Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...

we have a few inches of snow and it is cold. School cancelled classes for a couple of days. You know the drill: snow+ice = crazy driving. But now the kids are back into a schedule that doesn't include 3 hours of Wii per day.

I am thinking...

about jewelry, of course. I have a new necklace I'm working on. Maybe I'll have it up in my shop today.

I am thankful...

for a craft room that can look like a tornado hit it. I just have to shut the door and "wala", it doesn't exist. I still want to organize it but I keep messing it up.

From the kitchen...

I'm preparing a birthday feast for a wonderful friend. (Then I'll prepare leftovers for dinner and my wonderful family. Two birds with one stone.)

I am creating...

a stronger me. This new business is pushing me and stretching me out of my comfort zone. But for once I can say it feels good. For so long my kids have been such a big focus for me. They still are, but now that school is a big part of their lives it leaves me with holes to fill in my own life.

I am reading...

(don't laugh) Us Weekly and OK! magazine. I find it completely entertaining to see what the stars are doing and how people take their pictures doing normal things. (She bought a coffee here, and went shopping here, look she carries her own groceries, etc.) I guess if I stopped reading them, they would stop taking their pictures. It's an ugly cycle.

I am hoping...

my water pipes don't freeze this winter. Some of the water pipes upstairs seem really cold. Or maybe it's my needing instant toasty warmness wherever I am. Maybe I should hope my marriage will survive through this winter--I want the heat up higher, he wants it lower. :) Another ugly cycle.

I am hearing...

my cat playing in the Christmas tree again. UGH! Don't worry though my great parenting skills are coming in handy and he has received many timeouts sitting on the stairs. (I should mention that he just walks away from me so I've started giving myself timeouts on the stairs instead. More effective.)

One of my favorite things...

SuNsHiNe. After a couple of days of snow, snow, snow, I love to see the sun shining. It really does make me a happier person. 

A few plans for the rest of the week...

I'm selling my jewelry at UHC tomorrow. Finish Start Christmas shopping. I'm saving my money to buy Blake a gift. Shhh, don't tell him.

A picture thought I am sharing...

I put up two photos to see which one I like better. Ignore my gimpy hand. These are the new necklaces that I'm working on. They are clusters of beads that are interchangeable on a single chain. I think I'll work in some leather cording on the chain for more interest with the chain. I made a really pretty "Amber Dust" cluster. It reminds me of my mom. 

Untraditional Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving started off in the normal way. Run to gas station to get the Black Friday ads (and a Mt. Dew), turn on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and just sit and ask the kids what they want for Christmas to see if it matches up with the ads. No such luck this year. No one was selling a youth compound bow for half off. Shucks. The untraditional part was that Blake was at the hospital all day on call. We were invited to other houses by thoughtful friends but without Blake it would seem weird. So off we went to the hospital with our turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the fixings to have lunch with "daddy".

They are doing some DX WWE Wrestling move. 

Don't ask 'cause I don't know.

We got the star treatment. We got a tour of the new hospital and the OR rooms. The kids had a million questions, I think I did too. It's a really nice new hospital and even though he had to work on Thanksgiving I am grateful for Blake's job. We have been extremely blessed this year with good health, good friends and family, and lots of happiness and love. Blake mentioned to me the other day that he was falling in love with West Virginia. I am too, but I think I can be happy most anywhere as long as I have my family and great friends. So I'm especially grateful this year for friends that become your extended family when your family is too far away. 

10 years...

ago was one of the best days of my life. I have a lot of great days so you can imagine how wonderful this day was. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we were going to have dinner with the In-Laws later in the day. I wasn't feeling well so we cancelled dinner. I think my "sickness" had something to do with being 41 weeks pregnant. Next thing you know...

This special little man joined our family. He was much more little then. Only a mother could love that face. He's been a blast and I've enjoyed seeing the person he is growing into. He is so into hunting and WWE wrestling. He cracks me up and helps put me back together by being such a good helper around the house. (Translation: He'll pause his game to take the trash out :) He is holding doors open for me and his sister and insisted that because today was his birthday that we should hold the door open for him. I quickly reminded him that gentleman don't take breaks even if it is their birthday. He giggled. I think even he knew the answer to that silliness. He still loves to have me around and will even hug me in front of his friends. I'm so blessed and am reminded everyday that 10 years ago today was a pretty awesome day. I LOVE YOU, LANE!

3 1/2 hrs. and finally RIC FLAIR

What? You don't know who RIC FLAIR is? "The Nature Boy"? Neither did I until a week ago. Unfortunately, my 9 year old son does. He is an "older" WWE Wrestler and because I am "Mother of the Year" I sat in a Walmart line for 3 1/2 hours so my kids could meet him and have one minute of face time with this "crazy big biceps" man. I even got my own signed autograph (which I used as a table protector for gluing crafts). This story gets even better when I tell you that I wasn't wearing any make-up and I was wearing very comfortable clothes (because I came prepared to sit on the germ infested floor of Walmart). Of course, as with all unprepared moments there must be a TV crew there and they just happened to interview the lady in front of me in line who almost cried as she spoke of her idol, Ric Flair. Are you kidding me? I felt like a caged animal- no where to run so I position myself right behind her and hoped the kids got on the 11 o'clock news but that I'd be blocked. Well, we got on the news alright. Stranger Lady, ME, Lane and Paige's hand. (Paige was crying that she didn't get on until she realized that her hand did.) Of course no one stays up to watch the 11 o'clock news... except for my friends. UGH!

Hopefully, I can download the photo off my camera. It's not working right now.

New News Alert!

I have been so blessed with a mother who can turn wheat into ice-cream, a wool suit into a beautifully hooked rug (dyed with kool-aid, of course), and raise 5 semi-normal kids while baking bread into the shapes of turtles, alligators, and snowman. Well, that's only the maternal side. My dad is a watercolor artist that makes nature scene just pop off the page (almost 3D-ish, not good for my vertigo). I know, right, they're amazing. Well, somehow it has rubbed off on me.  Not the "amazing" part, but the love of crafting and creating. I've been doing jewelry for about 7 1/2 years and I've loved it and challenged myself with new techniques. It all began when I had my baby girl. She just had to have a bracelet (or 20 of them). I've decided to take it up a level and open up a business to focus on my jewelry, watches, and anything bead-able (is that even a word). The new company name is Beaded Living and I have a new blog that will bring all my chaos together. To make it even sweeter for me is that I have two graphic design brothers. One of which begged to design my logo (coming soon). (Okay, I begged him or I was going to beg him if they weren't both so darn willing to help out their baby sister.) I feel as though I'm technically ignorant in all the computer stuff but I also have a SIL who is taking baby steps with me. Are you seeing how the star are all aligning just perfectly? I'm enjoying the challenge. Stay tuned and check in with the new business and pass it on. I think I'll even put it up on Facebook. Oh WOW, I'm crossing all my barriers. Watch out world.

New Old Bathroom

I have been waiting to show you our new bathroom once we finished it 100% but I just can't find the right green bamboo to put between the toilet and sink. If I wait too long the pictures will never go up. So, here is the before and after photos. (I think you'll be able to tell which came first--the chicken or the egg.) This is the main floor bathroom that probably gets the most use so I especially love the wool rugs that started the whole renovation. You know how it goes...If you give Jen some new wool rugs she'll want some matching towels to go with it. If she has the matching towels she'll want the walls painted to look pretty. When she realizes that she doesn't have enough paint for all the walls she'll decide that bead board is the answer. When she doesn't want to repaint she decides that the lights need to be changed. When the lights don't fit she'll realize that the ugly medicine cabinet mirror needs to come down. Then she finds the perfect mirror to replace it. But Jen wants the wood colors to match so she'll convince her husband that the whole vanity needs to be replaced. So when you give Jen new wool rugs she'll want a new bathroom to go with it. And so it began... and finally ended. (If you give a mouse a cookie... See the pattern.)

There are still a couple more finishing touches to put up but the main part is done and the faucet doesn't leak. Blake was handier than he thought and I have less patience than I thought. I wanted to start throwing things at one point in the project and Blake just kept chugging away. You know it's bad when I started to consider not using the sink and just having it be for show. But the leaking stopped and now we'll let you use it if you come for a visit.

Election Day 2010

In honor of election day I'm going to share with you Paige's Political Platform that she has been working on in 2nd grade.

What I would do to improve:

Education- provide more school supplies for schools.

Business- provide jobs for people that don't have jobs.

Parks- add more sandboxes and add more trees and plants.

Laws- give people enough money to buy a house and a car.

Town Pride- say the "Pledge of Allegiance" more often.

Can't tell if she's going to be a Republican, Democrat, or an Independent yet. But she's got her brain working.