There is Always a Way

I worked from 10-6.  Work wasn’t too busy…just playing catch up and tying up loose ends.  When 4 o’clock came around, I was a bit surprised.  I had no idea where the day went.  I got some packing and other things done in between work stuff. 

After work, I used up some leftover steak and made some steak fajitas.  Nobody really ate any, but I sure enjoyed them.  It was one of those days where everyone snacked all day and no one was really in dinner mode.  Plus, Nate was out to a movie with Garry and Cindy.

Then I sat on the couch with the kids.  Peyten picked out Max and Ruby to watch.  Marked popped some popcorn for the kids.  Peyten sat on my lap for a while.  That rarely happens.  She was being so sweet.  Giving me kisses.  Feeding me popcorn.  She didn’t scream or hit me once, lol. 

The next thing I know, I wake up and the kids are all in bed and it is 8 o’clock at night.  Mark put the kids to bed and I was in la la land.  I was just in one of those “my body is completely giving out in all ways” modes. 

December has been stressful.  Financially.  Physically.  Mentally.  What other ways are there?  Anyway, Christmas, work, kids, family, just everything.  It has been insane.  Am I complaining?  Oh, not in the least.  I truly enjoy it all. 

But, today I was done with work…for a week.  And Christmas is over.  And the only thing I have to worry about is to pack and gear up for our trip tomorrow.  I can handle that.  If I only have one task to worry about, my body and mind were saying “ahhhh”.  Seriously.  I don’t want to think about anything in the next 4-5 days except where I am at that one time.  Spending time with family.

My body gave out and I crashed because I knew it was time.  Relief.  And you can’t have relief like that, if you don’t have the crazy before it.  I like extreme relief. 

I just took a nap.  I am not sure how long I was actually out since I didn’t look at a clock when I laid down.  I am just going to pretend it was a long one.  I think my mind/body will appreciate that. 
Peyten, Aydan, Dana, Garry, Dan, and Mark are all napping as of right now.  Nate is on his new laptop.  Grammie and Charly are playing with Charly’s new paper dolls. 
I am going to get dinner started soon -

• New York Strip (my request)
• Mahi for Dana
• Twice baked pototoes (Mark’s request)
• Corn (Garry’s request)
• Green bean casserole (Nate’s request)
• Croissants (Mark’s request)
• Queen of Sheba cake (a Christmas tradition for Dana’s birthday!)

I did burn the breakfast casserole this morning, but I WILL NOT burn Christmas dinner!  No really, I promise…

I figured out today that Panera has little packets of Guldens spicy brown mustard.  Absolutely made my day.  Love that mustard.  Ham, swiss…guldens, of course.

the moment when I finally finish all the dishes at the end of the night, have them all drying in the rack, wipe up the water all around the sink….and then I turn around…and there is more.  aye.

According to Charly, I am making “goose goose” ha ha :)

drowning my sore throat and swollen glands in peppermint tea and cold water….

I am hoping that is a good thing that I am getting sick today…so that it will all be over for the Christmas weekend!

I CAN NOT wait for Christmas.  We have prepared.   We are ready.  OK, we still have a few more things to do, but it is manageable.  I just can’t wait to relax with family and enjoy catching up with everyone.

Saturday evening we go to Mark’s family’s house for some food, relaxing, singing, and fun.  We do the exact same thing every year at their house.  And I absolutely love that.  I know what to expect and I enjoy every part.  The food - cold cuts, chicken wings, meatballs, shrimp, pigs in a blanket, chips, veggies, sweets, etc etc.  We exchange gifts.  At the end of the evening we all gather around and each hold a candle.  Our cousin plays the piano and we all sing Christmas carols.  And then our uncle usually asks a question of all of us…what are we thankful for, what would we change about the previous year, what do we look forward to next year.  Ya know…a question along those lines.  It is usually pretty late in the evening by the time we leave and the kids are always exhausted and never stay awake for the 15 minute drive home.

Sunday we will get up in the morning and have egg casserole and beignets.  And then we will open gifts with us, the kids, grammie, papa, and aunt dana and uncle dan.  This year we will head to church after presents since Christmas falls on Sunday.  And then a little while after church we will have a Christmas dinner.  This year we are planning on having steak, twice baked potatoes, corn, and croissants.  Other than that, it will be a lot of relaxing, naps, and playing with any new “toys” we get for Christmas. 

Next week on Tuesday we head to Ohio for my dad’s side of the family Christmas/reunion.  That side of the family used to get together every year, but as us kids/cousins got older, it just didn’t happen as much.  So, this year is a big event because most of us will all be there and all of us cousins now have kids of our own.  Two of who I haven’t even met yet.  So, we will stay in Ohio until Friday.  We are all staying at the same hotel and I am sure our time will be filled up with relaxing, eating, playing lots of cards, running after kids, and who knows what else.  There is a treadmill there, so hopefully I can get some running in.  I did take those four days off from work, so I am looking forward to family time and time off from work!  Which is rare for me.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday…we can do this!

My head hurts.  It was a loooong rewarding day.  I really should just go to bed, but here I sit.  Silly Kari…go to bed!

The kids slept in until 7am this morning.  great day.

Nathan (my stepson) is arriving today and will be here for two weeks.  great day.

My two year old threw up her milk and cereal all over this morning.  bad day.

I ate my lunch and then was wondering if I was going to hurl.  bad day.

Every time I look at the computer screen…which I need to for work, I get a sharp stabbing pain in my right temple.  bad day.

We have small group tonight.  4 couples and all their kids.  great day.

I got the kids clothes all washed today.  great day.

I still have to finish hanging up the clothes.  bad day.

The toilets still have not learned to scrub themselves.  bad day.

I didn’t hurl.  great day.

Saturday - 50 dollars fill up in gas.  Drove about 4 hours round trip to the North.

Sunday - 50 dollars in gas.  Drove about 6 hours round trip to the East.

Monday - Have a little under half a tank right now and need to drive about 3-4 hours round trip to the South.  Probably another 50 dollar fill up when all said and done.

Lots of time with family?  Priceless.

I have not been under 130, well I can’t remember when.  I may have been under that before I had my first daughter, but I can’t recall, that was more than 6 years ago.  And many many months ago, I hit 130 and it was like a big huge wall.  I couldn’t get past it for the life of me.  I actually started to wonder if my scale was broke and it wasn’t able to go under 130.  I would creep up a little to 132, 133, and then back down to 130.  But, never 129, nope.  Never.

Well, I decided that my body just liked being 130 and that was my “ideal” weight.  I mean, after I hit the 130 mark, my body was still getting a little thinner.  I could tell from a couple pairs of pants that were a bit loose.  I just figured that I was losing/gaining in different areas and also probably gaining some muscle.  I was fine with it and I am finally to a point in my life where I can just be content with my skin.   I mean, I still want to get more fit, but I am truly happy with where I am at now.

Today.  This morning.  I hopped on the scale and it said 129.  Yep.  I even weighed myself again, and it said 129.  Now, I don’t doubt that it will creep back up to 130 tomorrow, but for today, I take it as a win.  Makes we want to go run to celebrate!

Let’s see how I did with my to do list…

Today:

• work until 8pm
• stop by grocery store for a few extra supplies for baking  I took Aydan with me to get him out of the house…crazy boy.
• head up to church to clean for 2.5 hours
• come home and bake (and drink wine and listen to my music): I actually was able to do this before I went to the church to clean, which was nice.  Even though it just meant I got up to the church later than I intended.  And since I baked early, Aydan got to be my sous chef…he makes a good one.

1. Chocolate Pecan Toffee - 12 orders  I just need to portion and label these
2. Peanut butter cups - 4 orders  I just need to lable these
3. Chocolate Truffles - 1 order I got these half done, I just need to dip them in chocolate tomorrow
4. Pumpkin roll - 2 orders I just need to fill these and wrap them up
5. Queen of Sheba cake - for Christmas party on Saturday This is done, unless I decide to pour some ganache over the top.
6. Finish tres leche cake…basically just whip some cream.

At some point this weekend between traveling I need/would like to:

• clean both bathrooms
• make laundry soap
• do my laundry and the kids laundry
• keep working on organizing the basement
• deposit some money in the bank
• pay bills - (I actually already did this, I just like to feel like I accomplished something already)

Ok, that second half of the list…nothing got done.  And I got home from the church about 11:30 and I would have finished the pumpkin roll, toffee, truffles, tres leche cake, and started laundry, but it is late and everyone is sleeping and I certainly don’t want to wake them all up by whipping whip cream in a mixer at midnight.  My momentum must come to an end

Now I will sip my wine, wind down with some hulu, and hit the hay oh so shortly.

Tomorrow is Saturday!!  I am just so happy about that because this week was quite the stressful one.  Tomorrow morning I do said things on list above and then we take off to one of my family’s Christmas party.  There will be a butt load of people.  Lots of food.  White elephant.  And above all, lots of laughter.   Can’t wait at all.

It has been a while since I have made a to do list.  But, since it is Friday and I am feeling a bit brain dead, I thought I would lay it all out for myself.

Today:

• work until 8pm
• stop by grocery store for a few extra supplies for baking
• head up to church to clean for 2.5 hours
• come home and bake (and drink wine and listen to my music):

1. Chocolate Pecan Toffee - 12 orders
2. Peanut butter cups - 4 orders
3. Chocolate Truffles - 1 order
4. Pumpkin roll - 2 orders
5. Queen of Sheba cake - for Christmas party on Saturday

At some point this weekend between traveling I need/would like to:

• clean both bathrooms
• make laundry soap
• do my laundry and the kids laundry
• keep working on organizing the basement
• deposit some money in the bank
• pay bills - (I actually already did this, I just like to feel like I accomplished something already)

Can I run sometime in there?  Well, we will see, but it doesn’t seem possible right now.

Today was one of those long ones.  The kids woke me up at 6am and I worked until 8pm.  I had some special time with my daughter after we put the other two to bed, as it was her night to stay up late.  We played Sorry and she kicked my butt.  Yes, I got beat by a five year old.  I am ok with that. 

Then it was time for me to start baking.  I had some orders to get started on for Friday and the weekend.  I made two loaves of chocolate banana bread.  Two Pumpkin rolls.  And a Tres Leche cake.  It is almost midnight now and I am just waiting on the bread to cool so I can cut it, so it is ready for the morning.

Tomorrow night I will make a Queen of Sheba cake (almond chocolate), Chocolate Peanut butter cups, and Chocolate Pecan Toffee. 

I am so happy tomorrow is Friday!!  Me and my computer both are ready for the weekend and a little time off. 

Sometimes I forget things….

I was drinking my tea and all of a sudden I got really light headed and dizzy.  My eyes rolled back and my head about fell over.  And then I was fine. 

I had a moment where I thought someone must have drugged me, but then I remembered…OH! It’s peppermint tea…yeah, it does that to me sometimes.

It would be nice to sleep right now…can’t. Too much to do!!

Is it lunchtime yet?  I have some leftovers I am wanting to devour…