The importance of resolutions.

Back in January, I made some very serious resolutions for the new year. I posted them on my facebook page in an effort to document them and to make myself accountable to those that read my posts.

Again, I share.....

We had a great 2011-we got a return missionary, our daughter married a great guy, our baby started her senior yr, Craig won a couple of very prestigious awards, and we became grandparents. With that being said, I set a few goals for myself for 2012.....
1. marry off one or both of our remaining unmarried children. (Any takers? Just message me.)
2. acquire another one (or two) grandchildren. (I'm ju...st SO good at it....)
3. find a pair of boots that will fit over my man calves. (I don't want any guys getting all jealous.)
4. take a daily nap whether I need it or not. (Beauty sleep. Duh.)
5. have Ragan throw me a party after she graduates. (It's the least she can do.)
6. exploit my husbands fame and notoriety for financial gain. (Money really CAN buy happiness...in the form of a tummy tuck, I do believe.)
Oh ya....and,
7. bring sexy back.

Happy New Year! :):):)

Well, I am so thrilled and happy to announce that I have already accomplished two of them......

Goal #2......




Kyle and Makenzie are having a baby!!!


We are so excited. This little bundle will be arriving in September.

And....

Goal #1.....
It appears our Mark has found his one true love.

Meet Makel.





They have talked about getting married the end of August.


I am working feverishly on the other five goals.
I am doing a fine job on #4.
Number #3 is proving to be quite difficult and we are right on track for accomplishing #5.
Number #6 is coming along and quite frankly, #7 has been, well...... just WAY too easy.

Seriously?

Ragan and I had a nice discussion while driving the other day....

(R) "Mom?"

(me) "Uh huh?"

(R) "Danielle's mom asked me if you like to party."

(me) [chuckle] "Oh ya? What did you tell her?"

(R) [eye roll] "I told her you didn't. Duh."

(me) "That's good."

(R) [overly concerned] "Mom...you'd like her. Miss Debra is really fun."

(me) "I'm sure she is.....apparently she likes to party." [laughing]

(R) "SERIOUSLY......Mom. I think you need to find some friends."

(me) [confused] "I have plenty of friends. Why do you think  need more?"

(R) "You never do anything! What are you going to do when I move out in a few months???"

(me) "Well......anything I want. I don't know yet. I'm certainly not going to start partying. Unless it's a party at the Goodwill store!" [laughing]

(R) "I'm just worried that you're going to be  [pause]  all.alone."

(me) [sigh]"I don't mind being alone. Really. I have a lot of things that I enjoy doing. Maybe I can go on some track trips with Daddy. Or....something."

(R) "Mom.  I'm serious. You need to do something with yourself. You just can't spend all your extra time at the Goodwill store. 'Cuz seriously, I don't want to see you on an episode of Hoarders."


Busted.

Apparently, Ragan feels I am one Goodwill trip from going bat.crap.crazy.

 Especially without the positive influence of her company and loving attention.

For all I know, she is planning an intervention as I type.



I suppose I better start thinking of some things I can do with myself once she's flown the coop.

Just in case she ever brings it up again.

But I'll start by jumping back on the crazy train.
Evidently, Ragan thinks I never jumped off.

Seriously.

Multi-tasking.

There used to be a time when I could have several projects going and

be able to finish them all in a timely manner.

That ability has somehow, strangely and inexplicably, left me.

It must be my advanced age of 40-something...(yes, it's finally time to stop pretending I am 29),

 or the fact that I am in the throws of dealing with my fourth teenager,

 or I have developed some sort of "project ADHD".

Since deciding to stay in Arizona, we thought it might be "fun" to paint the inside of our house. We had previously painted the bedrooms but the monumental job of painting

the rest of the house has been procrastinated.

We have VERY high ceilings, and it just seemed like too big of a task

for our resident princess and yours truly.

Craig generously offered up his services and we dug in. We did get most of it done before he left for his latest track meet, but there is still so much to do. The trouble is, now I want to do other things instead of painting, but I HAVE to get this project finished now, or it just might stay in its present state forever.

And, that is a prospect that makes me feel just a liiittttlllle but crazy.

So yesterday, I was doing some touch up when I happened to walk past a mirror and saw this.....  

A big ol' smudge of paint in my hair.

Then I remembered a conversation that Ragan and I had

a few months ago while coming home from school.

Enjoy....

(Ragan) "Mom.....have you been painting today?"

(Me) "No, Why?"

(Ragan) "You have something white all in your hair."

(Me) "What? Where is it?! Can you get it out?"

(Ragan) "It's on the underside of your ponytail. OOoooo, I don't know if I can get it....It's a lot."

Ragan reaches over to touch my hair

(Ragan) "OH.MY.GOSH!!!"

(Me) "What?!? What is it?!?"

(Ragan) "Mom. You have a HUGE chunk of gray hair! Actually, it's WHITE. Here, let me pull one out so you can see."

She, (not so gently) plucked a hair and handed to me. Sure enough, it was white. Actually, "translucent" was probably a better word. Miss Clairol and I had an early morning meeting the very next day.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I just walked past the mirror again. This time, it looks like I have a little "crazy" in my teeth. As soon as I get that out, I start painting again. ;)

A new look

I made this table runner many years ago, but I never really liked it enough to put it out. It had a horrible binding that I had it zig-zagged on.....

Ya. It was terrible.

Well, in all my sorting, I came across it. I decided to give it a new look.

I unpicked the hideous binding and added some sashing fabric.

Then I hand stitched around the blocks and added a much more acceptable  binding.

I really like all the little bugs that are on it.....

 Everything is blanket stitched....When I made it,  I used some pretty heavy duty fusible web to attach all the pieces. My fingers definitely paid the price for that! :)

Giving this runner a new look kind of inspires me to get a new look for myself......

But, if I cut my hair, then I would actually have to style it, and we all know how I feel about make-up, right? More importantly, if I changed my wardrobe, then what would I do with all of my stretchy pants? And certain shirts would probably require me to wear a bra and that's pushing it for me....

Phew.
That was close.

Now. Let's just hope those people from "What not to Wear" never find me.

SO here's the thing.....

I cannot abide a pity party.




Unless it's mine.



I don't have one very often and I don't stay too long, but sometimes I have one.

Lately, I have had a BAD case of the crankies.

I have hurled myself on the bed and had a good cry. I have put my hands on my hips, made a mad face and stomped my foot. I've made fists and said "Humph! and "Grrrrrr!". 





You see, I am not ready to be an "empty-nester". (insert whiny voice)


Three of my babies have left the nest and the fourth is counting the days until it's her turn.

It's just not fair.
My cruel, cruel children.



Come back and I won't care if you mess up the kitchen making cookies.
I won't care if I am in the bathroom and you come in to ask me a question and all your little friends follow you.
I won't care if I give you my very last dollar so you can buy more (fill in the blank).
I won't care that I have to call the neighbor to tell them their child has seen me in my underwear....again....because you forget to knock on the door.
 I won't care if you dirty every surface/dish/piece of clothing you own.
 I won't make you find what stinks in your room and get rid of it.
I won't make you only pick three books for me to read to you.
I will cook whatever you want for dinner....even if it means I make four different choices....one for each of you.
I won't make you have a bedtime/curfew.
I won't make you practice spelling words.
I won't kiss you in public.

Just. come. back.




I want to be very clear though.

 IF you don't come back, I will be forced to find new children.
Then you'll be sorry.

I'll give you until the count of ten.....
ONE......., TWOoooo.......

Mom rantings.

Did I ever mention how I totally dislike blogger?

Well, I do.

I can't get my blog looking like I want it to.

 Somebody went and changed everything and now I can't do what I want. 

 I am thinking of changing servers but I don't think I know how to transfer everything over....Grrrr.

Anyway.... I'm not going to let anything ruin my excitement.

You see, it's Elder Carter Eve today.

And to get the festivities underway as soon as possible, I woke up at 4:15 AM.

Okay, so that wasn't by choice, but I am just so excited that I couldn't sleep!

Mark will be returning home tomorrow night (Dec.17th) at 8:52 PM.

I have been waiting for this moment for 2 years!!! :):):)

There is just so many things to do!

Family is coming to stay here as well.....I need to bring my A-game as far as cleaning and cooking goes!

I also think I could be a professional wedding planner.

(insert sarcasm)

We are going to be pulling off a completely planned wedding by one beautiful bride-to-be and yours truly.

We are doing practically everything ourselves....

from the invitation making to the reception decorating to the catering.

We have had some pretty great contributors, though.

 Dad, Lenore, Stacey.....our runners and phone callers in Utah.

(it's hard to plan a wedding that will be held in Utah while living in Arizona )

Lisa, Josie and Jalene......photographers that do their thing with professional status....for free. :)

And a momentous event not to be forgotten,

our baby Ragan turned 17 this month.

We had a wonderful day with her doing just what she wanted to do.

Yummy sandwiches at Bisonwiches, a trip to the Hippie Gypsy (a very trendy store where everything stinks smells of incense) and a walk up and down 4th Ave.

Princess Ragan will be done with finals today at noon,

and then it's totally going to be "family time" for about a month!

So, the next few weeks will be busy, busy.

I am sure it will not be without some stress and anxiety.

But, I am one happy momma.

Calling all turkeys!

Let me be clear....I am not calling any of you a turkey.

It's just that I love the whole "turkey" theme of Thanksgiving.

I love putting my turkey's out to display after storing away all the remnants of Halloween.

This little guy is one of my favorites.

And, this big fabric turkey makes me happy when I bring him out of the storage bin and sit him on the shelf. He is holding a rather large sign, but I think he's doing a great job at it.

I would like to believe that he is personally reminding us to remember to be thankful! :)

I love the turkey theme so much that I dedicate a whole preschool day to turkeys.

I call it.....(wait for it....) TURKEY DAY!

We make our own little turkey puppet to sing with one of my favorite Thanksgiving songs.

Albuquerque the Turkey

sung to "My Darlin, Clementine"

It goes a little something like this.....

Albuquerque, he's my turkey,

And he's feathered and he's fine.

And he wobbles and he gobbles,

And I'm awfully glad he's mine.

He's the best pet that you'll ever get,

Better than a dog or cat,

Albuquerque, he's my turkey,

And I'm awfully glad of that.

Albuquerque, he's my turkey,

He's so cozy in his bed,

Because for our Thanksgiving dinner,

We had scrambled eggs instead.

I know you will be singing this little ditty all day long now.

But.....just go with it.

 :):):)

let me explain.

I have had a few people ask me the reason behind my last post. I thought maybe I should explain, lest there be any confusion.

(Mind you, this explanation will be void of any specific details, as to not further the drama. )

My daughter, Ragan has been the recipient of attention from said mean girls.

It has been difficult, to say the least, for me to not go up to these mean girls

and give them a piece of my mind.

Not that that would do any good.

Even I've had more than a few "looks" (let's just call it stink-eye)from these girls....

Looks that I would like to smack right off their mean little faces, 

but again,

probably wouldn't do a bit of good.

The moms of these girls are in on it too.

They give Ragan stink-eye.

Classy, right?

I suppose you're wondering what Ragan did to inflict this upon herself.

I'll be glad to share......

Hope you can follow this.

Ragan spoke to a boy at lunch one day.

Friend#1 confronted Ragan about the conversation.

Ragan was told that (friend#2) likes boy and has been

"trying to get with him" (yep-that's AZ ghetto talk) since the 8th grade.

Ragan acknowledged that fact and assured friend#1 that she and the boy were "just friends".

Friends #1 and #2 find out that friend #3 likes aforementioned boy

and is currently in negotiations for a relationship.

Ragan is best friends with friend #3, thereby incriminating herself.

I know.

I didn't get it either.

And I am not even going to get started about the girl who took pictures of herself and put them on her myspace, got caught and then blamed that all on Ragan.

It was a "Ragan made me do it" kind of thing.

That mom, will not even look my direction.

(Kind of a blessing, though, because then I don't get the "stink-eye".)

In both cases, the other "players" will not talk to Ragan--or me, for that matter.

My first reaction was to vindicate my daughter and proclaim her innocence.

Now, don't get me wrong...if Ragan was culpable in any of this, I would admit it, accept it, and then deal with it appropriately. I am NOT one of those mothers who believe her children can do no wrong. However, in both of these cases, we believe Ragan didn't do anything to provoke the treatment she's had.

Which makes me even more mad.

But since I can't fix it, I make fun of it.

Yep--that's how we roll around here.

But, I have to tell you, as hurt as Ragan was about all of this, she really helped me regain my focus on the things that really matter.

She said,

 Mom....I know who I am.

What they think about me doesn't matter.

Bless her sweet little heart.

So, I say this in closing....

I'm rubber, You're glue!

Whatever you say,
 Bounces off me,

And sticks to you!!
So there.

Eternal Truths

Okay.

 SOOooo I took a little blog break.

(Again.)

And, just like the last one, it was completely unintentional.

Sometimes, life sorta picks you up and takes you on a path that you weren't expecting.

(Happens to me more than I want to admit.)

This time, that path didn't include blog time.

(I really missed all my blog friends!)

However, I did think about blogging.

(A lot, actually.)

I thought about when I first started blogging.

 I loved the "big reveal".

The picture taking, the showing of things that I had finished or made or found....

(Go ahead, get all reminiscent.)

Then I thought of all the "other stuff" I do and figured it wasn't really all that "Blog-worthy".

(reality check)

Since I don't have any finished projects to reveal,

I thought I would impart some of my very limited profound wisdom with you.

Here goes....*ahem*.

1. There is nothing meaner or more cruel than a teenage girl.

2. Mean teenage girls have mean moms.

3. This is where the saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." comes from.

4. There comes a time in a woman's life where a tummy tuck seems more practical than doing crunches.

5. Sweating profusely for months on end does not make a person lose weight.

6. One CAN actually live vicariously through their children.

7. Karma is real.

8. Sometimes, it's pretty cool to see Karma in action.

9. In most cases, your own children/grandchildren REALLY ARE cuter than everyone elses.

10. You choose your attitude.

So there you have it, my fine blog friends.

Use this information as you see fit.

 You can even say you "thunk" it all up yourself.

I don't even care....

Seeing as how I am a giver and all.

(wink face!)

Go Banana's!! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!

Often times I go grocery shopping thinking that I still have 4 growing kids at home.

Call it what you want, but I often refer to it as "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Shopping".

When this disorder decides to rear it's ugly head, for some unexplained reason I feel compelled to buy an item in large quantities.  

Only then to take it home to my brood, who were always on a continuous feed.

Well, this time it was bananas. 

I don't know if it was the inexpensive price of 49 cents a pound that gave me the flash backs or what,

but I scooped up WAY too much.

My reality of having only ONE banana eating child here

 became clear the moment the little brown spots began to appear.

Well, not to waste the bananas, I decided to slice those babies up and put them in the food dehydrator.

If I am anything....it's resourceful....

ya, whatever.

Anyway, after a lemon juice dip, they made their way to the dehydrator trays. 

After a whole day and a night, they looked like this.......

MMMmmmm! They are so delicious!

 I have to say that these are SO much better than the dried bananas you can buy in the store!

 I'm not kidding...If you were here, I would share.....

but since you're not....

I guess I will be eating them all.

No more teachers, no more books!

Yesterday was Ragan's last  day of 10th grade.

I think I may be just as happy as she is.

 We had a few weeks of intense preparation for her finals.

Thank goodness I , we,  she pulled through!

I happily chucked this mess into the recycle bin, first thing Thurday morning.

These are all of her notes and things that she used to fill out the endless stream of study guides that she brought home.

 I would put them together in a nice pile each morning so she could use rifle through them again that night.

In the pile I found this little scribbley picture she drew for her child care class.

It's of our family.

Pictured left to right;

Craig, me, Cameron, Mark, Makenzie & Ragan.

 Look how short she made me!!!!

At first I felt a little offended....but then, I noticed how thin I look.....

and just look at my long, flowey hair!

 Don't forget to notice my captivating brown eyes.

Why, I am absolutely stunning in this picture.  

This could very well be on the Christmas card. ;)

Not so happy.

It is a beautiful day today in Tucson....it's about 75* at the moment. A welcomed change to the 100* temps that we had over the weekend. This is usually the kind of day that would make me giddy with happiness.

However,  I am still pretty grumpy.

I am about to tell you why......

It appears that the eyes in the back of my head are no longer working.

 I should have known this was coming as the eyes in the front of my head have been on the blink as well. (pardon the pun)

Do you want to know how I know they're not working????

It's because I didn't see the no-good, son of a gun, that came up behind me and slapped some back fat right underneath my shoulder blades.

Oh. I am so peeved.

Mostly about the back fat.....
..... but also because you just scrolled down to see if a picture was accompanying this post.

You know you did.
Sorry to disappoint, but there will be no pictures.

Trust me. It's for your own good.

OHHHHHH.... if I EVER find out who it was who did this dastardly thing to me, I will certainly be giving them a piece of my mind.  (insert attitudinal head bobs and side ways finger snap)

That was just a rotten thing to do.

And if the back fat wasn't enough.....ALL of my shirts shrunk.

True story.

But no happy ending here folks.

Will somebody please call the Wambulance for me???

I'm writing a letter.....

Do you know the times when there is something you want to say to someone, but they are unavailable, for whatever reason, for you to be able to do that?

 But it's something that you just need to get off your chest?

 Well, I have been thinking a lot about this lately,  so I decided to put some thoughts down on blog paper, in the form of a letter hoping it will help me feel a little better.

Here goes......

Dear Mr. President,
I have a question about the recently proposed and unfortunatly passed health care bill.

I noticed on page 241, Line 6-8, of the one thousand-and eleventy billion paged proposal, that it says,
(I am paraphrasing) Doctors, no matter what specialty they have trained in -- will all be paid the same. I truly believe this smacks of Socialism, but in an effort to find the positive in the negative, I pondered how this might be able to work for me.

You see, I have a few body image issues. I REALLY need a tummy tuck. This is not a "want", Mr. President. It's a legitimate need. Believe me when I say this, my self-esteem would sky-rocket if I were able to have this procedure done.
So. Back to the health care bill.....
If all doctors are paid the same, regardless of their specialty, can I get a tummy tuck and a little liposuction for my $20 co-pay?


You should also know that there is a lot of talk swirling about of how your recent decisions and actions are helping this country to go to, (again paraphrasing) "Hell in a hand basket". And quite frankly, if we are all going down with you Pres. Obama, I would much rather do it minus the skin apron and love handles.

I thank you in advance for your prompt response to this letter.
Sincerely,
Jo-Anne Carter (R)