when life hands you

When life hands you: 'oh-my-gosh-crazy-winter-with-snow-and-ice-storms-galore-and-terribly-cold-temperatures' .............you

  Make Lemonade!

First you take a lemon and you twist it and you turn it.

Then you take a strainer and slowly catch the pieces.

You can never have too many lemons.

Yay!  We are ready to add the sugar and the water.

Now we can play with the used lemon halves!  Under which lemon did Maddi hide the ice cube???

Oh, will the fun never end?

Seriously though, this was a wonderful way to spend some time on a cold January Saturday.

what a difference

between a 'sick child' today, and a 'sick child' a year ago.


Ellie developed a fever late last night and, due to the school rules of being 24 hours fever free (without meds), I knew she would be staying home from school today.  I went to sleep concerned about my biddy girl, but completely calm in knowing I would be available to care for her the next day.  

A year ago this same scenario would have made my anxiety levels rise and caused my 'panic mode' to engage.  Why?  Because last year at this time I was working part-time outside the home.  I was employed at a place where, when I wasn't available to work, I needed to call and find a substitute for my classes.  In addition, I worked with small children and felt guilty knowing they were counting on me to be there.  I would be stressed out, frustrated, and definitely NOT focused on the important need right in front of me:  my sick child.

I like to remind myself of these scenarios when I am feeling guilty about choosing to stay at home even when all of my kids are full day students.  You see, I still do not fully embrace the idea that being a mom, in the capacity I desire, requires me to have a job which does not supply income.  Somehow all of the definitions of the word 'job' or 'career' never include 'no salary.'  Those words apply to volunteer and parent help.  So, I have to sacrifice salary to have the opportunity to be involved in my children's lives ....... at least in the way I have defined for myself in my own self-created job description.

A reminder today to be grateful for the opportunity to care for my baby girl, without worry of letting someone else down or not fulfilling another duty.  This is TOTALLY enough for me and I am just finally getting to the point where I can embrace it, rather than feel guilty about not contributing to our family's finances.

POTD:  27/365

Now, if your will excuse me, I must go and find a spot somewhere on that couch where I can get in a little snuggle or two.

a weekly recap

or really, a recap of the days since Tuesday.

• The kiddos were out of school on Wednesday due to an ice storm.  I have lost count as to the number of 'snow days' in total, but enough to eat up too many sun-filled summer days.  Why, oh why doesn't our school district build 'snow days' into our calendar?  We live in Iowa, people!  It is going to snow ........ several inches at a time  ....... several times in a season.

• Due to the ice storm, school was delayed by 2 hours on Thursday.  I was extremely excited they were going to go, however, and didn't mind the delay.  I dropped them off, went to the grocery store and came home to have Jillian Michaels Shred my arse.  Then I treated myself with a nice, hot bath until the phone started ringing.  As in Maddi's ring tone.  As in it's-1pm and-she-should-be-learning-not-calling-her-mother, ring tone.  Dripping wet and hopping mad, I answered the call to hear Maddi say: "Come pick me up.  The power is out at our school."  Really?  And come to find out soon, the elementary school where Ben and Ellie attend was out of power as well.  Ack.  So much for catching up on things.

• Friday proved to be a success; with all the kids in school and the weather nice enough to get a few outside things done.  Like: chipping the ice off the sidewalk so the mailman will not fall and sue us, swinging at the ice-cycles weighing down our gutters, shaking the down-spouts to loosen the ice so maybe some of the melting water would find a way out, and sliding down the driveway every time I wandered too far out in the open.  But, success!

• And finally, paying for a day of success by getting hit with chills, aches, sore throat/ears and a fever for Saturday.  I spent the entire day in bed ........ sleeping and waking in sweat-drenched sheets ...... up just to take a quick bath and then head back to bed.   Thank goodness Dave was home and could run the show while I was away in weird-dream-fever land.

 

This morning I am up and about with the help of TheraFlu and my hubby's yummy eggs on toast.  I see the sun peeking out (for the first time in 7 days) and plan to lie with my cats in the sun spots as long as they will share.

rise and fall

(this post was written on Tuesday, however, not posted until Wednesday)  
 

Today is Tuesday.  It also happens to be the 'other' of every other Tuesday.  Do you remember what that means?  

It's 'Baking Bread Tuesday' with Ceesa!  On the menu today is Creamy Tomato Soup from the recipe pages of Panera, served with homemade asiago cheese rolls.  For desert, a piping hot loaf of white bread.  Can we say carb coma?

For our base dough recipe this week, we are following instruction from an extremely intelligent and famous source ......... YouTube.  Specifically, Connie Q's Cooking How to Make Home Made Bread parts 1-4.  Now, don't be going and giving Ceesa credit for this fantastic find.  I stumbled upon it all by myself, thank you very much.  If I learned how to cut layers in hair from YouTube, the bread baking tutorials must be fabulous.

Looking good so far!  

Hey, I never said it was pretty.  Apparently you must have arms of steel to be able to hand mix the dough with enough flour to avoid this sticky mess.  Little side note here, I left Ceesa in this messy predicament in order to drive back to my house for some more flour.  This is why you must never bake bread alone.  Far, far too dangerous.

While the bread dough was rising, we moved on to the soup.  Well, actually we stopped to rock out to LEGO Rock Band.  Then we ate some lunch.  THEN we moved on to the soup.  Ahhhhhhh, creamy tomato soup ........ I can taste it now . 

Wait, why does the recipe call for baking soda?  And, what happens if the milk DOES curdle?  Season to taste?  I doesn't say how long to simmer?  Why is the 'soup' pink instead of red?

Yeah, not so much what we expected. At some point Ceesa turned to me from the stove and asked if we could give up and 'call it' now.  HA!  This was what was left once the soup hit the sink.

Time of Death:  1:47pm ish

Plan B.   ALWAYS have a plan B

Really though, the soup was just an accessory to the main players of the day.  It didn't stand a chance against these gorgeous buns.

Asiago Cheese Rolls.

And last, but certainly not least; the one who started it all, the reason we meet on every OTHER Tuesday, the star of the show, may I present: (drumroll please)

Our big, bountiful loaf of bread.

Now, I must excuse my self to go and break it.  Then smoother it with buttah.

sweetness is

Sweetness is:  a good friend calling and saying straight up (before you even say hello); "Okay, I'll just come out with it .... did Dave lose his job?  Are you guys doing okay?"  Which, by the way, he did not and yes we are okay. Dave left his job (of 12 years!) at the beginning of the year and is now employed with a company in a similar field.  This decision allowed us to decide our fate and stay where we love and are loved by many, many friends and a community we adore.

Sweetness is:   a date night with my husband.  We went to see AVATAR, upon hearing it was a 'must see' in 3D in the theaters.  I was not thrilled at first, not knowing the story line or who directed the movie.  But hey, Dave and I had not been to a movie, just the two of us, since Cast Away in 2000.  I was willing to go see anything if it meant snuggling up to my hubby while enjoying some movie theater popcorn.  Boy was I in for a surprise.  The movie was fantastic!  Impeccably done in 3D, the computer effects were amazing and the story line drew me right in.  If you see a movie in a theater this year, make it Avatar.  

Sweetness is:  getting to sleep in on a Monday and avoid the morning rush of our school days.  This is the first year our school district has observed MLK Jr. day as a holiday and I support it 100%!

Sweetness is:  Ellie having a playdate/sleepover and getting to make Snow Queen Punch

  Or, a variation based on ingredients on hand

Measuring and Pouring

Adding sugar to taste (following pink food coloring and frozen strawberries)

The best part!  I used honey to make the rims nice and sticky in order to best coat them with the blue sugar crystals.

Not quite like the photo in the book, but very very yummy indeed.

Sweetness is:  including your annoying baby brother.

lame or creative?

My morning plans were derailed by an uncaring, monstrous good-for-nothing corporation who used to employ my husband.  But, I am so over it now. 

I should have taken the opportunity to clean the floors or tackle the bathroom or even wash the clothes.  What I really wanted to do, however, was catch up on some of my shows on Hulu. Since I couldn't clean and veg-out at the same time, I decided to come up with a compromise.

10 points guessing the name of the show!

Can't tell what I combined?

It is my recumbent stationary bike, dusted off and moved into the computer room, so I could watch my shows!  Yes, I used it (I've ridden 5.75 miles in this photo) and I even turned off the lights for maximum viewing pleasure.

So, the question of the day:  Lame or creative?

conversations with myself

Me: Girl, you need to figure out why you are having so many 'blue' days.

Self: But, I have always had my share of 'blue' days. It runs in my family ..... in the genes, man. I even take medication for the worse of it! Why do I need to analyze anything?

Me: Because, my dear, you are having more sad days then usual. Life is good, stress is kind of low, the kids are healthy, you are doing what you want to be doing; so ..............

Self: I know. Maybe I am not getting enough sunshine. It has been a cold and relatively dark winter so far this year. Also, now that I am not coaching little people to tumble I am not moving around as much. Come to think of it, I haven't even been exercising! And, I've been eating crappy foods! By gosh, I think all that might have something to do with my lack of happy cells!

Me: Now you are getting someplace. See? Self evaluations are good! What can you do now, today, to make yourself feel better.

Self: Book a trip to an all inclusive macrobiotic exercise and message spa in California?

Me: No.

Self: Call Jenny Craig?

Me: No.

Self: Sign up for a gym membership with a tanning package?

Me: Ugh. How about getting your arse in some winter clothing and go OUTSIDE your door and walk?

POTD: 13/365

Self: Okay, okay ........ I'm going.

craft-zine

While sipping coffee and browsing through my Google Reader this morning, I came across this image:

What IS is?

Whatever IT was, I was intrigued. I clicked in the link and found the full article here. Basically it is individual magazines folded up and hung on a wall as the backdrop for a trade show booth. Way cool.

Having a sort of ho-hum-not-very-motivated-feeling-a-little-funky-blue sort of day, I grabbed a magazine, turned on the TV and started folding.

Here are the instructions straight from CraftSylish.com. (Their directions and photos)

A pile of old magazines is all that's needed to craft this project. Experience suggests a magazine of 100 pages is sufficient. You're welcome to use magazines with more pages, but be warned, more pages means more folding.

Step 1: Begin by folding the top edge of each page down and into the binding of the magazine. Crease the page flat. Repeat for each page of the magazine. (NOTE: For demonstration purposes, I have only folded a few pages.)

Step 2: Next, fold the bottom edge of each page up and into the binding. As above, repeat this operation on all of the pages of the magazine.

NOTE: When performing step 2, we found it is best to NOT fully crease the fold. In the image to the left, notice that I have creased only from the bottom of the binding to about two-thirds of the way up toward the center "point".

By NOT fully creasing the pages in step 2, your magazine will retain a "fluted" appearance that not only adds visual interest but also provides a little "springiness" between the pages. This helps keep the finished pieces looking full and robust instead of flat and limp.

The finished piece. One hundred pages makes a piece suitable for attaching to a wall. If you wish to created a full 360-degree object, you'll need at least 200 pages in your magazine.

While the finished piece may look quite elaborate, a glimpse at its reverse side reveals just how simple the folds really are.

If one folded magazine looks cool, then two should look twice as cool. We at CraftStylish.com took this logic to the extreme in creating our Craft & Hobby Association Trade Show booth and folded 350 magazines and then attached them to a bright pink wall. We know how to get noticed!

And, here is my finished project!

POTD

These could get addicting ...... fast. I wonder how much of a fire hazard it would be to do a whole room?!

traditions

I am scared of traditions. Not any one in particular; just the thought of creating them. What if I forget to to it every ........ well whenever 'it' is supposed to happen. Will the traditions I create for my family live up to the ones I grew up with? Do I want to repeat my childhood traditions or come up with all new ones? Mix and match? I just can't take the pressure!!!!!

If I can't handle the pressure, then my family goes withOUT traditions, and that idea is NOT okay with me.

This year I vow to conquer my fears and create some things we will do in a repetitive nature as a means to remind ourselves of the occasion and being together.

In fact, I already have one such thing already in action. May I introduce:

POTD: Sonic for Slushie Monday!!!!!

In the beginning is was "Slushie Friday", but we had to tweak it a bit. Not all traditions start off just right and fantastic. Right?

It was the first Friday following the first day of school, last August. I wanted a way to celebrate the end of the kids' first week, so when I picked them all up from school I announced we were going to Sonic for slushies. Not only does Sonic serve some of the best icy treats, but they also offer 1/2 price drinks from 2-4pm. Treat for the kids and a treat for Mama's pocketbook!

I didn't intend for the slushies to be a regular treat. I figured the kids would know it was a one time thing just for grins and giggles. But then the following week when Thursday night rolled around, I found myself bribing the children with another trip if they would wake up without complaint and get ready for school ON TIME.

B-I-N-G-O. Folks, we have a winner.

I am not completely certain when our slushy day changed to Monday, but I do remember why. It had something to do with the Sunday night grouchies. Whining and dragging their feet saying they didn't want to go to school on Monday. Mondays were so looooong and boooooring.

I suggested we change our routine and have "Slushie Monday" instead. Uhm, it worked! The kids were thrilled to have something to look forward to and I patted myself on the back for such a creative diversion.

So, there you have it; a tradition based on bribery. At $.53 a bribe, however, it is worth the mommy guilt of how it began ............ out of desperation.

I hope my children always remember our "Slushie Mondays".

found

This post is a story about what happened to me today. I will ramble. You might want to grab a cup of coffee before you settle in to read.

Today is Saturday. A Saturday following 2 snow days and having the kids at home without being able to go outside to run off extra energy because it is too cold. Negative degree windchill cold. D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S-L-Y cold, as one of my girlfriends like to tell her children. So, even though it is quite chilly out, I needed to leave the house to shake off my cabin fever. Alone. As in, no children. Weeeee!

I am driving along, enjoying the lack of sound in my miniature, when I notice 2 little doggies running in the road about 50 yards ahead of me. This particular road is 4 lanes with a median, and very heavily trafficked. It took me a moment to believe what I was seeing and then I quickly looked around to see if any cars were stopped or any people running along the sidewalk after them. No one appeared to notice the doggies other than me, so I turned on my hazards and stopped the van in the right lane. Cars immediately began honking at me and several swerved around me in a pissy haste to get to their destination. I flashed them a smile and proceeded to walk along the lane to get the attention of the pups.

NOT the puppies in the road, but a close likeness

At this point I could see the doggies more clearly and they appeared to be Shelties, with one dog bigger than the other. I whistled and clapped and used my best high-pitched-happy voice to try and lure them to me. While I am doing this, cars are whizzing past and scaring the pups. I was terrified they were going to get spooked and bolt into the other lane when a black car slowed down and pulled in front of me, blocking the doggies in between us. A women got out of her car and started walking towards me. This cause the pups to bolt towards me and I quickly grabbed up the bigger of the two. The woman walked up slowly and gently picked up the smaller doggie and walked with me to put them inside my van.

The poor puppies were so cold they has ice balls frozen to their muzzles and eyelashes! It wasn't more than 5 degrees at the time, and come to find out later these two were a mile away from home.

I thanked the woman who helped me and told her I would look at their tags and try to contact their owners. Once back at the wheel, I pulled over into a shopping center parking lot so I could get a better look at the pair of escapees. "Willis" had a tag with his phone number and address, along with an up to date rabies tag, so I knew they were loved and well cared for. I called the number on the tag and a shaky female voice answered:

Owner: "He-llo"

Me: "Hi, are you missing two ....."

Owner: interrupting "Yes! yes! Oh yes! (tears in her voice) Do see see them? Where are they?"

Me: "I have them in my car and they are just fine. I have your address; can I just swing by?"

Owner describes location about a mile away and I drive over. While I am driving, the bigger of the 2 Shelties jumps up into my lap and starts licking my face. At this point I have tears in my eyes from thinking about what could have happened to the sweet pups. I pull up into he driveway and a woman who appears to be in her late 50's comes running out the front door:

Owner: "Oh my gosh. I can't believe .....(she puts her face in her hands).... I should have known when ...... here. Let me take Willis (snaps on a leash) and I'll carry the other one in my arms. I'm going to run them inside and I'll be right back."

Me: "No problem, I'll wait." I am feeling so bad for this woman right now. Tears were icing up on her face yet she was smiling a mile wide at her 'babies' coming home.

Owner: Comes back out of the house with a polka dot gift bag and shoves it at me through the window. "Thank you for finding them and bringing them home! Where were they? I let them out back earlier and I stepped away from the window for just a minute. I have to watch them because they got out of the yard yesterday. The snow drifts are high enough for them to jump the fence! My husband was getting ready to go out and shovel the drifts down, but it was too late! Oh, my gosh. Thank You."

I explained to the owner where I had seen them. They had to have run through the neighborhood, crossed a busy road and turned the corner to the main street. Once there, they just ran together along the road to stay out of the snow drifts on the sidewalk. The owner was clearly shaken, so I just told her I was happy I was there and could bring them home to her.

I pulled out of the driveway and as I was turning to drive away, a rather big black Bronco pulled up with a man waving vigorously at me. I could see his molars he was smiling so huge. I assumed he was the other owner and I gave him a quick wave and drove away.

Then I cried.

Then I called my husband and told him the whole story.

Then I cursed myself for not getting a picture of the two cuties. Maybe I should have gone back to the house to ask them for a photo, but I thought they had been through enough drama for one day. Don't need to add a crazy camera-wielding woman to the mix. It's okay, though ......... at least I could come home and blog about it.

Oh, and I did take a picture of the gift bag and yummy smelling candle inside. I posted it on the sidebar with my other Project Life photos.

Which makes me think; the owner had to be a pretty nice person if she keeps cute bags and candles around for 'on the fly' gifting. Either that or her little mischievous darlings bust out of the fence pretty often. HeHe

open letter to break bread

love this:

found here

saying goodbye is the hardest thing to do .....

It is, however, completely necessary in this situation. I'm sorry ...... truly remorseful. What am I to do? You are a mere 5 Mega Pixels and you are loosing your ability to focus! I need consistency in a camera. When a photo opportunity arises, I need to know you will be up to the task of capturing the moment. It's not your fault, I know. You are old. Ancient really. In the world of digital cameras you are practically an antique! You have performed magnificently for me in the past, but I need a camera who is ........ well ........ blog worthy.




I wish I had photo of you when you were younger, but you were busy behind the scenes. I made you a one-of-a-king camera strap to show you I know how important you are. True, I once set you carelessly down on a horse trailer while I grabbed my purse .............. oh the horror is almost too much for me to recall ............... and Beau the horse came over and nibbled off your setting's dial. I am so sorry about that. I did save you from certain death, however, by slapping away Beau's sweet muzzle. And look! You continued to serve me, sans dial, for FOUR additional years! If that doesn't prove my dedication and love to you I don't know what will.

Sweet Sony, I bid you adieu. Auf wiedersehen. Ciao.
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Move over baby and make room for baby Canon.

She is TWICE the MP's you ever were. Sure, she is tiny. but look how pretty she is! In fact, I am going to make her a pretty little case to stay warm and protected while she bounces around in my purse. Yep, right next to my iTouch and cell phone; this little thing is going places with me. In fact, I purposefully bought her to be mobile. On the fly. Ready at a moments notice to fire up and snap away! She is the wings beneath my Project Life: 365 photos in 2010.

Now, this camera is NOT my dream camera. Not even close. In tough economic times you have to make tough decisions! I needed a camera I could depend on, small enough to toss in my purse and cute enough to make my friends go "awwwwwww".

Someday I will be taking the plunge and purchasing a Digital SLR camera. For now, however, my little orange Canon will have to step up and be everything I need her to be.

Now I must step back into my day, another snow day with the kiddos home, and get to crafting.

breaking bread on tuesdays

I have this friend, Ceesa, who I meet with for 'coffee' on every other'ish' Tuesday morning. It all began this Fall when both of our youngest entered Kindergarten. We were both sad and excited, anxious and elated, grounded and lost ......... all at the same time. Meeting bi-weekly for 'coffee' would give us an opportunity to catch up and compare notes since our boys happened to be placed in the same classroom.

Several 'coffee' dates have passed now and we have transformed from sipping coffee and chatting, to playing a few games on the Wii, to setting goals and asking one another to be our accountability partner.

Early on we chose to meet in each others home. Not only is it more comfortable, but it would also save the $4 tab on overpriced coffee drinks. Now we can have seconds and not worry about being indulgent ....... or, AS indulgent.

We may not solve the world's problems, but we are chipping away at a similar goal: to be a better 'Mom.' Neither of us wants to settle for being good enough; or just getting the job done. We want to be better than we think we can be. Not for the sake of striving for perfection or searching for accolades ..... no, no. Being better for the purpose of wanting to learn/do/make/be more so at the end of the day we have honored God.

Today, 'Coffee Tuesday', we took another step forward by stepping back to a time when women who stayed at home baked bread. Daily. As in every single morning they woke up and gathered the ingredients together to make a fresh loaf of bread for their family. Tweeking methods and altering ingredients for variety, but sticking to the same basic principle of a daily loaf of bread.

No bread machines or pre-packaged mixes for us. Nope. Just basic ingredients and moderate (sorry Ceesa) cooking skills. We also decided to make a double batch of soup to accompany our bread. We selected a minestrone soup from a Olive Garden cheater recipe found online. Ceesa ran to the grocery store while I killed the first batch of yeast ......... well sort of. I called a resident bread baking expert and followed her advice of warming it up in the oven. Tada! The yeast has been revived! Oh well. Trial and error? Practice makes perfect?

All I know is my kitchen smells delicious, dinner is done and I still had plenty time for 'coffee' with Ceesa. Who knows where this will all go; although we have plans to make a different bread every time we meet. By the end of the year we should be baking and breaking bread with the best of the bakers.

Our hearts full, families fed and soul nourished. Who knew 'coffee' could provide so much?

POTD: Rolls, Bread and Minestrone

hot diggidy dog

The kids have returned to school! Even though this winter break was the shortest we've had, (seven and a half school days) it has felt like a month. I was starting to wonder how I was ever going to survive the upcoming summer break when it hit me: WE CAN GO OUTSIDE IN THE SUMMER! Major selling point.

Sure we can go outside in the winter, but it's .......... different.

First we have to spend 20 minutes searching the house for coats, hats, gloves, scarves, snow pants and boots; even though all of the outdoor gear SHOULD be in the laundry room where I told everyone to put them.

Once geared up (another 10 minutes) someone will need to strip back down and use the potty.

Finally outside, someone will fall, or be pushed down, on the ice.

Someone else will try to eat some snow, freezing their lips and wetting their mittens in the process.

Then, somebody will throw a snowball at their sibling, causing tears to form and freeze to her eyelids.

Five full minutes of peace will go by and during that time I had better be heating the milk for hot cocoa and searching the cupboards for mini marshmallows.

The door will fly open with all three kids scrambling to get in 'first' followed by a flurry icy/snowy/wet clothes flying through the air.

Someone will, with their socked feet, step in a pool of melted snow and squeal with disgust.

One hour has passed and my red-cheeked, runny nosed children are at the table sipping their too hot chocolate while holding a contest to see who can stuff the most mini marshmallows into their mouth.

Meanwhile, I need to clean up the kitchen, mop the dirty floors, hang up the wet clothes to dry, resuscitate child who stuffed TOO many mallows in his mouth and call my friend to make certain I am not the only one experiencing heart palpitations.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, winter break. You will not be missed.

Picture of the Day (POTD)


I am behind the camera saying: "C'mon, let's get a movin! Wouldn't want school to start without ya. HaHa. Mama has sooooo much to do today; can't be late!"

fresh starts

What do you think of my new look for this space? I followed a Picasa tutorial and made up my own header. Fresh start for 2010!

Oh, and I am just going to pretend I haven't been M.I.A. from here since mid-November. I will just begin again, Finnegan. Fresh start for 2010!

I did not complete my goal of 29 gifts in 29 days, as the holiday season sneaked up behind me and smacked me upside the head. WooWee, 3 kiddos in school (activities, parties, concerts) equals one busy season. Fresh start for 2010!

Recap For the Holiday Season:

The holidays were fantastic and once again, I am happy to report we survived it all without any loss of limbs. The weather welcomed winter with over 25 inches of snow, giving us a truly White Christmas. Dave and I have spent many moments together clearing paths for our cars, mailman and sidewalk-using companions. Couples who shovel together, stay together!

Fate brought us a new 'fur' member to the family on December 15th. Dave went out to the garage for something and he heard a loud wail coming from under his workbench. Hoping it was a kitten and not a possum, Dave stuck his tuna-smeared hand under the bench. Something latched on to Dave's finger with it's sharp little teeth and allowed itself to be 'pulled' to safety. Dave walked in the house with a little grey and white kitten wrapped up in a towel, thank goodness not a possum. The children immediately shrieked, "Oh, it is soooooo cute ........ can we keep it, Mom?" I whisked the scrappy little thing from hubby's hands, grabbed the heating pad and snuggled up deep in blankets on the couch. Two hours and one warmed up kitty later, Alice officially became a member of the family. We love her and she loves us, but our 17 year old cat, George, is not feeling the same sense of adoration and warm fuzzies.

I mean, really. How can you not love this face?!

My final update for the day will be telling you about my newest blog goal. I seem to operate best when under the pressure cooker of a deadline. This one is going to like a slow pressure cooker ........ all year long, in fact. I just know I will be so happy when I am sitting at my computer the first of January of next year and get to go through my COMPLETED project and ooooh and awwww over the fantasticness of it. Ready?

Project Life: 365 photos, one taken every day during 2010.

I cannot remember where I first read about the project/concept, although it was probably Blue Bird Baby minus the 'self portrait' part of the deal. Then I found Becky Higgins and her Project Life kit to go take your 365 photos and actually DO something fun with the results. I have yet to purchase the kit, as I want to see how far I get through the year before committing to a purchase; not that I don't have complete and utter faith in myself to complete the 365 days of life photos. Nope, I'm gonna make it happen. This challenge is right up my alley. I even put a separate link in my sidebar so you can follow along with my progress. Because I am NOT going to blog everyday, for like 365 days in a row. Nuh, uh. Too big of a commitment. I WILL take a photo everyday, but I give myself permission to save up a few days and post them all at once. I pinkie swear I won't cheat and take several photos in one harried moment, post them and then pretend I took one each day. No cheating. Period.

My fingers are now frozen because the computer is in the basement and our basement is cold because the temperature outside is -4 degrees. So I will sign off with: Fresh start for 2010!