Hard to Believe January is Half Over

Time seems to be flying. I cannot believe January is half over. Monday I got the kids on the bus and got in the car for some shopping. I started at Goodwill and Savers but left without finding anything. I stopped in to the Palatine Wings and lucked out there. I bought a bunch of Christmas stuff for 75% off. I found one of the leap pad books I was missing. I hit all the Goodwills and Salvations on the way home. I ended up with some more Christmas stuff. I came home and did my research and got some of the items listed. The kids came home and did homework and I got dinner started.
Tuesday morning I went and volunteered at school. The kids have started their writing for their books. They were fighting for my attention. I came home and continued to list. My fun finds this week was a 1988 Jim Beam holiday decanter for a whopping 12 cents. There isn't another like it listed so I listed it for 75.00...we will see. The kids came home and did homework and when Rob got home we were still working on it. We ordered pizza for dinner.
Today I continued to list and I did some organizing and cleaning. It is the first time in weeks that the entire dining room table has been cleaned off. I waited around for our mail lady today but we had a sub. I had a package I mailed on Saturday that was never scanned in. It was going to Indianapolis. It was finally scanned in as 'en route - Mobile, AL' tonight. I have no idea how it got to Alabama on its way to Indy. I went through and looked at other tracking and found a package I mailed on Monday going to Florida is currently in Puerto Rico. Mom and Dad came over for dinner. We had make your own tacos and fruit, cookie for dessert. We played Mall Madness and watched the Middle. Nick read his book to Mom and Dad. Once a month, he will get to read a book to his class...very exciting.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Sunday, Sunday

I will begin with Friday since I sort of re-capped Thursday when I last posted. Friday morning I got the kids on the bus...that was almost on time. I was still in the shopping mood and drove out to Glenview but even at 25% off, they are still priced too high to flip. I stopped by Wings and was pleasantly surprised when I found I needed a cart. I found a cart load of clothing on their $1 rack. I found 6 needlepoint/cross stitch kits for $1.99 each. I rescued 2 McDonald, limited edition, art cels from the clearance bin. I came home and instantly got those stitch kits listed...at $85.00 each. It started really raining Friday afternoon. Luckily the basement stayed dry. The kids came home from school and wanted to see Mom and Dad since they hadn't all week. We went there for dinner and to play. 

Saturday Rob did side obs during the day. I ran to Salvation for some tag of the week items. Ellie watched Nick while I ran out. I did some more listing during the day. The kids played with legos and were taking it easy. When Rob got home they got dressed and we went to Toys R Us so they could use their gift cards up. I never want to step foot into a Toys R Us again. The prices there make me insane. It took forever and a day for them to decide what they wanted to spend their money on. We went for dinner at Portillo's on the way home. 

We started this morning out at church. We were the parents for Ellie's Sunday school group. They made seed mosaics and seeds and glue were everywhere, including all over my sweater. We stopped at Big Lots on the way home. We needed to re-stock some lunch snacks. We did some cleaning up around the house. I did some adjusting to my listings. We went to Mom and Dad's for family Sunday. Mom made alfredo pasta with chicken and a vegan version, green beans, broccoli, salad, and fruit. Scones, brownies and chocolates for dessert. It was nice that it was almost still light out when we left. We came home and had family game night - it was our family new year resolution. We played Ellie's newest thrifted game, Mall Madness. Rob and I watched Downton. 

Looking forward to this first full week back at school, last week went by so quickly. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

I am Blaming the Inclement Weather

This week has my life all jumbled up and I honestly haven't known which day is which, thus forgetting last night was Wednesday and posting. We were in the "polar vortex" section of the US early in the week. The kids didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday but Rob had to go into work since he is a 12 month employee. I kid you not...the kids and I were in our pajamas from Saturday night through Tuesday.
On Monday they went down to the basement and printed out instruction sheets to Lego sets and built happily for quite some time. It allowed me time to list a few dozen things on my last free day. We needed to warm the house up in the very cold temperatures, so be baked. Ellie started complaining her ear was bugging her in the late afternoon. I called the doctor but they couldn't get us in on Monday but found an appointment first thing Tuesday morning. We had no mail on Monday but I had 2 bags of mail to go out. Rob nicely ran to the post office for me when he got home from work. Ellie requested soup for dinner. I had a batch of tortilla soup frozen and we made mummy veggie dogs to go with it.
Tuesday morning we braced for the cold and dressed in layers. Only the front doors of the car would open so Nick and Ellie had to climb into the backseat from the front. We were able to get the appointment at Lincolnwood so we didn't have to walk far from the car into the office. Ellie was seen right away. She had redness in one side and an infection in the other. The big push is to not treat with anti-biotics so we were told she could have ibuprofen and Tylenol. We went to Mom and Dad's for a bit after. Teo and Tony were there because they also had a inclement weather day. We came home and I was able to list a bit more. I finally planned ahead enough to try out this pottery bread bowl I thirfted a while back. You need to let the bread rise for 5 hours in the pot and I never plan ahead enough to have that happen. I made a huge pot of veggie soup with faux chicken and noodles. We had homemade bread and potato cakes, too. We worked to get the kids in bed early to be up for school.
Wednesday morning, still in the negative degrees outside, the bus was a no show. I drove the kids to school and got on the road. I hadn't been out alone in weeks. I went to Salvation, Goodwill, Savers, Meijer. I spent the day out and felt so accomplished. I talked with Mom and Dad and told them to not come over. It was still cold out and not worth getting sick. The kids facetime'd with them. We had a make your own nacho bar for dinner. Rob and I worked and got Christmas down and packed.
Today I started the car warming up just in case the bus was a now show - probably cursed myself because sure enough - I drove the kids to school. I did my Unique run this morning. So funny to see all the objects marking people's parking spots in the city. I picked Mom and Dad up and we went to Whole Foods and Costco. It was fun to get out 2 days in a row. We came out of Costco and it was snowing though. When Rob got home from work, Ellie and I ran to the library. She was thrilled because her card finally expired. She has been asking to replace her card for years because she signed it when she was 5 and didn't like that signature. We came home and had dinner. Rob and I got the kids trees down and packed and then the basement organized.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Cold, Wind, and Snow

I am not who pissed off Mother Nature but they should apologize. I am sitting in the back room typing this and I swear the curtains are moving occasionally from the wind outside. I am pretty sure it hasn't really stopped snowing in days. Now we are in the running to break the record for the coldest day in Chicago history. Ellie and Nick will be home tomorrow because East Prairie has canceled due to the inclement weather. It is supposed to be -30 to -50 in the morning. Although we were all ready to get back to life...I am happy they don't need to be out waiting for the bus that may/may not arrive tomorrow morning.
On Thursday we were going to meet my friend Laura and her girls to bowl but they called us and were sick. We made a quick Plan B. We all went to see Frozen. It was a cut movie and we were basically alone in the theater. We came home and the kids packed up for their overnight at Mom and Dad's house. It took about 30 minutes to drive to their house in the snow. Rob and I wanted to avoid the snow and cold so I brought dinner home and we cuddles up and watched some movie on Netflix.
Friday morning I did some ebay listing. I went and picked the kids up and we came home and relaxed. I can't really remember all we did he rest of Friday - I think we didn't do anything.
Saturday morning Robe went over to work a bit at his side job. The kids and I ventured out to Mom and Dad's house. We put together 2 puzzles. Dad and Nick played with trains and then did some work with the erector set. Ellie worked on her spa creations until the porch smelled like a peppermint stick. We came home and I saw a bunch of friends commenting about grocery shopping which triggered me to want to go shopping. Ellie and I braved the elements and went to Mariano's. It was like people were prepping for a disaster. The produce shelves were empty. The bakery baskets had a few packs of hot dog rolls. The meat section was bare. The worker in produce said their trucks couldn't deliver. We were able to get enough to last us a couple days.
Today Rob went out to shovel and try to find the paper. He successfully shoveled but we will have to wait until a thaw to find the paper. I didn't get out of my pajamas all day. Nick stayed in his pajamas, too. Ellie did the second round of shoveling and then showered and got dressed. We pulled all the LEGO bins upstairs and let the kids go nuts today. I put away some of Christmas. The tree is still up but I got down all the mantle stuff. I was able to get a couple listings up onto ebay. It has been a good selling weekend - I guess when it is cold - people turn to ebay. I made a batch of macaroni and cheese for dinner with mummy wrapped hot dogs. Ellie made a batch of brownies.
Hope everyone stays warm and safe.
Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

And the New Year Brings Snow

I have to say the kids are loving the snow. They were out a couple times playing in it and shoveling. I think it has snowed for about 30 hours now and more is still expected.
Monday the kids and I hoped in the car and drove out Northwest. We started at Community in West Dundee. I am proud of my wee ones for having 'the eye'. Ellie found most of my toy purchases. I found a bag of stitch kits. New in box Handy Manny set. The kids found a couple board games. We stopped at Target to look through clearance. We hit the new Goodwill in Hoffman Estates. I found a couple ties and some neat book/card sets for tarot and crystals. We went to the new Savers. Found a new in package cross stitch kit...one on ebay currently for $75.00. Scored some great toys - bag of duplo bricks, leap frog set...and I had 25% off because it was Monday. We went grocery shopping at Meijer. Ellie raided the Christmas candy clearance. We made pizzas for dinner and watched a video.
Tuesday we did some baking in the morning. We made a couple batches of cookies for New Years Eve. We were going to try to hit Costco but the lot was packed. We ran to Target instead and Nick found the Lego train set he wanted for Christmas. We did a quick run through at Whole Foods to use my coupon that was expiring. We came home and Ellie frosted cookies and Nick helped a bit. We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Jo, Ole and the boys were back home from their trip and joined us, Katherine, too. Mom made a bunch of Polish food. The kids were so happy to be able to play together. We came home and had a count down to 10:00.
This morning I decided to start listing. I have free listings through the 6th and I wasn't planning on listing while the kids were home for break but the free listings not being used are killing me. I got some of my art stuff listed. Nick worked diligently on his train set - all day. Rob took them out to play for a bit and then took them to Mt. Trashmore but it was too cold and really crowded. I made cocoa and they showered when they got back to warm up. Ellie worked on her book report for school. Rob did some editing. Rob braved the elements to pick up dinner. I went to move his car across the street for plowing and it took a while to be able to get through the snow to turn around.
Hoping everyone is staying warm in the snow storm. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Last Post of 2013

2013 has been pretty great to our family. Both Ellie and Nick are doing great in school. Ellie got involved in sports this year and loved volleyball and basketball. She had her poem chosen to advance to the next level of competition and hopefully will end up at the state level. I love hearing the music floating down the stairs from her room. She is learning to play the keyboard and is also creating new songs and music. Nick has blossomed with help from the speech therapist at school. So many people have mentioned that he has come out of his shell but I think it is just that you can hear him now that he has slowed his speech down. He has spent the past few days videotaping on his ipod. He has taped his train layouts, lego sets, holiday lights...he is very excited about it. Rob is thriving at work. He was humbled by comments made to him at holiday parties. I have had a couple great doctor visits this year, all ending with no evidence of disease and get busy living. It has been an awesome 4th quarter on ebay. I have coined the title Resale Concierge, it sounds better than telling people I flip on ebay. Very cool sale yesterday, I had a Lillehammer winter Olympics tie and it sold to one of the USA coaches...I will be watching for him to wear it. 

Friday we started off the morning baking again. Ellie was thrilled to use her cupcake maker again. She made carrot cake muffins with cream cheese frosting. We took some with us when we went to visit Eric and Pam. We had a wonderful visit with them. I wish we could see them more often than we do. We did a bit of thrifting on our way up to the Cuneo Light show. I found a huge lot of art supplies at the one store. Taking it apart - I think I should be able to recoup my cost just on the stamp pads alone. I have scrapbooking pens, calligraphy sets, rulers and other tools, pencil lead, paper. We had dinner at Portillos and then waited in a slow moving line for the light show. It was a bunch of fun, like it always is. The kids looked for the snowmen and counted them. They changed things up this year and it seemed even better. 

Saturday morning Mom and Dad took Ellie and Nick out shopping for the day. Rob and I took advantage and went out for lunch. We headed north and did a bit of thrifting...for ourselves. I found some great sheet sets for the cottage.We were able to get a couple things at Hobo, too. I couldn't resist running into Salvation on the way home and was soooo glad I did. I found a couple more of the scrapbook items and 2 Hermes neckties. Mom and Dad came in and stayed for dinner when they dropped off the kids. We had appetizers and salad and fruit. We worked on the puzzle but this puzzle was sort of ridiculous with the piece shapes. We still had about 100 pieces to go when they left. I finished it up around 12:15 this morning. After Rob went up last night, I went to refill my water and found my foot stepped into wetness. I thought it was just a spill from the sink but learned the entire cabinet under the sink was wet. I dragged out all the containers and bottles and wiped it dry. I tried to investigate where it was coming from but couldn't. 

Rob and I began our morning researching faucets. Ellie agreed to watch Nick so Rob and I could run out and try to find one we liked. We originally were going to replace the faucet and the sink itself because it has quite a few dents but we soon found out black sinks are what is stocked now and white is custom order. We ended up just getting a new faucet. We came home and the kids were making bouncy balls with a craft kit Nick got for Christmas. Rob put in the new faucet - looks great. We started a new puzzle - equally as challenging because it is shaped like a train, with all the bells and whistles. Rob stayed home to watch the Bears game when we went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Mom made an enchilada casserole that was good. She also roasted baby potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes. We had cookies for dessert. Dad played trains with Nick while Mom and Ellie made some spa bath salts. 

Hoping to make 2014 even better than this year has been. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Day Late, I know

Hoping everyone day a fabulous Christmas with family and friends. We started a new puzzle yesterday and I was working on it last night and forgot to post.
On Monday morning Ellie and I baked a couple more batches of cookies. We ran out for some last minute stocking stuffers and food for Christmas day. The kids played very nicely together. In the early evening Dad picked us up for the CTA holiday train. It was bitterly cold, about zero out. The station was crowded and we soon found out there was only one train on the track. We decided to brave the elements since everyone was waiting inside. We had about a 5 minute wait outside but that was fine because we were the first ones to board and we were able to get 4 seats together. The train has never been so packed. Standing room only and Santa didn't even have room to walk around. We made it to Howard and years of experience has taught us how quickly we need to move to get up and over to re-board. We got 4 seats together for the return ride but it was equally as crowded. We got to see Santa from afar. We had a treat from Starbucks to warm up before going home.
On Christmas Eve we just kinds hung out. We really needed to go nowhere so we stayed in our pajamas. We delivered cookies to our neighbors. We went to church in the early evening, it was refreshing to have the new reverend do the service and change it up a bit. We picked the GGs up on the way to Mom and Dad's for Christmas Eve dinner. Mom had a lovely meal - kievs (vegan and non), broccoli, corn pudding, salad, fruit, sweet potatoes, salmon...probably forgetting something, it went on and on. Dessert was equally as spread - mini cannoli, eclairs, cookies, bundt cakes, chocolates, and ice cream. We left cookie and wine out for Santa and the kids got to bed.
Christmas morning was nice and laid back. We decided to get Ellie and Nick each one big gift this year. Ellie got a keyboard and Nick got an ipod touch. They each got an outfit to keep them warm. While they waited for Mom and Dad to come over they played with some gifts from others. Mom and Dad came for breakfast. We had eggs, tofu scramble, bagels, cinnamon rolls, and potato hash browns. Mom and I started a 1,000 piece Christmas puzzle and Dad and Nick started building some Lego set. Ellie was busy working on crafts. In the afternoon we went up to Dean and Lauren's house. We had a make shift dinner and the kids played together really well. It was great to be able to sit back and relax and watch the snow fall. We came home and I worked on the puzzle some more. Ellie played with her new speed stacker game and Nick and Rob worked on Legos.
This morning we were laid back and slow. Ellie joined me on a trip to Target to exchange Nick's ipod...the 16gb one doesn't come with a double camera and can only take 'selfie' pictures. We did a quick walk through the store and stocked up on tape and tissue paper.
Mom and Dad picked up Uncle Joe from the hospital on Christmas Eve, thanks for all your positive thoughts. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree