It's a good day

Last Day at the Old Job.

big fat smiley assed face.

My best laid plans...

Have gone astray once again... If the weather warms up anymore I won't be able to use my table on the deck as an extension of my fridge on Thanksgiving. You know - what with the old one CATCHING FIRE and all...

Seriously - I'm so excited about Turkey Day. My boys love it - I think it is probably their second favorite holiday... Or maybe third. (Halloween and their birthdays may take the lead - but they are ALL OVER this one.)

My parents are coming! To Illinois! For a major holiday!

I get to cook. I Loves Me Some Cooking. Been planning for weeks.

Add all that to the fact that I will be unemployed for the holiday and I am like a little pig in you-know-what.

Hooray!

Gobble Gobble.

S

WHEN???

When Oh When Is It Going To Stop RAINING?

What I would rather be doing....

It is raining.

It is cold.

Maya has gymnastics.

This is likely the last time I personally get to (have to) take her.

De-light-ful.

A cold drafty gymnasium. Sitting on cold bleachers.

Then there is the little boy who obsessively throws a tennis ball up in the air and catches it. I almost had to be restrained from him once.

Then there are the multiple pop machines with which they are both obsessed. Already made sure I have my crisp dollar bills.

Then there is the freaky looking mom who I have a hard time not staring at for a solid hour. Bad Manners Much?!

Then there are the little little kids with Leappads. Nothing like dueling Disney Princess leappad books to brighten your afternoon.

Seth loves gymnastics. There is an older boy there who apparently doesn't have a gameboy and likes to watch Seth play Pokemon. Makes Seth feel like a rock star... Sometimes if he is feeling particularly benevolent, he lets him PLAY it.

What would I like to be doing? Sitting on my fanny on the couch watching me some Judge Judy and drinking cheap Pinot Grigio from the grocery store.

3 things

Starting the new gig the Monday after Thanksgiving. I know things happen for a reason and this just confirms it, yet again, for me.

I'm going shopping in Indy tomorrow with: Monica, Nita, Mona & Sharon. Should be a total blast. It always is! The lawyer just doesn't understand. It's fun to watch him try to puzzle it out.

My parents are coming for Thanksgiving. I'm making this salad:


Apple Raspberry Salad
Serves: 8 person(s)
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Extra Time: 2 hrs (for refrigeration)
Yield: 8 x 1/2 cup servings

Suggested apples to use include Empire, Ida Red, Jonathan, McIntosh, Red Delicious and Rome.
Ingredients:
1 package (3 oz) raspberry flavored gelatin *
1 cup boiling water
1 package (10 oz) frozen raspberries or 1 cup fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cup chopped unpeeled apples
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup broken pecan pieces
1/2 cup sliced celery

Directions:
In a 2-quart mixing bowl dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add frozen raspberries and stir gently until raspberries are thawed. Stir in apples, applesauce, pecans and celery. Pour into serving dish or mold.
Refrigerate about 2 hours or until mixture is set.

Other than that - the menu is all traditional - for the Holcombs... Oyster stuffing, mashed and sweets, pumpkin and pecan pie, brocolli, 7 layer salad, etc. etc. etc.

What are YOUR Thanksgiving traditional foods?

Peace in my soul

Here is the quote from this week's Hobby Lobby ad:


What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Emerson

This is exactly the feeling I am going for today and this week. I was in such turmoil on Friday. Reacting to events instead of trusting myself to move forward. I think I am over it.

Sorry to be so cryptic - don't wanna to get dooced.

S

PS - Emerson also said "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" another favorite quote.

PPS - Hobby Lobby rocks.

Sneaky and underhanded is no way to go through life...

grrrrr...

neither is stupid AND a bitch.

'nuff said - at least here on the internet.

S

This'll cure what ails ya'!

Susan's Minestrone

Easy and freezes well. Add some Italian sausage or chicken if you like meat. I don't measure. sorry!

Carrots – 2-3 large
Onion – 1 large
Celery – as much as you have carrots
Olive Oil (2 T??)
Garlic – 2-3 cloves
Italian seasoning (1 T??)

Chop the veggies. Brown in oil. Add in the garlic last so it doesn’t burn. Saute until onions are cooked through.

Add: (without draining)

2-3 cans crushed tomatoes (or whole tomatoes crushed up, or diced. Whatever you have on hand will work)
1-2 cans white beans (navy or canellini)
2 cans chicken stock

Rinse the tomato cans with water or wine to add more liquid and get all the tomato bits into the soup. Add more water or chicken stock if soup seems too thick. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 1 hour. At the end of the cooking process add:

1 block frozen chopped spinach. Still frozen is fine.

Serve with cooked pasta (if you want) and (absolutely) parmesan cheese!

Life is fast and furious

Things are nutty lately.

Went to California... (F*A*B*U*L*O*U*S)
Came back sorta sick (stinkin' airplanes).
Busy busy busy week in the life of a mom last week.
I got sick for real Thursday
Maya spent a day puking Friday (as only Maya can)
Halloween party Saturday.
Suit shopping and general mommy-ness Sunday.
GLAD to be able to sit down today!

More nuttiness to follow this week. Stay posted for details.

wish this was more funny or interesting... Unfortunately - it's just my life!

Californ I A

I'm off on Sunday for Palm Springs. Oh my...

Will be interesting there and in Illinois to see how the beasts and the lawyer do without me...

Back on Wednesday late.

Another List

Things I love (in no particular order)

The Weather Channel
WXRT Radio Chicago streaming
Making cards with Maya
Watching Jon Stewart with Scott
Vince Vaughn
Andy Garcia (for totally different reasons)
Lame Disney Halloween movies
Pictures of my friends' kids
Kettle Korn
Hearing Seth & Maya do the "twenty-five" scene from Spongebob and cracking themselves up
Snuggling
Lighting Hannukah candles and listening to the kids sing the prayer

What do you love?

Micro....

Microdermabrasion
Microphone
Microplane
Microcephalus
Micronesia
Microscope
Microprocessor
Micromini
Microbiology
Microeconomics

Kathy's thoughts on friends...

um. Sorry Kath - this was too funny not to share.

"I am glad that I still meet the criteria to be your friend and share similar 'issues' even if we never actually talk and I live in a 3rd world country. I totally agree with your criteria, but beg to differ with the happy hour hour. Down here in Mex-eee-coh, any time after noon is acceptable for starting happy hour, and there is not specific end time required. And, PAH-Lease, if you want to bi*ch about not fitting in with the women who live near you, you have hit the jack pot with me. Try to be an over-5-foot-tall blond person with an actual education and job who does not paint her fingernails with pictures of little flowers or believe that a child's diet should be made up in equal parts by candy, pop, cheese, and chili powder and live in MY neighborhood. Oh, yeah, I totally blend in..."

More thoughts on friends....

Someone who would take a picture of a dead plant - JUST TO PROVE A POINT.
Someone who e-mails me to check up on me. And knows I do the same for them.
Someone who e-mails me a reaction to something - the same exact time I am e-mailing them the same thing. Jinx! Buy me a coke! (uh... Linda? Mags? Monica?? I'm talking to YOU girls!!!)
Someone who knows it's funny when someone else falls. Even if it's me falling.

This is not about work

In an effort NOT to write about work (don't ask) - here are some thoughts.

Why does it seem that my long distance girlfriends (and I) have problems finding other women like them close by? Similar age, kid status, interest, work status, etc. I've long thought that there MUST some woman in my sub-division or close by who could be my friend. But short of going door-to-door begging for a friend in the neighborhood, I'm at a loss to figure out how to find her. There needs to be a "dating service" for moms...

I can only imagine that this is harder for SAHMs. At least at work - I get out - meet people and have internet access all day long. Many of my friends here in Champaign I met or got closer to because we all sent our kids to the hospital daycare.

My requirements for a friend:
Someone who has sent their 7 year old to school with a peanut butter and KIWI jelly sandwich - hoping he doesn't look inside to see the green goo...
Someone who has dosed up a kid with tylenol, sent them to school and prayed for the best.
Someone whose floors are worse off than mine (although that is a tall order).
Someone who loves their husband, even likes them too, but is continually exasperated by them.
Someone whose DIY home improvement projects take way longer than on HG TV.
Someone who would rather read a good book (or People magazine) than clean.
Someone who thinks cocktail hour starts at 4.
Someone who thinks PTA is not the end-all and be-all of life.

So - that's it. But I *am* flexible!

What are your requirements (uh- Linda? Since you are the only one who reads my blog!)

Almost there in the dining room

The little things...

It's my mom's birthday - now a very bittersweet day. Just one more little thing that has changed in the last 5 years.

Happy Birthday Mom. You are the best.

Hit me now

Just in the last 2 weeks:

the dishwasher broke
the washing machine broke, right after
the toilet flooded the basement
the downstairs fridge caught on fire (WTF??)
we ran into a $325 hitch with the dining room hardwood floors

what else? really - hit me now - I'm numb.

Now I think I'm Cool

hee hee...

linda said it was easy...

Darn - she was right! Course *I* uploaded the wrong pic.... But you get the idea.

Baby

Happy Birthday Julia.

writing

good g-d I need to spend more time on my writing. My BIL Fred once asked me if I thought I had a book in me. I confidently said I did. Silly me - I think I only had one child at this point. But, I still think I do. Lilyan and that whole thing.... Scott and I want to do it together. And we should - it really being his story and all. The thought of research with him in dusty stacks at the Chicago Public Library totally does it for me. What to do, what to do, however, with the pesky kids....

HOWEVER (my favorite word) in the short term I need to focus on humor, conciseness and good grammer, much less so than OTHER THINGS.

later.

Clever Girl

Took my own advice last Sunday when the depression started to set in. On Saturday too for that matter. And guess what? IT WORKED. BOTH TIMES.

Who can tell me why, though, I have such a problem with the weekends? between 2 & 4 things just start to fail. Better yet - who can explain it to Scott....

Picture

I am a secret country music freak. Love the Cash and the song Picture totally does it for me every time....

My oh my. What WOULD the folks from Oakwood say? I believe much of it can be directly blamed on my husband, who though he would be LOATHE to admit it, could be from Oakwood. However, he has been singing "She's the Queen of my Double Wide Trailer" to me since the day I met him. He is also directly responsible for the folky thing too.

At least I don't listen to WIXY.

But this - coupled with my TLC thing, makes me feel like Sybil.

Much more me today

Pandora is thinking I am much more Susan today. What a relief. No more teenage angst. Between that and the PMS I could hardly stand myself yesterday.

Seth told his whole daycamp class that if they got into trouble, for $5 his daddy would get them out of it.

Nice.... We are SUCH GOOD PARENTS!

Looking for a babysitter for saturday. Interested?

crunchy

Moved on from popcorn to Smale's Pretzels. You will SO only get that if you grew up in Dayton....

Why does Pandora suddenly think I am an angst ridden 19 year old?

School starts on Monday. WOO-HOO!

later...

Bad Habit

I have a new bad habit of moowing down a small bag of popcorn from the cafeteria every day after lunch… Needs to stop. I’m sure my co-workers are SICK of listening to me snarfing popcorn. Plus – there is popcorn filth all over now. Not to mention the salt, carbs, etc.

My dad HATED it when my high school friends & I would eat popcorn. Apparently 15 year old girls are not too good at hitting their mouths. I got better – but not with popcorn.

I had a friend in college we called Hoover. A la the vacuum type of Hoover (not Herbert). She spent the better part of the end a long night of abusing various substances eating spilled popcorn. Crawling around on her hands and knees. And boom: Her “friends” call her Hoover for the next 4 years.

Off for the HAW. See you soon.

how do you explain...

Depression to someone who has never felt these feelings before? The sense of hopelessness and helplessness and the day stretching on and on an on before you finally can just give up and go to bed. How do you get that across to someone? Someone who cares and WANTS to help, but just doesn't understand... If you know, please tell me.

Then, as suddenly as it comes, it goes. A brisk walk, a meal, a shower, and a good night's sleep and today is a whole brighter new day.

Note to self: remember the four above points on the depression days (which are thankfully just about a yearly event anymore. But when they come - they are bad...)

Happy 4th of July.

random thoughts...

while on a conference call:

my legs are too hairy.
Seth is at my parents. I miss him. I'm going to get him tomorrow.
I have to get my oil changed before I go.

Heard in the Car

with a plagaristic thank you to Leahpeah.

Seth: The bus picking us up from our field trip yesterday was late.

Me: What did you do while you waited?

Seth: I suggested forming an angry mob.

Whatcha doin today Sooz?

Whatcha listening to?

Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl dance mix. Makes me feel like I’m 14. LOVE IT!

Whatcha feeling?

Little blue – despite the music…

Whatcha doing?

Cleaning my house for my mom’s visit on 6/21

Whatcha gonna do later?

Hmmm – watch my newly acquired local channels on my dish TVs? Maybe make some sourdough English muffins with my new sourdough starter from my friend Terri?

How about tomorrow?

Dropping kids off in the AM. More cleaning.

I'm not saying no. I'm just saying not today.

Have to:
Run home and get Seth,
Go to scrapbook store so we can make page for his teacher (DUE TOMORROW),
Drop him off at Scott's office,
Get Maya,
Get her to tinkle in a cup,
Take her to the doc to have her "bits" looked at (as my husband would say)

deep breath...

Go home
Make Dinner
Finish scrapbook page
Clean up from dinner
Most like go to Walgreen's to get meds for Maya and her urinary tract
bath beasts
read stories
do mad libs
put said beasts to bed...

thoughts on starting my blog

This is a spot for all the random thoughts in my head...

Beware - I think my kids are way cute and intelligent. Look forward to a lot of stories and quotes...

My husband is pretty cute and funny and smart too - in an exasperating manly kind of way. I truly do feel my most humorous when I can make him laugh...

I need an outlet. A girl can only e-mail her friends her random thoughts so many times... I love ellipses.

Random thought from the other day:
I don't cry when my dog runs away.
I don't get angry at the bills I have to pay.
I don't get angry when my mom smokes pot,
hits the bottle and goes right to the rock...
Sublime. Sublimely lovely.
No real connection to anything - just been running through my head for days now.

See you soon.