round windows that you can look into- right at kid height.  Colin really enjoyed looking at those.  His favorite part of Legos is the guys.. so he enjoyed checking out what the guys were doing in each different window.  Here he is, checking it out....

Then, Colin got a 4 inch by 4 inch 'fill your own' container (the real purpose for being there!).  Bascially, this is just a container that you pay a flat fee for ($7.99) and you get to  fill it from the Lego wall within the store.  I don't think the Lego corporation plans on people like our family with this deal.  Joe worked with Colin to pack the Legos in the most efficient way so Colin could get the largest number of Legos for his money.  It took them OVER AN HOUR to fill this little container.  Colin would talk with Joe about what he could build with each different piece.  Then Colin would think and decide if he wanted some of that piece.  Then Colin would need to decide how many he needed.  Then he would give them to Joe and Joe would pack them in the container.  It was great to watch... and I love seeing how Colin's brain is working these days.  Here are my two guys at the Lego wall....

Obviously I was running around taking pictures while all of this was going on- that and talking to the sales people.  What was Julia doing you ask?  Well... take a look and see.  :)

Colin also took some of his Christmas money and bought a Lego shaped container to hold some of his prized Legos in.  It is pretty cool looking- has two layers inside that are divided into compartments, a handle and the little Lego prongs that stick up out of the top actually unscrew to create 6 little compartments.  (I'm sure this will be showing up in a photo soon....)  Now, this is right up Colin's alley... he spent tonight packing Legos to take with him when he sees his cousin Gundry (and yes, it took him OVER AN HOUR to select the Legos for his container at home too!).  Gotta love that kid!

Overall, a great trip for all involved.  I'll keep you updated if Miss Julia ever decides what she would like her 'special something' to be...
Night all.
C

Not Me! Monday!

In all of my recent blog reading (okay, borderline obsessive blog reading- I mean seriously- when you get tired after being up for an hour- you need something you can lay around and do with little effort...) I stumbled across MckMama's blog.  She does a 'blog carnival' (other folks post on the same topic and all link to her blog)  each week called, Not Me! Monday!  Here's how she describes this feature, 'Let's take our not-so-proud moments and spin them around in a delightful therapy session, shall we? This kind of therapy is free, funny, and oh so refreshing. That's right: It's time for Not Me! Monday!'








Here's my first go with Not Me! Monday!

I really did not wear the same pair of jeans every single day last week without washing them just because they are the only pair that fit right now.  Nope, not me.

I did not allow my children to eat Krispy Kreme donuts this morning for breakfast (after eating them yesterday for breakfast too) just because I knew that if they didn't, I would eat them while they were at school today.  No, I am a good mom and watch what my kids eat and I would never sacrifice their eating habits to keep me from eating something.  Nope, not me.

AND then, I did not eat the last of the Christmas cookies for breakfast because the donuts were gone.  No, I would make sure that my recovering body had good nutritious food to help it heal.  I would never eat cookies for breakfast.  Nope, not me.  (and the fact that I only have one pair of jeans that fits has EVERYTHING to do with my surgery and nothing to do with the fact that I've eaten Christmas cookies for breakfast several times recently.  Nope.  Because I would NEVER do that more than once...)

I absolutely, positively did not sand my latest DIY project, my little red box while in the garage, creating a horrible mess of red sand dust all over everything.  Nope, not me.

I have not spent endless hours laying in bed reading blogs recently.  I am being productive with my time off, accomplishing lots of tasks like organizing my photos and going through paperwork, just like I planned that I would do.  I would never waste my time off work while recovering surfing around the net reading blogs.  Nope, not me.

I have not spent the hours that I have not been in bed thinking of cleaning/decorating projects that need to be done in our house that I cannot do just yet.  And then made my husband do them.  Like clean the top plant shelf around the kitchen, reorganize the furniture in the front room, put all the Christmas decorations in the attic, etc. etc.  I would never make my husband (who has lots of extra responsibility lately with picking up and dropping off the kids at school) do extra chores just because I have all this time to sit around and think them up.  Nope, not me.

That's all for this week's edition of Not Me! Monday!  folks.  I think I *might* make a habit of joining in on this one... it was fun!
C

DIY... The Beginning....

Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of blog reading.  And when I say 'a lot' of blog reading... trust me, I mean A LOT.  I've found some great looking blogs (stay tuned- redesign of mine is in the works and thanks to Mr. Sherwood it's gonna be awesome!... some unbelieveable recipes (trust me on this, I am going to post a to-die-for brownie recipe later this week).. a lot of wonderful decorating ideas (coming in the next few months, my laundry room remodel)... and a lot of interesting do it yourself (DIY) projects. 

Sooo... can you tell I'm not working right now and have lots of extra 'thinking time'.  Joe can sure tell.  And I think he's about ready for me to be healthy enough to go back to work.  Because I keep thinking of jobs like this one for him to do.... (yes, that is Joe cleaning the plant shelf above the kitchen...)

Anyway... after reading post after post about DIY success and the ability to take things that look like junk and turn them into nice household decor, I decided... I can do that! (I think...)

We went to Savers the other night to look for Colin a heavy winter jacket for our upcoming trip to Flagstaff.  That kid is so warm blooded, and we have so few cold days here, it really isn't worth the money to pay full price for a heavy winter jacket.  He'll probably wear it in Flagstaff and maybe one other time before he outgrows it.  We actually got lucky and not only found a nice, heavy, not horrifically colored jacket for Colin ($12) but we also found a pair of bib snow pants for Julia ($7).  This will be great for her because she gets cold so easily (seriously, are my kids related?) this way she might be able to play in the snow a little more.  After our success in the clothing department, I wandered through the household items just looking to see if I could find something to 'transform'.  I found this great little red storage box for $2.  Perfect size for the living room, perfect shape, and perfect price (especially since I'm pretty sure I am going to mess it up and it's going to end up back at Savers when I'm through...)  My plan is to refinish the box in a dark brown color.  Here's the storage box before I started...

First lesson learned regarding this DIY project: Even though you waited until the kids went to bed before starting, and it was cold and dark outside, you really shouldn't sand a red box in the garage.  It makes a HUGE mess.  Sanding should be done OUTSIDE. 

Seriously,  it took me longer to clean up than it did to sand the box.

Here are a few photos of me in the garage working.  (And yes mom,  I know that in addition to my glasses and the ear protection I should have worn a face mask.  I will buy face masks next time I am at the store.  Also, just for reference, I really do have to start watching what I eat again... I don't believe I can blame all that roundness in the mid-section on  surgery swelling still!)

So, here is the box now.

 I sanded the entire box (inside and out) using medium grit sandpaper.  I then followed with a fine grit sandpaper inside and out.  I washed the box well, and I believe that I am ready to spray paint the box tomorrow (slightly worried that I didn't get enough of the red off, but hey, that's what experimenting is about right?). 

I may think about doing this while the sun is still shining... outside of the garage... when it is nice and warm (and I won't kill myself with the fumes).

I will keep you updated as this DIY project progresses.....

Night all-

C

Finally....

Finally, finally, finally... all the Christmas decorations are packed up!  I will say the one upside about the length of time that it took me to do this is that I actually sorted through everything this year, organized it as I put it in boxes, got rid of some stuff, and created labels so I know just what is in each box.

Yeah!

Now to cleaning/organizing the rest of  my house..... sigh.  Never ends does it?

Have a great night everybody!
C

The Good, The Better, and The Ugly

THE GOOD

Joe found a recipe for cinnamon almonds here (one of our FAVORITE treats that we usually buy at places like the fair or the pumpkin patch) and we decided to give them a try tonight.  They are good... but next time we make them (and there WILL be a next time...) we'll double or triple the cinnamon to bring out that flavor a little more.  You can make these with stuff that you have in your pantry!

THE BETTER

Recently, the kids haven't been overly interested in listening to stories.  Julia is reading pretty difficult chapter books and feels like she never has enough time to read, so she often wants to dive back into her book before she goes to bed at night.  Colin reads to me every night as part of his homework, and then I would maybe read him a story... but before the holidays it got to the point that he was reading chapter books as well and he usually wanted to keep reading his book, rather than switch to another book.  I didn't think that much about this... it happened pretty gradually... and as normal... life just changed.  For Christmas, Joe and I gave the kids the entire set of Harry Potter books as a present.  On Sunday night, I made a point of setting aside some special time to start reading the first book to them. And they were HOOKED from day one!  And suddenly they are interested and excited about having me read to them again... which made me realize how much I had missed it.  It also made me realize that the time for Momma to read to her kiddos is probably waning... which is making this time where they are so excited about it very special to me.  I've realized that I need to treasure my time reading with them each night- their little bodies cuddled up to mine (well, except for Julia who is holding a tissue in the big gap in her mouth where her tooth had just came out... I can talk so lovingly about our life... but pictures tell the true story!)

THE UGLY

Julia and I bought this amaryllis about 3 weeks before Christmas.  For weeks it did NOTHING.  Then it grew about an inch.  Then it bloomed.  When the plant was only like two inches tall.  And it only bloomed on one side.  Amaryllis fail.  Seriously... who can mess up a bulb that comes preplanted?  Apparently ME!

Have a wonderful evening everyone...

C

Everybody ate Dinner!

I had a rough 'recovery' day today... spent almost the entire day sleeping or watching HORRIBLE daytime television (I have now watched everything I had 'stored up' on the TIVO to watch).  This could probably be a post of it's own, but seriously... is this what the world wants to watch?  Are there really people who are home during the day watching this drivel?

Anywayyyyyy.... around 3:30 I decided that I needed to at least get out of bed and TRY to do something... and I chose cooking dinner as that something.  I had stumbled across a recipe for lemon chicken with croutons  last week when I was spending a lot of quality time surfing the net (at the time I thought I was really being unproductive, but I have realized that this is MUCH better than watching daytime television... at least I learned something from blog reading) and I thought it sounded pretty good. You can see the recipe for yourself here.I picked up a chicken, some lemons and some french bread yesterday when I was at SuperTarget-so I knew I had all the stuff to make this.  It was SO easy to make.  Not something I can normally make when I'm working because I would have to be home early enough in the afternoon to roast it (took about an hour and a half total- and when I'm working- I need dinners to be able to be prepared in 30 minutes or less) but for my stay at home mom friends out there OR for a Sunday dinner, it's quick, easy and so YUMMY!

Here's a picture just before I took it to the table.

One of my biggest frustrations recently is that I have been trying new recipes and it seems like usually only one or two people out of our family of four likes it... but I am so happy to say that everyone at my house liked this dish.  I kept some of the croutons out (without the pan drippings on them- because that is 'just gross Mom') for Colin, but other than that one little accomodation... it was devoured by everyone at the table.

I even took the little bit of leftover chicken and made it into some chicken salad for Joe's lunch tomorrow...

That's all for me folks... cooking dinner (as easy as it was!) took it all out of me... so I'm off for some rest.  Have a great evening..

C

Ummm.... what?

Headed back to the doctor today for a little checkup on how everything is healing... without going into the gory details, I had a few spots in my incision that were NOT healing... the doctor was able to take care of those spots in the office (without a return to the hospital-yeah!)... and IF I take it easy and rest a lot, I should heal up just fine.  :)   This will probably delay my return to work until the 6 week mark... I wonder if our credit cards will hold up to the on-line shopping I seem to have entertained myself with recently...

I did talk to him about being SO tired... just doesn't seem normal to me.  I even started crying when talking about that (don't think he was really prepared for that one).  Totally feel silly about those tears now, but they just came out and I didn't have much control over them!  He told me that he had something that would probably help the tiredness (even more than just taking it easy, resting more, etc.  about this time I kinda zoned out because he was ahem- working- so I was a little distracted).  He told me he'd bring them out to me before I left.

Here's what he brought me...

Did you see what they were?  Yep, look closer.... those would be PRE-NATAL vitamins.  Seriously.  For the gal who just had her baby-making parts removed.  Yep.  I had a good laugh about that one.  Then the receptionist said, "So, I guess congratulations are in order?"  I just about peed my pants I laughed so hard.  Isn't the picture on these vitamins a crack up?  All those women leaning over the crib?  Glad I have a good sense of humor...

On other fronts... kids seemed to have a good day at school today.  Both were EXHAUSTED when they came home.  Needless to say it was a short night of dinner, baths, more Harry Potter, and bed.  Nice thing was I actually cooked (get out the red marker) for my family for the first time in weeks.  :)  There may be a light at the end of this tunnel after all (is that the pre-natal vitamin talking??).

I'll wrap this up with one last photo... my dear friends at work sent me flowers when I was in the hospital (yep, that would be December 16th folks...)... and the flowers are STILL alive!  I have enjoyed them a LOT and I thought I'd share a quick picture...

Love to you all...

C

Last Two Days....

Friday night, I asked the kids if they had done everything that they wanted to do during Winter Break.  We made a 'list' of things that they had wanted to do, but that we hadn't done yet.  Thankfully, the list wasn't TOO long... so we were able to accomplish most of it. (Note that we did not accomplish what Momma wanted to do, which was to get the house cleaned and all the Christmas decorations put away.  But... remember the resolution, remember the resolution, remember the resolution.)  Turns out our last two days were pretty awesome....

Colin spent his last two days:  eating Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast, playing xBox, building Legos, playing games with Mommy and Daddy, getting comfortable riding his bike without training wheels (this took a WHOLE year to accomplish... but he's finally there), going out to dinner at Golden Corral with Nana and Papa (cause Julia was having a sleepover) and building the Propeller Racer that Andy, Amy and Kelvin sent him for Christmas.  Here are a few photos... it was SO much fun watching him build the racer because he could read the directions on his own... it's a pretty cool little toy too!

Julia spent her last two days:  eating Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast, playing Nintendo, reading, drawing, playing Poptropica on my laptop, spending the night at her dear friend Alyssa's house (remember the pneumonia at the beginning of the break?  She had a sleepover planned that Friday night that didn't get to happen, so she was quite relieved that we managed to work it out before the break was over), and sleeping on the chair (this is what happens when you spend the night at a friend's house and choose giggling over sleeping).

Joe spent the last two days: sleeping in, playing xBox with Colin, playing xBox after Colin went to bed, taking down the (200 lbs.- he swears) Christmas tree, taking out the trash, doing laundry, and trying to convince Momma that she should just rest (and that she is still pretty, even though she doesn't feel that way right now).

I spent the last two days: eating Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast (the diet has got to start soon...), getting comfortable with driving again, looking at blogs, reading blogs, talking to some good friends about redesigning my blog, playing games with Colin, cooking with Julia, dreaming about a laundry room makeover (more about that soon), Twittering, Facebooking, taking the Christmas tree down, cleaning out the refrigerator, going to bed early, not sleeping well, trying to get us organized because school starts again (TOMORROW!) and trying to follow Daddy's directions to rest more (and feel pretty more- hopefully soon).

School and work start again tomorrow for everybody but Momma- who has about 3 more weeks before she is fully healed and ready to return to the rat race.  I think being home alone will be VERY strange... I'll let you know how it's going soon....

Have a wonderful night all-
C

Another Try?

So, with some great suggestions from Love (you can see her blog here), I've made a few modifications to my blogger account and tried a new piece of software this morning Picnik.  Okay... LOVE LOVE LOVE Picnic.  Very user friendly and simple.  One of those pieces of software that you don't need to read the 'Help' section 22 times to accomplish a simple task... just by looking at the screen you know what you need to do.

Here's my next try at a photo collage... this one created on Picnik. I got more the effect that I wanted- in much less time.  What do you think?

Have a wonderful day everyone!
C

Welcoming 2010....

We welcomed the year 2010 today with some good old fashioned family fun. Here are a few pics of the highlights. If today was any indication... 2010 is going to be a GOOD year. Enjoy!

P.S. This is my first attempt at using Picassa to create a collage of photos. I think it's too small (and can't figure out how to adjust it). What do you think? Do you like it? Like the individual photos more? Fill me in.....