Life and Times of a single mom

Family

2008-08-06T22:47:00.002-05:00

You know so many of us feel guilt if we don't take our kids somewhere for a big vacation every year or every spring break. I try to explain to a friend of mine that sure your kids will remember those trips but they may not be the ones they cherish the most. Growing up we only took one big vacation that I remember and that was to Florida - I was ready to move and luckily as a adult my daughter and I got to spend two years in Florida and honestly that was the hardest part of the divorce - leaving the beach. My family also took trips to Branson and to Magic Springs - a local amusement park here in Hot Springs, AR and those were great times too. The time I remember as the most fun was when we had a family water fight. My Mom and I were on one side of the house with a water hose and my Dad and brother was on the other side of the house with a water house and the fight was on. I don't really remember any other specifics of it but the laughter and the giggles. That was a great time and a great memory.

I hope that Erynn will have memories like that to remember. I know from our big trip that we took one of the memories that I will always have is of her "stealing" rocks for me on the trip. It started with the Petrified Forest and them telling us that you couldn't pick anything up to take home and we didn't, but after that everywhere we went we took at least one rock with us. When we were coming out of a motel in Jackson Hole, WY Erynn said, "Mom I've found the perfect rock for you. Pull the car over here for me." So I moved the car to where she was at and she put in this nice round rock. She was so proud of herself and that's really when it began. I kept hearing, "Mom, what do you think of this rock?" My back floorboard by the time we got home was full of rocks, but she had rocks to share with her Nana too of the trip. What an inexpensive souveniour but I hope that it always brings back memories for her of that special time we spent together.

What's a memory that you have of a special family time?

August 5, 2008 - Wow where did summer go?

2008-08-05T08:46:00.004-05:00

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This is what I worked on this weekend - making a bird bath look like aged copper. I used metallic folk art acrylic copper paint and sponge brushed the whole thing and then used calypso sky blue where I would think water would run down the bird bath and then to age it I sprayed it with black spray paint here and there. I sealed it with clear acrylic spray paint - twice but I'm still scared to put water in it!LOL

I got out the sewing machine this weekend too. My sewing machine and I have a love/hate relationship and usually the machine really hates me. I have been needing to make a curtain to cover the shelves over my washing machine and have had the material but just haven't done it yet. So I cut that and started working on it but nothing finished yet. I also cut material out for two pillows to put on the bench on the front porch. In the Lowes magazine I got several months ago they had pillows they had decorated with acrylic paint for chairs on the porch and had house # and then Welcome on another and I'm thinking of doing that with these. I think I will spray them with scotchguard first to try to keep them from molding and then paint the info on them and then stuff them.

Erynn will start 9th grade on the 19th of this month. Where does time go? It seems like it was just yesterday when I dropped her off for Kindergarten. She has been wanting her hair blonde so we did it at home this weekend with the Loreal Dream Blonde they came out with. It looks good. She was a blonde until the last few years and it had darkened up to a dirty blonde/light brown. She went to cross country practice yesterday and all the girls were "oohhhing" and "aahhing" over it so it made her happy.

It's been pretty quiet around our household this summer. I haven't taken any summer classes and we did our vacation in June. So we have just been soaking up the quiet before the storm hits again. Erynn starts back the 19th and I start back the 25th. I have 5 business classes I need to take before I can get into the college program I'm wanting in. So I'm in no rush this time, I'm just taking one class this semester and going to enjoy life a little.

Hope all is well in blogger land with all of you! Enjoy the last days of summer!

June 15th

2008-06-15T22:39:00.002-05:00

Well all good things must come to an end. The end of a two week vacation - the final night before I have to go back to work. I have dreaded it for two days now knowing that the vacation is coming to an end and I'll have to be back into a routine again of getting up, getting ready and getting my butt out the door on time. Vacations you don't have to worry about being on time unless you are catching a plane or something.

Our worldwind trip was wonderful and I have over 300 photos that I'm having printed - not including the black and whites I did and the winkflash photo book I ordered. The scrapbook paper has been bought but nothing has been scrapped it. I haven't found the perfect embellishments yet - or so that's my excuse of not working on them.

This week I've been in a funk - who knows why but I put it out there. So maybe getting back into routine is what I need. Honestly, I think I'm still messed up from not taking any classes and not having homework holding over my head - am I missing it or just screwed in the head - probably both.

Hope everyone has a great first day of the week!

June 8th

2008-06-09T09:32:00.003-05:00

We spent the whole day in the car driving home. Erynn and I both couldn't wait to get home. So she slept and I set the cruise control and we drove. We left South Dakota at 6am and got home by 7:30pm. I never want to get in a car again!

It felt great to sleep in my own bed last night. We drove a total of 4373 miles last week and saw a ton. I really hope that it's a trip that Erynn will remember and look back on. I totaled up the gas last night and I spent $362 on 86 gallons of gas. My little car got about 50 miles to the gallon. How cool is that! I set the cruise control the majority of the time and tried to keep my foot off the gas!

Thanks everyone for following our trip. Now the rest of the week will be laundry, laundry!

June 7th

2008-06-09T09:15:00.004-05:00

On the way to Mt. Rushmore we stopped at Bear Country U.S.A. It's one of those drive through zoo's.

Erynn really wanted to see a bear and they had a ton of them at this zoo. They even had a bunch of babies too.

Mt. Rushmore:

This is Keystone, SD. You drive through this town on your way to Mt. Rushmore. We stopped and did a little shopping and had a lunch.
Badlands:

I was a little disappointed in the badlands. I just really had this picture made up in my mind and it wasn't like I thought at all. It was neat but after seeing the Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest it was really no big deal.

Day 7 - June 6

2008-06-07T08:08:00.004-05:00

This is Cody, WY were we stayed.
There is a big Buffalo Bill museum here in Cody.
Wyoming is considered a highland dessert - but it's still greenier than AZ, NM, NV.

Here is Devil's Tower. You drive 37 miles off the highway to get to it and you can't see it until you are almost there.

There is prairie dogs as you go in the park. Guess were we spent most of our time at!

We stopped in Deadwood, SD and spent the night and are on our way to Custer State Park and Mt. Rushmore!

Day 6 Continued

2008-06-07T08:00:00.003-05:00

Here is Old Faithful Geyser. Did you know it blows about every 90 minutes give or take 10 minutes. The way the wind was blowing all we could see was smoke where we were at.
Baby buffalo on the side of the road

One of the many falls in Yellowstone
You can't really tell but this caldron had a blue green color to the water.

Day 6 - June 5th

2008-06-06T08:41:00.007-05:00

We left the cute town of Jackon Hole, WY on our way to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone

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Moose on the loose! He's outside the wildlife refugee trying to get back in!

This is cottonwood creek! Erynn and I played in it. It was could.
Elk in the Grand Teton park.
Jennie Lake.

Momma moose and the baby. The baby is a dark brown.
I'll post more this evening on Yellowstone. Having a hard time getting blogger to work today!

We are leaving Cody, WY on our way east today!

Day 5 - June 4

2008-06-05T08:48:00.005-05:00

Hi from Jackson Hole, WY! Wow is the weather cool here! It was 48 when we drove in yesterday and I think the high is supposed to be 51. We were glad we put on pants and tennis shoes!

I told Erynn the only thing she has seen on the trip is the inside of her eyelids!LOL She has been a great navigator and speed monitor!

It was a beautiful drive up here. I definetely like the Utah, WY, ID area more than the desert of NM,AZ, NV. I love the greens better than the browns.

We drove through Provo Canyon and saw the Bridal Veil Falls.

There were several wild life refuges and we saw these antelope.

This is the snake river. It's huge!

Today we are off to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone!

Day 4 - June 3

2008-06-03T21:27:00.003-05:00

Erynn and I got up and walked the strip this morning! We actually slept in until about 8 a.m. and made it down to the strip by 10 a.m. Most of the shops didn't open until 10 a.m. We both found purses that we just had to have. There was even a mall on the strip and we found a cute store called ABC Store - they are a convenience chain from Hawaii. We got some cute stuff in there!LOL We also learned that when you get too warm or need to use the restroom to walk into any of the casinoes. Did I say that sodas were $3 a piece? By 1:30 we had to get the heck out of dodge! We had spent way too much money on food, fun and sodas.

We saw the Las Vegas Speedway-

We hit the road on our way to Utah toward the Grand Tenton's and Yellowstone. We only made it to Cedar City, Utah. We have about 500 miles to make it to the Grand Tenton's. After being in the hot sun all day long I was tired. This town is so pretty and new. I asked Erynn if she would like to move here thinking she would say "no way" but she said "yes, we would be close to Vegas"!

Utah is beautiful. So much greenier.

Day 3- June 2nd

2008-06-03T20:53:00.007-05:00

Erynn and I left Holbrook, AZ on our way to the Grand Canyon - which was about a three hour drive. After being on the road just a few minutes we came across Jackrabbit, AZ. Michele C. has photos of when they went through a few years ago so I knew it what it was and so we made a quick stop.

I had to beg Erynn to get out of the car to just take a photo of me! She would not stand by it or get on it for me to take a photo of her! Party pooper!

The Grand Canyon is a sight to see. It's just breathtaking and so hard to catch the true beauty in a photo. It was a little hazy so the colors just aren't as strong in the photos as they were in real life.

The one thing that made me really nervous was there wasn't very much safety railing at all and I know that's so it doesn't mess up the view. I am really glad that Erynn is grown up enough to listen because I heard plenty of parents threatening their young ones to stay on the path. People were climbing all over the side of it! For someone that's afraid of heights it was a little nerve racking for me!

We had this squirrel come up to us on the path begging for food.

He tried like crazy to get us to feed him. He was the fatest squirrel I have ever seen!

The landscape to the Grand Canyon was real surprising for me. I figured it would be dry with brush like what we had been seeing but you go through several national forest to get there and there are pine trees everywhere. Much greenier than what we had been seeing!

We left the Grand Canyon heading to the Hoover Dam. Of what all we had seen the Hoover Dam and Lake Meade are two of my favorites of sights to see. The water at Lake Meade was a beautiful turqouise color that reminds me of the when the warm water comes into the gulf in Florida. To get to the Dam you still have to go through checkpoints since 9/11. There is a lot of construction where it looks like they are doing a new bridge.

As we were leaving the dam we drove down to Lake Meade and it's beautiful. You have the turqouise blue with the red of the rock - just beautiful!

Then Ms. Garmin led us to Treasure Island in Vegas! Wow what a town! We saw the siren show.

Oh I tried my hand at the slots while Erynn used Wifi in the room. I had a blast on the 2cent machine and had won $50 and lost it back to the casino. I walked in and played a $50 and cashed out with $50.50. 50 cent gain!LOL

2nd Day May 31,2008

2008-06-02T07:51:00.006-05:00

< Leaving the hotel this was the view we had. I still can't get over how far you can see. On the way to 4 Corners today and Petrified National Forest.
On the way to the four corners we saw Shiprock.
I was told that I would be disappointed in the 4 Corners but honestly the drive was something to see. We went through at town called Cuba, NM that was a really cute town. We did a little shopping at 4 corners - Erynn got a anklet and I got a bracelet with the 4 corner embelm on it. They had baby bracelets made of glass beads and juniper beads that were to keep ghost/evil away from the babies.

Through the reservations it was unbelieveable the conditions they live in. Erynn and I were fascinated with the round houses - we definetely want to find out more about them. They used anything they had to make their barns, corrals. Here they live in very simple conditions but they have the most beautiful view out their back door. Makes you think about whether or not we really need all our gadgets to be happy doesn't it. Erynn said our little modest house makes us look rich to what a lot of them have. I think it was a eye opener for her too.
This is inside the petrified forest in the painted forest.
Erynn wanted this photo for her My Space page!

This is the Blue Mesa in the petrified forest.
Mule deer on the side of the road.

We took a 1 mile hike into the Blue Mesa and going down was easy but coming back up in flip flops was rough! We spent the night in Holbrook, AZ and ate at a little italian restaurant called The Mesa Italian. We drove about 650 miles and will be leaving for the Grand Canyon tomorrow!

Wildlife - We have seen prairie dogs, cows, horses, some goats, lambs, mule deer and lots of crows!

Until tomorrow!

1st day of road trip

2008-06-01T07:38:00.007-05:00

Erynn and I left the state of Arkansas at about 6 a.m. with Ms. Garmin in her womanly voice telling us to turn right and off we went!

I knew that today's travels would mostly be boring -we are both in a rush to get to the Grand Canyon and see it so we didn't sight see much through Texas or Oklahoma.

We saw all the windmill/turbin things in Oklahoma. Those things are huge and I kept trying to figure out how I could get one of those in my backyard to use for electricity!

On I40 in Texas is the huge cross you can see for miles and miles but we actually missed the exit for it.

Erynn laughed at me because I stopped and took pictures of "nothingness" in Texas. I have never seen anything like it and New Mexico is looking like Texas except more red clay.

In Amarillo we spray painted the cadillacs and then we were off to New Mexico!

We made it to Moriarty, NM and spent the night. In the morning we'll start the trip to the 4 corner states!

Strawberry Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

2008-05-13T21:23:00.003-05:00

This recipe is out of Paula Deen's magazine and is to die for!

18.25 oz pkg strawberry cake mix
1/2 c butter, softened
4 large eggs
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
16 oz box confectioners sugar
3/4 c chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking pan. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, butter and 1 egg. Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan. In a separate large bowl, beat cream cheese and 3 eggs at medium speed with a electric mixer until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until combined. Stir in strawberries and spoon mixture over cake mixture. Bake for 35-40 min or until center is set. Cool completely; cut into squares to serve. Garnish with sweetened whipped cream and strawberries. I served with vanilla ice cream.

I made this for my Mom for Mother's Day and my Dad requested that I leave the pan at his house! It's one of the best cakes I've had in a while and that says a lot from me because I'm a chocolate-oholic and this doesn't have chocolate in it.

The other recipe I made this weekend for my scrapbooking ladies was:
Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

Butter, for greasing pan, plus 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 egg, plus 2 eggs
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 to 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 8 tablespoons (1 stick) melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside. In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed. Slowly add the remaining 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth. Stir in nuts with a rubber spatula. Spread filling over cake mixture in pan.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake; the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces.

This cake was a huge hit too and only a few bites came home with me but if I had to choose between them I think I would go with the strawberry - shuuush - don't tell anyone!

How life has changed

2008-05-13T21:02:00.003-05:00

Many of you know Daisy and this is my last photo with her. I haven't seen Daisy since January at my parent's house. They think she has babies and is taking care of them so maybe we'll meet again. In January, my Dad told me he thought she was living underneath one of their buildings toward the back of their property and so I went out at dusk time and called and called Daisy really thinking that she wouldn't come. I heard some scurrying behind me and I turned and there was Daisy running as fast as she could to me. I honestly was nervous wondering if I should put my hands down to her or not so I decided I would bend down and put my hands out and see if she would come to me. Daisy was in my arms before I could get completely down. She let me hold her in my arms and pet her belly (holding like a baby) and she gave me kisses and then she was on my shoulder and off we went to the house to get her a treat. My mom took this photo and said she wasn't sure who was smiling bigger me or Daisy. All I know is this little creature wiggled her way into my heart more so than any pet I have ever had. We have truly been blessed to share some time with her.

Graduation for my Associates happened at the end of April. It took a little over three years but I accomplished it. So I have the first summer off in three years! ROAD TRIP! Erynn and I are hitting the road at the end of May for a little bit over two weeks going everywhere out west and back. We have never done a long trip like this together before but we have the gps and are ready to roll! Check back because we are going to try to keep a running journal of our travels.

TV Giveaway!

2007-07-31T16:20:00.000-05:00

5 Minutes for Mom is Giving One of You a 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV!!!
Yes, you read that correctly - even though I can hardly believe it myself - we are giving away an Insignia® 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV!!! This incredible prize is valued at $799.99 and is courtesy of Best Buy.

I know! How exciting is that?!? (I just wish I could enter to win it!)

So do you want to know more about your future TV? Well, this is one fabulous prize…

The ultra slim, lightweight Insignia® 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV (Model: NS-LCD37) features 1366×768 Resolution, with 16:9 widescreen ratio for cinema-quality viewing. You will be enjoying picture perfect quality from every angle and not missing any details with its built in high definition capabilities.

The TV measures 5″ deep and will look fantastic either in an entertainment center or mounted on a wall (with optional mounting kit, not included.)

Along with a ton of other features - you can read all about them over at Best Buy - this model is equipped with a V-Chip for parent control and is Energy Star compliant.

And - for extra fun - your new TV can double as a PC monitor so that you can download and watch HD movies.

Okay - so you want it of course. We all do! How can you get it? Well, as I promised, one of you is going to win it for free just be entering here!

Here is how to enter:

First - leave a comment here at this post by Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 12:00am Eastern. We will announce the winner Friday morning, August, 17th. Please only comment once - any duplicate entries will be deleted.
Second - on your blog, link to this contest so that your readers can have a chance to win too. You gotta let your readers know about this! And also please link to Best Buy to thank them for sponsoring this great contest. If you are not a blogger, no worries, you obviously can’t link. But please tell your friends about the contest. I am sure they will thank you!
This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses!!! YEAH!
GOOD LUCK!!!
(Remember someone has to win - and it might very well be YOU!)

Life in general

2007-07-31T10:47:00.000-05:00

I am the worst for feeling guilty for making a purchase for myself. I will go out and spend $100 on a pair of running shoes for my daughter but feel guilty if I spend that much on me. What is it with us mom's? I housesit for my boss about twice a year and I usually use that money as mad money for Erynn and I to do whatever we want. This time I bought a "used" not even "new" Cricut machine for my scrapbooking hobby. For those of you that don't know what it is it's a machine that cuts out fonts (like whole words at a time) and shapes. I'm going to sell my other two sizzix fonts since I never use them to maybe buy a new font for my new machine. My new toy will be in Wednesday - oh tomorrow. I can't wait to play with it.

Erynn is leaving Sunday to spend about 11 days with her dad. She is handling it better than she usually does. They are staying in Arkansas and she still has her training for cross country and her dad will get to go to her school orientation and pick up schedules for the 8th grade. It's going to feel very weird at my house after this weekend. I'm taking Friday off to spend the day with her at my parent's pool soaking in the sun and I'm sure we'll eat lunch somewhere. Then Friday night I start my weekend crop. I have packed everything but the kitchen sink. It's going to look like I'm moving in. I can't decide what to take so I'm taking as much as I can!LOL

Please keep Erynn in your thoughts and prayers that she has a good visit with her dad and get's whatever she needs from him. She craves attention from him.

Busyness of Life

2007-07-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

Let's see if I can catch everyone up. I purchased a new car in May. A little Honda Civic. It feels great not having to worry about break downs or how I'm going to pay for repairs since this car has warranty. It's funny the things that you worry about as a single parent and money always seems to be one of them right along with "Am I screwing up my child?". I always tease Erynn that I can just see her in her 20's laying on the psychologist's couch saying, "It all started when my mom....". She laughs and tells me she knows I'm doing the best I can.

We still have Daisy. Daisy is still such a joy in our lives. She is spending the days outside in our back yard. She has a dog crate that she hides in under the breezeway or she hides under the lawn mower. She is still just as sweet and gentle as she can be. I'm wondering if this will change. I can't keep her fastened up - it just seems so inhumane. I tell Erynn that there is a big chance she will get ran over but I figure in the wild she has just as big of a chance of that happening too. In the evening she comes inside and puts herself in puppy's dog crate for the night. We let her wonder around the house some when we are home. She love's puppy's bed in the living room and playing with the dog toys. So far she hasn't climbed any furniture yet.

I have been painting again!LOL. Here are pictures of my kitchen and living room that I have been busy painting the last two weeks. I am so glad to have them done. I was starting to get worried about how dark the paint was but it really makes the house seem warm and inviting. I actually spent time in my living room which I never do. I still am in "awe" over it. I can't believe it's my house.

Erynn and I picked out paint for the scrapbook room. Two shades of pink but this will not happen until Christmas break. I was going to do a chair rail but Dad and I were talking about it and we decided to do stripes. He got so excited and wanted to start measuring walls and figuring it out. I had to remind him I wasn't going to do it tell Christmas break!LOL Evidently he's always wanted to do stripes. The scrapbook room will be the last room that needs to be painted decorated other than pictures to put on the walls in my bedroom and the canvas Erynn and I want to do for the living room.

This is one of the chalkboards that I sprayed onto my door in the kitchen. I have two doors (one for the laundry room and one for the pantry)and I decided to make chalkboards on them. I bought the chef stamp from Stampin up and used staz on white ink to stamp him on the spray on chalkboard. Then I painted him in with acrylic paints and stamped "Menu" on one and "list" on the other one. I have wood trim that I need to primer and paint the same color as my trim work. I'll liquid nail that up with some hot glue to hold it in place until it dries since the doors are hollow wood doors. ***Hint*** If you use this spray on chalkboard be sure to tape - I mean tape all the papers around the place you are going to spray it at. Tape, tape and tape. The overspray has a way to sneak in everywhere. The first door I did I ended up having to sand around the chalkboard and repaint the door! YUCK! The second one was fine since I taped, taped, and double taped paper around where I was going to spray.

Daisy the raccoon

2007-05-11T09:42:00.000-05:00

At the end of March, our local animal shelter had baby raccoons that they needed foster parents for to bottlefeed to be released back into the wild. So I come home carting this little female raccoon that we named Daisy. Of course since she is a baby the first night all she did was cry every time I tried to hold her - as babies normally do when I try to hold them. My daughter was just in awe of her as I was. Do you know that baby raccoon are not born with their mask or the stripes on their tails? That's how you can tell how old they are. Daisy's ears were just starting to open when we got her.

Oh the noises that a raccoon makes. Daisy can purr like a cat when she is happy. She tells you about it when she's upset, a little squeal noise. She also chatters when she's excited. My mom has her brother and they at first would chatter back and forth with each other but they have been separated enough now that they are not sure of each other.

Erynn the other day put just a little bit of warm water in the bathtub for daisy to play in. She gave her a little cat ball and Daisy would go get it and then bring it to the side of the tub for Erynn. It was too funny. Daisy chattered the whole time.

We have been keeping her in my daughter's bathroom in a dog crate. Erynn made her a long box out of small boxes taped together and Daisy loves to hide in there. It's funny in the morning to walk in there because we always call her name "Daisy", "Daisy" and when she sees that bottle she comes barrelling out. After Daisy finishes her bottle she has to give you lovings. She puts her little feet on your face like she is holding your face and then washes you like a cat washes. Lately she has been getting upset with us when we go to put her up.

Have I told you how soft her little feet are? They are like the finest leather. She loves for me to rub them for her. She has 5 little fingers that are jointed. Her little feet are so amazing!

Now, every time I see a raccoon hit on the road I think that could be Daisy some day. It's a very neat time but a very sad time for us because I know she is wild and we will have to let her go.

2 things my mom always told me to do

2007-05-04T07:57:00.000-05:00

Dixie on SBA is really challenging us to blog this week. I have just had my head stuck in World Civilization up to the 1600's this past eight weeks. So it's good to finally think of something else.

When I started junior high my mom always told me to take as many business courses as I could. She said the more I learned the more I would be worth to a business. I took all the typing and business classes I could when I was in junior high and high school. I worked my senior year with a local attorney's office part time while going to school through a work program.

After I got married my mom also told me to always work so that no matter what I would be able to take care of myself. I have basically never not worked. I think the longest I have gone without a job is two weeks since I was eighteen. My ex husband was military and we moved about every three years. I always had a job within two weeks of us moving. I am the type of person that I don't know what to do if I'm not working. I end up cleaning baseboards, etc. I need other human interaction.

I am so thankful for my mother's wisdom. So many women find themselves in the divorce world with several children and no work skills and well it's scary enough being out there with work skills. I am also thankful for my parent's help and encouragement while I go back to college. I started college at the age of 34 with just one class a term at night. I now have 7 classes left to finish my associates in liberal arts so that I can transfer it to one of our 4 yr colleges for Business Management/Accounting degree.

I really want to be a nurse but currently that will have to wait. My daughter is a teenager and well she needs me right now during these tough teenage years. I always tell her that when she starts college I'll start nursing school.

I love to learn new things and the challenge of learning them. I just have to learn not to beat myself up so much over a "B" because 20 yrs from now nobody is going to know whether or not I made straight "A's".

2 Very embarrassing moments in my life....

2007-05-03T14:33:00.001-05:00

Hoppy from SBA is trying to get us all the update our blogs. I just haven't been very organized lately and well it's about it drive me crazy. I just can't seem to catch up. I finish both classes tonight and then I have a 1 1/2 weeks off before they start again. Do you think I will get anything done during that week - no I will probably be a slug until right toward the end and try to kill myself to get everything done and then I'll be tired again. LOL Story of my life!

One of the most embarrassing moments of my life has to been when I was about 20. I had a dress on and was in a dress shop to go tan. When I came out of the tanning bed my full skirt was stuck in the back of my panty house and luckily the lady told me. There was a man in there waiting to tan and I'm sure he saw my underwear!LOL Thankfully this was way before the time of butt floss and when I was much younger!

The second one has to deal with a dress again and my darling daughter. I had on this long blue jean dress with a full skirt on and I was waiting in line at Best Buy to have my computer repaired. At the time Erynn was probably around the age of 3 and she was twirling around my legs while I was in line. I had a whole line of people behind me and suddenly I feel air and then my skirt goes back down. My darling daughter had just flashed everyone behind me with a view of my butt. I never turned around I just picked her up and held her the rest of the time. Talk about mortified!LOL

Oh I forgot about the start of my bad luck with dresses. It started when I was in kindergarten wearing a dress my mom had made for me. It was pink and I loved the material. It was so cute. The dress had a high waist on it. At recess I sat down on the swing to swing and the whole front part of the wasit came undone. The teacher on duty sent me to the office and they pinned my dress back together again. My mom never made me another piece of clothing after that!LOL

So see this is why I never wear full skirts or dresses anymore. Way too many embarrassing things happen to me in a dress.

Hello my name is Angie

2007-04-11T10:20:00.000-05:00

Yes I know I haven't been around much lately. Life has kind of gotten in the way or I've let it get in the way. I'm struggling along with two classes this 8 weeks and they are both very boring and I'm not liking them very much. Honestly, I'm questioning why I'm going to college and if it's really going to make that much difference in my life. Will the pay really be better, or will it just add more stress to my life? Normally more money means more responsibility and more hours and well I don't know that I can take much more of that!LOL

I'm on the change of lifestyle wagon again. I need to loose 20 pounds that I have gained as my protector from getting out in the dating world. Not that the 20 pounds have really helped keep me out of trouble. So this week thanks to Janice we are adding water to my life. My goal is to drink three or more glasses of water a day. I'm a diet dr pepper kind of girl - that's all I drink so plain no bubbly water is a challenge for me but so far I've done it. I'm tired of the yoyo of loosing weight and putting on more. I'm still below my highest weight by 30 lbs but well honestly it wouldn't take much before I would be there. Most of you would look at me and say I do not need to loose weight but I do. The junk is crammed into the trunk of my pants that nobody can see until I take them off. I will never be a 2 again or even a 4. I would love to be a 6 again but honestly right now I would settle for a 8 and it not be too tight. Valerie Bertinelli has joined Jenny Craig and she has a wonderful blog that I encourage anyone that's on this battle to check out for some inspiration.

My daughter will be pledged into the National Honor's Society this weekend at her school. She is very excited about this and I'm very proud of her for this accomplishment. I'm sure this means shopping for a new outfit this weekend!LOL But she deserves it!

I haven't been cooking lately so I don't have any recipes to share right now. I haven't been in a cooking mood lately. Hopefully that will change soon.

Hope everyone is doing well in blogland and I hope to catch up to you all soon!

Wow - a whole month!

2007-03-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

Where does the time go? I can't believe that a month has went by already. Things have been hectic but fun. I signed up for two college classes this term with one of them being online. Boy, oh boy is it crazy at my house right now. Erynn is doing track but not real excited about it. She is sort of upset with herself because she didn't try out for cheerleading and a lot of her friends did.

I as usual haven't sat still for very long. I still need to seal my cabinets in the kitchen that I did last month. I've been out working in my flowerbed and enjoying the sunshine. I have my spot for my vegetable garden all cleaned up and I have planted some loose leaf lettuce in there and I have several peat pots in the house with seeds in them. I'm going to try squash, spinach, basil, and some herb plants along with some tomato plants. So we shall see if I kill them or not. No painting lately. I have plans for the living room/kitchen area with a bankok red but it will probably be a winter project. I'm starting to settle down in the house stuff. I only have the scrapbook room and the living room/kitchen area left to paint and well it can wait. Right now with the sun shining I want to be outside in my flower beds and yard playing around.

Michele and I are going to a weekend crop this weekend. Our first weekend without kids in forever. We are like two teenagers sneaking out for a weekend without our parents. It's Michele's first big crop and my first one that I spend the night at. We have been planning and packing all week.

I've joined the dating world again. Someone that I have met in my college classes and I've had several classes with. We are having a great time getting to know each other and well it's nice to smile again and to have someone to share things with.

Hope everyone out there in blogger world is good. I'll try to be better about updating. I had some computer issues that have finally been fixed so I won't have that excuse anymore! I'll try to post some layouts next week from this weekend!

I've been ill but busy!

2007-02-21T18:42:00.000-06:00

This was my kitchen cabinets before Saturday evening. In the picture they look nice and white but when the people flipped the house they did a really bad job of painting the cabinets with runs and everything in them and really cheap hardware.

I bought my antique glaze at Lowe's with the rags and gloves -spent about $30. I bought new hardware pulls at ebay for $20. Now I need to put some type of protectant over them. I'll be making a trip back to Lowe's this weekend - not sure that I will do it this weekend though. I had just planned on doing one cabinet to just see and before I knew it I had all the bottom one's done and got up on Sunday and finished the top ones. So it went very fast - messy but fast. When I should have been taking it easy. I woke up Saturday dragging and by Sunday evening had a full blown cold. Now I honestly feel like I have had the flu - I ache and just feel bad all over. I stayed home Tuesday and today but I have to go in tomorrow and Friday for the end of the period at work.

Hope everyone out in blog land is doing well. I'll do better next week in posting I promise!

Monday Menu, February 12, 2007

2007-02-12T09:08:00.000-06:00

This weekend was a nice, quiet weekend. I honestly didn't do a lot. I had plenty to do but well we just sat around and watched tv. I took Erynn shopping Saturday morning and she got a few new clothes. Gosh, as they grow it's hard to keep them in clothes! When they are little we want them to grow and then when they start growing we don't want them to anymore.

Sunday: Ate corned beef sandwiches at my mom's

Monday: Cheese tortinelli - didn't eat last week

Tuesday: Class

Wednesday: Church dinner

Thursday: Class

Friday: Mini meatball soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, sour cream pound cake -
I'm scrapbooking with my cousin Martha and her daughter Jennifer. Can't wait to see
them!

Saturday: Dad's b-day - making him a hummingbird cake

Hope that everyone has a great week! Check out Laura's blog for more menus!

Monday Menu Plan February 5, 2007

2007-02-05T07:58:00.000-06:00

Well, this past weekend was very busy at my house. My 13 yr old went to her first formal dance. All day on Saturday she was a nervous wreck. She was worried her dress wasn't dressy enough (this coming from my sports playing tomboy), to someone having the same dress as her. I really don't think she ate much at all - I finally enticed her with her favorite taco bell and got her to eat a late lunch after getting her hair put up. Let me show you some pics:

Ok, now after seeing those pics can you see why I'm so sad. This is my only baby and where did she go and who is this teenager that has replaced my tomboy. Someone suggested I get a shotgun. I brought the photos to work this morning and shared them with my coworkers and they were just as shocked as I was. It just seems like this has happened over night.

Saturday morning we woke up to this:

Can you see the forks too? It was too funny. The girl next door and a friend of theirs did this. Erynn was so excited - I guess it's a "Right of Passage". I'm just thankful there wasn't a lot to pick up.

So finally here is my menu for the week:

Sunday: I had left over potato soup before I went to the Superbowl party and pigged out.

Monday: Stromboli - I'm just making one of those package pizza crust and putting sausage, cheese and pepperoni on the inside and baking it and then dipping in spaghetti sauce.

Tuesday: Class

Wednesday: Cheese tortolini (sp?) with alfredo sauce and veggies

Thursday: Class

Friday: Meatloaf

Saturday: Bowling alley with the Single's group from church

OH, I watched some of Paula Dean on FoodNetwork yesterday and I'm telling you I think I gained 10 lbs just watching. I printed out a ton of recipes and I'll let you know as I try them.

I hope everyone has a great week and be sure to check out Laura's blog for more menus!

My favorite afghan to make

2007-01-31T08:34:00.000-06:00

This is my very favorite afghan to crochet. You use a 8H afghan hook - it's a long hook and you crochet it in strips. It works really fast. I have made about three of these so far. They are very heavy and very warm because of the single crochet. My favorite yarn to use is Caron Simply Soft but when I can't purchase it on sale I will then purchase Red Heart. I can't figure out how to attach the instructions so if you would like a copy email me and I'd be happy to send them to you.

Happy Crocheting!

January 29, 2007 Monday Menu

2007-01-29T08:27:00.000-06:00

Well, this weekend was a quiet one for us and I really needed it to be. I spent Friday evening with my friend Michele and her three boys. We made fried rice and had spring rolls - YUMMY! Then Parker (Michele's youngest boy - he's 5) gave me a sack of pecans that he's been picking up and asked me to make him a pecan pie!LOL These are the little bitty pecans and it may be easier to purchase pecans to make him a pecan pie! He associates me with Chocolate and if I don't bring chocolate he thinks I don't love him anymore! He is a cutie! I'm doing very simple meals the next few weeks.

Sunday: Pork tenderloin cooked in crockpot with dry lipton herb soup mix, roasted potatoes, garlic biscuits

Monday: Chicken with garlic parmesan noodles and green beans

Tuesday: Class

Wednesday: Meal at the church

Thursday: Class

Friday: Homemade pizzas

Saturday: Erynn's first formal dance!!!!

I have been awful about not posting photos lately and I promise to get better about it. I have lost 3 lbs since starting WW 2 weeks ago. Last week was completely blown because of conferences we had a work and all the junk food laying around from my favorite bakery. So today is a fresh start on a new week. I quit going to the weigh ins because honestly - I can weigh myself in and pay myself the $10 since I can't ever make the meetings. Hope everyone has a great week and be sure to check out Laura's blog for more menus.

Monday Menu January 22, 2007

2007-01-22T10:34:00.000-06:00

Well, this week certainly looks like it's going to be a easy cooking week for me. With class two nights a week and then church - it's only a few day!LOL

Sunday: Autumn Chowder (my daughter's favorite) with cracker bread

Monday: Poll Fajitas new recipe I found on someone's blog and thought I'd try it

Tuesday: Class - dd will eat leftovers before going to mom's

Wednesday: Church

Thursday: Class

Friday: Chicken Parmesan Strips with Roasted potatoes and salad - I think I have had this on the menu several times but I promise I'm going to make it this week!LOL

Saturday: Homemade pizzas

I made the hummingbird cake yesterday and it was so yummy. I had a small slice and then brought the rest of the cake to work today. They are really enjoying it. This is my second week of WW and I think I blew it this week. I wasn't as well with my water as I had been. I'll see tonight when I go weigh.

I made me a household notebook from organizedhome.com and I am really loving it. I have sections for emergency #'s, then address/phone book, menu's/takeouts with phone #'s to local restaurants - the menus are put in page protectors instead of digging through a drawer trying to find them, shopping list/menu - in here I have a menu for the current month and the next month so I can jot down ideas as they come to me - organizedhome also has a recipes to try list that I have been writing recipes on and putting the recipe behind it in the page protector, then lastly bills. I have my monthly list of bills and then a page protector to put the bills in as they come in. So everything is in one binder and if I need it I can carry it with me. It's great. I normally keep it in a drawer at home and my daughter knows where it's at too incase she needs it.

Hope everyone has a great week. Be sure to check out Laura's blog for more menus!

January 16, 2007

2007-01-16T16:02:00.000-06:00

Well, I didn't get my menu posted for this week yesterday.

Monday: Tacos with salad

Tuesday: Class night

Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan strips, green beans, roasted potatoes

Thursday: Class night

Friday: Homemade pizzas - I did these last week with individual biscuits that I rolled out. Erynn loved it.

Saturday: Spaghetti

Sunday: Autumn Chowder

Hummingbird Cake

I honestly didn't do much this weekend. I actually scrapbooked some this weekend and got about 4 pages done.

I weighed in with WW yesterday and I lost 2 1/2 lbs. How I'm really not sure - I've tried to be good but well it's hard. I haven't started the exercising yet and I talked to our WW leader and she suggested that I just focus on the food for another week or two and then add in the exercise. A lot of it is portion sizes and well the vending machine at work. When I walk by that machine it calls my name. This past weekend I fixed some brownies and I just had little (i mean little squares). With me usually I just want a bite and just eat the rest just because it's in front of me. I thought I'd make the hummingbird cake and then take the rest to work on Monday. That way - I got a little treat but don't over do it.

Hope everyone has a great week!

A full week of work....

2007-01-11T15:41:00.000-06:00

uGGGGGGh. I tell you after being off 11 days with the holidays and now finally working a full week of work and starting my class this week - I'm tired. So tired. I have a ton of laundry, a dirty house (not really but I feel like it's dirty because I haven't mopped or dusted this week) and a craft room that is calling my name.

I started on Weight Watchers this week. I have a good 20 pounds to loose. Looking at me you would have no idea that I need to loose that but when the jeans come off the junk starts falling out of the trunk. I'm just carrying too much weight, my knees are sore and I can see it in my face and arms, too. It's been tough. I've tried not to feel guilty for going over in points each night but I have. I keep telling myself little changes and I'll get there but I feel like I'm starving and I'm really not. I haven't got the exercise going yet - one change at a time - let me get the food under control and then I'll start it - I promise! Have you ever notice that certain foods trigger you to eat more - mine is mexican food. I love mexican food but I know if I eat it and even just a little bit it throws me off plan for days! Did I say I love mexican food?!! The little lady at El Canaverals will be asking where I have been.

I got the hardware for my kitchen cabinets in the mail on Monday and I'm anxious to get started but I'm tired and I think it can wait a week or two or maybe three. I'm awful about wanting to get things done and like my neighbor said this summer, "you aren't moving anytime soon are you?" He also asked for a list of things I planned to do to the yard so he was prepared and knew how much it was going to cost him too!LOL I have done a lot with my parents and friend Michele's help since moving in the last of April 06. My parents came over within a month of me moving in and dug a flowerbed the whole length of the house in the front for me. Then they put in a little garden for me out back (it was late summer by this time so other than my herbs there is weeds again and needs to be dug back out - on my list to do). Michele and I painted my daughter's room three shades of lavendar when she was gone to Germany in July and I painted her bathroom a bright fun orangy color that matched her shower curtain. I then painted my bedroom/bathroom. So the only rooms left is the living/kitchen that are opened to each other and my scrapbook room. All the flooring is new throughout the house. It's hard to believe that in April I will be there a full year! Where does the time go?

So, I'm tired and I think I will piddle around in my scrapbook room and maybe take a nap or two if my World Lit II instructor doesn't give us a ton of work to do.

Monday Menu January 8, 2007

2007-01-08T08:43:00.000-06:00

Well, it's another week of the new year. Today I start Weight Watchers. YUCK! I know I have to get in the right frame of mind - it should be a change in lifestyle not a diet. I'm really trying to get there. I have about 20 pounds that have snuck up on me somewhere.

This weekend I cooked for my parents. I cooked the sausage and three cheese mac and cheese from Rachel Ray's show. The recipe link is in last week's menu. I also made a tuscan salad and a lemon yogurt cake. On the tuscan salad it asked for cannellini beans and I couldn't find those so I used chick peas. Both of these recipes call for lemon juice and they really suggested using fresh. I have always used the bottled juice but this time I squeezed fresh and oh my goodness. My mom, dad and I ate like little piggies. The mac and cheese makes a ton - I bet it could serve 8 to 10 people so be sure to half the recipe if you need to.

I painted this weekend again! I painted my bathroom the color that was behind my bed in my bedroom. It's called aged copper - I believe. It really made a difference in the room. Now I just need some rugs and and few chocolate towels and that one will be finished.

This is before
This is after!

The kitchen is my next project. I purchased black swedish iron twisted pulls from ebay for 60 cents each. I'm so proud of that purchase. I am going to glaze these with a mocha stain so it will antique them a little bit. I will have to paint the hinges black since they are painted silver right now. When I purchased the house they had painted the cabinets white but the pulls are cheap plastic covered where they peel the silver off. I think this project won't get started for a few weeks. I'm hoping for a quiet weekend this weekend.

Ok here's the menu:

Monday: dry smoked ribs and a large salad - my dad is cooking these for us

Tuesday: Class

Wednesday: Chili dog, salad - not sure how much of the chili dog I will be able to eat - check pts

Thursday: Class

Friday: Tacos or taco salad for me

Saturday: not sure yet

Pretty boring week here. Just trying to get back in the groove of eating right with WW. Hope everyone has a great week. Be sure to check out Laura's blog for more menus.

Making friends in unexpected places...

2007-01-05T22:20:00.000-06:00

Right before Christmas, I was getting ready for a cookie exchange at my church. I have been going to this church off and on for the last couple of years and have finally joined the singles group and going regularly. Well on this particular morning, I just didn't really want to go. I wasn't sure there would be anyone there that I knew and thought I might be bored.

I got there a little bit early and helped finish setting up room that the exchange was going to be in. I met on lady who is about my age and she was to be baptised the following morning. She was telling me that at first she was having problems with it because of her age and that she felt she should have done it when she was younger - she was embarrassed. I told her that I was proud of her - because it was something that I needed to do too and she was talking to others out there in the church that needed to take the step too. My daughter and I have both accepted God as our Saviour but have never taken the step to be baptised. I know that Erynn is very nervous about taking that step and I have told her I will wait for her so we can do it together but I feel the need to take that next step but I don't want to pressure her about it.

Anyway, next I met the neatest person, Linda. Linda is from the area that I grew up in. She is a few years older than me but we just clicked. She is a missionary with her husband and four children in Central Asia. Every three years they come to the states and spend time before they go back. She had such neat things to tell about the culture of the area they had been staying in and the people. Linda is one of those people that when she speaks God speaks to you. You could just sit and listen for hours and I did and was just in awe of her and the wonderful work they do for God in Central Asia.

What brought this up is I sent them a email because they went back right after Christmas. Linda said that it always weighs heavy on her heart until they leave but she knows that this is what they are called to do. Isn't it funny to know that others have that problem too - don't want to but know they are to do God's work. She and her family have made me think of things differently. At Christmas, when I wanted to make a purchase at the spur of the moment - you know not really needed but wanted - I thought - here is Linda and her family and they do without so much more than we do and they are fine - do I really need this? All the material things that we think we need and we really don't need. I have received several emails back from Linda and again she is just an awesome person that I can learn so much from and am very excited to have this special friendship with her.

So on that day that I really didn't want to go - two amazing things happened. A woman talked to me about being baptised at an older age (which spoke to me) and Linda, a very special person that has a lot to teach me about faith. Could you say an extra prayer or two for Linda and her family trying to adjust back to a completely different culture and for God to watch over them and keep them safe while they speak the word of God to the Muslims and try to convert them.

Chicken Adobo and Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle Recipes

2007-01-03T19:42:00.000-06:00

4 chicken breast boneless
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 bay leaf, whole
2 cups water
1 large onion

1. Put chicken into a kettle and add salt, garlic, black pepper,
bay leaves, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and water.
Place a sliced onion in bottom of pan and then put chicken
on top of it.
Cover and let simmer until chicken is tender and brown.
2. Serve over hot or cold rice.

Our neighbor shared this recipe with us. We had it tonight and it was delicious. Even my picky eater daughter ate it.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

2 packages gingerbread mix 14oz pkgs each
5 ounces cook and serve vanilla pudding mix *
30 ounces pumpkin pie filling *
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
12 ounces whip topping mix
1/2 cup gingersnaps, crushed

Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely.
Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool.
Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding. Crumble
1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl.
Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of
cool whip. Repeat with the remaining ingredients ending with the cool
whip on top. Sprinkle the top with crushed gingersnaps. Refrigerate.

*This had a strong pumpkin taste - so if you like pumpkin pie you should really love this. I think that when I make it I'm going to use the pumpkin pudding mix if they have it out again and not as much of the pumpkin pie filling.

Reflections on last year

2007-01-01T18:25:00.000-06:00

It's so hard to believe that a year has went by. Where does the time fly? I'm in such a better place this year than I was last year. Last year I was in a very unhappy, unhealthy marriage. The end of February of last year would have been a year of this marriage. I remember being scared of what I was going to do, hoping he would realize what he was doing, and hating that I had my daughter and myself in this mess. As parents, we try to do what's best for our children and well, I thought this marriage would do that for my daughter. It got us in a nice, big house and my daughter in a great school district but these were not the right reasons for getting married. I loved him but well love isn't always the best. I had separated myself for God and church. When I was going through my thyroid cancer, I lost my faith. I was mad at God for my divorce from my daughter's dad, being 30 and being divorced, and then adding cancer to the mix. I was so scared and so mad and well it took me several years to realize he was right there with me but I chose to ignore him. When I was writing a paper for my freshman english class, I wrote it why I do the "Race for the Cure" each year and it was my cancer story. As I was writing it, well I cried the whole time that I wrote the paper. Reading back over it, I saw the times when God was right there with me. He sent my dad to the hospital with a "Leroy's" hamburger and french fries (when you get ready for a radioactive iodine treatment you have to eat a very special diet - you feel like you are starving and then when you get to the hospital for the treatment you can eat whatever you want). God also sent a wonderful nurse in that night to check on me (with the radioactive iodine treatment you are put in isolation until your counts are down to a safe level - Arkansas now lets you do these treatments in your home but several years ago you had to go to the hospital and have everything in your room covered in plastic and the nurses usually treat you like you had the plaque) - which I was so thankful because the hamburger made me so sick or the iodine treatment did. It's amazing that when we are so low, and God is always there whether we realize it or not.

In April, I purchased my first home by myself. Erynn and I were so excited. I had a cedar chest, kitchen items, enough Christmas decorations to decorate three houses, a bed and two night stands and our clothing. It was a very scary time again. We started going back to church and in July I started going to Sunday School classes again. I'm getting there. We are all tested at times with our religion. We just have to find our way back.

So, I have almost went a whole year of making house payments and all the utilities that go with it. I know that I am truly blessed because not all single mom's are able to do this and I'm truly blessed to have the parents that I do.

Today, being the first day of a new year - you never know what the year will bring but I hope it's half as good as last year - even with all the turmoil - it was a very blessed year.

Wishing all of you a very prosperous, happy new year.

Monday Menu January 1, 2007

2007-01-01T15:50:00.000-06:00

Sunday: We had appetizers at a friend's house.

Monday: Recovering from Sunday - I did eat some black eyed peas, and Erynn had some soup.

Tuesday: I have stamp club so I'll grab something on the way

Wednesday: Chicken Adobo - new recipe - if it's good I'll post it next week.

Thursday: Chili Dog, french fries and salad

Friday: Homemade pizza

Saturday: Sausage and 3 cheese Mac n cheese with a big salad

Well our Weight Watchers wasn't open today so I'll have to wait until next Monday to go to my local meeting but I'm going to start watching those points. I got on the scale last night and it was a shocker! Exercise and eating right here I come.

Check Laura's blog for more menus!

Now that Christmas is over...

2006-12-29T09:52:00.000-06:00

My friend Michele surprised me with this gift. I put it on the breakfast bar with my Christmas cactus and Callie the cat thinks this is where she's to lay.

This is my favorite gift of all!LOL If you would have told me I would have been excited over a tool kit I would have told you - you are crazy. My dad got this for me and I have used it like crazy this week. I called him once and said, "Guess what I'm doing?" and when I told him I was using the tool box he just laughed and laughed. I have had a hammer and a screwdriver since April when I moved in - so I really could have used the tools!
This is my bedroom with it's new paint. Yes since Wednesday, I have been painting this room. My parents and my brother gave me gift cards to Lowe's and they were spent in paint. I found the bedding at Walmart the day after Christmas and bought if for $68. It's a quilted coverlet oversized with the bedskirt and the shams. I just love this. I had blue in the room but I just didn't like it - it wasn't me. These are warm colors and so much more like me. The wall behind the bed - that color will be painted in my bathroom when I get a couple of walls patched up.
This is the wall between my kitchen and living room. The bar is attached to it. It's just been sitting there waiting for me to do something with it. I've had the shelf but hadn't hung it yet. There was a telephone jack in the wall that I had taken down but was needing to repair the hole. I found the stars at Walmart the day after Christmas and knew they would be perfect for that wall - and they were 50% off. So two for the price of one. Yes, poor mister fish is back in the tank. We had the Jesse tree here and so the betta had been moved into Erynn's bathroom in a little tank until after Christmas. He's staying at the bottom of the tank - I hope he's ok - we will probably be shopping for a new fish soon.

Christmas was a great this year. Different but great. It rained here in Ar and we all hoped that it would get cold enough to turn to snow but it didn't. No white stuff here in Central AR. Christmas eve my family came over and we exchanged gifts and snacked and played a few card games. Christmas morning Erynn and I opened gifts and she got me a lovely orange bowl for the living room and a beautiful book that I will cherish always. She hooked up her playstation 2 and played until we went to my mom's at noon. We ate lunch there and then we went to visit a couple of my mom's six sisters. It was different but a good day.

Erynn and I had planned on being up at 5 am and hitting the stores the day after Christmas. Erynn wanted lights for outside. The alarm went off and she asked if we could just go later and we slept in. We went later and got some white lights and have decided that if it stays still next year it will have lights on it!

Hope everyone else has had a great holiday and a great week. I have the week off until the 3rd of January and I'm telling you the days are going too fast. I've been counting how many I have left each day - not enough time off.

Here comes Christmas!

2006-12-21T08:05:00.000-06:00

Here are some rum balls that I made last night. I packaged up these for a co-worker that was nice enough to bring me some rum to make them. I thought I would share my recipe with you:

Rum Balls
60 Nilla wafers, finely crushed
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 T light corn syrup
2 T unsweetened cocoa
1 t instant coffee
1/4 cup rum
1 cup chocolate sprinkles

Mix wafer crumbs, sugar, pecans, butter, corn syrup and cocoa in large bowl. Add coffee granules to rum; stir until coffee granules are dissolved. Add to crumb mixture. Shape mixture into 1" balls; roll in sprinkles. Place in air tight container with sheet of wax paper between layers. Store at room temperature.

Christmas Eve will be at my house this year. Erynn and I are so excited about that. We are having appetizers with Jezbel Meatballs, deviled eggs, cheese dip, hot homemade salsa, cheese ball and lots of cookies and candies. We have a few games that we might play like "Pass the pig" and "Chicken Foot" if we have enough dominoes for that. There are always card games too. Erynn loves to play Rummy with me or uno.

I'm applying for a scholarship for single parents that are going back to school. Please keep good thoughts for me. My work pays for 80% but I could really use some help with the 20% and would love to be able to take a few on-line classes too. I have 13 classes left until my associates is finished and then it's working towards my bachelors for a Business/Accounting degree.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year.

Happy Birthday Erynn!

2006-12-18T10:36:00.000-06:00

First I want to wish my darling daughter a very Happy 13th Birthday. We celebrated with a couple of her friends and her nana and papa yesterday.
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As you can tell her papa was trying to take her birthday money from her. This is my dad and he has aggrevated her from the day she was born. He used to call her Nicki when she was little (her middle name is Nicole) and she would get so mad at him and tell him what her name was.

Erynn also worked on her gingerbread house last night. Let me tell you my patience just wasn't that great last night. My hand mixer broke on making the royal icing for the house and we had to finish mixing what we could by hand. I think the only time I sat down yesterday was at church. It was a great day for Erynn and she thanked me for a great day. The last photo is a picture of the gift album that I'm giving Erynn tonight. Each year she gets an album from me either on her birthday or Christmas that's been made especially of her. This year it's her cross country running. Last year it was an album that fit in a large 64 count crayola box and it was of her first 6 yrs of school. The year before that was a quarter album for all the state quarters that we add to each year.

Monday Menu
Sunday: Vegetable soup with family - the potatoes weren't done and the corn casserole I tried to make wouldn't finish cooking either - but hey we had cake and ice cream.

Monday: Red Lobster for Erynn's Birthday

Tuesday: Chicken strips with roasted potatoes

Wednesday: Church

Thursday: Chili Dogs

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Cheeseburger Soup

Sunday: Appetizers - we are just going to snack all day

For more menus check out Laura's blog.

Monday Menu December 11, 2006

2006-12-11T09:00:00.000-06:00

Well, I have been bad this past week and have not been to blog land much this past week. And honestly, I can say we haven't eaten very good meals for us either. I past my college history class and I have a break until the 8Thu of January so I have no excuse not to cook each night. Joy!LOL

Sunday: Roast, potatoes, carrots in the crock pot with bisquick biscuits and gravy

Monday: Quick Chicken thing - this is one of my favorite quick recipes.
Take however many boneless chicken breast you need to feed your house and season the chicken with salt, lemon pepper and cavendars.In a pan large enough to put your chicken in add 1/2 a stick to a 1 stick of butter(depending on how much chicken you are cooking) and a package of fresh mushrooms with some fresh minced garlic. Place your chicken on top of this and bake in the oven covered at 350 for about 20-30 minutes until your chicken is done. Then take out of the oven and put shredded Monterrey jack cheese over the chicken and pour a can of durkee onions over the top of the cheese. Put back in the oven uncovered for about 5 min or until cheese is melted.

Tuesday: Spaghetti, green beans

Wednesday: Church

Thursday: Mac n cheese

Friday: Homemade pizza

Saturday: Singles group's Christmas get together at church

If you crochet or knit please check out http://www.savethechildren.org/publications/reports/kit11.pdf on how we can help. It's unbelievable that by just taking an hour of my time could save the life of another less fortunate. Hope everyone has a great week! Check out Laura's blog for more menus.

My Nativity Set

2006-11-30T08:02:00.000-06:00

This is my nativity puzzle set that my dad helped me make about 6 years ago. It's been hidden in a lost Christmas box and with the move this year it's been found. I found the pattern years ago in a book and my dad cut it out for me and I painted it. I have another nativity set that's a Boyd's bear set but I think I'll use this one because of it being something my dad helped me make.

2006 Ornament Exchange

2006-11-28T08:06:00.000-06:00

Here is the ornament that Sombra Knight made for me. He handpainted these and they are just gorgeous. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Check out his blog Shadowlight for more of his great work.

November 27, Monday Menu

2006-11-26T14:16:00.000-06:00

Sunday - Grilled cheese sandwiches

Monday - I have class so Erynn will eat at Nana's

Tuesday - Homemade chicken strips, roasted potatoes, green beans

Wednesday - Class

Thursday - Beef Stroganoff

Friday - homemade pizza and start baking my cookies for a cookie exchange I'm in

Saturday - Slow cooked Chicken Cordon Blue

Not a very exciting week of food but after all the food from last week - I'm ready for bland!LOL
Hope every one has a great week. Check out Laura's blog for more menus.

Here is the recipe for the Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu:
4 chicken breasts halves
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream
1 T flour
bacon slices

Wrap the bacon around the chicken breasts and secure with a toothpick. Place chicken in the slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix soup, sour cream and flour. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.

I got this recipe from someone that does the monday menu's but I forgot to write down who. Sorry! I haven't tried it yet but will this week. I will probably use cream of mushroom instead of cream of chicken - just not a fan of cream of chicken soup!

What a weekend!

2006-11-26T13:53:00.000-06:00

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh christmas Tree! Ok, so I can't sing a note but I wished I could. We got the Christmas tree up Friday night. It was a chore but I just love all the Christmas decorations. Erynn said our house was to small for all of them and she's right so lots of them were left in our storage building. Last year I changed my Christmas tree from victorian to the Santa tree to make a new beginning when I had remarried. That marriage didn't stick but Erynn and I both love this tree. I sewed the robe and fought very hard for the santa head on ebay last year. Don't ask what I spent for the head - it still makes me sick to my stomach - but it's perfect for the tree.

Here is the start of our lights outside. One of the guys from work came last week and put up the strands of multi-colored icicle lights. I was short one strand and need to finish them over the carport. I bought the two white light trees Friday when Michele and I went shopping. Yes, we were crazy and went shopping. The only store that was really bad was Kohl's and we both had our arms loaded down with stuff and when we saw the checkout line went around the store we decided we didn't need the stuff that bad.

Here is the hat I sewed this weekend for my nephew who will turn 2 next month. It went really quick and was lots of fun to sew!
I made six of these scarves for Erynn and her friends for Christmas. You take 3 strips of fleece (6"x60") and sew them on top of each other down the middle. Then you cut the fringe and they look like boa's. My hands are sore from cutting the fringe! Oh, I also finished the hats and mittens for my nieces. I put big white buttons on them.

Pumpkin, the new puppy is doing really good. Callie, the cat at first was being really mean to the Pumpkin but now they wrestle and have a grand time. I'll try to get a pic of them.

Now for this week. I must work really hard on my Jesse ornaments since Advent starts December 3rd.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T20:53:00.000-06:00

As usual during Thanksgiving, it's the one time that I don't take pictures and I have no idea why. I took my camera to my mom and dad's and still didn't take pics.

This year there are so many things to be thankful for. Of course Erynn is very thankful for the new puppy!LOL We are truly blessed with our wonderful family, our new home, all the friends we have (even the new ones in bloggerville), and a wonderful God that watches over us.

We spent the day at my parent's house (Hi Brooklyn and Mom! They told us they have been visiting the blog). It's the first time in 5 yrs that Mom has had all her grandkids and kids (my brother and myself) together for Thanksgiving. We had Mr. and Mrs. Maul (my parent's neighbors) there too. There was wonderful food and conversation to be had. The weather was beautiful so the kids got to play outside in the leaves. Erynn even got to take Pumpkin with her. Afterwards we came home and I took a nap (too much turkey) and then off to the movies we went. Erynn and I saw Deck the Halls and it was a cute Christmas movie to get you in the mood. This has been our tradition for the last six years to go and see a movie on the night of Thanksgiving.

Michele, my best friend, has changed her mind. We are not leaving in the morning at 4:30 but now 5:00am. So this means that I don't have to sleep in what I'm going to wear but can maybe actually get up and be ready by 5:00am. Ok, so I'm not a morning person - I just need a little caffeine and quiet and then I'm ok. Don't ask me to make major decision early in the morning - it makes me grumpy. Erynn and I stay on our own ends of the house in the morning and then when we get ready to leave we meet in the middle!LOL So just remember - I will be out there with all the other crazy shoppers and I hope none of us make the news!

Hoping all of you had a Great Turkey and you have lots of leftovers!

Our newest member of the family

2006-11-21T20:11:00.000-06:00

I know I really didn't need to add a new member to our household but I just couldn't resist that face or that puppy breath!

Maria (one of the ladies I work with) has a part time job at the shelter and some one brought this little one in last week. Maria, thought she had it given away last Friday when she showed it to me. I fell in love with her but was glad she had a home. The home fell through and then another one fell through. I just couldn't stand it anymore - so the baby came home with me tonight. Erynn had no idea. She is on cloud 9! I think out of the whole deal I've got her back in her bed now and I can hog my own bed! Who would have thought a puppy could do that for you!

Pumpkin is her name. Erynn had officially stated this. Puppy our older dog is ok, but not happy about it. I've been having to give her extra lovings and the cat - well she's slapped him a few times but nothing scares the cat. Pumpkin has been going around barking at the cat and puppy - so think she can hold her own! I'm in a house full of hormonal females!

Stay tune for more adventures!LOL

Monday Menu November 20, 2006

2006-11-19T22:05:00.000-06:00

With this week being Thanksgiving, some of us will be doing more cooking than we normally do in a month. This year, I can say I'm not hosting Thanksgiving at my house. In some ways this makes me sad but in other ways it takes a load off of me. I will enjoy Thanksgiving with my parents and it will be the first time in 4 years that she will have my brother and myself there with his three (under the age of 6) and my daughter. It's been a wild year, but there is so much to be thankful for.

Sunday - My mom cooked for us.

Monday - I have a final but will be home early to cook Stove Top Mac n Cheese

Tuesday - Pancake and eggs - we didn't eat this last week

Wednesday - Tacos

Thursday - Two dishes that I'll make to take to Mom's
Senator Russell Potatoes
Makes 8 servings
3 c cooked, mashed sweet potatoes 1 c sugar 2 eggs 1 tbs vanilla extract 1/2 c melted butter Topping: 1 c packed brown sugar 1/2 c flour 1 c chopped pecans 1/3 c butter Miniature marshmallows
Mix sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, vanilla and butter thoroughly. Pour into buttered 1 qt. casserole. Mix all topping ingredients EXCEPT marshmallows, together with fork. Sprinkle the crumbs on top of the casserole. Place marshmallows on top, covering casserole. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°_________________Thanks Susan for this wonderful recipe.

Pineapple Casserole
20 oz pineapple tidbits 1/2 c sugar 3 tbs flour 1 c shredded cheddar cheese 1/2 - 1 stick butter 1 c ritz cracker crumbs
Drain pineapple, reserving 3 tablespoons of juice. Combine sugar and flour. Stir in reserved juice. Add cheese and pineapple. Combine butter and crumbs. Sprnkle over mixture. Bake uncovered at 350° for 20 - 30 minutes. Thanks for this recipe too Susan!

These are two recipes that just make Thanksgiving for me!

Friday - fried rice with left over ham

Saturday - Potato soup - freezer

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and a wonderful Thanksgiving. Check out Laura's blog for more menus!

Things to do this weekend!

2006-11-17T09:50:00.000-06:00

I thought that if I made a list maybe it would propell me to get them done!
My single's group from Church is having their Thanksgiving dinner Saturday night so I have some cooking to do for that but other than that outing that's really all that is going on this weekend. So here's my to do list:

1. Purchase another box of icicle lights and get those finished.
2. Bake pumpkin cake tonight for the pumpkin roll cake for tomorrow night.
3. Print cross country photos of Erynn so I can get started on her album.
4. Work in my scrapbook room - cleaning, finish organizing.
5. Finish hats/mittens for my niece and nephew for their Christmas presents.
6. Laundry!LOL
7. Work on my Jesse ornaments!
8. Let Erynn and her friends make applesauce/cinnamon ornaments.

That's all I can remember for now but I'm sure I forgot a couple! Hope everyone has a great weekend and don't eat too much - remember turkey day is just around the corner!

Ok - Sunday night - I admit that I only got 4 of these done. So I didn't get as much as I wanted to get done - done. I'll have some late nights this week trying to get things done!

New Projects!

2006-11-13T08:55:00.000-06:00

As usual I added more stress and another project to my plate this weekend. YIKES! My friend Michele's husband went to the deer woods and she wanted me to come over and sew with her Friday night. I got this hat done for my niece, I just need to add buttons to it and the mittons. I have a purple one cut out for my other niece and a dinosaur one cut out for my nephew. I really shouldn't complain because she had all the fleece she had purchased on clearance last year - so it's just costing me time. Now if you could see my scrapbook table. It was pretty nice and clean but now it's stacked up again with jesse ornaments, my advent wreath (I can't get the cat to leave alone the greenery!), and now the sewing machine and the patterns that have been cut out! I didn't get anything done on my list for the scrapbook room clean up this week but I did get my canna's planted, weeded all of my flower beds but one (my veggie garden is awful)and I got my new recipes that I haven't tried all organized in a binder.

So this week, I need to finish my sewing, work on the scrapbook room projects and work on my jesse ornaments.

On top of all of this, I'm trying to start my Weight Watcher's again and loose this 10 pounds that keeps hanging around my middle and hips! Exercise is my big problem and sodas. I love my Dr. Peppers. So if you see me with a soda in my hand get after me! Weight Watcher's is so hard to do with my daughter because she won't eat anything mixed together. So if you have any ideas I would love to hear them. I'm going to try to eat lots of salads and watch my portion sizes!

November 13, 2006 Monday Menu

2006-11-13T07:48:00.000-06:00

As usual Erynn requested Autumn Chowder for our Sunday meal and I must confess that I'm getting tired of it, but we ate it. For my daughter to eat anything mixed together is unbelievable. I tried a new recipe of cookies yesterday called Fudge Crinkles. Oh wow. They are awesome and I will defintely be using them for my cookie exchange this year.

Ok here's the rest of the menu:

Monday: Class - so Erynn will eat at Mom's

Tuesday: Chili Dogs and fries

Wednesday: Class

Thursday: Pancake and eggs

Friday: Pepperoni and cheese crescents - I still haven't fixed these yet

Saturday: Slow cooker chicken cordon blue - this one keeps getting moved too

Sunday: Pizza

I honestly sat down last night and worked on my menu for December and trying to plan all my baking for the holidays too. Check Laura's blog for more great menus.

The Start of my Jesse Ornaments

2006-11-10T08:48:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a great mail day. I got my advent wreath and I got the felt that Patti was so nice to send to me.

Here is a little about a Jesse tree:
The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots." It is a vehicle to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history. The Branch is a biblical sign of newness out of discouragement, which became a way to talk about the expected messiah (e.g., Jer 23:5). It is therefore an appropriate symbol of Jesus the Christ, who is the revelation of the grace and faithfulness of God.
You can check out the web for more information or look at http://www.crivoice.org/jesse.html.

I still have to embellish them with beads and thread, but I am very excited about these. Hopefully I will have these finished and more to share with you after this weekend.

Oh, Thanks ladies for the encouraging words yesterday. I'm feeling better and I exercised last night. Gosh does that make a difference. I feel so great today. Thanks again!

Ever have one of those blahh days?

2006-11-09T09:10:00.000-06:00

I'm having one of those weeks and at first I really wasn't sure what was going on but I think I have figured it out. It's the holidays coming up. At first I was worried about the money part of it but my daughter and I have talked about it and she agrees with me that the presents aren't what the whole holiday are supposed to be about. I still don't want to let her down though - know what I mean. I've been thinking about it and I'm feeling better about all of that. No, this is the first time in two years that I won't be hosting Thanksgiving. I won't have the house full of my ex's family, and I won't be doing all the cooking and cleaning. I know it sounds silly but I feel a little lost. My mom is having Thanksgiving this year and it's the first time in about 4 yrs that she will have my brother and his kids and me with her. So it will be a great Thanksgiving but a different one. Three of the eight will be under the age of 6!LOL

I visited Barb's site at http://anewchelseamorning.blogspot.com/ and she had things she was thankful for. It really hit me this morning that I too have much to be thankful for to be mopping around.

1. I have a beautiful daughter who is my world. She is truly a gift from God. I was told that the longer I waited to have children the harder it would be for me to conceive. I not only had that problem but then she was born a month early. She is my lovey, huggy girl and I truely love her and thank God for her every day.

2. I have a roof over my head and it's my very own home. I know that many single parents are not as fortunate as I am.

3. I have the most wonderful parents that anyone could ever ask for. They have been my rock in my life. They are always there.

4. I have a job and it's honestly a pretty good job. They are paying for 80% of my college education - so I can't complain very loud.

5. My car is still running. Pray with me on that one. It's not paid for yet and I would really like to get a year or two out of it after it's paid for.

6. I have my health. In 2001, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I had just gotten divorced from my daughter's dad in 2000 and then was slammed with this. This April was my five year check up and I'm cancer free. What a wonderful feeling that is!

So off the top of my head this morning I can think of 6 things that I'm very thankful for.

Next Step in Organizing my Scrapbook Room

2006-11-07T08:47:00.000-06:00

Here is my table looking much better. I took all the paper that I had laying around and will organize it in an idea binder below.

This is a clock that was given to me two years ago and I still haven't put it up. So the plan tonight is to find some photos and get them in the clock and get it hung up in my scrapbook room.

I have unmounted all my stamp sets and have them in clear cd cases. I am lacking a few so cd cases are on my list for walmart. The little red book is how I keep up with what ones I have and these that are piled around the book still need to be stamped into the little red book. I have it broken up into sections such as: Christmas, thanksgiving, Easter, Fall, Valentines, Birthday, Sayings, etc. So one set of stamps could be stamped into several different sections. It's easier to look through the book to get ideas of what I can use.

This is my birthday card lunch box that still needs to be decorated. So that's on my list to do this week. Hopefully after it's done it will help me to remember people's birthdays and get cards sent out to them on time!

This is my idea binder that I'm going to put all my loose pieces of paper in. I love paper and constantly am printing things from the computer. I see a card I like and I print it out and so I'll make dividers for cards - birthday/Christmas/Father's day, etc and projects that I want to do.

These are the Becky Fleck Page Maps that I print out once a month. I plan to cut these out and glue them onto the index cards and then file them away with my other layout maps.

So that's my plan of attack for this week. Check back and see what I get accomplished! Thanks Laura for this challenge!

2006-11-06T15:54:00.000-06:00

Last week I posted about my Christmas Traditions since growing up. Today, I thought I would tell a little bit about how they were growing up.
Thanksgiving
As a child, we always rotated going to my grandmothers' houses. My mom is one of 9 children and her parent's house was tiny. There was always a table for the food and then a table for the desserts. There was never enough room at the table to eat so you just ate where you could find a spot. Then the kids would go outside and play and as we got older they would take us to Hill Top to climb - a small hill in the area and we would climb it and work off some of the food so we could go and eat more. Most of the men would go hunting early Thanksgiving morning and early evening. My Dad's family was quite smaller. He is one of 4 with there being a 12 yr age difference between he and his oldest sister(who passed away this August). My dad is the only living survivor of his immediate family and is having a very hard time with it. The holidays mean more to him than ever this year. We would go to my Granny Snead's and she would have everything cooked and it was always so good. We would play Rummy and marbles and just have a great time.

For the last two years, I cooked Thanksgiving and my exhusband's family would come in from Illinois and we would have a feast. His house was big enough that we could all fit around the dining room table. This year is going to be odd, but for once my mom will have my brother and I both home for Thanksgiving. My brother and I have both went through divorces this year and he's back home from Oklahoma. My mom is going to have all 4 of her grandchildren at her house for Thanksgiving and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun with the little ones around.

My daughter and I always try to find a new game to play for Thanksgiving and this year we have two - chicken foot with dominoes and pass the pig. We are excited about getting everyone to play it with us. We also go and see a movie every Thanksgiving night. We have done this for the last 7 yrs and it's a great way to end the day.

Christmas
Christmas was the same at my mom's family as Thanksgiving. It was crazy and crowded but so much fun. Sometimes we went late Christmas eve night and sometimes we went early Christmas morning. When I was little, I always had a pretty Christmas dress for Christmas. We spent Christmas eve with Granny Snead and the Snead family. My Granny Snead would always have a ham cooked and dressing and all the fixing with it. It was just always a great relaxing time. Now on my dad's side of the family we have a dinner at a local restaurant and all get together before Christmas. When we would be leaving my Granny's house we would stop by some friends of my parents (Buster and Opal) and visit with them. They would always have the news on for me so that I could see where Santa was at.

We will probably spend Christmas at my parent's house this year, but my mom's family is hoping to find a place that is big enough for all of them to get together for Christmas next year.

Monday Menu November 6, 2006

2006-11-06T07:56:00.000-06:00

Sunday : Black Angus Potato Soup

Monday: Homemade Mac n cheese - didn't get to it last week

Tuesday: Dinner with Single group from church

Wednesday: Class

Thursday: Slow Cooker Tai Chicken

Friday: Tacos

Saturday: Enchiladas

Sorry that I don't have links to my recipes this week but I will post any that you may want - just let me know. Hope everybody has a great week. Check Laura's blog for more great menus.

Black Angus Baked Potato Soup
4 lg baking potato
2/3 c butter
2/3 c flour
6 c milk
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 green onions
8 ozs sour cream
12 slice bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/4 c cheddar cheese

Wash, dry and prick potatoes with fork. Bake in 400 oven for 1 hour or until done. Let cool. Cut into half lengthwise and scoop out pulp; set aside. Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Add milk, potatoes, salt, peppers, green onions (half) and back (half) and half of cheese. Stir until heated through. Add rest of cheese and sour cream. Stir until mixed well. Pour into bowls and top with onions and bacon.

The Clean up!

2006-11-04T17:30:00.000-06:00

Well, it's Saturday and I got one or two things done on my list. Want to see?

I got the Halloween stuff put up and I got some of the papers off the table.

Today, I worked on finishing my afghan that I have been working on for over a year.

So I still have lots to do but I got something done at least. Of course, the more I'm in the room the more I see that needs to be done. I need some shelves to display some of my crafts better - they are just piled up. Hopefully, I can get one soon.
Check back later and see what's been done!

Help! I'm drowning

2006-11-03T10:16:00.000-06:00

Here is my messy scrapbook room. I'm posting it because I thought if I put up my list of need to do's maybe I would hold myself accountable and get them done.
1. Orange halloween tote to be put away.
2. Finish afghan - it's in the floor.
3. Start Jesse Ornaments - may not get them finished by Dec 3 but get a good start on them for advent
4. Make Advent wreath. - I ordered a very simple one off of ebay and will dress it up with some greenery.
5. Finish birthday lunchbox (on the corner of the table)
6. I have a year's worth if not more of catching up on scrapbooking:
Erynn's Washington DC trip
Erynn's Summer in Germany
Erynn's sports!
7. Pictures that need to be framed - three of them.
8. Becky Flecks' maps - get them cut out and into index card binder
9. I'm sure there is a 9 but I can't think of it.

Help me get these done!

Family traditions

2006-11-01T09:55:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited to read everyone's holiday traditions. We have a few but I can't wait to incorporate more this year. This year will be our first Christmas on our very own in our own house. It's a very scary and exciting year for us and I'm sure it will be a very special one. I have been divorced from my daughter's dad since 2000 but we lived with my parents until 2005 and I'm very thankful that they had the space for us. In 2005 I remarried which was a huge mistake and lasted less than a year - hence my dd and I having our very own house this year on our own.

I asked my daughter a couple of years ago what she liked most about our Christmas and she told me when we drove around looking at the Christmas lights. There is a house not far from my parent's "The Brockington House" and each year by Thanksgiving they have everything lit up. You can drive down their driveway and they have Christmas carols playing and you circle around their driveway slowly and then come back out. It's magical and I'm afraid it won't happen this year because they have the house up for sale. So we will have to find another special Christmas place to go.

My favorite is the Live Nativity that one of the small local churches does each year. It's neat because we don't know the kids but we have watched them grow up through the Nativity. They always put a sign up announcing that it will be that weekend and you drive through it with your head lights turned off. They do such a great job of it.

Christmas eve we always watch "The Christmas Story". I know it's a corny movie but I love it. We usually have snacks at my parent's house and I usually have a small present (book) for my daughter to open. Since she is old enough she reads me "Twas the Night Before Christmas". It's a special pop up book that I got her when she was a baby. Then we put out the plate of cookies and Coke (This santa doesn't like milk!LOL) and we go to bed.

Christmas morning we do our stockings and then see what Santa brought (usually one gift) and then the rest are from Mom. Then the day is spent at my parent's house. My daughter's dad is in Germany so these last few years I have had her all to myself. It's hard for her but she's doing pretty well with it.

I want to incorporate the Jesse tree this year. We are getting ready to start making our ornaments for it. I love the spoons game that Laura told about - we may have to try that this year.

Anyway, I can't wait to hear what all you guys do and the many more ways I can make Christ a bigger part of Christmas than Santa.

Wishing you all the best this holiday season.

Check out Sandra's blog for more ideas!

What a Weekend!

2006-10-31T13:09:00.000-06:00

This is me and Erynn at her first Razorback game! It took some getting there - long line of traffic having to leave home three hours before the game and sitting around waiting on the game to start. Erynn was ready to go home before the game started but when it started and the crowds really get into it - she was having a ball! We yelled, "WOOOO SOOOO Pig" so many times, along with "Arkansas Razorbacks". She did the wave and she laughed and laughed at the drunk in front of us. I told her it was a life lesson on why not to get drunk because she would act like the guy in front of us!

We left the game during the third quarter because of where we parked at. I parked on the golf course which was a total mess - learned by that mistake. We had to do a little 4 wheeling to get out and almost got stuck on a hill but "I am woman - hear me roar!" we made it out!

Sunday was a beautiful day weather-wise and otherwise. We had the Lord's Supper at church and it was beautfully done. I can honestly say this was my first time participating in it and Erynn's too. They did it by family. They had these tables set up throughout the church and each family could take a turn going. Bonnie, one of the ladies from my single's group invited us to go with her. It was just such an emotional, touching time. I can not put it into words other than I wil never forget the powerful feelings that came over me. Even Erynn was all huggy and touchy during the service. Just beautiful!

Our church also had their fall festival Sunday evening. Erynn and I participated at the number toss booth. It was so much fun to see the little ones in their costumes and how excited they got over the games and candy! It was just the best ending to a great weekend!

Monday Menu October 30, 2006

2006-10-30T08:45:00.000-06:00

This week I only have class on Wednesday! Yeah! So I can get a little bit more done this week and hopefully get caught up on some things!

Sunday - Autumn Chowder - this was such a hit last week with dd and myself that I made it again.

Monday - Chicken Parmesan

Tuesday - Chicken Cordon Blue

Wednesday - class

Thursday - Pepperoni and Cheese Crescents

Friday - Homemade Mac n Cheese

Saturday - Potluck dinner with Singles group - we are working on our Christmas shoeboxes.

Check out Laura's website for more great menus!

Hectic Thursday

2006-10-26T08:11:00.000-05:00

First thing this morning, I thought it was Friday, boy was that wishful thinking! It's Thursday and that means a very busy day/night at work getting ready for our vendor appreciation shrimp boil and trying to get everything finished for the end of the period, too! Why do they always pick the last week of the period to do this dinner!

I'm letting Erynn have two girls spend the night Friday night for a small Halloween party. Last year it was a total of six girls but then in my ex's house we had lots of room and money wasn't an issue. I told her we were going to have to down-size the party. She seemed ok with it but now that it's Thursday she's telling all this stuff that she would like to have. She wanted to make invitations last night at 9pm after I had got home from school. I explained to her it was too late for that and then she was showing me things she had found online and they were really cute. She is a procrastinator - very bad procrastinator!LOL. We carved the pumpkin last night and have it done and I got the big jars I needed from my mom's house. So tonight after the dinner at work, I get to go home and start setting up. I need to bake a pan of brownies so that will be done and then to start setting the table. I have a witches cauldron that we put a smaller bowl inside of it for punch(sprite with green food coloring - that's what my dd calls punch) with dry ice around it. I also have a glow stick to put in it too! The bar will have purple lights on it with spider web covering them and then we'll have a brain(cauliflower) in green water in a big glass cookie jar, and then blood (red gelatin with some blue food coloring mixed it - it'll look almost black) and guts (spaghetti with red food coloring) in another jar. The light fixture in the kitchen will have black light bulbs in it with spider web and bats hanging in it. Oh yeah, the table will have rats on it too! I have Halloween plates and Halloween goblets for them and the ice will have plastic flies in it!LOL Before the dinner we will go to a hay maze and I have glow necklaces for them so I can keep up with them and then we'll come home and have a haunted menu.

Haunted Menu

Ghost tales (napkin)

Witches Fingers ( green beans)

Goblin Pie (pizza)

Devil's tail (fork)

They'll each have a menu and they will get to pick two things and they'll have no idea what they are getting. It's a lot of fun but this year I'm cheating and not cooking other than the green beans!LOL They will have little name plates of who's sitting where and lots of candy.

Two guys are coming from work and are going to scare them! I told them no mask! Just to scratch on the window and then to knock really loud on the door! I've warned my neighbor's too! I have a ghost story to tell them: "Where's my golden arm". That's the one that used to always get me.

So as you can tell I will probably get very little sleep Friday night and then Saturday evening we have the Razorback game! But it will be so much fun! I'll post pics when I get them!

2006 Ornament Exchange

2006-10-24T21:24:00.000-05:00

If you are interest in an ornament exchange Kathleen is hosting one. Check out her blog at http://strandedinthemountains.blogspot.com. She has some beautiful photos on there!

Tackle it Tuesday

2006-10-24T09:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I have been procrastinating just a little - ok a lot lately. I just haven't been able to get myself to do what I need to do. With working full time and then classes two nights a week - well when I'm at home I just want to veg! So last week I did this "Tackle it Tuesday" and I got my car cleaned up and some of my scrapbook table cleaned up so I thought maybe if I write it here it will make me do it. So here's what I need to do tonight:
1. Rake leaves in front yard and cut dead plants down in flower beds.
2. Weed my little garden area out back - it's full of grass again. Once I get it weeded I have plastic now to put down until I'm ready to plant this spring.

So let's see what I get done this evening!

Updated:
I got the leaves raked and the dead plants out of the flower beds but I didn't have time to get to the weeding in my little garden. One down 100 more to go!

Homemade with love

2006-10-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

I always make jelly to give to the ladies I work with and teachers, etc. This year I made Mock Strawberry Preserves out of figs.
Mock Strawberry Preserves
6 cups figs, mashed
4 small strawberry jello pkgs
6 cups sugar
Cook mashed figs and sugar for about 10 minutes. Then add jello and bring to a hard boil - cooking 10 min longer after to comes to hard boil - stirring constantly. Put in jars and seal - invert jars for 5 minutes

I also normally make small gift albums for my mom and sil but I'm not sure that I will do that this year.

My dd is wanting scarves made out of fleece for her friends at school. I am going to buy three colos and then sew the strips on top of each other and then cut fringe on each side and then purchase small gloves at walmart to give with them.

This is hosted by Gibee at kisses of sunshine.

Monday's Menu Oct 23, 2006

2006-10-23T08:21:00.000-05:00

Sunday: Autumn Chowder Which my dd loved and she's a very picky eater.

Monday: Leftovers of chowder since I have class tonight.

Tuesday: Easy Beef Stroganoff

Wednesday: I have class so it'll be fend for yourself - usually dd goes to my parents house

Thursday: Work is having a Vendor Appreciation Dinner so I'll eat there and bring dd some shrimp home

Friday: Fall party at our house so well have pizza and lots of sugar!

Saturday: Razorback Game - eat dinner at the game

It's a busy week for my family this week. Not much cooking going on at my house! Hope everyone has a great week.

Check out Laura's blog for more menus!

Tackle it Tuesday

2006-10-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

One of the ladies sponsors a Tackle it Tuesday and you take before and after pics of what you tackled. I'm not quite that organized but I have two things I would really like to tackle or get started on:

1. Clean the inside of my car - it's just diry and really needs to be vacuumed and dusted and the trunk needs to be cleaned out. It's not junkie on the inside but just dirty!
2. Spend 30 minutes tonight in my scrapbook room trying to clean off and organize my table some.

Stay tuned to see if I accomplish these!LOL

Accomplishments of our children

2006-10-16T11:06:00.000-05:00

There is nothing better than seeing your child accomplish something big. Saturday, Erynn was one of two 7th graders that was invited from her school to go to the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, AR. We have just started cross country this year and had no idea what this was and I'm thankful we didn't know until after we got there. Erynn was nervous because this was a 5k - which meant 3 miles instead of the two she is used to.

Chile Pepper Festival is the largest cross country meet in the nation. We had colleges from all over the US there - Duke, Texas, Mississippi, New Mexico. It was huge and unbelieveable. Erynn was a nervous wreck. She kept saying she didn't want to do it - not to make her do it. But she was so excited when she found out from school that she was invited - so I knew she really wanted to do it. I finally hid from her right before the race started - so that maybe she wouldn't be so nervous.

At the starting line, the older girls put the 7th graders up front because they knew they were faster runners. Erynn came in 74th out of 243 girls. It was so awesome, and I was so excited I couldn't get a picture taken. Luckily someone else got a few for me. After the race, Erynn apologized for being ugly and upset about racing. She was so excited that she had done the three miles and finished the race. What a build up of self confidence and we all need that! Life is great isn't it!

2006-10-15T20:04:00.000-05:00

Monday and Wednesday I have college classes at night. So Sunday evenings I usually cook something that will tide us over a few days.

Monday - homemade vegetable soup I made Sunday

Tuesday - country style ribs that were cooked in the crockpot with bbq sauce

Wednesday - left overs

Thursday - grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup

Friday - Pancakes, bacon and eggs

Saturday - Singles group at church is getting together

Sunday - frozen lasagna, corn and french bread

My vegetable soup is very easy and my daughter loves it which is very funny since she won't eat things mixed together.

Homemade Vegetable Soup

1 lb hamburger meat cooked and drained
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
minced garlic
black pepper and salt
1/2 onion chopped
dash of tabasco sauce
16 oz of tomato juice
water
cooked macaroni

Mix all together except macaroni and tomato juice and cook until potatoes are tender. Add macaroni at the end with tomato juice.

School Championship Race

2006-10-11T18:03:00.000-05:00

Here are the top five junior high girls!
Finish line photo!

Today was the big race at school. It was the north vs. south! As you know that's a big deal in the south! But the north ruled again! Erynn came in 5th place in the junior high meet and was the 2nd 7th grader to come in. The first place winner was also a 7th grader from North Junior High! Go Panthers!

Guess where we are going Saturday! Fayetteville, AR here we come! She got invited to go! I have camera and will travel!LOL

Race for the cure!

2006-10-09T17:38:00.000-05:00

So this is my fourth year for the race. As usual brings tears to my eyes. For me it's a celebration of life - though I didn't have breast cancer, but thyroid cancer - this is always my special time of year to celebrate beating cancer and being able to be a mom to my daughter. Erynn got to go with me this year and of course my best friend Michele went too. The crowd was unbelieveable - we had over 43,000 this year! Such a great cause and makes you feel so good to be walking in the race with all these other women. One of the policemen was noted saying that he hated to work the race because there would be so many women in one place there was bound to be wrecks!LOL WE ARE WOMEN HEAR US ROAR!

We had some excitement. I lost Erynn. She wanted to run it and see what time she could make on it. So off she went with my cell phone and left us with Michele's. You have the option to do a 2k or a 5k and she forgot and took the right for the 2k and we didn't show up. She found someone working the race and we got ahold of her on the phone and met up with her after the race! I don't know which one of us cried more - the lady that had her, Michele, Erynn or myself. We all hugged and cried. Very emotional day but one none of us will forget ever!

PS. Erynn turned down a cross country track meet to go with me to the race. She said she knew this meant a lot to me and she wanted to be there with me. Talk about make you want to cry!

Russellville Cross Country Invitation

2006-10-02T08:26:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning we got up bright and early for Erynn's cross country meet. She had to be at the school by 7am. This was her first meet away from school riding the bus like the big kids. It's so hard to believe she's in Junior High. I drove on and met her in Russellville. There was kids from all over the state competing.

Erynn ran the junior 2 mile and did it in 16:38. She fell at the very beginning of the race and we thought she was in the top 20. After church on Sunday, she saw her coach and he told her she was 27th. She really wanted that trophy but she did real well with the news. We have a few more meets before the season ends and I think 27th was really good for all the kids she ran against.

I messed up on the photos = she came in faster than I thought she would and I was so excited I couldn't hold the camera still and so I got blurry shots. I'm going to have her put on her uniform and take some photos of her.

We're going to the meet!

2006-09-27T16:14:00.000-05:00

Erynn is getting to go to the Russellville meet this Saturday. She's more nervous than excited right now, but hopefully by Saturday morning she will be excited. I'll have lots of pics to share!

2006-09-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

I had a proud mommy moment today. Erynn got 8th place out of 50 girls today in her cross country meet. She moved up 5 places from last week. She ran her little heart out. I really liked this picture of her - it makes me think of bionic woman with the shadows and stuff - gosh I always wanted to bionic woman - ok back on the subject. Erynn is meeting lots of new girls and making some new friendships and well it's just an exciting moment of her growing up. Right now she still wants me around and allows the camera at times.

We have a big meet coming up next weekend and Erynn's still waiting to find out if she is going to get to go since she's only a 7th grader. So keep your fingers crossed for us!

Eiffel Tower Lamp

2006-09-17T18:33:00.000-05:00

My best friend Michele found me this lamp for $3 at a garage sale a few weeks ago. My scrapbook room is in eiffel towers and purses. The only creative thing I have done lately is hot glue trim to it and stamp eiffel towers on it. The stamping part went ok but not as well as I would have liked for it to, but hey it's better than it was to start out with.

Maybe someday soon this will be my scrapbook room that has scrapbook creativity coming out of it rather than everything just sitting there collecting dust and pictures just laying around waiting to be put creatively in an album with dates and all the information about that day.

Being the mom of a teen

2006-09-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

Wow! This past week has really been an eye opener for me. I can not believe that my daughter is in the 7th grade and will be an official teenager this December. Everything keeps pounding that message to me loud and clear. Saturday, she had her first soccer game on the "big" soccer field with all the players (don't ask me how many) and as I was walking across the field - it felt like a mile across - I kept thinking, "She's too little for this field. This can't be the right field". I looked back at her and said, "Are you sure you're on the right field?" "Yes, mom!" I'm not old enough to have a teenager - yes I am but I don't feel like enough time has went by for her to be a teenager.

Today we had our first cross country track meet. I have never been so proud. All the girls ran together (all the 7th-9th of two junior highs) and Erynn came in 13th out of all but 2nd of the 7th graders. I have sent pictures to everyone and have posted it on SBA. I have just hugged and hugged her and told her how proud I am of her. I have already printed out the pics from today and guess what - everyone at work will have to see them tomorrow. Where did my baby go? Sometimes I wished I would have hugged her and kissed her more when she was little. I did those things but well it just went by too fast. I feel like this is getting me ready for all the bigger things coming and I'm not ready at all.

Funny thing happened when we were at the meet. I ran into friends from a previous life ( I have been married twice and feel like I'm on my third life because both marriages were way different and well I feel like my life is completely different than it's ever been). I ran into Scott and Kara that were stationed with us at Eaker AFB, Blytheville, AR in the early 90's. I knew they were in AR but it was such a shock to see them after all these years. Back then we all had just gotten married and now we have teenagers. It was great to see them again and how much our lives have changed.