Random Thoughts Friday

Well here it is, Good Friday already!  The kids didn't have school today, so we let them have a campout in the basement last night complete with tent, campfire snacks, sleeping bags, and a fire in the woodburning stove.  They were in heaven!  I'll tell you what, those kids were pooped from all our running this week...Noah slept until 8:45 and Kendall didn't get up until 9:15!!!  What a treat for me, since I was (unfortunately) up at 6:45...for no reason whatsoever. 


On this kind of icky, rainy day, I thought I'd take a minute to purge my head of all the random thoughts that bang around in there on a daily basis.  It's been a while since I've done that!

1.)  I made my first ever batch of cake pops for the kids to take to school on Thursday.  I'm so inspired by Bakerella, and I really want to be like her!  But here's the dealio peeps...I do NOT possess the patience or the attention to detail that woman must have.  I mean, her creations are bonafide works of art!  Don't get me wrong, mine turned out ok, and I was happy with them...but if you have a chance, check out her blog.  It is UNREAL!

2.)  I've been giving some thought to trying to nudge my family into a gluten-free diet.  Little by little, of course.  Heck, even if we cut down just halfway, I'd be pleased with that.  But we'll see.  I think we do pretty much ok in most cases, and I'm always intimidated by any kind of diet that is restrictive.  I think we should be able to enjoy it all...IN MODERATION.  But I can also see the benefit in reducing our gluten intake.  Plus, I've been a follower of Stephanie O'Dea's Crockpot 365 blog, where she makes everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in her crockpot...and her family is gluten free.  Since we've been trying quite a few of her recipes, I've realized it's not THAT hard.  Maybe I'll give it a go.  We'll see!

3.)  Remember Fletcher and Josie, the 2 kittens we adopted back in January?  Well they are growing fast and getting so much personality!  They are very much a part of the family, and they eventually did take to Scout...heck, Fletcher climbs all over Scout, even going so far as to stick his head in Scout's mouth.  They have decided it is their "right" to share Scout's food & water whenever they see fit, and he doesn't seem to care in the slightest.  It's a good thing, as Martha would say!

4.)  We just booked our airfare for our trip to the Canadian Rockies this summer.  It's just a little over a month away, and we are so excited!  We're headed out to Canmore, Alberta to visit our friends Sarah and Torben.  I can hardly wait.  The kids will have an absolute ball...we'll get to take them hiking and sightseeing...it's unbelievably beautiful there!

5.)  I'm very annoyed by these gas prices.  I usually try not to complain, as it doesn't do any good and just ruins your mood, but geesh!  With the amount of driving I do, the amount we're spending in gas is downright ridiculous!

6.)  I'm working on getting my blog up to date, I promise.  I've been so busy, I haven't posted about our trip to DC, the building we're building, the progress of my garden, any of the goodies I've been making, Barry's progress with finishing the basement, the kids' tkd testings, or ANY of the fun things that have been going on around here!  I'm hoping to get caught up over the next week, since things may slow down just a little.  Bear with me!

7.)  As much as I admit it, I think I'm going to have to give up the ghost soon and upgrade my phone before long.  I LOOOOOOVE my Palm Treo.  I DO!!  But she's been freezing up on me quite a bit here lately and I have had her for over 3 years, which doesn't sound really long, but in terms of a cell phone, I guess she's kind of outdated.  I don't care, I still love her and I'm not sure another phone will measure up.  We'll see.   And please don't suggest a phone that requires a data package...I don't NEED internet on my phone.  I'm connected much more than I need to be already!

8.)  My dog is the sweetest, most handsome doggie I know.  I love him so much!  But I swear, if he gets into the trash and drags it all over the house ONE MORE TIME this week, we are going to be having a "come to Jesus" meeting. 

9.)  I do not own an MP3 player.  No, there is nothing wrong with me.  I just don't see the need.  I have a radio, and my kids talk nonstop.  I relish quiet!

10.)  I watched Despicable Me with the kids this morning, and I have decided that like Gru, I NEED MINIONS!  Just think of all the things I could accomplish!  :)

11.)  Barry ROCKED my 40th birthday, just so you know...he is the best hubby!

12.)  People get on my nerves from time to time.  And although I try to be a positive person most of the time, I'm okay with that.  I think it's normal.  Just keep me in check if I start sounding like a negative, pessimistic, downer, ok?

13.)  I don't want to live in a world without chocolate!  My will to live would shrivel up and die.

14.)  Sometimes I'm a tad bit dramatic.  (See #13)

15.)  Noah and I went to Graeter's today and I actually squealed when I saw that Strawberry Chip was on the seasonal board.  Girlfriend needs her ice cream fix!

16.)  I'm happy with our barn, now that it's almost finished.  It looks much better with all the trim up and the cupola and the concrete.  Now, let's get all the stuff out of the basement, honey!  :)

17.)  Tomorrow we head to the big NK for Easter bowling with the Kucks...I'm actually very excited, as the bowling alley has some really good pizza, and I haven't had pizza in a while.  Let's hope this year Noah lets me win. 

18.)  I just finished Jeannette Walls' " Half Broke Horses" and I loved it.  It's a must for anyone who loved "The Glass Castle", which is a MUST for...well, everyone!

That's it for now, peeps...we've got to get to taekwondo.  Enjoy the Easter weekend and make sure you eat lots of goodies!

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

Hey all!  I'm sure you're all waiting to see who wins the dress!  But first I want to thank all of you who took the time to sit down and write a little something!  So entertaining!!  But as much as I enjoyed all of your little ditties, there can only be one winner tonight...and the winner is Kayris!!  Here is her limerick...

There once was a masseuse who was trendy,
Who took up yoga to learn to be bendy.
As she curled into cat
On her generic black mat
She said, "Next time I want goods made by Fendi!"

 

Great job, Kayris!!  I will contact you soon with your prize!  Now don't fret, the rest of you...I hope to do another giveaway soon (as soon as I can find something cool to give away!)...this is fun!

 

The Big 4-0...and a giveaway to celebrate!!!

 WOW!!!  I'm officially 40 years old today!!!

Funny...I don't feel 40...

But alas, it is true.  

I have to share something with you though...I am having such a fun time with this birthday!!  In fact, when Angie at Shabby Apple contacted me about hosting a giveaway, I knew right then that I wanted to do it in celebration of my 40th!  What better way to celebrate than to have one of my readers win something fabulous??

 So the contest starts now, peeps.  The winner receives one Bali Ha'i dress from Shabby Apple...shipping included!  I LOVE this dress...the color, the style, everything about it!  Have you shopped Shabby Apple before?  Oh my, their clothes are so trendy and cute!  They have the most adorable little girls' dresses and of course, fantastic women's dresses, as well as jewelry and other accessories!!  And all you have to do is write a little poem or limerick for me.  See, I was just going to have everyone leave a comment and then randomly pick a number to see who wins, but my sister (yes, you can all thank her) said I had to make it more difficult than THAT to win.  And so we started brainstorming and came to the conclusion that the best contest would contain laughter of some type.  And would require some thinking.  And creativity.  Soooooo, the best poem/limerick about ME wins, I mean, it is MY birthday, after all!   HAHAHA...Bring on the humor people!  You know I love a good laugh! 

And to sweeten the deal even a little more, I'll give you an extra entry if you "like" Shabby Apple on Facebook, and also if you become a follower of my blog.  If you already are, just leave a separate comment telling me so!  Also, please make sure to leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win!

Entries will be judged by my family...Barry, Kendall and Noah...and the winner will be announced Sunday, April 10.

How exciting is that?  Get those creative juices flowing, peeps!  I can't WAIT to see what you've got!  

***Contest only eligible to U.S. residents

The Giveaway...

I KNOW I said there would be a giveaway posted today...and there will!!!  I just completely underestimated how busy my 40th birthday would be with phone calls, emails, and lunch plans.  So bear with me while I get some things under control, and I promise I'll get the details up soon!

Are you excited?!?!  I am!!!

Anxious

I'm feeling anxious today.

And overwhelmed.

I normally do a really great job of trying to balance it all, staying in the moment, and not stressing about the small stuff.  But every once in a while, I lose that sense of balance...and today's the day.  So I figure, maybe the way to combat this feeling is to just write out all the things that are contributing in the hopes that seeing them all written here will make them seem insignificant and small...or at least smallER!!  So here goes...

I am anxious about the fact that this barn is getting close to being finished, and it doesn't look quite the way I had pictured it.  The size and shape are fine, but the colors are not what I had envisioned. Unfortunately, when we had to pick all of the colors, we couldn't get all of the samples at the same time, so I was kind of flying blind.  It makes me feel better, of course, that Barry agreed with all of the color choices, but still.  The brown is much lighter than I wanted, and the green is much brighter. Well, what are ya gonna do?  It's all custom ordered and cut, so there's no going back now.  Just have to take a deep breath and deal with it.  Crap.  This is #1 on my anxiety radar today.

Noah is starting kindergarten in the fall, and I'm trying to get my ducks in a row.  Since Kendall is open-enrolled in a school district we don't live in, we have to apply for enrollment every year and wait to be accepted...which hasn't been a problem so far, because her class is on the small side.  However, with Noah going into kindergarten, we don't know how big the class will be, therefore I don't know how good our chances are that he will get in.  It definitely helps that Kendall is already a student because he will get priority over open-enrollment students that have no siblings attending, but it is definitely playing on my mind, as our other options are really not the way we want to go, i.e. sending him to London or paying tuition for him to go to a private school which is half an hour away.  So, you see why this is #2 on the anxiety scale!

I spent some time weeding out closets and dressers and I have piles of clothes everywhere, because all of my storage is FULL until the barn is finished.  Clutter makes my head hurt, so it has not been the best week for Noah to be home sick...because I can't get anything accomplished!  And he is on spring break next week, so looks like not a whole lot will get done then either.  So this weekend is my weekend to GET IT DONE...or at least as much as I can.  I went to Target today and got some rubbermaid totes and some little photo storage boxes to try to get my 'Sentimental Boxes" put together...and that's what I've been working on this afternoon.  If I can find a few garage sales to participate in this spring/summer, I should be able to unload some of this stuff and make some money in the process.  Wish me luck...I can't handle the clutter any more! LOL!

Did you know I'm turning the big 4-0 next Thursday? No...I promise this has nothing to do with my anxiety today. I'm actually excited!  I love having a reason to celebrate (and a justification to do just about anything for the next few months...lol) and the number truly does not bother me.  What bothers me is that I have no plans.  I know my birthday is on a Thursday (which is inconvenient), and Barry is taking me out on Saturday (he won't tell me where), but I definitely want to do something special on my actual birthday.  I don't know what...just something out of the ordinary.  I mean, 40 is the new 20, right????   Hello...anyone out there???

The summer to-do list is daunting.  And spring is so busy, trying to get the garden in and the flowerbeds cleaned up and mulched, as well as the other various projects around here that need done.  I have to tell you that as excited as I am for spring, I am tired just thinking about it!  We're planning a big trip up to Canmore, Alberta this year, and I can hardly wait!  We're flying into Spokane and then driving through the Canadian Rockies up to Canmore to visit our friends Sarah & Torben.  We're all so excited, but Barry and I are still trying to nail down our airfare and the actual dates. Once we get that done, it's ON!  I love vacations, oh how I do!!  But again, the prep is so much work! 

Are you sick of hearing me whine and complain yet? 

I am.

Let's move onto happier thoughts...like our trip to D.C. last week. (Actually, that's another of the causes of my little anxious state today...I really need to upload those pics and get my blog post written!)  We had fun and really saw a lot!  And even better, we decided to make it our "spring break trip" every year...or at least until we feel like we've seen it all!  Look for the pics soon, friends!