Welcome to the Poor house

****UPDATED*****

Please wipe your feet before stepping on the dirt floor.....

Cheap humor, I know. I am in need of a serious pick me up. The last 2 days have sucked to say the least. Stress is not good for the "I quit smoking" ban wagon. How I would love......ew. Gross, cancer......cancer is real.....I will not smoke.......

Ahem.

Humm lets talk good news shall we?

Good news item 1.


Ta da! This the craft caddy I recently finished. It is really a crochet hook caddy that I saw on Sue's blog (link coming soon!), but I stuck sissors in there just cause there was enough room. I also renamed it a craft caddy cause it now holds more than crochet stuff. Gosh, I'm pretty creative!! LOL

GN Item 2.

The eye of the heat wave no longer lives in my house. She was kicked out, but drug her feet all the way. I believe she is living in the Mid west now. To her I say "Get out and don't come back....ever!"

GN #3.

Yesterday I prayed for a few extra Angels. I feel like I might have some support staff now. Support staff being the ones that are holding me up off a puddle of vomit that has not yet spewed. eeeewwwww.

So there ya have it. I'm not so far down that I can't look up. I know that it only can go up from here. Thank GOD!!!

Let the rain pour....

I am very grateful today for a lot. A LOT. Much of it I can not or will not explain here. In nut shell I am grateful that God can reach out and smack ya to tell you you're being a nut. I am grateful that even in bad times I can see the good in situations and save myself from a panic attack.

All of the bad happened yesterday. I'm not so naive anymore. When somethings broke, you MUST fix it, or at least get some medicine. Today I am a new person. Am I freaking you out yet? LOL

This morning I awoke to pouring rain. There in nothing better to feel refreshed in my opinion. The rain brings peace, reassurance, and a chance to have a family day inside.

It's good, we are good, all is well. We are blessed.

Dear Diary,

It's getting very close to the point that I have to face this insecurity. I must go to this family reunion, I must do it so that I can know these people whom I have no relationship with. It could be fun, right?

I have grown up for the better part of my life not knowing my fathers side of the family. I didn't know them, because I hardly knew my father. I always felt like the one who didn't belong, the one who said the wrong things, or was too annoying. I never felt like family with these people. Granted, we only saw eachother at funerals, 2 funerals my whole life, that's probably the problem.

I really have this need to feel accepted by these people who have shown no interest in me or my family. That just stumps me. I have been battling this "I'm not good enough" voice in my head as long as I can remember. It makes me feel like I have the plaque. I just want to be comfortable in my skin. I want to be proud of me and what I can do and can't do regardless if it's silly to them.

I do know that I like Aunt A and Uncle L. Uncle L. Is very silly and has joked around with me a lot. (Well as much as a lot can be on no more than 5 visits) He was great with my daughter, and that wins major points with me. I also know Uncle J. Who is nearly my fathers twin. (at funeral #2, I thought he was my Dad. That's how little I saw my father then) He shared a very neat letter with me that my Dad had written when I was born.

I know "of" the others. I don't know names or faces or ages. I don't know who belongs with who or what they like or don't. I want to know, and I suppose that is the purpose of the reunion. Whatever happens I must be okay with me......MUST.....I gotta cure this insecurity.

I had a great lunch date with my moms cousin Carol several months back. I call her Aunt Carol, because she has always shown interest in me and what I was up too, good or bad. While we were chatting she was able to break things down quite a bit. Our discussion was only Moms side of the family related, but I am sure that it could be easily be transferred to the feelings I have about the other side. I need to call her, we are overdue for lunch.

So, the reunion is the 5th. Please think good thoughts. I am dragging hubby along as his is my security blanket. Oh- and it's a camping reunion, which means that they will see me in the morning......A whole new bucket of issues there.....ugh

End of Pitty party.

Never fear....

I am still here!

Just busy. I am crocheting a bunch, playing taxi, and a million other things. I'll catch ya'll up when I have a moment to think........

Attempt #2

UPDATE!! I finally got the pics to post. Enjoy!

Okay- this one is a lot better in my humble opinion. I feel better about posting it at least!!

Here is the second attempt at the dishcloth. I used the pattern that came with the yarn, it's called Lacy Crochet Dishcloth, I was making quite a few mistakes, but the second time was easier for me to understand the directions.

I'm glad it's done. Time to move on. I still haven't figured out how to crochet in rounds yet. I get frusterated everytime I try. Wish me luck, and enjoy the pics!!

Gheesh.....what's goin on with Blogger and pictures lately? It's so frusterating! So again, stand by for pictures!

Crochet Spot

It's triple HOT here today, so instead of using my brain, which is not currently functioning I thought I would just share this with you.

Crochet happens here.



This is a recliner that I found at a second hand store. It's old and broken in, that's why I love it! On the back there is a 'ghan that Mom found at a second hand store. See always finds the pretty ones and rescues them. She put a new border on it and sent it my way. Perfect for cozy nights by the tv. Off in the right is my crochet mess. Yes folks, it seems I have a stash already.

Hang on, Let me clean it up for you.

Ahhh, much better. I have yarn in the Build A Bear bag, with the over flowing yarn in a grocery bag next to it. I aso have 2 refrence books there too.

So there it is. The crochet spot. Picture me sittin there tonight, k?

H E double hockey sticks

Oh why am I posting this? I am not proud. Seems that I have missed several hundred sts in there somewhere. I don't know how that happened. I can't bring myself to pull it apart though. It's my very first finished "thing" (It's a dish cloth). Drat. Wish me better luck next time......

Anyone have any pointers?

I can't beieve I posted this ugly thing.......lol

Bikini shots

I don't think these pics need a discription. What a joker he is! I wuv him!

A Summer picnic

Today is the hubbies command summer picnic. I don't normally look forward to these things, but today is different. See, for the past couple weeks they have been doing a dunk tank fundraiser. If you choose to, you can pay 1 dollar to nominate someone for the dunk tank today.

My Husband, the funny guy that he is, told his crew that if they got him to #1 on the list of nominees he woud wear a bikini.......

It should be a sight, he is #1, and he tried on the bikini last night. I am thrilled. The girl was counting change this morning wanting to dunk him. I have access to the savings account however, and am willing to go the distance. :)

Stand by for pictures!!!

Randomness

Hi all.

Here is one of my "to much on my mind" posts. Bear with me please.

First, a HUGE thanks to Sue for including me. It made my day! I'm excited for the new stuff to start so that I can participate!

I have reached a dead end on the 'ghan I am working on. I am not able to find the darn brown color yarn I am out of. I have checked back at the craft store and am sad to say that I will not be returning there. That's sad, but running out of the yarn I need is a big deal to me, and I want you to at least be concerned about that. So Bye Bye store. I also checked at Jo Anns and Wal Mart, neither had the color in cotton which the whole thing is in. I am assuming it is a big no no to switch to acrilic in the middle of a project. So, I'll keep my eyes peeled, maybe it will turn up somewhere....The good news is that this frees me up to start another project, and try something new.

Also on my list of WTFs....while in Walmart I found the girl the school backpack/suitcase she wanted. She also wants a horse patch on sewn on which I also found there. I decided to play it safe and asked for help. Here is how it went...
ME to 2 WM ladies standing together "Excuse me, may I ask you a question?"
LADY #1 sigh, looks at watch like she has something better to do......"well, I guess"
ME: "ha" start to bite tongue
LADY #2 "Sure I'll help you, what's your question?"

Good thing I had bitten my tongue cause the next thing outta my mouth was gonna be in reaction to Lady #1s attitude. Arg. It's your job, you don't have to like it, but at least pretend you do. Thanks to Lady #2, I know how to get the patch to stick on this plastic style backpack.

Also- to the man who felt the need to shove my shoulder to get me to move out of the way, when I was stuck in cart traffic. You are lucky I did not have my purse in my hand, cause I wouda wacked ya. You gave me the creepes, ick.,......don't touch me. Here in America we say excuse me, and that usually works.

Hum, whatelse..... Well nothing for now. I will most likely have something more blog worthy when the boy is napping. Til then,

Toodles.

As Promised, Pics

Here is the hubby hard at work trimming the shrubs. Mom planted these about 23 years ago, they are huge and provide so much privacy!
When the Daddy works, the kids say they must work too. Here they are hammering some plywood.

Hard sweaty dirty work...

Gotta Love it!

This weekend we packed the kiddos in the van and headed over to the east side of WA. It' s about a 3 hour drive from the west side (nothing like Sues recent drive!) and it was absolutely gorgeous the whole way!! I was just in awe of the beauty in the mountains and the forresty smell in the air. We usually only make that drive in the winter for holidays and such, so it is usually packed with snow and ice and skiiers. I couldn't believe it was the same pass.......drop dead gorgeous!

We came over with the plan of helping Mom cut down dead tree branches and load up 20 plus years of pine needles that are lying there begging for a spark. (knock on wood) Also on the agenda were removing a washing machine that was older than me (WOW) and installing a new one and ripping apart an old deck. Throw in some Arbor vidas that needed a trim and call it a weekend! Except.......

Well, don't tell him I told you this, but the hubby got into it with the chain saw. No don't go there- all limbs are intact, but the darn thing just would not work correctly providing that it even would start at all. All of us with the manual labor loving hubbies know that a faulty machine can put a few stray cuss words and fying objects in the air! He did manage to accomplish A LOT in spite of the crappy saw.......and there is nothing more attractive to me than a hard working sweaty man.......

Ahem

For the purpose of your visual, let me explain that Mom has a small forest in her back yard. They are, well, some are gorgeous and are so tall your eyes get lost in the sky looking for the top. Some however have seen their share of better days and are eye sores. They are clustered together in a circle in the center of about 3/4 acre and always provided me a little hide away as a child. Still today, I love being lost in the middle of the trees remembering all the fun times spent there. This weekend was therapy for me in a way. Returning to a memory to help restore it's beauty. Even though we just barely made a dent.

To close out the weekend we picked apricots and visited with my grandmother. I haven't seen her in about 8 months, and I simply can not let it get that long again, especially with a big move pending...we did share a great conversation about her days in College.....I love those stories!

**Pictures pending blogger attitude adjustment***

Lets try this again

Greetings!

To the best of my knowledge, the computer and I have come to an understanding that it will no longer flip out and erase all of my beloved, yet unsaved posts. We still are argueing over the L key probem (see what I mean?) Hopefully we can put that behind us soon too.

I was debating what to post tonight, I already spilled the beans about the horse, and I do believe that it was attempting to load those pics that sent the computer into uproar. I will take some pics with the regular camera (I used my cell phone before) and I will blog about her then.

I ran across something pretty neat tonight. While scanning through random blogs I found Tammy. One of her posts was titled 101 things to do in 1001 days. It looks like fun so I thought I'd give it a go. Stay tuned for that, maybe sometime next week. Until then, check it out, you might think it would be fun too!

To update you on a previous post. The Navy jobs came out yesterday. As we had assumed there was nothing available in WA. Rob emailed his buddy who works at the "job station" and found out that there is NOTHING in the near future in WA. So, that means we are moving in April. Rob is favoring a job on the USS John F. Kennedy in Mayport FL. I'm not looking forward to FL, but then again he came to WA at my request.....I can make it work, it's all what you make of it I suppose.

Well, I will leave you with that tonight. Ta Ta for now.

%^&(%$*&$*%$^

SO I just typed this whole long post about the big news, and it's gone.....now I'm frusterated and must walk away from this stupid machine.....

If you can't wait, it's a horse. We have a horse.......I'll repeat myself in a longer post later.......arg

Busy Busy Busy

I'll admit it, I'm a Rookie in the Mommy taxi service department. Sure I've done the drop offs and pick ups before, no big deal. That all is going to change tomorrow....

Tomorrow is the daughters first day of Day Camp. I am very excited for her, I know that she will have a great time. I however, (deep breath) have to get up early to get both boy and girl ready to leave the house before 0730. For those who don't know my kiddos personally, they get the morning grumpies from me. We have been waking around 9ish lately. I am so in for it.......

To help, hopefully it will help, I am prepared. I have her lunch packed and her clothes picked out. I have all the required paperwork in my purse and my keys are located. I should pull out the toothpicks for my eyes.

Please pray that we get to the bus stop on time, if not it is about a 45 minute drive to the camp. The boy will have none of that, I can tell you that for sure. Just pray it all goes well.

True, it's not that big of a deal. I know I can handle it. I just dread early morning stuff. I loved the fact that the school bus stops in front of our house at 9:15. No worries there. This is all new.....

Anyway- enough of that nonsense.

I finally did it, I joined Crochetville. I also joined Village Swappers but can't figure out how the swapping works. (Help with that is appreciated) I love getting mail, and thought that swapping would be great. Plus, it will force me to be creative to send things out. I'm looking forward to it!

Ghesh- that's enough for tonight. I have some huge news to share tomorrow, or maybe Tuesday. Yep, it's huge- no fair calling before I post it Mom! Just sit on the edge of your chair and be patient.

New Picture

Hey All!
I added a new picture to my profile, as I'm sure you can see. It is of me when I was 9 years old with a 1 day old horse on the farm.
I have always loved horses, and I love looking at all these pictures. It reminds me where I came from and where I want to be again. I dream of the day that we have horses and wide open spaces again.............
Enjoy!

Recipe #2 Chicken Cacciatore

Here it is, the second installment of the weekly recipies. I choose this one to share simply because it was a major hit in our house this week. Well, except for the daughter who doesn't like it if it's not a fruit rollup or applesauce. Arg.

Ahem.

Chicken Cacciatore:

2 tblspns butter or margerine
1 1/4 pounds chicken breasts (I used boneless and skinless)
1 med chopped onion
2 coves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (14.5) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspns italian seasoning
8 ounces spaghetti
1/4 Romano or Parmesan cheese.

1.Heat butter in large skillet. Add chicken and saute for aprox 5 minutes a side. Remove chicken and poor a but 2 tabespoons of pan drippings out.

2. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper to skillet and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. Add undrained tomatoes, broth and italian seasoning.

3. Return chicken to skillet (I cut mine for faster cooking) Simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Meanwhile bring pot of water to boil for spaghetti.

4. Cook pasta as directed and drain. Add chicken and ladle sauce over top. Sprinkle with cheese.

Movie Review #1

This comes from Sue's Blog, and I think it's a great idea! I don't think I'll do this regularly, as I don't watch that many movies. I'll make sure to pass along the good ones though!

On a quite evening last week I treated myself to a pay per view movie that was well worth it! The kiddos were in bed on time (!!!) and the hubby was a work so I had the living/TV area to myself. It's not often that I have alone time, so I knew I had to take advantage of it, and boy did I.

The movie is called An Unfinished Life starring Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, Morgan Freeman and a great new actress named Becca Gardner.

The film tackles the issues of grief and guilt, bad relationships and the start of new ones. All of these issues tied really well together in the movie, and it flowed quite well. The part that was so great for me was the relationship between Griff (Becca Gardner) and her Grandfather (Robert Redford), which was a repeated tear-jerker for me. Nothing like a movie bringing out old memories.

I had pulled out the 'ghan I'm working on with the intention of crocheting while I was watching. It didn't happen as I was much to busy with the tissues....Sometimes ya need a good boo hoo, yeah?

If you are into emotional Dramas, and have a spare couple hours, I highly recommend this one!!

4 options

As the Navy says anyway......

It's time again for the anxiety of an impending move to kick into high gear in our house. It's never pleasant, or relaxed, quite frankly it sucks.

In Robs position, the Navy assigns him to a new command every 3 years, rotating between Sea duty and Shore Duty. It's his time now to go back to a ship, and for his job there is only 4 (count em 4) possibities. (Increase stress level here.) In order of our preference here is the list

1. Everett WA. Yep, home sweet home. We are currently here on shore duty and want (badly)to stay here. We happen to live in a nice house with great neighbors and a superb school district. There are 2 ships in this area that are possibilities. The bad news is that because of his rank there are not many job openings on those ships. Chances are maybe 30%, unless of course a miracle happens.
2. Mayport Florida. (sigh) Another trip across the country and into uncharted territory. Rob has been there when he was a single guy and liked it. Me? I have no desire to live in FL, none at all. As you know from my previous posts, I don't like heat but I especially don't like humid heat. I also do not want to be that far away from family again. Which brings us to #3
3. San Diego CA. Humm, word is that it is next to impossible to live there financially. We would need to find a rental home within budget which seems to only allow for a 2 bed no yard, ugly house. The pluses are that we are closer to family, and even closer to Robs Dad. Disneyland won't break the bank, and there are many ships to choose from. Military housing might also be an option. Bad news- hello Southern border and I'll repeat my dislike for humid heat here.
4. Lastly, Norfolk VA. Been there, done that. This is where we were before coming to Everett. I like the area, I lived through the climate and a hurricane and there are some good schools. Bad news you ask? Imagine a city that's economy is based soley on the Navy, and then they treat all military families like sewage. It's bad! I thought Rob was joking when he warned me before we got there the first time. The top of the bad is that VA is a "Commonwealth" and they tax like crazy and have sincerely messed up laws. The good? I know my way around, I know the neighborhoods to stay out of and I still have friends there.

I don't want to sound to "compainey" about this. This is the life we continue to choose for our family. The military has treated us well and I could not be prouder than my man for his honorable service. Especially now days! Truth be told, I hope that he can surpass the 20 year retirement (5 years away) and continue another 10. Leaving the military scares me, it's all I know......

Anyway- The job openings come out July 11th. Please cross your fingers for us!! I'll keep you posted!