plan of attack

I let myself get too hungry last night and then got home late and ate too much for dinner.

The positive? I had completed a weight-training workout before going to work yesterday morning. That's good, right?

Jon got me a "gift" for Valentines day. He comes in the room and says "I know you're on a diet, but...."

The rest of the words were something about calories not counting on Valentines Day.

Then he produced a pint of my favorite flavor of full-fat, calorie-laden, easy-to-start-but-hard-to-stop-eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Part of me was thrilled and the other part was MAD.

(My 8th grade science teacher used to say that dogs get mad, people get angry. But part of me was MAD.)

What's he trying to do, sabotage my efforts? He knows I'm busting my butt. He knows I've been working hard to reduce my pant size. Doesn't he know that I am such a black or white dieter that I can't afford to even look at this ice cream for fear I'll be scraping the bottom of the pint in ten minutes?

But let's be real; It's not like I'm never, ever gonna eat ice cream again. That wouldn't really be very realistic, now would it?

So, here's the plan, Stan. (My Dad's gonna be proud of me...he loves a plan.)

Three bites. That should be just enough. Eating a bit without getting carried away will be key.

And maybe I can play a game and see how long it'll actually take me to eat the entire pint. My record for speed in consuming a pint is somewhere around 30 minutes. No kidding.

And to Jon...thanks for the ice cream, babe. I'm grateful that you thought of me. This will force me to conquer the beast. And this'll be good for me.

But next time? Go with the flowers.

On the Menu Monday

Good Monday morning, friends! How was your weekend? Mine went quickly; working all day on Saturday and then the usual Sunday activities helps that. Jon and I did get in our Valentine's date on Sunday afternoon while the boys were occupied with a youth sledding event. It was so nice to have a meal and not have to hear someone whine about not getting to sit by me. :-)

This week is extra busy too it seems as I'm working Monday, having coffee with a friend and working the evening shift on Tuesday and working nine hours on Wednesday. Then Thursday, I have a doctor's appointment and we're headed to Winneconne in the evening for a band event. And I'm working the weekend too. Whew.

And you know what comes in handy on weeks like this? My crockpot, of course. And I'm lucky enough to own a copy of Fix It And Forget It Lightly for the slow cooker. It's a collection of healthy recipes for the slowcooker and it's a great resource. And today, I thought I'd share with you one of my favorites from the book. With my own adaptations, of course.

Veggie Goulash

1 lb. extra lean ground beef, browned and drained

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (recipe called for kidney beans)

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large green pepper, diced

2 stalks celery, chopped (E would leave this out! HA!)

1 15oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 T. sugar

1 T. worchestershire sauce

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. black pepper

Combine all ingredients in crock and cook on low 4-6 hours. Serve over mashed potatoes.

Easy, peasy!

what you see

There is no such thing as a full-length mirror in this house. In fact, I haven't really seen anything from my neck down in a mirror in a couple of years, unless you count seeing my reflection in a store window from time to time and thinking "holy crap!" (sorry, Mom). We had a full-length mirror that I avoided at all cost, but it was one of those cheap $5 ones and it separated from the frame so we finally ditched it when we moved here two years ago.

The medicine cabinet mirror in the bathroom is 18"x12" at best, and positioned just so that I think it's too high to see anything and Jon complains of it being too low.

Darn that 12" height difference, heehee.

But you know where there are mirrors? Work. That's right. The top third of the back wall is covered with mirror so that the clerk up front can pretty much see almost everything going on in the aisle.

And there are mirrors in the bathrooms that it's my job to clean on the nights I close the cosmetics department.

And I've seen my reflection whether I wanted to or not.

That used to be an automatic "or not". But I've been working out a minimum of 4 days a week for the last six to eight weeks and I can tell from what I can see that certain things about my body are changing.

Yesterday, I caught some reflection of my torso in the television screen and thought, "gee, it does kinda look thinner". Jon tells me it is, but as my husband, his opinion doesn't hold as much weight as he'd like to think. But that's an issue in my head entirely.

I made the HUGE mistake (pun slightly intended) of never taking my measurements when I started working out. And I'm regretting that now, for sure, let me tell ya. I don't own a scale right now either, so I'm relying solely on my clothes; some days that's good, other days, that's frustrating.

I'm scheduled to see my doctor next week for a physical, something I haven't done in at least three years. And I know for a fact when I saw him sixteen months ago that when I got on the scale at his office the nurse said "one eighty-seven" and I rolled my eyes and cringed.

I'd love to go to Dr. S's office next week and crack the 160's, although with my clothes on, I probably won't. But even some progress according to his scale will be good, right?

I think that on my way home from that appointment, I'm getting a full length mirror.

Wordless Wednesday - "race ya!"

Furnace

I have two siblings. I have a brother, Dan, who's nine and a half years younger than I am and a sister, Heather, who was born one day before I turned exactly three and a half.

I have pretty distinct memories of Mom being pregnant with Daniel and seeing the first picture ever taken of him and then Mom and Dad bringing him home. I was in third grade and my classmates and I made a banner to welcome Mom and Daniel home. Actually, what is says is "Welcome - we love you! - Home!" Or something like that. There's a picture in one of Mom's photo albums of the banner hanging off the old entertainment center.

Memories of when Heather was born, not so much. Not any, in fact. Unlike my husband who boasts that he can remember living in Canada where he was born and then moved away from before he turned three, I have no such powers of memory. Much.

She's always just been there. We played together for hours with our dolls in the basement in the house in Arnold. We were allowed to go to the park by ourselves and play. (You could see most of the park from the house less than a block away.) Sometimes Dad would even come with us to the park and push us "underdog" style on the swings. He's six foot tall, we were impressed with the height he could make us fly.

When we moved to Columbus, Nebraska when I was in fourth grade we got separate bedrooms. I was mostly down with that, Heather not so much, so most Friday nights after school she'd spend the night in my room.

We suffered some typical separation when we moved to Illinois and I attended high school. You know teenagers, they don't necessarily want to hang out with the little sister who's still in grade school. I mean, come on.

To be fair, I didn't really like anyone except my friends all those years, so it wasn't her. It really wasn't.

She was the first person who was a passenger when I bought my first car. (If you don't count Dad, who was with me when I bought it.)

No relationship is perfect. We've had our down moments, even as adults. But she's my sister. If you have one, maybe you get it.

This last weekend, Heather was admitted to the hospital. Many things were unknown and as much as Mom and Dad tried to put me at ease, I do NOT typically cope well with the distance from here to there when something's going on with a member of my family.

She's my sister.

Doctors discovered a cyst. Then she was going to be moved to the University of Michigan Medical Center for surgery. Then she wasn't. Could it just be a benign cyst? (The size of a FOOTBALL, by the way) Could it be cancer? No one really knew anything.

Pastor's been doing a sermon series on "knowing God". A week ago last Sunday, he touched on the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; specifically what they said to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter three.

"if we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:17-18 NIV

My family's been in the furnace this week. And Heather's not necessarily out of the woods yet, even as things "looked good" according to the surgeon; we're still waiting a few days for the pathology report.

But we serve a big God. And that isn't going to change.

Happy Monday!

photo credit here

Well, maybe not if you bleed Black and Gold.

But if you bleed GREEN AND GOLD like me, it's a GREAT DAY! The Lombardi Trophy is COMING HOME!!

(in case you live under a rock and didn't see ANY television coverage in the last 24 hours. heehee)

Brett who???

Seven Quick Takes- Happier & Healthier Edition

1. I caught my reflection in the mirror at work this week, or rather, stopped to look at it, and it sure looks to me like I'm getting smaller. That's making all the time I've spent panting and sweating on the treadmill almost worth it.

2. I'm noticing that the better I eat, the better I want to eat. That's amusing to me. I made a run to the grocery store last night after work and I was actually craving salad. So I bought some ready to eat greens and had a large bowl of greens with a Smart Ones steak flatbread sandwich. Tasty stuff, I tell ya.

3. Water, water, water. We bought a Brita pitcher to keep water in the fridge and that's been the best thing- to be able to grab a cold glass of water whenever I get thirsty. Now if I can always drink more water in a day than Diet Coke.

4. I'm trying like heck to break the 16 minute mile pace on the treadmill. It's tough, but I'm not giving up. Two miles at a time, I'm building endurance and it feels great to take out some of my frustrations of the workday pounding the deck with the music loud.

5. Someone left a magazine on the break table that I'd been perusing the last few days. It's a health and fitness one, although I don't remember the name. But one thing I was reading really stood out to me.

"It's your mind- not your body- that will either help you to succeed or doom you to failure."

6. If you don't read Prior Fat Girl, you need to. It's a great blog where several ladies contribute regularly about their weight loss and healthiness journeys. I don't even remember how I found the blog, but I've read every post for the last several weeks and it's really been a helpful tool for me to keep myself on track.

7. I think that the best thing that I can do for my boys is to be healthier. To make time for my workouts even if that means closing myself off for the first half hour after I get home at night or the first part of the morning to get in some time on the treadmill. I'm getting healthier (slowly), I'm happier with myself and my appearance and overall everything will come together in time. It's a good thing.

big girl panties

You know what happens when you get full of yourself and rock the boat? You just so happen to get the extra hours you asked for, but they're all the crap ones that no one else will do without whining., ie: 4:30- 10pm on a week night and three Saturdays in a row.

But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Sometimes you have to be an adult and just deal; rather than "I don't really like this, so I think I'll quit". That's what the kids do when they wanna go to a New Year's Eve party and got scheduled and can't twist anyone's arm hard enough to get rid of the shift.

So, since I really need this job, and aside from the late nights, I really do like it, I'll put on my happy face and charge through.

But I don't plan to ask for anything ever again.

Wordless Wednesday - game time

cheering section

Do you have any idea how important the support of others is on a journey to get healthy?

HUGE, I tell you. At least it is for me.

I don't own a scale at the moment, so I really have no idea how my workouts are working by the numbers. And maybe I don't really want to know. Maybe this whole "throw out the scale and go by my clothes" thing is something I should have done a long time ago.

But while I don't have a scale, I appreciate other things. Like my coworker Kayla telling me that she can see that I'm losing and that my new pants are cute.

Like Grandma Jo telling me that I'm SO skinny. heee, heee. Maybe not, I hadn't seen her in months, but I'll take it.


My friend Esther told me she could see it in my face. Then I went home and looked in the mirror and I could (sorta) see it too.

Carrie said "Hey, you're getting healthy and that's important."

Jon says my waist is smaller. I haven't actually had a waist in several years, so it's a start. (ahem)

Even from my facebook friends; I've gotten in the habit of posting my mile (or two mile) times and as they're going down, I'm getting support. It feels great and gives me the boost to keep going.

Sometimes I think "Is that bragging? Do I really need to post my time? And does anyone actually care?" And then I think, sure it's bragging, but it's about doing something good for myself, and as my times are getting lower, it's keeping me on track. And I'm sure that several of my posts are not getting attention from some, and that's okay. Those that are posting are very encouraging to me and it helps SO much.

There is no "I" in TEAM, you know, and they're like my little team.

You know who you are. And thanks.

so much stuff

On Saturday, Matthew participated in the Eastern Valley Conference Middle School Honors Band. And not only that, but he sat THIRD CHAIR for the trumpets. We were so proud. For a middle school band, they sounded AWESOME. Honors Choir was there too and that was pretty cool; made me miss choir and those kinds of events.



I've learned the secret to getting rid of tempting breakfast leftovers...take it to church. I made coffee cake on Saturday morning for yesterday's breakfast; three pieces were eaten and so I thought, "well, I bet I could get rid of this during Sunday School." I cut it into smaller pieces and left it by the coffee pots; I was pretty pleased to see that an hour later, a couple of ladies were helping themselves to the last of the cake. Saves me from having to ignore it all week as it calls to me from the kitchen.



Our Pastor's parents were visiting from Ohio and attended church services yesterday. During the time in worship when we get to greet one another, Grandma Jo turned around and said "You look so skinny!" And that was BEFORE I hugged her! Made my day.....



We had Jon's brother and family in for dinner last night. They only live about an hour from us but it seems that we need to travel to my in-laws to see them the most. And that's sad. Schedules just don't accommodate us as we'd really like. And being that it was a school night, it was sort of an "eat and run", but still nice to see them. Seth, who's just about 2 and a half, loved the cat. The feeling was not mutual. We ate Esther's manicotti and it was a huge hit! Huge. Thank you again, my friend.

Okay, with that, I'm off to workout. Have a great day, everyone!

It's not a sprint

I had a different post written for today. I even went so far as to schedule it, then I went to take a shower and thought better of what I had written.

Here's take two.

I gained most of the fifty pounds I'm trying to get rid of while Mom was taking chemo in 2005. I didn't handle that well at all and it was easier to cuddle up with my best friends Ben and Jerry than deal with emotions I was feeling.

But Mom's well now, praise the Lord, so what's my excuse for holding onto the weight? Here are some things I've told myself over the years...

It's easier to not work out than to work out. Sure, I'm not the prettiest picture all sweaty and panting on the treadmill, but the way my body feels day after day with this weight feels worse than a 2 mile workout.

It's hard and takes too long to lose inches. Sure. But having to sport size 16 pants at 5'2" is no piece of cake, those can be hard to find.

I'd really like to just eat pizza and forget about it. Yep. That'd definitely be easier, but is it worth it?

I bought new pants this week and they're smaller, but they're tight. But they're smaller. That's the part I should be focusing on and all I really CAN focus on is "but they're tight".

Good Lord.

I didn't gain this weight in a month, so why am I so surprised when I haven't seen more results in the same amount of time? Because I'm crazy, that's why. I have seen results; my athletic endurance has increased dramatically, I'm not as hungry as I was when I started this journey. I'm making better choices. I haven't thrown a weight through the television at Jillian Michaels.

AND MY PANTS ARE SMALLER.

That alone should be enough.

be careful what you wish for

Well, it's happened. I'm scheduled for thirty hours next week and thirty-one the week after. And only one shift in those eight do I get away from the store before 8 pm.

Better yet, the last of those eight shifts is a 4:30 to 10pm. Don't I work with enough high school students that need that shift? To be fair, I haven't been scheduled for that shift since before I was hating Halloween, so I guess it's my turn.

And I work both Saturdays too. Yippee. At least I get Super Bowl Sunday off.

It'll be fine; it's only for two weeks. But I already miss my "every other weekend off " thing I had going for myself.

Wordless Wednesday - addressed for delivery

It's official, I'm insane

I work three days a week. Some weeks it's Wed-Fri, as this week is; others it's Wednesday then Saturday and Sunday, like last week.

The scheduled week runs Wednesday through Tuesday, just so you're not confused.

When I work a Wednesday then Saturday and Sunday week, I often feel a bit like a fish out of water on Saturday mornings. In retail, things change on a very fast pace; endstands and side panels and even shelves are always sporting different product than they were several days before or even just a day or so before.

Right now, it's annual reset time, meaning whole sections of aisle are getting shuffled around. I worked on Wednesday and then not again until Saturday and I was more than a little baffled when a customer asked me to help her find the toilet paper and I took her to where I thought it was but it wasn't there. However, fear not, if you glanced across the center aisle, you noticed that indeed all is not lost, we absolutely still have toilet paper at our store, it just moved to the front of aisle eight instead of being at the back.

We started joking on Sunday night that maybe we just needed to have a door greeter like our competitor does and he, or she, could hand out updated maps every day. Sort of like a "YOU ARE HERE" map at the mall.

When I've made comments in the past about being a little lost, my EXA's reply is "Well, you could always work more hours." Typically, I work a 22 hour work week for half the pay period and then a 25 hour week for the other half. And when he commented last, I told him that I'd been thinking about it, but I needed to talk to Jon first and that he (my EXA) would be "the third to know".

The insane part? That comes in when I took the plunge to ask for more hours without really telling my husband that it was what I decided to do. I just told him that it was what I'd done on Sunday evening when I arrived home.

More hours mean more money, of course. And it'd be on a two week trial basis, if I don't think it's right for me, then EXA is more than happy to drop me back down to where I was to begin. And if I am happy with the extra hours, he said we could talk about what day I wanted that to be. Right now, my schedule revolves around when K, the senior beauty advisor, needs a day off, and that works fine for me. And I'm not wanting to upset the apple cart and take any of K's hours, but as it stands right now, we aren't fully staffed and there are hours to spare.

My concern is first, my family. The extra day at work will probably mean the extra school night where I don't get home until nearly bedtime for Caleb. They manage just fine, and Jon is home an hour earlier these days, but that's not the point. And I don't want the extra hours to mean that I work three out of four weekends either. It's hard enough to juggle church responsibilities on Sundays that I work the late afternoon and evening without adding an extra one.

And secondly, my physical capabilities. Bending and lifting are not my friends and neither is walking the concrete floors for hours on end, so I'm not really sure how my body will hold up.

But I'm willing to give it a try. Just call first if you're gonna come by so we can get rid of the cat hair, disinfect the bathroom and shove things into closets. Deal?

On the Menu Monday

Good Monday morning, my friends! We've cause for celebration around here as the Packers are headed to the Super Bowl and there is no school today and we slept in. Woohoo!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple recipes with you this morning since it'd been awhile. Quite a while. Sorry about that.

First, one we had for dinner last week:

Gourmet Pork Chops

6 pork chops
2 T. flour
salt and pepper
2.T shortening (for browning chops)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
3.5 oz can of french fried onions
1/2 cup sour cream

Coat chops with seasoning, dredge in flour and brown in hot oil. Place in 9x13 baking dish. Combine soup, 1/2 cup water, ginger and rosemary and pour over chops; sprinkle with half the onions. Cover and bake at 350 about 55 minutes or until chops are tender. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining onions and bake and additional 10 minutes. Remove meat to platter, blend sour cream into soup mixture, heat through and serve with meat.

Now for my notes. I've had this cookbook, The Original Sunday Dinner- Meals from Family Kitchens, since 1991; it was given to my Mom at a church event, she already owned a copy so she gave it to me. Until this last week, I'd never made this recipe with the rosemary; if you don't have it, skip it and trust me, the dish will still be tasty. I've also served it with mashed potatoes, with buttered noodles, I've browned the chops, cooked them till they fell off the bone in the crockpot, doubled the sauce, deboned the meat and served it with spaghetti. (That's what I did last week) Basically, the possibilities are endless, and this is an easy dish.

Now for tonight's dinner from the same cookbook.

Chicken Cheese Elegant

6 bone-in chicken breasts
4 green onions, bottoms only
1.5 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup

Place skinned chicken in large casserole dish, bone side down. Sprinkle chicken generously with paprika. Slice the green onions over the chicken then sprinkle with grated cheese. Mix together soups and spoon over chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 325 for 2 hours. Serve with Rice-A-Roni. (recipe note)

My only note for this recipe is that I sprinkle the chicken with a little pepper and garlic powder in addition to the paprika and I also use the green onion tops for garnish. The chicken is thawing now and I'm getting hungry!

Enjoy!

Oh, and if you have recipes to share on this Monday, be sure to link up over at The Mommy Diaries Menu Plan Monday!

I'm not...but I am

I'm not....listening to that voice in my head that tells me that my fifty pound weight loss goal is too much.

But I am....just taking it one day at a time.



I'm not....the owner of a standard, evil bathroom scale anymore.

But I am.....hoping to be the owner of a Quantum Scale in the spring.



I'm not....focused on what I can't eat. At least not presently.

But I am....realizing that healthier food choices are better for me for more reason than just my pant size.



I'm not.....beating myself up if I have an off day.

But I am....focusing on how maybe the next day can be better.



I'm not....a fan of Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred.

But I am.... doing it anyway; every other day.


I'm not.....gonna get to a single digit pant size overnight. Or maybe not even in the next six months.

But I am.....gonna get there.

I knew it

This morning, I found this on my dining room table.

Wait, it gets better
GRADUATION??

*faint*

like a little kid at Christmas

Let me try to condense this for you.



I've read Angie Smith's blog, Bring the Rain, for more than a couple of years. She has been such an encouragement to me with her posts and her girls are to die for!



She announced that she was taking part in a new project here. Again, a great place to read posts of faith by others, be challenged, be convicted if necessary, be refreshed.



A week or so ago, it was announced that there would be a book club. I love to read so I thought, hey, this sounds like a great idea.



Checking back yesterday, the book was announced. And the book could be purchased for only ten dollars. That I could swing.



The closest bookstore to me that carried the book is over 30 miles away and the book is more expensive. So maybe I should just order and wait. But I'm not very good at waiting. Hmmmm.



In addition to getting the book club selection for the awesome price of ten dollars, you could also get free shipping on your book if you were to purchase a second book as a sponsor for someone who would want to participate in the book club but couldn't afford a book.



Seems easy enough.



But you wouldn't believe the things that started going through my mind as I ordered my own book.



"Can you really afford that ten dollars? You might have to explain yourself when Jon sees the checking entry.... Are you sure you're gonna read it, you get gung-ho about a lot of things and never follow through.....what are you gonna do if this changes your life? It might mean uncomfortable changes, you know....."



And on and on and on.



I took a deep breath and hit "sponsor book" first, then went back and ordered my own book. I had to get up from the computer and find my purse to use my debit card and when I sat down to enter the info, I heard "Are you sure you wanna do this?!?"



Yep, I'm sure.



Getting started on that book was all I could think about the rest of the day. I even checked my email first thing this morning and to my disappointment, my book hasn't shipped yet. But it will. And I will read it. And I will participate in the book club and I look forward to making the most of this. To seeing what God has in store for me as I read this book.



I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

chocolate milk

He was doing so well. That is, until one of his "friends" who thinks everything he does is hilarious was back on the bus morning and night.

Then his behavior started to deteriorate. Yelling, hopping from seat to seat, among other things. And again, nothing we could say or do was working.

What a vicious cycle.

But then one day the boy caught a commercial for chocolate syrup on television. He became fixated on the idea that he could make his own chocolate milk, therefore no longer having to rely on school being in session to enjoy the treat.

And as any good parent would do, his mother informed him that the only way he could have what his fickle heart desired was to self-monitor his behavior on the bus.

To no one's surprise, it's working.

She's so right

It's been quite an interesting week for this momma.

First, as I was cleaning house this week, I discovered a piece of mail from my alma mater on the dining room table. I thought "oh, I can open that later; I'm sure it's not that important. Probably just a solicitation for money to continue to fund the new chapel."

You can't imagine my shock when I discovered as I went to open the letter that it was not addressed to me but rather our fourteen year old son. He was almost as surprised as I was. Almost.

Fast forward a couple of days as I called Mom to find out if she had her summer vacation dates available. She did and has two weeks off work this summer and told me that whichever one works better for us is fine with her. It'll just depend on a couple of things; first, my ability to get time off from my job and second, the summer band schedule.

Except I'll never find the dates for band camp looking at the middle school calendar.


High school is coming so fast my head is spinning like Linda Blair in the Exorcist. Except without the pea soup.

Mom said life is a speed trap. I've always joked with Matthew that I wanted to keep him forever. It seems as though my idea of forever isn't the same as his these days.

I'm sure I'll be fine. High school will bring additional challenges but also additional opportunities.
I'm also fairly confident that Matthew will do just fine.

This morning, the Lord reminded me that Matthew wasn't really mine to begin with. He's been a gift from Him from the start, on loan as it were. We've had the opportunity to watch him learn and grow, making the best choices for him we could, while letting the Lord guide his steps and ours.

And I just need to (try to) continue to let go and trust that Matthew will learn to make the right decisions with the Lord's help. Because the next four years will vanish like a vapor.

run, forrest, run

In a concentrated effort to get healthy in 2011, I've been using the treadmill. I started out two weeks ago just walking for thirty minutes at 3.3 miles per hour (on average).


For the last three workouts, I've run twenty minutes of sprints. First 30 seconds, then forty five, and today one minute. With ninety seconds of walking in between. At 4.4 miles per hour on average. I'm short and have a pretty short stride, so 4.4 is pretty fast.

This morning, I didn't use my inhaler before I worked out and I didn't even die. Obviously.


All in the name of progress, I suppose.

In other news, I've recently discovered the ability to get my khaki work pants on *and* off without unbuttoning them or unzipping them. Guess it's time to think about going shopping for new pants.

Jon's suggestion to the above is to get a belt. That isn't nearly as much fun.

I'll admit, I've been on the scale three times since this post. And I've been up and down with the reading. I'm this close to throwing the darn thing in the trash. Bad habits are hard to break, but I don't know why I keep getting on the stupid thing if it's gonna dictate my day. Blech.

One step forward at a time. I'd really like to be rid of my double digit pant size by late spring/ early summer.


I had lunch with Carrie the other day and we ate at Applebees and I ate one of the "under 550 calorie" meals. It wasn't bad. That measly little steak was little, but tasty. The broccoli was totally over-steamed, but the potatoes weren't bad. I fed Justin his applesauce so his mother could eat her food warm, so that meant I ate more slowly that I may have otherwise. I think that helped.


If only I could give up macaroni and cheese.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...We got more snow last night and the road look slippery.

I am thinking...that I need to get started putting together music for retreat.

I am thankful for... lunches with friends, even on snowy days!

From the kitchen...trying two new recipes in two nights. Last night's was a 75% success; we'll see if tonight's will be better.

I am wearing... jeans, a fushia turtleneck and the earrings Jon got me for Christmas.

I am going... to town to have lunch with my bf Carrie and then shopping and for a haircut.

I am reading... Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, for the first time.

I am hoping... Jon isn't bringing work home tonight.

I am hearing...the hum of the humidifier inside and outside, the neighbor's dog barking. Constantly

Around the house... this den needs cleaned and organized AGAIN before someone nominates it for an episode of Hoarders.

One of my favorite things... the Faith Hill True perfume I got on clearance after Christmas.

To see more Daybook entries, click here.

what?!?

Yesterday afternoon, Jon asked me what I wanted for lunch after church. Since I had to work in the mid-afternoon, our choices were sorta limited.

We ended up at Subway, which I was totally fine with.

But you know what I wanted? I wanted a Spicy Italian sub with provolone cheese, mayo...I'm sure you get the picture.

Although I'm sure you know that this weight loss thing is about making changes that I can stick with. Being confident in making the best choices that I can while out and about so I don't ruin days of running sprints and watching my portions with just one meal.

So I was the last one to order, since I was having a tug-of-war with myself. Was the pepperoni in the sub really worth it? How many extra days of sprints would I have to run to work it off? Is the black forest ham sub really going to be any good? Light mayo or mustard?

It's a lot of pressure, I tell ya.

I took a deep breath and ordered a foot long sub with black forest ham. My intent was half now for lunch and half later, after work, for dinner. No one batted an eye. The sandwich girl asked me if I wanted my sub toasted and I said, yes, of course. Then her next question was "What kind of cheese?"

Another deep breath and my reply was "no cheese".

You'd have thought I ran over a puppy in the parking lot the way Jon and Matthew reacted. It was amusing.

Yes, I know my reputation is that all cheese and cheese product that enters the house must be approved by me. That I've been known to slice and eat a half pound block of cheese with crackers for a snack in one sitting. No one said I should ever be proud of these things.

But things change. When you know better, you do better. And that's my aim. Mustard, "free" veggies and no cheese are small steps to where I'm headed. And yes, I missed the cheese and I sure as heck hope it'll be worth it.

liar, liar, scale on fire

Thinking that I'd get a jump on my weight loss for 2011, I started almost two weeks ago with the Slim Fast diet.

In quite a few attempts, I've never gotten slim, but I've gotten hungry fast.

I almost immediately started getting crabby. Crabby because I'd clock out for my thirty minute lunch and in a matter of eight minutes, I'd be done with my "meal" bar and a twenty ounce diet Coke.

But I was gonna white-knuckle my way through, PMS and all. Who starts diets hours before a monthly bout of becoming the hardest person to live with on the face of the earth anyway?

Apparently, I do.

This week, I decided that I needed to unbury the treadmill, put some rockin' music on my ipod and get to working out. I even did running sprints (30 sec run, 1 min walk, repeat, repeat, repeat...) twice this week. And I couldn't really walk well afterward without some shooting pains in my back and my toes going numb as I was running.

But no pain, no gain, right?

Imagine my disgust when I eat boiled shrimp and garden salad at last night's company christmas dinner rather than fried onion rings and french fries as everyone around me was doing and still see a gain on the scale this morning.

Immediately that little voice in my head starts screaming: "See? I told you this wouldn't work! You're eating bars that only taste like chemicals and for what? Not to mention how your back feels after that torture you call running- what a waste of time! Stop trying to see a magic number on the scale, you're never gonna get there. Go sit on the couch, eat potato chips and just resign yourself to the failure."

For a couple of hours today, that's where I lived. Give up. It's not worth it. You're not worth it.

Then I started thinking. Let's look at this rationally. I've already lost almost twenty pounds since the first week of August. The waist on all my pants are big; I'm constantly pulling them up. There are subtle changes about my body that my husband has noticed and I can start to see when I look in the mirror.

And the exercise has been good for me. Even though I hate almost every second of the time on the treadmill, I love how I feel when I'm finished. And I really feel kinda accomplished when I can crank the speed up to five miles per hour and run without tripping and falling off the treadmill.

Even in my own home, that'd be embarrassing.

So what if it takes weeks for the lying scale to catch up with the way my pants fit? Maybe measuring my success by my pant size is better.

Because the scale and I are not on speaking terms.

catch up

We inherited a 32-inch television from Jon's boss. He and his wife decided to get a new tv, he asked Jon if we wanted it and apparently we did.

Problem? Our current tv stand only held up to a 27 inch tv. That television went upstairs and took the playstation 2 and Band Hero with it. To the playroom. Yay.

Additional problem? We can't find a stand that will fit said 32" tv. After what was about 3 weeks of it sitting on the floor in the living room, I said to Jon, "Hon, you think the coffee table will hold the tv?" He wasn't sure, but he called Matthew and they moved it. Not without a comment or two from me though- most notably "Don't put your butt through the window, babe". I know, I know.

Turns out, it works fine. And a bonus would be that it seems to have opened up the living room a bit. Doesn't seem so crowded. Yay, a solution and a bonus.
-----------------------------------------------------

Are you surprised about the new report linking vaccines and autism? I'm not. And I know several parents who either did not vaccinate their kids or delayed vaccinations due to that 1998 study. I wasn't one of those parents. Not that either choice wasn't valid for personal reasons, parenting is full of decisions; I'm just not really surprised that there's fraud involved. It's sad, really. It's one thing for medicines to not "really" do what they promise, it's another entirely, in my opinion, to intentionally scare and mislead people for more than a decade. And know that what you're backing is totally wrong.

Oy.
----------------------------------------------------

Jon's working hourly now. Something about new tax laws for small business. Keeping Jon at the same number of hours that he's worked for almost seven years would mean that his boss would basically have to double his salary. That'd been nice. Nicer than I can wrap my head around, really. But the cheaper route, to keep the doors of the office open longer potentially, would be to pay Jon for forty hours a week. Not forty seven, which is what he'd been working.

Now, with an hour for lunch and the office closed an hour early, Jon's getting paid for the hours he's putting in. Finally. And he did get a bit of a raise also, which is nice. We haven't run into working emergency weekend hours and having to compensate with time off in the middle of the week yet, but I'm sure we will. He's always told me "Computers don't break on an 8-5 Monday through Friday schedule". We'll see.
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Christmas office dinner is tonight. I'd much rather just have dinner out with my husband. And that's how I feel about that!

Wordless Wednesday* - "Open wide, Grandpa"

*flashback 2005

a sock, a tape measure and sixteen cents

It's that time again.

All the Christmas decorations are back in the basement and I'm looking at my living room wondering how long it's been since it was cleaned.

I mean really cleaned.

So that's what I set out to do yesterday. And of course, it turned into a much bigger project than I anticipated.

Almost three hours kind of big. For one room.

I will spare you the gory details and no, I didn't take any pictures of the piles of hair, dust and crumbs. But I will tell you that removing the furniture cushions is a bit of a risk around here. You never know what you might find.

In this case, I found a sock belonging to the youngest member of the family, a ten foot tape measure that is used most often by said member to "measure the cat's tail, mom", countless candy and granola bar wrappers (naughty children, eating in the living room....) and sixteen cents.

I'm keeping the money.

long, red hair

This isn't gonna get deep because I'm just too tired.

Today, I'm still mourning. Mourning the loss of my sister's firstborn girl. Mourning the loss of my niece. Of Sean and Katie and Emily's big sister.

Eleven years ago today, Laina Michelle was born too soon. The cause of my sister's preterm labor was later determined to be an undiagnosed, untreated infection.

That's hard to take.

And you know what's the hardest about this day? That all I have of my firstborn neice is a hospital photo and a sprig of baby's breath from the flowers that were placed on her tiny grave.

I never saw her. I never held her.

We never had the chance to have memories with Laina. Never when I first laid eyes on her or watched her eat mashed potatoes at the family Thanksgiving table for the first time or had her sit on my lap and read to me a new book that she got as a gift.

So I make her up.

I imagine that the tiny patch of red hair that was present at birth is now long and beautiful and flowing. Her mom keeps it under control by putting it in two braids.

And like her sister Katie after her, she'd have shown me that she could write her name and tie her shoes and ride a bike.

By now, she'd probably be excited about being almost as tall as I am. All my neices and nephews before her have bragged about it at some point.

I'd gladly give her that.

plan b

Today the boys and I were supposed to have lunch with Matthew's godmother, Stephanie. But sometimes things come up. So, when we were planning to leave at ten, at 9:15 we found ourselves "all dressed and no place to be".


Oops.


Well, that did give me time to get some laundry going. Then I decided that since I had been planning to buy the boys lunch anyway, we might as well head into town for lunch.



We'd called Jon to see if he wanted to join us, but unfortunately, he was unavailable.


We drove through the drizzle and fog to A-town and had a delicious lunch of "2 for $20" buffalo wings and chicken tender baskets. Water for me, Mt Dew for Matthew.


Mini- cheeseburgers, fries and Sierra Mist for Caleb, in case you wondered.


Matthew's best friend Eric lives about 2 miles from where we had lunch so he asked me if I would mind stopping to see if Eric was home. He was pretty pleased to see that Eric was indeed home and that Lisa (Eric's mom) said Matthew could stay the afternoon if he'd like.



Caleb and I went shopping. Alas, we have come to the conclusion that the only way to get a cheap 7' artificial Christmas tree will be to be at the store as soon as they open next December 26. There was not a tree of any size in the whole place. Not really surprising.



The cashier asked Caleb if we had a real tree. He told her no, it's a fake and she said "well, I see you must have a cat" hence, the bag of Cat Chow on the counter; all her brain cells were firing, that one. She said that she has a real tree and that her cat kept drinking the water from the stand.


Bat cat.


She did say that it should be that the older Dina gets the less interested she'll be in the tree. For Dina's sake, I hope she's right.


And Caleb has decided that Pretzel M&M's are "wonderful". Have at 'em, kiddo.

Two Years

Two years ago today, everything in the apartment was packed and ready to go.



We waited for family and friends to arrive, who had generously donated their time to help us load a truck and drive to the new house.

Loading didn't seem to take as long as it had ever taken before for any other move.

As we drove out to the new house, it was foggy and starting to get icy.

When my in-laws arrived, it was downright nasty outside.

We have a large 5-day cooler which we loaded with food from the refrigerator from the apartment. As soon as I finished unloading the cooler at the house, my first thought was "Who's gonna take the cooler back to Appleton?"

Good food was brought in and we ate well after most items and boxes at least found the appropriate floor of the house to stay.

I cried while my father-in-law offered a prayer blessing us in our new home.

I'm tearing up thinking about it even now.

We haven't made many changes, even cosmetically, since that day. But with each passing day, it feels more like our home.

And we've no plans to leave it anytime soon.

suitcase of cheese

We seem to be having a bit of an Everybody loves Raymond moment in this house.

The laundry was washed, dried and folded. It was even taken up to the top of the stairs.

And there it has sat.

Since Monday.

I don't know if we've just been too busy or if we're having a battle of wills here.

Hopefully, it won't end up like this:

that's what Christmas is all about....

most wonderful?

You know how if you can't say something nice, you shouldn't say anything at all? Well, that goes for the title of this post. Not necessarily the body of the post.

You've been warned.

The store has been insanely busy the last week or so. I know, I know, the Christmas rush is on. And most people are perfectly pleasant, wish others a "Merry Christmas" and that sort of thing.

Those aren't the ones.

You've seen them out and about, I'm sure. They're the ones circling the parking lot trying to get the closest space. Rushing in to the store like they're on fire. Slapping their purchases down on the counter without a word.

Or better yet, rolling their eyes and huffing loudly when there are more than 2 people in any one checkout line.

Didn't people learn to be patient in Kindergarten? Everybody gets a turn, cripes.

As a store employee, I smile and ask if they found everything okay. Would you like a bag for that item today? Thanks for coming in - have a great weekend!

What I really wanna say....my Mom told me to keep to myself.

How are you surviving the last minute Christmas rush?

when life gives you sick days

Sunday morning we awoke to several inches of new snow and quite a bit of blowing and drifting. We'd decided late Saturday that we weren't going to even attempt the hour drive to church, especially with it being my weekend to work.



Good thing we got a call that services were cancelled; that lessened the guilt.



So Sunday morning, Jon broke out the snowblower for the first time of the season, Caleb played out in the snow, Matthew played his trumpet at random times and I watched a little football.



Don't ask me to talk about how the game turned out. Madness.



About two o'clock, I thought that maybe I should check my messages to see if just maybe work had decided that I need not come in for the 3p-8p shift.



No such luck.



But I did find a message from Carrie, taking me up on the offer to watch Justin in the morning the next day so that she could take Kyle in for his 2 week checkup. I called Carrie back and told her that of course I'd drive out and watch Justin and that I'd see her around 8:15.



(I haven't gotten any pictures of the new baby, but I will. Darn camera batteries were completely dead last week when I visited...)



Imagine my surprise when I am paged at work for a phone call shortly before 5pm. It's Jon, letting me know that I might wanna call Carrie immediately and see if she had a backup plan; Caleb's just gotten sick and he cleaned up a mess to prove it.



Lovely.



I call Carrie and of course, her being her, she says it's fine, that she needs to figure out how to juggle both boys eventually anyway and to not worry about it. I still felt terrible for having to cancel. And sad that I wasn't going to have the extra time with Justin. Sad.



So, long story short (sorry) neither Caleb or I got much sleep Sunday night. And, of course, I called the school first thing yesterday morning to inform them of Caleb's absence.



Matthew left for the bus at 9:15 since there was a 2 hr. start delay due to severe windchill. And Caleb drove me crazy from that moment on.



"Mama, can I have some 7up?"

"Mama, can I have some crackers?"

"Mama, can I watch a movie?"

"Mama, where's Dina?" (the cat)



That child has a tendency to talk non-stop. I have no idea where he gets that.



Once he spent about an hour playing computer games with no more measurable symptoms, I went to take a nap. And he was none too keen about sleeping in his own room last night, but I needed to sleep in my own bed. And he did just fine; was bouncing into bed last night, out of bed this morning and went back to school. Whew.



Matthew did inform me that his band director has the flu and is still at school, so he may be next.



I just love this time of year.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,


I walked into the store yesterday and all I could hear was the jingle of the stupid bells that you had around your ankle.

For the record, you're way too skinny. You might wanna try some carbs, cheese and ice cream to fatten up. It worked for me.


Just so you know, I think that your time is limited in this house. I was already asked why it was that I had to go Christmas shopping. You may not need to stop here for 2011. Just have Rudolph and his rockin' team fly your anorexic self right past here. I'll take care of the rest; I'm the mother, it's my job apparently.


I'm pretty sure that because of my poor attitude, I'm not going to get what I really want for Christmas this year and that's fine. Just bring me a new watch and a new wallet and I'll work toward getting what I really want.



My dad would tell me that I'll just appreciate it more that way anyhow.


This post brought to you by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop #62.

this boy

and I made these

yesterday afternoon. We ate a few and then the rest went into the freezer for Christmas. While the picture makes them look like PlayDoh, I promise they don't taste that way. You can get the recipe here.

Then this morning, the same boy informed me that if I got him the two most coveted items from the toy catalog, all I'd have to spend is this:

Too smart for his own good.

stream of consciousness

The van is on the fritz again. One minor thing started happening as soon as the weather got cold, then Wednesday morning on my way to work the "check engine" light came on. Jon took it next door to the auto part store to get a diagnosis and TWO codes came back, both transmission related.

It's still "under warranty" for what that's worth, so it goes in tomorrow morning and is supposed to be done by Tuesday.

I'd tell you how the whole situation makes me feel but my mother taught me never to say those words.
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We have about 1/3 of the Christmas shopping done. We went yesterday afternoon and actually only had to make two stops to get everything we were looking for- for now. I may have made an error though, in telling the boys that we were going shopping- C said "Why do you have to go Christmas shopping, Mama?" I thought quickly and said "Well, you know how you get one gift from us and Santa brings the rest? We're going to shop for what we're getting you." He immediately produced his list of toys from the Fleet Farm catalog.

Then late last evening he said "Are there presents in the car?" It won't be long before Santa's cover is blown in this house.
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The cat has been quarantined to the back half of the house. She won't stay out of the tree despite our best efforts so that was the only solution. She's not happy about it, but she's been chewing through ornament strings.
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Wednesday and Thursday were great days for sales in cosmetics. I didn't earn much PM either day, but the boss was over the moon about the overall sales total and he told me that the PM's will come. It was nice to be acknowledged for the sales at least.
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We ended up watching a parade that our kid wasn't even in this weekend. There weren't enough bus drivers to get the entire marching band to the beginning of the parade route on Saturday and our kid was one of the ones left behind. When the bus went back for the second load of kids, they were diverted due to the parade getting started and when they finally arrived at the lineup, the high school principal told the driver to take the remaining musicians back to the school.

When we didn't see M as the band went by, we just figured that he'd ended up on the other side of the street and we missed him. Imagine our surprise and shock when we picked him up at school thirty minutes later and he told us that he didn't even get to participate in the parade.

whose universe?

The news was on as the boys were getting ready for school this morning. During a commercial break, the "solar system" Jimmy Dean commercial came on.

From the dining room, C pipes up "Mom, why are all the other guys going around the sun guy?"

"Haven't you learned anything about the solar system? All the planets revolve around the sun." I told him.

Grinning from ear to ear, M quips, "That's because the son is special."

Of course, my boy. Of course.

My ABC's of Thanks!

I thought I'd link up for the ABC's of Thanks on this snowy Thanksgiving Eve eve.

a) Animals. As family pets.

b) books. I always love having new books to read

c) coffee creamer. I look forward to the abundance of new seasonal flavors this time of year

d) Diet Coke. Enough said

e) examples. My Mom and Dad for sure.

f) friends. I don't know what I'd do without mine

g) gravy. Goes great with mashed potatoes

h) husband. He's far from perfect, but perfect for me

i) ice cream. Yep.

j) jobs. It's great to be employed

k) kids. all kids; they're our future

l) love. God's love for me. Amazing.

m) music. I've always loved music.

n) november. which reminds us that we're all greatly blessed

o) optimism. I'm not very good at this, but I'm trying

p) plumbers. available as soon as we call. Yay.

q) quiet. especially on my day off

r) restful evenings. when my husband has everything taken care of when I get home

s) Starbucks. double yep

t) teachers. they work SO hard to teach our kids. be thankful if your kid gets a good one!

u) umbrellas. kept us dry at the end of soccer season

v) vacations. whether with the kids or not, it's nice to get away.

w) water. clean drinking water is so essential

x) x-tra capacity washer which makes laundry easier

y) you, my readers and friends

z) zany life, but we wouldn't change it

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever!"

we tried

and I'd say for the most part were successful at getting a great pic of the boys for the Christmas card this year.

Getting a picture of Jon and I was another story entirely.

We started out with M taking it and there were many problems. Not the least of which being that we were indoors so the lighting was awful. Then there's the added issue of Jon wearing the same color as the background; even shooting in black and white, that didn't work.

After almost forty five minutes of trying and failing to get something decent, we just stopped trying.

Jon did say something about waiting until we visit my parents and getting a picture then. I'm not a patient person and I sometimes quite often get a "burr in my saddle" and kinda want it done NOW...but ultimately to get what I want, I guess I'll have to wait.

Good thing Walgreens photo can get them done same day.

So, I leave you with some outtakes from my shoot with the boys yesterday. After more than a dozen posed shots, things started to get out of control. It tends to happen.

And it's okay.

kids say the darndest things

I came home from work last night to discover that M was telling C that he needed to stay upstairs. When I asked what was going on, M told me that C hadn't been staying seated on the bus in the afternoon.

Um, okay. Where's the problem? Right here.

When M told C that he needed to spend some time upstairs, C's response was quite abnormal and VERY unacceptable.

It involved the word that starts with the sixth letter of the alphabet and rhymes with "luck".

I told C that if I EVER catch him saying anything like that again, he was gonna wind up with a blistered butt. That I didn't care who says it and gets away with it, he was NOT to be even thinking things like that. And if I heard that he did, he was going to be able to experience what Lever 2000 soap tastes like.

Kids.

sometimes it's better not to know

My mom always said "you don't know if you don't ask". And that has come in handy for me several times over the last couple of months at work. If I'm doing something new and ask about procedure or policy or whatnot, most everyone is happy to give me the information that I seek.

It helps me to know.

But there are cases where it's better not to know. And it serves me right if I asked because I think that "if you don't want to know, don't ask" could apply sometimes too.

A couple of nights ago, there was an older gentleman leaving the store carrying a bag from the pharmacy. He looked kind of sad as I smiled at him and told him to have a good night.

That's when he proceded to tell me that he'd just had his third radiation treatment earlier that day. But he guessed that the bright side was that he only had two more treatments to go.

I'll admit that my brain kinda froze here. Most of the time when people launch stories at me it's just to complain that our store "didn't have what [I] was looking for". And in those cases, I make the situation right as best I can; either by running to an aisle or the stockroom for product or paging management for assistance.

I couldn't fix this one and it really bothered me.

When the customer left the store, Nathaniel and I just looked at each other and didn't say a word. While I don't in any way regret my interaction with that customer, I was just again reminded that I have to be prepared to hear whatever may come.

blah, blah, blah

To tell you that we had a wonderful weekend celebrating our anniversary wouldn't cut it. Not even close. We went to the museum, visited a beautiful park and a furniture store all on the same day and there were no little voices saying "are we done yet? I'm tired" Or hungry or whatever the case may be.


Blissful.


And it's really too bad that we still have too many bills and not enough money because I can tell you that if the situation were reversed, the first thing that we'd do is pay off the mortgage with the next thing being that very same day we'd call about getting a whirlpool tub installed in our home. But only if we could also soundproof the bathroom so we couldn't hear incessant knocking and requests for "ice cream in a bowl" from the other side.


Yep.


And when I get tired and frustrated with my work schedule and the hours that I'm forced to keep, I just have to continually bear in mind that such an anniversary weekend would have never been even close to possible without my income. And that makes it better.


We're taking a long weekend this month to go visit my family. Again, if my work schedule is generously accommodating. And I can't wait. That means that we're home for Turkey Day, but I'm working 9-1 that day anyway, so it's okay. Hopefully our invite for dinner still works out...


C went on a field trip to "the caves". I asked him if he saw any bats and he said yes, but that his teacher told the kids to not shine a flashlight at them as they are starting hibernation. Eeew. Jon was pretty pleased with that C was one of the "cleanest boys to get off that bus"; crawling through "muddy" caves all day is what we'd been told they'd be doing so we were pretty unsure of what to expect. That was a pleasant surprise.

M has a "Rock and Roll" concert this week. We missed him playing "Amazing Grace" on the trumpet on Sunday morning. When I mentioned that to Jon he said "It's okay, we live with him; we can ask him to play whenever we want."

Wise words.

At some point over the weekend, C's coat disappeared. And he only had one coat. Something about some little boy may have mistaken it for his and taken it home sometime on Sunday, but no such luck in finding it. So as of yesterday, C has had four winter coats in 5 years due to things like broken zippers and cases of mistaken identity.

The tags are still on the new one in the event that the less-than-a-year-old one remembers where it lives and returns home, but we don't hold out much hope.

To balance all of the coat buying out, we did realize that the last new winter coat that M had was just as he'd started fourth grade, but it's still completely frustrating since boxelder trees do not grow money.

That's all folks.

Wordless Wednesday - one of these things doesn't belong*

*there's a story here...and you'll hear it, I promise.

today

Today it's pouring rain. Today is "Red Ribbon Week" at the elementary school. Today was "dress like what you want to be when you grow up" day so Caleb went to school as a "crazy scientist".

Today, I'm waiting for the plumber. Today, I'm hoping that the bill from the plumber won't put the finances behind for the rest of the year. Today, I've been told that the plumber will arrive "this morning"...how's that for specific? Today I was also told that the "less water you run, the better" so I'm sitting here in my sweats wondering if I'm going to need to get in the van and go to the corner gas station to use the bathroom.

Today, I'm missing our apartment complex maintenance man, Luis. Big time.

Seven Quick Takes Friday #10

1. Ah, another week finished. How DOES that happen? My favorite moment of the week was having coffee on Tuesday with my dear friend, Esther. Actually, I had a chocolate peanut butter freeze and it was FANTASTIC.

2. Speaking of freeze, we're in for a chilly spell. I even sent C to school in a heavy jacket. My boss says that this weather just reminds us that the next season and all it brings will come, like it or not.

3. Saturday M has a soccer tournament and then the season is done for another year. I made most of the games. He spent most of the time in the goalie box this year and he does pretty well in there. He had some incidents with jammed fingers but nothing too serious.

4. I shouldn't have to work when I have PMS. I'm way too tempted to tell that lady who tries to take advantage of our coupons and then return the merchandise the next week for full price where to stick it. She's way too condescending. Every stinking week.

5. I need a haircut. I'm totally sick of my current hairstyle but have no time to get to town to get a cut. I'm this close to calling Jon's neice to have her cut my hair.

6. Halloween hasn't even arrived and the riser shelves are full of Christmas stock at work. Not to mention the entirely full bay of Christmas candy. We started getting Christmas stock on the truck the end of September. Oy. Comes earlier and earlier I guess.

7. One more week. It better go quickly.

on that day

My sister stood beside me....

His dear friend beside him...

we gathered with our family....




and I wouldn't change a thing....

Happy fifteenth anniversary, babe. I love you more than you will ever know.

food, glorious food

Here are some recipes that we've either tried recently in our house or are on the "waiting" list. You know, for some day when I can just focus on "what's for dinner?" instead of that and six hundred other things when I'm lucky enough to come through the front door while it's still light out.




We had Pioneer Woman's Three Cheese Stuffed Shells with Meaty Tomato Sauce last week. Since my local store didn't have shells in stock the day I went shopping, I used manicotti. And while I think that manicotti are a pain in the neck to stuff, it was still totally worth it.

You need to try it, and soon.

She posted a Chicken Cacciatore recipe that we'll be trying soon too. Her recipes are always good, and it totally doesn't hurt that she also takes drool-worthy photos. Seriously.




My dear friend Esther does Menu Plan Monday over on her blog. While I'm totally not motivated to do something like that myself on a weekly basis, she does give me some great ideas for dinner. And her recipe for Nacho Chicken Casserole is on my list for sure.

And today's cookie recipe. I'm a sucker for cookies, as my pant size can attest.



Then there's What's for Dinner Wednesday over at Three Times the Giggles. While it's a fairly new feature, I can't wait to see the recipes that are posted. You know, while Helen is chasing triplets and gestating. She's a busy gal.



As I look outside, I can't help but notice that the clouds are getting in the way of the sun today. And it's chilly outside. And inside. Having absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I forgot to turn the heat back on last night after turning it off yesterday afternoon. Nothing.

And if I didn't already have PW's Chicken Spaghetti on the menu for tonight,- which you need to try if you haven't- I'd definitely feel the need to make beef stew. If I had the ingredients in the house, that is.

Minor detail.

But because I'm feeling generous- go with it, it IS Monday, you know- I'll give you my Mom's tried, true and totally tasty Beef Stew recipe.

And put it on the list for dinners for next week. Pronto.

Beef Stew

Here's what you'll need: 1 pound stew meat, 1 small onion (diced), 2 beef bullion cubes, salt and pepper, 1/4 t. garlic powder, 1 T worchestershire sauce, six cups water, 6 medium potatoes.

Here's what you do:

- Cut the stew meat in 1" pieces. Coat in flour and brown in oil.

-Put in large pot with water, onion, 1 T. salt and 1 t. pepper, worchestershire and garlic. Simmer three hours, adding water as needed.

Your house will smell AMAZING. Trust me.

- Add diced potatoes and cook thirty minutes.

- After thirty minutes, add a slurry of 4 T. flour dissolved in cold water and stir. Continue to simmer until potatoes are done- about thirty more minutes.

Mom sometimes added carrots to the stew, sometimes she didn't. You can add the carrots with the potatoes, if you choose. Personally, and I think she knows this, I prefer the stew without the carrots.

I know, I know, I need the veggies. I don't care; I don't like cooked carrots. And I'm the mom, so I don't have to eat them. But I will eat raw carrots in great numbers. Go figure.

Make this stew, you WON'T be sorry. And the other recipes too.

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. I got lucky enough this week to be able to be home for cooking (and eating!) dinner every night this week. That's rare. And next school week, I'll be home at the beginning and the end; working until eight pm the three nights in between.



2. But I'm proud to say that due to the first sentence of #1 being true, there hasn't been a pizza or a hotdog spotted in the house all week!



3. We had quite a 'Project Runway' moment at work this week. As in 'one day you're in, and the next day, you're out'. Sunday evening, I worked with one assistant manager, Tiffany. I had Monday and Tuesday off and when I went to work on Wednesday, I just casually asked a co-worker who was "on" for the morning. Her response was "Mr. Douglas (the manager) and that girl who replaced Tiffany." WHAT??? Yep, here today and gone tomorrow. Transferred out just like that and immediately replaced. It took me a couple of hours to wrap my brain around all of that.



4. Caleb reminded me no less than one hundred times this week that in order for his class to take the most recent field trip, there had to be three parent volunteers. Thanks, son; not like I don't already feel guilty. (It all worked out and the trip was a total success.)



5. Matthew has taken up the saxophone. He's doing well, but finding the differences between a reed instrument and a brass instrument to be a bit more challenging than he thought. hee hee.



6. Fall has re-arrived here in Wisconsin. We were so spoiled with the gorgeous weather the last several days and now we're back to what's "normal". It just no longer allows us to live like winter will lose our Upper Midwestern address.



7. Two weeks from today begins our big anniversary getaway. Jon's getting a big kick out of the fact that I, a HUGE planner, have no idea where we're going or what we're doing and I'll just have to go with whatever it is. Don't tell him, but I'm so happy that he did the planning that I. DON'T. CARE. I'm sure it'll be WONDERFUL.



See more quick takes at conversiondiary.com

and to you?

Yesterday, a friend of mine posted the following as his facebook status:

God is....

He got some of the answers he was expecting, the "standard ones", if you will.

God is GREAT. Sure.
God is love. Of course.

But that got me thinking. Not that the standard answers are wrong, because it's very true that God is great and He is love, but are they good enough?

You know the answer. Of course not.

If we don't dig deep to discover who God is to us, what's the point of relationship with Him?
He wants us to be in relationship with Him, but not the "Hey, how ya doin'?" "I'm good" and keep going kind of relationship. Rather, the "really listening, trusting, leaning on Him" kind.

Not that all of us are good at that all the time.

Things get going well and we tend to lose sight of what God means to us. Thinking that we can do things on our own. Forgetting that all we are and all we have comes from Him.

Then a crisis strikes, be it a serious health type crisis or just a run-of-the-mill "too many bills and not enough money" kind.

And we wonder where He went. All this time, it's true that we may need an adjustment in how close we are to God, but it's not because He moved.

He's there, we just have to pay attention. Get our eyes off our own issues and focus on the fact that He loves, He knows, He's in control.

We can't see, but He can. And that should be comforting, if we're in relationship with Him.

Who is He to you?

do it again

Friday evening after school, M needed to get to town to meet the quizzers to leave for Saturday's meet ahead of time.

It takes almost an hour for us to get to our destination.

After we dropped him off, C and I hit a drive-thru as a "special treat", since it was just he and I for supper.

Chowing on his apple dippers in the seat behind me he says "Mom, how long till we get home?"

"About forty-five minutes", I replied.

"Oh", he said. "I waited for forty-five minutes before. I can do it again."

heeheehee