No Friends

I have no friends. Now before I start to wallow in self pity, I do have friends. Good friends actually. But on Hello all my friends are in the dark. Amy and I "talk" almost every day on Hello and I've come to the realization that I am addicted to that link with her. One of the first things I do when I get on the computer is check to see if anyone is green. How pathetic is that!!!!!!!!! So now that hello is not playing well with Amy and her computers, I'm like friendless. A year ago I didn't even have hello and now I'm addicted. I wonder if there is a computer link for hello addicts whose friends have all abandoned them.
I am so sick of the wind. I know that the "wind comes sweeping down the plain", but enough is enough. Yesterday was a perfect day. Almost 70 degrees and virtually no wind. Could we have 2 of those kind of days in a row please!
Well I haven't accomplished very much this weekend. I opened up photoshop and stared at it for awhile. I have lots of ideas of things to do, but can't seem to pick one and start. Actually I have a couple of things I need to finish first. Neither one would take long but I don't have the mojo for that either. I probably should have titled this post Pathetic!
We went to Sams again today. That and Walmart seem to be our weekly trips. I bought some meat and veggies though, so hopefully I will cook more this week. Of course this is the week that lots of things are going on. At least for me it's lots of things. Tomorrow night is Kyra's concert, Tuesday is neighborhood coffee and Friday I might go help chaperone a dance.
I am counting the days until school is out. Weekends just go by way too fast and I don't seem to get much done. I want those lazy hazy crazy days of summer. But I shouldn't wish away my time because summer will go by fast too.
TTFN

Wow its the 19th of April and I haven't blogged all month. Looking back at 2008 entries it looks like I blog 5 times a month. Well to get 5 in this month, I'd better hop to it. This summer I'm going to try to make a habit of this blogging thing. They say 3 weeks to make a habit, but I think I'm a slow learner. Maybe 3 months will do it.
Another reason I want to blog more is because I need to diet and maybe writing in my blog about how I'm doing everyday and posting recipes that I try, might make dieting and blogging fun for me. I know I need to find my incentive for both.
Will's birthday was yesterday. He turned 2. What a sweet little boy he has become! He opened his presents like an old pro and said thank you many times after he opened them. He was only overwhelmed at the beginning when his other grandparents came. I think the realization that this was all for him came to him then. He got over it fast though and the rest of the evening was a joy. It is so nice that Wendy invites all of us for the parties. She wouldn't have to invite Steve's sister and husband or Great grandpa but she does and I think it makes for wonderful memories for the kids. Not to mention that I'm sure Lori and Cliff enjoy it immensely.
Life has been quiet as usual here. It should pick up now that the weather has turned nice. Hannah has a soccer game this afternoon, Kyra's concerts are the next 2 Mondays and the boys have started baseball practice. I can't wait to start sitting and watching them play baseball. One of the best things about summer. Speaking of summer, 20 school days left until vacation. I for one am definitely ready.
TTFN

Where did March go?

Wow it really is true that the older you get the faster time flies! This month has just whizzed by. I hope April goes as fast and then it can slow down for a couple of months. There is only 7 weeks of school left. Speaking of whizzing by this school year really did. Must be a sign that I'm enjoying it.
Well we're in a winter storm watch again. Golly gee will this winter ever end. It's not that its been a terrible winter just long. And actually that's not true, because some years it's really nasty by November and this year it didn't start until January. Well one thing is for sure no matter what, it can't last long. But I'd much rather have a severe thunderstorm watch than a winter one anyday.
Haley came over yesterday and dusted for me. Her challenge center is doing a service project to raise money for the monkey section of the zoo. They have to earn money by selling or doing chores. She is quite the duster. I might have to have her come over more often.
Next Saturday is Hannah's first soccer game. I love to watch that girl play soccer. I hope she is just as enthusiastic this year as she has been in the past. After her game, she and I are going to go have a little grandma and Hannah time. Being a middle child and having Haley as an older sister, I think Hannah needs a little TLC.
I really cleaned my kitchen today. I didn't clean out the cupboards or anything but I did clean the grime off the top of the refrigerator and wipe down all those little areas that don't get cleaned on a weekly basis. Maybe next weekend I'll do the cupboards. Ha.
Well that's about it for today. I should get ready for our weekly trip to Sams. The highlight of my week.
TTFN

Hey You! Who said you could blog again so soon?

What some people won't do to get out of doing thing! I'm sitting here thinking I should go spend 10 minutes working on my closet in the spare bedroom, but instead I decide hey I should blog. Like I have anything to talk about. Of course that has never stopped me from talking so why should it stop me from blogging.
We're in a snow advisory and the way it changes from hour to hour I wouldn't be surprised to wake up to a foot of snow or absolutely nothing. Right now its a nice spring evening, cloudy and chilly but not anything that would make you think it would snow. Oh well whatever it does it won't last long.
Yesterday was a busy day for me. I left home at 7 to take Kyra to practice. After school I had a hair appt. Finally no more gray streak. And then I went to neighborhood coffee at Carols. For about 25 years a group of us in the neighborhood have been getting together once a month. It is truly amazing. We laugh, we share stories about our families, we've lost friends together. There are times when it isn't something you want to do on that particular evening, but once you're there its always a good time. What's amazing is that in this mobile world we live in there is still a bunch of us who have lived in the neighborhood for over 30 years. Probably something newer generations won't have.
There is only 36 more days of school left. This year has flown by. A definite sign I'm getting older. It's been a fairly good year with good kids. After last year we deserved a break. Next year looks to be ok too. We're losing 15 kids and only getting 7 incoming 6th graders. We've had over 30 kids for so many years it would be nice to have a small group for a change.
Must get ready for bed and watch a little tv.
TTFN

Is it summer vacation yet?

Well today is the last day of my 4 day weekend. I don't have another official day off until May 17th, that's not counting my one personal day I have left. I really don't want to go back to school. I'm just starting to enjoy my time off. Sometimes it seems like a person need a vacation before they can actually start enjoying their vacation. If that makes any sense. Anyway today was one of those days where I'm like " Hey I could start summer vacation now".
Amy and I took the kids to see "Horton Hears A Who". It was a adorable movie and I liked the way they portrayed the book. BUT there was a woman behind us who was just slightly distracting to say the least. She laughed at all the wrong places and was way more into the movie than most of the kids in the theater. I couldn't wait until the end of the movie to see who this weird woman was and lo and behold she looked like your average person. I've never been to a kids movie where an adult was more of a kid than the kids.
I finally loaded pictures to Winkflash so I can get some pictures printed. I got sick of looking through pictures and went oh what the heck lets just print them all. I have to go back and check to see if I have all the pictures from 2007 that I want in there and then I'm going to have them all printed.
I should really go and see if I can get back into my knitting. I've been on a hiatus it seems lately. Typical for me. Gung ho one week and nothing after that. Theres a goal to work on.
Easter was nice. Bill and Joy and family were there, Mary and Butch came too. They hadn't been back for a holiday in quite a few years. I'm glad they could make it. Holidays are an everchanging thing and every year one never knows who will be able to make it and who won't. Anyway the food was good and the company even better. Who could ask for more
TTFN

Happy Easter

I can hardly believe its Easter already. True it is earlier this year than most but it still doesn't seem like it should be today. Maybe that explains why I can't get into getting the grandkids Easter gifts. It was really a struggle this year. I didn't want to buy them cheap junky toys and lots of candy. Let the Easter Bunny do that. But having grandkids with ages 14 to 2 it's hard to come up with a common theme. So what did I do. I bought beach towels. Now theres a Easter gift if ever there was one. If I could have found one with a bunny on it I probably would have bought 5 of them. Since we're not getting together today, I don't know when I'll deliver them.
Steve and I are going over to his mom and dads for Easter dinner. Shock of all shock, I'm not bringing anything. It took me by such surprise when his dad called and said that he and Lori were going to cook Easter dinner that I didn't even offer to bring anything. Now of course I'm feeling guilty. I shouldn't really since I've cooked and brought over many holiday meals the last few years, but that still doesn't stop the guilt. Steve's mom is going to the nursing home tomorrow so this will be a bitter sweet holiday. Even though in reality she hasn't been there for the last couple of holidays it will seem weird to go over there and she won't be there phsyically. And a time will come when we will spend part of every holiday going to see her in the home. The last few years has really made me aware that time marches on and waits for no one. I don't think I like the idea of getting older. I like the age I'm at and would like to stay there for awhile thank you. Of course thats not possible, but it should push me to make the most of today. I'm a great procrastinator, always waiting for tomorrow. Not that I don't appreciate everyday and every moment, but I don't do alot of things because of the old " I'll do it tomorrow" .
I just looked out the window and there doesn't appear to be a cloud in the sky. Should be a nice day. Cold but nice. Yesterday we had snow showers all day and this morning there is frost everywhere. Spring right!
TTFN

March 3?

Goodness gracious, how did it get to be March 3. I am ready to be done with winter, but somehow I'm not ready for it to be March. Is that even possible? We've had just little tastes of spring like weather lately. You know those days when it gets to 39 degrees and you throw caution to the wind and not wear a coat. Unfortunately mother nature says don't get too cocky and threw us back in the deep freeze this morning. The wind is just a howling out there and the wind chill is -7. Guess I'm back to wearing a coat.
On the home front not much is happening. It really is the "I'm sick of winter" doldrums. Tired of being always in the house, but there's nothing to do outside. And outside is getting darn ugly. The pristine white snow is now black. The dog poop in my back yard is starting to show through. Yuck. All weekend we sat in the house and did nothing. I knitted most of the weekend. I went with Amy to take Kyra to get new glasses and her talent show practice. Other than that I didn't even leave the house. Pathetic. Not much on the horizon for the week either. I have a dentists appointment today. Haley has a play thing at school tomorrow night. Otherwise it's pretty dull.
I don't have any pictures, but I have three knitting WIPs. A new pair of socks, a scarf and a sweater. Any bets on getting all three done? Well enough with this pathetic post. It sounds down right depressing and really I'm not depressed just bored with winter. Can't wait for baseball season.
TTFN

Why is the perfect sunrise photo today?

I never take my big camera with me when I go to work. I don't like having it at school and leaving it in the car with extreme temperatures doesn't sound all that smart. So I carry with me in my purse a small little digital camera. Unfortunately I'm not all that pleased with this camera, so I hesitate to take it out to take pictures that require a good telephoto lens. It takes fine pictures of people and kids but I don't think it would do the sunrise any justice. Hence on mornings like this when the sun is hitting the buildings with the absolutely most beautiful light I just keep on driving and harassing myself for not stopping and trying to take a picture. This has happened a number of times when I take Kyra to Special Edition. Today was one of those days. We have a beautiful catholic cathedral close to downtown. The sun was illuminating the spires perfectly today. I will never know if a camera could even capture the beauty because I didn't stop today to see. You see besides not having my big camera with me, I am a wimp. It was cold this morning. Brutally cold. Shivering handshaking cold. I can only hope that one of these mornings I will see the same beautiful light and the temperature will be warm and I WILL stop the car and try to get a picture. Or on an evening like tonight when the temperature is above zero I WILL STOP and get a picture of the most amazing jet plumes floating in the sunset. I WILL STOP and take a picture. Because words cannot do justice to the beauty of this world.

One finished sock

I finished a sock. It fits and there's not any major mistakes. Now of course I need to make another sock, because while being different is something I aspire to, wearing one sock is too different for me.

So I'm half way down the cuff on the second one. If I just didn't have to work or clean or cook I could whip out tons of socks.

Has anything else exciting happened lately? Of course not. We lead a quiet existence. Its mostly work and hanging out at home these days. The weather has been cold. Can't say I want to get out and do much once I get home. I did take the grandkids shopping for Valentines day. Took Haley and Hannah the day before Valentines to the mall. They bought Webkinz for their Valentines present and we went to Dairy Queen for a blizzard . Beats a card and candy in my book, but when I made that comment to Haley she gave this look like "what! you're not getting me anything for Valentines Day". So Valentines Day I took Amy and the kids to the mall. This time we had lunch and then went Webkinz shopping. Of course Kyra is not into Webkinz, so I took her to Hot Topic. Later we went to FYE and I bought her some used cds. She must have thought I spent too much money on her because she snuck a 20 in my purse while we were at Target. What a kid!!!!!

On the Grady front, he's becoming a much better dog. He still steals things out of the sink but over all he's settling down. He still dislikes his crate and has separation anxiety. I've been home with him for 6 days now, so I'm sure tomorrow will be traumatic. I can't wait until the weather is nice and we can take him out to play. That should help wear him out.

I need to go make some brownies and a pot of sausage and bean soup for the week. I also am planning on making a low calorie lasagne for supper tonight. Leftovers for lunch the rest of the week for Steve. Should make him happy. I thought about making more bread but, then I realized that I would eat way more than my fair share so I shelved that idea. Maybe next weekend.

Off to finish the housecleaning and cooking so I can knit more on that sock.

TTFN

Cold Continues

It was another good day to just stay indoors. I don't think it went above zero today. Yesterday the wind blew 40 miles an hour and made it just miserable. At least today there was no wind.
We did go to Walmart, but otherwise it was just a good day to stay in and make soup and bread. And thats exactly what I did. I made 2 kinds of soup. Both new recipes and both are quite good. One was a broccoli wild rice soup and the other was a ham and bean soup. Then I made Herbed Oatmeal Pan rolls. Can we say yummy? I'm hoping they freeze well. But of course my diet went out the window this weekend. Kirby's birthday was yesterday. He turned 10. Thats so hard to believe. I still remember Kyra, Steve and I going to Perkins after going to see her new brother. Somedays that seems like only yesterday and other times it seems a lifetime away. Anyway we went to Royal Fork for supper. Buffets are no place for a dieter with little or no will power. But I am ready to get back on the wagon tomorrow, so thats a change from days past. Normally I'd think I had blown it and might be six months before I could get back at it.
We only have two days of school this week. I have so many things on my want to do list that I'm sure the time will slip past and I will have only accomplished a little. They're talking snow tomorrow. It would be nice to see some clean snow, but I'm not sure about driving in it. The last snow we had was not fun to get around in even though it wasn't that much. I also have to go pick up Will and Hannah at Amys tomorrow and go to their house. Really hoping the weather isn't too bad.
Well must go back to knitting and watching the grammys.
TTFN

Short and Sweet

Just a short post tonight. I want to get back to reading Pillars, only 100 pages left. Then I don't know if I should go on to World Without End or read something else in between. Decisions, decisions. I probably should just keep with the same story, but this has taken me so long to read that I'm not sure I want to spend another month building cathedrals.
On to the diet front. Well 3 days into it and so far so good. I can't say I have been perfect, but I am doing so much better than before. I'm hoping the scale will go down some and that will be the encouragment I need to really get it together and keep going.
We went over to Scott and Wendys tonight. We hadn't been over there for a month I bet. Hannah clung to me as usual. Haley had a headache and was pretty quiet. Will was just his usual goofy self. Unfortunately he was running to his room and took the corner too soon and crashed his head into the corner. One nasty bruise on his earlobe. Hannah kept saying "He has something blue on his ear" and sure enough, on the top of the ear is one nasty bruise. Poor little guy. Of course it didn't stop him for long.
Grady is still sleeping in our room at night. Other than he and I both have to go to the bathroom about 4 in the morning he's doing really well. We've started giving him a kong with treats and peanut butter when we leave him in his crate during the day. I think he's doing better there too. So far none of the neighbors are complaining about him barking all day.
Well off to read and maybe finish Pillars.
TTFN

Superbowl Sunday

Who's winning? I really don't care I guess. The game is on two tvs in the house and I don't even know the score. It's been a quiet weekend. Most of ours are. We went to Sams yesterday and Walmart today. That is as exciting as it gets around here. I did read a little today on Pillars. My goal is to finish it this week. Its a great book but a slow read for me.

Well we finally broke down and let Grady sleep in our room last night. He did great. Unfortunately he has taken to barking whenever he's in his crate. Could make for a long day for him tomorrow. Besides drugs, I wonder how you get a dog over seperation anxiety. You can't just sit down with them and explain things to them. "Yes we will come back. It's really only for a couple of hours. Just sleep and then we'll be home." Nope none of those little pep talks works for dogs. Maybe this is just a stage and he'll outgrow it soon. Hopefully.

Well tomorrow I'm going to get serious about dieting. I've said that now for a gazillion Mondays, but I am as ready as I'll ever be. When you're not even comfortable in your own skin its time. So I'm going to try to blog everyday about my dieting as a motivation. Maybe if I feel I have to be accountable to my blog it'll keep me going.

We're supposed to have freezing rain and snow tomorrow. I'm hoping more for the snow. I'm not even sure I want a snow day. I definitely don't feel like going to school tomorrow but I don't want to have to have a make up day in May. Next week we only go 2 days, so I can wait for that. Well off to read more Pillars.

TTFN

One Month Down

January always seems like the longest month. It seems way longer than a month ago that it was Christmas. But here it is the last day of good old January and I wonder where did the time go and wow its February tomorrow. One things for sure this month. It's definitely felt like January. It's been below zero at least a day or two a week all month. Tuesday the temp kept falling all day and the wind blew like a son of a gun. Just one nasty day.
Well Grady is taking to not sleeping at night. He barks and barks. I'm sure he has separation anxiety, but how do you cure it on a dog. I don't want to get into the habit of bringing him upstairs to sleep in our room. I don't think that would solve our not sleeping problem anyway. I guess we just keep our fingers crossed and hope he outgrows it.
I started knitting another pair of socks. I'm down to the foot on one but I haven't knitted in a week. I think a full night of sleep so I could stay up past 8 would be a big help. I ordered new needles from Knitpicks and hopefully they'll come soon. They're made from harmony wood so they should be pretty. And I'm sure they will inspire great knitting.
On the grandkid front, Kyler broke two bones in his hand last week. He was running in the hall to get ready for bed and fell and landed on his hand. That makes for 3 broken bones in the Wolff household and the boys are only 8 and 9(almost 10). Amy and Scott never had a one. Haley's doing a report on Emily Dickinson. I hope she emails me a copy of it. Kyra is having some girlfriends over Saturday night. I think that is a first for her. Kirby's birthday is less than 10 days away. Wow hard to believe he'll be 10.
I'm still reading Pillars of the Earth. I'm over half way done, but man is it along book. Good but long. There again if I could stay awake longer I might make more progress.
Thats it for now.
TTFN

Best son in the world or I have a dog why?

I have always thought I have the best kids ever. I hope they know that I think they're terrific everyday. But today qualifies as a give the kid a reward day. Grady (better known as Now What Did You Do dog) had diahrrea today in his crate. Scott not only cleans up Grady's crate but he cleans up Grady and even throws in the blankets and things into the wash. What a kid. Some kids would have just left it for someone else to do. Anyway I do have super dooper kids. I hope they know how much I appreciate them. Not just for things like this but everyday. My hope for my family has always been that we'd be a close knit group and be there for one another. So far so good.
Well the cold has struck. It is supposed to get below zero tonight and into the weekend. Just give me a snow storm and warm it up a little. This cold is awful. I just want to stay in and hibernate. School of course won't let me do that.
I went with Amy and Kyra to Washington High tonight. High school is just looming around the corner for my little Kyra. Seriously where does the time go. I try not to think too hard about it, because it really could be depressing to think that in just four more years she'll be out of high school and figuring out what to do with her life. She's such a great kid, I hope she continues to do well in high school.
It definitely is the winter doldrums. I started knitting again. I almost had one whole sock done when Grady got into my knitting bag. Destroyed the sock. Broke the needles and shredded a $8 skein of yarn. Note to self - do not leave dog unattended. Lesson learned. I just wished I had taken a picture of it. Oh well.
TTFN

What a do nothing Saturday? I have spent most of the day on the computer. I did accomplish quite a few computer tasks though, so the day wasn't a complete waste. We hardly even left the house and it was such a beautiful day. I think the high was 39. Definitely not the usual weather for the fifth of January.

I don't think I could even do a blog challange today, that's how little I did. Scott and Wendy and the kids came over to sled on the hill. Poor Will. He rode with Haley more than with anyone else and she kept wiping out. Once they went flying into the street and crashed. The snow is definitely packed down. We need about 4 more inches of the fluffy white stuff.

I need to go to the grocery store tomorrow. If ever there was one chore that I put off, grocery shopping would be it. I think I would even cook more if I just didn't have to shop. Even with the prospect of a Starbucks to shop with doesn't do it. Luckily we go to Sams on a weekly basis and buy meat and produce, otherwise it would be slim pickings around here.

Well I could ramble on about nothing but I think I'll call it a night.

TTFN

It's All Good

Have you ever thought you could write the next great novel if only you had a title? Well that's how I feel about this blog. If only I could come up with a great title I could blog. I know some people blog first and then take their title from the blog. I tend to like to do things in order. At the top is the title and then the body, so..... you have to have a title first. There must be a condition and a drug for this problem.
Well tomorrow it's back to work. It seems pointless to go back for 2 days, but as Amy pointed out it gives the kids a chance to ease into it gradually. It's been really nice to not have to go outside these last few days if I didn't want to. It's supposed to start warming up tomorrow and we could even have a little melting. I like the snow though. It could keep dumping fresh snow down every so often. Just none of this really frigid temperatures thank you.
I'm ready for tomorrow morning. I grilled a couple of chicken breasts and cut one up into pieces, cut up some peppers and put some greek yogurt into a container. Lunch is done. I even made Steve a sandwich. Now if I can locate my black pants I'm set. I think they are in the closet. Better check tonight.
I thought I would start dieting Jan 1, and I have made an attempt at it. I have eaten better than usual the last couple of days, but not as good as I could. Maybe being back at school will help. I hope so. I know I really need to get serious about this and follow through. I've been practicing at this dieting long enough. Last time I did weight watchers online and it worked really well. This time it isn't the motivator I need, but I still think its the best plan out there. I'm going to keep at it and this weekend really plan out what I need to do for the following week. In my case, no plan means no diet.
Along those lines, Amy, Steve and I went to Sam's tonight. I bought lots of fresh food, some teriyaki salmon, sugar free hot chocolate and chicken breasts. Unfortunately my spinach ended up at Amy's house. My plan for tomorrow is to have oatmeal for breakfast and a half a grapefruit. Lunch will be grilled chicken, pepper strips, greek yogurt and 2 clementines. Supper is going to be teriyaki salmon and baked sweet potatoes and some other vegie. Snack of sf hot chocolate and some other fruit. Maybe if I list my foods for the following day I will stick to it better. Can't hurt.
I need to get back to knitting. I have one sock close to done and the other one nowhere near even started. I started a sweater earlier too. They won't get done if I don't get back to them. Reading is going slow too. I started Pillars of the Earth. I think I just need to turn off the tv. With that note I think I'll work a little on the CPU as Haley calls it and then turn in and read awhile.
TTFN

Happy New Year

Well it's 2008. My motto for the year is: All things great in 2008. I should work for an ad company huh! Now if someone starts putting that on all their things you'll have seen it here first folks. Start sending in the royalties.

We had a great time last night. For the last few years we have spent New Years Eve playing games at my house. As the kids get older it becomes even more fun. Sorry about the sideways picture. Somehow I thought it would right itself. It does in some programs. Will made me think of Scott so much. Even though it wasn't Will's idea to take off his pajamas, Scott always ran around the house in just his diaper or underwear. Couldn't keep clothes on that kid.

I have made so many resolutions in all the years past, that if I had followed them all, I would be a perfect human being. Of course since that is not true, I'm making only one resolution this year. Drum roll please. I resolve to: Be happy with what I have and not wish for all the things I don't have. For example, I'm always wishing for a bigger house. Well really this house suits us just fine most of the time. I know many people who entertain in much smaller houses and do it well. So I resolve to be happy with my little house and entertain more inspite of it. I could go on and on but that's really not the point. The point is I have a really wonderful life and I'm going to focus on the nontangible things and quit worrying about tangible things. Off soapbox.

Now of course there is a difference between a resolution and a goal. Am I going to set goals for this year. Duh!!! So here is a list of goals for 2008.

1. Lose weight. I know this is one everybody does, but it has to be my top goal. I just don't want to have another year of being overweight and all that goes with it.

2. Declutter my house. I think the overweight and the clutter go hand in hand.

3. Knit more.

4. Scrapbook more

5. Stay up until 10 most nights. I could get more of the other two done if I didn't fall asleep so early.

6. Watch less TV

7. No Diet Coke

8. Blog regularly. It was nice to go and read the few entries I had over the past year.

9. Have more family dinners

10.Give more

I'm sure the list will change over the year, but that's the beauty of goals. They are something someone strives for and they can come and go with out all the guilt of a resolution.

I'm off to dry my hair and see if I can't accomplish something this first day of the year.

TTFN

Another day in Wonderland

Man I wish I had taken pictures today. Just when you think it can't get any prettier it does. We had another inch or so of snow today. With absolutely no wind outside the snow stays on the trees and makes for a magnificent landscape.

We had to babysit for Scott's kids today. It was a short day so that was nice. It's also nice that Will is almost two and not near as needy. I love that he talks, even if sometimes I don't catch what he is saying. Summer should be fun with him and the girls. The girls always come up with games for Grandma to play. Mind you these are not your usual games, like Monopoly or Sorry. No siree. We have to have a Princess Party and I had to graduate from Haley's school for the Creative Mind. I laughed so hard at the Princess Party. Haley made Hannah a bra out of paper. Hannah was Ariel mind you. Hannah being the ham she is kept saying "my bra, my bra" and doing this weird dance. You had to be there.

My Christmas tree is coming down tomorrow. Grady has rediscovered it and the ornaments are now new chewing toys. So before anymore are chewed, the tree is coming down. And all the decorations around the house. I will probably leave my village out for a little longer, but I'm even ready for that to be gone. This is definitely a first for me.

I have just been a scrapping fool these past couple of days. I could do one layout after another if I didn't have other things to do. I came up with an idea that I'd like to work on for the coming year. A book about the great grandparents for my grandchildren. They will know so little about them, that I thought this might be a fun idea. Kind of keep the family history alive, kind of thing.

Well even though today wasn't too tough. I'm tired and ready for bed. Hard to believe I've been off from school for a week now. 5 days left of vacation. yucko

TTFN

Living in a Winter Wonderland

I just thought yesterday was beautiful. Today we still had all the snow on the trees, but we had some fog too. The fog made the trees even more wintery and then the snow was like someone had put cotton balls all over the trees. It was totally gorgeous. Of course I didn't take any pictures. And it wasn't even extremely cold. I don't mind the snow so much but I hate the bitterly cold.

I did two layouts today. I finally have the pictures and the time. It was nice to do it. I forget how much I like doing it. And when I don't worry too much about it I can actually crank them out pretty quickly. I loved this picture of Will and Hannah. I'm not sure this is the final layout. I want it to be special just like the picture.

Other then being on the computer it has been a couple of lazy days. I had visions of really deep cleaning out the spare bedroom. Unfortunately the after Christmas doldrums have hit. Still have a few days for some spark to strike me. Steve and I went and looked for dressers for that room. I would like a nice one (but not too expensive), so I can put my seasonal clothes in it and even have some room for toys. We found one but I think I'll wait awhile. I would like all my clothes purging done first.

The Christmas tree is still up. I almost caved and had Steve bring up the boxes. Tomorrow we babysit, but Saturday I think it's going. Why does the tree always look fine until the day after Christmas and then it starts to look disheveled and tired? Mine is even an artificial one. One of the major mysteries of life.

We've had two tragic car accidents in the area this week. One was a young father. He and his wife and 10 month old baby were heading to Huron for Christmas. No seatbelt. Just sad. The other one was last night. An eight year old was killed in a two car collision. An unbearable tragedy for some family. So heartbreaking at this time of year. These should be reminders to us all the appreciate what we have each and every day. Give everyone an extra hug today.

TTFN

Christmas Recap

Christmas was wonderful, weird, funky and a bit sad. I'm not sure how else to describe it. First and foremost it was wonderful. It always is in my book. Christmas couldn't be bad no matter what, because Christmas is in the heart. So no matter what any of the other variables are, if Christmas is in your heart nothing else is important. I love every aspect of Christmas.

So this years Christmas was great. We all sit in my uber tiny living room like a full can of sardines. We laugh, we eat, we open presents, and then we laugh some more. Just fun stuff. This year Kyra added to the hilarity. She bought her uncle Scott underwear. Not just any underwear, but underwear with words and a zombie printed on the butt. Too funny. (on a side note he wore them later at the great grandparents and displayed them for her). Christmas was weird and funky because I didn't label the kids presents and then forgot which paper was Kylers and Haley's. And the presents I gave this year were not the best. I'm not sure why. Maybe they'll be better next year. The bittersweet aspect of Christmas this year was at the great grandparents. It was so evident this year that Grandma won't be there next year. Her alzheimers is getting to the point that I think she'll be in a nursing home next year. It makes me nostalgic for the old days and grateful for one more year to be together. I think once we can't go to their house anymore, we won't be able to get together as easily.

Mother nature cooperated beautifully this year. We had 4.9 inches of fluffy white snow. It came down so nice and gently all day. It was absolutely gorgeous. Of course we didn't have to drive any further than across town. I took this picture today. It really was a Currier and Ives scene.

I'm experiencing a little of that Christmas letdown this year. I have the urge to take down all the decorations and return things to normal. But I'll resist. I know I'll be sad if I do. I hate when everything returns to normal and those blah and gray January days take over.

Scott brought the kids over today to go sledding on the hill across the street. We let Grady go over and sled with them. What a riot! But how cool is it that you can take your kids to the same hill you went to all the time. And that hill is just across the street from Grandma and Grandpa. When I think I want a bigger house, I need to remember these small details. Maybe they're not so small.

TTFN

Hard Work Often Pays After Time, But Laziness Always Pays Off Now

My new mantra.

Hard to believe there is someone else out there who shares my philosophy and had the wherewithall to make a picture of it.

Christmas is progressing along nicely. I've wrapped about 7 presents and have 30 more to go. Christmas cards are being shipped here waiting for me to get the letter written and the stamps bought. April 15th seems like a good deadline for those. I made a wonderful white chocolate popcorn concotion. I'm sure that will be gone by Wed. I've come up with 2 projects that should only take a week or so to finish. So you see things are right on schedule.

On a serious note, we had major fun Friday night. We rented a 14 passenger limo bus to go look at Christmas lights. It was so nice to be able to have the whole family together to do it. It wasn't even about the lights. Of course I didn't take a picture nor did Scrapbook Amy. I hope the kids will have a wonderful memory of it anyway.

For some reason bed is calling my name. I think I'll listen to it.

First Big Snow

I wish I had taken pictures yesterday. Grady had such a good time playing in the snow. He would find an apple and then throw it in the air. Then he would dig to find it and start the process all over. Of course for a dog any excuse to dig is a good thing.
We had 4 inches of snow. Just the right amount if you ask me. Enough to turn everything white, but not enough to stay forever if we get some warm days. Snow's great if it doesn't last all winter. I hate it when we get a big blizzard in November and then the snow stays until March or April. Makes for one long winter. This is just perfect. It adds the right touch for the Christmas season.
Speaking of Christmas, I seem to have lost the umph. I finally put all the decorations on my tree and Steve put up my village, but otherwise I'm not psyched to do much other decorating.
I hope I haven't hit that old age, Christmas bah humbug age. I always thought even if it was just me I'd still do all the Christmas hoopla, but sometimes it really does seem like alot of work for such a little time. I haven't even worried about the shopping. Now that's a good thing actually. Sometimes I obsess over that too much.
At school we go to Sertoma tomorrow and then we're taking the kids to the mall. That should be interesting. When we used to go to Target with all the kids that always put me in the Christmas mood. So hopefully this will too.

Hello again

Another ordinary day in an ordinary life. I took Kyra to Special Edition this morning. I love doing that. It seems like a weird thing to have to leave home 40 minutes earlier than usual and actually look forward to it, but I do. First off I get to spend some time with just Kyra. Second I usually go to Starbucks, so that's a treat in itself. And thirdly I get to see some of the most amazing things. Like the sunrise this morning. Even if I had stopped and tried to take a picture it wouldn't have done it justice. Absolutely breathtaking the way it broke through the clouds and shone through the parking ramps downtown. Definitely one of those never to be repeated moments. By the time it took me to go about 8 blocks the clouds were coming in and obscuring the view. You had to be up and out early this morning or you'd never know what you missed.
I haven't knitted in about 5 days. I'm not exactly sure why, except that I haven't had the urge. I need to get back to it though.
Otherwise this was just an ordinary day in an ordinary life. Just the way I like it.
Good night all.

Where does the time go?

I wish I had some cool pictures for my long lost blog, but alas I've been neglect on picture taking along with blogging. Haley just informed me she has a blog now. Maybe that will be what I need to get back to blogging.
Back to school tomorrow. Where did my 4 day weekend go? Well Friday I went to the doctor in the morning. I'm not sure what I did the rest of the day. Oh I did go to Walmart with Amy later in the day, but overall it was a wasted day. Saturday I babysat Haley, Hannah and Will. Poor Will was sick so we didn't get to do anything, but hang around the house. Sunday Amy and Kyra and I went to Starbucks and Target. Nothing too exciting there. Today Steve and I worked outside and played with Grady. Later in the afternoon Amy, Kyra and I went to Hobby Lobby looked around downtown. Love Zandbros. I should do all my Christmas shopping there.
Speaking of Christmas shopping, I should write down all my ideas and just go shopping. If I set my mind to it I could probably be done in a day. Unfortunately I always try and second guess myself and end up spending way too much time shopping. Christmas should be interesting with Grady and all his shenanigans.
I'm watching dancing with the stars. I don't think there is a really good one in the group this time. It really is more of a popularity contest this time.
Hopefully I'll get back to blogging more regularly.
Goodnight all.

Fall

Today was an absolutely beautiful fall day. Too bad it's already the first of October. Somehow I think Christmas will just sneak up on us this year. It was 75 degrees today with crystal clear blue skies. Not much wind, which considering this weekend is absolutely amazing. We went to KMart tonight and it looks like it is clouding up a little. That's fall though one nice day, one not so nice day. Eventually the not so nice days take over.

I'm in the mood for fall. Fall decorations, fall food, fall clothing etc. I love fall. It always has been my favorite season. Back to school, cool evenings, sweaters and all that. I loved it since I was a kid. I don't even mind that winter comes after. I don't mind winter all that much it just gets so long. I should probably live in Denver where they have winter but it isn't as severe as ours.

Not much is going on around here. Grady is still in his terrible whatevers. He is a counter surfing fool. Nothing is safe anymore. He doesn't even wait until I'm out of sight. Tonight I made french dip sandwiches. I sliced the foccacias and was getting the roast beef ready. I was right there (my kitchen isn't very big) and within a split second he grabbed one of the foccacias and was going to snarf it down. Oh no I thought, you're not going to have a morsel of this. I grabbed him and fished my hand down his throat and retrieve my foccacia. Of course it was inedible at this point but he didn't get to enjoy it at least. I just hope he lives long enought to enjoy his old age.

Happy Birthday

Fall is definitely in the air.

I can't believe that the last time I wrote was July 24. My has the weather changed. It is downright chilly today. I put socks on for the first time in months and I'm really contemplating turning on the furnace.





I spent the day cleaning house. Steve spent the day at work doing inventory. I haven't had a Saturday home alone for a long time. It was really nice in a way. My upstairs is nice and clean. I put a Yankee Tart Fall Festival on and the house smells so good. I just wish I had put some soup on. That would have made it the perfect fall day. As it is I have no supper plans, so we'll probably just order pizza.





Yesterday we were talking about the Germanfest that is taking place downtown today. I had thought that it might be nice to go. Have some brats and a beer and walk around downtown, but brrrrr!!! it doesn't even appeal to me now. Even with socks on my feet are cold. I'll bet my feet haven't been cold since March.





Speaking of socks, I'm in the mood to knit again. I have put it on the back burner all summer. I think I would like to try socks. Something challenging. I tend to get bored easily and if I've done something too many times I seem to lose steam for the project. I do have a sweater for Will I should finish before he totally outgrows it.





We had Grady neutered on Monday. We had a nice quiet puppy for a day. Now he's become brat puppy. Doctors orders were for no walks, to keep him on his leash and no jumping, etc. Well let me tell you a 5 month old puppy has a lot of energy to get rid of. If he can't use it up going on walks and running around the backyard, he's going to find someway to use it. Grady seems to think that taking things and having me try and get them back is the best way to use up his excess energy. Not fun. At least not for me.



School is going well. I think this could be a good year. The kids are good. I'm working with a good teacher. My old teacher retired last spring. So hopefully it continues.

Well I hope it isn't almost 2 months again before I post to this thing.

That time already??

Do not hit enter everytime you want to move down the page. I'm the worst offender of that and im'ing Amy has really proved that. Let's see what has happened in July so far. Three birthdays and the 4th of July all in one week. Steve's brother Bill came from Norfolk Ne to help his dad. Bill and Lori cooked a bunch of meals for them to put in the freezer. The weather has been hot and humid and no rain. The lawns are brown and my flowers are sad. But otherwise really not much has happened this month. Grady just keeps getting bigger and in more trouble. In fact I'd better check on him now. Maybe I'll post again tonight.

WOO HOO!!!!

I figured out how to change the banner on my blog. All by myself, I might add. Of course I used a premade banner from Shabby Princess but hey a girl has to start somewhere.
Well summer is more than half over. Time to get serious about all the things I wanted to get accomplished. Check - lose weight nope! Check - cook more Nope again. Check - read more books - I'm reading one now does that count. Check - have fun and be lazy. O yeah I've got that one down. Starting Monday it's the new and improved me. Going to get real serious about the losing weight. I'm thoroughly disgusted with myself. You know that feeling when even your skin doesn't fit right and your own bumps and bulges are getting in the way. I really know how those 600 lb people get that way. You can easily get to a point where the only thing that is easy to do is just to sit and eat. Everything else takes too much energy. My biggest challenge is going to be exercising. I seem to have developed a hip issue that really bothers me if I over do it. I know that losing weight will help that, but its hard to want to exercise if you know its going to hurt later. Hopefully Monday, Amy and I will get out and walk around the school again and Steve and Grady and I will get out again in the evening and walk around our block. It's a fair sized block and its uphill half of the way. My goal this weekend is to layout out my menus and buy groceries.

That's enough about that. It's been a fun week. Kyra and Haley's birthdays, a quiet 4th of July and lunch at the mall with Amy and the kids. Kyler's birthday is Monday. Summer singer has its last week of practice and it's last concert. I have a hair cut on Thursday. After that I have some relatively quiet weeks. Hopefully I can get some projects done. I've really been in a groove with scrapbooking this week. I hope it continues, but allows me to get other things done too. I tend to be an all or nothing girl.

Grady has been a little terror this week. He is starting to get into things. He chewed up 2 CD's. He loves books and papers. We really didn't puppy proof the house. Silly us!!! Over all though, he's a good puppy. He's very smart and seems to catch on quickly. He knows our schedule. Every morning while Steve is getting ready for work. Grady and I lay on the bed and talk to him while he's dressing. So today at 7 something Grady starts barking at the bed. Excuse me dog but it's Saturday. He also thinks Steve should get at 7 every day. Bark, bark bark. Grady could be a good thing for us, as sleeping in can't be good.

Well must get ready for the day. Kirby has a ball game at 9. I'd love to see his team win this mini tournament but that would mean playing all day. It's supposed to be 90 some degrees. Yuck.

Good Sunday Morning Trouble Dog

Back again so soon. Twice in one week. Whoa!!

It is such a beautiful morning. We have had the most amazing summer weather. Most days are warm and the evenings and mornings are just delightful. Today and tomorrow they are promising to bring back the heat and humidity but by the middle of the week it should be milder again.

Grady is really a very good puppy, but he is most definitely a puppy. His favorite thing to do in the morning is to go into our closet and take Steve's shoes out to the living room. He then tosses them all around and chews on them. We've yet to see a tooth mark on any though. Yesterday morning he had five shoes out. It's really quite cute but needs to stop before he starts that puppy teething. His other favorite thing is chewing on baskets. I have quite a few baskets around. I put magazines in them, yarn, dog toys, potatoes, whatever. Quite handy little things until you have a puppy. I now have baskets up on top of TV's, chairs whatever. One basket in particular that's in my den is his favorite. He's chewed off most of the handle. (It was broke anyway.) It's full of magazines and not that easy to move so I bought some bitter spray. This morning I'm in here playing on the computer and he starts chewing on the basket. Ah ha I remember I have that bitter spray. I come back with the spray and start spraying the basket and the magazines in it. He goes nuts. He really wants that basket now. I'm like "wait until you taste it dude." I put that basket down and sure enought he goes over to it. But instead of backing away he starts licking it all over. Stupid dog likes the taste of bitter spray. Wouldn't you know. Allergic to his shots and likes bitter spray. I really know how to pick them.

I spent all day over at Scott's yesterday. It was a good day. The girls played really well and Will was very good. Kyra came over later to watch the kids after Will went to bed. She brought a bunch of things from her room. She's been cleaning. They had a makeover. We have next weekend off. Yeah. Hopefully we can get more things accomplished.

Again so soon!!!

See I knew I wouldn't even make 3 days in a row. This is still better than once a month or more. We had a great weekend. We didn't have to babysit on Saturday and the weather was soo nice that we accomplished a number of outside tasks. We often aren't very motivated and we get sidetracked so easily that it was surprising we finished almost everything on my list. There's still lots to do and with babysitting this Saturday nothing will probably get done this weekend.

Grady is doing great. He is such a puppy though. Everything goes in his mouth. It's really fun to watch him though. Life is such a great adventure to him. It's like having a kid. Some days you want to keep them little and some days you can't wait for them to grow up.

Went to watch the boys ballgames last night. Wednesday is the last day of the regular season. How did that happen. Summer goes by much too quickly. Just when you get the hang of it school starts. I think the kids are getting bored though. Wish we could take them back to my childhood. I'm sure we got bored too, but there was so much more freedom. My brother and I and our friend Chip spent everyday outside coming up with one adventure or another. I'll have to blog about all the great things we used to do to pass the time at a later date. Oh the good ole days.

We have had such nice weather this summer for the most part. Yesterday and this morning are hot and humid but overall it's been good. It is firefly season. Last night in our backyard there were literally hundreds of them. When our kids were little we used to have to drive out in the country to see them. I would never see more than one or two in our front yard. City growth must be driving them into town.

Well I have to get ready. Another day of hauling kids and then babysitting this afternoon. Not much will get done around here. Can't complain though. Summer singer ends soon too and then I'll probably get bored staying home all the time.

New puppy!!!!

Time to blog again. Wish I could make it a habit. I so believe in journaling everyday, but I can't seem to get into the habit. 3 weeks to a habit they say. What if you can't make it 3 days?

New puppy. Yeah!!!!!! I've been struggling ever since Sam died. I can't explain it. Common sense told me that being petless was really the right thing. Both Amy and Kirby have allergies. Pets tie you down. We just bought new living room furniture. I could make a list alright. But after a few weeks of being home this summer I found myself obsessing over getting a puppy. And Amy didn't help matters she showed me this cute maltipoo. While the maltipoo probably would have been a smart choice I just couldn't find an adult small dog that I liked. So here's my new puppy Grady. 18 pounds of golden energy. What was I thinking!!!!

OK I'm an idiot. I forgot to rotate the picture. Just tilt your head you'll get the idea.

Other than training Grady, all I've accomplished is transporting grandchildren and going to ballgames and babysitting. It's all good. Summer is just going by way to fast.

Maybe if I make my blog entries short I'll do them more often. Yeah right!

Phantom Blogger Returneth

Last post was the first week of March. Whew time flies when you're having fun. It is true that April and May are extremely busy months but come on now. And you'd think with all that fun I'd have pictures to post. Nope. I do have pictures but there is something about posting month old pictures that doesn't seem right to me. So what has happened in almost three months. St Patricks day, Easter (which by the way was such a none holiday this year), Will's 1st birthday, Steve and Scott's birthday's, Mother's day, a plethora of school activities(go Kyra almost a 4.0 student), the end of the soccer season and the beginning of the baseball season, Hannah's birthday, and school getting out.

Let summer vacation begin. I haven't started a plan. I'm just enjoying the do nothing part of summer. The weather has been cloudy and rainy the last few days so that doesn't help. Today's plan is to clean up the spare bedroom, the kids this weekend totalled it. Do some scrapping. That's been on hiatus too. Hopefully the weather will clear enough for the boys ballgames tonight. I also plan to get some quality reading time in.

Goals for the summer:
Read more.
Lose weight.
Get rid of all old clothes.
Scrap lots.
Take lots of pictures.
Get better at taking pictures.
Cook more.
Be more organized.
Blog every day.

Wednesday Wonders

We went out to eat tonight at Red Lobster. Wonder when the last time was that we had been there. They had remodeled. It was lobster fest so of course we had to have something that has lobster in it. I don't know how people who eat out all the time do it. They give you so much food. Our seafood came on a bed of rice pilaf but we also had a baked potato and those cheddar biscuits. No wonder people are getting fat these days.

I wonder how some people get so much done in one day. Even when I stay home I don't get everything done I want to in a day.

I wonder why the practice of foot binding was done. I wonder who decided that to be a attractive woman your feet had to be as small as your big toe. I'm reading a book Snow Flower And The Secret Fan. I'm only 50 pages into it and it's already making me sick thinking about what they used to do to those poor women.

I wonder how Amy can do 3 layouts in one night and it takes me 3 nights to do one.

I wonder if I'll ever be able to stay on a diet for more than a couple of days.

I wonder if when the weather turns nice, I'll actually get out and walk.

I wonder if I can stay awake past 9 tonight.

I wonder if this is enough of I wonders.

TTFN

10 Things I did today

1. Took Kyra to school
2. Stopped at Starbucks
3. Took pictures at school (Photographers make more money than me, I need to change professions.
4. Emailed my husband from work ( first time )
5. Listened to Gordan Korman the author. He wrote his first book at age 12. I need to change professsions.
6. Talked to Amy
7. Bought cool new products from Funky Playground
8. Made a good supper of fish, asparagus and Texas toast
9. Made cinnamon struesel muffins.
10. Blogged

Monday, Monday

Well for a Monday today went fairly well. The kids at school were quiet, not yet back to their usual selves. That always happens after a break. I started WW again. It's only 6:30 tonight, but so far I'm still in my point limit and a snack planned. I was even going to exercise after school, but my right hip, leg whatever it is that is giving me grief, wasn't up for it. I'm hoping by losing some weight that it will help that issue.

I did come home after school and put a ton of CD's on my Zune. I'm really sick of TV and my CD player in my den has been acting up. I know I could put a CD in my computer but I don't want to slow my computer down when I'm scrapping. I don't know if that would do it but just in case. Tomorrow I have to take Kyra to school by 7:00. Love doing that. I don't know if it's because I often go to Starbucks or I like driving through downtown when hardly anyone is there. I also like being at school that early even if I don't have any work to do. Being there when it's quiet is just so nice

Boy did I do some major damage digi shopping this weekend. I did find a few things that were free too.
Of course I had to buy the Lilypad's spring collection.

And my daughter's Teen Extreme Collection. And that was just the beginning. I have this need to own all the digi stuff. Sad but true.

That just one of the Teen Extreme kits. There are 3 kits for boys and 3 kits for girls.

But I could have easily gone to the mall yesterday and dropped a few hundred dollars. So I look at it as saving money. Good logic huh. The really sad part of all this is - even though I have 6 grandchildren - I look at all the layouts of kids doing just normal everyday things and I have to create play dates to do that. Oh really I'm not complaining, I like my quiet little life. I know!!! I should get a puppy. That would give those day to day pictures. Not this year though. Maybe in a couple. I have been looking at Schnauzer web sites. No shedding, small, intelligent. But my heart still really belongs to Golden Retrievers. I'm nuts.

Must go do something constructive. TTFN

Quiet Sunday

Here's another view of the snow from our deck. This was taken yesterday when the snow was still pristine. Today it is 33 degrees and the snow along the roads has become brown and yucky.


Now we can endure a couple of weeks of slop. Unless of course we have another 2 day blizzard. I was hoping that this no school would continue for a couple of more days. Oh well 2 and 1/2 more months until summer vacation.





I can tell you one thing though. We are definitely lazy people. I have become perfectly content to just sit around all day in my pajamas. I did do alot on the computer but somehow that really seems more like playing than working. And it's just sitting. Gotta get more exercise. I heard that to really lose weight you have to workout 60 to 90 minutes a day. Ok one more reason to quit my job. Tomorrow being Monday time to start the ole Monday diet thingy. I can not seem to get my act together on that. But I'm really uncomfortable in my own skin these days so something has to give.

I did another layout today. I'm hoping to develop my own style here one of these days. I'm also hoping that it won't be another 2 months before I scrap again.

Here's a the layout I did today. I finally got one to move to where I want it to. S

Steve's vacuuming. I should probably look like I'm doing something. Hey I cooked today. That should be good right!!

TTFN

The Phantom Blogger Returneth!

This is the view from my front deck. We have been snowed in since Thursday morning. A real true 2 day South Dakota blizzard. I have not ventured outside (minus the 2 minutes it took to take a few pictures) since Thursday morning. Can we say yeah no school for two days. A four day weekend. The wind is still blowing and it's only 15 degrees so I see no since going anywhere yet. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 20's or 30's. Tomorrow would be a good day to go somewhere.

So what does someone do for 3 days? Well they sit in front of the computer most of it. I did me some digital scrapbooking I did I did. Since yesterday morning I've done 5 layouts. Go me!! I keep saying I'm an all or nothing girl and I guess this proves it. Anyway it really is an amazing hobby. No matter what I do I can't get blogger to put a picture where I want it in my blog. I'll have to get some advice from Amy.

I just talked to Scott. He was on his way to work to clear out a little snow there. He can't seem to drive anywhere without talking on his cell phone. They have fix up house fever at their house. They bought paint for their bedroom and I'm sure that Wendy is home painting. I can have paint for weeks before it gets done around here. In fact our bedroom needs painting and I have looked at paint chips but haven't picked a color yet. I might change my mind.

I'm really liking this being home thing. Work has been awful this year, with next year not looking any better. Makes me think that early retirement might not be so bad. I'm sure I could find a job where I would only work a couple days a week. Heck a grocery clerk wouldn't be terrible. Actually a job share in a little office somewhere would be good. One with summers off. If I could just give up my summers, it would be easy to say goodbye to my job and find something else. But oh I do like my summers off.

Must get back to scrapping! TTFN!!!!

Good Morning

I crawled in bed last night to watch NCIS(my favorite show) and though I didn't fall asleep until close to nine I didn't get up to write in my blog. Since there's no rule on when a person can blog maybe I should blog in the morning. I'm more of a morning person anyway

All right already. I'm sick of winter. I'm tired of the cold but even more I'm tired of the mess of snow. You know that dirty salt ridden snow that is all over the streets. My car is a mess. Everytime you come in from anywhere there's tracks of it all over. Yuck. Yesterday I took 2 of our students grocery shopping. Love taking the kids shopping. You learn so much about them away from school. BUT we have to take a taxi. Not that romantic New York version you see in the movies or on TV. The ones where the taxi's are all clean and the drivers charming and comical. Oh no we have the dirty as in ooo don't touch anything dirty and the drivers well lets just say charming and comical are not the two c words I would use. This year in particular we've had some doozies. I can't imagine if you didn't drive in this town how often you would get out and about. I would definitely think long and hard about my trips if I always had to take a cab.

Do you know how you can tell it's winter in South Dakota? There's a table set up in the living room with jig saw puzzle pieces all over it. Yep we got one.

Friday is Kirby's birthday. I am at a total loss as to what to get him. 9 year old boys should be relatively easy. It must be because it's still so close from Christmas. I just am not ready to do the money thing yet, but it's getting closer and closer.

Must get ready for work. Good morning all!!!!!

Another cold day.

All winter I was thinking I'd feel cheated if we didn't have some good ol' South Dakota winter weather. Well we've had about 5 days of bitterly cold and now I'm thinking maybe I wouldn't have felt cheated after all. Really even though it's plenty cold I think it could and has been alot worse. We really haven't had much wind with this cold so it's tolerable. Hard to believe a month and a half ago it was Christmas and I don't think I was even wearing a coat most days. In another month and a half it will be toward the end of March and we'll be thinking spring. I'm not sure I have all my spring and summer clothes put away. Time really does fly when you get older.

For a Monday today went really well. Sometimes I think it all has to do with me and my attitude rather than all the things happening around me. Duh! The teachers at school in our Cluster program are getting stressed over the Dakota Step tests. The hoops that they have to go through to test whether our kids are proficient is unbelievable. And the time lost out of the classroom surely will lead to more kids not being proficient. Those who make these rules never come out and see whether they are actually practical and if its worth all the effort. They sit in their offices in some capitol somewhere and decide what will or won't work. It should be required that all policy makers should have to go into the field and implement those policies on a regular basis. Oh well so much for my soap box. But it is frustrating.

I cooked again. I made chicken tenders. They were quite good and really simple. I got the idea from tv this weekend. First you roll the chicken tenders in mustard and then in seasoned bread crumbs. Bake until done. Easy peasy and good. By the way who started that easy peasy thing anyway.

I've also done 3 layouts in the last day and a half. I did one of Sam tonight. Tears through the whole thing, but it was good to do one. I'm really in search of some good vintage elements. I have so many old pictures that I would like to do something with but I want the elements to fit with the picture. So many are elements from now made to look older or they are old things that aren't fitting with the style that I'm looking for. Someday I'll find something. I tried talking Amy into designing something for me, but it's not really her style. Too bad.

I need to take more pictures. I like blogs that have pictures in them. Note to self. Do something exciting so there's some pictures. No we're not buying a puppy just so I have something to take pictures of. But don't think that hasn't crossed my mind.

Goodnight all!!!!

Another cold day.

All winter I was thinking I'd feel cheated if we didn't have some good ol' South Dakota winter weather. Well we've had about 5 days of bitterly cold and now I'm thinking maybe I wouldn't have felt cheated after all. Really even though it's plenty cold I think it could and has been alot worse. We really haven't had much wind with this cold so it's tolerable. Hard to believe a month and a half ago it was Christmas and I don't think I was even wearing a coat most days. In another month and a half it will be toward the end of March and we'll be thinking spring. I'm not sure I have all my spring and summer clothes put away. Time really does fly when you get older.

For a Monday today went really well. Sometimes I think it all has to do with me and my attitude rather than all the things happening around me. Duh! The teachers at school in our Cluster program are getting stressed over the Dakota Step tests. The hoops that they have to go through to test whether our kids are proficient is unbelievable. And the time lost out of the classroom surely will lead to more kids not being proficient. Those who make these rules never come out and see whether they are actually practical and if its worth all the effort. They sit in their offices in some capitol somewhere and decide what will or won't work. It should be required that all policy makers should have to go into the field and implement those policies on a regular basis. Oh well so much for my soap box. But it is frustrating.

I cooked again. I made chicken tenders. They were quite good and really simple. I got the idea from tv this weekend. First you roll the chicken tenders in mustard and then in seasoned bread crumbs. Bake until done. Easy peasy and good. By the way who started that easy peasy thing anyway.

I've also done 3 layouts in the last day and a half. I did one of Sam tonight. Tears through the whole thing, but it was good to do one. I'm really in search of some good vintage elements. I have so many old pictures that I would like to do something with but I want the elements to fit with the picture. So many are elements from now made to look older or they are old things that aren't fitting with the style that I'm looking for. Someday I'll find something. I tried talking Amy into designing something for me, but it's not really her style. Too bad.

I need to take more pictures. I like blogs that have pictures in them. Note to self. Do something exciting so there's some pictures. No we're not buying a puppy just so I have something to take pictures of. But don't think that hasn't crossed my mind.

Goodnight all!!!!

Long lost blogging!!!

Will I ever get to everyday blogging? Hard to tell. I think about it just about everyday but don't seem to get to it.

Well one of the reasons I haven't blogged is because it's very sad at our house. We had to put our dog Sam down last week. He had cancer. He seemed fine at Christmas but shortly after I noticed he was drinking more than usual. Pretty soon he was drinking all the time and drinking so much that he would vomit. We took him in thinking he might have diabetes. Not uncommon for a dog his age. They ran all sorts of tests and finally did some xrays and found a mass between his heart and his lungs. It progressed really fast and we just didn't want him to suffer, so last Thursday Steve took him in. It has been extremely hard. I should have known it would be bad since it's just been the three of us in the house the last almost 9 years. It is the first time Steve and I are truly empty nesters.

On to some brighter topics. I had a very productive weekend. I got up early Saturday and cleaned and then proceeded to make two batches of soup and some muffins. Today I made another batch of soup and a casserole. We took over three containers of soup and half of the casserole over to Steve's folks. I've been meaning to do that all fall and winter and this is now the first that it happened. The soups I made were a beef and barley, Rachael Ray's double chicken stoup and Bree's tomato lentil. I may be the only one who likes the tomato lentil one. The casserole was a chicken tetrazzine. So now I have some meals for the week and Steve's dad won't have to cook much either.

I even scrapbooked some. I've buying all these cool digi scrapping things and thought maybe I should use some before I convince myself I need to buy more. My daughter and her new store could put a dent in my budget. Like I told Steve though, it's cheaper than going to the mall, which I used to do about every other weekend.

It was really cold this weekend. Down in the 1o below zero range. We're just not used to that. It's been a very mild winter until now. The weather people said it's the coldest it's been in about 10 years. Yeah global warming.

Well it's half time of the super bowl. Should watch a little of the half time show.

Goodnight all!!!

Whatever happened to regularly scheduled posts?

I had such good intentions. Oh well, last year at this time I wasn't journaling at all. So really this is still an improvement. Not much exciting since last Monday. School was much better than I expected. Sometimes that full week back goes so slow. Kids were good and the much needed break from the coworkers helped. My dog is still sick. He's peeing up a storm and drinking all the time. He also seems to think that his dog food isn't any good anymore. He'll eat canned food and the hamburger rice mixture I make him. The vet was supposed to call today with the blood results, but Steve and I realized that with the holiday, they probably won't get the results back until tomorrow. Other than worrying about him making it all day without a bathroom break, he seems fine.

I scrapped today. I posted 3 layouts at DST even. And I commented on a couple of layouts that I liked that didn't have any comments. Whoa! Look at me go.

We finally got some snow. Steve got to play with his snowblower. Did I take pictures? No!!! It was too freaking cold to go out there and take pictures. Really it is very cold.

Back to last week. Kyra made the play at school. She's just in the general cast but it's soo cool that I'll get to take her to more early morning practices. It makes my day and often gives me an excuse to go to Starbucks. Last Sunday we took Amy and Cameron to Royal Fork for supper. Saturday we took Scott and Wendy. Seriously the grandkids are going to think supper at Grandma's means Royal Fork. We went over to Steve's folks yesterday. Grandma seem to have a good day. She talked to me. Grandpa said he had some health issues. Scares me to think about if something should happen to him. His kids really need to sit down with him and talk about some things.

I have to sit through an all day inservice tomorrow. What fun!!! At least it's closer to home than some of them have been and they're providing lunch. At least we won't have to go out in the cold. But since everyone else lives on the other side of town, I'll have to drive there by myself. Whine Whine!!

Well, I really haven't done much in the housework department this week. I should probably dust and vacuum. Then a nice hot bowl of chili sounds good.

Goodnight all!!

Ramblings

I tried to post a couple of times in the last few days and blogger was just plain weird. It wouldn't let me put periods in. I lost my typing a couple of times, so finally I just said Oh forget it. I really had intended to blog everyday.

Well the first day back at school wasn't too bad. The kids were good for the most part. Mr. W. had to wail when we took his music away before lunch, but that is just par for the course. We go a full 5 days this week and then there is a 4 day weekend for the kids. We have inservice on Tuesday. January used to be the longest month but not anymore. March has taken over that title.

I made a very good supper tonight. Hearty minestrone with barley, kale and beans. Quite tasty and very healthy. Of course we had to have texas toast with it so I'm sure that negated some of the health benefits. We took Amy's family out for supper last night to our favorite place. A buffet. But everyone can have what they want so it works well.

I've been organizing all my scrapbooking things in ACDsee. What a overwhelming task!!! I just got through all of Corina's things and I think I'll call it a night on that. Maybe I'll knit awhile. There sure isn't anything on TV.

I had to take 2 full anti anxiety pills today. I'm not sure what's up with that, but if it keeps up I'll call the doctor and see if I can go on Zoloft. It's no fun to feel like your heart is going to beat out of your chest all the time. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to them either. I can be home or out. Doing nothing or at the mall. Weird, huh? Oh well it's always something.

Think I'll call Amy and see if she's home yet. Wouldn't be a complete day unless I talked to her. Goodnight all!!!

SIMPLIFY

That's my word for the year. I bought this black word SIMPLIFY at Hobby Lobby a while back. It is sitting on my piano now. Amy told me about Ali Edwards having a word for the year. I thought what a cool idea. At first I thought balance, I definitely need to balance things. I tend to be a all or nothing person. Then as I was looking at my newly reorganized pantry I thought simplify. Do I really need six different shapes of pasta? No it really needs to be simpler than that. SIMPLIFY!!! When I want to knit something, I don't need to buy 26 different yarns. Pick a project, get the yarn and do it. SIMPLIFY. When I want to scrapbook, I don't need to buy 26 new digi kits, pick one of the many I have, a picture and do it. SIMPLIFY. When I want to cook supper, it doesn't have to be a gourmet meal, a simple meal would be just fine. SIMPLIFY. How many clothes do I need? Pick 10 or so outfits and definitely find ones that are flattering and get rid of the rest. SIMPLIFY. It sure sound good on paper. Just the fact that Steve and I are cleaning out the closets in the basement is a good start.

Well Kyra got braces today. Two years of metal ones and three more years of the invisiline ones. That will make her 18 when she's done. That just can't be possible. In 5 short years she'll be 18. How can that be, my little Kyra girl!!! It wasn't that long ago that I was 18. OK maybe it was a few years back.

Kyler has strep. Poor guy. He wasn't feeling to well yesterday. Amy took him into Acute Care last night. 102.9 was his temp and his throat looked nasty. The quick culture came back negative, but they always seem to anyway. The put him on antibiotics. Hopefully by tomorrow he'll be feeling better. We want to go to Charlotte's Web.

I actually cooked supper tonight. Skinny turkey spinach meatloaf, roasted potatoes and baked squash. It tasted so good. Finally a home cooked meal. The meatloaf came from Cooking Light and was actually very good.

Well I've actually blogged everyday so far. Now if I can just add some pictures for interest I'd be doing good.

Think I'll go knit a little tonight. Goodnight all!

Worrywart!!!

I've come to the conclusion I'm a major worrywart. My dog drinks more than usual and throws up in the middle of the night, I worry he has some deadly disease. My grandson has a fever and a sore throat and I think he has influenza. I have anxiety attacks, but somehow I'm still not so sure there isn't something terribly wrong with me. Sure the anxiety pills cure it right up but I still worry. I worry about what people think. I worry about my kids everytime they go a trip. I worry about big things and I worry about small things. Is there anything good about worrying? I really don't think so. I need to learn to let a higher power take care of things that I have no control over and I take care of the things I can do something about. Now there is a new years resolution!!!!

I can't say I accomplished much today. Worked a little more on my pantry. Found more of my kitchen. Hopefully tomorrow I can actually cook supper. Of course I went over to Amy's to see all of my grandchildren. Tomorrow we might go to the movie Charlotte's Web. It will depend on how Kyler and Kyra are feeling. Kyra is getting braces tomorrow.

That's about it for tonight. Goodnight all!!

January 2, 2007

I'm on a roll. Two days in a row. Could this be a new year's resolution I can actually keep. Did you notice my new blog header? Cool huh! My most amazing and talented daughter did that. And the papers and the elements are her own designs too. I am soo proud of her.

Steve and I had a almost productive day. We started cleaning out our pantry. With what we threw away we could have fed a small African country. There were things in there from 1999. I could bake cookies for at least a year with all the chips. Chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips even cinnamon chips. What were we thinking? Neither one of us was born in the depression. I definitely need to cook more this year. Add that to my new years resolution list.

I meant to take a picture of my living room today. It looks so nice with the new furniture and all the Christmas things down. The upstairs of the house is looking good. Now we need to work on the basement. Another new years resolution!

I had to put a snowman in my blog header because we sure don't have any snow. This is the most unusual year. It is supposed to be in the 30's the rest of the week. Maybe a slight chance of snow again on Friday. I'm sure it'll rain like it has the last few times they've talked snow. I'm not sure whether I really want snow or not. If we don't get any, we'll feel like we've been cheated. Oh well.

Good night all!

Happy New Year!

A resolution for the new year. Blog more. Eat less. Now one does not have anything to do with the other, but if I accomplish those two things I'd be quite happy with myself.

We had a very nice Christmas. Nothing too special, just nice to get together. We had fun with Steve's brother and family. They always come with new games to play. We played Set and Quiddler and Catch Phrase 2 nights in a row. We laughed so hard at Catch Phrase. They are definitely some must have games. I'm hoping Set and Quiddler go on sale at a Christmas kiosk in the mall.

Last night we had the kids over for New Years eve. It's becoming a family tradition. We eat snacky things and play a few games and then the kids go outside and do poppers. Last year we still had streamers in our tree in July. Everyone goes home early 10:00 or so. Works well.

I did a little digi shopping today. Amy's store opened today. Had to go buy out the store there. It could become dangerous as they have ridiculously good stuff. If I knew how to get pictures of the things I bought in this blog I'd do it. Maybe another day. Hint hint Amy come over and help your old mom with that and a few other things in the computer world. I also did some scrapping yesterday. Now that Christmas is over I hope I can find a balance between knitting and scrapping. Might have to stay up later, when the bed starts calling your name at 8:00 it doesn't leave much time for getting things done.

Put the house back together today. As much as I love Christmas, this year I'm glad to have a normal house again. New furniture might have something to do with that. It looks really nice and all the furniture seems to fit well. It was a good choice to buy it at Christmas, so we would know if there was still room for a tree. That's important you know.

Thanksgiving vacation

5 whole days off. Of course 3 of them already spoken for, so in reality it's just a plain ole weekend. Tomorrow of course is spent cooking for Thursday. Thursday is spent with family and eating. Friday is up early and shopping. And I hope to get my new tree up and decorated on Friday too. But even with all that Thanksgiving is becoming my favorite holiday. It's just about being with family and food. There's no pressure to give the perfect gift. No unrealistic expectations, except maybe the food. ( And quite frankly if you serve what you've served for the last 30 years everyone is pretty much happy.) This year even the weather is more like Thanksgiving. No snow on the ground and above average temperatures. Perfection in my book.

I coming along with my knitting projects. Four down and 2 more to go for the grandkids. Maybe some surprises along the way for others too.

I went looking last night for electronic drumsticks. Cool idea but maybe not such a cool thing to find. I just started though. Goal for the weekend. Majority of shopping done. List of things to bake written and house decorated. Can she do it? Tune in Sunday night.

Hark I still do know how to get into blogger! Since the last post was September I figure it's about time to do it again. Life is pretty much the same old thing. I need to put a new blog header and a new blog agenda in place and see if I can't stir up some excitement in the blogging area.

This is the last weekend before Thanksgiving. How did that happen? We are going to go over to Steve's folks. Of course we'll have to bring all the food, but every year I think it might be the last so I don't mind. I do need to call Steve's sister and make the final arrangements. I'm looking forward to Christmas. I feel like like I'm more ahead of the game this year, though I'm sure next week I'll be complaining about being so behind. See I'm never happy. Amy and I are going to the Festival of Trees tomorrow. We've been doing that since Kyra was still in a stroller. Helps get us in the mood. Steve is off all this week and I hope he gets the Christmas lights up. It's projected to be in the 5o's. Can't beat that.

I've been knitting up a storm, though today I'm being super lazy. I'd take pictures and post except that some are presents. Wouldn't want to spoil that surprise! Scrapbooking has been haunting me. I still want to do it but can't seem to find any inspiration. Maybe I just need to get in there and do it.

Well this might be a boring post but at least I posted. Good night all!