There is a way out!
I played Secret Santa on Pumpkin's blog and dang it all to heck, just can't figure out who sent my thoughtful secret santa gift. My guess is Rain, but I really have no idea, just that the person is from Pennsylvania (?) but many people don't put on their blogs where they're from.
Thanks secret santa, reveal thyself!
Only 12 days to Thailand. Geesh!
O.K., that made my stomache do a loop de loop!
First Christmas. Well, I had a premonition, intuition, prompting from God (I choose to call it the last one...you may call it something else) that I wasn't supposed to make more than one cookie this year for Christmas or host any Christmas parties at my house.
The last time this happened my mother-in-law passed away....big reason to keep it simple. I wasn't expecting anything like that to happen but I figured there was probably a reason I was feeling this again. Turns out it was SICKNESS~ much better than DEATH but still no fun.
TSE got sick on the 23rd and so did I so we missed Christmas with my side of the family. Max-Ay started coming down with it on Christmas Eve so he missed all the activities (except our gift opening) on Christmas Day. TSE and Meyers D were able to go with me to my mom's for breakfast (that's usually been at my house for the last 7 years). Papa D stayed home with him. And then Max-Ay and I stayed home while the other three went to Papa D's sister's house for Christmas Evening.
All in all it worked out for a very low key Christmas, which is never bad. We still enjoyed our time spent with the kids and like I said, Max-Ay was doing pretty good at 4:45 a.m. when the kids woke us up to open their presents! He started to hit the wall about 6 a.m.
We took our tree down last night because it was very dry and we got it early this year. Also it's time to kick into gear and get ready for Thailand! With all the airline rules about having 3 oz. containers on your carry on I have to go purchase a lot of 3 oz. bottles with stuff in them I don't need in order to put stuff in them I DO NEED! awww....
*I didn't take any pictures of Christmas. shocked? Well my camera is pretty sucky at indoor shots and I just wasn't feeling like it. Also, we went up to Mt. St. Helen's yesterday to go sledding. And although there was snow, it was raining. So didn't take pictures of THAT either. Perhaps today I will get some pics of Max-Ay playing with his new toys. He's the only kid that plays with toys here really anyway.
In less than two weeks I'll be taking travel pictures up the ying yang anyway so perhaps I'm saving myself up! ha!
My sister-in-law usually makes this super yummy easy treat for Christmas. This year Meyers D has made it and only needed a little help.
All you need is one box Cap'n Crunchberry cereal and one package almond bark. Melt the almond bark and pour over the cereal. Spread the hot mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and let harden. Store in airtight container.
*Don't eat too much, it melts in your mouth!*
changes, changes....
life is full of them, eh?
well, my hubby is turning in his 2 weeks notice for work today. he is an industrial appraiser for our county and he got a new job in a neighboring county which is very excited to have him working for them. he is sort of taking a temporary demotion of sorts. he is going to start his new job just 2 working days before we go to Thailand, which is crazy. he will be a residential appraiser. in a few months there will be an industrial opening which they want him to apply for.
this will make for quite a few changes in our family. first of all, a commute. right now it takes him about 15 min. to get to work (at one time he was able to walk!) soon it will be about a 45 min. drive. he will also be going back to "square one" on his sick leave and vacation time. right now he has about a month vacation leave.
also, with his sick leave and the flexibility he has gotten, he has went to many doctor's appointments with me and been able to take time off when i haven't felt good. this is all about to change!
i may have to learn the phone number for the local taxi service!
i am quite a bit nervous about this, but at the same time, i have to trust that it will work itself out. i can't let my frailties or fear of them interfere with my husband's happiness at work. because of my headaches, he has the sole responsibility of our finances on his shoulders. so it is very important to me that he is happy.
and he is very excited about this change. i am too. just slightly nervous with how this could affect ME!
another thing is that we are getting some much needed work done on our house so that we are ready to sell. we may not sell but we are going to be ready to. he is thinking that he doesn't want to commute. i am willing to move but don't want to. i am so happy with the children's friends and their school. i really like this house too, although it's not the "perfect" house. it's the first house that's felt like home in our marriage (it's our 4th house).
anyway, even if we don't sell it will be so nice to have some things done that need be. right now a friend from church is hanging a lot of new doors in our hallway. my boys just got a bedroom door for the first time in a year or is it 2. i must admit the same for us!
after thailand i am going to have to repaint our remodeled bathroom that we are finishing. the color i painted it does not go with the tile countertop like i thought it would. which means, i will have to repaint the hallway too as it is the same color as the bathroom and the different shades of the same color will look stupid.
i have been needing to repaint the kitchen so that is on the list too. when the weather gets warmer i have to repaint my bedroom and the living/dining room. the bedroom will probably be a whole new color (as yet to be decided) but the living/dining room will be the same color.
there's an island to install in the kitchen, a deck to build on the front of the house and railing to put on the porch by the front door. also the trim needs to be finished in the upstairs. and, more cabinets need to be purchased for the main bathroom that's being remodeled.
so, we have quite a list and even if we WANTED to move right now we are far from ready to sell this house. and as i said, i am not sad about that!
*something very strange, it smells like my husband is sitting right next to me, i smell the soap he bathes with....strange~*
maybe i'm being redundant here, but although i am quite willing to move, i don't want to. but it will be very nice to get some things done to improve our home and to be able to (hopefully) stay here and enjoy them!
Look what I got today! My Secret Santa gift! And I have NO STINKING IDEA who it is. What a thoughtful gift though. I can't decide wether to read it now or wait until the 16 hour plane ride. I think it's 9 hours to Tokyo and 6 hours to Bangkok. O.K., so I can't do math.
Anyway, I don't know if I was supposed to wait until Christmas but it's too late anyway! ha!
I can't believe it's only 3 weeks away until the trip. Oh man, that's crazy!
my flickr friend MOKI made this great video. it has a very insightful message. thanks moki!
I made this yummy and oh so delish treat for my hubby's christmas party at work.
the best pecans for this and any other recipe are from Green Valley, Arizona.
praline pecan crunch
1 16 oz. pkg. quaker oat squares (8 cups)
2 c. pecan pieces
1/2 c. light corn syrup or honey
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Heat oven to 250 degrees. Combine cereal and pecans in a 13x9 pan, set aside.
In a 2 c. microwaveable bowl, combine corn syrup, brown sugar and butter. Microwave high for 1 1/2 min. , stir. Microwave on high 1/2- 1 1/2 min. more until boiling. Stir in vanilla and baking soda, pour hot bubbling mixture over cereal. Stir to coat evenly. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 20 min. , spread on baking sheet to cool. Break it into pieces when cool and store in airtight container, makes 10 cups.
I decided to turn my Plz SAVE my Blog/blog into a place where I could study what words mean in the Bible. We'll see how long I do it, typically I become quite the slacker when it comes to doing this. But I'm feeling inspired to spend a few short minutes each morning and do this. It will give me something to think about when I go on my morning walks and it will be a good habit. Like I said, I'm not making myself any promises because I have TERRIBLE follow-through in this department.
So, if you become ones who visits there and checks out what I'm writing, you have my FULL AND UTTER PERMISSION to say, "hey, what the heck...you're a slacker!"
ha! Basically, I've been feeling verry breakable lately and I've been struggling w/ the cure, so I'm going to find me some new "medicine"....
Hey! I'm not sure anyone will read this, but my friend Writer/Mother/Wife/Me is doing a "Secret Santa" exchange and needs one more participant. I am playing and have my person assigned to me. It sounds fun.
If you would like to play, go to her blog and leave her a comment. You can click on her photos too which will take you to flickr and can e-mail her that route too.
I will post about what I get and make my guesses when it arrives in the mail!
Here's the linkage: http://www.writermotherwifeme.blogspot.com
comment here if you decide to participate.
I have been struggling so much lately with my Faith. I haven't been reading the Bible for a long time. I think it's because much of my Faith has been based on (probably incorrectly based on) what God can do for me. Since I haven't seen the results I've expected, it's made for a very shakey faith.
It occurred to me yesterday during my pastor's teaching, that perhaps what my Faith should be based on is the end result. The Bible says this:
Revelation 5:9 (the angels are singing):And they sang a new song:
'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because ou were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.'
5:11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
'Worthy is the Lamb (Jesus) who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!'
5:13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'
The four living creatures said, 'Amen' and the elders fell down and worshiped.
~My pastor was talking about how in heaven, thousands and millions and billions of people will be worshiping Jesus.
It occured to me that my true purpose in life, the destination I should ASPIRE to, my goal, perhaps shouldn't be to function well here on this earth and accomplish this and that thing, but that my ultimate purpose is in heaven. What that will look like is to be one of the millions and billions of people worshiping before Jesus.
It doesn't mean that what I am/do/think/become, etc. on this earth isn't important, it just was a realization of what my ultimate goal could be. And, if this was my ultimate goal, my thinking would be much different than it is now. I've been quite angry and irritated with my current state of health. I feel that if I felt better now that I could enjoy life more, do more, see more, become more, etc. And I long for it to the point of anger.
I'm not saying that's bad or wrong. It just occured to me as he was talking about heaven, that since that's my ultimate destination, it would make sense that it's my ultimate purpose. And then, it occured to me that if this is my ultimate purpose (which I never think about), how would it change my life, my thinking, my emotions if that became my focus. Not how I feel now, but what my role is then.
I don't know if this makes sense, but it's just a shift in thinking. It's not how I think now, it's just something I think I should explore.
All I know is that my life doesn't match up with what I want or desire. No matter how hard I try I can't make that happen. I'm striving after something I can't attain.
Perhaps I should try thinking about something that WILL be instead of something I hope COULD be.
King James Version w/ Strongs (this version of the bible found @ http://www.bible.lifeway.com/crossmain.asp)
Job 1:1 There was a man (champion, great man, human being) in the land of Uz (somewhere in the Arabian desert), whose name (1b: reputation, fame, glory) was Job (pronounced ee-yobe': Iyowb which means HATED); and that man was perfect (complete, morally innocent, having integrity) and upright (right, pleasing, correct) and one that feared (reverent) God (elohiym) and one that eschewed (avoided) evil (sin, things that are ethically wrong).
Today is Max-Ay's 8th birthday. He woke up so early, what'd he think, it was Christmas or something? We gave him some birthday hot cocoa to start his day off right.
I got him some cupcakes for class with plastic Star Wars rings on them. He wanted Annakin rings to be on there but I went to Fred Meyer (Kroger's) and didn't call first. All they had was C3P0, R2D2 and Darth Vader. He didn't complain!
After school his friend Jay came over, I got a pizza and then we went to the Journey Through Bethlehem. The local 7th Day Adventist Church puts on a live nativity. If you've never been to one, it's pretty cool. It's quite the production. They put the gig on for 4 days and it's free. It's quite something. There's even a camel, the angel Gabriel (they use a woman, they must read a different version of the bible...) and of course, Jesus.
Afterwards, Jay came back home wtih us, we had more hot cocoa and watched Rudolf on t.v. Very low key, I kind of like it that way.......
This morning @ 5a.m. TSE came in my room and said he thought he was going to get sick.
Let's just say, that fortunately, he told me first!! ha!
Anyway, when Max-Ay woke up he said he didn't feel good either, but he didn't look sick. Thank God he didn't eat breakfast when I thought he was faking. Man, that would have been a nightmare.
So they are sitting in my upstairs living room, quietly watching movies. I plugged the lights into the Christmas tree and started a fire in the fireplace. It's very cozy and Christmas-ish looking. The jello is slowly hardening in the fridge for a late lunch.
My friend S.B. called and her boys just had the sickies last week. She is bringing orange gatorade and 7-up. I probably could have lived without it, but sometimes, when someone wants to help you, it's important to say yes. It makes them feel good and it builds a growing friendship. It will be fun to see her face for 5 seconds and commiserate about the super mom of sick boys thing.
This flu bug seems to be short-lived so hopefully after tomorrow we will be done. I just hope the rest of us don't get it, but unfortunately, EVERYONE in S.B.'s family got it. Yikes!!! My neuro appointment is an hour away on Wednesday, but I suppose I could always change it into a phone appointment. So, I won't worry about that yet!
Around my side of the family, no Christmas or Thanksgiving meal would be complete without pumpkin pecan pie. It's such a wonderful treat.
We celebrated Thanksgiving early with my side of the family on Nov. 18th and this was my contribution.
Here's the recipe:
Pie Crust for shell only:
1c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter/shortening
2-3 Tbsp. cold water
With fork or pastry blender, work in butter/shortening until coarse crumbs, add water last. Roll dough out on a pastry cloth and place in pie plate.
Pumpkin Pecan Filling:
3 eggs
1 c. dark corn syrup
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. melted butter
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. pecan halves
Beat eggs well. Add corn syrup, sugar, melted butter, vanilla and pumpkin until well blended.
Arrange pecan halves on the bottom of the unbaked pie crust. Slowly pour pumpkin mixture over. Bake @ 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serve w/ cool whip or whipped cream.
To read more about the last few weeks, read here.
Woohoo! Today is Botox day. I've been waiting for this since mid-July. My flickr friend JaGrump. She is so kind of me to drive the hour long distance for me to get this procedure.
She is my little photographer friend so I'm sure we'll get some good pics of the before Botox me and the after. Will it make my face puffy? Will I looks Gaw-Gious?!! Don't know....
I am quite hopeful it will help with some headaches, even if it is the tension ones. If it helped the menstrual migraines too, well then SO BE IT!!
Only time will tell, but in the meantime....
Give a Cheer, Botox is HERE!
oh man, the last few weeks have been freakin' crazy. I'm going to be writing on my other blog most of the time now. It's a journal of my chronic migraines so I can track how they behave, how frequent they are, what possible triggers there might be, etc.
If you are interested, it is called The Dawktor Is Out! I may get back here once in a while and update more exciting happenings such as our church harvest party (click the photo to see more photos of it). But like I said, I will be posting daily @ my other blog.
I seem to be terribly bad @ the whole forgiveness thing.
terribly bad....
I'm not going to kid around about it, and give the impression that i'm the kind of person who just takes a horribly hurtful offense and brushes it off, carrying on with the relationship as normal.
....just not able to do it.
And not that that's a good thing. Because, since I'm not able to forgive easily, I get a lot of anxiety with the person i'm having problems with. For instance, I could get a phone call and my pulse will start racing, I'll have to take deeper breaths, my stomache will churn and I'll even have difficulty thinking. It's a pretty strong and instantaneous response. It's not a whole lot of fun.
I will think about the person, see them, or even hear their name spoken and get the same feeling of anxiousness.
My pastor had a great point last week. That we tend to be offended by people when they disregard us and/or don't see who we are. I can think of so many times I've been offended and when you get right down to it, it's not so much as what the person said or acted like, it's why they did it.
So often I wish that people could see how they've hurt me and just apologize. Whether they agree what they did/didn't do was wrong, just apologize because it's wounded me.
It just doesn't seem to happen.
I'm really having a problem with a family member right now. I don't feel like I can tell the person how I feel because I'm so mad that I think I'll make the situation worse by spitting out the way I feel in a mean way that would involve a few swear words.
And why?
Because they don't understand me. And I ask myself why I care so much. Why can't I just say to myself: Oh well, that person just doesn't get me...that's their problem not mine.
Nope, I want to smack'em up aside of the head, yell in their face and say "how dare you..."
I've lost friendships, am losing friendships and having stress with family members all because I have such a struggle with unforgiveness.
I guess letting go of hurt is a process. I just wish I could push the fastforward button sometimes...
Last night i suddenly, and i mean suddenly came down with the flu. woke up this a.m. and still had it. could've been worse but still very tired and achey. this afternoon i slept 1 1/2 hrs. after tse got home from school. lucky for me he's a good kid and entertained himself. i was watching hogan's heroes with him, and before i knew it i was out like a light!
fortunately i felt a bit better after i woke up, but i didn't go to max-ay's out of town game tonight just to take care of myself. about the time the game was over i got a call from one of the mom's and she said that papa d's dad was at the game, and that he had a seizure. they were going to take him to the hospital in the ambulance.
from what she described, and what papa d said later, it sounds like it was a pretty rough one. so i farmed all the kids off for the night overnight and went to the hospital to be with my honey. they did a CAT scan and an x-ray because he fell and hit his head during the seizure. evidentally this is about his 3rd one in three years, the last one being 6 mos. ago, so hopefully maybe tomorrow we will find out what's going on and if there's anything that can be done.
pretty crazy stuff and hard for papa d to watch his dad like that. we are doing o.k. though and he is resting well @ the hospital as they have him pretty drugged up right now.
i'll post again after we know a little more about how he's doing.
Had a super fabulous time @ our niece Jenn's wedding. It was so beautiful and everyone looked great. She has 4 children (woops~I thought she had 3!!) and they were all so adorable. Jenn is Papa D's niece from his oldest half-brother. We don't see them very often so it was great catching up with everyone.
It was great to see our nephew Brandon too. He has 2 little girls now and they are sooooo adorable. Bailey is 3 and Marly was born in June. The both have amazing eyes and look so much like their mama!! We got to spend quite a bit of time visiting with them so that was one of the highlights of the trip.
He is pictured here with his wife and kids, and Papa D's older sister, her husband and daughter. Besides Papa D's Dad and his girlfriend, we were the only family memebers that could make it to this wedding. It's like a 5 hour drive, but was well worth it. I'm so happy with how this photo turned out of my father-in-law. I think I'm going to give it to him for his birthday in an 8x10. This is his newest great grandchild. He has 7 great grandchildren now!
I took a lot of photos of the trip there and back home too, but i haven't cropped them up yet. I spent yesterday morning helping in tse's kindergarten class and then washed some comforters @ the laundry mat and then went and took some portraits of my nephew. fun times...!!
These are the cinnamon rolls I made for my neighbor and her family. She helped clean and organize my basement two weekends ago and i am making her dinner, one every thursday night, for 4 weeks. Last night i made breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls. my cinnamon rolls didn't raise very high, either because i didn't have the dough rising in a big enough bowl or because my yeast was a little old.
anyway, the recipes can be found in february and march '06 archives.
more on the botox update:
i asked the PA neurologist to refer me to someone else for the procedure, since i was sick and tired of dealing with dr. no botox. within a few hours he contacted me to say yes he would, and within 2 days the new clinic called and schedule me for mid november. i didn't mind waiting because 1) i never want to go to dr. no botox's clinic AGAIN, 2) they explained that she does it every other thursday and that was the soonest opening they had.
I like explanations that make sense. I'm reasonable...
This weekend we are traveling 4 hours to Eastern Washington state. my husband's niece Jenny is getting married. she has three kids and this is her first marriage. she is a nice girl and we are excited about sharing this day with her. i'm going to take my camera but try to restrain myself from taking lots of pictures.
last weekend we got a free universal gym (big piece of exercise equipment). I helped Papa D bring it in the house and the thing was frickin' heavy. i think i pulled a muscle in my shoulder because it is really aching. sometimes it hurts pretty bad so i'm trying to take care of it. i really don't need any more problems!
I think all the camera holding and computer keyboarding has added to it as well.
tonight the hubs has taken the kids to one of the local high school's football homecomings. i should have went because my niece is cheerleading for the team and i haven't gone to watch her yet. i'm not going because 1) there's more tidying i want to do before we leave (we are having a past babysitter of ours house/dog sit for the weekend. she cleans houses and i told her to clean mine but i have to do a little first...trust me, i'm still leaving her some disgusting stuff!) 2)i have been trying to avoid my niece's dad (brother-in-law) for some pretty rude comments he's made about my health - to my face and not to my face - so i've been giving him the silent treatment. if i don't see him or talk to him i won't have to deal with the negative feelings i have towards his insensitivity. 3) it's kinda nice to have the house to myself! (even though i tried to guilt papa d into staying and help me clean up the house...)
so there you have it, the latest and greatest to CD's unfolding life.
wait, there's more. i forgot that i haven't mentioned anything about my fundraiser i am doing. i have made a 2007 calendar with some of my best photos. well, May is a picture that Papa D took, but the rest are mine!!
I got a local photo shop to print the calendars for $10 a piece when they usually charge $30. I told them that the proceeds from the sale would go to the needs we will be seeing on our trip to Thailand (with our church) in January '07. I am charging $21 dollars and am hoping to sell 150. so far i have sold 8 and have a few more spoken for.
in a few weeks i'll be taking them to my church to sell some, and i'll print out some flyers that they can give to family/friends in hopes that by word of mouth i will sell more. i may also go to a few businesses and see if i can put some out there.
they are really unique and i'm quite pleased and proud of it. they are printed on matte photo paper and are one-sided, so the photos can be cut out and matted or displayed, whatever, after the month is over. so the prints for each month are beautiful because they are actual photos.
here's what the front and back look like. if you are interested in buying some, e-mail me: cameradawktor@yahoo.com and we'll figure out the shipping. I accept paypal or money order, but can't ship until the money orders have cleared. my paypal account is the same as my e-mail address.
like i said, the proceeds will all go to thai kids that live @ khaodee orphanage, young people going to high school/university that have been orphaned or are from extremely poor families, and/or young women in their early twenties who are attending school for the first time (they would have been sold into prostitutuion). so besides helping out w/ food, clothing and shelter, it looks like some will also be going to education.
our trip is january 8-18 and i will obviously be photo documenting the trip and also the distrubution of the money I'm raising. if this calendar idea goes well, i will probably do a 2008 calendar w/ the photos of thailand and the kids, with the proceeds of that going back to them as well.
Here's a peak of what they look like. One calendar is 8oz. so shipping will not be too bad.
This is the first time that any of my photos have been for sale. and even though i am not profiting from it, i'm hoping it will encourage me to begin marketing my work. i love photography and have found it to be so extremely therapeutic. i'm even encouraging an old high school classmate of mine, who used to be in photography with me, to pick up the camera again. her family is going through an extremely difficult time and i'm encouraging her to capture the beautiful moments in life, in order to remember that there is still good in the world....
