Time again for confession of all that I have and have not done over the past few days/hours. Click on the button to link up and join!
It has not been unpredictable weather in TN (as usual), and because of that I did not play it safe on Friday and Saturday by staying inside just in case it started raining while I was running the greenway. It did not stay sunny and gorgeous in spite of my couch potato-ness.
Yesterday I did not go to a friends house to hang out after babysitting and did not end up playing WiiFit for almost an hour. I am not totally addicted to WiiFit even though I don't even have one. I am not determined to own a WiiFit by the end of the summer.
I did not find out about an exciting consulting opportunity that I may not be totally qualified for and will not have the chance to prove that later THIS WEEK. I am not totally jazzed about the idea, and this would not be a great thing for me to do even when I go back to the classroom. I do not want everyone to keep their fingers crossed for me!
Even though I spent a lot of time at my house (in fear of the non-rain) I did not sit around and do absolutely nothing around my house. My house looks perfect, naturally. I would never use the time I had planned to exercise to simply sit around. Not me!
I did not realize this morning that when I went to the grocery store and Target this week I forgot to pick up food for the cat. Emi does not have just enough to get her through today. I do not need to make an emergency trip to get cat food on my way home today! I do not feel awful about that...poor baby.
I do not have hours of recorded tv that I have yet to watch. So if you do not see me around much this week, assume that I'm notout running frantically trying to watch back episodes of Criminal Minds, Law and Order, Medium, and CSI.
I am not both excited and a little sad that LOST is ending for the season this week. Anthony and I do not have big plans to watch it together!
Last year, my mother's day blog looked like this. Not many of you were around--ok, I don't think ANY of you were around.
This year, I'm in a different place. But sometimes I still wonder if it's enough.
Last year, I wrote in despair of ever finding relationship with a Godly man. This year, I have that. And am so thankful for it. It's enough. It's better than enough. It's more than I dreamed it would be. (thanks honey, for following Him so well and being so good to me.)
Last year I wrote of the deep aching in my heart for a child. If I am honest with myself, being a nanny to a child from the age of 9 months to 2 1/2 years probably intensified that longing and made it worse. As much as I loved her, I was not her mother and some days I was painfully aware of that. When that relationship was stripped from me I grieved it, deeply. But I think I'm healthier for it now. Is my longing for a child nonexistent? No. Not at all. But I'm reminded that I have many children in my life who love me, and I love them. And for now, that is enough.
It is enough that today I actually entered the sanctuary on Mother's Day and sat through the service. Maybe next year I'll actually enjoy that time...but today it is enough that I went, and that I didn't go running out the back door during the first prayer for mothers as was my instinct.
It is enough that today I called my parents and wished my mother a happy day.
So while I am still not a fan of mother's day, I celebrate my friends who are mothers and those who have mothers. I choose to celebrate in my own way, and someday down the road I will love mother's day. I have deep faith in that.
But today, it is enough that I write my feelings and then go for a run to release the emotions brimming in my soul.
Hopping on quickly--Anthony and I are headed to a former co-worker's house in a couple of hours for a Poker night...and I have yet to do anything productive at all today!
I love my amazing, wonderful friends! (and boyfriend)
Before I leave for the day, I thought I'd share a few pics from Girls Night last night. We went to my favorite mojito place where I indulged in a strawberry basalmic mojito (FABULOUS), a regular mojito, and split the queso trio (you pick 3 quesos/salsas/fresh avacado to have with chips. It was perfect as we all got to pick a cheese!). I also had the burrito of the day. Amazing! Expensive, but amazing :0)
T-3 hours, and I will be sitting at my favorite Latin infusion bar, sipping a mojito and having an appetizer of chips and 3 different kinds of cheese...and probably splitting some other yummy food with my girlfriends. And while going to Lime (the restaurant) excites me greatly, so does the idea of a Girl's Night...this time a Girl's Night OUT. I need my girl time...and tonight I'll have it.
So to be really girly, I'm getting ready to hop in the shower, after which I will actually fix my hair for the first time in forever (it's been so rainy here lately that I've been letting it do it's own curly thang, and I'm a little weary of that!), put on a shirt that I feel like I look cute in, and do some fun makeup. Then it's off to the nail salon to get new acrylics put on (it's overdue) and to get my eyebrows waxed. Yep. I enjoy being a girl on days like this!
So what about you? What do you do with your girlfriends on a Girl's Night In/Out? (or with your guy friends during your manly man man time?)
Those of you in real life know that I have a little addiction. However, I think I've kept it pretty well hidden from my bloggy friends.
Sure, you know that I'm in love with Joe (of Trader Joe's). Of course you are aware that I prefer the bubbles of San Pelligrino over tap water. I'm fairly certain that you have noticed that I have an affinity for the recipes of Rachael Ray and Giada (and going hand-in-hand with that, it is painfully obvious that I am a carb lover).
So what addiction is left, you ask?
I may have hidden it (among other reasons) because coffee isn't always that interesting of a topic to blog about. And also, because Starbucks isn't the greenest thing I could do. But that is (slowly) changing. For the last few months I've noticed that if you bring a travel mug into Starbucks you get 10 cents off your morning/afternoon/midnight coffee. Which is great--I own a ton of them. However, when I stop by Starbucks I normally get an iced coffee with a shot or 2 of flavoring. This is because (a) it's cheaper. Think half price and (b) it makes me feel like I'm getting something special without all the calories and stuff of say a white chocolate mocha.
Putting iced coffee in a travel mug is just not that practical. There's the issue of the ice coming up to meet your mouth as you tip your head back to drink. Among other things. So I really didn't see myself ever getting to take advantage of this new green thing Starbucks is doing.
And then yesterday I stopped at Target. And this Target houses a Starbucks. And I gave in to temptation, mainly because I hadn't had time to make my coffee at home that morning. And when I saw the display at the register angels sang.
Or at least I did.
Look closely. That's right--it's a reusable copycat of the plastic cup I've had to recycle a gazillion times. AND it's double insulated, so it doesn't sweat all over those papers on your desk that your boss needs today. Bonus!
I was thrilled. THRILLED I say. And I can now feel just a little bit better about ordering an iced coffee in MY new to-go cup! (and while I realize that I will have to visit approximately 100 times to get my "money back" at $.10 a fill-up, I don't care)
And now moving onto the Thursday's Ten. Coffee themed of course. 10 Things I have Learned about Coffee
1. If you don't set the coffee maker the night before, it will not have the coffee nice and ready for you when you crawl bound down the stairs to fill up your mug 2. If you are wearing white and carrying coffee, all of nature is against you 3. People who don't necessarily like the taste of coffee often enjoy the smell of it brewing. I don't understand that at all, but hey. 4. Grinding your own beans really does make all the difference. 5. As much as I love my Starbucks, and mostly use their beans at my house...if you have a good coffee maker and know what you're doing you can make cheap coffee taste great. 6. Flavored creamers are AMAZING. Especially the pumpkin spice that comes out (conincidentally I'm sure) right at the same time every year as the pumpkin spice latte at S-buck's. 7. People who don't like the taste of coffee will probably not want to kiss you right after you've drank a cup. :0) 8. Who wants to bet that my wordle this week will have STARBUCKS really big on it. Or not at all. 9. Somehow buying coffee from a coffee shop makes it taste just a little better. I think it's the "not making it myself" factor. Much like eating out. 10. Babies/toddlers will always want a sip of your coffee. If you give in, watch out. You'll have a little me on your hands (I drank coffee from the high chair. No lie).
By the way, in all seriousness, Starbucks is really trying to better the planet and be more green. Since that's something near and dear to my heart, I'm including a link. Click or don't, but it's kinda cool. http://www.starbucks.com/sharedplanet/index.aspx#mugPledge
No picture of this one yet, but I made it last night for our Cinco de Mayo (quiet) celebration tonight. Sopapilla meets cheesecake = yum! (or "epic" as Anthony says).
Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls 3/4 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1/4 cup honey
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.
Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.
McMama and Stellan are home! Go to her blog to catch up, and to join in on the not me fun!
So last week was notcrazy, and I was not looking forward to a relaxing weekend...and it was not even better than I thought!
I did not get to babysit for 2 of my favorite families (oh, who am I kidding. I do not have tons of favorite families. My babysitting clients are not all wonderful!). But I did not get sweet toddler boy hugs (and lots of fire truck sound effects) on Friday night, and fun girly (x3) time on Saturday! It was not the best of both worlds, and I did not enjoy both evenings tremendously!
I do not also have pictures from the zoo again. Anthony and I didnot join the zoo on Saturday and we did not go with our good friends Andy and Mandy. We did not have a blast even though it was misty-raining the whole time. This time, we did not spend most of our time at the clouded leapard exhibit. We did not meet the coolest guy there, who did not have an awesome camera and a fantastic website full of pictures he's taken of our big cats as well as other awesome things! I did not watch him take this picture! This guy does not work at the zoo, and does not travel to South Africa at least once a year. We were not all uber-impressed with him.
I'm not going to close by simply posting a few zoo pics. Do not have a fabulous Monday, all!
Usually if I post a Sunday song it's one with a worship feel, since that's the mindset I've been in. However, tonight I'm sharing with you one of my favorite Irish pub songs. Ok, so the song's actually from Scotland, but it's haunting and beautiful. I've included Celtic Woman's version of the song as a youtube...as usual you'll have to turn the music off on the lower right hand side to hear it well. Sorry about that :0)
The words that resound with me so much in this song are found in the second verse: I have moved and kept on moving, proved the points that have needed proving. I've lost the friends that needed losing; found others on the way.
In so many ways that describes my life to a "t".
Caledonia
I don't know if you can see The changes that have come over me In these last few days I've been afraid That I might drift away I've been telling old stories, singing songs That make me think about where I've come from That's the reason why I seem So far away today
Let me tell you that I love you That I think about you all the time Caledonia, you're calling me, now I'm going home But if I should become a stranger Know that it would make me more than sad Caledonia's been everything I've ever had
Now I have moved and I've kept on moving Proved the points that I needed proving Lost the friends that I needed losing Found others on the way I have kissed the ladies (fellas) and left them crying Stolen dreams, yes, there's no denying I have traveled hard, sometimes with conscience flying Somewhere with the wind
Now I'm sitting here before the fire The empty room, the forest choir The flames have cooled, don't get any higher They've withered, now they've gone But I'm steady thinking, my way is clear And I know what I will do tomorrow When hands have shaken, the kisses float Then I will disappear
Finally, I've been given another award! This one is from Bethany, and she graciously awarded me the Lemonade Award.
The Lemonade Award...
The lemonade award is for showinggreat attitude and/or gratitude.
The Rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog, nominate at least 10 blogs, which show great attitude and/or gratitude. 2. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. 3. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. 4. Share the love and link to this post, and/or to the person from whom you received your award.
