Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Queen of Avoidance

Yes, Call me the Queen of Avoidance.
If there is something I don't really want to do..I will do my best not to do it.
I don't really like to make calls where I have to pressure people or ask difficult questions.. (does that make sense?)

My big avoidance this week.. My dad is engaged, and his fiance was in town for a week. (a whole nother story there..)
He and she wanted to take me, sis, and SIL to a late lunch on Monday. I didn't really want to go, but didn't know how to tell Dad that.
I left work early to MEET them at Olive Garden at 1:30. I got there, and NOONE was there. I was cheesed because I could have still been earning money. I called him, they were still picking up Sis, who is ALWAYS running behind. I called SIL, who didn't want to go either.. We both needed to be back home by 3 for our kids getting out of school, and there just wasn't time to get into a restaurant, order, eat, and get out in time.

So.. I called my Dad back, told him I was upset, he apologized, and I told him there wasn't time and we couldn't do it.

So I avoided having to have an uncomfortable meal with his fiance, whom I don't know. (she did come to our house with him for dinner last week, but I don't really know her, or know what to SAY to her. It was awkward having her around, with Thanksgiving being the first major holiday without my mom.)

What sort of things do YOU avoid??

Thursday, November 23, 2006

And to you as well!

Happy Turkey Day to all my bloggy friends! I got my cookie recipients this morning, so I'll have to get baking soon! Looking forward to what "I" will get from the cookie exchange! I'm thinking about sending my recipes along with the cookies! I will be making Cherry Walnut bars, and also Mexican Wedding cookies! I figured those will travel the best, especially since they'll be going to the other side of the US! (Yes, Puffy, that means I don't have you!)

DH is gone delivering rolls to MY family's dinner, (we are eating at HIS family's ) - also picking up his Mom, and possibly a Pie as her contribution. We'll be bringing several dozen homemade rolls, and a turkey. Now I have to go slice mushrooms so he can make gravy when he gets back!

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

My own Brag ...

Okay, yes, I know Halloween is over, but I just got the pics back from being developed the other day! Here are my two girlies with the circle skirts I made for them! I think they turned out pretty darn cute! (but I'll be darned, I can't figure out how to fix a picture so I could upload it to Seana's brag thread on OT...)

Thursday, November 09, 2006

All I want for Christmas...
















It was difficult to get her to smile this morning to see where she was missing it!

Miss M lost one of her front teeth yesterday. She went to play at Hunter's house (her new "friend" ) and I knew the tooth had been loose. Hunter's mom said M came to her saying she was bleeding, and she got a paper towel to clean it up with, and she touched it and OUT came the tooth!

Yeay! It was pretty painless! I like those kind! This was her 3rd tooth lost, as she had her two bottom teeth pulled when the permanent teeth came pushing in behind! We couldn't find her tooth fairy box last night to put her tooth in, so it stayed in the plastic bag on her dresser.

Later, when I was combing her hair for school.. she asked me if the tooth fairy was real? Good grief, she's only 5 and has that figured out already?

Hopefully the other loose front tooth will come out with the same absence of drama!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Hmm.. don't think so..

From MSN Lifestyle: Women
20Things to get before you're 40.

1) A DEAD-SERIOUS PIECE OF TIMELESS CLOTHING MC recommends: The YSL tux for women. yes, at $3560, it costs the equivalent of 350 pairs of leggings, but it will outlive them by several decades.
2) A LOOK You’re not Madonna; enough already with the bimonthly reinventions. Are you a Dietrich throwback? A reconstructed punk? Figure it out and shop accordingly.
3) A PIECE OF ART Yes, the birch trees in that framed Ansel Adams poster are v. v. haunting, but consider an investment piece with which to start an actual art collection. Living artists cost less; how about a Cecily Brown print or a limited-edition Tom Sachs multiple?
4) A FIRST EDITION . . . of To The Lighthouse, the ur-Woolf.
5) FANCY LUGGAGE (A MATCHED SET, PLEASE) No more schlepping through airports with midcentury Samsonite. MC recommends: Gucci’s new Guccissima line, which makes the goofball trolley look like a major style statement ($3350).
6) ENLIGHTENED Go see the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. For his schedule, visit
http://www.dalailama.com/.
7) A FINANCIAL ADVISOR No, the hedge-fund dude one stool over doesn’t count.8) A MUSEUM MEMBERSHIP Whether it’s the Met, the Getty, or the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia, it’s time to earn some culture cred. take your place on the gala circuit—perfect for that YSL tux.
9) A MAMMOGRAM ’Nuff said.
10) A GOOD CAUSE Stop considering yourself your own favorite charity. Amnesty International? Oxfam? Amfar? Then get your new financial advisor to determine what chunk of every paycheck you can commit.
11) A REAL WATCH No, you can’t wear rubber on your wrist with the YSL tux. MC recommends: the Cartier roadster ($3,950). Mechanical movement with automatic winding that works off the heat from your skin. Kinky. . .
12) A BIG-*** TV MC recommends: Philips 50-inch ambilight, $3999. Hello, size queen.
13) A SMARTY-PANTS SUBSCRIPTION Foreign Affairs, The American Scholar, The Economist. To be read, not fanned out on the coffee table.
14) A SERIOUS RIDE Adieu, Budget! MC recommends: the Cadillac XLR roadster, $78,495. Not your daddy’s Caddy, trust us.
15) AWAY Forget the brocade cushiness of the European capitals. Whether it’s overnighting in a ger in Mongolia or experiencing Vietnam before Mcdonald’s takes over, enjoy a soul-expanding, life-changing Third World vacation.
16) SOME CLASSIC CDs Verve just released the to go series featuring discs of Coltrane, Ella, Billie, and seven others. Buy all 10: Jazz makes you look cool and gets you laid; even better, you’ll be listening to these long after you’ve stopped caring about both.
17) SOME CLASSIC DVDs Try MGM’s Billy Wilder Collection: everything from The Apartment to Some Like It Hot. In terms of classy wit, makes The Devil Wears Prada look like Loony tunes.
18) A DECENT CUP OF COFFEE Wake up and smell it. MC recommends: the Illy X1 Francis Francis! Espresso Machine ($800)19) A DESTINATION HAIRCUTWhether it’s Leonor Greyl in Paris, or Chris McMillan in L.A., spend serious bank, at least once, on something crazy-chic.
20) OTHER THINGS TO GET? Busy, ready, pregnant, on with it. (Did we mention a YSL tux?)


Hmm.. Let's see I have 3 months before that blessed event.. (yes, I WILL be having a party- although not as extravagant as Carey's, and with WAY less liquor! (er milk) )
#9- haven't had one, will call the Dr's office.. soon.. yeah.. soon..
#14- we just bought a 2007 Suburban, is that considered serious?
#18-don't drink it.
#20-been there, done that.. a few times.

How bout you?

Sunday, November 05, 2006

I have a new Job.. or Two.. or Three...

I started a new part time job this last week!. I have pretty much always worked full time. When we were married, DH was going to school, and had a part time job at a grocery store. I had been working at a bank for a couple of years, so I continued working.
When B was born, I went back to work after 6 weeks, still for the bank, as I was earning more at the time than he was. DH was still going to school and working, so it was logical that I continue working. I have worked for 4 different banks, one new one was a result of a merger – but I have enjoyed it. J was born, then M, and I continued to work. I had often dreamed of being home with our children, but didn’t see how it could work financially due to choices we had made. I enjoyed making money, and being able to spend what I wanted. (not that I was extravagant, because I wasn’t.)

In February, I began working part time – (25 hours) and I left after the kids went to school, dropped M off at daycare, and was home shortly before B& J got home from school. Since DH’s salary was increasing, it looked like I could be the stay at home mom.
We also decided to have faith that it would work. Effective July 1, I was no longer employed. It was nice to be at home, and we took a vacation in July for 10 days – the longest we’ve ever done. At the time, my facial neuralgia was acting up, so it was nice to NOT have to go to work. ( I have Trigeminal Neuralgia- which is a post for another day.)

But now that we have tried living on just DH’s salary, it’s been a little tight. I have a friend who works for yet another bank here in town, who has had a part time, on-call position available in the lock-box unit that she manages. Since M is in full day Kindergarten, it only made sense that I apply for the job.

SO.. a few hours a week, I can make a little money to buy stuff like.. oh, food, and gas!

I also have been making and selling fresh bread! I think it is a lost art, (not that I have it mastered)and my neighbors are buying it! I make white, and part wheat, and the latter is receiving more raves! I made 12 loaves of bread yesterday, and sold 9 of them. I also talked it up to some others, and they want me to call them when I bake again! Yeay!!

For my 3rd job, it’s not really a job, but sorta. Our neighbors 2 doors down we are pretty close with, and Beth has asked me to hem some jeans for her daughters in the past. She has offered to pay in the past, but I’ve not let her. She recently brought a pair of pants and a dress, and paid me for them. Now I have two more pairs of pants to hem, and her neighbor has brought a comforter that needs to be fixed.

So.. I’m happy that I can contribute to our income, doing things that I enjoy doing, and feel close to my mom, because they are things that she taught me to do!