Archive for December, 2007
A good friend of ours recently suffered from a horrible migraine and was treated at the hospital’s emergency room. And one of our family members often experiences bad headaches, as well. I am *so* thankful to have never experienced one, and I hope that I never do. But there’s a center located in New York that’s dedicated to helping people who experience headache problems. Interesting! If you suffer from migraines, you might find some helpful information on the website.
Ugh ~ I’ve been kind of bad about indulging in lots of sweets over the holidays. I haven’t done horribly, but I definitely have probably put on a few pounds! Anyway, a colon cleanse might be just the thing for you if you’re trying to get healthy in the New Year. Make sure to check out their website for more information!
Lots of people will probably make a New Year’s resolution to lose some weight and get healthier. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, check out the prohormones available at the Body Building Factory. You might also get some good tips about working out and toning your entire body.
Did you have a little bit too much fun during the holiday season? :) Too much wine? Maybe you’re in need of some drug rehabilitation? Just kidding. :) Anyway, if you get a chance, please check out the Drug Rehabilitation Network. You might find some interesting stuff there. LOL! :)
It’s the day before our Christmas vacation, and I can’t leave my blog on such a negative note. :( I feel badly about complaining yesterday, but I just needed to get my stress out. Thank you so very much for your kind and supportive comments. I’m sure that lots of things won’t get done before we leave tomorrow morning, and that’s OK. I just need to let it go (easier said that done!).
Let me tell you something super sweet that Lucas said yesterday. He was eating lunch at our kitchen island. I had given him some blackberry Jello, but he also wanted a piece of the garlic bread that I was eating. When he took a spoonful of Jello and part of it accidently dropped onto his piece of garlic bread, he looked down and sweetly said, “Oh! I’m sorry, bread!” :)
Here’s another neat story. The other day when I was picking up some last-minute Christmas presents at Target, I encountered such a friendly employee stocking the shelves. I said, “Excuse me!” as I maneuvered my shopping cart past his. (I detest rude shoppers, especially at Christmas, so I always try to be extra nice.) He said, “Oh, thank you!” And as I started to make my way toward the DVDs and books section, feeling kind of rushed and stressed out about finding Christmas gifts for family members, he called after me, “Hey, Happy Holidays!” I turned around and he had such a huge smile on his face. That made me smile, too. I said, “Thank you so much!” And then, he looked down at Lucas and Meredith, gestured toward them, and said, “Hey … how could you not?” At that moment, I stopped to look down at our amazing son and daughter, and my heart felt so warm inside. He reminded me of how blessed we are. It’s amazing how sometimes it takes a complete stranger to restore your perspective.
I have no idea whether I’ll be able to blog from my inlaws’ or my parents’ house, but I’ll try to sneak in a post whenever I can. You know, a few weeks ago someone in my photography e-mail group asked the question, “What do you want for Christmas?” I actually had to think long and hard about that. I just couldn’t come up with much, really. Sure, you can never go wrong with bath and body products for me ~ and we need a new mesh strainer for our kitchen. But really? What would I truly want, if I could have anything?
Here’s my wish: for all of our friends, family, and loved ones ~ and heck, everyone in the world, if we’re dreaming here! ~ to have a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season and year 2008. And I’d also like for Christmas spirit to fill all of our hearts this season. That’s it. Not too much to ask for, right?
Are you listening, Santa? :)
Yep, that’s the mess that I found just a few minutes ago. See why it’s next to impossible to pack for a major trip while watching a two-and-a-half year old and a one-year-old?
I was in our bedroom at the time ~ folding freshly laundered clothes, matching the kids’ outfits and socks, packing a small backpack with essentials for our on-the-road hotel stay, putting my underwear and socks into a plastic bag, packing together Lucas and Meredith’s Christmas outfits, etc. The kids were playing in Meredith’s room, and I heard the TV on. It was quiet for some time, and I felt such relief. I thought to myself, “Oh, good ~ they’re watching TV and playing nicely with toys, and now I have a chance to pack our suitcases.”
Hell no. What was I thinking?!? Bad things happen when they’re quiet. I should know that by now.
All of the sudden, I heard Lucas shouting, “I’m stuck! I’m stuck!” I went into Meredith’s room and found him trying to put one of her shirts over his head. (He’s now into wearing everyone else’s clothes, shoes, etc. for some reason.) No big deal, I thought. But that’s when my eyes drifted over to her open closet door. And that, above, is the hurricane that I discovered.
I was livid. Lucas emptied basically all of her dresser drawers ~ the same drawers that just a few weeks ago I had gone through and organized according to size and matched every outfit together. (That simple task had taken a few hours to accomplish.) He also pulled down our carpet cleaner (thank goodness he didn’t get hurt) and smeared lavender-scented baby lotion all over it ~ baby lotion that he had gotten from a box of lotions that he pulled down. He also knocked over all of Meredith’s blankets on top of her bookshelf and took things off the shelves. And I kid you not ~ I was seriously in our bedroom for maybe 20 minutes, if that. Wouldn’t you think that I would have heard the noise? Nope. They were so quiet in there. I didn’t hear a sound!
But wait ~ there’s more! The kids also pulled out Meredith’s crib drawer (again, thank goodness no one got hurt) and took everything out, scattering it all over her room. Another mess for Mommy to clean up. That one isn’t such a big deal, but … it’s just another thing to add to my already jam-packed to-do list.
I am so stressed out about our Christmas vacation to Indiana, and having to clean things over and over just makes me even more frustrated. Why do I even bother trying to clean and organize our house??? One of Jeff’s coworkers is coming over tomorrow afternoon to watch the kids so that we can get things ready for our trip. What a blessing ~ it’s like she knew exactly what we needed. But now, I’ve got this huge mess in her closet to fix. I am so upset right now. I just can’t keep up.
Christmas, would you mind staying away for just a little while longer? I’m so not ready! We leave for Indiana at the end of this week, and I feel like I’ve still got a zillion things on my to-do list. Right now, though, the priority is this freelance editing assignment. I cannot wait to be finished so that I can concentrate on trip planning and finishing up our Christmas shopping. And cleaning the house ~ I always try to get our home in order before a trip because it’s awfully nice returning from vacation to a clutter-free home! (Am I the only one who does that?) Now, when Meredith eats an apple, she chews up the inside part but spits out the apple peel. Funny girl! So currently, we have dried apple peels stuck to our kitchen tile and wood flooring. *sigh* Please tell me again why I even bother vacuuming?
We’re spending Christmas with my husband’s family, attending Jeff’s sister’s holiday party on the 29th, and then heading down to visit my parents and my grandpa around New Year’s. I decided this year that mailing all of our gifts ahead of time ~ rather than bringing them with us in the car ~ would be tons easier. In years past, our car has been crammed full with barely any room for us! And I always worry about presents getting squished, smashed, or torn up. Traveling with two small children requires a lot of gear, too, and it’s difficult to fit everything into our vehicle (although the Matrix is actually pretty roomy). I’d much rather pay postage and know that our gifts for everyone arrived safely.
Where’s all of the snow that forecasters kept telling us we’d receive? I was all prepared ~ and even excited ~ about 10 more inches. But all we got over the weekend was a tiny bit of snow/sleet/freezing rain/whatever you want to call it. Temperatures are freezing here, though ~ only 14 degrees at the moment. I can’t tell you how much I dislike winter. I hate freezing to death and never feel “in the zone” or “in my element” when it’s chilly. I’m a Virgo “earth girl,” so maybe that’s why? :) Summer and fall have always been my favorite seasons. And for some reason, the holidays this year seem … complicated or something. I don’t know why. I just have a lot of anxiety and worry, but hopefully everything will be fine. I don’t know that I have any New Year’s resolutions, per se, but I’d like to be more organized. And I’d like to always “have it all together.” That’s a constant goal, unrealistic as it may be. :)
Tomorrow is day 100 of my “365 Days” self-portraits. I should come up with something creative, right? Hmm.
I miss our laptop. *sigh* Many moons ago, I stupidly left a full glass of sweetened iced tea on Lucas’s little kitchen table ~ right next to our laptop, which happened to be there (open) for some reason. I’d probably sat the laptop down momentarily to do something and had just forgotten about it. Anyway, it still works, but you can’t really use the arrow keys well and the mousepad area doesn’t function. (Kind of a pain when you have to use keyboard shortcuts ~ and forget doing graphic design projects!) Anyway, I’d *love* to buy a new laptop sometime soon, but I think that purchase will have to wait a while. I wish that I could work on freelance assignments anywhere in the house again. Jeff says that he’s eyeing a new laptop that costs only $150 ~ but I don’t think that it’s being manufactured yet. It’s still in the planning stages. I’m curious to see what a $150 laptop would be like, though!
A few of you have asked about the recipe for my “Butternut Squash Sausage Stew” (photo posted on Flickr). I’m sorry that I’m just now getting around to posting the recipe. Maybe next year I’ll start up a recipe blog again, but in the meantime … here you go! Enjoy! And let me know how it turns out, because I just kind of invented the recipe based on what we already had on hand. It was a hit with everyone in our household!
Butternut Squash Sausage Stew
1 lb. pork sausage
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 of a small bag of baby carrots, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 C red wine
1 or 2 large potatoes, cubed
1/2 jar tomato-basil pasta sauce
4 C water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 package frozen butternut squash (bite-size pieces)
1 packet Goya seasoning (thank you, GFF!)
your favorite shredded cheese (for garnish)
1) In a large stock pot, crumble and brown sausage until no longer pink. Remove from the pot; set aside on a paper towel to drain. 2) Add olive oil to pot. Saute onion, celery, carrots, and garlic until semi-tender and somewhat transparent (about five minutes). 3) Add red wine, potatoes, pasta sauce, water, and bouillon cubes. Stir. 4) Let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are almost fork tender. Stir in butternut squash. 5) When potatoes are fork tender, add the seasoning packet and stir. 6) Ladle the stew into bowls and garnish with shredded cheese. Serve with your favorite crusty bread (cornbread works well, too).
It started snowing here around 10:30 yesterday morning, and by the time that Jeff had gotten home from work and we had finished dinner, our yardstick measured at least 10 inches on the ground. Lucas had a blast with the white stuff, as you can see. (So did Mommy!) I took some pictures, of course, and test drove my brand-new winter coat (it works!). Thank goodness one of our neighbors plows our driveway ~ we never have to worry about that. He only charges $20 each time. Evidently we’re supposed to get a blizzard on Sunday, too ~ eight to 10 more inches! I’m curious to see how Meredith will react to the snow. We have to buy her a good pair of snow boots first before we can take her outside to play, though. Tomorrow is our town’s holiday celebration, with Santa making his appearance at our train station. Gosh, when we attended that event last year, Meredith was so very tiny. It’s amazing how much can change in just one year!
Speaking of holiday celebrations … Lucas and Meredith got to see Santa on Wednesday! Our good friend Natalie invited us to her office so that the kids could meet Santa, sit on his lap, receive a present, and enjoy some yummy snacks. My anxiety was bothering me quite a bit, unfortunately, but other than that we really enjoyed our visit. Lucas received a toy tractor farm set (which he’s been playing with ever since!), and Meredith received a Little Mermaid block building kit. They got to interact with some other adorable children there, and it was fun seeing Natalie’s office and meeting her coworkers. They were all incredibly nice and friendly. I couldn’t get over how amazing Santa and Mrs. Claus looked! And guess what? Yours truly also got to sit on Santa’s lap. My wish? For some good sleep, LOL! :) And then he whispered to me, “Would you like that in liquid form or what?” :) If you’d like to see all of the pictures, they’re here (thank goodness Natalie took a bunch ~ I was quite busy with the kids!). It meant so much to us that Natalie would invite Lucas and Meredith to join her office holiday celebration. How thoughtful. We think of Natalie and Vicky as family members.
Seriously, how can Christmas be getting so close??? We leave for Indiana late next week. I’m totally not ready yet. I’m already starting to feel nervous and anxious about traveling and getting everything ready for our trip. :( We’re almost done with our Christmas shopping, though!
