Starting My Garden

Spring is coming... no matter what the weather is doing.. my little garden has signs of spring.. little shoots poking through the dirt in search of sunshine. So I decided to get started in the house too.  I  started with some flowers that hopefully will be filling the hanging planters in a few months and filling the yard with color.

Using egg shells here... dirt is a mix of potting soil and coffee grounds and egg shells.

Toilet paper tubes... just like the egg shells I can plant these directly into the planter boxes once they are ready to move outside. 

 Here are the seeds.... collected over the years from flowers I love.

Now I mist with water twice a day and watch so closely for any tiny signs of life.  This week I will be planting some herbs.. thinking I may get them already started though.. I am not very patient and want them now :)

Another Oregon Weekend

Last weekend we were in Portland for the garden show and learned that this weekend there would be a model train show... Dave also knows someone in Oregon who is building a motor home on a semi truck frame in the area so once again we headed to Oregon for a weekend trip.  It was amazing... every time we visit Oregon I love it more.  This last weekend we first headed to Dave's friends  house.. which is near McMinniville Oregon.. and while we were driving through there we saw this

which turns out to be a water park at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.  Talk about amazing... you go up inside the plane and then ( click on the link to see pictures) there are tubes coming out of it into the building that you slide down... so cool!  

That is only part of it though.. the Spruce Goose lives there...  I am so excited .. this thing is huge.. you hear about how big it is.. but until you are standing there under it.. you have no clue.  So amazing in so many ways.

This place is filled with a lot of planes and some tanks and at least two buildings full of stuff... and the outside has stuff all over too... you can walk up to and touch.... they also have Imax movies.. and just a lot of things to do.. this is the kind of place that you need a whole day to explore.. we had 30 minutes :(  Good news is.. we will be going back with a whole day just to spend here.

So off to friends house and we got to visit there and see the motor home he is building.. look forward to watching it progress over the next year and I am sure there will be more posts about it :)  Then we decided to heard to Tillamook to spend the night... wanted a place near the water and closer to Portland for our trip on Sunday.  Found a nice hotel for real cheap... it even had a telephone in the bathroom.  Gross!!!  lol but other than that it was very nice.. the breakfast in the morning was basically nothing so we headed into town to find a small town place.. found a pancake house that was great.. service was top notch and I had biscuits and gravy with sausage just like grandma used to make.. no store bought mix here :)  We then drove around town a bit.. did not have very much time which was bad because we now have found another place where we want to spend a good long week.  So many things to do in this little town.... we drove past the cheese factory.. have to go check that out.. I am going back there for the tour and some cheese.  Then we headed out to the beach.. wanted to see the light house..

So beautiful... we were so lucky.. the skies cleared up and we were able to spend some time just taking some pictures and enjoying the day. We played on the beach a little bit but then spent more time up here on the cliff with the light house.. the views were just amazing. 

                                       

Checked out another Air Museum.. this one in Tillamook.. Noticed it in the dark when we drove into town.. a HUGE building... when we drove out in the day light we were able to see just how huge.. look at this plane parked in front of the building... HUGE!!

You can check here for some history on the place and stats on its size and some pictures.. this building was built to house blimps.. in 1942.. to keep our coasts safe... amazing!   Again we did not get to go in.. just did not have time.. we really need at least a week in this area.. between the beaches and the cliffs and the shop and the cheese and the blimp hangers...SO SO much to do!

We did make it to the model railroad show in Portland.. which was the big reason for heading that way.. and it was not as big of a show as we had thought it would be.. but it was still a nice show. Lots of things to see... and a lot of kids there.. it is nice to see so many generations getting involved.  My favorite part of the show was Dave taking all the pictures... he took a lot of fun shots and in so many of them you can not even tell it is model railroad stuff and not a real train.  I only took a couple of pictures.. I am not really good at this type of thing.. all of my pictures you could tell it was model rail roads.. lots of people in my shots... my favorite picture that I took was this one of Dave taking a picture :) 

That was our second trip to Oregon in as many weeks... and I am not sure how we will fit some more in there but I know I need to spend more time there .. there is just never enough time... every minute seems to lead me wanting 5 more.  I am guessing that is good and bad... good in that I will never run out of things and places I want to go and see... and bad in that I will never be able to get them all seen and done. I am not sure how anyone is ever bored.. there are so many things to do and places to see. 

I am thinking we are home for the next few weekends... we have the shop so close to being done.. and a list of orders to start working on.  We have a bigger vacation/road trip we are planning for this summer.. and a couple smaller ones.  My sisters wedding is coming up in a month so I will be making a lot of cake pops and treats... and getting ready to be puppy sitting :)  This next month should be wonderfully busy just with stuff around here :)

Weekend in Portland

It seems as if it has been raining ( buckets of it ) for weeks now.. and it has not been that bad... not really.  Friday we took off for Portland with a stop over at my parents house.. and it did rain cats and dogs all the way there. Traffic was horrible and it took us forever.  People .. Turn on your lights if you are driving in the rain... it truly increases your chances of being seen and not ran over.  It was so grey.. and wet but the Space Needle was still looking awesome!

Finally made it to my parents and had a wonderful dinner and visited... we spent the night there and had a great relaxed visit in the morning before we headed out... in the rain.. for Portland.  We finally were able to stop and check out a log furniture store we had been wanting to see... it was a nice place.... we stopped at a lot of places this weekend that we have driven past many times and it was either too late or we were in a hurry. It was great.... found the chrome shop, it was closed, but we know we want to stop when we can.. and we found a couple of great train/hobby shops in Portland.  

One of the best things that happened was that as we drove over the river into Oregon.. it stopped raining... so we were able to do all our running around and stay dry.  Even found a little sign of Spring 

Saturday night we stayed in Salem and had dinner at Adam's Rib Smokehouse and it was so good!  Dave had the turkey and I had the ham and we switched up half way through... oh yeah some of the best smoked meat I have had in a long time!

Sunday we headed to the Garden show.. which was the whole reason for being in Portland... I had won some tickets from Linda of Steider Studios .. she had a giveaway to try to get more people to her facebook page.. so.. if you are interested in Pacific Northwest Artists.. or Beautiful glass work... this is her facebook page Here and her shop is Here  She has hand made buttons, bowls, platters, garden ornaments, bracelets and so much more! The treasure box above shows off one of the things I loved while looking at her stuff.. she explained how she draws on the glass with the gold.. it is so much more beautiful in person even. 

We saw so many things we liked and would love to work into the yard.. and we saw great ideas for lots of things we want to make :)

 Love this big bulky table and mismatched chairs

Fun Lanterns

I am really excited to start thinking about the back yard... I do understand that it will be 5 years or so until I really can start adding in things like lanterns... but.. I am still excited and making my lists :)

~Michelle

Happy Valentine Cookie Love

Last year I made these for Valentines day... this year Dave and I are over 130 lbs less than we were last year.. so I will not be making these.  When there are more than two of us in the home to help eat them.. I will make them again :)  I could not just let Valentines day go by without some cookie love though so I thought I would share these with you :)  Have a wonderful day!!

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe... well one of them! This one is really easy and always taste great.

Mix together

1/2 cup ( one cube ) softened butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla *you could add a little bit of another flavor.. almond is so good.. peppermint for Christmas*
1 egg

add in

2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

I put it in the fridge for a little bit ( while I get the sprinkles ready ) just to make it a little easier to handle.

Drop by spoon (small.. cookie will be about double the size) onto the cookie sheet and then using the bottom of a glass you have dipped in the sprinkles to flatten the dough with.

Bake at 350 for about 7 minutes, you want to catch them just before they start to brown.


You can use a heart shaped cookie cutter.... then try the butter cream recipe from java cupcakes to frost them. They are so good! I am not used to decorating anything, having as many kids as I did it was about how many I could make and how fast.. they could eat them faster than I could cook them.. and they could care less what they looked like. So I need a bit more ( ok a lot ) practice with my decorating.

Dad uses Facebook to teach daughter a lesson

Dad uses Facebook to teach daughter a lesson: A 15-year-old puts up a Facebook post bashing her parents for making her work too hard, dad reacts by posting a video response to her grievances on her Facebook page.

This dad is awesome!! I am so disgusted with how many parents think it is their "job" to be their childs best friend. They let their children do whatever they want.. be rude and mean and hurtful. Use the cover of "expressing themselves" or some such BS. Parents who allow their children to run free on facebook and twitter and in real life. It breaks my heart to see so many children not being taught respect.. for others or for themselves. When my kids were growing up.. and still ... I have always been known as the bitchy mom... my house always has had rules...and I followed through with consequences and often my kids did not like me at all... at times they picked going to their dads where there was no rules.. but now they are all over 18... and all moved out doing their own things and paying their own bills.. and I am able to work on real friendships with them.. because I worked hard at always being their mom first.. my Job was to teach them to be adults... to be able to think and manage their own lives... to be independent.. to keep them safe.. not only from others but from themselves. When we as parents do not do the job we signed up for when having children.. we teach them a lot more than we think.. and none of it is good... our children know we quit on them.. they know we are failures... that we just did not care enough to put in the work... when you do a half ass job.. no matter the job.. it comes back to hurt you and every one involved. We as parents will make mistakes.. but we always need to do our best.. we need to teach by example.


The dad Tommy has posted some updates to the first video and you can read on his facebook page  Here 

*This is my blog and my opinions on parenting.. based on my experience growing up and raising kids .... if you do not agree that is your right.

Dessert on Sticks part 2

Yesterday I made more cake pops.. last batch here... trying out all the to see which ones will be best for sisters wedding.... These both get my vote for Yes!

I used a confetti cake mix... with a cream cheese to mix it up and hold it together. In half I added some coconut and then dipped in white chocolate and then coconut and the other half I did with no coconut and just dipped in sprinkles. I would not do the valentine sprinkles for sisters wedding.. but since I am giving away this match and it happens to be close to Valentines day I thought this would be fun. Dave said that they taste like the pink and white frosted animal cookies.. but in cake and on a stick... well they do.. and those cookies have always been one of my favorites.

So now I have made... chocolate peanut butter cake balls.. .. just chocolate ones.... dipped Oreos... and dipped peanut butter cookies...S'mores..... then confetti cake in white chocolate.. with and without coconut. I am thinking I will skip the peanut butter cookies.. the chocolate peanut butter cake balls are already a for sure...I am thinking I want to do a chocolate mint cake ball.. thinking of wrapping the cake around a jr mint... also have thought of a wrapping it around a rolo... I am thinking of maybe a fruity cake... strawberry.. maybe... I am not sure.. What flavor combo would you love??

Back Yard Oasis

Love this site www.BlueWheelBarrow.biz and anything we do not end up doing ourselves I will be calling them about.. they just do amazing work and are awesome people! They have some great information on their blog too about native plants.

The house is all finished... it is our castle now... and the shop is in the finishing stages. Was almost starting to feel lost without a new project to be focusing on. This weekend we started really talking about the back yard and the plans we have for it. We have not done much in the yard in the last 5 years... we did clean up the parking areas.. lined them with rail road ties and filled in with gravel and rock. Cleaned it up and gave it some definition.. looks great but we have so many more things we want to do. We basically have 3 sections to the yard... the driveway and parking area.... the front yard.. and the back yard. The driveway/parking area is mostly done.. needs a bit more gravel.. every 3 year or so.. also would love to get some of it paved some day.. but that is a long ways off in the future. The front yard... that is going to be a lot of grass and some work along the front of it to give it some curb appeal.. but... not in a hurry for that either. The back yard... we have big plans here.. going to turn it into a whole other living area :) Well that is our plan at least. We started with the fence.... need to get that finished.. then we will build a deck area and a patio area .. put in a new hot tub... lot of native plants and walk ways and a trellis. We are just in the planning stages of it and talking about it stages... We will start working on it.. already have started with the fence... and we need to get that finished and get the big huge monster ugly trees out of the yard this spring.... not sure how long the rest will take... but it feels good to have a new project to really start thinking about now that the shop is getting close to finished :) Now I can start collecting photos of the yard I want.. and start thinking about what plants we want in it.. want to keep it native so if we leave for a few weeks in the summer we do not need to worry about watering it or mowing it... just the front yard will need mowing. We will have lots of water features and some fire... different areas to just hang out in listen to the birds and watch the sunset... sit around a table and play cards in the evening... enjoy a bbq with friends... roast some marshmallows over the fire pit... lol doing a lot of dreaming here... not only of the back yard we will be creating.. but of spring and summer and time spent outside just relaxing and enjoying each other and our lives. If you follow me on Pinterest you will see all the photos I am pinning for my backyard plan.. if you need a pinterest invite.. just send me an email Michelle_Ballard@hotmail.com and let me know you want one..I will send an invite back :)


Found this photo on www.penick.net where there are a few with the type of look I want.

Thankful

Saw this today and had to come write about it. I have always told my kids to remember to be thankful for everything you have instead of asking for more. If one is not thankful for what they have then why would they think they deserve more. It is not just about saying thanks but about showing it. In how we treat the things we own, the relationships we are in and the strangers we meet is how we show if we are thankful or not. I hope that how I live my life has been a good example of this for my children ... I am very thankful for all that I own, the relationships I am in and the strangers that I meet. Writing this makes me smile.. I love my life!

Saw this on Pinterest* which lead me to a great new blog to explore (here)

*Warning ~ do not click on the link for Pinterest unless you have a LOT of time to kill.. it is way too much fun.. finding so many fun things I want to make.. and places I want to go and recipes and ideas and so many new blogs to read... it is a major time killer :) If you do have lots of time to kill and you would like an invite .. just get me your email and I will send you one right away :)

Dessert on Sticks

Today I spent some time in the kitchen. My sister is getting married in March and I am going to be making some desserts on sticks. Cake pops and S'mores were the plan today. Needed to see how many one cake makes and how long it takes.. so I know what supplies to get and how long it takes to make enough.

S'mores on sticks = easy easy easy.. and fun! Take the marshmallow.. dip in melted chocolate.. stick the stick in there and then sprinkle with crushed graham crackers. Twirl them over an open flame to toast the edges and they are ready to go!

Next time I am thinking I will not crush the crackers so fine.

Next up.... Peanut butter / chocolate cake pops. This was my first adventure with cake pops.. I have done a lot of cake balls.. but this was the first time getting them on the stick. I did not think anything about it.. until I had the ball slide right down the stick in to my hand. Needed a plan.. so I decided to take the cake ball.. then dip the stick in the melted chocolate and slide it into the hole and stick them back in the fridge for a bit... it worked!! Yay!! Dip and cover in crushed peanuts!

I made a few more... everything was the same.. but instead of peanut butter in the cake I added a chocolate cream cheese thing I made up... and then half of them I dipped in crushed MnM's ( again I crushed them a little too much.

I also left some plain.. just chocolate/chocolate. I was thinking all the time about the different things I could dip them in... or thing I could put in them.. I could put a rolo around each bit of cake.. or maybe a jr mint... I really want to do some coconut ones. I am thinking I need something with a white cake.. not everyone loves chocolate.. hmm I could do those in white chocolate.. any ideas there?

Walk on the Beach

Yesterday I spent some time on the beach.. it was warm ( for Jan) and so calm.. just walked and listened to the water just lapping at the shore.. no big waves. Ran into a friend with her two cute little dogs so walked with them for awhile and did some catching up.. was a wonderful walk.  Found some treasures and took some photos.  Very relaxing enjoyable couple of hours.  Today my shoulder is screaming.. but it was still worth it :)

Pretty green sea glass

Even though the sun was setting I just did not want to go 

Sea glass photo was added to Weekly Top Shot
Thanks to Madge @ The View From Right Here for the invite :)

December 5th 1969

That was the day I was born.. thanks to Heather from Home to Heather I went to find out ( here ) what the number 1 song was the day I was born.  I did not know the song by name.. or the group....pulled it up on youtube.. from the album cover.. I still did not know but I did start laughing.. then the song started.. oh yeah.. I know this song.. lol but the cover still has me laughing.. the cover makes me think of the too sexy for my whatever song.

Wordless Wednesday

Wrapping up 2011

Wrapped up the year by heading back to Montana and spending a few more days enjoying Yellow Stone and just being together!  Last year was truly wonderful and I am so excited for the new year. Big plans are to just keep going... keep working on getting healthy... keep working on our new shop... keep having fun and enjoying life!  

Bald Eagle

                                          

Bison

Paint Pots 

Some of the photos of our winter tour through Yellow Stone.. Some day I hope to live close enough to visit here anytime I want. 

Busy/Fun Time of Year

I have not been posting because I have been busy and I have been sick.. and well I updated my blogger site and to be honest I have no clue how this all works now. The problem with not updating as soon as they come out is that you may miss a few and by the time you do update you have missed the how to steps they walked you through with the earlier updates. I am sure most of my blogging friends are shaking their heads thinking to themselves there have not been any updates... lol well it has been about 6 years since I updated :) If you can see this post it means I figured it out.

Sick.. cold/head stuff ...this has been floating around since we went to Montana... Dave kept thinking he was not feeling so good but then nothing happened.. well it hit last week.. him on Tuesday and then me on Thursday. I had a few days with no voice at all.. and spent a couple of days just laying in bed sure my head was going to explode. I am feeling a lot better this morning.. made it through the night with no cough meds and really got some good sleep.

Right before I got sick I jumped on the train and headed south to see my parents and my sister for a couple of days. It was pretty icy at my parents house and mom ended up taking a spill and breaking her ankle pretty bad.. she had to have surgery on it and it is all wrapped up. She is doing Awesome!!  She has a wheel chair and a walker and is using the walker more and more.. her attitude is amazing too... instead of being all upset about it she is using it as an excuse to tackle a lot of stuff in her life and make some changes.  I am hoping she is able to use it to slow down a bit maybe.  She does a LOT of stuff for other people.. makes hundreds of quilts for cancer patients and helps so many people with so many things.. not that she should ever stop.. she loves what she does... I just hope that she is able to look around at everything in her life and really put the focus on things that make her happy.. maybe she is already there... I am not sure... I have to say I am using this as an excuse to spend some more time with her and my dad.. I am planning on making a few more trips up to there to stay for a few days each time.. I love both my parents so much and am so grateful for all they have done for me in my life.. so much love and support and butt kicking when needed ( which was/is often ) truly no one could ask for better parents.  There is no way I can pay them back for all the wonderful they have given me... I am going to make more of an effort to try though... we have spent the last few years connecting as friends and adults and I have loved every second of it...lol it all happened just in time to show me that even though my teenagers are pulling away and making their own lives.. that there is hope of strong relationships. Funny how parents get really stupid when you are a teenager and then smarten the heck back up when you have teenagers :)  Gives me some good days to look forward to and lots of "I told you so" time.

Fun stuff.... while at moms visiting she sent home some tiny jars with me.. these are cute... mom and I have become hooked on baking things in jars.. pies and cakes and dinners and just about anything.. so much fun and great way to do portion control. She had found some very tiny jars... normally we use half pint jars with the wide mouth... she found some about half that size.. only holds about 2 TBSP of pie filling... Love them!  I made up some pies in the jars and took them back up for her to put in her freezer.. I knew she had some company coming.. and these would be perfect for that.  

 Trying to show how tiny the jars are.

Green is apple pie and red is cherry... just take them out of the freezer.. pop the tops off and bake in oven until brown and bubbly.. can serve in the jar.. or slide out onto a plate.. add whip cream or ice cream and it is perfect dessert.

Dave and I have done some fun Christmas type things...  We visited Leavenworth for the Christmas tree lighting festival.  So beautiful... so many trees and so many people.. we walked around and visited the shops and had a wonderful night.. holding hands and taking pictures of the lights and just being together.

Then we also did the Lights of Christmas here locally... The Lights of Christmas ... walked around again holding hands and being amazed at all the lights.. we love the walking around holding hands part.. even with gloves.. it is all sort of snuggly.. find ourselves leaning close together and whispering and laughing.

We have also been working in the shop... not as much as we would like but as much as life allows.  Dust collection is still not complete.. it is how it is and we will have to live with it for awhile. It is not as good as we would like.. but we think it will have to do until we can afford to buy a larger collector and figure out where to put it.  We really need a lot larger shop.. at least twice the size of this one and with no car stuff in it would be perfect.. then again.. we need to start buying some winning lottery tickets.. or at least a ticket :)  Some day it will all work out... always good to have goals to keep reaching for.. the more reasons to work hard a person has the further they are likely to go.  Today we will start building again in there.. starting with the drawers and doors for the cabinets we built. Then organize a little and with the new year we will be starting on customers orders.  

Christmas around here this year is very laid back.... no presents... that takes care of a lot of stress... and almost all the kids are off busy doing stuff other places.  Oldest is home from college so he will be here... and then next one is in California, I wish he was able to be here.. I know he is alone this year and it breaks this moms heart... I also know he will be ok... I am hoping to get to see him in February. My two youngest are doing some stuff with the other sides of the families.  We will be going to my in laws for Christmas eve dinner... I am looking forward to that.. some great people to visit with and wonderful food.. will be a nice night.  Then Christmas we will just be home working in the shop and being lazy .. watching movies, eating and enjoying being together. Being thankful for each other and amazed at how each year gets more and more wonderful just being together. 

One of Those Wonderful Nights

Today was spent at home.. I made this weekends lunches and dinners up and did some cleaning.. just a lazy day. Then tonight Dave and I headed into town for the Shop East Stanwood.. I had read about it in the local paper.. it promised carolers, twinkling lights and in house specials. Well it was said to be from 4 to 7.. we drove through at 5 and there were no people or twinkling lights.. the carolers were there but not playing.. we thought maybe it was slow to get going.. we went up the street and had some dinner... we did good and we split a small sampler tray.. had two Huge glasses of water each. Then back to to the shopping area.. found a spot right on the street... because there really was no one there around :( The carolers had gone, learned it was to cold for them and their instruments. It was nice though.. we walked in and out of the shops.. visiting with the shop owners.. all of them had trays of cookies and snacks and tea and hot chocolate.. we were good and said no thank you! At the end of the street is Stanwood Cupcakes and they had just locked their door and shut off their lights.. but when they saw us peeking in they opened up and I am so grateful. I was able to get the gift certificates for my mail lady and garbage man for Christmas... and for the first time I was able to try their cupcakes... I had the Chocolate Ganache and Dave had the Chocolate Peanut Butter...they were wonderful. Just the perfect amount of sweet and flavors and the cake was just how we like it. They are truly the perfect little treat! We visited the Frame shop.. which is the friendliest place in town... They not only have a lot of work by a lot of local artists.. but they have a selection of English treats.. candies and jams and teas... We go there to pick up treats for Dave's dad.. and for us too :) They have the sweetest dogs in the shop too.. every time I am there they saw hello and I just want to spend hours playing with them. Another place we love in that area is the SnowGoose Bookstore .. it is one of those shops that you walk into and you just feel right at home.. our only problem is that we always find a lot more books than we can afford :)

We took the long way home and drove around talking, holding hands some more and looking at Christmas lights. When we got home the house was all lite up with our lights and the fireplace had everything all warm inside. Friends stopped by and visited for a bit and it was just a very wonderful day/night.

To Montana and Back in a Weekend

Last Friday really really early in the morning we took off for Bozeman Mt. with some friends of ours. We have added a new camera to out collection.. an hd web cam... we put it up on the gps in the dash of the jeep and then I can take pictures and videos. Since I can not wait to do a post about our trip I thought I would start with one sharing some of the pictures and videos from the web cam.. and later after our friends come over and we put all the regular camera pictures in one place I will do another post with some of those.. they will be much better.. I know there are some wonderful animal pictures from our trip through YellowStone.. we saw big horn sheep slamming their heads together and huge buffalo just lazing around on the side of the road.

This is in Montana.. somewhere... one thing I learned about taking photos with the web cam.. I need to put the quality up so I get a better picture... bad enough the wind shield is covered in ick... but most of the photos were taken on the lowest setting and they are just not very good.

Wallace Idaho is a small little town... Interstate 90 used to go right through the middle of town, they are known for having the last stop light on I-90

Driving through Yellow Stone and we have to stop so two coyotes  can cross in front of us.. I missed the first one but here is the second one... we did pull over and take a bunch of pictures so will add those later :)

On our way home Sunday night... sky was clear and beautiful.. coming out of Spokane the sunset was so beautiful and it went on for many miles. We even saw Mt Rainer which none of us knew you could see from there.

The Emotional Roller Coaster.. Food

Holidays... everywhere there is food! Yesterday I had some big highs and some big lows... all related to food. My college son is home for the week, and I want to cook all his favorites.. instead I offer him diet chili... healthy burger with no bun... which he eats with a smile.. only makes me want to cook something even more. Sorry Patrick, no holiday treats here :(

Yesterday we were planning on doing the grocery shopping so I am getting ready to go. I am trying to figure out what to wear and decided to try on some of the clothes that were in the too small tote... two new pairs of jeans fit.. size 18! Same size I was when I met Dave... mind you they are still a little tight.. but I wore them out shopping *happy dance* I am not even half way to what I want to lose total but it is moving right along.

Now to do the price matching and coupon matching for my grocery shopping trip.. lay out all the fliers and start going through them.. Arghhh :( Everything Thanksgiving is in there.. every baking item you would ever need... every frozen treat... candy... cool whip.. pies.. yams.. turkeys.. anything and everything I WANT IT ALL!!! I get none of it *pout* Think size 18... size 16... think muscle not fat.. think.. skinny... think healthy... ok I am back on track and ready for the store.

Or so I thought... talk about a battle... looking the to the left... cookies... to the right.. cider...eggnog... more baking stuff and treats... piled at the end of every aisle is everything Not on my list... all the pretty colors... this stuff is trying to jump into my cart. I am going through the store as quick as I can.. grabbing my rice cakes.. my V8 and my cauliflower and just trying to get out of there asap. I wish it was asap.. instead we get to spend 30 minutes in checkout .. everyone else in the store has all their Thanksgiving stuff in the carts.. and I just stand there watching it all scroll down the belt.

Into the car... headed home.. and the tears start... so much balancing... I love being able to wear my smaller clothes... I love being able to tie my shoes... I love that my feet do not hurt me all the time (wish it was helping my shoulder) there is so much wonderful happening right now as each pound falls off... but I do miss cooking.. and baking.. and feeding people and just enjoying food. I have used food as comfort for a long time... I have "taken care" of people by feeding them... food makes things better... but not really.. I mean it still can... I can still cook and bake and feed people.. but healthy food is not yet fun or comforting to me.. even though Dave said I make a good chili out of some horrible vegetables.

This phase of our diet is hard because the foods we eat are so limited that there are not a lot of options on what and how to make things... starting next week we are back into the 3rd phase and it brings more selection and options and that will help.. I am totally making a cheese cake again :) I also know that I just need to hang on and keep at it and that I will be able to find comfort in cooking, eating and feeding people again... I am sure it will be even more comforting knowing we will all be healthier for it.

Santa Needs to Hold His Horses

While reading blogs this morning I came across a friends post about Rushing the Holidays and I decided to add my two cents here. I am loving all the cartoons this year that are going around about this subject.

Back in September, before the kids were even back in school.. I walked into Costco and was surrounded with Christmas. I remember just standing there sort of amazed. It was finally warm after a very mild summer and they were already pushing Christmas. Not cool in my book!

We do not do much for the holidays.. never have... doubt we ever will. I am not big on the present things... never did the Santa thing at our house.. not while growing up or while raising my kids. I am not a big religious person but I do believe that this holiday is so unrelated to what it should be representing... people getting trampled on black Friday in their search for saving a buck and yet buying the coolest presents... people stressed out and fighting about who is going where on Christmas eve and Christmas morning.

Stressed.... does anyone.. ANYONE... manage to make it from Halloween to Valentines without being stressed out? We do nothing for the holidays and yet they always come with stress. Growing up there was always a fight or bad attitude on Christmas day... added to that it was always too hot at grandmas house and someone ( yes most often me ) ate too much and ended up with a tummy ache. All in all I have wonderful holiday memories.. don't get me wrong.... but looking back... so much stress. Then as an adult... when my children were babies.. I did the same thing only worse to my kids.

Last year... my oven was not working for Thanksgiving so we bought a pre made dinner from the local grocery store... there was only a couple of us here... it was fine.. not home made and awesome by any means... but it was good and it was super easy.. and lot less stress.. ordered it and then picked it up. Then Christmas was pretty awesome... we did NOTHING!! We stayed in our jammies all day I think... got up late.. ate some cinnamon rolls... watched lots of movies... maybe worked in the shop a bit... but we were super lazy.... I had told my son he could stop by since he had no other plans.. and he was so sweet he called first.. well I was being too lazy and did not even get his message so he did not come over.. that part made me sad... I would have loved to have had him visit.

I do not want to ever put my kids in a situation where they have to schedule around us... they are growing up and having relationship that come with whole other families.. right now there are no grand kids but someday there will be.. and everyone wants to see the grand kids. Well my parents did something wonderful ( I think ) for Christmas with us.. when the kids were little they did the Christmas morning thing for us all.. but it started to get too stressful..with too many schedules... so they moved Christmas to a week or two later. This has so many advantages... one.. no stress... no schedule conflicts... awesome!! Two... after Christmas shopping sales... everyone knows what everyone got and did not get and we can go shopping and hit all the great sales.. I know they are rumored to be after Thanksgiving but after Christmas is really the time to go... the stores know you will be there returning stuff anyway so they put up the end of the year sales to entice you even more :)

Last year I had my kids over after the new year... it was so relaxed... I just picked a day and called them up.. told them they could stop by any time between noon and 5... everyone brought a snack and we all just spent the day visiting and catching up. I think I want to do something like that again this year... no stress.. no mess. I will just pick a day and invite everyone.. they can stop by and visit or not. Can bring a snack but no presents... until there are little kids... and just a nice relaxing fun day with family and friends. A great way to start our New Years

And back to topic... geesh I can ramble like no one else in the world! I think that if we start planning this now it might work so I am going to share with you all and see who is on board with me. One way to avoid all this holiday stress would be... to avoid this set of holidays... I am thinking we can put in a big custom order for Bunny hats I have also seen bunny ears in her shop... and as soon as the 4th of July is over we start wearing them while out shopping.. and we keep asking all the clerks for plastic eggs and Easter grass... Yeah I know it won't work... but it might be fun :) I know I just linked to her shop with the bunny hats.. but... seriously.. if you have little kids.. or grand kids... my friends shop is so much fun... Knees and Paws Kids love to use their imagination and they love to dress up and play.. and that is what her shop is all about! NO stress just fun!

Beach Walk

Perfect day for sailing... sunny and windy


Starfish "hiding" in the seaweed so the seagulls do not eat them.


The little bit of beach not covered in seaweed today


Little starfish "playing" in the surf


Treasures found today while walking on the beach

After all the wind we have had I had thought there would be a lot of treasures... which there might be.. but 99% of the beach is covered in thick slimy seaweed so I will wait a couple of days for that to wash out and then head back out to see what is there :)