new years eve

Wow! The last day of 2011! I'm looking forward to the start of a new year. It always makes me feel like I get a chance to start fresh. I'm not really one for making a bunch of resolutions. I used to do that, but I never really followed through. We don't have any major plans for tonight. When I was younger, I really felt like I was missing out if I stayed home, but since having kids I've been perfectly content to stay home. In fact, I prefer it. Who wants to be out on the roads late at night in the middle of winter in MN with crazy drunk & drug using people? Just not particularly my idea of a good time. I'd rather be in my warm cozy home with my sober family. We'll spend tonight just as we usually do on New Year's Eve, watching movies til a few minutes before midnight, counting down the final minute, then toasting in the New Year with sparkling fruit juice. I just wish Cory was here. He's still at his friend's house. :-( Last year he was there too for New Year's. I'm glad Michael will be with us. He is going to a party ,but he told his friend that he will leave before midnight cuz it's a family thing that we are together for our midnight Happy New Year toast. I thought that was pretty cool! I mean I certainly would have understood an 18 year old preferring to be with his friends, but he chose us, old fashioned, out to lunch traditional , politically & culturally incorrect mom & dad. ;-) Yay!

James is doing much better. Sure enough he did have a uti but is on antibiotic & is in no more pain. He just has to give another "sample" a few days after treatment is done to make sure everything is cleared up. The dr said though it's rare for boys to get uti's, in kids with chronic constipation problems (which he has) it's more common. Not sure why that would be, but I figure she knows what she's talking about.

Same plan as usual for today. Nothing new at this point. Tonight's dinner will be steak strips with veggies & mashed potatoes. Brownies for dessert.

Blessings to all on this last day of 2011!

Ruby Tink :-)

Yesterday, the unexpected interrupted my plans (which tends to happen a lot in life especially when you have kids & even more so when you have a lot of kids, lol). Jim's friend didn't end up coming over cuz we had to take James to the dr. He had all the symptoms of a bladder infection, which is pretty rare for boys. I don't think Michael or Cory ever had one, & even my girls have only had it happen once. Our regular dr is taking vacation days right now, so we had to see someone else. She was nice, but is very new. She did say it is unusual for boys to get uti's, so she started him on an antibiotic, & they're going to send his "sample"(which Jim had to bribe him with a quarter to even "produce" cuz it was burning so badly every time he did, but hey it worked) for a culture to see if it actually is an infection & if not , or it doesn't get better or he gets any more infections, they will have to do more invasive testing to see what's up. She said sometimes boys have anatomical problems or I guess can get some kind of blockage or even kidney stones (rare for kids but not impossible) that can cause problems with flow &/or lead to infections. No fun. :-( Let's just hope it's just a simple uti without other causes. He started on the antibiotic last night, & so far today I haven't heard any screaming or crying so hopefully it's starting to take effect & he will now be pain free. These are NOT fun. I have had MANY MANY of them. I don't like when my kids are in pain, especially the little ones.

I did get my Bible lesson & grocery list done, so that was something anyway.

Today I get to have my hair done. Yay! I'm definitely due for a trim & color touch up. I was supposed to get it done a week ago, but my stylist's daughter was taken into Children's Hospital because she was so sick with mono & double pneumonia. Poor kid had to spend Christmas in the hospital! Thankfully, she's back home now.

Anyway, my plan is the same as usual with the addition of grocery shopping. Tonight's dinner will be chili dogs, fries, & yellow cupcakes for dessert.

Ruby Tink :-)

Today Jim went back to work, so it feels like a Monday. I'm so confused. It's Wed but no church tonight. Michael is here ,but Cory's not, so it kinda seems like he's in school. Ok too much going on for my poor little ADHD brain to process. lol.

Anyway, yesterday I got my workout done, shower taken, we worked on school, I did my Bible lesson, straightened up my room, put in a load of laundry & made dinner. Today I'm still planning the usual stuff with the addition of meal planning & making a grocery list for next week. Tonight's dinner will be hamburgers, Romaine lettuce with Italian dressing, & oranges. I just got a text from Jim asking if his friend from work could stop by with his wife & kids to meet me. Sure I don't mind, as long as I don't have to run around cleaning like a crazy woman. Actually, it's not too bad. Both the bathroom & kitchen are reasonably clean (Well except for the bowl of hardened oatmeal sitting in the bathroom cupboard.... Don't ask. Personally, I have no idea who put it there or why they would think that was a good place for it. All I can say is that kids defy logic. At least I HOPE it was one of the kids, lol) The living room is still somewhat cluttered but not scary. So as long as we can keep them out of the basement, I think we should be OK. I don't know when they're coming, but there may even be time to do a quick pick up in the basement after Jim gets home from work. But even if we don't, I refuse to stress over it.

I'm wearing my new skirt that my friend Bethie blessed me with for Christmas! She's a professional seamstress & makes beautiful clothing. I LOVE it! It's denim so it goes with anything & everything, fits perfectly, not tight, but not baggy either. Sometimes I tend to wanna wear baggy stuff being such a plus size girl, but , though I suppose it's better than too tight stuff that shows every fat roll, baggy stuff still isn't flattering. Kinda makes you look like a giant blob. Much better to wear something that shows you do have a shape (just not every detail of that shape, lol). Anyway thank you so much, Bethie! & when I have funds to do so I wanna get several more in this exact same style. Hey it works, & if you just change colors or fabrics you get the benefit of different looks. There aren't a whole lot of styles that actually fit well all over cuz even though I'm plus size, some parts of me are more plus size than others. I'm not perfectly proportioned. So when I do find something that works, I tend to stick with it. & I love denim skirts. They are pretty much my daily uniform. I wear them like I used to wear jeans.

Ok I'm off to tackle the rest of the day's adventures!

Ruby Tink :-)

Well today things are feeling better in the girl department. Still dealing with some tummy pain every time I eat, but the other things are easing up. Yesterday, I did my Bible study lesson, straightened up my room that had become gift wrapping central & was strewn with all kinds of paper & junk. It took a while cuz it was pretty trashed. I also put a load of laundry in the washer & had the kids pick up the junk on the stairs.

Nothing new today. The plan is the same as yesterday except I also wanna do school, workout on the treadmill & take a shower along with all the other stuff. Tonight's dinner will be creamy chicken & rice, homemade dinner rolls, baked acorn squash, & apple slices with caramel dip for dessert.

Oh my exciting life! Actually as boring as it may sound to others, I do like it. I'm not where I wanna be yet but I'm on the road & for the most part am enjoying the journey.

OK time to go tackle that treadmill.

Ruby Tink :-)

Today has been kind of a weird day. OK I'm going to say this cuz it's mostly a girl's blog, but technically anyone can read this, so if talking about time of month stuff is tmi for you or just bothers you, STOP now. Though I would think most guys who are married & in their 40s or 50s probably can handle hearing it OK cuz I'm guessing they are well aware of our female challenges. I just don't wanna upset any skittish guys. So consider yourself warned.

I am having one of those periods from you know where. It was bad yesterday & still bad today. Even taking 3 ibuprofen isn't entirely getting rid of the pain, & holy guacamole am I ever bleeding A LOT. I don't think dangerously so but definitely enough that I can't work out & am too uncomfortable to do anything physically challenging, like move or clean or even take a shower, which I really do need. I've been in bed A LOT today cuz I've been so tired. I've actually slept off & on for a lot of the afternoon. & I really did wanna work out. That was my plan, but it just didn't happen. Yesterday I was nauseated so I didn't get to enjoy Christmas dinner with my family. I put it all on the table, took a Zofran, & went to bed, sleeping off & on, & was able to eat about 5 hours later. BTW----- The dinner WAS really yummy & the dessert? Oh my! Jim & the kids thought it was amazing & I would have to agree with them. I wasn't able to make it to my mom's. She's probably mad cuz I didn't call her, but I just felt so sick. I was hoping things would ease up today so I could get back into the swing of things but nope. I did make like a pseudo, healthier cheaper version of an egg macmuffin for brunch, but that was about it for activity today. I texted some & was on the computer, then I had to lie down. I've been crampy, bleeding heavily, & just tired even sleepy, & now I'm very thirsty but water isn't sounding good to me. I'm craving fruit juice, which is weird cuz that's just not typically something I would crave. I also am having terrible heartburn even though I've been taking my protonix. Again very unusual for me to have this much breakthrough discomfort. I think something is off kilter here & rocket scientist that I am, I think it's related to my period.

Well I'm not gonna beat myself up over being somewhat of a slacker. There is something physical going on & I feel like if I had tried to force myself to workout, I might have passed out or something. & no I'm not missing any meds or anything. Maybe it's just all this bleeding that's causing some kind of temporary inbalance.

Yesterday I did manage to do my Bible study before I became a semi zombie. I am feeling a bit better as I type but I still don't feel up to tackling the treadmill. I am making a little bit of progress though. My first week, I did it once. Last week I did 20 minutes 3 times. Still not optimum, but making some strides.

Today since it's already evening I'm not sure how much,if anything, I'll actually get done, but my plan is to try to do as much of my usual wanna do's as I can, plus start getting thank you notes written for me & have the kids do some too. Dinner will be hot roast beef sandwiches, chips, baby carrots & celery slices tonight. Pretty simple. I haven't started yet cuz Jim & the girls aren't home. Jim took Cory to a friend's house who lives about an hour away from us. Cory will be staying there for about a week. I think they must also be doing some other errands while they are out & about, but dinner won't take long to make, so that's fine.

Anyway, I will tackle what I can in between now & dinner & try not to lose more than a few gallons of blood in the process. lol. Sorry not trying to be gross. Just happens by default sometimes.

Ruby Tink ;-)

merry christmas

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful morning, opening gifts & eating the pumpkin bread I made last night! We were so blessed by people's generosity this year. Not only did we have that anonymous delivery, but we also got a completely surprise package with stuff for all of us from one of my online friends who I hope to one day have the joy of meeting in person. Thank you so much Bethie Boo & Ernie! This truly was an unexpected blessing!

I just finished making Christmas dinner & am waiting for Haley to finish washing dishes so we can eat. We're having baked ham, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes with nutmeg, biscuits, romaine with a homemade mustard vinaigrette, sparkling cider, & chocolate cherry trifle for dessert. I think it'll be yummy!

Later we're planning to visit my mom, & then we'll play the rest of the day & evening by ear. I'll try to get some of my stuff done that I've been wanting to do for the past couple weeks, but it IS Christmas, so if it doesn't happen, that's OK too.

No snow today. This is my 19th Christmas in MN & first one here that hasn't been white. That's fine though. I'd rather have this than 20 below. Hope everyone is having a blessed day of celebration!

Ruby Tink :-)

christmas eve

Church is done. The kids looked great, & of course, Jamesies was absolutely adorable. He was so enthusiastic ringing those bells. It was hard not to crack up. The shopping is finally done, all the gifts wrapped, the food all purchased.So tonight we can just relax & watch a movie & get to bed @ a decent hour. So many Christmas Eves we've been up til the wee hours finishing up the wrapping.

Tonight's service was really cool. I LOVE candle light services, & it's been years since I've been to one. The only downside was that Jim, Cory, & Kelley's wax managed to drip through their paper holders & was a bit warm on their hands. But mine was fine.

My friend Carrie who just had her baby yesterday is on her way home from the hospital. & when they get home they're going to skype with us.The only bummer is they don't have a web cam, so I won't get to see the baby.:-( But Carrie has promised to send me pics.

Anyway a week ago we had nothing under the tree, & now there are what looks like a truckload (or maybe a sleigh load) of presents. Amazing! I know it's not about the gifts,but I still think it's fun to watch everyone open them, & hey, I enjoy presents too.

I still need to make dinner. We're having hot ham & cheese sandwiches & homemade applesauce (so much better than the jar stuff & really easy to make). I also might make some pumpkin bread tonight so we can have it for breakfast tomorrow while we open gifts.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all!

Ruby Tink :-)