Blahg

In case you haven't noticed, I've been feeling blah about the blog lately. It's certainly not been for lack of blogging material; it seems to have been more of a motivation issue.

Today, however, I woke up feeling bloggy instead of blahgy. Yay! Here's some of what we've been up to.

It's officially SUMMER at mi casa. We're only a few days into it, but so far it's been good!!!

Will finished middle school last week. In a few short months, he will be a freshman in high school. That's hard to wrap my mind around! He had a pretty big week last week. He was confirmed at our church (that's another blog post that I want to write this week) and then he "graduated" from 8th grade. John took him and some of his best buds to Elitch Gardens last weekend to celebrate. He had a blast and it was a fun way for him to kick off the summer!

I keep saying it's summer but our weather hasn't gotten that memo. We've had a few nice days mixed in with some cold, rainy weather. It even snowed (briefly) one day last week! It was in the 40s yesterday so we stayed home and cleaned out closets. I hadn't packed away the kids' winter clothes so we tackled that and deep-cleaned everyone's bedrooms. I love starting summer with a clean/purged house. The girls' room was a DISASTER. I don't know about your kids but those girls of mine are packrats. I ended up with two huge trashbags of stuff after tackling their room. I save very little and I'm definitely not a clutter person. I'm at a loss as to how to help them tame the mess monster...I'm just hoping and praying they outgrow the need to save every piece of paper and craft they've ever made. 

We're going to watch the Thunderbirds with some friends later. Today is the US Air Force graduation and the Thunderbirds always perform after the ceremony. We're going to pack lunch, secure a good viewing spot, and just enjoy. We usually get to watch them practice for a few days before graduation (they fly right over our house!) but the weather has been so weird lately that they haven't been out as much. I never get tired of watching them...it's seriously one of my favorite things about living here! 

Okay, changing subjects. I'm on a super restricted diet right now because of a recurrent health issue. I quit drinking coffee (cold turkey--yikes!) and am feeling much MUCH better. I also cut out all sugar (this temporarily includes fruit), white flour, gluten, dairy, fermented products, starchy veggies, and artificial sweeteners. I was desperate for relief and after talking to a lady at my health food store I followed her diet recommendations and did all this cold turkey. I don't recommend that. I've had to figure out exactly what I COULD eat on the fly. I've sorta found my groove now (today is Day 12) and am feeling fantastic! It took a while though; last week was R-O-U-G-H. I can basically eat veggies, meat, eggs, almonds, quinoa, and brown rice. I have almost two weeks under my belt and need to go about two more after that and then re-introduce things back into my diet gradually. It's basically a cleanse for a yucky infection that isn't pleasant to talk about. The good news is that my symptoms disappeared almost immediately once I eliminated all those foods! If you're just dying to know more, email me and I'll give you the lowdown. 

Alrighty. This is longer than I expected so I'm signing off for now. Happy Hump Day, peeps.

Short + Linky = Slinky

Just wanted to share a few links...

This post of Gretchen's made me laugh out loud.

So did this one by Angie.

I really want to copy Beth and let the girls make one of these in the next few weeks. SO cute! 

I tried this recipe--cheeseburger macaroni-- a few weeks ago and it was really good and super easy. It's back on the menu plan for this week. I think that cheese sauce might be perfect for homemade mac and cheese! 

Speaking of delicious food, I'm loving this stuff these days...the classic almond on brown rice cakes. I'm on a super restrictive diet right now (no cheeseburger macaroni for me. sigh). Not because I want to be but because some health issues have forced my hand. More on that soon...

Something wonderful happened during my unintentional blog break last week. Four months after her stroke, Joanne, got to leave the rehab hospital for good!!! She's been home for almost a week! Her sister wrote this heartfelt post yesterday...she's come so far, but she still needs much prayer as she and her family find their new normal.

Today is the-next-to-last day-of-school-for-us-day! Seems wrong to be sending my kids to school in long pants and heavy jackets but (sigh) that's my reality. Peace out, peeps!

Pondering...

Hello, blog peeps. It's been awhile.

I'm alive and well and surviving the last week of school. Did you catch that? This is our LAST week of school. I am so ready for some long and lazy days with my kiddos at home. They are ready too.

Life has been good lately. Very good, actually. Very good, but yet hard. Good and hard seem almost inseparable sometimes.

While it's been quiet here on "the blog", it hasn't been quiet in my head. I've been pondering (i really love that word)...relationships...words...life...and other weighty things. Pondering has given way to clarity. Some clarity that I really needed. Seems I see and hear better when I take a break from some of the noise in my life. I think I feel ready to step back into the noise. Well, maybe not today, but tomorrow. Yes, definitely tomorrow.

Saturday Confessions III

Have a fun and super busy day ahead but I have a few things I need to confess:

:::I've been a total laundry slacker lately. If it weren't for my husband, I'm afraid we'd have no clean clothes to wear. Zip, zilch, nada. John is responsible for 98% of all the laundry that has been done lately. Thank you, J.

:::Because of my extreme laziness in the laundry room, I had to get creative and "make" a short sleeve white t-shirt to wear under a sweater last week (both of my others were dirty!!!) I cut the sleeves off of one of my long-sleeved tees. The result? Jagged, uneven sleeves that are oh-so UNclassy, and yet perfect because they are unseen when worn under a sweater. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have tried to cut the sleeves AND talk on the phone at the same time. 

:::Last night at Bunco, I dropped a jellybean on the floor. My friend, picked it up and we laughed before deciding to put it back in the bowl with the others. We're nice like that.

:::I painted a door in my house yesterday that has been bugging me for years. It looks so much better and even though that task was nothing but a distraction, it was time well spent. I felt so lame when I realized I was leaning against it before the paint was dry. Stink.

:::I had planned to take some items to our school's teacher appreciation luncheon last Thursday. Except the luncheon was on Tuesday. OOPS! They had plenty of food and plenty of help so thankfully I wasn't in the doghouse with anyone.

:::I accidentally found one of my mother's day surprises yesterday...in the REFRIGERATOR. Huh? What? WHY? Evidently someone placed it on the very top and it fell inside when the door opened. I think it's in my best interest to act surprised when I see it again tomorrow.

:::I say "we" a whole lot when I actually mean my husband. Here's an example or two. "We" should really mow the back yard today. "We" should get Jack's nails clipped. "We" need to call about that insurance thing. "We" need to sort that recycling. I think he's on to me because he's started rolling his eyes when I begin sentences with "we".

:::We (not "we") are having friends over for dinner tonight. The last time this bunch of folks joined us, John missed the ENTIRE party because of our dog's unfortunate incident. In what I consider a preemptive move, "we" took Jack for his monthly "massage". Hopefully there will be no dog emergencies (or subsequent vet bills) tonight!

Happy Saturday, peeps.

Our Summer List

We had a little dream session around the dinner table last night and came up with our annual summer list! Some of it's realistic, some of it's not but here's some of what we'd like to do in Summer 2011.

Go to the beach
Go to New York City
Rockies baseball games
Weekend road trips (Estes Park and Santa Fe were mentioned!)
Go to Arkansas to see cousins (my kids are getting a brand new cousin in July!)
Eat on the patio at Amanda's Fonda
Have dinner at The Mona Lisa in Manitou Springs
Buy a new television
Ride bikes
Neighborhood Happy Hours!
Go out for breakfast (Adam's Mountain Cafe!)
Eat lots of Pinkberry
Make homemade ice cream and maybe gelato
See the last Harry Potter movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Visit Mount Rushmore
Vist the Sand Dunes
Participate in the library summer reading program
Have lots of sleepovers (I stifled my groaning for the sake of my kids)
Have friends over for dinner
Grill...a lot
Plan Sarah's birthday party
Have outside movie nights
CAMPING!
Elitch Gardens
Bedroom makeover (John and I need one!)
Hike
Eat outside

Oh my gosh...I love summer and am SO ready for it to begin. It's close. REALLY close. As of today:
Abbey has 9 more days of school (she's out today and Monday)
Will has 10 more school days
Sarah has 11 more school days (poor Sarah)

DEFINITELY seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! Hip, hip HOORAY!

Hodge-Podge

1. Have you ever been served breakfast in bed? Do you enjoy that? If someone were serving you breakfast in bed this coming weekend what would you hope you would see on the tray?
Yes, I have and yes, I enjoy it. I eat the same thing for breakfast almost every single day (2 pieces of toasted Ezekiel bread) so IF someone served me breakfast in bed this weekend, anything different would be nice. There are very few foods I don't/won't eat! ;)

2. What is one piece of advice you would give a new mother? Trust your instincts. God gave them to you for a reason!

3. When is the last time you wanted to scream? Explain. Two days ago in the carpool line at the middle school. I actually did kinda scream. Twice. First, because I arrived about five minutes later than normal and I thought I might actually be able to pick Sarah up on the street level and not have to enter the dreaded parking lot. There is a window of time that makes the parking lot experience a smooth one and if you miss it, you're toast. I'd missed that window but there was hope I could still avoid the parking lot if only Sarah would hurry. Sarah was goofing off with her friend and not paying attention to my insane motioning for her to hurry. I ended up having to pull in to the parking lot (grrrrrrr!) and then some woman decided she was queen of the world parking lot and made her own personal lane through it, then STOPPED and PARKED in the middle of the lane she made (double grrrrrrr!). I said some not-so-nice words to her (that of course she didn't hear).

4. Can you hula hoop? Yep.

5. What is something people do in traffic that really bothers you? Pick their nose. Ha! That really does bother me, but it bothers me more when people drive too fast in traffic.

6. What do you do when people don't admit they're wrong? What can you do really? Sometimes it makes me mad, but mostly I just feel sad for the person. And (sigh) sometimes the person is ME!

7. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "fun"? SUMMER!!!

8. Insert your own random thought here. It's really unfortunate that my older kids leave for school at 7am because they don't get the caffeinated version of their mom. I'm MUCH more happy and energetic when I wake their little sister up in the mornings because I've had my two cups of coffee! Caffeine is a miracle drug for this tired momma.

Tell About It Tuesday: Screen Shots on a Mac

I learned something a few weeks ago that is too good not to share with my fellow Mac users/lovers. I can't help you PC folks. Sorry. 


How to take a screen shot on your Mac:
Press Command + Shift + 3. You'll hear the click of the camera lens (unless you have your sound turned off) and a photo file (.png) will be saved. Mine are saved to my desktop, but on our super old iBook4 they're saved to photos. Use the Today menu in Finder if you need help finding yours after you take it.

[I opened my photo with Preview and used it to edit out all my top secret classified information in this screenshot.]

----------------------------------------

How to capture only part of the screen on your Mac:
Press Command + Shift + 4. A cross-hair target thingy will appear on your screen. Move it where you want it on your screen, then drag it over the area you want to capture. When you release your hold on the trackpad/mouse then you'll hear the lens of the camera click and the image is saved to your computer.

COOL, huh?

Perhaps you already knew this, but I did not and I've already found it to be useful...and fun....and pointless. Here are a few of my recent screen captures...

I know enough of you use a Mac for me to share this because my StatCounter tells me what percentage of readers use which browser. See? Interesting, no?

These are some of my recent StatCounter search results. I told you I had no idea that this post would generate so many blog hits.

(By the way, I LOVE Preview, and I especially love the quick photo editing features!)

Here's a screen shot from iTunes. I imported my Camelot cd on Sunday because I woke up singing "It's May, it's May, the SNOWY month of May" only to discover it wasn't on my iPod!  

(BTW, my husband prefers the original lyrics to that song. Of course he does.)

A sampling of random pictures/albums in iPhoto...

And in case my husband wonders what I might want for my birthday, I might use this feature to send him some not-so-subtle hints....

So there ya go. Mac lovers, do you have a favorite Mac tip or shortcut? Do tell. 

It's MAY!

It's May! Let the crazy begin.

May is always super duper busy and this year is no exception. I flipped my calendar page on Saturday night and almost cried. We have three more weeks of school and that means we have three weeks of crazy.   (I know that crazy is usually an adjective, but in this case it is most definitely a noun.) Lots of good and exciting stuff though so I'm not going to complain!

Our weekend was good, but very full. All three of our kiddos had a school project to work on over the weekend. I'm so over projects. SO OVER THEM. Definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel though.

In other random news...
Our dog is shedding like crazy and it's driving me nuts.

We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning and had snow flurries off and on all day yesterday. I sorta wish that snow would confine itself to winter months, BUT moisture is moisture and my grass is getting greener by the day! I'll pack our winter coats and gear away in July. Sigh.

I started a new bible study several weeks ago and I must admit to loving it. It's Believing God by Beth Moore.

Some neighbors left May Day baskets for my kids while we were at church yesterday. I love that idea and want to repeat it with my kids next year.

This week is teacher appreciation week at my kids' schools. I REALLY appreciate my kids' teachers and am trying to do a little something each day this week to show them!

I have a bad habit of rambling, and now seems like a good time to stop. Happy Monday, peeps.