Hours, days, weeks...

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since I have posted. It seems that hour we lost while springing forward was the hour I used for blogging. I have been so busy.

20 was here for Spring Break. He is still the family Tazmanian devil. Remember, Taz, the cartoon? The whirling ball of energy. That's what the week is like when he's here. Lot's of goings and doings, it's all good. It's just lots.

A number of birthdays have gone by hubby's, BILs, and some young cousins turned 13 and 18. We all laughed when 20 said HE was getting old when told a cousin had just turned 13. He was quite shocked because in his words "she's the little girl of the family" and now she's a teenager.

I have been scrapping, and cooking, and still watching lots of movies some old and some new, and even reading again mostly magazines but at least I'm reading again.

I have been working on an expresso flan which is not coming out the way I want it to but I will keep working on it and let you know as soon as it's successful. I will get it right someday.

Today its gray and rainy outside but we had some good weather last week and over the weekend so the boys where able to enjoy the beach with their friends and BIL was able to go on his birthday boating expedition; an annual event.

I have one question to pose: Why is it that no matter how much cash I take out for the weekend it always seems to be exactly how much the boys need? If I take out only $20 then only one asks for cash. This weekend I took out $60, 17 asked for $20 for gas, then later $20 for parking at the beach and lunch, then 20 asked for $20 to be able to eat a little something at the airport. So again I end up with a Monday morning empty wallet. I tell you it doesn't matter how much I take out they seem to know and need just that much. Amazing....

TIME; where does it go?

Am I the only one who was oblivious to the fact that we are springing forward this weekend? i just read about it over at Second Effort. Why!? oh why? I hate the time changes. Hate. Hate. Hate. I always need more time never less time. Even when they give us the extra hour in the fall its really not enough is it?

I have some appointments tomorrow and so I decided to take the day off and see if I could squeeze in an errand to get it off the weekend list of things to do. I have no idea how necessary that was going to be in order to accomplish what I want. Now, I have to really organize my day tomorrow to try and get things done.

I'm feeling a little Mad Hatterish right now like I'm late for a very important date...and they haven't even taken the hour yet....

Movie weekend

Did you watch the Oscar's? I did. I actually popped open a bottle of bubbly (leftover from New Year's Eve) and watched the whole darn thing. Did you have any favorite dresses? Here are mine:

There were many others that looked pretty and all but those three were my absolute favorites. I also liked Kate Winslet and I thought Meryl Streep looked great as did Kathryn Bigelow.

I did not like Jennifer Lopez' dress at all and from what I have read it seems to have been all the rage but not for me. I also thought Zoe Saldana's dress with all those purple feathery ruffles on the bottom was just too much. I will giver her an A for being bold and daring but I didn't like it.

The show overall was very underwhelming not very entertaining at all. I did like the dance performance to the mix of nominated songs. I also thought it was really cool seeing the 'Brat Pack' come out together to present.

The rest was ho humm....I don't think there were any real surprises in who got what at least I wasn't surprised.

Meanwhile over the weeekend I saw Doctor Zhivago (again). It is still wonderful. I had forgotten pieces of it so I am glad I saw it again. I also saw Giant and The Philadelphia Story and Rebel Without A Cause. They were all great. I had no idea that Dennis Hopper was in Rebel Without a Cause. It's fun seeing the old movies and finding popular actors in their beginnings in Hollywood. The only one that was a repeat for me was Zhivago and it totally sucked me in again. Marvelous. Movies back then were bigger. I mean the places were characters in the movie jsut as Texas is a character in Giant. Movies just aren't made like that any more.

I also saw Julie & Julia. It was a cute movie. I liked it because I like Julia Child. Streep totally made the movie worth watching. She was Julia. I don't mean that she impersonated her I mean she WAS Julia. Hook, line and sinker.

So overall, it was a big movie weekend for me.

The System

Last Saturday when I made the truffles and the Marmalade Cake and went out to the family gathering to celebrate a birthday, I didn't do the dishes. Sunday morning I got up and made breakfast and then vegged a bit and watched a movie still not doing the dishes.
I was going to do them but Saturday I was busy and then tired and Sunday morning I wanted to be a bit lazy.
I started doing other things and one thing lead to another and well here comes dinner and I still haven't done the dishes. They were piling up. It's not like I have to do them all by hand or anything although there are quite a few things that are not dishwasher safe but the dishwasher was full and so that meant I had to empty that first. Well, you can see that this is leading to a very full kitchen sink.
I have a double sink and frankly both were full. Shameful I know but this isn't an everyday happening it was a one weekend happening. I am sure (read: I truly hope) it has happened to you. I feel obliged at this point to make note that I don't do all the dishes on a regular basis. I cook and hubby does the dishes. That's the deal. Well, as you know hubby isn't here and so I am cooking AND doing dishes. Have I mentioned I don't like doing the dishes. Not that I imagine anyone actually looks forward to doing the dishes but I really don't like doing the dishes. It may have something to do with all the tables I bused and dishes I washed in Freshman year as detention in boarding school but that's another story.
Back to the story, by Monday afternoon when 17 and I got home he actually commented, if dad were here he'd have a heart attack looking at that sink. He's got a system. That's his new nickname - the system. He's got a system for everything, he's always got to follow his system otherwise things go bonkers. The System.
I tried to explain to my loving son that there is something to say for spontaneity and creativity. That everything doesn't have to have a system to get done. Of course this was while I was doing the dishes so I am not sure the point came across very well. Regardless, the dishes got done (that night) and more meals have been made and their dishes have been done and frankly I find it all a bit boring. I like just creating the meal and walking away. It was much more satisfying.

Mean winds

I have to go to the bank. If I want to get there quickly I should probably leave the car and just let the wind carry me over there. We are under a wind advisory until late tonight. I swear if you just listen it sounds like a hurricane is coming in.

All you hear is the wind. No birds. It's kinds spooky. I can't even hear the cars just the wind. Blowing. Howling. Hurling around the corner of the office building.

I realize other parts of the country have had their weather issues of late but I can tell you that it has been an uncharacteristically long winter here. I can't remember ever going this long with the air conditioner off. I haven't had it on at home for over a month! And there have been plenty of night were 17 and I are bundling up because the house is chilly. I insist its not chilly enough for the heater. I live in SoFL people, let's be real.

Most days it has been ok but today the wind is truly severe. Stay safe everyone and be warm, where ever you are.

I think I will make soup tonight. It's just that kind of day.

I did some new baking this weekend. I made truffles with brandy. It was my first time. I coated them 3 different ways some with cocoa powder, others with crushed pistachios, and others with crushed pretzels. I chose pretzels because the person I was giving them to likes the sweet and salty combo.

The truffles were a bit involved. It's not that its technically hard to make it was just a lot of steps and working with chocolate and melting it and getting it to the right temp was a bit daunting. But know that I've done it. I have some ideas to make it easier and I will take on the task again. I already bought more chocolate.

I have 6 of each kind to hubby's aunt as her birthday present. I told her to be honest with me later and tell me which ones she liked, if any, because they were an experiment. I didn't tell her I had tried one and didn't like it.

I had some leftover and so I took them to a girls game night where I volunteered to take dessert because I wanted to make a Marmalade Cake I saw here: http://orangette.blogspot.com/.

The truffles were sampled there and enjoyed and I tried one again and it was good. I guess the brandy and chocolate needed to mellow. Now, I know.

The cake intrigued me the day I read about it and I had been wanting to make it and my girlfriends were the perfect guinea pigs. I really liked the way it came out. It was very simple looking but full of flavor. I totally see why she called it a marmalade cake not an olive oil cake. The olive oil is not a predominate flavor. The citrus and almonds totally steal the show.

I have one more birthday to plan for this month, hubby's, then I will start planning on the April ones which I already have some ideas for one of which requires setting up the sewing machine again. So, here we go.

Oh, I almost forgot I used my homemade vanilla in the recipes this weekend. I think it worked well. I am going to give some to a girlfriend who bakes a bit to have her try it and see what she thinks.

Other happenings:

* 17 went to a school retreat for 3 days. I have never done anything like that and I know he's been dealing with some issues that he doesn't want to talk to mom about and I was thrilled and grateful when he came home Friday raving about what a wonderful experience it was for him. He says it truly brought him closer to the classmates and teachers that were there and to God. He felt very good about things and I am so happy for him.

*20 had an accident in the weight room while he was bench pressing. The bar slipped from his hand and +200lbs fell on his chest. Miraculously, he's fine. He didn't even crack a rib. The Dr. didn't believe it when he saw the x-rays and so he ordered a scan and both came out clean. He's in pain because he has severe bruising but nothing broken. Thank goodness!

* My dog isn't doing very well. I see him more lethargic than normal and he has these growths that I won't go into detail here but they are gross to deal with and are giving off a bad odor. I think it may be time to say good-bye. I need to talk to the rest of the family about this.

* I have been watching more old movies and still have many recorded to watch. I saw 42nd Street, Broadway Melody and Golddiggers of 1935 and a documentary about Zora Neale Hurston as well as some cooking shows. I'm enjoying the old movies, surprised I know so many of the songs from the musicals but I guess I just didn't know what movies they came from.

Earworms - tag you're it.

I hadn't realized it has been a week since I last posted. Time sure does fly. I have been busy (not) watching movies and more movies and some documentaries.

Some cable channels have been showing old award winning movies in homage to the big award ceremony coming up and I have recorded as many as I can and have been watching them all. I have also seen some documentaries on PBS that have been outstanding.

Why have I had so much time to watch all this well its because hubby is away and therefore I get to play with the TV remote. We share some viewing taste but then his veers off in the sports direction and mine doesn't.

Because of this I saw a documentary about Sam Cooke and for days now I have been humming and singing his songs. You know the lines: CUUU PID drAW bAAck your bOW oo straight to my lovers heart FOR MEeeee. and his other classic: Darlin' youuuuuu send me,I know youuuuu send me, honest you do, truly you do.

So, close your eyes (after you read this) and imagine being in an elevator with 6 strangers. They are all women of assorted ages. One is on the phone, one searching for keys in her bag, another sipping a bottle of water and the others just waiting for the doors to open. I was in the back flipping through a magazine and all of a sudden I hear some of these women sing: 'at first I thought it was infatuation but ooo, it's lasted so loOOng. Now I find myself wanting to marry you and take you home' I smiled and we all sang "Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, Youuuuuu send me...." and laughed! How funny is that? Have you ever passed along an earworm? As we got off the elevator laughing the youngest of the bunch asked what that was and another lady told her Sam Cooke, sweetie. Google him. Download him. It is good stuff.

Happy Mon - I mean Happy Tuesday

I know it's Tuesday. Well, my brain knows it's Tuesday but my body feels and is acting like it's Monday. It's dragging. And I worked yesterday so there is really no excuse for it. I shouldn't be dragging at all. I should be gearing up for mid-week.

It's not as if yesterday (the real Monday) was particularly stressful. It wasn't. It was perfectly normal and productive at work. Probably because we were one of only a handful of offices working. I stayed in bed an extra 5 whole minutes because I figured there wouldn't be any traffic. Indeed there was no traffic and I got to work 10 minutes early. I got a prime parking spot. Coffee was ready when I got here. I was even surprised with a piece of King Cake on my desk to enjoy with my morning cup. My dad called and was in the neighborhood so he picked me up for lunch which was lovely. I got home (again no traffic) in no time at all to no surprises and dinner with 17 was very nice. You see. Perfectly normal and nice. Hmmm...maybe that's the problem. Monday didn't act like Monday.

This morning I woke up startled. I don't know why the alarm hadn't even rung yet. I checked the time and notice that I was out of breath. I focus and take a deep breath and I think 17 overslept! Why did I think that - I don't know. So I text him as I walk to him room down the hall. Does any of this make sense? You let me know because I don't understand. He's not in his room -quick intake of breath- I hit send on the text 'RU@ school' I get a 'yea?' back and just respond 'K'. I am still standing in the hallway and I'm short of breath. I slowly go back to my room taking slow deliberate breaths and start the morning routine. I dress and get to the kitchen and decide I should have tea to relax me not coffee. I still feel off kilter. I let the dog out and turn on the TV and take my bowl of cereal and cup of tea to the table.

I get to work and everything seems fine but I still feel a bit off somehow. The phone rings, its about 9:30. I answer 'Good afternoon'. The caller laughs and tells me I'm jumping the gun a bit. HAHAHA. I transfer the call and realize I didn't take anything out for dinner and I left my lunch in the car. I get my lunch which was weekend leftovers and see Mr. Brown - you know the delivery guy- I sign for the package so he doesn't have to go up and he tells me I don't look too good and asks if I'm OK. I tell him it feels like Monday. He tells me that 2 Mondays is not good to go get some more coffee. In the ladies room I look at myself and think who's that in the mirror? I am very pale and my hair is the definition of bad hair day. What is my problem!?

To be honest the day hasn't gotten much better. I have been struggling with a thing for a client most of the day. I've got the beginnings of a headache and did I tell you I forgot to defrost something for dinner. I guess we'll have mac n cheese. And I can't even tell you how hard it has been to type this entry. My fingers are hitting the keys they want in stead of the keys that are needed to form proper words and coherent writing. I think I am going to stop now. I think when I get home I should just crawl into bed and let it all be over.
Two Mondays are not a good thing!

Note added: OMG the spell check found 15 errors! on top of all the ones I corrected along the way! Bad day. Bad bad day.

Hairy issues

I went and did something crazy. I got my hair cut. I know this is a normal regularly scheduled event for most people but I really avoid them because I am clueless when it comes to hairstyles and hair styling.

My hair style has always been 'wash and wear'. Don't get me wrong, I know how to blow dry my hair and I know how to put all those big stiff rollers and even those soft foamy rollers on and I even know how to use a curling iron. I just don't like spending all that time on my hair which is why most of my adult life post children anyway has been lived with either a barrette or a hair clip on because the other thing I don't like is my hair in my face. I can sit have someone else do it but I haven't found anyone willing to donate their time and come to my house every morning to style my hair before I go out into the world. My poor mother is turning over in her grave, I just know it.

She tried. She really did. I just think I was a hopeless case. I think it all started with the extraordinary amount of time taken to get the knots out of my long straight hair as a kid. Remember, that spray No More Tears? If we would have bought stock I'd probably be rich right now but my mother would sit there and comb it out and it took forever! At one point in my life my hair reached the bottom of my back. We only used to trim the tips 'to keep it healthy and help it grow strong'. My hair was straight as a board. Then came the big hair. Oh, for the love of Pete, my mother would wrap the rollers so tight my skull hurt and I would sit under that dryer forever! Boy was I happy when we invested in the portable one and I could at least walk around with it. I will give credit where credit is due and say that my mom could style hair! I was a brunette Farrah when she was done. The problem was and this is no lie within 20 minutes 30 if you were lucky my hair would be straight as a board again. She tried EVERYTHING. We went to umpteen salons, there was more product purchased to try to un-straighten my hair than you can imagine. I was even given a wave treatment that was supposed to last months and only lasted a few weeks. She would do all the same things to her hair and it would work perfectly but not me. Obviously, I didn't get her hair just her hips.

Then I had children. Now my hair has all kinds of movement and motion. I would need to iron it or undergo that ionic straightening treatment to flatten it out but that seems like it would be all wrong. Like maybe my mother would come haunt me for straightening it or something.
So anyway, I don't know how to handle this hair. I am clueless in managing it. So, I usually just let it grow out and pin or clip it back away from my face. Every so often I get the urge to chop it off and I do. I go with the best intentions. I look through all the books at all the cuts and styles and I don't find any that speak to me so invariably I tell the stylist to do what ever they want just not too short and not too funky. Obviously, I get something different every time. Imagine. Plus I am never really happy with it. Go figure. But whatever. It's just hair. It will grow out and I will pin it back again and have it chopped off again too. C'est la vie. Sorry mom.

6 more

The ole groundhog say his shadow and so there will be six more weeks of winter. It really doesn't matter to me here in Miami because normally it just gets cool enough to be able to turn off the A/C but my baby, 20 is in upstate NY as you know and he will be cold for real. Pobrecito!

Plus, hubby just found out he's going on a project for 3 to 4 weeks also in NY. NY is a big state. The project could be anywhere and he is going to be about a mile away from 20! Can you believe it? What are the odds of that? I think its pretty wild.

I am going to have to do some quick cooking this weekend to send a care package with hubby for 20. Plus I am making jambalaya for the big football game on Sunday AND its my nephews birthday on Sunday and I will be scrapping all day on Saturday. OMG I am already tired from the weekend and its not here yet. I need to organize my grocery list tonight to make sure I have everything because all the cooking will be on Friday and Saturday night.

Today is also the birthday of 17s godmother. I'm going by after work to deliver her gift which is a framed senior picture of her godson and a handmade card.

During lunch I am going book shopping for the nephew who is crazed about WWII planes. I'm thinking that shouldn't be to hard to find books on. I am hoping for something about the Tuskegee (sp?) airmen. We shall see. Those are the first two birthdays of the month. This weekend I will make cards for Valentines Day and the birthdays that are later in the month. So far I am on schedule with my gift making.

Lots to do but its all good....

Vanilla excitement

I am so very very excited. I ordered vanilla beans online. I have been reading reviews for a sundry of places to order from and finally picked one and placed my first order today. I am starting small I only ordered 10 beans but I'm still excited.

Why am I so excited about getting vanilla beans? Well, I'll tell you because I am going to make vanilla extract. From everything I have read it is super simple and one of those things that I have read once you do it you can't go back to store bought extract. We shall see. I hope so because if this succeeds then I will also be gifting homemade extract in the near future. How cool is that? Well, I'm excited and if your not and you see me live and in person then you may want to make a comment or two in that vein because you made well be a recipient of said extract.

I can't wait to get it and I can't wait to make it and I can't wait to try it.

Mailing lists

I get most of my news from online sources and with regularity sign up for newsletters from different sites. Because of that I receive precisely a bajillion emails daily from an assortment of sources and depending on my mood I read or delete them.

I could be used by someone geeky enough in a scientific study to track the selling of mailing lists. You see I may not know every newsletter I have signed up to receive but I do know which ones I didn't sign up to receive and the one from the major group representing retired people is one of the ones I did NOT sign up for and yet I am getting them with alarming frequency.

I have no phobias about getting older. I realize one should just be plain proud to get there. I do notice things around me all the time that make me think 'Boy, I am getting old' because the telltale signs are everywhere. Children who's birth you witnessed are in high school, driving and some are even in college. I even overheard one of these kids say 'in my day...' What do you mean in my day? This is your day bub! All of these things make me realize the actual number of my age but more telling than that is receiving these newsletters from this group. I mean do they think I am their target market? I'm +10 years away from their membership age. They need to back off. I already opted out and they sent me two TWO Are you sure you want out emails. Yes, I am sure. I am NOT ready for your services yet. Thank. you. very.much.

Tea house

Growing up my house was a coffee house. Tea was only had when you went to a Chinese restaurant or you were sick. We drank coffee at all hours and you could always choose between American coffee brewed or instant or Cuban coffee as a shot or with warm milk making it a cafe con leche.

Since then I have had and enjoyed many teas even when healthy both at restaurants and at home but by and large I am still a coffee drinker. I have to be in the mood for tea or sick.

This weekend I was sick specifically my stomach was rebelling against me and my list of things to do. In an effort to remedy this I decided that tea must be had so I sent hubby out to buy Manzanilla. I sent him to a local American grocery store and told him he had to look for a Latin brand that said Manzanilla on it because although the knowledge is in my brain I couldn't find it while I was in the bathroom Saturday morning and didn't have the inclination to google it or call anyone for a translation at that moment. This was not a problem because we live in Miami and sometimes its easier to find something in Spanish than English anyway. He came home with a box of Chamomile with Anise tea. Perfect. This would surely cure what ails me. Over the weekend I had absolutely no coffee. I had six cups of tea over 2 days and it did sooth and calm my tummy. Today I am much better. I did have another cup of tea for breakfast instead of coffee but I think tomorrow I go back to coffee because indeed the tea has done what it needed to do and healed me. Thank goodness!

6

So did you hear the one about the dad who gave the boys directions to their buddy's house that took them in the opposite direction and made them loop de loop around about 10 miles? Well, that's another story but suffice it to say that if they hadn't done all that driving around the car would have made it all the way home and not died on the way back.

The boys decided to stop and pick up their dinner on the way home which worked out well for the parents who were ordering Chinese. As they sat around chatting and finishing their Honey Chicken the phone rings. If you are a parent of a driving age child you understand that means stop what you are doing until you know the call is meaningless. When you hear 'Where are you?' and 'I'll be right there.' you want to scream at the parent on the phone WTF HAPPENED WHY ARE YOU TELEPATHICALLY TELLING ME AND INSTANTANEOUSLY RESOLVING IT AT THE SAME TIME but you remain calm (read: stuck to your chair) and wait for the end of the call to quickly ask what happened. You are calmly told that the car died on the way home not too far away and that it won't start. Of course, you have more questions and want to jump in the car to their rescue your lack of mechanical knowledge notwithstanding and yet you let the men go with jumper cables in hand to fetch the car and boys because honestly how many people does it take to jump a car. This should be relatively simple and straightforward.

While they are gone the moms exchange their questions and thoughts on what may or may not have happened and may happen and decide to pick up the dinner things silently (because to say it out loud would be inviting disaster) agreeing that they need to be ready for whatever may come. So they pick up, they clean up and they sit and they chat about the day sprinkling the conversation with do you think the started the car and neither one answering or suggesting they call to check on things.

We hear car doors and men's voices and they all 4 walk through the front door the children still eating the remnants of their dinner. They need to call the car service (you know the one, first letter of the alphabet 3 times) because they left the car in the parking lot of a nearby strip shopping center. The women don't grasp all of the details because they are being told out of order but we garner that the car was moved to this new location and now it can't stay there overnight (obviously). The women need to get up and go resolve this now and the men need to relax and watch more football for a bit. More questions get asked and a new plan is hatched to save time and $. Instead of getting it towed home to then tow it again to a shop tomorrow lets get it here tonight ourselves and then tow it tomorrow. Honestly, at that point I was still unclear as to why the car didn't make it all the way when they went out but I didn't push the issue. It is what it is and now we need to deal with it.

(Picture light bulb now) Hubby remembers that he has a rope that can be used to pull the car and as he goes to find it I come to understand that hubby had to push the car with the truck to get it to where it was. I'm still confused but whatever. Now to get it out of the parking lot and to my house the women are clear that a left turn needs to be made on a busy street and are concerned that oncoming traffic may not realize that the car is being pulled and well it wouldn't' be a happy ending. So, it is decided that we will go with them to help. Hubby starts joking, "How many Cubans does it take to push a car?" As I am getting my purse, I am yelling back we are pulling not pushing. I'm thinking maybe that's why the car isn't here they don't know if they are pushing or pulling. (See title for answer)

Here's the plan: Hubby in the truck will be in front pulling the car being driven by other dad. I will drive our car behind the car with my flashers on because the car's flashers probably don't work as the battery is dead. Other mom will have flashlights and stand in the road waving them a la landing an airplane so that oncoming traffic will see the left turning caravan and stop. The children will be in the car with me and are going merely for the educational value of the experience.

Once we get to the parking lot it takes a while to get the car hooked up but it is done. As we begin to execute our plan another flashlight is added so other mom now has two and the boys are concerned about how she's going to get into my car and change their seating so she can get in the back seat without having to walk around the car. They also suggest everyone roll down their windows so we can hear each other yelling. You see how much they are learning.

We wait for the light to change, other mom is flashing the lights in the road, hubby slowly pulls the car up, out and left as I go slowly behind explaining to the boys that enough room needs to be between us so that if the rope snaps there are no injuries. Other mom hops in the back seat and we get through the intersection and home with no more surprises. As we are undoing all the ropes and parking cars and trucks, they can't get the keys out of the cars ignition because its not in park. It's in neutral and since it has no battery they can't change gears. So, after the men had washed up they are told they have to move the truck and jump the car again to get the keys out. Oh for the love of ^&%^*$. Whatever, it's done and we all sit and have some soda and let the men watch the end of their game. The teens joke that something stronger is needed that a soda and I tell them to sit an d put their feet up for a few years and wait for that one.

We chalk it up to a learning experience and give the boys some tips for future reference because these things will happen and the next day the car is towed to the shop for a new alternator and battery. It could have been worse but nevertheless gimme patience. :)

Dots of Doing and Liking

In an effort to keep tabs on my progress with this year's theme of "Do what I like. Like what I do." I think I am going to start a weekly or so entry of a list of Dots to document the abundance of action that will abound this year. Work with me people. Here's the first list:

* I agreed to a Scrap club with some girlfriends. I'm not sure how this will work other than its once a month but I like the friends, I like scrapping and have lots to scrap so it sounds perfect. I have no idea how I am going to schlep all the stuff that I use when scrapping but I am sure that the logistics and details will sort themselves out.


* I took a nap. I realize that this sounds contradictory. I am celebrating the doing of nothing well not nothing but sleeping. What needs to be understood here is twofold. First, I rarely sleep completely and soundly through the entire night. Second, the only time I ever sleep during daylight hours is if I am sick and I am talking really sick. So, I stopped everything (paused really) and took a nap on a Sunday afternoon for a whole 35 minutes! That my friends is (in)action at its best for me.


* I made yummy side dishes for me this week that only I enjoy and let the men stick with the boring stuff I have been making for years. I made wild rice to have with chicken and roasted veggies. I made a lovely mixed greens salad with a lively lemon based dressing and a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds on top. I made a pasta salad using whole wheat rotini and marinated artichoke hearts to take to lunch for work that was delish!


* I found my pretty stationary that I haven't used in years. I am planning on writing some letters to some family that I have lost touch with.

* I WENT to scrap club which from now on will be known as S.I.S. and had a blast. I got THREE pages done. I am so happy. I already learned some things that I must take with me next time. I also got lots of inspiration seeing the pages the others were doing.

* I tried a fruitcake and survived. Not only did I survive it was tasty. The thing is I hate fruitcake but this one was touted as the best ever and ya know what it was good. I could eat this without having to pretend to like it because it was good. I want the recipe and will gift it next holiday season.

* Had coffee with some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. It was great catching up in person because even though we email in person is great.

* I chatted with 17. Just the 2 of us caught up on an assortment of things and it was nice. He told me about the trials of prom preparations that SAC is going through and we laughed at some of their ideas and problems. It was very nice sharing time.

* I may not have liked the cold blast we got but I certainly liked curling up under the comforter straight out of the dryer. It was a stroke of genius if I do say so myself!

Here's to Doing what I like and liking what I do!

Thawing and other -ings

We are warming up into the 40's and 50's and it should be back in the 80's by the weekend with some rain. I am quite satisfied. South Florida weather is back on track!

I really should have taken pictures of the frost on the car windows and us seeing our breath INdoors and us all bundled up of the sofas. It would have made for a great scrapbook page. But alas, hindsight with a warm functioning brain is 20-20.

I have been filling my calendar with things to do and yet not doing them. There are many activities and events in my local area that I want to attend and I have never been able to for a variety of reasons in the past and realized it once the event is over. So, the new strategy this year is to actually put the items on my calendar so that I know ahead of time and attend. For some reason it's still not working. I haven't gone to the book reading or the farmer's market or the art exhibit that I wanted to go too. I need to do something now to actually go to the things I calendar but I don't know what. There is another exhibit in FTL that I think is still in town. I need to check. There's also a festival this weekend in South Beach that I think would be nice. Unfortunately, there are also things like laundry and groceries that keep getting in the way. I truly need to work on this.

The other thing I need to focus on is the gift making for February birthdays. They will be here in a minute and I haven't started! So, let me calendar planning time for Friday and hopefully I will stick to it.

Depp freeze

It has been so cold that I think the part of the brain the Mother Nature used to keep South Florida warm is frozen solid and not working. There were even reports of snow flurries blocks from my house. WTH!?!

Hey! Mother Nature! Yoo Hoo! Remember us? We are in SOUTH FLORIDA where it should be hot and humid. Thank. you. very. much.

Added later: Note that I was soooo cold I couldn't even spell Deep in the title LOL! I'm leaving it for effect. LOL!

Imagine 75

Today Elvis would have been 75 years old. I cannot even imagine what he would be doing in the world today so many things have changed. Would we be following Elvis on Twitter?

He was one of my moms heartthrobs as a teen and therefore we listened to a lot of his music growing up. My brother would play air guitar on his plastic baseball bat with a towel tied around his neck as a cape and I would sing back. We knew ALL the words. We even used to "perform" for family and friends when my parents had dinner parties before we had to go to bed. We always thought we were the highlight of their parties and could only imagine they were bored to tears after we left. Oh my, those were the days. LOL!

Have you ever had one of his famed fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches? I haven't. Hmm... maybe I will this weekend.

Happy Birthday to the King of Rock! I imagine there's quite a party where he is right now and mom is sure to be front and center dancing along.

Calendaring

I am going though and updating my calendar which is now on my phone. I have spent time entering birthdays, anniversaries, and upcoming events. I'm getting all organized and know what's coming up when and now all I have to do is refer to the calendar and make plans accordingly. It sounds simple enough but I forget to do that sometimes. If my gift giving plan has any chance of working I need to make sure I refer to it and plan, plan, plan!

I was happy to see that there is only one anniversary in January and well I think they are going to get a phone call and a card because its just way too soon. The other thing that occurred to me was maybe having them over for dinner on the weekend. That would be nice. I gotta check to see if we are all available this weekend.

I do need to look ahead to next month. As far as I know I have two birthdays. I need to start thinking about what I am going to make them. Hmmm...I think I have some good pictures of one person with different family members. I could do some sort of collage or something and frame it. That's what I will do tonight is look for pictures. Right now I am clueless for the other person. This is going to be hard.

Little things

I know we aren't supposed to sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff. We are supposed to focus on the big picture yadda yadda. But I think its the little things that we have to savor and enjoy in life. It may not be a good day (big picture) but I am sure there's moment or two in there that can make us smile (little stuff). Little things help us get through some of the big stuff.

So, with that in mind I still didn't really come up with a verb for the new year. A friend is using the phrase 'Take a chance'. I like that but it feels to risky for me when I say it out loud so its not for me. Midnight came the toasting, sipping, hugging, kissing, water throwing, grape eating, lentil eating, luggage all happened and I only had "to do things I like". Sounds lame even when I said it out loud to myself later. Like it didn't have enough focus or purpose.

Then I get to work and see my coffee mug that was given to me by another friend a couple of years ago. It says "Do what you like. Like what you do." Now, doesn't that sound purposeful?! And it has two good verbs: Do and Like. I think this is it. I also think that I unknowingly started doing it already. This is so exciting. It feels right.

I already agreed to form a Scrapclub with some girlfriends. So, we come up with meeting once a month to scrap for a few hours. I can't wait to get that rolling because there is much to scrap.

I already went grocery shopping and bought a few items that I like even though my family doesn't. I got a pomegranate, wild rice, spring mix salad greens, and buttermilk. I know it was all healthy until the buttermilk. But I like making a big breakfast on the first of the year and I wanted Buttermilk pancakes, so I made them. I also prefer mixed salad greens to plain iceberg, I also and bored to tears with white rice. So, last night I made wild rice with our regularly scheduled Sunday chicken and brought the leftovers for lunch today.

See, all those things are little things nothing earth shattering there and yet they have brought some very bright spots to my day. So, I think this year's theme is: Do what I like and like what I do.

I am very pleased with my start. Oh yeah, I even took a nap yesterday! How cool is that!