without posting daily!

Ugh... I just realized even though I was off yesterday, I *never* posted.  I swear I am going to post daily or ... or ... hmmm or what?  I'm going to feel disappointed in myself for not keeping a goal I set a couple of days before the new year.  Yes, that's it.  I feel let down by myself for not writing.  

I have no one to blame but myself.  I need to truly prioritize my days.  Geeze at 40+ years you would think I would have my routine down pat.  But I don't.  I guess that's because I'm one of those creative free spirited types.  Who makes lists, get through half of to-do's and then... something catches my attention and I forgo finishing the to-do's.

Please don't misunderstand... I do get most of the important stuff done.  Like, getting Kid 1 from point A to B; picking up Kid 2 at point B and shuttling over to point C and finally grabbing Kid 3 from point C as well as Kid 2; back to point B to get Kid 1 ... all in a window of three hours.

So, new to-do list for Fridays... Two things are getting added:  1) write blog post and 2) check Nook FB page for Free-book-Fridays!

Off to contemplate my Saturday post, because it is Saturday and I need to keep my writing goal!

Without kids, dogs and minions!

Today whizzed by at warp speed.  But I made a goal of writing a blog post daily and plan to stick to it!

The early part of today was lost due to everyone (including me) sleeping in because we stayed up late to ring in the New Year.  Another reason, was because son #2 is sick with a bad cough and high fever.  So checking on him every hour or so kept me running up stairs to make sure he was okay... preventing me from sitting, plugging into my muse and actually writing.

Now while I try to type this our two golden retrievers—who are 3 years old and may be around 80 to 85 lbs … but act like they are 3 months old and only weigh 8 to 8 ½ pounds—both feel the need to jump into my lap while I am typing.  Yes, even now.   

Sometimes Red, the trouble maker, tries a new trick—when nudging me with her nose doesn’t prevent me from typing—she nips the underside of my biceps.  Maeve, the good girl, likes to play with balls all-the-time.  She likes to drop a ball in your lap... especially after she takes a big drink water.  Even better, Maeve has learned she is tall enough to drop them on the table top or worse … my laptop keyboard.  Thankfully, the ball has been pretty dry tonight—only covered slightly with her saliva (Ewwweeeee).

Well, it’s time to crash but I wish to leave you all with another chuckle... because tomorrow it's back to the daily grind.  Here are a few video clips of a movie my youngest son loves . . .  

Without resolutions!

Yesterday I made a goal to write daily *again*.  Today, I’ve achieved that.  Tomorrow, I intend to continue.  On Wednesday, it may be hard but I will get up at the crack of dawn to fit it into the “old schedule” and perhaps make it a “new schedule.”  

Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and sit for five, maybe ten and read.  Better yet, drop me a comment and let me know if I should keep writing this blog. 

Now, onto the subject at hand resolutions!  Do you make them or not?  I reached a point in my life a few years ago when I just stopped making resolutions at the end of the year.  Sometimes, I make them day to day. 

For example, I stopped worrying about resolving to lose weight and started just eating better foods because consuming junk food leaves me feeling crappy.  I would rather feel happy and not bloated.  So I choose to eat better because I really do not like coming down from a “sugar high” or fall asleep mid-afternoon.  I have too much to enjoy… books to be read, kids to play board games with, recipes to try, and ohhh a blog to write daily!

To further stress this point, I had thrown out the scale five years ago, stopped weighing myself and in turn somehow lost 25 pounds.  Unfortunately, several family crises later, I gained it all back.  I’m still who I was before I lost the weight, after I lost it, and when I regained it.  Perhaps I was meant to weigh what I do.

Then there are the moments we resolve to be more organized, when I have had enough and clean up small areas of our home.  We all have them.  The walk-in-closet no one sees.  Or the spare room, that has become the store everything you can’t live without but really don’t use anymore.  And finally, worst of all either an attic or basement where we put the holiday decorations, seasonal cloths and camping/sports equipment.

A year ago I cleaned out my half of the walk-in-closet and stopped wondering *if* I could fit back into several outfits I wore when I was first marriage.  For those who don’t know I’ve been marriage more than twenty years and have three sons.  The oldest is old enough to *gasp* drive now.  I rearranged what cloths I kept by color.  Being a creative person I guess is what made me organize my clothes like a rainbow.  It has been a huge relief, when in a pinch, to go into my closet and be able to just grab an outfit in less than a minute compared to several. 

This week, I cleaned out two linen closets.  I found we have eight sets of twin sheets and only one kid is sleeping in a twin bed presently.  However, come summer when it’s time to go to Boy Scout Summer Camp I will know where all the twin size mattress pads and sheets sets are.  But the rest of us sleep on a full, queen or king size bed.  There were only three extra sets of sheets for king and one for the queen.  I’m missing an extra set for the full.  I filled a garbage bag full of old linens that were not even fit for our dogs to use for bedding.  I found stash of pillow cases I didn’t know we had too.  Best of all I filled a medium size shopping bag with plan cotton sheet sets we don’t use and plan to donate them.

Do you make resolutions? Goals? Promises?  Or do you just live day to day?

Without writer's block!

Normally I sit down and something during my long days has been the inspiration for my blog posts. Although, probably by the time I finish this post I would rename the title "Without rambling!"

Well let's see I could write about the vanilla cupcakes with vanilla and chocolate frosting I bought today at a church bake sale. They weren't plain vanilla cupcakes--they were lemon flavor and frosted with lemon frosting AND vanilla cupcakes with sprinkles in the batter frosted with chocolate frosting. How did I find out? One of the kids tried one of each and was sadly disappointed.

Or I could write about how I dislike finding a great movie and then having to suffer through the unusual-not-necessary-needed-item info-commercials and trailers for how-did-they-get-someone-to-buy-such-a-horrendous-idea-and-make-it-into-a-movie. So CHEESY some of them are--It's a wonder I can sit through them to watch the movies I love!

Or I could write about the fact that I am extremely but slowly making progress around the house... I did manage to clean out two cupboards. It's a start! And every time I open them to grab something--I stop, admire my hard work and SMILE!

Or I could write about laundry, yeah, I'm still knee-deep in dirty clothes! I want to know who boosted their reproductiveness--oh that's easy that would be my family and the pups. Perhaps the weather too!
Someday, I'll catch up.

Speaking of weather, oh my gosh... we received a cold blast of arctic freezing winds. So the snow we received--yeah we got yet another dusting--it's frozen and crunchy. But this too will pass, and melt again... the temperature is going up oh 40 or 50 degrees in a week's time.

So next Sunday, when I sit down to write I should have ample material... I mean there is always something the pups or the kids have done to supply me with a long list of topics, right? Right!

pups, kids, and ANTS!

Ok, so here I thought that brown thing in the corner of the kennel was a leaf... NOPE! I was so wrong!
Thankfully it was not a former living creature either!
That's a story for my husband to chat about.

It was a brown paper bag they had somehow
reached through their kennels.
And they managed to pull apart, piece by piece!
There was about 25 to 30 pieces in all in just one of their kennels...
I lost count while cleaning out the other.

Kids, they too kind find interesting things to amuse themselves...
OR when they desire a sweet treat they tend to leave a trail
of dirty dishes behind!
Unfortunately for me...
dishes, spoons and ice creams scoops left over night attract ANTS!

Hordes of them...!!!

So, instead of enjoying a cup of coffee at 5:45am
while the pups go out...
I have to spend my first 45 minutes up this morning pillaging
the local peasANTS out of their new village!

if I didn't count my blessing

Today I met a young man who made it clear
I should count my blessing...

I have three wonderful kids...
who are as different as can be,
but love similar foods, books, and tv shows.

Two pups who give me new challenges everyday...
how fast can *you* back fill a hole while we dig two more!?!
Apparently, *not* fast enough! LOL!

And a terrific husband...
who not only can cook, but bake too!
And do many other chores; while watching the kids...
all while I'm working.

If a soul looks lost, reach out to them...
for they may be lost, and need guidance back.

without needing to clean!

One thing I dread doing is cleaning...
most of the time I end up cleaning the house because company is coming!

Tonight we're having a few kids over to celebrate one of kids' birthdays.

So I must clean!

I started earlier in the week...
but work and evening activities have prevented major progress.

Now looking at the clock I realize, times ticking...

So I must clean!

without my job

I'm one of the librarians for our towns two libraries... and I look forward to enjoying the peace and quiet.

However, this past Thursday was one of most interesting days. A patron came in to use the computer, turned on his MP3 player and logged on. The volume of his "easy listening" was loud enough that I could hear it, and so could all the other patrons. But since no one complained, I left him be. He stayed for four (4) hours, sharing his favorite music selections.

My first couple of hours on the desk were slow, and I silently wished the day would go faster. Let me forewarn you be careful for what you wish, because the next two hours of my shift found me swamped with patrons coming and going every 5 to 10 minutes.

Before I knew it my sons were arriving, as the school day had ended. Which meant I had only one more hour on the desk. Amazingly, the rate of patrons coming and going slowed again.

Hard to believe in five hours I assisted 30 to 40 patrons with their library needs... and I love every minute of it, even when the days are a little unusual.

without kids and dogs!

Just when I thought it was safe to grab a snack...
two pups decide they needed to go out.

Just when I thought it was safe to grab a soda to go with the snack...
three kids decide they are going to start World War X.

Just when I thought it was safe to eat the snack and sip my soda...
two pups have completed digging a hole right outside the back door
deep enough that I see clay!

Just when I thought it was safe to blog... "MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"