Top Ten Wednesday

1. My Mom is still recovering. They moved her to a skilled nursing home last Wednesday for rehab. However, she can't sit up right now because she's in too much pain, so they are working on managing her pain before she starts the rehab part. Feel free to contact me to get my Dad's cell phone number for updates from him, or let me know if you want her mailing address. He drives (about 3 hours one-way) to see her about every 3 days. Please pray for his emotional and physical well-being. I understand that because she's on so many meds for the pain that she's pretty out of it/loopy.

2. I haven't gone to see her since the 15th. I sent her a simple card yesterday, but I've been meaning to put together a package with magazines and drawings from Sam and pictures. I know she was relatively satisfied with the gluten free menu at the hospital, but I haven't talked with her since she moved to the rehab center, so I don't know if she's doing okay with their food selection.

3. I harvested the first green beans of the season last night. It doesn't look like we're going to be overwhelmed with beans this year. It's a weird year for vegetables, I think.

4. I was finally able to get to weeding the corner by the tall day lillies and thinning out the day lillies as well. It looks so much better. Wish I had a nice picture.

5. John's almost done with the roof. Yay!

6. I'm walking in a Relay for Life this Friday and Saturday. Visit our team page if you would like to donate. I have heard the event is pretty special and fun. I'm looking forward to it.

7. I've made three zucchini recipes in the last week: fritters, chocolate zucchini bread, and blueberry zucchini bread. Yum!

8. My boss is buying everyone afternoon Dutch Bros. coffee today. Yay! It's probably to support the DB Relay event that has $1 coffe drinks. Good deal!

9. I received my custom skirt that I bought from Andria Higgins last night. She was nice enough to drop it off to me. She's pretty awesome.

10. I'm getting tired of having soup for lunch at work. Any other ideas for easy lunches that can be brought in and stored in my desk drawer?

TTT

1. My Mom is finally doing better. She had another surgery on Saturday; it looks like she's finally on the mend. This was evident because she actually ate breakfast and dinner yesterday, a first in almost two weeks. Yay!

2. My in-laws came this weekend to help with the roof. We are so appreciative of their help. Sam loves having Grandma around.

3. I planted some more vegetables last night: red lettuce and 4 kinds of peppers. We haven't had too much luck with peppers the last few years. I've already taken out 4 plants that haven't worked this year. They were stunted, and they had stopped growing. These new plants look really healthy and are already 4-6 inches taller than the previous plants. Sam helped pick them out, and he used one of his trucks to help dig the holes and put the dirt back in the holes. I learned lots of patience last night. :)

4. John made some great progress on the roof yesterday. And it looks to be even cooler today, so hopefully he feels good about today's progress too.

5. I had a heart-to-heart last night with Sam about feelings. I hopefully validated his feelings. I told him feelings are hard to deal with sometimes and that I sometimes get really upset because my feelings feel so... big. By looking into his eyes, it looked like he understood. But then two minutes later he melted down again. But he also accepted by hug quicker and got over it more easily.

6. Grandma has been helping Sam learn how to use scissors. They cut out some Fourth of July table decorations. He's growing up!

7. We had zucchini from the garden last night for dinner. We picked about 10 5" zucchini. They were so sweet and yummy! The peas continue to produce, and the green beans finally have flowers. I also picked two medium size tomatoes to ripen in the window. I'm anxious for the cherry tomatoes.

8. I finally decided to take out the irises in the front. I don't really enjoy the flowers that much, and they are a lot of work. I'd rather spread out my day lillies that produce flowers all spring/summer/fall than have to work on picky irises that flower for a couple weeks.

9. The neighbor girls asked to play tag with us last night out in the front yard. We were already playing, and I guess it looked like we were having fun. Which we were! Tonight I will wear better shoes so we can have more fun. I was almost slipping out of my garden clogs.

10. I read a sweet book to Sam last night that was written by Billy Crystal. It made my cry. It was about the grandpa waiting for the granddaughter to be born. Very sweet and touching. Sam reached up his arm and gave me a squeeze to comfort me. And THAT was sweet and touching too. I was still recovering from the tears this morning, you know, swollen face and tired.

Thursday Update

I thought I would give an update on things since my Tuesday post was written hastily. I was able to catch up with all my work by about 4:30 on Tuesday. It felt so good to get the one project done for month-end. It's been hanging over my head for quite awhile.

I picked up Sam from Sarah's, and we picked up dinner on the way home. John's been working really hard on the roof. Quick dinners have been necessary lately. After dinner, I drove to see my Mom at the hospital for the second time in three days; it's about three hours, round trip. She seemed to be doing better, although she was still making some off-the-wall comments. She looked really tired; I'm sure she's not getting the amount of rest in the ICU that she's used to. She'll probably make a nice recovery once she gets back home.

The second drive home from the hospital wasn't as bad as the first. The first time I had to pull over and sleep for about 20 minutes. The second time I just opened the windows and sang loudly with the music to keep awake.

Yesterday was a nice day off. It was beautiful and not too hot. I'm always troubled though with the deterioration of my ambition throughout a day off, or any Saturday, for that matter. For example, I had a big to do list in the morning, like laundry, cleaning the kitchen floor, weeding, watering, getting Starbucks, etc. But by nap time (afternoon) I had only watered and weeded the backyard and gone to Home Depot for John. Even when Sam slept and gained extra rest for the long night of fireworks, I didn't want to do anything. I think I need to just get the music going, and maybe it will get better.

Well, I'm done with my soup. Time to cross-stitch. Signing off for now...
:)

Two Things Tuesday

It's month-end at work and I'm pretty busy so I changed today's blog to two things instead of ten.

1. My Mom is still in the ICU with an infection. I call her everyday, and I've seen her once (she's about two hours away). I'm worried about her, but we're all staying positive.

2. Work is busy, busy, busy. Enough said. :)

TTT

Ten Things Tuesday
1. I'm having a hard time believing that it's almost July.

2. We have lots of cherries on our trees this year. We'll be picking them tonight through the end of the weekend.

3. We watched Man on a Ledge recently. It was pretty good. It seemed to go too fast. I think it really needed some more backstory on the bad guy. Ed Harris is great, but he didn't have enough time to develop his character. He got mad at one of his minions and threw something against the wall, but it just wasn't enough.

4. I'm still waiting to get a babysitter so we can see Avengers.

5. I need to check the company holiday schedule. I'm guessing that we have Monday the 2nd off, but I really don't know.

6. Everyone keeps complaining about the rain. I'm just glad I don't have to water! :)

7. I haven't had a coffee run in awhile. I used to go every Friday at morning break to the closest coffee shack, but work has been busy. Maybe I'll have time tomorrow.

8. I forgot to bring cross-stitch with me to work today so I could work on it at lunch. Boo. I started Eeyore's hair last night. It's getting fun now that I'm so close to the end, even though I still have at least 15-20 hours left to go.

9. Eureka dropped a big bombshell last night. Espionage and betrayal.  Fun stuff!

10. I've been going through pictures, and I realize I need to take more pictures of Sam throughout the week/month.

Strawberry

Okay, so here's a picture of the kind of strawberries I was talking about. I think they're pretty much picture perfect. :)

Ten Things Tuesday

First, a shout out to Dianna. Thanks for the email and the encouragement. :)

Second, a real Ten Things Tuesday:
1. I have started to reduce my "every day" sugar items. At work, I used to put two pumps of creamer into my coffee plus Splenda. Now I'm just using 1 pump of creamer, no Splenda. I also was putting a Splenda packet in my oatmeal that I make at work, but I cut that out too. I actually don't miss it in the oatmeal. I think the raisins help sweeten it. I'm still getting used to the coffee, but I'm determined to change my taste. Sam likes my coffee too much when he tastes it. That's not right. Kids are supposed to hate coffee. So I wanted to make it more hate-able. :)

2. We picked another big bowl of strawberries last night. This time we shared some with our neighbors. The plants in the upper raised bed produced absolutely picture perfect strawberries: plump, perfect strawberry red, and firm. They are a good size too. The plants are spaced out a little more up there, so I think I will thin out the main strawberry patch for next year. Okay, so I didn't get a picture of them last night, but I will the next time I pick them.

3. Wow, those were long. Makes for a long "Ten" list. Time for a short one... I can't wait to watch the recorded Eureka tonight! I'm going to miss the show after it ends this season.

4. I have three annoying bug bites on my legs, probably from working in the yard Saturday. Very, very itchy. Boo.

5. I pinned a cool quote on Pinterest last night that was so funny, I want to share here too. It goes something like "Pinterest makes me like people I've never met, and Facebook makes me hate [some] people I know in real life." Although I will say my opinion of people changes with what they pin too.

6. John needs a new watch. He has cracked the face of his, and it's probably no longer water resistant.

7. I'm also excited to watch our next Netflix movie: Man on a Ledge. I adore Sam Worthington.

8. We need a babysitter so we can go see Avengers.

9. Tonight is Mom's Night Out. Yay!

10. And finally, we're to ten. Like I said yesterday, sometimes I have to force # ten. :)

Back, again

Okay, so I know it's been awhile since I've written. I've recently learned that people (besides my Mom) read my blog and actually watch for updates. I think this is pretty neat. I used to write just thinking I was writing to my Mom (no offense, Mom). But with this news, I am encouraged to write more often. I wanted to write last week, but I didn't find a lot of time to write. I thought I might post today at lunch and maybe add a few pictures tonight or tomorrow night from home.

Since it's been awhile, I think I'll just give some random updates and thoughts. I'll put a story together for the pictures when I upload them.

Monday Moments (like Ten Things Tuesday, but with less pressure because I don't have to force number 10)

• I'm eating minestrone soup at work. I bought an 8-pack of soups from Costco to take to work so lunch was less work to prepare. I thought the box was all lentil soup, but it's half lentil and half minestrone. I was a little disappointed with the minestrone until I found the packets drawer at work that has Romano cheese packets from Olive Garden. Just a little bit of cheese makes a world of difference.
• We took a family trip to Montana and got back last Tuesday. It was a full day of driving each way. We went with my parents in their Odyssey, and it was quite comfortable. John and my Dad did most of the driving (thanks, guys!). Sam was great in the car. Maemae brought lots of little goodies for him to play with. He liked stitching on the plastic canvas and a light-up toy that spins lights around in a circle the best. I think he also really liked hearing Maemae read Shel Silverstein poems to him. I enjoyed the poems too.
• I started a Winnie-the-Pooh cross-stitch on a shirt for Sam's birthday/Christmas last year but it was a bigger project than I had prepared for. I've picked it up again, and I'm having fun working on it at lunchtime. There are four boxes of WtP character heads. I'm on the fourth one now, Eeyore. I'll post a picture of my progress later. Thankfully the shirt is big enough that it will fit him at his birthday this year and probably for another year.

Okay, that will do for now. See you for tomorrow's installment. :)

Drastic Measures

I've changed the permissions for comments. So for now, you'll have to become a member of the blog to be able to comment. I was having random ad comments, and I'm tired of it.

So, email me if you want to become a member. Otherwise, just email me with your comment. :)

It's Finally Tuesday! - TTT

1. I'm finally writing on a Tuesday so it is a real Top Ten Tuesday list! :)

2. Today was my first month-end closing at work. It was a busy day. I'm still not doing everything that will be my responsibility yet, so I still don't have a good idea of what the workload is.

3. John made really good A&J Surprise tonight for dinner. It's like my parents' Saturday Night Delight, which is ground meat, veggies, and pasta, but we add a can of mushroom soup. I'm definitely taking it for lunch tomorrow!

4. We get the JC Penney pictures back tomorrow! I'm so excited! I'll be sending out pictures to our immediate family soon. We got a bigger than normal package this time. Sam was so darn cute in just about all of the pictures.

5. I'm going to take Sam shopping for John's birthday present tomorrow night. I have no idea what to look at.

6. The moon yesterday morning was amazing. It was big and bright, and there were small wispy clouds around it.

7. From Sam who is sitting in my lap: "my name starts with S A M."

8. I get to take a ride on the corporate jet next week to Idaho to see the milling and grain plant. I'm pretty excited.

9. Sam wants me to push the buttons fast. He's giggling. :)

10. I started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. As I was reading, I saw Daniel Craig as Armansky. Then I looked up the cast for the movie today and was shocked to see him cast as Blomkvist and the ER guy as Armansky. I like the book so far.

A Hum Drum Saturday

It's a lazy Saturday.

It's past time to take the tree down, and I still have thank-yous to write.

I think I miss my friends at PeaceHealth. I had lunch with Becky this week, and it was really great. I would like to have lunch with her every week or every other week.

I like my new job. The work is interesting, and I'm using accounting principles on a daily basis, which is really great. One part of my job is doing payables and financials for a small subsidiary. The other part of my job is updating spreadsheets with month-end data and tracking certain accounts. I also have a few things I do every morning to make sure things are running smoothly. I probably won't have a good feel for the whole job until I have a few more month-ends under my belt.

I have quite a few Starbucks gift cards from Christmas. But I've been really disappointed with their drinks lately. I was going to a different coffee shop at my last job, and they had a really yummy pumpkin latte. But the Starbucks pumpkin is pumpkin spice, and I really don't taste any pumpkin in it. The peppermint has been blah, and even the caramel mocha was... dull. I guess I should go back to plain lattes and adding my own sweetener and spices. Grrr. I tend to stay away from that because I can't go through the drive-through and do that. Oh well.

I have a weird raw spot on my hand at the base of my thumb. I woke up to it being sore, and I have no idea what it is from. I'm going to put some hydrocortisone cream on it and see if that helps.

Here's to being bored with certain life circumstances but trying to get up and enjoy them and try new things anyway. I know it will eventually be easy to enjoy them again.


P.S. Sorry this sounds kind of sad and boring. But at least I can tell my Mom that I wrote on my blog. :)

TTM

Top Ten Monday

If I wait until Tuesday to write this, it won't get done.

1. I'm enjoying a cup of dark chocolate cocoa given to me by my friend Becky. Yum!

2. Sam did really well at JC Penney today getting pictures taken. We're a month late for his birthday, but better late than never.

3. My second week of work will be another 4-day work week.

4. My number one movie to see right now would be the new Sherlock Holmes movie.

5. I might be getting a cello to play.

6. I enjoyed watching part of the Rose Parade in California today on TV. I liked all the marching bands, of course.

7. Yay for Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee! Thanks, Mom!

8. I want to clean out and organize my side of the office at home this month. And I get to clean out the past two years in the filing cabinet.

9. I am definitely getting our taxes done early this year.

10. I'm ready for some new easy dinner recipes. Tired of the old ones.

Day 1

So, today, I drank SOME water and had SOME exercise. I ate, not exactly healthy, but I had an apple for lunch and veggies for dinner (the good things). I spent time with family. For my craft, I did a family picture with Hawaiian dirt shirts on everyone.

AND, I ground coffee and got the coffee pot ready for tomorrow. Woo-hoo! :)

Thoughts

Oh, I'm tired. And I just want to write down all my thoughts and feelings and get all of my worries and anxieties out so I can be revived. But I know God can take all of it and I can rest in Him. Thank you, God.

Okay, now for a fresh start. I want to exercise every day. I want to keep a clean house. Actually, there are a lot of things I want to do every day:
Exercise.
Eat right.
Drink lots of water.
Hug my husband and son.
Clean the kitchen.
Keep laundry going; not let clean clothes sit in the free for more than a day.
Pray.
Spend 15 minutes doing some kind of craft: cross-stitch, knit, sew, quilt, blog.

Okay, that's quite the list. I'll stop there for now.

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

Well, I took my last test last week. We celebrated by going out to dinner. We celebrated me being done with studying, John having a wife back and Sam having a Mama again. I had a nice couple of days with Sam over the holiday at the beach with his grandparents. It was great to reconnect with him. He cried when I went to work again Tuesday.

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how to relax and take care of myself again. I am such a nightowl, but I would probably feel better if I got more sleep. Oh well, there is always room for improvement.

Sam faced his fear

Sam and I stopped by the car wash on Saturday. As we drove up to it, Sam started to wimper and freak out. I said "it's okay, Sam. We're going to give the car a bath." As the car got ready to go through, Sam really started to freak out. The last two times we've gone through, he has screamed the whole way through. Evidently, he remembered. I had tried before to reassure him it would be okay, but I didn't really know how to help him.



This time, I reached back my hand and said "hold my hand. I'm here for you. We'll go through it together." He snatched up my hand with both his hands and squeezed hard. It really surprised me how quick his response was, and it really touched my heart. He started to calm down, and I told him what was happening:



"The car is getting a shower. See, there's the soap, and here are some brushes. They are washing the windows and doors and tires. Now here is some water to rinse. And now for the really loud part. I don't like this part either. Can you help me blow the car dry?"



We came out on the other side with dry eyes and smiles and a clean car. I told him what a good job he did facing his fear. It was a precious experience for me to help with that. He is growing up!

Finally

I finally got my phone Blogger app to work. Now I can blog on the fly. You're welcome, Mom. :)

New skillet meal

Last night I threw things together in the skillet, and it ended up working pretty well.

We have a bunch of yams to use, so that was my starting point. I peeled and cubed 2 yams, and sliced some baby carrots. I pan-fried this in olive oil for about 7-10 minutes. Then I added 2 cubed chicken breasts, onion, celery and garlic. Once the chicken was cooked, I added maybe 2-4T apple cider vinegar and about 2T brown sugar, and salt & pepper. Then I mixed some cream cheese, maybe ½ cup, into some cold water, then hot water, then added it to the pan. The last thing is I coarsely cut up some spinach and tossed it in to wilt it.

We came up with a name of Root Goulash. We had it with some quinoa, but it didn’t really need anything else with it. It was very filling. I read recently that yams are one of the best vegetables nutrition-wise.

Usually when I try to throw things together it doesn't go so well. This time it worked, and I was pretty proud of myself.

"Loud" and Other Words

Sam has been saying so many words lately. He's a really good imitator. The other day we showed him how to make the "L" sound for the word "loud". He knows the sign and uses it for everything from the vacuum to motorcycles to trucks to the KitchenAid mixer. It's really fun watching him try out new sounds!

Flower Craft

I found this neat craft online to do with Sam. I traced his hand and arm, cut out the shape, curled the fingers around a pencil, then wrapped the arm around a straw. Then I added some leaves. I have a piece of Sam on my desk!