Let there be peace.(and quiet)

It's completely amazing when you take 2 child_units out of the equation just how quiet it can be. The two youngest went with Tom for an overnighter up-In da U.P., Eh- It's just so quiet that I'm not sure what to do with myself! Taking an afternoon nap was quite enticing, but I resisted the temptation so that I could sleep well tonight. You wouldn't believe just how quiet it was this afternoon when the two oldest were out playing Xbox, the two middle child_units were at open gym playing basketball and as I said before, the two youngest are gone for the night. WOO HOOOOOOO.....but, the silence was deafening! Did you ever really notice how loud silence is? It was nice.

A wonderful couple sent us a FANTASTIC basket full of goodies for Christmas. Today, we finally really tore into it. Alex was dividing up the stuff that 'he' thought was his, NOBODY argued with him when he claimed the smoked salmon *gag*. Now, the house smells like rancid tuna....*gag again*, I've never been one to like fish, however, I do like tuna, but that salmon was just nasty smelling, especially when the juices dripped onto the chair, his shorts and then the floor....ick! The cat was quite intrigued :), she's still out in the kitchen trying to find it.

I wonder about the different phases of life that we go th rough, especially the social phases. Growing up, I never remember my mother having a close friend, a 'best' friend so to speak. This made me sad because I always had Tammy and Connie, even up until just about 2 years ago, she still never had anyone she could confide in, go out on lunch dates with, just talk to, be close with without the expectancy of anything in return except the same trust and closeness of that friendship. I never thought that I would find myself in the same position as my mother. Any of my friends that read this, don't get me wrong, I cherish each and every one of you, because I do have a lot of friends, just not a best friend, not like the friends of my youth that I grew apart from because of miles, time and family. I really miss having someone that I can just call and talk to about anything, someone that feels that they can confide in me with all her joys and sorrows. Emily was so excited about making her best friend a birthday present and she made some sort of comment that made me happy for her, but sad for me about having a best friend and having the joy of giving to them. I wish I had that joy in my life again. Yes, I also know that I have my significant other and that I can talk to him about anything, but sometimes, just sometimes, I need something, someone different (in a feminine way) to talk to. *sigh* I almost just deleted this last paragraph, but, I only know of 2 people that actually read this and I guess it's a good way for me to vent, so, there ya go. Again, I do love all my friends and appreciate you more than you know!

Did you know that hair combs can give you a blinding headache? Well, they can! I suffered for a few hours today without even thinking, "hey, these things pulling my hair back are splitting my head" I finally got wise to them and took them out....ahhhhhh, the relief! Did you ever notice how good it feels when, IF, you have long hair and take it out of a ponytail how good it feels to just scratch your head? Yeah, anybody sitting close to you may think you have fleas or something, but hey, if it feels good...scratch away! It's one of those comfort things I guess.

We're supposed to get snow again tomorrow and on New Year's Day. Not too much to make a difference, but hey, snow is snow.

I start my 'eating healthy' regiment in 2 days. I think I mentioned before in a previous blog about the contest with a friend about losing weight. Well, he's still confident that he can lose all he needs to lose the last couple of weeks of the challenge, I, however, would like to lose it in a more permanent and healthy way. I think I may ask Alex to help me out...I think he'll end up killing me, but, whatever works, eh! I know for sure that I'll be cutting down to about 2000 calories a day, at least 90 minutes on the treadmill at 2.8 mph. on and incline, and doing 10 min. on the weighted hula hoop. After 2 weeks of this, I may have Alex start me with weights, we'll see. I know I can do it!

I think the time has come to vegitate in front of the T.V.

Y'all celebrate New Year's Eve responsibly,
Love Ya :)

And so it goes.....

I was about to say that Christmas is finally over, however, I do believe that it 'literally' has just begun because the Twelve Days of Christmas happen 'after' Christmas day, don't they? Hmmmmm, something I'm not sure of, wow! Well, I guess I could say without any trepidation, Christmas is done in our house! Ben has been back home for a couple days now and he has celebrated Christmas with the family and we are officially done! I think, though, that the tree will remain up for some time now, maybe this will be the year that I decorate it for every holiday! Another sign that the holiday is over with is that the "Christmas Basketball Tournament" is over with....FINALLY! Yes, I know, it was only a two day thing, but it was a longggggggggggggggggggggggg two days! Two long days with horrible officiating, but that's all I'm gonna say about that.

It snowed again last night, it actually started sometime in the afternoon, but we got a good bit of heavy, wet snowman snow. I just wish I could get the kids to go outside and build a snowman, again. I say again because they already built 2 but they got melted down with the rain that we had about a week and a half ago. Yes, it was a sad, sad day to see them both start to slump over in defeat, now they're nothing but little nubs in the snow. Now comes the time to conquer the elements and rebuild!!! ONWARD!! Off with the T.V., OUT into the SNOW! (OK, so it's not the best pep talk, but I think with a little parental_unit nudge, they'll be out of the house in no less than 5 minutes or they'll have to clean their rooms....muwahahahahahahahaha....works every time!!!

I've decided that I need to have a party of some sort. I don't really care what kind of party, just a party so that I can use my new chocolate fountain. YES, I said chocolate fountain...woo hooooooo....I'm just a little psyched about that one!! Did you know that there's even a caramel fondue that you can get to use in the fountain....OMG...the best of both worlds! (I'm drooling now). I could have a party where I sit in my new swing, dipping fruit into my chocolate fountain while reading my books from Barnes and Noble. Ahhhhh, the sweet life!

I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm no longer needed as much. Christen and D are out in the kitchen cooking, and it actually smells pretty good. I guess the food network is pretty good, eh! Now, to just get them to quit using the fingernail brush to scrub pans.

I want to go back to school. I want to learn something new.

Sarah will be home soon, if she's not already. I can't remember what day it was that she said she was going to be back. (she was in Germany again)

It's Saturday and the bank closes in a half an hour, so, I better get going.

Y'all go build a snowman (even if you don't have snow....be creative!!!)
Love Ya :)

Go Chips!!

This is the night that took my eldest from me for Christmas.....so then, the Central Michigan Chippewas better kick BUTT! I know that I'll be watching, especially the half time show so that I can try to get a glimpse of Ben sitting in the stands with the marching band. He called earlier and wasn't exactly happy to be there, but hey, he may as well make the best of it! I'll be leaving in the morning some time to pick him up :)

I remember back in the old days when a vacation from school meant just that...vacation. Now, it means practices and tournaments...no time off. If they don't go to these 'practices' then they get threatened with no playing time in games when they go back to school. *sigh* So, for the next two days, we get to watch basketball games for a few hours each day. Oh well, I guess it keeps them out of trouble.

Oops, time to go, I have to go and watch the CMU game...oooo wahhhh, GO CHIPS!!

Y'all root for maroon and gold!
Love Ya :)

Pretzels + Caramel + Chocolate = MMMMMMMMMM

The holidays need to get here and go as soon as possible!! All this baking and making of sweet things is making it hard for me to concentrate on a certain bet that I have with a friend. I guess I'm really not too worried about it, I have until March 15th, but I should still be controlling myself so that I don't have to kill myself in the full effort! Oh, yes, the bet is a weight loss kind of bet, in case you were wondering, even if you weren't wondering!

Last week Em and I made chocolate covered pretzels with caramel in the middle, they looked like fun little sandwiches. We made up gift sets with those pretzels along with chocolate covered Ritz crackers with peanut butter and chocolate covered pretzel rods (cookies and banana bread too). Well, we ran out of the pretzel sandwiches, so Em made caramel covered pretzel nuggets and covered them with chocolate. YUMMY! Those are really much easier to eat than the sandwiches, you just pop them into your mouth!!!

Don't you just hate it when you 'think' you're done with all your Christmas shopping only to have that nagging feeling that you've forgotten something. Grrrr, I have that feeling right now. I'm pretty sure I've missed something. One gift I bought has to traverse up north to my parental_unit's house on Christmas day, the problem with this is that I'm pretty sure it doesn't fit under the tonto cover on the bed of my truck, I probably should go out there and measure. OK, I'm sure you're probably asking..."well, how did you get it home from the store"...and I answer..."strategically placed in the back seat of the truck". Ben had a hard time getting it out this afternoon. Hmmmm, I guess that's something I'll worry about when the time comes. Another problem I have with shopping is that I don't really know when to stop. I finished shopping for one person a few weeks ago, but tonight, I saw something that I just couldn't leave at the store because this person just can't live without it. Well, OK, she 'could' live without it, but hey, now she won't have to! :) Needless to say, I'm not done yet, it's not Christmas Eve, I can't be done!

Why is it that we keep having storms on the weekend!?!?!?! We're expecting another winter storm tomorrow. Right now the storm stretches from Indiana all they way down through Louisiana. It's really gonna mess up the family Christmas party going on tomorrow. The party that I still have to make dessert for. NO PROBLEM! Lots of time left!

I've spent a lot of time with Ben, I'm a very happy parental_unit. We've gone shopping twice now and out to lunch a few times. Yes...*sigh*...content. I just wish he didn't have to go to rehearsal the 24th and 25th, especially since the weather is supposed to be so bad.

The time has come for me to get busy with tomorrow's dessert now, I supposed I should just finish this now and get to it.

Y'all enjoy some cookies and cocoa,
Love Ya :)

And she smiled with motherly content...

BENNY'S HOME! I wasn't sure if you could tell by the silly grin on my face :) He and Ross got back to AuGres about 12:30 P.M. on Friday. I am happy.

I really enjoy my job, well, that is when I actually get to work. I only wish that it could always be a surprise call at 5:30 in the morning calling me in to work instead of the 7:30 P.M. call the night before. Yes, I know, it's nice to know ahead of time that I have to work for scheduling purposes, BUT, when I know the night before I can't sleep at all!!!! It's the craziest thing, I'll toss and turn and watch every hour through the night pass by, mocking me, telling me that I might be late if I dare to fall asleep. *sigh* So yes, I dozed off at about 4:40 and slept through the first full minute of my alarm going off this morning at 5:17. I made it to work with 10 minutes to spare, and I even had time to eat breakfast, even if it was just a banana.

I had to laugh at MY parental_unit the other day...she called me and in all seriousness asked me if "I" was finished with my Christmas shopping....*snicker*....me...finished....*snort*....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....I then replied..."Is it Christmas Eve and nobody told me??", it was then that I had to remind her that I am, after all, my mother's daughter! She promptly agreed and wondered how she could have even thought to have asked me such a silly question. Someday, I may surprise even myself and actually shop early and be done before my usual Dec. 24th deadline. (yeah, sure)

We had another Sunday snowstorm this past weekend. I do believe it's the 3rd one within a month's time. School was canceled, kids were happy. Now it seems that they're predicting another storm to hit this weekend, yet again. Not a good thing considering all the holiday traveling and the fact that Ben has to head back to CMU on Christmas Eve for Marching Band rehearsal. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the weather brings us, eh!?

I thought of Sarah quite a bit today. I was looking through an AVON catalog and had to smile at all the penguins that they had on their items, from slippers to bags to lip balm. (Hi Sarah...who's having fun in Germany right now!!)

Bugger, I just remembered that I forgot to stop and pick up a beef roast for supper tonight, I guess I should finish up here and get to the meat market!

I'm finished.

Y'all have luck finishing up your lists!
Love Ya :)

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep

Oh my goodness, did we ever get snow today! We now have 2 snowmen in our front yard, each as tall as their makers, which aren't very tall yet (C & D).....hmmm, I was just informed that they don't have heads yet, hehehehe. Well, I'm sure they'll finish up with them tomorrow. It looks so beautiful outside right now, even in the dark. Anywhere there's light it gleams off of the heavy, snow laden branches. I just wish a picture could capture the true beauty of it all. It feels so "Christmas-y", unlike last year when it was still in the 50's in December.

Sometimes I am truly amazed by my child_units. Tonight, I had to work the concession stand during the junior varsity game. Christen and D insisted on helping...ok...fine...just don't get in the way. Christen and D both took money and counted back the change correctly!! I've seen MANY, MANY adults that can't do this with much accuracy, which made me very proud of my child_units!

I didn't realize that my kids had never really seen Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer until we watched it last week. The kids were amazed at just how mean the head elf and Santa were towards the other elves!!! It really is quite a violent movie, the abominable snowman was quite mean too, until the klondike guy pulled out all his teeth and transformed him into the main star-tree-topping guy....hehehehehehe, I'm still laughing!!! (sorry, it just really amused me)

No, I do not have my Christmas shopping finished, nor will I until about 16 hour before Christmas!! This year has proven to be one of the most difficult to decide what to get the kids. None of them really play with toys anymore, however, I'm sure if I bought a box of Lego guys for Ben, he would be very pleased. It's even getting hard to buy clothes for them! Will it fit, will they like it, is it the right color....OYE! Yes, I know, I've heard that $$ is always the right color and always fits...but I hate the thought of that, with the kids, I want them to feel as if I thought about them, each individually. I suppose it'll all work out in the end.

Isn't it funny how you can hear something quoted but when you find out where it came from, it's something completely taken out of context. I watched a scary movie a long time ago and the main character quoted, "By the pricking in my thumb, something wicked this way comes...the bell doth ring both loud and deep, God is not dead, nor doth he sleep." Well, for some reason I have been thinking about that last part of it...so, today I Googled it. To my amazement, I've probably been hearing that section quoted a lot lately in the Christmas music played on every radio station on Earth right now! Shows how much one really pays attention to what they're singing along to, heh...this would be the song that the quote is "ill-used" from...

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet, the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

The ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on earth," I said
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth good will toward men"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men"

This song was written during the American civil war by Henry Longfellow in 1864, the fourth verse could be sung by any soldier fighting in the war today. I hope that a song written so long ago can bring comfort to at least one soldier fighting now, during this holiday season when they have to be so far away from home.

I'm tired now, therefore, I'm going to bed. My prayers go out to friends that need them a lot right now, I hope you feel God's presence with you and that He'll bring you through this time of need.

Y'all pray for "Peace on earth, good will towards men"
Love Ya :)

With Age Comes Wisdom?

It's amazing to me how child_units think they know it all....don't get me wrong, I'm not insinuating that 'my' child_units act as if they're the smartest people in the house and we parental_units know absolutely NOTHING about life *snicker*, we've NEVER been 'young' before...OYE! Ahhhh, innocence is bliss.

Christen is now 11. Unbelievable, I swear I only just gave birth to her just last week!! Ok, maybe last month....*sigh*. She's adapting very well with both of her instruments, next week they start with full band...meaning that they all come together as a group to start practicing as where until now, they've only been practicing in their respective groups, low brass, winds...etc, etc. Of course, this means she will have to carry both instruments to school every day...those boys better not fight with her, she's gonna be building up her muscles and she'll cream them, and even if she doesn't build up her muscles, she can just hit them with one of her instrument cases :)

Getting old sucks. Yeah, perhaps wiser in some ways, but not in the ways that keep you healthy and pain free. When your 'older and wiser' brain says, " Don't do that, it could cause you pain", why don't we listen? Older....wiser....LISTEN!!!!! How does the body just give out so quickly now when it seems like just yesterday I could lift this or move that with no help(or pain). Now, if you dare to even THINK of doing either of those things, you're going to be visiting good Dr. Bone Cruncher....Doc for short. So, I guess in short, I could say I have a pain in the butt....frozen butt right now from the ice pack. I have much more sympathy now for what Tom went through a few months ago. Yes, I felt bad, but now.....wow.....what I did to my back is NOTHING compared to what he went through, the funny thing is, he knew what he did to his, but I have no clue how I put mine out. All in all....my older and wiser self will turn up the hearing aid, which I'm sure is soon to follow, and listen when it screams "NO" (yeah, right)

Ben will be home this coming Friday ***DOING A HAPPY DANCE***

I must thank Sarah for the yummy sugar cookie recipe. I, however, am a failure at rolling out cookies. Yes, I said failure. I thought for sure that I was gonna be flinging cookie dough across the kitchen, good thing my mother-in-law was sitting there telling me how much she doesn't like roll-outs either. I'm not one to hasten to kitchen failure though...someday, I'll overcome my ire for the roll-outs. (maybe next year) For now, it's drop cookie heaven for me! Hey, c'mon now...if you close your eyes, they're all the same!!!

*Yawn* I'm tired now, I am going to go to bed.

Y'all have sweet (cookie) dreams,
Love Ya :)

When the East Wind Blows

Yes, I know it's Michigan....yes, I know it's December....but....BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! Tonight and tomorrow, we're expecting our first 'major' winter storm. It's so bad that they issued the warning yesterday afternoon. It's hard to actually believe that we'll get that bad of weather because half the time the bad stuff never really hits us. However, when the East wind blows, we usually get something, and the wind just switched out of the East about 30 minutes ago.

Well, I guess this is where I will say...Congratulations to the Central Michigan University Football Team for winning the MAC Championship! They now get to participate in the Motor City Bowl, Dec. 26th, in Detroit, at Ford Field...where the Detroit Lions play. Along with the football team goes the Marching Band. While it's fantastic for them to get to go, this means one thing....BEN WILL NOT BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS......*sniffles*......anyone that reads this with any regularity knows that I've had a hard time with my eldest being gone...and while it was wonderful to have him home for four days over the Thanksgiving holiday, it will be hard to have him gone for Christmas...the first one ever. *sigh* Maybe, somehow, we'll be able to go to the game??? Doubtful as usual...but...maybe.

I just noticed that it's very dark here in the house. D and I are the only ones home at the moment and there's only one little light on...it's so quiet and peaceful :) I'm listening to some song from The Pirates of the Caribbean...it's very upbeat... I just wish I could remember at what point this song was played in the movie. (I'm sure Ben would know) Before this, I was listening to songs from Pride and Prejudice...lovely. (OHHH...Drumline song now!)

Christen seemed to enjoy her first lesson with the French Horn, enough to go another week.

I had lunch with Sarah today, I love it when we get to visit, she makes me smile :) I just wish she would enjoy Spanish, heh.

I do believe that the Food Network is calling my name, it's the holiday season ya know, lots of fun new recipes to get! I think I need to go and see what they're cookin' up now....hehehe, get it...cookin' up...food network...oye!

Y'all get ready to make snow angels!
Love Ya :)