Thursday, November 18, 2010

Is blissful ignorance really possible?

There is a part of me that knows all too well the goings on of the world around me yet I don't.  I am finding that the longer I live without TV the happier I am.  Don't get me wrong, we own a TV and a dvd player, you will even find a wii sitting next to the TV, but there is no cable. I used to have a converter box....I almost miss it.  Channel 2 was good at keeping me up to date about things, but as life goes, the converter box stopped working.  It has been months now and while I still miss PBS and the operas, ice skating, concerts, and such, although I am finding others ways to expand upon the knowledge and culture in my life.  Today I downloaded Voltaire to my nook and plan on spending a good amount of time reading. First thing is first--dinner and a movie with the kids.

so shut off the TV and expand your mind tonight,

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Grown ups?

I want to be a piano technician, a professional violinist, a teacher, a school bus driver, a dancer(not the stripping kind), a photographer, a starving artist, a welder, a painter, a bassist, a bartender, a repo person, a bulldozer driver, a paramedic, a firefighter, an adventurer, a museam curator, a sewing wonder, a model, a designer, a printer, a pawn shop operator, a director, a crayon factory worker, a chef, a baker, an auto mechanic, a race car driver, a carpenter, a marina owner, a book store owner, and an antique dealer.
None of these in any particular order, but everytime I turn around there is something else in my head that I want to do.  It is a wonder I have made it this far in life, something tells me that with all of this I am meant to wander through life bouncing around like a pingpong ball.  There is so much I want to do, with little time to do any of it. It is not always time that binds me, money tends to be a factor in this quest as well, but if I could just narrow down things a bit I might actually find that one thing I am good at and make some cash doing it.
A person spends most of their young life being asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" In all of those years there are plenty of ideas, thoughts, direction changes, and quests to find one's self.  Everyday I have a new thought about what I want to do with my life and I am only getting older.  It's not like I am 18 with a clear future ahead of me...I am 27 with a foggy future and a past as well. I have emotional baggage and fears. I have 2 beautiful girls to provide for. I have a ton of ambition and no goals. I also have a monkey wearing hotpants changing the channel in my brain every 3 seconds. 
When will I actually grow up and do something with myself? If I grow up does that mean that all of the fun is gone? I am what I like to call half grown now, no I don't have any grande plans or dinner parties, but I work and pay bills and do a lot of responsible things. For all of that grown up stuff there is another part of me that just wants to goof off and have fun, be spontanious, and learn something new. 
I think my next plan is to learn to weld, I really want to weld.  I want to learn to blow glass too, but we shall see what is more expensive welding or glass blowing.

Wed blues....


I saw this and laughed, so i posted it.  gotta work a long one today and tomorrow...maybe something interesting will happen...lol
Happy Hump Day!!!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

what to do today?!

So, I am off work, and don't have a million and one things planned. I know I must head to Target to get some meds refilled, but past that i have no plan.  I may see if I can pick up the hardware to put up the shelves in the kids' room, or I may pick up the stain or paint for my sewing machine cabinet.  Decisions, decisions.  

This seems like a decent way to decide.  I think I may have to hunt up a penny today. I know it will be movie night and I have to make brownies for the brownie troop and a treat for the daisy troop, but those things won't take long.   Heads=kids shelves   Tails=Sewing cabinet
I will post pics later of what gets done!
Happy Tuesday! 
 

Monday, November 8, 2010

awkwardly passing time....

Yup, this is me. It's monday and I must go to work, kids have school, Monkey has dance, and Crankybear has appointment today.
I think carrot cake for breakfast will cheer me up.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Sunday Already

Well, of course I have to work today, but in other news....I set my clocks back last night so there wouldn't be any confusion today. I got my hair cut last night.  If i hadn't gone I would have taken the clippers to my head last night. 
So i was going to make a quick post from work yesterday, but something happened at work and we have no phones or internet.  Not only does this make it very quiet (no phone), but has also taken away my boredom be gone.  We have windows 98 at work and while I can't do much I can goof off online here or on facebook without too many issues, but for now that is all over, as well as doing any actual work.  I can't enter in any orders or even log in and out.  Oh well.  I will have to take something to occupy my time today, I did read for a good bit yesterday, but I think I might take something else to do too.

Well Monkey is begging me to make pancakes and I have had an entire cup of coffee so I guess it is time to start on the pancakes.  Enjoy some Garfield.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Daily grind...

Another day, another pot of coffee, and one hell of a long day at work ahead of me.  Let us hope that the usual idiots stay away, and the idiots above me don't make any more stupid mistakes or requests.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Hump Day already?!

Yes, it is.  Time is flying and seems to always fly faster this time of year.  Somehow I blink and find that the entire year has almost gone and I wonder where it has gone.  I look at Toad or Monkey and wonder what happened to the small helpless infants that I gave birth to, I look at my hands as I am typing and wonder who's old hands those are, I look in the mirror and wonder who this adult in the mirror could be.   After looking at all of that and wondering where the past has gone I start to wonder where we are headed to next.  What is in store for us now, what will be the next big change in our little lives.  I don't know, and for all of my curiosity I don't think I want to know.  What I do know is that today I will leave work about 4pm, I will go home and see the kids and Crankybear I need to go the the Target Pharmacy and the girls have Girl Scouts tonight. I don't know what the plan is for dinner yet, but I am sure we will manage.  This all sounds boring maybe even monotonous, but I like it.  Well I guess while I am sitting here at work I will continue to read.  I finished The Capture(Guardians of Ga'Hoole series #1) last week, I wanted to see if it was any good before we see the movie.  The book was really well written, I think I will recommend it to Toad if I can pull her out of the Dork Diaries she got for her birthday. 
Have a great Hump Day!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

It has been awhile...

Things have been crazy.  The month of October is the busiest month of the year for us.  Toad turned 9 years old on the 30th, and of course Halloween.  Seems like the whole month was prep for one big weekend.
Toad's birthday was an awesome success, lots of friends and family, great food, and a sleepover to boot. Halloween was awesome, Hermione and the Pretty Kitty trick or treated til they couldn't walk anymore and we have more candy now than any one household should.
The weather is turning cold and the shopping center I work in has started preping for Christmas already.  Seems like every year this holiday season starts earlier and earlier.  I will not give in! Our tree will NOT go up until after Thanksgiving.  I would like to start shopping for christmas a little sooner this year just so that i can get it all done without the last minute rush.  I am hoping to not be heading out for any black friday shopping, but we will see what the ads say and what the kids want.
 So above we see Toad giving bunny ears to a friend in an already funny position. How she got frosting in her hair we will never know.  Below we see Monkey as a "Pretty Kitty" and Toad as Hermione(again with the bunny ears)
 Below is Toad on her first day back to school as a 9 year old.  She was very happy that the new jeans she got while shopping with her Aunt didn't have the adjustable waistband. She said it was a sign she was growing up. (which has nothing to do with it, the poor kid has been wearing size 6/6x clothes for 3 years now) She looks adorable in all of her sassy attitude here.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Crash time





off to crash for a few hours of sleep and then    3 DAY WEEKEND!!!!   CAMPING GET AWAY WITH CRANKYBEAR!!!        I can't wait and I get to drive my new truck!!!  
See you all SUNDAY!!

Go, Go, Go

Have to get the coffee intake going for another L O N G day.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

FNG Blues

By FNG I mean the "f*cking new guy/girl"     Today is the second time I have come to work to open the store and found a hot mess.  The showroom was a disaster when I came in this morning. All of the lamps were on, computer was left on, pillows everywhere, she left a bunch of stuff laying around like shoes, coke can, notebook.  She didn't do any end of night reports.  I don't understand what happened.  I can understand if she was busy, but it doesn't take but an extra 5 min to print reports and shut things off.  EVERYTHING except the overhead lights was left on.   Maybe she thought since it was her birthday that she didn't have to do anything.   If she was having trouble with anything I told her to call me.  I was home, I would have talked her through whatever and handled it today.   I don't understand what makes it ok to just not do what needs to be done.  The sad part is she will come in today and I will ask what happened and she if she has any questions about anything and she will say she has no questions that she knows what she is doing. 
Well I guess I am done complaining about all of the extra work I had to do this morning to get the store ready to open.  I don't worry too much about the store, but the way it looks directly reflects on us(the people here everyday). So while I don't get paid a whole lot, I still take some pride in making sure that things are done.  Right now I am headed out to clean all of the greasy finger/face prints off of the windows.  EEEWWWW.

And another day..

Monday, October 11, 2010

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Sunday Comics

I love Garfield.  Maybe I will stop off and buy a newspaper today.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

New car blues

I want my new car. Ok, well, not new but new to me.  I wasn't expecting to get a new car so soon, but I can't pass this up.  My car is falling apart around me and I need to ditch it while they will still give me something for it. So I took my booty into CarMax and looked....I didn't really see much I liked or was willing to pay that much for.  I went home and looked online to see what else I could find and to my surprise found something that met ALL of my criteria.  SUVish, decent gas milage(at least better than my current), 5 seatbelts, cargo space, low miles, and good price.  I found a 2001 Pontiac Aztek in amazing condition, 49,364 miles on it, cargo room, 5 seatbelts, better gas milage than my car and price $8,995.   If I don't jump on this now than who knows when I will find another deal like this again.  This is a rare find. Also one owner with and clean history report.  I went and saw it last night, looks better in person, and drives very nice. I also had them apraise my car....   I would have been LUCKY to get $1,500 for my car....they offered me $1,700.   WWWOOOOOOHHHHOOOOO.   
Tuesday is "D" day  (deal day).  I am taking Crankybear with me and we are going to see what can be worked out....  I think I have all my ducks in a row and I want to walk in prepared.  I have to call my insurance guy monday and give him the vin and see how much the Aztek will lower my insurance.  He already said that with the safety features and ratings it should lower it a good bit considering my car is a death trap...lol.  I did a lot of research today on safety ratings for both vehicles and realized that my car is scary unsafe and the aztek is much better.     Really I kind of feel like a grown up now. I personally think that the aztek body style is ugly, but I am not buying it to be pretty or cute...I am buying for the practical application of the features it provides.  I think Crankybear would have stepped in and squashed all of this before now if I had been looking at something small and cute just because I liked the way it looked.  I think it would be awesome to get a little sporty something that is FUN to drive and doesn't leave much room for others, but I do have kids and a dog and we like to do things together so that is not a practical option, plus it would probably cost a lot more.  
I can't wait til Tuesday.   I took the kids with me last night to see it and ride in it....they love it!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Good Morning Sunshine

So let us start the day right.  Singing *I love coffee, yes I do. I love coffee, so should you.*  It is early and I am already swimming in coffee so I thought it would be fun to learn something new about coffee. (besides the fact the Jamaica Blue Mountain is wicked expensive :) )
  1. "Coffee Smellers" were discharged wounded soldiers employed as spies to "smell out" unlicensed coffee roasting during the coffee monopoly in Germany.
  2. There are 24 steps to the "coffee process".
  3. Coffee is the second most traded product in the world after petroleum.
  4. October 1st is official “Coffee Day” in Japan.
  5. Black coffee with no sugar contains no calories
Well now that my cup is empty I will leave you with a few pictures I found and head out for my day of picture taking.  YAY!!

I love the vintage look of these....
Almost forgot I wanted to share a link to a cute site I found with info on coffee   Coffee facts

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Creativity......where did you go??

Some how I feel like I have lost my creativity, so in hopes of finding it I am taking my camera out with me tomorrow.  Plan A is to try and find and take pictures of faces I see in inanimate objects. Plan B take a bunch of pictures with magnifying lenses on and see if I can get close enough to make it hard to identify what it truly is a picture of or get a funky angle on it so we are looking at something in a way we wouldn't usually look.   Either way I will have spent the day trying to open my eyes and mind to the world around me.  I gotta quite letting all of the monotonous day to day stuff drag me down.  My photography has suffered, my painting has suffered, my crochet has suffered, my brain has suffered.
Tomorrow----Picture day!




This is a funky angle picture I took while we were at Luray Caverns.

My life's blood.




It's gonna be a long day, let's see how fast it can go or at least see if I can stay awake.
Also today is a big first. Toad is wearing her FIRST pair of dangling earrings. I had said no to most but these aren't that big and they are cute.  My baby is growing up so fast.






They love each other I think.  LOL  

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mid-Week Meltdown

Woo hoo for wed!  
Hopefully Toad will feel better, we took care of what we needed this morning and now I am off get some cleaning done, make lunch for my sickly one and get ready for work.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Germ Attack

Wow.  Toad is already sick.  I picked to girls up from school today after hanging out at JoAnne Fabrics and of course the first thing Toad says is "mom, my head hurts".  So I proceed to question her in an attempt to diagnose what may be causing this, normal questions like "when did it start? where does it hurt? DID YOU GO TO THE NURSE? is anything else bothering you, or has anything else been bothering you? She answers everything and then tells me that she didn't got to the nurse, so I ask why and she says it was because her teacher would not let her.  Now I completely understand that teachers may have to say no about kids going to the nurse if they are "frequent flyers" but there are some children that SHOULD go to the nurse.  Toad has to take a fair few medications to get through the day, there is quite the array of uppers and the downer she takes at night, so when she says she has a headache there is a little more going on than just a simple wish to get out of class.  When a child (you know) takes meds to get through the day complains of a headache, dizzyness, chest pains, or serious fatigue that SHOULD be a red flag to say "HEY, send that kid to the nurse, where in turn the nurse will check the child's blood pressure.  Maybe I am just over cautious or over protective.  Luckily this seems to be nothing more serious than possibly the flu i.e. fever, chills, headache, tired, loss of appetite, general crappy feeling. So we will all hope for Toad to get better quick and in the meantime I am going to have a little chat with the school nurse (who will hopefully talk to her teachers) about this whole "not sending kids to the nurse thing".
In other news I have a headache from today's mess, the dog is barking at nothing, the weather is cold, and I am heading to bed. Goodbye Tuesday!



This is how our dog says goodbye to rough days.
(that REALLY is our dog)

Monday, October 4, 2010

In Honor Of Mondays

Because we all hate Mondays. I think it's time for an LMAO moment...so let us see what I can find.
Drum roll please....              and this weeks LMAO moment is work related, but I am sure we have all thought these things at one time or another.

So it is the end of Monday and I admit I probably could have found something much funnier, but in my time crunch I skimped and turned a possibly cool idea into roadkill.  Eh.  Maybe I will come up with something better....I just hate mondays and was hoping to find something to lighten the Monday blues.  It may still work, I will see if I can find something awesomely funny by next Monday.    

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Goblins, Ghosts, and Pretty Kitties?!

What happened to the good old days when costumes were simple?  We took the kids shopping for Halloween costumes yesterday and oh boy is all I have to say...   We stopped by walmart, which of course did not have anything they were remotely interested in. Toad has decided she wants to be Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and that stayed as firm as cement, Monkey on the other hand wanted to be a cheerleader, then changed her mind while we were at walmart.  I thought I had her convinced to be something scary and gross, but that changed too.  We left walmart, grabbed Crankybear and headed to Party City.  Toad found the items she needed to pull off the hermione costume very quickly(robe, wand, tie, scarf) I have to find her a white button down shirt, but I have time.  Monkey found a Zombie Doctor costume that would have been AWESOME except it only came in 2 sizes med and large.  She is too tiny to pull off a medium so we kept looking. She tried on almost every mask in there and scared herself a few times, and then asked if we could go look at the wall of costume pictures again.  So we wondered through the maze of parents with children running crazy back to the wall. First monkey points to a cute sailor outfit, NO. She has a sailor costume she could wear from her last dance recital. They had a tap routine for "The Good Ship Lollipop" so I told her if she wanted to be a sailor she could wear her old costume. She promptly said no she didn't want to be a sailor and pointed to a Pretty Kitty costume.  Something went very wrong. Somehow we went from guts and gore to cheap black velvet and pink feather boa.  I am confused.  We found a person working and asked if she could bring us out a small(4-6) for Monkey to try on.  We wait and get in the dressing room, put the top and bottoms on her and she runs off to show Crankbear and Toad. She comes running back a few minutes later saying something about the headband and sure enough there on the floor of the dressing room is a small plastic bag with a headband and choker.  She is absolutely adorable. I think I am going to have to head to party city alone and pick up a costume for me.  The kids are getting big enough that I can dress up and in something hideous.  This should be awesome, I saw a great werewolf costume.  We will see how funds are when we get a little closer to Halloween.  The kid's cotumes tapped me out.....almost 2 hours and $60 later they are happy and ready for the holiday and I can't wait to get pictures.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Fall Flavor!

The weather has been chilly and windy (with some insane rain), the leaves are turning colors, and during my trip to the store today I found out that pumpkin pie spice is a HOT commodity.  Don't get me wrong, I can bake but when it comes to pies I leave that to experts. I needed the spice for making Pumpkin Pie Fudge.  I had no idea fudge could be so good. It is like eating pumpkin pie heaven, smooth, creamy, perfect pumpkin pie flavor, and super easy to make.  The kids did most of the work on this one....I had Monkey greasing pans for me and Toad stirring the mixture while it boiled, really all I did was time things and say when to put stuff in, and the stirring after we added the marshmallows(the mixture got insanely thick and hard to stir at that point).  I think for the next batch I am either going to pick up some candy molds and line them with plastic wrap or use ice cube trays lined with plastic wrap.  I think we have 4 or 5 ice cube trays that NEVER get used. 
I will have to see what I can find, I have a coupon for 50% off of one regular priced item at A.C. Moore for tomorrow so I think I will stop in and see what kind of candy molds they have.  It would be cute if I could find little pumpkins or "punkins" as the kids say.
Toad also decided tonight that for Halloween she wants to dress up as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. Sounds like a better plan than the puppy dog with the bloody stump of an ear.  Monkey wants to be a cheerleader. I have to start looking for costumes.  Hopefully tomorrow I can steal away to Party City to see what they have.  The kids also have swim lessons tomorrow....YAY.  Only their second week in class but I am sure it will be a great class, these kids are fish and this will be the one time a week they get to swim until next summer.  Well I am off to the kitchen to finish up a few things and then off to bed to dream of pumpkin pie/pumpkin pie fudge.
BTW- here is a link to the recipe I used for the Pumpkin Pie Fudge

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Thinking about a major change.

Right now I work for a company that isn't doing well. The company filed chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcy and it is taking some time to go through. The chinese company that makes most of our furniture is supposed to be buying us out, but they won't be making any changes to upper level personnel, so they will just run it into the ground again.  A friend calls last night and says that there have been talks of shutting down all of the stores except upper NJ and NY. Good-bye Job.  I saw this coming, I have said since day one that there was no way we were going to come out on the other side of this ok, but I was trying to ignore the signs.  Well it is time to stop ignoring things.  I (of course) do not like change and will do a lot to avoid it, but I have to jump. I am working for the titanic and one half already went down....we are bobbing along waiting to go under.  I am scared, confused, and would much rather just pretend that everything is ok, but I can see it is time to take action.  I don't know what that action will be exactly yet.   I know I have one choice, but there have to be other choices out there.  I work in sales and I want away from sales.  I used to love my job. I used to enjoy people coming into the store, but now I don't know.  I have had to deal with so much crap and it's crap that if I worked for someone else I probably wouldn't have to deal with.  I want to find a place where I am treated as an employee should, a place where there is a chance that I will thrive.  I started to here, but then they fell apart, it is hard to make sales and do well when people aren't coming in to buy.  I think for now I will take some time to make the right decision.  I have a lot to think about and I am tired of failing.  I want to actually make a decision and have it turn out for the better.  I really want to stop floundering around and be somewhere where I can make a career for myself, something I can do well at a place where I am not treated as slave labor.  I have plenty of time today to think on it.....it is a rainy rainy day and NO ONE will be out and coming to see me, so while I am at work today I will think long and hard on this.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

It is decided!

I will be making pumpkin pie fudge to take on our get away weekend.  I wanted to take something warm and filling like a stew or something, but the logistics are just not working out. Also with the time constraints I am always under it is better that I make something I can prepare a good bit in advance and store until it's time to go.  Fall flavor and easy packing should be a winner. I think I may also make some pumpkin cookies. I found an awesome recipe for some glazed pumpkin cookies that have more of a cake tecture...with all of the moisture in them it will be easy to store those for a good amount of time before we go.
I have to get my shopping list together tonight, I am going grocery shopping Friday so I will pick up everything I need then and probably make a test batch of both that way I know how they will turn out and then as we get closer I will make the batches to take out there.  Oh, so excited.  I can't wait to get started. 
Well I spent my day here at work crocheting a pair of slippers, unfortunately with all of the interuptions I didn't get them done

Get away weekend...

As I am sitting here at work a few things keep running through my head...
1. how badly I need to do some cleaning at home and how much it's sucks I can't get anything done while I sit here at work.
2. the projects that I need to get finished.
3. what my plans are for getting things done on friday.
and last but not least.
4. OUR GROWN UPS ONLY GET AWAY WEEKEND/HIKING TRIP/FALL MAHHA
We are part of the Mid Atlantic Hammock Hangers Association and everyone is getting together for a camping weekend Oct 15-17.  I can't wait...I can't wait to get out there. Crankybear even said that this time (instead of taking the service trail) that we could take the AT in.  No electronics besides the camera, no kids, no dog, and most of all no worries.  Food, friends, hammocks, and nature.  Hopefully the weather holds out for us, I don't mind too much but rain will definately make for an icky weekend.  Last MAHHA hang I froze, it was in April, so awesome days and cool evenings and I think one of the nights it dropped down to 32 degrees, but it was still an awesome time and I am much better prepared this year.  One of the guys is going to make breakfast and there will be a potluck Saturday night.  I am thinking that for the potluck I will make something...I jsut don't know what to make. I want to make something with a fall flare, but it has to be something that will keep in a cooler and would be best if I didn't need to reheat it and something that won't cost me my left arm and right leg.  Hrrrmmmmmmmmm.....   I guess it is time to hit up the cook books and get the ideas rockin'.  Not much longer and I won't have much time for prep.  Anyone have any ideas add them in the comments, it would be great to have some input. 
Hammock Forums

What a day off!!!

This will be short for now.  I spent my day off running around like a busy little bee.  I took care of a few things and then proceeded to turn an old dresser into a desk for Toad.   I think it turned out pretty good.  Fits great in the room too.  I LOVE playing with power tools. I got out the circular saw and the sander and even the drill....it was a thing of beauty.
so here it is.....there is also a picture of my sander and my drill.  I will add a picture of my saw later...lol


Monday, September 27, 2010

The general problem.

So another day has passed and I did not get done everything I either need or wanted to do.  I worked and picked up the kids, we had dinner, and went to dance class, and now the kids are in bed.  I had hoped to work on a pair of slippers that I wanted to crochet, but didn't have the right hook with me at work. Instead I worked on a wallet for a friend, but didn't have my weaving needle to weave in the ends when I was done, so I couldn't give it to her today like I hoped.  I think I need a small white board with a "to do" list that I can just put up what I want to get done and then erase what does get done. Tomorrow is a new day with a laundry list of stuff to do.
1. Call verizon to find out why my home phone bill is $90! (can we say rip off?!!!)
2. Take apart dresser to save pieces I want to make the desk
3. Therapist appointment with Toad
4. Make windbreaker for Crankybear.
I think I will stop there, if I add too much more I will never get anything done tomorrow.  These are the big things I need to get done, and of these number 3 is at 10 am and number 4 HAS to get done tomorrow. Number 1 is also Highly important--well I know why the bill is so high....Verizon allows 3rd party billing--I could have swore I had it blocked, but there is some mess on here for EZOnlineDiet monthly service fee, and another one for MembersEdge Email service (this one I already have a confirmation # and that will be credited back to my bill).  I think when I call verizon tomorrow we will discuss my switch to Comcast, see if that doesn't get them to do something about this bill.  For what I pay for the phone I could get phone service and cable.  We shall see.
Oh, here is a picture of the wallet I made a while back....the one I made today(this isn't quite finished yet) looks almost identical...it has a different button.




This wallet is perfect for the basics--check card, ID, costco card, maybe even a little cash.  I wish I could remember exactly how I made it, I hate when I don't work from a pattern and can't remember what I did.
I also had a parent of a child in dance ask how much I would charge her for a pair of leg warmers for her daughter.  I need to do some research and make a test pair, but I told her $10, that will cover the yarn and it will give me something to do at work.
Well I am going to relax a bit and then head to bed.

I Love my Crockpot.

Just dropping a note to say how much I love my Crockpot.  With non-stop busy schedule it is nice to know that we will have an awesome dinner tonight in between school, work, dance, and homework.  Tonight's menu--Potroast, potatoes, celery, and carrots.  The kids are even excited.  On my quest of useless knowledge maybe today I will research the origins of the crock pot cooking system, and see if I can't find any awesome crock pot recipes.  If I find a good site I will post the link.

While sitting here bored at work I researched the crock pot origins.  Here is an awesome little hub with the info. Very interesting stuff---I thought the crock pot was older than it really is.  Crock Pot History
Here is also a neat site I found with a lot of different crock pot recipes.  Recipes  Well I am off to see what I can plan on cooking in my crock pot for another busy busy day. 

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Looking ahead at the week..

Of course being home, there are many reminders of the things that must be done.  The pile of craft stuff I need to put away, the kids' old dresser that I was going to take to the dumpster, but now I have decided to dismantle it to make a child size desk, the white board calender that runs my life, and the children talking about all of the fun things for the week.  I LOVE my white board calender, I actually have 2 up---one shows the month we are in and one with next month.  Work schedules, school functions, birthday parties, dance, swim, girl scout stuff, sleep overs.....everything gets written on the white board.  This week is no different than any other week, Crankybear works Monday (firefighter/paramedic--24 hour shift) I work Monday, dance class Monday night, Tuesday there is a therapist appointment and I HAVE to get a windbreaker done for Crankybear, Wed I work and both girls have girl scouts, Thur I work, Friday Crankybear works, I am off, it's grandparents day at school, and Saturday I work late and the kids have swim lessons.   We are busy peoples.  The week will fly by and by next week I will be wondering what happened to this week.  Should be a great week ahead.  I think I will pick up some more yarn and see if I can't get an afghan and a matching pair of slippers crocheted for my mom for christmas.   I have really got to buckle down and get started on gifts or I will never get done.    I like this afghan but I will use a nice soft yarn for it, I might also use some different colors----http://www.favecrafts.com/Crochet-Afghans/Retro-Circle-Afghan-from-Caron#     Then the slippers will just be some matching colored mary jane styled.   Should make her quite happy.

New to the world of blogging.

So, with being new to the world of blogging you will have to excuse the minor errors and scattered content. I am not a very organized person (although I would love to be) and am working diligently to find a way to organize my world and keep it that way.  Blogging, I hope, will be a way to share some of the funnier and maybe not so funny misadventures of life in my world.  I have 2 beautiful daughters--my oldest will be 9 October 30, 2010 and her nickname is Toad and my youngest is 5, her birthday is April 20th and her nickname is Monkey. They are amazing kids who have run me through the ringer. There is also my wonderful significant other who's trail name is CrankyBear. We have been together 4 and 1/2 years and he is awesomely supportive in all of my hair-brained ideas. He is also the voice of reason, he is great at pointing out all of the things I don't think of. 
I live in a zoo. We have a dog (Max), we have a cat (Squeaky), and we have 2 hermit crabs who's names change with the kid's mood.  Max is a mutt I got about a year and a half ago, he fits in well. Squeaky has been with us for about 4 years now, she is sweet and I doubt I could have a better cat.
Aside from being a mom, I also work full time in sales and am currently looking for a new job. I am not a fan of sales and am on the search for something that isn't so much in the sales area of occupations or at least not high pressure sales.  I do a lot of crafting and with all of that I started a facebook page and artfire account to sell items I have made, but with no luck.  It's ok though because I can use what I have made for gifts for friends.  I also LOVE to read. CrankyBear's mom got me a Barnes & Noble Nook for my birthday/christmas/every holiday til next birthday...lol  So from time to time you may see a book review pop up. 
Well I am at work and am going to go read for a bit and hope that time passes quickly so that I can go home, I promised the kids that I would help them get their room straightened out.  They recently got new beds and I haven't finished getting everything put back in order yet, but hopefully we can make a dent tonight. They also asked me to paint some pictures for the walls and I need to get those put up for them.