Queen of My Castle

Sweet Jackson

2012-02-06T12:09:00.000-05:00

I've been in Hawaii for four days now. I have spent every day with my beautiful grandson. He is, without a doubt, the most precious baby in the world. I'm sure every grandmother says that about their grandchildren, but I'm not lying here. This is the one.

This photo was taken the first morning I saw Jackson. I think it's just precious and I will probably frame it. At least once, maybe multiple times and put all over my house :)

How sweet is this? Another one for a frame? Who am I kidding? I think my home is about to be re-decorated. The theme..??? Baby Jackson.

Here he is "talking" to his Grandpa. Grandpa was doing most of the talking.

For this one, I had been sitting next to him, literally snapping photo after photo. I can't get tired of him at all.

Saturday, we ventured out of the house and took a walk around the north shore. We had to have shave ice.. I insisted!!

Jackson's first trip to the beach with his mom and dad. He slept through it. What a beautiful day!!

What's Your Travel Style?

2012-02-01T17:40:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned, I'm headed to Hawaii today. My flight doesn't leave for another three hours, but because of Nick's schedule, he had to bring me early. I don't mind really. I'm enjoying quiet time and I have my computer, my kindle, and my smart phone. How much more plugged in could I be?

One of my favorite pass times at the airport is people watching. I love to see the clothes people wear, their shoes, the interesting groups of people... and yes, I like to try to figure them out. Young family, business associates, organizations traveling in groups, etc. Sometimes I even make up stories in my mind. I'm sure they are more exciting than the truth sometimes.

For instance, right now, there is an older couple sitting near me. Since I'm flying to Hawaii and they are at my gate area, I'm assuming they are going there as well. They have their two carry on bags loaded on one of those smartcarte wheelie things and are plugging in their cell phones. I'm hoping they are going for some fabulous vacation.

There are always business travelers. They aren't hard to spot. Usually traveling in their "business casual" attire and carrying laptop bags. Then there are the families with hoody sporting teenagers or sticky faced toddlers. I feel for the families of small children. They might as well be pack mules with all the stuff they are dragging along.

I love to see what different people wear to travel. You see the women wearing fabulous clothes with heels and beautiful bags. I want to be that woman. I want to look like the very chic world traveler, but alas, I'm the comfort traveler.
Today I'm wearing my very faded, very worn, comfortable jeans. I'm wearing a light weight fleece shirt (it's cold up in the Pacific Northwest) and my tennis shoes. No one will look at me and think I'm anything but a mom traveling to see a grown child. I'm hoping they don't quite guess I'm going to see a grand baby. I prefer to think that I don't quite look like a grandma just yet.
I almost always regret my sloppy/comfy clothes once I arrive at the airport and see other women dressed to the nines. However, once I'm tucked into my way too small seat and have crammed my bag under the seat in front of me, I'll be glad I'm in tennis shoes that I can easily slip off and my fleece that will keep me from freezing on the plane.
What traveler are you? Do you dress up? Are you a pack mule? Or are you a comfortable mom like me?

Hawaii, Here I Come!

2012-01-31T10:23:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow evening, I leave for an 8 day trip to Hawaii. I am going to meet my sweet little grandson. It is just an added perk that he lives in Hawaii.
It's an especially nice time to go, because the weather in the Pacific Northwest is just nasty right now. I'm not going to miss the drizzle and clouds.
Because sweet little Jackson's parents live in a small house, and this mother-in-law doesn't want to be intrusive, I'm staying in a hotel downtown Waikiki. It's a tough gig, but someone has to do it, right?

Besides spending time with my beautiful daughter and her baby, I'm looking forward to having the lanai doors open to the Hawaiian breeze and sunshine. Have I mentioned how cloudy and yucky it is here at home? I'm doing this for my health. I think I'm deficient in Vitamin D. Maybe my insurance will pay?
It's too bad Nick won't be joining me. I'd truly love to have a little get away with him, and I know he would love to meet baby Jackson too. Hopefully, this summer we can go back and spend some time.

As usual, I've put off all the details that need to be done before leaving on a trip. I have errands to run, I have packing to do. I don't know why I've put off packing, it's not like I'm wearing sundresses and flipflops right now. I could have all that stuff out and ready to go.
However, my body is not Hawaii ready. I'm winter white and jiggly. It's so much nicer to hide all this in jeans, fleece and boots....but I'll adjust.
I'll update from Hawaii and post pictures of the sweet baby. I can't wait to get my hands on him!

Cheesy Corn and Chicken Chowder

2012-01-24T17:52:00.000-05:00

After writing yesterday's blog post, I decided to dig through posts I've written in the past. I did it for no good reason, because I had plenty of other things I should have been doing.
Anyway, I came across this one, http://paula-queenofmycastle.blogspot.com/2010/11/today-i.html amongst others, and realized I mentioned a chowder that I made that day and haven't made since. Someone even asked for the recipe in the comments, and I apparently just ignored that.
On a weird note, I get an email this morning from someone who just commented on that same post, written over a year ago and wanted that recipe too. What are the odds?

So, I was forced to dig through cookbooks, bookmarked web sites etc until I found said recipe. I finally found one in one of my Goose berry Patch cookbooks (Slow Cookers, Casseroles & Skillets) that is titled: Country Chicken Chowder.
You may be asking, "How did you know this was the recipe you used? It's not the same soup as what you described?" I'll tell you how I knew. The page in the cookbook with this recipe on it has food splattered over it. It's all the evidence I need.

The recipe in the book is this:
Country Chicken Chowder
Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
2 10- 3/4 oz cans cream of potato soup
1 1/2 C chicken broth
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 C frozen corn
1 t dill weed
1/2 C half and half.
Directions:
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until golden. Place chicken in a slow cooker, stir in remaining ingredients except half and half. Cover and cook on low setting for 3 to 4 hours. Shortly before serving time, turn off slow cooker, stir in half and half. Cover and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes, until heated through. (serves 8)

I'm sure I cut that recipe in half. No way the three of us needed that much soup. I also must have added some cheese in there at some point. (thus the "cheesy" part of the name)
I know I didn't add dill because that's just not like me.

So, in the post so long ago, I described it as delicious. I'm making it next week. I will let you know if I still like it. If any of you decide to make this before I do, let me know how it turns out. Clearly, I've lost my mind.

Things That Make Me Go Hmmmm....

2012-01-23T16:23:00.000-05:00

It's January, I'm back on the bandwagon for working out, eating healthy, etc. so I went to the gym this morning.
As I'm humping it on the treadmill, I have CNN on the big TV in front of me. I saw the following story:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2012/01/23/wynter-sex-surrogate-sundance.cnn

This was a story about a "sex surrogate" This woman who is 67 years old and a grandmother of two, is a "registered sex surrogate" She essentially gets paid for sex. When asked about that, she answered that no, she isn't getting paid for sex, she is an expert on touching, communication etc. That it is all body parts and not just genitals that are involved.

Excuse me?! We have another word for people who are paid for sex and the last I looked, it was illegal. Believe it or not, this woman is one of approximately 50 that are registered in this country.
The story goes on to say that she has had over 950 "clients" and services them mostly at her home. They showed a shot of her bedroom. I had to wonder.... are candles and sheets a tax write-off for these people??? I can imagine they go through a bunch of them.

Shaking my head... I guess it takes all kinds.

Respect Never Goes Out of Style

2012-01-17T17:55:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before, that my husband recently took command of a brigade of Soldiers. This brigade is quite large and covers three different Army posts and has a combined total of 8 battalions attached to it.
Needless to say, he is very busy and even a little overwhelmed at times at the issues that need to be addressed and the tasks that need to be done every day. His schedule is so tight that he truly has trouble returning personal phone calls or even a text message during the day. I've made brown bag lunches for him lately and he is literally eating in the vehicle as he moves from one meeting to another.
In spite of this schedule, Nick made time today to have an office call with a retired General Officer that was once in the same command position as he is. Because of that, and his dedication to this brigade, this General has been named "Honorary Commander" of the brigade.
The General was involved in alumni groups and other brigade related groups until he had a stroke. Now he walks with a cane and is slow to speak and walk. Because of that, he travels with his wife, who drives him from place to place.
Because his wife accompanies him, I was invited to be a part of today's office call, to keep her company.
Mrs. General and I enjoyed chatting about grand babies, old Army ways and social traditions as our husbands talked Army. Nick briefed the General on what current brigade Soldiers are involved in and asked for his input on certain things. We also sent them away with a lot of brigade "swag" Coffee mugs with the unit crest, a coin of the battalion the General commanded etc. The old gentleman's eyes lit up when Nick asked if he would like to have the coffee mug. He said "You're damn right!"
As we finished up and promised to get together for dinner soon, we escorted the couple to the brigade front door.
Just as the General reached the exit door, my husband, brigade commander, called his Soldiers to attention. The General didn't miss a beat, didn't slow down and didn't look back. He simply said "Carry On" and he left the building.
I realize I'm a bit of a sentimental slob, but I got teary eyed when Nick stood at attention and called the others to attention as well. It was a courtesy to a man who has served with honor and still wants to be involved.
I was very proud to be part of my husband's team today. I'm so humbled and grateful to have the opportunity to stand alongside the heroes that served before. They certainly deserve all the respect we can give them.

Callie's Trip

2012-01-16T17:46:00.001-05:00

I'm sad today. Today we had to take Callie to the airport so she could fly back to Texas and start her second semester of Nursing School.

We had such a good time while she was here. I SO miss having another female in the house.
Not only did she help out last Sunday at her reception, but she and I got to spend time doing fun things together.
We spent one day in Seattle doing a little sight seeing. I had not been to the top of the Space Needle and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to do that. There is actually a restaurant at the top that rotates as you sit and eat. It can make for a little motion sickness if you are prone to that!
We had a great seat and magnificent views. The day was unusually clear and we could see for miles.

Here we are in the restaurant with a bit of the view behind us. We had a delicious lunch and it was truly a treat.

Here is a view of the Space Needle from the ground looking up. It's magnificent.

Speaking of magnificent.. check out this view. This was from the observation deck after lunch. That mountain is such a presence here. On a clear day you can see it from almost anywhere it still looks HUGE.

Here are a few views of our trip up to Mt. Rainier. It was a very snowy day and we could only go up so far, but Callie got a dose of snow and that's really all she wanted.

Check out the size of this tree! I actually have other photos of this tree. We have been up this road every month since October. It's interesting to see how the weather changed every month. I will share those in another post.

Nick and Alex attempting to put snow chains on the car. We borrowed those chains and didn't realize that they were too big for our vehicle. So, we didn't go all the way up as far as we could go. It's probably best, because the weather was getting really nasty.

My snow bunny. She is such a little southern girl and truly loves to see a little snow. It really doesn't take much of it to make her happy.

After being here for a week and a half, she was ready to head back to Texas to warmer weather. She's a bit of a wimp like her mother when it comes to the cold.

Holiday Reception & Etiquette

2012-01-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that Nick and I hosted our very first New Year's Reception this past Sunday. The tradition has been that the commander would host his senior leaders (because there are just too many to have everyone over) to his or her home on New Year's Day. However, who really wants to do this on New Year's Day? Not the commander and certainly not the Soldiers who work for him.
So, our decision was to do it on the 8th of January. We did it from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM in one hour rotations. We had a group at 1:00 who stayed until 2:00, then had a 30 minute break to re-stock food, drinks, etc. and then had the second group at 2:30 and so on. We saw the last group out at 5:00.
Tips for hosting this kind of event:
Cater if you can. Seriously, it's a lot of work and I was overwhelmed.
If you can't cater, go to Costco or a similar store and buy stuff that is easily put together or simply warmed in the oven at the last minute. I did lots of this and it was good.
Have help in the kitchen. My friend Carla, my daughter Callie and Nick's deputy's wife were all there and helped me so much. They completely took the stress out of the day.
Block off your kitchen if you want no one in there. I closed the door from the kitchen to the dining room, and hung a sheer curtain over the other doorway. Even then, people looked in to find a place to put empty plates, cups etc. (have someone walk through and gather trash, plates, etc. That helps too)
Have a guest book. You will want to look back after the rush and see who was really there.
At the end of the rotation, take everyone OUTSIDE to take a group photo. It ensures they are out of the house at the end of their time. Don't let them come back in!
Mingle and have a great time!
Now for those of you attending a reception such as this. Here are the do's and don'ts.
Don't bring a hostess gift. It's not that kind of party. It's a reception and more formal, so you are really only required to show up. For the service member invited.. it's a command performance. Don't think because it's an invitation and you can RSVP that you have the option NOT to go. Go.. you'll thank me later.
Don't ask for a tour of the home. Yes, I live in a beautiful historic home. No, I do not want 50 people at a time wandering through it. If your host/hostess want to give you a tour, they'll offer. (no one did this to me, but did to some of my neighbors who hosted receptions)
Don't take your children. Don't ask if you can bring your children. This is an official event and not a place for toddlers to be running around.
Do speak to the commander and his/her enlisted counterpart. (The Command Sergeant Major) they are a team and should always be included in a greeting, thank you, good-bye etc.
Thank everyone involved for inviting you and for opening their home. It is just the right thing to do.

I will have to say, my group was fabulous. No one was out of line, no one brought kids, wandered through my house etc.
It's a reflection on the wonderful officers and NCO's who are working for my husband. We are very blessed and humbled to be able to serve in this way.

I will leave you with a photo of Nick and me outside our home as we were getting started on Sunday. It was a blast!!

A Party for Grandma

2012-01-10T10:15:00.000-05:00

Since my last post, right after Christmas, I have been super busy.
Nick decided that he wanted to embrace some of the old Army traditions that we've moved away from since we've been fighting all these wars. He wanted to host a New Year's Reception. At our house. I have never thrown a party of this size in my home.
Granted, it's not every Soldier in the brigade, but a lot of them.
So, we sent out invitations, figured out the time frame (they come in rotations because of the size of the group) and I started making lists.
On Sunday, Jan 8, we hosted 80-100 people in three rotations at our house. I think it went very well because of the amazing help I had. My friend Carla came over and manned the kitchen, my daughter Callie was here to do whatever needed, and the boy helped out with hat and coat check and trash duty. It was truly a team effort.

The highlight of my day, however, was a text message I got about five minutes before the first group arrived. I knew my daughter in Hawaii was in labor and about to give birth to my first grandbaby, and I was checking my phone every few minutes.
Like I said, right before the first group, I got this from my son-in-law:
"Congratulations you are now a grandmother!! At 0924 we had Jackson. He came out 6 lbs 20 oz, and 18 1/2 inches long.
I started crying!
Then I got this:

The water works really started flowing. Nick walked in the kitchen to see if I was ready to greet our guests, and I'm sobbing! He said, "Seriously? You're crying? You're going to mess up your face!"

Needless to say, everyone at our reception Sunday got to see a photo of my new grandbaby.

We had a wonderful day, and at every break I was texting or calling my daughter until she asked me to stop because she needed to rest.

My flight to Hawaii has been booked. I am leaving on Feburary 1 to go see the little angel. I absolutely can't wait. I love him so much already.

A picture of mama and baby. Aren't they beautiful?

I guess I need to get hopping and finish the little man's quilt now. Oy.. it's always a project hanging over me!!

Just Like That... It's Over

2011-12-26T00:33:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged since before Thanksgiving and we've just finished up Christmas. Not only have I not written a blog, but I haven't even looked at the blog, changed the background for the holidays (something I normally LOVE to do) and I haven't read any other blogs.
I guess you can say the Christmas holidays have caught me by surprise this year. I was in no way prepared and have struggled to keep the stress out of the season for weeks now. I am never happy to see Christmas come and go, but I have to admit, this year...I'm done. I'm ready for a fresh start and a new year.
Nick took brigade command on the 10th of November. I was officially welcomed by the spouses' coffee group on the 20th of November. Thanksgiving followed almost immediately and I was facing December.
As the new commander's wife, I wanted to host the coffee group in my home for the Christmas coffee. I have always done that and I enjoy it.
There was no active group before us, so I was starting from scratch.
Long story short.. I struggled to get a good social roster and invitations out. Because we are at the brigade level, I have TWO coffee groups and that doubled the load.
I pulled it off. I hosted two coffees and did it as well as can be expected.
My December calendar was absolutely full and I am exhausted. Nick was gone two weekends of the month, which cut down on our family holiday fun times. I was a little cranky about it.
We only had 2 out of 5 kids here for Christmas and will only have one more join us. The other two are just too far away to make it this year. That didn't help my mood at all.
So, I'm done. I'm glad it's over, and I'm ready to start anew.
I'm working to be more organized for the new year and that includes putting time on my calendar for blogging. I enjoy it, it's a good outlet for me and I miss it. I am just too stinkin' busy to see straight. It has to get better... right??
I hope your holidays (if anyone is still out there reading) were wonderful. I hope they were filled with family and quiet peaceful times of relaxation.
Enjoy this last week of the year and please, by all means, share any ideas you have on getting me more organized for the new year with my busy schedule!

New Project, and My Favorite Room

2011-11-03T19:47:00.001-04:00

I mentioned several weeks ago that I wanted to make a quilt to surprise someone. Well, I didn't keep the surprise and told my oldest daughter that I am making a quilt for my new grandbaby.. the one she's expecting at the end of January.
My friend Carla took me to a quilting shop and we picked out a kit that had fabrics in it and the pattern all set out. All you have to do is cut the fabric into the appropriate sizes and piece it together. Piece of cake.. right?? Not so much. I seemed to struggle with the whole cutting part. Even with a straight edge ruler and a rotary cutting instrument, I struggled. My measurements were off once and I had to buy more fabric. Oy!
Now that the fabric is cut, I've been sewing together the squares and I'm having a blast. I know why people love this. It's so rewarding to throw a few pieces of fabric together, sew a straight line and see something start to take shape.
My fabric theme is the Sock Monkey. Remember those? I want to make a sock monkey to go along with the quilt. That's assuming I get the quilt finished before the child starts kindergarten.
There are 36 squares in this quilt and so far, I have 24 of them sewn together. I'm on the downhill side. Of that portion, at least.
Here are a few photos of the work in progress:

How cute is that? The little blue pieces of paper on each square are numbers. There are four different squares and they each are put together differently. Numbering them keeps me straight on the order and where I am in piecing them together. My mom taught me that trick when she was here. She actually sewed the first four squares together. Now that little boy will have a quilt that both his great grandmother and his grandmother had a part in making.

Here is a shot of the last 12 squares I've done. I have them setting on the back of the love seat in my upstairs sewing room/office so I can see how it looks. I have a feeling I'll need to move those when Nick gets home and wants to sit up here to watch a movie.

The "My Favorite Room" part of this post is the office/sewing room. It's in the sun porch area attached to my bedroom. I absolutely love this room. It has windows on three sides and stretches the width of the house. Our home office is there as is my sewing area. We also have the aforementioned love seat with ottomon and a large TV for movie watching. Once the TV is hooked to cable, I may never leave this room.

Here is a shot of the sewing area. I started to straighten it up before the photograph, but I figured you should all see it in its natural state. This room is lived in. It faces the desk which is on the opposite wall. The love seat and TV are in the middle of the room.

This is the view from behind my sewing table. See? TV on the right? Big screen monitor on the desk provides entertainment while I'm sewing if I don't have a movie on. I can sign into netflix and watch something as I sit there and work on the quilt, or Halloween costume, etc. I have absolutely LOVED getting into sewing. I can't wait to make more things!

I have to credit Jen over at Jen's Fun Little Things for inspiring me to get started sewing and quilting. After reading about baby quilts she was making, I decided to make one for my grandbaby. I emailed Jen and she gave me a great shopping list to get me started and then my neighbor Carla was here in person to push me along. It was also wonderful that my mom visited and helped me start on the sewing part. What fabulous women I have in my life!!
I will keep you posted on the progress of the quilt. I really need to spend a few more hours piecing so I can move on to the next step.

Halloween Recovery

2011-11-01T09:57:00.000-04:00

When I posted yesterday that I'd heard there would be lots of kids and I needed more candy, I was so naive.
On my way to the commissary, I stopped by the PX to get more candy. Lucky for me, it was on sale (slightly) and I grabbed several very large bags to fill my bowl.
Trick-or-Treating here on an Army post is, like other things the Army does, very regulated. Hours are from 6:00 to 8:00 PM and the MPs (Military Police) are in full force keeping our neighborhoods safe.
At 6:00 I had my station out front. Jack-O-Lanterns were lit, porch light on, chair outside for me to sit in as I greeted every goblin and gave them a treat. My neighbor warned me to give out only one piece to every child. I'm glad she did!
I have NEVER seen so many kids in my life. They were in herds.

Parents were dressed up, dogs were in costume and I swear I had a blast. I would have to time my trips back to the kitchen for more candy very carefully. A break in the crowd found me rushing back inside, ripping large bags of candy open with my teeth and dumping into the bowl. Four refills and less than an hour later, I realized, I'm not going to make it. No way is my candy going to last until 8:00.

At 7:12 PM I threw in the towel. I found a break, ran back inside and turned off my light. I felt awful about it!

I realized as I'm sitting outside that these kids don't live in my neighborhood. These are the children of young Soldiers who live in neighborhoods where parents are out with their own children and not handing out candy so much. My neighborhood is more senior and parents aren't out with kids anymore. Every house is lit up. Every resident is outside with a large bowl of candy. The decorations were amazing and it was a true party atmosphere.

It made me feel good to know I could give something to these young Soldiers' families when they give so much to us every day.

I'm so blessed to live where I do and to call America's heroes my neighbors.

This was the fall out. These bags don't include the first three or four when I was calm and threw the trash out.

Halloween!!

2011-10-31T10:08:00.000-04:00

I’m going to post some photos of my Halloween prep so you all don’t think I’ve been completely worthless! Just because I’m not blogging doesn’t mean I’m not doing anything.

I’ve actually been very busy with other things. Nick’s change of command is coming up quickly and I realized the other day I’m two weeks out and haven’t finalized plans for the reception that follows the ceremony. So, I’ve been working with the caterer, my friend who is decorating and another friend who is making the cake. I’ve also been talking to the wonderful Soldiers that are helping with the ceremony to get the business side of everything done. Where is my husband during this process, you may ask…. well he’s still TDY. How convenient. He just keeps emailing me events to put on my calendar. Looks like brigade command is going to require a lot more social events than we had before. It’s ok, I like social!

Yesterday, I decided to brave the drizzle outside and carve our pumpkins. My plan was that a certain teenage boy would help me, but since he had put off about three days of homework until Sunday afternoon, that was not an option. So, I set up my pumpkin carving station.

Since there was a very chilly drizzle falling, I opted for under the canopy in the backyard.

See the wet ground? It looks like that a lot lately.

Everything is here. Pattern, cutting instruments, objects of scooping pumpkin guts, my glasses (so I can see what I’m cutting!) What you can’t see is my iPod station in the chair. Ironically, Kenny Chesney was singing about the sun, the sand and a drink with no bottom. Appropriate, don’t you think?

Finished product number one. They just don’t look so good in this light.

Pumpkin number two. See the container of seeds? Those are for roasting!

Much better in this light!! Creeeepy!

And again, much better when it’s glowing in the darkness!

Here is a daylight shot of my outdoor decorations.

And one of the front door area. If there hadn’t been that glare on the storm door, you’d see there is a fall wreath up there. If I was a better photographer, I would have figured out a way to eliminate the glare.

Tonight I will gear up for trick-or-treaters. I love seeing the little ones all dressed up. I hear there will be lots in this neighborhood. I have a feeling I should hit the commissary today and get more candy.

Happy Halloween, everyone!!!

Time is Flying

2011-10-17T00:15:00.000-04:00

I knew when I signed on that it had been a while since I wrote a blog post. I did NOT know that it had been over a month! I think I've had a breakdown in communication lately and I don't know why. I haven't been on the phone, I haven't emailed (except when necessary for my volunteer jobs) and I haven't even read another blog in weeks. It's odd, because I really have enjoyed writing my blog and reading my favorites.
It's been a big adjustment coming from the war college back to the real Army. I have enjoyed settling in our new home and getting to know my fabulous neighbors.
The home, neighborhood and various activities around here have kept me busy, but I need to settle into a routine very soon.
I have been thinking of the direction this blog should go as my husband takes another command. I want to maintain his professionalism and keep our personal lives somewhat private, but still share what I'm doing with my family and friends and maybe, help someone else on this journey of being an Army wife.
So, I intend to continue to post about my passions. Cooking, baking, thrift shopping, family and the fabulousness of being an Army wife. I hope to pass along some good information and wisdom to others who may be coming up behind me.
Today, I took Nick to the airport for the last three weeks of his pre-command courses. He will return very shortly before the change of command and I have tons to do between now and then to get ready for his reception and my role as, well.. whatever it is he wants me to do.
I have a long list of things to do before he gets home. If the past is any indicator, I will only accomplish a few of them so it's important that I prioritize.
I am seriously behind on catching up with some dear friends. So, Jackie and Deb, I will be calling you this week. Hopefully they will answer the phone and are still speaking to me.
I am piecing together my first quilt. This quilt was going to be a surprise for my oldest daughter who is expecting my first grandchild. I couldn't keep it to myself and I've told her about it. It's a quilt of sock monkey fabrics and I'm so looking forward to finishing and seeing if it looks anything like it should.
I'm still busy as a football mom and am helping to feed around 65 football boys every week at their team dinner.
I'm ready for this short three week time of quiet before the storm hits. I'm ready to be involved with Army families again and am up for the challenge of being the commander's wife again.
Buckle up everyone... it's going to be a wild ride!!!

Thanks for hanging in with me. I promise to do better from here on out.

What's Been Going On

2011-09-13T23:39:00.000-04:00

Wow, the time is flying. I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. I think of lots of things to write about, but then just don't make time to sit down and type it out.

So, I thought I'd just do a quick synopsis of what we've been doing.

First, I've been spending lots of time with friends in the neighborhood. I mentioned Carla in my last post, and she is a big part of my life right now. We have so much in common. We love to cook, entertain, and hit the thrift shops for deals.

Recently, Carla and I hit the Goodwill, Salvation Army and the Thrift Shop here on post for some deals. I don't have pictures of everything I've bought but I do have a few.
Take a look at the treasures!

Yes, that says $5.00. Yes, that's a springy Santa that has never been out of the box. I love Santas and I love this one. I can't wait to add him to my collection during the holidays this year.

Speaking of the holidays...I found this box of dessert sized plates and had to investigate. I found these beauties.

There is one for each reindeer and they are all equally cute. I LOVE them. I can't wait to have my buddies over for coffee (or hot chocolate) and some goodies on these plates.

I found this uber cute enamel retro cart. I absolutely loved it and it was $6.00. After I got it home, I realized that the white color against the white walls of my kitchen just wasn't doing it for me. I really wanted something to put my microwave on to free up some counter space and I thought this was it. So, I got Nick involved and it looks like this right now.

What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man!!! He's spray painting it red for me. I love red. I think it will look fabulous in my kitchen with it's makeover.

I've also been working on my front porch area. After posting the original pictures of my new house, I realized how plain it was. Here it is now, after some creative placing of planters, pots and flowers.

This is a new hobby of Nick's and myself. We have discovered the deliciousness that is the Sock-eye salmon that is a local favorite. My neighbors all have smokers to cure their salmon and it's soooo fabulous that we had to invest. Here is our first try at smoking salmon.

It was good, but could be improved. We will keep working on it until it's perfected.

Here is Max enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather we've had lately. This is what he does when we're outside planting, smoking fish and spray painting.

I do so love it here.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2011-08-25T16:18:00.000-04:00

As I'm getting settled and making friends, I'm finding even more things to be called some of my favorites.
First, my friend Carla is helping me make a quilt. Yes, it's quite an undertaking for a rookie but I'm making it as a surprise for someone so I can't give any more details. Carla is quite the homemaker. She sews, quilts, paints and crafts galore. Besides all that, she's an amazing cook and hostess, and she lives just a few houses down from me so we can spend lots of time together.
Last week, I spent the morning at Carla's so she could show me how to prepare my fabric for cutting and sewing. At one time during the morning we took a break and she made lemonade. She didn't squeeze lemons and dump sugar, she made it from a frozen concentrate... which is perfectly fine with me. But, when she brought my glass, it was so tasty and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was different about this lemonade. In a little while she asked if I could tell what extra flavor was going on there.. I said I could not. She said it was this:

Sugar free vanilla syrup you buy for your coffee. Let me just tell you, it makes your lemonade taste like a hint of vanilla ice cream. It's like lemonade ice cream goodness. I think I'm addicted. I've gone through a bottle and a half of this syrup and a whole container of Crystal Light Lemonade. Even Nick loves this and pours himself a glass or two every evening after work.

Another of my favorite things right now is the beautiful weather we're having in the Pacific northwest. I really can't capture the weather, so here is a shot of how I'm enjoying that weather. I love to sit out back at my little patio table with my lemonade. As you can see, I'm equipped with a magazine straight from the mailbox and the ever handy dog leash and poop bag. You just never know when you'll need those when you have these:

No fence in this yard so they spend a little time tied to a stake in the ground. They seem to be OK with it.

Here is my ghetto plant arrangement. Notice the makeshift table...another planter pot turned upside down. The smaller pot with the etching on it was marked 75% off because it has a chip on the other side. You can't even tell can you? Finding things for 75% off is definitely one of my favorite things.

I found this painted rock when I was going through some stuff I haven't seen in a while. One of my girls painted it for me years ago and forgive me, I can't remember which one. I think it was Callie, but I can't be sure. When I found it, I thought to myself, "Carla would have this in her garden" Carla is an amazing gardener too. I forgot to mention that. She has the cutest stuff in her garden. Tea cups, painted rocks, chipped pottery. It's absolutely beautiful back in her yard. I aspire to have a yard like hers one day.

Even as ridiculous as Cleo looks with her ear all wrong side out, I kinda like her. I would say she's one of my favorite things, but she's a little stinky right now and needs a bath.

This bird feeder is something Nick and I found at a local art show last weekend. It's made simply from old dishes, a jar, and a little chicken feeder. I absolutely love it. However, I got it home and realized I don't have a tree in my backyard to hang it in. I must ask my other neighbor, Nellie what to do with it. She has a beautiful garden too and can make something out of nothing. She's the go to gal on ideas.
So, there you have it. A few of my favorite things right now.

My Mother

2011-08-19T09:29:00.001-04:00

I've always known my mother was a strong woman. She is also one of the most compassionate and carring people I know.
My mom is a nurse and has been for a very long time. She has made her life about caring for others.
I watched her, years ago, care for my dying grandfather, my dad's father. I realized then how good she is at it.
For the last several months, my mom and dad have been making frequent trips from Arkansas to Tennessee to care for my dad's sister who is dying from cancer.
First, they were trying to help find treatment and answers. Now, just a few short months later, they are helping keep her comfortable and at peace with her impending death.
My aunt has come to rely on my mom completely. When she awakens, she asks for her. When she sleeps, she wants my mom beside her. If that's not comfort, I don't know what is.
I spoke to my mom on the phone last night to check in on my beloved aunt's status. She told me she's very ill and may not make it through the night. She told me of the conversation she had with my aunt earlier in the day. She told me Aunt G asked how to "go home" My mom told her to reach out and take it. My mother also spoke to my cousins and told them to tell their mother, "it's ok." It's ok to go, we'll be fine.
First, let me say I just don't know if I could do that and keep it together. I'm crying just typing this. My mom did it with peace in her soul. I guess it's because she knows her sister-in-law will be painfree and happy again once she goes "home".
I'm so grateful to have had the chance to see this aunt twice in the last few years. She came with my parents to Hawaii three years ago and visisted us. She came last fall to Rhode Island to see us, but even then was starting to suffering from some "strange back pain" and couldn't enjoy herself.
God bless my aunt and bless the precious woman taking care of her right now. I pray for my cousins so that they will have peace during this terrible time. They lost their father a few years ago and only one short year ago, their older brother.
Here is a photo of my aunt visiting us in Hawaii. I prefer to remember her like this. Smiling, partying, and showing Callie and me how to make her famous fried corn.

This is my mom, on the left, my auntie on the right. Smiling and having too much fun at a Luau in Hawaii.

This is my precious aunt at the Luau with the sunset over the ocean behind her. Beautiful.

The Boy is Back

2011-08-08T10:45:00.001-04:00

One week ago today, I picked Alex up from the airport. He had just spent a month with his mom out in North Dakota and was coming to Washington for the first time. It just so happens that his father was gone when he arrived. Nick is TDY for three weeks so it's me and the kid.
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about how we would spend our time and what in the world we would talk about.
This last week has been interesting and busy. I got him registered for school, he's attended his first few football training sessions, shopped for all the football equipment we'd need, and we've had a good look around the area. He's even met a couple of guys in the neighborhood to hang out with.
The challenge is getting him out more. He surely does love to sit in front of any kind of screen and play a game. Computer, Xbox, etc. My goal was to let him work on the balance needed between real life and the imaginary games he's involved in. Turns out he's not ready for that challenge. Yesterday, we had to set a few boundaries. It seems this boy works better with a more structured schedule. Left on his own, he will sit for the whole day and play. He proved this to me on Saturday.
Yesterday was spent washing a car, doing his laundry, going to the commissary to inquire about a job, and reading. No computer games at all yesterday.
Today he gets back into his workout routine..and he's making dinner for me. I decided to get him involved in the everyday chores of running a household. I told him to pick out two meals he'd like to make for dinner, make a list of ingredients and we'd pick them up.(surprisingly, he was excited about this and really got into it)
So, tonight it's a chicken dish he says he made up back with his mom. Chicken breasts, a jar of Alfredo sauce, so many little containers of dried herbs and seasonings it makes my head spin, and pasta. Hmmm... we'll see how it goes. I think I will have to help a bit on his technique or I'll be having rubbery pan fried chicken with over-seasoned jarred sauce.
Thursday night he's making a stir fry. He was so funny picking his ingredients.
Beef
Mandarin oranges
Pineapple
Crab
Shrimp
Baby Corn
Sugar Snap Peas
This is going to be a rich stir fry. He is serving it over rice for me.
His last culinary decision was what dessert he wants to make. He chose brownies and they are coming from a box.
My goal, when we started this, was to have him choose a dish he loves, research a recipe, and follow the recipe. So far, we've failed. He chose one dish he "made up" and one dish that requires throwing stuff in a pan and stir frying it. Once again, we'll need to learn technique and some knife skills. Pray for me.

Last night I grilled rib-eye steaks, fresh corn on the cob and asparagus...all on the grill. It was DELICIOUS!
I stopped at the farm stand on Saturday and picked up the fresh corn, some beautiful tomatoes, blueberries and peaches. That evening I made two peach and blueberry cobblers. YUM. I took one next door to my neighbors who have a son the same age as Alex and I'm the diggety bomb with that kid now.
Wednesday, I'm meeting some old friends from Hawaii for lunch. Nick's battalion Chaplain back in Hawaii is here and will be our Brigade chaplain again. We are thrilled. So, I'm having lunch with them and looking forward to catching up.
Have a fabulous Monday everyone. I'm off to the gym to see if I can burn off some peach and blueberry cobbler.

Slowly but Surely...

2011-08-01T23:06:00.000-04:00

Slowly, I'm starting to find my niche.
I have a FABULOUS group of ladies in my neighborhood. They have taken me in and treated me like an old friend. We get together several times a week either for coffee, cocktails, or to walk. Actually, they walk every morning but I have been easing myself into it. These women are hard core and they kick my butt!
I'm having a blast with them and they have made me feel so welcome.
Alex flew in today after a month with his mother. The kid hasn't seen a barber shop or a razor since we left him there. First thing tomorrow, haircut. We won't leave the house until he shaves that fuzzy face! Oy.
On another note, it appears I'm on the spouse's club board already. One of my fab neighbors was the membership chair, but really, really wanted to be the bazaar chair, so her assignment was to find some poor sucker,... um.. volunteer.. to take the membership position. Me, being the sucker I am, said, sure! I'll chair the membership committee! (committee meaning just me)
So, exactly one month since the day we rolled into town, I will attend my first board meeting. Nothing like jumping right in!
I figure between the butt kicking walks in the morning and finding something to do with my time, I might lose a few of the pounds I've packed on during the last few years.
I'm loving being here and can't wait to really get involved and meet more of the wonderful people who work behind the scenes here.

I Wish...

2011-07-28T12:56:00.000-04:00

I wish:
That being over 40 didn't mean that it's harder to stay in shape, and harder to see things without reading glasses.
That I could do my own nails and it would look like I stepped out of a nail salon.
That my beautiful hardwood floors cleaned themselves.
That it didn't take me longer and more products to look decent every day.
That I had an unlimited budget to decorate this beautiful house the way I want.
That my dogs weren't getting older and going to make me sad one day.
That my kids could be closer to me, no matter where I move.
That I could have Sunday dinners with all my kids once in a while (see above)
That my kids could all be happy, safe, and financially secure...forever.
I wish for world peace. I know everyone wishes for world peace, but being an Army wife and seeing just how much the lack of peace hurts the people who fight for it...makes me really, really wish for it.
I wish all the service members serving in dangerous areas of the world could be home with their families. I wish there was no hurt in the world.
It's a lot, but it can't hurt to wish, right?

A Work in Progress

2011-07-20T18:29:00.000-04:00

Since I posted photos of the empty house, I've had a few requests to post photos of the house with stuff in it. We have accomplished a lot, but there are a few rough edges still. I'm still looking for the right rugs for some rooms and new bedding for others. You will be able to see, from these photos, just how big our bedrooms are. They look so empty, even with our stuff in them!

As promised, a photo of the outside. I'm really glad I took this because now I can see just how bare it is out there. It's a grand house with a grand yard and I need to step up the plantings a bit. Those little pots look pretty wimpy out there!

This is one shot of the kitchen. Notice the little flat screen TV? I LOVE that. Since the kitchen sits off by itself, I can't see or even hear the living room TV and I love to have it on while I'm cooking or baking. Nick bought it for me for purely selfish reasons. If I like being in the kitchen, I cook and bake more.

Do you just LOVE the old coke crate on the left of the stove? My friend Debra had one in Rhode Island I just loved it. I am using it for a spice rack, just like she did.

Kitchen sink. I love the big window and the fact that it has a window sill that i have junked up.

This is a shot looking back toward the dining room. I can't manage to keep my counters clutter free. What can I say? It's a working kitchen. Notice the baby loves of banana bread cooling on the butcher's block. It's because I have a TV in my kitchen. Oh, and very ripe bananas.

This is the dining room from the entry hall. That's my big ol' purse on the left side. I should have moved it. Yes, I only have five dining room chairs. Yes, it looks off balance... and yes, I hate it. I can't wait to get a new set. I've ordered a beautiful rug for this room. I can't wait to get that in there to finish it off.

The other side of the dining room. You can see the kitchen through the door there. And the rug rolled up on the other side of the table. That's the beautiful rug I first ordered for the dining room but realized, too late, that I clicked on the wrong size when ordering it. It's going back.

Living room from entry hall. The living room tables are the next things to go. They are past their time and I'd like something a little smaller for a coffee table.LOVE the fireplace!!

Looking just to the left of the fireplace to the built-in bookshelves. I love these too.

The last side of the living room. This room, for as large as it is, is laid out terribly. There are no good walls for furniture between the fireplace, the large entry and bookshelves. I had to make do with what I have. The love seat is in the sun porch for now. I think it will make it's way upstairs to the guest room. Did I mention how big the bedrooms are?

This is the little wall under the stairs as you go through the entry to the back door and back entrance to the kitchen. I would love to add to the collection of crosses and the needlework is an Army Wife's Prayer hand stitched by the chaplain's wife in Hawaii. We just found out that he is going to be Nick's chaplain again here and we are so excited!

This is my tiny little bathroom downstairs. It's done in a nautical theme. My girlfriends and I back in Rhode Island shopped for weeks to find stuff for our new nautical bathrooms once we moved.

Love these oars I found in Newport. they are hanging above the tub.

Cheesy little soap and toothbrush holders but I love them. The starfish are temporarily on the back of the toilet awaiting just the right basket or bucket to display them in.

Going up the stairs. Oh and there's Cleo watching me from the back door.

Guest room. One of the rooms that still has some rough edges. I guess I should have moved the lamp out of the way. It's just sitting there awaiting a new home. I have furniture in storage that will help fill this room.

Master bedroom. Doesn't that queen sized bed look lost in there? That's a full triple dresser to the right and we have still have loads of floor space. We definitely need rugs for this room. Winter will bring some cold floors!

A shot of the other wall with the dresser.

Opposite the dresser. A big ol' bookshelf and TV stand. Still loads of room.

My dressing room. I stole Callie's vanity that goes with the bedroom set in the guest room (it's all hers) There's no way to get it to her now and I have this lovely little room.

I didn't get a shot of Alex's room because I'm awaiting new bedding. Something fitting for a young man and not a boy. The stuff he has is very juvenile and I think it's time to grow up. I also skipped the home office (sleeping porch off the master bedroom) it's a hot mess right now. I will continue to post as I finish off more rooms.

The New House

2011-07-18T10:57:00.000-04:00

I've been such a lazy blogger lately. I took a few photos of the house before we got our household goods delivered, but after that, I didn't even take the camera out of its bag for about a week or longer.
We have almost completely settled in. Just in time for our second shipment (stuff we've had in storage for the last year) to be delivered. I wish I could remember what all is in that shipment. I have a feeling it will show up during the time Nick is gone to the pre-command course. Won't that be lovely?
I worked like a crazy lady the first three days we were here. Suddenly, I lost my steam. Right now, we've been in the house around 11 days and I still have something in every room that needs to be finished up. UGH!
Today, Nick is back to work doing his in-processing. I am determined to finish up downstairs. I have a list and I hope I can stick to it!
Enjoy these photos of my empty house. It's a great house and I'm going to love living here..if I can just get finished.

The view from the front door. Dining room on right, living room and sun porch on left.

The living room, facing the front wall (with built-ins)

Better shot of the built-ins and you can see the front door over to the left.

The sun porch which is just on the other side of the fireplace wall. I love this room!

The dining room from the entry hall. You can see the kitchen door on the left.

This is a shot of the kitchen from the dining room. Once you walk in, immediately to the left is a butler's pantry which is just below.

Butler's pantry. Just to the left of the cabinet shown is a floor to ceiling pantry. Love it!

This is a shot of the kitchen looking back toward the dining room door (just to the right of that cabinet and two window wall) I am standing in the other door to the kitchen which comes in off the back door hallway.

Tiny little "bedroom" downstairs. That bathroom through the "bedroom" is the only bathroom downstairs so we will make this room a "sitting" room with Callie's old futon. That way it can be converted to a bedroom for a kid when we have guests that need to take his room.

This is the master bedroom from the hall. See that door? It goes out to the "sleeping porch" which is right above the sun porch downstairs. It's wall to wall windows too and will be used as our home office.

This is the sleeping porch. Isn't it wonderful?!

This is a little room off the master with those built in closets. It is labeled the "dressing room" on the floor plan. That's what I use it for. I have Callie's old vanity table in there and all my clothes in those closets. It's too cool!

Here is the master bathroom. I finally have a bath tub again! I am enjoying it. It's SO long though, and I'm short, so it's a struggle to keep from drowning :)

This is the shower head in our bathroom. I thought it was very cool, but now I'm not so sure. Yes, it falls like rain. Yes, it looks all modern and what not, but like I said, I'm short. This sucker is so far up the wall that I seriously can't reach it to adjust it from a standing position in the shower. I have to stand on the side of the tub to adjust it. By the time it hits the top of my head, it's such a large spray that I have trouble rinsing my hair. Such a silly thing, but I think it doesn't spray very hard (dang water savers) and I have trouble and take longer in the shower now.

This is the upstairs hall. Linen closet on the right. I have tons of closets!

This is a shot of the guest room. The bedrooms are really big in this house.

Since I am having a hard time uploading more photos, I will leave you with these. This covers most of the house. I don't have a real photo of the outside, but will get one. I took one with my phone to send to friends and family and post on facebook, but it's not that great.

Thanks for being patient and hanging with me through the move. Hopefully, I will get a routine going again and start blogging about real life stuff. I'm so anxious to get involved in the community here, and there are LOTS of opportunities already. My neighbor has already tried to recruit me for the spouse's club board. I have a feeling I will be very busy, very soon!

Road Trip Continued

2011-07-12T23:46:00.000-04:00

After the big wedding, we flew back to Green Bay and enjoyed a down day on Monday. It was so nice to enjoy cooler weather, do laundry, and not rush out that morning to hit the road again.
On Tuesday, we hit the road running. Since we had left Callie in Texas (after moving her into her apt) we only had Alex with us. We left Nick’s car in Green Bay to be shipped the rest of the way so we were down to one kid and one car. Needless to say, we were PACKED in that vehicle on Tuesday. Two adults, two dogs, a teenage boy and a whole bunch of stuff.

Max curled up in his tiny space.

Cleo in her cage.

There was some really beautiful farm land between Green Bay and Fargo. What a fantastic part of the country… in June. Not sure I want to experience it in the winter.
We arrived in Fargo Tuesday evening, dropped Alex off with his mom and checked into our hotel. Now we were down another kid and a whole lot of stuff he brought with him. We spent the following day with our other Callie in Fargo. Once again, it was nice to not get up and hit the road. We struggled a bit to find something to do to fill up a whole day in Fargo, ND. So, we hit the zoo.

It was a small zoo, but so well done. I have to give it to the community and people of Fargo. They have put great effort into this zoo and it has the potential to be a very cool place.
The next morning it was just Nick, me and the dogs. We have three more days! The drive between Fargo and Billings, Montana, which was our scheduled stop, was very beautiful. We saw lots of flood water and the Badlands. Beautiful!!

Did you know that North Dakota grows a huge percentage of the world’s mustard? It’s a beautiful crop!

That night brought us to Billings, Montana. We stayed in a very cool Best Western and saw this outside our rooms.

Little bears outside like they were climbing up the balconies. No, they’re not real! The whole place was decked out in a cool Montana, log cabin, ranchy kind of way. I loved it.
The next day we drove on to Spokane and stayed in another fantastic Best Western… who knew? I didn’t take a lot of photos that day because, honestly, I was getting tired of the whole road trip thing. Here are a few interesting things I saw.

This was a huge cow sculpture up on that mountain. I can’t really know why it’s there, but it was photo worthy.

The flying geese sculpture. Again.. why?

Max with his head wedged between the back of my seat and the door. I can’t describe how bad the smell was with his breath fogging up the right side of me.

Cleo.. still in the cage...still not liking it.
Saturday, we finally arrived in the Tacoma area and checked into what would be our home for the next few days while we waited for our stuff and our house.

How cute is this place?
I will post photos of our new house soon. After that first day of walking through it empty, I’ve not even taken the camera out of its case. I’m such a slug. The unpacking and settling in has taken over my life. I will take some soon. It’s a fabulous house and I absolutely love it!!
How cute is this place?

Rehearsal, Dinner and Day… in Photos

2011-07-11T11:58:00.000-04:00

(I started writing this post over a week ago. We were on the road and I had limited Internet. I am finally back up on the world wide web and have lots to blog about. Please enjoy this last post on the wedding weekend and I will try to condense the road trip into one post later)

I am tired. I will admit that this 46 year old body doesn’t travel as well as it used to. We are putting miles on ourselves, the car and our poor dogs. I’m too tired to post a real blog tonight. I owe you all photos of what I have left of the wedding weekend. This post is all about photos. You will be able to tell by the clothes we’re wearing if it’s wedding rehearsal, the dinner afterwards or the actual wedding. I don’t have many of the wedding. Like I said before, the batteries in my camera died during the wedding. Duh. How stupid is it to NOT have back up batteries on one of the most important days ever?
Anyway, here they are. Enjoy!

Nick and me with the groom.

Callie and Zach at the church.

The bride and her bridesmaids

Practicing!

Me with two of my girls at the rehearsal dinner

Pre-wedding photos. Isn’t the bride absolutely beautiful?

The groom getting ready with his boys.

One of JD’s childhood friends. I’ve always loved this kid.

Callie hanging out waiting to get things started

Wedding Weekend, Day 1

2011-06-29T18:31:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned before, we arrived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area on Thursday to check into our wedding hotel and gear up for our fun filled weekend. That night, JD and Meghan had made arrangements for us all to have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Uncle Julio’s, which was right in the same area as our hotel. We walked over and met JD, Meghan, Meghan’s parents, Callie and Zach, Shalynne and James (my daughter and son-in-law from Hawaii), my in-laws and Alex. Yes, we had all five kids with us! Here is a photo of just the kids.

There is nothing more thrilling for me than to have all my chicks with me. I was in heaven.

Here I am with the bride and groom.

Meghan’s mom, Meghan and me.

Nick, JD, and Meghan’s Dad.

Callie and Zach.

Shalynne and James.

Nick with the other Callie (oy!)

Alex with is big brother, the groom.
Last but not least…

Me with my boy.
I can’t tell you how pride I am of this kid and how happy I am for him and Meghan. I was thrilled to have this time with them and share in their special weekend.
More to come….

Road Trip 2011 Continues

2011-06-28T22:32:00.000-04:00

After our overnight stay in Niagara Falls, we set out for our next destination, Green Bay, WI. The drive from Niagara Falls to Green Bay is nothing to take lightly. That’s one long trip. We spent around 14 hours on the road and were completely exhausted when we arrived.
Going to Green Bay meant that Nick and I would have our own room and we would be able to have home cooked meals and do our laundry. His parents are very hospitable and we always have a good time there.
We took a day off from travels on Monday of last week to catch up on laundry, visit with family in the area and re-pack for our side trip to Texas.
Bright and early Tuesday morning we took off from the small Green Bay airport to land in Dallas/Ft. Worth. The rest of the day was a blur. We grabbed our luggage, rented a car and headed towards JD’s apartment to pick up his hand me downs for Callie’s apartment. Once all the vehicles were loaded (our rental van and Callie’s car) we headed south to her new home in central Texas.
We spent all day Wednesday moving Callie into her cute little apartment and buying the things she still needed. Did I mention that Texas is hot this time of year? The work wasn’t too bad but add the 95 degree heat and a few sets of stairs to it and I was one tired mamma at the end of the day.
Callie was thrilled to be able to stay in her apartment Wednesday night and be a grown up. I’m so happy for her! She’s got exciting things ahead.
After a wonderful dinner out on Wednesday night with some dear friends, we set out Thursday to go back to the metroplex and prepare for the week-end’s wedding festivities. Nick’s parents flew in on Thursday and so did our other Callie that lives in North Dakota. Callie (from Texas) picked Zach up at the airport Thursday afternoon so we had a crowd gathering. We checked into our fabulous hotel and I knew it was wedding weekend right away, because I was given this.

A great little goody bag filled with snacks and directions to all the places I needed to be for the weekend.

A bag of popcorn, two HUGE chocolate chip cookies (of which I got NONE), two bags of peanuts, two bottles of water and the pink paper with the directions on it.
I immediately sent JD and Meghan a text message stating that I was in the hotel and that I LOVED my goody bag. Nick and Alex had dropped me off while they went to grab Alex’s tux for the wedding.
Needless to say, I really enjoyed my alone time in the hotel. I was able to sit and finish the slide show (nothing like waiting until the last minute) and relax a little before dinner with the crew.
Photos of Thursday night’s dinner, Friday’s festivities which include the rehearsal and dinner as well as a few shots from the wedding (my camera batteries died in the middle) are coming in other posts.
Today we are on the road again. We’ve spent a relaxing day in Green Bay (again) and are headed to Fargo, ND to drop the boy at his mother’s for a few weeks. Fun times I tell ya, fun times.

Niagara Falls

2011-06-24T12:38:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned previously, our first day on the road took us to Niagara Falls, NY. Neither the kids nor I had ever been and it wasn’t too far out of the way, so Nick decided that would be a good place to stop for the night.

I had people tell me that the Canadian side was the place to be as far as hotels and restaurants, but alas, we didn’t pack our passports (and the kids didn’t have any) so we were limited to the US side. I have to admit, I felt like our side was a little seedy. It was very touristy and a little yucky. In spite of that, we had a good stay.
We checked into our hotel, settled the dogs in and started the walk over to the falls. I was amazed at the magnificence and power of that much rushing water. It was truly awesome. I could have stayed and watched for hours with the spray hitting me.

After the hiking around the falls area, we were a little hot, tired, thirsty and hungry. We headed over to the Hard Rock Café for an adult beverage and dinner. Later, after we got back to our hotel, Callie decided that Zach would like a Hard Rock t-shirt so she and I headed back over to pick one up. As we made our way back to the hotel, we saw this and decided we needed ice cream.

I couldn’t believe the flavors this place had. It was a simple little ice cream shop with a walk up window. They had stuff like red velvet cake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting swirls, and all kinds of stuff. They were delicious. I didn’t get a photo of us eating them because they were melting so fast we had it all over!
It was a good first day on the road and we enjoyed Niagara so much. Next stop… Green Bay, WI. Now THAT was a long drive!

First Day on the Road

2011-06-22T22:13:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned before, we left Rhode Island last Saturday. We checked out of the home we’d had for the previous few days, The Navy Lodge, and hit the road.

Here are a few photos of us getting ready to go.

Our two cars were filled to almost overflowing. Between suitcases, dogs and a few household items, there was nothing else fitting in either one of them.

This little dog wasn’t happy about being in a crate at all! In spite of the doggie downers we gave her.

To break up the trip, Callie and I made a few signs to flash at the boys in the other car. Here is one of them. (I couldn’t find my sharpie so I used a pen to color in some sloppy letters)

Another time, we just drove up next to them with the camera pointed at them. This is what I got. (forgive the glare, I should’ve rolled the window down)

I have to admit, I enjoyed being the passenger. I loved making the goofy signs and taking photos of stuff no one else would find interesting.
Here’s a shot of my girl helping me drive.

Does anyone see a common theme with my family?
We drove from Newport up to Niagara Falls Saturday. Next post will be of our walk around the falls area. I think I’ve overwhelmed everyone enough with photos in this post.
We are currently staying a couple of hours south of where JD and Meghan will be married this weekend to get Callie moved into her apartment. We’ve had a great day today and I’ll write about that more later too.

Saying Good-bye

2011-06-21T23:19:00.000-04:00

After 11 short months, we are packed up and leaving beautiful Rhode Island. It really seems like we just arrived.
Our last week in Newport was very busy. On Friday, June 10, Nick graduated from the Naval War College.

That day was the last day I was with both the two women I’ve become so close to over the last year. It was definitely bittersweet.

Cindy and Debra have definitely come to be two of my very best friends. We have spent many days chatting, shopping, lunching and having coffee. We shared stories about the Army, our kids, our husbands and solved problems of the world. I will miss these two ladies so much!
That night we hit our favorite watering hole, Pour Judgment with Deb and her husband, Jim for one of our last orders of their delicious house fries. (they have a smoked gouda cheese sauce…YUM)

Deb and Jim left town early the next morning and we started the chore of getting ready for the packers/movers to start a few days later.
Our packers and movers were fantastic. I don’t have photos, but they very quickly and professionally packed and loaded all our worldly possessions into a big truck. As I type (and ride as a passenger on our road trip) that truck is on it’s way to the Ft. Lewis, Washington area. We will meet up with it in a few weeks.
We are currently on our second day of driving across country. We will take a few days detour to Texas to get JD married off to Meghan on Saturday. I’m very excited about the wedding and seeing all our family. While we’re there, we’ll move Callie into her very first apartment and do a whirlwind visit with some old friends. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
So far, we’ve had 5 days in two different hotels with a teenage boy, a 20 year old girl and two dogs. A trip that has the potential of becoming a logistical nightmare is going very smoothly, mostly because I’m married to an uber organized Soldier who has everything mapped and planned out for every day. It sure makes my life easy!
I will continue to write about our cross country adventures! I’m so excited to see the Pacific northwest. It’s an area I’ve never even visited and I’m anxious to see experience it!

So Little Time…

2011-06-12T20:52:00.000-04:00

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve blogged. I haven’t even taken time to read any of my favorite blogs lately. That’s so not like me.. I’m really a huge geek.
We have been busy cramming all the things we love to do into a short time before we leave. We’ve also been wrapped up in end of school activities, Nick’s graduation and just the busy work that goes into moving.
We bought a new camera several weeks ago and it takes awesome photos. I thought, for this post, I’d show what we’ve been doing in some of those pictures.

On May 31st, Alex had his 16th birthday. How can our youngest be that old already? He was only 8 when I met Nick. Time surely is flying.

We’ve been talking lots of walks down to our favorite sea glass beach. I have a big glass jar I’m trying to fill before we leave. Here’s a great photo of Alex enjoying the sun while I dig for glass.

The dogs enjoy our walks to the beach too.

We went back to NYC last weekend so Callie could experience it. It was her first trip there. She’s always wanted to see Phantom of the Opera, so she and I got to do that. We had a great visit.

Some of my favorite people on the ferry out to Liberty Island.

We had our friends over last week as they were packing out to move. One of the hardest things about the military is that you’re always saying good-bye to friends. This photo was taken in our back yard. We had drinks and dinner sitting out there just like this. It was a beautiful night.

Nick’s graduation was Friday morning. I’m very proud of his accomplishments and I know he’s glad to be finished!
Tomorrow is our last day to get ready for the movers who arrive on Tuesday morning. I hate this part. I hate trying to separate the things I’m going to need for the next few weeks from the stuff the movers can pack and take away. I’ve been taking curtains down and all the pictures off the wall. Tomorrow, I’m going to tackle Alex’s bedroom. I instructed him to do it today, but I fear he’s failed at this task. I will have to finish it for him.
I hope everyone is doing well and hangs in there with me as we transition. I’ll try to be better at blogging!

Fun times

2011-06-01T19:44:00.000-04:00

We are trying to cram as much fun as we can during our last few weeks here in Rhode Island. Now that the weather is mostly nice, we are trying to do more and more.
Friday night we drove up the road a little to see a minor league baseball game. I do love watching baseball (at the park, not so much on TV) but even more so, I love having the beer and hot dogs. This ball park had margaritas too. You know I had to have one .. or two.

Here we are enjoying their ball park food. Alex got a hamburger, a hot dog, fries, soda and then later went back for ice cream. Holy Cow!

You have to love a boy scout troop color guard. It’s so home town.

Saturday we played tourist and went to see the last of the two Newport Mansions we hadn’t seen previously. I absolutely love walking through these “cottages”. It’s amazing how they lived in the gilded age.
Sunday we hosted friends for a lobster boil. It was awesome. Nick cooked lobster in our turkey fryer on the back patio. My friends Cindy and Deb both brought side dishes and I provided the third side and made homemade ice cream. We haven’t had homemade ice cream in sooo long. It was delicious and everyone raved about it. Later that evening we cranked up the fire pit and let the kids make s’mores. We spent the last few hours of the evening sitting by the fire chatting and enjoying our adult beverages. It was AWESOME. I’m SO going to miss my buddies here. I was just tickled that we got to get together one more time before we all get crazy with moving.
On Monday, Nick, Callie and I took the water taxi over into town and just walked around. We had a delicious lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, The Red Parrot, where we enjoyed raw oysters and lobster nachos. I can not describe how amazing these nachos are. The lobster meat on top is in big lumps.. no skimpy wimpy lobster there. The sauce is so stinkin’ rich and then it has melted cheese over the top. I just gained five pounds typing about it.
Here are a few photos of us taking the water taxi. It was such a beautiful weekend. I’m thrilled to have had such a nice four day weekend with friends and family.

Have I mentioned how much I’m going to miss this beautiful place??

What’s Going on in the ‘Hood

2011-05-26T08:14:00.000-04:00

I am trying to think of reasons (not excuses) for my lack of blogging. It really comes down to laziness. I’m busy doing other things and when I think about the blog, I put it off. So, this morning as I try to catch up on my routine, I am going to sit down and show, in photos, what’s been going on around here.
Callie is here and I’m afraid I’ve let her visit distract me from every day chores. My house needs a good cleaning, I’m behind on laundry, and I haven’t cleaned out a single closet to prepare for our move.
I’ve been stressed on the whole move because, until yesterday, I didn’t have confirmation on when the movers would show up to pack my house. We are three weeks out, people! I’m stressed!! I got the call yesterday. Our move is scheduled and confirmed. We pack out on the 13th and 14th of June, load the truck on 15 and 16 June. Finally! One MAJOR thing off my list.
This morning Callie is sleeping in, my boys are off to their schools, and I’m catching up on laundry and cleaning. (and blogging)
The last few weeks have found me calling our housing office to complain about the lack of lawn care. Seriously…look at this:

Twice now, the grass has grown this tall and we’ve waited over two weeks to get it mowed. Of course, having this kind of grass mowed results in this:

Oy! It’s a good thing Nick has his fancy schmancy blower that he likes to play with on the weekends. He made short work of that hay field.

This beautiful tree sits in my back yard. I have enjoyed watching it bud, bloom and be beautiful. However, I now compare it to snow. It’s beautiful for a minute, then it’s gross and I wish it would go away.
This phase is beautiful.

This phase, not so much:

Those pink petals all over the ground get tracked into the house and stick on all our shoes. This picture was taken several days ago. Today the petals are brown and rotting and are a hot mess. It’s like the beautiful white snow after it’s been compacted and muddied. Yuck.

Saturday was Nick’s birthday. Callie and I made him a Red Velvet Cake and I found these cool candles at the Christmas Tree Shop. I have some for Alex too. His birthday is next week, a mere ten days after his dad. Looks like we’ll be baking again.
We are looking forward to the long weekend. I have tickets for tomorrow night’s minor league baseball game that’s just up the road. It’s the one thing Nick wanted to do for his birthday but they weren’t playing at home last weekend. Sunday, we’re hosting a lobster boil at our house. We have the two other Army families in the neighborhood joining us and bringing side dishes. I’m going to make homemade ice cream to finish it off…. maybe crank up the fire pit and make s’mores after dark. I think it’s the perfect “welcome to summer” weekend. If only Mother Nature cooperates!!

Soooo Much Going On

2011-05-17T09:50:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my last post that I’m behind and that I have a list of things to accomplish in a short time. It’s amazing how life works. In the midst of all that’s going on, this weekend brought two phone calls that made me stop and pay attention.
First, my sister called me on Sunday to tell me my dad had suffered a heart attack on Friday. Helloooo?! Nobody called me. My parents have this weird idea that they shouldn’t worry me with these things. Seriously? For crying out loud, maybe I’d like to know so I can be in touch and talk to the man. Anyway, he’s okay. My dad has a long history of heart disease, which is ironic, because he’s the healthiest and most active member of our family. It’s just bad genetics and bad cholesterol. It’s been a battle for him for years. He had a quadruple by-pass in his fifties and will continue to fight this battle. I spoke to my dad yesterday and he’s home and taking it easy (I hope) He’s very active, as I mentioned, and it’s hard to keep him down when there is a tractor to ride, trees to cut, and a garden to tend. It’s hard watching the strongest man in my life start to get weak. I am struggling with this.
After the drama with my dad, my oldest daughter, who lives in Hawaii with her Soldier husband, called to tell me I’m going to be a grandmother. Oh My Gosh… I wasn’t quite prepared for that! They haven’t been married very long and are starting a family already. I’m very happy for her and Jimmy, but I wonder how I’ll deal with being so far away from my first grandchild. I have a feeling Nick will be sending me to Hawaii a lot!

Anybody else think these two will have beautiful children?
Callie flew in last night and I’m thrilled to have her home. It’s tough being the only female in a testosterone filled house. I’m looking forward to cooking, baking, shopping, pedicures and even going to a tea house with her. We’ll have fun! She will also be a lot of help as we get ready to move. Ugh.. I can’t believe it’s that time again.

Now if I can just get her out of bed.. we can get started!!

Army Ball

2011-05-13T20:19:00.000-04:00

I am so far behind. I’m behind on blogging, housework, errands and phone calls. All of a sudden everything needs to be done at the same time. I realized we have about a month left here and there is SO much to do!
I’m working on housing at our new duty station, getting Callie moved out of the dorm, flown out to us, and then moved into her apartment, JD and Meghan’s rehearsal dinner slideshow and wedding, hotels, dogs, kids.. and the list goes on and on.
In the middle of all the chaos, we stopped for an evening out. The Army hosted its ball here Saturday night and it was a great time. It was nothing special as far as the venue and food, but the entertainment and the people attending were awesome!
We had the Rhode Island National Guard band there for the program and the dancing and they were fabulous! They were really rocking it. Unfortunately, my cheap camera was no good at capturing them in the semi darkness so I don’t have photos to share of them.
I do have a few photos of Nick and me all dressed up. I had intended to wear an old ball gown that I had worn in the past (several times) but, to be honest, it just is a little too tight and was uncomfortable. So, at the last minute I rushed out to TJ Max and found a dress for $60.00. At that price I treated myself to earrings, a bracelet and new shoes. I was so comfortable and got lots of compliments on the dress. I also invested in a spray tan.. LOVED it! I looked great, my skin wasn’t cooked under bulbs and I wasn’t worried about sunburn at all.
After getting so many compliments on the dress and realizing how comfortable it was, I’m thinking this is the dress I should wear to JD’s wedding as the mother of the groom. I’d love to hear what you all think of it.
Here are the photos.

The Truth About Tulips

2011-05-08T19:37:00.001-04:00

**Disclaimer** I didn’t really do any research on tulips to write this post. The “truth” included is really just my own realizations the last couple of weeks.
Tulips are one of my favorite flowers. I have always admired their sturdy blooms and unique style, not to mention the multitude of colors that I’ve seen. Amazing!
I have a little bunch of tulips in my back yard. I have been looking forward to them blooming ever since I recognized what they were. Little did I know, tulips blooms for quite a while! I have only ever had cut tulips and never had real live growing ones around so I had no idea!
These beautiful buds start out with the little tops all closed up in the morning.

Then as the sun hits them, they slowly start to open up.

Until they open up all the way and look like something completely different.

I have to tell you, I never dreamed tulips could be so beautiful.

Then at night, they close their little heads up and rest up until in the morning. I’ve enjoyed these for about two weeks now and can’t imagine ever having a yard without tulips again. I can’t wait until I can have a place to plant all the tulips I want.

A Blanket of Safety

2011-05-04T13:35:00.000-04:00

I know I’m late getting in on the death of Osama Bin Laden, but I felt I must share my thoughts.
Because I’m 46 and easily tired, I was in bed asleep a good amount of time when our President took to the airwaves to make his announcement. However, I have grown kids living out in the world who don’t seem to need as much sleep as I do (and live in different time zones) so I was awakened by three text messages and a phone call. I immediately turned the bedroom TV on so we could watch. I must admit, in my sleep induced fog, I doubted the information coming over the cell phone.
But there it was, President Obama telling the great news that this crazy man of terror had finally been stopped.
I realize that Bin Laden’s role in the terrorist world was probably mostly symbolic the last few years given the fact he was fleeing justice and had limited mobility. Even so, that symbol needed to be removed. If nothing else, it’s symbolic to the American people who will never forget the atrocious attacks on September 11, 2001. We needed to see that evil character fall. I’m not the kind of person who wishes death on someone freely, but I will admit, it felt good to know that he is dead and won’t be served three squares a day in a comfortable cell for the next several years while he awaits trial. Let the sharks feed on him.
After letting the news settle in the following day, I backtracked to my weekend. I realized that while Nick and I were enjoying an absolutely beautiful, sunny New England weekend, our military heroes overseas were gearing up for an incredible mission. While we walked along the beach and enjoyed salty air and the sounds of sea gulls, they turned on the adrenaline and set out to accomplish this daunting mission. I have to admit, I never once questioned my safety while walking in the sunshine. I never wondered if I would make it home alive. I didn’t doubt for a second that my security was in tact. All because brave military members have volunteered to do the dirty work and keep a blanket of safety over me and mine.
A big Hooah and thank you to rock star military members who carried out this mission. I will continue to sleep soundly here in the United States without fear.

New York!

2011-04-28T15:34:00.001-04:00

As promised, here is a little more detail of our spring break trip. Tuesday morning, Nick, Alex and I loaded up the family SUV and headed south. I had made reservations in a Brooklyn hotel because of the price. The hotel was fine, in a decent neighborhood, and within walking distance to the subway which was to be our primary means of transportation. I tried to get us a room at the Fort Hamilton lodging but was too late calling. Next trip, I will definitely call early and get in. I’ve stayed there before and it’s very nice and inexpensive.
So.. first night in NYC. Our plan was to see a Broadway Show. More specifically, “Rock of Ages” It wasn’t meant to be. My girlfriend told me that you simply go to Times Square, hit the ticket box a few hours early and get discounted tickets. I don’t think any of us were thinking that .. HELLO, it’s spring break. The crowds were amazing. You couldn’t walk down the sidewalk easily for all the people. Needless to say, the show was sold out. Not only for that evening but the rest of the week. Oh well.
We decide we’ll just walk around and then grab something to eat. It was amazing just to be down there.

Here we are on the subway. Alex was a bit camera happy. I stole this from his Facebook page.

As we stepped off the subway in Times Square, I heard music. You know the kind.. live music. I knew it was live as soon as I heard it and couldn’t wait to see what was up. We found this makeshift band playing for whatever money you wanted to throw their way. They were really good!

Here we are! Times Square! It was everything I thought it would be.

Alex has a goal in every city we visit. To hit the Hard Rock Café and get a T-shirt. Apparently this is something his mother started with him, but ironically, the shirts he has (besides one) are ones he got since living with us. Maybe we just travel more? So, we find the Hard Rock which is right there on the square and have him grab his way overpriced T-shirt. While we were there, I decide to hit the ladies room. I walk in, and there is a restroom attendant. I have rarely been anywhere to see this. Not only did she have every lotion and potion imaginable, but she had a basket of Blow Pops. I love Blow Pops. Something about the crunchy sweet candy through the bubble gum is just euphoric to me. I had to have one. What’s involved in getting one of those things? Do I need to require her assistance? Is a tip really all that’s necessary? It turns out I DID need her assistance. I couldn’t get the blasted motion detector faucet to spray any water. I’m waving my hands under it like a crazy woman and she has to walk over, take my hand and show me how. Oy, now I really have to tip her. I did my business at the sink and took her offered paper towel. Then I dropped a dollar bill in her basket and grabbed a Blow Pop. This whole experience made me think of an episode of Will & Grace. Does anyone know the one I’m talking about?
Karen Walker goes to Las Vegas to be married to her …what? third husband? Anyway, she’s in the rest room adjusting her make-up or lipstick ..something in the mirror when Jennifer Lopez walks out of one of the stalls. She offers a few dollars to Karen and says she just needs a paper towel and some Chiclets. THIS is what I’m thinking as I tip the attendant and take my Blow Pop.
Imagine the surprise of my boys when I walk out of the bathroom with a Blow Pop in my mouth. After explaining where I got it, their next question was “Why didn’t you get us one?” Because I thought it might cost more
We went on to have some amazing New York Pizza at John’s Pizzeria. My friend who was my neighbor in Hawaii told me about this place. It was delicious! I love pizza but I really, really LOVE good pizza.

My boys with their pizza. We ordered Alex his own. He is picky and doesn’t like what we like and besides, I didn’t want to share with that appetite.
We had a great first night in NYC. It wasn’t all we had planned, but it was amazing just the same.

Royalty and Why it Fascinates Us

2011-04-27T10:52:00.001-04:00

I admit, I’m a Royal Wedding Junkie. I’ve been following this beautiful couple for a long time now and am anxiously awaiting their wedding this week.

I started wondering… why the fascination? Why is this the “Social Event of the Year”? Here are my thoughts.

First of all, at least for me, Diana has a big impact on this event. I think the general world population loved Princess Diana and thought she got a raw deal marrying Charles. I was fascinated with her from the first time I saw her. She was young, beautiful and oh so innocent. It was truly like watching a sheep go to the slaughter. I never liked Prince Charles. He seemed to be an old frumpy whiney man. Can men be frumpy? If so, he’s one of them.

We watched Diana have two boys and be as good a mother as she could be considering her circumstances. We saw her put up with her husband’s infidelity and selfishness and stood by her even when she divorced him and left “Royalty” The world grieved for her when she was taken too soon and we were angry with the press for pushing her so hard she felt the need to flee until it killed her. I saw her boys mourn her death and felt a terrible sadness for them. They seemed to have lost the only real parent they had and would surely have a hole in their hearts forever.

So now, the beautiful first born son is engaged to be married, and to a lovely young woman. This Princess-to-be is different from Diana in so many ways. She’s older, has had a long term relationship with her fiancé, and is the first woman to marry into royalty that has a college degree. Just as Diana was, Kate has the opportunity to be a wonderful role model for other young women.

I think another reason I’m fascinated with the royal wedding is the fact that it IS royalty. Let’s admit it, every little girl imagines herself a beautiful princess marrying her prince. The idea of this couple marrying in such a fabulous church, living in a palace and riding off in a carriage is magical. We can all live a little vicariously through Kate on Friday as she dons her tiara and amazing gown to wed her prince. I know I’ll be up very early to see the whole thing, just as I did for William’s mother oh so many years ago.

Spring Through the Dreariness

2011-04-25T20:31:00.000-04:00

Tonight it is damp and foggy and there is a definite chill in the air. For someone who was fed up with nasty, cold weather, I’m almost enjoying this evening’s yuck.
I just spent a few days in Washington DC where the weather was beautiful. I saw budding trees, flowers and lots of blooming shrubs, so, it’s not like I haven’t had a bit of spring.
I took a few minutes earlier, just as it was getting dark, to walk around my end of the neighborhood. I mentioned before the vacant houses here that have beautiful flowers growing. I even promised one little bunch of budding tulips that I would be back for them when they flowered. Tonight I fulfilled that promise. There were only a few, but I got them all. I also found some beautiful big bushes full of yellow blossoms. I took some of those as well. While I was wandering through looking for some sign of spring, I realized how peaceful it was out there. The fog is rolling in and the air was quite damp. The only sounds I could hear were the fog horns in the distance and seagulls squawking as they flew overhead. I have to admit, I enjoyed it. Tomorrow I may be moaning and groaning again about the cool weather and wishing for the sun, but tonight I enjoyed my walk in the last minutes of winter.

It’s really a shame I’m not a better photographer. I’d like to blame it on my cheap, point and shoot camera, but I am afraid it’s probably me. Hopefully the beauty of these tulips and the wonderful colors will come through. Most of my vases are in storage so these are in a beer glass. Classy, huh?

I love these yellow sticks. That’s how I would describe them.. sticks covered in yellow flowers. They certainly brighten my dining room.

I took this photo as Nick drove us through town yesterday. There are literally fields and fields of these daffodils all around the area. I just love them.

Post Vacation Update

2011-04-24T19:11:00.000-04:00

It’s Sunday evening and almost 7:00 PM. I am home from our spring break trip and doing all those things one must do upon returning from vacation. In a word..WORK! I have unpacked, gone through the mail, checked email, Facebook (oh so important things), started laundry and made frozen pizzas for dinner. I still have to finish laundry and make my list for the coming week. Between getting caught up on chores and shopping, trying to coordinate our move with a wedding in the middle of that time, and planning for the Army ball coming up in two weeks, I’m exhausted thinking about even making my list.
We had a fantastic trip. We left Tuesday morning and went to New York City. I have been there a few times but neither Nick nor Alex had ever been. Our intentions were to catch a show on Broadway, see the Statue of Liberty and whatever else we could squeeze in. However, since it was spring break for a lot more people than just us, the shows we wanted to see were sold out and the tours to the Statue of Liberty had painfully long lines. So, we walked around Times Square, ate some amazing New York style pizza, walked and walked and walked some more (ouch my still healing foot) We rode the subway, saw the Museum of Natural History, and ate even more food.
Thursday morning we loaded up the car and headed to the Washington D.C. area. (Did anyone else just have a flashback of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song here?) Nick’s sister and her family live in the DC area as well as his first cousin that’s like a brother. We had a fabulous visit with our family. I got my fill of playing with little kids and catching up with my wonderful sister-in-law. I’m so blessed with my in-laws, I really couldn’t ask for any better.
I will try to write, in more detail, about our trip this week. Right now there is a pile of laundry screaming at me and a grocery list that needs to be made. I have promised myself (or threatened?) that I will most definitely start my healthy lifestyle, however temporary it may be, this week. Tomorrow starts a much lower calorie diet and exercise program. Like I mentioned already, I have the Army Ball in two weeks that I must attend and that requires squeezing my ample bottom that has hibernating all winter into a ball gown. I refuse to buy a bigger one. I also have the wedding coming up and I want to buy a fab dress for that. Not to mention the fact that we’re moving this summer and I’d love a new start with a healthier body…I think I said that last year as we were preparing for a move
Between laundry loads, I’m going to catch up on blog reading. I’ve missed all my bloggy friends!
Here are a couple of photos from our trip.

“The Sphere” displayed in Battery Park, NYC. This sculpture once sat in the center of the plaza of the World Trade Center.

A beautiful flowering tree in Battery Park, NYC.

The sun shining through a row of flags on a building in Washington D.C.

Leave a Little Something When You Go

2011-04-17T14:27:00.000-04:00

Since I’m new to this Army wife thing and moving around, I can only talk about the two places I have moved in the last six years. I try to make even temporary military housing our home while we’re there. One of the things I really love to do is plant things and have beautiful flowers in my yard.
When we lived in Hawaii, we moved into a house that had been vacant for a while and didn’t have much going on as far as landscaping. However, once I moved in and started watering the beds, several beautiful things started growing again. I loved seeing a bougainvillea start growing and I loved training it to grow around the fence surrounding our small patio. It provided year around color in that area. In one particularly bare area I planted a beautiful bed full of hibiscus, lantana and other flowering plants. Hawaii was wonderful because you had growing season all the time. I also love to cook with fresh herbs so I planted rosemary, parsley and basil that I left there for the next person.
I searched for a photo of my plants and only found this one. I think I was taking a photo of the Nick’s unit crest but you can kind of see some of the plants. That whole area was bare when I moved in. Another beautiful thing about living in Hawaii is that things grow super fast! I also left a pretty good size avocado tree. I never got fruit from it, but someday, someone will.

I also grew a pineapple from the top of one I bought and rooted. I harvested and ate that pineapple before I left, but the plant had more little shoots on it when we moved away.

As spring comes dragging into New England, I’m watching beautiful flowering bulbs sprout that others have left before me. It’s so much fun to see what new thing is blooming in the yard. It makes me wonder about the people who were here before me and planted those bulbs.

Something is sprouting in my back yard. I think they may be tulips.

This rose bush had beautiful blooms last summer and I cant wait to see them again.

When I was digging around in a raised bed planting my parsley I found these shells under the dirt. I’m not sure why they are there. Maybe they were originally on top of the dirt for decorative purposes. I like them and will use them in my own plantings.

More shots of the plants in my back yard.

I took this one of the bed of a vacant house. I know these are tulips and I told them I would be back for them when they bloom. I love tulips and I think they would look fabulous in a vase on my table.

Another shot of the vacant house. You can tell it’s vacant because no one has trimmed back the winter dead stuff. I love the hyacinths that are here though. They smell wonderful.

Vacant house again. I imagine someone put a lot of work into this at one time.
I haven’t done a lot of planting here. We’ve only been here a short time. I will leave the herbs I put out back and before we leave, I will empty the pots of mums from last fall and put them in the back yard bed too. That way the next person will have something to enjoy when they move in.

I am a Winner… Again!!

2011-04-12T09:06:00.000-04:00

I just heard from Cris over at GOODEness Gracious that I have won yet another Gooseberry Patch cookbook! This one is Quick and Easy Autumn recipes! What a wonderful deal One of my favorite parts of living in New England this year was that I actually got to experience autumn. It’s definitely one of my favorite seasons and I’ve missed it so much. I love the cooler weather after a long summer and I crave those yummy comforting flavors of fall. So, needless to say, I’m uber excited to receive this book. It’s the third one I’ve won from various fabulous bloggers. I’m so thankful!
If you haven’t heard about the book, or Cris’ wonderful blog, check them both out here . In the last several days, Cris has made a sampling of recipes from this book and has shared recipes and reviews on her blog.

In other news, my husband’s name came out on the 06 command list this morning. We have been anxiously awaiting word on where we would go from here this summer, and since we’d not heard even a hint, I figured his name was on that list. He will be taking command of the big engineer brigade at Fort Lewis. We are so excited and honored to be following some awesome people in that brigade. We don’t know details of dates or what job he will take until the command is open, but we should hear something soon. Since it’s a large Army post, I feel like they will send on us on early and give him a staff job there until the change of command date.
I’m so proud of him and everything he’s accomplished. It will be nice to go play with the Army again and serve Army families.

Update

2011-04-07T19:20:00.000-04:00

I sat down to write an update on my surgery and recovery and realized how much like an old lady I am. It’s as if I have nothing else to talk about other than my surgery. Oh my. It’s a sad state of affairs.
Anyway, here it is.
I went to the doc on Wednesday morning. He took the stitches out and said everything looks like it’s healing very well. He gave me the ok to walk on it and exercise (without high impact) as is comfortable for me.
I have to admit, I was uneasy about putting a shoe on and trying to walk with two recent incisions on the ball of my foot. But, Nick pushed me, like he does, and I put a tennis shoe on after we got home. It felt so strange after hobbling around on the back of my foot for two weeks. It wasn’t long before I was walking around pretty well. I am still not completely bending the foot, just walking kind of stiffly, but it’s better every day. I’m hoping to get to the gym next week to at least ride the bike for a bit. I’m also able to drive now, if it’s comfortable. I can make my facial appointment on Tuesday and schedule a hair appointment! Yay for some pampering.
It was so nice to get out yesterday, even if it was to go to the clinic. It was the first time I’d been out in two weeks and that trip was just to the clinic and back as well. It’s amazing how things change in two weeks. The farm down the road had more sheep out and was starting to green up a bit. It looks like spring is finally trying to come to New England, but it’s dragging it’s feet!
I got a shot of this a little while ago. It’s right outside my front door. I didn’t even know it was there until I walked out the front yesterday. I’m missing out!

I am loving watching things sprout up in my yard. I have a few others in the back that I don’t really know what they are. I will try to get photos of those later.
On a positive note… I’m going out tomorrow night. Nick and I will be joining our good friends and neighbors to hit our favorite watering hole, Pour Judgment. I have been craving it! The fries with the smoked gouda cheese sauce. YUM.
I’m working on next week’s menu. I would love input on some new things to cook. I’m clueless!!

Promotion Day!

2011-04-05T19:34:00.000-04:00

As promised, I am finally posting about Nick’s promotion last Friday. It was a nasty day outside, but cleared up just long enough for us to step out into the backyard and have a tiny little ceremony.
Our friend Jim did the honors while our friend David read the official orders. It was starting to sprinkle rain and I was way consumed with how big my hair would be by the time it was over that I didn’t turn around once to face the camera! What was I thinking…??? My backside is NOT my best side!
We had a great little party afterwards with take out barbecue and the few dishes I made at home. Nobody cared, just as I thought. As a matter of fact, I had the barbecue in the crockpot to keep it warm, opened it up to stir it a little and David made the comment “Wow.. that smells so good” Dinner Win! I did get lots of positive comments about my peach cobber and red velvet cake. (from a box) The potatoes were a hit, as always. Who doesn’t like hash brown potatoes mixed with cream of mushroom soup, onion, cheddar cheese and sour cream??? It’s really a no brainer.
Here are a few photos of our little promotion ceremony.

Jim giving a little background on Nick's career.

David reading the orders.

Me putting on the new Velcro rank while Jim struggles with the pin for the beret.

While I was kissing Nick, Jim makes the comment "Oh good, the one finished first gets the kiss, I'm glad it was you" Is that true? Is that a rule? Maybe that's why he was struggling with that pin.

Nick making a few comments of his own.

Me getting my hug. Notice that lovely black boot on my right foot. I was hobbling around.

Tomorrow is my final follow up doctor's appointment. If everything goes as planned, I should have stitches removed and hopefully, be starting to walk normally again. I'm crossing my fingers that not only have I healed well, but that the surgery did what it was supposed to do and there will be no need to mess with it again. I will let y'all know!!

Weekly Menu 4-9 April

2011-04-04T10:46:00.000-04:00

I can’t believe it’s April already. Where did March go? For someone who’s been dreading the last couple of weeks, they have really gone quickly. Maybe it’s a sign of my age!
I’m not quite back 100% but I’m working on it. I did make a menu for this week and a grocery list. I had to send Nick to the commissary to pick up the stuff though. He’s doing an awesome job, but I must admit that I’m ready to be back in charge of the kitchen and meals. I think it’s a control issue. Maybe?
This week’s menu has a few old favorites but it’s still very easy. I’m not quite up to standing for a long time in the kitchen yet.
Sunday: Hoagie Bake (Alex LOVES this dish, he takes leftovers to school for lunch)
Monday: Slow Cooker San Francisco Pork Chops (these are in the crockpot now and it smells fabulous)
Tuesday: Sloppy Joes, fries and broccoli
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Thursday: Grandma’s Beef Casserole
Friday: leftovers or we go out (I’m ready for an evening out)
Saturday: unsure..hopefully I’ll get it together before then!
The weather is nasty today. We awakened to an amazing sunrise. The colors were beautiful. I tried to capture it, but just couldn’t grab how beautiful is was. Now it’s cloudy and yucky. We’re supposed to get rain/thunder storms this morning. I am thinking it’s a good day to be stuck at home.

I’m counting down to Wednesday now. I have an 8:30 doctor’s appointment that should result in the removal of my stitches. I know I won’t be ready to run any races, but I’m hoping I can start to really walk again without the boot!

Homemade VS Store Bought… Does Anyone Really Care?

2011-04-01T08:20:00.003-04:00

Today is April 1. The day my husband pins on his new rank. I’m so excited for him and want this day to be very special. However, there are a few reasons this won’t be your “traditional” promotion.
First, he isn’t in an Army unit. He is a student at the Naval War College and there won’t be a normal promotion. On the good side, we can kind of do what we want, as long as someone the same rank or above does the promoting.
Secondly, I’m partially laid up, because of my foot surgery, and can’t throw the kind of party I’d like to. My idea was to cook some amazing food, have a great bar set up and lots of delicious snacks sitting around. Instead, I’m ordering barbecue and setting up a buffet. I’m making two desserts, because I just can’t stand not to, and one side dish. If I keep thinking about it, and if I didn’t have Nick here to hold me back, I’d be doing more and would suffer for it later tonight. I can tell when I’ve overdone it, I go to bed early, with a pain pill and swearing I will never do it again.
So, here’s my question; does anyone really care? Will our good friends and neighbors, who love us and support us really think less of me because my dinner is being brought in from somewhere else? Or, are they just here to celebrate the day with Nick and me and have a good time? My head tells me it’s the latter, but my southern raising and the hostess in me wants to do more. I know, it’s ridiculous.
The plan for tonight was to go out in our backyard around 4:30 tonight, before dark, and have a small promotion ceremony out there. Our friend Jim would do the actual promotion and pin on one rank while I do the other. (we’re going with ACUs instead of the class B so it will be Velcro, not a pin) while our friend Dave reads the orders. We are having Alex and Dave’s son Andrew hold the flag in the background. BUT… the weather is completely nasty outside. It’s cold, windy and raining. Not a good situation for anything outdoors. It looks like we’ll do it right here in our living room and that’s fine. I am chilling champagne so we can drink a toast to the new Colonel.
For dinner, we will have chopped barbecue pork, (to make sandwiches) a three bean bake (it’s delicious, I HAVE to figure out how to make this) and Cole slaw. I am making a potato casserole for the kids, a peach cobbler because it just goes with BBQ and a red velvet cake for the man. He loves red velvet and I like the idea because of it being “Engineer Red” I am using a box mix today… don’t judge!
So, to answer my own question; nobody cares about the food tonight. They are our best friends and are truly only interested in celebrating this great day with Nick and me. I’m very excited and I’m so proud of my Soldier. I will post photos this weekend.
Happy Friday everyone!!

A New Cookbook

2011-03-29T10:13:00.002-04:00

I’m not sure how I found this. I hate that I’m such a scatter brain that I can’t even give someone credit for referring me to this site and book. Here’s how it happened.
Somewhere, I got a link to a cooking blog with the recipe for Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice. I haven’t made this, but I bookmarked the page with the recipe on it. I vaguely remember reading the post because it had a cute story about a little girl and the downside to being a princess. It made me smile.
Then, sometime later, I was reading a magazine and, I can’t remember which one, that highlighted the cookbook The Southern Plate. Being a southern girl, the name of the book grabbed me immediately. I knew I’d be laid up for a while so I went into the local library’s website and reserved the book to take a look at. Yesterday, my sweet husband stopped by the bookmobile and picked up this book for me. I fell in love with it right away. It brought back so many memories of my mother and grandmother making these recipes. I have to have it! (I will be ordering it today)
Last night I spent hours looking through this book and reading Christy’s wonderful stories about food, cooking and family. It is truly heart warming. The book is divided differently than most cookbooks. It’s not separated by categories but by seasons. I love it….have I mentioned that?
Today I’m making Chicken Poulet from this book. I had two leftover chicken breasts from last night’s dinner and all the other ingredients in my pantry so I whipped it up. It takes a few minutes to put together, but the beautiful thing is this; you put it in the fridge all day or over night, throw the last two ingredients on and bake just before supper. I can’t wait to try this tonight. It makes me think of all the wonderful Thanksgiving flavors of turkey and dressing but with cream of mushroom soup and melted cheddar cheese on top. I can’t think of a thing that cream of mushroom and melted cheese won’t improve! I will definitely post a review of this recipe.
I have to get my own copy soon because I can see that I may ruin this library book by using it to make recipes. I tend to be a messy cook and splatter a bit. You can open any of my cookbooks and see right away which recipes I make most often. There will be splatters and spots all over the page.
If you want to check out Christy’s blog, which has tons of fabulous recipes and stories, check it out here. If you’re a southern girl or have ever dreamed of being a southern cook, try this. It’s the real thing.

Surgery and Recovery Update

2011-03-26T17:13:00.000-04:00

I haven’t written much about my actual surgery. It’s not that interesting, really. I went to the Newport Hospital, where everyone was super professional and so nice. I was there for less than 5 hours and it went very well. I left with a big fat bandage on my right foot, a lovely blue Velcro boot to wear and my crutches. As I’ve posted before, Nick has been wonderful and has taken care of me so well.
I realized one morning when I was home alone that I could crutch around and make my own sandwich, get my own drink etc, if I just had a way of moving it. So, I found the plastic grocery bags and threw everything in there and carried it by the handle back to my nest on the couch or chair. Nick had a brilliant idea and tied the bag to one of my crutches and calls it a saddle bag. Too funny!

Thursday, I went for my one week follow up doctor’s appointment. It was SO nice to have the bandage removed and let the ol’ foot breathe a bit. The doctor said it’s healing very well and I could wear the second boot he gave me that has a very thick wedge on the heel end for walking. I tried it in his office, felt sharp pains in the foot and wimped out. I brought it home to play with later.

This morning, Nick suggested I try the wedge boot again. I did and have been hobbling around a little without the crutches. It’s SO liberating!! It looks ridiculous and is a good three inches higher than my other bare foot but it’s so much nicer than using the crutches. I even went into the kitchen and swept my floor. That dirty floor was driving me nuts!
So, in conclusion, I’m healing quite well, feeling good about being in my second week of recovery and thankful that I’m laid up when the weather’s been so yucky. I’m afraid if we were having nice spring weather the last week I’d have been crutching around outside, crawling on the patio so I could pull weeds in the beds. I’m so ready for spring and a little yard work.

Project 365!

2011-03-24T09:34:00.000-04:00

I should probably re-name this “Project 52” because at the end of the year, I’ll be lucky to have posted what equals to one photo per week.

I couldn’t resist posting this photo. It’s so symbolic of what’s going on right now. It’s technically spring, but winter is hanging on. Notice the beautiful crocuses trying to bloom but there is snow nestled among them.
I thought it was beautiful.

What a Man, What a Man, What a Mighty Good Man!!

2011-03-22T07:48:00.000-04:00

Let me just say that my husband rocks! Since my surgery on Thursday morning he has been there, right by my side, taking care of me.

Nick took the day off on Thursday to go to the hospital with me. I was home around noon and all afternoon he brought me food, ice for my foot and whatever else I needed. Friday he didn’t have class so he was home with me all day again. I got a home cooked breakfast and lunch, not to mention the delicious dinner he made. All weekend this man has done laundry, cleaned around the house, taken care of the boy and the dogs and most especially, me.

Early Friday morning the numbness wore off my foot. I woke up around 4:30 AM to go to the bathroom and as soon as I dropped my feet over the side of the bed, my incisions started throbbing. I crutched to the bathroom and back and was crying by the time I got back to bed. Bless his heart, Nick got up, got me more ice and a pain pill. He’s a real trooper.

Our morning routine, since he has had to go back to school has been this:

Alarm goes off, Nick gets up and hits the shower. He gets me up and helps me down the stairs. He goes back up stairs to bring me all the stuff I might need/want during the day. My glasses, phone, book, magazine, icepack etc.

When he gets home, he makes me lunch and gets me ready for a shower. In a few hours, after doing his studying, writing papers, picking up the boy from school, etc. he makes dinner. Last night, he was back upstairs after dinner to finish his own homework and to help Alex with his. Around 9:30 last night, he helped me up the stairs, brought all my stuff up, drugged me and put me to bed. Afterwards he finished up shutting down the house, taking dogs out, and everything that goes along with it to finally fall into bed himself.

I feel so blessed to have a husband that loves me and wants to take care of me.

Friday night, Nick cooked burgers on the grill (our one nice day so far) and made a delicious dinner. I took this photo before he had finished putting it all on the table. When it was done we had baked beans and corn on the cob as well as delicious burgers.

Saturday, he made some queso dip for snacking. I caught him working in the kitchen.

Here is what the side table in the living room looks like after Nick leaves in the morning. He has brought the insulated carafe of coffee in for me, my ice water, my book, glasses, phone, calendar and kindle. Oh, and the “oh so important” pain pill, just in case I need it before he gets back home.

What a man.

Birthday Recap

2011-03-20T11:52:00.000-04:00

I apologize for the lack of blog posts lately. Since I returned from Texas last Monday night, it’s been a whirlwind. I knew I was having surgery the following Thursday so I was very busy trying to get my house in order. I wanted there to be groceries (easy for a school attending dad to be able to throw together a meal) and laundry done.

My 46th birthday was last Wednesday. Since I was scheduled to have surgery the following morning, I was under doctor’s orders to have no alcohol that night. We decided a birthday should be celebrated with a little alcohol so we went out a night early.

Tuesday evening my boys took me to one of our favorite restaurants, The Red Parrot. I so love this place. We have never had a bad meal here. I ordered a lovely chilled glass of chardonnay and we had a dozen raw oysters for our appetizer. After a few of the oysters, I wished I had skipped the main part of the meal for more oysters. I LOVE them. Who would’ve thought?

I had the broiled stuffed shrimp and a delicious Irish coffee for dessert. I left feeling very satisfied and like a true spoiled birthday girl.

The following morning, my girlfriend Cindy, took me for a pedicure! What a wonderful treat, especially knowing that the next day I would have my foot cut on and would wish for those lovely toenails. She also brought some beautiful tulips and a birthday cake. What a sweet friend! My other friend and neighbor, Deb, brought over a cute birthday wine glass and a bottle of wine. She knows me well!!

Excuse the poor quality of the photo, I used my phone for this one.

That night I cooked dinner for us at home. After we ate, Nick presented me with both my birthday cakes… yes two! He didn’t know Cindy had brought one over so he picked one up while he was out. What a guy!

Then he gave me a beautiful gift bag with my birthday present. I was really surprised because the one thing I’d asked for, he was unable to find. That’s another story! However, I opened up the bag and found this.

An Amazon Kindle! I have been torn about having a Kindle because I do love to read a real book, but this just makes so much more sense. Especially with all the moving around we do.

It also had this beautiful red leather cover. I love red. I think he knows this about me.

I had a wonderful birthday! I am truly blessed to have a husband and family that loves me so much.

iPod About Me

2011-03-17T19:33:00.000-04:00

This is a flashback from February 2009. Someone tagged me in their own Facebook note where you had to answer the following questions turning on your iPod and selecting shuffle. I selected the playlist “recently played” At that time, I had to skip the Christmas music that kept popping up.

You’ll have to keep in mind, that when I did this, I was living in Hawaii, my husband was commanding a battalion and was deployed, I had dealt with one Soldier’s death and numerous crazy Army spouses/family members and was needing something lighthearted. Hopefully, you’ll find a little humor in this and maybe offer up your own “About Me” post. Here it is.. exactly as it appeared 2 years ago.

If you got tagged for this note, you need to copy/paste this into your own facebook note, delete my answers, and answer the questions using your own ipod, iTunes or whatever it is that you use... I would not recommend a turntable or eight track for this exercise!
1. Turn on the iPod and select shuffle
2. Use the title of the song for the answer to the 1st question
3. Hit “next” and repeat process until you have answered them all
4. Don't cheat!
5. Tag some of your friends so they'll do the same

1. How am I feeling today?
Super Trouper-Mamma Mia Soundtrack
2. How far will I get in life?
Wild Night-Van Morrison
3. What is my best friend’s theme song?
Take a Chance on Me-Mamma Mia Soundtrack
4. What was high school like?
Mamma Mia-Soundtrack again
5. How will today be?
Warm Love-Van Morrison
6. What is in store for me this weekend?
Fins-Jimmy Buffett
7. What is the best thing about me?
Does Your Mother Know?-Mamma Mia Soundtrack
8. What song describes my parents?
How do I say the words? Bryan Adams
9. How is my life going?
The Bitch is Back-Elton John
10. What song will they play at my funeral?
Angel-Jack Johnson
11. How does the world see me?
Livin' For You-Boston
12. What do my friends think of me?
Lay All Your Love on Me-Mamma Mia Soundtrack
13. Do people secretly think I’m good looking?
Mama Can't Buy You Love-Elton John
14. How can I make myself happy?
Keep On Lovin' You-REO Speedwagon
15. What should I do with my life?
If I Could - Jack Johnson
16. What is some good advice?
Roll With the Changes - REO Speedwagon (how fitting)
17. Will I get married?
Can't Fight This Feeling-REO Speedwagon
18. Where will I go in life?
Staple It Together - Jack Johnson
19. Will I Have Kids?
Live A Little - Hawaiian Style Band
20. What is my current theme song?
Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffett (I had to laugh at this one!)

Maybe, very soon, I will do this again and see how my songs have changed.

Pre-Op Appointment and Goodies

2011-03-15T20:05:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the clinic for my pre-op appointment. At this time, my doctor sat down with me (and Nick) to tell us exactly what to expect and to give me everything I’d need for my surgery.
We filled out forms, medical history, medications I’m taking and allergies, etc. Then he gave us instructions. This is why I brought Nick. I wanted him to hear the Doc say “no weight on that foot for three weeks” (this includes driving since it’s my right foot) I wanted Nick to be aware of just how much he was going to have to do to take care of me and to keep the household running.
After about two hours, I left there with several “goodies”
He gave me these two scrubby sponges/brushes. They are wrapped in silver below. I am to scrub my foot really well with one of these the night before and the morning of my surgery. I think that’s just lazy. Why can’t they scrub my foot when I get there? I really feel like it’s going to need another scrub before they cut into it!

I also got three bottles of medication. One is a pain medicine and the other two are “just in case you have reactions to the pain medication” Apparently the side affects of this medication are constipation (I got a pill for that ) and itchy skin (I got a pill for that too) The lady at the pharmacy knew who my doctor was by this combination of medicine. She said “Oh, you must have “Dr. M” this is his cocktail”

Then we headed over to physical therapy where they fitted me with crutches. Let me just say, I’m clumsy at my best. I can’t imagine trying to maneuver on crutches and having a few pain pills in me. It could be a problem. Notice the lovely footwear I’ll be sporting. I am to take that blue boot with me to the hospital so they can slip it over my bandage when I’m ready to come home.

Do you think anyone will be wearing this on the spring fashion show runways? It’s lovely, is it not?
I’m home from my trip to Texas and I have to say, it was a wonderful visit. I saw so many old friends and really had a good time. I got home very late last night and have tried to get a few things done around the house today. I’m a little behind and feeling overwhelmed because in another two days, I know I’ll be out of commission. I guess Nick will have to handle it all.
Tomorrow is my birthday and since I’ve been instructed that I can have no alcohol the night before my surgery (which is the following morning) we went out for my birthday dinner tonight. We went to a local restaurant that we love. I had a wonderful glass of chardonnay, raw oysters and stuffed shrimp. I ended my meal with an Irish coffee. YUM! I’m feeling very full, very satisfied with my meal and ready to go to bed at 8:00.
My good friend Cindy is taking me for a pedicure tomorrow for my birthday. What a doll she is. I really wanted to have my feet and toes done before the surgery and now I will! I may have an ugly bandage on my foot for a while, but there will be beautiful toes under there!!

Mothering a Boy

2011-03-13T22:32:00.000-04:00

As I was flying to Texas for my oldest child’s wedding shower and to plan for their rehearsal dinner, I was reading a book about a woman facing the empty nest. How ironic. In this story, the woman is watching her youngest son play in his senior year of high school football. She makes the comment that she loved that he still kisses her check at football games. This reminded me of the day my oldest child was born. JD was born two days after Thanksgiving in 1983. I was a mere 18 years old. Way too young to be married and having babies, but that’s another story.

The nurse brought him to me for the first time after I’d settled into my room and said “Boys are so special” I looked at her with my wide eyed innocence and wondered why she would think boys were more special than girls. I know now, that she was trying to make me feel comfortable in my new role as the mother of a boy. She said “Boys always love their mommas. After a football game my son kisses his girlfriend then he kisses me.” Those words stuck with me for the last 27 years. I remember those high school football games when JD would hug his girlfriend then hug me. I was so proud. Today¸ as I was reading about this woman whose heart was breaking at the thought of her baby leaving home, I remembered very clearly that nurse handing me my first born.

He’s a man now. He has a college degree, a great job that he loves, and he is about to marry a girl that I absolutely love. I guess it’s ok to take a little credit for how well he’s turned out. I have laughed, worried, cried and prayed over that child. I can’t wait to watch him start his own family with beautiful Meghan and see what an amazing father he’ll be.

Here is a photo I took at the shower today. Forgive the quality of the picture, I took it with my phone. My camera is still at home!

Update

2011-03-11T17:10:00.000-05:00

I am finally at a computer with internet and can post an update on Callie's trip. Thanks to everyone who voiced concern, support etc.
After arriving in Phoenix yesterday, she called me and I told her I had done a little digging and her airline had ONE more flight to Hawaii but it was to Maui. I had no idea if they would even entertain the idea of sending her to Maui instead of Honolulu, but it was worth a shot. She found the gate, and sweet talked them into re-routing her to Maui where she could buy an inter island ticket and get on over to Honolulu.
I spoke to her as she was awaiting her last flight in the Maui airport. She said she was exhausted but glad to be almost there. She was so sweet and apologized for causing me so much stress. I told her it was ok, that I just felt as her mom, I should be able to take care of everything and how helpless I felt. I then told her I was proud of her and Zach for taking care of it and getting everything done. I guess I raised her right!
Then, of course, I got up this morning to the news that there was a tsunami warning for the state of Hawaii. Oy! I knew that she was staying in an area that was very high and that large waves wouldn't affect her, but I knew the potential of losing power for days and having some serious dampers put on her vacation was very high.
I've heard from her several times today and all is well.
I'm thankful to watch her become a responsible young woman and to see her make wise decisions.
I am having a great visit with some old friends here in Texas and am looking forward to my mom and aunt arriving tomorrow. The shower is on Sunday and should be a great time.
I have a girls' night out planned for this evening and I do believe margaritas are in my future. It will be so nice to hang out and not worry about anything for a while (is that even possible?)
I apologize for the lack of photos in my posts, but like a doofus, I left my camera in Rhode Island. JD will bring his tomorrow and I can take photos with mom, auntie, kids etc not to mention the bridal shower.
Thanks again for your sweet comments on my stress yesterday. It helps to know that my mom guilt/stress is all normal.
Happy Friday and have a good weekend!!

Mamma Guilt

2011-03-10T13:05:00.000-05:00

Why is it that moms carry the weight of everything that goes wrong? I am having a terrible feeling about leaving Callie at the airport this morning and so helpless that I can't help her get on to Hawaii for her spring break.
Let me start from the beginning.
Callie had a 6:10 AM flight to Hawaii this morning on US Airways. We were running just barely on time and hit construction and a detour. Still got her there with 40 minutes. She goes inside to check in and they won't even take her at the counter. They have a rule about being 45 minutes or so before flight time or you can't even check in.
Get this,..even with this delay, checking bags and getting a standby ticket, she STILL made it through security in time to board that flight, had they let her. But no, she has to wait and is told that all remaining flights are full. She was on standby for an 8:00 flight but it was a no go. She got standby for a 12:15 flight and just called to let me know she's on. This flight goes to Phoenix and she will take her chances from there to get on into Honolulu.
Her fiance', who booked the flight originally, is bound and determined to get her out to Hawaii for a week, so I feel like they will work it out even if it means a night in the Phoenix airport.
I am feeling terrible about this. She doesn't blame me for missing the flight but I feel responsible. She knows she should've gotten up earlier and been proactive about being at the airport early but once again, I have mom guilt. It is making me almost physically ill. I can't help her and I need to let her be an adult (she is 20 years old, after all) but this is hard!
Anyone else know about helpless, guilty mom syndrome?
I'm waiting around in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and postponing my trip to central Texas until I know she doen't need me to get her at the airport. I'm little stressed!!!

Weekend Movie

2011-03-07T18:48:00.002-05:00

We made a commitment a while back to do one family thing every weekend. Since the weather has been so cold/nasty/yucky..whatever you want to call it, our options have been limited on activities. So, we’ve turned to Netflix and pay per view movies to fill our time. Saturday night, we chose the movie “Grown Ups” to watch.

I have to admit, when I saw the cast, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider and the like, I figured it would be goofy, at best. I was mistaken. This was a great family movie. It was funny, it had real meaning, and still had enough..um… shall we say, “hot girls and sexual hints” for a 15 year old boy without making me shudder. I really loved Adam Sandler’s character and the lesson he gave his children toward the end of the movie. We all enjoyed the movie and I do recommend it if you want a family friendly movie, which I’m finding harder and harder to find.
Oh, and let me add that Grown Ups had a rockin' sound track! I'm seriously thinking of downloading it to my iPod. Nick and I both made several comments during the movie about how good the music was.
Speaking of Netflix, so far, I’ve only subscribed to the online/wireless version and I’m a little disappointed at the selection. I realize that for a mere $2.00 more per month, I could have DVDs delivered to my house and have way more options. I’m thinking seriously of doing this, especially since I’ll be homebound for a few weeks after my foot surgery. Anybody have Netflix? What do you think? Do you use it often enough for it to pay for itself?
I have a busy week ahead. Tomorrow is the last day home before flying to Texas. Sunday is my future daughter-in-law Meghan’s bridal shower in my old home town. She’s not from that town so these are my friends and JD’s buddies’ moms who are giving this shower. I’m very excited to see some people I haven’t seen in around five years. I’m also excited to see Callie for one night before she flies off to Hawaii to spend spring break with her love and her sister. (they are both there now) I return to Rhode Island on Monday, one week from today, then am facing my surgery a few days later. I’ll admit, I’m a little apprehensive about the surgery. I know it’s the thing to do, nothing else has worked, but I am apprehensive none the less. I’ll be glad when it’s over and I am recovered. I have a feeling that three weeks with no weight on my right foot may be enough to send me right over the edge. I’ll be needing some entertainment!

Project 365

2011-03-03T13:07:00.000-05:00

I realize I’ve not kept up with this well. In an attempt to redeem myself, I am posting a few photos from the last week.

This is the first sign I’ve seen of spring. These little sprigs are sprouting just outside my back door. I have no clue what they are but I love seeing a little color. I promptly covered them back up with the leaves because we were expecting snow that night.

This little critter likes to hang out in our back yard. This photo is terrible, I know, but you get the idea of the shock I get sometimes when I go to let the dogs out.

I took this the other morning just after I got out of bed. I so love watching the sunrise over the water.

This is the Italian bread that I made using Michelle’s recipe. It was wonderful!! Check out her recipe here.

The snow I spoke of earlier. Yes, we’ve had two different evenings with some flurries. We actually got up Sunday morning to about an inch of snow on the ground. It had almost all melted by that night. I have to admit, I do still love to watch it fall. After that, you can have it.

The morning after the snow from inside my car. Like I said, it’s getting old.

Our boy wearing his new ACU’s. He was issued these this week in his high school JROTC class. He loves these so much more than the class A uniform.. who can blame him?

What I’m Reading

2011-02-27T22:02:00.000-05:00

I don’t blog much about books and reading, there are plenty of those blogs out there, but I since I’ve set a goal to read 100 books this year, I’m going to write a little to keep myself accountable. Truthfully, I need to step back and count what I’ve read already. I don’t even know where I am in this 100 book goal. While doing this reading, I’m trying to get as many book as possible from the local library. We have a very nice library here and the luxury of a bookmobile that comes right to my neighborhood once a week. So, I’m hoping I can get a good start on this reading goal.

Last week, at the library, I checked out the book “ The Plain Truth” By Jodi Picoult.

I have only read one other book by this author and it was “My Sister’s Keeper” at a friend’s recommendation. It was a fabulous book. I decided, because of that last book, I would check her out again. This one is no disappointment. It’s about blending the Amish world with the world we know. A young Amish girl is accused of birthing and murdering a newborn baby. A worldly attorney, who is starting over in her life at age 39, takes her defense in court. I’m not finished with this book yet, but can’t wait to get back to it. Jodi seems to really pull me in and has very lifelike characters.

I am not going to pretend to be good at reviewing books, but I will share my reads once in a while. I do love to read but I realize, that my reading choices can be considered “fluff” to some.

I’m also looking forward to reading some fiction based on history here in my small town. I need to do a bit more research, then plug my finds into the local library’s website, and sit back and wait on the bookmobile. What a deal, huh?

Ravioli and Herbed Bread

2011-02-25T14:33:00.001-05:00

I mentioned that I would be making Jennifer’s Pan Seared Shrimp and Four Cheese Ravioli with Vodka Cream Sauce. I made this a few nights ago and it was beyond delicious. Nick loved it, I loved it and we want it again!

I wanted to make some kind of herbed bread with it, so I found this recipe on allrecipes.com It’s called Jo’s Rosemary Bread and it’s wonderful!! I could have eaten the whole loaf.

Here it is about to go into the oven.

Here it is after it had been baked. It smelled soooo good and tasted wonderful! I poured up some extra virgin olive oil with fresh cracked pepper for dipping.

This was a feast worthy of any Italian restaurant. If you’re craving really good pasta with an awesome sauce, try these raviolis and their vodka sauce. For some simple herby bread, I definitely recommend this one.
Today I’ve been a baking fool. I promised my father-in-law more fudge (he’s been asking since Christmas) so I made that yesterday and decided the mailing box is quite empty with just fudge in it. I used up some very ugly looking bananas and made him some bread. One of Callie’s favorite cookies is Ranger Cookies and I almost never make them.. so I made her a batch of cookies to go into her next care package.
I found a delicious looking recipe for tonight’s dinner. As soon as I saw it this morning, I knew I had to substitute the lemon chicken I was going to make with it. Check out Your Home Based Mom’s Chicken Parmesan Soup It’s rainy and yucky here today so I figured this is a perfect feel good dinner for that kind of weather. I am making Michelle’s Italian bread to go with it. YUMMMM!
I have had a wonderful week of trying new recipes while Alex has been gone. Most of them, I knew he wouldn’t eat, so it was the perfect time. Nick really loved being spoiled with such special dishes. He’s telling me now, that it doesn’t matter if the boy likes them, I should make them more anyway. We’ll see how that goes. I’m not sure I can let the boy live on PB&J just so we can eat what we want. However, I do think he needs to broaden his horizons a little and try different things. Maybe I will try to ease him into it.

Dinner Win!

2011-02-23T07:32:00.002-05:00

Since Alex is gone this week, I’ve decided to try a few new recipes that I know wouldn’t fly if he were here. Last night I made Pioneer Woman’s Enchiladas. Her record still stands in our house! I have never made one of her dishes that Nick and I didn’t absolutely love. He raved about these enchiladas, and I must say, they were delicious.
If you like this kind of food, and aren’t cooking for a picky eater, you must try these enchiladas. I’m already thinking of ways to tweak this dish to make different kinds of enchiladas. Cheese, chicken…I think the possibilities are endless. I will add that I didn't include the black olives or the cilantro. While I like black olives as a garnish with Mexican food, I don't want them inside my enchiladas. I'm just not a big fan of cilantro, so I left it out.
Please go to P-Dub’s website and check out this recipe.
On Sunday, I made Nick’s requested Corned Beef and Cabbage. I made this for him once back in Texas (I don’t even remember it) and he’s raved about it ever since. Seriously.. how easy could that be? I buy the beef brisket already packaged with the corned beefy seasonings and simmer for a few hours. I add the cabbage during the last 30 minutes. I wanted to make some kind of bread to go with it and what better than an Irish Soda Bread? I googled this and found an amazing recipe. Once again, Dinner Win!!! Nick loves the bread, and has requested it again. It’s easy and doesn’t take a long time.
I found the recipe at Allrecipes.com. You can find it here: Irish Soda Bread
Tonight is a ravioli with vodka cream sauce that I found over at Jennifer’s Jane Deere site. I love her food. I’ve known Jennifer for years and have eaten her cooking. I think she’s only become a better and better cook since she is a mom and has a family to care for now. Please check her and her yummy recipes as soon as possible!!
Today is Wednesday already and Nick has another day off. Long story, but suffice it to say, we’ve become spoiled and a bit lazy this year with school. I’m not complaining, I’m sure the Army will have him working long hours soon enough. Happy Hump Day everyone!!

Weekly Menu 20–26 February

2011-02-20T15:05:00.001-05:00

Since my picky eater is gone for a week (it’s winter break here) I decided to make dishes that he probably wouldn’t care for, but that Nick and I would enjoy. I am especially looking forward to trying a few new things.

Tonight’s corned beef and cabbage was actually on last week’s menu, but because Alex was leaving Friday morning, I decided to leave it for this week. I knew he probably wouldn’t enjoy it. I thought it would be fun to try some kind of Irish bread with my corned beef so I found a recipe from allrecipes. com. I can’t wait to try it!

Sunday: Corned Beef and Cabbage with Irish Soda Bread

Monday: Kittie Chicken, brown rice and roasted asparagus

Tuesday: Pioneer Woman’s Enchiladas

Wednesday: Jane Deere’s Pan Seared Shrimp and Four Cheese Ravioli with Vodka Cream Sauce

Thursday: Your Home Based Mom’s Lemon Chicken

Friday: Turkey and Black Bean Chili from Mr. Sunday’s Soups cookbook, with cornbread

Saturday: I didn’t get this far. I figure after a week of new recipes I’ll be ready for take-out or pizza delivery.

What are you cooking this week? I’m finding that I need a little more inspiration lately. Every week as I’m making the menu I have several cookbooks out as well as my laptop as I’m digging for new recipes.

We had decent weather last week. I even had the windows open for about 30 minutes one day. Just enough to air the house a bit. Yesterday the temperatures started dropping and the wind started whipping. It’s VERY cold today once you factor the wind chill. We even have snow in the forecast tonight. 2-4 inches. Oh my! When will it end???

Fabulous Finds!

2011-02-17T14:49:00.000-05:00

Recently, I was reading some of my favorite blogs and came across a post where Jen, over at Jen’s Fun Little Things, told about some terribly cute Valentine’s placemats she bought at the Christmas Tree Shop. I am a recent fan of The Christmas Tree Shop since I just moved near one in the last year. I’m a big fan.

So anyway, Jen posted photos of the cutest heart shaped, quilted placemats I’ve ever seen. I immediately wanted to go to my local store to see if I could find them. I had my doubts, because at my store, all the cute stuff is snatched up in a hurry and nothing good is left for long.

I hit the store the day after Valentine’s Day, sure that I’d missed out on the Valentine’s placemats. It was ok, I knew I’d find other things I just had to have. (like cute wooden shamrocks for my front door and kitchen)

I decided to dig through the Valentine’s clearance bin and there they were! Two different patterns!! I couldn’t decide which one I liked better so I got them both… four of each. How cute are they?

As you can see, they are reversible. I just love the fabric and patterns. The quilting is done in heart shapes. So cute! If I had a little tiny girl at home again, I’d probably hang these on her bedroom wall. But, I don’t. So, I will put these away and wait until next Valentine’s Day to use them.

The best part of this fabulous find? The price! They were normally 2 for $3.00 but were discounted to half price. I got them for .75 cents each! I also found some cute Americana star shaped mirrors. I’ll share those in another post.

Project 365! (And a BIG Thank You)

2011-02-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

Here is a photo of my men from this morning. They both had to wear their uniforms to school. Alex is in the JROTC program at his high school, and was recently promoted to (Cadet) Sergeant First Class. Nick has been wearing civilian clothes since he’s been in school here, but today they are doing an exercise and he is to “brief” the class on his part of the program.
I do love a man in uniform
I also want to thank all of you who commented on yesterday’s more serious post about my role in Alex’s life. It touched me that first, you all were patient enough to read through the whole thing, and secondly, you gave me your own words of wisdom and encouragement. Last night, Alex and I worked on his English paper. He had to do a thesis on “The Great Gatsby” I had decided several weeks ago to read the book along with him. It had been a long time and I needed to refresh my memory. We had a great time writing the paper together and discussing the book. We will finish the paper today and hopefully, get a good grade on it. So, in closing, your advice (and JD’s) on just loving and nurturing him is spot on. I’m holding my tongue and loving on him. I have received two hugs and “thank yous” from him in the last two days. First, for making him a heart shaped brownie for Valentine’s Day, secondly, for helping him write his paper. His exact words were “Thanks for the help, I was really stuck”, along with a hug and a kiss. It does my heart good.

Wisdom Where You Don’t Expect It

2011-02-15T08:47:00.001-05:00

I have to admit, this blog post is a little more serious than normal for me. I have been struggling with my role in Alex’s life as his full time step-mom. I have a tendency to be a mouthy broad and if I don’t like something I will tell you… at least to my kids and family. I try to keep that under control with others

So, I’ve been working on Alex in several different areas and finding myself getting more and more frustrated. I can see I’m making no progress and if anything, I’m pushing him away. Without going into great detail, I’ll just say we are butting heads and I’m sick and tired of hearing my own voice.

The last few Sundays, while we’ve been at church, I’ve taken time to do some serious praying about this. I have prayed for wisdom and patience. Selfish.. not a word about Alex, right? So, this Sunday I really humbled myself and asked God again for wisdom and patience and to help me deal with this boy without breaking his spirit. I also prayed for Alex to have self-confidence, self-worth and love for himself. Things he is seriously lacking and it shows in his personal/social life. It breaks my heart that this boy doesn’t have much of a social life at all. He’s truly never learned to be a good friend. I blame his mom for that, as I do everything else negative with him. It’s what I do.

Sunday afternoon it all came to a head. I lost my ever loving mind. I had been working with the boy on his sugar consumption because he has a serious sweet tooth. After several muffins, a cupcake and juice I told him he didn’t need anymore sugar that day. Less than an hour later, he’s grabbing cookies and one more muffin. I seriously lost it. I took the cookies away from him, tore into him about not listening and how sugar is bad for him and he can’t concentrate .. blah blah blah.

Later, Nick and I had a little “discussion” about it. He told me, very sweetly, that I was maybe a bit unreasonable. I, of course, was defensive. I won’t go into detail but I was feeling sorry for myself and that the whole house was against me.

Later, after I calmed down, I realized how crazy that boy probably thinks I am. I had justified my behavior by telling myself I was treating Alex no differently than I did JD when he was a teenager. However, it finally dawned on me that JD grew up with me and KNEW how crazy I could be and overlooked it. Alex didn’t know that.

So, yesterday, JD called me and I spilled my guts to him. I said I just don’t know how to give him self-confidence… how do you do that? (JD is 27 years old and teaches/coaches middle school kids) He said to me… Mom, the only way to do that is for a man in his life to show him love, compassion and to do it unconditionally. He hasn’t grown up with his dad around much and he needs that. He went on to confirm what Nick had already said to me…”Let Nick be the bad guy, you just love him and show him patience”

He told me that three years ago when he started teaching, he was going to be the hard ass, and take no crap from those kids. He saw early on how that pushed them away from him. Now he shows them love, understanding and patience and they are blooming under his care.

I could go on and on here, but my point is that JD, my precious son that I had when I was 18 years old, has grown into a wise man and is helping me. When I prayed to God for wisdom, I had no idea it would come to me in that form. I’m so proud of the young man my son is and how he has grown and matured in spite of not growing up with a man in the house.

If you’re still reading this, just know I’m a proud momma today, but a bit more humbled. I am going to try desperately to give this 15 year old the love and security he has missed out on the last several years. We only have a short time to change his way of thinking. He has to succeed. He’s going to be a man and the leader of a family one day.

Project 365!

2011-02-14T12:11:00.002-05:00

I am SO behind on my daily photo postings. It just goes to show how boring my life is in the winter.. when I actually HAVE winter.

Today, I can see the patio again. For the first time in weeks, there is no snow or ice on it. Other than this pile of snow in the yard, it’s cleared up too. Bring on spring! I have a feeling I’ll be waiting a while on spring.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Weekly Menu

2011-02-13T20:49:00.002-05:00

I can’t believe it’s Sunday night again. I started writing out a post for LAST week’s menu but never got it posted. That’s how far behind I am. I did finish a menu today for this week, made a grocery list and pulled coupons to go along with it. I’m feeling accomplished already and I haven’t even started the week yet.
This week’s menu is:
Sunday: Nick and I went out for an adult Valentine’s Dinner
Monday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli
Tuesday: Chicken parmesan with salad
Wednesday: Grandma’s Beef Casserole
Thursday: Corned beef and cabbage (something Nick’s been wanting but I haven’t been able to find at the store until today and I am NOT making my own corned beef)
Friday or Sat: Farmgirl’s Chicken and Dumplings
We take Alex to the airport early Friday morning to spend a week in Fargo with his mom. It’s his winter break. I’ve never heard of a school giving a Christmas break, winter break AND a spring break. It must be nice.
So, I don’t know if we’ll eat the chicken and dumplings on Friday or Saturday.
I realized last week that we are less than 6 months from another move and it’s time to start cleaning out the pantry again. Didn’t I just do this? I’m really hoping this next duty station is for at least 3 years. If everything works as it should, we will be there at least 3 years, maybe even four. As a lot of us know, the Army doesn’t always work the way we think it should. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that this move is on the continent and not overseas. I may lose it if I have to do another overseas move again so soon.
Have a wonderful week everyone!

A Girl and Her Dog

2011-02-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

We took both dogs to the vet today. Max has had a chronic ear infection and Cleo just needed her shots updated. That dog is never sick and will probably outlive all of us.

When the Doc was examining Cleo (the wiener dog), she listened to her heart and said “She has a little murmur” I asked if that was bad and got the explanation that basically it won’t harm her but to watch her and make sure she doesn’t start coughing a lot and that her exercise is still good. When she doesn’t want to exercise anymore, it’s affecting her.

Cleo is really Callie’s dog. She’s had her since she was in the fourth grade and calls herself Cleo’s “momma” I’m not sure which one misses the other more.. but I think Callie misses Cleo more because Cleo is happy as long as she has her bed, pink blankie and a bowl of food twice a day.

I sent Callie a text message after our vet visit. It went like this:

Me: Cle0 has a heart murmur

Callie: (sad face) what does that mean?

Me: One of her valves doesn’t close all the way when her heart is beating. Doc said it could get worse as she ages but it’s not bothering her now. We have to watch for coughing and a loss of interest in exercise. So far she has no symptoms other than hearing it through the stethoscope.

Callie: (another sad face) my baby

Me: She is still good

Callie: You broke her

Me: I knew you would say it was my fault. I told Nick you would blame me.

Callie: Aww, she needs to come live with her momma. Her heart broke when I left!

Me: Please. Then it’s your fault.

Callie: You’d better not let her die.

Me: That doctor said she could live to be 19.

Callie: Good, she needs to outlive me.

Me: Don’t get crazy.

(hours pass)

Callie: She needs a valve replacement

Me: I don’t think so. With her heart murmur they can’t put her to sleep. The doc said she wouldn’t even risk putting her under to clean her teeth.

Callie: I think so. I have been watching a lot of Grey’s Anatomy…I could probably do it.

Me: Where would you even get a replacement valve?

Callie: A pig

Me: You ain’t cutting open a pig.

That’s where we left it about 15 minutes ago. She cracks me up. Even on text message she makes me laugh. She misses her baby. I sure hope that stupid dog doesn’t die on my watch.

Were You Raised in a Barn?

2011-02-09T08:55:00.001-05:00

Let’s talk about habits. Everyone has them… good and bad. What I am about to describe is simply a habit that I consider bad. I’m not angry, it doesn’t aggravate me, but it does puzzle me. I have my own bad habits that probably make my family crazy. It’s part of living together.
Today’s topic, however, is about a habit that both the men in my house share. They leave doors open. I just don’t get it.
Here are a few photos I took just wandering through the house the other day. It makes me laugh, and it makes me shake my head.

This is a photo of the closet just inside my front door. It’s where we hang coats, store gloves and hats, and put shoes that we keep near the door. I swear to you I close this door at least four times a day if my men are home all day. Every single time they open that door, they leave it open. It bothers me to have doors open, it doesn’t bother them. I guess they figure if you’re going to be back in there, why close it?

This is the door to our master bedroom closet. Yes, it’s full of a lot of stuff, which is why I like the door closed. I close this door several times a day too. When I am lying in bed, this door faces me. Almost every night I remind Nick to close that door. He teases me about it, he just doesn’t get it. I can’t stand to lie there in bed with that gaping closet open.

This is one of the cupboard doors in our kitchen. It’s where we keep the every day glasses and our coffee supplies. Yes, someone had just pulled a glass out for a drink of something. It was probably Alex. He’s the one that is in and out of that door most. Mostly he slams the door closed, when he isn’t slamming, he’s leaving it open.

This is Nick’s desk. That little door is containing his desktop hard drive. In his defense, after I took this photo he told me he thought the computer was running a little hot and the fan was on too much so he opened the door to make sure it was getting enough air.
I don’t have a photo of the front door. I was taking Alex to school last week when there was a delayed start time due to weather. Nick was taking a test so I ran the boy down to the school. I went out the door first, Alex followed and guess what? He left the door open. He rushed past me, because that’s what he does, and I turned and said “Dude.. you didn’t close the door” I got his standard answer when called out on something “ Sooorrrryyyy” Oy! I can’t tell you how many times he walks outside and leaves the front door open. There is a storm door so I guess that’s good enough in his eyes!

The other thing my men do is leave lights on. Clearly we have lived in military housing too long. We don’t pay any of our utilities but that is all changing. I can’t wait until we’re living on the economy again and see how these habits affect our bills.
Maybe the door thing is no big deal. Maybe it’s me that is quirky because it bothers me. But, it’s my blog and my point of view is the one you get.

Super Bowl Sunday Goodies

2011-02-07T19:47:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a great day in so many ways. First, the Packers won. My husband is a happy man. Secondly, we had great football food. I so heart football food (aka bar food).
I recently ordered the cookbook “Mr. Sunday’s Soups” by Lorraine Wallace, wife of Fox News Anchor Chris Wallace. I heard him on TV talk about his wife and how she made him a pot of soup every Sunday that he enjoyed after he finished his weekly talk show. You know I had to order it. I’m not sure there is anything more comforting than a yummy bowl of soup, especially this time of year.
As I was checking out this book I found SO many soups I want to try. Not only does this book have delicious looking recipes, but it has wonderful stories of the Wallace family.
For Super Bowl Sunday I decided to make Mrs. Sunday’s “Buffalo” Chili. Lorraine Wallace describes her family’s tradition of game day fun including Buffalo chicken wings so she decided to make a chili that featured those same tastes. This soup was delicious. Nick and I both gave it a thumbs up. I didn’t even try to get Alex to eat this because it has sauce in it. God forbid the child have anything with any flavor in it.
Here is the recipe for
“Buffalo” Chili
From Mr. Sunday’s Soups cookbook by Lorraine Wallace
Ingredients
3 TBS canola or vegetable oil, divided
4 lbs. ground light meat turkey
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 TBS butter
1 1/4 C Crystal Hot Sauce or your own personal favorite (use a buffalo flavor sauce for this)
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
Two 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes, with juice
8 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
One 7 ounce can diced green chilies with juice
1/3 C tomato paste
1 1/2 TBS red pepper flakes
3-4 C crumbled blue cheese, and/or grated mild Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, for garnish
Directions
Place a large, heavy pot of Dutch oven over medium heat and add 1 1/2 TBS of the oil. Add half the turkey, season with salt and black pepper, and cook, stirring and break up the meat, until browned. Transfer to a bowl with slotted spoon. Add the remaining 1 1/2 TBS oil to the pot and repeat the process with the remaining turkey. Return the first batch of turkey to the pot, with any accumulated juices.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the hot sauce. Add the hot sauce mixture to the turkey, along with the broth, tomatoes and their juice, and the garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until reduced by a third, about 1 1/2 hours.
Stir in the green chilies and their juice, tomato paste, and pepper flakes and simmer to cook off the raw flavor of the tomato paste, about 15 minutes more.
Ladle into shallow bowls and scatter with the cheese of your choice. Serve immediately.
YUMMY! I used blue cheese because I love it with anything buffalo sauce flavored. I also cut this recipe in half because it was so large. It still gave us plenty for leftovers.
With this, I made a recipe that I found on my Gooseberry Patch calendar. The month of September has a recipe for a Hoagie Bake that I made once and Alex has raved about ever since. He requests this every week so it was a football treat for him. The recipe follows.

Hoagie Bake
GooseBerry Patch monthly calendar
Ingredients
2 8 oz. tubes refrigerated crescent rolls, divided
1/3 lb. sliced salami
1/3 lb. sliced pepperoni
1/3 lb. sliced deli ham
1/3 lb. sliced Swiss cheese
1/3 lb. sliced provolone cheese
4 eggs, beaten and divided
grated Parmesan cheese to taste
Directions
Flatten on tube crescent rolls and press into a greased 13x9 baking pan. Layer salami, pepperoni, and ham over the top of rolls. Top with Swiss and provolone cheeses. Brush half of beaten egg evenly over cheeses; cover with remaining rolls. Brush remaining egg over crescent rolls; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil; bake for an additional 20 minutes. Slice into squares.
I cut the eggs in half. I found that 4 eggs was way too much.
Alex loved this so much that I sent part of the leftovers to school with him today for lunch. It doesn’t hurt that it’s so easy to make. You can literally throw this together in a very few minutes.
Enjoy!!

A House Divided

2011-02-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

It's almost Super Bowl Sunday. This one may go down in history here at our house, because of this.

And this

We have already laid down the law around here. Nick grew up in Green Bay. He was a Packer fan LONG before Alex was even thought of. Alex may have to watch the game upstairs in his room. I won't get in the middle of these two. I'm a Packer fan. I will always support my husband's team. Unless they are playing the Cowboys. After all, I am a Texas girl. It could get ugly around here. Prayers may be needed. (for a Packer win, of course!)

Dinner Win!

2011-02-02T07:51:00.005-05:00

Yesterday brought a little more snow. Nothing like we've had before, but enough to keep me home. After a small break, the ice/sleet started to fall. This brought on some nastiness.
Nick was able to leave school early, but Alex stayed all day (all the way to 1:45.. what school gets out that early?)
After spending a couple of hours with our neighbors enjoying some wine, we headed home for me to make dinner. I have to say, this dinner was much better than the night before. This one is a keeper. You just can't beat steak with some good veggies.

Beef with Asparagus and Mushrooms
From The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook
Ingredients
1.5 lbs London broil, 1 inch thick
4 garlic cloves, minced and divided
4 tsp crushed dried rosemary, divided
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 small onion, sliced lengthwise
1 pound asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp grated lemon zest
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Score both sides of steak in a diamond pattern by carefully making 1/8 inch deep diagonal cuts with a sharp knife at 1 inch intervals. Rub half the garlic and 2 tsp of the rosemary into both sides of meat and season with salt and pepper.
Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add steak and cook, turning once, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm.
Heat remaining oil in the same skillet. Add onion and cook, stirring often, for two minutes. Add remaining garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add asparagus and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until asparagus is crisp-tender and almost all the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and remaining rosemary; season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cut steak into thin slices and serve with the vegetables.

Ok, once again my photo is sideways. I can't fix it. Use your imagination!

This was delicious. I actually warmed the veggies and a couple of slices of steak for Nick's breakfast. I added two over easy eggs and it was restaurant quality!

Today, Nick is in school but Alex is not. The roads are solid ice and I'm a little ticked that my husband had to get out, but no one asked me :) Fortunately, he only has to be there for two hours and he can come join us at home.

I intend to stay in, make something yummy for Alex (I didn't do that yesterday) and possibly start a Brothers and Sisters marathon. I love my netflix!

Dinner Downer

2011-02-01T09:34:00.001-05:00

I'm disappointed to say my Artichoke Chicken dinner last night was less than I hoped. I really love artichokes and had high hopes for this one. Especially since I had to go to two different stores to find frozen pearl onions and frozen artichoke hearts. I never did find the frozen artichokes, so used canned ones instead.
One thing I just hate, is pale looking meat. In spite of browning the chicken first, it looked nasty pale. So unappetizing. That was the first downer. Secondly, after simmering the chicken in the sauce for the required 20 minutes, the sauce was very thin. Again, unappetizing. It looked like blah chicken breasts swimming in chicken broth. I ended up simmering the sauce longer to try to reduce it and gain more flavor but still got minimal results. Maybe I just did something wrong, but I didn't like it at all. I'm going to share the recipe here for you in case someone wants to try it and let me know what I did wrong!

Artichoke Chicken
The South Beach Diet Cookbook
Ingredients
4 TBS extra virgin olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
1 bag (16 oz) frozen small while onions
1 can chicken broth
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
Salt
Ground black pepper
1 package (10 oz) frozen artichoke hearts
Directions
Heat two TBS of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes, turning once, or until browned on both sides. Carefully remove the chicken to a large bowl.
Heat the remaining 2 TBS oil in the skillet. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Return the chicken to the pan and add the chicken broth and vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts and cook for 10 minutes, or until the artichokes are tender and a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of a chicken breast registers 170 degrees and the juices run clear.

Today it's snowing again. Nick and Alex are in school, but I anticipate a possible early dismissal. Snow is supposed to continue through tomorrow with times of sleet, rain and nastiness. Hopefully, there is school tomorrow. Alex has only missed 3 days and we're not in jeopardy of make up days yet, but if we miss more we will definitely lose some spring break.
The vet just called and cancelled the dogs' appointments for the third Tuesday in a row. They only see pets on Tuesdays and so far, it's snowed heavily the last three weeks. Very frustrating! It looks like I'll have to take Max to a civilian vet for his ear. They couldn't re-schedule for three weeks and his infection won't wait that long. I'm afraid we've waited too long already. I keep cleaning it and putting drops in but it's not clearing up.
In spite of our diet, I'm thinking of baking some goodies for Alex. I will have to hide them for multiple reasons. Nick and I don't need goodies right now and Alex has no off button. If I put out a few cookies a day, he's OK. If I put the whole plate out, he'll eat the whole plate. I realize he's a growing boy, but nobody needs that much sugar.
Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope it's warm and safe where you are.

Weekly Menu

2011-01-31T07:48:00.002-05:00

I can't believe today is the last day of January! Where has the month gone? Wasn't it just yesterday we were all blogging about taking Christmas decorations down and putting them away? January has been a bit blue for me, but I'm determined to perk up for February. It's a short month and before you know it.. it will be March and I'll be headed to Texas then having my foot cut on.
Nick and I are still doing our "no white" diet. I'm hovering at the 5-6 pound loss, which is typical for me. I'm going to step it up this week by finally incorporating some exercise. (yuck) As soon as I finish typing this out, I'm headed across the street to our community center (yes it's that close) to get on the elliptical. I'm hoping the boo boo foot allows me to get at least 20 minutes in.
This week's menu
Sunday: Taco Soup
Monday: Artichoke chicken and broccoli (South Beach Diet Cookbook)
Tuesday: Beef with asparagus and mushrooms (another SBD recipe)
Wednesday: Chicken stir fry
Thursday: Slow Cooker San Francisco Pork Chops
Friday: Hamburgers, Sweet Potato fries
Saturday/Sunday Italian Hoagie Bake (normally our cheat day, but I'm thinking of switching to Super Bowl Sunday!)
I have been buying about two rotisserie chickens per week to add to salads and just have a little easy protein handy. I'm trying to hang in there for one more week before I start adding a few whole grains back into my diet. Otherwise, I may lose it.
I'm hooking up with Michelle over at Married/Single Parent for a weekly menu hop. Join us if you make your own menu.

Weekend Update

2011-01-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

We have had a great weekend. I had decided we would spend Saturday as a family, even if it meant running errands and doing some shopping. Alex was less than thrilled at the idea, but he had a good time anyway.
Saturday morning started out with some cinnamon bread in my new bread machine. I prepared the ingredients on Friday night, set the timer and we awakened to the smell of bread baking. YUM. Since Saturday is our "cheat day" on the diet, Nick and I enjoyed plenty of bread. Needless to say, by the time we left the house around 10:15 AM, there was no bread left.
Our closest Sam's Club is closing for renovations and is having a huge clearance sale so we headed there first. We have been looking at flat screen TVs to slowly get rid of the remainder of the old tube televisions in our house. We played with the idea of getting one of their outstanding deals, but in the end, just couldn't spend the money.
As we were driving through town, we saw a LAZ Boy gallery and decided to take a look around.
We have been throwing around the idea of new furniture for a while now but haven't agreed on anything. The furniture we have now was Nick's bachelor furniture and while it was functional and attractive enough, it's worn out. It reclines (which I hate) and after several moves, it's just all beat up. We lucked out and found this sofa on sale.

The fabric is from last year's collection and they are clearing it out. We also bought the love seat, a chair and an ottoman. Normally I would not want a whole set that matched. I like to mix it up a little, BUT it was that good a deal. We agreed to take the chair and ottoman upstairs to Nick's office and leave the other two pieces in the living room with the leather chair and ottoman we already have. I'm so excited to have new furniture. It's to be delivered on Friday. I think I'll buy some fabric and make a few colorful throw pillows to jazz it up a bit.

One of my biggest concerns with getting new furniture is this.

This is Cleo. She likes the sun. She also likes to sneak up on my furniture when we leave the house. Cleo is a funny dog, but she stinks and I don't want her on my new furniture.

She has a nice comfy little bed. She loves her bed.

She even has a pink blankie that she likes to be under when she sleeps.

That doesn't mean she won't abandon her snuggly bed for my new couch when I'm not looking. Fortunately, I have little gadgets we call "squealers" we can put on the furniture. They are motion detectors and squeal loudly when they are disturbed. One squeal and Cleo remembers her little bed and jumps down. It keeps her down for a good long time. We'll be using those again very soon.

After furniture shopping we set out looking for lunch. We had decided to go to Hooters for fried pickles and hot wings. However, as we were driving, we saw an "On the Border" Mexican restaurant. Nick and I both go excited! We rarely eat Mexican food even though it's one of my favorites. In Hawaii there was no good Mexican food and since we've been here, we just haven't seen much of it.

We whipped in there and started enjoying chips and salsa. I had a yummy margarita, enchiladas and a taco. I left so full we didn't eat dinner at home last night.

Today we went to church, hit the commissary and have been puttering around at home. It's been a nice weekend. I'm feeling very relaxed!

What's On My Mind

2011-01-28T15:07:00.000-05:00

I seem to have LOTS on my mind lately and since I can't seem to put an interesting blog post together, I thought I'd throw my thoughts out there.

* My current diet/weight loss journey is definitely taking up some brain power. I'm struggling to find meals that I will enjoy and that are fairly easy to prepare. Then there's the picky boy in the house that sometimes has to have a separate meal. I have to say, I'm starting to get bored with this and that's not a good sign. I'm going to have to introduce a few new things to keep this up.
*JD and Meghan's wedding rehearsal dinner. Since this is our responsibility I need to get busy on it. It's difficult to do from so far away, not to mention it's in a city I'm not familiar with so I have no clue what would be a good venue. I seriously need to get moving on this.
*My upcoming surgery. My foot is really bothering me lately and I seriously wish I could do it tomorrow and get it over with. It would be so nice to have it behind me when I go to Texas in mid-March instead of looking to do it as soon as I return. I'm also a little worried about the results. Leaving it the same is not an option, but having the ends of two nerves removed is a little scarey. I wonder how having numbness in that area will affect me.
*Wondering what the Army is going to do with us this summer. Nick graduates from the War College on 10 June and we'll be ready to move. We have the wedding to attend on the 25th of June so I can't even know right now if we'll pack out before or after the wedding. It all depends on where we're going. Will he get a command? If so, will we be able to pre-position to the area where he'll take command in 2012? If not, what will we do for a year? Move Alex to yet another high school? Will Nick get a brigade command or a district command? Being in the Corps of Engineers both are possible. Which do I prefer? I'm torn.
It doesn't really matter what I want concerning command or the move. The Army is going to do what the Army is going to do. I can research several different options and think I have my ducks in a row just to have them say something I hadn't even considered. (coming to The Naval War College is a great example of that)
So, my mind is wandering. It's bringing me down a little. The cold dreary weather isn't helping.
I'm so glad it's Friday. Tomorrow is cheat day and I'm going to enjoy it! Nick has Monday off so I'm hoping we can do something fun on Sunday as a family. We have a chance of more snow, so it may be simply movies at home. I found Lonesome Dove on Netflix and I'm SO excited to introduce it to Alex. I was the first to show it to Nick after we were married. It's one of my all time favorite movies.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Same Song, Second Verse ..or is it Third?

2011-01-26T18:59:00.000-05:00

I truly meant to write this post last night because I had it all prepared. I think I must have gotten distracted with something.
Yesterday we got up to snow. It was supposed to be a "light dusting" in only the AM hours. Let me just tell you.. it snowed all day.
I HAD to go to the commissary. There were just no two ways about it. You northern readers will be proud to know that I drove through heavy snow and I bought groceries for my family.

As you can see, once I got out on the main road, the streets were fairly clear. I did hit a few rough spots and had to go around a fender bender on the way over. What you can't see are the HUGE snow flakes that were pounding down. I hate that they don't show up.

I did it! I drove all the way over to the Naval base and did my shopping. Here you can kind of see the snow falling.

I took this photo this morning as I was about to head out with my girlfriends for a little shopping. We all knew there was another storm coming, but it wasn't supposed to hit until around 8:00 tonight. They said 6 to 10 inches tonight. Oh my.

After we drove around 30 miles north to hit the real shopping, we came out of the second store... and guess what? It was snowing. We came out of the third store and it was really coming down. We stopped for lunch, because that's what we do, and when we came out of the restaurant the snow was covering the parking lot and was falling hard. As we drove home it got worse. All our husbands are calling checking on us and telling us to be careful. I'm pleased to say we made it home very safely. What a fun and adventurous day. Can you tell I don't get out much lately?

Remember this bridge?

We had to cross that sucker today to get back on the island. That was scarey, but surprisingly, it was the clearest road. I think the state is on it! Maybe it has little heaters under it? Is that even possible?

It's almost 7:00 PM. The storm is supposed to start between 8:00 and 9:00 PM. We got around 2 inches already of "bonus" snow.

I have enjoyed the change of seasons. I was thrilled with snow around Christmas when I could hunker down and have my hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. Now, however, it's starting to be a pain. I've had three different appointments cancelled already because of snow. I have a MUCH needed hair appointment in the morning. Anyone want to make bets on if I can get in? It is what it is and I guess I'll deal with it.. what choice do I have?

Dr's Appointment and a Spa Visit

2011-01-24T19:09:00.000-05:00

What a combination!
As I mentioned the other day, I'm determined to do a little something about skincare on my face. My son is getting married this summer and I have decided on a full body makeover.. at least what I can do without much effort :)
I'm eating healthy, trying to lose some weight, and will start exercising at some point. However, I have a boo boo foot that needs to be fixed before I can do any serious exercise. I'm not sure I've mentioned the boo boo foot until now, but it does exist. It's been a pain for the last several years. To make a long story short, I saw three different podiatrists in Hawaii, had numerous injections only to be here .. still in pain.
I love the doctor here at the Naval Station Clinic. I told him I had been dealing with this for over four years and he immediately said "It's time for surgery" Today, I scheduled my surgery. It is tentatively set for 17 March, just after my trip to Texas for JD and Meghan's wedding shower. (and the day after my birthday)
So, I'm feeling good about the foot.
I scheduled a facial for today. Not just any facial.. but a "Rock of Ages" facial. I think that's cool talk for old lady who needs wrinkle help facial. John was the guy who gave me my treatment. Let me just say... John was fabulous!!
I went to SpaVana which is just up the road a bit. I got their information in a welcome packet given to me by the Naval Officers Spouse's Club. I'm so glad I acted on that little brochure.
For 100.00 I received a treatment of a mini peel, Dermabrasion, a Power Serum, half body massage and just over all pampering. (for almost an hour and a half) I absolutely loved it and have scheduled my next visit.
John assures me that after a few visits I will be glowing. He gave me a little packet of night cream for tonight, but approved my normal skin care products for going forward from here. The one piece of advice he gave me on the drier skin was to exfoliate more often and with a GOOD scrub, not a cheapie. He said my Arbonne would work very well.
Ladies, invest in yourselves. Youth doesn't last forever and if you neglect your skin, as I have for many years, you will pay the price.
John said I look good for 45 (almost 46) and he thought I was younger. It earned him a 40.00 tip :)
I'm feeling good tonight and looking forward to the rest of my busy week.