Late to the Party

This horrific looking thing was my lunch this afternoon.  It looks utterly foul and really, when I first saw the recipe I was beyond skeptical.  Who in their right mind would voluntarily drink this?!?

Yes, I'm late to the green smoothie game, but today I did it--and, how happy am I to have done so!

It seems everyone begins the new year with their resolutions fresh in their minds.  They start strong and then, sometime around March, April or May (or, in my case last year, June) they begin forget about them.  But, right now, they're still at the fore of most people's brains, and so, I've been seeing recipes for "green smoothies" and "green monsters" everywhere.  I've even pinned a couple of likely looking recipes, and today, decided it was time.

This bad boy has:
4 cups spinach
1 T peanut butter
1/2 cup Greek style vanilla yogurt (I used Cabot's 2% lowfat)
1 cup vanilla almond milk (never have used the stuff before--it's quite tasty!)
1 sliced banana (I sliced a couple of bananas into baggies last night and froze them), frozen

That's it.  I know I enjoy all those items individually, but, together?  With spinach?!? Even while blending it all together I was still apprehensive.  But, Dani had tried it and told me it was good, and I have a tendency to trust her (who knows why...;oP), so I popped a straw in the glass and took a sip. 

And then, I kept going.  I think I drank non-stop, but I'm not sure.

It was delicious! And, not in one of those convince yourself it tastes good sort of ways.  It really was GOOD. :o)  I'll be having another one of those for lunch tomorrow.  I think it may be time to play around with spinach and the blender a bit more. ;o)

I've been diligently counting my calories and logging my food choices, and this guy packs quite the nutritional punch for the calorie trade-off at 377 for the whole glass.  I'm sure I could slim it down if needed, but why?  It works the way it is and I'm already looking forward to lunch tomorrow. :o)

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Sparklies:

1.  It was sunny and cold-ish during our walk this morning.

2.  Last night's dinner:

Country fried pork.  I served it with spinach and the next item,
3. Sour cream biscuits:

The girls and I shared a piece of pork, I had one biscuit and a serving of spinach, and I was full.  :o)  The biscuits are insanely easy to make.  2 cups of flour, 1 T baking soda, 1 t salt all mixed together.  Add in 1 16 oz carton of sour cream and 5 T melted butter.  Stir together and drop on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  That's it.  They were wonderful!
4.  I'm able to run just a little bit more every day.
5.  Being brave and drinking something that looks so abominable. ;oP
6.  My girls playing together so sweetly this morning. :o)

No milestones.

Oh, and Amy, before I forget, yes, my Baker Creek catalog is here and I've been drooling all over it. :o)

Back to "Normal"

All is back to "normal" around here, whatever that is.  Lil awoke this morning feeling much better (although she still didn't feel up to peanut butter on her toast as she had first thought) so we had a "normal" morning.

I got everyone breakfasted, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the downstairs bathroom (Lil vacuumed it), and got Lil's pack ready for school. 

And yet, in spite of all our industriousness and hard work, we barely made it to the bus stop in time!!  The stop was in sight when the bus came down the street.  Ack!  Thank goodness Ms. Maria loves her kiddos and is patient. :o)

Getting Lil out of the house was good for both of us.  It means she's feeling better--and boy howdy was she upset about missing school yesterday--and can return to school, and it means Ellie and I were able to take our morning walk.  Yay!  I've missed it the past few days.  The elliptical is rather like running on a hamster wheel and there's nothing to look at but the screen.  It's all rather boring, really.  But, outside is wonderful!  There are smells (not all of them nice, but most are interesting) and breezes and nips at your nose and sounds and sights.  Heck, I think the only sense we don't use when taking our morning walks is taste. ;o)  Well, Ellie uses that one as she snarfs down her Cheerios. :oP

All I can seem to think about right now is exercise and eating well.  That's my life at the moment and it permeates everything I do and is trickling into my blog life.  Yes, this is my journal, but surely I do more interesting things than take walks/jogs, eat food and clean my house.  Oh, yes, of course, I cook and grocery shop.  Right. ;o)

I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with something more interesting to write about, and I can't find a blasted thing.  It must be the time of year.  It's January.  It's cold-ish (if you can call 56 degrees cold, mind you) and the long slog to spring is upon us.  My mind is beginning to wander to yard work and planting and planning, but not quite yet.  (Although, I did find this beauty and think I must have it--let the planning commence. ;oP)

At any rate, I'm boring right now.  And, you know what, boring might not be such a bad thing.

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Sparklies:

1.  A Bean burrito:

Such big eyes. :o)

2.  Lily feeling well enough to return to school.  Yay!
3.  Time spent outdoors walking with Beanie.  I didn't run today because my knee started to hurt a bit, and running through the pain just didn't seem like a good idea to me.  I'll use the hamster wheel since it's low-impact on my knees.
4.  The sun came out after a long, grey weekend.  Hooray!  The girls will be playing outside this afternoon!
5.  Georgie Porgy kitteh pie: 

 He was just chillin' last night.  Look at those eyes.  He always has huge pupils like that.  I think it's the 'nip. ;o)

6.  It was still cloudy and overcast this morning:

No milestones.

Better

Bitty is feeling better, although she's still not 100%.  She is in that horrible, awful, I-feel-better-but-still-feel-sort-of-sick phase where she is nothing but grumpy and crabby to everyone. 

Beanie saw her sister lying on the couch and wanted to join her.  She loves to snuggle her big sis.  Lil wanted none of it and began carrying on.  I suggested she move to the black chair. She did, and so did Beanie.  Boy howdy does Ellie want to be like her big sister.  Boy howdy does her big sister get irritated with her.  Ah, families...:eye roll:

I ironed for two hours today (never put off doing something because you don't enjoy it, it'll just pile up until you have to do it and then there will be so much of it you'll be doing it for HOURS) and managed to keep the house fairly clean in spite of having two girlies home.  Of course, we also watched TV all. day. long.  One of the perks of being home sick, right?  ;o)

I realized another perk to being home with the girls.  Last night when it came about that Lil was sick and wouldn't be going to school today, I didn't have to call an administrator and find a sub and write sub plans and somehow get those plans to school, and PRAY my kiddos behaved themselves.  Nope.  I got to stay home and concentrate on my poor sick baby instead of worrying all day.  And, should she need to stay home tomorrow, B and I don't have to have the discussion of "Well, I stayed home today, you have to stay home tomorrow.  I have xyz thing to do and I can't miss it."  It's wonderful to have that freedom and to be where I want and need to be. :o)

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Today's Sparklies:

1.  Ibuprofen.  Thank goodness for fever reducing drugs.  When you top 101 and are chilled, it's a good thing to have.
2.  The girls cleaned up the living room and playroom beautifully. 
3.  Lil feeling better.
4.  An amazing Chinese chicken salad for dinner.  Mm.

No milestones.

Taking Care of Me

This is my new salt scrub.  I found a pin on Pinterest, I was intrigued, I did it. :o)  The jar on the left is about a cup of sea salt, a 1/4 cup coconut oil and 1/4 cup almond oil.  The jar on the right is about a cup of sea salt, 1/8 cup olive oil and 3/8 cup almond oil.  I added a few drops of skin safe essential oils to each for smell-good purposes.  I've not tried them yet, but I have high hopes.  My skin is a wreck.  I have a lovely condition called keratosis pilaris and I need to exfoliate regularly to help shed the dead skin cells.  But...I don't.  Of course not.  I'm always in a hurry to be done with my shower because there are ten million other things waiting for me when I'm finished. 

No more.  I'm taking care of ME this year.  I take care of my home, my girls, my hubby, and my furbabies, but so often, I neglect myself.  But, if I'm not in good shape, who's going to take care of them?   

So, once again I'm taking control of my eating and I'm exercising (more on that little revelation in a moment).  I'm flossing more than once a month (not quite daily yet, but I'm working up to it), washing my face every night (thank you Kirkland brand face wipes!), and doing my best to get at minimum 7 hours sleep every night. 

I'm important too!  I just need to remember that.  So, the exercise revelation--I actually like it!  I forgot all about that, and how good it makes me feel.  It's very easy for me to make excuses not to do it, but the thing is, it feels good when I'm done (definitely NOT during some days) and I'm always full of those delicious happy endorphins.  So, I'm making a point of taking the time to actually do it.  It's easy during the week when the weather is nice (i.e. not precipitating or overly windy) because Bean and I just hit the trail.  It's a bit more difficult during the weekends.  It's been cold and gross the past two days so I used the dreaded elliptical (who LIES about distance gone!!).  I MADE the time.  :o)  Knowing me, though, I need to make it a part of a weekend routine if I want it to stick.  I'm working on that.

I'm amending my New Year's goals to be "Take care of me" since that covers many of my original goals.  I need to remember that I'm not just a mom and wife and housekeeper.  I know it's a minor thing, really, but that salt scrub is a symbol for taking charge of my life once more.  :o)

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Weekend Sparklies:

1.  Holy cow this was the most divine dinner:

I made the crust, I made the sauce, I sauteed the mushrooms and caramelized the onions and grated the cheese.  It was unbelievable! :o) I'll be posting the recipes I used over on FYB tomorrow.

2.  We took care of "the girls" so Mom and Dad could attend Dennis's celebration of life.  From their accounting of it, it was a beautiful tribute to a wonderful man.

3.  Brien managed to fix the passenger sliding door on my van--thank goodness!  It broke and we didn't make it to church as a result.  But, the door is fixed now. :o)

4.  I found a wonderful and inspirational blog kept by a woman who has lost 125 pounds. 

5.  Lissie emailed to let me know Pandapas Pond is full of water once more.  Hallelujah! :o)

No milestones.

****ETA****
Well, it's official, Bitty will be missing her first day of school tomorrow.  I just put her to bed with a fever of 102.3.  She was chattering and chilled and couldn't get warm.  I dosed her with ibuprofen and snuggled her under her covers. She's having no symptoms other than the fever and just generally feeling pitiful.  She was fine this morning, and by just after religious ed, she was ill.  Poor Bitty.  I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow on the off-chance it's 'flu and we can get her some Tamiflu.  We'll see.  This is one of the times it really sucks to be a parent--you have a sick baby and can't do a thing about it.  :o(

Loss

A high school friend was killed Wednesday afternoon.  He was driving with his one year old son and was hit head on.  He died at the scene.  His son was fine. 

He was such a sweet, kind and funny guy.  He had his own small business producing custom drums and percussion, a perfect profession for him.  He was a father, brother, son, husband, and friend. 

I hadn't spoken with him since I graduated, but kept up with him through Josh (his best friend).  He lived across the street from B and his family in two different neighborhoods--funny how that works. 

I'm at a loss.  "Why??" comes to mind.  As does, "What should I do?  What can I do?"  Mom and Dad will be attending the funeral service tomorrow.  It's a long haul from here so they'll be leaving after work today. 


I tell you what, it's made me sit back and think.  We're in the prime of our lives, nothing bad is supposed to happen to us!  And yet, the unthinkable has happened.  It's brought me back around to all those lessons I learned from when we lost Hannah, all those things I swore I wouldn't forget, and yet, somehow over the course of the past four years have. 

Take nothing for granted.  You are only guaranteed today.  Send your loved ones out the door with a hug, a kiss, a kind word, and a smile for you have no guarantee they'll be coming home to you and you want to remember your last moments with them as wonderful. 

I'm afraid I was taking Brien for granted and this woke me up.  Sometimes we need that wake-up call.  I just wish it hadn't come in the form of Dennis's death. 

Pop Culture

As I've said so often, I'm a big ol' nerd who enjoys geek TV.  I'm sadly out of touch with all that is wonderful and amazing in the land of pop culture.  I get clued in through listening to conversations and reading some websites, but for the most part, I'm in the dark. 

I say this because I've been thinking about my post from the other evening about Lily watching the good "Star Wars" movies and the need to see them not just because they are enjoyable, but because there are any number of cultural references to them.  The same is true for "The Wizard of Oz" (which she has yet to see due to my childhood hangups with the terrifying flying monkeys).  Kirsten mentioned "Forest Gump" and I've been thinking that "The Sound of Music" is right up there as well.

So, my question to you is, what movies do you think kiddos need to see due to their significance in cultural references?

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Sparklies:

1.  This pony is too funny:

2.  From this morning.

3.  This cutie pie all bundled up against the cold and wind:

4.  Talking to Dani.  :o)
5.  All the websites blacked-out because of SOPA and PIPA.  While on the one hand, it's been a bit of a frustration (I wanted to make pitas and my recipe site was dark--ACK!!), on the other hand, these folks and sites are taking a stand for what they believe in, and I can't fault them for that.
6.  I saved over $90 on groceries today!!!!  WOO HOO! I did some major restocking and stocking up.

No milestones.

Teddy Bears

Lily and I had the most delightful conversation this morning.  She had brought Bear downstairs with her and had a carrying-bag for him as well.  She looked at me and said, "This is Bear's bed.  He's very tired this morning.  This is where he's going to sleep all day.  He's nocturnal, you know."

And, from there, something rather imaginative and insightful occurred.  It seems that teddies have a very important job.  They are to stay awake all night, protecting their children from harm in the form of monsters, bedbugs and nightmares.  When the morning comes and their children go to school, they are finally able to rest. 

Buuuuut, the big teddy bears are diurnal, like us, so they stay awake during the day to protect the smaller loveys. 

I like it! :o)

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Sparklies:

1.  I found this on my walk yesterday, so not technically today, but still fun:

2.  My George's bikini is showing!

3.  Okay, this too is from last night, but it was wonderful.  B lit a fire and all my candles, and it was warm and cozy and fragrant in my house: 

4.  Now this is from this morning: 

I'm SO blessed to have such a wonderful place to walk and jog.  :o)  I've not yet walked the same route twice and yet, I've walked everyday since last Monday.

5.  Also from this morning:

 Ellie is not very patient with me stopping to take photos so I have to snap them quickly!

6.  Ah, this sock.  There's a story here.

Last week, during one of our walks, Ellie managed to lose one of her white mittens.  I was upset and we walked home the same way (different beginning of the walk) the next day to try to find it, but to no avail.  The mitten was gone.  Or, so I thought.  I'll be darned if it wasn't waiting for us on a branch, waving like a white flag, rather like this guy!  Some good Samaritan has been lifting lost clothing items off the trail and putting them up like flags for the owners to find.  :o)  Needless to say I was delighted to recover the lost mitten, and hope the owner of this cute little sock is equally happy. :o)

6.  The lungs and heart are so happy!  The legs?  Eh, we're working on it. ;o)  I've been sleeping SO well!  When Brien's alarm went off at 5:30 this morning I could have (and most likely should have) gotten up, fully rested.  I chose to lay in bed instead.  Not tomorrow.  Nope.  Gonna get up!

7.  Happy Birthday to Gracie-Goo who is two years old today.  Time is a flyin'!

No milestones.