Thursday, January 31, 2008

American Idol Week...I don't know

American Idol fans...do not despair. I have not forsaken the weekly post. But I eventually get bored with the auditions and the antics so I haven't watched all my TiVo's yet. I'm watching one tonight but I'm not sure if it's the most recent. Miami - maybe that was Tuesday. I don't know.

Anyway, be assured that once the actual competition starts, I will absolutely post weekly about my thoughts and stuff.

I Didn't Go to Charm School

So you all know may remember that my birthday was in mid-December. A few days later, some of my awesome girlfriends took me out to what turned out to be dinner & dessert at a fun little restaurant at the Gateway that has turned out to be "our spot"...sort of. Anyway, we had a great time as always. We laughed and ate and caught up.

It's always interesting to see where the conversation will go when we all get together. There were gifts. Everyone brought me a little something and I was so happy to have such good friends who would take time away from their families to spend time celebrating my birthday, not to mention bring me a gift.

Keep in mind that this happened about 6 weeks ago.

This post is more of a public apology as well as a note of appreciation than anything else. Most of those girls read my blog.

Girls, I hereby inform you I struggle with the basic tenants of etiquette. I try hard to send thank you notes and make sure all of my friends know how much I appreciate them. But it's likely that you've noticed a trend. My thank you notes are very inconsistent. It's not that you're not important to me, and that your gifts are not appreciated. They are. You are special to me.

Kelly: as I've mentioned to you, your gift sits on my kitchen counter and gets daily use. I've always wanted it but never have known it. Thanks for knowing me better than I know myself.

Carly: I'm saving your gift to go to B&N next week as a reward for keeping one of my New Year's Resolutions. I'm going to use it to buy a new cookbook. Thank you so much: I'll think of you each time I use it. Kelly's given me some good recommendations.

Katie: Where are you getting those? I keep looking everywhere! All I can say is that I'm glad that you gave me what you did instead of what you gave Carly! You'd have experienced Turtle-Amy.

Julie: Your gift gets daily use. I actually own the robe from VS that goes with them. SP loves to burrow up to me when I have the combo on. That was very sweet. Thank you.

Rachel: Sorry to make you read my blog. I'm addicted to the honeysuckle scent! It's a brand new one and all I had was the lotion although I wanted the whole set. Thank you!

I have lots more notes of appreciation to give and I know this is a total slacker way of expressing thanks but hey, that's me. I just want people to know I'm grateful. I'll address my Christmas gifts in another post. Thanks again girls. I'm so blessed to have friends who love me.

How About a New Post???

I can't believe my last post was on Monday! What happened to the days when I used to post daily? I'll tell you what...life.

Life happens! Although I'm sad that I haven't been communicating much with most of my readers lately, and consequently I've seen a reduction in my visits, I'm actually happy with what I've been doing with my time. And that is spending more time with the Supreme Princess, taking care of house stuff, and trying to take better care of my body. Time I used to spend blogging is now being spent on the treadmill, or de-cluttering closets, or playing hopscotch.

Don't get me wrong. I love blogging. And I really love to read all of your blogs. If you have that doo-hickey that shows my "face" on your blog, you've likely noticed I've not been there much. Please don't be offended. If I haven't been coming to see your blog, well - I'm not coming to mine much either.

But I miss the interactions and the thought process that goes into daily posting so I'd like to get better. Honestly, the thing is is that I've been wondering what the actual value of my blog really is. Does it actually do anything for anyone? Is it helpful? Is it useful? Is it inspiring or just a catalog of insignificant details in my life that only interest people because....well, I have no idea. You'll have to answer that. Anyway, I'm curious. Please help me. Inspire me to continue my blog in the manner I'm used to. Or should I do more to engage my audience, do things that will change the world or least someone's thought process. I'm just throwing this out there to see what you'll say.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Today's Recap

Fortunately there wasn't much going on today since it snowed a bucket-full...AGAIN.

This morning I was motivated out of bed by the need to get to the store to buy a soup mix that I could quickly make up for a funeral. There's a lady at church whose mother just died. I feel so awful for her. I am only an outsider to her world but from what I know of her, it just seems like this past year has just been awful for her. And now for her mother to die, my heart just goes out to her. I want to say something to her that tells her how I feel but it sounds so trite. So I just made soup for the funeral. It was the least I could do.

I got the soup cooked and ran it over to the church, visited with a friend, and then raced home to get my car parked under shelter just in time for the snowstorm to hit. I burrowed down. I like when I get to stay home when it's like that outside.

I got on my treadmill and watched as it blizzarded outside the window while I sweated inside.

The rest of my day was taken up with doing progress reports for the kiddos I work with at the schools. All their parents are probably wondering why they're late so I knew I had to get them done before I work tomorrow. I just procrastinated so bad on them...too busy getting various rooms in my house de-cluttered. Priorities!

Hit the hottub again tonight. SP loves "swimming" in it. It's nice when it's so cold to jump in that really warm water. I just love it! And now, I'm cuddled up in my "cozies" - that's family-jargon for pajamas. I'm contemplating a good book that just arrived in the mail. Not that I don't have about 5 other ones already in progress. Something about starting a NEW book.

Talk at you later!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Not For Lack of Things Going On...

that's not the reason why I haven't posted in a few days. There's always PLENTY going on around this house. But honestly, I've just been more interested the past few days in reading other people's blogs than writing on my own. Go figure!

But let's see...what have I accomplished lately. Oh, did my office but you saw that... Had a girl's night out on Friday night with a whole bunch and we hit a restaurant in Salt Lake called Biagi's. I had the most amazing spinach salad that seriously has had me craving it ever since. We then hit a movie called "P.S., I Love You". I did not love this movie. I'm not a romance lover. I love a good chik flik but this one just did not do anything for me. However, in defense of it, ALL of the 9 other girls that I was with did love it. So there. I was far more interested in the FABULOUS Ben's Cookie (white chocolate) that tasted like ... well, let's just say it was a good night for food.

I spent the night last night at my sister's house. I took SP and my mom was there and we had a big sleepover. We went swimming at the rec center and then watched "The Last Mimzy" which was great for the kids. SP fell asleep on my lap at which time my mom said something like, "people look so different when they're asleep and when they're dead"...and then I couldn't get the thought out of my head about whether or not SP would look that way when she was dead. Thanks mom, for that pleasant and altogether morbid thought. It made me feel awful!

I'm home now. Missed church because I'm a sleepyhead. We were up too late. I'm going to spend my day wasting it in whatever way I feel like it. I've got some cookbooks to look through, change the water in the "new" fishtank (hey! the fish are looking a little better!), do some sewing, and have a generally slow-paced day. Sounds good to me!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Mission: Organization...check

So I conquered my "office" today. It's sort of my office, but sort of my scrapbook, sewing, and whatever else I love to do....room. But it's very full. I have nearly every nook and cranny taken up with something. And since it's the room where all my projects begin and end, there can be a lot of clutter there as projects pile up.

As of this morning there were about 50 projects unfinished all over the floor and I was having an organizational crisis. I did have shelves and bins and things but too many new projects were creating overflow that couldn't be contained.

I got a little busy today and managed it. I installed this awesome pegboard, re-arranged some bins and did a general declutter. It felt great - and I'm at peace. This view is 1/2 of the room; the other 1/2 is my computer desk & bookshelves. It's a very full room but it's cozy...just the way I love it.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Racquetball

Yesterday, my sister taught me how to play racquetball. She's been playing for a while with her husband and she also took a class where she played against guys that were really good. So she was a good teacher. Patient, and giving me serves that bounced easily off the end of the court right to where I could hit them.

I, however, didn't do so well. Several times I literally threw myself into the wall head-on, and another time, I viciously hit myself accidentally over the head with the edge of my racket. I barely averted the ball several times and hit my sister in the arm with the ball once...pretty hard. It's sort of an aggressive sport - but I loved it!

Today, my entire right arm is sore starting from my shoulder complex right down to my wrist. But like most exercising, it's a good sore. I got a great workout without even realizing how hard I was working! A friend described it as "hidden fitness" which is a term I dig. I'm already looking forward to playing again!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

American Idol Week 2

Auditions: San Diego

what the heck with the Mariah Carey girl? Oh my!

Otherwise, good picks! South Carolina next...

*is Simon some kind of sex symbol? yikes!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

House Stuff

More on last night's subject...

It seems like every Spring comes with a whole list of projects that I want to do outside. I have a big yard that is totally out of control. I try to conquer another corner every year but it's so hard to feel a sense of accomplishment with so much still going wild.

Part of the problem is that inside my house, things are not up to my level of satisfaction. I always still have 4 million projects still in progress come Spring that I have a hard time dividing my time to get anything done. Especially when the pools are opening and it's warm and all I want to do is throw SP in the car and go play.

This year I would really like to take these winter months getting some projects done inside so that when Spring comes, I can focus more on the outside without feeling like I'm neglecting my house.

What I really need to do is get my other spare bedroom organized & decorated. I'd like to completely organize my storage room, caulk all the trim around closets & doors in the basement, re-organize my office/hobby room. I'd like to get some pieces of furniture sold (a fridge and two cafe tables), and sand & re-paint a wall in downstairs bathroom where new outlets were installed.

Wow! Listing that stuff out felt great! What I thought was going to be a lot of stuff really doesn't seem to be that much after all. Definately do-able before Springtime. Then I can get busy outside without guilt!

Let's Get This House in Order

I think a lot about organization in my home. My tolerance for disorder has lowered as I've gotten older and when I open a cupboard, I want it to be clutter free, and organized. And those are just my cupboards. I spend time each day working toward a de-cluttered, non-chaos home, not for anyone else - just for my personal sanity.

There's nothing worse than sitting down with a good book, only to be plagued with thoughts of the dirty dishes on the sink, the pile of laundry to be ironed, or a closet that will decombust if you try to hide one more piece of junk in it.

My home is absolutely not perfect. But it's clean, and it's not cluttered. I do my best to avoid junk rooms & drawers even though it's a constant battle.

My personal "savior" (that sounds bad especially on a Sunday) is Flylady. I've been working this program for about 6 years now and while I've deviated quite a lot from the original program (and don't do the crazy emails), it has helped me a lot.

So, if you are drowning in a tide of laundry, can't quite keep up with the day-to-days let alone cleaning out your fridge, sorting through your spare bedroom closet, and vacuuming UNDER your furniture - give Flylady a try. You might be pleasantly surprised by how little time it actually takes to gain control over your home, even if you work full-time.

Friday, January 18, 2008

The Demise of My Bathroom

We've lived in our home for 2 years and in that time, we've done a lot to the interior, and to some extent, the exterior. I'm fortunate enough to have a very handy hubby.


When we moved in our home, all the rooms had different carpeting including the bathrooms (except 1), and every single room & wall needed an update.

We've (ha, he's) tackled nearly every room in the house now except for 2 of the bathrooms and a large room at the bottom of stairs.

For the past few months, I've known he's been gearing up for a project but I imagined it would be the room at the bottom of the stairs since he's got visions of a bar down there. I hinted I would like my bathroom (the master bath) re-done since it's the last room with original carpeting in it (except for the bottom of the stairs) and by far, the grossest room in the house left. But I really thought that bathroom would be last on the totem-pole of "fun" projects.

But I was in for a big surprise when demo started unexpectedly today on my shower. My pink shower. My pink shower in a room with green carpet and Nursing Home wallpaper border around the pink ceiling (seriously guys, that border was in a nursing home I worked at a few years ago!)

I'm so excited! I am now browsing for ideas on what to do with the room. I would have already had it worked out but I thought demo was still 6 months away!

Here's some then & now pics (can you even get over how small & narrow this bathroom is - it's torture!).

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Am I Scary?

I have a lady, Sandria, who works for me, and several other occupational therapists in my department. She takes direction from us and works directly with some of our kids on a weekly basis. She's worked for the district for several years and is pretty good at what she does. Not only that but she's not got a self-inflated sense of responsibility which makes guiding her all the more easier. I was complimenting her on her work today and we got into a discussion I'd like to share.

It's going on 3 years now that I've worked for this school district. And I've worked with closely with Sandria several times. She currently assists me only with the kids at one particular school, where we both were today.

In talking, she recalled the first time she ever met me. I had come to supervise a session she was having with a student and she says I was quizzing her as to why she had chosen certain activities to do with this kid. That sounds like me. I like my assistants to understand why they're doing something, instead of just doing some rote activity that doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, she said it sort of scared her and that I had really intimidated her, and for quite some time she would really stress if she knew I was coming to supervise her. She said she knows I like things done a certain way and I'm very particular. That's true. Ask anyone.

I know I give off an intimidating and outspoken first impression. I get that a lot. I often say things that if you don't know me, might seem a little too assertive. Most of my friends know that about me and thankfully were willing to give me more than one try after their first impression of me. I actually think that most of my good friends had the first impression that I was pretty out-spoken and intimidating.

And while it's one thing that my friends have learned to ignore my faults, I feel bad that this poor lady has felt this way for so long and never had the chance to get to know that behind all of that is someone who is more inclined to put my foot in my mouth than chew her out. I think this is something I need to work on. I want someone to tell me that their first impression of me was that I was so nice and they couldn't imagine me talking bad about anybody else. Someday I want somebody to truthfully say that about me.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

American Idol


If you're not an American Idol fan, I feel sorry for you. Just kidding. But honestly people, there's more to that show than Simon!

Well, I personally love the show. I've been looking forward to this season for several months now. And it has arrived! Last night was the premiere. I forgot to TiVo it, but did for the 2nd half which was tonight. I had to TiVO it because DH doesn't love it. I had to wait until later when I could creep up to my room and watch it on my bedroom TV.

Sorry folks, but I'm going to do a week-by-week blow of what's happening. I'm going to "vote" on my blog and you can vote with me. We can even create our own American Idol with a poll or something. Right now we're just in auditions (which crack me up!).

So here's tonights thoughts (Dallas audition):
* hey chick (Jessica Brown): maybe not giving us the low-down on your heroine history wasn't such a political move! But you got in so maybe you know more than I do.

*Alaina: love her. LOVE her.

* of all the things some people can share about themselves, this guy gets up and talks about how he's never kissed a girl, and that his dad holds the heart (locket) for the girl he's going to marry, and he's got the key around his neck...Well, I'm just not a corny person so it just didn't work for me.

*did you not LOVE the Brittney Spear's impersonation? funny. (Katie's her name...got in)

***what is this? the season for unusual habits?*** they must have asked a question to everyone about what's the weirdest thing they do, or about them or something. I've never seen them do this before!

list of unusual habits or weird things:
*heroine addict
*never kissed a girl
*peels & collects his fingernails in a baggie (made it)

Do you ever wonder if some of the really bad auditions are planted or something? I mean, do people that awful REALLY think they can sing and why would they put themselves out there like that? I'm thinking it's a set-up - at least some of them!

That's all for today.


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Some People

So this morning I'm at the gym. It's like 10:00am, not really many people there. I throw my backpack into the locker room, and go work out. When I'm done, I need to get showered and stuff so I can head to work. Before I jump in the shower, I just chuck my backpack into one of those dressing stalls because I'm a prude and don't want 90 year old women checking me out (no, not really). Really, I just didn't want to have to handle all my dry work-clothes and stuff while I'm soaking wet (I'm a planner!)

I shower, and I'm turning the corner to go into the little dressing stall when I see this lady heading for my stall. She goes in, does a double-take because of course my bag's there. She picks it up and as I am walking up, she's actually starting to throw it out. She looks up at me and we have the following exchange:

"oh, is this yours?"
"yeah" she looks behind me
"were you just in the shower?"
"yeah"
"well, you're really not supposed to leave your bags in the dressing stall until you're ready to go in"
"i am ready to go in" i say over my shoulder as she stomps away

What are you, lady? The frickin' dressing stall Nazi? Some people! Go get your own stall! You just wish you'd reserved one. You know you were just trying to steal my super-cool rolling backpack, you freak.

Monday, January 14, 2008

My Music

My friend Rachel has asked me several times to burn her a playlist of my music. I think it's sort of funny because I have never considered myself to be especially astute in my music selection. But, I decided to do it.

I have a favorites Playlist on iTunes that I just copied for her. I didn't realize there were so many songs and I actually made her 5 CD's instead of just one, but I doubt she'll be upset.

While the songs were burning, I was looking at the songs I'd chosen and I started to wonder what she would think as she listened to all of these songs. Nearly all of them have been added to my "Fav's" list for a reason. Either they meant something to me at a particularly poignant time in my life, or they've just made me feel good for one reason or another. But songs never mean the same thing to another person so I just wonder how they'll be received, in a collection.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Take Note

I'm a little particular about adding links on my blog to other's blogs. I used to add just anyone who passed my way but I've begun to feel a little responsible, like I'm vested, in the sites who I "endorse" so to speak.

I had a visit from a lady today who commented and I returned the favor by visiting her site. It only took one visit - I loved it! Please note that I have added her to my sitebar of sites I visit.

It's called The Leaping Thought. Hope you like it as much as I do.

And Then There Were Two...

fishtanks I mean. Barbara, of Barbara Gordon Photography, commented on my post yesterday about how fatal and contagious this disease, called "Ick" is. I was trying a slightly less expensive and drastic step yesterday by letting them swim for an hour in the fermaldahyde mixture. But Barbara scared me into taking more drastic measures today.

I took pictures of little Squiggly to the pet store today for a better diagnosis although I was pretty sure it was "Ick". The resident expert still wasn't quite sure but she said a quarantine tank, with some added kelated copper, was in order anyway just to be safe. Leaving these fish in isolation for a month will let the parasite live its lifespan in my regular tank and by the time I put the fish back into the tank, the parasite will be gone. That span is 4 weeks.

So, now there are two fishtanks in my home. One in SP's bedroom, and one on my kitchen counter where I can monitor the fish. It was another $60. Yes, I know. Please don't say it. I know you're thinking it. I'm thinking it too. But they're God's creatures and we took the responsiblity - we don't just dispose of God's creatures when they've become inconvenient. And I feel strongly about that after many experiences with pets and ... husbands... and children...and such. Ooooooh, just kidding!

Anyway, if you pray for animals, pray for Squiggly. He's a cute little guy who is fighting like the dickens. Thanks for stopping by today!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Fish Trouble

I've gotten quite attached to the creatures in the fish tank, and that's not just the two clown fish Lucy and Squiggles. There are three snails, ten hermit-crabs and two coral plants. We're sustaining life here! Of anyone in my family, I spend far more time than any of them watching, getting familiar, worrying etc. about our little creatures. They are now my pets. I love them!

But the fish have contracted some kind of weird, white moldy stuff that is growing on Squiggles mouth and fins, and has now jumped over to Lucy's fin. It's a parasite protozoa and I was advised to remove them from the tank for an hour and let them swim in a mixture of sea-water and a few teaspoons of fermaldahyde. Ew!

I hope they get better!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Nightmare Flashbacks

Back when I was in Occupational Therapy school (I graduated 4 years ago), it seemed like my professors got joy out of seeing how fast we could spit out a project or paper and I got pretty good at turning one out on demand. Overnight I could have an entire program put together customized to whatever diagnosis you could imagine. Bring it on!


A couple of days ago, I offered to my boss to do an in-service (an informal teaching seminar) to our staff about whatever they felt like they needed education on. I offered to do this for next Friday. She misunderstood and yesterday said, "I'll see you tomorrow!" Clarifying did no good. She said, "do you think you could be ready anyway? no one is available next Friday." um, I don't even have a topic yet and it was 3pm Thursday. I didn't even have 24 hours to put together the whole thing. Back in my school days, it would have been no sweat!

So I buckled down and churned out a pretty darn good in-service on what OT's actually do in the school system and how we do it. We have a lot of assistants who help us who don't know a lot about OT and it's up to the OT's to train them. Plus, I get to use trainings like this for my continuing education credits, which is always a bonus!

So last night at 11:00, I'm making a little treat for the group because that's the way you capture attention...with food. I found a pretty good recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies in one of my Taste of Home cookbooks. I love those cookbooks - they compile all of the year's magazines into one book. Tried and true real homemade recipes that are usually really great! Here's the recipe (note: these are not great hot - eat cold)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 cup butter3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup dry oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix though)
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

In mixing bowl, cream butter & sugars. Beat in egg & vanilla. Add pumpkin slowly during mixing. Combine flour, oats, bkg soda & cinnamon and add to sugar/egg mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonful onto greased baking sheets (I used stonewear because I won't make cookies on anything else anymore...huge difference). bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes (I found 15 minutes was the best or they just don't set up). They need to be pretty firm when you take them out. Makes about 4 dozen.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1
Calories 149
Calories from Fat 66
Total Fat 7.3g
Saturated Fat 3.5g
Cholesterol 23mg
Sodium 92mg
Total Carbohydrates 19.1g
Dietary Fiber 0.8g
Protein 1.8g


Thursday, January 10, 2008

Kids and Snacks

I was raised without a shred of sweet food. My mother, in her desperate attempt to "keep us healthy" even created a cookie recipe that featured whole wheat, raisins and probably some leftover vegetable - a fibrous, and I will concede, tasty concoction, bless her heart. We even had wheat pancakes and waffles.

The coveted Oreos, Doritos, Fritos, candy, and other delectibles were spirited away under lock and key where they could be doled out in sparse quantities ...once every 3-4 years. Alright, I am a bit of a drama queen. But I didn't have a sip of Coke until I was about 12, and sipping a real live Coke now rivets me back right to that very moment when the delicious liquid passed over my waiting lips.

My daughter doesn't have this particular experience. She knows that when she wants a "really good snack", she just has to wait for her daddy to come home and then she toddles herself over to the fridge in the basement, where she opens the door to a child's heaven. There is an economy sized box of both Butterfinger and Reese's, not to mention a case of Sprite - these things purchased because they might make the SP happy. No, not by me...alright, I did purchase the Sprite, I think.

I have a snack box full of healthy snacks that is available at nearly any time of day that can be rummaged in, and is on a daily basis. It makes me feel wholesome to know my daughter is snacking on good foods like imitation fruit, cheese-"foods", and little fat deposits that look like orange fish. I'm a GOOD MOM!

I have two friends, on the other hand who have drawers or cupboards at child-height that are not locked. They are available at any time. The kids can get in there when they want and pull out whatever they want. I think they still have to ask. But these foods aren't all healthy. I've seen cookies and other yummy snacks - stuff kids love. Whenever SP is at these homes, true to form, she heads directly for the drawers/cupboards and pulls out something "we don't have at our house". But...I never see any of their kids digging in the drawers and believe me, I've spent time there enough to see! Now understand, I'm not critiquing their ways of doing things - on the contrary...I'm intrigued! I wish I could be that confidant and self-assured to know that being liberal will not induce corruption (oops, I just gave away my political views too).

So folks...are there theories out there about making it available vs. trying to keep partial control? I mean, in my house and theirs, I think asking is still a rule. So that's partial control. But I literally don't stock my snack bins with cookies and put that at kid's eye-level because I know what would happen - but then again, maybe it wouldn't. What's your take (haha if you got this far in this novel...)

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

This Book I'm Reading

I'm in the middle of reading this book about a woman who, while babysitting a friend's children, accidentally allows a 2-year old child to wander off to the pond on her property and drown. It goes through the emotional roller-coaster she's on, and then goes to the husband's voice and how he deals with it too.

I had a little girl over here today to play with SP and the whole time, I was so worried that something might happen to her while she was in my care. Can you even imagine what that would be like? I can hardly think of anything worse - except possibly your own child dying accidentally while in your care. Sort of put me on high alert today.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Woman Killed in Church Parking Lot

On the news last night was a story about a 30 year old, LDS mother of 2 who was killed by her husband as she was getting out of her car at church. The story is here .

What a devastating tragedy. I don't understand how some people can think that murder is a solution. He obviously has severe mental problems to hurt the mother of his children. He has, in essence, orphaned those children. So sad.

A Big Empty Spot

Today, I finally controlled the chaos that was my living room. By that, I mean I got my Christmas decorations all put away, and the tree down. I love all of my christmas things and love getting them all out but it's nothing compared to how I feel when I put them all away each year. No wonder January is considered the time for organization. After so much clutter, I can't be the only one who digs in to clear the cobwebs and get control.

And I have done just that. I am going to re-posses my home if it's the last thing I do. A friend, just today in fact, described me as the most organized person she knows and I literally laughed out loud. If she could just see my storage room, and laundry room and spare bedrooms. Oh, did I forget to mention my office? Oh. My. Gosh. My office has been sadly neglected since I've not been habitating it much anymore. My laptop has released me from it's controlling arms and I have actually forgotten about it. It's a storage unit for all of my extra crap and I hate going in there! I have seriously closed the door tonight on it so I don't have to see it anymore.


Anyway, about the pic. If you've seen my Christmas pics, you might know that this little "hole" is where my Christmas tree was. But this space wasn't created for my tree...no, it's a space that exists anyway, as if all year it is just a lonely little space waiting for it's wondeful habitator - the Christmas tree. It's when that space gets all its attention.

I really like my living room. It's the first room I gave attention to upon moving here. I think it's a cozy space, and I love seeing it when I walk into my house. But this little hole troubles me. I don't want to fill it just for the sake of filling it. But I think I should put something there that is beautiful and unimposing. I don't want a big dorky fica tree, or a super-huge bookshelf - oh, and I absolutely don't need anymore seating. I think more big furniture might overwhelm the room since there's already a sofa, loveseat and chair plus 3 tables. So, what would you do with this spot?

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Today's Theme Song

I often get a song in my head that reverberates with the Life and Times of Amy's life. It usually changes on a daily basis. This is today's theme song:

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Alvin and the Chipmunks

We took the Supreme Princess to this movie this afternoon. She's 3 1/2 and it kept her entertained until the last 10 minutes which was pretty decent considering none of it is animated.

Being a child of the real chipmunk era, I was having a good time watching the re-creation of a story I already knew (with a twist). What was weird was the modernization of the chipmunk songs! All of the songs had these total dance-mix beats to them which made my walk down memory lane more difficult.

All in all, it was a cute movie. The chipmunks themselves, were a little creepy (especially their eyes!) but I enjoyed their antics and little voices. SP loved hearing them sing and she was groovin' along with their songs. It was really funny.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Resolutions

Last year, I set some aggressive New Year's resolutions. They were organized into categories like physical, spiritual, emotional, parental, professionally, etc.

I was very diligent all year about pursuing and tracking them (in a cool little spreadsheet that made me feel incredibly efficient). When summer came though I got very lazy. Since my goals required strict diligence, it was hard to stay focused when the weather was warm and the pool was calling. My attention span was only so long. Additionally due to my lack of discipline in getting up early each morning, some of my goals were not getting the attention they needed since they hinged on having extra time each day to work on them (organization, cleaning, self-help goals). They suffered.

Most importantly, I learned a GREAT deal about myself. Such as:

1. the sheer fact of meeting my goal is not incentive enough to pursue a challenging goal
2. i have about a 5 month attention span
3. i need a daily outline of what i'm doing that day or else nothing gets done
4. i learned what exactly my strengths and weaknesses were
5. i am easily distracted - ok i didn't learn THAT just this past year

Believe it or not, about 50% of my goals were achieved to my satisfaction, which I think is great considering this time last year I, um was me, not having reached those same goals. So, that's a good thing. So, based on these new epiphanies about myself I have created some new goals that will hopefully inspire me to become the fabulously successful famous rockstar I always wanted to be.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Back From My Sabbatical

Wow! I've really taken quite a long break from my blog! I've missed it!

We went to DH's parents for their annual Christmas party on Saturday and stayed through Monday. They do have internet access there but I never had enough time nor privacy to blog daily so I put it on hold. Monday, we came back here to dump our dirty clothes, grab clean ones and head to Wendover (Utah's mini Vegas, about 1 1/2 hours from Salt Lake on the Utah/Nevada border) for New Year's Eve. We got back yesterday afternoon late in the afternoon and I seriously was wiped!

It's really nice to be back home other than the whole house looked like an asteroid hit it. I fixed most of that this morning and then I spent the rest of the day doing some actual work - the kind you get paid for. I had so much to get caught up on. I'm finally feeling like I can stick my head out of the hole although I'll jump back in head first tomorrow morning first thing.

Sorry to leave without even posting I'd be gone though. I'll try not to do that again. I've got awards, memes, New Year's resolutions to account for and re-make...the list goes on of things to blog about in the days to come. Check back!