mattress reload

we ordered our new mattress over the weekend. after all the $ that we dished out, i'm praying that it'll help my back... if it doesn't i'll feel so guilty about the more expensive choice i pushed for.

take it to the mattresses!

my man would be so proud that i even remembered that quote! and i'm not even embarrassed that i know it from "you've got mail" instead from watching the godfather. seriously, me? you think i'd watch that?!!!

ok now that i've got your attention, this blog has nothing to do with movies, but something much more mundane but necessary! with our upcoming move, it's time for a new mattress. ok - before you "ughhhh!" and hit the "X" button, it's not a rant and rave but more a befuddled, overwhelmed look. why in glory are there so many different options for mattresses and how do i decipher all of the reviews out there to find the truly perfect mattress. everyone says they've found the perfect mattress and then 20 reviews back up why it's the worst one on the face of the planet! since you can't easily just take it back, how in all glory am i supposed to figure out which one to buy?

here's the heart of my dilemma. my man and i are polar opposites when it comes to bed needs. he used to sleep on a waterbed for years on years and i liked to sleep on the floor. so now, no matter what we do, one person won't be happy. actually, it's not about happy, it's about pain. one of us will be in pain. for the last 5/6 years, it's been me. it doesnt' mean we're supposed to take turns or anything, but i don't think that i can keep going at this rate of painful nights year after year. i'm sure i've posted all sorts of rants about my chronic back pain, but right now i can't find it - no, i lie. right now, i don't care to find it... so just take my word for it. ok, i digress. matresses. how do i find one that works for us. i was set on getting the sleep number bed. but after all the negative reviews i've read and given the cost, i've changed my mind. it's not worth the risk.... it's a 400 sunk cost even if you return it for your money back... nah, i'll pass.

ughhhhhh... now i'm driven to hit the "x" button and watch you got mail instead...

we're moving ... sort of

december will be interesting.
my man is relocating but we're going to stay behind and visit him on the weekends. we'll have to see how it goes for december. it's going to be our trial month. if it doesn't work out, then we'll join him in january.

there were several reasons we decided this - some really major and some minor reasons but we're glad that we're in a position to buy a little more time.

i definitely have mixed emotions about the move. so right now i'm just in practical mode just trying to figure out what is on today's to do list ... and doing it.

as if the holidays aren't crazy enough, heh?????

5 years old!

our jewel turned 5 over the weekend! she loves the cake her e-mo made for her!



a princess party filled with tiara rice crispies, princess pretzel wands with "fairy dust", flower balloons for decorations, and princesses galore!

crazy weekends

do you ever have a day where if it could be put into a movie, you know what song would go along with it?

well, here is what our weekend was like:

ok, got the link? have you turned up your volume?
now, while you're listening to it, here's the recap of our weekend:

saturday:
7:30AM my man had a test
9:30AM our jewel had swim lessons
2:00PM i had a bridal shower (an hour away)
2:00PM our jewel had a birthday party
6:00PM church service

sunday:
7:00AM RAN 6 miles
8:00AM circuit workout
10:30AM sunday school
1:00PM birthday party #1
4:30PM birthday party #2 (an hour away)
7:30PM monte carlo night gala
12:00AM lights out!!

whew!

i likes....

it's hard to find comedians that i find funny. here are two that i enjoy:

Tim Hawkins

and

Rhett and Link

my other thing i'm into these days is the IT crowd... a bbc sitcom. beware of the profanity, but it cracks me up! i'm dying laughing just thinking about it the show! can't wait for season 4 to come out!!

cresent rolls

i followed the recipe from here:

Little Birdies' Homemade Crescent Rolls

2 c. warm water, 110-115°
2 Tbsp. rapid rise yeast (aka bread machine yeast)
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. powdered milk
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. salt
5-6 c. bread flour

Softened butter

Pour water in a bowl and sprinkle yeast over the top. Allow to soften about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Dough will be a little sticky, but if it's really sticky add a little more flour. Allow to rise in bowl for 45 minutes. Punch down and allow to rise for another 45 minutes. Break into two equal pieces. On a floured surface, roll out each chunk into a large circle. Spread softened butter (not melted) onto entire circle. Cut into wedges with pizza cutter. (I do 12 for smaller rolls, or 8 for larger.) Starting with wide end of triangles, roll up like a crescent roll. Place on cookie sheets with pointed end tucked underneath (so it doesn’t pop open during baking) and bake at 400° for 10-14 minutes, or until just golden on top.

they turned out pretty well except that i think i need to increase my salt. i find that w/ sea salt it's not as salty which i generally prefer except in certain baking recipes like this one. also, i used freshly milled wheat flour instead and used 5 1/3C.

working out

yesterday was a good workout day! LOVE that!!

but it didn't start out that day. i could tell from the start of the day that it was going to be one of THOSE days... so i forced myself to get over to the gym and just do one class. nothing else. just one class. so i did. usually, after the class i'll go over to the weights and do another "workout session". but today, there was no persuading myself into that one and to be honest, i didn't feel the least bit guilty since i was falling asleep at the wheel on the way over to the gym!

so that was it. i went about the rest of my day... yada yada yada. until evening. my brother in law and fam is in town. they wanted to hit the gym. i was the member they needed to give them access to the gym. so, what happened? i went for another work out. i ran 5 miles and then did a circit workout for another hour with my brother in law's brother (does that make him my brother in law too?). it was a good sweat day! (i measure how good my workout was by how much i sweat - gross, but it works for me).

even better, when i got home, i was so tired that i only had a bowl of soup and a slice of bread. and then it was off to bed. (usually, after an evening workout, i'm rummaging the pantry for anything and then i eat everything!).

today, i'm not even going to feel guilty about not working out :)
i think 3 workouts in one day can be transferred over as 1 1/2 worksouts over two days, right? ha ha ha

craft season

i seem to do things in bursts. i wish our jewel's school would do more crafy things (but you can't have it all) so i try to do more of it at home, but well.... you know how life is... we just don't have time to do everything.... so before i know it, it's november and we haven't crafted in a while....

soooooo here's mr. turkey:

flower arranging

our jewel made her first flower arrangement!



in my obsession, i adjusted the heights a little bit, but it was all her idea to put in the stems for some added interest.

i love the morning hair!

christmas in november

i am ITCHING to decorate for christmas and listen to christmas music but it annoys the crazies out of my man to have that stuff around before thanksgiving. but it's not my fault i tell him - it's everywhere i go! have you seen the stores lately? they pulled out the goodies before halloween!

#8 on my "surprised to know about me" list

i am a water snob. i know, right?! how can you be a water snob? isn't water just water? does it even have a taste?

oh glory! and how!!

we put in a new water filter a few months ago and now i can't seem to leave the house without it. is it rude to bring my own water to restaurants? to other people's houses? hummmm. i do have water bottles that i've gotten from costco that i use in a pinch, but if i can - i'll try to transport my own water everywhere i go. it tastes marvelous! no metallic aftertaste, no plastic smell, and no calcified smell. i'm sure there's better water out there but i love my water! i just wish i knew how to get it through the fridge water. that would just make my day!!

halloween recap

our jewel was a princess and of course i forgot my camera because that seems to be what i do!

we went to a carnival at a local church and met up with a family there. it was so much fun! even i had a blast!! the church went all out! wait! let me back up. my brother in law and sister came into town that evening. i wanted to get out the door to go to the carnival early and come back early but i got so side tracked with my sis and BIL that i was late leaving. this caused a domino effect because at 5:30 we get a door bell ring. who's coming to my house at this hour? am i expecting packages??? NOOOO it was the trick or treaters and i bought NO candy this year because we were expecting to be at the carnival and no one was going to be home. so i'm scrambling in our pantry trying to find something worthy of giving. i land a bag of candy our jewel had gotten at a birthday party. great this will last me oh about 3 kids?! so now we're all trying to scramble to get out the door and turn off all the lights when what do we see coming up the drive way? 3 more kiddos. oh lordy! i rack the pantry and find bags of doritos and then we all scram out of the house like mice in a kitchen when someone turns on the lights. i'm almost to the carnival when i realize i forgot the canned good i was supposed to take for my entrance in. oh no! fortunately, they still let us in, but i felt so bad :(

ok, now back to the carnival. they basically took over the church parking lot and put in a rock climbing wall, pony rides, hay rides, carousel, popcorn carts and cotton candy stations, ferris wheel, spinning tubs machine, and then about 20 or so different game stations like bean bag toss, etc. they also had hot dogs and chili.

the biggest shocker of the night was that our jewel got on a pony. i know! crazy! this girl - let me tell you - is scared of all animals. she won't go near a dog, cat, squirrel, or anything to save her life! in fact, she only like pretend dogs - which she has 3 of. so when she said she wanted to ride the pony. i had to ask her several times just to make sure. then because i knew my man wouldn't believe me, i took a picture of it to show him. (sure enough, when i told him what our jewel did, the first words out of his mouth were "i don't believe you". )

this was the biggest reason i was so upset at myself for racing out the door and forgetting the camera to capture such a momentous occasion for our jewel!

all in all, the event ended way to early in our jewel's opinion and she got way too much candy. the mom in me encouraged our jewel to pick out the snack packs (ie. graham crackers) over the candy whenever she reached into a bucket to get her stash. ha ha ha.

funeral through the eyes of a 4 year old

our jewel has been to two funerals in the last month.
one for my man's grandmother and one (today) for my brother in law's dad.
both so very different.

at the first one, there was music, clapping, and even some laughter. this was in direct contradiction to the instructions we gave her before entering the church. however, her ability to be able to sympathize with others when she can't even articulate what's going on is pretty wild. when she saw her dad go up and share, she started to shed tears. perhaps she could hear the pain in his voice? or perhaps she just saw others crying and so she joined in? it's hard to tell, really.

today was no different. she didn't understand what was going on (to be honest, i didn't either) but the common emotion of sadness and grief - that she understood.

this one was different from the previous one for several reasons. first off, it was a catholic funeral mass. it was also open casket. we didn't let her go up there (she wouldn't have gone even if we let her) but i think that really scared her. i could tell she was also emotional because she saw others crying and she followed suit. we also had a procession leading to the cemetery. BTW, i thought this was normal, but my man said this was the first time he had partaken in a procession. we were trying to explain this bit to our jewel and she caught on quick. she wasn't too pleased w/ the people who cut into our procession and in her words, "they need to be patient and wait". when we got to the burial site, they had a time for people to put flowers on the casket. we didn't prep our jewel for this so she was very sad she had to give up her flower as she thought they were giving it to her.

the concept of death and living and life after death... all very challenging to explain to a 4 year old. esp when the services she's been to have been as different as the ones we've attended recently.