Who Me? Missing?

I have been in an Etsy funk for the last few days. I don't know what came over me but I have spent my days either shopping the miles and miles of Etsy pages or sleeping. I do fit in a visit to my uncle and aunt most days as well. I seem to have finally noticed and done some snapping out of my Etsy problems as of today (Not one peek at the place so far today). It is not even like I am buying anything. I have made a total of two purchases is the whole week-long Etsy extravaganza. The first was some vintage knitting books (some of which are a gift) and the other was four vintage clothing patterns. I am really digging the vintage clothing thing lately and got a couple of skirt patterns and two dress patterns (from the 50's and 60's. Now I just need to stop looking at the stupid website and make something!!

The weight has been good.

The restriction has been good.

I have been taking my iron and vitamins like a good little girl.

My head just needs a little straightening out :)

By the way Thanksgiving went off quite nicely. The array of foods selected to meet the historical needs of each attendee were excellent. I had bits and tastes of each thing but not too much of one thing. We had a nice uncomplicated visit with friends and family and it was all nice.

For the first time David, Grace and I did a big black friday shopping adventure. It was crazy busy and I don't think I will do it again but it was good to get out and experience the hedonistic commercialism of the day :) We are almost ready to mail both of the two parcels we send off with Christmas gifts to family afar early. I now have to get a Christmas letter written and cards done and can then coast into presents for my daughters, husband and grandson.

xxxooo

Pre-Thanksgiving Festivities.

My first ever pecan pie is in the oven baking. I used the Dear Abby recipe freely available online. David made the crust (because he is wicked awesome at it). He used Julia Child's technique and a personally experimented recipe from Julia and other friends advice. Here is the list:

2 cups all purpose flour
8 oz of butter
2 t salt
4 T heavy cream
1 T vodka

put the flour, butter and salt into a bowl and use a pastry cutter to make it crumbly.
add in the cream and vodka. Dump the whole mixture out on the counter and squish it against the counter with your hands (basically squick the crap out of it). when it is well blended make a ball and roll it out. This recipe makes two pie crusts.

I altered the pecan pie recipe a touch-I added twice as many pecans. I chopped some up and put them into the syrup mixture and then took another cup and decorated the top. When it comes out I will post a picture.

I will also take a picture of the feast tomorrow..I imagine I will not be eating much of it given the last two night-time adventures however...There will be 14 lovely adults and children to visit with and David is making some lovely leek and potato soup for me and any vegans among the group.

Lets talk important food now :)

over at Fat Fish in a Skinny Sea Rachel told a story of her hilarious because it is so true adventures in trying to get the ingredients for a pumpkin pecan pie. It is really funny isn't it how certain foods at holidays are so very important to us. I think the turkey is important, the gravy made a certain way is vitally important and mashed potatoes are important. My aunt says that candied sweet potatoes are super important (I bought some and she is going to make them tomorrow). My cousin thinks the pecan pie is important (hence I am making that for him). Since David is British and several of our other friends are British..they have no such foody ties to Thanksgiving. Christmas however is a whole other thing.

In 2009 we spent Christmas at my mother-in-laws in the UK. I had a similar Pie breakdown to Rachel . I didn't even imagine that no one would sell canned pumpkin in the UK. I had access to the pan and everything else needed but..the canned pumpkin was just not available. I have tried to cook a real pumpkin in the past and make it have the same texture as the stuff you can get in a can...it is not the same so I took a pass and spend one Christmas without pumpkin pie. It bugged the crap out of me but guess what..I didn't die. I am still here and I am not even making a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I will do one for Christmas and that is enough. Over here David and his friends make sure they have a Marks and Spencer Christmas pudding ready and a tin of Birdseye custard. I think both of these are just plain old icky but it would not be Christmas for him unless they were on the table.

Update: My pecan pie burned on top before it finished in the middle. $#%$#%$...I don't even like the thing but am feeling the need to go make another one just to prove to myself I can do it.

For dinner we went out to the Spaghetti Factory. I have not been in several years. That place used to be pretty band unfriendly. Huge portions...and then of course there is the whole pasta thing. For the past few weeks I have had a craving for Mizithra and browned butter spaghetti. It used to be my favorite dish they served there The Spaghetti factory has adapted and I actually had it tonight but not on pasta...on spaghetti squash. It was divine!!! Tasty...ORgasmic :). So far...no repeating nighttime tights!! It seems to be settling down in my tummy quite nicely thank you very much :)...yummmy sigh of contentment.

If you don't have a Spaghetti Factory near you you can make it yourself (and I plan to)...just bake a spaghetti squash in the oven with butter. Brown some butter in a pan, fork the Spaghetti Squash (so that it is pasta-ish into the buttered pan. Sprinkle on finely grated mizthra cheese and freshly chopped parsley. You can garnish with a bit of fresh pepper too.


Now to conquer that blasted pecan pie and clean house :)

xxxooo

Well Thankful has Gone Down the Toilet!

Ok so I have not posted a thankful since the 17th and it is now the 23rd. Um..I guess I kind of lost the plot.

So remember when I was in New York and having trouble keeping meals down..yeah well it has been almost exactly one month since then. A relatively PB and stuck free month (with the odd stupidity barf thrown in for good measure). Well guess what has reappeared for the past two nights? yup you guessed it..I am fine with my morning coffee, fine with lunch (today was 1 scrambled egg with cheese). For dinner I took my aunt downtown and we walked around in the rain and wind (it was kind of exciting even though I don't think she agreed) looking for a new place to have dinner. The three of us..aunt, grandson and I finally stopped at Pastini (she was so worn out and soggy by the time we got there she just said..yes lets eat here). She had a vegetarian pasta dish. I ordered spaghetti and meatballs and Grant ordered broccolini (I love broccolini). We shared..I had about one meatball and about two bites of pasta. it was delicious. It sat fine...We left Pastini and walked quickly back to my class. My aunt waited for me while my daughter took Grant home. Dinner was fine..I felt fine. I went with my aunt up to the hospital..I visited...dinner was fine.

I left for home at 9:30 pm (dinner ended at 6:00). It was there I could tell but still feeling fine. I got home...changed into a robe sat down on the couch watched a little TV surfed the Etsy a little..and guess what decides it is no longer fine? My #$%#% dinner..thats what. from 10 until midnight I worked on getting whatever it was that managed to stick at such a stinking slow pace out. the meatballs were tender. I chewed the crap out of the pasta...everything that came back was small...stupid tights.

I had a similar experience last night. wasn't too hungry and then whammo starving. I had a piece of cheese toast...twice. pht...


During the day things went SO well...I even managed to get a full iron table down without breaking it in half and had NO iron burps...pht. I guess this month it is a case of the night time tights?

thankful...days 18-23. I am thankful for all of those people on this planet who inspire me:

artists
band bloggers
crafters
designers
etsy
magazines

Just Keeping On Keeping On

My uncle is doing much better. He has to recover and they don't know the extent of the damage to his pancreas but everyday they take out more tubes and he stands up a little more frequently and for a longer time.

I have taken my vitamins everyday but two. I just could not face the iron tablets on Friday and Saturday but I took the rest. I am still really tired and having difficulty getting up in the mornings. My aunt put me onto a new drink-sugar free green tea with with citrus by Sweet Leaf. I took a whole slow release iron pill with it this morning without breaking it in half. I went through OK. Yesterday I took the same one but broken into two pieces and spent the rest of the morning burping up the nastiest iron taste on the planet.

On Thursday we are hosting 14 for Thanksgiving. We have our bronze breasted turkey. David made a menu and grocery list last night. He has already made one cheesecake and is planning another tonight. The bread will be mixed and set to rise over night for baking tomorrow. I am slotted to make a pecan pie (with his crust). I am not sure where everyone is going to sit and if we have enough plates to eat off of but I am sure we can figure it out.

Exit Interview-Finally

Well holy moly despite my indecision and trepidation about what would be included in my exit interview today I was pleasantly surprised. I was in a round about way offered another job. After I pulled my chin up off the table I pitched that I go on as a courtesy faculty member for a period (that means no pay but campus privileges). I debated long and hard about the pros and cons of cutting ties all together or keeping my foot in the ring but trying to balance my life and work better. The fewer distractions I leave on my desk the more I can focus on what is already there. I have always had a difficult time saying no to things and there is much that is positive about the work I was doing here. On the other hand It would be smart of focus on a few things and get them done...hmm what was that book I just read called again?


After a discussion with David and much thinking and even more thinking after the meeting I think I will stick to the courtesy situation for now and pitch to my paper boss (the one I respect and like) that in exchange for this I work distantly on another stem project with him and begin writing up a few selected articles from the grant I just walked away from. That second part might not be acceptable to them. For some reason they seem to think that when someone leaves a position there is a requirement that they forget everything they ever saw or learned as far as data is concerned. I know better but apparently this misconception is stuck in their minds.

Either way I am all good. I have said my piece and I believe my boss managed to pull off the 'good terms' situation he wanted. Now I need to craft/draft a contract without pay for myself and figure out how to balance all of this and still do all the other stuff that I want (like the knitting store among other things of course). By the way..this boss of mine...he raises fleece bearing goats and was very interested in selling me some of them :). I of course told him about the store.

There was some post meeting talking with a former colleague (who is a great person) and David...and this leads me to today's grateful post.

soo..todays grateful Day 17: I am grateful for people who offered a listening ear, gave me space to cry, gave me support, gave me advice and were just plain old kind to me during all of this job quitting and career crisis/changing/brainstorming/figuring out gig. Yes again I am talking to you! Comments were left...because you are my bandster and boobs girlfriends, my roomie at Boobs was the bomb when I blew a gasket and blubbered on my bed :) David as usual managed his often very annoying but the right thing to do support without advice. My colleague, my family..oh this list goes on. I am gaining peace about the whole decision making thing and I am glad!!!

xxxooo

The Blood Work Is In

I got a call from the doctors office today. Do you know that if you don't take your vitamins they threaten to haul you in for iron infusions and such? I am apparently even lower on blood than I was in June. This doesn't really surprise me as I already told you I have been pretty tired and in a funk of late. I am still being good with the vitamins but will call her office tomorrow and see what she wants me to do.

All my other blood work was fine this time except for the already stated Iron and vitamin D. Apparently all Oregonians and most other people suffer from low D (especially in the Winter months). My daily vitamins contains 200% of the daily suggested amount so I should improve on that score as well.

I had a real lapse in eating last night and totally paid a price for it. My uncle had his pancreatic cyst drained. It was a very risky procedure and although it was the right thing to do (really the only option). No one wanted to do it. The surgeons didn't want to, the gastro guy couldn't because the cyst made it impossible for him to put the tools down into his stomach. and the radiologist (who didn't attend the group meeting and were ultimately nominated in his absence) Didn't want to. As stated in my last post I am grateful to them because they did a great job but...and a big but here...all of the stress and emotions of the whole thing caught up to me I think. I hit the house very hungry (well at least that is what my head was saying)...and quickly pulled a container of peanut butter cup Ben and Jerry's out of the freezer. Thankfully my daughter had had a few stabs at the thing but what was left I downed quite quickly. I deluded myself into think that since it went down quite nicely that I would be fine.

..yeah at 3am I had one of those lovely cases of acid reflux from hell. I got up a few times but finally gave up at at 3am sat in my chair for an hour messing about on this computer. I went back to bed at 4 and only woke up to say goodbye to my daughter for school at 7am. I promptly fell right back asleep and slept like I was dead until 11:30 am. David obviously came into the room dressed for work and left but I didn't hear a thing.

After I woke up I dashed to the hospital to find my uncle having tubes pulled out. He can now get up to go to the bathroom himself, sit in a recliner, totally aware of who we are and where he is. It was such a contrast to the last months that I was blown away! They are talking of moving him up to the regular ward in a couple of days.

My aunt and I went to the cafeteria for a quick bite at 1pm and we talked about how we both had the urge to celebrate with food! Boy we have problems in our family. We both turned to healthy things. If nothing else my uncle's experience has made us both aware of how important it is to take care of yourself. She had a salad and I had 1/2 a cup of chicken noodle soup.

Needless to say this evening..there is and will be no more ice cream in this house for quite some time to come. If I want a frosty treat that bad I will have to return to the protein drink.

Day 16 thanks: Girlfriends are the best. I was never a big friends kind of girl as a child and teenager. I have always been more of a serial monogamous best friend kind of person. As I get older and more mature I am finding that it is perfectly wonderful to have lots of girl friends :) I am grateful for all of you..my online banded blogger girlfriends (yes I mean you!!), my local bunco girlfriends (oh we laughed a lot tonight at bunco), my neighborhood girlfriends, and finally my family but I really like you as a girlfriend friends. We cry together, say the right things to each other, say the wrong things to each other and patch it up, drink coffee together, shop together, share our struggles and successes. Girlfriends are priceless.

xxxooo

And Day 15 arrives.

I am thankful for the radiologists of the VA hospital. They put up a bit of a fight because the procedure was risky but my uncle has a drain installed and has lost more than 18 pounds and 6 liters of pancreatic fluid out of his abdominal cavity. He is breathing much better and sleeping solidly for the first time in ages.

His nurse made a joke after he was back in his room and settled in that he had just undergone the VA wieghtloss plan. It was a long and stressful day but turned out well.

On the Band front:

I have taken my vitamins and meds like a good girl since Friday. There have been difficult moments but so far...taking my prozac in the morning and if there is still room or the pills go through my stoma nicely I will chase it with half of my iron tablet. Before I eat lunch or if I am thirsty at midmorning I will take the other chopped bit of iron tablet and chew on my gummy vitamins.

If I have been good and gotten it all down I am free to eat lunch. Who would have that that withholding food from myself until after meds would do the trick??

I am still pretty tight and contemplating getting a tad of an unfill. My thinking is that if my vitamins and mineral balances continue to be a problem I will have to take the unfill...if that unfill means I gain some weight so be it but no more than 170 and I will do my best to eat better but low cal so I can maintain my weight and just run with a looser band. So far the pills are going down and I can tolerate the tightness. I have had a few problems here and there with PB's...oh corn why art thou so evil :).

xxxooo

Thankful Day 14

I am thankful for people who touch your lives and are kind, invested, and interested. I had lunch with a colleague today. He is laid back but worries about his kids. We talked it out. I hope I made him feel better. We talked about my ex-job..he made me feel better and inspired me. At the hospital the dialysis nurse, the RN, the med student and the doctor and the hospice counselor all asked how my weekend was. They asked how we were holding up in this hospital gig and then complimented my aunt on her caring and helpfulness and kindness to the staff.

Welll this is a funny thing. I wrote this post last night and thought I published it but here it sits. I guess today's thankful is:

I am thankful for the draft function that automatically saves my posts when I absentmindedly forget to actually hit publish after all that typing.

xxxooo

Getting Ready

1. Getting dressed takes a lot more work than it once did. Don't get me wrong this isn't a complaint but I changed into three outfits on Sunday morning, put on makeup saturday night and looked in the mirror several times on each day checking fluffing and asking Davids opinion. The question I ask myself is why? Why didn't this occur to me before. In this conversation with myself I think the answer is kinda complicated. I think I avoided looking at what I had done to my body and if I didn't look I didn't face the problem. I think I was so depressed by how I would look in clothes that I just put on the same old uniform each day and didn't try anything new. My uniform was slacks or jeans, a t-shirt or tank top and a blouse or cardigan to drape over my fat. Was I fooling anyone. Yes...myself I think. Finally I don't think I had the energy at that time to mess with any of this overly much. I was tired...all of the time.

2. Yesterday we went shopping for Christmas. We have stuff to send to my parents house with two of my daughters this Thanksgiving. We will be staying home and celebrating with Nichole, Grant, Nichole's boyfriend, some family friends. I only wish we were in our new house to do it but it seems we are destined to spend this holiday on the carpet and cooking in a small kitchen. We also have stuff to get into international mail to sent to the UK. We got some Oregon cards too!! :)

3. Getting things done is still at the gather and sort stage. I cleaned out another box of stuff from my old office yesterday. I managed to throw away 50%. My goal is...cutting the clutter by 50% I hope I can keep it up!!

4. My uncle was scheduled for a procedure for Tuesday. They are trying to relieve some of the cyst he has developed on his pancreas so they can start trying to figure out the extent of work that will need doing on his pancreas. He is in pain and the cyst is pushing all of his internal organs into tight quarters. Last night they told my aunt they would be doing it today and then this morning when I rushed down to be with her while they did it..they went an cancelled the thing. sheesh...It is back on for tomorrow or Wednesday. I hope they do it soon and he can start moving forward towards recovery.

5. My daughter is having trouble getting things done :) I am starting to see a theme in our home...We are going to work together I think to improve ourselves.

Getting it Done

I went to the office supply store today...ohh I love a good office supply store. I now have a expandable folder and some pretty files to create year long calendar. I have always dreamed of getting all of my birthday cards done ahead of time and then when the calendar changes mailing them so that all of my family and friends get a card from me. This has always been a dream..never a reality. Most of the time I send just cards to my nieces and nephews and most of the time they are late. Well now thanks to the Getting Things Done author I will have a year long calendar set up with a month set up day by day and the remainder set up a month at a time. I think I will use post it notes if something is date specific.

David got refill stickers for her label maker..so my labels will be lovely. Now I have to do the not so fun part--sorting through the crap. I have started and even sorted a little more last night but there is soooooo much to go through. I am determined.

Day two and I have now taken my vitamins and meds like a good compliant girl. So far...I still take the prozac in the capsule with my breakfast coffee. I opened them and OMG they were awful. Worse even than the iron drops. So...basically my morning meal consists of coffee and pills. I have started taking the vitamins for lunch. I break up the iron tablet into three pieces and sit and drink something (today it was diet orange soda but yesterday it is water) and then chew up my two gummy vitamins before I am allowed to eat anything. Again the pills temporarily fill me up and I have to linger much longer over my lunch that I normally would.

Tonight a couple of friends of Davids from work, and the two of us are going out to a swanky restaurant here in Portland call Beast. It has a tasting menu and according to the friend is a place to learn a ton about culinary artistry. I am the designated driver and will attempt a report tomorrow.

Friday: Thankful for veterans who were given yesterday as a holiday but still had to work. My aunt said..isn't it funny that kids get Veteran's day off but veterans have to work. She is so right. With the amount of time I have been spending at the hospital I have learned that there are many veterans who go into the hospital without any family. These guys spend long periods of time with only nurses and doctors to communicate with. Although they get the best care that I have ever seen medically it is sad that many do not have friends and family to look out for them and keep their spirits up. War is a nasty job and I am thankful to those who do it even when the decision to participate in said wars may or may not be their own or just.

Saturday: I am thankful for office goods. Retail therapy and office goods are mood lifting :)

Tired but doing something about it

I went to the doctor today for a bit of a chastisement. Remember back in June when I was told I needed to start taking my vitamins and iron and such? Well umm yeah..I didn't. I have been really run down lately, tired, depressed...just no oomph at all. Well the doctor re-told me that I was down two pints of blood low in a bunch of vitamins and minerals (b-12, iron, D)...This time I was a good girl and went right out to find the vitamins and I have officially taken my first dose this evening. She took another blood sample and will let me know what it says. I predict it will be even worse than last time (based on how I feel).

So the winy part where I defend my stupidity is next: I am tight and taking the plethora of pill she wants me too has been really hard. I have a heck of a time just getting the prozac down. Well...I sorted that out while I sorted out the vitamin situation. I asked the pharmacist if I could dump out my capsules..and I can. Tomorrow morning I will try my first dose of powdered prozac. I will then chase it with 3 grown-up gummy-vites (that have 200% of the recommended b-12 and about as much D). I will chase these with a cut in half iron tablet (that liquid was just toooooo nasty to try again). I will get one of those monthly pill boxes tomorrow when I go out for files (see the next paragraph) to get my life sorted.

I finished the Getting Things Done book I mentioned a month or so ago. I am now in the action stages. The first step is to gather all of my life's crap and sort it quickly into time needed to complete categories. I also sorted mine into knitting, mathy, needs doing right now, stuff to read sometime, and math class (that pile didn't fit on my stacker). I sorted through all of my piles in the living room and cleaned off my bedside table (after 9:30 pm tonight even). It is time I got my life back in order don't you think?
No more woulda shoulda coulda's and much more got it, did it, doing more.


November Thankful:

Day 10: I am thankful for the doctors that my uncle has pulling for him. They are talking about surgery now but it is all very risky and scary. I have never seen such a great group of people collaborate like this. I only dream of this kind of collaboration in my work.

xxxooo

Hungry-Walking for Food

Day 9: I am thankful for all of the people who may be unrecognized but do nice things everyday just because.

Oh I am full...I am old school full. Stuff I have learned today:

1. My medication definitely tightens my band. I ran out and only took one pill this morning. I was about to go get a refill when I discovered I was out of them and my doctors office was closed. I saved the last one for tomorrow.
2. I remember that full feeling and I kind of miss it but glad I only have it occasionally.
3. I am totally glad my band is there for me.
4. We walked to another nearby strip mall tonight and then back to our closest business area to get the mail and stuff. I am glad that in our new lifestyle includes walking. I put in about a mile or two and worked towards earning the dinner I have now sitting comfortably but fully in my lower tummy...yumm.

xxxooo

Weekend and knitting store brain dump

Day 6: I am grateful for my aunt and her ability to see the gray in life.

Day 7: I am grateful for friends who invite me to lunch and a visit.

Day 8: I am grateful for nurses who offer good care to patients in need.

I spent Sunday and Monday on a quick trip to the town where my aunt lives to help her load up some more things from her home, pick up mail and stuff. I managed to get in a little more antique store shopping (found a very cool dress from the 60's that I want to copy a pattern from), some vintage buttons, antique hangers and talked to my aunt about selling me some of her shelves/display pieces to put in my store (when we finally get moved in). With an end in sight I have started thinking about what we will do furniture-wise, what I will call the shop..how I will decorate the shop...some possible classes...etc.

I will tell you more as my ideas solidify but it will definitely be a mixture of antique and new knitting and spinning materials. There will be a selection of UK goods (and hopefully some direct from the spinner and dye-er UK yarns). I also hope to find some antique spinning wheels.

I am thinking of offering several kids learn to knit classes, using knitting and crocheting to embellish clothing and home-goods. etc. Grace is excited and has been drawing possible logo's for me. I have a name figured out but can't tell you all until I have gotten my domain name sorted. There will be a webpage and facebook links so watch out :)

xxxooo

Penny For the Guy

We are living in the US but the holiday period that shifts my husband to a bit of homesickness every year is today. Guy Fawkes Day. He talked about it every Independence day and has for several years wanted to go home during this period so he can celebrate.

We have yet to make it to the UK in November but our lovely friends who are also UK expats and a few years ago they began saving some of their fireworks from July 4 until tonight. They throw a party and we go. We are looking forward to dropping a penny for the guy on the way in the front door, burning a few sweat sock-guys in effigy in the patio fireplace, eating, drinking and visiting with our friends and neighbors (British and non-British alike).

Happy Guy Fawkes Day.

Day 5 Thankful: I am thankful for David's steadfast partnership. He is not a very demonstrative guy but he is solid and steady and sometimes that is much more important and needed.

xxxooo

Crazy Friday

1. What’s on your desk between your monitor and keyboard? (if it’s a laptop – what’s on your desk in general)

I don't have a desk anymore :) and I like it thank you very much. I have a desk in my house..there is nothing on it but one envelope and the computer. The chair however is piled with winter coats that everyone has been too lazy to hang up in the closet. All of my non-work these days is done on a laptop in a chair with no deskiness.


2. What’s on your mind right at this moment?


I need to go get my coffee and go to the hospital. I am developing a headache because I slept in and then have been goofing around on my computer instead of getting on the road.

3. What’s in or on your nightstand on your side of the bed?

My 'nightstand' is two book shelves and way to full of crap to list it all. I have a bowl of pens and pencils (a big one), jewelry laying around, a lamp, post its, magazines, books, change, a book light and a few pairs of glasses. hmm now that I write this I notice that i have made my nightstand into a desk..hmmm what does that imply? that I like working from bed? now what does that imply? :) haha.

4. What’s on YOUR Christmas wish list (let’s assume you’d get what was on it)?

To finally close on our new house. Furniture items for that house. a trip somewhere warm.


5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in real life and in blog land.

I had a very stressful week (parent crap of which I cannot talk on a public forum). In my retired status I have managed to fill my days with business (I think it is a major personality flaw of mine). I went every day down to the hospital, had my grandson for a sleepover, Halloween festivities...etc.

I have blogged everyday and the epiphany of thankfulness I had on Tuesday has really refocused my week. I am working really hard and looking for things to be thankful for instead of moaning (I am really a natural pessimist I think).

I have done some reading this week but been horrible with the commenting. Just a few here and there. I have noticed that she who does not comment gets fewer comments herself...hmm is that the key to the people who get 40 comments after every post?

Day 4 Thankful post: I am thankful for Starbucks: venti peppermint mocha frappacino with chocolate curls. (I know this is not a very dignified one but geezz I need a little caffeine to start my engine).

Thankful November Day 3

A PHOTO RERUN: Last year the day after Thanksgiving the whole family went to a Christmas tree farm and harvested Christmas trees. This was a photo from that day.
From left to right in back: Jamari (Cinda's BF). Cinda (daughter number 3), David (Husband), Me, Meghan (daughter number 2), Nichole (daughter number 1), Grant in her arms and Grace in front (daughter number 4).


Day 3: I am grateful that I have four very sensitive and understanding daughters who each have a distinct personality and various likes and dislikes. They each genuinely like each other and enjoy spending time together and with us.

Today's wrap up-my grandson, Grant, spent the night yesterday and I learned the power of thankful thinking. Just writing down my intentions seemed to impact how I viewed the rest of the day. Now don't get me wrong....I still gnashed and thought over the cracks but...I could at least see the things to be thankful for in sharp focus. Grant and I walked to Starbucks, watched school house rock together, went down to the hospital to visit with my aunt and had lunch with my parents and aunt and Cinda (daughter number 3). I always feel like I am Charlie Chan when I name them that way but it is how I can help you understand who they are :))

While I drove home Grant fell asleep and by the time I got home I was so worried about him having an accident that I made him go potty when we hit the house...well the nap was done after that. We chilled and watched a little TV. Grant and I went with Grace to choir practice and he played a little, I knitted a little, we colored in his Go Diego Go coloring book. We ate some Halloween Candy and we took a couple peeks in at Grace singing. Oh..we also petted a really cute dog.

We then stopped at the grocery store to get Grant replacement for his lost pacifiers (he still holds them while he sleeps at night). and some food for dinner. We came home, ate...he had a little pre-poop accident in his pants and my wonderful husband cleaned him up (I had just eaten and my gag reflex was working overtime)....shudder....Grant took a bath and then he put on his pajamas and crawled into the little cocoon bed I made for him on the floor next to where I sleep. We read a dinosaur book and then he fell asleep.

After a little TV, David and I also went to bed and we all had the best nights sleep in a long time. In the morning Grant woke up and hopped into my bed for a cuddle (he was very cute and said.."ohh I snuggle with mama in the mornings"). and then we got up and left for his preschool.

After a calm (he loves his school) preschool drop I went up to the hospital to check in on my aunt and uncle. My uncle had a fever spike but the meds kicked in later in the afternoon to bring his temp down. I took my aunt to my house for a shower, laundry and in for a few groceries. She impresses me with her strength and kindness.

We waited for Grace (daughter number 4) to get out of school and then went back to the hospital for a quick visit and then back down to grants preschool to pick him up. The three of us went and got dinner at the grocery store and had a picnic back in my oldest daughter's dorm room. Grace Grant and I watched a little Wild America on DVD and then walked over to my class where we met Nichole (daughter number 1) who watched the kids while I went to class. Grace and I are now home..she is in bed and I am typing this probably boringly detailed post for yall :)

All in all a very nice couple of days when you think about it from a thankful perspective :) :)

xxxooo

The Longer I Live the More I Figure out I have Learned Little

1. Halloween and candy are evil.
2. I still let discord with my mother disturb my attitude, mood and sense of self-worth.
3. When I let the discord bug me the Halloween candy seems to scream all the louder.
4. I have wonderful children and a grandchild and need to focus on the positive instead of the negative.
5. I have a wonderful husband who is there for me.
6. The number of positives outweigh the negatives to such an extent why do I continue to let the cracks impact me so greatly.

arghghgh :) I think a little thankful November is in order:

Day 1: David is a great feet warmer.
Day 2: It is a joy to watch School House Rock with my grandson. Three really is a magic number.

Pictures worth a smile:

Grace amongst the leaves
a fall crow in the leaves

Grant with a silly face.
xxxooo