Family is Everything!

The Time Conundrum

This is my current problem.

Sometimes, in relation to time, I feel like this:

 

At other moments in time, this would be me:

Sometimes I have days filled with times of this emotion:

There just doesn't seem to be a happy medium in the time game for me.

Hence, the conundrum with time.

Back on that horse

or treadmill.

After a two week hiatus due to my annual viral/cold sickness during which just walking up the stairs had my heart pounding at an increased rate, I climbed back onto that machine of torture.

The air quality is still too poor for me to venture outside for my fitness fix.  And it is still too cold for my taste as well.  So the torture machine it is!

I don't like saying this out loud, or "people" will expect me to spend more time on said machine of torture, but -- it felt good :)  Shhhhh.  Let's just keep that bit of information between us.

Faith Restored

in the American public.

They voted to keep Danny (Wahooo!) and get rid of creepy Tatiana!

Had the vote been reversed, I'd be moving my family to a foreign country!

Thank you fellow American Idol public viewing audience!

Moving can be such a pain!

You're not really living ...

until you are sleeping on a King size bed.

That's what the salesman told us.

We were looking for a kitchen table.

We bought a king size bed instead.

Now I have to buy new sheets.

And a new bedspread or comforter or duvet cover or coverlet or quilt.

I can handle the sheets.

I really don't want to go looking for a new bedspread.

I'd rather the perfect one just showed up at my house.

I'll even pay for it.

Why does it have to be so much work to just get a good night's sleep?

Sweethearts Every Way You Slice It!

At our high school the annual February Sweetheart Dance is a girl's choice event.  Melanie, and nine of her friends, brought their dates (that would be 20 teenagers for those of you a little slow at the math) to our house for dinner (Melanie is the darling gal in tangerine on the far right).  Nicole & Chelsea (proud sisters) declared that Melanie was the prettiest girl at the party! Being her mother, I would have to concur!

We had a fabulous serving staff --

(I told the girls they could not move away until after Dustin graduated. These married kids are way too fun and helpful!)

Nicole, Chelsea, Shaela, and I were on kitchen duty (sorry, no photos of us and our supreme culinary skills).

Due to a very snowy day and evening, two of the vehicles being driven by two of our guests had a little ice and fender altercation at the bottom of our hill after their departure. Our three fearless servers went to their aid, with kitchen staff holding cameras in tow. Vehicle #1 sustained no damage. Melanie was a passenger in vehicle #2 which was damaged. No injuries, except for pride and one broken nose in vehicle #1. Had said broken nose passenger and other passengers in that vehicle been wearing seat belts, I would wager that pride would have been the only injury. Vehicle #2 passengers were ALL seat belt wearers! There is a lesson in all of this if you will but read between the lines! (WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT!!!)

Although it ended with a little slip-sliding, a very fun Valentine's day and evening was had by all!

Just one more photo - because she is so darn cute!

I'm in Love ...

with this --

Don't get all stressed -- I'm in love with him too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

P.S.  I fear I have failed as a mother.  None of my kids knew what a "Bernina" was and wondered what was in the box?!  Yikes!

I've been SICK

I'll get back to your regularly scheduled blog posting soon.  

Addendum

After Chelsea's comment on my previous post, I thought I should add that Nicole and Chelsea thanked Shaela for giving me the opportunity to tend the kids.  They think it will make me less grandkid hungry. What they don't realize is that although I will love and adore and spoil my grandchildren -- a LOT -- I'm not totally sure I'm ready to enter that realm of what will surely be my reality sometime in the next couple of years.

For me, the practice and training with our darling great-nephews and niece, are quite enough! 

Grandma in training

I'm practicing my skills today.

My future grandma skills.

We have Matt, Katie, and Porter, our great-nephews and great-niece, here until Friday evening while Shaela and Mike take an "interviewing for a real job in the real world after residency" trip.

I gave them Lucky Charms for breakfast and then M & M's for their breakfast desert (shhh - don't tell Shaela).  I told Matt that we were going to wear our pj's and eat only candy and ice cream and play video games and watch movies for three whole days!  He looked at me like I had lost my mind!  He has definitely been well trained.  So, I repented of my sugar-loaded breakfast offering and we ate macaroni and cheese and apple slices for lunch.  Porter is napping.  Katie is playing with play-doh.  Matt is right in front of the video games he loves and adores. Don't worry.  He hasn't been there the ENTIRE day -- yet. They are darling and well-behaved kids.  We'll see if I still feel that way in three days :)  But how could I not?!  Just look at those sweet faces!

Hmmm - the play-doh supply is looking a little old and dry.  It appears that a trip to Shopko is in order! They sell treats there too, don't they?

Wall

I've hit it.

Ran right into it with all of that OCD organizing and cleaning.

Now I'm just a little dazed.

Can't seem to gather momentum to get up and get going again.

There are projects that need my attention.

But they are on the other side of the wall.

I'll have to get over the wall somehow.

But that would require effort.

Or perhaps there is a long, circuitous route around it.

Hmmmm.

I think I'll just lie here and hope that the wall will move all on it's own.