I know

I know. It has been a long time.
There is a lot going on, a lot I need to revisit on this poor neglected space and a lot that needs to be accomplished before that can happen.
On the bright side...after this weekend I will have that time.
But I have a confession.
I am scared.
I am scared that I am closing and will still have to get another job which would totally defeat the purpose of me closing.
I am scared that I will walk out these doors the last time and become incapable of creativity.
I am scared that my house will never get cleaned.
I am scared of what I will do Tuesday next week when I have no where to go, but a ton to do.
So, I am afraid right now.
And I have a ton to do, so off to get to it.
Wish me luck.

I made it through

the week.
Now I need to get this month over.
Wish me luck.

I was random facted on facebook

1. I enjoy the quiet. A lot. I hate to have the TV on if it doesn't have to be because really, there is more than enough noise in my house. I mean, I have a Tyler...that's a lot of noise right there.
2. I used to dream of being surrounded by men. That backfired.
3. I like being the only girl in the house. I am always right.
4. I miss not having a daughter. I miss it especially when friends comment on a fun mommy/daughter thing they just did or will do.
5. I am fiercely protective. I may talk about you or get irritated, but if you are my child, spouse or friend I will defend you til someone bleeds :) But if it is friend versus family...watch out friend.
6. I used to want to do the F.A.C.E.S program at Louisiana State. I would LOVE to be a CSI or forensic anthropologist. However, too many boys and nowhere close enough to go to school.
7. I own a scrapbook store. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it.
8. I don't like it when someone tells me that I have not been through much in my life...exactly how much is much and why is what I have been through not that?
9. I love my sonic cokes. LOVE. Would marry them but my husband would get mad.
10. If I could drop everything right now (well, except those boys in my house) I would be a photographer or work in a nursery...like at Town and Country Gardens and make everyone's yards pretty...shhhh, neighbors, I know I need to take better care of my own flowers :) And yes, I would love more trees, try explaining to my husband who feels it necessary to have a sports complex instead.
11. I coached pitching machine for my boys the last two summers and will do it again this summer. I love it. The kids have so much fun and I enjoy getting to know the boys...they crack me up!
12. I love baseball. I am so glad that my kids like it and are pretty good at it. I like it a lot when we have nephews to watch play. (disclaimer...the only nephew we have watched is Cody and he is soooo good! Can't wait to see where he goes after graduation) I don't like football. I will suffer through it if a)I have no choice b) one of my kids is playing c) it's super bowl Sunday. Good news, apparently there is a spring flag football season. yay.
13. Sometimes, my son Tyler makes me want to pull out my hair...then his. I swear he would argue with a kidnapper on how to best tie the ropes.
14. I am good at explaining things. And I like to teach. Especially if I like what I am teaching.
15. I am a pretty good cook. And I LOVE it!16. I am a pretty good photographer.
17. I have a hard time with humility. I want to be the best at everything and so it's hard for me to be humble about something I am good at, even if I am not the best, but I will acknowledge if I know you are better. Oh, and by no means would I ever say that I am better than you...I would just think it...oh and I might tell Jeff, cause he agrees with me. I have stuff he likes. Like, food :)18. I can be very sarcastic. Sometimes inappropriately so. However, I am funny.
19. I am a freak about spelling. So if something is spelled wrong, it wasn't me.
20. If I were home more I would be OCD about my house. I know that right now I don't have the time...but once I am home again for good, look out. I hate being a disorganized, cluttery person. It makes me nuts. I know, my neighbors are shaking their heads, but it's either be a freak or jsut deal with it...right now, I deal.
21. I took 2 hours of art every semester in high school. My art teacher came to my wedding :)22. All of my boys have the name of a town or city somewhere in their given name.
23. I love lip gloss. And shoes. And purses or bags. but I really don't enjoy shopping so I mostly just admire from afar.
24. Someday I want to enter some of my pictures in the fair. And take photography classes.
25.My boys are truly my world. Even Jeff...I know that no matter what, having them in my life makes me a better person. I am so lucky to be stuck with stinky, sweaty smelly boys...and their lizards, and football gear, and baseball gear and soccer gear and bakugan and gameboys and tennis shoes and fishing stuff and well, you get it.

menu planning

So Jeff and I wee out Saturday night shopping. In between me getting off work and Jeff going home to shower I made a menu.
This is all because of Lori who used to post them every week.
As it turned out, preplanning was fortuitous because well, all my plans for the week went awry about 8:25 Sunday morning. (Thanks, Nancy, for watching our class after Jeff taught)
My poor Hunter had a talk on Sunday. Another fortuitous thing, he was called Wednesday night to give the youth talk in church...on virtue (he was like, mom, what's virtue...yeah, so any of you who don't have boys around 12/13, let me warn you...brain shut off happens around this time. It is scientifically proven that boys can either grow or think, so something's gotta go, it appears it's the brain) so he sat down Thursday after school and wrote his whole talk so he wouldn't have to worry about it later. Good plan :) As soon as his talk was over he and went to my grandma's to meet with my mom and uncle and try to get a few things worked out...do you know how many things must be done at the time of death? A lot.
So, because this post is supposed to be about meal planning and not so much my horrible day, here is our menu for the week:
Oh, and a disclaimer, we do eat vegetables, however, my kids will only three...so it just rotates between those three as to which boy is closest to the freezer or pantry when I say 'someone pick out a vegetable.'
Sunday: meatballs and mashed potatos
Monday: pizza (Hunter does a fantastic job of this)
Tuesday: Skabetti and garlic bread
Wednesday: rice and chicken
Thursday: hamburgers and french fries (although this may change as it is Q's birthday...which in fact throws another kink into our plans of a party Saturday night...not sure that will happen since the funeral is that afternoon...and the super bowl (eyeroll) is Sunday...)
Friday: tator tot casserole
Saturday???? funeral food?

Now to sort through the 80 years of pictures to make Grandma's tribute book :)

**edited to add tator tot casserole recipe
*disclaimer...I am REALLY bad about measuring, so most of this is a guess :)

Brown a pound of hamburger season as it cooks
While burger is browning, layer tator tots in either a 9x13 or 10x10 pan...I layer them end to end very orderly, yes, I know it's hard to believe but I am kind of OCD about a few things. My tator tots are one of them :)
Once the burger is cooked, layer over the tots (usually my tots are still frozen)
Mix cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup with a can of milk and pour over top of the hamburger/tots.
Scrape a bunch of cheese and pile it on top.
Bake at whatever the package of tots suggests.

I can only make it when Hunter is camping because of an unfortunate experience when he was younger.

I hate it

when things work out badly...but in a good way.
So I was supposed to go to CHA yesterday. Any one who has ever been with me knows how fun it is and most everyone else has heard how much I love it. New product to touch and feel, creativity overload...whew..it is a fantasy land of energy for me. Plus Disneyland is across the street.
I got a phone call this morning.
The kind of call you never want to get.
My Grandma passed away some time in the night. Her birthday is Friday. She would have been 80. She has battled cancer for about 5 1/2years, metastatic colon cancer, to be specific...last Tuesday she found out it was 'starting to wake up' so chemo was started on Thursday...
I am happy to say she is with my Grandpa. That she never had the typical pain of cancer and that she was at home. But it was a horrible shock and we will miss her dearly.
So, those prayers for guidance in regards to my CHA trip were well answered. I'm glad I could be here for my mom and uncle. That I have the privilege to help them remember this fiesty lady. And be with my family during an emotional time.

Nully

I decided to take Amanda up on her suggestion.

If you ever just see a random word in the middle of a sentence, just figure it to be a login word...or whatever they are called.

In other areas, I love snow. On my way in to the store today I was wondering who all the stupid people were out there...all of them but me, of course.

I love it when a truck, with no obvious weight in the back cuts me off. Cause um, my car is kind of heavy and there is a good chance an accident can happen. So don't cut me off and don't ride my tail...especially if Jeff is driving...he has been known to stomp on the breaks just to see what happens.

oh, and if you are wondering (which unless you are on facebook, why would you) I got this lovely last night...

I LOVE it.

With as much typing as I do all day I love that the keyboard is like a well, keyboard. It's makes my texting much faster and since Jeff and I txt all day, this is a really nice feature.

Otherwise, I have tons to do and no time to do it. Just like everybody else out there :)

You know

I kind of wonder a few things.
A lot of things.
But today, I am wondering who comes up with the word or letter combos you have to copy in order to post a comment on some blogs.
Like 'lumois' or 'cazikstan' or 'floober.' There are so many that crack me up.
Just wondering.