ProGrEss!

*We are still working on "fixing my computer" so that I can upload pics once again....its coming along and hopefully soon I can have posts that actually have a "visual" with them...(for all of you visual people like me, that like pictures to go along with a good read)...not that I ever do anything exciting and thrilling that I have pictures to go along with...but its always nice to have something to look at, especially if the post is boring...(ha ha ha ha ha)

Food for thought...Day 7..."Do I HAVE TO?"

As I child I had a HUGE list of things that I wished I never had to do...things like "Wash the dishes, fold the laundry, feed the animals, weed the garden, go to school, eat peas, clean my room"...you know, the same list that everyone has. But now that I've grown up, those things aren't really on that list anymore. I still don't LOVE to do all of them, but I don't mind doing them either...actually there are a few that I enjoy-like cleaning (I actually enjoy the RESULT more than the process...but it's not bad either). Being an adult, I have a whole NEW list of "Don't want to do's"....

...and here are my

Top 3 things that I wished I never had to do~

Number 1 on my list is.....

Exercise! Now wait a minute...don't get me wrong, I want ALL THE BENEFITS that come from exercising, I just don't want to HAVE to do it anymore. I want to be able to be in tip top shape (ummm...I'm not EVEN there after I exercise like a work horse), be slim and trim (ummm...not there EITHER!) and be able to eat whatever I choose to, WHENEVER I choose to....so see, what I really want is to "have my cake and eat it to", so to speak! 

Yes, I would like to never have to exercise again if I didn't want to, but still reap all the good rewards that eventually come from exercise. 

Number 2 on my list is.....

Shave my legs! There again...I want to have clean shaven legs...but I don't want the hassle of doing it! It's an inconvenience and always has to be done when I am in a hurry to get ready...Yes, I realize there are procedures that can be done to make this wish come true but it's a bit on the pricey side and there are other things I would prefer to do with that money (ha ha ha...if I had the money in the first place)...so until then, I will continue to shave my legs and wish that I never had to again.

Number 3 on my list is.....

Clean the Bathroom! I am one that really doesn't mind cleaning. It's actually quite rewarding when its all done because I love a clean house, tidy rooms and fresh smells. When I was young and living at home my sister and I had this deal during the summer months...she would help mom with all the canning (because I DESPISE canning) if I would clean the house so she didn't have to help with that! It was a killer deal and I couldn't have asked for anything better, that is until I was in cleaning the bathroom....the one place I HATE to clean. Maybe it's the smells (heaven knows there are plenty of foul smells in there), maybe it all the hair lurking about (gag, gag...I have a thing with hair...it makes me gag, literally) maybe it's the "pee" that has ran down the side of the toilet from boys that don't have very good aim, maybe its just the thought of the MILLION'S of GERMS that lurk in that part of the house...or maybe its all of that and more. Need-less-to-say the bathroom is my least place to clean in the entire house and when I do it, it's certainly a labor of love. I thoroughly enjoy a clean bathroom, the sparkle of the sink and tub, the shiny tile and the spotless mirror...and the ODORLESS toilet... so YES I CLEAN my bathrooms on a regular basis but it's not something I look forward to or enjoy in the least. I wished I never had to clean my bathrooms again...but I also wished that someone else would do it for me, so that I could continue to reap the benifits of a clean bathroom.

"Oh if wishes were fishes...we would all have a good fry"

                                       -author unknown

Food for thought...Day 6...Happy Holidays!

With the new year beginning, we are all gearing up for another round...another year of holidays...

Did you know that every month has a holiday?

January has "New Years Day" as well as "Martin Luther King day"
February has "Valentines Day" and "Presidents Day"
March has "St. Patrick's Day" and "SPRING BEGINS DAY!"
April has "Easter"
May has "Mother's Day" and "Memorial Day"
June has "Flag Day" and "Father's Day" and "SUMMER BEGINS DAY!"
July has "Independence Day" and if you live in UTAH...we also have "Pioneer Day"
August has "Back to school day"....I consider that a holiday
September has "Labor day"
October has "Halloween" and "Columbus Day"
November has "Veterans Day" and "Thanksgiving"
December has "Christmas" and "Hanukkah"

See...our year should be full of party's and good food...along with plenty of fun. BUT do any of us really take advantage of all the holidays offered for us to "live it up?"......I admit that I don't.

3 Holidays that I adore...3 that I don't adore so much

Adore #1: Christmas...doesn't that one make the top of everyone's list? 

It's not the presents that make Christmas for me, it's the "feeling" in the air, the family time and beauty of the season. I just LOVE the sights, the sounds and the feel of Christmas. Its fun to "give" gifts to those I love. I get excited about seeing the look on their faces as they open a gift of something they are so surprised to get. I love having parties and spending time with my family. I love the FOOD (you knew that one was coming) because there is so much of it that we only eat during the holidays...so it's a novelty. Its just such a wonderful time of year. It seems as though the world is smiling ear to ear for the month of December. 

Adore #2: New Years Eve/New Years Day...(all one big holiday to me)

New Year's Eve is a huge family party for us. We EAT and EAT all sorts of exciting and scrumptious food. We play games until the New Year rolls in...then we sleep late and lay around all New Year's Day watching movies and eating MORE of that fabulous food. It's so much fun...just really laid back and relaxing. It's the last of our "big hurrah's" for the holidays...so we suck in all the family time we can get and live it up.

Adore #3: Easter
Easter begins "Spring" for me. It's a reminder of everything new and alive again. It's a time of color and chirping birds. It's a time for family celebration and happiness. Its just "one of those" wonderful holidays that I love.

********************

Don't Adore #1: Halloween
Halloween use to be fun when I had small children who loved to dress up and go trick-or-treating. We had a lot of fun family traditions that went along with the holiday of black and orange. We use to have a mystery dinner that my kids looked forward to for months. We went to carnivals and made the round to visit all the grandparents in town, showing off the kids cute costumes. We have a lot of fun memories tied to Halloween. Then the kids grew up...(need I say more?) no one cared about the mystery dinner anymore, no one wanted to go see all the grandparents on Halloween and no one wanted to stay at home and eat spaghetti like the "good ol' days". It just quickly became a "lost holiday".

Don't Adore #2: Valentines Day 
I use to get so excited for this "special day". It use to be a fun day for the first few years of our marriage and then I guess it lost its "Novelty"...no more romantic dinner dates, no more sweet cards and no more bouquets of flowers....it just became another day. I use to get really disappointed that hubby didn't get into like I did, but then I just quit buying the gifts too and let the disappointment of the "lost holiday" roll off my back. Its just another day...Its just another day....(I just have to keep telling myself that!)

Don't Adore #3: Labor Day
I guess its more of "what this day" symbolizes to me, more than the day itself. To me this day marks the END OF SUMMER...and the beginning of Autumn and Winter....therefore making it a "Don't Adore Holiday" for me. We usually don't do anything overly fun on this day...and it just comes and goes without much being said about it.

I would love to hear what your favorite holidays are...and how you celebrate them (please share)!

I hope to make this year full of more celebrating...after all, we have all of these days

 each month to "live it UP", I guess we should take advantage of them!

Could be...maybe

Just thought I would pass along some EXCITING and good news....NO, NO and NO....I'm not expecting and neither is anyone that I know... BUT we might have figured out a way to upload some pics to my blog...might have to try it out later or maybe tomorrow....WOO HOO!

Food for thought...Day 5...RePulSed!

I don't consider myself "overly squeamish," I'm pretty "tough skinned" and can handle a lot of gross/disgusting things. Growing up on a farm, I think I had to be able to handle a lot. I probably saw, as well as helped do things that would make most girls throw up, things like helping slaughter the cattle and pigs (as well as gutting them), kill the chickens...all so we would have food to eat in the winter. I mucked out the pig sty on more than one occasion and sewed up the neck of a Ewe (mama sheep) after she ripped it trying to go through a barbed wire fence...you know, just all that "farm stuff". But surprisingly enough, there are a few things that really make me want to "hurl!".

3 things that repulse me 

Repulse #1- Smells!

Certain smells can make me gag in a heartbeat! The smell of dog/cat poop. The smell of rotting potatoes.  The smell of a dead mouse. The smell of rotten food from the refrigerator (canned kidney beans are the worst!) The smell of throw up. The smell of bacon on my clothes. The smell of someone who needs a bath. The smell of someone who doesn't use deodorant. The smell of campfire in my hair...Yep, those things repulse me and make me want to throw up. ALTHOUGH, I have learned to breath through my mouth on more than one occasion when smells are getting to me and can't be avoided...keeping me from losing my lunch so to speak. 

Repulse #2- Buger eaters!

Yes, I know, most kids do it....and most kids outgrow it. BUT sometimes you see one that is enjoying his/her "pickings" WAY too much. It's not the toddlers and very small children that get me, but those older ones...like those kids in elementary school that have a runny nose and reach up with their tongue to clean it off their face (see, you are being repulsed by it too)...yep, that makes me want to up-chuck. Or the child that reaches in their nose and digs and digs, finally pulling out a big ol' long one and proceeds to look at it, staring at it as though they haven't eaten in weeks, then slurps it down like it's a spaghetti noodle...YEP, that will get to me every time. More often than not, I just have to look away or I will throw up! 

Repulse #3- LICE!!!

It's a mother's worst nightmare when she gets a call from the school nurse saying, "You need to come and pick up your child from school, they have LICE!!!!" Been there, done that!!!! I thought I wanted to die. Those nasty little critters crawling around in my home, my beds, inside my cars and IN my CHILDS HAIR!!! It literally makes my stomach queasy just thinking about it. Lice is not a respecter of persons...it doesn't really matter how clean your children are, how often you wash their bedding or how clean your house is, anyone can get it. I learned that the hard way. I remember using RID (the lice treatment shampoo) and the little comb that you have to use to comb all the little NITS from the child's hair. It was AWFUL to say the least, and it completely grossed me out. I wouldn't wish that nasty little creature on anyone...I guess you could say, LICE repulses me!!!!  

OH the fun things you get to learn about me...

guess you didn't know me as good as you thought you did. 

Food for thought...Day 4...Peeved!

Yep...still having issues with the computer and uploading pictures.

We have the problem narrowed down but it 

is very costly to fix so we are trying to figure something else out!

UHG....so yet another "picture-less" post!

Food for thought Day 4~

MY 3 Pet Peeves...

Sadly enough I have many more than "3"...but I will spare you the read and just post three-

Peeve number one: Using the "F" word in a PG-13 movie...just to get a PG-13 rating! It doesn't add anything (NOT one thing) to the movie and often it sounds as though its thrown in there as an after thought! It would be nice to be able to sit down with my family and not have to worry that there are going to be some "bombs" thrown in there. Yep, I think its ridiculous and it drives me crazy....for being such brilliant movie writers, they sure are DUMB!

Peeve number two: Kids that put (sneak) clean clothes back in the dirty clothes hamper...just to save themselves the small amount of time that it would take to put them away the first time. This one really boils my blood. I get to thinking that I have all the laundry done...and then magically, 2 days later I have 4 more loads...and some of those "dirty clothes" happen to be folded....UHG! By the time I find them, they are dirty because they have set in the hamper with the rest of the dirty clothes for several days! There are huge consequences for little IMPS who try to pull this trick!!!


Peeve number three: Buying ice cream that is freezer burnt! That's just a huge heartbreaker for me!! I don't buy ice cream very often, but when I do-I want it fresh, creamy and ready to eat (because my mouth is watering and I am probably starting to drool all over myself...all because I am so anxious for a huge bite of this yummy, artery clogging goodness). There is nothing worse than opening up the carton to find ice crystals and the insides that have obviously been melted (partially or entirely) and then re-frozen!...HUGE bummer when that happens...I feel as though I have flushed my money down the toilet, I wished I had money enough to do that but sadly enough, I do NOT. It's probably better that I don't eat that scrumptious, heavenly, creamy goodness anyway....but there are times when I just NEED (yes, I am sure it's a "need" and not a want) some of it...and when I want it, I want it now~

Food for thought...Who am I-Day 3

I guess since I can't post pictures or give you any"visuals"-
 I will post my "Food for Thought" posts that I was working on months ago...

Here's hoping for a better year in 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

(I could use a good, happy, wonderful year!)


3 things that I have discovered about myself

I think "self discovery" is an ongoing part of life. As we get older we constantly learn new things about ourselves... at least I have. Many things that I have discovered over the years are good, others are not, some things surprise me, others shock me and then there are some I've known all along, but just finally admitted them to myself. I guess it's all part of the growing process...learning what we've become, what we are and what our potential can be. 

Thing 1: I'm a private person

Talking and sharing things about myself isn't easy, especially when it comes to struggles, trials and challenges that are going on in my life. I've never been one to "air my dirty" laundry or spilled my guts. I don't like to feel pity from others, appear weak (physical, emotionally or mentally) nor do I like to have anyone think that I am needy in any way. I keep alot to myself because thats where I feel most the comfortable. Sometimes I write my thoughts, challenges and feelings down, but very seldom do I ever share them....with anyone. 

Thing 2: I have more will power than I ever thought I did

Several years ago I decided that I was tired of lugging around my extra weight that I had piled on over the span of a few years...the equivalent of a small first grader. I checked into many diet plans, even tried a few...but MUCH to my surprise (not really) none of them really worked. As a last result I decided to sign up for Weight Watchers. THAT'S where I learned a lot about myself...through the classes that I went to, I learned WHY I ate what I ate, WHY I ate when I ate, and HOW to change it all. I learned that I AM IN CONTROL of what goes in my mouth and I have the will power to do whatever I set my mind to. The things I learned in those classes carried over into the rest of my life. I learned that when I set my mind to something I CAN DO IT! It's not always easy but I like to be in control of what I do and to prove to myself that I can do things I didn't think that I could. 

Thing 3: I don't have a lot of confidence in myself

I know, that may sound strange for someone to have "will power" but not a lot of confidence...but its true. I have had to do some deep soul searching to help me figure out "WHY" I've struggled with this... because when I was young, very young...I thought I could do anything. I even thought I could fly...to the point that I climbed to the top of our tall shed and proceeded to jump. I flapped my arms quickly like a bird and was sure that I would be soaring through the trees with the most majestic birds in just a matter of minutes....we all know what happened next, yes, I fell to the ground like a rock...but it never shook my confidence level. It was when I was in 8th grade, I had a teacher that crushed my confidence level right to the ground. He tore it from my very being.  I don't know if he just didn't like me or if he got some "high" from tearing me down... but that was the beginning of a downward spiral for me. From that time forth, different things, experiences and people, contributed to my struggle with self-worth. Its been many years since that first day in "this teacher's" 8th grade class...and I still struggle, although I have come a long way, its still a
day-to-day battle...a day-to-day challenge and something that I will have to work on every single day for the rest of my life. 

There you have it...

3 things that I have discovered about myself!

Problems NEVER seem to cease!

I have to apologize...something (everything) is wrong with my computer and NOW it won't let me upload any pictures from my files. It seems as though when it rains around my house, it pours....having computer problems is just the icing on the cake (a pretty poor tasting cake at that!!!)...I've had enough!!!

Needless to say, there won't be any pictures posted on my blog for awhile until we can figure out whats going on with my computer. UHG!

December come and gone....

Our Holidays were filled with.....

  fun and laughter that our sweet children bring into our home....

Dad doing Christmas Eve dishes....(a tradition that he wished he had never started)

three HAPPY kids, smiling because they didn't have to do the dishes after our big holiday dinner.....

playing in 30" of snow...

watching icicles drip 

piles and piles of wet, heavy snow....

great visits from most of our adult children and our grandbaby...

(we really missed our oldest and her hubby)

candy making...piles and piles of it!.....

a two week, awesome visit, from our college girl....

tree branches loaded with the white fluffy stuff...

AND....hours and hours of pushing snow, again and again AND again!

Christmas is over and the NEW YEAR is here...I have to say it came and went WAY TOO fast. 

It's Baaaack~

Cameron came home from school the other day begging for me to cut his hair into a "mullet"!!!! Yes, you heard me right...a MULLET! WHY???? I don't know, your guess is as good as mine!! They looked awful back in the 80's...why would they be any different NOW? I think he wanted to get a big reaction from me at first and then he thought about it and decided it REALLY would be fun to have one. You guessed it,  I buckled and agreed to do it....after all, its just hair right?!... and besides, he agreed to let me cut his mullet in the morning so he could wear it to wrestling practice and then I could cut it off that night... whew!! 

It wasn't really long enough to get the full effect from a picture...but it looked pretty authentic in person. Cameron thought it was awesome and begged for me to let him keep it...but "a deals a deal," so I won and got to cut it off (yeah for the MOM's ability to pull rank)!

I've decided... lets keep the Mullet in the 80's where it belongs.

Some things are better just left in the past....and fortunately that happens to be one of them.