Robyn's Ramblings. Life As I Live It.

Double Brrrr...

2012-02-12T09:05:00.002-05:00

Wow! This cold snap can leave anytime now! Mason and I went out yesterday to get some things accomplished, one of which was a haircut (more on this later). We spent most of the day out and about. I had to return a Redbox movie (Shark Night and yes, it rocked!!). Giant Eagle has a Redbox that is outside of the store, so I decided to just pull up front (lazy, yes) because I didn't need to get anything inside. As I put my 4-way flashes on, I said to Mason that he needed to hurry up and run to return the movie before an officer says anything to me! As soon as Mason gets out of the car and sprints to the Redbox machine, here comes a security officer to my window. I rolled down my window and before I said a word the officer said, "Is SHE (SHE!) just returning a movie?". I could not contain my laughter, he was looking at me like I just left the loony bin! Between breaths I was able to say, "SHE is a HE, that is my son!!". The look on his face was priceless! He apologized and got a good laugh, too! Mason had made his way back to the car and even he thought it was funny (perhaps not as much as I did!). So, I informed the security officer that HE was getting a haircut later that day! Later that afternoon I took Mason to "the girl haircut place" and he got his hair trimmed. Then we made our way home in snow and white outs. I have driven in worse white outs but white outs on the highway are NOT fun.

Chobani Greek yogurt has new flavors!! Blood orange and Passion fruit. They are both delicious! Greek yogurt is amazing!

I have two papers to complete for Monday, two basketball games today and finish grocery shopping. The song, "Under Pressure" is playing in the background of my brain! We are going to collect on our FREE Papa John's Pizza today! During the superbowl Papa Johns was running a promotion with a coin toss and we choose the right one (heads!). That will be helpful for dinner tonight so that I don't have to worry about cooking anything between basketball games!

Hello!

2012-02-09T15:37:00.003-05:00

That picture is from last year, but I love it! As I type, Baileigh is snoozing on the couch, barking in her sleep! I would love to know what dogs dream about! It reminds me of this video:

That never gets old!!

I had a semi-productive day today. I got my oil changed, it took longer to get an attendant to the counter than it did to actually get the oil changed. I bought some Starbucks coffee to brew at home since stopping at Sheetz before class is getting too time consuming! Have you ever seen Sheetz in the morning?? I stopped into BigLots the other day to find a great deal on Snapple, Trop-a-Rocka flavor! Yum! This is mine and Mason's favorite flavor. I am going to save the bottles and brew my own iced tea to have around for awhile.

That's all I have for now, Mason is due home any minute. I am sure that means we will have hours of fraction homework to do (insert dreaded feeling here).

Brrrr....

2012-02-08T19:58:00.002-05:00

I guess we have been lucky so far this winter, but WOW, is it cold outside tonight! I went outside to take Mason to basketball practice and was not expecting to have to scrape ice off the windshield. I question myself time and time again why I do not want to move to a warmer climate when I make my move after Mason graduates.

I am enjoying basketball season but I REALLY can't wait until baseball season! Mason will have football sign-ups and weigh-ins in March and I am afraid that he will not make the weight limit. I don't know what to do, starving him seems so cruel (haha!).

In other news, I have a giant grocery-store list and we plan to shop on Saturday. I have some new recipes to try out. I started the year off by drinking a kale smoothie everyday and ginger tea. I feel great! I need to restock those supplies. I can honestly say that ever since I have been drinking them, I have not had a single sniffle! My days have been so busy, its been hard to actually make a decent grocery shopping trip. No basketball on Saturday, so we will be shopping instead. The worst part is carrying all the groceries inside and putting them away. I could do without that!

Stay warm!!

Lazy. Lazy. Lazy

2012-02-06T19:49:00.005-05:00

Lazy seems to be a theme around here lately. I guess with the added pressures of school and Mason bringing home fractions for homework, most of our free time is spent lounging. That even applies to the cat! She fell asleep cleaning herself in the picture above! I have decided that tomorrow Facebook will not hold me hostage, I will not even log-in until all the cleaning is done! Yeah, we'll see about that one. Facebook = evil time-thief. I think it might be easier to survive living in a Turkish prison. [Jerry Seinfeld "Newman" voice] "Facebook"

The Giants won the superbowl!! It was a great game. The commercials were, once again, not up to par. There were a few good ones. There were more scantily clad women than I care for my 11 year old boy to see in a lot of the 30 second, million dollar ads. It just shows what society has come to. Less creativity and more skin is what sells, I suppose.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE inspirational quotes! I fill my house with them as daily reminders of how great life is even when it isn't so much. Sometimes the quotes are hand painted on canvas or printed on an item that was bought. However, most of them are hand written on the nearest index card or old reciept lying on the table, it adds character, ya know??!

Words that I live by:

Words that everyone should live by:

I really can't wait for flea market/yard sale season to get here! I have been on the lookout at the thrift stores for an old dresser to paint or re-finish. No luck. I have been feeling really creative on a redecorating level lately. Of course, I don't have the means to go buy all new, but even if I did that isn't my style. Unless we are talking about Pier 1. Let me tell you about Pier 1. That store actually makes me, the thriftiest of all thrift shoppers, think (if only for a few minutes) that it is ok to spend $450 on a side chair. A $300 framed mirror? Sure! Curtains that cost more than all the furniture in my house, combined? Not a problem. I love every single thing in that store. All the sparkle and glitter!! Don't get me started on glitter. When the Pier 1 catalog graces my mailbox, I act like a child in a candy store. I grab a cup of tea and get lost in the fantasy of having an entire house furnished with those items, some that I can't even pronounce. Thirty minutes later I am back to reality. Someday. Someday at least 25% of my house will be furnished with goodies from Pier 1!

It's Sunday (and it's SUPER)!

2012-02-05T11:17:00.006-05:00

The countdown until game time is getting smaller and smaller! Of course it won't be as thrilling of a game (for me, anyway) but it's still the SUPERBOWL. Since the Steelers lost in a horrific two-second OT to end their chances for #7, I will be rooting for ABB (Anyone But Brady). It's still not a tough choice to root for the Giants because I have family that tend to live and breathe NY Giants, soooo GO GIANTS! I hope the commercials are better than last year! I will not remind Mason that the Puppy Bowl is on because I would rather poke my eyes out (and I LOVE puppies!!).

On to the menu. SuperBowl is always known for SNACK-TIME! I will be making veggie mini corndog muffins, chips & veggies with dip, tomatillo pizza, my famous (only to Mason and I!) hot spinach and artichoke dip and homemade brownies! Yum! I have "healthified" the spinach and artichoke dip and per Mason's request he asked that I NOT make "healthified" brownies again! It shall be a good night!

My (slight) obsession with Jimmy Fallon continues to grow. Comedy is so subjective. Of course there are comedians who have stood the test of time, but really I can only think of a few that are actually really funny. When I really got into SNL Jimmy Fallon was a cast member. He was memorable. I liked a lot of his skits. Only since he has had his own talk show did I really pay attention to his amazing talent. He.Is.So.Funny!!!! After I got laid-off from my job and before I got a plan for my life I was in a slump. For about two weeks my days consisted of watching the ID channel, forensic files and cold case files and watching countless youtube videos of Jimmy Fallon's comedy career. I could not get enough. Each one seemed funnier and funnier. I would stay up late to catch his 12:37am talk show every single day. Now, I usually DVR it (unless I've had some serious coffee consumption). He seems to top himself on every new skit. Have you seen The Jersey Floor skits?? He's a comedic genius and I really think he has a long-lasting career. He makes me laugh and we all need a lot of that in our life. He is doing a LIVE show after the superbowl tonight, I am sure it won't disappoint!

GOOD LUCK, GIANTS!!

Goodbye.

2012-02-03T18:45:00.004-05:00

If inanimate objects could speak, I would love to know what this clock would say. This clock is older than most of the students in my college classes. I remember where this clock sat in the house that I lived in in 1987. I don't how I got this clock, I don't remember if it was a gift or if it was simply put in my room one day. All I know is this clock is at least 25 years old. I really can't say that I know of any other object that has been with me for 25 years. I was eight when I remember this clock appearing in my room. It moved with me to so many different places. It has a seconds counter on it when a button is pushed. For some strange reason I remember going through a phase in my teens where I slept on the floor and put this clock right next to me. I remember pushing that seconds button over and over again as I lie there trying to fall asleep. I would try to guess what "second" it was on. Then it went to Penn State with me. One morning I was supposed to be at work very early during the hectic holiday season. I was considered one of the most reliable employees, that was until I set this alarm to "PM" instead of "AM". Every time the lights flicker during a storm, the notorious flashing 12 would appear. I would have to reset it.

The AM/FM buttons stopped sliding, the alarm button fell off (I would have to slide it with a pen) and if the button was down too far, I would wake up to a loud, static filled FM station. Wow, was that annoying! However, this trusty old clock still stuck with me. I hated the alarm sound. It was so brash. I even dropped it a few times trying to find my way through a dark bedroom. During some tough times, I remember lying in bed just staring at the bright red time slowly tick by. A few weeks ago, the lights flickered. When I went to bed, the flashing 12 was annoying, so I unplugged the clock. It was never plugged in again. I decided that a 25 year old electric cord was just too risky to plug back in. The clock has been replaced with my cell phone alarm that is equally annoying. So, it is going out in the trash tomorrow. I feel a very strange feeling of loss knowing I will never see this clock again. I know that is weird but it's true.

Way to go, Inspector B25. You did your job well!

Caffeine. My Friend. My Foe.

2012-02-02T11:24:00.005-05:00

Yesterday before school I stopped to fill up my car with gas and of course, grab a coffee. As I eavesdropped on the conversation between the cashier and the apparent long-time "regular" of the store (even though this particular store has only been open for a few months) I noticed something that I never see at Sheetz. Along side the regular coffee flavors, a light shined down, a warm breeze washed by and guided me to a particular brew. Although the label clearly stated, "High Caffeine", I read much more into it. I seemed to think that magic cup of joe would not only sail me right though my morning classes but it would clean my house and do the dishes that seem to taunt me on a daily basis. I pictured a beautifully clean house (you know, the kind of clean when company comes over), a cleaned out pantry and smells of a freshly scrubbed floor. I must have been dreaming. I have to give the coffee credit, it kept me up until 3am at which point I was cursing it. Next time I decide to grab a cup of high-octane I am going to make sure the label clearly states, "Motivation Included."

I won tickets!!! The local radio station was giving away quite a few tickets to tonight's Harlem Globetrotter's show and I scored some! I am so excited! Mason and I haven't been able to go out and do too much except rent a movie for awhile, so this is going to be a fun night. It has been kept secret, with a few clues. At this point he thinks he is seeing Scooby Doo on ice (WHY would I take him to see Scooby Doo on ice??). There is a subtle disappointment in his eyes every time he thinks he's going to see Scooby Doo on ice! Mom torture, it's priceless.

We have court side seats (ohh la la). Apparently there is going to be a basketball player there that is 7'9", WOWZA. I wonder if I can take my camera there?

That's all for now!

Guess Who's Back??

2012-02-01T14:43:00.004-05:00

Nope, not Jack....ME!!!

So, the last post from me was somewhere around December 2010. 2010? Did 2011 not exist? I was up in the air on whether to update my audience (...crickets) on my entire 2011 or to simply start where I am today in my life. I have decided to not talk much about the events from last year, but a brief summary will do. January's events with my car or February's events with car rentals can totally be erased. March rolled around and the entire month was a lion, no lambs to speak of. April is a blur. May 2011 is when things just started to look up. Mason had the best baseball season, ever! There were times I only got through life by anticipating the next baseball game. June was filled with games, in July the divorce was final. In August we moved (just next door!), in September I lost my job. By October I was on a roll with motivation. Enrolling in an AP Chemistry class was just the start of it. In November my baby boy turned 11! He had some friends come over to play video games and to eat! December wrapped up a long year of change, I received an "A" in my Chemistry class, enrolled in classes and have a PLAN. Did you hear that? A PLAN!! I have never had a plan in my life before this. I would not have been able to get through any of it without the love and support of my family.

December 2011 marked another major event in Mason's life. He finally got to watch THE (and I mean THE) best 80's movie EVER made (it could possibly be THE BEST movie ever made, I'll let that up to you):

It brought a tear to my eye to watch my son enjoy this movie as much as I do (not really, but I wanted some added drama).

So, in between good days and bad days, crying, laughing and getting my life in order, 2012 was here in the blink of an eye.

So, here is the real reason that I decided to get back into blogging: English class. BUT, I actually did miss it. During English class today we were talking about journaling and blogs. We have to choose one or the other for a graded project. I journal all the time, I love to write. However, I am choosing to do the blog (an extra 10 points doesn't hurt either!). Even though I am a bit rusty here at this ole' blog, I decided to try to remove it from life support and see what happens. I hope I can bring it back to life, I know I love to bring a little bit of my life to my family many miles away. I think that they like it, too!

So, here I am. I'm back. Here's a picture of Mason on Christmas morning:

He needs to stop growing. Now. That's all for now, I hope you enjoyed! I feel like watching the Shining...

Hellooooo....

2010-12-05T17:46:00.004-05:00

I hear that echo! Please be patient with me, I AM CREATING!! I don't want my mini-creative streak to be disturbed until my Christmas cards are all done, hopefully that will be BEFORE Christmas. So, I promise I will get NYC, UnTurkey Day, Mason's Birthday and much, much more posted REALLY soon!!

Continue with your regularly scheduled program.....

[Happy Halloween]

2010-10-31T18:14:00.002-04:00

I just want to get a quick post up to show everyone Mason's costume! I swear he is such a good sport!! We pulled the costume together and he went trick or treating this afternoon. Without further ado, "Mabel The Old Lady":

Post #250!

2010-10-24T14:56:00.006-04:00

Wow, this post marks my 250th post since I started this blog in the later months of 2008. It's been a heck of a roller coaster ride since then. Good times, bad times, just life in general has filled pages upon pages of my [awesome] ramblings! So, on that note enjoy #250.....

I have crockpot fever. I went out an bought myself a reasonably priced, medium size crockpot at Walmart about two weeks ago. I didn't go totally cheap, like I did on my recent can opener purchase, but that story will come in time....So, back to the crockpot. In theory love the idea of loading a crockpot with goodies in the morning and coming home to a great smelling kitchen, after a long day at work and sitting down to a 'home cooked' meal. In theory that would be great, but let's throw in "Robyn The Impatient" into this mix: Crockpot bought at 5 o'clockish. I wanted to make a hot cooked oatmeal for the morning, so, if I start it at 10pm on low it will be ready for my 6am wake up. Great, right? That crock pot sat on my counter top and I swear I could hear it say, "Roooobyn, Roooobyn you want to cook and you want to coooook now, don't you Roooobyn?" [In a weird British accent]. So, I had to fight the urge to start the crockpot before 6pm. Then I started to rationalize my reasoning to start right now. "The longer it cooks, the better it will be" and "I could always get up at 2am and turn it off". So, my reasoning won out {like I knew they would}. The crockpot went on at 6pm, full of all kinds of canned fruit and oatmeal and it smelled so good. At 2am. When the smell woke me up. I came downstairs and turned it off and tasted my creation. Ehhh, it was overcooked. No, overcooked oatmeal does not taste good. So, I had to suck it up and throw it out. I was so mad at myself. I hate to waste food. Onto my next issue: Too much food. A crockpot's worth of food could feed an army, well a small army, but you get the idea. I always fill it too full and then get weeks worth of food that I would have to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snacks to eat before it goes bad. Solution: The freezer. The problem: My freezer. It's so small, it is cramped with leftovers and I have to fight with it to close every time I want an ice cube. Do they make freezers the size of mini-fridges? That would be a perfect size, but I have not seen them that small.

This brings me to a recipe that I made this week and The Tale Of The Cheap Can Opener.

Roasted Cauliflower Pumpkin Curry Soup:

This was pretty messy to make, a lot of steps, but worth the taste. I roasted cauliflower until tender. I had on hand an acorn squash, that I roasted also. Then I put all of that into the blender and pureed with veggie broth until smooth. In the pot on the stove I had sauteed an onion with a few cloves of garlic and a big can of pumpkin. I blended all the ingredients until mixed well and heated through. I added a can of fat free evaporated milk, but the true creaminess came from the cauliflower. It was really good, I served it with crusty bread. I was the only one eating this concoction, though. Mason is a good sport about my cooking, he did try it, but didn't like it. At least he tried ;0)

Back in the day I had one of those cool electric can openers. It was great, but it broke, so I replaced it with a nice labor intensive hand held model. It worked great. For years. So in my transition from house to townhouse, it started to act out, like a 9 year old with a bad temper, oh oh, I mean it just stopped working all together. So, while at Walmart I was looking at the selection of can openers. There was a $4.97 model. A $2.97 model. And a $.97 model. Which one do you think I went with? Yeah. I really don't need to reveal the answer because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be writing this if I had gone with the $4.97 model. The first two times I used it, I remember remarking how well this cheap can opener worked and it's FOOLS, FOOLS I TELL YOU that would spend anymore than a buck on a can opener. Fools. So this brings me right up to the point of where everything is coming together for my pumpkin soup. Everything is in the pot, except for the pumpkin and I break out the can opener.....It's stripped. Useless. I begged it for one more use, but it wouldn't budge. Stubborn can opener, I reply. How can you open a can without a can opener. I mean the name says it all. CAN. OPENER. A million thoughts ran through my head, like asking the neighbor to borrow theirs, but I didn't want to interrupt their disagreement of which is better: Pepperoni's pizza or KFC. So that idea quickly went out the door. Ok, I've got pliers. I washed them and proceeded to pry open the can. In the mean time, I was not only praying that I didn't lose a digit, I was praying that I didn't lose an entire limb. Pliers, not so good. Brainstorming in full force, I decided to use the can punch (I don't even know what it is called). You know the thing that you use to open cans of juice so it can pour out? I guess you could call it a success considering I didn't have to spend half my day at the ER and I got pumpkin soup! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME [for legal purposes I felt the need to post that warning]:

Ouch!

Well, Mason's football season is going to be over next week, they are undefeated and this win will make them the champs!! Let's Go Devils!!

The kids doing the "Pitchfork"!!

Please, everyone reading this this week. Please say a little prayer for Friday's custody hearing. I pray that the judge hears Mason and takes into account what he wants. I want THIS to go our way this time. Thank you everyone for the continued support. We appreciate it more than you know!

Crikey Mate, it's been 2 weeks??

2010-10-17T13:59:00.005-04:00

(Please feel free to use the Australian accent to read this blog the whole way through....)

It's not like I have anything going on where I have to have this much blog-neglect, right??

If you had Smell-o-PC, you would smell the delicious vanilla cupcakes that I am making for Mason when he gets home tonight! Yum. I always try to make something special for when he arrives home, I would like to make him a special dinner, but since he doesn't get home until 8pm, I am ASSUMING he has already eaten dinner, not that he wouldn't try to eat two dinners!! I am simultaneously making hot chocolate {pure talent, don't be jealous}, in my NEW TEA KETTLE!! I LOVE IT! I also made a SMOOTHIE in my NEW BLENDER! Here is how it all came about.....

I have an awesome family who is very generous and we had a great visit last weekend with Aunt Maggie, Uncle Joe, Jim and Jon! It was great!! I am so glad that they decided to make the trip! We spend some quality time and there was little down time! The Flood Memorial, Linner [Lunch/Dinner], swimming, Mason's football game, whew....we were busy!! I'm sure the gas mileage was waaaay better on the way back because they had unloaded all the goodies that said family had sent back for us!! I didn't realize how bad that frozen fruit in my freezer really wanted to be blended into a delicious, nutritious, nutrient-packed breakfast drink! But it did and it was goooood. Mason has never had massive amounts of [diet] hot chocolate like he has this past week! I always hated mixing the packet then microwaving, it never turned out, but it does now! I even made the mulled apple cider, so comforting at night when it is so chilly! This is not your average blender [or what I like to call "the-throw-away blender because it's so cheap, it breaks when you put ice in it!!], this is a Food Network grade blender and it has all the bells and whistles!! I plan to use it to make soups this winter.

So, the visit was way too short, but can't wait to get together again!

Mason and I went to pick pumpkins on Monday:

Then we brought them home to carve them, long story short, I should have gotten a picture 5 minutes after we were done because within 3 days they were rotten and liquefied-GROSS!! So, that didn't go over so well! It was a cute little farm set up for Halloween:

Mason wouldn't get any closer!!

Look at this cute little Radio Flyer:

Speaking of Halloween, I was using the photo editing online software and they have options to make Halloween style photos! I used Mason's "Self Portrait: Feet" to play around with and got this:

I took Baileigh out the other morning because someone-who-will-remain-nameless could not get out of bed to take her out, but I found these pretty leaves [I LOVE Fall]:

Thank you, everyone for all the wonderful household needs/wants and the support is amazing. I truly feel Blessed to have such great family and friends!!

I HATE THIS

2010-10-03T00:52:00.002-04:00

It is now 1am. I can't wait until Sunday, 8pm. 19 hours until Mason comes home. Home. Where he belongs. I HATE to drop him off in Altoona. I hate that he is FORCED to go there. I hate how his (and mine) life has turned upside down because of a selfish, low-life, worthless piece of garbage (and that's putting it nicely). I'm sick to my stomach for the custody hearing at the end of the month. I'm sick to my stomach that this is going to go on for 9 more years. I hate to feel like the entire last 11 years of my life have been a LIE. I hate to wish only evil thoughts, but honestly, he doesn't deserve to have anything but. I pray someday he will get what he deserves, that is, most days, the only thing that keeps me sane. That and LOLcats:

And this cool couch that I'd love to have:

So Much To Say....

2010-09-26T17:37:00.005-04:00

I hope my fingers don't fall off!! Let's get to it:

First things first: Food
I found this AMAZING cheese at Wegman's:

Apple Pie Cheese. Oh.My.Goodness. I bought apples to eat with it, but when I sliced the cheese to taste it, it didn't need any company. It tasted like Apple Pie Cheesecake! It was sooooo good! I can't wait to get some more! I'm glad I snagged a picture before it was gone!

Next Up: This weekend

What a weekend it was! So busy! On Saturday we went to the PotatoFest. We tried (and liked A LOT), sweet potato ice cream. Yum! It was so buttery and creamy, I can't wait to try it in my ice cream maker. Here was my view:

Then Mason had a game! It was a real nail-biter! They did win 12-8, but in the last few minutes of the game all of the parents were really sweating it out!! Now we are just one step closer to the coach putting on a dress!!

Sunday:

We got up early to go to get pictures, I have been wanting to get up-to-date photos of Mason for awhile, now. So, I thought an old railroad theme would be nice. He was very cooperative, and the photoshoot ended up being one of the funniest days in a long time! Mason is such a goofball, so it was nice to see him actually enjoying himself! So without further ado, here are the best (out of 100 photos) shots:

I really liked how they turned out, I guess it helps that the subject is as adorable as can be (not biased, or anything!)

Then....
We went on a hike. I have to admit, I came up with the idea to go hiking, but deep down I had a fear of meeting someone (or something) in the woods that was not friendly. We got to the hiking destination and I put on the backpack that I had packed full of water, lunch, snacks and (a knife for protection). We started up the hill and within 4 minutes, Mason stops and [huffing and puffing] says he needs a snack and water to refuel himself--WHAT?? We could still see the car from where we were at!! So, I deny the snack, but of course, let him get the water. Making our way up, there was a half-way bench. Mason and all his drama, sits down and once again says he needs a snack. This kid could eat 24/7 if I let him! So, we decided to take the trail to the bottom, I'm going to be honest, at first I wished we hadn't! Parts of it were SO steep that Mason was crawling backwards!! Ha, it was so funny!! We found a bridge and we had lunch and we made it to the top:

It was so worth it! And you are never too far from a Sheetz:

I gave Mason a tin to collect 'goodies' in the woods and he found this:

Isn't that cool looking?? It looks like a baby Flamingo hatching!! Pretty cool!

And finally, I have been wanting to get a picture of this street sign for awhile now, but apparently someone else wanted the actual street sign because it was down for a long time, and then a new one popped up. So, I thought I'd get a picture before someone else "takes" it:

Ahhh, some free time!

2010-09-20T21:12:00.003-04:00

What very little I have has been replaced with Ice Road Truckers and texting! I love, love, love my new phone and the ability to text is AMAZING! I never saw the big deal in it, until I actually got it. So, by switching cell phone plans, I'm saving money and getting extra, can't beat that! I am determined to stick to a budget next month, I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan, so I decided to write up a budget for October. I can't wait for the bills to pour in!! Sounds strange, doesn't it?? Everything is working on paper, so lets see how it goes in real life. I think my biggest problem is going to be the grocery store, I am a foodie, and therefore like to try new things, most of which are not on the cheap side. But I am determined to work this through, get my life on a plan and live debt-free! I know it will take a few months to actually get the budget working perfectly, but this is a start. I have never been good at managing money, so I have the time and patience now, so I plan to stick with it. Plus, I forgot how fun coupon clipping can be, the thrill of the bargain is always worth the time of searching for deals. So, that's all I've got for this post, how exciting was this??

[lAzY sATuRdAy]

2010-09-11T14:15:00.003-04:00

As I lay on the couch watching nature shows, I thought I'd get these pictures out from the football bonfire that was held for all the football teams on Thursday night:

Me and Mason:

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It was a beautiful night, cool and clear and the fire was HOT!! Mason has his first football game on Sunday--Can.Not.Wait!! I'll share pictures later!

Comfort In A Bowl

2010-09-06T18:34:00.003-04:00

I stopped into Weis Market on Saturday to pick up a few limes and they have a free magazine with all kinds of goodies (and coupons) inside. I came home and read it and it had a recipe for Potato Soup. Nothing new, but it sounded sooooo good for these chilly days we have been having! I, of course, could not follow the recipe to a T because it called for chicken broth and bacon. Problem solved: Veggie Broth and Facon to the rescue! I had no idea how simple it really was to make this. I did add one more twist, instead of getting potatoes and baking them, I had a half a bag of hashbrowns in the freezer--Genius! It worked fantastic, tasted amazing and now have enough leftover for another bowl for tomorrow night. I paired it with a warm, crusty roll, yummy! Adding a can of corn would really add pizazz, also!

I've got a sick kid on my hands. It never fails, as soon as all the kids go back to school EVERYONE gets sick! He has weigh-ins tomorrow for football and I am sweating it. I don't think he's going to make the cut off weight limit. I've been feeding him low-fat chicken noodle soup all day and pumping him full of water, for two reasons.

1. I know both of those will help with his cold.
2. I know both of those will shed water weight!

Keeping my fingers crossed, I don't want him to sit the bench for the whole season. Well, I have to pack lunches, it has been nice enjoying a 3 day weekend, but back to the regular routine.....

Note To Self:

2010-09-01T13:33:00.005-04:00

DO NOT BUY A CHEAP BLENDER. Shall I explain? Mason was not going to be with me this particular Saturday evening, so I decided I wanted to make some frozen margaritas. So, I pick up a blender at Walmart and since I had other things to buy, I thought I'd go cheap on the blender to balance the final bill. Well, well, well. I won't make that mistake again! Picture this: Quiet, a horror movie all ready to be watched, triscuits with olive dip in a bowl, the couch is piled high with blankets to snuggle in, did I mention "Quiet"? Then I poured the margarita mix into the blender and followed all the steps that ensured I would be enjoying this adult beverage within minutes, got the salt rimmed glass all ready to go, I place the ice into the blender......

DEAD. Motor burned. No margarita.

Oh well, so the lesson is to never buy a cheap blender. I guess I will be going smoothie-free also for a little longer. On the same note, I had to say my final goodbyes to a very dear friend. One that goes by the name of C.I. Skillet. I wept a tear and tried to save her life, but it was too late. Let me back up a little. While my life was plummeting into the depths of hell at full speed (a little dramatic, eh?) I had made my famous mushroom bake one last time. I baked it with love, like usual, and when dinner was over, I placed it in the sink to soak for only 20 minutes before I was going to hand wash it. 20 minutes, 5 days what's the difference? I did not forget about her, I just couldn't bring myself to look at the remains of what was a meal that was requested often by a person who remains nameless. He had left and all I had was dirty dishes. I tried to scrub, soak and beg that wonderful baking friend, but at last, I had to part ways. So, until we meet again, Ms. Skillet, it was great knowing ya.

I went to Panera last weekend with Lee Ann and we had a fabulous time! Talking, food, drinks, it was just great to get out of the house and relax. While I was there, I tried the veggie sandwich for the first time ever! SO good. So good, in fact I decided to re-create it at home:

Hummus spread, sliced cucumbers, roasted red peppers, thinly sliced red onion all stacked up on tomato basil bread. Need I say more??

Football is in full force:

I don't think Mason is into it like he has been in past years, but that is to be expected, I guess because he has a lot of memories attached to football season.

Some random pictures that I took:

A beautiful flower:

Mushrooms growing along a tree:

Mason enjoying a slushie:

That's All, Folk's!

Let Them Eat Cake....

2010-08-30T13:05:00.003-04:00

So, I really wanted to get a blog posted last night after the "Enforced Bed Time" kicked in, but I was enjoying the "me" time all too much to pry myself off the couch and stop watching 'Hoarders'. So, hopefully this week in between school lunch packing, homework-checking, football practice running, tear-wiping, dinner time eating and "make sure you scrub behind your ears" time I will be able to post some nice pictures for you all to enjoy! So in the mean time, enjoy these "I'm-oh-so-jealous I can't make these cakes" cakes:

Ahhh-mazing!!

Waiting.....

2010-08-25T16:43:00.003-04:00

I'm waiting to take Mason to football practice and thought I'd write a quick post. We are supposed to be taking a friend of Mason's to practice, but I have not heard if he still needs a ride, so I wait and wait. I would have left minutes ago, just to sit and wait at the field, so the majority of my life revolves around waiting, how ironic because I am a very inpatient person, I really hate to wait! So, I digress....

This is somewhat of a strange story, but it just goes to show inspiration can come at any time, in any form and any place as you will soon find out. I took Mason to Dick's Sporting Goods today to return a football thingamajig and he found some sneakers there for school. We wondered around because we had some time and I had to use the restroom. So I proceeded to enter the restroom and on my way to the last stall (the handicap stall) I looked in to see if the stall was acceptable to my high public restroom cleanliness standards and sure enough it was, at 2:30 the toilet bowl was still blue from the cleaner! Score! So I turn around to lock the door and the door lock is broken, there was no way the door was going to lock, so I walk over to the next available (the only other stall) and close and lock the door. Things get a little "weird" I guess. I just happened to have my camera in my purse, I do NOT make it a habit to take my camera in restrooms, but thank goodness I had it with me (and thank goodness no one else wondered into the bathroom at the same time!). Along the very clean walls I saw this bathroom graffiti:

I would love to know what inspired the person who wrote this to write this. What was going on in their life? It spoke volumes to me. I'm glad I saw it. Strange, yes. Powerful, absolutely! So, never dismiss any form of inspiration. And now all of you can say that you know a weirdo that takes pictures in the bathroom!

Farmers Market, Boat Riding & Cable, Oh My!

2010-08-15T11:53:00.007-04:00

Saturday I woke up and went over to the farmer's market set up outside and got some really great veggies.

The grape tomatoes were phenomenal, I really like grape tomatoes in recipes, but not usually just to pop in my mouth to eat, but these were so delicious, I just kept snacking on them! Yum.

Then we picked up some more green beans because I got them last week and cooked them up and, once again, they were excellent.

Then things got a little interesting, food-wise, anyway. I spotted dark purple (green) beans? I couldn't believe the deep, beautiful color. I didn't want to appear to be a novice in the veggie department, because after all, I AM a vegetarian! So, I quietly ask the person working, "Are they purple beans"? He very politely assured me that they were and I said I would take a basket. When I turned around a lady that had an equally puzzled look on her face asked me if I liked those beans. I sheepishly looked at her and said, "I don't think I've ever even seen those kind of beans before". Then she said, "Me neither". So she bought a basket, too! How cool is that, finding new things to try (and for very cheap). I imagine the deep purple color has more nutrients in them than regular green beans?

And, finally at the market right next to all the baked goods that a little old lady probably spent hours baking were flavored honey sticks:

Some of the flavors included: strawberry, pina colada, apple, chocolate, root beer (yuck!), and blueberry, etc. We picked out 8 different flavors, can't wait to try 'em!

Friends of ours invited us out on the boat for the day yesterday at Glendale, what a blast! We had a great time, the weather was perfect, the wind was cool and the company was great! The kids swam in the lake, Mason was afraid at first to jump off the boat, but once he did, there was no going back, he did it over and over again! He even got to drive the boat! Then we stopped and had a picnic on shore and then rode around the lake for the rest of the afternoon. I couldn't have spend a better Saturday, Mason really needed to have fun like that and get his mind off of things for awhile. So, thank you, guys for showing us a good, family fun time. Sure beats taking Mason to a bar, huh??

I am WAITING and WAITING for the cable guy, I have to do something at 4pm and the appointment is scheduled for 12-4pm, so with my luck, he'll show up at 4pm! I really can't wait to finally watch TV!!

I'm Baaaaaaack!!

2010-08-12T20:25:00.005-04:00

Wow, I actually have a minute to sit down and type up a blog, well, actually ever since the Verizon tech was here to fix the internet a few hours ago, I'm finding it hard to pry myself away from the wonderful world wide web! Mason and I were headed out on our regularly scheduled walk, to walk Baileigh when we had quite a disagreement about something, which escalated into an argument and I believe he fell asleep within 3 minutes of being sent to his room! I really enjoy the nightly walks, it gives us a chance to have some time to talk, but he really does need to get sleep. The poor kid has not had a day this summer where he could sleep in until late afternoon. I love that kid with all my heart and the things that he is going through should never be laid on a kids plate. I hope we can get through this ok, I hope HE can get through this ok. I'm so conflicted, I know in my deepest of hearts that the best thing for Mason is to be on civil, speaking terms with "him", but I can't bring myself to even look at the idiot for all the pain and hurt he has put us through. I know it would ease the stress on Mason if we all got along, but I just can't do it. Am I the one being selfish there? Should I 'suck it up' for Mason's sake? I don't know, what I do know is that this is going to be going on for years and years, do I have that much fight in me? I sure hope so. I want this to all be over and I want to move forward, but it is so hard to do with all the pain that is still with both of us. Oh well, I take it day by day, sometimes hour by hour, but I will prevail, I just hope that I am doing everything (or at least 90%) right. My fear is that Mason will someday want to live with "him", I would so feel betrayed all over again, but I guess I am getting ahead of myself. This is why I fight so hard, so that I can see this everyday:

And, yes, I'm not going to lie, everyone reading this is thinking the same thing. "Did he eat them"? Yes.Yes, he did.

Now onto other, brighter things! We are finally moved! Oh my, I never took on a task like that in my life, and I survived it! The downstairs is pretty much done, Mason's room is done except for his loft bed, but my bedroom is a different story! It will get done, hopefully soon! THE CABLE GUY IS COMING ON SUNDAY!! I thought it was bad not having internet for 2 weeks, not watching TV has been worse! Although, I don't think that I would have gotten half of this stuff done if I were parking my rear on the couch! So, I will certainly enjoy catching up on my shows in a new place! I have to tell you, though, I am the world's worst packer! I will shove things in a box from all different rooms, half the boxes didn't close, in an effort to save money, I bought generic duct tape that stuck for 3 hours, so all the bottoms of the boxes bottomed out, I still to this day can not find my tweezers. This almost became serious. I mean unibrow serious. It was bad, I caught a glimpse in the mirror after a very long day of moving and thought Bert was staring right back at me.

So, I frantically searched for those tweezers (I have 2 pairs, one as a back up, do you think I could even find them?) with no luck. So, I got in the car and ran to Walmart (where else could one with a unibrow feel so comfortable?) and picked up a pair. So, no worries, I am UNI-free!

Every Friday in August at the pavillion across the street there are free concerts and Mason was thrilled to see the firemen set up a popcorn booth! He ran across the street to go get some and he got a firefighter hat!

Well, that's all for now. I will be posting soon, as I have a lot more to say!

2010-07-22T17:53:00.004-04:00

I just had to make a few new ice cream recipes before I packed the machine away for the move. Last week I made Vanilla-Almond ice cream, I used almond milk and vanilla soy milk and then put chopped almonds into it. Very simple and very good. Then this week I made pumpkin ice cream! Very good. I made it with light cream and skim milk. The texture is not as creamy, which is to be expected using fat-free milk, but the taste is just right. I microwaved some honey to get it 'more liquefied' and it blended in very well. Next up: Lavender ice cream. Doesn't that sound great??

Mason has been working his tail off helping me get all of our junk out of the house, mostly without complaints, so the other day he was just exhausted! The air conditioner is right by the couch, so it gets pretty chilly! Mason took a break to watch some TV and decided to put on this fuzzy winter hat and then fell asleep! How funny:

I have to drop off the lease and security deposit tomorrow at the new place and I am keeping my fingers crossed that she gives me the keys, too. It would be such a help to have all next week to move stuff in. I can't wait to get all settled in and put out some of my favorite flea market finds! So exciting!

[Wish List]

2010-07-19T20:23:00.002-04:00

There are registries for everything now-a-days, birthday registry, wedding registry, showers, even kids birthdays. Why isn't there a Your-Worthless-Husband-Walked-Out-On-You-Leaving-You-Holding-The-Bag-For-Everything-And-Being-Forced-To-Make-Decisions-You-Never-Thought-You'd-Have-To-Make Registry? I think that would be perfect, especially in this world where the divorce rate is climbing into the 60% figures. Well, I'm guessing Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond could really increase sales with this idea. As I am moving all this stuff, I am realizing that I have not gotten new towels since my wedding. I have been pitching stuff that I have had around since then. My wish list would look a little something like this:

*new blender
*new crock pot
*set of glasses (that actually match!)
*12X12 area rug
*a new couch
*twin size bed (I'm downsizing my bed to make more room in my bedroom)
*toaster oven

I'm sure my wish list will grow as I move into the new place, but for right now as I see things that need replaced or are just too old for safety sake, I am putting them on the list and hope to be able to purchase them by the end of the year, so that 2011 will be MY year. I will be all settled and have everything just the way Mason and I want it. I sure as heck hope 2011 is a good year. I'll tell you 2010 will go down in history as a pretty awful year, I'd like to erase 2010 if I could but no such luck. I guess I can learn a lot from 2010, I learned that I can be shaken but not shattered. So, here's to moving and all the joy that goes with it....

Sun Burn And Lots Of Cash!

2010-07-18T16:38:00.004-04:00

Well, most of you who will read this know WE ARE MOVING!! We are very thrilled to be making this move, however, I am not totally thrilled with my 'pack rat' ways. Let me back up a few days. I planned to have a ginormous yard sale, but work interfered with that plan, so the only free day I have for the next 3 weeks is Sunday-Flea Market Day. So, I decide to make a trip to the flea market to sell, but not before sorting through, literally 12 years of stuff that I have moved from one place to another--I had the room to store it, where I am moving I don't (this could be a good thing, though). So, Mason and I start sorting: Keep, Toss, Goodwill, Sell. The sell pile kept growing. Thursday we went up to the attic where I could actually feel the sweat pouring out of me, it was soooo hot. I did end up losing 3 pounds because it it, so no complaints!! Then, Saturday night rolls around and Mason and I had to lug a TON of 'sell' stuff from the basement to the van that my Dad let me borrow. In.90.degree.heat. For.three.hours. Well, to make this as short as possible I almost had to call 911 because I started blacking out and I was suffering from extreme heat exhaustion. Oh My Gosh, I NEVER want to go through that again. Thank goodness a few glasses of ice cold water and a half hour break cured it. It was awful. But we survived and kept on packing! It turns out that the huge van wouldn't even hold half of the items that I had to sell! This seems so impossible and a few times I felt like giving up. Really. But I know, in the end, it will be all worth it because I won't have all this clutter and I know that clutter=stress. Ok, so we got the van packed up and we were ready to roll out of the house at 5:15 am to head down to the flea market. It rained last night, so I went to use the windshield wipers and they don't work. WHAT?? Everything is on schedule, I don't need this! I knew it wasn't going to rain, so I pulled out some paper towels and dried the windshield. Ready to go. Except the defrost decided not to work, as I was driving out of town the windshield fogged up so bad I couldn't see a thing! Not to mention it was still dark outside. I managed to pull over and call my Dad, long story short, we got it taken care of and we didn't lose that much time! Thankfully my Mom and Dad helped me set up and sell all day long. I really don't think that I could have done it myself. I wanted to get pictures of the fun adventure we were having but we were TOO BUSY SELLING! My stuff was a hit, thankfully! $238 later, we are one step closer to decluttering! I was so happy to have made that much money, I needed it!! I surely paid the price with sunburn, though. I did have sunscreen on, but it apparently wasn't that effective, so now I need to get some aloe! The phrase 'Cash For Gold' is everywhere, so I decided to take advantage of that, too. Last week I took my wedding ring, engagement ring, an emerald ring that he bought for me and some old, broken gold charms to see how much I could get for them. $177 dollars later...I'm just glad that I was able to sell this stuff and thankful that I was able to make that much from it.

Goodbye:

Since I still have a boat-load of stuff to sell, I am thinking homecoming weekend I will set up shop in my driveway (if I can get the day off!) Maybe another $150 would make me happy?? We'll see....

Heat Wave Relief

2010-07-10T22:28:00.005-04:00

Wow, we had about 4 days in a row of 90+ degree temps and I am so glad that is over! Let's hope that doesn't come back this summer! We have been spending the days at the pool as much as possible.

We went to the grocery store a few days ago and found this:

A Santa Claus melon?? Never heard of it before, but thought we should try it. It tasted just like a honeydew melon. It was good, but not nearly as good as the cantaloupe that I also bought that day. So ripe, so delicious!

Here are some funny pictures that I have found across the web this week:

That "T.HANKS" one made me laugh so hard! Very clever!

Now [drum roll, please]:

A ridiculous amount of pictures of the goofiest kid I know:

Mason's personality has changed so much since our life has changed so drastically, but he still has this goofy side that even on my worst days, the days when I don't even want to go on, when I just feel like throwing in the towel, he can make me smile and remember why I am fighting so hard to protect him. He's so funny and I hope that this family situation has not crushed his spirit and his confidence. We've been spending countless hours playing cards, taking walks, talking, swinging on the swing, eating ice cream, watching cartoons and just getting through this together. I love him so much and it still [and will forever] hurts me so bad to see him hurting. Time will heal this, I just wish I could fast-forward the time it takes, but then again I would miss out on a whole lot of good times, also.

Aren't the clouds just beautiful?

Stay Tuned....

2010-07-04T12:57:00.006-04:00

[Deep English Accent] Stay tuned for the latest saga of, "Robynnnnn, and THE Fruit Market...."

"On Thursday, Robyn made her way to the fruit market for a third time this season. The wind had a cool breeze, but Robyn knew the temperature was going to break 90 today (this really has no relevance to the story, just setting the mood (!)). The time was 9:35 am. Fruit Market opens at 10:00am, not a second sooner. Robyn pulls into the parking lot, casually grabs the parking spot right in front of the door as she plots out her route to the [da..da..daaa] 'Reject Table'. God knows she had enough time! 9:45am, cars start flooding the parking lot. 9:50am, Robyn starts getting a little nervous, as she looks around she notices other people looking around, she can only guess it is to see who will make the first move, WHO will be in line first. Well, Robyn came there for one purpose, to be the first in line. For the thrill of the hunt, if you will. 9:59am, Robyn has been in line now for 4 minutes. An elderly woman gradually makes her way up to her with a smile. "I'm no fool" Robyn thought to herself. "I know what this woman wants to do", "She wants to strike up a nice conversation in hopes of my respect for elders deters me from running over anyone in my way to the reduced produce". Nope. Think again. 10:00am, the gate opens, Robyn, [this could be visualized in slow motion] holds her head up high, looks to her right to see people cheering her on, throwing bottles of water at her, chanting, "Go Robyn, you're almost there", "you can do it" [not really, this was just for drama purposes], she could feel the wind in her hair and as she approached the finish line, her reward was great. Sitting there were 4 baskets full of delicious veggies of all kinds. Eggplant, peppers (red and green) cucumbers, etc. "Amazing" she thought as she grabbed 2 baskets full. "Amazing and kind of ridiculous". What, I say WHAT is Robyn going to do with:

2 eggplants
10 hot peppers
2 mini rutabagas
7 cucumbers
1 huge zucchini
8 yellow squash
8 red peppers
1 sweet potato
1 bag carrots
21 (yes, 21!) green peppers
3 kiwis

Total: $5.00

I'll let her tell you.....

Well, one word comes to mind. It starts with an 'S' and ends with 'oup'. I mean what else is there?? Well, I did make a vegetable lasagna, I used the eggplants as the noodles and layered cottage and ricotta cheese in between sliced peppers and yellow squash. It made enough to feed an Italian neighborhood. So, I will be purchasing some quality freezer containers to save the rest. I love to cook and I thought it was difficult when there were three here to cook for because I always made SO much food, so now that there is just Mason and I, it's even more difficult. So, I hope this freezes well because if not, we might just turn into vegetable lasagna! I have a pot of soup on the stove right now and I am attempting to make my own veggie stock with all the leftover pieces of the cut vegetables. That would be nice to have veggie stock on hand and not waste anything! I still have quite a few green peppers left, I think I'll chop them up and freeze them for omelets, etc. I sliced up the cucumbers for us to snack on, however there were two causalities: 2 moldy cucumbers.

We went to our friends house for a '4th of July' Bash last night. How fun! I just couldn't imagine myself anywhere else right now. I have great friends and my family (not all) is close by and things are good.

The kids had a blast, great food, great company, sitting by the fire and talking. What else could you ask for?? Everyone left around midnight, we stayed until around 1:30am and Mason was asked to sleep over. Now, he has slept over there before and the last time he didn't go to bed until 6am! So, when they dropped him off today at around noon, I asked if he broke the record and stayed up later than that. He sure did!! He didn't even go to sleep!! He is still wide awake and plans to go to the pool later! What a life! I remember the summer days of staying up all night and sleeping in all day. I wish he could sleep in all day, but I have to work. I remember when I was a kid we had about 3 channels (how did I survive??) and one of them was Fox. At 2am in the summer they had "Insomniacs Theater"! It was a creepy movie that they played every night and I loved it! My nights of 2am movies have passed, but I still love the creepy movies!

Mason had his last baseball game of the season. The team officially named themselves the 'Davidson Ducks' [I have no idea why!], so I made them cupcakes for a great season:

I had these ducks from Mason's pool party one year (see, there is a reason I never throw anything away!). I thought to myself, this may be too goofy to give a bunch of baseball players, after all they are 9 and 10! Do they really want rubber ducks on their cupcakes? Would I embarrass Mason? Nope. They loved them (as I breathed a sigh of relief!) and they were gone in 6.7 seconds! I dread the day Mason doesn't want me to do this anymore.

Well, I guess to celebrate Independence Day, Jason decided to send me divorce papers. I got them yesterday along with the custody "request". I certainly hope I can see an attorney this week, early this week. This is going to be knock-down-drag-out. I didn't get justice with the child support hearing, so I am asking God to please be with me and let things go my way during this. I know because he is the father, he is going to have many rights, I just hope that my case can outweigh some of those rights. It's sickening to be going through this. All within 3 months, we were happy, he told me he didn't love me, he left, he files for divorce. I don't know, sometimes I still can't wrap my head around it, sometimes it all feels like a bad dream that I can't wake up from. That POS stood 6 inches away from me at Mason's game on Thursday night knowing that he filed for divorce and custody and that I didn't even know yet. I've wasted too much time on that loser, I need to get an amazing attorney and fight for what is most important: Mason.

Mason and I are currently looking for a new place to live. It's really hard with pets. I know I am going to have to find homes for some of them, but living my life without a pet (or two) seems unimaginable. All the reasonably priced apartments/townhouses do not allow pets at all. It is breaking my heart. I know I don't have to leave where I am at now, so I have time to look, but this place is so big for the two of us. The upkeep of a house is just too much for me right now. We want a fresh start. I am sick of looking at Jason's stuff here. I want to sell everything and move on. I didn't think this is what I wanted to do, but I am ready now and so is Mason. So, I found an apartment a little outside of town here, still the same school district, so my Mom, Mason and I went to go look at it. Oh.My.Gosh. The word squalor would be too kind. It was unbelievable and I can't imagine it was even legal to rent. So, we keep looking. It will happen when it happens. The thought of moving 11 years worth of 'stuff' is not too appealing, but it will be cleansing when it happens.

Happy 4th, everyone!

Dear Ice Cream Maker,

2010-06-27T13:12:00.003-04:00

I'd compliment you by saying you are the best thing since sliced bread, but since sliced bread was introduced into the mainstream in the 1920's I'd have to say you are the best thing since, well pretty much any other kitchen appliance I have ever spent money on. Keep up the good work!

It's not unusual for me to talk to household items or food for that matter. That's why I could not stop telling this new flavor of sorbet how much I adored it:

Pineapple-Coconut 'sorbet'. There are not enough m's in Mmmmmm. I'm up in the air about calling it 'sorbet' because traditional sorbet does not contain milk or cream. I believe that is what separates it from sherbet. But either way, I will call it either because it's going to be a regular in my house! I used 'lite' coconut milk, pineapple juice, crushed pineapple (it gave it a GREAT texture), sugar, vanilla and vanilla soy milk. Oh, soooo good!

So far I have made:

Lemon-Blackberry Sorbet (not making again)
Peanut Butter Cup (made twice)
Coffee-Toffee (very good!)
Coffee-Nutella Toffee (not bad)
Strawberry frozen yogurt (delish)
Chocolate Sorbet (Mmmm)
Pineapple-Coconut Sorbet

I think I've gotten my money's worth!

Next up: Pumpkin Ice Cream (thanks for the idea, Mom Mom!) I'd like to try it with vanilla soy milk, maybe not substitute all of the milk/cream with it, but a majority of it I will try. I hope this isn't defeating the original purpose of trying to eat healthy!

Mason and I went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday and it was great! Those movies are just the best and this one didn't disappoint!

Lost.

2010-06-26T19:24:00.003-04:00

No, not the insanely stupid show that somehow lasted 6 seasons, but lost in life. I'm not really 'lost', but sometimes I feel that way. Especially with all the current events of my life. You seem to think that your life is on one path and just as you get comfortable with how everything is moving along, you get thrown onto another path. This path is not as smooth as the pavement-covered one I was on. This new path is more of a hard gravel. You can't walk down it as fast. Is that a bad thing? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm 31 and still don't know 'what I want to be when I grow up'. I love my job now, it affords me a nice living as well as the flexibility needed when raising a child. But is it what I want to do forever? I don't know. I recently took a quiz online to see what jobs would best suit me, you know like the same quiz taken in 8th grade! Here are my results:

Career Aptitude Test Results

The career types most closely related to your selected attributes are:
(click on any of the careers to get more information)

Mathematicians
Political Scientists
Sociologists
Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
Marriage and Family Therapists
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists
Psychiatrists
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
Economists
Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary

Um.Ok.No. Math?? Some, of these career options I could see. I could see the therapist career or the creative writing, but #1 going to school to be a therapist takes FOREVER (I have little to no attention span for school) and #2 creative writing? If I could only get paid for blogging! I suppose my attitude has a lot to do with it. If I REALLY wanted it, I'd go for it, right? That is what I am lacking, motivation. I don't like to be out of my comfort zone (who does?), but I was thrown so far out of my comfort zone months ago and I am adapting. I don't know what appeals to me and I am afraid I will never find out. So, while I am pondering all the career options out there that I would be suitable for, here's a funny LOLcat:

And how cool is this table? I'd love to do a scaled down version:

Round Two

2010-06-23T20:58:00.003-04:00

So, just about 1/2 hour ago I had a nice long post about some new recipes, LOLcats and a funny story. But something happened and it's all gone. I'm bummed and I was just about ready to call it a night. But first I had to take my dogs out. Then I saw this:

My irritated state somehow drifted away when I saw this beautiful double rainbow. Unbelievable how amazing nature is. Not only is it so breathtaking, it made me smile and enjoy this very moment. No worries. Just a wonderful sight. Goodnight all!

The Fruit Market: Part Deux

2010-06-19T19:35:00.002-04:00

Well, what an adventure it is to go the fruit market. If you remember from my last visit, I was run down by an old lady wanting the reduced produce. Well, I went again on Thursday and once again headed right for the 'reject' table. Yet another older woman (could have been the same one for all I know) was grabbing the veggie basket. I was bummed, but then just as I grabbed a basket full of bananas, she puts an eggplant from her basket into mine! Then another, I was thrilled! Well, this is when things turned, let's say, a little odd. Her husband was there standing right next to her, he looked like the kind of guy that rolls cigarettes into the sleeves of his T-shirts, but anyway he was none too thrilled that she was giving away the eggplant. Just as she was ready to give me a third eggplant (and the smile on my face was getting bigger with each one!) he grabbed her arm and pulled it back. With a voice the devil would be afraid of, he says, "Put that G-D eggplant back in our basket". WHOA. I was taken aback, was that necessary over an eggplant? So I said, "Geez. It's an eggplant" and was about to get on my way to the full priced produce and the woman looked at me and under her breath said, "I don't know why he wants it, he doesn't even like eggplant". So, clearly all he wanted was to get his money's worth. He didn't care if it was going to rot, he didn't want anyone else to benefit from getting an extra eggplant. Wow. I'd hate to see what he's like at home, but I'm pretty sure I have an idea. So, anyway I got two eggplants and then didn't know what to do with them. I brainstormed and came up with "Eggplant Parmesan Pizza". Rachel Ray always makes dishes that are two different meals and she turns them into one meal. So I decided to give it a try, with a less annoying voice. Now, this recipe was no 30 minute meal! I made the dough. I thinly sliced the eggplant and covered it with spices (basil, oregano, etc.) and then baked it for about 15 minutes until it got really tender. Took it out of the oven and sprinkled parm cheese on it. In the mean time I made my own sauce out of crushed tomatoes (thanks, Cherie!) and added spices. When it was time to assemble the pizza, I had a hard time getting the dough to be a round shape! So, I just went with whatever shape it wanted to be! Then I added the sauce, baked eggplant, mozzarella cheese, parm cheese and then topped it with Panko breadcrumbs (I will never use any other kind of breadcrumbs, ever! I love them!) for the 'crunchy' part without frying the eggplant. Yummy. Yum. Yum!!

It was delicious! I had no idea how far one eggplant would stretch, but two of them sliced up went a looooong way! So I had extra baked eggplant and Mason and I were just dipping it into the homemade sauce! It was so good!

Well, I can't wait to see what the next trip to the fruit market holds...

[Wise Words Wednesday]

2010-06-16T15:45:00.000-04:00

“I’m a great believer in luck, and the harder I
work the more I have of it.” -- Thomas Jefferson

The Sun Is The Devil

2010-06-13T13:50:00.003-04:00

I'm not shy about saying how I feel about the sun, I just don't like it. Maybe I was a vampire in another life, after all I am blood-sucking. So, now because I spent ALL weekend outside, I have sun burn all over my arms, neck and chest. OUCH. Not only does it hurt, it itches SO bad! I even applied the sunscreen multiple times throughout the day. We have a cook out to go to tonight and I hope the sun does a disappearing act! I can't wait to go get a cool shower to cool this down.

We went to a yard sale on Saturday and Mason found this:

It was brand new and one of those really high quality telescopes, for $10! Great find, Mason! So we put it together and went outside last night to look at the stars and couldn't see any! I never realized that looking through a telescope was something you had to learn! There are so many different lens, scopes and knobs that it's pretty confusing! I want to learn how to do it because I think looking at the planets and stars is going to be pretty cool!

Mason is watching Home Alone 2 right now! It makes me want to watch the first one, that movie never gets old to me! I like to watch it around the holidays. And while he is watching it, he's drinking pickle juice. Yes, you read that right.

Well, recipe #4 is ready to try in the ice cream maker! I have the batter chilling in the fridge and when I get home tonight I'm going to make it. I really should slow down because the freezer is well stocked with frozen goodies! This latest recipe is chocolate sorbet. Mmmmm. It is surprisingly easy! A simple syrup made of sugar, water and salt. I substituted half of the sugar with splenda and since it doesn't need to be baked or even cooked at a high temp, it will not lose it sweetness. Then sifted coco powder is whisked in. That's it. Then after it chills in the fridge for a few hours, in the machine it goes. Oh, I hope it's good!

I'm off to get ready for the cook out, there will be 'couples' there, I kind of feel out of place now because I am no longer a 'couple', but I will adapt. I miss doing the couple things because we were for awhile and I really enjoyed it. But, I will be part of a couple again someday and I look forward to that. I am looking forward to a lot of things in my future, 'couple' cook outs are just one of them!! I made angel food cake cupcakes to take with me. Should be fun!

Great Day For Some Ice Cream

2010-06-12T17:42:00.004-04:00

Since it's been so hot this summer, we have been eating a lot of ice cream, popsicles and sorbet. So, that adds up, not only the money but the calories and preservatives. So, we went and bought an inexpensive ice cream maker! I did a lot of research on affordable, quality machines because my fear is using it once and then it becoming just one of 'those' kitchen gadgets that never get used. I figure it will pay for itself after about 10 uses. I want to be able to control the ingredients that go in as well as make creations all my own. The first recipe was a lemon-blackberry sorbet. I had all of those lemons from my fruit stand purchase, so I squeezed the juice out of them and then added some frozen blackberries to the mix. It turned out ok. I think it's too tart, I tried to limit the sugar as much as possible, but I think it could have used more. So, today Mason wanted peanut butter cup ice cream. The recipe calls for whole milk and heavy cream. I substituted 2% milk and light cream, the end result was VERY rich. I could only imagine what the full-fat dairy products would have been like! I think I'm going to play with that, because even though the light cream is 'light', there are still a ton of calories in it. I also want to make sure it freezes well, though. In the machine right now is a coffee-toffee ice cream, I made it myself, I figured once I figured out the 'basic' recipe I'd start creating my own, and this is the first non-recipe experiment! I hope it turns out! Yum. I want to try a fruit ice cream next, with berries. You can also make slushies in it, so that makes Mason happy!

Here is the handsome [no so little] guy! I swear, he changes everyday, he looks older everyday, he needs to slow down!

Summer means NO SHOES! Or at least flip flops everyday!

I can not wait to see this movie:

I love Toy Story 1 & 2, so I'm sure this one won't disappoint! I'll wait for a super hot day to take Mason so we can enjoy the cool air conditioning of the movie theater.

Ahhhh, This Is The Life...

2010-06-11T15:24:00.008-04:00

85 degrees today and we were all geared up for the pool today! Mason's swimming shorts, to my surprise, still fit. So off we went, we were the second ones there, but it sure filled up fast! So, the pool was a little green, but they assured us it was only because of the rain water (??) and the umbrellas were not up, so my very fair skin got doused with 50 SPF, and I still think the sun got through it. As I walked by the lifeguard I heard her say, "59". So, I turned around and she was reading the temp of the water!! 59 DEGREES!!! Wow. Brrrr. So Mason, (eventually) made his way in, but very slowly!! I plan to go swimming this summer, in fact I can't wait to get into the pool, but not at 59 degrees! I put my legs in and got a whole new appreciation for the Polar Bear Club!

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That was cold. I don't know how Mason stayed in that water for hours!
Mason 'dishing' with the girls: (HaHa!) I'm thinking he only went over there for the food??

Sweet face:

Don't let all these 'fun' pictures fool you. Behind that smile on Mason's face is a lot of pain. Pain he has trouble dealing with. Pain that will be with him forever. His mood can go from extreme happiness to extreme hatred, sadness and fear in a matter of seconds. It comes out when it's only us or on a rare occasion he will tell someone he trusts how he really feels. But it's mostly me who tries to help him deal with all of it, all of the tears fall on my shoulder and that's why I'm here. How could you hurt a child so bad, let alone your own. But this is mostly the face I see at home:

Grumpy. Sad. Mad. That's ok, though. I can handle it!

But I know someday he will, again, have more smiles and more happiness.

Here are some pictures that I took that I love the way they turned out. The outside, natural light gave these pictures a fantastic look:

Hamming it up.

Look how beautiful the clouds are.

He REALLY needs a haircut!

Here are some cool pictures that I took ;0):

A butterfly that was on the fence at Mason's game last night:

A bees nest under a picnic table at the pool (I didn't tell anyone about it because I was afraid someone would come over and destroy it, however, I doubt it's going to last all summer):

Well, I'm beat, a day in the sun will do that to you! Have a great weekend, everyone, I know I will!

Smile ;0)

2010-06-11T00:23:00.003-04:00

On my way home from work today, I saw something that made me smile. I'm not going to elaborate right now, but it made my day! Much like seeing this LOLcat picture did the other day:

Great weekend ahead ;0)

More Field Trip Pics

2010-06-08T22:54:00.005-04:00

I can't express how fun this day was! The weather was perfect and walking/talking with friends, seeing people that I hadn't seen in months, it was nice to catch up and socialize! I am so fortunate that I get to be here to enjoy this. I know some Mom's (especially single Mom's) just can't go to things like school field trips, so I just feel so blessed that I get to share this with Mason, even if I embarrass him with a camera stuck in his face all day long!! He likes to get his picture taken, though! Good thing!

Mason being goofy, during lunch he went and rode this baby ride by himself!!

Neither of us were ready for this picture!

Mason and his friend Carson:

Mason and his friend Chris:

Lunch:

So we are convinced that this 'game' has glued quarters in it. Some of them were 3/4 of the way off the ledge and did not fall, so we decided to take matters into our own hands by giving it a little "shake", (just a little)!

Then we saw this sign:

apparently we weren't the only ones who thought it was a good idea to shake it! What a great time, I can't wait to go back there this summer!

I wish I could sleep. I think I've gotten 7 hours of sleep in 3 days. It's making me grumpy, but I just can't sleep. I never watched so many infomercials in my life. Then there are nights were I watch late night TV, doze off, wake up, watch some more....I like to watch Forensic Files at night and sometimes I'll start an episode and wake up to the ending of a whole different episode and wonder how they are connected! Oh well. I'll catch up on sleep this weekend.

My Own Little Trickster

2010-06-08T17:46:00.003-04:00

Ever since my room has been super-cleaned (no clothes piles, junk, etc. sitting in piles on the floor), Mason has been dying to hang out in there to watch TV. So, as I was going to bed the other night, I saw this:

it was stretched across from my bed to my dresser. I was thinking, "What the...heck is this?" Then, I proceeded to ask that very question to Mason. "Mason, what the heck is this?" Without an ounce of hesitation he says, "a trip wire, did I get you?" HA.HA.HA!! I love his imagination! He is so funny! I don't know, perhaps he had visions of the house blowing up as I clumsily tripped over the 'wire'! Who knows, but boys imaginations are awesome!! He cracks me up and never fails to give me quite a few laughs each and every day!

This was my dinner tonight:

It may be my breakfast, also! It was so delicious. Two slices of Ezekiel bread (7 grain), topped with cottage cheese, honey and blueberries and a side of cantulope. Mmmmm. Even though it wasn't that hot today, I am going to try to use the oven a little less this summer. I hate to heat it up sometimes, and I was reading one of my favorite blogs, CheapHealthyGood and this post made me want to try 'less energy foods' this summer. I really love this blog, so check it out!

WHY, WHY, WHY, I ask myself, WHY do I want to see this movie so bad???

[Grown Ups]

I know it's going to be stupid. I know it's probably going to be a waste of time. I know it's going to have extreme crude humor. I mean, it's got Adam Sandler in it, how much worse can it get. But, do the previews ever make it look hilarious! I love Kevin James, but paired up with all those SNL guys? I don't know. For some reason I want to see this, but I'm sure I will regret it! I'm torn, though is it really worth the price for the movies or wait for DVD? Decisions. Decisions.

I Can't Believe He Did It!!

2010-06-07T21:00:00.004-04:00

Without much coaxing, just a pep talk about being brave, trying new things and not being afraid of the unknown, I got Mason to ride 'THE TOWER OF TERROR'. Ok, I know it's not called that, but when I rode it last year, I dubbed it that!!

First, he got on and buckled in and started to move up:

And Up:

And waaaaay up:

Then drop:

Look at his shorts! The strings are still in the air!

Then finally off the ride:

Wow! I have to tell you, I was very nervous when he went up there! I remember when I rode it the feeling of, "WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO" and then just wanting the ride to stop in mid air so that I could get off! Then, when it finally plunges to earth, you feel like you can't stop it and are going to go well into depths of the earth that no one ever should! But all of that feeling lasts 90 looooong seconds! But, I guess I was more worked up about it that Mason because he said that he'd go on it again when we go this summer! Yeah! I told him I'd ride it with him next time!!

I have many more pictures to share and stories about Mason's field trip, but today was one heck of a long day. I didn't sleep well last night and then we had the field trip all day and then had to rush home for Mason's baseball game! So, I am exhausted! I'll post some more later this week!

Teacher Gift

2010-06-06T19:58:00.004-04:00

I had an idea for a Teacher gift, but sometimes things don't always turn out like what is in your head, so I went to Plan B:

I just went out to the store, thinking there would be no problem finding a nice potted plant to place right inside this plant holder, but nooooo, that would be too easy! Of course, I wait until the last minute for everything, so now I don't have a flower to put inside, so the gift is just going to have to wait one more day! I hope I can find a nice flower at another store tomorrow! It's June, one would think since we had a frost about 2 weeks ago and you can't plant flowers here until Memorial Day that the flowers would be plentiful. Oh well.

Here is the card that I made:

Oh and an update on the awesome find of horror movies, I have watched 4 of them, well, I should say 3 1/2 of them! One of them was so horrible that I couldn't even stand it, and that's bad!! I was really hoping that day that Killer Klowns From Outer Space was still on the shelves. But no such luck! I want that movie SO bad!!

I will own that movie someday!

Do You Know The Muffin Man?

2010-06-06T14:13:00.003-04:00

Yes, he lives in my house. Mason the Muffin Man. Let's just say, to put it nicely and to keep things not so disgusting on my blog, that Mason needs a bit more fiber in his diet. So, I frequently get him the FiberOne Bars and recently we saw a box of FiberOne muffins in the freezer section of the grocery store. Banana Chocolate Chip to be exact. So, we buy them and at roughly $1 a muffin, I was expecting a WAY bigger muffin than what was in the box. So, he eats one for breakfast on Saturday, he said they were so good, he wanted another one. So, I let him. Little did I know that he had also eaten one of the FiberOne bars in between muffins. Oh. My. Gosh. Is all I have to say. Now, from experience I used to eat the bars because they were so delicious, but the consequence of eating one of these fiber-infused bars was so painful (like, hunched over in a ball painful) I no longer care to indulge. But back to the muffins, he ended up eating all 4 in 2 days, and at the price of the box, I'll give it a go at making these things myself, minus all the preservatives. I bought whole wheat flour, soy flour (which is loaded with protein, also) and I had on hand flax seed, chia seeds (omegas) and then loaded them with walnuts, mini chocolate chips, and bananas. I did use oil, but only 1/4 cup and replaced 1/4 cup with applesauce. YUMMY!! They got 2 thumbs up from Mason and I have to agree, they are delicious! It made about 28 muffins at a fraction of the cost of the FiberOne muffins and I feel better about eating these and giving them to Mason.

My Glorious Garden

2010-06-06T10:43:00.004-04:00

Now last year, I wanted a garden sooooo bad. So I begged my former spouse to dig one up for me in the backyard so that I could plant my growing-out-of-control seedlings. I had tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, squash, pumpkin, sunflowers, etc. all started and ready to provide a summer's full of fresh produce. Then he got the shovel, all ready to dig, and within about 10 minutes (I may be stretching the time by about 8 minutes) he gave up. It was too much to build a garden. So all my seedlings died (not that I was guaranteed successful crops anyway with my black thumb, but...). I was promised a garden this year, tilled with a borrowed tiller. I couldn't wait to get some plants in the ground and not have to pay grocery store prices all summer long. So, you ask, how is my garden, now?? Well, here it is:

...

...

...

Yep, a container of cabbage and a small pot of basil that I am nursing back to health. Oh, don't forget about the Topsy Turvy. That should provide enough tomatoes for the the summer anyway. Oh, promises, shomises, who needs them anyway? I suppose he promised me a lot and in the end, what do I have to show for it? Maybe a head of cabbage.

Best. Lunch. Ever:

Grilled peanut butter/marshmallow sandwich on Panera bread with sweet potato fries. 'Nuff said!

Looking forward to tomorrow, Mason has a field trip and I can't wait to go!! What an awesome baseball game they had on Friday night, he is really proving himself this year, he has done so well and I am so proud of him!

/Mornings Are No Fun/

2010-06-04T11:59:00.003-04:00

So, I'm very excited (and so is Mason) for summer to start. The final days are coming close, just days closer to being a 4th grader-WOW! My joy quickly turns to frustration when I think about the morning routine. Here is a sample of what I go through every morning:

6:15 am (after his alarm has been going off for 15 minutes)

Me: Mason, it's time to get up.
Mason: uhhh, k.

6:20 am
Me: MASON, you have to get up for school, get dressed.
Mason: k, I'm getting up.

At this point I have come down stairs, gotten the dogs out, getting my lunch together and started to get myself breakfast.

6:35 am
Me: Mason...Mason...MASON??
Mason: Zzzzz...

6:45 am
Me: Mason, if you're not down here in 10 minutes, you're going to start losing privileges.
Mason: OK, MOM. Geez, I'm getting up.

Fast forward to 7:15 am
Me: [Walking up the stairs] I hope you're up and dressed...
Mason: Zzzzz

Then the next day, then the next....

Well, I was thinking there was going to be some relief this summer because he could sleep in and get some well deserved rest, however, this summer is different. Last summer I only worked 2 or 3 days a week. So, Mason could sleep until 2pm if he wished! But not anymore, I have to work all week, up early each and every day, and because I can't afford to send him to any camps this year, that means going to work with me. Bummer for him, his whole summer got flipped upside down, all because someone in his life doesn't have the 'warm and fuzzies' any more. I'm hoping he can have a normal-as-possible summer, but it's not going to be as fun for him as past years. This means more mornings like the ones above and because he LOVES to stay up late when there is no school, it's probably going to mean more struggles in getting him out of bed. I may have to resort to dragging him out by his toes! On the plus side, I'll get to spend quality time with him, but I know a 9 year old would much rather be at home, playing outside in the summer with his friends than riding in the car with Mom.

But, once he is awake, he is as sweet as ever!!

I stopped at a local fruit market, I love this one because they have a TON of fresh veggies and fruit and amazing prices. I got there as soon as they opened and I was going straight for the 'reject' table. All the poor fruits and veggies that didn't make the grade, but still taste as good as their presentable cousins, but cost WAY less. Well, apparently, I wasn't the only one who wanted to shoot straight for the bargain baskets. This woman, an elderly woman darted past me so fast, you would have thought there was a fire. I had my eye on the prize, a big basket full of eggplant, peppers, onions, garlic, etc. for $2.50. Well, as soon as I rounded the corner, she cut me off!! She WANTED that basket and nothing was going to come between her and the cheap veggies!! So, I settled for the fruit basket, all these goodies for $2.50:

{except for the peppers, I bought them separately}

3 grapefruits, a dozen lemons (have no idea what I'm going to do with all of them), 2 mangoes (not a fan, but Mason likes them), 2 tangerines, a tomato, mini onions (I guess that's what they are), apples and a nectarine. So, it was a good and cheap way to get some more fresh produce in the house even if I was run over by an old lady!!

I was having a bad day the other day, you know the whole I've-turned-31-and-my-husband-left-me-I'm-not-getting-a-gift-from-him-or-Mason-not-getting-to-celebrate-as-a-family thing, you know, everyone goes through it, so as I was driving I saw this (once again, I think it was meant for me!):

So, it made me smile. And my little Trails makes me smile, too ;0)

Here's to a great weekend...

Kool Aid Man

2010-06-02T18:58:00.003-04:00

I found this while searching the web today! I thought it was hilarious! Someone was apparently tearing down a brick wall and then put up this cardboard sign!! I showed Mason this and he's been walking around for the past 15 minutes yelling, "OH YEAH"! Funny.

My Pumpkin Pie

2010-06-02T17:45:00.006-04:00

For as long as I can remember I have called Mason, 'Pumpkin Pie'. I don't know when it started or how it started, but every night before bed, after we have our nightly talk, I say, "Goodnight, Pumpkin Pie"! I imagine on his wedding day, I will call him that (quietly, though!). I am so blessed to have been blessed with this kid of mine! He is getting through this tough time, with a lot of help and support. I encouraged him to write his feelings down, like I have been doing in a notebook. I told him to write whatever comes to mind, it could be his feelings or his likes/dislikes, anything goes. I caught a glimpse of what he wrote yesterday:

{aahmmm..pay.no.attention.to.the.last.one..aahmmm}

He is so sweet. He is my world. And I am his world. I am the one who is his 'constant'. Constant, stable caretaker. I am the one who is here everyday to make sure he is doing his best. I am the one he knows will never leave him no matter what. He knows this and he finds comfort in it. His responsibilities have been stepped up a notch. Unfortunately, they had to be. It takes a lot to run a household. I'm not making him do dishes/laundry/scrubbing floors (ok, I don't even scrub floors!!), etc. But he has his fair share of chores. He has very strong feelings about what has happened to this family. This life-altering event has changed him forever, his views, his feelings towards certain people and his relationships, no doubt. He has told me things that I never even knew he felt before. He is much more relaxed and stress-free now that the toxicity has left. He feels that he can be more open about things and I like that. It makes me happy to see him grow into a young man, who only has the sky as his limit. He's going to be ok, he is working hard and so am I to ensure that he is going to be ok. He needs to reach out for help. After all, you can't go though life-changing events in childhood and not get help. The problems, if not faced, will only follow you, eventually making things worse. Luckily for Mason, he has a Mom (who is awesome!!) that will not rest until he is ok and that would never choose anything or anyone before him. I will not settle for anything less than the best for him. Not every kid gets a Mom like that in life, but he's my Pumpkin Pie and I love him to pieces!!

My Brain Is Going To Mush.

2010-06-01T18:25:00.004-04:00

Well, not exactly. But sometimes I feel like it is. I feel like sitting outside, late at night next to a bonfire:

sipping an ice cold Sam Adams with a lime wedge. I am craving adult conversation and interaction. Anything that does not contain words like, "really rare Koala Bear pencil topper", "iCarly", "animal bracelets", "the new Mario wii game", "accidentally flushing a plastic cup down the toilet", shall I go on?? I just want to sit around with good company and not have to think about a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. But, I don't see that coming anytime soon. I was helping Mason clean his room yesterday, and under his bed was a jelly bean (from Easter, I presume, I hope it was THIS Easter) and before the words, "Don't you dare eat that" went from my brain to my mouth, Mason popped it in his mouth. Do you see what I'm dealing with??!! Oh my.

Mason was supposed to have a game tonight and we drove the whole way out to the field (the game was away, about 35-40min away) and they called the game. Ahhh. So, I decided that cleaning needs to be done, but I'd rather give blood. It is so hot in my house because I can't get the air conditioner up from the basement because it is so heavy, so I have been suffering with all these hot, humid days. Gross. Maybe I shouldn't have complained at how cold it was this winter, I'd take that right about now!!

I suppose I should get off the computer and clean now, but Facebook is calling my name! It is so addicting, sometimes it drives me crazy. It wastes way too much of my time. I used to (well, it's still active) have a myspace account. I went on it the other day just to see what has changed. It was so bad, I spent about 5 minutes on it and got off of it! It is so, childish, I guess would be the word! I did check my photos that I had on my account and Mason looks so small! It was all family outings photos from when he was about 6 or 7, I can't believe how much he has grown! I'm off to go eat dinner and then get some cleaning done, or maybe crafting. Who knows!

Can you believe it is June already??

2010-05-31T14:51:00.003-04:00

RIP Dennis Hopper, he was a great actor and I have this uncontrollable urge to watch "Speed" right now, one of the best movies ever made!

{Happy Memorial Day}

2010-05-31T11:36:00.003-04:00

Just got back from the annual Memorial Day Parade! We could not have asked for better weather this weekend. With all the outside stuff we did this weekend, I was glad that it wasn't too humid! It's funny how a great, funny memory can instantly make you hurt, when your life is in a tailspin. As I was watching all the cars go through the parade, it reminded of a time, quite a few years ago that I was going into the post office in the town we used to live in, and suddenly we became part of the parade!! We had to get out of downtown, so we just kept driving and went along with it and waved to all the spectators, so funny! But it has a much different meaning to me now, unfortunately. Well, here's Mason walking in the parade (he's hiding behind the boy smiling!):

As I was cleaning and putting stuff away in an attempt to de-clutter, it seems that things that have been in a certain place for so long kind of 'become' that object. I was cleaning off the fridge and, even though I see this everyday, I took it down and shed a tear, Mason made this card for us when he was 5, 4 years ago:

Front:

Inside:

Back:

It breaks my heart, this is how he saw his family because we were that family. I loved it so much that I've kept it on my fridge for so many years. I will treasure this card forever. He's such a good kid who is going through so much right now, he should have his mind on summer, baseball, and swimming at the pool with his friends, not all this stuff in his life right now. I'll just tuck this card away in my 'memory' box and I'll take it out someday when he is older and we can talk about it. Isn't it strange how something so little can mean so much?

Happy Memorial Day. Remember those who served, are serving and those who gave all. God Bless each and every one of them.

2010-05-30T16:16:00.000-04:00

[Happy Birthday To Me].

Fun, Looooong Weekend!

2010-05-28T20:15:00.006-04:00

Tonight Mason was supposed to have a game, but we had a huge downpour and the game got cancelled, it was a make-up game due to rain, so now we'll have a make-up, make-up game! So instead, we went to the library and then got some ice cream and came home and watched a Scooby-Doo movie while eating pita chips and hummus! Sounds like a great night to me!! We have a ton of stuff planned this weekend, however I can't wait to relax! It's been awhile since I've had a 3 day weekend and it also happens to be my birthday this Sunday! Yes, another year older. This is the first birthday I will be spending 'alone' since my 19th birthday, 12 years ago. But I'm not really alone, though I will get to spend the day with Mason and his present to me is a morning at the flea market (and no grouchy attitude)!! I'm hoping that because it's a holiday weekend that the vendors will be out in full force. This flea market has gone very down-hill in past years, but I'm really hoping for the best, I have fond memories of this place, so I hope it doesn't let me down on my birthday!

Junk Day was a success! As I was going through the basement to find stuff to get rid of, I came across a CD cover from the CD "NOW". These CD's are filled with the latest 'pop' music. I had the original one, 'Now 1'. As I was walking through walmart the other day I saw, 'Now 33'! OH MY, do I feel old, lol!! The original was bought waaaaay back in 1999, so needless to say, as I flipped over the CD in the store, I hardly knew any of the 'artists' and didn't know any of the songs. Not real sure why I had the original anyway, pop music was never my thing.

Well, I succumbed to the pressure! Mason and I were coming back from his game last night and as we were turning towards our house, someone had put out a wicker, folding bookcase with 3 shelves! It was too good to pass up, we got a few laughs as we were trying to shove it in the car, but I really think Junk Day is just another word for 'free entertainment'! It's really nice, though, it is!!

So, the final episode of 24 aired on Monday. Mason had a game, so I DVR'd it and was just hoping that I could watch it before I heard what had happened. I didn't get to watch it until Wednesday night, but it was well worth the wait. I thought for sure they were going to kill Jack, I mean that would have been the perfect ending. All that he has been through and then he dies, but they didn't and the ending seemed to me to be open, as if it's not really over. It was a good ending, but I really think it could have been better. But in honor of Jack Bauer's last hours, some AWESOME t-shirts:

And my personal favorite:

I'm going to miss that show!

So, some genius decides to make .01 rubber bands into animal, food, and sports shapes, sell them for $2 a container, then market them to 3rd graders and retires as a billionaire:

(Mason took this pic because he was so thrilled to show these off!!)
I have never seen anything like this before! These things are like 'the coolest things ever', so I'm told. I went to the store that sells them to pick Mason up a pack, and there was a swarm of people digging through this enormous bucket filled with shaped rubber bands! As I made my way through the crowd to get a chance to pick through them, I hear a lady scream, "THERE THEY ARE", pointing to the bucket!! So funny! So, I got Mason a couple of packs and it made his day!

I was taking some pictures of a swampy area on my way to work and then played with editing using some color:

I love how they turned out!

Mason has a party to go to this weekend for one of his friends, so I made a card:

Now, first of all, there is a story behind the "Brojangles", that was really funny, so I thought that I would incorporate that into his card. Second of all, it's really hard to make a card for boys (or men, even). I guess I never feel I'm going to get it 'manly' enough! But this was a simple card with boy colors. Hope he likes it!!

Well, that's all for now, I'm just going to enjoy the rest of the night, maybe put in one of my horror movies and relax! Keeping my fingers crossed that the flea market rocks on Sunday!!

Today, I'm Sad.

2010-05-27T14:44:00.006-04:00

I have to give myself permission to have some bad days here and there. Through all the hurt, deceit, betrayal and pain, I still have an enormous sense of loss. I lost the one person I thought was my soul mate. The person that knew me so well. I lost the only person that I could share everything with, love, pain and the everyday boring things that no one else would care to hear about. I had a shoulder to cry on anytime I needed it. At the end of the day, although I feel so much hurt and confusion, I still miss all the good and bad. I miss laughing at things that were so stupid. I miss the sense of security, I let my guard down for so many years with a person that made me so happy, that now I don't know if I could ever let it get back down again. Every breath I took was for him and Mason. I thought I made him happy, I mean, he never told me otherwise, in fact he always told me how happy I made him, was it all a lie? I miss doing family stuff. I miss getting ready and all of us leaving to go to Mason's baseball/football game together. I miss being a part of 'couple' nights out. I miss talking. Every time I went shopping and saw something I thought he would like, I'd wish I could buy it for him, or I'd pick up a book that I thought he'd like to read. It's hard to break that habit when I shop. There are times I would give anything to go back and change things, little things that would mean so much. I would love to turn back time and open myself up a little bit more and not be so self-conscious. I would certainly change things about myself that I didn't like, but never had the motivation to change. I'm doing that now, maybe because I was forced into it. But no matter how bad things got, I always thought love conquered all, but I guess I was wrong. I still can't, for the life of me understand how it went from, 'I love you', planning vacations, etc. to 'I don't love you, it's over' in a matter of weeks. I suppose that is the hardest, no answers. I guess the simple answer is that I was not good enough for him. I guess I never met his 'standards' and when he got tired of pretending, he left. I hurt for Mason, he never deserved any of this. I just want to wrap my arms around him and make the pain go away, I feel the same pain. I would double my pain if it meant him not having any. No one ever said life was easy, but you just keep trucking through and someday all of this will be a faded memory. Sure, I've changed, he's changed, but I always thought we were growing together for something better. But for today, I mourn the loss of what could have been, what we could have changed, and what I thought we were to each other. I give myself permission to cry sometimes because it is the souls way of healing, one step at a time.

Funny!

2010-05-26T14:57:00.005-04:00

I've never been a fan of Winnie The Pooh (in fact I even had to look up how to spell Winnie) but I came across this on the LOLcat site and how funny!!

Oh my, did that make me laugh!

PostSecret & Shrek

2010-05-23T08:32:00.006-04:00

Here are two of my favorite Postsecret post cards this week:

This one really 'spoke' to me, it's so simple, but means so much. It's hard to live a lie, it eventually catches up to you. You simply either keep running from it or face it. There's a good lesson written in that. I liked the next one, too:

I interpret this secret to be a person who left a life to search for their 'dream' and it appears that they are faceless, nameless and still lost even though they thought the dream they were running towards turned out to be nothing and not fulfilling.

OMGosh, we went to see Shrek 4 the other day and it was sooooo funny!

Shrek gets bored and frustrated with all the pressures of everyday life and decides he wants out. So, he leaves. Then he makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin (which, BTW was hilarious!) and he gets this new life of fun, happiness and no responsibilities. But it's at the cost of his family. So he then realizes that the most important thing in life is family and he does everything he can to get them back. Then in the end he is finally back with his ogre-wife, Fiona and his little ogres! Puss n' Boots (Mason dubbed him Super Cat years ago, not sure why, but I still call him Super Cat!) was SO funny, he gained quite a bit of weight because he's now a pampered cat that get brushed twice a day! I highly recommend it, it's so hard to find a movie that we can both laugh so hard at, so it was well worth the movie ticket price! Oh, and don't get me started on 'Gingy' the gingerbread man!! Great movie!

On the menu today:

Ever since the "Great Pumpkin Loss" of 2009, I had such a hard time finding canned pumpkin. Never fear, I put the word out and within a month I got 4 large cans of pumpkin! Thanks to my aunts, this pumpkin traveled across state lines and right into my cabinets! So, now that I have an abundance of it, I thought why not some delicious, creamy homemade pumpkin pie for today, I can't wait to eat it!

{Beauty}

2010-05-22T18:23:00.005-04:00

Of course, is in the eye of the beholder. Obviously, there is beauty in nature, gorgeous colors, animals, trees, etc. But how do you find beauty in average, ordinary, everyday things? Things like mud, trash and graffiti, or even feet?

I love this simple (self) picture of Mason's feet! The way he holds the camera reminds me of how I see images through the lens. A simple glimpse of real life captured forever. I hope to get more involved in photography, it's always been a passion of mine and hopefully I can pass down knowledge of it to Mason someday.

Raindrops:

I have always said that graffiti is an art form, from the spray painted brick walls in the inner city, to the sides of trains, to the amazing art splattered in subways, I have always loved how it looks: (these are pulled photos from the internet, BTW)

Beauty is everywhere and it is not perfection. I am, by far, the most beautiful woman in the world, but I deserve to have someone who treats me like I am. Beauty is not always in the physical form, it's everywhere, so go find some beauty this weekend in the most mundane of places.

Painting

2010-05-21T14:44:00.003-04:00

Well, I think I'm finally going to breakdown and paint my bedroom. I dread the thought of it, but am really looking forward to having a 'me' space, just the way I want it. As I was thinking of all the work that goes into painting a room, I had memories of when I painted Mason's room. He left for school that morning and I got busy painting, it was kind of like a "While You Were Out" episode (only scaled WAY down!). I painted the walls blue with bubbles because it was a Spongebob room. Time was getting tight, his father put a bed together and we made it up with new sheets and a new comforter. It was so much fun and well worth the work that went into it. Mason finally got home and the excitement had to be killing him all day! When he finally saw it, the look on his face was priceless and it made every minute of frustration with painting worth it. So, maybe someone will do that for me!! How awesome would that be?? Wishful thinking! I'm not sure on the color scheme just yet, you know just deciding that I'm going to paint is enough for this week!

Hey, why not:

I saw this today while I was grocery shopping and I thought, why not try something new, it's been awhile since I picked up something strange from the grocery store. Mason and I will be trying this later tonight! We're just going to kick back and relax tonight and watch a movie, I'm making FLT's (Facon, Lettuce, Tomato) for dinner tonight with some sweet potato fries on the side. Should be delicious!

The Vacation That Wasn't Meant To Be, I Guess...

2010-05-19T19:19:00.000-04:00

Oh, what could have been this weekend. We had made vacation plans to leave Sunday morning to drive to Mason, Ohio and stay at The Great Wolf Lodge. They have a new vortex water slide that Mason could not wait to go on (me, too!!), we searched video after video on Youtube for videos of rides like it and it looked like SO much fun. There is also an amazing grocery store called Jungle Jims that looked SO cool. Mason was really bummed when I told him this vacation was no longer, but I promised him I would make it up to him (although, I don't know how I'm going to top how fun this vacation was going to be). Our vacation last year was so-so, I try to top it every year, had I known it was going to be our last family vacation, I might have planned it somewhere besides Baltimore. But, at least I have a great memory there of spending $40 on cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory!! Delicious.

Speaking of vacation, my cousin had a senior trip to Disney World and he posted pictures on Facebook. How fun it must have been! Disney has always been on the table for a family vacation, it just always seemed to be placed very far back due to the time/travel/cost issues. I would LOVE to take Mason there at some point. It is, I imagine, fun for all ages. I've never been there, so it will be an experience for me, too. Maybe 2012? You know, before the world ends, I'd like to make it to Disney! I definitely want to be able to stay there for a week, though. I don't want to be rushed. And, do we fly?? It might take me until 2012 to work up the courage, although I would prefer to drive, it just would frustrate me spending that much time in a car when you could be spending it at the park. I don't know, I've got lots of time to decide! It's something to look forward to, though.

I REALLY...

2010-05-17T15:42:00.003-04:00

REALLY, need to stop buying tea! I went to Wegman's today and got these:

YUM! I am brewing the chocolate one right now and it smells just like the chocolate/nutmeg dessert I have made in the past! But it's guilt free since that is made with heavy cream, egg yolks and tons of sugar! That's what makes it sooo delicious, though!!

Hmmmm...

2010-05-15T15:49:00.002-04:00

Does he take after his mother??

I went outside to check on Mason and found him spray painting his skateboard! Spray paint makes everything better (well, glitter does, too but I'm not thinking he wants glitter on that)!

[Relaxing]

2010-05-14T19:44:00.005-04:00

Oh, how I wish I was at the beach right now, maybe Ocean City or something, sipping an ice cold minty mojito. Wouldn't that be nice, no worries, no responsibilities, no cares in the world, just all fun, fun, fun. Not that it would be realistic for me to just "get up and go", because Mason has baseball this weekend. Maybe I'll take a mental get-a-way tonight since I can't really afford to go, but who can these days, right?

Ahhhhh....

I {Heart} Thunderstorms

2010-05-14T15:04:00.004-04:00

For some reason I have been so tired lately, so I took another nap this afternoon. I feel so refreshed! I woke up to the best thunderstorm! I cleaned my room and rearranged it last week and it's so comfortable to be in there, now. I have the dark out curtains up and it is so dark and cool. Ahhh, I love the simple things in life. Now hopefully, I can stay up late tonight and scrap! Thank goodness it broke up the humidity, it was awful today!

Back To Scrappin' (sort of)

2010-05-13T14:41:00.011-04:00

I stopped into my favorite scrapbook store yesterday, just to see what was new and to talk to Sandy, the world's best scrapbook store owner! Oh my, soooo much new Prima that my budget would not allow, but it was still so nice to look at, so after about an hour there and lots of conversation later, I got some new BoBunny paper and some letter stickers and some glitter cardstock, that is to die for!! I got it in red and it looks just like Dorothy's slippers from the Wizard of Oz!

I was looking through my scrapbooks last night and how painful. Everything I scrapped was either Mason, family vacations or funny things that Jason did. These books will be passed down to Mason, I thought he would get a lifetime of family memories, but I guess just a few short years.

All these years I thought we had the same dream. I thought we wanted the same things out of life, a family, hopefully more kids in the future, then raise them and have "us" time back. I guess I was wrong, apparently I was wrong about a lot of things. I now truly believe that he never loved me. Things are starting to "click", I see things now that maybe were warning signs. Like on a rare occasion when he would take a walk with me, he was so far ahead, it was like a race, why couldn't he slow down, hold my hand and talk? He never really wanted to walk with me. He took a day off work not too long before all of this and we planned to spend the day together, he was there with me physically, but so very far away emotionally, his mind was preoccupied with someone else. He didn't want to be there and I sensed it. But who would really have thought it was marriage-threatening? There are so many more examples. If he really ever loved me he wouldn't have been talking to other women online or on the phone. Period. He always told me that he would never cheat on anyone because he has been cheated on and he knows how it feels. Well, I guess we all have different definitions of 'cheating' but when you don't miss talking to your wife because you are talking to another woman at all hours of the day (and night), that's cheating. I just became 'something' in his way. Nice, this is the man that I had wanted to spend the rest of my life with. His "love" was never real. It couldn't be. If you truly loved someone you couldn't throw them away like a piece of garbage when things got tough. I loved him very much and even though there were times where I was mean and down right rude, I still would have done anything for him. I am sorry for those things, I really am, but I guess the thing I am most sorry for is wanting my husband upstairs with me at night instead of sitting at the computer for hours after I fell asleep. Was that too much to ask? Maybe I'm being selfish. He walks out on his family, up-roots our life and I am just supposed to roll over and take it? I don't think so. So, if he thought we had a good marriage and was looking towards a great future together and I walked out on him and Mason (which, BTW, I would never walk out on my kid), would he be "okay" with it? Like I'm supposed to be? Would he be so willing to do whatever I wanted? Why should I make anything easy on him? What has he made easy on Mason and I? I don't owe him anything, HE walked out on us. You know, I might not be as 'fun' as I was before, but fun has changed in my eyes. I grew up, I have a child and 'fun' to me is spending Friday nights watching a family movie, going on vacation with my family, enjoying a nice night on the couch with shows to watch. Maybe I'm boring, I probably am, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I like who I am and I have a lot of offer, there's always room for improvement, but I am who I am.

Trip down memory lane...

2010-05-12T22:24:00.007-04:00

Since I took a very nice nap today, now I can't sleep, so I decided to organize (ok, scratch organize, I'll be honest, organize is not in my vocabulary, I was sorting through) my tons and tons of photos. I came across these:

Above: Mason at our first apartment, I love how sweet he looks! Then, the bottom one, I was goofing off and made a shirt for him!

Above: Hankey Farms! The summer before Mason was born we used to go to concerts in Pittsburgh like it was our own backyard! I caught this on the way to one of them, this is right when Mr. Hankey "starred" on South Park!
Below: I believe this was Thanksgiving 2001.

Mason and Pop-Pop, November 2002?

Above: Feeding the ducks at Penn State
Below: At a park

OHHH, Mason in the balls at McDonald's, boy do I have a story to tell to his future wife about this day! Soooo, funny!

Ahhhh, good times. Well, at least I have the pictures to remind me. I can't believe how fast time flies and how different things are. But, it is what it is.

On a side note, my left ear is KILLING me, I swear there is something wrong with it, I can't even hear out of it, it's like I'm underwater, It's driving me crazy. Now I'm off to bed (hopefully).

Sweet Ride!

2010-05-12T16:30:00.005-04:00

At one of my stores today, I saw this:

LOVE IT! There were little painted ghosts on the back, too! Funny!
Another REALLY cool thing I saw online:

How cool is that? A modern/retro phone! It really works, too because, you guessed it, there's an app for that! I would LOVE to have this!

Last nights dinner:

The picture really isn't doing it justice, it was sweet potato fries with veggie chili on top, sooooo good. Mason and I can't get enough of these sweet potato fries, I cook them, then broil to get them super crispy. Delicious.

And, it SNOWED yesterday!!

As I pulled into the driveway today, I noticed the rhododendron (do you know how hard that flower was to look up to see how it's spelled??) starting to bloom, and it was snowing yesterday! I love that flower, I just wish they would stick around for a little longer.

Cleaning out

2010-05-11T10:49:00.010-04:00

I have images of myself becoming the next star of "Hoarders", so this "junk day", the day where the garbage men will pick up pretty much anything but a dead body, I will be cleaning out! I guess I get emotionally attached to 'stuff' sometimes, which is not healthy. As I was cleaning out my bedroom this morning, I found these cards:

Inside:

Inside:

I suppose I will be finding things like these for the next few years. After all, if you share a home with someone for a decade, you're bound to find misplaced items that remind you of something the other person said or did. The first card has a funny memory attached to it, he spelled his name wrong and I thought that was funny. Things like this are all over, as I was cleaning up the computer, I found emails and notes written. Wow, if there was so much unhappiness I never knew about it, you wouldn't think things like this would exist from someone about to walk out on his family and who was so truly unhappy in his marriage. Apparently there are better things than working on a marriage and enjoying a family. I thought we had a love like no other, that we were going to be the one's who made it in this crazy world. But who knows, there are too many questions and not enough answers. I'm not sure what to do with these items, part of me wants to cherish what I had, but part of me wants to forget, mainly because all of the pain it brings to read these. I guess I wouldn't be human if I didn't feel love, hurt, pain, anger, loss, joy and fear. So, for now these cards will just sit here and I will let time decide what to do for me.

Wedding Bells

2010-05-10T21:33:00.002-04:00

My cousin is getting married next year, this is the first marriage in the family since mine in 2002. I am so happy for them, they are a great couple and really enjoy seeing them at (rare) family gatherings. My only advice would be to get pre-marriage counseling. Of course, when you walk down the aisle, the furthest thing from your mind is breaking up. No one goes into a marriage thinking about how it's going to end. Marriage is supposed to be "til death do us part". I found some good marriage/family quotes that I thought hit the nail on the head:

*To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
Mark Twain

*What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how
compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.
Leo Tolstoy

*The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
Theodore Hesburgh

*One advantage of marriage, it seems to me, is that when you fall
out of love with each other, it keeps you together until you fall in love again.
Judith Viorst

I am certainly no one to give advice on marriage, but love is a strange thing. If you're lucky enough to find "the one", then count your lucky stars. It's never too late to right wrongs, to look into the eyes of your loved one and tell them you love them, to hold hands and go through the journey of life together, forever. So, I truly wish them the best and all the happiness in the world! It's been so long since I've been to a wedding, I can't wait!

Lazy Monday.

2010-05-10T15:12:00.003-04:00

I worked this morning, but was able to get home early, good thing, too. Mason didn't go to school on Friday and he had to come home early today. I hope he gets better soon. I think a lot of the way he feels is stress-induced. I feel so bad for him, God I just want all of this to go away. I couldn't get him into the doctor today, so it's lots of rest for him on the couch. I'm also afraid I'm going to have to get his foot x-rayed, he has been limping and really complaining about how bad it hurts :( . So, I hope he can get through school tomorrow, because it's my long day at work and it would be difficult to get him. Get better, Mason!! It's so rushed in the mornings and money is really tight, so I have been making tea and bottling it in glass bottles that formally had store bought iced tea in them. Aside from the time issue, this is SO much better. Not only do I have the tea exactly how I like it, one pot makes about 4 bottles, so I'm good for a day and a half! I kicked it up a notch today, also. I made iced coffee and bottled some of that, too! I used to love the Starbucks iced coffee, but with about 200 calories a bottle, it is NOT worth it. So I make mine with vanilla soy milk, splenda, splash of vanilla and strong coffee. I can't wait to drink it tomorrow! Well, I'm off to watch the Celebrity Apprentice from last night, I hope Bret is still there!!

(Can't Sleep)

2010-05-09T23:16:00.007-04:00

Ahhh, I hate nights like these. I can't sleep, so I get online or watch TV and still can't seem to get tired. I've got a lot on my mind, too. I want to talk, but can't call anyone at midnight, all I wanted all along was to talk, even if I didn't show it very well. I'm still sorting things out and wondering how things in my life have changed so drastically is such a short amount of time. How hateful once-loved ones can be, how cold, calculated and arrogant a person can be. How a gutless, unwilling to reason and cowardly person you once knew as a strong, hard-working, caring, loving person can snap in a heartbeat. How being faithful became a chore. How the most hurtful words can come out of a person you trusted your life with. How love turns to fear in an instant. How love letters that were written (and cherished) now have more hurtful feeling than loving ones. How there is no remorse. No remorse. Things that seemed to have so much meaning, mean nothing at all. Things that didn't mean anything, seem to mean so much now. I didn't ask for this. Mason and I didn't choose this. But we are the one's holding the proverbial bag. We have to pick up the pieces because no one else is. No one else is making sure he gets to/from school, eats 3 meals a day, plus about 15 snacks!, make sure he is tucked in at night, his homework is done, and that he is on time for baseball. I didn't walk away from that, I am proudly embracing it. It doesn't matter what I went through or anyone else went through as a child, bottom line is that any good parent wants better for their child, never wants them to feel any pain that you went through. Sometimes the hardest thing in life is to swallow your pride. On the final minutes of this Mother's Day, I am tooting my own horn because I deserve it. I have been here and trying to make things as normal as possible for my child. He is the reason that I get up in the morning and pray to God that I get to spend another day with him. I will never get the answers that I want because the answers that I want will never cross the lips of a coward. It's easy to walk away, it's harder to face your problems, but who knows maybe your problems could be solved by throwing them in front of a moving train, just a thought.

Perhaps there will be a big derailment ahead.

Great Day!

2010-05-09T17:54:00.003-04:00

Today we went over to see my Mom and then Mason and I went out. Mason had gotten me a gift and to me, a perfect gift is one that comes from the heart. Mason had heard me say that I really liked a wax/tart burner from a little gift shop in town, that was 2 months ago. He is so sweet!

I love it, I melted 4 cinnamon wax things and the whole house smelled like I was baking cinnamon buns! The little cast-iron skillet is just adorable!!

Thank goodness that I had my camera in the car because the car ride today with Mason's dead DS and dead PSP would have been torture (for him anyway!!). So here, he kept himself busy:

So funny! Thank you, Mason for coming into my life and being the reason I get to celebrate Mother's Day!

{Happy Mother's Day}

2010-05-09T08:39:00.003-04:00

This Mother's Day is going to be a little different from years past, but it's the first round of "things to celebrate in a new way", a new tradition will start today, just Mason and I. I can't wait to spend the day with him, we have some things planned, but mostly just to spend time together and talk. It would be nice to spend some time outside, but the cool crisp air 'smells' like snow! I can't believe how cold and windy it is! I was up in my scraproom last night making a card, I only had to make one card this year! Although, I never minded making two. So, Happy Mother's Day to all you great Mom's and enjoy the day!

I have been waiting for awhile to see Betty White on SNL ever since the Facebook group, "Join if you want Betty White to host SNL" surfaced. Not that I should expect much from SNL (and haven't for the past 15 years) but she is SO much funnier than the skits they had her in last night. It just wasn't as funny as I had hoped! I do like her in the snickers commercial, though!

Happy Mother's Day, have a great day, I know I will!!

2010-05-08T12:07:00.002-04:00

What an amazing night out last night! I saw Nightmare on Elm St. and once again, my high expectations for horror movies gets in the way, but the movie was pretty good, not great, but not horrible. I did not like the new Freddy, it just wasn't the same, even the make-up didn't really make him look like Freddy and he was way too short, I suppose I could make a living as a movie critic?? Then out to dinner and it was just soooooo nice to get out of the house! I was watching one of my $.98 movies this morning and plan to finish that and start another one tonight after an all new iCarly! Mason has a baseball game this afternoon and I am hoping that the rain/thunderstorms hold off. It is SO windy here today. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

So, This New Thing Has Walked Back Into My Life...

2010-05-07T12:44:00.004-04:00

Confidence! Yes, she's back! I guess over the years I've kind of 'lost' confidence in myself for one reason or another. I was forced into a situation where I had to work full-time and support my child 100%. I never thought I could do it! But I can, and I am! I feel a sense of pride when I get home from work on Friday afternoon and pick up my paycheck and know that I worked hard (well, kind of hard, lol!) to earn that and keep a roof over Mason's head. I guess I was afraid before, I was afraid that I couldn't support a child, but I am living and learning that I can and will continue to do so.

Ever since my life became a very bad episode of the Young and the Restless, I have done some major soul searching. I am truly at peace right now. There is nothing that I feel like I can't face now. I feel strong. I feel hopeful. I have moved on. I mourned the loss of a love, but I know that person is no longer the same person. But actually, as I am finding out, "that person" was really someone I never knew. I guess you never, ever REALLY know someone, no matter how close you are to that person. I have put it to rest because ultimately, I am not the one who judges. I have made mistakes that I am sure that I will have to answer for someday, but I am living a good life and my conscious is clean. I have been hurt like I've never been hurt before, I am recovering from that, but the one thing I will probably never recover from are the "how could he's". How could he:

*walk away from his family?
*tell me he loves me one day and the next 'we're over'?
*plan a family vacation that his kid couldn't wait to go on, then cancel?
*say things like,"the worst part about marriage is that you can't go out with other women"?
*Plan an anniversary weekend together, then leave?

I deserve better than that, I know I do. Some things are just ingrained in people, but ultimately, we make the choices. We are the ones that are responsible for our own actions. God works in mysterious ways and I thank God everyday for opening my eyes and helping me realize who I am and what I want.

[Sweet Find]

2010-05-06T15:21:00.003-04:00

On my travels last week, I had to stop for gas. The gas station is right by a movie store that is going out of business. I glanced over and saw what appeared to be a homeless man touting a sign that said, "All DVD's $2.99". I just pumped gas and then drove away. Same situation happened today, I had to get gas, but as I glanced over, the same man was holding another sign, this time it said, "All DVD's $.99 or less". NOW we're talking my price. But really, what would be left after all these amazing prices? I'll tell you what:

As I was walking through the horror section I couldn't believe that the selection was still VERY good! I mean, how could these movies still be sitting on the shelf? Well, their loss and my gain. I got all 9 of these movies for $8.14! WOW! If I would have had more money I would have gotten a few more, because there were a few there that I was torn between. I am SO thrilled, I can not wait to watch these. Bring on the popcorn!!

Eye Candy

2010-05-05T17:18:00.004-04:00

If you have a chance to check out this blog, you won't be disappointed. I have admired her work for years and every layout and every project she does can easily take your breath away!

Stuffed shells for dinner! Yummy! (Great Italian Meal for Cinco De Mayo!!)

Just got off the phone with a friend of mine that I have had for 20 years! She can always bring me back down to earth when my mind wanders and always puts a smile on my face! I may not have a ton of close friends, but I have found that quality beats out quantity any day. As I get older, I am learning that it takes a stronger person to be able to ask for help and advice than to try to be a person who takes on life by themselves and bottles up issues inside. Life can kick you hard and there are two kinds of people in the world, the ones who let the problems kick them and never get up or the ones who get kicked, brush themselves off and move forward. Right now I'm kind of in between, but everyday I make a choice to get up and move forward. I have quite a bit of motivation, though in the form of a 9 year old boy. He keeps me strong.

So, I heard a little movie called NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is now playing in the theaters!! OH YEAH! I have waited FOREVER (well, since I knew it was coming out!) to see this! And that will take place this Friday night. CAN.NOT.WAIT!!

one, two Freddy's coming for you...

Baseball

2010-05-04T21:11:00.003-04:00

First, though I read a great quote that I had to share: "I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that sometimes good things fall apart so that better things can come together". I don't know who said it, but those words are amazing and so very true ;0)

First baseball game:

They lost tonight and the innings were soooooo long, and it was FREEZING outside, but it was still fun! Mason ate an entire extra large box of Mike & Ikes (boy do I hope he shared them!).

And finally, my little Trails:

So.Cute.

Faux Roast...It's what's for dinner

2010-05-03T16:45:00.003-04:00

YUMMY! I found this gem at Wegman's the other day:

It was loaded with lentils and some other VERY good vegetarian goodies, it far surpassed the Tofurkey from Thanksgiving. Here is what we had for dinner last night:

Carb-O-licious!

Time to create!

That's what my fingers looked like AFTER I washed them!

I was digging through the basement for an old book to alter. I found one from 1941. I'm going to make a dream/wish journal out of it, so I was outside spray painting it and Mason comes over to see what I was doing. I said, matter of factly, "Spray painting a book". As he got his bike off of the deck he turns around and says, "Well, you don't see that everyday"! Oh, he is so snappy with comebacks, I love it!! Well, this project is going to be a long-term project as there are almost 300 pages in this book, but I will post periodically some of the pages. Have a nice night, everyone!

{Day Dreaming}

2010-05-03T12:26:00.002-04:00

When I first 'got out on my own' as a very independent 18/19 year old, I moved to a little town, got an apartment and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED where I lived. This is where monumental, life-changing events took place in my life. This is the town that has so many great memories, this is the town I was day dreaming about today. This is the town that I can not wait to move back to. After my days of raising Mason are over, then giving him his 'wings', I plan to find a little house to call my own. I drove through the town today, all through the little, cozy streets and dreamed of what my house would look like, how I want it decorated, have a few cats and a dog and to just love my life there. Maybe it's just a dream, maybe my life will lead me to bigger and better places. I truly believe that "we become what we think about". Maybe I'm only thinking on one straight path, but right now I like this path. The town has cute little shops on the main street and a feeling of warmth that I have never gotten from any other town that I have lived in. I'm finding it's essential in life to look forward and have dreams and goals, I think before I was just going through the motions. I don't want to wish 20 years of my life away, but I really look forward to being in a place that I feel 'right' in. Don't get me wrong, where we live now is great. It's a great place to raise a child, it's very peaceful here. So, that was my day. I don't know what the future holds, but I can tell you I am very excited about it!

GO PENS!!

2010-05-02T16:20:00.003-04:00

Well, I have never been much of a hockey fan, but recently I turned on the Pens game in the Stanley Cup Finals, and oh my gosh, how exciting!! Mason and I watched the game on Friday night and I couldn't believe how much fun it was to watch! So, hopefully there will be a few more games to catch. Some funny LOLCats:

Mason is outside playing, it's warm, humid, sticky and just plain gross out there. He filled up a bucket of water and is filling his squirt guns, so I am sure he is the target of the squirt guns as I am sure he is soaked right now! He's also aiming at the cats in the window, good thing they are closed!! He has his first baseball game on Tuesday and I can't wait! He looks so good in his uniform. I'll have pictures soon! I still don't know what position he is playing, but he's having fun so that's all that matters!

"Grow Old With Me The Best Is Yet To Be"

2010-04-28T14:39:00.002-04:00

That was my, as well as many others, wedding theme. That was March of 2002. Little did I know that the 'grow old with me' part was only 'grow to 30 with me'. I had to go get stuff done at the hospital today and as I was walking back to my car, I saw this couple:

It appears that they are leaning on each other for support, physically and mentally. I almost had the urge to run up to them to ask them what the secret to a long life together was, but I refrained, because I am sure they have issues like everyone else, but they probably stuck it out for one reason or another and love each other very much. I'm sure of one thing, though, they looked very happy. I wish them well, because I know first hand that life does come at you fast and no one knows what the next day will bring. So, hug your loved ones tight because you just never know when life will deal you a bad hand.

I had to get some pictures while I was around the town, I edited them to give the 'old' feel because, well, the buildings are old and I wanted to capture the feel:

And last, but not least, I wanted to get a picture of Mason and I (I don't have enough of them):

He is my world and it pains me to no end to have him suffer. If I could take that pain away from him and give it to myself, I would in a heartbeat. Any good mother would. I can just hold him and love him and teach him the right way in life.

Happy Tuesday!

2010-04-20T15:18:00.002-04:00

Tuesday's are very loooong days for me at work, but I survived another one! Lately, I have been seeking strength in positive quotes or sayings. The internet is full of them, so searching for them is no problem. It's the one's that I pass on my daily travels that make me think they were put there just for me. Maybe it's because I'm more aware of them (like the saying that churches put on their signs) but I like to think some sort of Divine Intervention puts them there for a reminder to keep my head up. Today I passed two signs that gave me that little boost I needed (while still groggy from not enough sleep last night) and made me smile. The first one read, "Love Keeps No Record Of Wrong" and the other said, "Happiness Is An Inside Job"! They both stuck out to me today and I am grateful that I saw them.

Mason will be home from school soon, so 3rd grade homework will plague me here shortly. But that's ok because I will never get this time back, no matter how stressful, crazy, what-to-pull-my-hair-out insane it gets here, I will reap the reward. This time is priceless and I have a little boy who is also.

Day Trip

2010-04-13T17:05:00.004-04:00

Mason and I went to the movies on Sunday. We went to see Alice in Wonderland. It was great! Although, I think if Johnny Depp was not in it, it wouldn't have been that great of a movie. He always adds a level to a movie that no actor can touch. Then we went to The Incline Plane. I thought it might be boring at first, but once we got there it was pretty cool! There was a park above it and it was perfect for flying a kite because we were so high up on the mountain. Mason had a great time and it was nice to get out of the house!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T09:20:00.003-04:00

Well, Well, Well has it been a loooooong time! Things are, well so weird right now. My marriage is going through a real test right now and if I only had a crystal ball to figure out what the future holds, it would be fine. But I don't, so I am staying as positive as possible and taking it day by day. It is amazing how much support you have when you are in a time of need and I appreciate every bit of it. Just talking helps so much.

On to other things. My creativity is lacking due to the stress of daily life and my appetite is barely there (maybe that's not a bad thing!) but I am looking forward to Mason's baseball season (which is strange because I can't stand baseball!) just to give me something to do and pass the time with some fun.

I am hoping to keep up with this blog again, it always gave me a way to vent my frustrations and my creativity. But for now, I am working on my life and working hard for Mason.

Happy Easter!

[Happy 2010]

2010-01-01T10:52:00.002-05:00

Can you believe it's 2010?? The saying, "The older you get the faster the time goes" is so true.

Frostina The Slender Snowoman:

There is a story behind this, I swear! I got an email from Barlean's, this wonderful company that makes a lot of healthy omega stuff for vegetarians. Jason picked me up a bottle of their Swirl Omega 3's and I add it to my smoothies and it tastes fantastic. Well, it's a little pricey, so I saw a contest on Facebook to submit a picture (Christmassy) and you could win a 6 month supply. I'd LOVE that!! So, I came up with the idea of Frostina The Slender Snowoman, because, well Frosty is a bit plump!! So, keep your fingers crossed that I win, there are not too many other submissions, so my chances are pretty good!

Have a Happy New Year!!

Holiday This And That

2009-12-30T10:51:00.007-05:00

Hoping everyone's holiday celebrations are going well! Here are a few highlights of our Christmas:

*Santa was really good to Mason, wondering how much longer Santa is coming to our house, if you catch my drift....
*Jason got an awesome pair of jammies with Mario on them to go with his new 50 inch flat screen TV!
*I discovered the best recipe EVER (will share later)
*Mason got a harmonica (wow, thanks, Santa!!)
*We had plenty (too much) of snow to make driving hazardous!
*We gave a Snuggie
*We had the ugliest tree ever.
*The cats never bothered the tree once!

Christmas morning I had to wake Mason up at 8ish and he was thrilled to see all the presents under the tree. He really made out with video games, movies, books and all sorts of goodies! I made french toast for breakfast and we all just sat around and enjoyed the day off. Then we went over to my Mom and Dad's for some good food and to spend some quality time. I got a lot of new pans to cook in (because I do love to cook!), the old ones were, well, just getting too old. I did buy myself a cast iron skillet and wonder how on Earth I ever cooked without it. I just love it!

The recipe that is so delicious is called "Mushroom and Wild Rice Hotdish", if you like mushrooms you will love this recipe and if you love mushrooms, you will wonder how you've lived without this recipe! I fall somewhere in between. I scanned the recipe, so if you want to try it, just click on the picture and it will make it bigger. I was just too lazy to actually type it, since I can type about 7 words a minute! Here are some changes that I made:

*I didn't use lemon zest, because I don't like lemon zest, I did use the lemon juice, though.
*I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil.
*I used 1/2lb. sliced white button mushrooms and 1/2lb. sliced baby bellas (they are soooo good!)
*I strongly suggest using an organic or vegetarian cream of mushroom soup because Campbell's is just really gross! I used Amy's semi-condensed mushroom soup and it was delicious.
*I used regular sour cream.
*Panko breadcrumbs are good!
*You could use regular chicken if you are not a veggie, but the Quorn naked chicken breasts are really good and meat-free!
*I added a sprinkle (before baking) of Parmesan cheese and it really added a lot of flavor.
*I increased the rice to 1 cup.

I just put it all into my cast iron pan and let it get all warm and bubbly, served with some really good crusty garlic toast and was a wonderful meal! Can't wait to make it again. Let me know if you try it, it is really worth the time it takes to make.

Here's the recipe:

This and that:

While I was Christmas shopping at Target I found a red ceramic loaf pan on clearance for $2! I had to have it and I made a terrific banana-pecan loaf that goes great with tea! Yum.

Here is our Christmas tree before we brought the monster home:

Looks good there, but let me tell you, it didn't look good in our living room!! When you wait until 4 days before Christmas, that is the selection you get to choose from!

Trails falling asleep sitting up:

The harmonica:

Have a happy and safe New Year's!

{Merry Christmas}

2009-12-25T11:03:00.002-05:00

More to come later this weekend. Good food, presents and family time stories to come! Enjoy your Christmas and have safe travels!

Finally, Some Crafts!

2009-12-18T18:39:00.006-05:00

It appears that my crafty blog has turned into a food blog (which is ok!), so I wanted to quickly get the Christmas cards posted, that sadly I am still creating. Without further ado....

Some I like more than others, some I don't even want to give away because I like them so much! The colors in some of them are brighter and most of them look better in person.

For Mason's teacher I decided to recycle a box and I am going to fill it with her favorite chocolate from a local store here. I recycled my Tofurky box:

into this:

This is not new to me, but I find that creating/crafting is so therapeutic and it has helped me get my mind off some of the stress that we have been going through as well as how stressful this season is. I was out shopping today and it seems that everyone else was, too! Through the long lines at the stores and the very long traffic lights, I decided to just smile today and not get agitated. What's the point in that, right?

Have a nice {snowy} weekend!

PS. For some reason spell check isn't working and I am NOT a good speller, so just laugh to yourself if I spell a word wrong & I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's back to working by my next post!!

So Much Pain, So Little Time

2009-12-15T14:56:00.003-05:00

Goodbye, Girl.

Our dog, Jayde has crossed the Rainbow Bridge and I sure hope she is chasing all the cats that she wants! This past year has been tough on her, with her showing signs of aging we knew it wasn't going to be very much longer that we had her. But this past week she couldn't even stand up and her face said that she was in pain. I didn't want to do it, but I knew it had to be done. We decided to put her to sleep last night, all of us were there petting her and telling her that we loved her. She was about 13 years old. Her story, with us, started in 2004. Dogs Deserve Better had their annual Chain-Off in Happy Valley and we went to support the cause. Little did we know we would be coming home with one of the best dogs you could ever ask for. She was lying under a table (it was hot) and we went over to pet her. Jason fell in love almost instantly. She had such a sweet face, who on earth could treat her so bad? She was about 6 or 7 at the time and we knew adopting an older dog meant that we wouldn't have as many years with her, but I also knew that she belonged with us and ever since that HOT July day, she has lived a pretty good life. She was a formally chained dog, apparently her former owners just didn't want her anymore (their loss). She lived in a dog house that had no floor and was rotting away to provide little to no shelter. It didn't take her long to love living inside! In her earlier years with us she would sleep on the couch all day long! She loved to lay outside in the grass in the summer and she loved chewies when she came in from outside. We already miss her and I swear I heard her when I came home from work today. But I didn't. I picked up her ashes today and they are in a beautiful urn. She will always be loved and always be missed.

Next up, even more good news {not really}! I was diagnosed with shingles-OUCH. I wouldn't wish this on anyone! The pain, at times was unbearable. It is slowly going away, but wow, I have never experienced anything like that before. With all of these things going on, we still haven't gotten our Christmas tree! Every year Christmas sneaks up on me and before I even get to breathe, it's the week before the big day. Oh well, what can I do? Christmas will get here whether or not I am prepared so I might as well just slow down and enjoy the season.

Right now it is time to relax with a hot cup of tea.....

}It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like......

2009-12-09T11:45:00.006-05:00

Christmas, of course! Mason and I went for a very chilly stroll last night onto the main street to see all the beautiful lights, decorations and ice sculptures. Once we got walking, it was fine, but boy was that wind chilly! I love downtown at Christmas. Even before we lived here and we would visit my mom and dad during Christmas, I always made a comment about how pretty it was at night with all the lights on.

Ice sculptures:

The gazebo:

The store fronts:

>

The old jail (I got a better picture of it, but accidentally erased it!):

I also accidentally erased the pictures of the 12 Days of Christmas. I imagine the snow will be sticking around for awhile, so I'll just get them again some other time.

Well, if you read one of my last posts were I was griping about my ice maker not working, I am wishing that was my only problem right now! The starter on one of our cars went while Jason was at the drug store! So, I had to bundle up and go get him and, of course, it was the 4 wheel drive. So, now my gripe is having 4-5 inches of snow and no 4-wheel drive! And on a side note, after poking and prodding and shaking and hitting the ice maker, it now works!! There's the silver lining in today's blog!

Some LoL's:

In honor of all the yeast recipes I've been trying lately:

And this is, hands down, the funniest picture I've ever seen. I honestly could not stop laughing when I saw this:

Wait for it. Wait for it.....

...

Ha. Someone (I guess who has a lot of time on their hands) photoshopped human teeth onto sharks. Funny, huh??

2009-12-05T11:32:00.000-05:00

Brrrrr....

2009-12-05T10:15:00.003-05:00

This morning we woke up to very cold temps and even colder snow. I went outside to check the mail, awaiting two netflix, In Living Color season 1! Wow. I remember this show as a kid and wanted to see some of the all-time favorite characters such as Fire Marshall Bill, Homey the Clown and HandiMan. I forgot how funny the show really was, however, I don't think we will be getting all 8 seasons via netflix, unlike 24, I can stop watching this!! So anyway, on my short trip to the mailbox I saw these:

Little birdy tracks:

They were right next to the chippy tracks, but they didn't photograph too well. I would certainly welcome these tracks over bear tracks! My parents have spotted evidence of a bear, mainly the view they got of him the other night, he welcomes himself to the bird feeders and bends the post as if it were a bendy straw! Scary.

My crockpot surprise was WONDERFUL. I am convinced that anything thrown into a slow cooker will, with time, turn out great! I have yet to try a crock pot recipe that I didn't like and this latest "throw together" meal proves that all the flavors just blend together to make a great meal. I made some brown rice and topped it with this recipe that has no name. It was great and it made a ton of leftovers!

I've been on this budget/wholesome/natural food kick lately, mostly from reading this blog and this blog. They both inspire me to eat healthy and cheap and creative. They are great blogs to follow. I found a recipe to make your own granola. I always knew you could make your own granola, but had I known it was so easy, cheap and delicious, I would have never, ever bought a box of the expensive, sugar laden, preservative filled stuff (not all shelf granola is that bad). I bought some of the ingredients, but most I had on hand, here is the recipe:

(6 cups) rolled oats (not quick cooking or instant)
(2 cups) mixed nuts and seeds (sunflower, sesame seeds, walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, etc., chopped)
(1 cup) dried unsweetened coconut, shredded
(1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
dash salt
(1/2 to 1 cup) honey or maple syrup, or to taste
(1 cup) raisins or chopped dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl combine oats, nuts and seeds, coconut, cinnamon, salt and sweetener. Place on a sheet pan and put in oven. Bake for 30 minutes or a little longer, until browned evenly. Remove pan from oven and add raisins or dried fruit. Cool on rack, stirring a few times until granola reaches room temp. Store in sealed container in the fridge and granola will keep indefinitely.

This make a TON (and I mean TON) of granola, so cutting the recipe in half would still give you a lot. I loved that I could control all the ingredients that I liked most, some things I didn't have, so I just added a little more of the other things. It is truly fool proof and delicious. Try it today!

This cost about .27 a serving vs. some granola that cost as much as .90 a serving. Great on yogurt, oatmeal, etc. Yummy!

Have a great weekend!

Can you believe it's December already!!

2009-12-02T12:03:00.004-05:00

Some things that have been going on:

*(Un)Turkey Day, of course! On the menu was a Tofurky, regular turkey, mashed potatoes, baked corn, stuffing, buns, cranberry sauce (jellied, not whole) and pumpkin pie! I also made a to-die-for chocolate truffle brownie cheesecake. It was soooooo good!

Tofurkey: (it was delish!!)

Ready to dig in:

Thanksgiving morning I wanted to make a special breakfast, but for lack of planning, it wasn't looking good. Perhaps a bowl of 'Smores' cereal was as good as it was going to get for Mason! But no fear, I had bought a baguette at Panera for dinner one night and never used it. Fearing it had gone bad, I quickly decided to try to make french toast with it, after all, everyone was still asleep so if it didn't turn out, no one would ever know! But it did turn out, in fact it was the best french toast I had ever made. It was so good that Mason had three helpings, Jason had two and I snuck a few extra on my plate while dishing out the extra helpings! I can't eat maple syrup ( because I can't stomach it), but it didn't even need it!

*I've had little to no motivation to go grocery shopping because of the crowds/laziness and it's been too cold to get out of the car (well, not really but I needed another excuse to not have any food in the house for my family!) so I just decided to throw a bunch of odds and ends from my cabinets and fridge into the crock pot and am anxiously awaiting to see what comes out. I added a can of Amy's lentil soup, 2 cans of stewed tomatoes, half a bag of potatoes, chopped, 1 can of veggie broth, 1 can refried beans, some spices and carrots that I had chopped in the fridge, on the edge of going bad (note to self: 2 big bags of carrots = more carrots than one family can eat in a short amount of time). So, we'll see what kind of 'stew' it turns out to be, I might add some couscous towards the end of cooking.

*Mason's 9th birthday arrived! We went to the Waffle shop for a wonderful breakfast and then he went shopping with Grandma and Grandpa for the entire afternoon. He had a blast and it was a real joy to just have some family time!

*After a very cold rain the other day I was outside and spotted this leaf:

GigantoLeaf. It must have been 12 inches long! I have no idea where this leaf came from, all the other leaves look like this:

I only saw the leaf once and it's gone now, it was the biggest leaf I have ever seen in our yard!

*Christmas cards are in the making, keeping fingers crossed that they make it to the post office by December 24th.

*Christmas cookies were baking on Saturday. Mason was very excited to help, then he didn't wake up until 12 noon, so I got most of them done, and wouldn't you know that all the snicker doodles are now gone! They were really good (so I was told).

*Our ice maker isn't working, we take for granted all the conveniences of our everyday life that this becomes such a burden. I NEED ICE IN MY DRINKS!!

Have a great day!

Playing Catch Up...

2009-11-20T11:22:00.007-05:00

Oh, where do I start? I have been so busy with getting Mason's party planned and getting the Dogs Deserve Better eBay auction going that I've given my blog a lot of neglect! So, first things first: Mason's birthday party. He wanted a GI Joe theme (I think I stated that in earlier posts) and for some reason I decided to put everything into 'last minute' mode. I then stressed out about making the cake (what if I can't get it to look how my mental picture is looking, what if I run out of icing, what if I can't get the icing color right, what if...what if...what if!!). It drives me crazy!! I had this awful nightmare about a week before Mason's party that I couldn't get the cake right and I had to call Walmart and get a cake made for the party (now, no offence to anyone who buys Walmart cakes, however I've seen enough Walmart cakes on Cakewrecks that I would rather not have one show up at my kids party). So, after 4 cakes (2 chocolate, 2 yellow), 4 batches of butter cream icing, this is what the cake turned out to be:

The Pinata:

The cake after:

The kids (who were so good and very well mannered!!)

Overall, it was a great time. I wished more kids would have come, but what can you do? It was nice to have friends and family there as well!

Here I go again on my quest for the perfect crumpet recipe.

I found a woman online who blogged her story of trying to get the right recipe, so I thought I would take advantage of all of her knowledge on what to do and what not to do. I got a lot of great tips and along the way, I think I discovered the secret. I don't want to get ahead of myself, though. My friend found the 'egg rings' that we so desperately needed for this recipe at Bed, Bath & Beyond. The 2 pack cost around $4. Needing around 8 of them, it got pretty costly. So, Jason went and picked them up for me on his way home from work. Not only was it expensive, the size of them were way too small for the size of crumpet I wanted, so I returned them. I instead bought the large cans of tuna fish (barf, barf) and opened them on both ends (let me tell you, was I ever popular with my cats during this tuna expedition) which was not an easy task. I ended up having to cut the bottom part of the can with a knife because the can opener would not work on that end. Luckily I didn't lose any digits. So, back to the actual "making of a crumpet", I used yeast, but really didn't give it time to 'do it's thing' because, well, let's face it, I'm inpatient. I let it sit for awhile in the warmed milk, but it didn't form the 'froth' that the recipe said it would. But, no fear, I still worked with it.

Here is the start, with the tuna cans (that by the way were scrubbed and then put in the dishwasher, I failed to mention that very important step!):

I found that the longer the batter set, the better the crumpets got (I think this is the secret, perhaps I should have let the yeast 'do it's thing'!). So here they really start to develop:

I had to add water every time I put a new batch on, the thinner the batter, the better they cooked. I thought only having 4 tuna cans would have me there all night, but it turned out that after the crumpets 'set', which really only took a few minutes, I could remove them and spray with oil and get another one on the grill.

Ok, this is the part of the crumpet making that I broke out into a song that consisted of the words, "Oh yeah, oh yeah, I made crumpets, and they have holes, yeah, yeah......It went on for a little longer, but you get the idea!! I knew I wasn't totally out of the woods just yet, because the most important part had yet to be done: the tasting.

Look at those fabulous holes!!

I toasted one and smothered it in nutella and I have to say, it was good. Not fabulous like I'd hoped, but pretty good. I have to admit, I have never tried a recipe so many times over and over to try to perfect it, but I feel accomplished in getting this recipe right and I will be making more. I rate it an A-. So, the bottom line is, let the yeast work and thin the batter and enjoy!!

What goes better with crumpets than tea, of course! On a recent trip to Wegman's I took longer than usual in their tea department. They have amazing tea, some of which is so costly I can't imagine who is drinking this (I bet it's good, though!). I saw some there that was $239.00/pound! I know a pound of tea is a lot of tea, but almost $15 an ounce--wow!! On a side note, as I was walking through the produce section I saw truffles (mushrooms) locked in a clear case, selling for $699.99/pound. Double WOW!! They must be delicious!! Anyway, back to the tea, I found these:

I actually liked the packaging and was thinking of how I could reuse it when I decided to buy it. We have yet to try the fruity wreath one, but the other two were ok. Not as good as the earl grey, but not bad.

I went into Pier One yesterday in search of some Christmas gift ideas. Every time I go into this store it reminds me of days past. The smell, the look, the feel of all their products used to adorn my old apartment. I would, on a regular basis, go to Pier One after work or days off and fill my basket with candles, decorations, fragrance beads, etc., most, if not all, were clearance items! Now, it's just not realistic to have candles burning and cat/dog hair would just fill up decorative pillows and throws, so I have opted for a more 'animal friendly' home! So, it always allows me to walk down memory lane when I walk in there. I took my time, looking through all the drapery and furniture, wishing to someday have a Pier One furnished house! Wishful thinking. But, I did find a little tea mug (on clearance, too!) that made me smile.

Yet Another Disappointment

2009-11-04T13:34:00.003-05:00

So, I'm eating my words from my last post. I vaguely remember saying something about not needing a lot of money to make a great film, just imagination. Well, let me tell you, Paranormal Activity was such a waste of money and time. Disappointed again. We should have just went with our original plan of seeing 'Saw 6'!

During the very boring, very quiet movie (with the exception of the 3 girls in front of us that looked about 3 years shy of being able to get into an R rated movie) we could hear 'Saw' playing in the next theater, we could hear people screaming, getting tortured, begging for their lives, you know the good stuff about a horror movie. And we missed out on all of that. What a bummer.

We got a lot of Christmas shopping done, so I was happy about that and I did get to spend time with Jason, so I was happy for that, too. So, all wasn't lost! I found this great triple feature DVD for $5 at Walmart (that should tell you how awesome this is going to be, oh yeah) and could not pass it up:

I CAN NOT wait to watch this!! I have visions of snuggling up in bed with comfy jammies on and freshly popped popcorn watching all three movies in a row! Yeah, can't wait to see when that happens!!

That's all for now!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T07:29:00.009-04:00

It feels like Halloween has passed already because Trick or Treat was almost a week ago, but anyway Happy Halloween to everyone!

I have been playing around with my new camera, I just LOVE it! The true test will be later today when Mason has his first basketball game. Last year with my old camera, I could not get a good picture in the gym. It must have been the lighting, but it was awful! So, I am hoping to be able to post some good basketball pictures this year. Here are some of the things I have taken shots of in hopes of learning how to use this wonderful new camera (because, you know, reading the manual is out of the question!):

Beautiful fall colors:

Really cool mushrooms!

Beautiful sunrise this morning:

And, my Floydy Boydy welcoming me back inside:

He's so cute!

Jason says that I find the weirdest things to take pictures of, but isn't everything worth taking a picture of? Especially nature.

Jason and I are doing some Christmas [and birthday] shopping tonight. Mason is spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa tonight! Yeah! We are also going to take in a movie! Double Yeah! How appropriate that it is Halloween and we want to go see the #1 scariest movie out! Paranormal Activity. I CAN NOT wait to see this movie. I have heard it's a 'Blair Witch' type movie, which is soooooo awesome! I saw a piece on the news this morning that this movie has moved into the #1 slot for grossing the most money ever. It only cost $11,000 to make. So that just proves that you don't need a ton of money to produce a great film, you just need imagination. I am so thrilled to see this tonight. We are going to the 10:00 showing, so lets just hope I can stay awake!!

Tricks And Treating

2009-10-25T19:18:00.003-04:00

On Saturday night a group of us went to a haunted house. We had to beg, bribe and plead for Mason to go into the house. He was terrified, to put it mildly. We got there and he wanted to be in between Jason and I and he wanted me to wrap my arms around him really tight so that the creatures/monsters wouldn't get near him. So I did and his heart was beating so fast that I thought it was going to jump right out of his chest! I have to admit before we walked into the haunted house I was starting to get second thoughts! It was really creepy. We made it through and Mason did well, although there were a few times that he started to cry! He felt better when Jason talked to the actors because he knew then that they were just people! After the haunted house they took us on a haunted hay ride. It was such a beautiful night, I could have stayed on the hay ride for hours. Then they drop us off and we travel through the haunted woods. It was great! We had no idea what to expect and then all of the sudden a guy jumps out with a chainsaw and starts to follow us. Then there were fire explosions, people coming out of the corn field, screams, props that you didn't know were real people, it was just fantastic! Then we made our way out and got some snacks and listened to some great music from the live band. Mason then got a picture with Beetlejuice:

It was so much fun, I'd love to do it again next year.

Trick or Treat was today, almost a full week before Halloween, but what can you do? Here they have it during the day and although safety is the #1 concern, it is no fun walking around in the daytime to trick or treat. I always thought that was strange and took away from all the fun. But Mason got some candy, we didn't let him go over board and he only hit about 15-20 houses and that was it. He decided to be an 'Evil Leprechaun' this year. Did I ever have fun putting his costume together. He is such a good sport about costumes. I am trying to instill in him to use his imagination, so don't just go buy something off the rack at Walmart! Get creative. I don't know if it's working, but hey, I'll give it a shot anyway!! Here he is:

I really liked the way it turned out and he did get a lot of compliments/comments on it, so it was well worth the effort!

I've got a Lifetime movie to attend here in a few minutes, so have a great night, everyone!

Farewell Football

2009-10-19T17:58:00.003-04:00

Sunday marked the last flag football game Mason will have. He will move up to tackle next year (yeah!) and it will be a whole new experience. We did end up losing our last game and there were plenty of questionable calls, but oh well, the kids had a great season.

There there was an after party at a pizza place and I swear the highlight of the place was the prize machines, the ones that no one in their right mind would go buy at a store, but for some reason when aliens are wrapped up in a cheap plastic ball, they are the coolest toy ever! So in addition to the tons of cheapy toys, Mason gets these crazy teeth, that I have to admit are REALLY funny!!

My friend, Cherie finally bought a couple of packs of the Wegman's crumpets and she loved them just as much as I do, so in our never-ending search on how to make things cheaper, better and easier, she found a recipe on how to make crumpets! I was soooooo thrilled that I could hardly contain myself!! I immediately printed out the recipe and went to the store. I bought all fresh ingredients because who knows how long that flour had been sitting in my cabinets, I wanted them to be just perfect! I even bought a griddle and a sifter (I don't ever remember using a sifter!). The directions call for 'egg rings', I know what these are and had no idea it would be so difficult to find them. It was and I didn't. I searched high and low (ok maybe 4 stores, but still) and came up empty. I even enlisted Jason to search for them while he was working. There is a big kitchen store 'down the mountain' so, next time I'm out that way I will pick them up, I'm sure they carry them there. So instead I used some aluminum foil and made 'rings' with it. Back to the recipe. I very seldom, if ever use yeast, my knowledge of this product mainly comes from the lady at Walmart that was buying the same product and I played a game of 20 questions with her. She seemed very helpful, however she didn't know I was making crumpets, not bread and I didn't want to bug her anymore. It called for 'compressed yeast' or if that wasn't available to use 'dry yeast'. I bought the regular yeast and begged it to work. Can anyone give me info on the types of yeast? I have to admit the final product tasted good (not as good as Wegman's) but they looked more like biscuits, not crumpets. I will not give up on this recipe, I really want it to work!

I'll keep trying.

A Record You Don't Want To Break

2009-10-16T08:39:00.004-04:00

Well, we officially broke the record here in central Pa! We had the earliest snowfall since 1940! I'm not that pleased with that. Take a look:

October 15th. The snow fall continued through to this morning. The good news is that it is supposed to be up into the 50's and 60's next week (thank goodness!!). I also heard that it is supposed to be a mild winter (yeah!) and that most of the snow fall this year will be more towards the south, it's about time they get some snow down there!

Here are some funny pictures to brighten your day!

Have a good day!

2009-10-12T18:06:00.004-04:00

There hasn't been too much going on here, but I thought I'd try to get a blog in. I'm not too sure how entertaining this is going to be, but....
Here are some of my favorite LOL cats from the past couple of weeks:

There there is this:

We were watching TV and heard about this burger that is sandwiched in between two Krispy Kreme donuts (can you say D.I.S.G.U.S.T.I.N.G)! Talk about a heart attack, yuck!

Mason's football season is wrapping up, he only has one game left (boo-hoo) and then moving right along into basketball.

I started decorating for Halloween, all 8 bins are down from the attic and sorted through, sometimes I wonder about myself and all this 'stuff' I feel like I 'need' to buy on clearance, but it is fun to open the bags and see what I got!! Here are some of the decorations so far:

This guy sings 'Super Freak' (and he dances!), he's been around for quite a few Halloween's now and we just had to change his batteries!

This one is one of my favorites, mainly because I scored this for dirt cheap! I got him two years ago at Micheal's (on clearance!) regular price, $69.99 I got it for $6.99! Really, though it is a nice decoration but NOT worth almost $70!

Here are the twin witches:

This, I love:

I saw in a catalog a few years back these REALLY cool labels that you put on old soda bottles, wine bottles, etc. and it instantly turns them into creepy Halloween liquids. I was all set on ordering them, but then I walked into the Dollar Tree and there they were for $1, can't beat that!! I filled them with water and food coloring, the one I put rice in the liquid and it made the pieces of rice look like maggots--AWESOME! I just used an old olive jar, marshmallow creme jar, peanut butter jar, salsa jar and an old prescription bottle for this. I just finished it off with some fake spiders and it makes a super cheap, super fun Halloween decoration!

I will post some more decorations as I get them up, by the I get them up, I just hope it's not November 1st!

{Full Weekend}

2009-10-04T18:51:00.003-04:00

On Saturday night we had plans to go see Cirque Du Soleil at the BJC in State College. We were SO thrilled as we are huge fans of Cirque. We left our house a little too early, so we had time to browse around Barnes and Noble and a little party/Halloween store to kill some time. We finally got to our destination and we were getting so excited to see this show! We didn't go 'all out' like we did last time by getting floor seating, but believe me, our seats were not cheap, by any means. So we get in the door and attempt to find our seats. We go up the stairs and up the stairs and up yet more stairs. We were the LAST row of seats in the entire place. I mean the wall was to our back. I was SO disappointed to say the least. It was so cramped, so uncomfortable, so high up that if you don't have 20/20 vision, you can't see much. I figured there was no sense in complaining about it because what was done was done, I thought I'd enjoy as much as I could. So, the show started and I love to see the detail of the costumes, the color, the sequins, the make-up, etc. but we could hardly make out what (or who) was on the stage let alone what color their shoes were. Such a bummer. At intermission, we waited for everyone in our row (we had end seats) to come back before we sat down. No one came. Half of our section didn't come back! I think they all decided to try to get better seats because not only was half of the 'good (or at least waaaay better) seats' empty, no one was checking seats, so they figured, "why not?". I should have followed suit. Oh well. The show was ok, but I'm assuming that a combination of bad seats and an altered show (because it was in an arena, not a tent) made it a not very exciting night. :(

Mason got some pretty cool pictures on our way there (these are in negative), perhaps he's got photography in his future:

Then Sunday rolls around and we decided to go to the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival. Jason had gone to one of these when he was a kid and he still talks about it to this day. So, I thought we'd give it a try. To sum it up in one word: Odd. It was different and I am glad we went, but WOW, some of these people are strange!! I mean the ones who are not the actors but still come dressed from head to toe in medieval clothing! I felt like it was a midnight showing of Harry Potter with all the people in costumes! Overall though the experience was pretty neat. An actor was trying to get Jason to drink beer at 11am, a woman who hit us up for tips was showing us that she trained a 'bone' to do tricks, adding 'th' to everything seems to make the word sound old, selling single roses for $4 and making the man feel guilty for not buying one (by the way, I told Jason NOT to buy me one even before they hit him up for one), extremely dangerous games (ninja star and ax throwing, both of which my guys participated in) and really meaty food rounded out the day. We were looking at the program to find some shows to catch and this one looked funny, however it had a 'parents beware' sign meaning it was not appropriate for kids, so we moved on to the one that stated, "Good clean fun for the whole family". OMGosh, we had to leave, I almost had to put my hands over Mason's ears, I'd hate to see what the one that is not appropriate for kids was like. Wow. Here are some more highlights from the day:

Here is the creepy King and Queen, it so reminds me of the Burger king commercials!

Mason wanted to do the archery, but it was only under the condition that he didn't hit the 'deer', he had to aim for the straw. I didn't need to worry about that anyway because his aim was SO bad!! He thought it was much more fun to aim at the trees and trying to get it over the back drop! Jason, on the other hand shot the faux deer right in the heart, he will pay dearly.

Let's GO STEELERS, we NEED a win!!

Feeling Sick

2009-09-30T09:05:00.004-04:00

So, I started feeling a bit under the weather the other day and was just hoping that it was a 24 hour bug that seems to be going around. The next day I got worse. So, I finally dragged myself to the doctor after work yesterday and I had a 101.8 fever and strep throat. Not fun. So, I got some meds and am hoping they kick in soon. I slept awful last night. I just kept tossing and turning. Hopefully tonight will be better.

Mason had a football game on Saturday and it was so cold and rainy and the wind gusts were so strong that it blew my umbrella backwards and broke it in about four places!! I guess I shouldn't buy cheap umbrellas (or maybe even the expensive ones would do that, so it's better to buy the cheap ones!!).

Here is a story about Trails the cat:

So, my friend, Cherie and I were walking on the trail and I thought I saw a little animal up ahead and I was thinking to myself, please let this be a cat that has a good home, has a collar and tags on and is in good health and neutered and he just wandered away from home and I could just whip out my cell phone and call the owners who are probably distraught that their beloved cat has gone missing. Yeah. Right. So, as we approach this little guy, he is so super friendly that he just plops down to get a good belly rub. I try to pick him up and he doesn't like to be held, (at this point I knew he was coming home with me so I had to figure out a way to get him into my car), so we try, for about 1/4 of a mile to have him walk along side us. He does for awhile, but he gets tired and plops down for another belly rub! So, just as we are approaching the car he decides to not cooperate and he has claws, so who do you think is going to win! I ask Cherie if she would kindly keep the cats attention as I go get the car. The funny part is we are next to this community building that is apparently having a class in a room that is all windows and we seem to be the side show! So, all these people are watching us (laughing, no doubt) and we finally got him into my car and took him home, much to Jason's dismay. I thought about calling him Lucky, but then Cherie suggested the name 'Trails' and I like that so much better, plus I owe it to her for the embarrassment I put her through!! I took him to the vet and he had a pretty severe eye infection, if left untreated could certainly cause blindness, so here he is, making himself comfy and now he has a family for the holidays! I know I can't save them all, but for the time I have here on Earth, I want to do my best.

The annual Potato Fest was this past Saturday, yes, the day it was freezing and raining. I felt so bad for the vendors. It was a really bad day for them, I'm sure. We went up and Jason wanted to get some potato soup, I couldn't leave without stopping at the Fudgie Wudgie booth. Bad, I know. Fudge is my weakness, so is chocolate. So is cheesecake. So are brownies. So is....
Here are some highlights from the big Potato Fest:

Mason, stay out of the puddles (we must have said that 100 times!)

Mason got this cool picture:

Mmmmm Pulled Pork, right up my alley:

Cotton Candy at 10 am, hey, it was Saturday. You know, no rules on Saturdays:

Look how handsome Mason is! He is just getting so 'grown up'.

That's all I've got for now! The next 24 disc is due to arrive today!! YAY!

September 3rd Was My Last Post???

2009-09-20T14:32:00.005-04:00

Wow, I would like to have some fabulous excuse like, I've been on an exotic cruise eating delicious cuisine, or I won Publisher's Clearing House and I decided to spend what would have been blogging time on some amazing shopping trip, but none of them apply. I can't really say what I've been doing. Facebook takes up a lot of my computer time, too much actually. We've been catching up with 24 on Netflix, just now finishing up Season 2, and can't wait to start Season 3. It has to be one of the best shows on TV, it took me eight years to figure that out!! Jack Bauer ROCKS!!

Football has started-I LOVE IT!! Not just watching Mason's team, but of course, the Steelers.

I have been working in my scraproom, not so much on projects, but organizing (I'm so awesome at that...not). I wanted to put all of my layouts in albums that have the same theme, (ex. football pictures in the football album, baseball...you get the idea), so now I have all these albums that were once filled and now they only have a few 'themed' layouts in them. Not sure I am really liking it, but it is very time consuming, so I don't know if I am going to change it back or not, so who knows??

That's all I've got for now, not too many exciting things going on, but I will blog again soon! In the mean time, here are some funny pictures: