I must have blinked

Don't blink...

...your baby girl turns 6 years old...

...life goes faster than you think.

EMMA GRACE

Dreamer Dancer Decorator Diva

Affectionate Ambitious Artistic Athletic Accessory-wearer

Uninhibited Unabandoned Unique

Gorgeous Generous Gracious Girly Grape-lover

Happy Hoarder High-spirited

Teacher Ticklish Talkative

Extrovert Emotional Effervescent

Reader Reorganizing Rascal

Loved by us.

Happy Birthday to our Babes.
(a little late)

10 on the 10th

Hey look! It's been 2 weeks in between blog posts again.

And I am progressively getting further behind on the things that I would like to blog about but it's time for Mer's 10 on the 10th and one of those posts was going to be about the fact that I finally have some recipes (10 to be exact) added to my new blog, Good Grub. So, thanks, Mer!

And, since it's 11:03 PM, the kids/hubs coughing has been keeping me up at night, and I'm still feeling the torture burn of Jillian and her 30 Day Dred, I best type this out lickety split, schedule it to post and get to bed while it's quiet and the gettin's good.

The 10 Recipes That Had The Privilege of Being Added To My Recipe Blog First (Boy am I original.)

1) Black Bean Soup
2) Greek Pizza (Mer requested it and I delivered.)
3) Black Bean Tortilla Casserole
4) Amish Breakfast Casserole
5) Creamy Beef Enchiladas
6) Topsy-Turvy Apple Pie (Never said I was Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart.)
7) Chicken Tortilla Soup (I have one word for you - FRITOS)
8) Lasagna (If it ain't broke, don't try and fix it.)
9) Guacamole (It's a no-brainer)
10) Chicken Fettuccine (Paula "Butter" Dean approved)

Well that's about all my shredded fingers could handle tonight. So...

The suuuuun haaaas goooone to bed and so must I....gooood byyyye!

Until the end of time, my Loves, my Valentines

My funny valentine

Sweet, comic valentine

You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable,

unphotographable

yet you're my favorite work of art...

My funny ValentineS,

sweet, comic ValentineS

You make me smile with my heart,

Your looks are laughable,

unphotographable

Yet you're my favorite works of art...

Don't change a hair for me

Not if you care for me

Stay little, Valentines

Stay....

...my Loves, my Valentines....


Yes, I know I did a mash-up of 2 songs, and yes, that IS a bouquet of red licorice on the table during our special V-Day family dinner...cause that's.how.I.roll.

Time is tickin' away...tick tick tickin' away.

You will NOT believe what's happening??!!

I'm at home in the middle of the morning. Alone. It's quiet. I am only responsible for myself. And for the next hour I can choose to do what.ever.I.want.

What? You were hoping for something more exciting? Well around these parts, this is cause for celebration or, at least, another cup of coffee.

So I've been sitting here trying to decide what I should do with my time. I'm beginning to think that my time will come and go without me actually reaching a decision....but I'll have gotten to do it in peace and quiet!!


My options:

1) I could always work on my Read Through the Bible in a Year. Have I not mentioned I'm doing this? Hey, peeps, I'm reading through the Bible in a year....that's the goal anyway. At the beginning of the year several of my blogeeps were talking about this Read With Me challenge and I really felt led (or poked and prodded by the Holy Spirit...however you want to look at it.) to participate. My hubby is even doing it with me. I might be a wee bit behind, but I firmly believe in grace...and the grace days I get each month. And I won't lose a grade for not getting my homework done on time, so I'll just continue to enjoy the blessings I receive simply from just diving into the Word each day.

2) I could go pull meat out of the freezer in hopes that it's thawed by dinner time. And in so doing, avoid the frantic 4 o'clock dash from freezer to fridge to pantry back to fridge to pull out "leftovers" which consists of laying out all sorts of randomness (olives, cheese, spaghetti noodles, pumpkin puree...) and arranging it on plates in such a way that would indicate I actually planned this meal. Which reminds me...I meant to work on last week's menu plan...2 weeks ago. Darn.

3) Speaking of food...I could use this time to start entering our favorite recipes on my newly created recipe blog: Good Grub. It will be full of all kinds of good grub...someday. I know, how about I let you know when the Good Grub actually includes the grub, m'kay?

4) Yesterday I cleaned the infamous "corner" of my bedroom. I'm pretty pleased with myself and not the least bit upset that I had to point out to my husband that I accomplished this. Never mind that I asked if he noticed approximately 1/2 of a minute after he walked through the door.

Doesn't it look lovely? This is progress, people. I could have taken a before picture but didn't want to break the rose colored glasses you look at me through. Ahem.

I could use this time to take pictures so I can put these things that our family is done with on Craig's List and hopefully have them leave "The Corner" forever. But I think a better idea is to reward yesterday's hard work with some of these. What say you, Whimzie?:)

5) Perhaps my time would be better spent finally loading music onto Ruby. (Haven't decided on a name. Just trying different ones on for size. What do you think?) She's not an iPod, but she cost much less, is cute, and plays music well...which, after all, is her purpose.

6) I guess I could blog too. If I only had the time....


WOAH! Did you see that?! That was the time that just flew by. My house is no longer quiet and lunches must be made, but it was nice while it lasted. Thanks, Dad!

And there's always this afternoon while Emma's at school and Lincs is napping. Think I'll do #1 on my list....right after...

7) I could use my time to take a shower that lasts longer than 3.2 minutes.


...now wondering how many times I used the word "time" in this post....enough times to be annoying?

iLove

This is the post in which I vow this to be the last day I utter type the words vomit, diarrhea, mucus and phlegm. But don't hold me to it for very long.

Unless, of course, I'm asked a direct question. You know like: Hey, Cat, have you scaled Mt. Wannahockaloogie yet? Or: Dearest leader of the Whininites, hast thou parted the Phlegm Sea?? Then and only then will I allow myself to twitter, facebook, blog, text, speak about such dreaded words as these.

In one last ditch effort to get it all out of my system, I have a most important question. Why is there no iPhone app for this? You know like iMed or iDoc or iDiarrheaAllNightLong? Not that this technologically challenged family will ever hope to own an iPhone, but you know, just in case....

Oh and one more thing...vomit, hurl, upchuck, throw up, spew, blow chunks, heave, puke,diarrhea, squirts, runs, the trots, phlegm, mucus, snot (with or without the rocket), goo, gunk and sludge.

There. That should just about do it.

Now that some of you have vowed never to read my blog again, while others are continuing the list of synonyms in their heads, we'll move on to lighter and more lovely things.

Thank you, Coffee Gal, for the idea I'm now going to steal and tweak for my own purposes!

iLove...

iLove... that my 2 year old baby still smells like a baby. You know, unless he doesn't smell like one. You know, as in...can't say the words, remember? Just refer back to my most recent complaints updates on Twitter or Facebook. And iLove that (because of the you-know-what) I've had more opportunities to cuddle with him lately.

iLove...that that same baby says things like, "Mama, kiss me on my leeps." and "Why hello, Apples, it's nice to see you again!" and does things like this...

iLove...to hear my precious Emma say things like "I'm sorry you're sad. Can I give you a hug?" to her big brother even if he's being Mr. Cranky Pants.

iLove...to see that same little girl dance and twirl on her tiptoes on the basketball court when she's supposed to be playing, well, basketball.

iLove...the silly, adorable grin on my 8 year old son's face when he tells us the latest joke he's heard or made up (even if they make no sense). His smile and laugh are contagious.

iLove...the church family we are apart of. For on the same day that I felt like throwing myself to floor and having a good old toddler temper tantrum over dealing with the you-know-what for so long, a friend brought us dinner, followed by dinners the next 2 nights from 2 other dear friends. We are blessed indeed.

iLove...that it's looking like my boyfriend and I (aka The Hubs) will be getting a much needed date night tonight. It's been tooooo long.

iLove...this...
...and I might have a freak-out-what-will-I-ever-do-I-left-the-house-without-it slight obsession with this double-walled-non-sweating-20oz-AWESOME reusable cup from Starbucks.

iLove...that we scored this for FREE off of Craig's List last night...
so the kids could get more practice for this...
iLove...that my oldest son in his prayers last night said, "Dear God, If it's your will, could You keep our new basketball hoop up and working. That would be great. Amen."

iLove...that I'm still thinking about dancin'.

I may not have gotten hairapy or friendapy or footapy or retailapy but reminding myself of the things iLove is always good therapy....

And that app cost me nothing!

Forward:

Forwarded emails. You know the ones.

I used to, but now never rarely forward forwarded emails. I'm sorry, but most days I don't even have time for the really important stuff like Twitter, Facebook, blogging, leisure book reading, napping dishes, laundry, bathroom cleaning, organizing, DISINFECTING, figuring out which end is up. Ahem.

And confession: I sometimes don't even read the forwarded emails I receive. (Please, no offense to the sender!) Unless they catch my attention as something that is personally just for me or will be really good, informative, important, encouraging, unique, or side-splitting funny (Please keep sending those!) they don't get my time.

This one that came to my inbox yesterday from sweet Danielle was one of the "few". It's one that had never come before. You know, unlike the ones or slight variations of the ones that you've received a total of 157 times. And since reading it I have NOT been able to get the imagery out of my head. Maybe it's because the word "dance" is used and I tend to like everything about that word. Whatever it may be, I'm "forwarding" it on to you all, my dear family and friends. I hope it encourages and spurs you on today.

"G U I D A N C E

When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw "G": I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i".
"God, "u" and "i" dance."
God, you, and I dance.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God, as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.


I Hope You Dance Through 2010!"

Now you, too, can dance through your day to the sounds of Lee Ann Womack in your head.

And even if you think you don't have rhythm, I suspect that Jesus' has enough for the both of you.

Now dance away, dance away, dance away all!!!!

Oxymoron

Is it just me or is this an oxymoron???


And am I a moron for even thinking it? Don't answer that.

Christmas Preserved

Proof that my claim (from this post), of not even being sure which end is up most days, is true, comes from the fact that in that post there were pictures that did not belong. Beautiful? Yes. But that were taken on that particular trip? No. In my scatterbrained state I assumed that the pictures in my computer files that were right next to one another were related. We DO live near such beauty as this:

But these were, however, taken on an entirely different trip.

Aaaallrightythen.

Now, in my need to move on and blog about Christmas before it really IS Easter, I'm writing/uploading under the influence of cold medicine and 3 weeks of mucus and phlegm of which I've never seen the likes. So there are no guarantees as to what will be expelled (ahem) here and I can not be held responsible....or so I'm telling myself.

Since my words have seemed to fail me lately (or they've been drowning in a sea of mucus) and to save you all from undeserved mumbo jumbo and to preserve your retina from the crazy, random diatribe that might ensue...how 'bout I just go with a pictorial documentary of our Christmas season and celebrations, m'kay?

A picture really was worth a thousand words and probably was a lot less painful at this point for you AND me.

With these memories preserved (and essentially being caught up on my blogging) a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now if I can just get my lungs and head to feel lighter we'd be JAM UP AND JELLY TIGHT.

Until next time...

...when I most assuredly WON'T use the words mucus and phlegm....

...you're welcome.