Another Week...

Phew! I made it through another week, this feels like a major accomplishment. I'm feeling that Friday feeling that makes me just want to stay home and relax and not have to be anywhere or do anything, but instead I have to make cookies for a ward party that starts in an hour and a half. I actually went to the store after work with the sole purpose of buying cookies, but then forgot and ended up getting some groceries instead. Luckily Whitney remember we needed to get cookies while we were standing in line (I have no doubt that the only reason she remembered is because she wanted one, if I had needed spinach it wouldn't have even been on her radar) so I had to finish paying and then go look for the cookies. It was going to cost $7.49 for 20 cookies, and of course I'm supposed to bring 24 so in a fit of energetic ambition I decided I would go home and make some instead. What was I thinking? I guess I was still feeling the day's momentum but have since completely lost it and just want to read in the cozy. Oh the humanity!

**Would you have bought the cookies?

Would you have planned ahead and made cookies sooner?

Do you operate on momentum?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I made it through my 12 hour day without too much trouble thank to Randy bringing me a medicinal Coke around noon for my headache!

Just in Time for Christmas

Why oh why did we buy a car in November oh so many years ago? We weren't thinking of the horror of having to register it every year this close to Christmas obviously. I went to register my car today feeling pretty pleased that I could do so but didn't realize I was going to have to have the safety and emissions testing done, so that was blow number one. Then blow number 2 came almost immediately when they told me my front outer tire rods need to be replaced (a $200 repair)...I almost cried, but then I reminded myself that it will all work out and that at least this was discovered before I was flying down the freeway right? Blow number 3 came when they handed me this unmistakable message on the paperwork. Sheesh. In fact, Randy just brought the paper into the office as I'm writing this and said, "How is this supposed to help me feel good about myself?" Good Hell.

Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men. Fa la la la la.

Comment Window Tidbit: I'm working 12 hours tomorrow because it's Parent/Teacher Conference night. I will be accepting food, beverages, chocolate and messages of good will as offered.

Thanksgiving

I woke up with wicked cramps and a headache on Thanksgiving and felt a wave of dread. It was just too cruel to feel so awful on a day I really wanted to have fun, so I mentally rallied as best I could, took some Excedrin and then stopped at McDonald's for a medicinal Coke (Landon said he needed "medicinal fries" and Whitney said she needed a "medicinal sundae" Ha.)

I had just started this book the night before and was telling Randy about it in the car and just had to read him part of it, but then we were all enjoying it so much I read to us the whole way out to freakin Eagle Mountain...good times. Oh how I love a book that makes me laugh out loud!

This was our first ever Thanksgiving with just our family! Usually we gather with my mom's side of the family for a feast at her sister's house, but this year my aunt had back surgery and couldn't host so we were left to fend for ourselves...and we did!

 Lori tried chopping onions with a matchstick in her mouth to help stop the eye irritation involved, it worked.

We received the family cookbooks my cousin's wife organized in the summer, we all contributed recipes and she took care of everything else (all my best recipes came from Michelle and Amie!).

Andrew was home!

The first item of business was to take a family photo for my parents' Christmas card. As always, we set up the tripod and put the camera on self-timer, took 4 shots and hoped for the best. My dad and Andrew both have a very small window of patience for this experience so it's a good thing we got one with everyone's eyes open! (My dad had to lift Andrew's chin so he'd look up.)

The kids' table was in the kitchen and the adults' table was in the dining room, I think everyone was happy with this set up.

My dad helped Landon cut his turkey since he's having a hard time maneuvering with his cast on.

 Amy took pictures with her awesome camera and I took over Robyn's since mine is at death's door and is practically useless. (Sob, sniff, sniff, sigh.)

Our feast at the adults' table!

Someone started reminiscing about the little pilgrim figurines we used to have when we were kids and my mom pulled them out of the hutch! These bring back memories of Thanksgivings gone by.

Whitney has love affair going on with my parents' cat.

The rest of the day wasn't documented very well (I'm lost without my camera and even though Robyn was fine to share with me it just wasn't on my radar the way it normally would be). The kids played all day so we hardly saw them. We perused the store ads (I am so NOT a Black Friday shopper), watched Elf on TV while the guys watched The Godfather, and just hung out.

I made this fabulous (if I do say so myself) vanilla cream pie with a chocolate bottom. I used a different recipe for the custard (it calls for cornstarch instead of flour) and it held it's shape better.

I ended up buying this huge pecan pie at Costco because it cost a dollar less than the bag of pecans I was going to buy!

My mom finished this year's jammie pants for the grandkids so Amy took this photo. It's a little sad that the kids are getting so huge!

Overall it was a happy, relaxing, day filled with good food and family the way Thanksgiving should be.

**How was your Thanksgiving?

Have you taken a family picture recently?

Did you shop on Black Friday?**

Comment Window Tidbit:It has been a nice few days off work, though it's messing with my head...I'm very prone to time warp issues.

Oh the Humanity!

Usually I really enjoy my job. It is NEVER the same day twice even though many of the elements of my days are the same. Usually I laugh (to myself of course) at the extreme junior-highness of it all, the drama, the nerdiness, the locker jams and so on. But today, despite having a relaxing yet productive weekend at home with plenty of sleep I just was NOT in the mood for junior high. I didn't feel sympathetic, tolerant or even very nice but I did my best to mask those feelings and somehow made it through the day. Of course, I had a screaming migraine after that and even though I took a Relpax at 1:30, got home and into the cozy by 2:45, I wasn't okay to surface until 5:30pm! It's robbery I tell you! I seem to be having a resurgence of headaches lately and I am not happy about it. I am rereading my headache book in an attempt to eliminate any triggers that may be stirring things up. Aargh! Hopefully tomorrow's junior-high dramas will find me at full strength.

**How was your day?

How often do you get headaches?

What are your triggers?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I'm having some motivation issues tonight with a little side of guilt since I know I should be doing stuff today that will make my tomorrow easier.

Not My Favorite View

I usually enjoy the view from my kitchen window, but today I returned home from work to find a Porta-Potty places across the street from my house and out my kitchen window. I suppose I should be glad it isn't directly in front of our house, but it's pretty dang close. They are doing major road construction down the street from us so apparently this is now a designated rest room for the workers. I fear we'll be looking at this for a long time. If it's still here for the holidays we may need to put some tinsel on it. Randy always said we'd live like kings. (Name the movie.)

**Thoughts??**

Comment Window Tidbit: I'm not ready for my trip, I have way too much to do but all I want to do right now is get in my jammies and watch "Survivor" with Randy.

FORTY!!!

Comment Window Tidbit: I got my hair done this morning, so at least the wiry grays and 2-inch roots aren't mocking me today!

Remember When?

Remember when I used to post every single day no matter what? Apparently those days are gone, and I'm pretty sad about it. Our computer is still in a coma (it's been 2 1/2 months) which means we are still making due with this old laptop (which is definitely better than nothing, but is not ideal). It is slower, smaller and all-around less fun for me to use (excuses, excuses). Our server times out (I think it's a router problem) after visiting 3 sites so that makes for some annoyingly stilted internet time. Basically I'm fed up with this situation and how it is affecting my blogging (both posting and reading/commenting). Aargh!

**What's your computer situation?
How often do you blog?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Today is the first day of the year that it has actually felt hot outside--it's 79 degrees.

Baffling to Me

Last Saturday while Whitney was at Adam and Amy's house for a sleepover with the cousins I decided to take advantage of feeling better by cleaning under the futon. This is a picture of all the stuff shoved under there (of course it was all Whitney's stuff!)! Even though I know she needs to learn how to clean and organize for herself, this is one of those jobs that goes better if she's not here to scrutinize my decisions, because the majority of this stuff went into the recycling bin. I decided that our main issue is that she is always creating things, but then can't bear to let them go...luckily I CAN bear to let them go.

I also cleaned out the floor of the closet, which held far more stuff than the small square footage should be able to hold. When she got home that night I informed her that she will be the one cleaning under the bed and the hall closet very soon...heaven help me!

**How often do you do clean outs like this?
Do you find yourself muttering in disbelief?**

Comment Window Tidbit: The kids stayed home sick again today, but I only missed my first class of the day in order to make sure they were well enough for me to leave. They are such easygoing kids and have basically slept and watched movies for two days.

Wordless Wednesday

Comment Window Tidbit: I went to my new doctor (walking distance from my house) yesterday and am restocked on Zoloft and Relpax...health insurance is a good thing.

Prognosis Negative

I called the appliance repair company today during my lunch break and was thrilled to find out they could send someone over almost as soon as I got home today. This was great, visions of clean, dry clothes danced in my head. Then the repair guy came and said it would be $200! I didn't exactly burst into tears, but I teared up, groaned and squeaked out "really?" He took pity on me and knocked off $20. What could I do?

He was very nice and not only replaced the heating element, but fixed a lint guard problem that has been plaguing us for years. Now our outdoor flower beds won't be littered with unsightly lint any more.

The final amount was $196.42, and on the memo line in our check book I wrote "Dryer Extortion". The good thing is that tomorrow is pay day, the bad thing is that was $196.42! Any chance I had of getting my hair done is gone. Oh the humanity!

**Any unforeseen set backs in your finances?
Would you have cried?
Please take a moment to love
your functioning appliances.**

Comment Window Tidbit: I'm in really good form considering it's Shmalentine's Day...no doubt this is a tender mercy from above.

End of the Tunnel

Despite all my hard work and efforts to plan ahead so that I would be ready for Youth Conference by Thursday, I ended up in a total panic waiting for crucial papers and phone responses from other people.

I also hugely underestimated the task of assigning 64 people shared bedrooms. I will say that originally I thought the Bishopric was going to be doing this, so today was my first attempt and it ended up taking all day! I had to totally flake out on work which gave me anxiety because I am so NOT a flake and it cost me my day's pay. Oh well.



The logistics of organizing something like this are major so I feel like I've got 35 balls in the air and am not a trained juggler. I have been vacillating between feeling like "of course I can do this", to "I can't believe I have to do this", to "I wish so badly that I didn't have to do this", to "It will all be fine, just relax".

I know things will turn out great and that all my frustrations will soon be forgotten, I just wish I could learn how to enjoy the process more rather than wishing things away.

**What's the biggest event you've had to organize?
Can you juggle?
Do you tend to wish things away?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Good news: While making the room assignments for everyone I discovered that there is one tiny room available that won't work for the kids, so Randy and I can have our own room! This means we might actually get some sleep (I have such a hard time sleeping in weird places) and I'll get to shower in the morning!!!

Trying

Today was a B-day at school, and try as I might to be positive about it I left with a raging headache and tears on deck. I am less needed in the classes I'm assigned to on these days (or perhaps just needed in a way I don't like as well) so they seem long and trying to me. I really resent the headache because it stays with me long after school is over and sometimes all night. I went to bed around 8:00 twice last week because of headaches, which is a major bummer considering how limited my time at home is these days.

There I vented...I must retreat to the cozy.

Comment Window Tidbit: I had an itchy eye for a day last week and actually hoped I was getting pink eye because then I'd have to stay home! That's just wrong.

Five for Friday--Total Hodge Podge Edition

1. We found out today that Landon was accepted into the National Honor Society! He applied back in November and most of the applicants were notified on November 29th, but for some reason about 15 of them weren't notified until today and he was one of them. Students must have a 3.7 GPA to apply, and he had a 3.9, but currently has a 4.0! I find this amazing because I was never this kind of a student. Woohoo for him.


2. I found this display on the kitchen counter when I got home from work today. Apparently Whitney had time to play this morning before school and made this cozy sleeping bag for Spiderman. The kindly monkey was purchased by her for .75 cents at D.I. the other day (and washed of course) and has since been outfitted in a sweater and has taken to mothering Spiderman.

On a related note: As soon as I picked Whitney and Madison up from school the other day they immediately begged me to take them to D.I. They share a great love/hoarding tendency toward stuffed animals and nothing is better to them than getting to go there together to shop for them. I don't love going there, but their excitement was convincing so I said "okay", Then on the way there I heard Madison say to Whitney, "I love it that your mom always has time." That made my heart hurt, especially because her mom is actually way more fun than I am and takes them to do all kinds of things, she's just had to work more this week.


3. After a successful Gorilla-gluing of the broken fridge shelf awhile ago, we enjoyed a month of normal condiment storage until last week when the dang thing came crashing down again. If I wasn't here to see/hear it I wouldn't believe that Whitney wasn't being rough with it, but all she did was reach for the jelly! Now we're back to fridge shelf overload because of the displaced condiments...oh the humanity!


4. This is a frequent sight these days and is so funny. Sometimes we put them in the ball together, and sometimes they get to run by themselves; either way it's highly amusing.


5. I opened the cupboard this afternoon to find the wrapper to a Caramel Kiss that had been sitting there since Christmas Eve. I don't know why none of us had eaten it before now, and I really don't know why whoever ate it left the wrapper in the cupboard!!


6. It is quite common to see Whitney wearing two different socks (and to find her socks all over the house...#$@!) so tonight I said, "Whitney, why are you always wearing two different socks?!" and she replied, "I have no idea!" Well there you go.

**Were you ever in the National Honor Society?
Isn't Spiderman's sleeping situation enviable?
Dang fridge shelf! What now?
Are hamster globes funny?
Would you have left the wrapper?
What's your thought on Whitney's socks?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Our dinner out last night was totally enjoyable and a way better meal than we would have had at home (we've got to step it up around here). We had a Ward dinner for couples tonight, so we ended up socializing even more. What is up with the universe? It's reminding me of how fun it is to have couple friends.

Ups and Downs

I am having some issues lately with battling my own thoughts, and it's just plain ridiculous. For example, I was lamenting the fact that I have to work (as I was driving in my cold car which is losing its power steering just in time for Christmas) and I really wanted to give in to those feelings, turn the car around (not easy to do without power steering) and spend the day at home. But I had to stop those thoughts and try to rework things in a more positive light (i.e., it's a beautiful morning, I like most of the classes I help with, the hours are ideal, I'm going to get paid before Christmas etc.).

Then I started to wonder what life would be like if I weren't so inclined to fight everything. What if I just said, "This is my life, and I'm glad to have it?"

The answer to that question is that I would have been lobotomized or heavily medicated because fighting everything (in my head only) is what I do! I hate this about myself and I am trying hard to change it, but I seem to have a strong sense of entitlement regarding how my life should be (despite almost none of it going the way I'd like it to go). Why is it so hard to change?

**Do you feel entitled to a certain kind of life?
Do you fight things or embrace them?
Have you ever had to drive without power steering?**

Giveaway Winners
11--Lisa J.
2--Yeffinerp--Please email me (stuart_jill@hotmail.com)
5--Ryann
9--Melinda
4--Mitzi

Comment Window Tidbit: I had the sad realization that it isn't Christmas I'm counting down to and looking forward to, it's not having to work for 2 weeks that I'm really looking forward to most. That's just not right!

Gratitude, Thanksgiving & the Smoke Alarm

As I was commenting on Jane's wonderful Thanksgiving post this morning, I realized that my comment had the makings of a blog post in it. This is what I said...

"I am a big believer in being thankful and expressing that thanks. My prayers are often filled only with thanks, and I'm grateful we have the habit of having family prayer morning and night because that means we're taking the time to express our thanks to the Lord as a family twice a day. We see the direct results of asking for safety and then thanking Him for it every day." (This is true for good health, help through the day, and so on.)

I am in the habit of mentally listing things I'm thankful for regularly, but as I was listening to the The Power (for the 3rd time) the other day, I heard the author again suggest that I make physical list once a month of all the things I'm thankful for. She suggests being incredibly thorough with this list and including places, smells, people, events, and on and on.

I will be finding some time today to make my list, but until then I give you my Thanksgiving debacle.

Because I was loudly doing this.

I did not hear the timer ring for this.

So I was harassed by this.

Thank heaven I have more of these!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Comment Window Tidbit: It is currently 14 degrees outside (and my window is open because of the burned pie crust!) and the high today is only 18 degrees! Aye Carumba!

Lipstick Crisis

Yes, this qualifies as a crisis for me, especially now that I am at the point of scraping down the sides of the tube each morning, and the applicator wand was not meant to do that. It's a design flaw really because how am I supposed to get the stuff clinging to the top of the tube? I'll probably try a Q-tip, but those absorb a lot and I really need as much as I can for my lips.


Amie introduced me to Cover Girl Outlast lip color several years ago, and it was a major breakthrough for me because I've never had a lipstick color I loved, nor had I ever had a lipstick that would actually stay on for a long time, and this one did both!


After a few years, they discontinued my shade (gasp!). I didn't panic, I immediately searched ebay and found all kinds of sources for it. Apparently I thought it would always be there on ebay or that my stash would last forever, but not so. The past couple weeks have found me doing fruitless searches on ebay and scraping the sides of both the tube in my bathroom AND the one in my purse (oh the humanity!).

I can't find it listed on ebay and I can't find it on the Cover Girl website either. I think it has been discontinued for so long that they don't even have any info on it. I've been stalking the aisles at Wal-Mart and Target holding up my almost-empty tube trying to find a similar color, but nothing looks even close. I'm afraid to try something new because I'm not willing to pay $8 for a bad match. Aargh!

I don't even know if I have another day left with this tube, so I'm going to be looking even less presentable than usual.

**Has this happened to you?
Do you have a lipstick that stays on?
Any color recommendations?
Please help!**

Comment Window Tidbit: Don't forget tomorrow is the 12 on the 12th day!

My Version of Bookclub

We had bookclub tonight at Collette's gorgeous new house, and I didn't get home until 12:45am which meant I finally got in bed around 1:30 (had to check my email and read a few blogs), read until 2:00, tossed and turned until 2:30 then gave up on sleep and came to the computer; apparently I missed my sleep window. Oh the humanity!

Collette's new house!

The view from her backyard.

Her house from the back.

Jenn kissing baby Savannah's feet.

Amy brought stuff to make Italian sodas; I chose English Toffee and it was delizioso.

Collette's new kitchen is roomy and beautiful!

We ended up with an excellent spread. Jenn brought bread and a fabulous artichoke dip, I brought crackers with pepper jelly cream cheese, Michelle brought peaches and cream, Jana brought strawberries, and Collette brought raspberry and orange rolls with cream cheese frosting.

I love this part of our gatherings.

Amy brought us each a little bag of these cute, magnetic clothespins. I always think I'm going to bring gifts (because that's my love language) but never end up having any brilliant ideas in time, then I forget until the next month. Duh.


Amy joked about us needing a secretary, so I nominated her. We never seem to be able to remember what books we want to read or when exactly we're meeting, so she's going to remind us of those things.


Tonight's selection was an 8 page essay from a book full of writings from mothers. We all hated it, except for Amy. The premise is that this woman loves her husband more than her children and that she thinks other women think she's a bad mother because of that. The concept didn't bother us, it was her crass language and fixation on sex that made it difficult to take her seriously. Amy suggested that as Mormon women we most likely have more inhibitions than other women (is that a problem?) and therefore didn't like the direction this essay went. That may be true, but there were so many things we found offensive that it was hard to break it down to the concept of loving our husbands more than our kids. We had an interesting discussion, but our feathers were definitely ruffled by it.


We didn't take this self-portrait until the end of the night, and we couldn't get Savannah into the shot without major blur happening.


Savannah spewed upon finishing the photos, which was funny considering the blowout she had a couple months ago at Collette's other house.

**Do you like Italian Sodas?
Have you read this article?
What are your thoughts on the husband/kid issue?**

Comment Window Tidbit: It's now 3:26am and though my body is tired, I don't actually feel sleepy. What cruel joke is this?

Creative Friday--Time Flies Edition

This week's Creative Friday started out with Eva showing me the fabulous, new book shelf she got in her room this week.


I love it that it has a big drawer at the bottom, because I can appreciate the playing surface the top of it provides (plus gets many stuffed animals out of sight). I can just imagine all the dinosaurs that will be migrating on there.


I got right down to business writing notes and packing up several birthday cds for this month.


Since I had arrived later than I'd planned, that meant it was nearly time for Eva to go to school. Michelle was in the throws of smotherhood and was busy doing Eva's hair, making sure she used the bathroom before leaving, got her back and on and on. Eva loves school, but she was engrossed in a dinosaur show on TV and wasn't keen to stop watching it.

Her super cute backpack.

Michelle could finally breathe and have some peaceful, kid-free time and an uninterrupted lunch after dropping Eva at school. Michelle made potato soup and wheat bread for lunch, it was so good.


She followed that up with some fabulous caramel dip with apple slices and Flips pretzels.


I wrote 7 notes and am now officially out of .44 cent stamps (which is super sad considering the huge stock pile I had after my birthday). This is going to put a serious damper on my good mail output, but I still have some .02, .03, .04, and .05 cent stamps left so I may be covering envelopes with those until I can replenish my supply. Oh the humanity!


I regaled Michelle with tales of the spider sightings and captures I've been enduring lately. She took this photo while I demonstrated the way my eyes are constantly scanning the areas in front of me in search of spiders. The irony is that even though I'm always expecting to see them, they still take me by surprise whenever I do! It's ridiculous.


The absolutely flew by while we worked on our projects. It felt so luxurious to be able to have uninterrupted conversations!


The time flew so fast that Max was home before we knew it! He was showing Michelle some of his cello music, and I couldn't believe how complicated it all looked. I had never heard of a 1/32 note before!


My caramel dip at the end of the day. Don't worry, I didn't let this last little bit go to waste.

Our pleasing output for the day!

Our end of the day self-portrait. Of course, Michelle's make-up still looks perfect, but I look like I spent the last 3 hours in the rain!

I'm desperate to find a job, but am so glad to be able to have some kid-free Creative Fridays until I get one.

**Did you write any thank you notes this week?
Do you have .02, .03, .04, and .05 cent stamps?
Are you familiar with 1/32 notes?
Does your kid-free time fly by too?**

Good Mail For Me & You Winners
2--Natasha
16--Kelly
6--Melanie (happy birthday)
22--Claudia
12--DeeAnn

Comment Window Tidbit: My little soccer team won 7-0 today! I feel like Steve Martin in the movie "Parenthood" when he is totally high after his son catches the ball in the Little League Game. Whitney scored 3 goals!