Two Things...

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So, Trenty and I had a little mini vacay and we went camping for like 11 days!  It was sooooo great!  Even though I had to work a bit every day whilst there, it was so relaxing and so rewarding and sooooo needed!

So, while there we had our Maggie and Moosie with us.  Very, very closely, I may add, in such limited space!  But I love those three, so there was no problem with the closeness.  However, I talk to my M&Ms like I would talk to a person. I ask them questions and I bless them after they sneeze and I tell them secrets!  I had told Maggie something one morning and I started to laugh because I was thinking if someone was walking by, they would probably wonder why I was telling my child this!  So, here is a list of things I would say to my M&Ms but not my children:

• I am not going to give you a bath this week, you can wait until next week.
• I will take you home and you will stay by yourself all week if you don't behave! 
• Maggie/Moosie -- mom dropped crap on the floor, come and eat it! 
• Let's chain them up outside and go the marina for ice cream!
• If you get in the lake again, you will sleep outside!  
• I don't care if it is raining, go outside and potty!
• DO NOT EAT THAT THROW UP!
• Do I need to rub your nose in it?
• Get your wet nose off my foot!
• Maggie, stop licking his ear!
• Get away from my heater!!
• Moose, get out of her butt!
• Mama's afraid, protect me!
• Get out of my bed! 

I am sure there are many others, but these are just a few that were mentioned in the last few weeks!  

*

and....I lied.  I only have one thing this time!  Sorry!  I've said it a million times, I would blog every, single day if I only had stuff to say!  

XOXO

Two Things....

Oh my gosh, I have had such writer's block!!  I love blogging, but some days, I just got nothing to say!!  I still don't, truth be told, but I pulled some crap out of no where!

* My side of the electric blanket has like two settings:  Oh my gosh, that's too hot and is this thing even on?

When I first go upstairs to night night, I plug my phone in and put my water on my nightstand and turn my electric blanket on.  I then go and take my contacts off and wash my face and brush my hair 100 times (JK - I am lucky if I remember one sweep of the brush) and by the time I climb into bed, especially if the M&Ms were laying on my bed (and they usually are), it is rather warm or at least warming up.  I take my Nook from my nightstand and prop up a second pillow and prop the Nook onto the pillow, roll over and read for a while.  As soon as I have read enough (usually indicated by falling asleep and the Nook timing out and me startling awake, turning the Nook back on trying to read to the next break, but finally just letting it time out and putting it back up!), I put my Nook up and turn my blanket down.  I can't sleep if it is at a 10 - I used to, but I just can't anymore.  The night before last night I turned it to 6.  The next morning as I woke, I was cold!  My blanket didn't feel like it on.  I looked over to see if it had unplugged or turned off or whatever, but no.

Last night, after it was heated up sufficiently, I decided to turn it to a 7 -- obviously a 6 was not going to cut if for me.  I didn't even make it to the alarm, I was burning up!

It was decided, that I need a 6.5!  That should be juuuuuust right.

*  Speaking of reading...here is a little pet peeve of mine.  Super duper long chapters in books.  I think it is really hard for a thought to continue for 65 pages. Sorry. I think that somewhere in the midst of those pages, the author could have found a nice place to just call it quits and start on with the next chapter.

As noted above, I read at night.  I try to get to the next chapter, but if a chapter is too long, I can't.  I have to stop in the middle of a chapter and then the next night I find myself paging back a few pages to remember exactly where I was in the chapter.  I mean, I HAVE slept since then!  Sometimes in the middle of a chapter, the author will put a little break in there -- a new thought.  Really, shouldn't that just be a new chapter?  I wonder if publishers like tell them, "Okay, you can write a book, a short one; make it like no more than 7 chapters."  The book is 695 pages long, but 7 chapters!

I don't know how long a chapter should be.  I guess if your thought and the flow can continue for 65 pages, go for it.  But if it can't, there is nothing wrong with say a 15-page chapter.  On the other hand, one author I read writes like 2-page chapters.  Really?  You can't come up with a little more than that?

Okay -- the moral of the story(ies) -- I am obviously never happy!

* BONUS THING!!
Because my things are stupid and really have no contribution with day-to-day life, I thought I throw another senseless thing into the mix.

I have recently found out something new about myself.  I mean, it's not new, but it just finally put it all together.  I don't like meat with bones in them.

I love chicken.  If it is a boneless, skinless breast.  Don't feed me a leg ... gross, that has a bone in it!

I don't eat ribs.  I know, sad. It's not that I don't like them, I just don't like the bone in them.

Trent and I tried a new recipe last week.  The recipe called for bone-in (specifically) pork chops.  I, myself, would have purchased  pork chops sans bone. Trent did the shopping (as he really does a lot!! I know -- best husband ever!!) that week and bought the ingredients as the recipe indicated.  The chops cooked in the crock all day, smelled yummy and were actually good -- ish.  I could not get over the fact that they had a bone in them.  Even though, technically after cooking all day in the crock pot, the meat had fallen off the bone, in my head, they were still bone-in pork chops.

I love wings!  But -- you got it -- boneless ones!

When I cook a turkey or a ham with bones -- I take the meat that is furthest from the bone.

I don't know really when this all started.  But when I brought it up to Trent and Natalie the other day as I was thinking about it, they both agreed.  They know that I don't like meat with bones in them.  They had really never really noticed, but when I brought it up, it was clear to them that I was right (duh).

I have given this a little (really, very little!) thought.  I decided I don't like the crap that is around the bone.  Cartilage?  Tendons?  Joint fluid?  Bone marrow pigment?  The gross juice?  Extra fat?  And...are those veins?

I bet you never look at meat on the bone the same way again.  You.  Are. Welcome!

So....there you have my very bottom-of-the-barrel two (bonus -- THREE) things for this post!  Hopefully I will come out of this writer's block - but as far I can tell, don't hold your breath.  It's gonna be a lean blog year.  Hey --  we wonderful authors (LOL) can't be on our game all of the time!  Sorry...

XOXO

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens.
Brown paper packages tied up with strings.
These are a few of my favorite things."

I don't know about raindrops on roses, but these are a few of MY favorite things:

• When I wake up in the middle of the night and look at the clock and I still have hours left to sleep.  
• When I walk into the house and the M&Ms have not torn up the place. 
• When I finish a good book. 
• When I step on the bathroom scale and it has moved down a few pounds (or at least stayed the same).
• Climbing into bed with fresh, clean sheets that are all tucked in nice and tight. 
• When Trenty reaches for me at night while sleeping just to touch my hand. 
• Waking up and thinking it is Wednesday and finding out it is actually Thursday.
• Hearing a song on the radio that has some great memories attached to it. 
• Deja vu -- knowing I am on the right path. 
• Climbing into bed when my electric blanket has warmed it up for me. 
• Having a dream of someone I love and miss. 
• Bad weather outside, being inside all warm and tucked in. 
• Finding a great book just by chance. 
• Turning on the television and actually finding something good. 
• Waking up and not wanting to get up and start my day, but then getting up and doing a work out and knowing that was the right choice and the best choice, even though staying in bed for an extra 30 minutes would have felt so good. 
• Knitting something for someone who genuinely appreciates it and loves it. 
• Accomplishing a bucket list item. 
• Making plans that actually go through and work out. 
• A spontaneous thought that turns into a great day. 
• Getting goosies and knowing something amazing is taking place. 
• Looking into the eyes of those I love and seeing that same love returned. 
• Remembering  a song lyric after not hearing that song for a long time. 
• An unexpected text just letting me know I am loved and missed. 
• Seeing my children be happy and being the best they can be. 
• Returning home from the grocery store after really not wanting to go. 
• Clothes fresh from the dyer. 
• Thunderstorms. 
• A package in the mail. 
• New shoes. 
• Sunflowers. 
• A great song on the radio which compels me to get up and just dance. 
• Making a hard decision and going through with it. 
• My mom's tacos. 
• An unexpected call from my children, without bad news. 
• My sports team coming from behind for a great win.  

As I started this list, I thought maybe I could come up with like ten things if I tried really, really hard.  Then, things just starting coming to me.  Things that made me smile as I typed them.  I realized this list, though not infinite, could go on and on and on for a while.  The more I typed, the more I thought of.  One thought would lead to another which would lead to yet another.  

Though a few more than just a few things, these are some of my favorite things that make me happy.  

XOXO 

New Year, New You!!

Happy 2016!

I wonder how long I will be writing 2015 before it finally kicks in?

I hate the expression "New Year, New You."  Hate it!  Natalie and I joke about it around this time of year.  We will see people at Target buying sports equipment or new people at our gym or new people running with us and we look at each other, laugh, say the phrase, and laugh again.  A new year is a new beginning, in a way, I guess.  But, I don't think you should wait until the new year to do something.  If you want to lose 15 pounds, start today.  If you want to change your attitude, start today.  If you want to....whatthehellever, start today.  It is like resolutions, really...how long before you break them?  The ONLY resolution I ever kept was a few years back when I resolved to buying a new pair of shoes every month.  I LOVED that resolution and I kept it, all through the year.  Maybe it is purely my selfish nature, but maybe I kept this resolution because I got something physical out of it.  Twelve new pair of shoes...yes, please!!  This, however, hardly made me a better person or a thinner person ...maybe a happier person!!  All the other ones...eat better, be nicer, be more positive, don't be such a bitch, laugh more....blah, blah, blah...in a week I'll be yelling at someone for something minor making a big scene while eating a Snicker bar!!!!

I have learned a lot in the past year.  I have been through a lot in the past year.  I have faced things that I never thought I would.  I have grown as a person, as a mother, as a wife.  None of these things started with a resolution nor did they start with the new year.  Things were thrust upon me and I either let them get me down or I fought until it was good or I continue to fight for what I believe is right.

I am so thankful my family made it through the year with little loss and little heartache.  We lost my grandmother almost a year ago, but in reality, that was more a celebration of life than a loss.  We made it over the some hard bumps.  I am grateful to have the friends, who I have picked to be in my life, and the family, who, though not picked personally, belong in my life.  I am grateful to those I know I can count on and, though sorry for the loss, grateful to those who have walked out or been cast out of my life.  Everything happens for a reason.

I wish I could give credit where credit is due, but I cannot remember who said this.  I belong to a secret, private group on Facebook of Mormon Mothers with LGBTQ children.  Someone said this recently and I cried when I read it because it is me today.  It is how I live my life now.  And it is indeed regret for not living my life like this always.  This is my new motto.  This is my new outlook on life. This is who I am today and who I want to be always.  One of my Mama Dragon friends said:

I used to see things in black and white, now I see things in rainbows.  

I love that.  I love feeling like that.  It has little to do with having an LGBTQ child and everything to do with the kind of person I want to be.  I want to be a ray of sunshine, not a cloud of doom.  I want to shine bright, not be dulled and left behind.  I want to smile and have you smile back.  I want to make a difference in any way I can; whether it be letting the last piece of chocolate go or taking money from my pocket and handing it to you.  I want to support things that are important to me.  I want to wear my rainbow glasses and see the world as it was meant to be seen!

Happy New Year!

Remember -- New Year -- NEW YOU!!!!

XOXO

Carpe Diem

Just to brag on my wonderful, brilliant daughter for one moment.

It was Thanksgiving Day here at the ol' Wood household.  Trent had worked Wednesday night, therefore was sleeping much of the day, and was headed back in that evening.  Natalie was here and of course the M&Ms and myself.  I had decided not to do a turkey but a ham instead.  I really love spiral cut yummy ham so it was my decision that this would be what we would have.  A turkey, for three people, is far too much and I can't do that many leftovers!  Besides a few weeks before,  maybe like 6 weeks, I have cooked a great turkey breast and later that night, I barfed it up!  LOL -- I am sure it was not my cooking, just a little bug, but I don't think I could do turkey again that soon.  TMI?!?!

Any way, I had gotten up, not too early because the ham would not take as long as a turkey, but early enough to make some shrimp cocktail and some pink stuff and peel the potatoes...just easy prep work.

Natalie and I had decided earlier in the week that we would put the Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving Day.  Not a usual tradition around the Wood house. With Natalie's birthday December 4, I always tried to keep Christmas and her birthday separate, so we never put the tree up until after her birthday.  But I guess now that she is a big girl, that is not as important.  It worked out pretty great anyway because I had the day off and Trent was sleeping and I didn't want to shop (WHAT?!?!)

My mother called that morning and we chit chatted a bit.  I asked what her plans were for the day.  She asked what mine were.  We talked about her health and about Christmas plans.

Later that day as Jo and I were setting up the tree and decorating the house, we were talking.  She had asked what the Farmington family was doing for the holiday.  I told her.  A few minutes later she said, "You know, that makes me sad.  They have all that family over there and don't wish to spend it together and we are all alone over here and would love some family to share the day with. They really don't know how lucky they are and they don't understand all the time they are wasting."

That Natalie...she is a smart one.  I would like to think that it was because of me that she understands the concept of family so well.  But, I think it is just the way she is.   She knows loneliness.  She knows not having a house full of people.  She knows the yearning to be with family during the holidays as well as during times of crisis.  She knows that this may be the last Thanksgiving some are with us. She knows that there is just not enough earthly time to be with those you love. She knows to live life.  She knows the importance of telling loved ones they are loved, you never know when it will be the last time and your regret for not having said it one last time.

That Natalie...she is a smart one.

XOXO