Goodbye 2009

Last year I posted a blog on New Year's Eve with my resolutions... here's the link if you want to read it:
Goodbye 2008

Basically I had a handful of resolutions and hopes for this year.
1. Loose weight - FAILED!
2. Be more social - FAILED!
3. Contribute financially - FAILED!
4. Draw up wills of a sort - FAILED!
5. Sell our house - FAILED!

Wow! 0/5 I guess 2009 was a bust.

Overall it was a good year, though. No major health problems. No deaths in the family. We refinanced our house and are almost debt free. The kids are great - healthy and smart. Kirk has a good job. We have the basics, and I guess that's what's most important. I started a vegetable garden this year (I've wanted that for sooo long). We did a lot of things around the house this year. 2009 wasn't too bad. I will miss the kids at the ages they are now. I guess that will always be the case.... But I am also looking forward to the ages they will become in 2010. Four and two - what a handful that will be!

So I guess I should get to what my resolutions for 2010 will be... and in no particular order:

1. Loose Weight. Kirk and I got a Wii and a Wii Fit Plus for Christmas this year so I really hope that the exercise I've been needing will come a little bit easier this year. I am determined to up my intake of water. That one seems really hard when you need coffee all day to get through. Coffee plus all the water equals MANY trips to the potty. But hey, I'm a stay at home mom so I guess going to the bathroom 50 times a day isn't that hard. And spring will come soon enough and now that Logan is walking it will be so fun and easy to be out in the back yard all the time. We did it last year but it wasn't exactly easy with a crawler. So basically I have some high hopes of loosing some weight this year. I haven't lost any in all of 2009!

2. Garden Smarter. Last spring I started my first veggie garden and it was so fun! I loved every bit of it. (except the squash bugs and Japanese beetles!) But so much of what I planted went to waste. I planted things that no one wanted. I planted lots of herbs that I never used. I used my small space unwisely. This year I want to really concentrate on the things we will eat and work hard at producing the most successful crop I can. I garden organically, which just means no chemical anything... just dirt, seeds, water. It's as simple as that! But I did arm myself with a subscription to Organic Gardening this year to get some helpful hints. I'm going to use these next few winter months to really plan out a good garden. I'm sure there will be tons of pictures again this year...

3. Housewife Better. I am not and have never been a cleaner. I'm just not that into housework. Yard work is more my cup of tea. I don't like a messy house but I bet I can overlook a lot more than the average person. I can find an excuse as quick as I take a breath as to why I don't need to or can't get to something... I'm lazy, let's be honest here. I would rather play in my kids' messy room with them than clean it. BUT, I am getting better. Slowly. It like changing a way of life that I have had since childhood. I had no real chores or responsibilities as a kid, none that were enforced. So I want to try harder this year. Form routines. Break bad habits and form good ones. And I need to un-clutter. I am a border line hoarder. Nothing like the show on TV but I can see why those people get that way. I completely understand how hard it is to throw out things. Gotta work on that too I guess!

4. Make Time for Me. I need to make more time for myself to do things that make me happy. Having two young kids doesn't allow for this much but I need to insist upon the help from Kirk. Having a break once in a while does wonders (or so I've heard). I want to read more. I want to have more conversations with grown ups. I want to drink wine more, with friends. I want to have a reason to put on makeup, even if I choose not to. I want to have time to paint my nails, without having to paint my 3 year old's nails too. I want to get a nice haircut. I want to be more creative.

5. Be Nicer to My Family. I'm a bitch. I am bitchy. I have a short temper. I expect way too much of people, mainly the ones closest to me. I am rude and mean sometimes to people who I love. And I want to change that. I am who I am, so there will be no June Cleaver arriving as the ball drops... but I need to start paying more attention to my attitude. I snap at the kids and the husband a little too much. Maybe if #4 on this list happens I will be better at #3 and #5... I love my family dearly and I'm lucky my husband puts up with my crap as much as he does. And I'd like to keep it that way... So I will try to be not as much of a bitch as much of the time (hey, that's the best I can do... baby steps!)


So that's a year for ya.... Goodbye Two Thousand and Nine!

Child's Play

Logan doing his best impersonation of a lump on a log.
Sicky poo, holding his monkey and trying to open his crusted over eyes. What a sad little sight to see. Why do kids colds sometimes come with eye buggers? Not leaky eyes, or a clear crust that forms overnight... but green globs that ooze out of the corners of their eyes! It's gross. Nola is old enough to rub her eyes enough to prevent these nasty things from showing up on her face when she's awake but Logan just lets any old thing leak out. Babies don't care what ends up on their face. They just let it fly. But anyway... Logan is sick.

Nola is doing better and wanted me to take a picture of her dancing. She's got moves baby, she's got moves!


After Logan's warm bath, his eyes were doing a little better. Still red and puffy, but clean and open. Later, Nola was playing with a stuffed dog she has on a leash. She was putting it down for a nap, feeding it... then getting it in trouble for peeing on her carpet. There was lots of drama going on. I just stood in the doorway and watched. She was stomping around and huffing and puffing. Telling her puppy, "You have to go to TIMEOUT! And you have to stay there FOREVER! And you can't get out! And when your timeout is over you have to go look at what you did. You have to go LOOK THERE! AT YOUR PEE PEE! And then you have to say you're SORRY!" She was pacing and waving her arms... Logan was standing in the middle of the room just watching her go back and forth and looking up at me as if to ask, "What the hell is going on?"

It was really funny. Then she looked up at me and said, "Mama, my puppy peed on my floor! And now he's in timeout. So now you can clean up the pee pee spot."
Me? I told her it was her puppy and part of taking care of your things was to clean up after them. She said she didn't want to clean up pee because it was yucky! I said that it was only pretend pee pee, so she should be just fine. Made sense I guess, cause she pretended to clean it up. Then she got her puppy out of timeout and made him say he was sorry. Then she hugged and kissed him and took him for a walk (around the living room).

She got in trouble earlier today for coloring on the couch out of anger... She went to time out, had to apologize, then had to clean off the crayon and hug and kiss me... So guess what folks? SHE PAID ATTENTION! But I wasn't yelling and huffing and puffing at her the way she was at her dog, I'm very much over the niceness of my couches... they're ruined. I really wasn't even mad. Just had to put her in timeout for the lesson.

Well - both kids are asleep, Nola on the couch and Logan in his crib... I guess I should do something of a grown-up nature while I can.

Christmas, Three Ways

So - here we go.
Christmas, Three Ways.

Part One:
Going to the Husband's Brother's Ex-Girlfriend/Baby Mama's house.
Not sure what to say about that. I hope she can cook. I hope no Christmas pies go flying around the room! It will surely be a festive and awkward occasion.

Part Two:
Road Trippin it to Indiana. Husband's Father and Step-Mother's house. Maybe an Aunt, Uncle or Cousin sprinkled in there too. First road trip with the kids. Crazy that we haven't done it before but we always seem to have one excuse or another not to endure the hours and hours in the car with small children. This year we had no reason not to... so Off We Go! They have a Great Dane. A dog that could eat both my children in one fell swoop if it was so inclined. Nice dog, just enormous. And Nola is a little afraid of dogs. They also have a cat. Husband is highly allergic to cats! They offered us hotel room but the thought of spending Christmas Eve in a hotel room just didn't sound right. Plus, with small kids you have to go to the hotel room to put them to bed, then just hang out in a dark hotel room..... lame.

Part Three:
Christmas at home with my family after Christmas is over. The week after, or maybe on NewYear's Day. Plans are not set in stone yet. And we are thinking of having a very non-traditional meal (which is FINE by me!)

Then it will be over. And 2010 can begin. And I will vow to loose weight, quit smoking, keep a cleaner house... it will be just like last year!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

and for those of you who prefer:

HOLIDAYS!

Pork-Fried Lady Fingers

Whaat? Yeah, I said pork-fried lady fingers.... Guess what happens when you are frying pork chops and one of them slips off your fork and splashes into the very hot oil in your frying pan. The fork that you were holding just inches away from the oil as to NOT splash... Pork-Fried Lady Fingers - that's what!

Technically I may not be a lady... and technically there were no fingers involved - it was my thumb. But I burned the hell out of myself. The oil splashed up and left raw red marks exactly where it landed. I had a splash pattern going from the side of my hand up around my thumb. It's still mostly there but the pattern isn't as impressive anymore. I had several small blistered areas and one main blister right on the 'knuckle part' at the base of my thumb. As the rest of the burn darkened and started to fade, the blister popped... and now I think I will have a scar for sure.

Sorry if this is gross... it's just all I could think to write about today. Wanna see pictures?

This is about 8 hours after it happened... doesn't look too bad (and Kirk admittedly told me later he thought I was a bit of a drama queen with all the crying and whatnot...)


This is today, about 8 days after it happened.... Looks worse, hurts less.


But, I must say... the pork chops were really, really good! Not worth the pain and scarring... but a very good meal.

Inspiration Strikes Again...

The Ovation Channel ran a "Framed" series last weekend. It was several days dedicated to photography. I recorded all of it!

I'm still watching the shows as I find time. It's inspired me to try again to learn more about my camera. I should say, to learn more about photography. I know what my camera can do, and mostly how to make it do those things... it's when and where to make it work for me is the key. My missing key. I have a very hard time self-teaching. I am a bad studier. I have several books. I have a downloaded tutorial with assignments and all... I even printed it out and put it into a binder! I just can't seem to hunker down and focus long enough to retain any of what I go over! It's frustrating!

But alas, I will try again. I really wish I had the time to take a photo class. I do so much better with someone explaining things to me out loud, as opposed to reading them myself. And maybe someone who wanted to take one with me. I really don't want to be the only "oldie" in a community college class full of 18 year olds. For now, I will get out my tutorial binder and my users manual again and give it another go.

I think I want to take pictures of people. Things are very interesting - but people are what I love the most. Obviously Kirk and the kids are my most accessible subjects so I may have lots of photos of them in the coming weeks. I already started shooting Kirk today while he was getting ready for work. I think I may drive him nuts... Oh well.

Here is one of the shots I took on the fly:


Not the best - but I like that Nola was watching him shave. I would consider this a sketch of a photograph I would like to take.