Hello all!

I’m going to try to be a better blogger. Seriously. I’ve had some new folks stop by (Hi and Welcome!) and I know I have so many faithfuls that still follow despite my flakiness.

But I’m back.

I feel like I should let everyone know exactly where I’ve been.

Over the past 11 days, we have spent 16 hours in the car. We live 2 hours from our hometown. In the last week and a half, we’ve made emergency trips home to see grandparents, to be with a father who had open heart surgery, and to attend a funeral for a grandmother. And Thanksgiving dinner was in the middle.

And work? Yeah. I missed a day and a half last week. A sick day this week. Plus a day and a half this week. Do I get any berevement leave? Nope. So that means that I have now used up half of the Christmas vacation I had planned on taking. I’m really unhappy about that too.

But the good news is that my grandfather had a great Thanksgiving, and he looked really good when we saw him today. And that makes everything okay.

So I’m trying really hard to get back on. Everything. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Hello.

Life is pretty rotten right now.

But you know what? My husband just put up our Christmas tree. And he went to pick up WonTon soup to fix my upper respiratory infection.

So there are bright spots.

Hey – do any of you know if I can take allegra with aleve? Or allegra with nyquil? Or if allegra will cause a weird coating-feeling in my mouth?

We had a pretty difficult weekend. It’s hard when grandparents get old and sick, isn’t it?

But here’s what I’ve loved over the last few days.

1) Putting up the Christms tree for my grandparents. Nathan is awesome at Christmas. And at being a Grandson-in-Law.

2) Sarah McLaughlin and Bare Naked Ladies singing God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. My favorite Christmas radio song. I’ve heard it twice today!

3) Nathan and I walked in a 5K on Thursday night. It was at the Horse Park and they turned on all the Christmas lights. We even had snow! It was an awesome night.

Just wanted to drop in and say hello. Trying to get back in the blogging habit.

Nothing really exciting going on. Went to a friend’s house and cooked dinner for her – she’s really stressed out right now.

Spent the evening commenting on Biggest Loser over at Fat Bridesmaid’s spot.

Gonna watch SVU and iron my shirt for tomorrow and go to bed.

What did you do today?

Hello friends!

I know I’m not blogging often, but I am doing well.

We made the goal last week to spend no money from the time we left for work Monday to the time we got home on Friday. However, we had a back-up “emergency” $20. When the week was over, we had spent $21.70. I find that huge. How did we do that? Grocery shopped Sunday night. Cooked at home every night. Took leftovers for lunch. No toys, snacks, dinners out.

But wait! You say. What happened to Starbucks? Let’s just say that my parents got me an AWESOME birthday espresso, and my husband makes AMAZING coffee drinks. (I did have to make an “emergency” trip due to being out of milk at home, but I counted it!) You don’t believe me? Look at what I’m currently sipping on.

Yum-O. I love my husband.

This weekend has also been very productive. I attacked our spare bedroom closet and our walk-in pantry. I took everything out, cleaned and organized, got rid of things we didn’t need or haven’t used, and put everything back in a neat and tidy manner. Yeah buddy. It feels really good.

I still have our bedroom closet to do this evening and then we’re going to Kent’s for chili. But we have lunches for tomorrow (leftover Mexi-pasta) and we’ll go grocery shopping tomorrow night.

So here’s what I’m thinking. I like control. I LOVE control. I so often feel out of control when it comes to my health – and get defeated easily when I don’t have the self-control to stick with my plans.

Here’s what else I know about me: when get one part of my life in control, other parts kinda fall into place and seem much more manageable. I tend to start with eating/exercising, and then just naturally transition into a cleaner house and tidier finances. So this time, I’m reversing the situation.

I’ve started with housework and finances. We’ve created order and organization there. We’re getting Christmas out little by little. I am making my space pretty and controlled. It has led to less snacking. Eating in is of course healthier than eating out.

And today, that is enough for me. I’m not gonna rehash my Papaw’s illness, but he’s always in the front of my mind. I control what I can. My goals are the same: spiritual health, physical health, financial health, baby. I’m just attacking from a different side today.

Isn’t it terrible that I actually use the term that I’m “attacking”? I sound like I’m fighting against myself. And I wish I could just embrace myself more. Maybe that’s why I’m not stressing out about not losing weight right now as well…

Okay. I’m gonna give myself a hug, take the last swig of my latte, and get my closet clean!

I love y’all. I really do. For some reason, my stats have started to show new people who have me in their blogroll. I am so excited to know that there are still people out there that read about me – and care.

I don’t know how regurarly I’ll be posting for a while. And I’m sure the blogging I’ll do for a while will be shallow.

I’ve mentioned before that my grandfather has cancer. My family met with Hospice today. The doctor said that he “should” still be here at Thanksgiving, but it will be a miracle if he makes it to Christmas. I really don’t want to talk about it, but I don’t feel right talking about anything else.

So what am I doing? I’m channeling Izzy Stephens. I’m currently baking Cranberry and White Chocolate Shortbread.

But let me tell you why.

So Nathan and I decided to play a game this week. To see how little money we could spend. We are trying to spend no money from the time we leave for work tomorrow until we get home from work on Friday. We have groceries, the cars are gassed up, we’ve got toiletries, I’ve got hose, all is well.

But then I started thinking. It’s about time for Starbucks to get their Cranberry Bliss Bar. That is so hard for me to turn down. So I decided to make my similar concoction to go with my white chocolate latte that will also come from home.

And? Baking makes me feel better.

On my birthday eve, I was blessed with a lunch with Sarah!

We had such a great time! Talked about music, work, life. It was great. And Nathan had a good time too!

And she brought me a present! She knows me so well!

Thank you SO MUCH Sarah! I’ll think of you every time I cook with my cute ruffled apron. Or when I put it on after I put Cosi on a plate!

The color is really off on my camera today. I don’t know what’s up with that.

But tomorrow is my birthday. I have no idea what we’re gonna end up doing. Nate and I are both off tomorrow and Tuesday. We’ll see!

Another Journey reference for my blog buddy, Fat Bridesmaid!

She asked in her post today about our favorite Halloween costumes. There was the year we went as Harry Potter and Hermione, but that was before the days of digital cameras. (Man, I’m old.)

But my favorite costume of mine EVER is easy. I shocked a lot of people. It was awesome.

One day I had long, brown hair and the next day I was…

Nathan!

(In his favorite shirt, of course.)

(By the way, Sarah at Phat Girl in A Little Coat is my lunch buddy for Sunday! Sorry the link disappeared yesterday.)

So work pretty much stinks right now. It’s like middle school. I’m just about done.

But last week, when we were in Tennessee, I saw this and it provided inspiration and perspective.

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some  false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see in the final analysis, it is between you and God.

It is never between you and them anyway.

~Mother Teresa

And today, it helps that Seinfeld is the one with the stomach that says “Hellloooo!” And I get to see Sarah on Sunday!

Okay, so let me tell you where I’ve been.

Last week was insane. We planned a party last Monday, and even though no one was able to make it from out of town for the par-tay, we still had to do the cooking and cleaning for the event.

Then Wednesday was the party for work folks. Tons of fun. Chili was a hit. Boss, great-boss, and great-great boss all appeared to have a good time. AND we got many bottles of wine. So the party is still going!

After work on Thursday, we headed to Tennessee to meet up with Nathan’s family. We had a blast. Beautiful opportunities for pictures. Hiking, eating, playing games. Such a great time.

I don’t know where I am in general. I know I’m fat. I know I’m getting increasingly frustrated with that. But not a lot of action.

So I’ll just show you pictures!

This was the view from the back porch. Nice, eh?

How was your weekend?