Wednesday, January 28, 2009

adventures in kitchen land

Adventures in Kitchen Land.


"Mom, Mom, Can we please make red velvet cupcakes. Please.. We bought the mix at the store last week. Please????" Yelled Bethany from the kitchen to her mother in the other room.

Mom was in the middle of changing loads, finishing up cleaning the down stairs bath and vacuuming the floor. She didn't know where she was going to squeeze in a few minutes to make some cupcakes.

She switched loads quickly, shook out the rugs, and finished her vacuuming and walked into the kitchen. Sitting at the island were her two little daughters, six and three. Set on the island in perfect order and patterned by color, were cupcake holders.

"Can we Mom?" Bethany asked again.

"Yes" Mom quickly replied.

"Do we have the things that you put the cupcakes in?"

"Yes let me go get some."

Mom ran off, well not ran, but went swiftly, though feeling the pain of her morning run. A new goal in her life lately. Making cupcakes probably doesn't help with that goal, but oh well. She went to the storage room, pulled out the tins and returned to her smiling girls.

Together they laughed and talked as they whipped up the cupcakes. After each tin was full, the girls covered their faces in red sticky goo as they licked the beaters.

Shoemaker

Shoemaker:

There was once a shoemaker who worked very hard and was honest, and good.
His life was so simple, his family so loyal, he did all that he could.

One day in the winter,
when the weather was cold.
He took a trip through the woods.

His shoes were too tight,
though he loosened them with all his might.

A loud noise he heard as he tied his shoe strings,
un aware of the tree, falling down with the breeze.

The tree did fall, on top of this man,
who did not fair well, alone in the woods.

Trapped he did stay days on end,
until his family, him did find.

The Band

The wedding reception had been going on for hours. So many friends and family members were there enjoying the celebrations, and the food and drinks...and the company. The summer sun had long gone set. The young couple, eager to start their new life together, prompted the band to play one last song. Their song again was played.

Timmy held his new bride, Elizabeth in his arms. Their cheeks touched. The world around them blurred as they spun in their own circle of love.

"Can you believe we are finally married?"


(I press send before even finishing this but didn't feel like finishing it.)

Manners

Ring Ring. 'Not the phone again.' Emily thought to herself as she had just sat down to dinner with her family.

"Mom, THE PHONE." shouted little sis.

"I know. Lets just ignore it and enjoy dinner."

Not sure of what she was thinking, about the whole idea of enjoying dinner. Had she not taught her family any manners?

"Honey" she directed the comment to her husband of eight years, "please get your arms off the table. You don't need to lay in your food and shovel it into your mouth like you are running a marathon." Emily was tired of seeing her husband day in and day out, hunched over his food throwing it in as fast as he could. What kind of manners is that teaching the children.

Her thoughts and words were then directed to Mikey. "Mike, no humming while you eat. Just eat your food and sing later please. Stop banging your feet like your playing the drums. It is dinner time not band practice."

'Oh my goodness, I should have just answered the phone.' Just then baby Steve through his unfinished food and bowl to the floor with a loud crash.

Fed up she just left the table, not minding her own manners and asking to be excused, nor clearing her plate.

Another day.

We will work on the manners.

My Turn

have decided that right now its My TURN to take care of myself.

I have decided that it is ok for me to take an hour out of my day, to run, to read, to just be me.

I have decided that when it is eight at night and kids are crying because they want me and don't want to go to sleep, it is ok to say you know what its your turn to go to bed, and my turn to do things for me.

I have decided that when all is said and done if I don't take my turn, I won't be around to do much of anything.

I need my turn to recoup.

I need my turn to refocus.

I need my turn to breath.

I need my turn to smile.

I need my turn to laugh.

I need my turn to think.

I need my turn to just be me.

I need my turn to remember that I love those around me, and love taking a little bit of my turn time.

And it is OK!!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Why are you where you are right now?

Monday, July 7, 2008

Why are you where you are right now?
A few months back, just after Christmas, we were sitting around, probably watching TV. I am not sure other than we were sitting in our family room, me on the sofa and Eric in his blue recliner rocker chair. We must have been talking about something, or maybe we were watching a design show but I said to him "we need to get our house ready and sell it." To which he replied, "I know I had the same exact feeling."

So I got on the phone and called my sister in law, Leslie, and asked her to come and help me clean out the closets, kitchen or whatever I could use her for to help me get something gone and cleaned out. She was such a sweetheart and came up a few days later. I believe we cleaned out the kitchen and laundry room. She helped me a few years back when I was pregnant with Emily. With her there to help it kick started me into getting all kinds of things done.

A few months later, after much paint, sweat and tears, and some wonderful friends cheering me on and moving things out. I think Michele did a ton of Goodwill runs for me. The house was ready to put on the market.

Around the time we put the house on the market, Eric was approached at work about working in Hawaii for six months. He was excited to take on the challenge, but accepted with one request, that he be able to take the family with him. The guys at work were extremely surprised that we'd be willing to uproot ourselves for six months. But he mentioned to them, that we had already put our house on the market and were planning on moving already. He didn't mention that we had no idea at the time where we would be moving to or why we were really going to sell our house. But none the less he said yes.

And then the turmoil began.It took until the week before we got here, to know for sure we were coming. Too much to really go into any details, other than there was a lawsuit against the state and it just held things up. And actually until about a week ago..yeah exactly a week ago, we didn't know if the job was going to be Hart's after all-Eric's company. Needless to say the time from when we said we were going to move, until today has been filled with turmoil and uncertainty.

And to be honest there still is quite a bit of uncertainty as to where we will be at the end of November. We have fallen in love with Hawaii. Well at least I have. I can't imagine living any where else at this point. I truly call this home. It feels like the first time in a long time, that I am at home. Grant it, I would love to have some furniture and some home furnishings to make this home my little nest, but it is home.

I really love it here. I love the surroundings. I love the people. And I really love being here with my family.Sure it has had its ups and downs and no life is perfect. I really miss a back yard to send the kids running. I miss old friends. Though blogging has kept them "close." Gas is really high and groceries are worse, but I am happy to be here. And happy we made this decision. Now just need to figure out where we will be for Christmas.

What Makes you Laugh?

Speaking of laughter reminds me often of my family growing up. Laughter filled the air. However one night on my third or fourth date with a certain boy, laughter was not all that filled the air.

This guy, we will call him Ryno, brought me home from a date to my sister's house. Waiting at the house were my parents and several of my siblings if not all, all cramped into a small room. They were playing some board game, probably True Colors. Well they had had "fire butt chili" that night for dinner, and they were all passing gas.

So I walk into this overly populated room with Ryno and my family just laughed. They were being really loud too, and I had just finished explaining to Ryno that my family was fairly quiet. Anyway they proved me wrong that night. He stood there quietly for a bit and then left.

I am not sure if it was the loud laughter or the smells that drove him away. However I don't think he ever asked me out again after that moment. Oh well. His loss.

We do love to laugh.My brothers and Dad have a keen way of telling a joke that is not heard by anyone else, because they are laughing so hard before they reach the punch line. But because of their tears of laughter, everyone else is laughing too. To hear the three of them together telling jokes, is quite amusing to me. Because it mostly goes like this:

There was this guy...giggle giggle snort...who....giggle walk...ed....giggle...loud laugh....missed the joke.....

Anyway love listening to those guys tell jokes and laugh.

Then there is my wonderful husband who gets me laughing all the time. I am not sure what it was but once we sat on the bed laughing, laughing so hard are stomachs hurt afterwards, so hard that the whole family heard us laughing. We can just make each other laugh. And we both giggle easily I think.Sometimes we just do some silly stupid stuff to make ourselves laugh.

My kids make me laugh. They say things that just crack me up. The sad thing is I don't remember them all. I need to be better about writing down the things they say and record them. Because my goodness every day they humor me.I love to laugh.

What makes you laugh?