Happy New Year & What I Want to Accomplish in 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  :)  I wish everybody a great and joyous New Year.  


I'm not really a "resolution" kinda girl - but I do have things that I want to accomplish in 2010.


1.  I want to NOT gain back the 30 lbs. I lost in 2009!  To that end, starting back in January you will once again see lots of my favorite Weight Watchers recipes back in the mix-up.


2.  I want to "relax" more.  Not the kinda relaxin' you do on the beach with an umbrella drink, but the more like "not sweatin' the small stuff" kinda of relax.  Ya know, take a chill.  Not be so uptight about stuff that won't matter in 100 years.  Enjoy more of the good stuff.


3.  And last but not least, I want to start trying to take some food photos.  I think a good goal is to try to take on picture of something I cook per week.  No pressure, no stress  - just one photo a week.  

And can I go to bed now??? LOL

Merry Christmas to All!

I don't really have a plan to share this week.............. I'm just gonna "wing it" and regroup after Christmas.

I wish each and everyone of you who visit my blog the very Happiest of Holidays and a Jolly New Year!

Typical Conversation While Grocery Shopping

KK: Mom, why do you always look at the "fancy" cheese. (The cheese usually around the deli area).

Me: I like fancy cheese. Fancy cheese makes me happy. :)

KK: Mom?

Me: Yes?

KK: But you never BUY the fancy cheese. You only look at it.

Me: Well, I'm too cheap to actually BUY it. But it makes me happy to look at it.

Send help. I've obviously got a serious problem. LOL

What I Want to Be When I Grow-up....

I know that my blog has mostly turned into my waxing lyrical about my meal plan, dinners, and recipes..... but I wonder - do you ever wonder what you want to be when you grow-up? I do, even though I'm sliding into 42 really hard.

When I was 17, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be an "accountant". I had taken high school accounting and "got it", even more than some of my really smart friends - the ones that were pulling A's & B's in advanced placement calculus and chemistry (which by the way, I wasn't even taking! LOL). I begged my parents for a typewriter (remember those??) when I was a freshman. I "knew" what I wanted to be when I grew up.

And I was... I'm not a CPA nor do I even have a BA in accounting, but I was an awesome bookkeeper, office administrator, financial administrator for an awesome boss & company for 19 1/2 years.

Then... I lost my mom on this day 6 years ago. Then 2 1/2 years later I lost my dad. Than I lost my awesome job. Granted, at the time I thought it was going to be step-forward, a chance to re-group. It hasn't quite turned out the way for me.... and now on this anniversary of one of the worse days of my life - I find myself asking "Is this really what I wanted to be when I grew up?"

How about you?

Who Wants Cookies?!?!?

HoneyB's giving away cookies today!!!

Run, run, run! Who doesn't want cookies!?????!!!?!?

Food Issues

I love food.... this blog can attest to that pretty well, I think! I love cooking, trying new recipes - I feel like I'm pretty culinarily adventurous. I'd like to think I tried most things at least once.

So, why then I'm a weirded out by normal, everyday food? My corn problem along with my soda flavor issues is well-documented.

But, I'm sad to say that might I will have to add yogurt to the list. I like yogurt. I LOVE Yoplait Light with all those yummy flavors. Dannon products - gag! Even Tillamook who's cheese, butter, sour cream, and ice cream I adore - doesn't float my yogurt boat. The worst offender: Weight Watchers. Gag, blech, gross. Even with the temptation of only 1 point isn't enough to make it taste good.

I'm weird. It's okay to laugh.

More Garofalo Pasta (and spices too!)

Erin over at $5Dinners.com is givin' away more of the Garofalo pasta and some spice from DiPalo Selects. Go check it out and enter to win!

These food bloggers are the coolest peeps ever!

Feeling the Skinny Love

If you read this little blog at all, then you know KK & I have been going to Weight Watchers since January. I'm happy to report that I finally reached my 10% loss goal! It is amazing how much that little key chain means to me!

I WON!

Can you believe it!?!!?!? I won............. I commented on Spatulas, Corkscrews and Suitcases give-away for Garofalo Pasta and Aguave Nectar and I WON! Just by saying I like Prego Mushroom with Extra spice, but since I can't find it very often I've been questing to make me own!

I WON! I WON! I WON! squeeeeeeeeeeeeee................

This almost makes up for not winning at the Taste of Home Cooking School last night! BWAHAHAHAHAH

For My Cookbook Fiend Friends

I found this great cookbook give-away over at Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice via Grumpy's Honeybunch. I know some of you guys can't have enough cookbooks, so you better run over lickety-split and get entered! :)

It's this nice little Tex-Mex Cookbook by Gloria Chadwick:



It's says that Gloria is a compiling recipes for a new cookbook and you can add yours too! How cool would that be???!?!

Let's Play A Game!

The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me for you ! I get to pick what I make for you, but it will be especially for you.

**Here is the deal:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. You will receive it sometime this year.
4. You have no clue what it will be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

** The Catch
The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FABULOUS homemade gift by me!!! So come and play along.

Life Turmoils and Triumphs

So, as you know - this is my little world of rambling about nothing. My mini-chickies, my struggles, my happiness, my food, my weirdness.

Sometimes life hands you triumphs: I've lost 15 lbs. since starting Weight Watchers in January. I feel so much better, and even though I have a longgggg way to go to be in their "healthy weight guidelines" but I feel empowered about the direction we are going. I'm proud of KK for sticking with it for 10 weeks.

Sometimes life hands you turmoil: We have been dealing with a lot of loss/death in our small community in the past few weeks. It makes you sad for the woulda/coulda/shoulda's of life. It has made my peeps ask questions I wasn't really prepared to answer.

I guess you just have to roll with and make the best you can with what you've got!

The Reward

Things on the single-mom front have been tough lately, particularly with KK. She was struggling at bit with some of the middle school classes. Her dad & I gave her a talk, even though he didn't want me to - I've told her she can't go with friends anywhere or have friends over at our house until she was getting at least B's in the 3 classes she was getting C's or below in. I'm happy to report that on 2 of them she is now getting A's (one teacher let her retake a test and she turned in some extra credit in the other) and is getting a B in the third! :) She elected to quit going to the after school program (which was just basically her hanging out with her friends for another hour and half after school) and go home. I think we have FINALLY found a good place again.

I feel like it is "the reward" for being called the "mean mom" a few weeks ago!

Now the other reason I'm proud: she got her 10 lb. star at WW last night! :) She is looking awesome (if not a little too much "teenager-ish" for my liking) and I'm very proud of her for doing so well. The other day she said something about so & so commenting about how good she was looking and I said something to the effect that I tell you that all the time and she replied, "well, you are my mom - you tell me that all the time. I never believe YOU!" BWAHAHAH

Now, SS hasn't been causing me much stress lately. She is doing very well in 4th grade, has been practicing the piano like a mad-woman, and has finally found a little friend to bond with. If she and KK would just quite arguing, I think my life as a mom would be pretty awesome! LOL

Dream Analysis

On Tuesday night I had a very odd & disturbing dream. I wasn't necessarily a "scary" nightmare kinda thing, but I woke up feeling very uneasy and just out of sorts. Miss Steph did a great analysis (she is awesome at that kind of thing), but I wondered if any of you out there in blogland wanted to give it a shot.

I was in a green marble elevator. The button were way too small to see and you couldn't tell what you were pushing. The elevator was just traveling up and down and all the passengers were getting upset (including me). Then the walls seemed to disappear and I was afraid I was going to fall out. Finally we stopped and we were in a big Las Vegas hotel type place. I was wearing my pink silk bathrobe and a red worker type jacket. It even has my name on it!

I had my room key, but could not remember my room number. I was trying to convince somebody (a hotel person??) that I just needed my room number, but I didn't have my ID - just my room key. Then my chickies appeared and said "Mom, it's room 1126."

I remember all the colors vividly, KK was wearing a stocking cap and it was light blue. Any ideas?

January Means....

it's my birthday... it's my birthday!

I have always had an unnatural love of my birthday. I've always said it was the best day of the year because "everybody has to be nice to you know matter what". Of course, as I've aged I've learned this isn't always true - but despite that I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!

Okay... I know - it isn't right. I mean it isn't like I'm a fun age or anything. But still I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!

PS... Since I seem to getting a lot of well wishes in my comments :) my birthday hasn't actually happened yet... LOL I'm just preparing my giddy little self! heeeheee

There are Just Random Times

.... that I miss my mom. Most days, after 5 years of being without her - I've learned to cope. "They" (ya know, the infamous they) told me that the sadness, missing, and hurt would get better with time. And it has. (Don't ya just hate it when "they" are right?!?!!?).

But on occasion, there are times I would like her to pat my hand and say "Sweetie, whoever told you life is fair was lying to you". Tonight I wish she was here with me to offer her love, support, and unusual little phrases of wisdom. That was my mom's job in my life. To be the person who loved me no matter what - I could be fat, skinny, smart, a dork, a little girl, a woman, a mom myself........ she loved all those parts of me.

It's just a little pity party, I promise to get on the lighter side again soon. (Maybe when it isn't dark at 4:15!).

A Day In May

Last May, before I started working at the school, I was sitting at my little computer desk in the living room and something caught my eye out the window.

Imagine my shock when I saw THESE guys. Those are bulls, people. Not just plain ol' cows, but bulls.





They were walking and munching and looking at me.

Immediately I called the people I was sure they belonged to and then grabbed up the camera, because I am pretty sure not many people I know can fathom the thought of bulls on your front lawn!

Summer 2008 - The Recap

Summer seemed to fly by at a break-neck speed this year. Here's a quick recap of some of the highlights.

June was full of many activities - Hot Shots basketball camp, Vacation Bible School, Mrs. S's 40th birthday bash and my adjusting to working full-time again after having so many months of a much slower (if somewhat poorer - LOL) life.

Once July hit, it seemed to have whizzed by much too quickly. The highlight was the girls week long trip to Camp Zanika Leche. They were so excited and so grown-up. I did expect SS to have a little bit of trouble (i.e. tears) but she started saying "Bye Mom" the minute we arrived!

I had BIG plans of what I would accomplish and get to do with a whole week without my "mom duties", but it turned out much differently than I was thinking. The Monday I had a wisdom tooth removed and by the time I felt better on Wednesday and I missing them so terribly I couldn't even gather up enough gumption to do anything fun. We have been apart before, but never have we had a "no contact" order. Although, in an emergency I could have gotten a hold of the girls (and vice versa) the camp thinks contact is best kept to letters. I understand the reason, but boy did it make my week long!

But, soon enough I did get my little munchkins back and I was so happy to see them I decided to make a day of of touristy activities closer to home that we never take the time to go to.

We started with a stop at Smallwoods Harvest. Be sure and check out the "cow train" in the farm fun section! I even rode it - it is basically grampa pulling everybody all over the farm with the John Deere Gator. At $2 a head, I think they are making a killing! I even rode and I must say it was fun - especially when he drove through the sprinklers! This is also where I we went on a tasting frenzy - they little tastings set up of lots of things in the mercantile.... pickled things, butters, jams, hot sauces. KK even suckered me into buying her a jar of pumpkin butter even though I was sure I could make me own!

Next we stopped at the The Cashmere Pioneer Village and Museum. It was pretty cool, we all enjoyed it quite a lot. They had extensive collections of both kinds of artifacts. They gave the girls little papers with a list of things they could see if they could find. It made it fun - and they were really looking at all the things.

Next stop was the Aplets and Cotlets Factory Tour. That was mostly the gift shop since the factory was closed since it is Saturday, but we did see the equipment and enjoy the free samples. We couldn't resist buying some too.

Next it was lunch/early dinner at a cool 50's dinner called Studebakers. It was next to the biggest antique stores I've ever been into. KK exclaimed "it is as big as a Wal-mart!".

Finally we rounded out our day with a stop at a fruit stand that makes the but handmade fresh-fruit milkshakes. It was the only place we went I couldn't find online! LOL It was still a terrific raspberry milkshake!

Summer went to fast this year. Here's to next year!!

What a Spring It's Been

Whew! So much has happened in the past 6 weeks: the girls started Little League, had their year-end recital in clogging, had the grand performance of Alice of Wonderland, KK's 5-grade field trip, and many other year-end activities! In the midst of all that, I started my new job at our school district as the payroll officer, but more about that later - this post is all about pictures from the last 6 weeks!

Back in May we attended a party where The Smith Family were also in attendance.


Here we have KK & Mrs. Smith's 2nd daughter, Carley. Carley & KK are only 3 weeks apart in age and we also have pictures of them rolling on the floor as tiny-tiny babies!
Here is what I thought was a super nice pic of Mrs. S. I love it when she smiles like that!
Here I am - looking less than thrilled to get my picture taken while I was scarfing down the best potato salad! I've been on a quest ever since to duplicate this masterpiece of simplicity!
Here is SS at the party hamming it up. Notice she is wearing my dad's Timex. It was the one thing of his she wanted and she wears it all the time.

Next we are off to KK's 5th grade field trip to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma. It was sorta of a long bus ride, but at least I had Mrs. S. to entertain me!

Here is KK with the jelly fish. I was under strict instructions all the time "take a picture"!
Those were hungry little goats! I think he would have jumped out of the pen if she hadn't given him the pellet the minute I snapped this picture!You are never too old or too cool to ride the carousel and wave at your Mom!

Now we will begin the series of events that was the whirlwind from Memorial Day to the last day of school!SS dressed for the Clogging recital. I love it when she let's me "poof" her hair. She always says "Mom, are you going to make me look like poodle?" LOL
KK dressed for her "Fabulous" routine to High School Musical. I am sad I didn't get a pic of the Kung Fu Fighting outfit - she looked awesome!
Here they are making funny faces for me. Such little hams!
Here is SS during her performance. I know it isn't a great photo - but she put her little all into that dance. She did that arm roll, shook those maracas, and sung the song the whole time - I was so proud!
Here is KK watching her feet during rehearsal. Watching them makes them do the moves correctly, didn't you know that?

Before we leaving the clogging performance, I've just have to say how proud I was of both this year. They both have been in clogging since they were 4 and I have to say for both of them this was the year where I could see so much improvement in their skill levels. It makes it worth the money I've paid out all these years! LOL

Next was the drama club performance of "Alice in Wonderland" after months of practice the big day finally arrived. They had two shows - one for the whole school and another for the parents/friends.

SS aka The Catepillar was less then thrilled to have had her face painted green for the better part of a whole day. KK aka The Mad Hatter was a little happier. I don't have any other good pics from the performance - I was having trouble with my new camera in the dimly light gym. I'll figure it out soon!

Lastly, but certainly not least we got all gussied up for the Spring Music Concert. As a 5th grader KK played the recorder and SS, as usual, sung her little heart out.

Aren't they just so pretty???? I love it when they turn out so cute!
KK looking at me like "Mom, I'm smiling because you are making me for this stupid picture you are making me stand here for. Don't you have a million pictures of me standing like this for every concert I've ever been in??" Or something like that. She is about to be 11 - who knows what she really thinks in the devious/genius little mind of hers.

SS looking just slightly less devious than her sister. And yes, she said "Why do you make me look like a poodle??!!?"

So, their you have it - what we've been doing in the Spring '08. Stay tuned for Summer '08!

Idiosyncrasies, phobias, and just plain weirdness

It has come to my attention that I might have a few of these lurking in my psyche. I’ve already told ya’ll about the whole snake problem. It is pretty bad, my loathing of snakes. I’m not sure having actually overcome my fears enough to whack one has alleviated my fear and loathing of them – I’m considering something drastic to get over this. Like, um.. not leaving my house until Halloween when they go back to hibernate? No..no… I just planted all this wonderful lawn, I’ve gotta enjoy that, right? How about hypnotherapy? Hmmmmmmm… I’ll have to give that some thought.

But, in addition to snakes – I apparently have a whole menagerie of weird issues. Working at the bank has brought out more than a few of these issues.

Like my fear of crossing the street. I live in the country and our small town doesn’t have cross-walks or even stop lights for that matter. I am usually okay crossing streets in a town with stop lights and little blinking WALK – DON’T WALK signs. It is crossing in unmarked, unmanned areas that seem to cause me the most grief. The post office is directly across the street from the bank. Most days somebody usually walks to get the mail for the bank and if asked nicely enough, the mail for the others of us who also have PO Boxes. I tend to get a lot of mail and one day they wanted to send me, because they were all tired of toting all my junk. I was game, until I realized what a scary proposition that was….. crossing that crazy street with no cross-walk and people zooming by willy-nilly. I did it – but not without realizing why the previous 20 years I had always done my banking and then driven across the street to the post office! All the others decided I was just plain whacko, but hey, do you know what happened about a month ago? A car rolled across the street (from the other direction) and hit a parked car at the post office. If that wasn’t enough to prove my point about it not being safe, just this week a large truck was parked and rolled across the parking lot (from yet another direction) and this time took out the flag pole and a railing! I think I can safely say I am finally justified in this particular phobia, don’t you?

I have to admit another fear. This one is just plain weird. I don’t like the back supply room of the bank. It isn’t that it has creepy crawlies, or that I’m afraid it has snakes in it. It is just a large room, with tons of different things and I don’t know where a single thing I’m looking for is in its chaotic organization. Not that it is that messy, it isn’t. I just plain hate going in there and trying to figure out if that is really the roll of printer tape I need for my teller machine, or is it just adding machine tape, or is it the tape for the credit card printing machine? I just hate that feeling. Where are the $1000 straps, why aren’t they here with the $100, $500, & $2000 straps? Nope, they aren’t – because so many things are strapped in $1000’s they have their very own place on a different shelf from every other strap. Hey, Susie – can you get some rubber bands? After 5 minutes I had to admit defeat that I couldn’t find the rubber bands. I just hate that feeling. Hey, but wait it does make me feel marginally better that nobody could find the rubber bands since we were out. It basically is a room that I avoid at all costs. That’s just weird.

I have never considered myself a picky eater (ya only have to take a view of my behind to get that one!), but I have decided I AM getting pickier as I get older. First there is the Diet Pepsi thing. I love Diet Pepsi the best – in the plastic 20 oz. bottle or the can, no fountain junk for me – ick! On please, oh please do not put vanilla, cherry, lime or any other weird concoctions into my Diet Pepsi. I don’t want it maxed, I just want it plain. I will drink Diet Coke if it is the only other choice, but I like orange (but only Sunkist), root beer (but only A&W), or Squirt better. Absolutely no Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper or something else weird they try to make. I love corn, but I do not want it mixed into anything. I love to cook, but avoid most “Southwestern” recipes – because they all add corn. I like just corn, plain. I don’t like Cesar dressing. I like those little 180 energy drinks, but only the orange –not the blue. See – picky, picky. On the other end of the food spectrum there is my absolute addiction to canned peas. Yep, mushy canned peas. We probably eat peas 2-3 nights a week. Weird.

It’s okay – I’m good with you thinking I’m weird.