The Great Calendar Shortage of Twenty Ten

OMG....(and I mean Oh My Goodness....I wouldn't say Oh My God unless I was praying....that's just me....IDK) any way enough of the text talk...Did you know that there is a severe calendar shortage in the Greater Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin area?

Me neither! Somebody should have warned us.

I had to go to THREE stores to find a 2010 Calendar. For real people, even Hallmark said they were sold out before Christmas. Something about no one giving out free ones this year so everyone had to buy one. Is this Obama's idea of an economic stimulus? Well if it is .... it is working!!!! But really, this should have been the lead news story even before all of the H1N1 vaccine shortages and stuff. Honestly. I am so shook up right now I am shaking.

How did I find out about this lack of calendars you ask? Well let me just tell you.

My employer always gives us two calendars. One is a very nice wire bound one that is a little on the big side, but that just makes it easier for me to spot when my next day off is. It is very professional with no added gobbly gook on each date.

The other one is a Diversity themed one where every child of every employee of the entire corporation is invited to draw a picture of what diversity means to them. Then they are pasted all over this calendar. Very busy...that is all I will say about the design. It also listed every event that every office in all 4 states would sponsor. Really, I don't need to know when the Oklahoma Full Service Unit is having their Red Bandanna Rodeo to help injured Cowboys. Just really don't feel the burden for them.

I would always bring that one home to use in the kitchen. Remember my anal list making issue? Well, that is what I would use this calendar for. I make my weekly menu on the calendar after pouring over my cookbooks, magazines and recipe files. Choosing the meals that just make my mouth water and on what day to have them. Then I would have the recipe at hand for when it was time to make it and I would use the menu to make my grocery list so I didn't end up with 25 pound of ground beef and no chicken breast. It is really a very ingenious method. I may patent it and market a calender just for this use.

But, lo and behold, due to cost saving measures we only received one calendar this year. (Guess which one we got? I will give you a hint.... The Texas Tumbleweed Benefit Garage Sale for Sunburned Ranch Hands is on June 23rd.) So now I am left to my own devices on how to plot my meals. Dan-o suggested I print one off of the computer. HA! Amateur. It has to be compiled on a bound calendar so it can be saved for future reference. I have menu calendars dating back to 2004. I will not be accused of fixing the same meal too many times in a decade.

I hated to spend the money on a calendar, but it was a true necessity and was eager to pick one out and hurry home to begin my planning for February. Imagine the sunken feeling I had when CVS Pharmacy and Hallmark shot me down. I was in a panic. But the nice lady at Hallmark, who also shared my disbelief and disgust in the lack of calendaring needs, told me she thought she saw some at the Kroger. I didn't even say good-bye. Just took out of the store like a scalded cat. Thank God. The Kroger had a few precious calendars left. I was so thankful I fell to my knees and offered up a sacrifice of praise right there. I chose the Monet Garden theme. Not that I am a art aficionado or anything, it was just more my style then the Harley Davidson theme.

So now I am a happy woman. I have my calendar and life is good. If you are in the area stop by and I will show you my rare 2010 calendar. And if you stop in on Tuesday we will be having Potato Crusted Chicken, Steamed Citrus Green Beans, Garlic Mashed Potato's and Glazed Carrots.

Weight....I Have Something To Say!!!

So it has been a while since I have updated the world on the elimination of the extra poundage.

Let me share a little of what tasty morsels have crossed these lips.

First there was Thanksgiving. 'nuff said there.

Then came Christmas. Cookies, cakes, big breakfasts every morning, big dinners every night and lots of snacks in case there would be more than a 45 minute gap between meals.

We had Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cake
Out of this world.

Southern Living's Chocolate Citrus Cake
Amazing!

Praline Pull Apart Bread

It was all so wonderful...so very wonderful. Sigh....like a dream.


So...now here is the final tally.....

Ladies and Gentlemen...

For 14 straight weeks....

The dreaded scale....

Has moved....




DOWN!!! 15.1 POUNDS to be exact!!!

Yes, even with all of the indulgence, I lost weight!!!

I am not bragging mind you, I am just thrilled!!!

I would like to thank the redeco project, the Wii, the long walks in the park!!!

I think I have finally stumbled on the secret to weight loss....exercise. Who knew?

Now I just have to keep the motivation going.

I think I even feel another 100 step photo walk coming on!

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear blo - og.
Happy birthday to you!

It has been one year since I set out on this experience of blogging! I have enjoyed it and am really quite surprised that I have been faithful to it for this long.

I have enjoyed sharing little glimpses of what is bouncing around in the great expanse of my head!

Some of the posts have been about me. Some about others. Some have been sad. Some have been happy. Some have been hysterical. Some of them have been pointless. Some have actually taken some thought to put together. Some have been just a brazen excuse to show you pictures of the cutest little boy on the face of the earth!


But they are all part of my life, as simple as it may be.

I appreciate both of you that read my ramblings and hope you will stick with me as we embark on year two. I am not making any promises that things will be any better than last year, but who knows what lies ahead!

HAPPY 2010!!!!

This year I am resolved to.....

Wait...I am not going to resolve anything. Today is another gift from God just like yesterday was and tomorrow will be, if He so chooses. I should be striving to be and do my very best whether it is January 1st or September 19th.

This is not to say there isn't much I need to improve on. There's more than enough that I need to work on, and I will try and try again to make those improvements. But what I am not going to do is set myself up for failure.

I am a fanatical list maker. This Christmas, as in Christmas's past, I had a list of what we would be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a calendar that listed what needed to be cooked and when.

I do this for a couple reasons.

First, my memory is just not the steel trap that it used to be. I do think this is hereditary though. My Grandma Runyon would come out of the bedroom after dressing and take her both her hands and tap her shoulders (checking to make sure she had a shirt on) tap her breasts (yep, there's the brassiere) tap her waist (check - pants and panties in place) and then off she would go.

Second, it keeps me organized. Without the list, we very well could be enjoying breakfast casserole for Christmas dinner and Red Beans and Rice for breakfast because I didn't read the recipe ahead and know that the beans had to cook for 8 hours. This is not to say that this list making doesn't have it's flaws as evidenced in the multiple runs to Kroger on Dec. 23....or 1:00 in the morning Dec. 24. But hey, the pull-a-part pecan rolls were well worth the trip!!

Third, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. There is no feeling like marking a task off of a to do list. Even if the task you are marking off is making another to do list. It is something that needed to be done and it got done....mark it off.....move on to the next job.

So if I am such an anal list maker why aren't I making any New Years Resolutions? It isn't because the list would be too long (although it would be quite lengthy) it's because those resolutions are what I want accomplished. I want to loose weight. I want to be better with money. I want to exercise more......I want I want I want.

Nothing I want can be accomplished unless it has been ordained by God the Father and until I have completely surrendered my will to His, even if the things I want are good things, they can't be attained without His power. So in 2010, I will continue to seek His will and let Him make my resolution list.

I am looking forward with anticipation to what God will do for my family in the coming year. He has so blessed us in 2009 that it will be almost unimaginable to see what He can do in 2010.

Happy New Year to all of you. I pray that 2010 will bring you blessings untold!