Friday Fragments!

It's that time again...time for Friday Fragments!

I watched a season's worth of Private Practice this week to clear up some space on the DVR. It was better than I expected and now I am all caught up and just in time for the big Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover event next week. Can you say February Sweeps?
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I joined the YMCA and even went once this week. Next week, my goal is two times. Baby steps.
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I am lucky to have the best mom in the world, and today is her birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!
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I still have a whole season of My Name is Earl to watch.
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Isn't it funny how the guys we didn't have the time of day for in our younger years are now the cutest men? Gotta love Facebook.
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Presented a three hour training to our residential staff today. It was really invigorating. I never thought I would see the day that I would be invigorated by standing up and talking in front or a room full of people.
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Life really is like a box of chocolates. And I love the fruit filled ones. You know the ones with the pastel pink cream or orange filling?
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I am going to attempt to make homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries this weekend to take to work to give to my coworkers for Valentines Day. The recipe says they take a few weeks to "cure" whatever that means.
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That's all folks!
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If you are interested in doing a Friday Fragment, join Mrs 4444 over atHalf Past Kissin Time.

Awesomeness

Greetings! Bad weather kept me home yesterday and today I am home with a sick baby. I am getting caught up on a few things so it's not all bad.

Like, I just got tickets to this:

Elton John and Billy Joel: Face2Face concert!

I am so excited! Kevin and I both adore Elton John and while I got to see him live in Las Vegas with Sheila and Enola (bad topic that we don't bring up), Kevin never has. He came to Columbia a few years ago but tickets sold out fast. But this time, we are going to St. Louis to see what will be an amazing show. How can you go wrong with Elton John AND Billy Joel. From what I have read, they start out face-to-face, or rather piano to piano on the stage, singing duets. Then they each do their own shows and end together. Awesome!

Lessons From Kaelyn Part Two

Kaelyn taught this lesson first to her Grandma and then later to me on Inaugeration Day. It's a lesson in history. I am having her narrate as it's a pretty involved and complicated lesson.

A long time ago, there were white persons and dark persons. And all the light persons got to be queen and kings. And the dark persons didn't get to have what they wanted, only what the queens and kings got to say they could. And one day the President Abraham Lincoln came and said "It's okay for people to have what they want!" And one light person said to another person to kill Abraham Lincoln.

The story changes a bit in each retelling. When she first told us, the dark persons were "brown persons" and President Obama was our first brown president. Also the brown persons were servants, rather than slaves. Very interesting. What is funny to me is how in her retelling, it sounds like a fairy tale...

Lessons from Kaelyn

I learn so much from my little kindergartener that I just feel compelled to pass them on. Today's lesson is a science lesson.

It seems that the human brain is similar to a large ball of gum. Memories and smart stuff stick to it. There is red stuff surrounding the brain. If you get something really smart, it blasts like a lightening bolt to another red thing. It is super cool and awesome.

Friday Fragments

It's that time again...time for Friday Fragments!



Okay, who cried while watching Grey's Anatomy last night?

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I am planning on joining the YMCA today. As soon as I get done on the computer, that is.

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Cancer really, really sucks.

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I a very happy that my husband has Saturday and Sunday off this weekend.

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I just finished feeding the dog, watering the hermit crabs and petting the cat. And I cleaned out the bird cage. Aren't pets fun?

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I did nine job interviews this week at work. Seven of those were with people with developmental disabilities which makes for a very interesting interview.

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I don't know what I would do without my Mom and Dad.

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Kaelyn at five, amazes me with her insight and intellect. She is one smart cookie!

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Kate at three, just likes to eat cookies.

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I miss my dog Bailey so much. I miss him sleeping under the covers with me.

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I can't wait for Hollywood week on Idol.

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I have to work until 8 pm again tonight teaching my Crisis Prevention class.

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If you are interested in doing a Friday Fragment, join Mrs 4444 over atHalf Past Kissin Time.

House Tour Post One

I am about to embark on my most involved blog project to date. I guess it's also my first blog project as well. Over the next few weeks, or months, I am going to post a house tour. I love my home and want to share it.

We're not entirely sure of the age of our house but is around ninety years old. I will write a post someday soon about what I know of the house's history.

First on the tour is the dining room, located smack dab in the middle of the house.

The most important thing in the dining room is the dining room table. I bought this table in 1993 and it has made many moves with me...more then I can count. My dining room is decorated in blue and yellow. My favorite flower is a blue hydrangea and that was the inspiration for my room. The picture that hangs on the opposite wall was from Home Interiors. I saw it in a catalog and had to have it. It was years before I would have a dining room to hang it but I hung on to it until I did.

The dining room table again. That is a bowl with lemons on it. The table cloth I just got today at Artichoke Annie's in Columbia. It is somewhat difficult to find stuff in yellow and blue. I am now on the hunt for a rug to go under the table. We bought our house in 2005 and shortly after I bought this plaid wallpaper. Last Christmas, I mentioned it to my mother-in-law and the next thing I knew we were painting and wallpapering. I love the room now. The yellow is so warm and sunshiney good.


The china cabinet is built in. It holds a lot of stuff. The blue and white plates are Currier and Ives and we have an entire set that belonged to Kevin's grandparents. There is a lot of other odds and ends in there that I have collected over the years. On top is my Fiesta Ware collection.

This wall is a hodge podge that has never come together for me. The silver tree picture frame on the right was a gift from Woodhaven for my tenth anniversary of working there. I haven't put any pictures in it yet. The white shelf kind of hides the thermostats.

This is the opposite wall of the one above and is an outside wall. The black cabinet houses Kevin's Compaq computer that he refuses to get rid of despite it being over a decade old. The picture of the girls is one taken Christmas 2006. They were tired of having their pictures taken and I just loved the expressions on their faces. The blue rooster I fell in love with at Hobby Lobby but he was expensive so I had to wait for one of their 50% off sales. The writing on the wall to the right reads "Having someone to love is Family. Having somewhere to go is Home. Having both is a Blessing." It's one of those rub-off quotes. The blue oval above it is a ceramic plaque that reads "First Star to the right and straight on til morning." My sister gave it to me and it means the world to me. I love Tinkerbell and Peter Pan! The cobalt blue vase my other sister gave to me.

This table sits in front of the window, obviously. There are different family pictures on there. The lamp Kevin gave me for Valentines Day last year. Kevin's Dad made the table.



This cute little table I got at an antique store in Columbia. It's a phone stand and has built in magazine holders on the sides. The paint is worn and it is very shabby chic! There is a vase of hydrangeas on the table and some more family pictures. It also holds the phone and what looks to be a milltion phonebooks. Note to self: throw out some phone books! The doorway to the right leads to the kitchen.



This picture shows the hard wood floors that are newly refinished. It also shows Kate.


This plant is one I have been trying to kill due to neglect but that Kevin is now saving. I did buy the pretty blue watering thing and stuck it in there. The plant does seem happier now. It is serious need of more dirt. I think it got knocked over one too many times.

This is the last shot of the dining room looking back into the living room. The doorway on the left goes into the office area. The first door on the right goes upstairs and the second door goes into my closet. That door is nailed shut and I only use the other side. I'll explain more about that later.

So, that's my dining room. I hope you enjoyed our first stop on the home tour.

Precious Moments

I bought myself a fancy new digital video camera for Christmas. It's really nice and someday I may even figure out how to use all the features. When Kaelyn was born, we bought a video camera, but in five years, it was already outdated. I was missing out on Kate growing up, preserving all those precious moments. So in a moment of online shopping fury, I bought one of the Home Shopping Network.

But it's those little moments that occur when there's a camera no where near that you wish you could preserve. Like this morning. Kate and I had went upstairs to wake Kaelyn up. Kate, bossy as usual, was telling Kaelyn something. To emphasize her point, she added "Kaelyn Mae" with as much attitude as she could muster (which is a lot). I am still giggling. She was so not trying to be funny, but it was. I know, you had to be there. It's only been in the past few weeks that Kate has started calling Kaelyn "Kaelyn" and not "Kae Kae" much to Kaelyn's delight. It appears Kaelyn thinks she has outgrown being called "Kae Kae".

It's these moments, these little interactions, that make them so precious to me and make me want to freeze time right to this moment and not let them age another year or grow another inch.

MInd Meanderings

It's Sunday night again with very little accomplished for the weekend. I did get a bit of house cleaning done with Mom's help yesterday. We had a nice family dinner at Mom and Dad's today. The rest of the time, the girls and I hung out.

I got some new body spray in the flavor Buttercream Vanilla. I put some on and Kaelyn commented that I smelled like pudding! Everybody likes pudding, so you can't beat that! It really does smell yummy.

Kevin is teaching Kaelyn how to play checkers. She is quite good, but her mind works that way. I hate checkers and she keeps begging me to play with her. I feel bad but I really hate checkers. They are playing a "challenge" at the moment and she wants everyone to watch. She doesn't understand that checkers isn't that fun to watch.

I made a really yummy chicken pot pie last night. It was so easy and was really good. Comfort food at it's best. Mom made pot roast today...more comfort food. I am feeling rather full tonight.

We played musical beds again last night. I fell asleep on the couch watching Friday Night Lights. Around 12:30, Kate came down and had to use the bathroom. She needed help with her jammies. She felt really warm to me, so I had her lay down on the couch with me. I woke up a bit later, very squished and moved to the opposite end of the couch. A few hours later, I went and got into my bed. Here came Kaelyn at 4:30 am saying she couldn't sleep. She crawled in with us, squishing me again. I hate to be squished when I sleep. I dozed off but then woke up enough to go up to her bed. And that's where they found me this morning.

I just love kids in footie jammies. I think the world would be a better place if that was the only clothes we all wore. We all just went around in footie jammies all the time. That would be so great.

And what do you think of my new back ground?

2009 Book List

I have always wanted to keep a list of books that I read over the course of years time. This year I am going to do it, right here!

January
A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Beach House by Jane Green
Mark's Story by Tim LaHaye

That's all so far. I wonder, should Audio Books count? I am thinking, yes, they should count and will have one to add soon.

The Office

This is where I spend my days. I didn't realize it was so messy until I looked at the pictures. OH well, it's organized mess. When I started it was a drab white room that needed painting. I painted it myself. The desk and library table came from Kemper Military School and still has Kemper stationary and hall passes in the drawers. The stuff on the book case in my next project...developing a resource library.

Friday Night Lights

Yay!! Friday Night Lights is back on tonight. I love that show. I'll add it to my lengthy list of shows I have taped on the DVR that I never get to watch!

Friday Fragments

After half a school year, I still get a little lump in my throat each morning when I drop Kaelyn off at school. The school is so big and she is so little. She can hardly open the front door of the school on her own, for pity’s sake!
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Call me skeptical, but I really doubt that no two snowflakes are the same. How do they know?
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I do not like four judges on American Idol. Nothing personal, I just don’t like change. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.
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I am so much happier than I was this time last year.
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The Terrible Two’s are now the Terrible Three’s.
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I had to stop at the store on the way to work to buy boots to warm my feet because it was that cold.
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There are things about the Amish lifestyle that I find very enticing.
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Cancer sucks.
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I love seeing old friends on Facebook. And some old enemies too.
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We are all more alike than we are different.
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I can never figure out when to use “then” or “than” in sentences.
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I am hungry for some Dinty Moore Beef Stew.
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We are 5 for 5 on oversleeping this week.
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If you are interested in doing a Friday Fragment, join Mrs 4444 over atHalf Past Kissin Time.

Empty Nest

I realize that I was whining a bit in my last post. My days are crazy and exhausting and sometimes frustrating. But I remember the years before I was married and had the girls. My life was still busy but there was an emptiness that was always with me. And I know soon enough, my house will be empty again, the girls away at college. And therefore, I embrace these crazy days and am truly trying to cherish every minute of them. Time goes too fast.

Ballet Night

Good Golly Molly, it has already been a very looooonnnngggg week.

It's Ballet night and I am always exhausted on ballet night. I rush home from work, get the kids, fight with Kaelyn to get her to go to ballet, drop Kate off with Mom and Dad, drive back to town, sit through ballet, drive back home, pick up Kate, and try to get them to bed on time. I feel like I ran a marathon. Every Tuesday.

And that was one heck of a run-on sentence. Sorry about that.

Kate has been the best child about going to bed. Until she turned three. We've been having a few problems the past few weeks. It's like she finally realized that she is missing something when she heads upstairs to bed. She gets her blanket yelling, "I DO IT!" And then she must turn the light on herself again saying "I DO IT!" She climbs up the long flight of stairs, dragging her blankie behind her. I can't start up the stairs until she is at the top and she turns around and says "You turn". Once upstairs, she shuts the bedroom door, and rings the doorbell to their bedroom, and then knocks. She instructs me to knock, and then finally opens the door. She climbs into bed and I must cover her with her blanket. We kiss, hug and say "Wuv you". I go back downstairs and sit down for a moment, to take a breath.

And less than three minutes later, I hear her upstairs calling my name. I try to ignore her for a few minutes but she is persistant. I yell up at her, and she yells back that she has to potty. I tell her to come on down. She does, she potties. And then we have to do the entire routine again. The entire thing.

This is going on while Kaelyn sits in the living room, whining that she can't eat her cheetos without cartoons on. The DVR is recording The Biggest Loser and American Idol for me so I can't turn on cartoons, much to Kaelyn's dismay. She is going to starve to death as she keeps repeatedly crying and whining to me. Kaelyn is my drama queen. I love them dearly but they wear me out. Especially on ballet night.

Yes, I have grand illusions that I will someday have the time to watch American Idol and The Biggest Loser but I can dare to dream.

Hump Day

Hump Day already! It's been a good week. The girls have been wonderful to get ready in the mornings. I have gotten up each day at 6 am and done the Biggest Loser Cardio Max workout and then in the evening did the Yoga workout. I know its only been three days but tt's a start and you have to start somewhere. And I am already feeling stronger. They are both really good workouts.

I have been busy at work, but am getting a lot accomplished. I have officially been there three months now and am happy about that. It was a hard decision for me to start a new job, but I am glad I did.

Nothing else new around here.

Back to Reality

I am so glad that school starts again tomorrow and we can get back on routine. It is so funny...last fall, I really dreaded school starting but now it's great. The girls do quite well in the mornings and we are used to getting up early and getting out the door. It's been a nice holiday break but we are ready for our lives back.

It was a fun weekend with my sister and family here from Nebraska. Good food, games, presents, laughs...it doesn't get any better than that! We had Kate's birthday party here on Saturday and it went well. On the way back to mom's, she fell on the step and scraped her knee. I got her bandaged up, and within thirty minutes she was sound asleep on the chair. We carried her in to the bed and she slept for several hours. I had to wake her up. This is pretty unheard of from Kate so she must have been tired. And then we realized that she hit her head when she fell too! We were a little concerned about concussion for awhile and called my nurse sister back to assess the situation. But all is well.

So, the tree is down, the house is clean and tomorrow is a new day. Finally!

Happy New Year!

It's a new year! 2009...full of all kinds of possibilities.