Sunday, February 17, 2013

Long Weekend

Long weekend because of the holiday tomorrow...one day longer for Ellie. Thursday was Valentine's day and involved a bunch of running around. I got the kids off to school and then hit the post office and grocery store to pick up the remaining supplies for their parties. I came home and put together our dinner - cheese lasagna. Both parties went well but I felt like a chicken with its head cut off...non-stop action for 2 hours. Nick's class made sundaes and played a couple games. Ellie's class decorated cookies and played games. We went straight to sports/dance when school let out. Rob took Ellie to dance and Nick and I came home to start dinner and give him a bath. We had a great dinner together and celebrated.
Friday morning Ellie woke up with a stomach ache which quickly turned into the need for a bucket. Poor girl has this history...she collects donations for Jump Rope for Hearts and ends up sick the day of the event. I got Nick off to school and then Ellie and I hung out watching Netflix all day. It was probably just what we both needed. Rob had a game in the evening, so it was more movie watching for us.
Saturday morning I did my thrift run...not too much but the clothing I did find was decent. Rob took the kids to the bank to deposit their change and then they ran to Ace Hardware to pick up a couple things. We went up to Gurnee for the afternoon. We stopped at a couple thrift stores, Hobo and got dinner. We were able to find Nick's birthday party stuff at the one thrift store...6th birthday party will be Speed Racer. We came home and watched a movie together before getting to bed.
This morning we went to church. Rob ran to a friends house to look at some painting work. We did some things around here - vacuumed out the dryer vent, majorly cleaned the laundry area up, cleaned the HEPA filters. Put away massive amounts of laundry. I went out grocery shopping for the week while Rob watched the kids. I came home and made dinner. Rob got Nick into a bath. Just finished watching Downton Abbey...cannot handle the wait for the next season.
So, I must have had a moment earlier in the week when I hit my foot and thought - that is going to leave a mark - because the majority of my left foot is black and blue. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Happy Valentine's day

It continues to be busy here. Monday I did some shopping and some research. I went to Target to pick up all my prescriptions for my colonoscopy next month. I was able to pick up some other things while I was there. I did a small shop at Aldi and GFS...picked up some of the things I needed for the parties at school this week. I went out to Big Lots and found some snacks on clearance. I had the first part of my auctions end Monday and almost everyone paid immediately - love it. I got a call from Imerman and I have been matched again. Rob had to tape the board meeting at school, so it was just the kids and I at pottery class. Ellie worked on some owls and birds, Nick on a tile and train and I was able to get a tiny dragonfly done.
Tuesday was a major post office morning. I volunteered at school. The remaining auctions ended in the afternoon - not too shabby. I only had about 6 items that didn't sell. I did homework with the kids when they got home. Rob was taping a show but was home a bit after dinner. We went to the library to get new books and to turn in the kids reading graphs. They got a lunch bag for finishing the program. Nick is very excited to read about Amelia Earhardt right now so we checked out a few books.
This morning I went to the post office to drop about 30 packages. I went to Unique for the valentine sale...all red or pink items were $1.00. I had a cart load of red and pink shirts and sweaters that would have cost me about $100 for $17. I went over to Mom's house to play with the boys and then to take Tony to school. The boys were a hoot this morning. Matteo was my buddy again. After dropping Tony at school I came home to start baking for tomorrow. I had the frozen cookies to bake for Ellie's party and then a bunch of treats for our neighbors. I ended up with 3 batches of muffins and 2 batches of cookies. Mom and Dad came over for dfinner. We had Butler's BBQ shreds, salad, fruit - Mom made beer bread and a mushroom saute  We had lots of dessert - cupcakes, cookies and candy. We all cuddles on the couch with our new electric blankets and watched the Middle.
Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Happy Year of the Snake

Seems like forever since I posted. Let's see how much of the last few days I can actually recall. On Thursday morning I did some more auction prep. I headed out to Glenview to hit the thrift store and see if it was worth going back on Friday for the 90% off day. I ended up picking up a couple things at 75% off...vintage Playskool McDonald's with accessories. I am actually just going to flip the accessories - one McDonald's went to Jo for her classroom and one will go to Michigan. We had an abbreviation Thursday night, just sports with Nick and then a quick dinner and off to Ellie's honor roll presentation. She was awarded gold for 1st and blue for second quarters.
Friday morning while we were waiting for the bus Nick had to run back to the house to use the washroom...he was super layered and the street was a sheet of ice so running wasn't really an option - he missed the bus. It ended up working out fine because the streets were still so crappy it got me out of the house early and to Glenview when they opened. I drove Nick to school and was off. I knew which racks I wanted to hit first and was able to get in/out in 15 minutes. $250.00 worth of clothes for $25.00 - not too shabby. I came home and did some baking for the weekend. I made a batch of chocolate zucchini muffins for Ellie's breakfasts and a batch of peanut butter cookies to take with to Jo's house. I was able to get all the laundry in the house done plus all the re-sale clothes washed...about 8 loads. The kids got home from school and Ellie was ghost white. She said her stomach was bothering her. I made her a quick bath and then the gagging began. We are off our schedule again...I feel badly for her but luckily it just was about 18 hours. We went over to Jo's for movie night and dinner. We watched Night at the Museum 2 and the kids got to play with each other. Rob had a basketball game.
Saturday morning I took off on my thrift tour. I had more luck at Morton Grove than Skokie this week. There were some rude customers at Skokie who didn't want to share the aisles. I came home and Rob had agreed to take the kids out sledding. While I did my inventory and started washing again, Rob took the kids to James Hill to sled. They went up and down a couple dozen times and came home. Rob was pooped out but the kids still had energy because they stayed outside and built a snowman and played for another couple hours. Rob had another basketball game and left in the late afternoon. We had movie night and watched Charlie Brown Valentine's movies and cuddled on the couch.
Today was a busy social day. We had Dean, Lauren and the girls over for brunch. Ellie was a help with breakfast prep. We made a blueberry baked oatmeal, mini German pancakes and scrambled eggs. The kids had a great time playing together and ended with making Valentines. It was nice to visit and catch up - we haven't seen them since Dean's birthday last month. We had our Chinese New Year celebration at Mom and Dad's house tonight. We had quite a spread - soups, lo mein, fried rice, sweet 'n sour, egg rolls & fruit. I made walnut cookies and Mom made almond cookies and a king cake. The kids exchanged valentines and played.
Getting ready for another crazy week with 2 parties at school. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Can't Believe How Quickly Time is Flying By

It doesn't seem possible that it is already Wednesday. It has been a very productive eBay week. I have taken over 800 pictures, I have been able to list 50 items and have written the descriptions for about 50 more...just waiting for my free days to let those go live. This leaves me with just 2 boxes of clothing...time to go shopping.
We had pottery on Monday evening. We all were working on different things. I was able to get a patchwork candle holder and a decorative flower together. Nick made a heart plate and then some sort of animal. Rob made a tile for the cottage and Ellie did a stamped tile. We got a couple more items back - they look great.
I volunteered at school yesterday. Did grocery shopping for the week with the kids after school. I am happy to say that I don't have to do that often because it made me a bit crazy. Too much input as to what we need to get and running around...ahhhh.
I finally called to schedule my colonoscopy. Dr. Bianchi wanted to see me back in a year, Dr. Marsh said 3 years so I sort of met in the middle. I have another month of freedom in eating before I have to eliminate berries, seeds, and nuts for a week.
Rob has been working weird hours...full day/evening yesterday, late day today...2 nights of basketball this weekend.
I spent today prepping for more listings - taking photos, inventory and writing descriptions. We picked up dinner and went over to Mom and Dad's house for Wednesday night dinner. Mom made zucchini bread fro dessert. The kids watched a bit of the Aristocats.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Great Start for February

Right after I blogged on Wednesday night, I went into the kitchen to re-fill my water and heard a noise. It was coming from downstairs. I went down and quickly realized the hose for the hot water feed for the laundry sink had a hole and was spewing hot water all over. Luckily, the shut off was there and I was able to turn it off and leave a not for Rob to look at it when he woke up.
Ellie cam home with the most awesome news on Thursday...she made honor roll for both 1st and 2nd quarter, she got a B+ on her math test and she was a recipient for the Principal 100 award. The award is a new incentive to motivate the students to be compassionate to their fellow students. After school we had sports and dance. When I was giving Nick a bath after class, I noticed his forearm was red. It was weird, it looked like a rash but also a bruise. He didn't recall hurting it. It circled his arm, didn't hurt him and just appeared.
Friday the kids had only a half day of school. I got quite a few packages to the post office. Stopped by Unique for their 1/2 off sale. It was great, it was so cold outside that the store was pretty empty. I ended up with a cart full of clothes. The kids and I ate a quick lunch before we headed to Northwestern for a study. Nick was doing some matching games and got rewarded with a book. We went over to Mom and Dad's house for the rest of the afternoon. We picked up videos and pizza on the way home. Rob had a basketball game.
Saturday we divided and conquered. I went to both Salvation's and really did well. Lots of new with tag items and really good labels. Rob took the kids with him to the church carnival. I met them there around lunchtime. The kids got to play games and were in awe of the magician there. We split up again, I took Nick to a classmates birthday and Rob took Ellie to the library. Rob fixed the sink in the basement. We had another movie night.
Today we started off at church. We came home and Rob took the kids outside to play in the snow. I baked some danish to take to Mom's house for family Sunday. We continued the sink work in the house and Rob cleaned the drains on the other sinks. We went to family Sunday. Mom had a great menu...minestrone, brussel sprouts and beans, chicken, Jo made a turkey, cranberry sauce, corn pudding...mmmm. The kids had time to play with each other. It was nice to see everyone and visit. We came home and watched the game.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

What a Bizarre Couple Days

We have had the most bizarre weather the last few days. We had the ice storm on Sunday, I had the windows open yesterday, & snow today.
Not too much to share tonight. I have been busy listing and shipping. I will have to start acquiring again this weekend. I got a certificate in the mail for being a top rated seller - gets me a discount on fees. I volunteered at school yesterday. I did grocery shopping for the week yesterday. Dad took me to pick up my car on Monday morning. It turned out to just be the battery...yeah!
We had pottery class on Monday and we were able to get back our first completed pieces. Not very into this time around...too hard to work on my own pieces when I am helping Nick and Ellie out and the class is too short.
Mom and Dad came over for dinner this evening. I made mini veggie pot pies and they turned out great. I used my own recipe and will probably never be able to repeat it because it was a bit of this and a bit of that until the taste and consistency was right. Ellie made some cinnamon strudel muffins for us.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Always Interesting

It is absolutely nuts here in Chicagoland. There is a sizable amount of ice on the ground. It is raining, lightening, thundering and will be 60 degrees on Tuesday.
This morning, Rob and Ellie went to church. Nick and I stayed here and cleaned up a bit. Nick has decided he likes to clean and I wasn't going to stop him. Once Ellie and Rob got home from church we were home bound because of the crappy weather. We did some baking, made from scratch double chocolate zucchini muffins. I put away a couple baskets of laundry. Weeded out Ellie's drawers (again) of things she has outgrown. Ellie and I read for a long time...we are trying to finish this book up. The kids face timed with Mom and Dad this evening since we didn't do Sunday night dinner. We had dinner and then we all watched the movie based on the book Ellie and I have been reading. I am happy that the movie strayed away from the book because now the ending will still be a surprise.
Rob worked a conference at school yesterday...he was gone early. Ellie and Nick were going to stay at home while I ran to Salvation for a quick grab but when I went to start my car warming up - it wouldn't start. I tried a couple times with no luck. Our neighbor, Bob, tried to jump me with no luck. I called Mom and dad nicely came to our rescue. The kids had a birthday party at Jump Zone. We were able to drop them off while Dad and I came back here so dad could hear/see the car. I dropped Dad at home and borrowed Mom's car. I went back to Jump Zone and watched the kids having a great time. Nick even ate the pizza. They got the cutest goodie bags ever with handmade superhero capes and masks. We came home and the kids played until Rob got home. Rob and I attempted to jump my car with no success. I called our insurance for road side assistance...they sent out a tow truck. Shout out to Smitty's Towing in Evanston...they came out and were successful in jumping my car and even worked to clean the leads off. We drove my car to Ford so it could be first in on Monday for a battery and oil change. We stopped by Mom's house to wish Jamee a happy birthday. We went to Auroris at the high school in the evening - the dance team. It was a nice show and I know Ellie really gets inspired seeing it.
Friday, I drove the kids and the neighbors to school. The bus was running late and I had to be at school for the field trip. I haven't been to the Field Museum in decades...hasn't really changed. I had an interesting group of kids. Didn't lose any. We were all tired by the bus ride home. Rob was taping a basketball game in the evening so the kids and I baked some brownies, had dinner and a movie night. We watched a very old Muppets movie.
Thursday, I got some more things listed on ebay. Went grocery shopping with Mom and Dad. Nick had sports class in the evening and Ellie dance. We switched it up and I took Nick home and Rob took Ellie to jazz. It worked out great because I was able to come home and get dinner ready.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree