Not Easy

Tonight, this is what I am doing...eating nachos while watching the Biggest Loser.

Except I've eaten the nachos (and the chocolate, but I'm too embarrassed to admit that) and now have a laptop in my lap.

Burning calories typing.

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This week has been icky.

One of the boys that lives here got busted big time, is grounded and hates me. Last time I checked, I'm not paid to be liked. But still.

And then I confided in a friend who has children who have never sinned. Not even once. Never. Ever.

Sigh.

So then I moved on to the friends who know and love me (and my boy) and that helped.

The chocolate and nachos helped, too.

I wish there was a way for him to understand that I am not a 'fair weather fan'....that a mum's love doesn't come and go. It stays and stays and never waivers. But alas, that doesn't happen till they get older I suppose.

And Mom...sorry for everything I put you through. Took a while, but I get it now.

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Breaking News

I need to interrupt your weekend to share something important.

Last night we had a burger-fest in our little house.

Gourmet burger fest.

I have now eaten something I said I would never eat, thanks to the convincing of my 17 year old son.

And he's right....it. was. AMAZING.

Here's the scoop: Have someone grill a burger. Top it with fresh mozzarella, a dollop of pesto, a slice of tomato and a FRIED (overeasypeasy) EGG.

No kidding.

Does it sound disgusting to you? It did to me, too, but I tried it and wept.

WEPT.

Seriously...it ROCKED.

And to go with it...sangria.

Because seriously, what else do you drink on a 78 degree day in January?

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That's it...just thought I'd share.

Back to the Golden Globes.

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I'm Here

Yes.

I am.

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This week in review:

A new plant with a name that is way too similar to a disease no one ever wants to talk about. I keep saying the wrong name at inopportune times when describing that guy that I like so much driving "blank" home in his convertible.

And then I laugh because it's awkward.

All filing, shredding, organizing of paperwork for 2010 is complete. It wasn't very fun and while I did find Matthew's passport, I still have not located his birth certificate.

Sorry, Matteo. I ordered one from your home state of birth and it's on its way.

Even though it is basketball season, I cooked some and fed some...things like homemade tomato bread soup and a pot roast and risotto and an easy pasta with asparagus and prosciutto.

So no one went hungry.

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There was a nice breakfast out with that guy that I like so much at our favorite breakfast spot...the one that has a fireplace AND a buy one get one weekly coupon, where I ate my very favorite granola pancakes.

In November I was asked by a friend to donate a slew of necklaces for goody bags for a big Hollywood fundraiser...it was for a charity I love so without a second thought sent them on their way.

This week I got a big order from someone whose movies I watch all. the. time. and whose husbands movies I watch all. the. time.

I am jeweler to the stars.

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And on a side note...these are my new favs. One word, plus your favorite verse:

Let's see....what else this week?

• The ugly: basketball for my middle and questioning so many things.
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• The beautiful: his reply to my text message vent. "mom, this is all part of my story. God has a plan." He listens. All these years, he's listened. Now I need to.
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• The strange: I held a donut/coffee hour for my crossing guards. Let's just say that some eclectic people choose to work as crossing guards.
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• The thankful: an SOS call to one of my BFF's at a moment when I thought I might fall apart. I am blessed in the friend department.
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• The warm: January in SoCal...77 degrees. My toes are screaming in happiness.
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• The cats: perfect. In case you were wondering.
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• The boys: Matthew is home, but moving back to dormland this weekend. I love having him here. Sigh. Alex...see above. Brian? Sweet. Cute. Talkative. Nothing new there. =0)
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• That guy that I like so much: somewhat stressed. Poor guy. Not a smooth end to break, thanks to work stuff.
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• The fun: an impromptu lunch with a friend that included gorgonzola rigatoni AND tapenade:

Plans for this weekend include a Saturday with absolutely nothing planned except an evening under the outside heater in the backyard while sipping the very last of the carried home from Italy limoncello.

(that's a looong sentence!)

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What are your weekend plans?

A Picture A Day

I wanted to try and take a picture a day for the whole year...cheers to making it one week!

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1. toasting the New Year. 2.boys + an iPad = lots of fun. 3. pouring rain on my 1st day back to work. 4. On Tuesday I sold 18 of this very same necklace to 12 different people in 8 different states. 5. bye bye Christmas decor. 6. gas is out of control expensive. 7. peanuts in a bucket at a fun lunch spot.

Care to join me in this venture?

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The First week Of The Year

All the Christmas decorations have been taken down and our little house seems so empty.

And clean.

But technically it's not clean clean, just bare. I actually took everything off the walls with the idea of mixing things up a bit and after playing around for hours, hung it all back up in the exact same places they were before.

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There was a knock on our door the other day and a woman I didn't know handed me a box of homemade cream puffs.

Ummm...ok?

Turns out they were from our dentist for referring someone to his practice.

Cream puffs? From the dentist? In January?

(we ate them all, btw. sigh.)

While gorging on cream puffs I decided to go out on a limb and fry up some meatballs in olive oil, which were later drenched in gravy (that's spaghetti sauce for some people) and covered in a mountain of cheese and baked.

Low cal in So cal.

In January.

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Thursday brought lunch out with that guy that I like so much....probably the best hot dog on the planet.

Yellow mustard, sweet relish, tomatoes, peppers (I picked them off...sorry) and a big dill pickle.

Yum.

What are gas prices in your neck of the woods?

Out of control here. Somebody tell me it's going to get better?

I'm continuing the' clean out something around the house every day' thing today...though I have yet to decide what that will be. For right now I am too busy watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills...priorities, priorities.

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Back To Reality

For some reason our journey back into real life hasn't exactly been smooth.

We're all in shock around here.

School? Well, school comes early in the morning and we are out of practice with the whole 'early to bed, early to rise' scenario.

Work? Well, work starts early in the morning, too...and I'm finding it's totally hard to climb out of bed while that guy that I like so much is still snuggled up under the covers.

Sigh.

And it didn't help that Monday morning was COLD and rainy.

And it hasn't helped that everyone has homework. And practices. And games.

And I kinda sorta forgot to do laundry, so my boys are the ones in the smelly clothes.

Double sigh.

The good?

My sister-in-law cooked for us on the last night of vacation and all we contributed were our empty stomachs.

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The cousins hung out and made noise. They're good at that.

And then we played a wild game of Uno, family against family.

Not to brag or anything, but my family won.

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Tomorrow I need to do laundry.

Groceries would be nice, too.

I also have a bunch of jewelry orders to finish and a house with sticky floors and a facebook scrabble game to play.

Tomorrow...because tonight I am sitting on the couch watching a movie and eating apple dumplings a neighbor brought over.

Tonight I am pretending we are still on vacation.

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Happy New Year!

2011!

I am finding it hard to believe that another whole year has come and gone...more than anything, I am humbled at how short our time here on earth truly is.

Whoosh.

But rather than dwell on that, it's time to look forward to this coming year and all that it will bring.

New Years Eve brought a wonderfully quiet evening...Italian food and movies and pajamas (and prayers for my older two who were out with friends this year) all inside our little house on our little street with our (not so) littlest boy.

A few minutes before midnight we wandered down to the grassy hill and met up with the neighbors and while I did throw a jacket on, I was still in my pajamas.

We counted down with Dick Clark, toasted in 2011, laughed and kissed and then wandered back down to our little warm house and settled in for the night.

The next few days we hibernated and it was the most glorious vacation I think I've ever had. We ate all the leftover food that had to be eaten and watched movies and took naps and only got dressed in the evenings when friends began knocking on the door to come in and play cards or sit and chat under the heater in the backyard.

I didn't want it to end.

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I also spent some time deciding on what my verse would be for the coming year and finally decided on Phillipians 4:6, which says:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I actually like all of Phil 4: 4-9...but settled on vs. 4 because I often seem to find myself overwhelmed and trying to handle it all and feeling anxious.

Very, very anxious.

And when I get anxious, I forget about going to God with thanksgiving...and instead enter what I call the 'pleading zone' with God.

So for this new year, I am finding I need a reminder to pray for the good AND for the bad. And to lift every single situation to God as a forethought instead of as an afterthought.

I might need a reminder here and there.

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So cheers, my friends...Happy New Year!