Since I spent the weekend running around like a madwoman with a mission, I decided one post to recap everything would be enough. It's easier for me, I think. As long as I remember where I've been and what I've done ;-).
Saturday started off early. We were attending a baby shower for a sweet friend who is visiting from Sweden. She's almost 5 months pregnant with her first child, a little boy, and my daughter and I were excited to share in this special time with her. The baby shower was a brunch, which started at 11:00. That meant I had to have breakfast, get ready, and leave something for my son to eat so he wouldn't burn down the house while we were gone. I wore an outfit that I consider to be casual and trendy: a white sweater with a light grey hot air balloon motif all over, a burgundy tank top underneath, a pair of "boyfriend" jeans (skinny jeans slightly rolled up at the hem) and tan high heeled sandals. I'm the type that likes to get dressed up, but my daughter said everyone would be wearing jeans because it was a very casual get together, so I dressed accordingly. My daughter and I both got the baby a couple of outfits, but when we went to pack the gifts we found only Christmas themed boxes and gift bags. So we stopped off at CVS and bought one bag for everything, then headed over to the shower, which wasn't far from our house. We were among the first to get there; the pregnant girl's mom and grandma were there, along with a cousin and a friend from church. Everyone was dressed up. I felt like an oddball. Yes, the hostess was wearing jeans, but she's a mom of a toddler and was cooking up a storm, so she doesn't count. As more people started coming in, I noticed more ladies in dresses or dress pants. I mentioned it to my daughter, but she insisted it was still "casual". I'm not buying it.
We did have a really good time, playing the standard baby shower games and eating delicious food. The menu was chicken and waffles. The waffles were made fresh right there, and there were all kinds of toppings: whipped cream, blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, and of course syrup. I didn't have any of it. Instead, I went directly to the shrimp and pasta salad. Oh.my.word. It was out of this world! I had me two servings, along with chicken and pastries. I didn't want to overdo it with the carbs, and having pasta as well as waffles would have meant rolling me out the door. I'm glad I stuck with just one.
While we were gone E got picked up by his dad, so when A and I got home we decided to go to Target. I needed a belt for my jeans; even though I'd bought a size 6 they were still big at the waist. I also needed to buy towels. Ours are old and worn, and they get stinky really fast which is annoying. I found some nice towels, some on sale and some not, then we passed by the shoe section. My daughter saw that they had boots for 70% off so of course she had to stop and check them out, because we all know how vital it is to have boots in South Florida :P. I looked around and found a cute pair of ballet flats in a beige and black stripe design for $16.99. They are so comfy! I also went to the makeup section and got a few nail polishes that were on sale, and a brow pencil/gel. I've been wanting a brow pencil because lately I've noticed that some of my eyebrows are turning bright white, and against my black brows it isn't attractive. I got brunette, since my hair is dyed auburn, to help the brows match my hair. My daughter didn't find any boots she liked, but she did find a comforter set in white that she fell in love with. Her bedroom is pretty dark; dark wood floors, deep purple and grey walls, dark wood furniture. The white bedding brightens up the room and makes it look luxurious, like she's in a 5 star hotel. While we were at the store E texted me that he was back home, so we quickly paid for our goods and left. As soon as we were on the expressway, I realized I'd forgotten to buy the belt, which was the primary reason for going to Target in the first place. Don't you just love it when that happens?
Today also started early, with Sunday school at 9:30 (except I got there at 10:00. Running late this morning again). After service - which was awesome - we had a meet and greet with our new youth pastor. He's been the youth pastor at our sister church for the past 9 years, and now he's taking over the youth ministry at our location as well. I was so impressed by his philosophy and his goals, and very encouraged by the lessons he's teaching the next few weeks. He's doing a series called King, in which the youth group is studying several of Jesus's attributes: His sovereignty, His holiness, His goodness, His justice and His love. This pastor is all about bible teaching, which is what I wanted to hear. I'm looking forward to helping out in the youth ministry once Awana is done and summer rolls around.
There was a pizza lunch served, but my son E, who was hanging around with his friends and got there late, didn't get to eat anything, so we left after the meeting and ran home. I made him a quick lunch, then we headed to the bowling alley for his best friend's birthday celebration. I had to change out of my church clothes; there was no way I was going bowling in a dress and high heels. I wore the skinny jeans I got on Friday along with a hunter green tank top, a long black sweater and my new ballet flats. Casual and comfy! My daughter also went, and so did my Tuesday night running buddy. The three of us played a couple of games; it was clear that I hadn't played in a while. I was pretty rusty, though I didn't do quite so bad on my first game as on the second. I scored a 70 for the first game; the second game I got a 14. We only got to play 6 frames before we ran out of time, but still, a 14?! I had 3 gutter balls in a row! My running buddy did terrible for the first game, then did much better for the second game. I guess that evened things out ;-). Another lady that I've met previously at IV's house (it was IV's son's birthday) was also there. She's a real spit-fire, and I love talking to her! We all had a really nice time bowling, eating, talking, laughing, and just plain fellowshipping. It's the perfect way to end a weekend.
And so, that's pretty much it. I'm gonna wash my face (my makeup was on point, by the way), change out of these clothes, and relax before studying for my Thursday night bible study. I'm studying chapter 4 of Daniel, when King Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind. So much to learn! Tomorrow starts the new school week. Back to the old grind! But I'm thankful for my life and all the blessings God bestows upon me each day. God bless ya'll, and good night.
Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
Sunday Recap
I didn't blog yesterday, but I have a good excuse. I was gone from the house from 9:30 am to midnight, except for a quick stop to change clothes. Yeah, it was a busy day. Let me give a *quick* recap.
I didn't do my hair Saturday night so I knew I had to get up early to fix it Sunday morning. I was up by 6:30 for what would be a non-stop day. I showered and washed my hair, then went to make my son E his breakfast. I don't eat breakfast at home on Sundays because we have our fellowship breakfast at our Sunday school class, but I do have my coffee. I was starving but was mindful not to start eating; I had a handful of Reese's cereal then went to get ready for church.
Our church is pretty relaxed when it comes to dress; no one is required to get dressed up, but I always do. I feel like, if I'm there to meet God, I should look my best. I wore the dress I'd gotten for my birthday because it's a perfect fall dress and our weather was looking like fall: rainy and dreary. I debated whether to wear powder or liquid foundation, since I knew I was going to be out most of the day and wouldn't have time to touch up. While my liquid foundation is supposed to have a longer wear, I went with powder. I love the way my powder foundation feels, so light on my skin, and I also thought this would be a good way to test how long its wearability is. My makeup turned out really nice again; I'm getting the hang of this, LOL! We left the house at 9:30 and got to our respective Sunday school classes in 10 minutes. My son goes to youth group (he's 15 years old) and I go to my class, Truth In Love. We have been studying the book of James and just finished the last 2 verses of chapter 5. From there we went to service, where Pastor Ray taught on excellence and why God is deserving of our very best. It was a great service and worship time, but we didn't stay long for fellowship. There was plenty more on our agenda.
It was my best friend IV's birthday, and I invited her out to lunch. She chose a vegetarian style buffet place that is local. I'd never eaten there before, though I'd heard of it. There were mixed reviews: some folks really like it because of its vegetarian and vegan options; others say the food is sub-par. Since it was her birthday I didn't mind going and trying it out. I stopped off at the house first so I could change out of the dress I was wearing and into some jeans. It's not that I don't like going out to eat in a dress, but we had other plans afterwards. My jeans and top were an olive/khaki green, nice and neutral (and comfortable). I drove over to IV's house and we went in one car to the restaurant. I have to say, I was sadly disappointed. The food was, in my opinion, bland. I had a salad to start, and I noticed some of the greens weren't green anymore; it was certainly not the freshest salad bar I'd been to. I then went over to where the hot foods were. The only meat option available was in the chili, and quite frankly, I feel like the chili at Wendy's is better. I tried a pasta dish that had red onion and spinach. This is something I usually enjoy, but for the first time ever I had to add salt to the food. I cook with very little salt, and I always find restaurant food to be excessively salty, but this was so bland I couldn't enjoy it. The only thing I can say I liked was the soft serve ice cream. My poor son, who is a carnivore, didn't care for anything. All he ate was macaroni and cheese because his best friend (IV's son) said it was the best mac and cheese he'd ever eaten. My son's response was, "That's because you haven't tasted my mom's." I won't deny, that made me feel really good, except for the fact that the food was so flavorless I don't know as it was much of a compliment. But my friend enjoyed it, and since it was her birthday after all, I was content in knowing she was pleased.
Once we were done, we headed to...Winter Jam!!! We were so excited! For Christmas IV got us tickets. Winter Jam is a huge concert tour, with multiple Christian music groups. The best part about Winter Jam is the price: $10 gets you any seat in the house, first come first serve. Typically you have to stand in line as early as possible to get the best choice of seats, but since IV suffers from MS she can't stand for long periods of time, so she got a group together and we got to go in before everyone else. We still had to stand in line because our group couldn't go in till everyone was there. Wouldn't you know it, my daughter was running late because the church where she works had baptisms and she had to stay longer. Then she got caught in torrential rains. She finally made it, but was soaked to the bone :(. She wasn't thrilled about being wet, but we got such great seats that she quickly forgot about it. At 5:00 the opening acts came out. There were three bands, but Veridia was my favorite. They are a rock band out of Nashville, very edgy and right up my alley. My daughter loved them too, as did my son, though I didn't find out till later because he and his friends sat as far away from the parental units as possible. Teenagers *sigh*. Blanca, originally from Group 1 Crew, also performed, and I've always loved her voice. I don't care for whispery voices; I like a strong, powerhouse voice, and Blanca certainly has that.
Then the big name acts came on, starting with For King And Country. These are Rebecca St. James's brothers, a woman whom I've always loved, and they were just as incredible! My daughter was especially thrilled, because we didn't get to see them when we went to Night of Joy in September. We picked some incredible seats; they came right up to where we were seated! My son made fun of me, though. He could see us from where he was sitting, and he saw me wave at the brothers - instead of reaching out and high-fiving them. I guess that's just not my style, but my son thought I was hilarious.
Newsong played next. They're more of a country/gospel type sound; not bad but not what I lean towards. After their set came Family Force 5. My daughter was, again, super excited because she'd only seen them a couple of times before and they put on an amazing show. They have so much energy! Their music is more of a rock/rap/hip-hop mix, and I was pretty sure my son would not like it. He's a rocker through and through, but as I told my daughter, his favorite band of all time would be performing so he'd better not say he didn't enjoy it. Building 429 blew me away - I didn't expect their set to be so great! Jeremy Camp came on next; I like Jeremy Camp, but I didn't mind leaving to go look at the merch tables with my daughter. There were a few items she wanted to purchase along with some contests to sign up for. I got my son a surprise gift: 2 of his favorite band's CD's. We got back to hear Jeremy Camp sing his last song, Overcome, then there was an intermission. My son came over, and I asked which band he'd liked so far. To my astonishment, he said Family Force 5! He loved their song Chainsaw, and all the energy they had. I then pulled out his surprise, and he smiled from ear to ear. For the first time he wasn't complaining about having to come to a concert - I guess he's finally getting to that age.
There was a preacher there, Tony Nolan, who presented the gospel and also gave his testimony, which was absolutely inspiring. God can do amazing things, of that I am certain! The next act was one of my favorites, Francesca Battistelli. Her songs are fun, and she is another powerhouse. What I didn't expect was for her to sing Holy Spirit, a favorite worship song of mine. I was getting teary eyed as I sang and listened to this appeal for God's presence among us. I'm getting choked up remembering it! It was beautiful.
The last band to perform, the headlining band, my son's very favorite band, was Skillet! I L-O-V-E love Skillet! My son was even more excited. We saw them at Night of Joy, and their show was mind-blowing, but we didn't know what to expect from a much smaller venue. They did not disappoint! Skillet's music is hardcore rock with deep messages about the condition of the world and Who we can turn to if we want to escape its fate. It was pretty late once the concert was over, but all the merch tables would be open and bands would be there to sign autographs and talk to the people there. I asked my son if he would like John Cooper to autograph his CD's. His eyes got as big as saucers and he yelled, "I can?! Yes!!" I didn't mind standing in line since it moved pretty quickly. My boy said it was the best time he's had, and he didn't mind if he was going to be hoarse the next day, it was so worth it. My daughter went to the other merch tables and got autographs and pictures with Family Force 5, For King and Country, Blanca and Veridia, plus she purchased some CD's and even a hat with the FF5 logo. I would have enjoyed seeing the other acts, but honestly, listening to my son's excitement and happiness was worth more than any band or singer.
We finally got out and got home around midnight. To my surprise, my makeup held up the entire time. We were gone 15 hours, and the only thing I ever touched up was my lipstick. There was a very little bit of oiliness on my forehead, but hardly enough to concern me, especially after 15 hours. Bare Minerals proved to me once again that they are the best choice for makeup. My daughter agrees.
That was my Sunday. It was a day to remember, for sure. I'll be posting today's recap later on tonight, but for now, God bless and have a great day.
I didn't do my hair Saturday night so I knew I had to get up early to fix it Sunday morning. I was up by 6:30 for what would be a non-stop day. I showered and washed my hair, then went to make my son E his breakfast. I don't eat breakfast at home on Sundays because we have our fellowship breakfast at our Sunday school class, but I do have my coffee. I was starving but was mindful not to start eating; I had a handful of Reese's cereal then went to get ready for church.
Our church is pretty relaxed when it comes to dress; no one is required to get dressed up, but I always do. I feel like, if I'm there to meet God, I should look my best. I wore the dress I'd gotten for my birthday because it's a perfect fall dress and our weather was looking like fall: rainy and dreary. I debated whether to wear powder or liquid foundation, since I knew I was going to be out most of the day and wouldn't have time to touch up. While my liquid foundation is supposed to have a longer wear, I went with powder. I love the way my powder foundation feels, so light on my skin, and I also thought this would be a good way to test how long its wearability is. My makeup turned out really nice again; I'm getting the hang of this, LOL! We left the house at 9:30 and got to our respective Sunday school classes in 10 minutes. My son goes to youth group (he's 15 years old) and I go to my class, Truth In Love. We have been studying the book of James and just finished the last 2 verses of chapter 5. From there we went to service, where Pastor Ray taught on excellence and why God is deserving of our very best. It was a great service and worship time, but we didn't stay long for fellowship. There was plenty more on our agenda.
It was my best friend IV's birthday, and I invited her out to lunch. She chose a vegetarian style buffet place that is local. I'd never eaten there before, though I'd heard of it. There were mixed reviews: some folks really like it because of its vegetarian and vegan options; others say the food is sub-par. Since it was her birthday I didn't mind going and trying it out. I stopped off at the house first so I could change out of the dress I was wearing and into some jeans. It's not that I don't like going out to eat in a dress, but we had other plans afterwards. My jeans and top were an olive/khaki green, nice and neutral (and comfortable). I drove over to IV's house and we went in one car to the restaurant. I have to say, I was sadly disappointed. The food was, in my opinion, bland. I had a salad to start, and I noticed some of the greens weren't green anymore; it was certainly not the freshest salad bar I'd been to. I then went over to where the hot foods were. The only meat option available was in the chili, and quite frankly, I feel like the chili at Wendy's is better. I tried a pasta dish that had red onion and spinach. This is something I usually enjoy, but for the first time ever I had to add salt to the food. I cook with very little salt, and I always find restaurant food to be excessively salty, but this was so bland I couldn't enjoy it. The only thing I can say I liked was the soft serve ice cream. My poor son, who is a carnivore, didn't care for anything. All he ate was macaroni and cheese because his best friend (IV's son) said it was the best mac and cheese he'd ever eaten. My son's response was, "That's because you haven't tasted my mom's." I won't deny, that made me feel really good, except for the fact that the food was so flavorless I don't know as it was much of a compliment. But my friend enjoyed it, and since it was her birthday after all, I was content in knowing she was pleased.
Once we were done, we headed to...Winter Jam!!! We were so excited! For Christmas IV got us tickets. Winter Jam is a huge concert tour, with multiple Christian music groups. The best part about Winter Jam is the price: $10 gets you any seat in the house, first come first serve. Typically you have to stand in line as early as possible to get the best choice of seats, but since IV suffers from MS she can't stand for long periods of time, so she got a group together and we got to go in before everyone else. We still had to stand in line because our group couldn't go in till everyone was there. Wouldn't you know it, my daughter was running late because the church where she works had baptisms and she had to stay longer. Then she got caught in torrential rains. She finally made it, but was soaked to the bone :(. She wasn't thrilled about being wet, but we got such great seats that she quickly forgot about it. At 5:00 the opening acts came out. There were three bands, but Veridia was my favorite. They are a rock band out of Nashville, very edgy and right up my alley. My daughter loved them too, as did my son, though I didn't find out till later because he and his friends sat as far away from the parental units as possible. Teenagers *sigh*. Blanca, originally from Group 1 Crew, also performed, and I've always loved her voice. I don't care for whispery voices; I like a strong, powerhouse voice, and Blanca certainly has that.
Then the big name acts came on, starting with For King And Country. These are Rebecca St. James's brothers, a woman whom I've always loved, and they were just as incredible! My daughter was especially thrilled, because we didn't get to see them when we went to Night of Joy in September. We picked some incredible seats; they came right up to where we were seated! My son made fun of me, though. He could see us from where he was sitting, and he saw me wave at the brothers - instead of reaching out and high-fiving them. I guess that's just not my style, but my son thought I was hilarious.
Newsong played next. They're more of a country/gospel type sound; not bad but not what I lean towards. After their set came Family Force 5. My daughter was, again, super excited because she'd only seen them a couple of times before and they put on an amazing show. They have so much energy! Their music is more of a rock/rap/hip-hop mix, and I was pretty sure my son would not like it. He's a rocker through and through, but as I told my daughter, his favorite band of all time would be performing so he'd better not say he didn't enjoy it. Building 429 blew me away - I didn't expect their set to be so great! Jeremy Camp came on next; I like Jeremy Camp, but I didn't mind leaving to go look at the merch tables with my daughter. There were a few items she wanted to purchase along with some contests to sign up for. I got my son a surprise gift: 2 of his favorite band's CD's. We got back to hear Jeremy Camp sing his last song, Overcome, then there was an intermission. My son came over, and I asked which band he'd liked so far. To my astonishment, he said Family Force 5! He loved their song Chainsaw, and all the energy they had. I then pulled out his surprise, and he smiled from ear to ear. For the first time he wasn't complaining about having to come to a concert - I guess he's finally getting to that age.
There was a preacher there, Tony Nolan, who presented the gospel and also gave his testimony, which was absolutely inspiring. God can do amazing things, of that I am certain! The next act was one of my favorites, Francesca Battistelli. Her songs are fun, and she is another powerhouse. What I didn't expect was for her to sing Holy Spirit, a favorite worship song of mine. I was getting teary eyed as I sang and listened to this appeal for God's presence among us. I'm getting choked up remembering it! It was beautiful.
The last band to perform, the headlining band, my son's very favorite band, was Skillet! I L-O-V-E love Skillet! My son was even more excited. We saw them at Night of Joy, and their show was mind-blowing, but we didn't know what to expect from a much smaller venue. They did not disappoint! Skillet's music is hardcore rock with deep messages about the condition of the world and Who we can turn to if we want to escape its fate. It was pretty late once the concert was over, but all the merch tables would be open and bands would be there to sign autographs and talk to the people there. I asked my son if he would like John Cooper to autograph his CD's. His eyes got as big as saucers and he yelled, "I can?! Yes!!" I didn't mind standing in line since it moved pretty quickly. My boy said it was the best time he's had, and he didn't mind if he was going to be hoarse the next day, it was so worth it. My daughter went to the other merch tables and got autographs and pictures with Family Force 5, For King and Country, Blanca and Veridia, plus she purchased some CD's and even a hat with the FF5 logo. I would have enjoyed seeing the other acts, but honestly, listening to my son's excitement and happiness was worth more than any band or singer.
We finally got out and got home around midnight. To my surprise, my makeup held up the entire time. We were gone 15 hours, and the only thing I ever touched up was my lipstick. There was a very little bit of oiliness on my forehead, but hardly enough to concern me, especially after 15 hours. Bare Minerals proved to me once again that they are the best choice for makeup. My daughter agrees.
That was my Sunday. It was a day to remember, for sure. I'll be posting today's recap later on tonight, but for now, God bless and have a great day.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Saturday, Busy Day
I'm starting to think this nasal congestion is beyond allergies. I can't feel this lousy just from pollen. I must have caught something. Ugh.
I went to sleep early last night thanks to Benadryl. After having a sleepless night all I wanted was rest, but I couldn't fall asleep without breathing. My nose was that stuffed up. The Benadryl was wonderful - it unclogged me and got me sleeping, both of which I desperately wanted and needed. I woke up at 7:00 but didn't get out of bed till 8:00. I was checking my phone, then spent time praying for all of Grandma's family. I feel for them. This is a difficult adjustment.
As I made and ate breakfast I went over the menu plan and looked through my pantry to see what I needed to buy. Today was grocery shopping day. I usually like to do my grocery shopping on Friday, but since I had the little kids here with me, and I felt terrible with all the sneezing, I decided I'd do it today. I didn't feel much better, and the stores were all packed. I went to Winn-Dixie first since they had country style ribs on sale, and I went ahead and got a few other items from my list, specifically produce which is always better there than at Walmart. I spent $39 out of my $300 budget. I had been budgeting $175 per week, but since I'm shopping for 2 weeks worth of groceries I try to stay at or around $300 to save some money. I headed to Wally World next. I tried really hard to stick to my shopping list, and for the most part I did. The total was $112. My last stop was Costco. I walked in and headed towards the back of the store to get eggs (by the way, what is up with the price of eggs?! I used to get 3 dozen eggs for $3, now they cost $6!). I saw a large, comfortable, beautiful sectional sofa for $999. Now, I am not a fan of sectionals; never have been. I like moving the furniture around, and sectionals limit the positions you can put furniture in. This sectional, however, is designed so that the shorter end of the sofa can be changed from the right side to the left. That's convenient! My only issue with this piece of furniture is the color: it's a cream color fabric. I fear it getting filthy and full of dog hair. Still, it was pretty. I can't afford it, so I moved on. I got the items I needed, and spent another $39. So, all in all I spent $190 for 2 weeks worth of groceries. Granted, the only meat I bought (other than a couple of bags of Tyson chicken) was the ribs. I still had meat from my last shopping trip. That's where a big chunk of my food budget goes. I have to feed this family of carnivores, and right now beef is extraordinarily expensive. I'm so glad I was able to stick to my menu and my budget. I have more than enough money to spend from now till my next shopping trip if I run out of anything.
My cousin texted me while I was at Walmart. She told the kids about their great-grandma. The 8 year old cried. She's old enough to understand that she won't be seeing grandma anymore. The 5 year old also cried, but I suspect he was crying because everyone else was crying. He's too young to fully understand the concept of death. The 7 year old is the most troubling; he has not cried, and refuses to talk to anyone about his feelings or about anything. He told his mother that he is sad, but he doesn't want to talk about it. I think he's in shock. He was very attached to his great-grandma, and I don't think he fully accepts that she's gone. I told her everyone expresses their grief differently, and to give him time. He may want to grieve privately, or he may not be ready to start grieving yet. It's so hard trying to explain death to small children, but it has to be done. It's a reality of life.
Lunch today was Tyson popcorn chicken and curly fries. Yeah, I was tired when I got home. I think I'm tired because I'm not breathing properly; this congestion has me blowing my nose constantly, only to end up more stuffed up than before. Darn sinuses!
My son E had a friend over. This was one of his few buddies from school. E has invited his friend to youth group and he's enjoyed it. I'm so proud of my son for reaching out to others as Jesus would. I pray he will always be a faithful believer in Christ.
*Post Script: I fully intended on finishing this blog post last night, but I was so congested and feeling so yucky that I took a Benadryl before doing my facial cleaning and exfoliation. I fell asleep and remembered I hadn't finished my post at midnight, when I had the full effects of the medication and was pretty sure I wasn't getting up. So here it is, a few hours late.
I went to sleep early last night thanks to Benadryl. After having a sleepless night all I wanted was rest, but I couldn't fall asleep without breathing. My nose was that stuffed up. The Benadryl was wonderful - it unclogged me and got me sleeping, both of which I desperately wanted and needed. I woke up at 7:00 but didn't get out of bed till 8:00. I was checking my phone, then spent time praying for all of Grandma's family. I feel for them. This is a difficult adjustment.
As I made and ate breakfast I went over the menu plan and looked through my pantry to see what I needed to buy. Today was grocery shopping day. I usually like to do my grocery shopping on Friday, but since I had the little kids here with me, and I felt terrible with all the sneezing, I decided I'd do it today. I didn't feel much better, and the stores were all packed. I went to Winn-Dixie first since they had country style ribs on sale, and I went ahead and got a few other items from my list, specifically produce which is always better there than at Walmart. I spent $39 out of my $300 budget. I had been budgeting $175 per week, but since I'm shopping for 2 weeks worth of groceries I try to stay at or around $300 to save some money. I headed to Wally World next. I tried really hard to stick to my shopping list, and for the most part I did. The total was $112. My last stop was Costco. I walked in and headed towards the back of the store to get eggs (by the way, what is up with the price of eggs?! I used to get 3 dozen eggs for $3, now they cost $6!). I saw a large, comfortable, beautiful sectional sofa for $999. Now, I am not a fan of sectionals; never have been. I like moving the furniture around, and sectionals limit the positions you can put furniture in. This sectional, however, is designed so that the shorter end of the sofa can be changed from the right side to the left. That's convenient! My only issue with this piece of furniture is the color: it's a cream color fabric. I fear it getting filthy and full of dog hair. Still, it was pretty. I can't afford it, so I moved on. I got the items I needed, and spent another $39. So, all in all I spent $190 for 2 weeks worth of groceries. Granted, the only meat I bought (other than a couple of bags of Tyson chicken) was the ribs. I still had meat from my last shopping trip. That's where a big chunk of my food budget goes. I have to feed this family of carnivores, and right now beef is extraordinarily expensive. I'm so glad I was able to stick to my menu and my budget. I have more than enough money to spend from now till my next shopping trip if I run out of anything.
My cousin texted me while I was at Walmart. She told the kids about their great-grandma. The 8 year old cried. She's old enough to understand that she won't be seeing grandma anymore. The 5 year old also cried, but I suspect he was crying because everyone else was crying. He's too young to fully understand the concept of death. The 7 year old is the most troubling; he has not cried, and refuses to talk to anyone about his feelings or about anything. He told his mother that he is sad, but he doesn't want to talk about it. I think he's in shock. He was very attached to his great-grandma, and I don't think he fully accepts that she's gone. I told her everyone expresses their grief differently, and to give him time. He may want to grieve privately, or he may not be ready to start grieving yet. It's so hard trying to explain death to small children, but it has to be done. It's a reality of life.
Lunch today was Tyson popcorn chicken and curly fries. Yeah, I was tired when I got home. I think I'm tired because I'm not breathing properly; this congestion has me blowing my nose constantly, only to end up more stuffed up than before. Darn sinuses!
My son E had a friend over. This was one of his few buddies from school. E has invited his friend to youth group and he's enjoyed it. I'm so proud of my son for reaching out to others as Jesus would. I pray he will always be a faithful believer in Christ.
*Post Script: I fully intended on finishing this blog post last night, but I was so congested and feeling so yucky that I took a Benadryl before doing my facial cleaning and exfoliation. I fell asleep and remembered I hadn't finished my post at midnight, when I had the full effects of the medication and was pretty sure I wasn't getting up. So here it is, a few hours late.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Another Birthday Celebration
I think every mom remembers the day her babies were born. God made it easy for me; He gave me 2 sweet children who share a birthday so my memories would be even more delightful.
Today my daughter A turns 25, and my son E turns 15. I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that my baby is halfway through his teenage years, and my daughter has lived a quarter of a century. Then again, I can't believe I've lived over half a century, but let's not focus on that. Both of them were Christmas presents, but they are not twins. They came 10 years apart. I worried when my daughter was growing up that she would resent having to share her birthday with her brother, but she never did. Her brother would tell the world the story of how he and his sister have the same birthday, so it was never an issue with him either. I'm so glad; I didn't want my kids to be mad about having to share their birthday, and they've always been so mature and loving about it. I really do have great kids.
I was in the dining room enjoying a cup of coffee when my son woke up. There were birthday presents waiting for him on the kitchen counter, but he wouldn't open them until his sister and brother got up. My daughter didn't take very long to follow. She was a little less patient than her younger brother - she wanted to tear into her presents right away! I had to issue a disclaimer before she opened my gift to her: after we'd visited Ulta and I saw what makeup products she really liked, I went ahead and placed an order for them for her birthday. I got her the Naked Eyeshadow Palette by Urban Decay and the Starter Kit by Bare Minerals in medium beige. That was back in November. In December, her dad took her to the mall so she could pick out her Christmas gifts because he didn't know what to get her. He likes shopping at Macy's; she doesn't care for the clothes there, but she did know they have makeup, so she went to the Sephora section, where she asked her dad to get her the Naked 2 Basics palette. She also got the consultant to color match her for Bare Minerals powder foundation, and asked her dad to get that for her, too. The color the consultant matched her with was golden medium. Her dad immediately complied, and she brought the products home for me to wrap for her. I kept my cool and wrapped her gifts, knowing full well she would want to exchange whatever I'd gotten her that were duplicates. The eyeshadow palette I'd bought her wasn't the same one but it was similar enough that I figured she wouldn't want it, and the Bare Minerals starter kit was definitely the wrong color so she wouldn't want to keep that either. I thought about going to the store and exchanging it myself, but I started second guessing what she would want and if she would want to keep part of her present, so I left it alone. I figured she could decide what she would keep and what she would exchange. I told her as much before letting her open up her gift. The gift bag contained several different items. I'd gotten her some lip pencils/lip stains that came in the cutest dark purple clutch. The colors are just what she likes, neutrals and reds. She also found an Urban Decay eye lid primer and eye liner pencil which she loved. Then she opened the box with the Naked palette. Her smile went from big to gynormous. She wanted that palette and had intended to get it for herself; now she didn't have to because Mama had gotten it for her. Score! Then she opened the Starter Kit. We both agreed, there was no reason to keep it. The products were either wrong, or she already had purchased them herself. I told her she could take it to Ulta for an exchange, and she immediately started planning what she could get. She also asked if we could go to the Bare Minerals store that we have locally, and I told her that we could, which made her even happier. I felt so much better after that.
My son then opened his present from his sister: a book with all kinds of trivia about his favorite show, Doctor Who. He loved it! Then he opened Mom's gift. From the moment he knew his dad had bought him the Wii U for Christmas, all he kept asking for was the new Super Smash Brothers game. Of course I was going to get it for him, but I also got him a Pacman game, and I wrapped both of them together, so when he picked up the package it didn't feel like a video game, it felt like a book. He opened it and just about exploded when he saw he got the game he wanted so badly. When R woke up he opened his gift: a set of pins based on the Pokemon video games. What was funny, was that R put them inside a box of crackers and wrapped the box, so when E opened it he wondered why his brother was giving him crackers for his birthday! Once he realized it couldn't be crackers, he found the pins and was absolutely surprised and excited! His sister opened her present from R next. It was a video game called Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. She likes those sorts of solving games so it was perfect.
Their dad had called the day before inviting the whole family to breakfast. He called bright and early to wish them a happy birthday and ask where they wanted to go. Living in the South, the answer to that is easy: Cracker Barrel. I don't know of any other place in our area that makes down home Southern cooking in a casual country environment. My daughter hung up and we started getting ready. I wasn't enthused about going, but I'll do anything for my kids, so I got dressed and was putting on my makeup when my daughter said, "Dad just called; he's already at the restaurant waiting for us, and he says it's packed." We had to quickly get ready so we could be there and try to find parking which he said took him forever to find. As soon as we drove up into the parking lot, two cars pulled out. No waiting for us! Better yet, I parked the car, we got out, and my son got a call from his dad: they'd just seated him. He waited 40 minutes for the table, we waited nothing. God's gift to my children! We sat down and their dad gave them their presents: A got a lovely pen and a Michael Kors bag, and E got new headphones and a coin bank with over $180 in it. They both loved their gifts! We were so glad that the service was fast and the food delicious - we were starving! We had a really nice, relaxing time, for which I'm very grateful.
Once we got out of the restaurant, we went to the mall for our Bare Minerals excursion. Our Bare Minerals store is in an outlet mall that's fairly large, so the boys could go look at stuff while the girls looked at makeup. My son E is wanting to get a longboard so his brother took him to see some. A and I went into the Bare Minerals store and had a field day! They were having an incredible sale! I'm not even joking, I got stuff so cheap I'm still pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming!
The first item we saw when we walked in was the Hot List.
The original price on this kit was $49, and it had been reduced to $24.50. At half price this was a good deal.
The 5-in-1 eyeshadow primer alone costs $18. This kit brought a bronzer, eyeshadow duo, highlighter and lipstick as well. I was thinking about it when the sales clerk said that everything on the tables in the aisle were 50% off the last sticker price. I was like, Excuse Me?! That meant all these products were just $12.25! She said yes, and I immediately grabbed one and told my daughter she needed to do the same! I then proceeded to go kind of nuts.
The Eye Color Trio contains two high shine eyeshadows and a small eyeliner. The eyeshadows are on sale on the website for $9.50 each. I got this set for $9.75.
The Finishing Touches kit brings a mini mascara, mini lip gloss and mini hydrating mineral veil. I paid $4.75. I've been wanting a hydrating mineral veil, and the rest is just bonus. But the best was the last item I got.
This deluxe size original foundation is twice the size of a regular jar of product. The regular size is $27. The deluxe is normally $39.50, but they had it for $29.50. My main intention for going to the Bare Minerals store was to get foundation, because the one I have is getting low (it was a small trial size). I could get the regular size for $27, or pay $2.50 more and get double the amount, which should easily last me a year. The decision was simple - I had to have this foundation! Everything else I got was icing on the cake, and I couldn't be happier! I have to admit, there were more things in my basket that I eventually put back because I realized I was getting carried away. I'm thoroughly pleased with my purchases, though. I think I got some great items at dirt cheap prices!
From there my daughter wanted to go to Old Navy, which was right by where the boys were. Since it was her birthday I said okay, though I'm honestly not a huge fan of Old Navy. I've found a couple of things there but most of the clothes are, in my opinion, a bit too young for me. That quickly changed when I saw the cutest plaid pencil skirt in hunter green and dark blue, reduced from $29 to $17. I also found a tank top that matched the green perfectly, for $3.99. I tried the skirt on and couldn't believe how perfectly it fit - you'd have thought I was the model they used for it! I can't wait to wear my new outfit tomorrow for church!
We came home after that because E wanted to have some time with his best friend CS. CS is IV's son, and the boys have been close buddies for a couple of years. My son wanted to play Super Smash Brothers with his best friend more than anything else on his birthday, so we got home as quick as we could so they could have some time together. They laughed so much, I couldn't help but laugh with them, even though I don't have any idea what they were laughing about! While they had their fun, my daughter played with all her new goodies and I folded and put away laundry. Afterwards A, R and myself played the Logo Game. It's a funny sort of trivia game and I knew R would enjoy it.
My daughter wanted to go to Ulta today to get her starter kit exchanged, but by the time we realized it, it was almost 6:00 and we hadn't even had dinner yet. We decided to leave it for tomorrow and went to pick up dinner, and each got to pick what they wanted: A wanted Chipotle and E wanted KFC. I had Chipotle as well; I like their bowls. The meat was spicy and the food was filling. I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast so I was pretty hungry!
I think that's enough excitement for today. I'm gonna get my makeup off and get my face exfoliated, then I'm gonna spend the rest of the night with my precious gifts, my kiddos. I am so thankful to God each and every day for giving me such wonderful children. I know I'm truly blessed. Good night everyone.
Today my daughter A turns 25, and my son E turns 15. I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that my baby is halfway through his teenage years, and my daughter has lived a quarter of a century. Then again, I can't believe I've lived over half a century, but let's not focus on that. Both of them were Christmas presents, but they are not twins. They came 10 years apart. I worried when my daughter was growing up that she would resent having to share her birthday with her brother, but she never did. Her brother would tell the world the story of how he and his sister have the same birthday, so it was never an issue with him either. I'm so glad; I didn't want my kids to be mad about having to share their birthday, and they've always been so mature and loving about it. I really do have great kids.
I was in the dining room enjoying a cup of coffee when my son woke up. There were birthday presents waiting for him on the kitchen counter, but he wouldn't open them until his sister and brother got up. My daughter didn't take very long to follow. She was a little less patient than her younger brother - she wanted to tear into her presents right away! I had to issue a disclaimer before she opened my gift to her: after we'd visited Ulta and I saw what makeup products she really liked, I went ahead and placed an order for them for her birthday. I got her the Naked Eyeshadow Palette by Urban Decay and the Starter Kit by Bare Minerals in medium beige. That was back in November. In December, her dad took her to the mall so she could pick out her Christmas gifts because he didn't know what to get her. He likes shopping at Macy's; she doesn't care for the clothes there, but she did know they have makeup, so she went to the Sephora section, where she asked her dad to get her the Naked 2 Basics palette. She also got the consultant to color match her for Bare Minerals powder foundation, and asked her dad to get that for her, too. The color the consultant matched her with was golden medium. Her dad immediately complied, and she brought the products home for me to wrap for her. I kept my cool and wrapped her gifts, knowing full well she would want to exchange whatever I'd gotten her that were duplicates. The eyeshadow palette I'd bought her wasn't the same one but it was similar enough that I figured she wouldn't want it, and the Bare Minerals starter kit was definitely the wrong color so she wouldn't want to keep that either. I thought about going to the store and exchanging it myself, but I started second guessing what she would want and if she would want to keep part of her present, so I left it alone. I figured she could decide what she would keep and what she would exchange. I told her as much before letting her open up her gift. The gift bag contained several different items. I'd gotten her some lip pencils/lip stains that came in the cutest dark purple clutch. The colors are just what she likes, neutrals and reds. She also found an Urban Decay eye lid primer and eye liner pencil which she loved. Then she opened the box with the Naked palette. Her smile went from big to gynormous. She wanted that palette and had intended to get it for herself; now she didn't have to because Mama had gotten it for her. Score! Then she opened the Starter Kit. We both agreed, there was no reason to keep it. The products were either wrong, or she already had purchased them herself. I told her she could take it to Ulta for an exchange, and she immediately started planning what she could get. She also asked if we could go to the Bare Minerals store that we have locally, and I told her that we could, which made her even happier. I felt so much better after that.
My son then opened his present from his sister: a book with all kinds of trivia about his favorite show, Doctor Who. He loved it! Then he opened Mom's gift. From the moment he knew his dad had bought him the Wii U for Christmas, all he kept asking for was the new Super Smash Brothers game. Of course I was going to get it for him, but I also got him a Pacman game, and I wrapped both of them together, so when he picked up the package it didn't feel like a video game, it felt like a book. He opened it and just about exploded when he saw he got the game he wanted so badly. When R woke up he opened his gift: a set of pins based on the Pokemon video games. What was funny, was that R put them inside a box of crackers and wrapped the box, so when E opened it he wondered why his brother was giving him crackers for his birthday! Once he realized it couldn't be crackers, he found the pins and was absolutely surprised and excited! His sister opened her present from R next. It was a video game called Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. She likes those sorts of solving games so it was perfect.
Their dad had called the day before inviting the whole family to breakfast. He called bright and early to wish them a happy birthday and ask where they wanted to go. Living in the South, the answer to that is easy: Cracker Barrel. I don't know of any other place in our area that makes down home Southern cooking in a casual country environment. My daughter hung up and we started getting ready. I wasn't enthused about going, but I'll do anything for my kids, so I got dressed and was putting on my makeup when my daughter said, "Dad just called; he's already at the restaurant waiting for us, and he says it's packed." We had to quickly get ready so we could be there and try to find parking which he said took him forever to find. As soon as we drove up into the parking lot, two cars pulled out. No waiting for us! Better yet, I parked the car, we got out, and my son got a call from his dad: they'd just seated him. He waited 40 minutes for the table, we waited nothing. God's gift to my children! We sat down and their dad gave them their presents: A got a lovely pen and a Michael Kors bag, and E got new headphones and a coin bank with over $180 in it. They both loved their gifts! We were so glad that the service was fast and the food delicious - we were starving! We had a really nice, relaxing time, for which I'm very grateful.
Once we got out of the restaurant, we went to the mall for our Bare Minerals excursion. Our Bare Minerals store is in an outlet mall that's fairly large, so the boys could go look at stuff while the girls looked at makeup. My son E is wanting to get a longboard so his brother took him to see some. A and I went into the Bare Minerals store and had a field day! They were having an incredible sale! I'm not even joking, I got stuff so cheap I'm still pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming!
The first item we saw when we walked in was the Hot List.
The original price on this kit was $49, and it had been reduced to $24.50. At half price this was a good deal.
The 5-in-1 eyeshadow primer alone costs $18. This kit brought a bronzer, eyeshadow duo, highlighter and lipstick as well. I was thinking about it when the sales clerk said that everything on the tables in the aisle were 50% off the last sticker price. I was like, Excuse Me?! That meant all these products were just $12.25! She said yes, and I immediately grabbed one and told my daughter she needed to do the same! I then proceeded to go kind of nuts.
The Eye Color Trio contains two high shine eyeshadows and a small eyeliner. The eyeshadows are on sale on the website for $9.50 each. I got this set for $9.75.
The Finishing Touches kit brings a mini mascara, mini lip gloss and mini hydrating mineral veil. I paid $4.75. I've been wanting a hydrating mineral veil, and the rest is just bonus. But the best was the last item I got.
This deluxe size original foundation is twice the size of a regular jar of product. The regular size is $27. The deluxe is normally $39.50, but they had it for $29.50. My main intention for going to the Bare Minerals store was to get foundation, because the one I have is getting low (it was a small trial size). I could get the regular size for $27, or pay $2.50 more and get double the amount, which should easily last me a year. The decision was simple - I had to have this foundation! Everything else I got was icing on the cake, and I couldn't be happier! I have to admit, there were more things in my basket that I eventually put back because I realized I was getting carried away. I'm thoroughly pleased with my purchases, though. I think I got some great items at dirt cheap prices!
From there my daughter wanted to go to Old Navy, which was right by where the boys were. Since it was her birthday I said okay, though I'm honestly not a huge fan of Old Navy. I've found a couple of things there but most of the clothes are, in my opinion, a bit too young for me. That quickly changed when I saw the cutest plaid pencil skirt in hunter green and dark blue, reduced from $29 to $17. I also found a tank top that matched the green perfectly, for $3.99. I tried the skirt on and couldn't believe how perfectly it fit - you'd have thought I was the model they used for it! I can't wait to wear my new outfit tomorrow for church!
We came home after that because E wanted to have some time with his best friend CS. CS is IV's son, and the boys have been close buddies for a couple of years. My son wanted to play Super Smash Brothers with his best friend more than anything else on his birthday, so we got home as quick as we could so they could have some time together. They laughed so much, I couldn't help but laugh with them, even though I don't have any idea what they were laughing about! While they had their fun, my daughter played with all her new goodies and I folded and put away laundry. Afterwards A, R and myself played the Logo Game. It's a funny sort of trivia game and I knew R would enjoy it.
My daughter wanted to go to Ulta today to get her starter kit exchanged, but by the time we realized it, it was almost 6:00 and we hadn't even had dinner yet. We decided to leave it for tomorrow and went to pick up dinner, and each got to pick what they wanted: A wanted Chipotle and E wanted KFC. I had Chipotle as well; I like their bowls. The meat was spicy and the food was filling. I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast so I was pretty hungry!
I think that's enough excitement for today. I'm gonna get my makeup off and get my face exfoliated, then I'm gonna spend the rest of the night with my precious gifts, my kiddos. I am so thankful to God each and every day for giving me such wonderful children. I know I'm truly blessed. Good night everyone.
Friday, December 26, 2014
364 More Days Till Next Christmas
Is it too early to start the countdown again? I love Christmas, and it feels to me like this Christmas season was shorter than usual. I guess it's because Thanksgiving was later. Anyway, I still have my tree lit because it's too pretty to keep it in the dark.
And speaking of dark, I woke up to a gloomy day. Looked like even the sky was sad that Christmas is over. (But we don't need to stop celebrating Jesus. We can celebrate His coming every single day of the year). The day started in the mid 60's and cloudy, with a chance of rain in the air. The cold weather we experienced in November has calmed, and our days have been pretty mild, though this week it's been warmer than usual. I sat down with my bowl of cereal and coffee, and my mountain of pills. (Well, not really a mountain, more like a small hill. There are no mountains in Florida ;-)). I take One A Day Vitamins for Women because they have iron, which I need because I tend to become anemic very easily. I've tried taking just iron but it causes severe pains in my kidneys and legs. I do eat pretty healthy and make sure I get iron from foods, but apparently it isn't enough, or my body doesn't absorb enough. If I have too much iron it's bad, and if I don't have enough it's also bad. My doctor recommended taking the iron with a vitamin supplement, and that seems to be working well for me. I also take 2 Omega-3 pills per my eye doctor's instructions. I suffer from dry eyes, which is why I wear glasses and not contact lenses. I tried contacts for years but my eyes ended up burning by the end of the day and no amount of eye drops would sooth them. Turns out it's because of the dry eyes. I can take prescription meds, or I can take omega-3 fatty acids. My eye doctor explained that dry eyes is caused by insufficient oil in the eyes. Omega-3's replace the oils that are missing. Taking Omega-3 has helped greatly, though I'm sure if I took more it would be even better. Honestly, I forget to take one at night. I also take additional vitamin C per my doctor's instructions. The multi-vitamin I take contains vitamin C, but I take 500 mg more because I'm prone to bronchitis whenever I get a cold, which leads to asthma and could lead to pneumonia. To help boost my immune system I take the extra vitamin C, and it really has helped me a lot. The last pill I take is Allegra for my allergies. I've tried other maintenance medicine but for me and my family Allegra works better than any of the others. E was on prescription medication for his allergies, and it didn't work as well as Allegra which is an otc medication. That's not to say the other medicines aren't good; each person's body and metabolism are different, and what works for me may not work for everyone. I had tried Claritin, Zyrtec, and some others, with disappointing results. A friend who has severe allergies recommended Allegra because it works so well for her. I'm thankful to God that she did; it has worked wonders for my family. My advise to anyone would be, find what works for you. Your needs are not the same as everyone else's. We are individuals. No "one size fits all".
My kids all slept in today, giving me a chance to do some clean-up. Blog clean-up. I was "following" some 57 blogs, many of which were inactive for 2 or more years. I decided I wanted to start fresh. There are some blogs I follow and enjoy reading whenever there's a post to be read. I've kept those, and stop following the rest. No offense to anyone, but if you're not blogging then there's no reason to follow, right?
The kids were on their own for lunch. That's because my best friend IV invited me to Ruby Tuesdays to celebrate her getting a new job. She's been working through an agency for the past year and a half while she looked for permanent work. She's a pharmacist with plenty of experience, but thanks to Obamacare she lost her job at Walgreens and has been job hunting ever since. Pharmacy costs have gone up because of the government healthcare and many have lost jobs; the entire department where she was working was either let go or relocated. It has been really difficult for her, especially because she has health issues; IV suffers from multiple sclerosis and can't be on her feet for extended periods of time. This new job calls for lots of phone work which she can do sitting down, and that's a great blessing. I'm glad we were able to have some girl time, talking, thanking God for His goodness, brainstorming ways to help the youth in our church, and looking for ways in which we can serve our great and wonderful God. I currently serve in children's ministry, but IV has served in youth ministry a few times. She wants to be more involved now that financial woes have caused us to lose our youth pastor. It takes a lot of work, but our kids are worth the effort.
When I got home I started munching on the chocolate cookies my neighbor dropped off yesterday. Ya'll, I need to get a grip, otherwise I'm gonna gain back the 5 pounds I worked so hard to lose, and then some!
Today was also laundry day. I usually do a load on Thursdays, but not when Thursday is also Christmas Day. We all need a break sometimes, and holidays are not for washing clothes. Two large loads, one dark and one lights. How do four people dirty so much clothing?!
One of the games the Wii U consoles the boys got for Christmas brought was NintendoLand. My oldest son was showing it to me. It's like a giant Nintendo amusement park, and every attraction is a game. He asked if I wanted to play one of the games. I gave him "the look". He knows perfectly well I'm terrible at video games. As a matter of fact, the only times my kids have asked me to play a video game is when they want a laugh, because that's how bad I play. R insisted it would be easy enough that even I could play. Hmm, yeah, okay. He had me play Yoshi's Fruit Cart. I actually did pretty good; I got 429 points. Considering he got 445 on his first try, I would say that was a success. I gotta say, I'm quite impressed with my new-found abilities.
I gotta be honest. The rest of the day I pretty much vegged. I wasn't feeling like my usual self today; the ladies will understand what I mean :P. My daughter picked up Dominos pizza for dinner (yuck, one of my least favorites) and I watched some videos while soothing my back with a heating pad. After my shower I tidied up the kitchen. Once I'm done with this post I'm gonna put some clothes in the dryer, then just veg some more. Tomorrow is a very important day: my two youngest babies will be celebrating their birthdays, and I need to be feeling my best. So, good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite. God bless.
And speaking of dark, I woke up to a gloomy day. Looked like even the sky was sad that Christmas is over. (But we don't need to stop celebrating Jesus. We can celebrate His coming every single day of the year). The day started in the mid 60's and cloudy, with a chance of rain in the air. The cold weather we experienced in November has calmed, and our days have been pretty mild, though this week it's been warmer than usual. I sat down with my bowl of cereal and coffee, and my mountain of pills. (Well, not really a mountain, more like a small hill. There are no mountains in Florida ;-)). I take One A Day Vitamins for Women because they have iron, which I need because I tend to become anemic very easily. I've tried taking just iron but it causes severe pains in my kidneys and legs. I do eat pretty healthy and make sure I get iron from foods, but apparently it isn't enough, or my body doesn't absorb enough. If I have too much iron it's bad, and if I don't have enough it's also bad. My doctor recommended taking the iron with a vitamin supplement, and that seems to be working well for me. I also take 2 Omega-3 pills per my eye doctor's instructions. I suffer from dry eyes, which is why I wear glasses and not contact lenses. I tried contacts for years but my eyes ended up burning by the end of the day and no amount of eye drops would sooth them. Turns out it's because of the dry eyes. I can take prescription meds, or I can take omega-3 fatty acids. My eye doctor explained that dry eyes is caused by insufficient oil in the eyes. Omega-3's replace the oils that are missing. Taking Omega-3 has helped greatly, though I'm sure if I took more it would be even better. Honestly, I forget to take one at night. I also take additional vitamin C per my doctor's instructions. The multi-vitamin I take contains vitamin C, but I take 500 mg more because I'm prone to bronchitis whenever I get a cold, which leads to asthma and could lead to pneumonia. To help boost my immune system I take the extra vitamin C, and it really has helped me a lot. The last pill I take is Allegra for my allergies. I've tried other maintenance medicine but for me and my family Allegra works better than any of the others. E was on prescription medication for his allergies, and it didn't work as well as Allegra which is an otc medication. That's not to say the other medicines aren't good; each person's body and metabolism are different, and what works for me may not work for everyone. I had tried Claritin, Zyrtec, and some others, with disappointing results. A friend who has severe allergies recommended Allegra because it works so well for her. I'm thankful to God that she did; it has worked wonders for my family. My advise to anyone would be, find what works for you. Your needs are not the same as everyone else's. We are individuals. No "one size fits all".
My kids all slept in today, giving me a chance to do some clean-up. Blog clean-up. I was "following" some 57 blogs, many of which were inactive for 2 or more years. I decided I wanted to start fresh. There are some blogs I follow and enjoy reading whenever there's a post to be read. I've kept those, and stop following the rest. No offense to anyone, but if you're not blogging then there's no reason to follow, right?
The kids were on their own for lunch. That's because my best friend IV invited me to Ruby Tuesdays to celebrate her getting a new job. She's been working through an agency for the past year and a half while she looked for permanent work. She's a pharmacist with plenty of experience, but thanks to Obamacare she lost her job at Walgreens and has been job hunting ever since. Pharmacy costs have gone up because of the government healthcare and many have lost jobs; the entire department where she was working was either let go or relocated. It has been really difficult for her, especially because she has health issues; IV suffers from multiple sclerosis and can't be on her feet for extended periods of time. This new job calls for lots of phone work which she can do sitting down, and that's a great blessing. I'm glad we were able to have some girl time, talking, thanking God for His goodness, brainstorming ways to help the youth in our church, and looking for ways in which we can serve our great and wonderful God. I currently serve in children's ministry, but IV has served in youth ministry a few times. She wants to be more involved now that financial woes have caused us to lose our youth pastor. It takes a lot of work, but our kids are worth the effort.
When I got home I started munching on the chocolate cookies my neighbor dropped off yesterday. Ya'll, I need to get a grip, otherwise I'm gonna gain back the 5 pounds I worked so hard to lose, and then some!
Today was also laundry day. I usually do a load on Thursdays, but not when Thursday is also Christmas Day. We all need a break sometimes, and holidays are not for washing clothes. Two large loads, one dark and one lights. How do four people dirty so much clothing?!
One of the games the Wii U consoles the boys got for Christmas brought was NintendoLand. My oldest son was showing it to me. It's like a giant Nintendo amusement park, and every attraction is a game. He asked if I wanted to play one of the games. I gave him "the look". He knows perfectly well I'm terrible at video games. As a matter of fact, the only times my kids have asked me to play a video game is when they want a laugh, because that's how bad I play. R insisted it would be easy enough that even I could play. Hmm, yeah, okay. He had me play Yoshi's Fruit Cart. I actually did pretty good; I got 429 points. Considering he got 445 on his first try, I would say that was a success. I gotta say, I'm quite impressed with my new-found abilities.
I gotta be honest. The rest of the day I pretty much vegged. I wasn't feeling like my usual self today; the ladies will understand what I mean :P. My daughter picked up Dominos pizza for dinner (yuck, one of my least favorites) and I watched some videos while soothing my back with a heating pad. After my shower I tidied up the kitchen. Once I'm done with this post I'm gonna put some clothes in the dryer, then just veg some more. Tomorrow is a very important day: my two youngest babies will be celebrating their birthdays, and I need to be feeling my best. So, good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite. God bless.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Merry CHRISTmas!!
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Galatians 4:4-5
The day is finally here, and what a lovely day it is. Weather in the low 70's, overcast and breezy but not rainy, a tad humid but not too bad. I love living in Florida!
Despite having gone to bed at almost 2 am, I was awake at 6:30. Granted, I napped on and off from 11:30 till 1 am, but I think my body is on a clock that can't be adjusted. I didn't mind, though; who can be upset about waking up early Christmas morning?! I got washed up, then woke my little monkey up. I laughed at the fact that it was 7 am and he was still asleep. When I asked him why he was so different from other kids that wake up early, he shot up and said, "That's right, it's Christmas!" His siblings were already up so we got started opening presents right away. I definitely wanted to do this before their dad showed up. Christmas is something I don't want to share with him, at least not right now. Their father cares too much about the financial aspect of a gift; a present that isn't expensive is not a good present. I'm very different. I look for things that I know people will enjoy, regardless of the price. If I find a nice shirt for my son and it only costs $7.00, I will still get it because it's something I know my son will like or that he needs. His dad would be appalled at wearing something worth so little. It takes all the fun and joy out of exchanging gifts if someone is constantly asking, "How much did that cost?" or "What did you pay for that?" Even stores matter to him. He won't wear something from Kohl's because his clothes have to come from Macy's or JC Penney. I don't want my gifts to be looked down on, or my kids thinking their gifts aren't good enough. So we opened our presents and enjoyed seeing what we all got. My oldest son R got us all these really cute pillows that look like books. He gave E a Treasure Island pillow, his sister got Alice In Wonderland, and I got my favorite book since I was a teenager, Sherlock Holmes. It was such a cool gift! He also gave me a cookbook, Ree Drummond's A Year Of Holidays, with all kinds of holiday recipes. She is a favorite of mine, so I could not be happier! I got 2 DVD's from my daughter, Annie Claus Is Coming To Town which is a super cute (sappy) Christmas movie that I totally love, and a collection of Disney's Herbie movies. My youngest son gave me another movie I've been wanting for a while, Mom's Night Out on blu-ray. It is one of the funniest movies I've seen, I highly recommend it! Of course there was all the makeup I got from Bare Escentuals that I didn't have to pay for, which made for an even brighter Christmas! My kids also liked their gifts, which was a combination of video games, board games and clothes. Then I went to the kitchen to start making breakfast while they called their dad to come open presents as well. As I made buttermilk pancakes and crispy bacon, my kids opened some very nice gifts from their father: each of the boys got a Wii U console with games, and my daughter got clothes and makeup that she really wanted. When it came to them giving him his gifts, it was clear what his favorite was. R bought his dad a high-end pillow, made with Egyptian cotton, hypoallergenic, original price of $80 that he scored on Cyber Monday for $25. A got him some Nautica perfume which he liked as well. As for the facial products, he didn't seem impressed. I don't think he realized what these products cost, but I didn't make a big deal about it. It's Christmas, and I wanted to enjoy the day, not be upset by people I can't change.
After that I spent a whole lot of time getting the house back in order. I make sure we have a couple of trash bags to throw away all the discarded wrapping paper, but I always keep the boxes, bags, gift tags and tissue paper. Reduce-reuse-recycle! I don't recycle the wrapping paper because it's hard to reuse once it's been cut and taped and the kids rip into it, but I keep everything else. The tissue paper is the trickiest, making sure it's folded properly and not torn. I filled up a bag with reusable tissue, then packed everything away in the closet. There was plenty more to pick up and put away, too. My son E was overwhelmed with the amount of clothes he got: there were 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of sweatpants, and 11 new shirts in different styles and colors. You must understand, my son likes to wear the same 3 or 4 shirts ALL THE TIME. It drives me nuts! He has a closet full of shirts that he doesn't wear because either they don't fit him the way he likes, or don't fit him at all, or they have some kind of design he doesn't like. His dad had bought him lots of Ecko Limited t-shirts but he doesn't like the bold designs on them. This time all the shirts are plain round or v-neck tees, but it was so many he was sure he'd never get to wear any of them. His older brother had a talk with him, and told him it was important that he make the effort to wear them, otherwise he would appear ungrateful. He gave in and put on a dark grey shirt which looked really nice. I'm hoping that once he gets used to the idea of having lots of nice clothes he won't feel like they're taking over his closet. I did go in and pulled a bunch of shirts that he doesn't wear to take to Goodwill. Once I'd done that the closet appeared empty, making it seem like there weren't that many new clothes after all. I don't know if he's fully convinced; my son is a creature of habit, and new things don't fall into his habitual behavior. As I told my daughter, he definitely isn't a girl. Girls would love nothing more than to receive a boatload of clothes for Christmas!
I started lunch just after noon. The turkey was done from the day before; all that was needed was some mashed potatoes and green beans. My best friend IV stopped by as I was cooking, and brought a Christmas present for us: tickets for Winter Jam next month, and tickets to see Chris Tomlin in February. I know she spent way too much money on these and I told her so, but she loves going to concerts and loves for me to go too. I've told her I can pay for my own tickets but she goes ahead and buys them before I have a chance to get them myself. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to stop this; I don't want her to get into a financial bind because she's being too generous with her money. I got her a simpler but much appreciated gift: the newest Tim Hawkins DVD. Tim Hawkins is the funniest comedian I've ever listened to, and because he's a Christian my whole family can listen and not worry about him saying anything crass, inappropriate or vulgar. It's family friendly laughs, and I don't think anyone can resist a good laugh! After lunch all I could hear throughout the whole house was my son E playing Wonderful 101 on his new Wii U. His brother had set both up before going over to visit his best friend since high school. Today is not only Christmas, it's his best friend's birthday, which makes the visit extra special.
After that I spent a whole lot of time getting the house back in order. I make sure we have a couple of trash bags to throw away all the discarded wrapping paper, but I always keep the boxes, bags, gift tags and tissue paper. Reduce-reuse-recycle! I don't recycle the wrapping paper because it's hard to reuse once it's been cut and taped and the kids rip into it, but I keep everything else. The tissue paper is the trickiest, making sure it's folded properly and not torn. I filled up a bag with reusable tissue, then packed everything away in the closet. There was plenty more to pick up and put away, too. My son E was overwhelmed with the amount of clothes he got: there were 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of sweatpants, and 11 new shirts in different styles and colors. You must understand, my son likes to wear the same 3 or 4 shirts ALL THE TIME. It drives me nuts! He has a closet full of shirts that he doesn't wear because either they don't fit him the way he likes, or don't fit him at all, or they have some kind of design he doesn't like. His dad had bought him lots of Ecko Limited t-shirts but he doesn't like the bold designs on them. This time all the shirts are plain round or v-neck tees, but it was so many he was sure he'd never get to wear any of them. His older brother had a talk with him, and told him it was important that he make the effort to wear them, otherwise he would appear ungrateful. He gave in and put on a dark grey shirt which looked really nice. I'm hoping that once he gets used to the idea of having lots of nice clothes he won't feel like they're taking over his closet. I did go in and pulled a bunch of shirts that he doesn't wear to take to Goodwill. Once I'd done that the closet appeared empty, making it seem like there weren't that many new clothes after all. I don't know if he's fully convinced; my son is a creature of habit, and new things don't fall into his habitual behavior. As I told my daughter, he definitely isn't a girl. Girls would love nothing more than to receive a boatload of clothes for Christmas!
I started lunch just after noon. The turkey was done from the day before; all that was needed was some mashed potatoes and green beans. My best friend IV stopped by as I was cooking, and brought a Christmas present for us: tickets for Winter Jam next month, and tickets to see Chris Tomlin in February. I know she spent way too much money on these and I told her so, but she loves going to concerts and loves for me to go too. I've told her I can pay for my own tickets but she goes ahead and buys them before I have a chance to get them myself. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to stop this; I don't want her to get into a financial bind because she's being too generous with her money. I got her a simpler but much appreciated gift: the newest Tim Hawkins DVD. Tim Hawkins is the funniest comedian I've ever listened to, and because he's a Christian my whole family can listen and not worry about him saying anything crass, inappropriate or vulgar. It's family friendly laughs, and I don't think anyone can resist a good laugh! After lunch all I could hear throughout the whole house was my son E playing Wonderful 101 on his new Wii U. His brother had set both up before going over to visit his best friend since high school. Today is not only Christmas, it's his best friend's birthday, which makes the visit extra special.
Another neighbor stopped by and brought us a tin of Belgian chocolate covered wafers and cookies. Oh my word, these cookies are SOOO delicious! I'm afraid I'm gonna put on the 5 pounds I've struggled so hard to lose!
I cleaned up the kitchen, then sat down to watch Annie Claus Comes To Town. I love sweet, romantic movies, and if they revolve around Christmas I love them even more! Afterwards my kids wanted to play with their board games. Even though it was just A and E because R had gone out, we still had fun playing The Logo Board Game and Say Anything. I always get my kids board games for Christmas because we are board game lovers. Board games, card games, word games, you name it, we play it. What we won't do is play for money. We compete fairly (no cheating allowed in my house), and we challenge each other. Most importantly, we keep it fun.
I cleaned up the kitchen, then sat down to watch Annie Claus Comes To Town. I love sweet, romantic movies, and if they revolve around Christmas I love them even more! Afterwards my kids wanted to play with their board games. Even though it was just A and E because R had gone out, we still had fun playing The Logo Board Game and Say Anything. I always get my kids board games for Christmas because we are board game lovers. Board games, card games, word games, you name it, we play it. What we won't do is play for money. We compete fairly (no cheating allowed in my house), and we challenge each other. Most importantly, we keep it fun.
I've showered and moisturized, and now I'm going to relax with my new cookbook, researching new recipes that I want to try. It's been a wonderful day, a day we celebrate because Jesus came to this earth over 2,000 years ago with the purpose of restoring our relationship with God. Yes, my kids got me some nice gifts, and they are very happy with the presents they received, but ultimately the greatest gift of all is salvation through Jesus Christ. I can live without anything, but I cannot live without Jesus. We worship Him and praise Him, and we celebrate this momentous occasion, His birth. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas as well. Good night now.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
2 More Days - Happy Christmas Adam!
That's right, Christmas Adam. You know, Adam came before Eve? I'll let ya'll think about that for a minute.
I have a cute stuffed snowman on my bed, dressed up in overalls with a bag on his arm filled with snowballs that count down the days till Christmas. Only I lost the last snowball, the one that has 2 on one side and 1 on the other. Here he has been counting down the days since December 1st and he can't finish his job. What a bummer.
Last night I downloaded a new app, Errands. It's a to-do list to help me keep track of what needs to get done on a daily basis. I had Any.Do for a while but it wasn't working properly. Half the time it wouldn't let me put anything in that was too far in advance, it wouldn't repeat tasks, and sometimes would erase stuff. I'm liking Errands so far, but since I just started using it yesterday I can't give it a proper review. I'll see how I feel about it a week from now. I was going through Facebook before going to sleep, and saw that Bare Escentuals has a contest/sweepstakes type deal going on, where someone can win free product, up to $575 worth. I tried over and over to sign up but I guess there were too many people on the site, so I went in this morning and registered. I told my daughter about it and she said, "Sign me up too!" so I did.
My day started with my trusty crock pot. I knew I had outdoor work to do today, so I planned on jambalaya that I could set and forget. It was in the pot cooking by 8:20 am. I had my breakfast, 2 slices of bacon and some leftover cornbread with my coffee, then I made the brine for the turkey. I decided to make a good sized turkey for Christmas Eve dinner that would carry over to Christmas Day because, who wants to be stuck in the kitchen on Christmas? I like making a big breakfast on Christmas morning, pancakes or waffles, sausages, bacon, the works. But I don't want to have to be in the kitchen roasting a turkey and making all the fixin's too. I want to be able to sit back and watch The Christmas Story and Miracle on 34th Street and all the other classic Christmas movies with my kids. Though I suspect they'll be busy with all their new goodies to be bothered with anything else.
So, lunch in the crock pot, brine on the stove, I got to work in the yard. I haven't mowed the lawn in about a month. It's been dry so there hasn't been a whole lot of growth, but the grass was starting to look messy and in need of a good trim. In the summer, when the heat and humidity are at their highest, it will easily take me 90 minutes to mow the front and back yards. Today, with the air so dry and a cool breeze blowing, it took an hour. Instead of coming inside red as a tomato and drenched in sweat, I was covered in dirt that blew up from the ground, and I was pretty dry. It was nice not having to fight with the lawn mower because the ground was soggy from the rain and humidity. While I was at work in the front yard my neighbor's little girl came over and gave me the cutest Christmas card with a picture of herself inside. She's 4 years old now, and just as sweet as they come. Her grandma told me she was making out her Christmas cards and the little one told her, "Grandma, don't forget the neighbor!" God bless her, she is a real doll.
Once I was done I came inside and showered. There was still plenty that could be done, but my nose was not having it. I take Allegra daily, and it has kept my allergies well under control, but even maintenance medicine can get overwhelmed when there are that many weeds and dryness in the air. I figured I'd better play it safe and come back inside the house before a severe allergy attack came on. As it was I was sneezing quite a bit. My body was trying to get rid of all the allergens.
Yesterday I mentioned that I baked an orange streusel loaf for my daughter's coworkers. She works at the church office where she attends church. There is one other girl that works in the office, and all the rest are men. Nine of them. She says they attacked the cake. I can't lie, it made me smile from ear to ear. I am extremely gratified knowing I put some joy in their tummies ;-).
After my shower I had lunch, then vegged out for awhile. I watched some videos on youtube, then my daughter and I watched The Biggest Loser on Hulu. While I was having lunch, a package arrived for my son R from Think Geek. He loves all the wacky stuff they sell. When my daughter and I sat down to watch The Biggest Loser, we noticed a new present under the tree. We were pretty intrigued; who was this for? I got up to read what it said on the wrapping, and we both laughed: "To R From R. No, I don't have to justify buying myself a Christmas present." My daughter and I both agreed that was a great idea, and we should do the same when our Bare Escentuals order came in. I went to check the tracking number to see when it would be arriving. I had received an email last Thursday stating it was shipping that day, but FedEx only showed that a label had been created. I decided to call and find out if the error was at FedEx or at Bare Escentuals. Let me just say, they have the nicest customer service people I have spoken to in a long time. They were polite, helpful, and looking for ways to help me as best as they could, considering the shipping warehouse is not at the same location as their offices. The lady thought it was very strange that I hadn't received this order, especially when a second order that I'd placed after this one had already been received. She asked if I would be willing to call FedEx and find out if they had the package. I agreed, and called FedEx. Total contrast! The customer service rep at FedEx literally yawned in my ear as she asked me my name. How unprofessional is that?! It annoys me when customer service reps are not at the top of their game. So many people out of work would love that job! Appreciate what you have!! *Rant over* The woman told me that they'd never received the package from the shipper, so I called Bare Escentuals back. This time I was told that the label had been created but for some reason the package had not shipped. Since I placed the order before the deadline I was guaranteed delivery by Christmas (I placed the order on 12/15, and I believe the deadline was either 12/16 or 12/18). The woman promised to look into it, and have someone call me about having it shipped to receive by the 25th. Within 20 minutes she called back, but unfortunately she didn't have good news. She isn't all together sure if the package was picked up by FedEx and not scanned, or if it never got picked up. The offices are in San Francisco, and the shipping warehouse is in Ohio. The warehouse had already closed for the day so she couldn't contact them, and there was no way they could ship Wednesday and still receive the order on Christmas because FedEx is closed. So we are looking at Friday or Saturday delivery, IF there isn't any weather problems. I could have gotten mad, but what would that do? It wouldn't get my order here any faster. I told the girl we'd manage, and that it was alright, and she was so apologetic and grateful that I was being so understanding.
I've put the turkey in the brine and tidied up the kitchen. My son R is at work, and my daughter A is at the Christmas Eve Eve church service. There will be another service tomorrow which I plan to attend with my son E. She has to attend both because of work. To be perfectly honest, I have done nothing productive after calling Bare Escentuals. I pretty much just lay around the house. So really, there's nothing else to tell. Tomorrow is a new day, an exciting and fun day, and we're all looking forward to it. Good night and pleasant dreams.
I have a cute stuffed snowman on my bed, dressed up in overalls with a bag on his arm filled with snowballs that count down the days till Christmas. Only I lost the last snowball, the one that has 2 on one side and 1 on the other. Here he has been counting down the days since December 1st and he can't finish his job. What a bummer.
Last night I downloaded a new app, Errands. It's a to-do list to help me keep track of what needs to get done on a daily basis. I had Any.Do for a while but it wasn't working properly. Half the time it wouldn't let me put anything in that was too far in advance, it wouldn't repeat tasks, and sometimes would erase stuff. I'm liking Errands so far, but since I just started using it yesterday I can't give it a proper review. I'll see how I feel about it a week from now. I was going through Facebook before going to sleep, and saw that Bare Escentuals has a contest/sweepstakes type deal going on, where someone can win free product, up to $575 worth. I tried over and over to sign up but I guess there were too many people on the site, so I went in this morning and registered. I told my daughter about it and she said, "Sign me up too!" so I did.
My day started with my trusty crock pot. I knew I had outdoor work to do today, so I planned on jambalaya that I could set and forget. It was in the pot cooking by 8:20 am. I had my breakfast, 2 slices of bacon and some leftover cornbread with my coffee, then I made the brine for the turkey. I decided to make a good sized turkey for Christmas Eve dinner that would carry over to Christmas Day because, who wants to be stuck in the kitchen on Christmas? I like making a big breakfast on Christmas morning, pancakes or waffles, sausages, bacon, the works. But I don't want to have to be in the kitchen roasting a turkey and making all the fixin's too. I want to be able to sit back and watch The Christmas Story and Miracle on 34th Street and all the other classic Christmas movies with my kids. Though I suspect they'll be busy with all their new goodies to be bothered with anything else.
So, lunch in the crock pot, brine on the stove, I got to work in the yard. I haven't mowed the lawn in about a month. It's been dry so there hasn't been a whole lot of growth, but the grass was starting to look messy and in need of a good trim. In the summer, when the heat and humidity are at their highest, it will easily take me 90 minutes to mow the front and back yards. Today, with the air so dry and a cool breeze blowing, it took an hour. Instead of coming inside red as a tomato and drenched in sweat, I was covered in dirt that blew up from the ground, and I was pretty dry. It was nice not having to fight with the lawn mower because the ground was soggy from the rain and humidity. While I was at work in the front yard my neighbor's little girl came over and gave me the cutest Christmas card with a picture of herself inside. She's 4 years old now, and just as sweet as they come. Her grandma told me she was making out her Christmas cards and the little one told her, "Grandma, don't forget the neighbor!" God bless her, she is a real doll.
Once I was done I came inside and showered. There was still plenty that could be done, but my nose was not having it. I take Allegra daily, and it has kept my allergies well under control, but even maintenance medicine can get overwhelmed when there are that many weeds and dryness in the air. I figured I'd better play it safe and come back inside the house before a severe allergy attack came on. As it was I was sneezing quite a bit. My body was trying to get rid of all the allergens.
Yesterday I mentioned that I baked an orange streusel loaf for my daughter's coworkers. She works at the church office where she attends church. There is one other girl that works in the office, and all the rest are men. Nine of them. She says they attacked the cake. I can't lie, it made me smile from ear to ear. I am extremely gratified knowing I put some joy in their tummies ;-).
After my shower I had lunch, then vegged out for awhile. I watched some videos on youtube, then my daughter and I watched The Biggest Loser on Hulu. While I was having lunch, a package arrived for my son R from Think Geek. He loves all the wacky stuff they sell. When my daughter and I sat down to watch The Biggest Loser, we noticed a new present under the tree. We were pretty intrigued; who was this for? I got up to read what it said on the wrapping, and we both laughed: "To R From R. No, I don't have to justify buying myself a Christmas present." My daughter and I both agreed that was a great idea, and we should do the same when our Bare Escentuals order came in. I went to check the tracking number to see when it would be arriving. I had received an email last Thursday stating it was shipping that day, but FedEx only showed that a label had been created. I decided to call and find out if the error was at FedEx or at Bare Escentuals. Let me just say, they have the nicest customer service people I have spoken to in a long time. They were polite, helpful, and looking for ways to help me as best as they could, considering the shipping warehouse is not at the same location as their offices. The lady thought it was very strange that I hadn't received this order, especially when a second order that I'd placed after this one had already been received. She asked if I would be willing to call FedEx and find out if they had the package. I agreed, and called FedEx. Total contrast! The customer service rep at FedEx literally yawned in my ear as she asked me my name. How unprofessional is that?! It annoys me when customer service reps are not at the top of their game. So many people out of work would love that job! Appreciate what you have!! *Rant over* The woman told me that they'd never received the package from the shipper, so I called Bare Escentuals back. This time I was told that the label had been created but for some reason the package had not shipped. Since I placed the order before the deadline I was guaranteed delivery by Christmas (I placed the order on 12/15, and I believe the deadline was either 12/16 or 12/18). The woman promised to look into it, and have someone call me about having it shipped to receive by the 25th. Within 20 minutes she called back, but unfortunately she didn't have good news. She isn't all together sure if the package was picked up by FedEx and not scanned, or if it never got picked up. The offices are in San Francisco, and the shipping warehouse is in Ohio. The warehouse had already closed for the day so she couldn't contact them, and there was no way they could ship Wednesday and still receive the order on Christmas because FedEx is closed. So we are looking at Friday or Saturday delivery, IF there isn't any weather problems. I could have gotten mad, but what would that do? It wouldn't get my order here any faster. I told the girl we'd manage, and that it was alright, and she was so apologetic and grateful that I was being so understanding.
I've put the turkey in the brine and tidied up the kitchen. My son R is at work, and my daughter A is at the Christmas Eve Eve church service. There will be another service tomorrow which I plan to attend with my son E. She has to attend both because of work. To be perfectly honest, I have done nothing productive after calling Bare Escentuals. I pretty much just lay around the house. So really, there's nothing else to tell. Tomorrow is a new day, an exciting and fun day, and we're all looking forward to it. Good night and pleasant dreams.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
The Countdown Is On - One Week Till Christmas!
It seems so hard to believe that we are just one week away from Christmas. The time has flown!
I went to bed early last night; I was totally exhausted after our Awana evening. So I was in bed by 10:30 and awake by 4:00 am. Don't you just hate that?! I stayed in bed, though. If I got up I'd wake the whole house, and that certainly wouldn't be thoughtful. I eventually dozed off (like an hour later) and woke up at 7:00 am with my stomach doing all kinds of flips. That's what I get for eating pastries at 8:45 in the evening. I know myself only too well, that eating at that hour of the night will give me a major stomachache and won't let me sleep. I guess I'll know better next time. Yeah, right.
My ancient computer has been acting up again, so I asked my son R to take a look at it. He found a lot of junk going on in the background that needed to get deleted. This computer was my daughter's. She got it a year before going off to college. She graduated in 2012. So this computer has been with us since 2007, making it an antique. When she gave it to me she didn't delete a bunch of school programs she'd downloaded, and they were taking up precious computer space. Add to that the Norton Antivirus that we haven't used in like, forever, that was still running in the background, and it's no wonder my computer was slow. He got to work on it, and I went to the grocery store. I have to do my 2 week shopping trip this weekend, and I was trying to figure out a menu plan for the next two weeks, but it's difficult if you don't know what's on sale. So I went to Winn-Dixie to pick up meats. I purchased 3 packages of ground beef at $3.99/lb. I know that last time I said I wasn't going to pay that much for ground beef when it was $3.79/lb at Costco, but the Costco ground beef was so fatty! When I would brown the meat I'd have all this grease to get rid of. Better to pay a bit more and get better quality beef. I got pork chops and a pork shoulder as well, and a few staples that I knew I needed like onions, potatoes, rice, etc. In all I spent $79 but the only meat I need to get now is the turkey for Christmas Eve. I still have plenty of shopping to do but I'll leave that for Walmart. Much as I hate going there, the prices on canned goods and frozen foods are cheaper for the most part. The turkey I'll get at Publix. Theirs is the best.
I took E to the park for his PE assignment. He has to do several tasks to show how he has improved in his exercises since the semester started. Well, I'm pleased to say he shaved off another 19 seconds on his mile run! He was huffin' and puffin' but he finished in 10 min 48 sec. This was better than the times he'd had when he had daily PE in school, so we are very happy about it. He won't be turning in this assignment till Saturday, since he has to show 3 days of exercising, but it's okay. The teacher says this assignment isn't due till January 18. I'm having him do it now because he needs to finish his hours for the week, and he's done with all his other classes. We took our time doing the science lab (translation: dragged it out as far as we could) and that got turned in today; it was the only assignment he had left to complete. With exercising and watching documentaries on ocean life he was able to complete his hours for today, but I'm at a loss as to what we'll do tomorrow. He has one live lesson that he has to attend, and his PE. He'll be doing lots of reading and documentary watching I guess.
We had sandwiches for lunch and dinner today. I kept it simple because I just didn't know what to make. I have those days sometimes, when nothing sounds appealing. Thankfully my kids don't make a fuss. As long as there's food to eat they're happy.
I remembered something today: I have some outdoor penguin decorations in the shed that hadn't been put outside! How in the world did I forget that?! Penguins are my favorite Christmas decoration. I have all kinds of decor for Christmas - villages, musical and animated figurines, Santas, Nativity scenes, and enough items in storage to make the North Pole come alive in South Florida. I could live without any of them, except for my Nativities and my penguins. Oh, and my rabbits. I have the Lloyd family from back when I sold House Of Lloyd, and I love them. Anyway, after dinner and before the sun went down, I got my two penguins out of the shed. One is made of metal and is holding a hot cup of tea, and the other is a light up cutie pie that is now on the pavers next to the front door. Both were gifts from my dearest friend DPP. I have to give her a call soon. I really do miss her. She'd moved out to Arizona at the beginning of the year, but thankfully she's back. I don't have many friends, and she is one that I truly treasure.
Oh! I got my Ulta order today! The gift set I got so the kids could give to their dad...is a lot smaller than I expected. I'm glad I got a bunch of stuff to go with it. It was all freebies but it makes it a much nicer gift which makes my kids happy. I also got my Bare Minerals Delight and Dazzle set that I'd ordered for myself. The original price was $49; it was on sale for $34 and I had $8 in reward money, so I ended up paying $26 for it. It's wonderful! All the products are full size. I have 2 new eyeshadows, 2 new blushes, 2 eyeliners and 2 lip glosses. I'm debating which set I'm gonna try first! The Delight set is for daytime, and the Dazzle set is for night. I like that the Delight set has peachy colors. I don't have anything in those tones so it'll be a nice change once in awhile.
My daughter got home from work, then headed straight to the store to pick up supplies for her birthday celebration, happening tomorrow. Her birthday is actually December 27, but since it's 2 days after Christmas and so many folks are out of town, she decided it would be best to do it 2 weeks before. I'll have all the details to her festivities here on my blog either tomorrow or Saturday. She did make something she calls reindeer bark, with crushed Oreos, pretzels, and more goodies, topped with melted almond bark and M&M's. It looks pretty tasty, but it has to go into the fridge to harden. It'll be interesting to see what everyone thinks!
I sat down to relax and watch some videos, and I kept dozing off. I'm tired because I was awake at 4 am. I'm gonna try to stay awake, but no guarantees. I think I'll be snoozing before 11:00 rolls around. Oh well. Good night.
I went to bed early last night; I was totally exhausted after our Awana evening. So I was in bed by 10:30 and awake by 4:00 am. Don't you just hate that?! I stayed in bed, though. If I got up I'd wake the whole house, and that certainly wouldn't be thoughtful. I eventually dozed off (like an hour later) and woke up at 7:00 am with my stomach doing all kinds of flips. That's what I get for eating pastries at 8:45 in the evening. I know myself only too well, that eating at that hour of the night will give me a major stomachache and won't let me sleep. I guess I'll know better next time. Yeah, right.
My ancient computer has been acting up again, so I asked my son R to take a look at it. He found a lot of junk going on in the background that needed to get deleted. This computer was my daughter's. She got it a year before going off to college. She graduated in 2012. So this computer has been with us since 2007, making it an antique. When she gave it to me she didn't delete a bunch of school programs she'd downloaded, and they were taking up precious computer space. Add to that the Norton Antivirus that we haven't used in like, forever, that was still running in the background, and it's no wonder my computer was slow. He got to work on it, and I went to the grocery store. I have to do my 2 week shopping trip this weekend, and I was trying to figure out a menu plan for the next two weeks, but it's difficult if you don't know what's on sale. So I went to Winn-Dixie to pick up meats. I purchased 3 packages of ground beef at $3.99/lb. I know that last time I said I wasn't going to pay that much for ground beef when it was $3.79/lb at Costco, but the Costco ground beef was so fatty! When I would brown the meat I'd have all this grease to get rid of. Better to pay a bit more and get better quality beef. I got pork chops and a pork shoulder as well, and a few staples that I knew I needed like onions, potatoes, rice, etc. In all I spent $79 but the only meat I need to get now is the turkey for Christmas Eve. I still have plenty of shopping to do but I'll leave that for Walmart. Much as I hate going there, the prices on canned goods and frozen foods are cheaper for the most part. The turkey I'll get at Publix. Theirs is the best.
I took E to the park for his PE assignment. He has to do several tasks to show how he has improved in his exercises since the semester started. Well, I'm pleased to say he shaved off another 19 seconds on his mile run! He was huffin' and puffin' but he finished in 10 min 48 sec. This was better than the times he'd had when he had daily PE in school, so we are very happy about it. He won't be turning in this assignment till Saturday, since he has to show 3 days of exercising, but it's okay. The teacher says this assignment isn't due till January 18. I'm having him do it now because he needs to finish his hours for the week, and he's done with all his other classes. We took our time doing the science lab (translation: dragged it out as far as we could) and that got turned in today; it was the only assignment he had left to complete. With exercising and watching documentaries on ocean life he was able to complete his hours for today, but I'm at a loss as to what we'll do tomorrow. He has one live lesson that he has to attend, and his PE. He'll be doing lots of reading and documentary watching I guess.
We had sandwiches for lunch and dinner today. I kept it simple because I just didn't know what to make. I have those days sometimes, when nothing sounds appealing. Thankfully my kids don't make a fuss. As long as there's food to eat they're happy.
I remembered something today: I have some outdoor penguin decorations in the shed that hadn't been put outside! How in the world did I forget that?! Penguins are my favorite Christmas decoration. I have all kinds of decor for Christmas - villages, musical and animated figurines, Santas, Nativity scenes, and enough items in storage to make the North Pole come alive in South Florida. I could live without any of them, except for my Nativities and my penguins. Oh, and my rabbits. I have the Lloyd family from back when I sold House Of Lloyd, and I love them. Anyway, after dinner and before the sun went down, I got my two penguins out of the shed. One is made of metal and is holding a hot cup of tea, and the other is a light up cutie pie that is now on the pavers next to the front door. Both were gifts from my dearest friend DPP. I have to give her a call soon. I really do miss her. She'd moved out to Arizona at the beginning of the year, but thankfully she's back. I don't have many friends, and she is one that I truly treasure.
Oh! I got my Ulta order today! The gift set I got so the kids could give to their dad...is a lot smaller than I expected. I'm glad I got a bunch of stuff to go with it. It was all freebies but it makes it a much nicer gift which makes my kids happy. I also got my Bare Minerals Delight and Dazzle set that I'd ordered for myself. The original price was $49; it was on sale for $34 and I had $8 in reward money, so I ended up paying $26 for it. It's wonderful! All the products are full size. I have 2 new eyeshadows, 2 new blushes, 2 eyeliners and 2 lip glosses. I'm debating which set I'm gonna try first! The Delight set is for daytime, and the Dazzle set is for night. I like that the Delight set has peachy colors. I don't have anything in those tones so it'll be a nice change once in awhile.
My daughter got home from work, then headed straight to the store to pick up supplies for her birthday celebration, happening tomorrow. Her birthday is actually December 27, but since it's 2 days after Christmas and so many folks are out of town, she decided it would be best to do it 2 weeks before. I'll have all the details to her festivities here on my blog either tomorrow or Saturday. She did make something she calls reindeer bark, with crushed Oreos, pretzels, and more goodies, topped with melted almond bark and M&M's. It looks pretty tasty, but it has to go into the fridge to harden. It'll be interesting to see what everyone thinks!
I sat down to relax and watch some videos, and I kept dozing off. I'm tired because I was awake at 4 am. I'm gonna try to stay awake, but no guarantees. I think I'll be snoozing before 11:00 rolls around. Oh well. Good night.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
It's My Birthday!!
The day is here! I awoke this morning feeling...a day older. And another day thankful. I have so much to be thankful for! God has been good to me. I'm thankful for each day, for each year, and for each moment. Today, I praise Him for one more year of life and health.
I got up early today (as I usually do) and began to get ready for church. My daughter was awake and packing up her car - she plays guitar with the youth ministry band and had to be at church early for practice. She was the first to wish me a happy birthday and give me my present: she knows how much I'd been wanting to see the Disney movie Saving Mr. Banks, and she got me the DVD. I love Tom Hanks, he is such an amazing actor, and I saw previews of him playing Mr. Walt Disney in this movie. He is a genius! I can't wait to watch the movie later on. Underneath the movie I could see a gift card, but she said it was from her little brother who was still asleep, so I decided to wait till he got up to take a look at it. I made breakfast and got myself a cup of coffee, then woke up my youngest son. I didn't want to wake up my oldest son R; he had pulled a double shift at work the day before and I wanted to let him sleep in. He got up early anyway, and gave me a big birthday hug. That made my day right there! His younger brother finally got up and they gave me my gifts. My son E gave me a $25 gift card from my favorite cosmetic store, Ulta. Woohoo!! My oldest son got me a great recipe book: Taste Of Home Christmas Recipes. I love recipe books, and this one has lots of desserts which means lots of goodies for our tummies! It made me so happy to see how well my babies know me :-).
I got to Sunday school before anyone else, so I started up the coffee and set everything up. People started streaming in, and one of the ladies whom I've known for years (her daughter was my daughter's college roommate) wished me a happy birthday. I thought that was so sweet. Then as our teacher was taking prayer requests, she mentioned to the whole class that it was my birthday - it caught me off guard, but everyone was wishing me a happy birthday, and at the end of the class they prayed for a special blessing for me on my day. That really made my heart sing!
The sermon on the prodigal son was on point - I left feeling so loved by my God, who loves me and calls me His own even when I try to go off on my own, thinking I know better than anyone. Pastor Ray once again preached the word with truth and accuracy. I'm so thankful for our pastor!
After church we came home and waited for my daughter so we could decide where to go out to eat. We always go out either for lunch, dinner, or "linner" on my birthday, and I was trying to decide where to go. I felt like having Mexican food, so I chose a Mexican restaurant that's in an outdoor mall just north of us. My daughter came home and we all hopped in the car and headed over, only to find the place packed inside and out, and no parking anywhere. That was going to be a long wait, and it was already 3:00. We drove over to the main street and looked at different places to eat. My son R spotted Buffalo Wild Wings, and we all perked up. We are chicken wing lovers, no doubt about it. I still felt like Mexican but I would happily have wings, so we turned in there. Again, the place looked like it was packed, but they got us seated right away. Once we were sitting, I was quickly reminded how much I hate football. There were television screens everywhere, with multiple games going on, and everyone focused on the Dolphin game. The noise was over-the-top, but with it being a Sunday, and a football Sunday at that, I knew if we left we'd run into the same thing no matter where we went, so we stayed. I anticipated slow service but it was the absolute contrary. We were seated right away, our order was taken, and the food came quickly. I ordered - get this - fish tacos! Yes, I wanted Mexican and I got it! My younger kids got a big platter of wings which they shared, and R had chicken tenders with enormous onion rings. Once it was clear that the Dolphins were gonna lose, the place quieted down and we had a really nice time. My oldest son graciously paid for the entire meal. I was so thankful to be able to have my babies with me to celebrate my birthday.
Coincidentally (or not), Ulta was on the same street as Buffalo Wild Wings - isn't that perfect? ;-) And my boys didn't complain - there's a Barnes and Noble in the same shopping center, so while my daughter and I went cosmetics shopping, they went to look at and purchase books. I already knew what I wanted from Ulta: cosmetic brushes. Some of my brushes I've had for years, and especially my blush brush is rough against my skin from washing it so much. I was hoping to get the Real Techniques core collection since I've heard such great things about it and my daughter has their powder brush which she loves. When we walked into the store, the first thing that caught my eye was a Bare Minerals blush and brush set that I'd seen advertised on a youtube video, and I ran to get it. It's a full size loose powder blush in Strawberry Cream with a mini blush brush for $10! The regular price for just the blush is $19, so I knew I wanted that beautiful pink blush! My daughter was looking at the BareSkin serum foundation, trying to decide what color she wanted. I have this foundation in Bare Natural, which is a neutral color. She has used it before, but she mistakenly thought I had Bare Nude. As she was picking different colors to look at, I pulled the Bare Nude and asked if she wanted to try that one. Her answer: "You've already seen me in the Nude." What was even funnier was that she didn't realize what she'd said till I told her, "I haven't seen you in the nude in a long time." We laughed so much! After trying out different tones one of the sales ladies came over and helped her pick the right color for her: Bare Ivory. It matched her neck nicely, and helped cover the redness in her cheeks. After that she went to look at hair products and I went in search of my brushes. I was so disappointed to find they didn't have any more core collection brushes :-(. I should mention, the store was pretty busy and there was a long line at the registers the whole time we were there, so I wasn't surprised they were running out of merchandise. 'Tis the season to be shopping :P. I did find the eye brush set - I wanted new eye brushes as well, and it was the last one. Since they didn't have the core collection I decided to just get the blush brush. Yes, the blush I was purchasing had a blush brush, but it's a mini. It's nice for travel or to have in my purse, but I like a big fluffy brush for blush, and this one was $8.99 which is a great deal. I had gotten a 20% off coupon from Ulta in the mail, and with that and the gift card, I was able to get everything I wanted for $6.35. Now that's what I call a great deal!
The trip home was nice, chatting and listening to the Duck Dynasty Christmas CD my kids gave me last year. We pulled into the driveway, and I remembered we still haven't fixed our Christmas lights. It was already dark so that wasn't going to happen today. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow. Our house looks so sad and dark compared to the other houses on our block.
I'm gonna relax the rest of this evening, watch a movie, and enjoy what's left of my birthday. I am so blessed, and have so much to be thankful for. My life isn't perfect by any means; but I am loved by my God, by my family, and by my friends. And if you have Jesus, you already have everything you need. All the rest is bonus. Have a good night.
I got up early today (as I usually do) and began to get ready for church. My daughter was awake and packing up her car - she plays guitar with the youth ministry band and had to be at church early for practice. She was the first to wish me a happy birthday and give me my present: she knows how much I'd been wanting to see the Disney movie Saving Mr. Banks, and she got me the DVD. I love Tom Hanks, he is such an amazing actor, and I saw previews of him playing Mr. Walt Disney in this movie. He is a genius! I can't wait to watch the movie later on. Underneath the movie I could see a gift card, but she said it was from her little brother who was still asleep, so I decided to wait till he got up to take a look at it. I made breakfast and got myself a cup of coffee, then woke up my youngest son. I didn't want to wake up my oldest son R; he had pulled a double shift at work the day before and I wanted to let him sleep in. He got up early anyway, and gave me a big birthday hug. That made my day right there! His younger brother finally got up and they gave me my gifts. My son E gave me a $25 gift card from my favorite cosmetic store, Ulta. Woohoo!! My oldest son got me a great recipe book: Taste Of Home Christmas Recipes. I love recipe books, and this one has lots of desserts which means lots of goodies for our tummies! It made me so happy to see how well my babies know me :-).
I got to Sunday school before anyone else, so I started up the coffee and set everything up. People started streaming in, and one of the ladies whom I've known for years (her daughter was my daughter's college roommate) wished me a happy birthday. I thought that was so sweet. Then as our teacher was taking prayer requests, she mentioned to the whole class that it was my birthday - it caught me off guard, but everyone was wishing me a happy birthday, and at the end of the class they prayed for a special blessing for me on my day. That really made my heart sing!
The sermon on the prodigal son was on point - I left feeling so loved by my God, who loves me and calls me His own even when I try to go off on my own, thinking I know better than anyone. Pastor Ray once again preached the word with truth and accuracy. I'm so thankful for our pastor!
After church we came home and waited for my daughter so we could decide where to go out to eat. We always go out either for lunch, dinner, or "linner" on my birthday, and I was trying to decide where to go. I felt like having Mexican food, so I chose a Mexican restaurant that's in an outdoor mall just north of us. My daughter came home and we all hopped in the car and headed over, only to find the place packed inside and out, and no parking anywhere. That was going to be a long wait, and it was already 3:00. We drove over to the main street and looked at different places to eat. My son R spotted Buffalo Wild Wings, and we all perked up. We are chicken wing lovers, no doubt about it. I still felt like Mexican but I would happily have wings, so we turned in there. Again, the place looked like it was packed, but they got us seated right away. Once we were sitting, I was quickly reminded how much I hate football. There were television screens everywhere, with multiple games going on, and everyone focused on the Dolphin game. The noise was over-the-top, but with it being a Sunday, and a football Sunday at that, I knew if we left we'd run into the same thing no matter where we went, so we stayed. I anticipated slow service but it was the absolute contrary. We were seated right away, our order was taken, and the food came quickly. I ordered - get this - fish tacos! Yes, I wanted Mexican and I got it! My younger kids got a big platter of wings which they shared, and R had chicken tenders with enormous onion rings. Once it was clear that the Dolphins were gonna lose, the place quieted down and we had a really nice time. My oldest son graciously paid for the entire meal. I was so thankful to be able to have my babies with me to celebrate my birthday.
Coincidentally (or not), Ulta was on the same street as Buffalo Wild Wings - isn't that perfect? ;-) And my boys didn't complain - there's a Barnes and Noble in the same shopping center, so while my daughter and I went cosmetics shopping, they went to look at and purchase books. I already knew what I wanted from Ulta: cosmetic brushes. Some of my brushes I've had for years, and especially my blush brush is rough against my skin from washing it so much. I was hoping to get the Real Techniques core collection since I've heard such great things about it and my daughter has their powder brush which she loves. When we walked into the store, the first thing that caught my eye was a Bare Minerals blush and brush set that I'd seen advertised on a youtube video, and I ran to get it. It's a full size loose powder blush in Strawberry Cream with a mini blush brush for $10! The regular price for just the blush is $19, so I knew I wanted that beautiful pink blush! My daughter was looking at the BareSkin serum foundation, trying to decide what color she wanted. I have this foundation in Bare Natural, which is a neutral color. She has used it before, but she mistakenly thought I had Bare Nude. As she was picking different colors to look at, I pulled the Bare Nude and asked if she wanted to try that one. Her answer: "You've already seen me in the Nude." What was even funnier was that she didn't realize what she'd said till I told her, "I haven't seen you in the nude in a long time." We laughed so much! After trying out different tones one of the sales ladies came over and helped her pick the right color for her: Bare Ivory. It matched her neck nicely, and helped cover the redness in her cheeks. After that she went to look at hair products and I went in search of my brushes. I was so disappointed to find they didn't have any more core collection brushes :-(. I should mention, the store was pretty busy and there was a long line at the registers the whole time we were there, so I wasn't surprised they were running out of merchandise. 'Tis the season to be shopping :P. I did find the eye brush set - I wanted new eye brushes as well, and it was the last one. Since they didn't have the core collection I decided to just get the blush brush. Yes, the blush I was purchasing had a blush brush, but it's a mini. It's nice for travel or to have in my purse, but I like a big fluffy brush for blush, and this one was $8.99 which is a great deal. I had gotten a 20% off coupon from Ulta in the mail, and with that and the gift card, I was able to get everything I wanted for $6.35. Now that's what I call a great deal!
The trip home was nice, chatting and listening to the Duck Dynasty Christmas CD my kids gave me last year. We pulled into the driveway, and I remembered we still haven't fixed our Christmas lights. It was already dark so that wasn't going to happen today. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow. Our house looks so sad and dark compared to the other houses on our block.
I'm gonna relax the rest of this evening, watch a movie, and enjoy what's left of my birthday. I am so blessed, and have so much to be thankful for. My life isn't perfect by any means; but I am loved by my God, by my family, and by my friends. And if you have Jesus, you already have everything you need. All the rest is bonus. Have a good night.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Five Question Friday
It's another Friday, but this one is right before a 3 day weekend! Labor Day weekend marks the end of summertime activities in most of the US, but here in South Florida it's not going to get much cooler till probably October. Which is a bummer, because we've had such heat and humidity, and we need a break! The rest of the country has had it pretty bad too. Record breaking heat all around, especially in the Midwest. Of course, the rest of the country will start to feel relief much sooner than we will.
On to my Five Questions for this first Friday in September.
1. Shoes in the house - yay or nay?
I always wear sandals or something on my feet while I'm in the house. I can't stand to feel anything sticking to my feet, including dust :P. My son and daughter wear socks around the house because they don't like wearing shoes indoors. Guess that makes us different.
2. What do you call them- flip flops, slippers, thongs, etc?
Here in South Florida we call them flip-flops. Slippers are the fluffy things worn only around the house; flip-flops are worn everywhere by everyone here. As for thongs, that sounds like that underwear that's similar to dental floss, and all I can say is, Eww.
3. What song are you almost embarrassed to admit you know all the lyrics to?
The theme song to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My son watched that cartoon so many times I could sing it in my sleep. At age 24 it's still one of his favorite cartoons.
4. What is the best quality to have in a friend?
Integrity. I want to be able to tell a friend something and know it won't be a topic of conversation with anyone else.
5. Do you know what you want for Christmas?
To be with my children. I don't care much about what's under the tree. It's the people around the tree that matter most to me.
Have a blessed weekend everyone!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Wednesday Words of Weight Loss
I ran across this meme done by Patrice at Everyday Ruralty and thought the questions (and topic) were very interesting. So here I go, another meme:
1. Has your diet changed a lot since the warmer weather came?
Sure - I eat more ice cream! Seriously, the weather in South Florida doesn't change that dramatically. There's more shakes and frozen yogurt, but otherwise I tend to cook the same.
2. Did you do anything interesting over Memorial weekend?
We took an unplanned trip to Orlando for a couple of days. Needed to take a look at some stuff up there, and since my daughter still has her apartment it was easy.
3. If you could plan a get together with your blog friends, what would that look like?
I'm part of an online bible study group, and the girls there are like family even though I've never met any of them face to face. I think our group would get together for dessert and coffee, laughing, crying, praying, fellowshipping, singing praises to the Lord, and just having the best time of our lives. I hope it really happens one day.
4. Do you like yogurt? What's your favorite kind or favorite way of eating it?
Oh yeah! We had frozen yogurt at a shop in Orlando called Mix. They have lots of different flavors of frozen yogurt, and more toppings than I can list! The best part is, you can mix flavors and toppings all you want (hence the name) and they charge by weight, not items. I had the most amazing coconut frozen yogurt with fresh pineapple and shredded coconut (can you tell I love coconuts?). I can still taste it now....
5. What's the most important quality or character trait in a friend?
Trustworthiness. I want to be able to tell my friend something and have the confidence that no one else will hear it from her. That, and a good sense of humor. I love to laugh.
1. Has your diet changed a lot since the warmer weather came?
Sure - I eat more ice cream! Seriously, the weather in South Florida doesn't change that dramatically. There's more shakes and frozen yogurt, but otherwise I tend to cook the same.
2. Did you do anything interesting over Memorial weekend?
We took an unplanned trip to Orlando for a couple of days. Needed to take a look at some stuff up there, and since my daughter still has her apartment it was easy.
3. If you could plan a get together with your blog friends, what would that look like?
I'm part of an online bible study group, and the girls there are like family even though I've never met any of them face to face. I think our group would get together for dessert and coffee, laughing, crying, praying, fellowshipping, singing praises to the Lord, and just having the best time of our lives. I hope it really happens one day.
4. Do you like yogurt? What's your favorite kind or favorite way of eating it?
Oh yeah! We had frozen yogurt at a shop in Orlando called Mix. They have lots of different flavors of frozen yogurt, and more toppings than I can list! The best part is, you can mix flavors and toppings all you want (hence the name) and they charge by weight, not items. I had the most amazing coconut frozen yogurt with fresh pineapple and shredded coconut (can you tell I love coconuts?). I can still taste it now....
5. What's the most important quality or character trait in a friend?
Trustworthiness. I want to be able to tell my friend something and have the confidence that no one else will hear it from her. That, and a good sense of humor. I love to laugh.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Friend Making Monday
Mondays are my favorite, because there are so many fun meme's to take part in! For Friend Makin' Monday, hop on over to All The Weigh.
1) What is your favorite part of an average day?
I like mornings. It's when I have the most energy and can get the most things done.
2) Is there one food that you eat every single day? If so, what is it?
I eat raisins pretty much everyday. Nature's candy. Yum.
3) Are you an early bird, or do you prefer to sleep in late?
Early bird! Even when I don't have to get up early I do. The latest I'm ever in bed is 8:00am, and that's if I'm not feeling well. Otherwise I'm usually up at 7:00am or before.
4) Share one thing that you're looking forward to doing this week.
I hope to visit my aunt on Saturday and meet a cousin from up north that I only know through Facebook.
5) What's for dinner this evening?
London broil (made in the crockpot), rice, beans, salad, and fried green beans.
Have a blessed week!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Friend Making Monday
Last week's questions were considered a bit girly. You know, what brand of make-up do you use is a pretty feminine questions ;-). So this week the questions are more on the masculine side. Let's see how many of these I can answer.
1. Who is your pick for the Final Four?
Final Four what? Oh, is this a sports question? Waaaay out of my "league" (get it?) I don't follow sports. My hubby is a sports fanatic, but I couldn't care less. This question is just too far over my head for me to reach it. On to the next question...
2. What is your favorite workout/fitness activity?
Okay, I can answer this one. I love walking. I like going to the park and going around it a couple of times while my son plays on the swing or with the neighborhood kids. I've been told the park is about 1 1/2 to 2 miles around, so I get plenty of exercise while enjoying the great outdoors.
3. Do you have a favorite healthy snack? Something that REALLY hits the
spot?
Oh yes, vanilla yogurt covered raisins. I could eat those all day!
4. What is your dream car?
A BMW convertible. I actually had one once, then my youngest son was born and it didn't fit our family anymore. I'd love to get another one, though. It was not only gorgeous but a smooth, comfortable ride.
5. Have you set any goals for yourself this month? What are they?
My goal for this month is to finish painting doors and door frames. I don't know if I'll actually achieve my goal, but I have made some progress. Let's see when the job will get finished.
Oh wow, that wasn't so bad after all! Why not give it a try? Visit Kenz at All The Weigh. Have a blessed week.
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