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Christmas is over!!!!

Christmas is almost a week past. By Christmas standards this was a very nice Christmas. All my Christmases seem to be nice. I'm sure that's because we have such a wonderful family. Will made this Christmas special in the way only a 2 1/2 year old can. He gets a pliers and says "I'm happy now." I say this way too much but can we just turn a switch and keep this age for an extra year.

Did you know pliers make good tongs for picking things up?

When did wearing Santa hats to Grandma's become a yearly tradition?

Even with Great grandma in the nursing home we all gather for Christmas day supper and good times.

With 19 people there has to be a leaf in the table.

Well tomorrow is New Year's eve. The tree is coming down and all the decorations. Life goes back to normal. This year I'm not as ready for that as in some years. I think I could do Christmas all over again next week. That must be a sign that either I'm getting old (Nah) or I really enjoyed this Christmas season.

The kids are all coming over tomorrow for food and games and poppers. I love New Years eve that ends about 8 or 9. Today Amy and I are taking all the kids to the movie Madagascar 2. I should work at cleaning and organizing my den sometime in there too. I need to start the new year with that room organized.

Well that's about it for today.

TTFN

December 1st

Well it's now only 23 days until Christmas. Wow did it sneak up this year! Just when I think I have everything under control little bits of panic creep up and I think "oh there's so much that I want to do and not enough time to do it all. Of course I've always been one who thinks she has to do it all - make presents, decorate everything, bake and buy the perfect gifts. I don't know where this came from because I think my mother wasn't like that. Oh, she sewed clothes for me for Christmas but that was more out of necessity than desire. She was a good cook but we didn't have tons of homemade cookies and goodies. She didn't do crafts. She mostly cleaned. So I really don't know where my desire to have a Norman Rockwell Christmas came from. When I was a stay at home mom I really enjoyed all that because I had the time. Now I work full time and just can't do it all. Somehow though I think I still should so there comes the stress. For the past few years I've tried hard to just enjoy everything about the holiday. This year I've vowed to keep it simpler. We'll see how that goes.

I signed up for an online class called Journal Your Christmas. I hope it will be more fun and not alot of work. Of course tonight as I was doing the first assignment I had glue issues. This could be why I never became a paper scrapper. Those simple basic things like cutting and gluing are the most stressful for me. Do you suppose it's because I only had 6 weeks of kindergarten? Haha. Amy I might be coming to your house after school for scrapping help.

We went to the mall with the kids from school today. First we go to Sertoma for pizza and a visit with Santa and then off to the mall. It always puts me in the Christmas mood and today was no exception. Now if we could just get a little snow every now and then that would be good.

Well I have to get Kyra off to school by 7 AM tomorrow so I better crawl into bed.
TTFN

Happy Thanksgiving

Know what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving! Everything!!!!! Seriously what is there not to be thankful for. I tell just anybody who will listen that I have been blessed beyond measure. Even if I don't always say it out loud I try to make a point everyday of appreciating everything I have.

Well this was Wendy's first time to host a big holiday. I'm sure she stressed for weeks about it but she shouldn't have. It was wonderful as I knew it would be. She is a great hostess and has a beautiful home that we can all fit in so I knew everything would be perfect and it was. I hope you know Wendy this means that the torch has officially passed.

I've taken this online class called Stories in Hand. While I haven't officially written any stories it has made me think more about my childhood and what stories I could write. As I was thinking about my childhood Thanksgivings I was stunned to realize that I don't have any memories of Thanksgivings at my house. With my dad being a Highway Patrolman I know we didn't get to go very far for holidays as those were days he needed to be on the road. I do have memories of Thanksgivings and Christmases at the city jail. My parents were friends with the sheriff and the city policman and they too probably didn't get to spend the holidays away either. So we would have the meal at the jail which was also the home for the sheriff and family. My other memories of holiday meals are at my Aunt Ev's or Aunt Dorothy's. Now whether they were just Sundays around the holidays or if they were yearly occurences I don't remember. But I was saddened to think that I have no memories of Thanksgiving at "our house". Now of course that doesn't mean we didn't have small, just our family, meals, it's just that they didn't give me any memories. Now that both my parents are gone and most of my Aunts and Uncles are gone too,there really isn't anyone to get stories from. I think that is why I've started to become more interested in journaling and writing "stories". All too soon the people we count to help us keep those memories alive are no longer around or able to tell the "stories".

Well tomorrow Amy, Wendy and I are hitting the stores in the wee hours of the morning. I've been going off and on since Kyra was 3 and we would stand in line at Lewis for Beanie Babies. Even though it is absolutely crazy it's a great time. Don't know if I'll buy anything or not. What am I saying of course I will. Heck somebody has to get this ecomony back on track. Might as well be me. And both Steve and I just got paid and all the bills are paid. Let the good times roll.

TTFN

Let the Holidays Begin!

Yesterday was the Festival of Trees. I've been going to that for about 12 years. I may have missed a few but for the most part it has become my annual start of the holidays. I think Kyra was about 3 when we first started going. It seemed back then that there were more interesting trees and more games for the kids to play but it still is a great way to put me in the mood for the holidays. This year Kyra's musical group from high school sang. I think she performed one other time with girls chorale too but I could be mistaken. And if going and seeing all the beautifully decorated trees didn't put me in the mood, then the snow we woke up to yesterday morning sure did. It was one of those 1 inch snowfalls that are just perfect. Not too much to cause any problems and just enough to make everything white. And the best part - it shouldn't last too long because it is supposed to be about 40 degrees today. It could do that routine all winter. Yeah right!

I definitely had a play day yesterday. I spent most of the morning doing computer things and blog reading. Very productive don't you think? I called Amy about 10:30 to tell her I had signed up for another online journaling class and she invited me (or did I invite myself) to go thrift shopping and to Hobby Lobby. Anything to get out of doing this den clean out. So we went and did that. She's on the hunt for vintage ornaments and Kyra just likes thrift shoppping. I used to love to go to thrift stores with Glenna and I'm glad that Amy and Kyra are doing that now so I have someone to go with when the mood hits. It's like looking at my life in things. All the styles that have come and gone in decorating. Gives pause to what I buy now because I know at some point it will be in the thrift stores with people saying "Can you believe we had that in our house?" We definitely are a disposable society. Don't need it now so get rid of it and get something new and improved later. No wonder we're in a declining economy. We used to have the same toaster forever. If it broke we took it apart and made it work again. Now they make things so we can't do that and we have to buy a new one. Or they come out with new and more exciting colors so we want that new color.

By the time I got home yesterday I was in major pain. I don't know if I did something in the morning when I was slipping on the snow at a thrift store or if walking at the Festival in new shoes did it but my hip was really acting up. I'm sure at some point I will probably need a hip replacement. It's been a problem clear back to when I was pregnant with Amy. I remember always getting a catch in the hip. Two years ago I know I either pulled it out of the socket (thanks PT person for telling me that could have happened) or strained the muscles but whatever happened it took a year to get better. I've had twinges since but nothing like last night. I hope that with babying it for a few days and taking some pain meds it will go back to the way it was, virtually pain free. That should really give me incentive to lose weight.

Well today we need to run some errands. I invited Scott's for brunch if they wanted. So we'll do that and then go to Sam's and Target and maybe Michaels. Oh and if we did World Market that would be good too. And then I need to work more on this den. I wish I had room to take everything out and start over. I'd keep all the same furniture but try and figure out how to get more storage in here. It's a great little room for keeping all my projects and such but it's such a little room with such a little closet and I have too much stuff. And no, I don't think I can get rid of my stuff. I have plans for all that stuff. Of course I might have to live another 50 years and retire tomorrow to get it all done, but that's beside the point.

Off to stare at my piles in the den.

TTFN

Middle of the week recap

It's hump day as they say. The middle of the week. As usual it's a pretty mundane week. Wake up, go to school, come home, do a few things, watch a little tv and go to bed. The story of most of our lives. I think very few people lead exciting and adventurous lives. I'm really quite happy with my little dull life, thank you very much but it doesn't make for blog entries. So what have I done this week so far. Monday night was Haley's orchestra concert. I am so struck by how much they learn and how far they come with one or two days a week of instruction and a little practice. Most of these kids have only been playing for a few weeks, especially the band students. You can start orchestra in 4th grade, but band doesn't start until 5th. Anyway, can we say wow! I remember when Amy was in band. They always put the orchestra with the band concerts. They were torturous at the least. There was so much squeaking and squawking it practically made your ears bleed. In those few short years between Amy's grade school concerts and Kyra's concerts they must have changed how they taught because the difference is amazing. These concerts were quite enjoyable. And I am so happy that my grandchildren have the opportunity to experience music. Steve didn't have orchestra where he went to school so his knowledge is somewhat limited. I did have an orchestra at my high school but I've learned the most working in a middle school and listening to their concerts. Everyone should learn to appreciate the beauty of a good orchestra. Off my soap box now.
Yesterday was just a normal day. Most of the time my highlight of the day is taking Kyra to and from school. It is such a blessing to spend this time with her. And because I take her home and stop there for about a 1/2 hour everyday I get to see Kirby and Kyler. Well some days, some days they're off busy doing their own thing. It's all good anyway.
Today was supposed to be warm about 50 degrees or so. Can we say they lied! I don't think it got to 40. I told Kyra she didn't need her heavy coat. She thanked me when I picked her up for giving her such good advice. I doubt she'll listen to me anytime soon when it comes to the weather. I finally typed Wendy's email address into my school email list. I don't talk to her as frequently as I do Scott so it will be nice to communicate a little easier with her. Of course today if I had just read her blog this morning most of my questions would have been answered. Note to self read Wendy's blog in the morning!
See my life is pretty dull. No good stories. I'm hoping this weekend with the festival of trees, I'll have some new pictures to post. And then next week Thanksgiving. Let the holidays begin.
Off to see about supper. Not doing so good on the cooking blog. We're eating pretty simply or just grabbing too much fast food. Need to work on that.
TTFN

Another weekend bites the dust

Here it is 8:00 Sunday night and the weekend is coming to a close. I keep thinking how it nice it would be if I had tomorrow off like last week, but alas it is not to be. I think I struck a fair balance of work and play. I'm sure I could have done way more but heck I might need something to do next weekend. Hahaha.
So Saturday Amy called about 12:15 and asked if I was up for a field trip. Sure I'm always up for field trips, shopping trips, just about anything really. Kyra was going to volunteer for Salsa at an animal shelter and Amy wasn't sure where exactly it was so she wanted me to come along and be navigator. Such a mistake taking me to an animal shelter. I really just want to take them all home. It's a good thing I live in town and in a small house. So after we dropped Kyra off we went to the mall to feed the boys lunch and kill some time. Well let me tell you it was crazy. Last Saturday Amy, Kyra and I went to the mall and it was just a normal busy Saturday. But this Saturday was totally out of control. Younkers was having this huge sale and people must have come from everywhere. We knew we were in trouble when the parking lot was packed and we had to park way out on the end. Then just trying to walk through Younkers was a challenge in itself. And the food court, well lets just say that finding a place to sit was not an option. We shopped for a little while and then went back to the food court and snarfed a table. If this is any indication of what the rest of the holiday season is going to be like count me out. Except of course for Black Friday. I just like the craziness of that but otherwise forget all the crowds.

Today was just a lazy Sunday. I just hung out and worked on some projects. I'm coming along on the sweater. I'm about half way done with the front now and then it's just the hood and putting it together. I'm also taking an online class called story in hand. And I started putting together the album. I'm excited to start writing stories of my life. I actually cooked a nice little supper too. This week is Haley's orchestra concert and I think Kyra's show choir thing. Should get me out of the house after dark at least a couple of times this week.

Well Desperate Housewives is on. I think I'll knit a little more and watch some Sunday night tv.
TTFN

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas.

Ok maybe not quite but with the little bit of snow on the ground and the fog it just seems like Christmas is just right around the corner. Of course it is just really right around the corner. I'm really in the mood to buy presents and make things. Too bad working gets in the way of all my fun time. I need to get out my planner and make some lists and put down all my ideas before they fly out of my brain. I used to remember everything. Now I need to write things down or off they go into neverland.

Today was a strange day. We had a substitute today which in of itself isn't a big deal. But one of our students was gone and that usually isn't a big deal either. This student though is the one that effects my day the most. Two periods of the day another EA and I change and lay this student down. We go to another room and it's just the three of us, nice and peaceful. After we lay her down we have 30 minutes that we sit and visit and knit or do something useful. It is really a treat after all these years of constant going and doing. Anyway with this student gone we couldn't justify going and just sitting in the room but we really didn't have anything to do either in any of the other rooms. If we would have had our regular teacher she probably would have found something to keep us busy. So we felt like lost souls with no home. I know poor us but it really is harder to not have anything to do than to be really busy. I'll take really busy anyday. Hopefully things are back to normal tomorrow.

After many months of missing Hello.com and chatting online with Haley, we finally connected on google talk this morning. It used to be so nice to chat a little with her in the morning or later at night when she couldn't sleep. I think I'll still miss hello but this will be nice. Even though I see and talk to my grandchildren more than most grandparents it's nice to have a little daily dose of conversation with them.

I finished my sleeves last night. Woohoo!!!!!!!!!! Now I'm on the front which shouldn't take too long I hope. The neck instructions seem a little tricky but maybe once I'm that far it'll make sense to me. I'm worried most about the hood and sewing the thing together. I really hope it turns out well because it's fun to see a skein of yarn and watch it turn into something wearable. I have always loved crafts and needlework just for that reason. You take virtually nothing and turn it into something beautiful. Feeds that creative spirit.

Can you believe I'm on Facebook? When Steve's brother was here he said he was on Facebook and how he had reconnected with some of his classmates. We talked and I said I didn't think people my age were on Facebook but he is only 7 years younger so I thought who knows it might be worth a try. Well I was more right than he was. I put in my high school and year and what do you know. 3 people from a class of over 300 were there. Yep we're a happening group, keeping up with all the latest and greatest. But I did discover some of my coffee friends and who knows, maybe the word will get to my classmates yet. I'm not holding my breath.

I love this quote.

"Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you'll be grateful that you did."

TTFN

Ice, Snow, Poppies and Sleeves

How's that for a title? I woke up this morning to a nice coating of ice all over everything when I let the dog out at 5:30. I was so grateful that I didn't have to go to work today. I've driven to work so many times in bad weather that I didn't need to add another one to my belt. Now within the last half hour or so it's turned to snow. Very pretty snow I might add, nice big flakes coming down so soft and gentle. If we have to have snow already then this is the kind of snow I want. What would be great is if this snow only lasts a few days and we wait another month or so before we get any more. Like that will happen.

I was watching the CBS morning show this morning while I was knitting my sleeves. They are doing a decade a day for this week and today was the 60's. It was so fun to see some of the old commercials and clothes and all the footage of things I so remember. But one of the hosts had a paper poppy in his lapel and talked about when he was younger they always sold these paper poppies as a way of making money for the veteran's organizations. I had totally forgot about those! They were such a part of my childhood and young adulthood. Most of the men always sported a poppy in their shirt buttonhole and sometimes even as a kid we would buy a poppy and thought it was so cool. I wonder when they stopped doing that. At least I think they aren't selling poppies anymore.

So I'm finally seeing the finish line with these sleeves I'm knitting. After ripping them out about six times I'm almost to the end. If I wasn't such a perfectionist I might have been done much sooner. Since it's a sweater that hopefully Will will wear, I want it to be able to hold up and not fall apart and to look halfway decent. My goal was to finish the sleeves on these 4 days off and I think I'm going to make it. Next is the front and the hood and then I can try and figure out how to sew it together and my first sweater will be done. Yeah!

Well today is my last day of my 4 day weekend. It was so nice to have 4 days with no commitments tied to it. So many times during the school year there is a holiday involved with our days off that I never feel like they were truly days off. Like Thanksgiving (which I totally love). We have 5 days off. Wednesday I'll make pies and whatever else for Thanksgiving. Then of course there's Thanksgiving. Hopefully we'll shop on Friday. Saturday and Sunday I'm planning on putting up my tree and decorating. So see I really enjoy these days that are mine to do with as I please. Not that I always get done everything that I plan. I did accomplish quite a bit. Today I'm hoping to put some order to my den and figure out how I can keep everything I need in there and still use the space. I really need a big closet for that room. Since that's not happening I have to figure out some way to make it work. I can't scrapbook if half my stuff is downstairs and half is upstairs. What I wouldn't give to just have more space. As much as I try to get rid of stuff, there is so much stuff that I know as soon as I get rid of it I'll wish I still had it. I work with two diversely different people. One keeps everything. If we have hat day at school she can pull out a cool old hat she's had for 40 years. Her house is anything but neat but she is a most interesting person. The other person is a neat freak. If we decide to go out to eat some Saturday for lunch, she can never make it because she has to clean house. Trust me her house is always clean and she doesn't keep anything that isn't necessary. She's a nice person but not nearly as interesting because her life is so structured. They always buy groceries on Thursday. She plays bingo always on Tuesday. Anyway my point is I would like to fall somewhere in between these two. I want enough structure that my life doesn't get out of control, but I also don't want to get so tied to how my house looks that I miss out on things. So my den needs to find that balance today. It is totally out of control. Hopefully I can get rid of enough stuff that I can do what I need to do in there. Wish me luck. I like my stuff!

Well goodness I've rambled quite enough. I need to get to work on a few of those chores and finish those sleeves.

TTFN

What a difference a week makes!

Last week it was 70 degrees and a picture perfect day. This week this is what is greeting me in the morning when I step out and get the paper. Nice huh? And man is it cold, a bone chilling 20 some degrees. I kinda like the snow but it's going to take some getting used to with the cold.

So how is my four day weekend going you ask. Pretty good. I spent most of it yesterday shopping. Amy wanted to get up early and get to Walmart by 8:00 to grab a special on a laptop she had seen online. I'm always up for a shopping trip so I said sure I'd love to go along. Well after much confusion from the Walmart staff. (Like we were just standing around the electronics area with a few other people waiting for it to hit 8 o'clock. Two minutes before 8 they say oh you need to get a number from the customer service area. Great, a line is forming with people who already have numbers.) Long story short Amy got a number and while waiting in line I decided that it was just too good a deal to pass up and I got a number. So by 8:30 both Amy and I had laptops for $298 each. I thought Steve might not be happy because we really don't need another computer but luckily he was ok with it. So after that we went home for awhile and waited for Kyra to get ready and then we headed out to the mall. Both Kyra and I wanted new winter coats. I found what I was looking for right away but Kyra wasn't quite as easy. She has definite ideas of what she likes, just like her mom did at her age. Amy says it's just pay back. I guess I go along to say uh huh, yep that's right. But I got a coat, some tarts from Yankee candle and a new top and jeans. Not bad for a days work. And hopefully I helped the economy too. Haha.

Yesterday I spent alot of time thinking about something called project 365. The only way I knew about it was in the photography area, where you take a picture every day for a year. I think that is such a cool idea and would love to do that. But then I read about this couple who took Rachael Ray's 365 No Repeat cookbook and decided to make a recipe from that book every day. They started at the beginning and worked their way through to the end. All this made me think that I need to start some 365 projects of my own. Particularly in the cooking department. Realistically I know I couldn't cook something different every day. There's only 2 of us and we would have too many leftovers, but I could try and cook about 5 meals a week. Sometimes I have to make something a project before I can get excited about it. Especially things that have become quite mundane like cooking. So I started another blog called Colleen Cooks 365 (there's a link to the left side of my blog). I'm hoping by blogging and documenting it will give me that nudge to actually do it. Time will only tell, but hey nothing ventured nothing gained right.

Less than 3 weeks until Thanksgiving my favorite holiday. I love Thanksgiving because it's just about getting together and enjoying your family with food and traditions. There's no pressure to find the right gift or any of that. This year I'm particularly excited because Wendy is hosting it. It's like passing on the torch. I thought maybe I might be sad about that but heck no I've done it for so many years like 30 something that it will nice to be mostly a guest. And the best part is I still get to make some of the food. (By the way Wendy I hope you got my email, outlook was being weird this morning)

Well I've rambled on enough. I should go knit on a sweater. I've only attempted the sleeves about 6 times but this time I think I've got it.

TTFN

Blizzard Warnings???

Yes that's right. There are blizzard warnings for the western 2/3 of the state. We just have a winter weather advisory here. Gotta love living in South Dakota. Why just Friday. Amy, Wendy and I sat outside handing out Halloween candy. We didn't even need coats. And now they are talking about 32 inches of snow in the Black Hills and 1 to 2 inches here. I don't think I'm ready for winter yet. I remember the first 2 years we were back in South Dakota after living for 3 years in California. Both years 1976 and 1977 we had Veteran's Day blizzards. And if I remember correctly it was terrible weather the rest of the winter. Maybe it only seemed terrible because we had been away from all the cold and snow for 3 years but I do remember there being snow on the ground all winter. We really have had such mild winters lately and especially it seems they haven't started until later in the season that a "normal" South Dakota winter might be really hard to take. But there is nothing we can do about it but enjoy what ever comes our way.

Well election day is over. History was made, the first black President for the US. I loved listening to Whoopi Goldberg on the view yesterday. She put it so well when she said she could now put her suitcase down. Unfortunately I think there is still a portion of this country that doesn't share that feeling. I think Barack Obama will make a great president. All great presidents have been great orators and Barack is one of the best. When it's all said and done it isn't as much about what his policys are as it is about how well he makes us feel as a country. If ever our country needed a great cheerleader it is now. Enough with the politicalness.

I could probably post more but I must get ready for school. Two more days this week and then a 4 day weekend. Yahoo!!!

TTFN

Where did October go?

Wow here it is the 3rd of November already! Can it only be 3 short weeks until Thanksgiving and only 53 days until Christmas? And in just 2 short weeks is the Festival of Trees which always starts the holidays for me. The weather has been so nice that it seems surreal that the holidays are so close. Though I have to say my mind is wandering towards Christmas all the time lately.

It was a very quiet weekend here. Saturday I cleaned some and did some computer things. I should put my computer somewhere else so I could get my den cleaned. I come into to clean and next thing I know I'm sitting at the computer. Guess it could be worse. Later in the afternoon Haley called and wanted to know if I wanted to come with them to Looks Meat Market. Of course I would love to go. I don't get to do many things with Wendy and kids because of their busy schedule so I jumped at the chance to hang out with them for awhile. After Looks we hung out here for awhile and then went to Perkins for supper. It was a very pleasant day. Yesterday was about as lazy as a day could get. I should have spent the day outside since it was about 75 degrees. Could be the last one of those we get to enjoy. But alas I spent it in the house doing odds and ends. I finished the back of Will's sweater and started working on the sleeves but realized after a couple of rows that one sleeve had 26 stitches on it and the other had 28. Oops. Ripped it out and will start over today. I'm excited to get it done because I have never made a sweater before. Hopefully it will be one he can wear at least once and not be one that has arms done to the floor or something.

I almost forgot to talk about the Halloween party. Friday was the Halloween party. It was so fun to see all the kids and meet some of Haley's friends and Hannah's friend. Both Scott and Wendy wore costumes. It was just eerie to talk to Scott in his. He had a mask that was just hard to look at it. I think it creeped me out more than it did the kids. And Amy she could hardly even talk to him. I think I took pictures of it but they are still in my camera which Kyra has. I'm not doing a very good job of getting pictures on my blog. Goal for November more pictures and more entries.

Well this is a full week of school, one of the few in November. Next week only 3 days. Yeah!!!!!!!! Tomorrow is election day. I will be glad to have that over with. Maybe we can find out what else is going on in the world after Tuesday. I really want to start dieting again. I know I wasn't going to talk about it anymore but I still do need to get it under control.

Guess I should go get ready for school. I don't have to pack a lunch because we are cooking with the kids today. That's always a challange but fun. I need to clean out my knitting bag a little too.

TTFN

Weekend Recap

Why does time on the weekends go so much faster than during the rest of the week? Even when I have an extra day off it still goes flying by. Friday Amy, Will and I hit the mall in search of a few items to fill in my fall wardrobe. We got home in time for Wendy to pick of Will and then we left again for KMart. I bought 2 pairs of shoes and a couple pairs of pants. Saturday Steve and I hit Sams and Walmart before going to Hannah's last soccer game. She was really aggressive and played well so it was fun to watch. Then I went and picked up Wendy and the kids and took Haley clear across town to her Lego league. I hadn't been that far west for a long time. This town is amazing. Then Wendy,Will, Hannah and I went and found Halloween decorations for their Halloween party. Then back to pick up Haley and Valentinos for supper. Yesterday I spend the day in the kitchen cooking. I made meatballs, 3 casseroles, cooked a pumpkin and froze 4 cups of pumpkin ( I had never done that before) and made barbeque pork for sandwiches, and taco shells to freeze. I have pictures of the mess I made but no time to post them now. Maybe I'll post pictures tonight. Needless to say my kitchen is still a mess because I filled my dishwasher up once and its ready for the second load of dishes. What do them by hand! If there's one thing I've learned well over the years is that messes will wait. It was a fast and furious weekend but productive and thats what counts. I will post more tonight and with pictures if I remember. I want to get my blog numbers up for the month so twice a day posting should do it. Off to get ready for the day.
TTFN

I want summer back!

I had today off because of a middle school conference. Grade school and high school still had school today just us lucky middle schoolers were off. It just made me long for summer vacation. This was the first day off I've had where really nobody else was off. Steve was at work and there was no where I had to be at any particular time. Made me long for those summer days that were carefree. I did accomplish a few things like pay bills and transfer my summer clothes into storage and bring out some of my winterish clothes. I wonder what it would be like to have enough closet space that I wouldn't have to put half my wardrobe away every season. I digress. I realized this week with the cooler temperatures that my last years fall clothes look pretty tacky. In my job with wiping dirty faces and noses and other sundry body parts my clothes take a real beating. So Amy and Will and I hit the mall to find some new tops and things. All I really wanted was some crew neck long sleeve tee shirts. I have lots of jackets and vests that still work but shirts to go underneath are what really get abused during the course of the year. It would seem that that would be an easy undertaking, right? Well maybe it would be if I was a size 6 but in my size everything seems to be mock turtle necks. YUCK! I'm not ready for that yet! I might not be ready for those even in January. I did buy a few things to update my wardrobe but I probably would have saved money if they would have had crew neck shirts. The best part of today was taking Will with us. That's what made me miss summer. He is just a hoot. The things he comes up with and says like "I don't want Coldstone I want Warmstone!" they just make me laugh. I say this everytime but I so wish I could just turn him on slo mo so he doesn't grow up too fast.
I also realized by looking back on my blog that I'm not doing a very good job of updating it. Another reason I want summer back. I had more to write about. I can't really write about work with confidentiality and all and the rest of my life is rather mundane. Or at least not much is blog worthy. So I sit down to blog and go hmmm what's there to write about. So I'll have to think of some interesting things that might be blog worthy that might get me back into blogging more.
I went to Kyra's chorus concert last night. It was very good. There was some music that was a little dull but overall it was terrific. It really made me realize though how much times have changed. The kids all had on blue jeans and their chorus tshirts. Even the director had on jeans. When Amy was in chorus everyone dressed up even the parents who went. I'm not sure which I like better. It's nice to know that you don't always have to dress up to attend an event, but I miss getting dressed up to go to things too. I wonder if we aren't getting just a little too casual. Maybe it'll turn around. They always say what goes around comes around. For whatever that's worth.
See I've blabbed on about nothing for long enough now. I should see whats on tv and crawl into to bed to warm up. I'm not sure I'm ready for cold weather.
TTFN

What's not to love about this face?

Don't you just want to smooch those chubby cheeks? Two year olds are probably my favorite and this one just grabs my heart. From "Grandma, Grandma" "Grandma Grandma" to responding to your answer of his question with " Oh I didn't know". He is just the best. I love all my grandchildren but at the moment I want to stop time and keep this one little just a wee bit longer.

Lots to get done today. I need to make some food and use some of the vegetables I seem to be collecting. Of course all the usual household chores still have to be done. We have to go to Great Grandma and Grandpa's for Grandma's birthday. I think she might be turning 78. I also want to go to an open house down the street from us. They completely gutted it and redid it. So that should be interesting. AND I hope to get some scrapbooking done too. I wish I had a week off about now. I think I could get alot done.

Well I need to get at it.
TTFN

Where's Friday when you need it?

Today was a stressful day and the fact that I have one more day of school this week doesn't help. If I tried to explain what made this day so frustrating I don't think anyone outside of school would even begin to understand. Lets just say that even though we have way less kids we have to jump through so many more hoops and between demanding parents and teachers who act first and think later it's frustrating the heck out of me. Let's just leave it at that.

On to more uplifting subjects. The weather has been gorgeous. Perfect fall days and nights. Last night they predicted a light frost so I picked all my basil. Tonight I'm going to make pesto to freeze. I don't think it really froze but I did see a little frost on the rooftops this morning on my way in to work. It won't be long before scraping windows will be the norm. Can Christmas be far behind? I love this time of year. I need to get out and get some pictures before all the leaves are gone from the trees.

The vice presidential debates are on tonight. I doubt that I will watch. I have had my mind made up for quite awhile and I don't think it will change so I don't want to watch. Isn't that terrible? It will be interesting to see how all this economy thing plays out. Unfortunately no matter who gets in office I don't think much is going to change any time soon.

Well my pizza just got here so I think I'll go eat. I really didn't have much to write about anyway.
TTFN

Not three days in a row!

Hard to believe huh? See what not having anxiety attacks can do. Changes your life I tell ya!! I even came home and changed clothes and made supper. Pretty damn amazing. I made a recipe out of a cookbook I stole back from Wendy. She had this amazing cheesy pasta chicken stuff one Saturday as leftover. Having not had lunch I stole a few bites and thought wow this was really good. (Not that I didn't think it would be Wendy! I just thought it was a really good dish and one I would like to make.) When they came home I asked where she got the recipe from and she said one of my cookbooks she had borrowed. So I obsessed over this dish for a couple of weeks and finally one Saturday babysitting I ransacked her cookbooks and found the recipe. Took the cookbook back home and had planned to make it that next week. Well it didn't work out that way but I made it tonight. It's a chicken veggie mixture that you make and then you use some of it for these other recipes in the book. I made the Portuguese frittata tonight and it was amazing. Amy you could so do this without the chicken for Kyra. It would still be yummy. Anyway thank you Wendy. I may have never gotten around to making this if hadn't been for you. Come take more of my cookbooks and share what's really good to make out of them.

I let Kyra use my camera last night. She's going to photography club this coming Saturday and she's borrowing my camera. It was fun to see the images she got. She's got a good perspective and captured some cute images. Like my crazy grandsons. Yeah they're just a little goofy.

Steve just took Grady to the pet store to pick out new toys and some new bones to chew on. I hope if there is such a thing as reincarnation and I have to come back as a pet that I'm owned by somebody like us. Grady definitely has it made in the shade here.

Glenna is back in town. Actually they are staying in a cabin on Oakwood lake but close enough. We're going to supper tomorrow night. It'll be nice to reconnect and visit. I really miss working with her. She was one of a kind.

Well since there isn't much on tv I think I'm going to read for awhile. I started Gossamer by Lois Lowry. It's a middle school book but it's quite fascinating so far.

TTFN

Another weekend bites the dust!

Wow what a fast weekend this was! I feel like I've only really been home just a little bit. Even less than when I'm babysitting. But I actually got a lot done today. What a difference it makes not to have anxiety attacks all day. I've actually not had any big ones all week. I sure wish I knew what brought them on. It sure makes a difference in my energy level that's for sure.

I really cleaned this morning for awhile. Did my refrigerator, cleaned of my counters swept and

mopped the floor, ran the dishwasher, you know just the general kitchen cleaning stuff. Then I moved on to the living room and bathroom before I stopped for the day. Amy called and wanted to go get Wendy something and I needed to do that to. Nothing like waiting until the day after her birthday. So off we went to the mall. Had lunch and proceeded to shop. Unfortunately Kyra was having pms issues and was just not pleasant so we quit early and went home. I came home made a grocery list and went to the store. Then I came home and made a salad and deviled eggs and went to Scott's for supper for the girls birthdays. So even though it wasn't the weekend I

had envisioned I got alot done and had a good time. It's all good.

I promised pictures of the kids from the apple orchard so I better get them on here before I leave. There's thunder in the distance so I better make it quick.

Grandpa and Will sharing apple turnover with ice cream.

Haley and Hannah on the hay bales.

Will riding the train. He's one serious driver.

The kids on the ponies. Look how big Haley looks.

Well the weather is booming and blogger is having some formatting issues so I think I'll call it a night.

TTFN

Happy Birthday Amy and Wendy!!!!!!!!!

It's my daughter's and daughter-in-law's birthdays today. My son had the good sense to marry someone whose birthday is the same day as his sisters. No excuse for not remembering either one huh? All I know is that of all the women in the world I have the 2 best to be my daughter and daughter-in-law. My daughter is my best friend, the person who I can always count on to go and do fun things together with. She also is the person who keeps me up to date on whats in vogue and in style. That doesn't mean we're style mavins, it just means she always knows whats in and cool. She knows the hottest books and music and what colors are the in colors. She's also very creative and talented. Like today we hit thrift stores so she could find old wool sweaters. She wants to felt them and make purses out of them. How cool is that!

Wendy is just the best daughter in law anyone could want. She is such a great mom and always has everything so organized. She's my idol in that she gets up every morning to work out and still has time to get the kids and herself ready for the day. I barely get myself out the door in one piece. I wish we had more time together to do the fun things that Amy and I get to do. We would have a blast. Unfortunately their time together as a family is so limited that I hate to suggest we go shopping on a Sunday, but we should try and do it once in awhile.

Amy and I went to the farmers market again today. After that and Starbucks I went home to what I thought would be a very productive day at home. Well I hadn't been home for more than 10 minutes when the phone rings. It was Kyra ( though at the time I thought it was Kirby). Could I get Mom out of the house from 10 to 12? I thought she said that Cameron was going to paint the wall in the living room as a surprise for her birthday. So I called Amy and said that I didn't feel like doing anything yet and would she like to go out and do something. We decided to go thrift store shopping. Man why does anybody buy anything new anymore when thrift stores have everything? But anyway we got home about 12:30ish and there sitting in their living room was a piano. Cameron had arranged for a piano mover to come and move his parent's piano to their house. I know Amy was probably a little disappointed because she had decided she wanted an electric piano and had even picked one out at Schmidts. I'm sure his parents said why spend the money when they could have theirs. I know how getting something from the in-laws isn't always the gift it should be. My mother-in-law gave me an electric frying pan one year for either birthday or Christmas. Well after a year or two I had hardly ever used it so I sold it on the rummage sale. I don't think she ever forgave me. So I hope that down the line somewhere her inlaws don't either yank it out from under her as in "oh Chrissy needs the piano now". I just know that Amy and Kyra will really enjoy having a piano in the house.

I've started decorating for fall. I did a little bit a couple of weeks ago and I hope to finish today. Honestly it has just felt too early for fall things. Even when the weather was cool and fall like I didn't feel like it should be fall all ready. Well fall is here whether I'm ready or not and I need to get the decorations out. I am ready for soups and apples and pumpkins so I guess I'm ready for fall.

I must blog with pictures that I took last week with the kids at the apple orchard. Maybe I can do that tomorrow. I have been such a terrible blogger lately. Work is really quite stressful lately and I come home drained physically and emotionally. Though I have to say I didn't have any big anxiety attacks this week so maybe that's a good sign. I am really sick of them. They zap any energy I may have and make it impossible to keep up with all that I need to keep up with. I'm really not one who wants to take more drugs than necessary so I'm not sure I want to go to an everyday drug. I keep hoping that I will "outgrow" them. They came on suddenly maybe they can go away the same way.

Well I've written enough for one day. I really do need to get things done.
TTFN

No More Talk of Dieting

I was going back and reading some of my old blog entries. Every other one was about dieting and how I'm not doing it. Well jeez, shut up already. There's more to life than whining about how pathetic you are in the dieting department. So there. No dieting talk. No more negative talk period. Of course that means I must figure out what else to talk about. Could be kinda slim pickins.

I do know that I love my Saturday mornings. Going to the farmers market even if I don't really need anything is still a great way to spend a morning. We get Starbucks and hit the Breadsmith and sometimes other places that are on our list. It is so great to have an adult daughter to enjoy all those things with. I could always go with a friend but I don't think it would ever be as much fun as I have with Amy. Actually when it's all said and done there really is nothing better than spending time with the people you love.

Tomorrow I watch the kids again. A Sunday this time. I don't think I have the kids for the next few weeks. I will definitely miss them. Spending a whole day with them is just the best. I don't know what we'll end up doing. I'd like to take them to the apple orchard. I think their festival is this weekend. Will would like it I think. We'll have to see how it goes.

I bought a soup cookbook magazine this week. I know, surprise I buy a cookbook something!!!LOL. I can't wait for soup season. One of my favorite things to make especially on a cool Sunday is soup. This cookbook has some great looking recipes.

I have had such major anxiety issues this week. Even if I take a pill or two I still can't seem to shake them off. Not only do I feel funky with them they make me feel like I can't do anything. If your heart beats weird the tendency is to just sit and rest. At least for me that's what I feel like doing. I really don't know what sets them off. I don't think it's the usual fears or things like that. I really think it's more a chemical imbalance of some sort. Whatever it's no fun.

Well that's about it for the night. I took a break from writing this to go out to eat with Steve's dad. I should probably get a few things picked up and done tonight since tomorrow will be a washout.

TTFN