Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A Companion Blog

I decided to create a companion blog to this one.

Why? Because I am a geek, that's why. Nuff said. (and maybe a teeny bit narcissistic, but isn't that what social media is all about??)

Anyway, the companion blog - Little House on the Freeway - www.houseonthefreeway.blogspot.com, will be my personal project tracker. What I've tried, what has worked well, what has been an epic failure and so on.

I clearly have too much free time. I should be studying, or exercising, or reading, or doing housework, or cooking (wait - I'll blog about that one!) and so on.... and so on....

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Thanksgiving.... the finale

Ok, so I did pretty well on posting something for every day before thanksgiving. I kind of ran out of gas there at the end (having a truly awful head cold did not help my motivation to do anything at all, except forge ahead), but I will wrap it up today.

Our Thanksgiving was a nice day spent with family, enjoying food and football. We got to see many members of my hubby's extended family that we really only see once or twice a year. We all live fairly close, but life just gets in the way.

So, I am thankful that a holiday like Thanksgiving forces us to slow down for a couple days, enjoy time with our family and extended family, enjoy some good eats and take a break from the Rat Race.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Thirft Store Gold!!!!



It has been a while since we have scored thrift store gold like this.


Behold the golden unicorn!!!


It is an awesome sight.


We just wish that we could have found its matching golden dolphin counterpart and have a perfect set.


(there may be a dual over who gets the put this picture in their office)

Thanksgiving....

15. I am thankful for my parents and that they are very well and healthy into their retirement years. They are now in their seventies and are so healthy and active. I often see folks 20 years younger than them that look at act older. Did I mention that I am ecstatic to be able to go home for Christmas and see them!

16. I am thankful for my doggie. He is crazy and messy and drives hubby up the wall, but he is the best, sweetest doggie in the whole world and he loves the boys soooo much and they love him too. Especially the little boy, he and the doggie are two of a kind. They both act like squirrelly Australian Shepherds, ha!

17. I am thankful for being given the opportunity to discover and meet my biological family and that is a long story for another time.

18. Preemptive thankfulness - I will be thankful when I get past this horrific head cold. this sucks!!! I have not have a cold this bad in a really long time and it sucks!!! Did I mention this sucks!!!!! (Oh yeah, I am thankful for NyQuil and DayQuil, too, and hot tea with lemon and honey)

Monday, November 14, 2011

Thanksgiving...

12. I am thankful for my children. I choose this for the 12th, because it is my oldest's 14th birthday. He changed my life 14 years ago and then 3 1/2 years ago another son came along and changed it again. They are my biggest joys and my biggest challenges. They are so very different, but then similar, too. Both of them are truly neat people and I look forward to watching them grow and become neat adults.

13. I know I've already been thankful for family, but now I am going to single out my husband. He is the most interesting person I know. He encourages me to push myself and be a better person. His diversity prompts me to conform less and become more diverse myself. And I really like him alot. He is my best friend. What more can you ask for in your spouse.

14. I am thankful for great co-workers. They are my colleagues and also my friends. We have had a couple sad things happen in our office this fall and it is amazing to see everyone pull together and be supportive of one another. It's nice to like the people that you work with and enjoy their company. It's also nice to know that they will be there for you if you should ever need them.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Thanksgiving....

10. I am very thankful for my health. This hit home hard with me today, when I found out a friend has been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. I take my health for granted and don't take the care and maintenance that I should. I will now!


11. I am thankful for all the soldiers, no matter which country they are serving for. They are making a huge sacrifice and I am glad it is them and not me. I am very proud and thankful for my husband, a US Navy veteran. He worked hard when he was in and served his time well. Big boy, who will turn 14 tomorrow is seriously considering serving as well, and we will be proud of him and support him fully, if he does!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Thanksgiving...

9. I am thankful that I get to go home for Christmas this year. This is a big deal, because my family lives in Canada and we would require 4 airline tickets, which is not a cheap undertaking. It just all came together well and I was able to purchase affordable airfare and have the appropriate vacation time approved at work. It will be so nice for my parents to see the kids for Christmas and for my boys to experience my family's Christmas traditions. Neither of them have been home to my parents for Christmas, ever. Niehter has Hubby. Snow too, hopefully! I can't wait!!!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Thanksgiving....

7. I am thankful for thrift stores. I find great things, save money and reduce my carbon footprint by utilizing thrift stores. We usually try to purchase second hand, before we go looking for new items we need. It works out well, for a fraction of the cost and almost zero packaging. Some of what we have gotten second hand - piano, heater for the garage, lawn mower, golf clubs and bag, lazyboy recliner, many books movies and CDs, a lot of our clothes, and toys for the kids.

8. I am thankful for cashmere. This is self indulgent, yes, but I love cashmere sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves mittens, socks.... you get the picture. So, now see above. Where do I find these lovely items. Generally at a good thrift or consignment store or ebay. Trust me on this, I'm not buying cashmere off the rack. It makes the thrift store find twice as sweet.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Thanksgiving....

5. I'm thankful for the fall. I love the cooler weather. Especially this year. It was a horrific summer and I was soooo ready for it to cool off. Fall is the best time of year in Texas. I do miss the color change of the leaves. That doesn't really happen here, but it is cooler with out the severe weather of spring.

Which leads me to #6.

6. I'm thankful for staying safe this spring!!! This spring was a spring of severe weather. Worse than usual. It is the norm to have bad thunder storms and the occasional super-cell with wind and hail, but this year we had tornadoes. Fortunately nothing as severe as in Missouri and Oklahoma, but for the first time since I have lived in Texas (and that is 13 years) I have had times that I was seriously frightened by the weather. If a tornado comes through, we have no where to hide, no basement, storm cellar, shelter, etc. We just can hope and pray that it never happens. It came close this year, but didn't. And I am very very thankful for that!!!!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Thanksgiving...

4. I am thankful for tuition reimbursement. I have an ADN, not a BScN and I have always wanted to finished that degree. I am now finally at a point in my life that I am able to work on my degree. Tuition reimbursement significantly reduces one of the biggest stresses about post-secondary education - the cost factor. I now not only have the financial resources available to complete my bachelors degree, but to also continue on to grad school and complete my MSN.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Thanksgiving...

3. I'm thankful for my creativity and ingenuity. My Dad asked me a long, long time ago if there was anything that I couldn't figure out how to do. Yes, Dad, algebra.

I am very lucky to have a creative mind. I feel sorry for people who don't, it must be a giant void of nothingness in their head, only to be filled with Jerry Springer and Real Housewives and take-out.

I love to make things and learn how to do new things. I like to figure out how to make things from scratch, build things, learn about new things and how they work. I am so tickled that I can now knit socks! I want to make soap from scratch. And candles. I have never tried canning, but would like to do that as well. So many things, so little time.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

November Should be for Thanksgiving...

I am a day late, but will start today. I would like try and post everyday, one thing that I am thankful for, during the month of November.

This will be good for me as I do sometimes dwell on the negative and I have no reason to. I am so, so blessed in so many ways and I need to examine this.

1. I am thankful for my beautiful, healthy, family. My two boys and my hubby. Lights of my life! Each one of them is special and wonderful in their own way and I love them all to bits!!

2. I am thankful for my job. There are times that I wished things were different. That I could stay home with the kids, or the I was doing something else, but the truth of the matter is my job allows us to have certain freedoms that we would not otherwise have. I also know that no matter what, at the end of the day, what I do makes a difference in other peoples lives. Not everyone can say that about their job.