Happy Thanksgiving

It has been a busy week so far. Monday was the only day of school this week for the kids. I got a bunch of items listed on Monday, all the shirts i had pressed on Sunday and then some. Monday evening we had Ellie's conferences at school. I dropped Nick off at Mom and Dad's so we could focus on Ellie. It was splendid. We had a meeting with all her core teachers at once. We got to hear how wonderful Ellie is, just confirms what we already know. Ellie is doing great and we addressed our concerns for reading comprehension and she will continue to get help. We took her out for a cupcake afterwards.
Tuesday we headed downtown to Macy's with Mom, Dad, Ole, Tony and Teo. We were able to get right in because we arrived early. We sat in the back but had a smaller tree right by us. It was a nice lunch together. We tried to see Santa but the line was longer than it has ever been. We walked over to the Christkindlmart to see Santa but he hadn't arrived there yet. We walked around and smelled the food. We walked and saw the windows at Macy's on the way back to the car. We stopped at the Panaderia, the Mexican bakery, on the way home to pick up some sweets.
Today the kids and I went over to the GGs to help set the table for tomorrow. Ellie and Nick both helped out and we were able to get the table beautifully set in just a few minutes. Dean, Abby and Jordy came over for lunch and to play this afternoon. We went to Mom and Dad's so Ellie could help out with a project and then we came home and just sort of relaxed.
Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Running Here, Running There

Must be near Christmas because the running around has begun.
I honestly can't even really remember what I did on Thursday or Friday. I know I have been busy listing. I got almost 150 items listed the past couple days. I had about 30 items sell over the last couple days. It is fun when I do bulk listings, when items don't sell I can re-list them all at one time. All of those listings end at the same time, too. I got email after email yesterday when they sold.
I ran to Salvation yesterday morning, Ellie watched Nick. I was able to quickly grab about 30 items. I came home and got them into the laundry. The kids got dressed and we went to their bank to deposit their change jar - $30.00 each in change. We ran to the Morton Grove Salvation and I was able to get another couple items. Nick had a birthday party for a friend. They were seeing Free Bird at the theater and then lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We dropped him off and then Ellie and I had a mom/daughter afternoon. We went and had a manicure together. Ellie loved it. The one technician offered to do some nail art for her. It was freezing outside but we went and walked around Old Orchard. We picked Nick up and came home. I did more laundry and we cuddled up and watched Turbo.
Today was spent inside the house, frigid outside. I organized my ebay bins and was able to purge a couple. I did about 6 loads of laundry and put away a couple bins of ours. I got busy listing but there was too much going on...the kids running through the house, food being eaten, tripping over bins...I decided to just press all my shirts and finish listing tomorrow. We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. We ordered El Famous and had a great time together.
I am calling all spare positive thoughts...our friend, Rosie, is still having a tough time. Her doctors are perplexed at a rash she has, they think it is a drug reaction but they aren't sure which one. Also, my friend's, Debbie and Dan could use some. Dan has decided to stop treatment. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Laid Back Days

This has been a laid back week. I have just been watching listings close and mailing things out. Of course I got an email from eBay tonight with free listings for the next 5 days, so I will be productive again. I was able to get grocery shopping done on Monday. I did a run to unique but didn't leave with much. Dean and the girls came to watch Ellie's game. I don't know what happened our team but they were on fire. Ellie scored twice and was the center for the tip off. She played an awesome game, EPS won 22-6.
Rob and I got to do some early morning Target shopping yesterday. Rob worked late Monday night so he didn't have to work until the afternoon. I volunteered at school. I checked out a new thrift store and was able to get a bag of ties.
I went thrifting today but ended up with things for us. I got Nick a pair of boots for the winter. I found this great pottery bowl that you bake bread in. Mom and Dad came for dinner. We had taco night. We watched the Middle and cuddled on the couch.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Why did we rake?

The wind, rain, hail, and more howling wind was quite incredible today. I spent a little bit of time raking on Friday and Rob spent a couple minutes this morning until the lightening started. It's mostly on our lawn again.
Not too much to share. Had my visit with Dr. Marsh on Thursday. My labs were the best they have been in months. My white blood count is finally not in the "!" Value. My glucose was on the low end and my absolute lymph has not rebounded but he isn't concerned. I will see him again in 6 months.
Friday afternoon Ellie had a basketball game. They were able to defeat the undefeated Lincoln Hall. It was a good game. The kids and I went to Cici's for a celebratory dinner.
Saturday morning. Ellie and I had Lauren's baby shower. Nick and Rob went up to help Dean with some home projects. The shower was nice and Ellie was a great helper. We went back to their house after the shower so the kids could play for a little while.
We were the parents for church Sunday school this morning. We were able to get in a couple minute visit after church with our friends Cindy, Keith, and Barb. We came home and did some major cleaning up. Once again,  eBay has kept me too busy to clean the house up during the week. We had dinner with Mom, Dad, Jo and the boys.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Wednesday Already?

Time is flying by. Not too much to share tonight. I have been busy listing and shipping. I finally brought my kids clothing upstairs and have started to tackle those. We went to the dentist last night. Ellie is cavity free for the 11th year in a row! Nick has another small cavity on one of his molars, not really his fault since he is a diligent brusher...it is the flovent inhaler.
Ellie had a basketball game tonight, unfortunately, they lost. Mom came to the game and then over for dinner. We ordered Chinese and brought it in since the game didn't end until 6:00.
I have my 6 month Dr Marsh visit tomorrow morning. Just blood work and an office visit. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Fall Trip

Sorry about the late post...we were on our annual family fall trip and I forgot it was Sunday last night. 

We left on Saturday and came back today. It was a great getaway, fun to see how they change year to year. Yesterday we started a puzzle in the afternoon, Mom and I finished it at 2AM. We went swimming once. The pool was in a clubhouse and we had to drive to get there and it was just too cold to do it again. We shopped at the outlet mall. The kids got Build a Bear's as their souvenir of the trip. 

Driving home was a bit tricky today. The snow was already coming down when we woke up this morning. We drove slow and took our time. We watched a couple near accidents as people hurried to switch lanes and then we actually had an accident happen about 50 yards in front of us on the highway...luckily we were driving slow enough to slow down and get through it. 

Ebay has been going great still. I have free auctions through the 16th so I will be busy listing this week to try to cut through some of these boxes. 

Rosie's transplant was on Friday and she is doing well. She will be there for the next 100 days recovering. 

Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Winner, Winner

Not too much to share tonight. I had a wonderful surprise yesterday afternoon when the UPS man delivered a box. He carried it to the door and told me it was too heavy for me. I had him put it inside and I looked at the label...it was for me! Long story made short...I won 67 pounds of handmade soap. I have been buying soap from The Soap Guy for about 8 years now. He is a local artisan and makes incredible soap. I have ordered for parties, gifts and our own use. He has contests all the time and I won his Facebook Friday contest...24 loaves of handmade soap. I was like a kid Christmas morning opening my boxes and smelling each scent. This was so timely, too, because I like to include a sample size soap with my ebay purchases. It keeps the clothing smelling nice and it is something that sets me apart from other sellers. Now, I have like a years supply of soap!

I did my thrift run on Monday. I started at Unique and found some nice new clothes to flip. I went to Avenues and lucked out with some Christmas items. I have been listing items each day and have a couple items being sold each day. 

We found a local Chinese restaurant we finally like. We have tried local ones and they always have something we don't like - flavor, price, texture. We tried Happy Chef and really liked it all. The selection, flavor, price - they are a winner. 

Ellie and Nick were able to see a magic show tonight while I attended some informational sessions at school. They really enjoyed it. Rob is working late a few night this week. 

I am asking for positive thoughts for our friend, Rosie. She has been at the hospital since Friday and has been getting extremely strong chemo and has full body radiation tomorrow. Her bone marrow transplant will be on Friday. 

Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Happy Birthday to Me

Thursday was a rainy Halloween. At times it did slow down but it was still wet. The party at school went well. The kids were happy with the snacks and crafts. Rob took Nick out for the first part of trick or treating. Ellie had basketball practice. I picked her up when Nick and Rob got back. Rob had to work so I took the kids out but we only went a couple blocks because the wind picked up and we were soaked.
Friday I got my bins organized. I was able to combine bins and re-cycle a couple to re-use. I was able to get a bit of listing done, too. I did my Salvation run to pull for Saturday. Ellie had her 1st basketball game at school. Nick and I headed over and Rob met us there. It was nice that it was a home game because Nick was able to visit with some of his friends and it kept him busy. Ellie made a basket and scored for her team. We left at halftime because we had tickets to the circus. We picked dinner up on the way. Although it was a fun night, I don't know that we will do it again next year.
Saturday morning I went to Salvation. Ellie watched Nick for me. I came home and picked up the kids and we went to the other Salvation. We also did a quick run into Michael's and Big Lots. We came home and Rob had finished working and was showered and ready for fun. We had an early dinner at El Jardin. Nick tried a tamale but didn't care for it. We had gelato from Mariano's for my birthday treat. We were able to pick up yogurt for lunches this week.
We had a laid back day today. I got to sleep in! Rob and Nick raked the leaves...quite a pile out at the curb. I got my listings packaged and ready to mail out. Ellie made cupcakes from scratch. I packed up Halloween and got a bunch of loads of laundry done. Ellie and I ran to Target to check out clearance and picked up a bunch of stuff. All the food was on sale, we stocked up on goldfish! We went to Mom and Dad's for family Sunday. We were celebrating my birthday and Teo's 2nd birthday. Mom made lasagna, broccoli, salad, fruit, broco-slaw, cranberry sauce, and vegetable soup. Monkey bread and cake for dessert. It was fun! The kids dressed in their costumes since we didn't see each other for Halloween.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree