Posts Tagged ‘thank you’
I’m so excited about making snowflake-shaped sugar cookies today. I have navy blue and royal blue coloring, and I’m going to tint the cookies a pale blue. I also have clear, sparkly, edible glitter and some crystal sugar. I’ll probably leave some of the frosting white, too. The dough is chilling in the refrigerator. There’s a cookie exchange on Tuesday during my moms’ group meeting (where everyone comes home with three dozen different kinds of cookies, depending on how many participate!), and I’ll probably freeze some for our train station’s holiday party on the 13th. Now I just have to discipline myself not to eat too many cookies and gain a zillion pounds! These cookies have two cups of sugar and one cup of shortening ~ talk about fat and calorie overload!
By the way, we received our very first Christmas card: from our friends Vicky and Natalie. They hand-delivered it to us when they came over for Thanksgiving. :) Our first Christmas card in the mail was from fellow blogger Connie. Thank you very much! I love picking up our mail this time of year! So where’s the farthest away that you’re sending a Christmas card? I guess that ours would be relatives in California.
The only thing I have going on today is a meeting about this calendar that I’m designing, and hopefully I’ll be finished with it very soon. I feel like I can’t start on Christmas projects until it’s done. We’re almost there, though. I did address some Christmas cards last night, though, and I also stayed up late knitting. :) I’m working on a new project … Grandmother’s Favorite Dishcloth. It’s really easy so far ~ I haven’t managed to screw it up yet, but there’s still time! :)
P.S. If you’re looking for a foot-related Christmas gift for someone special (yeah, I’m not kidding!), here’s a website that has pretty much everything you can possibly imagine that relates to the feet (including special splints to help with Plantar Fasciitis). Actually, they have some socks that look super comfy ~ and look at this gadget that lets you take a walk while you’re sitting down! I need one of those for when I’m tied to the computer doing freelance work!
I was just downstairs with Jeff, commenting on how nice it is that Lucas can now play by himself in our bonus room without getting into trouble. We thought that he was watching his “Jonah” DVD. Wrong! I came upstairs to get Meredith up from her nap, and Luke was completely naked in our guest bathroom. He was squirting hand soap into the sink, filling it with water, tearing off pieces of toilet paper, and throwing them into the “pool.” I *just* cleaned that bathroom yesterday. What’s that saying about kids suddenly getting quiet … that’s when you know that mischief is happening! :)
Jeff had the day off work today (thank you, veterans, for all that you do for our country … we honor you and remember you today), so we went shopping at K-mart because we heard that lots of toys were 50 percent off. I hadn’t been inside a K-mart in years, and honestly, I used to think that K-mart was kind of junky. But I was *so* surprised! Not so! (At least, our store wasn’t.) They had all kinds of great stuff. The kids had a blast looking at the toys. (Lucas wanted some Harley parts ~ just kidding!) We actually did *all* of our Christmas shopping for Lucas and Meredith today, and now my moms’ group is having a gift wrapping session on the 20th (the moms get together for some fun, fellowship, and wrapping presents together). It feels good to have a bit of a head start on Christmas! We also had lunch at Pizza Hut. I lost count of how many pieces of pepperoni pizza Lucas ate! They served this weird dessert pizza that tasted like chocolate pudding with some frosting on top. Blech.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my milk question. I can’t believe all of the different advice that doctors give. I think that we’re going to stick with whole milk for the kids for a while. I’m just happy to see that milk prices have come down recently. A gallon at our grocery store today was only $2 something.
Did anyone watch “The Big Bang Theory” last night? Did you catch Sheldon’s movie reference? Leonard said to Penny, “Congratulations … you are now one of us.” And then Sheldon said, “One of us … one of us …” I wracked my brain last night and this morning, trying to figure out what movie that line was from. We Googled it last night but didn’t have any luck. First thing when I woke up this morning, though, I suddenly remembered what movie I was thinking of. Do you know? (Answer in the comments section!) I was *so* freaking relieved to have figured it out! It was driving me nuts!
I’d been planning this weekend for months. Friday around lunchtime, I was going to hop into my car and drive to my friend Shannon’s house near Philadelphia. On the way, I was going to stop by our local apple orchard and pick up some honeycrisp apples for her to enjoy. We were going to have a yummy dinner together at Chick-Fil-A (which we unfortunately don’t have here in upstate New York). And I’m sure that Friday night we would have stayed up late chatting, playing with her daughter, eating the yummy birthday cake that she baked for me, and catching up. Saturday, we were going to do some fun outlet clothes shopping together and who knows what else, then drive two hours down to Baltimore to attend Lisa’s bridal shower. There, I would have gotten to meet Lisa’s sister, Laura, and fellow blogger Shanny for the very first time ~ in addition to Lisa’s family and friends (and visit a city that I’d never been to before). Afterward, I was going to stay at Shannon’s house that night and then drive back home today. But …
Plans quickly changed. I had just finished packing some last-minute items into my suitcase when my husband called about an hour before I was set to leave. He said that he had a meeting for work that he absolultely couldn’t get out of. He had to give a spur-of-the-moment presentation. Poor guy! He ended up not getting home until around 3 p.m. I totally don’t blame him, his boss, or his job. Stuff like that happens. I couldn’t just leave and take the kids with me, either, because Lucas’s carseat was in Jeff’s car (and nothing was packed for the kids ~ Jeff was going to watch them all weekend while I enjoyed a girls’ weekend out).
Driving six hours to Baltimore on Saturday would have been a *long* trip. I felt super bummed this weekend about how everything turned out. I wanted to see Lisa again (we’d only met once before in person) and have fun seeing where she lives, meeting her family and friends, watching her open her shower gifts, and support her/take part in one of the most special days of her life. The good thing is that we’ll get to see her in November for her Baltimore wedding reception. I’m definitely excited about that!
I did get to spend my birthday here at home with my family, though, which was wonderful. We ordered pizza from Four Brothers for dinner on Friday night (yay for not having to cook!). Also had fun picking up our CSA share from the farm. Saturday, we enjoyed a family apple-picking outing at Golden Harvest Farms. First honeycrisp apples and apple cider doughnuts of the season, folks! That was the highlight of my day! :) I wanted to take pictures but figured it would be too difficult running after the kids, picking apples, and holding our camera at the same time. (We need a wagon!) We picked a half bushel and also came home with some fresh blueberries and a “Fruits of the Forest” pie (totally delicious!). Afterward, we took the kids over to a great playground ~ but unfortunately I came down with quite a headache. I just wanted to go home. Took some Advil and just tried to rest after that. Still feel a little achy. :(
Now, I’m enjoying some quiet time while Jeff and the kids are at church. I went to CVS (had a 20 percent off coupon), the grocery store, and Dunkin’ Donuts this morning ~ with no children in tow! :) Even though this weekend was pretty different from how I’d originally planned, I had a blast and a terrific 33rd birthday! Thank you *so* much for all of your good wishes! I think that I’m loved. :)
I felt so overwhelmed on Saturday. Between freelance assignments with looming deadlines, my ever-growing to-do list, longing for a little bit of a break, and not being able to accomplish much lately, it just all kind of “hit the fan.” I sat down and wrote a blog entry, mentioning at the end that my husband would be in Baltimore all week for a business trip.
A few hours later, my mom called. I knew that something was up, because my parents don’t usually call us on Saturday mornings. She asked me, “Do you have anyone to watch the kids while you go to your doctor’s appointment on Monday?” I said no, that I was just going to bring them with me (ugh!). That’s when my mom replied, “Well … would you like to have a babysitter?” Kind of puzzled, I said, “Uh … sure!” And then she said, “Well … *I* can babysit, if that would be OK!” Huh? My parents live in Indiana! All I could say was, “What?”
That’s when my mom told me that she was going to hop a plane the very next day and stay with us until Thursday. She mentioned phrases such as, “doing the dishes,” “working on some laundry,” “babysitting the kids,” “fixing some meals,” and so on. My eyes immediately welled up with tears. I kept saying, “Oh my God!” over and over. I just couldn’t believe it. We got off the phone, and I just burst into tears. She had absolutely *no* idea how much I needed something like this and what *perfect* timing it was. Jeff said that it was an answer to his prayers, too, because he was concerned about me having to watch the kids all week by myself. I was simply on cloud nine. We hardly *ever* get to see our families. Read the rest of this entry »
Ness over at Drovers Run!
She’ll receive a package of six of my original photo note cards (with matching envelopes), which I’m selling over at Shining Moments Fine Art Stationery. The contest is now closed ~ many thanks to everyone who left a comment and entered! I wrote the names on slips of paper this morning and had Meredith draw a name from her Jack o’ lantern (which she used for trick or treating!). I could have used Random.org, but having one of the kids participate was fun! :) And Ness happened to be the lucky one chosen.
Thanks so much to everyone who has offered support and encouragement for this new “venture” that I’ve started. I hope that it’ll be successful! I think that I’ll do more note card giveaways this year ~ probably one during the fall and one before Christmas.
A friend is coming over tomorrow morning to watch Lucas and Meredith while I conduct an interview for a feature story that I’m writing for our local newspaper. I said that maybe after I get back, she could stay and have lunch with us (as a way of thanking her for babysitting). But now, I need to figure out what to serve! I swear ~ despite all of the fantastic cookbooks that we own, sometimes I just can’t figure out what to make. I know that she likes quiche, but I fixed that the last time she came over. Rachael Ray’s latest magazine has lots of awesome-sounding recipes, so maybe I’ll go through and see whether anything jumps out at me.
Speaking of food … I had *oh* such a healthy lunch today: chicken nuggets dipped in honey, Lucas’s uneaten “Cars” Spaghettios, and a bunch of sugar wafers (which I needed to buy today in order to make Martha Stewart’s No-Bake Chocolate and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars). Why do I do that to myself? I went to the grocery store hungry, so it was difficult not to pig out when I brought everything home. *sigh* If I keep this up, I’m going to need something crazy like Leptitrex, LOL! :)
Oh, here’s a funny story. I stopped at the post office this morning to mail an eBay package, and an elderly gentleman pointed out to me that I had a leaf or something on the back of my white skirt. I took a look, laughed, and said, “Oh, yes I do … thanks so much for telling me!” He left, and I turned back to the counter and said to our postmaster, “Hey ~ does that mean that he was looking at my rear end?” She laughed and said, “He’s a guy. All guys do that.” :D
As you probably know by now, I’ve *really* gotten into photography during the past year. I’ve always enjoyed it ~ ever since taking my first photography class in high school. And I continued learning about photography in college as a journalism major and when I graduated and became a newspaper reporter. But here lately, it has captured my interest as a main hobby. I don’t necessarily want to become a professional photographer (I think that I’ll leave that to the experts ~ at least for right now!), but I’ve been wanting to do something special with my photographs. Sharing them somehow (besides just Flickr). And that’s when I came up with this idea:
I found a way to combine three of my passions ~ photography, graphic design, and letter-writing ~ by having some of my best photos printed as artistic, original note cards and selling them on Etsy. (If you don’t know what Etsy is, please check it out sometime ~ all of the items listed there are handmade by talented people around the world!) I only have three note card sets up for sale right now, but I plan to expand as soon as I figure out whether anyone actually has an interest in them! :)
My grandma used to *love* writing letters, and I definitely think that I inherited that wonderful trait from her. I’ve loved to write for as long as I can remember. Sure, I adore e-mail ~ but there’s just something incredibly special about sitting down to write someone a note or a letter. The excitement of a brand-new notebook or a gorgeous piece of stationery, the feel of the pen in your hand and the way that it glides across the smooth paper, searching for exactly the right words to express your thoughts, perhaps decorating the envelope with stickers, affixing a stamp and return address label … how exciting it is to receive something fun and handwritten in your mailbox! I truly think that letter-writing is a lost art, and I want to change that!
I’d like to offer a little “giveaway” of sorts. On your blog (if you’d like to participate), write some kind of post related to letter-writing. Provide a link back to this particular entry, and let me know (via e-mail or in the comments section here) that you’ve submitted something. I’ll gather the names of all the contest participants in a big hat and draw one ~ and that person will win a package of six note cards created by me. (I’m not sure which design it’ll be ~ how about I surprise you?) And if you don’t have a blog, in order to enter, feel free to leave your name in a comment right here (along with a sentence or two about why you’d like to enter).
Your blog entry could be about a letter that you’ve recently written to someone, maybe a love letter that you’ve secretly kept all these years, your children excitedly writing letters to Santa, a long-time pen pal overseas ~ anything you want, as long as it relates to writing a letter. Just have fun with it! And if you have any questions, of course please let me know. The deadline for submitting a blog entry for this contest is July 31, 2008. I’ll draw the winner on August 1, 2008, and announce it on my blog that day.
Thanks so much for letting me share my excitement about this new venture! :)
I took a “weather and climate” class in college. Back then, my dream was to become a TV journalist ~ so I figured that knowing a little bit about the weather would help. I thought that I could occasionally step away from the anchor desk and fill in as the TV station’s meteorologist if necessary. LOL! :) I am *so* not a science or math person, though, so I was *plenty* nervous about how I would get through the class. Surprisingly, I *totally* fell in love with the subject! I put a *lot* of effort into it, too (and sometimes wonder what happened to my lab partner). We learned about isobars, fronts, climate history, different types of clouds, how hail forms, you name it. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by meteorology (and even had secret dreams of working as a weather forecaster). And actually, when I switched gears and decided that newspaper reporting was best for me, weather knowledge *did* come in handy with all of the weather stories that I reported on. I’m *very* glad that I took that class. So when I saw this professional weather station online, I started drooling. You can even use it to upload weather data to your computer! (Make sure to check out other items on sale here, too.) I know that Liz has a weather station at her home, so if you’d like to know more, she’d be the person to contact. But someday, I’d also like to have a professional weather station at our house. Didn’t know that I’m a bit of a “weather geek,” did you? :)
OK ~ let’s completely change topics. (Although weather can definitely affect baking on occasion!) This morning, I decided to bake a cake (with Lucas’s help) to take over to our friends’ house tomorrow to thank her for inviting us over for a playdate. I used a simple recipe from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. Lucas *loves* to bake with me, but … it’s just *so* hard to let him go and do things on his own instead of me correcting everything. (Do you know what I mean?)
He’s not very neat about putting flour into the mixing bowl, and when I’m not looking, he tries to dump a bunch of other stuff in (to “help”). Like this morning, he *desperately* wanted to break the eggs into the bowl, but I told him that some parts Mommy has to do. He got kind of upset and squeezed my hand just as I was about to break the egg ~ and a few eggshells went into the batter. It was a mess. I should have just *let* him break the eggs himself and then fished the eggshells out later. No big deal, right? But … it’s just *very* difficult for me to “let go” when it comes to things like that. (I am such a perfectionist!) Sometime, I should let him make his own cookies. Whatever ingredients he wants to add. And let him mix everything up by himself and put the cookies onto the baking sheet himself. I shudder to think about how they might turn out (LOL!), but he’d have a *blast* doing it and would probably learn a lot. When it comes to cooking with the kids, I kind of “hover” too much and take over ~ and I need to work on that.
Reminds me of the time when I attempted to make tomato soup from scratch for the first time, by myself. I have *no* idea what ingredients I added, but it turned out bright pink. Didn’t use a recipe. So nasty. But hey ~ I learned how *not* to make tomato soup! :)
We’ve been searching for a new laptop to replace the one that Lucas spilled iced tea on. (Actually, it was my fault ~ why I placed a full glass of sweetened iced tea with lemon right next to our laptop, within arms reach of a toddler, is beyond me.) I miss having a laptop *so* much. We have wireless here at home, so we can be anywhere in the house (or even outside, in our front yard!) using the computer. That was *so* handy when I was nursing the kids … I could be on the couch checking my e-mail during a feeding session! haha :) Anyway, right now with all of these freelance assignments, I *so* wish that I could be anywhere in our house working while watching the kids. So many times I’ve wanted to stretch out on our bonus room futon and snuggle with Lucas while editing a book. *sigh* My husband thinks that he may have found a $400 laptop, but today I also came across this one on sale. And holy cow … here’s a 16GB secure digital high capacity memory card, too. I wonder how many photos I could fit onto that sucker? LOL! :)
By the way, I’ve been wanting to post an update on how Lucas is feeling. We’re still giving him the strawberry creamsicle-flavored amoxicillin, even though he’s feeling absolutely normal now. He has been back to his regular self for some time now. Thank goodness! We really appreciate all of your care and concern. It means a lot to us. There’s a vaccine against Lyme Disease, and I think that I’m going to ask our doctor about it. I’m also *extremely* happy to hear that Carol is starting to feel better. So scary how prevalent the disease is around here. :(
As I mentioned before, my sophomore year college roommate is coming to visit on Thursday and is staying with us until Sunday. Pretty much all of our meals are covered (I figure that sandwich-type stuff will do for lunches ~ or going out to eat). But dinner is another story. I’d like to make a yummy meal for us to enjoy on Thursday evening. (Friday night, we might take her out to eat at our local café, and Saturday night will probably be cookout leftovers.) I just don’t know what to fix. (Funny … tons of clipped recipes in our kitchen but yet I just don’t know which one to choose!)
It would be great to find a dinner dish that’s relatively quick and easy to put together (because I’d rather talk with Claire instead of dealing with a bunch of complicated ingredients in the kitchen). But I’d also like a “wow” factor, too, you know? It’s somewhat difficult because I don’t know what Claire and her daughter like to eat, not to mention whether they have any food allergies (I totally forgot to ask her). I suppose that the dish should be pretty kid friendly, too. Something in the slow cooker would work, and maybe something kind of summery.
Everyone likes pasta, right? Maybe a nice pasta dish with yummy bread and salad? No clue yet about dessert. I thought that I would ask you culinary types out here in blogland to find out whether you’ve fixed any awesome dinner recipes lately or know of some cool links where I could find some. I’ll probably go grocery shopping tomorrow (or even tonight on the way home after dealing with my stupid speeding ticket!). Thanks in advance!
And speaking of food, I’m off to fix the kiddos their lunches. PB&J, here I come! :)
