Not now, please.

This is currently the only thing that is soothing my angry throat. 

 Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate 

Have you tried this?

I added a few marshmallows for good measure.  Oh baby, this stuff is delish!

I wish I enjoyed the taste of herbal tea, that would have saved me a million calories with all the hot chocolate I drank.

After helping at Man's preschool for a few hours, lunch in Park City with a dear friend, and a workout with another dear friend, I gave in to the urge for a bath at 4 pm.  For me, that's definitely a sign that something is not right.  Then I finished a book (Bossypants by Tina Fey, HIGHLY recommended for a good laugh or 92) while the kids played ever so nicely with each other.  No seriously, they were getting along!  I got in some rest thinking I would feel better in no time.  I feel worse.

I absolutely CAN NOT be sick.  I have a very important date tomorrow night.  No matter how sick I am, I will not be missing this event.  Luckily I am not throw-up sick, just sore-throat sick, but that will make screaming/singing/cheering at the Imagine Dragons concert tomorrow night a little rough.

I've loaded up on vitamins, zinc, clear fluids, and I WILL feel fabulous by tomorrow evening at 5:00 when I head out for dinner before the show.  I just will.

But I don't WANT to

You don't have to want to do something to do it

It is possible to enjoy something you don't want to do, but sometimes you really have to put your back into it.
For example, there have been many a times when I didn't really want to do the dishes, but I turned on some kickin' tunes and danced my way through it.  Before long, the dishes were done and I had enjoyed doing them...because I distracted myself with something else I really love.

Sometimes if I think of the end result of that nasty thing I don't want to do, I will realize that want the result enough that it's worth doing.  There are many things that fall into this category for me.  Such as:

• scraping the kids boogers off the wall
• cooking dinner when I realize it's 5:00 pm and I'm still on the computer (eek!)
• wiping my 5 year old's butt
• cleaning bubble gum flavored toothpaste off the bathroom sink
• wiping the kitchen table after EVERY SINGLE MEAL AND SNACK!  Ugh!  Seriously.

But if I didn't do all of these things, how gross would it be around here?  Pretty freaking gross.  Yeah, I get the kids to do a fair amount of the cleaning, but there are just some things I must do myself or it will remain mostly undone.

ENFORCE

So here comes the "work" part, another thing I really don't want to do.  Mainly because it doesn't come easy for me.  I must take the time to teach the kids about these things.  

• I have (countless times) taught the kids that it's not ok to wipe boogers on the wall.  They have cleaned them up, or tried to anyway, yet a certain child of mine still has this disgusting habit.  Have you ever tried cleaning that?  Eww.  It's gross, and surprisingly difficult.

• I've started teaching the girls how to cook.  They are not ready to do dinners yet, but they can both successfully cook oatmeal and ramen on the stove, and eggs in the microwave!  Wahoo!  (This means I get to sleep in and don't have to make the oatmeal in the morning!!!!

• Teaching someone how to wipe their butt is not pleasant.  The end.

• Cleaning the toothpaste is easy, it's the avoiding getting the toothpaste there in the first place that's the tricky thing.  Working on it with the kiddos and trying not to yell about it every day.

• And finally, the kitchen table...oh boy.  That is a constant battle.  Kids are just messy.  They make crumbs everywhere, and when they "wipe the table" they just brush most of the crumbs onto the floor.  Then they complain about having to vacuum the crumbs up.  Battle battle battle.

So what is the point of all this complaining?  To point out that I realize that I don't have to WANT to do something for it to be worth doing.  These things (and many others that I refer to as my cobwebs) must be done on a regular basis for me to feel comfortable in my home.   I've got to clear the cobwebs.  Even if I don't want to.  I've got to teach my children, even if I don't want to.  I've got to fulfill my duties as a mother, even if I don't want to.  

I am SO grateful for a husband who gives me much needed breaks more often than I deserve!

What are your cobwebs?  

Enjoy

My word for the year is Enjoy.  This goal, choosing a word for the year as a theme, is something I heard about over at Only A Breath.  I decided to take the challenge, and this is the button she created for me:

I chose the word "Enjoy" because I am usually in such a rush to just get things done that I fail to enjoy the process of what it is that I am doing. 

Am I alone in this?

It has been a problem for me for a long time.  This month I have found three ways to enjoy:

Exercise:  This is something that comes and goes for me...the enjoying of exercise.  I usually don't, but this month I have been joining in with a dear friend who motivates me a ton!  Exercise has become an exciting social experience with one of my favorite people.  I am truly enjoying it!  

Healthy foods:  I am not usually one for preferring anything healthy to candy, but this month I have been drinking green smoothies nearly every day.  I have finally come up with a recipe that I just love!  I get my veggies in, it's energizing, and it's very filing.

"Living" sounds:  I love music.  Very much.  But lately I have really enjoyed the sounds around my home as I work.  The sound of the tapping keys on the computer, the washing machine in the background, the water as I wash dishes, the vacuum running, the spray of cleaning solutions, and lately the birds chirping outside my window.  I especially enjoy the sounds of my children when they return home from school.

Click here to read many very inspiring posts based on some amazing women's "One Word 2013"

What's your word?!

Trash into Treasure

I have a huge garden.  And I'm not exaggerating when I say HUGE!  It's 2000 square feet.  It's nearly as big as my entire house!  It's magnificent!

I hope I can create what I have envisioned in this little head of mine with the land.  I have purchased about 20 different kinds of seeds to plant.  Right now is the time to get the soil ready and prune back last year's growth on the perennials.  Or in my case, the last many years of growth as it hasn't been pruned in a very long time.  This is what my grapes (this shows only about 20% of them) looked like before I started pruning...

I did pull out a ton of dead stuff from this area last fall, but this is what the winter has left me with.  

So, I bought some decent loppers and went to town.  Pruning is essential for optimal fruit production.  I spent about 7 hours pruning all of the 75 feet or so of grape vines lining my yard.  Like I said, this is only about 15 feet of the total amount.  Here is the same area after pruning my side of the fence...I still have the back side to do when I get another warm day:

As you can imagine, I had a gazillion vines all over my garden floor.  I gathered up the good long ones and made something useful out of them:

 Grape Vine Wreaths!

It was a first for me, and this was so much fun compared to the earlier work of the day.  I felt all crafty.

Then I had some major fun after gathering some of the really dead vines and burning them.  Goodbye old dead things, I need some ash for my compost.  

 *this was a controlled bonfire in my fire pit, don't panic

Stay tuned for an Easter-themed grape vine wreath post!

Midnight snack

I have found my favorite granola recipe, tweaked it over time and made it just how I like it!  I think it's the perfect mix of deliciousness.  I love to add it to yogurt, eat it like cereal, or just take a little with me for a delicious (and filling) snack on the road.  

gorgeous, isn't it?!

Here she is:

• 6.5 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup dried apple slices
• 1 cups chopped almonds 
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp almond extract (just adds a great flavor)

other optional ingredients include:

 chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, nuts, shredded coconut, mm's, 

and anything else you want in there!

You can also replace the honey with maple syrup if you prefer.  

Adding 2 Tbsp of brown sugar also gives a richer flavor 

if you don't mind adding a little extra sugar.  

Mix everything together, spread it on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.  You'll need to stir it around halfway through.  Remove from oven when it turns a golden brown, but don't let it burn.  It will still be pretty soft when you take it from the oven, but it will get crunchy as it cools.  I hope you ENJOY it as much as I do!

Alligator land...

I have this unrelenting urge to prune everything.  Right now.  This is how I know when I have spring fever these days, I look at every plant the secretly prune it in my head.
Even the palm trees here in Florida.  It's getting so bad that I wanted to get out of the airboat at the Everglades and get rid of some of the dead cat tails.  The poor gators were surrounded by them!

See, look!

 

The edge of the water is just littered with dead stuff.  

Not as dead as I would have been had I jumped in to clean it up though.  Check out that gator!  Gaaah! 

Meet "Bubba"  

He's a 13 year old 9 foot gator that got so very close to our boat.  We ran into him.  I mean literally, the boat hit the alligator as we were drifting closer to him to get a better look.  He was swimming around us and just didn't get out of the way fast enough, and:

We just grazed him, really.  No damage.  It just scared the living daylights out of him.  And most of the people on the boat.  He was flailing around in the water trying to get away from us.  He rested in the dead junk for a while before making his way back out to the water.  He was a friendly little thing.  We liked Bubba.  We were told to keep all limbs inside the boat so we could take them home with us.  It's really a shame we couldn't pet him.

Here are a few more shots of the beautiful Everglades!

Birdies waiting for the popcorn that our tour guide let us feed them. 

 Vultures waiting to eat something dead.  Sadly though, not the cat tails.

By far the most beautiful bird I have ever seen.  She wanted my potato chips.

 Some crazy men fishing among gators.

 Lovely little flower that grows from those lillypad looking plants called Spatterdock.

 Ah-maze-ing trees all throughout the Everglades.  They are so beautiful!

This airboat trip was unexpectedly the highlight of my trip!  It was so fun to speed along the water and right over the foliage.  The wildlife was spectacular.  We saw fish, gators, and many different kinds of birds and plants I had never seen before.

So now that I have had a taste of spring, a few days in the 70's, I am so ready to go home and start pruning my yard!  The trees need it bad, I think I'll get some profesh help for that.  I can manage the grape vines, roses, shrubs, and maybe some of the smaller tree branches.  Don't worry though, after I get a little advice, I WILL be breaking out the chainsaw for some apple, pear, and cherry tree pruning action!

I'm back, and I'm off!

So, I'm back.  Kinda.  I feel like writing a blog post, so here I am trying to figure out what it is that I want to say.  I'm not sure really.  Let's find out together what comes out of this little head of mine...

I should be vacuuming my basement at the moment, the vacuum has been sitting out all day waiting for me.  She's very patient.  I filled her up twice already this afternoon with the upstairs filth, but the basement is crying out to be as clean as it's counterpart.

I'm vacuuming (and cleaning all the bathrooms, sheets, shiny things, dusty things, laundry and dishes) because my dear friend is moving in for the weekend.  She and her family have offered to stay and house/kid/dog sit while my hubby and I go off to Fort Lauderdale!  Yipee!!!  I am so excited that I just can't not (I know) stop cleaning to tell you all about it. :)

I have everything packed and ready to go, including the shorts I borrowed from my fav homey due to the fact that mine no longer fit me...*ahem..........more on that later.  All I have left to do, aside from vacuuming the blasted basement, is my nails.  Yup, gotta have fresh "looks like she had a pedicure" nails when you go to the beach.  Only, I'm gonna do them myself.  Pedicures only come once or twice a year around here.

I'm mostly excited to be doing this:

  

Doesn't this look heavenly?!

(photo found here)

I'm pretty sure I'll post pics of my journey in FL.  I have spring fever SO bad.  I need me some sun, some waves, a pool boy bringing me drinks and cool lemon scented towels (that totally happened during this trip in Hawaii!) and a few days alone with my super sexy man!  

P.S.  I'm so looking forward to the cranberry juice on the airplane!   I love me an in-flight cranberry juice...even if it's a red eye.