MIA!

WOW! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I last blogged! Life certainly has been busy! Last I wrote I was cleaning and decluttering my house. Well, I continued to do that and I can't believe what I pitched! I also have a big box full of stuff that I am going to eBay! I hope to make some cash for our Disney trip next May! Okay enough of my rambling! I'm going to try and catch up with the last 2 weeks of my life but I'll try to be brief (that'll be a feat for me) and highlight the important stuff.

Saturday - July 16 My precious daughter's birthday!
I can't believe she is now four years old! Her arrival completed my life and each year it is a joy to celebrate her life. This year it was a little different because it fell on a Saturday. The Saturday before her birthday party which means it's chaos that day with final cleaning, set-up, shopping and preparations for her party. However, I am very VERY BIG on traditions and one tradition that we have each year is to take her to dinner at "The Runway" restaurant at our local county airport. Three sides of it are glass from floor to ceiling and we sit there watching the planes take off and land. Allison loves it! It was hard to fit it in but we managed to do it and it was so enjoyable. It was a nice break from running all day. This year my sister, Alesia, was able to join us. She lives about 1 1/2 hours away but comes down every year the Saturday before her party to help me. Allison adores her so it was perfect that she was there. Another tradition is that we give Allison a small gift at this private family dinner and then she gets her big gift at her party. We always give her the "Growing Up Birthday Girls" figurine made by Enesco. You can buy them in either blond or brunette and it has the corresponding birthday on them. I remember getting something similar for my birthdays but I don't know what happened to them.

Sunday - July 17 Party day!
I got up very early and started preparations. I'm a perfectionist so every detail has to be just as I have planned. Curtis thinks I'm nuts but it's just the way I am. This year was a Dora party. Allison loves Dora almost as she loves the Princesses so since we did them last year, Dora was the perfect choice. I try to plan the menu to the theme if possible and this year we went Mexican. The menu consisted of a make your own taco bar with ground beef and shredded chicken tacos, Mexican corn salad, chips and salsa. We were supposed to have Spanish rice also but I scortched it! I never made a batch that big before! Oh well, everyone was very full when they left so it all worked out well. It ended up raining as soon as the guests were taking their plates out to the picnic tables so we had to find spaces inside. My house isn't very big but we did fine.
We gave Allison a Dora bike but unfortunately, the pedals kept locking up so we had to return it and they didn't have anymore so she ended up with a Princess one. She likes it better because she thinks she is a Princess! That is my Dad in the background of the picture. I have never seen him smile so beautifully as he does when he is looking at Allison. He has always had a soft spot for all my friend's children and I'm glad that I could finally give him a grandchild of his own. All my grandfathers were gone before I was born so it's so important to me that she have a relationship with both of hers. I am sure they will be some of the best memories she will have of her childhood.
The rain stopped and we were able to sit outside and let the kids play in the baby pool. Here is a picture of one of my best friend's son with her. They play so well together. Mitchell is 3 weeks younger and his Mother and I were together most of our pregnancies so I think Allison and Mitchell made friends before they were even born! Allison calls him her prince and they kissed good bye. It was so cute!

Monday, July 18 and Tuesday, July 19
Went back to work and tried to catch up after being off for 10 days!

Wednesday, July 20
~Allison fell out of bed about 4:30 am. I took the rails off of her bed and this was the first fall. It didn't phase her one bit and she went back to bed after a drink of water.
~Couldn't go back to sleep so I went to Wal-Mart at 5 a.m.! I hadn't been there in a while because I hate going there with the crowds but it was nice to do some browsing along with my shopping.
~Had a friend over in the afternoon for a late lunch and watched Allison play in the pool.
~After dinner we went over to Curtis' parents for a visit since they didn't get to have their "Allison Time" over the weekend because of her party. It was a nice visit.

Thursday, July 21 and Friday, July 22
~Worked and still tried to catch up!
~Stayed at my Mom and Dad's and there was a first at their house. My Dad came home with a window air conditioner! I NEVER thought I see the day! My parents are 70 and just can't tolerate the heat liked they used to. I wish I would have thought of it. It would have been a nice anniversary present! They are so hard to buy for! Anyway, I'm glad I was there because that sucker was heavy and my Dad is not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds because of his heart problems. So I helped him install it and in the process got to see history being made. My brother stopped by later and was just as shocked as I was that they got one. I guess my parents aren't as predictable as we thought they were!

Saturday, July 23
~I stayed at my Mom's with a plan of going to yard sales in her area with a friend so off we went. I ended up getting 2 crocheted doilies and 2 embroidered dresser scarves for a $1.00! Allison got "The Velveteen Rabbit" book for a $1.00. It was never even opened. Gotta love bargains!
~Stopped by the Farmer's Market and got some fresh veggies.
~Went to lunch at Bert's Wooden Indian. I worked there starting in high school for 6 years. Yum, their food is just as good as it was back then!
~The rest of the day, I dedicated to cleaning my house.

Sunday, July 24
Family time since the last couple of weeks were crazy!

Monday, July 25 through Friday, July 29
Other than working, we went to Curtis' Aunt and Uncle's house for a family get together Wednesday. It had been a little over 3 years since we've been able to attend one of her functions and it was nice to see everyone. They are so sweet and make you feel so welcome.
OH, and I did some Salvation Army shopping! I LOVE going there. Sometimes I get some great finds! This trip I found 2 items. I love to collect old glassware. Depression glass is my weakness but I also love old finds for everyday serving. This piece is in perfect condition and it was $1.99! The other item that I found is an old picture frame. For those of you that know me, I lost my favorite Aunt Carole to cancer about a year and a half ago. While cleaning out her room, we came across a framed picture of herself from when she was a little girl. It was in a newer frame and didn't do the picture justice. I asked if I could have it and my other Aunt that she lived with said there are better pictures of her that I could have. However, Aunt Carole must have loved that picture of herself since it was the only one she took the time to frame and she had tons of pictures! I had been looking for an old frame and this one seemed to fit just perfect and it was only $1.99 too! I think she would have approved.

THERE! I think I am all caught up! Sorry for it being so long! LOL...I just thought of something else to share but I'll wait until tomorrow or later today to blog again!

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WHAT a feeling...

No, I am not dancing around the living room singing Irene Cara's song from Flashdance. Although, it's a great song and movie as well. On a side note, did you know the movie was filmed in Pittsburgh? I love watching it and seeing the city! It's been so long since I've watched it, I think I am going to add it on to my movie rental wish list.

Anyway, the feeling I am referring to is sheer bliss! The bliss that you feel when you've conquered a goal. My living room is clean from top to bottom! It looks so pretty! Don't get me wrong, we don't live in filth but it had been cluttered for a while. I threw out about 80 magazines! I know you are probably saying "What? Did she say 80?" Yes, I did! I save them so I can go through them and rip out what I want. But let's be realistic, am I ever going to find the time to go through them? Of course not! So, out they went! My new goal is rip out what I want when I look at them the first time. Let's see how well I do. I also purged some of Allison's toys. I hope she doesn't notice! Well, I just tried to take a picture of it but it's night and the picture came out dark. I'll try to get one posted soon. In the meantime, here is a picture of our fish, Dennis, that I took earlier. He lives in the living room.
While I am on the subject of the living room, what do you have on your coffee table? Mine has been bare since Allison was mobile and I just realized that I can decorate it again. Help me and give me some ideas!

That's all for now, I am tired and I want to work in the kitchen a little before going to bed.

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Can get it out of my mind!

Even though I still have a few things to do in Allison's bedroom, it's almost done. I need to hang a couple of things on the walls, clean out the closet and finish painting the dressers. However, I will not be able to paint the dressers until a couple of weekends from now because it has been storming daily. Other than making the bed, I haven't stepped foot in there today. I have been busy looking for the carpeting that I want. I would like something very close to this but I can't find what I want. The room has hardwood floors so I don't want to cover it completely but I want an 8 x 10 piece that is bound on the edges to put down mainly where she will be playing. I want something soft on her little knees. I can find an 8 x 10 bound piece of carpeting in practically any other color at carpet stores but not anything close to this. These sizes run about $90 but if I pick the carpet and have them bind it for me, It will be a little over $200! The salesman at Prizant's was so nice and he suggested that if I can wait a couple of weeks to do so. They will be getting in a big shipment for the students that go back to college. He said it is very rare that they get anything close to the color that I want but they did ask for more colors this time so just maybe it'll happen for me. Keep your fingers crossed! If not, I'll have to go with a neutral beige. But it will have to be a whiter beige than a tanner beige. Because there is so much white in the room, I'm afraid a tanner beige will look dirty. It'll be so hard to settle for something else than what I have pictured in my mind!

I'm so bad because I shouldn't be blogging right now. I am supposed to be cleaning! I can't wait until everything is detailed and I can enjoy myself. I hate it when I have housework hanging over my head! I've been really swamped for a while and I need to get control back over the things in my life. I'm tired of being stressed and not enjoying life. I asked my Mom one day how she did it all when we were little. I mean the woman had and has a spotless house! I don't know where she gets her energy. She said "Honey, I didn't have to work outside the home." She made me feel so not like a failure by her statement. God Bless her! On another note, Curtis took a vacation day tomorrow and he is going to clean the basement! God Bless him too! Allison's birthday is on Saturday and her party is on Sunday so I would like to have everything done by Saturday morning so we can enjoy the weekend with her. I do have to be honest though, as tired as I am and as much as my back hurts, it DOES feel good to declutter this house! I need to live a simpler life!

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Pink is for Girls!

Whew! How do they complete those rooms so quickly on all of those home improvement shows? I started Saturday afternoon redoing Allison's bedroom. It tugged at my heart strings when I took the angel wallpaper border down that we had in her nursery. My little baby isn't a baby anymore...sniff, sniff. Anyway, I now see why they sometimes paint over the wallpaper on Trading Spaces! What a pain but thank you Curtis for your help in taking it down! Since we started so late in the day, we pretty much just cleaned the room out and prepped the walls and ceiling. On Sunday, Curtis painted the ceiling while I ran interference with the little one that "just wanted to help." After he was done, he took the little princess to his parent's for several hours so I could get busy. But before she left, she said to us..."I appreciate you painting my room pink." The colors for the room I chose are "celebration" pink (the light color of the rose in the wallpaper border) on top and "cherry pink" (the dark color of the rose in the wallpaper border) on the bottom. They are brighter than the normal pastel pink that you usually see in little girl rooms but I wanted darker and warmer. Also, this room gets a lot of sunlight and a light color is blinding during the day. I wasn't finished painting when they came home but Curtis dove in and started helping me. He is such a good guy! I also gave Allison a dixie cup with paint and a foam brush and let her go at the walls. She was so cute and proud. After bathing and putting her to bed, we painting until 1 am. In the morning, I started to put the room together but decided that the new headboard that I have for her bed wasn't what I wanted. We had been using a hand-me-down bookcase bed from my Mom and if painted white, I thought it would work better. So, off I go to paint more until 1 am again! Boy, I am tired!

Today, I am going to wash all the bedding and curtains and dress the room as best as I can. I need to hang the wallpaper border but I have to wait until Curtis comes home from work tonight to help me. I also need to catch up on all the housework that I haven't done for the last couple of days. A woman's work is never done!

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When Life hands you Lemons...

Thursday, I worked all day until about 9:00 at night. It was the last day before going on vacation and I always have extra to do. I'm a list person so I have to leave a list for my back up while I am gone. I try to cover all the daily tasks, instructions for anything else I foresee happening plus I also give her an addition project while she is covering for me. Anyway, I called my Mom on my way home to tell her something (Allison was there all day and was staying until Saturday so I could paint her bedroom) and my Mom was very sick. I told her I would pick up some clothes at home and come and spend the night and take Allison home with me on Friday. Of course, my Mom didn't want me to do that because she knew this was my only opportunity to paint without my little one present. She is so tough and strong but I am not going to take advantage of my own Mother. So off I went to Mom's.

Since, Friday was my first official day of vacation and I couldn't do the painting that I had on my list, I decided to turn my day into something fun with Allison. So off we went to Rogers Open Air Market. My Dad (in his retirement) hangs out there every Friday with friends of his, Bill and Ruth, that own and operate "The Popcorn Stand." They sell popcorn, big soft pretzels, cotton candy, canned sodas, bottled water, home brewed iced tea, lemonade, coffee and miscellaneous hardware and tools. It's nice because they are in the corner of the main building so they are not out in the hot sun. It's quite a busy little place and it seems to be the senior citizens hang out...lol. This was Allison's first visit there as I personally don't think it's a place for babies or toddlers. It's hot, sunny, dusty and crowded. It just breaks my heart that some parents feel the need to bring their tiny infants to Rogers. Anyway, Ruth gave Allison cotton candy which she has never had. Well, as you can imagine, she LOVED it! After half the bag was gone and she was twirling and running around, I wouldn't let her have anymore. Usually, she accepts that but this child was chanting "more Mommy more" over and over again. It was kind of scary how quickly she became addicted to it and was begging for her next fix! We only walked around Rogers for a couple of hours and only got about a third of the way through. Allison was getting tired and my plan wasn't to really shop. I need to go back by myself to do that. I love looking for antique and vintage treasures. Rogers is really a whole day adventure but my goal was to surprise my Dad and get a couple of their $5.00 t-shirts with something on the front of them. I love wearing these for just hanging around the house during the summer. Allison got a kickball that looks like a porcupine and the Pennsylvania Beanie Baby bear. I also got her a brand new pink pop-up hamper for her room for a $1.00. Oh, and I can't forget the homemade cookies we bought from the Amish while we were there. We got chocolate chip, monster (chocolate chip and m & m's) and snickerdoodles...YUM! After our shopping and visiting with my Dad, we were hungry but as much as I would have loved homemade french fries and a steak or sausage sandwich from the vendors (we call it "fair food"), I thought it best not to eat there. It's just too hard getting the food from the carts, hanging on to Allison while finding a place to sit down. So I promised her that we would stop at Jerry's Curb Service on the way home. It's a place from my youth and it's so nostalgic for me to go there. I've even got Curtis loving it and he wasn't raised in Beaver County! Allison loves it because they serve the kid's meals in a cardboard antique car. Yesterday it was a turquoise T-bird. And she also loves it because I let her sit up front in the car...she thinks she is so cool when she does this!

Well, I better run. With the change of plans for Friday, I now have to yesterday's list added onto today's. So I better get busy!

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Finally!!

Yes, I'm taking the plunge! I've wanted to start an online journal for so long and now here I am typing away on the keyboard. I'm not sure if anything I write here will be of interest to anyone except me but that's fine. I've never been one to look for outside approval or validation.

Why my title? Being a Mother is the most important thing in the world to me. If anyone ever asked me, when I was growing up, what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always "A Mom." It wasn't until I was 36 that God blessed me with a wonderful little girl. She is my world and everything I do, I do for her and with her in mind. I lived a very active and interesting life until she came along and now my enjoyment comes from being her Mom. I never really felt that my life was full or even that I was living until I had her. It was as if there was something missing and I was always waiting for my life to begin. I am just one Mother sharing my life and what does and doesn't work for me.

A little about me...I am a working outside the home Mother. No, it is not my choice to work outside the home but for now, it is what I have to do. Maybe someday, I'll be able to stay home but for now this is the way it is. I love to decorate, scrapbook, craft and generally be creative. My little one will be 4 on the 16th and I have recently started her scrapbooking and she LOVES it! I'm not sure if this is a good thing or bad (she already has eyed up MY supplies.) Another thing about me is that I always feel there is never enough time and I'm always behind in everything...scrapbooking, housework, organization, shopping (I'm out of milk right now!), and much more. In fact, I just got the mail and in it are 3 magazines. I still haven't read the stack by my nightstand! Speaking of magazines, I LOVE them! Maybe because I never feel like I have enough time to read a book or maybe because I feel that magazines teach me something. If you look at the books on my bookcase, they are of the self-help, finance or how-to nature. The magazines I received today are: Family Circle, Parents & Creating Keepsakes. Those sure say a lot about me!

I think I've written enough for now, so I'll close here. However, before I go I want to share with you a question that I was recently asked in a questionnaire for a group I'm in online. The question is: "If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?" My answer is: "That every child in this world would have parents that treated and raised them with love." SO, What would your answer be?

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