Under Construction…

For those few die hard readers out there, my blog is going to be undergoing somewhat of a facelift over the next several days.  It shouldn’t take long and I’m pretty stoked about the changes!

But no worries, I have plenty of blog posts in my head just waiting to be written…so keep checking back.  Hopefully the next post you’ll read is one introducing the new look AND a new name!  The address will be the same, so you won’t have to change anything, just the name and look of the blog is changing.

Be back soon!

Long Overdue Introduction

Back in January, right around the time Jenna and I did the Passport to Purity weekend, my van started to die.  We took it to a mechanic and discovered the fix for my 10 year old van with nearly 200K miles would be about $2000.  The van wasn’t even worth that. 

And the van wasn’t actually functional because it wouldn’t hold gas.  We were having to fill up with a gas can.  This happened the beginning of the week that Jenna and I were to leave for Chattanooga to do P2P that Friday.  NOT convenient.  So, we rented a car to drive there knowing the following Monday was a holiday and we could use the day off to car shop.

Monday started early and we dropped Kylie off with my friend Jill.  Because we drive our vehicles until the wheels fall off (or the gas tank falls out, as it were), it’s been a long time since we’ve been car shopping.  And since we weren’t expecting to have to buy a new car, we didn’t really know what we wanted.  So, it was truly an all day affair.

But in the end, we purchased a 2012 Toyota Camry.  The only “luxury” I wanted in a vehicle was a sunroof.  And I was pretty picky about color.  I do not want to drive a white, cream, silver or gold car.  I like the darker colors.  No offense to you all who drive those color cars.  I just personally don’t to drive them!

As luck would have it, they had just what I was looking for.  This is not the greatest photo but it’s the only one I have.

 

I have really loved the car and I haven’t missed the van too much at all.  I think the trunk of the car actually has more room than the back of the van did.  It’s not as roomy so I’m not sure what we are going to do on vacation when we have to drive for several hours with both girls AND Katie.

It’s been very good for our gas consumption because it gets so many more miles to the gallon with my long daily commute. And it’s got a bunch of bells and whistles that are standard now that weren’t 10 years ago when I bought the van.

I don’t name my cars, but if I did, I’d call her JP in honor of my friend Jill who kept Kylie ALL DAY LONG.  I can’t imagine this process with a toddler in tow.

And you might not be able to tell, but yes…yes it DOES have a sunroof! 

Spring Cleaning!

I’ve had the spring cleaning bug for a while now.  And I don’t mean the I-need-to-Lysol-down-the-doorknobs spring cleaning.  I mean the purging kind.  When we moved from our 1000 square foot house into this one, I felt like we’d moved into a mansion!  There was empty space everywhere and I swore this house would never get cluttered up with junk like the other one.  Famous last words.

The last year or so, I’ve used the excuse about having a toddler in the house (see above) and I’m over it.  There’s stuff everywhere and I just couldn’t stand it any longer.  So I decided every weekend we didn’t have plans, I was going to tackle one room…clean out the closet, every drawer, under the bed etc.  I used an app called Cozi and made a list (those of you who know me well are not at all surprised that I made a list!)  The list has multiple heading of rooms and then every single thing that had to be gone through is on the list.  For example, my bedroom had things like:  go through dresser drawers, sort shoes, clean closet, clean off cedar chest, go through bedside tables and on it goes.

So all that to say, I’m about half way through the house and this past weekend, I was able to do Kylie’s room, the linen closet and the master bath.  All that’s left is Jenna’s room and the bonus room.  But those are the worst ones.

Normally here’s how my housecleaning goes…start in the kitchen…wiping down the counters…oh, here’s a book I finished reading.  That really needs to go upstairs on the bookshelves in the bonus room.  Here we go…up to the bonus room.  Putting the book on the shelf, I spy my hair brush.  Hmmm…how’d that get there?  I better go put that in my bathroom or I’ll forget and never find it.  Now to the bathroom.  Put the brush away.  Holy cow…that bathroom trash is overflowing.  I need to take that out.  Haul the trash can downstairs to the pantry to get the trash bags and empty said can.  Look at the mess in the pantry!  I can’t even GET to the dang trash bags.  Better clean that out.  And so NOTHING EVER GETS COMPLETED!  I call it housecleaning ADD.  (incidentally, this happens to me at work from time to time when I need to get through my emails…perhaps there’s a pattern??)

Anyway, this list keeps me on task and I get total fulfillment being able to mark something off the list.  I have been know to, when making a list, put something ON the list that has already been done JUST for the pleasure of marking it off!  Sad, I know, but true.

Anyway, I have made some great progress by adjusting my process.  When I find something in the room I’m cleaning that belongs in another room, I put it in a box or bag and it goes up to the bonus room.  The bonus room isn’t being used right now (for obvious reasons!) and so those things will and have just piled up.  The bonus room will be the last room to be done and by then, there should be plenty of empty space in the other rooms so those things which have landed there will find their space eventually.  I also make a lot of donations and I take the tax write off at year end.  To do that, I have to inventory every item I’m donating so I can have back up for my tax write off. I’m making a big ole pile in there for that as well as a few more expensive things that I plan to try and consign or sale (no, I refuse to do a yard sale).

In the end, I think it will end up being a great thing and we will all feel so much better in a uncluttered and eventually CLEAN house!  YAY FOR SPRING CLEANING!!

Withdrawing

I have realized something about myself lately that I want to bring out into the light.  I figure if I say it out loud (and on the blog) then maybe I’ll be more motivated to change it.

I have a tendency to withdraw.  Not like a depression type withdrawal, but just a tendency to pull back from friends and sometimes even extended family.  And if those friends or family don’t really try to bring me out, then I just stay withdrawn.

Let me see if I can explain what I mean.  People that kinda know me might not realize this, but I can be shy and quiet in certain situations.  If I’m on, what I consider, “my turf” (somewhere I consider my comfort zone), even with strangers, I am outgoing, talkative and sometimes even humorous.  If I am on my turf with a personality that’s way bigger than me, I can sometimes withdraw and turn quiet and introspective.  For example, I might attend a Bible study at church.  Church is a place where I’m comfortable no matter who I am around.  However, if I am in a group where there is a stronger personality than me (and I’m not a strong personality, so it’s not hard), then I might come across as quiet, or sad or upset.  Typically, I’m not any of those things, but it might seem that way.

If I am out of my comfort zone, then I do withdraw and won’t usually engage in conversation easily.  When I would go to Steve’s work parties, I wouldn’t know hardly anyone and I would be really quiet.  Steve would get so irritated with me because he said people thought I was unfriendly and snobby.  In reality, I was just not putting myself out there.

And I also have a tendency to pull back when I feel like I don’t fit in.  And this happens A LOT with me.  It happens with people I’m not really close to and friends that I AM very close to.  I HATE it.  At work, my WBFF Katelyn and I would eat together every day.  Occasionally, my friend Rachel would ask if I wanted to eat together.  And even though Katelyn and Rachel didn’t really KNOW each other (at least at first!), they always had NO problem talking to each other and engaging in whatever conversation we were having.  And I really admire that about both of them.  How they aren’t afraid to just jump in and put themselves out there.

I have friends like that who can make a friend anywhere.  And the only difference in them and me is that they willingly take the risk and put themselves out there.  I know this is part of how Satan pokes at me and makes me feel insecure.  I notice it happens a lot at…of all places…church.  I’m constantly allowing myself to feel left out, excluded, not part etc. at church and it sometimes affects my ability to worship the way I want to.  And if I’m not careful, I’ll completely withdraw from people who are in my circle of close friends.

Reading another blog today, I realized, I don’t have to be that way.  I don’t have to feel insecure.  I don’t have to withdraw.  I don’t have feel excluded.  Sad.  Alone.

I just have to put myself out there.  Which for this personality…isn’t easy.  But now you know.  And it’s incentive to try harder to stop the withdrawal from happening and enjoy every minute of this all-too-short-life.

Time for a 'do

Since we'd had so much trouble getting Kylie to sleep, last weekend, I went to get a much  needed hair cut and color.

I love my current hair stylist, but some friends suggested I try theirs who is known to be very good and the even cheaper.  For this girl who is on a strict budget, I decided to give it a go.

I had to drive further than to my current hairdresser, but Jana was great!  She really had some good ideas about what to do with my color and length.

Here is the after photo...

I love it!!

Nothing New Under the Sun

Sorry for the late post today.  I usually blog about stuff the night before and future date the post to post the next morning.

Unfortunately, I'm somewhat out of things to say.  It's been an interesting week at work.  Quiet for me without Katelyn around, but it's good.  I have found some sort of crazy motivation and knocked out just about everything on my to-do list.  I guess that's what knowing you could be traveling in a month does for you.

I have seen on Target.com there is a baby sale going on.  So I think I'm going to go tomorrow at lunch and use the rest of my Target gift cards.  The other car seat we need is on sale as is the baby monitor we picked out. 

There's been no movement on the adoption this week.  Our Article 5 should be picked up on Tuesday and then we'll be waiting on Travel Approval!  People keep asking me if I'm excited and yes, of course, I am but it is still far enough away and enough of it is still up in the air that I really can't get too excited yet.

I guess that's it for tonight.  Sorry there's nothing more exciting going on...hoping to get some birthday pics of Kylie soon...keeping you posted...

BTW-I just learned how to use the spellcheck on blogger.  Dang.  I wonder how many of my prior posts have had spelling errors in them?  I hate this laptop keyboard....

Agape Love Boutique!

Oh ya'll...I have been waiting FOREVER to get this little gem in the mail so I could blog about it!  About a month ago, I was over at a blog I frequent daily called "My Overthinking" and the author, Kelly, was doing giveaways.  There were several things I would have loved to have, but there was one that I really had my eye on.

Imagine my surprise and excitement when I read that I had WON the very giveaway that I wanted!  123 entries and I won!  It took some time to figure out what I wanted.  But I finally figured it out and just look...

Maria-Isabel at Agape Love Boutique designs and makes these necklaces (and others) for mom's to recognize not only the children you are currently parenting but also the ones that a mom might have lost to miscarriage, death or placed for adoption.

The nest represents your own nest and you choose your "eggs" for the nest.  For those lost, she places an "egg" outside the nest but still on the chain in order to always remember.  Then hanging off the nest is the wing of the ever present Mama bird.  There are a number of different colors you can choose for your eggs.

I chose purple for Jenna and pink for Kylie.  While I am no longer actively parenting Micah and Chase (because they are grown), I did not feel like they belonged outside my nest.  So, the teal color is for Chase and the cream for Micah.  I am fortunate there are no eggs outside my nest.

I loved wearing my necklace and carrying ALL my children close to my heart.  If you are interested in purchasing this necklace or any of the other very cool jewelry that Maria-Isabel offers, just click here and tell her you found her through my blog!

Found on my iPhone

These kinds of posts are some of my favorites to read, so I thought I'd join in the fun.  Hopefully you'll enjoy it too!

Basically, this is just a sampling of the photos on my iPhone at the moment...

Jenna and I using the Mac at Best Buy the day I was buying the iPad for our raffle.  Jenna discovered this photobooth app and was having a blast.  This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

If I ever wanted to know what Jenna would look like if she'd been born an alien, now I know.  :)  Another funny one.  Funny enough that I would buy a Mac just to play with this!

One of my fave Christmas presents, my new camera bag!  I asked for a new one to take to China.  this one has PLENTY of room for my camera, lenses and my personal items like money etc. while in China.  More to come on that...

Jenna modeling one of her outfits from her Nana.  Think I'm going to have a heartbreaker on my hands in a few years?  Yeah, me too!

Can't remember where I was when we took this one, but thought it was cute.  I don't do a lot of the self-portrait photos, but need to do more.

My favorite photo for today...took this using Instagram.  Amazing at what that app can do!  We were at a new Mexican restaurant in our city and YUM!  While waiting on our queso, we took a few snaps...and yes, it was DELISH.

Welcome 2012!!

Wow...2012...where did 2011 go?  I can hardly believe we have now started another year.  So far, I haven't done much of anything.  Today was my last day of freedom before going back to work tomorrow but I would not call today overly productive, although the long weekend was overall.

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home.  I started out being a little depressed about that, but as the day wore on, I started to think how much I didn't want to have to get out and stay up late.  Plus, this is most definitely the last NYE as a family of 3.  We were all in bed when the new year rang in.  Steve was awake and watching it on TV.  Jenna had fallen out about 11pm and I had gone to sleep about that time because my head was hurting and I just needed to shut my eyes.  Steve woke me up to tell me happy new year and I stayed up for a few minutes watching the celebration in NY Times Square. 

Sunday we attended church at 11:00 and then the rest of the weekend has been moderately busy.  I cleaned out my closet (who didn't?), got groceries and pulled the suitcases down from the attic.  Yes, I did.  Make fun of me if you want, but I am my mother's daughter.  I realize we aren't traveling until probably late March, but when you work full time and your weekends are full doing things you don't have time for during the week, you need to plan early.  I remember as a child, my mother would pack for our vacations weeks in advance.  So much so that you'd be wondering where this outfit or that outfit was, only to discover she'd washed it and put it into the suitcases!  But rarely did my mom forget anything and I have learned from the pro.

I haven't actually put anything IN the suitcases, but I have started the packing list.  And as soon as I can, I'll start adding some non-clothing items.

Tonight, I tried a new recipe I found on Pinterest.  It was 3 cheese Chicken Alfredo.  It was good but I need to season it up a little next time.  Doesn't it look good?

All in all, the long weekend was a good one and I'm looking forward to the short week at work to ease back in.  Next week will be long, but then there's another long weekend due to MLK day.  And I gotta be honest, I've never wanted time to pass so quickly!

The Day After...

The Taylor Family Blog is taking off a day today.  Not really since there is a blog here, but relatively speaking, this blog is going to be about nothing.

I'm sitting here, the only one up in my family, at 9:30am, looking at the aftermath of Christmas.  The kitchen table is full of the stuff that just gets dropped there when we come in the door.  The sink is full of dirty dishes because the dishwasher is full of clean dishes.  They are both full because of the cooking/baking frenzy that has been me the past three days.

The living room is a virtual minefield of toys, clothes, boxes, stocking stuffers and the like.  I managed to get up most of the wrapping paper and empty boxes, but the gifts are all down here and Jenna's are strewn from here to yon.

When I put Jenna to bed last night, I had to dance around to avoid the random items in her floor.  More on this later, but Chase got her an entire art studio for Christmas.  Like, acrylic paints, glow in the dark paint, brushes in every size and shape and even a professional looking easel.  All very nice and Jenna loves them, but she has nothing but paper to paint on.  She also has $50 in cash she racked up this Christmas among a large variety of gift cards.  So she is really wanting to go out to buy some canvases and paper to paint on.  I think I'm going to have to bribe her into cleaning her room if she wants to go out.  I have to work the rest of this week, so if the house is going to get clean, it needs to be done today.

I love Christmas.  Some years it takes me forever to get into the Christmas mood, but this year I was ready and I attribute it to doing most of my Christmas shopping the weekend before Thanksgiving. We (OK, Steve) even got Christmas lights up outside this year.  That hasn't happened in years.  But every Christmas, no matter my level of Christmas spirit, by the day after Christmas, I'm ready for it all to be gone.  I am a creature of order (though many times I am far from orderly) and schedule.  So by the time it's all over, I'm ready for my house to be back to normal.  Somehow, the dark Christmas tree with no gifts underneath is depressing so I'd rather it be gone all together.  I am sad to see Christmas go this year...seems like there wasn't much time to enjoy it before it was here.  But gone it is and now we look forward to 2012!  YIKES!

So, for a post about nothing, that was quite a long one.  Thanks for lasting this long.  I promise, there will be posts to follow with picture of our various Christmas celebrations.  But for now, this is what you get.

Also, if you think about it, pray for my friend Jennifer.  She and her husband just traveled to China in October to bring home her daughter home.  Last night she had to take her husband to the ER where they found him to be in congestive heart failure due to a serious problem with his kidneys.  They were doing a biopsy on his kidneys this morning to see what the problem is.  Hopefully, they can figure out what the problem with his kidneys are, fix that and reverse the congestive heart failure.  However, he is in very serious shape.  Jennifer and Jeff have 3 boys in addition to their new daughter from China.  Please pray for the doctors to have wisdom in fixing what is wrong.  I'll keep you posted as I know more.

Sips N Strokes

Last Tuesday, I went with a couple friends, Jill and Elizabeth to a place called Sips n Strokes.  It's a place where you can create a painting step by step with an instructor.  This class was super full, but I truly had a blast.  So, here's the beginning...

Any ideas about what this is or is gonna be?  Yeah, you might can tell with the pencil drawing, but I promise, it doesn't look anything like it does in the end.

Ah yes.  It looks a little more like a tree now.  At some point, you have to stop going over and over it and just let it be.  Perfectionists need not apply.

There we go...a little color to the tree....and here is Jill working hard on her masterpiece...



And here's my final painting.  I will tell you, it looks way better in this picture than it does in real life.

And then, here we all are...with our tree pictures.  I really had a great time and it was nice to be out with girlfriends.  I have really grown to know and love these girls and their families over the last few months.  You are going to be seeing more of them in future posts.  :)

Girls Who Nurture

At my church, there is a women's group called the Nurture Team.  These women truly are the hands and feet of the church.  They make baskets for new moms as well as those who have lost a loved one.  They also make meals for those in need.  They write cards and notes like CAH-RAZY.  Seriously.  I have been the recipient of many-a-basket a couple years ago when we experienced so many deaths in our family.  They are what I aspire to be one day when I grow up.

Well, a few months ago, they, at the suggestion of a young lady in the church, decided to start a Girl's Nurture Team.  The idea is they will mentor the younger girls in learning how to serve others.  If learned at a young age, our girls will then grow up with the natural inclination to serve others.  They meet once a month and they have done all manner of things such as making cards, baskets etc.

This past Saturday, the girls met up at the church and decorated cookies...

After decoration, the girls put several of their creations into little goodie bags.

And once everything was put together, we all rode down the street to the local assisted living facility.  Some of the girls (including Jenna) had been there before to dance ballet.  They practiced the song Children of God and then lined up for all the residents and sang. 



Then then handed out their cookies (they even had diabetic cookies for those that needed them).  Some of the residents immediately gobbled them up.  It was so touching to hear these girls singing and the residents just loved them.

It was a good experience for Jenna, but especially for me.  The next night, our Lifegroup went there to sing the old hymns and Christmas carols and just spend time with the residents.    I'll be honest and say I didn't want to go.  Hanging out with the elderly just isn't my thing.  I've never felt comfortable doing it although I'm not sure why.

But I saw my Daddy in many of those faces.  And though there weren't many residents out there when we began, once we started singing the old hymns, they started emerging from their rooms.  One gentleman rolled up in his wheelchair beside us.  After we finished singing, he thanked me for coming and we struck up a conversation.  He and his wife both live at the center.  They moved here from Florida and this was just a temporary stop until they were able to find a permanent home.  We talked for a while and he told me how they'd lived in a house in Florida and then came here and how he loved the staff because they were so nice.  It was a great chat and I told him we'd be back next month with the girls to do their ballet.  When we left, a friend of mine whose dad also resides there shared with me that he has Alzheimers.  His wife has Parkinsons.  And this is NOT just a temporary stop, but his permanent home. 

Another gentleman who was very friendly and outspoken walks with a walker and has a disease which renders him almost unable to walk some days.  He is only 67.  Many of these residents have family.  Many of them do not.  And my heart breaks for them.  I've thought of them all, often, since we went on Saturday.

If you have a minute, whisper a prayer from these wonderful men and women. 

Fire!

A few weeks ago, I, along with 1/2 of my little town, sat in horrible traffic for more than an hour trying to get home.

I had Jenna with me because I had to pick her up because Steve was not able to get to her.  When we pulled into the subdivision, we could see thick black smoke billowing from the vicinity of the area behind our house.

I figured if our house was actually on fire someone would have told me.  But when we pulled in front of the house, I could see the fire in the wooded common area behind our house.  Since we have a privacy fence in the back yard, I honestly never have had the opportunity (or desire) to go back into that area.  At first, I thought it was just a bonfire or someone burning leaves, but then it looked a little too high for that.

I parked the car in the garage and then Jenna and I walked around towards the smoke.  Once at the edge of our backyard, our neighbor, Tim, came out and ushered us to the area.  The fire was probably about my height at that time, but the firefighters had just arrived.

That's the fire nearly put out.  Tim had been the one to call the fire fighters because when he first got there, the fire was probably 3x higher than it was when I got there.  A couple kids ran out and tried to put it out with an extinguisher, but it barely touched it.  Tim rightly thought he'd better get the professionals involved.

They think kids started it because there was piles of wood and sticks.  It's the fall....leaves are on the ground and that's a dangerous combination.  Luckily, outside the trees and wood, nothing else was damaged.  I hope some kids learned their lesson.

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

This past weekend, Jenna and I, along with about 60 of our close friends and THOUSANDS of others walked in support of those who are fighting or have fought breast cancer.

This isn't all of us.  Just the ones that were there early.  There was an "official" group picture and I can't wait to see it.

We walked as part of Team Darlene in honor of my friend Darlene who is battling breast cancer herself.  You can follow Dar's journey at her CaringBridge site.  She has 2 more chemo treatments left before her surgery.  She is doing very well although there are days I'm sure she feels like she isn't.

Jenna and I at the start!

It was in the 30s at 7am when we got there.  Jenna and I really bundled up, but by the time the race actually started, I was quite warm and took off all my outer layers.

Jenna and I ran about 1/4 of the race.  It was so crowded...we would run a few minutes and then we'd get stuck behind some people walking and so we'd have to stop.  We finished in about 50-55 minutes which is less time than I finished my last 5k in last December.

Darlene was able to be there and even completed the 1 mile run.  I was so proud of her.  I love this girl and all the friends who walked to support finding a cure for this awful disease.

This is NOT a Food Blog

I cannot recall ever blogging about making food on here before.  It's just not what I do.  I do cook.  Not as frequently as I used to because Steve cooked most nights when he was at home and now he always beats me home.  But yesterday I got to leave work a little early, so I picked Jenna up from school (a rare treat indeed!) and had dinner nearly ready for the table when Steve got home.

All that to say, since I had a few extra hours in my afteroon/evening, I thought I'd document one of my favorite meals ever.  If it tells you anything (and it probably doesn't), even Micah loves this meal...

My mom first made it when I was a young teenager and my family and I have been eating it ever since...

MEXICAN CASSEROLE

First, you brown some hamburger meat (yeah, "some", whatever.  I just buy a package.)

OK, it's probably about 1 1/3lbs.  And it's Laura's Reduced Fat.  I started using this kind a while back...it has very very little fat and I can't stomach the regular kind now.  Once it's brown, theres very little grease left over.  However, you do want to drain what IS there.

Then, take your favorite tortilla chips...

These are the Kroger brand white corn tortilla, but Steve's fixed this with Doritos before and it was yum...I'm sure with all the different flavored tortilla chips available, you could really spruce this up if you are a little adventurous in the kitchen.

Crumble up some of these chips and line the bottom of a casserole dish with them.

Then, you mix all the ingredients together.  Do what?  Oh, I didn't mention the other ingredients?  Well, here they are...

1 can of diced tomatoes drained (I use very few of these because we like the flavor but not the big chunks), 1 can of chili beans, 1 can of cream of chicken soup and chili pepper to taste.  And don't forget the shredded cheese.  I think the recipe calls for a cup but I LOVE cheese so I basically use the whole bag (yep, that's like 2 cups).  Leave a little of the shredded cheese to go on top...

Put the casserole in the oven on 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour and...

YUM!

Say What?

I know I have been MIA for a few weeks.  I wish I could say it was because I was busy planning my trip to China, but not so much.  Work has definitely picked up and keeping me pretty busy.  That makes the days go fast and that is a good thing.

A week ago Friday, I felt like my allergies were really starting to kick up.  My eyes were burning, my ears were itching and my throat felt hot.  All signs of fall coming to Tennessee.  By Friday night, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.  We were planning to go tailgating with our church friends at the local high school football game, but I just couldn't do it and Steve was beat.

I lay on the couch all night long, only sitting up to eat my Jet's pizza.  As an aside, I first had Jet's pizza while hanging out with my friend Elizabeth Y.  (hey E!).  And I haven't stopped thinking about it since.  Seriously.  I could order one right now if I could.  YUM.  Anyway, I asked Steve to order it on Friday night and it turned out to be the best part of my evening.  I took some allergy meds and went to bed.

Saturday morning I woke up and felt better, but I didn't know how long it would last since I started feeling bad late afternoon on Friday.  I cleaned the kitchen, started the laundry and straightened up the rest of the house in between sitting down.  I never even got out of my PJs.  ALL. DAY. LONG.  By late afternoon, I was ready to call it quits.  I just had no energy and I really hadn't expended that much.  I took more allergy meds and went to bed early (yes, I'm 90 years old thankyouverymuch).

Sunday morning I felt pretty good.  PLUS, I was excited for Lifegroups at church to start back up.  I felt fine until the middle of LG when I started having to incessantly clear my throat.  I didn't take any meds on Sunday because I thought maybe the meds were what was robbing me of my energy.  I went to bed Sunday night knowing I had a dentist appt. to fill a cavity on Monday morning at 7:30. 

Monday morning I woke up feeling like I was drowning in mucous.  Sorry, TMI, but I felt and sounded awful.  I canceled my appointment and drug myself to work.  The clinic nurse at work confirmed I wasn't infected and told me to start Mucinex-ing.  By Tuesday, I felt pretty darn good, but unfortunately my voice decided to take a vacation.  I didn't have a voice.  NONE.  The most I could do was whisper.  There were no squeaks or anything.  GONE. 

Every fall about September/October, when the weather starts to change, I get complete and total laryngitis.  Usually I have a few days leading up to it where I start to sound hoarse and get squeaky and then I have one day with no voice at all and then I have another 2-3 days where I go the other direction.  And typically there is no feeling bad with my laryngitis.  I simply have no voice.  This time I felt bad and had no lead time.  I'm still trying to get rid of the crud in my chest and still have a bit of a sinus headache, but I think I'm on the mend.  It did make for a few quiet days around the house, which says a lot...

So here's to cooler weather and I hope, my last bout with laryngitis!

Blogs a Comin'

I know I've been MIA, but I promise there are blogs coming!  I'm going to try and get them up soon!  Please keep checking in!

I Remember

10 years ago today, I had been back at work just a few weeks after having Jenna.  I'd been at work only a few minutes, when a co-worker came by and said a plane had crashed into one of the world trade centers in NY.

I kind of blew it off, but she was headed to the conference room to watch the news so I tagged along.  Once I started watching, I began to realize the horror which was unfolding before my eyes.  Before long, there were several of us still watching when the second plane hit.  Then the first tower fell.  And then the second.

I wanted so badly just to have my baby daughter in my arms.  I can't recall whether I worked all day, but I do remember sitting in front of the TV at work, at home, wherever...

I am STILL horrified at the events of that day.  I am still grateful for those that gave or risked their lives for others.

I remember.

My Other New Love: IKEA

I've been waiting to post for a couple reasons...first of all, after the whirlwind week we had last week, there's really not much to say.  I was hoping to be able to announce we got Pre-Approval (PA) and show you all my sweet baby girl's face.  I realize I've only known her a week but I am already falling in love with her.  The other day, her picture popped up on my screensaver at work and the unexpectedness of it stopped me in my tracks.  Anyway, hopefully it will be here soon and I can share her sweet face!

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you what we bought at IKEA because I love them so much...remember these???

Oh yes we did.  We bought these lovelies.

The set at IKEA in the first picture was 5 units.  We only bought 4.  The first picture shows 3 of them on the far bonus room wall.  At first I didn't think we'd have enough books to fill them, but boy did we!  The 4th one holds ALL of my scrapbooks!  I'd show you my scrapbook desk but right now it is a HUGE mess.  I have always wanted shelves like these, but thought I'd have to have them custom made.  I love these.  LOVE them.  LOVE.  And now that I have a real place to put my scrapbooks with some room to grow.  Jenna has a craft table and I have my scrapbook area and we are trying to figure out how to rearrange to give us more room.  Jenna and I are almost never up there together...heck, I rarely scrapbook at home anymore...so maybe we can get rid of her desk.  We have a desk with the desktop on it and a printer, my scrapbook desk with a scanner and printer and then Jenna's desk with a printer.  We have contemplated getting rid of the desktop and desk because we always used our laptops.  But it is still chugging along, so not sure we are ready to say goodbye yet.  At any rate, the bonus room and Kylie's room is a mess right now because that is how it goes when you are trying to organize.

So that's about all I have to say.  We registered Jenna yesterday for 4th grade.  She has her first 1/2 day today, so later we'll have some pics to share of that.  And we have some fun plans for the weekend so maybe between those things, I'll have a few more posts next week!

Pet Peeves

I thought I might just take a moment to share with you my top 10 pet peeves.  I'd love to hear yours.  I realized in writing these out that several of them have to do with driving.  Apparentl, I'm a pretty happy person until I get in the car and then I turn into a raving lunatic.  Which is mighty unfortunate considering I'm on the road at a minimum of 2 hours a day.

So without furtho ado:

10.  People that stare at Steve and Katie.  You would be amazed at how rude people can be (or maybe not).  I'd rather you ask a stupid question because at least then we can educate you, but to just stare like you've never seen a dog before is rude. 

9.  Drivers that act like they are in the Daytona 500 during rush hour.  Seriously.  Weaving in and out of traffic will not always get you further faster.

8.  Grocery shoppers who are oblivious that there is anyone else in the store with them.  You know the type...they are standing there, with their cart in the aisle, staring at the food, all the while, you are trying to squeeze through beside her trying not to knock the display down.  Hey, PAY ATTENTION!  You aren't the only one shopping!

7.  School drop off line.  There is one woman at our school who drops her son off about the same time I'm there dropping Jenna off.  She will pull into the drop off line about 1/2 way, put her vehicle in park, get out, walk (slowly) around the car, open the son's door, wait for him to get out (slowly), close the door behind him and then WALK HIM INTO THE SCHOOL.  I drop JG off early enough that there's not really a long line of cars, but by the time she goes through this ritual, cars are backed up onto the road.  If you are going to walk your 3rd grader into the school every day, then, oh, I don't know...park in a PARKING SPOT and get out of the drop off line!

6.  I despise it when people make a joke about you but then just keep on either at that moment or every time they see you.  I can laugh at myself with the best of them (heck, there's a lot to laugh at!) but it's funny once or twice.  After that, it's just annoying.

5.  People who drive around with their rear view mirror facing them.  That's NOT what it is for.  Are you so vain that you have to look at yourself when you drive?

4.  People who in the cafeteria at work who don't move all the way down to the end of the line while waiting on their food.  Do they SEE the line of people behind them?  Move on down PEOPLE!

3.  On the tail of number 4, I hate it when I'm standing in line at the cafeteria or anywhere else and the people who are standing behind me are standing RIGHT behind me.  You know, like you can't even shift your weight or else you are stepping on them  Get outta my personal space!

2.  Drivers during rush hour who go below the speed limit.  I sit in A LOT of traffic since I have a lengthy commute.  I have realized lately that ALL that backup is due to this bonehead in the very front who is riding along at a leisurely speed of 55mph in a 70mph zone with 2 miles of space in front of them and the next car.  Hey, guess what?  Some of us have worked all day.  Let's move it along.

1.  Women putting on their makeup while driving.  Now, hear me...I have put on lipstick while sitting at a red light. I have foofed (is that a word?) my hair while sitting at a light.  But I have never done a full on makeup job while sitting at a light (unless I wasn't driving).  My opinion is that you should get up early enough to take care of that or do it when you get where you are going.  Sorry for any of you that do this, but it's dangerous and I don't want to wait behind you while you are beautifying yourself in the mirror. 

So, what have we learned?  Clearly no one is perfect like me.  And I driving issues.  Or, perhaps just ISSUES.  Obviously.

Thank you and that's all.