Home

I love being home. It is honestly the place that I like to be for the most of my time.

I have moderate amounts of time where I am at an office or running errands, but mostly, I'm home. I think that I am a hermit at heart, that takes a break from hermit-ness to be a social butterfly that hits the town.

This week had me out of the house more than usual. Until this morning, I didn't realize that I had been yearning for my home, missing it.

I have done 4 loads of laundry. Made cookies. Swept. And loved every second of those tasks.

I read somewhere that there is a huge difference between housework and homemaking. I'd have to agree.

Baby Senegal

My friends, Lauren and Blake, welcomed their first child earlier this week, a baby boy named Senegal. He was born Monday night, on Memorial Day, at 11:18pm. He weighed 7 lbs, 10.5 oz, and was 22 inches long! (*Why Senegal? According to the proud parents, "It's a beautiful, strong, and unusual name, named after a country in West Africa. Blake is very into West African drumming, and Lauren speaks French, the language of Senegal." To find out more about Senegal, here is just one of many websites you can visit: http://www.senegal-tourism.com/).

My Sweet Charity

I've been all into my new relationship that I forgot to tell you my BEST news!!! Charity is coming to visit me!!!!! I'm so super excited! She'll be in the Big D from June 27 to July 3. A WHOLE week!

There was some question as to whether or not she would have time to because (not sure if you know this either) she got into Dartmouth's medical school! That stinker got into an IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL! You guys, she is sooooooo smart, it kills me!

I'm so excited for her new adventure. And she is too—even though she is scared to death of the cold and snow. I don't blame her. Karianne, you'll have to give her tips on how to live in the frozen tundra. ;)

Anyway! I have so much to celebrate these days. This is going to be an amazing summer! Yippee! I can't wait to see my Sweet Charity!

One Word

:) *sigh* (:

This might change, but for now

We are having a pretty ok day and we are expecting people over for a bbq at 3:00. (are you guys gonna make it?)

Although I loathe entertaining, Ivy has really taken to having family at "her own house" and since she gets so giddy about it, how can I stand in her way and her dad's way? Obviously, I can't. In fact, I think that Chris was almost ready to not entertain today, but Ivy talked him into it! Now, that's a first!

Yesterday was spent preparing, with more prep work going on right now. I was the one that had to do the errands which thankfully, got me out of yard work. While at A*CE, not looking at basement dehumidifiers, I searched in vain for a bolt to replace the pedal of the kid's broken bike video game. No such luck. Washing the cars, and shopping for food and supplies.

Right now Chris is finishing the yard while I'm trying to get the kids to nap. And like I said, so far it's ok.

No panic attacks or stress yet. And since I can't drink or take my Xanax, that's enough to make me happy!

Mish-Mash Of Happy

Yesterday we went out to our friends for a huge party! I met some new people and hung out with old friends. We were there for a long time. The kids even stayed happy because they had a bounce house! It was the first time I've felt like I did before I had the babe. It was good to find myself again (socially).

Last night I was craving fudge and my amazing and wonderful husband made me the most amazing peanutbutter chocolate fudge. It is to die for good. (And I never make it for myself - too tedious.)

I can fit into all my old clothes now, and they're comfortable. Rediscovering them feels like a cross between a big shopping spree and finding old friends.

When I came out of the bathroom this morning, after showering and getting dressed, my husband told me that I looked hot. He said that he loves me pregnant and I am beautiful both way, but he always forgets how beautiful of a body I have. Okay, he is so full of it, but come on, doesn't it feel good to be told something like that, even if you know it might be stretching the truth a little. :P

My baby girl is wearing a really pretty dress today and it makes me heart happy.

The boys aren't fighting.

I'm going to plant my vegetables in the ground today - I have been waiting for weeks to do this and it is finally warm enough.

Once again

You guys are gonna get sooooo sick of the above, because I plan to use it to the fullest!!!

Well, today I had a dream come true. Did I win the lottery? Did I get a full ride scholarship to go to an alternative care college? Did I stumble upon a 100 dollar bill? Nope, not any of those.

Wait for it.

I bought a fondue set!

Back around the time my older cousins were preparing their quince invitations, fondue parties were a big thing in my family. Of course, I have no recollection of any of these, but my mom's set was buried in the back of our cupboards all through my childhood. It totally intrigued me and then it disappeared.

The past year or so, my cousins have been having fondue parties again. Some of them have their mom's sets or their own new ones. Jealous! Everyone would tell me to head to Goodwill and that there would be one for cheap. Well, they obviously had no clue because I have been looking for a year and almost broke down and bought a new plug in one from Target. But today, I found the perfect set at Goodwill. It was so meant to be mine!!

Mine looks almost exactly like this, but it is that yellow/orange color. Now they will be jealous of me, since mine has FLOWERS on it!

Bust out laughing time!

If any of you need a good laugh, as I often do during the day, click on this post of Katiefucious'. Chris and I ROLL when we read her driving posts (i forward them to him). It cracks me up every time. I'm so glad that 1) she wrote it in the first place and 2) she reposted it this week. It really is one of her best.

I'm The Woman!

Today I had to turn on our heat for a bit this morning. A bit later, I realized that our fan hadn't switched off. I put it in the back of my head and then went about my day. When I came home hours later, not sitting on our leather home theater seating, but on our couch, I realized that it was still on. I thought, "Crap, this is going to cost us 60 bucks just to have someone look at this."

But, oh no, ladies! I got on Google and looked up an article on DIY about furnaces. And lo and behold, I figured it out! Took me a little while to find all of the parts and take the panels off, but I did it.

I caught me some happiness....

Her first smile and I actually had the camera in my hand - miracle of all miracles!

Come Visit Me!

Hey all. I've been working on a new blog for a few weeks and I'm finally ready for visitors! Can't wait to see you!

shocking red grapefruit

Good Date

Okay, so I had a date with a guy on Friday, and it went really well. He's already called me once, and he texted me this morning saying that he would call me tonight. We are going to make plans to hang out during the week.

So! I think this one is going very well. :) Maybe I'll have a secret post on my site soon to dish. ;)

5/16 Friday Five

1. I went back to work today! It wasn't perfect, yet, it wasn't horrible. I was at work with my clients and that is happy enough.

2. I wore my blue scrubs that were dried in the sun yesterday afternoon. No indoor lighting or drying can compare to that efficient power of the sun. (Yes, this is Karianne writing this!)

3. Costco cheesecake. A slice for lunch. Yum.

4. Ivy and Bec getting into their car seats without too much complaining and no crying.

5. Daydreaming.

What is Raw Diet?

When we were all contributing to the yahoo! group, I noticed some of you mentioned the "raw diet."

I was like, "What's that?" but I just hadn't had time to do any research.

So this evening, I checked my email, and a friend had sent me an email that someone had sent her regarding enzymes, and a gentleman who had cured his own pancreatic cancer using megadoses of pancreatic enzymes, yada yada yada (it's a long email, I won't post it unless you request it, and then I will only post it to the yahoo! group's email).

At the end of the email was a link to a woman's site who had used homeopathic and nutritional healing techniques to overcome breast cancer.

I clicked on the link, and the website is very interesting. It also mentions the raw diet.

So ladies, enlighten me. I can do my own research, but it would be cool to hear it from some people I know who are doing it. :)

What is the raw diet? And how does it make you feel? Do you feel better when you're on it?

I know we, as a family, need to eat less sugar, less processed foods, etc. Right now when we are so busy, it's just quicker to pull a frozen pizza out and cook it, but in the future, when things settle down, I hope to start a healthier eating regimen for us.

You don't eat raw meat, do you? Or is it more like a vegetarian/vegan diet?

Let's see some posts about your experiences!

Ten on Tuesday-10 Things I'm Good At

1. Acting on cravings- Once I decide that I want to either eat something, or have something, that's it. One track mind on the goal, getting there is always kind of twisty though. Sometimes, as far as the eating and cravings are concerned, I may need to check out lipovox reviews to keep the weight in check.

2. Going with my gut. If I have a feeling, I can't be "talked out" of it. I'll be honest if I'm uncertain, but I'm also honest about being certain.

3. Naming my kids. Kind of goes with #2. You know, in all honesty, they kind of name themselves!

4. Being dramatic. (Had to copy this one from KB)

5. Putting my own spin on an outfit or trend. I may own items that everyone else does, but I sure don't rock them like everyone else.

6. Being nice to myself. I learned this early on in my twenties and haven't looked back. No one else is responsible for me.

7. Treating my kids like people and with respect. They don't have to prove anything to me. They just are.

8. Listening and encouraging. I love to hear where people are in their lives and how creative and unique every person is.

9. Stepping back. If I'm not sure about a certain direction, I won't decide anything until I feel ready. I can easily step back and be undecided until I'm decided.

10. Smiling. For the most part, a smile comes easily to my face.

Surprise Lunches

One of my fondest childhood memories is when my mom would make 'Surprise Lunches' for us. She would set up our Strawberry Shortcake TV trays (either in the living room or on our big front porch), and then we would wait in anticipation while she would create her magic. She would take every-day things, like celery and peanut butter and use M&M's to make faces, cut our sandwiches with cookie cutters, etc. Every time she came up with something new that we hadn't seen before. We were really quite poor monetarily, but we never knew it because my mom's creative mind was so much rich. Surprise Lunches stick out as my favorite childhood food and one of my favorite memories as well.

Fried Chicken

One of my fondest childhood memories surrounding food is being the only kid in my class to bring fried chicken to school for lunch every week. We lived above our restaurant at the time and my father would wake us up every morning for school and get our lunches ready. He knew that I loved fried chicken and would make me some early in the morning while he was busy scrambling eggs and frying bacon for his 'paying' customers. At lunch time, my friends were always envious when all they had was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and there I sat, eating fried chicken for lunch.

Happy Cereal

This weekend I kept dreaming of food. A specific food. A specific taste. I would wake up with the memory of the taste in my mouth, knowing that I was remembering something from my childhood, a sensory memory without a name to put with it. But I could see it and taste it, that was the start of my detective work.

I knew that it was a hot cereal. So, I went to the cereal aisle of our grocery store. I didn't think that anything really fit the bill, but I'm only really used to eating oatmeal, so I wasn't sure that it might be a brand of cereal or not. I called my sister and said, "Do you remember that cereal that Nana and mom used to make for us when we were little? It was hot and grainy but not oatmeal." It could have been Orovo for all that I knew. Her guesses were Cream of Rice, corn cereal and Cream of Wheat. I described it a bit more and she said that it was probably Cream of Wheat. I bought it. I tried it. It was not Cream of Wheat.

My next font of info was my mom. I called her. She then called back and said that she couldn't understand my message. We met up at my nephew's baseball tournament and I was able to describe the cereal in detail. Right off the bat, she said, "Cracked wheat." That really sounded like that was what I was dreaming about.

I made a pot of cracked wheat this morning and it was heaven! I can remember eating it on the back porch on summer mornings at Nana's house. Eating it at our dark brown laminate shiny table from wheat stenciled bowls at my mom's. All of my adult life, I had forgotten that this had ever existed! But my body and mind remembered. How cool to get this memory and this food back into my life. I might even have it for dinner.

Increasing Happiness

Thanks for posting more you guys! This site has turned out to be more than I ever imagined. Not that I ever expected it to have a use for cpmadvertisers or hits or anything, but the community we have built is impressive if you ask me.

I had an idea the other night about how we could learn more about each other and put more things on our happy list. My thought was that whenever I think of a post that I'd like to do, I'll also email the premise to our group. If you would like to contribute to that thread then you can either post over here or email back to me. The responses that are mailed back to me, I'll put up over here to share with all of us.

I'm going to put this into an email for all of us along with my first prompt that I thought of this weekend. If any of you come up with any more prompts, go ahead and do the same thing if you want to!

As always, if you have something that strikes you as happy outside of the offered question, post away!

Love to you all,

K

In the Right Place at the Right Time

I love how God puts the right people in my life at the right time. It happens to me all the time!

Last week I took my car in because it was squealing when I braked. Since I hadn't replaced the brake pads in about 5 years, I figured it was time. I went to Brakes Plus, and the mechanic gave me the "bad news." Brake pads, rotors, calipers, brake flush, Cv Axles, alignment, and clean/adjust the rear brakes. It totaled almost a $1000! When I asked what was optional, he told me the latter one. That would save me 20 bucks. He expressed to me how dangerous it would be for me to continue driving on the brakes. He said something is out of alignment, and it needed to be fixed.

I stressed at work that morning. Finally I called and told the guy that I wanted to wait until the weekend to make a decision. If I'm spending $1000 on this 11 year old car, I might need to consider getting a new-to-me car.

I sent out an email to people I knew asking for prayer, wisdom, and advice. I got lots of response. Rose said she had a subscription to Consumer Reports and could loan me her user name and password. Jason gave me advice about saving money to pay in cash. Several people said the work seemed really expensive.

Then John wrote me. This is one of the guys I met online. We decided to just be friends since our political views are drastically different. We've also seen a couple of movies together. He happens to be a mechanical engineer.

He told me that they were charging me WAY TOO MUCH. He even looked up the parts on Auto Zone to let me compare. I know some of the cost was labor too, but when brake pads cost only $20 at Auto Zone and they cost $100 to get installed... that's a big difference.

John offered to look at it and at least change out the brake pads for free (in exchange for a home-cooked meal). He also knew a guy that would do the work for much cheaper.

Friday after work, I went over to his place. He took the front wheels off my car, and he had a look. He said that the guy lied to me. They took the wheel off and saw some rust, and just said the whole thing needed to be replaced. John said that the rotors and calipers were actually fine, and he said he wouldn't replace the axles if I was even somewhat serious about getting another car in the next couple of years.

So that's it. My brake pads were changed. I paid maybe $30 total in parts and lubricants. And I'm making John the best dinner in my "arsenal." Homemade lasagna, green beans, and homemade rolls. Oh, and my mom's famous peanut butter and chocolate pie!

Yep, God puts the right people in my life at the right times. This makes me happy and so does the thought that I didn't spend $1000 on unnecessary repairs or even more on a new car!

You gotta love it!

You have to LOVE at text like this.

Sitting at the computer last night, my phone vibrates next to me. Focusing on the screen, here is what I read:

Kickin it 2mrw nite 4 misty's bday. Work it out

Which roughly translates to, GIRL'S NITE OUT!!

Yeah baby. Getting out my dancing shoes, clothes that borderline the boundary of if I should wear them at my age and my bail money (joking, as 2 of my bailed out friends are on probation and won't be with us tonight ) :)

And if my luck really holds out, I can find a super late sitter where hubby might be able to join us when the party really starts rockin!

Friday!!! Time to blow off some of this grrrrr ness lately! Sweat it out on the dance floor and start fresh tmrrw!!

To All The Boys I Loved Before

As all of you know, I am a single gal who has had her fair share of heartbreak. There have been three boys from my past that I have loved dearly. One broke my heart after the relationship ended, while we were attempting to be friends. The other two guys left abruptly, leaving me to figure out "what exactly just happened here."

And then last week, I experienced my first "I'll call you later," and then never did. That was lovely. (Although I have to say I would much rather that happen, then to have a guy break up with me after a year of dating.)

(Karianne, I promise I will bring this back round to Happiness, but you have to give me a bit of leeway.) ;)

A part of me wants to be all about some Jo Dee Messina lyrics.

Somebody's gonna give you a lesson in leavin'
Somebody's gonna give you back what you've been givin'
And I hope that I'm around
To watch 'em knock you down
It's like you to love 'em and leave 'em
Just like you loved me and left me
It's like you to do that sort of thing
Over and over again
You're a fool-hearted man

But it's not really my style. After all these were guys I loved, and I think deep down they were good guys--good guys who made stupid decisions. It's bad enough to be dumped without thinking I'm a bad judge of character on top of all of that.

Yet when my anger overtakes me, I start ranting to God. I want those boys to realize how stupid they were to have let something so good go without a fight. I want them to see that running away is not the solution and will haunt them in future relationships. I want them to beg me to come back only for me to reject THEM and kick them out.

Nice, huh? We all think it, I know. But honestly, the anger isn't healthy. It just encourages me to dwell on something that I need to move away from.

Ultimately I remind myself that God protected me and is protecting me. I desire for those guys to grow from their mistakes because even now, a part of me still loves them. Not in a boyfriend way, but in a brother-in-Christ way.

And... if my anger overtakes me...

I've decided to pray that they get a REALLY REALLY REEEEEEEEALLLY bad case of constipation. You know, the kind that has you bowed over in pain. I feel like that request is something that won't ruin their life and yet would cause them some good ole' natural pain. And perhaps it would give them some time to think about what they did. And how appropriate that they would experience that since they all would keep stuff bottled up inside them instead of talking to me about it.

I think God has the type of humor to do just that kind of thing.

Perfect justice, really. And it totally brings a smile to my face!

my happy list

I feel like I haven't posted here in ...well, forever. It's sort of intentional; I haven't felt super happy lately. Nothing fatal, but definitely in a funk. I love coming to read others' happiness, hoping it'll rub off on me. :)

I'm sick of the place I've been, so I was pondering the simple pleasures that bring me joy even in the midst of general "unrest"...

1. feeling the brain fog lift after nearly a week of mostly raw food
2. 22 days of school left before summer
3. my friend at Starbucks who always has time to chat while I wait for my chai
4. a piano recital by my 6 year old boy
5. a new Japanese Maple waiting to be planted in the yard
6. the almost-completed new patio out back...
7. a fun Etsy purchase to brighten my day and my table
8. walking 7.46 miles with my sister-in-law
9. delightful co-workers who are also friends
10. thinking of my friend with her new baby and sharing in her joy!

May Day

Were any of you in my neck of the woods last week? I got a may basket! And I have no idea who it is from!!!

I had to go in to work in the morning real quick and when I came home an hour later, this was on my doorstep. After rounding up the usual suspects, no one admitted to it, so I"m broadening my search!

In that cutesy little basket was tulip printed tissues, a kitchen handtowel, a pink frosted flower cookie and peony body butter. If they were all as edible as they look, I'd be needing cheap Phentermine. But the mix of products was well rounded enough to be perfect! I'm so lucky. But it is driving me crazy wondering who it was!

Hope your May Days were fun too!

Gift for Carrie Jr.

Since Carrie has put up her late night, system memory post about remembering the pain of labor, I thought that I'd share the baby gift that I sent last week with the group. That girl is on my mind today!

It's a tiny onesie that Chris and I found while at a winery for a fundraiser. I had to buy it for her. And then, after I got it home, I panicked a bit about their alcohol views, but Carrie reassured me that it wouldn't be offensive. Thankfully! I could not have passed it up if I tried.

Let's raise a toast to Carrie!

Have you tried

The new honey flavor at Star*bucks?

Honey is one of my favorite flavors and one of my favorite scents. I would like to be a connoisseur of honey like some people are with wines. Now I have that Mariah Carey song in my head. "Ju-ust, like, hu-un-ny" (did she and Nick Canon really get married? Without a prenup? Can it be?)

I go to SB often to meet friends to talk and visit over the hiss of espresso machines. I don't drink coffee, I don't really care for their hot chocolate and at times the caramel apple cider is too sweet, while their teas are too weak or strong. So, I'll get a soy steamer with caramel.

When I saw the sign for their honey lattes, I was excited! They sounded so good. I was hopeful. I took a sip. It was wonderful.

I've had them once a week for the past 3 weeks. A new fave! If it is still cold where you live, like it has been here (yay), you should try one.

Weighty news

One of the best things that happened today?

I stepped on the scale and realized that I have 1 pound to go to lose an additional 18 that I'd gained over 3 months.

Let's not mention that it has taken me 19 months to do this! By my slow going, I really don't think that I have to mention that I did not use any top diet pills to achieve this amazing feat! Just call me the tortoise of weight loss.

And let's really not mention that even with this dip in pounds, I'm still 6 pounds away from my pre pregnancy weight with Ivy over 5 years ago! Hmmm. 40 weeks to put it on, 5 years and counting to take it off. Don't think that I'll be writing any diet books soon!

Happy for the job I have

Instead of dwelling on my crappy day at work today, I decided to comfort myself with this list

Top 10 Jobs that I'm Happy Are Not Mine
1. School bus driver
2. Animal shelter worker
3. Bank teller
4. City or county clerk (I had to file a motion yesterday and heardway too much information about people's lives and their troubles)
5. Anything that involved getting grimey, manual labor or sweating.
6. Police officer
7. Military or almost any job involving orders or travel
8. Any type of auditor
9. Pagaent contestant
10. CPS/APS worker
11. drug rehab counselor

OK, that's actually 11! I got on a roll!