Some sort of rhyme and reason

It might not look like it but there is sense of order in that pile slide on my desk. I can see my swap gift from Celeste (three awesome bags of ribbons, buttons and blossoms), Stacey's super sweet snowflake gift pack with yummy bonuses, my 52 words of Me "I" card and a corner of my "U" card, the PI Jan kit, a LO in progress and cardstock waiting to be used or filed in scraps. Some sense of something, a Nicole something, just waiting to be sorted into mini piles and jars and places. Waiting for their home till they come visit my space again.

Unfortunately I can romanticize my messy scrap table but not the rest of my house. when I get thrown two big classes a day before having to teach each one, the state of my house falls to shambles. How is it possible that I don't have cabinets that are empty when everything looks to be out on the tables and counters. yet when I open those doors they looks just as full! Nasty trick of the household Goddess I say.

Now I am off to review VBA code when all I want to do is shuffle around my stuff.

Not one but TWO!

Alex has a pretty good pattern started of losing teeth in pairs. His first lost tooth was followed the very next day by his second, mostly we suspect because he wanted to bring it home in a little plastic tooth the school nurse gives them. The next two followed the same pattern. Yesterday he lost tooth #5 to a banana, yup it came out in the banana. Tooth #6 came out by way of Mommy right before bed, it was barely hanging on and I wanted to avoid the drama of a tooth swallowed in the middle of the night. So Ms. Toothfairy made a trip for two last night. Even though I avoided drama the night before, Alex was full of it this morning when he couldn't find the tooth fairies deposit. Luckily we found it inside his pillow case, looks like Ms. TF had a hard time getting it under there without waking up bugman. *grin*

Bits of Weird

Oh yes I was tagged with the bits of weird that is floating out in cyber world right now, so here are mine:

• 
  I love to eat thin chips like old school Lays with cottage cheese. But the cottage cheese needs to be thick and not runny at all. It's super hard to find a container of thick small curd cottage cheese.
• 
  I like to read in the shower, yup, that says shower. I have found the perfect position for the nozzles so my book doesn't get wet. It doesn't get much better then white noise from the fan, a shut door, continuous stream of hot water, and a good book to get sucked into. You must have a very large hot water heater for this though. It was delightful when we had an endless supply of hot water in La Jolla. SOOOOooooo nice.
• 
  I sleep with a snuggley, well actually its a gagoon. I even carry it with me when I roll over at night. And if you don't have a gagoon, then you must get one.
• 
  Most nights I have nose rubbing fits. I will seriously rub my nose so much that I will wake Casey up who had to wake me up to make me stop. Sometimes I do it so much my nose bleeds, luckily that rarely happens anymore.
• 
  When I eat a banana, I always break up the bite in my mouth into three pieces. Naturally a banana will always split into three triangles, so I just do it as I eat it and it makes me smile.
• 
  I cross my toes when I am sitting somewhere, my mom says my dad does the same thing. And Alex he does it too.

Yup I am weird.

People who get tagged need to write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

Okay I am tagging MARTY, LISA, LEE ANN, CASEY, DENISE, & STACEY

A bit of the South

Daily shot of a couple grey curls in the mop of black.

Day 2 at the clients, big day that I actually conquered. First time in a long time that I thought I was going to puke with nerves. But I didn't hooray!

So I thwarted the barking dogs and crossed eyes today by wearing comfortable shoes ( hahahah that makes me giggle) and not looking at the projector screen, only at my monitor. I left early due to loads of rain and as I was dashing towards the door at the client location, an older gentleman with a newspaper over his head dashed in front of me to open the door (it was obvious that he ran the extra distance to beat me to the double doors to open them), then he dashed in front of me again to open the inner door and even took my umbrella and shook it out for me so I wouldn't get wet. He called me Ma'am but in a way that made me feel young not old and scabby, and even went out of his way to wish me a delightful day. It WAS delightful having a gentleman actually go out of his way to treat me respectfully and professionally. His behavior just brought all the other "professionals" selfish behavior to light for me. They are so busy rushing about trying to climb the corporate ladder that they forget to act the part that this corporate was built on. They might have the college degree but few of them have the manner and likable personalities that all the older executives I have dealt with at this corporation ooze. When the reins of command change hands to the younger generation of suits, it will be sad to see the hospitality and Southern charm disappear. It all most makes me forgive the company for their strict dress code policy of hose and heels. All most.

Barking dogs, oh shut up!

A must have to look like I belong among the living.

My dogs are barking, I had to dress like a professional today, which meant heals. And heals make my feet hurt since I have been living in the land of flops and UGG slippers. So I have achy feet, achy knees, and I am crossed eyed. I always have the wandering eye thing, but when ever I teach at this particular client location, I always come home with crossed eyes, something about the project screen and the monitors. So weird and uncomfortable. I will be teaching there the rest of the week, so more crossed eyes and barking dogs.

A random view

Today's daily shot.

I got crafty late last night and did this layout of Casey and I at his senior prom. He refused to wear a tux, so we went in renaissance garb instead. He does look amazing in tights, but I love him in a tux too. Tons of fun! Supplies are from my Poppy Ink January Kit. I exacto'd the cherry blossoms and birdie from some yummy Basic Grey paper. Love that stuff.

Welcome to 1995 and everything after.

Casey decided to finish cleaning up his office today which really means it meant me getting the rest of my boxes out of his closet. So now I have an additional 4 boxes sitting my in craft room. Oh but the treasure trove they hold, all my CD's. To think that I had gotten rid of them, a couple hundred have been sitting in boxes in our house, they made the trip from San Diego to San Antonio and this whole time I thought that they might be taking up space in a landfill somewhere. Sifting through the stacks and stacks of CD cases immediately made me giddy and filled me with music moments from highschool and college. One box I know hasn't been opened since 1999 was still taped shut wit Nicole's Desk scrawled across it, inside lingered many many CD's, a pair of UGG slippers I didn't know I had, candles, incense sticks, a music box full of rose buds from various bouquets given to me and a flyer on daycares.

To think I have have been living all these years forgetting about my Color Me Bad CD, oh the angst this caused my Dad when he bought it and played I wanna Sex You Up in the car on the way home. I think that was when I knew he didn't really listen to my music. But low and behold, it was my Dad who introduced me to Chris Issak, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Windham Hill.

As I make my stacked playlist for the rest of the day, I keep running across empty cases and it makes me wonder where that Cd ran off too. Did I leave it in my CD player of my Del Sol when we turned it in? Did it fall out of my car as we did Chinese Fire Drills on College Blvd? Did I lose it to a CD snitching friend from my sorority? Where or where did my K's Choice CD go to?

So now it is time to switch it up from Ashley MacIssac to Trainspotting to The Crow soundtrack to Baby Fox to Beacon Street No Doubt to Suzanne Vega to the Doors. Blissful Music Moments.

Pinewood Derby Day!

He didn't win the race, but he did win Most Expressive car! Pizza dough is rising, cheese is shredded for topping, and Casey is getting ready to cook up the sausages. Perfect meal after the derby and with rain in the sky.

Move away from the distraction.

With a calendar that looks like that, BUSY, and temptation sitting to the side, February's Poppy Ink kit, I am having a hard time focusing on the real work. So I am going to go cart myself downstairs with my laptop, power cord, 5 books to prep for new classes and the TW Adult Alternative channel on the tv. Dang it, what's for dinner???

Icy Pictures and recipe

Brrr, take a seat!

This mornings Icy view from the deck.

Icicles last night right before the last blast of the ice storm.

Icy backyard, everything crunched and was hard from the multiple layers of ice.

Is it time to go back inside? Pee, me in the cold? No way!

Sheets of ice from our fence.

Icy Hand.

Play set the next day, a couple of them actually touch making them ice bars. More where bars but by the time we got outside it had melted a bit.

Well being couped up in the house has turned me into a June Cleaver. We roasted a chicken on Sunday, recipe from Nigella's How to Eat Cookbook. Rinse and pat dry the bird, rub a bit of olive oil on the breast, salt and pepper, and stuff a lemon halved up its bum. roast at 400 degree for 15 per pound plus 10 minutes.

From that one bird we had Sunday dinner, chicken salad for sandwiches and meat for chicken noodle soup. I freeze the bones till I have two to three birds then make fresh chicken stock.

Monday night we made ribs and had leftover oven fires and veggies with them. And today I have a Pork Roast in the crock pot with sweet potatoes, white potatoes, apples and onions. Yum!

Let it Ice Part Duex

It is amazing how quiet it is with everyone still asleep. I have been up since 5:30am for one reason or another, I figured there was no point in going back to sleep since I would just be up again and then very groggy. Between the winter cold, the cloudy sky, and the blankets I tacked up over the windows to keep the freeze at bay, our entire upstairs is shrouded in darkness, like a cocoon.

Last night I had a scrap attack while prepping a new class. I ended up finishing the page preps on my Thankful album, all I have to do now is mega journaling and photo spreads. I also prepped a page in Alex's life album and started my 52 words for me deck album. Pictures coming soon, once I get some decent natural light.

The hard freeze is expected to end today, which means all the lovely icicles we have hanging off of our house will turn into potential weapons when the ice melts. I have a feeling we will go on an icicles busting spree at some point today, especially the deck. Other then that we are hunkering down for day two of the Ice Storm, Alex is out of school for today as well and most of the city is shut down due to horribly icy roads and bridges. Pictures of our icy yard to come soon.

Time to make breakfast and watch the news.

Alex has a ICE day!!

BBbbbrrrrrrrrr, and its just getting colder.

Guarding the Quilts

Three of the dozen quilts we have around our house, thanks to my mom. Star blanket is Alex's crib quilt from when he was a baby, the Christmas quilt is a special one my mom made Alex last year, and the bottom quilt is extra special since it is made up of pieces of all Alex's swaddling blankets that my mom made (see a trend here?) and chenille. Mister Snake is just extra protection from the cold.

How I prepare for an Ice Storm

I prepared for the coming Ice Storm by making an Ice Cake!! Icy only because of the color I made the icing, and the wee bitty white dots I shook on top. Seriously though, it was from scratch and so yummy, especially the Icing which is the first recipe to make MORE then I needed and it was so incredibly yummy. Think marshmallow cream meets butter cream.

But before the Ice Cake I roasted a chicken with Nigella's basic recipe, made Oven Fries ala Nicole from Joie de Vivre, and mixed veggies and salad's with our favorite dressing, Marie's Poppy Seed ( Lisa introduced us to this dressing and we just found it again out here in SA).

So now our tummys are full with home made food, our feet are warm from the fire in the fireplace, and I am stealing upstairs to check the NOAA site as often as I can.

Picture Peeks

Our new calendar, I could hardly pass this pretty boy up when he was 75% off. Love all the muted colors.

Oh temptation sitting on the shelf. If you're near a TJ's you have to try these chocolate covered sunflower seeds, SO GOOD!
Bare Mantel, now what to do with it. Makes me want to paint.
Cold pups waiting to come in while we wait for them to do their business. Seems we are always waiting. Winter storm is on it's way!
Which brings me to the comfort cookies I made last night. And one little hand sneaking a star.
And of course I couldn't NOT show the comfort toastie I made Casey on my HOME MADE Italian bread, it was huge and crispy and so fragrant!

Letting Christmas go

I finally tonight put away all our Christmas decorations. By some magic feat of organization, I was able to fit it all into our downstairs closet, except two tubs that go in my craft closet. Hooray! A fitting end to our Christmas decor is the chilly winter/ice storm coming our way. In a single hours time today, we dropped from 70 to 50 degrees, and now we have three days of winter mix and SNOW in our forecast. We stocked up at the store with lots of yummy things to cook, our woodpile is replenished, and now I am ready to sit and relax after my marathon de-decorating. Bliss...

Come out Come out Where ever you are

Readers this one is all about you. I know I have some friends and not yet known to me friends who read my bloggity rambles, but you rarely leave me comments. And I must admit that some days I wonder if its just my dad and me reading my blog. Or me and Lisa since she would win my comment award if I had one.

So in support of National DeLurking Week I am asking sweetly with sugar and sunshine on top for you to come out from behind your monitor, touch your keyboard, and leave me a quick note, just so I know your out there. Because if no one leaves me a love note, I will know that it is just my dad and Lisa checking in on my rambles. Which means I will have to threaten them with a lifetime of Bella Licks if they ever stop reading. With that in mind I will leave you with this, my absolutely favorite card from Casey ever. Cracks me up.

The Fine line of Balance

Effort...

That is a big word for me Just enough effort to get by? Effort that goes above and beyond? Effort wasted and squandered on the wrong things? Varying degrees of effort are doled out for everything we decide to do.

Focus...

A second big word that should be expanded only to say Focus on my Family. With this loving focus, I have had to change the amount of effort put to outside obligations.

Tonight, one obligation and the expectations of a single one were lowered. When I was asked with big puppy dog eyes by my son to be his Den leader, I happily said yes, not really aware of the sheer amount of work put into running a den successfully. And I did suceed right out of the gates at having an awesome night planned for every den meeting and getting all my tigers accomplishing their requirments to advance. Simply because I want the best for my son, and if 13 other boys are effected by that, then more the better.

But with this new year and new focus, I have purposely let that obligation slide. I no longer spend 4-6 hours a week preparing for a den meeting. I pick a couple topics, cover them using what tools I can from the school, and get (when I can) some sort of cheap basic craft for the boys to use. I also wear a second hat for the Pack, that of awards coordinator, which is alot of work mostly in the planning and tracking stages, but alot of work still. But with the new focus, that obligation has been totally downsized in my life. No more special trips to the scout shop and council, I hit it up when I happen to be on that side of town which is only once a month. But I have planned that once a month trip to work around the due dates for those awards. I am just not strictly controlled by it anymore.

Well tonight, I had to set things straight with one single ambitious parent who has unfortuntely colored his sons view of the process with his disappointment. Nothing is as heart breaking as hearing a 6 year old say, "Why bother?". So I told him, back off unless you want to take over the job of it and stop influencing your sons enjoyment of the cub scouting process with your obsessive complusive tendencies. And he agreed, mostly because I called him on it and because he knows I won't stand for manipulation. *sigh* It made for a long, mentally draining night.

Once in the car, I shook it off, returned library books and gased up all the while explaing to Alex how the earth rotations on axis and why recycleing is so important.

My family is my focus and if outside events take me away from that, then they must go. Fortuntely, Casey and I agree that scouting is a great event for Alex, and so has my leadership position with the den. But as soon as I can find a capible parent, I am shucking off the mantle of awards and will once again enjoy the process with out disappointment coloring my vision.

Engineering Genius

Behold my Bugman's engineering genius with the train tracks and random blocks ( and ignore the random playroom carpet stains). Seriously my kid loves his old tried and true toys so much more now that we purged his playroom again. With the varied game stations as evidence on the table behind him, the tub of actions figures and the out of sight bookcase of toys you would think he would switch things up a wee bit. But nope, this train track designer ( Six-TEEN DEE-ziners!) has been happy content and CLEANING UP (oh my stars) everyday for a week. Hooray! Hell he could teach TXDot a thing or two about designing freeways.


Whoa, what is Scooby-Doo doing? I didn't have the heart to tell him today that Scooby-Doo creator died. But what does a 6 year old care as long as he can watch his Scooby Dvd's still? And I love this classic face, it is the perfect example of the mixing of our two families. I can see the Price side with the slack jawed look of one who is TV engrossed, and the Boyles eyes figuring out all he see's while his hands do something clever to pass the TV time. Plus you can spy the mole on his right hand that both me and my dad have as well. Love that birthmark. It wasn't something I realized we shared till I noticed we all had it after Alex was born. Love that mark. And notice his glasses, he could feed an army off them. Yuck! And the EARRS, the ears, those are totally Casey's ears and were the first thing I noticed about Alex when they laid him on my tummy. I was to tired and drugged up ( an entirely different post) to count his fingers and toes, but those ears. I remember telling Casey he had his ears and noticing the small bloody footprint on Casey's white polo shirt. The things I remember from childbirth...

Sight

What do you stare at all day?

For me it is Alex art, 2007 Goals mini books, wind chimes, ornament close to my heart, benihana's birthday picture right before we left San Diego, calendar, nude postcard, butterfly, froggie fairy, Casey card, Alex's mug, budget, Tim Cantor art, DMB lyrics with Casey notes, C&N picture, Alex hand, my glass jars of pens and markers, laptop, and Pinewood derby car.

Take a picture and post the link in my comments. I want to see your space.

Something Somewhere to the rescue!

Something somewhere taught me to use a credit card to scrap ice off your wind shield if you needed to de-ice it in a pinch. Thank goodness I had that mini tidbit of info squirreled away in my mind because today on the way to school, I had to pull over, only two houses from ours, and scrap the windshield due to a lovely spray of ice that froze itself to the glass when I accidentally hit the dang wiper fluid arm. Gah! But my triple A card came in handy! It was blissful to walk back in the door and head up to my craft space to thaw out. My craft space is the room that gets the most air (hot or cold) pumped into it since it use to be a great room before divided into two. Now I am tackling a reorganization of Casey travel folder since it has fallen into mess due to the holiday crazies! Why oh why don't I just stay with my routine's and habits?!

A Baby for B & T and Flannel

CONGRATULATIONS Brooke and Tyson on your new son, Logan Tyson!!! So excited and happy for you.

Could you resist the tempting siren's call of flannel memories still flitting the surface of your mind only an hour after departing it's womb like folds. Me neither, hence the 11am wake up. Ah blissful flannel, oh I love you and the cushion of sleep you bring me. I love flannel sheet so much that I submit Casey to them all year long, only changing the top sheet to brushed cotton on the hottest of months. Ah flannel, how I love you.

Some things grow with you. Most don't.

Last night I was working on a mini album that is a totally lift of AE. One main staple while scrapping is music, need it, crave it, each CD marks a project with its flavor. Last night I stumbled across Jagged Little Pill. AH! I thought, this is perfect, good chick rock music with good memories attached to it. So into my trusty player it went, and shortly after I remembered why I have forgotten about it. Those songs that once were yelled with glee while driving my '66 Buick special on the way to Lit class, pumped out of an old tape deck that was bolted to my dash, now sound harsh, under produced, and whiny. It was with glee that I removed JLP and put in its place the Queen of reinvention, Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor. Perfect One.

Now I am off to read and snuggle with Alex and Casey by the little of his origami balloons lanterns and Christmas tree that we don't have the heart to put away yet. Perfect Two.

Then I will go soak in a hot tub with the door shut and curtains drawn as I fall into a new book. Perfect Three.

Christmas Cards 2007

Once again I lifted an Ali Layout for my 2007 Christmas Cards. This year the center peice is the Santa and Reindeer overlay from Lorette and George's card.

So please be careful with me, I'm sensitive

And I'd like to stay that way...

My sweet gentle boy is so sensitive. Tonight we had to go over his hard to lose emotions over the loss of Honey Bear, who has been gone for all most a year and a half. Between snuggles and hugs and wiping his tears, I thought we had it settled for the night, then I heard him crying some more when I had left the room. I came back with more hugs and snuggles, Daddy came in with Twain and had puppy loves, and still my sensitive sweet boy is sniffling.

I was about his age when we gave up one of "my" cats, Bree. As an adult I can see why she was given up, she pee'd everywhere! But it was heart breaking for me, it was something that I dwelled on for months. I can even remember the white kitty sticker I put on my school book cover and wrote, I miss you Bree on it. I think as an only child you rely on those pet friendships. They become our consistent after school companions. And when they are gone whether back to the human society or over the fence into the greenbelt, it is a hard loss to get over.

Tonight Alex was telling me his favorite qualities of Honey Bear, she never licked him too much ans she would pull him around. Two simple basic qualities that made our little boys heart well up and overflow like a pot of honey. When I mentioned that Bella loves to give him kisses and follows him around whenever he is outside, he simply said she licks too much. Which just goes to show that some kissy licks are well placed and are priceless.