Our Disconnected Christmas

"What did y'all do before the internet?"

The Engineer asked me this on Christmas Eve.  The Engineer is 22 years old, almost 23.  In February.  And he does not remember life without the WWW.

This Christmas our internet connection disappeared.  To be exact it disappeared on the Sunday before Christmas.  Which was the day all the "kids" were home for the holiday.  Without internet, netflix didn't operate.  We couldn't download a movie on DirectTV.  We were using the data on our phones lickety split.  I.T. Bear girl had a hotspot on her phone that we used for a while but wow, the data it pulls!  Too much.  So we saved it for emergencies.  Like sugar in war time.

Then when things couldn't get any more BORING, our DirectTV went out.  That's right, folks.  No internet, no TV.  And very spotty 3g.

Now, you might thing "well, it's Christmas.  You should be turning off the electronics anyway"  And you'd be right.  Kinda.  You see, Ironman works from home many days.  Without internet, it's impossible.  He has a business to run.  He can't be out of touch.  The Engineer had a girlfriend to keep in touch with.  (ha)  I.T. Bear girl had classes to register for and tuition to pay.  Oh, paying bills!  I couldn't check on my Target Debit Card.  For all I know some guy in the Far East is treating his friends to a big old celebration courtesy M.E.!  Yes, our lives are technologist managed.  I made up that word.  Or I thought I did.  The computer didn't correct me.  Hmmmm  Guess I didn't make it up.

So what did we do?  We ATE.  I cooked.  In fact, I baked so much that our top oven started making this weird sound AND started locking us out!  So I quit using it for long roasting recipes.  We played games:  Risk, Life and Battleship.  You Sunk My Battleship!  We worked a puzzle.  We played instruments.  We took naps.  We went to the movie.  The one in the theater.  I had almost forgotten about that!

Then our freezer died.  Our deep freeze.  Years and years ago, my MIL gifted me her freezer.  She warned me that it was 25 years old but worked perfectly and so, not being one to turn anything down even something I felt totally unnecessary, I gladly moved it to my house.  For probably the first 3-4 years all we kept in it was popsicles and ice cream.  Boy did that change.  Now all these years later I keep TONS of veggies and fruits, frozen servings of recipes I made too much of, Eggo waffles (!) and big bags of ice.  You can never have too much ice.  R.I.P. Kenmore freezer.  You've served us well.

So with no internet, no TV, a small freezer stuffed to the gills with food, we celebrated the birthday of our Savior.  And it was nice.  It's always so nice.  And fun.  As a girl who grew up with little tiny no big deal Christmases, it's more than I could have ever imagined.  I do not take it for granted.  God did
do more than I could even begin to dream.


The day after Christmas I was passing by the computer in our home office carrying a huge bag of laundry.  Oh yes, we did laundry.  Forgot to mention that.  Wait…….I did laundry.  I glanced at the modem expecting to see a big fat red light and what did I see?  A GREEN LIGHT!!  I held my breath, dropped the laundry basket, sat down in front of the computer.  Don't say anything, Patti.  Just try to connect.

Click.

The glorious message from ATT
You are connected to the internet"

But just to make sure, I typed in a webaddy:  www.blogher.com.  My daily read.

Yes!  It was true!  We were connected.

I announced it to the fam.

All four of them jumped up and started scrambling for their computers.  Ironman laughed and said, "Does anybody remember where my computer is from like 10 days ago?"

And suddenly, my house was quiet.

I enjoyed the loud rambunctious unplugged family time.  But the silence was sweet.  I could feel our house take a deep breath and close it's eyes.

It was a great Disconnected Christmas.

Today was……..The Hunger Games!

Why am I so hungry today?  I think it's the cold gloomy weather.

For my quiet time today I read the story of Rehab the prostitute.  How Joshua's men told her that as long as she stayed inside her house, she'd be safe.  But venture out and she was in danger.  I'm no Bible Scholar.  But I thought about that all day.  I decided to stick close to Jesus today.  Grab onto his leg and cling for dear life like preschoolers do to Mom the first day of school.  I needed to be safe.  Out there………. in the gloomy cold world……. there are french fries, and frappucinos, and oreos!  And I don't even like chocolate!!!

For breakfast I had quinoa with a little cinnamon.  I'm realizing quinoa doesn't store well.  I had some leftover in the frig and although it was fine….. it just wasn't as delicious as freshly made.  Oh well.  I'm still glad I had it right ready!

I made a smoothie about 11:30 because I was so hungry but had errands to run.  Didn't want to have a food emergency.  Wow, that blueberry smoothie recipe?  With the almond butter and banana?  And pumpkin seeds?  YOWZA

Before I get back to what I ate….. I'm having problems finding herbal iced tea.  I don't really enjoy hot tea.  I looked at Kroger and World Market.  Ended up ordering online.  I just wait straight up tea because I live in the south and……. well, it's my drink of choice!

About 4pm I had a small bowl of bean soup - another excellent and easy recipe in The Daniel Plan book.

When Dancer Girl gets home from Driver's Ed I'm going to stir fry some veggies.  Throw in a few wild shrimp.  She has a wide variety to choose from for dinner as I have many, many tupperware bowls full of delicious leftovers!

Oh, get this.  I told her I was going to Kroger and "what would you like me to get for you".
"Oreos!"
"Really?  I haven't bought those in 15 years"
"I know, but I've been craving them"

So.  Have you read the ingredients on the back of the oreo package?  Wowza.  I couldn't bring myself to buy them.  So I came home and googled up a recipe.  Yes, there's sugar and butter and more sugar……. BUT it's gotta be better than chemicals and artificial stuff.  I'll post a photo when they're complete. And the taste test results - of which I won't be tasting.

Jesus, thank you for sticking close  to me today.  In my weakness, you are strong"

Toodles

Be strong and courageous

Yesterday I was tired.  All day.  I know part of it is the weather.  It's been cold and overcast and gloomy for a week.  Lack of sunshine definitely has an effect on my energy and disposition.  Ironman worked from home yesterday which meant I had to dance around him.  All in all it was a get nothing done day.

I did manage to eat clean.

I had the quinoa bake for breakfast.  Delicious.  Although I kept thinking that maybe adding just a pinch of salt would bring out the flavor.  Next time.  Adding the dollop of almond butter while it was still warm……. oh my.  Delicious.   The menu suggested the brown rice chia seed bowl but I saw that it had to "soak" for an hour or more and I just didn't want to wait an hour.  It's crazy how changing one thing plays on my thinking.  Stinking thinking.  I heard it.  "It's not going to work if you change the order."  'See?  Getting tired of it, aren't you"  But I managed to remember what the Lord told Joshua.

"Be strong and courageous'

Yes, it takes courage to continue.  It's a risk.  What if this eating plan doesn't improve my health?  What if my numbers don't improve.  And scary still, what if I DON'T LOSE ANY WEIGHT?

Scary!

For lunch I had the sun dried tomato turkey burger and kale salad.  I was feeling hungry so I decided to add the salad to my turkey patty.  Okay.  Kale.  I've NEVER HAD IT BEFORE.  Delicous!  I know it's the thang nowadays.  But I've never bought any.  I wasn't sure how it would taste.  And I hate to buy something when I"m that unsure and then feel as if I wasted money.  I followed the directions exactly.  Let it sit and rest in the lemon juice and garlic, etc.  Ironman and I split it and ate the entire huge bowl!  Definitely a keeper.  

By late afternoon I was tired.  I felt just worn out.  Once again I prepared 2 suppers.  I need to change that.  I need to figure out how to cook one meal that everyone will eat.  Dancer Girl doesn't like anything "new" and I hate that she just skips supper.  Or she grabs a pack of crackers.  *Speaking of that, I found a recipe online for goldfish crackers.  I even ordered a tiny gold fish shaped cookie cutter!  Yes, the recipe contains white flour and cheddar cheese but it's GOT to be better than all the chemicals in the pepperidge farm variety.  We'll see.

I had the chicken.  Blah.  It was okay.  I think I was just tired.  I cooked double chicken so that I cut chop up half of it and add it to fettuccine for the other people.  Oh, and I made the corn tortilla chips which are delicious.  I've made them before.  They are in Pam Anderson's cookbook "The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight"  This time, however, I did not eat ONE.  not even a taste. 

Then I went to bed.  Yep.  8:30.  I was sound asleep.  And slept all night.  I'm not a sleeper, so to sleep for HOURS uninterrupted is amazing.  

Plan for today:

Quiet Time with my Bible and Jesus

Clean up around here.

Wrap a few gifts

Make a list and hit Kroger for the food needed 

To totally change the subject - Christmas Cards

Yesterday my children received Christmas Cards from my MIL.  For years MIL was faithful with the cards.  She would underline words that hallmark had written and my children would "compete' to see who got the most.  It became a running sentimental contest.  Yesterday around 4pm my 22 year old Engineer son texted me 

"I got a Christmas Card from Meme and no underlines.  Did I do something wrong"

Wow.  

When Dancer Girl got home from school she opened her card and the very first thing she said was, "What?  No underlines?"

I was surprised (and sad) that they were so disappointed.  

Then Ironman came in and told us that MeMe didn't do her own Christmas Cards.  That my SIL had done them for her.  Wow.  I was…………. she meant well, I guess.  But if you do somebody else's personal stuff…….. you need to keep it personal!  

Lesson:  Help keep things personal.  That is all

Daniel Detox Day 2. And 3.

I admit it.

I was TOO WORN OUT to blog yesterday about Day 2.  Between the weather and college football and cooking - so much cooking - I just couldn't do it.  In fact, I was in the bed by 9pm and asleep by 9:05pm.

Let me just tell you, the recipes were DELICIOUS.  Who knew quinoa was so so good if you add just a little sprinkling of cinnamon as it cooks.  Made all the difference.  and the beef stew?  AACK!  Loved it.   The recipe calls for it to be cooked in a slow cooker which I don't have.  So I got out my Paula Deen Old Fashioned Beef Stew Recipe (delicious).  Followed her directions but used the Daniel Plan ingredients.  Success.  I had to let it simmer on the stove from 3pm until close to 6pm.

Because the food tastes so good, I haven't felt deprived  But the Daniel Plan is more than just FOOD.  It's everything rolled into one.  Although I skipped to the eating plan, I didn't skip the whole book.  I'm reading the first chapter and before I knew it I was wanting to highlight every single sentence!

Thank you, Jesus, for caring about my health.

Now to day 3.

I discovered I do NOT like coconut milk.  I followed the recipe for blueberry/spinach smoothie when we got home from church.  I halved everything since it made 2 servings.  But I did not half the crushed ice.  I wanted it like a slushy so I put a cup of crushed ice.  If I had used almond milk I'm sure I would have loved it.  But the coconut milk - well, at least I tried.

But I did discover edamame.  Uh….. where have you been all my life?  I've seen it.  It was a fad about a year ago.  I was unfamiliar about how to prepare it, eat it, etc.  So today was my first time.

On to day 4.

The Daniel Plan

I am fat.

There, I said it.  The truth will set me free.

And it's high time I took responsibility and action.  I've been looking for a while.  I've been considering the easy way to take care of it.  Would I like to lose 50 pounds?  YES  Do I want to WORK to do it?  Maybe……..how much work are we talking about?  

One year ago, on December 15, 2012, I declared it "The Year of Me".  All three of my children were going to be graduating in May and by golly  I was NOT going to be the fattest Mom there.  That's when I started P90 DVD exercise.  Wowza!  It kicked my butt.  And I lost inches.  Mostly from my waist and abdomen but even my knees got skinnier.  Graduation weekend I walked in wearing new dresses to each ceremony.  I was still not satisfied.  I had not managed to be my goal size.  

Then summer came.  And vacation.  And then the emotions of sending my middle daughter off to college to live in the dorm.  FOUR HOURS AWAY!!  

Where did time go?

All that to say, it's been a year.  And here I sit.  Heavier than I was last year.  Still wandering and searching for a solution.  

Weight Watchers?  Been there, done that.  Way back in my 20s when I had just graduated from college I went to WW to lose 10 pounds.  TEN POUNDS!  Gosh, those days.  Those glorious thin and trim days.  That was back when WW had the selection plan.  Remember that?  You ate this many fruits, this many veggies, this many breads, this many fats.  It was straight forward.  Just check it off as you go.  Bob's your Uncle.  Then they changed to the point system.  I could fill my points calculator up with nutrigrain bars and rice krispie treats faster than you could say SIMPLE CARBS.  You guessed it, I didn't lose much.  It was sloooww going.  Even when they realized that's what the sneaky members were doing, and they changed fruits to be "free" in order to entice more healthy choices……I still didn't get it.  I just added fruit to my already factory food choices.  My blood sugar spiked.  Migraines returned.  Horrible.  And don't get me started with the BORING MEETINGS.  Ugh.  I would switch class times and instructors and still - nothing.  Time to move on.  (Congratulations to all the WW success stories, though.  )

NutriSystem ?  Never tried it.  I don't think I would enjoy the prepackaged food thing.  I like to cook.  I like to eat real food that I cooked.  And the expense was just too much.  

My Fitness Pal - now, this app is great.  Honestly.  It keeps tract of your calories/carbs/fats/etc.  Gives you daily goals.  The scanner is perfecto.  I'm a fan.  

But I need more.  

One day right before Halloween I was standing in the grocery story check out line thinking about how bad I was feelings.  Looking into my basket I had so much JUNK.  And yet, I was feeling lost.  I didn't even know where to begin.  Then I heard that small still voice telling me, "Look to me.  The Lord your God is with you wherever you go"   Yes.  I think that's what I've been missing.  I've been missing the spiritual aspect of it all.  Have I been thinking God didn't care?  Or didn't notice?  Or had too many important things to concern Himself with than my weight?  Yes, yes and yes.  So I asked for forgiveness, repented and dove into God's word looking for help.  I started eating clean.  No fast food, no factory food, no artificial stuff.

And then something happened:  Thanksgiving.

I was trying to do it on my own.  And I can't.  I just can't.  Will power isn't enough.  In my weakness, He is strong.  So I gave my weakness to my creator and asked for his strength.  

I began with a different goal.  I have to make wise, mature choices.  And God will guide me.  I'm IN BY FOR.  

In His Grace

By His Power

For His Glory.

About a week ago I was in Barnes and Noble and I saw this book.  I flipped through it.  Being a Rick Warren "fan" (is that what the word is…..seems odd to say FAN.  )  Anyway you know what I mean.  I saw that he had a new book out.  So I grabbed it.  Could not WAIT to get home to read.

Wow!  

So for the next 40 days I'm going to blog - day by day - my Daniel Plan Journey.  I'll try not to skip a day.  I'll try to remember.  But mostly, I surrender.  Let the journey of healing begin.

Day 1 - Breakfast Smoothie

* I had made a shopping list and somehow someway completely forgot to get almond milk.  I thought we already had some………so I had to substitute soy milk.  Yep.  I heard a voice saying, "Well, you don't have the right stuff.  Just wait and begin tomorrow"  But I did NOT listen to that negative talk.  I substituted soy for now and the next time I'm shopping I'll pick up the almond milk.  

Something else - I probably should have gotten unsalted pumpkin seeds.  Didn't notice that until I got home.  Oh well……… I already had the almond butter which I enjoy.  I already had the blueberries and banana.  Coconut Oil - I was a little nervous about that.  Coconut is not my favorite flavor.  Or smell for that matter.  But……. I went ahead and got some.  It must be the new fad because Kroger had an end cap FULL of the stuff.  Did you know coconut oil is not oily?  It's not liquid.  It's more like…..chapstick. Ha I followed the recipe…..

Put it all in the blender…..

60 seconds…..

DELICIOUS!

I would not lead you astray.  DELICIOUS!!!  I couldn't believe it.  WOW!  

Morning Snack:

Hummus.

DELICOUS!!

Recipe in the book.  WOW!  Even Ironman LOVED it.

Lunch:  Quinoa and broccoli with dressing

I made the dressing as I was cleaning up from making the hummus.  Yes there was a lot of cooking this first day.  But I enjoy cooking.  And really it wasn't any more than I would normally do.  And I made enough hummus for several days.  I will NOT let the labor required discourage me.  

I whipped up the dressing and put it in the frig to chill while I went on with my day.  

I completely forgot to take a photo of my lunch.  Quinoa and steamed broccoli.  Poured a little of this dressing on the top.  Satisfying and tasty.  Plus I wasn't just famished by 1:00pm lunch so this light meal was just fine.  ( I didn't miss the cheese on the broccoli!)

Afternoon snack

I actually did start feeling hungry about 4:30.  It was the first time all day hunger bells went off.  It was so welcoming to look on the detox menu and see a plan for an afternoon snack that wasn't just "one almond" or "1 inch square of cheese".  The first day calls for veggie juice.  I don't have a juicer.  I thought about just chopping up veggies and actually started to do that when I decided to look on day 2 for an idea.  I was intrigued.  Roasted Crunchy Chickpeas?  Huh?  Never even heard of that.

So…… I popped open a can of chickpeas, rinsed, spread of a baking sheet, added the few spices and roasted them for 30 minutes in a warm oven

DELICOUS!!  

I popped a few in my mouth immediately and they were delicious.

A few minutes later as they cooked they got even more crunchy. 

Ironman ate the whole tray.  Almost.  I ate my serving size.

Where can I get more chickpeas?

And then there was supper.  Stirfry.  DELICIOUS.  The only thing I added was just a tiny sprinkling of ginger.  I ate ALL of it.  

I went to bed feeling satisfied.  

A few extra notes:  Faith, Food, Fitness, Friends and Focus.  I know I mostly talked about the food.  Because really, the food needs to taste good.  My first day of Detox was delicious and satisfying.  

I know you can find the recipes online for free.  But the book - oh my goodness.  I'm only on page 40 or something but the words have made a huge impact on me already.  You have to get the book.  It's so much more than the food.  

The Bravermans

Oh.my.gosh.

I just found out that Parenthood is on netflix.

Yes, just found out.

Now I'll get NOTHING done.

Hey Hey Hey, Christmas is on her way!

I just cleaned out my refrigerator.  Actually managed to throw away MOST Of the leftovers and not shove them into my mouth.  Seriously, it was the most delicious Thanksgiving EVUH!
I can make a rockin' pecan pie.  Who knew?  Good thing it only comes around once a year.  Back to sensible eating for this girl.

On Black Friday, Dancer Girl and I wrapped gifts at Barnes and Noble.  It was a fundraiser for her Lacrosse team.  Gift wrapping was complimentary - since we are NOT professional wrappers of gifts.  We did have a tip jar and we actually got a few dollars in tips.  Woop!

When we returned, the other creatures had dragged out the outdoor decorations and were ……… yes.  They were proceeding to decorate our front yard.

I am not a control freak
I am not a control freak
I am not a control freak

It's just that I had this plan……..  in my head……. and I had decided and gathered things and……..

Breathe, Patti.

How bad can it be?  I mean, after all, it's Christmas.  What difference does it really make?  Gosh I had to swallow my pride.  Oh, how I hate that word.

I've kept it the way they "arranged" it for a week.  But honestly, I …….. would it be awful if I changed out the ribbon on the garland?  I mean, that ribbon is probably 2 years old.  It's outdated and faded and……. it has gold trip on it and there's NOTHING gold on our porch.  And I have these silver star thingies that I made……..so I'd like to just swap in out.

I confess.  I'm going to do it.  I already have the ribbon.  It'll look the same, just a different color ribbon.  ACK.

I'll post photos for you to see.

Then there was the curtain problem

We have recovered from the great flood.  So far no damage is noticeable, but we're not breathing easy yet.  Time will tell if any flooring is ruined.

Meanwhile there is this little thing called Thanksgiving.  My daughter is making her first trip home from college and I was in her room dusting, checking on towels, etc.  And oh, those curtains.  When we moved to this house, curtains were not at the top of the list.  Besides, we had the curtains from our former house and they would just have to do.  (I wish I had a photo of them ).  They were fine except for one thing.  They were about 16 inches TOO SHORT.   The french doors in her room lead to the balcony.  I've been meaning to either replace those curtains or…… I've just been meaning to get to them.  Finally it was time.  Dum Dum Duhhhh

I took the curtains down, found another set of panels that I had in the attic, and decided to do a little magic  FREE magic.   And that is the best magic.

 The greenish/blue panel with the grommet top has been folded for a looonnngg time.  I'm not a grommet top fan which is why I didn't want to hang these in my new house.  The beige panel has been hanging in my daughter's room for a couple of years way too long.  

 The good news was the panels were already hemmed and I knew I was going to take advantage of that!  So I measured them twice and cut once.  There's no turning back now.

 The panels were also hemmed down the sides, which was perfect because the sides were going to become the bottom soon enough.

 I lined them up this way because I was considering making double or maybe a triple layer ruffle.  Changed my mind, though.  Maybe for another room.  (These aren't sewn together.  I just cut them and laid them for "show".  Just to see how it would look.

Now for the fun part.  I just sewed two straight stitches.  One parallel to the other.  Pulled up the bobbin thread to create an even ruffle.

 Pinned right sides together.  Yes, I use a lot of pins.  

 Sewed a straight stitch removing pins as I went along.

  New window treatment. 

Easy, quick solution for those too short panels.  And the best part is they were FREE.  Now on to the next room.

The Great Flood of Thanksgiving 2013

Hello All

I'm a planner.  I'm a list maker.  I use the alphabet to organize the spices in my pantry, the colors of the rainbow to organize the clothes in my closet.  I believe there is a place for everything and everything should be in it's place.  Why am I telling you all this?  Especially since you are quite aware of my weirdness?  Because of what happened 2 nights ago.

It was just a regular night.  Ironman had only just returned from an out of town event.  He helped my hang some new pictures in the half bath near the kitchen.  While in that bath he made a statement about the toilet in there.  Something like "you know, I replaced the flapper in this toilet.  Has it stopped running all the time?"  Yes.  It had stopped the annoying running.  You know, where you have to go jiggle the handle to make it stop?

In the early morning hours, I got out of bed.  I'm not a sleep-all-nighter.  It was 3:17am to be exact.  I stepped into a lake in my bedroom.  My first thought was that the rain storm had blown in toward our house and water had seeped under the french doors into the room.  But by the second step I knew that wasn't true.  Water.  Everywhere.  And I mean EVERYWHERE.

We spent the next 10 minutes trying to stop the bleeding.  Where was this water coming from?  You guessed it, the toilet in the half bath.  It filled up and didn't stop.  Overflowed, and flooded the downstairs as we slept.  Everything was soaked.  SOAKED. Water was almost an inch deep in our master suite, down the hall, into the hearth room, toward the half bath, and stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

We swept out a lot of water.  Did I mention it was below freezing out?  And so now I'm barefooted, sweeping cold water out into the cold yard in a t-shirt and shorts.  Can you spell PNEUMONIA? We moved furniture, swept and wiped.  I have a broom with a squeegee on one end and it really saved me a lot of extra work.



Needless to say we were horrified.  The master suite we had only just finished was flooded.  I kept thinking, "My wood floor.  It's going to ruin the floor".  I just HATED that.

I'm sure you are wondering why we didn't grab the wet vac.  The one we had  didn't make the cut when we were moving to this house.  And because it was Sunday, Home Depot didn't open until 8am.  Ironman was their first customer.

So far the wood flooring is holding up.   But we haven't relaxed yet.  We've kept the fans going and checked the floor moldings.

I didn't realize until things had quieted down that Ironman had grabbed every single towel in the house to wipe down the floor.  Every.single.towel.  When one towel was saturated, he'd toss it into the tub and grab another one.  When he ran out of towels he grabbed blankets.  He even grabbed shirts!  He didn't care.  He was going to get that floor dry.  I've lost count of how many loads of laundry I've done.  But just now, at 5:01pm Monday, the bathtub is clear of wet towels and …… everything else he used.

The items on my Sunday To Do List?  They had to move over to my Monday to do list.

We haven't heard a peep from that toilet.

What's Up With this Weather?

I live in Louisiana.  It is not cold in November.  Many years it hasn't been cold until after Christmas!  Our chilliest weeks come in Jan-Feb-March.  Two years ago it never even got cold enough to wear a coat!  (And I had bought myself a new coat.  That's how I know.   It hung in the closet the entire winter)

So, what's up with the weather this weekend?  Today it rained.  All day.  Not thunder storming, just steady rain.  ALL DAY LONG!  But the temperature hovered between 65 and 65 1/2 all day long.  So the rain wasn't refreshing.  It was just wet.

I watched the local news.  Mr. Forecaster explained that the rain would continue off and on tomorrow, that by Sunday the temperature would drop below freezing and we'd have a mix of rain/sleet/freezing rain/snow.  Monday would be the coldest day.  He forecasted the high to be 35.  Now people, just so you know, I don't do cold.  I like it cold on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day and that's it!

To add to the drama, I have bought NOTHING for Thanksgiving.  NOTHING.  Ironman is out of town and said more than once that we'd go on Sunday.  Time for Confession:  I don't want to go Sunday.  The weather is going to be ………. I just don't want to wait.  So I'm going to get up super early in the morning, grab everything I need at Kroger, grab some Krispy Kremes for the sleeping girl and get home in time for College Game Day!

 In other news:  I have my front porch Christmas Decor ready to go.  Just waiting for the rain to stop.
I have more than half of my Christmas Shopping Done.  And, SURPRISE, I've shopped at real stores.  Not online!

The family will begin trickling in Tuesday Evening.  So I'm cooking.  Oh yes, I'm cooking Tuesday.  I'm cooking Wednesday.  And I'm cooking Thursday.  Friday I'm calling for take out!

Toodles

A craft for TV night

Like I said, Parenthood is the BEST TELEVISION SHOW ever.  EEEVVVVUHHH!  So I was all set last night.  I'm not a lay around and watch TV kind of girl.  So I keep something handy to DO as I watch.

Last night I had some red wool yard.  Made a couple dozen pom poms.  Pinned them to a styrofoam wreath.    Wa-lah!

I got the inspiration from Anthropologie.  Found the tutorial :  Anthropologie Knock Off Wreath

The day I cleaned this house!

In preparation for a full house next week, I've been cleaning.  And organizing.  And checking for dust. Secret:  I love to vacuum so when I see dust it's like a REASON to vacuum.  Not that I need a reason.

So, where should I begin.  Let me show you my keeping room.  This is the room where everyone sits.  We have another room in the front of the house with comfy furniture, but this room is near the kitchen and you know how people are.  They gravitate to the kitchen!  The problem with this room is the weird walls.  One side is fireplace and built ins.  One side is shorter because it opens up to a hallway that is our main highway to the garage.  It's a keeping room, so it opens up to the kitchen.  Oh, let me just show you.

This is my keeping room.  Please ignore the items in the blue chair that are piled up.  I gathered things for another project I'm going to do tonight as I watch the best show on television Parenthood.  Whoop! But back to the room.  I guess you notice the picture on the wall.  Uh, yes.  Ironman offered to hang the montage I bought but that's as far as he got.  WEEKS ago.  We've been at a standoff since.  I haven't said anything.  He hasn't said anything.  If you look closely, you can see the other pictures leaning near the fireplace.

But bigger problem is the furniture arrangement.  Oh, how uncomfortable it is.

How many people can sit comfortably in this room and watch football?  TWO.  That's it.  The other sitters can not see the television without getting a neck ache.

So I was searching online today for help.  Please help me.  And I found this:  Thrifty Decor Chick
and her room arrangement.  Wow!  Just what I needed.

I got to work.  And here it is:

All I need is a console table behind the pottery barn couch.  And see my cute little tree?  I have a story to tell you about that, too!

Dear Sewing Machine

Dear Sewing Machine,

Oh, how I've missed you.  I'm sorry I've left you alone on the shelf for so long.  I've just been busy with life.  Time is whizzing past me and I have been frantic to keep up with it.  

Thank you for waiting for me.  I knew I'd be back eventually.  

Sincerely,

Girl who really likes the tedious, quiet activities of life

And so it goes:  I'm back at the sewing machine.  Since it's been soooo loooonngg I decided I should start with a project that is "B".  That's what I call it when it's past beginner skills but not all the way to Vera Wang.  You know what I mean? 

Napkins for our Thanksgiving Table.  Perfecto.  I found the tutorial here

1.  I went to Hobby Lobby.  There are fabric stores near me but I like Hobby Lobby.  The ladies that work in the fabric department let you browse.  I like that.  If I need assistance, I'll come find you.   Otherwise, I'm enjoying the looking.  Maybe fabric stores need those bracelets like the Clinique Counter at Macy's.  Slip on a green one if you are just looking.  Slip on a white one if you have a question.  But I digress……….here is the fabric I chose.

 I couldn't find a sateen cotton fabric.  And I didn't want bright white.  So I just browsed and touched all the cotton fabric until I found a bolt that felt like a napkin.  You know?  Not too thin, not too stark white.  I thought I'd want some kind of Thanksgiving trim.  In fact, I considered picking out personalized trim for each family member.  But in the end I changed my mind and went with what you see above.  I couldn't decide between the two……so I bought a 1/2 yard of each!!  I knew I needed to find something with an overall pattern.  AND something that didn't have stripes.  I don't always sew a straight line.  :)

Next:  Load up everything I need.  I learned that from cooking shows.  Gather all needed stuff.  Nothing more frustrating than having to stop……….go hunt for straight pins…or cornstarch (if you're cooking)  Just make sure you have everything ready.  OK?

Fabric - check
Iron - check
Scissors - by the way, these are MY scissors.  I never leave them out when I'm not there to guard them. I HIDE THEM.  That's right.  I'd tell you where, but then I'd have to kill you.

It may seem easy, and it is easy, but the slowest part for me was the cutting out of the fabric squares.  I KNOW!  Why did it take me so long?  I honestly don't know…….. it just did.  But whew.  Finally did it.  I cut out 6 squares for the white part of the napkin and 6 rectangles for the trim.  3 out of the green and 3 out of the brown.  Oh, I bought MORE than the tutorial says you need to buy because, well, sometimes I have to start over.

 Finally, fabric is cut and ironed and prepared.  I'm ready to go. 

Here is my workstation.  My handy dandy sewing machine that I LOVE.  And listen, it's an inexpensive one.  I like it because it's smarter than I am.  Easy to use and never let's me down.  See those scissors?  My decoy scissors.  My cell phone is near because I was home alone.  I have 3 children and 1 husband and you never know when I'll be called back to duty.

I followed the tutorial and pinned the trim to the napkin and that's where I began to second guess myself.  I was concerned that the raw edge of the white square would ravel if I didn't hem it before adding the trim.  I thought and thought and checked the tutorial and thought some more.  Pinned it and decided the napkin police will just have to come and get me.  Because I just HAD To hem that white edge.

Here is the raw edge pinned:

And here is the raw edge hemmed:

After all that cutting and thinking, the final sewing was a snap.  I sewed on the trim.  Then I sewed a hem around the whole project with a contrasting colored thread and……..

SO PRETTY!!!!  THANK YOU FOR THE TUTORIAL!!!  I will post a photo of my final table setting when I finish the whole thing.

How Polite Are You?

I grew up in a time when children called adults "Mrs. Smith" instead of "Miss Cindy".  I was expected to reply with "Yes Ma'am" and "No Sir" when spoken to by an adult.  It was "your best manners" to say excuse me, pardon me,  you're welcome, please and thank you.

When my son, who is now 22, was a preschooler Barney the Dinosaur was just becoming popular on PBS.  Do you remember he lived in Sandi Duncan's backyard?  The creators of Barney took mother goose rhymes and poems, added simple tunes, and mesmerized preschool children in the early 90's.  (btw have you tuned into Barney lately?  Hollywood has hit the purple monster.  The set has lost it's charm from a simple Brady Bunch style fake grass backyard to a disneyworld-esque treehouse.  But I digress)
"Please and Thank you, they are magic words…."  Barney would sing.

Well, those magical words are now extinct.  Or, maybe they're just endangered.  You have to really search for them.  I've become convinced that "Thank You" is going to way to Thou and Shalt.  Words we know but never use.

There are the little things like stopping in a long line of traffic long enough for someone to be able to pull out and join the line.  I watch for the thank you wave.  Nope.  Nothing.

Monday I was in Bed Bath and Beyond shopping curtain rods.  I found the size I needed and was rummaging through the boxes hoping to find one more to match the other three.  A woman approaches and stands right next to me.  Honestly, she was close enough to lick me.  After an awkward second or two I turned and we were nose to nose.
"I'm just looking" she says to me.
"Excuse me. (sure that I didn't need to ask for her pardon.  I was there first)   I'll be out of your way in a minute.  I need one more this size" I said, with my irritated voice. She continued to just stand there and wait.   BACK UP IDIOT.

Yesterday I was waiting in the grocery store check out line with an almost full buggy.  Twenty minutes earlier as I had entered the store alongside a young mother and her small children.  As I grabbed the few things on my list, I passed them several times and now they were waiting in the line next to mine.  Here's our quick conversation:

Shopper Mom:  (pointing into my buggy)  Where did you get those little bottles of Dr. Pepper?  I looked but couldn't find them.

**yes, I was buying Dr Pepper.  I don't even enjoy being a pepper.  I was treating Dancer Girl.

Me:  "They are on the coke aisle but not near the other brands.  They are way down past the bottled waters for some reason."

Shopper Mom:  "Okay.  I'm just about to check out.  Okay. "

She turns to tell her children to stand by the buggy and don't walk away.  Wait for her.  She's going to find the Dr. Pepper.

At that minute I picked up my 8 pack, handed it to her.

Me:  "Here, just take mine.  I can walk back and get myself another pack. "

Shopper Mom:  "Are you sure?"

**okay, why do people say that?  Yes, I'm sure.  I wouldn't offer if I wasn't sure.  Stupid

Me:  "Oh sure.  No trouble at all."d

And so… I left my buggy in line.  Returned to the coke aisle and grabbed another 8 pack.

By the time I got back, Shopper Mom was just finishing up her transaction.  I watched her as she turned around and walked right by me.  I mean RIGHT BY ME.   No thank you.  No have a nice day.  No eye contact.  No acknowledgement.  No nothing.  WOW.  I was shocked!
I didn't make the gesture to earn her appreciation and gratitude.  I did it to help her out.  I've been shopping with small children at 5pm on a weekday.  Wow Wow.  That's all I can say.  Wow.

Excuse me, ma'am.  Let me grab you a bag of MANNERS.

Packing Up Halloween 2013

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  I love to pack.  I love to gather, sort, purge, arrange, label and pack.  I go into some sort of zen state or something.  It happened this morning.  I woke up feeling giddy that today was packing up day.  WOOP!

I chronicled my method for your enjoyment.
I knew that before I could even start, it was time for new labels.  So I found some cute designs online and printed them on tagboard.  I planned to laminate them but I prefer to cut them out first, them laminate.  Mostly because when I was a teacher often times if I just laminated the whole sheet and THEM cut them apart, the laminate film would peel.  Yuck.  Nobody likes that.  So print and cut.  That's how I roll.

 Slid them through my handy dandy laminate machine.  Did I NEED a laminator when I saw it at Target on sale?  No, I didn't NEED one.  But now that i have one it's so thrilling to laminate.

 Next, I gathered all the inside halloween decor.  I also took the wreath off the front door.  I have a flag and some other little lawn decor but I left them outside to dry.  We got a LOT of rain overnight.  So I'm leaving them in the sun to dry.  Besides, outdoor decor goes in a completely different storage area of my attic.  I decided to concentrate on the inside stuff.

 Here's most of it.  I walked from room to room and filled an empty tub.  I carried this load upstairs to my daughter's bedroom because it's right by the attic.  Just made sense to me doing it up there.

Ahhh  Here comes my favorite part.  Well, the first of my favorite parts of packing

 SORTING!  Oh, how I love it.  I made areas on the floor:  breakables, oversized items, artsy/crafty items (except for ribbon which goes back in the craft room).  I also gathered the laminated labels, tape, sharpie and bubble wrap.  And my camera to chronicle it all.  YIPPEE!!!  Crazy how exciting!

I almost forgot another stack:  Things I that no longer light up or flash and need to be purged.  Things that I can pass on to a family with younger kids.   And things that I can donate.  I mean honestly, how much Halloween decor does one family need?

I also pulled out the empty tubs from the attic.  I failed to take a photo of all my empty tubs.  First excuse:  I'm also doing a lot of laundry today as my dryer was kaput for 5 days.  Have you ever gone 5 days without doing laundry?  Catching up it going to take me all weekend.  Also, I was trying to avoid the "Perfect Patti" bully that sits on my shoulder because the lids on these tubs are springtime colors.  I don't have orange and black colored lids.  No, it doesn't matter in the long run.  See?  I'm learning.

Back to packing.

 I taped the label on the inside of the tub.

 You can see it from the other side.  Always use clear or translucent tubs.  With cute lids.

 A peek inside my breakables tub.  I don't stack things.  And I store them standing up instead of laying down as I understand they are stronger when standing.

Next tub:  anything electronic.  I remove any batteries.

Next tub:  Flat things.  Empty treat tubs, extra party paper ware, left over treat bags, etc.

 I managed to pack everything into 3 tubs.

 I saved this empty tub for the autumn decor.  You know, the pumpkins that more seasonal than Halloween.  Turkeys, pilgrims, etc.

These wreaths/door decor items were too large to store flat.  So I slid them to the corner and the next time I'm at Target/Home Depot/Lowes/Brookshires I'm going to be on the look out for over sized shallow wreath tub thingies.

I'll meet you at The Container Store!

Thankful!

You're not going to believe the week I've had.  Where do I even begin?

Saturday morning I realized my dryer wasn't heating.  Loverly.  I counted the minutes until Monday morning when I could call an appliance repairman.  As the pile of dirty towels, socks, shirts, jeans, sheets and underwear grew, I waited for the dryer guy to show up.  And he did.  Because nothing is easy, our dryer is apparently "exotic" and he would have to order the heating element replacement.   The replacement arrived and was installed on Wednesday.  We were in business!  I may or may not have done a happy dance when he left.  Skipping 6 days of laundry?  STINKY!

I'm thankful it could be repaired and that we could afford to have it fixed.

Monday afternoon I took Dancer Girl to her orthodontic appointment.  She needs a new and improved retainer with bands.  I've never even heard of that.  But it's better than putting the braces right back on!  Once again, nothing is easy.  The top retainer did not fit.  After much apologies, the tech had to make a second impression and we scheduled another appointment.

I'm thankful that her teeth are beautiful and that we managed to pay for the much needed braces.

Our gas fireplace isn't working.  The repairman just called.  He's on his way!  Just in time for a cold front that is supposed to pass through tonight.

That's nice. Now let's talk about me

I have finally hit my limit of listening.  It seems every time I run into you, you're eager to tell me about about YOU.  It can be nice to catch up, to hear what's happening with your kids, your pets, your life.  But there is a limit.  If you've been talking bout yourself more than, let's say, 4 minutes?  That's long enough.  Move on.  I'm feigning listening.  I mean, I am listening.  How can I not hear?  But in my head I'm thinking, "SHUT UP!"

I've actually been caught off guard when the endless updates pause and I hear, "So, what's happening with y'all?"  Wait.  I think I heard you say that.  Maybe I was imagining it.  No, you're not talking.  You're waiting impatiently for me to answer.  Like an obligation or something.  I manage to say something polite like "We're doing fine.  Busy as always."  That's about as far I usually get.  Then we fall back into our usual pattern of YOU TALK ME LISTEN.

Well, I'm done.  D.O.N.E.

I refuse to continue along this train track.  I refuse to be invisible anymore.  I refuse to allow you (and really, I'm enabling you) to continue with the bad manners.

I once told you "If you have to tell people how good you are, you ain't that good"  Yep.  I said it.  You just kinda guffawed.  Now, guffaw.  That's an underused word for ye.


I guess I'm feeling overwhelmed.  Let me just list stuff about ME.  Just this once.

1.  I am supposed to call today after 12 noon for my colonoscopy pathology results
2.  My dryer isn't heating.  Appliance Repairman scheduled between 1 and 4pm
3.  My gas fireplace won't stay lit.  Repairman scheduled for Thursday between 8 and 4.
4.  Lightbulb is burned out in the bathroom toilet area.  It's dark in there
5.  Dancer Girl has an orthodontist appointment at 4:30 and a Lacrosse Team meeting at 5;30.
6.  My back hurts.
7.  My house is a wreck and because I can't do laundry I have nothing to wear.
8.  I think Dancer Girl wore "dirty" jeans to school today
9.  I tried to help The Engineer buy auto insurance yesterday and he kept yawning.  Barely hanging in there.  Yes, I was frustrated.  And he was disinterested.
10.  Ironman is working from home today which means he'll be in every single room of the house.  He does not sit still.  He is not quiet.  And he likes to depend on me to find things, figure out things, sign things, do this, do that.

I am Debbie Downer today!

One final quick note:  Did you watch The Good Wife last night?  WOWZA!!!!

Favorite shows:
3.  Dog The Bounty Hunter
2.  The Good Wife
1.  PARENTHOOD.  LOVE< LOVE< LOVE:




.

Exercise and Me

I know I'm supposed to exercise to stay healthy.

I know I should exercise to stay healthy.

I just have to exercise to stay healthy.

Then why don't I do it?

I go through stages.  Stage 1 I'm enthusiastic and ready and all into the newest craze.  Sometimes it's walking in the neighborhood, sometimes a new exercise CD like P90 or sometimes it's a group class.  My determination lasts about 6 weeks.  Then it disappears.

Do I get bored?  Do I get frustrated with lack of infomercial worthy results?

YES.

I've just got to get over it.  I've heard it said that with effort comes discipline.  Something like that.  In other words, just do it and discipline will follow.

Colonoscopies are Us

Bright and early Monday morning, I had a colonoscopy. 

It all began when I, out of frustration, called a new doctor.  I had just left the yearly visit with the OBGYN and was feeling totally put out.  I had a list of questions.  NONE of them were answered and I was D.O.N.E.  When I got home, I picked up the phone and made an appointment right then and there with a new doctor.  

Sitting in the exam room with the Wonder Woman Doctor, she began to question me concerning my medical history.  

WW:  Have you had a flu shot?

Me:  No......... I've never had a flu shot........ and I've never had the flu.  I think maybe I've become immune to those kind of germs being a preschool teacher for all those zillions of years.

WW:  (not amused)  Do you want a flu shot?

Me:  No.  **I don't want a shot.  I never want a shot.  Especially when I'm well.  

WW:  Well, we'll just have to cross our fingers on this one.

WW:  When was your last mammogram?

Me:  July 2012.

WW.  Okay, I'll order one.  

(I had already explained to her about my  OBGYN yearly visit where I did have the pap.  But nothing else)

WW;  Have you had a colonoscopy?

Me:  (oh great)  No Ma'am.  All of a sudden I get polite.  Ha 

WW doctor just looks at me.

Me:  Last year I was given the take home test thingie.

WW:  That's not accurate.  I'm ordering a colonoscopy.  I also want to see you in one week.  Please come in fasting.  Nothing after midnight.  

We talked a little more but frankly, I don't remember.  All I can remember is COLONOSCOPY!!

Fast forward a month and.... boom.  It's colonoscopy time.

Five Things I Learned From Having a Colonoscopy

1.  Everyone will tell you the worst part is the prep.  (We'll get back to that in a minute)

The worst part for ME was waiting in the the waiting room.  The room was full of people who were there for....... well, to have a camera shoved up their colon!  All of us were hungry.  All of us were anxious.  Nobody made eye contact.  And time just ticked by.

I'm sure every single person in that waiting room got up to visit the restroom.  A couple of them more than once.  I thought about going as I'm sure I needed to go but I have this quirk about public bathrooms.  Especially when everybody knows what's happening in there.  And especially when you can hear the FLUSH.  

2.  The prep liquid tastes like snot.  No, it tastes like goo.  No, it tastes like salty snot.  It tastes disgusting.  Why does it have a taste?  Why can't it be tasteless?  The texture is bad enough.  You see, you will be given a Rx to take to CVS.  They will give you a huge gallon size plastic jug filled with a little powder in the bottom.  The morning of your prep, you fill with water to the fill line.  Shake it.  Chill.  Mine came with flavoring packets.  But guess what............ I didn't read the directions.  You add the flavoring BEFORE the water.  Dang.  Messed up.  I tried to sprinkle a little flavoring powder into the already mixed up solution but it wouldn't dissolve.  Dang.  Could I drink it without the flavoring. NO!  So I used crystal light.  Lemonade flavor.  (You can't drink anything red, purple or orange)  

3.  I've read that others experienced immediate ......... results.  Me?   Nope.  It was HOURS AND HOURS.  I started drinking it at 4:30.  I was very mathematical about it.  Actually set the stopwatch timer on my iPhone for beep every 10 minutes.  I planned to drink 10 swallows every 10 minutes.  What do they say about plans?  I quickly adjusted that to 5 swallows every 15 minutes.  The directions said to drink 1/2 the jug in 2 hours.  Wow.  That's a long of salty snot!  I managed to drink 1/2 of the jug's contents in 3 hours.  That is the very best I could do, thank you very much.  Then I waited.  And waited.  And waited.   By 7:30 I felt like I would explode.  This stuff needed to GO.  Get up.  Get going.  Sound the bugle.  Let's get this party started!  After walking back and forth, back and forth, I finally just ... well, you don't want to know.  Let's just say, the party started.

4.  I did not feel crampy.  I really expected to.  I did not feel rumbles.  I did not feel the urge.  It was a fairly faint urge.  And surprisingly, although I'd fasted all day, I did not feel hungry.  I had some chicken broth and some sugar free green jello.  I did feel anxious.  And in the back of my mind I kept pushing back the feeling that the prep wouldn't work thoroughly and they'd send me back home unable to perform the test.  Hurry up morning

5.  And then I'm sitting in the waiting room.  Looking around but making very sure not to make eye contact.  No one is chatting.  There's one wife there with her anxious husband.  He's filling out patient info forms.  Why didn't he fill out the ones they sent to him in the mail?  The wife keeps pointing out blanks he missed or information he's gotten wrong.  I want to slap her.  Two women sit on the side.  Both are reading the newspaper.  Not speaking.  An older couple arrives.  The man has much trouble getting up and out of his chair.  He's called to the desk several times.  The last time he breaks the chair arm as he attempts to get up.  All the while people are rushing to the bathroom.  Is there only one bathroom?  Maybe I should go.  I'll wait until that lady comes out.  No.  I don't want to go.  Or maybe I should.  I hate to go when everybody knows I'm going.  I'm weird.  Do they make any LOUDER flushes?  The whole building seems to vibrate.  Is it hot in here?  

6.  Then they call me.  

Nurse #1 enters my information into the computer.  Takes 5 minutes

She then walks me to the gurney area.  (What do you call that?)  Tells me I can leave my shirt on.  Remove everything waist down.  Lay on the bed and cover up with the blanket.  The blanked turned out to be warm.  Straight from the dryer.  Okay. Let's get going

Nurse #2 enters.  Starts IV.  Tells me it's only saline which immediately cools me.  She asks me what I'm going to eat when I get out of there.   Takes 5 minutes.

Nurse #1 returns to tell me the anesthesiologist is here and will come talk to me in just a minute.

Anesthesiologist comes in.  Where do they find these young guys?  He tells me he will use propafil.  (The Michael Jackson Sleep IV)  He said the advantage is that you are out immediately, and wake up immediately.  I'll not feel groggy.  I remember all those times at the dentist when the anesthesia did not work.  Oh, and baby #2?  Epidural didn't work.  Baby #3 epidural didn't work.  I get tense.

Doctor comes in.  Says we're ready to go.

They wheel me into a little exam room.  I see a large monitor.  I see a stainless table with instruments.  I see the anesthesiologist.  He asks me to lay on my left side.  Reaches over and begins to administer medicine into my IV.  I did NOT feel myself falling asleep.  I did NOT feel any change.  I went from wide awake to sound asleep.  OUT.  In a nano second.  

The next thing I remember is hearing a voice say "She'll be awake in a minute"  And Ironman answering, "Ok"  Then I woke up.  I was all the way back in the first area.  Back to my starting point.  What happened?  Nurse #3 comes in.  She looks 15.  She enters some information in the computer, removes my IV.  Tells me I can get dressed and go home.  Ironman leaves to pull the car closer to the door.  I got dressed.   I could have walked out just fine but Nurse #3 wheels me out in a chair.

That's it?  Piece of Cake.  I'm not kidding.  

I did skip the most important part.  After I woke up, the doctor returned to tell me he had removed one polyp.  It was too small for him to identify.  I will get a call in a week as to the status. 

All of a sudden the inconvenience of the prep and the test and the anxiety just zipped out of my mind.

If I had NOT gotten an appointment with a new doctor I would have never had this test.  At least I wouldn't have had it for another year!!

Wow.

If you are 50, DO NOT WAIT.  It's a piece of cake.