The highs for my trip this week are not supposed to get below 43!  Do you know how lovely that sounds after a long Minnesota winter????? :)

Privacy Blog Rant follow-up

Well, here's my answer.  They're not all just paranoid.  

Did I mention that I get to see W in TWO DAYS?!??!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

My crazy Saturday

I was kind of nervous about Saturday. I had a TON to get done and lots of play dates, for ME!  I almost backed out of a few but my lovely mother told me I needed balance and getting out is good for me.  I'm so glad I did!

I went to a shower for a cute girl in my ward who is having a baby in a month. As a result, I'm pretty sure I'm teaching the girls in my ward how to make bows. If they only knew, I'm still such an amateur!!

I had a late lunch date with an old friend who is going to law school here and whose parents live here. I'm so glad we were able to do that. I don't see her that often-we figured it had been over a year since we last saw each other-but she is one of the nicest and friendliest people I know. She's one of those people who are always smiling and it just lifted my spirits to sit and chat with her!

I had another stamping dinner with Megan and Dana which was absolutely lovely!  I left little M with Grandma so she could go to bed on time since she didn't get much of a nap and Megan and Dana and I just ate pizza, chatted and stamped Easter cards.  They're so good at making cards that I was so excited they liked my idea enough to make some for themselves! I'll post pictures later but I have to actually use these cards so I can't give away my surprise for some of my family readers who may get one! :)

Oh, and I primed my kitchen yesterday!  Busy!!!  But don't tell anyone, I painted it this morning. I totally shouldn't be painting on Sunday but I HAVE to have my kitchen back. If we got called for a showing we would be so DEAD!!! So I needed to at least get my counters back!  I'll post pics of that later. It looks soooooooo good!!!!

Priming

And here's the new stove! I'm not sure why it didn't rotate. I'll try it again later!

We are hoping that painting the backsplash in my dark kitchen will help open things up and brighten it a bit.  I think it's gonna work!!!

My private blog rant

I don't understand why people privatize their blogs. Are they having scary people make scary comments or is it truly paranoia and worry that's motivating them?  I read a lot of blogs.  They don't know me personally but in almost all of the cases, I have finally gotten up the guts to comment on their blog so I'm not stalking them anymore. The ones I read regularly that don't know me are almost always because they're in the same boat as me: moms with two year old girls who are just figuring out this whole mom thing.  It's nice to have company out there.  I just don't understand why that step is necessary.  and I totally recognize that it's a personal decision, that's why I'm ranting on MY blog rather than my mom blog where I started to write this! :) I google my name and my blog name quite often to make sure I'm not saying too much or revealing personal information, and I don't get far at all!  So I feel comfortable with the steps I'm taking.   I don't find anything out that would reveal where I live beyond the state and where I work.  So I don't get why if you take a few precautions, you can't share your cute pictures and stories with everyone.  I get just as tickled when a new reader comments that my daughter's cute as when someone stops me in the grocery store and says the same thing-they're both strangers! I understand that people want to protect their families.  I understand that it's easier to say what you want to when you know who's reading your blog.  But you're posting it on the internet for heaven's sake.  For the whole world.  If you didn't want everyone to read it, you shouldn't post it on the internet. There, I'm done.  Now I have to go reveal myself as a stalker to another blog so that hopefully they'll continue to let me read. :)

mischief always happens when it's quiet

Cathy and I were touching up paint on Wednesday when I couldn't find Megan.  She was in the office, the dumping ground for all my kitchen stuff until I get the backsplash painted, making toast!

With ALL of the bread! I had throw out about eight pieces that she had stuffed in there, after having her fun! :)

Evidence of the Elves

The wall on the left used to be red and is now tan.  The wall straight ahead was the same color but looks so much better now!

This wall used to be blue! I loved the blue but the tan is better for people to "visualize" living here

What the red wall used to look like! It looks so good in the lighter color!

The RS Elves

I am the current ward "project". I'm convinced of it.  First, the young women came and repainted my basement after one of the leaders overheard that I was going to hire painters to just refresh some of the current painting and redo some of the more drastic colors to something more neutral.

Then, the YW president happened to be quite into painting. So, when she came to help prepare for the young women, she started walking around the whole house asking what I wanted to repaint upstairs too!  So, yesterday, while I was at work, they came and repainted almost the whole upstairs!!!

I had a large dark red wall that is now "gobi desert" or tan.  And the off white walls are now clean and neat off white walls. I will post pictures soon. My house is quite fume-y but it was fun to come home to a transformed house!

Now I just have to scramble to clean up so that Megan's play group can come from 9-11, the dishwasher (I'll share more on that too later!) at 11-1 and the YW president (for more painting) at 10:30.  I'm a mad woman!!!

Denial

M keeps asking me to take her to the potty.  She sits on the pot, fully dressed or with her pants pulled down, holds my hands, sits for five seconds, says she's done, and gets down.  She's practically wearing a neon sign saying, potty train me!  And I know it.  I just am in denial that I need to do it.  

Good friends

I have some great friends that are taking good care of me in my current single motherhood. Tuesday night, two girlfriends joined me for a lovely dinner while Gma watched the little one.  Friday night was a fun-filled evening with work friends, enchiladas, and stamping. Saturday night, another work friend took M and I out to dinner.  I am so grateful for the support that we're receiving during this crazy time.

And I get to see my husband in nine days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(sorry for the lack of pictures lately-i know that's why some of you read :)-I have been a total slacker on recharging the camera battery! check out gma jan's blog on the right for pics of little M)

cookie salad

So, I have a potluck tomorrow at work.  I don't like taking warm things to work potlucks.  I'm busy with patients all morning so I don't have time to worry about crockpots or keeping it warm, etc.  So, I decided to make the highly nutritious Cookie Salad.  It's called a salad and has fruit in it so it must have some redeeming value!  Right???

Cookie Salad

2 packages instant vanilla pudding

2 cups buttermilk

1 can crushed pineapple, drained

2- 8oz. containers of cool whip

1 package shortbread fudge-striped cookies, crushed

keep a few cookies aside whole for decoration

Mix pudding and buttermilk. Stir in pineapple, cool whip and crushed cookies.  Refrigerate.  Decorate with leftover cookies when ready to serve. YUM!

Prego commiseration

I just found out that my best friend in the whole world from high school is pregnant!  With her second!  Due two weeks after me!  How cool is that?  Unfortunately she's been much sicker than I have, but I love love love having friends pregnant with me!  Then you're not boring some poor soul with all your pregnancy brain and baby-focused thoughts because they understand completely!!!

I may be "hireable" after all!

I didn't mean to take a blogging hiatus.  I just figure I might as well not depress you with my loneliness!  I have discovered that, while I may try to convince myself that this is my current "journal", it will never be a true journal where I can pour my heart out.  If so, you would have heard some weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth this weekend!  The weekends are the hardest.  I'm the loneliest (not surprising) and I'm getting sick of not having an end in sight.

So... my sweet friend Megan came through on Friday and called with about ten contact names for me to keep on my job search so I can join my husband!!! Hooray for Megan!!!! It made my weekend!  And despite my feelings of inadequacy, I was a brave girl and called four places today and emailed one!  In addition, one of the places she mentioned, I had already applied to work at (a skilled nursing facility) and they called back on Friday and I just talked to him and he thinks he can get me as many hours on Saturdays as I could want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is perfect because then I don't really have to worry about the babysitting thing yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   And which means there may be an end in sight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More home cooking in order?

I picked M up from play group this morning and told her we were going to eat some lunch. She looked up at me and said, "Grandma Noodles?"

My Priest

I started a new patient yesterday. He's a Priest. He had the most calming influence and was the sweetest man. He has spent his life working with the homeless and with convicts. He asked me what faith I was, and then he offered his condolences and said he'd watched the funeral of President Hinckley twice! I was so touched. It was one of those sessions where I left wondering who was helping who. I was a little unsure of how things would go but I think I'm gonna like working with this gentleman.

A Birthday Fit for a Princess!

We started our day with yummy pancakes at Perkins. We then relaxed all afternoon and had a fun birthday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Holman's!
M trying to show Grandpa how old she is now!
She LOVED her princess cake (despite the putrid purple frosting!) and just sat at the table looking at it!
See? I told you she loved her cake! She tried to blow out her candles but didn't have enough steam! Next year!

30 Reasons

My sweet W turns 30 today! Happy birthday tweetie!
I'm so thankful that you are a part of my life.

I am in love with many different things that make you, you.

Your smile
Your eyes
How you use kisses as punishment
Your service-you help everyone-at church, at work, at home
How hard you work for our family
You freely admit that you have no fashion sense so you let me buy your clothes and you like to dress to make me proud
How excited you are to take care of our home-shoveling, mowing
Your love of the Gospel
Your love for the temple
Your unwavering faith
How you can’t not touch!
The massive amount of hair on your head that I hope our kids inherit
You know everything! You have an answer to any trivia question
You don’t know how to fix things around the house but you want to know and even though it makes you crazy to learn and struggle through it, you are slowly learning how to fix things
Your tender love of our little girl-how you love to kiss and play with and hold and hug her and how story time is for Daddy
The excitement with which you have approached parenthood-even the gross, yucky parts
I live in constant amazement that you still love me, even with my ups and downs and ins and outs and how frustrating I must be
You love to have fun-even if it means taking up skiing after years
You have a crazy love affair with all games
Your jokes-I make fun of them, and rightfully so, but you think you’re so funny, that it’s funny and adorable
The way you encourage me to do better everyday
How you wanted to know more about the church because you wanted an eternal family
That you wanted to have that eternal family with me
Your perseverance
That khakis and a polo shirt are casual, bumming around the house on Saturday morning, clothes to you
That you think I'm funny too
You like being the ward clerk
You love the Book of Mormon
You want to be a better person
You still love me even when I break down on the phone and want a solution to all the crazy things going on in our life right now.

I love you. Happy Birthday, love.

2 YEARS OLD!!!

My little one is two today! (Yes, M and her Daddy have the same birthday and yes, they share it with a groundhog) I can't believe she's been a part of our family for two years now! It's hard to imagine how life was before her! I'm so thankful for my little friend.

*you love to sing! I love it how you just start singing and humming when you're happy!
*you love to dance! You will beg for the music to be turned on and then dance around the house! so cute!
*you're learning to jump-you can almost catch air!
*you are totally in love with anything princess! "Pitsess" is the most wonderful movie, plate, cup, music, anything, you name it!
*you like to color and draw and trace hands
*you like to help get dressed and create some very creative ensembles! :)
*you like to play with your babies, change their diapers, feed them, rock them to sleep
*you love all things Elmo!
*you like to have pretty hair and are so patient everyday when I do your hair!
*you don't always like to get your picture taken but you love to see the picture on the camera once it's taken! :)
*you love to go to church and nursery
*you love to have princess snacks!
*you like to eat! tater tot hot dish, tacos, noodles!, cereal, milk, crackers, apples, pears, peaches, pineapple, peas, corn, chicken, hamburgers, mandarin oranges! lots of other things too!
*you are so good at telling me what you want-i get so excited when you tell me stories and answer questions and tell me what you want!
*you love to go go go! anywhere! you get so excited to get dressed, shoes on and go to the mall or the store and just get out of the house!
*you love your family! you love Daddy and me, and love to talk about your cousins and grandparents and see them all!
*you give such wonderful hugs and kisses! i love that you know when I need a hug and will pat my shoulder
*you are so sweet and sensitive-you always worry when I'm sad
*you are also so fiesty! you can scream and tantrum and go crazy with the best of them!
We love you so much!