My Grandpa Dieffenbaugh was the kind of man who believed it wasn’t a meal if he wasn’t being fed meat and potatoes. That man loved his potatoes and gravy and loved sopping up his plate with a piece of bread.  As a kid I loved eating at his house. It was like Sunday dinner every day there. I also remember during the winter he always had a small bottle of vinegar and honey and he would take just a spoonful after his meal. Supposedly it was to help remedy sore throats and coughing. I would sneak it when I could. I LOVED that stuff! I used to take a spoonful while singing “Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins in my head.

Now with it getting colder and the kids sniffling and complaining something reminded me of this old concoction Grandpa used to take. So I mixed some up. I’ve mixed up four batches so far and the last bottle only lasted me three days. No, I haven’t been sick; I just love the stuff that much! I even Googled the dangers of drinking too much vinegar but Dr. Oz assured me I can safely drink up to 2 oz. per day. *Whew* There are even some significant benefits to consuming a small bit of vinegar including weight loss. At the rate I’m going I will be pickled inside out by the New Year! Cheers.

Halloween 2012

Maaaan, I love that there is an app for nearly everything, including how to talk and look like Flo the Progressive Insurance lady! The only thing I was missing was my price checker.

Finding a Halloween costume is easy but finding one appropriate for work is a little more challenging. I also was scheduled to present yesterday at RA (research administration)101 which is podcasted for our online viewers. I made sure I was clear that contrary to how I was dressed, I was NOT there to give them a great deal on their insurance.

After a Friday spent working, searching for somebody’s wallet for over an hour, grocery shopping, busting my ass baking and cleaning the house I got an 8am text on Saturday saying my anticipated guests were not coming. Unfortunately for me I am a planner by nature so I put a lot of thought into things like menus and schedules.  I have to just not get upset when things go array. No crisis: we simply shifted to plan B which was a weekend to ourselves.

Every Saturday some friends of ours host a tailgate on Campanile Hill. Our team may suck but we still manage to have a good time and the food is always out of this world. This past weekend was no exception with the full on Tex-Mex breakfast buffet complete with hot whiskey toddies and breakfast margaritas.  The spread was even impressive enough to catch the attention of some hungry strangers. We joked that people must be confusing us with the homeless shelter tailgate until we learned that these "kids" were actually ex-KU football players from the 2008 Championship team. Since it was obvious a couple of them had been linebackers, we let them help themselves and besides that they were very polite and we had plenty of food. Personally I was enjoying my homemade hot chocolate laced with peppermint schnapps. I only made this at the request of my friend and since she didn’t show, I had the whole thermos to myself. It was just the right amount of “burn” to warm my insides on a chilly game day morning.

Saturday evening Daniel and I decided to go out to The Barrel House, our favorite piano bar that we haven’t been to since his birthday in February. It wasn’t busy for homecoming weekend other than a group of drunken sorority girls celebrating a birthday and what appeared to be their dads. They were having a good time awkwardly dancing on the stage and looking like asses so we watched the Bama/Mississippi game on TV and waited for one of them to face plant so we could snicker and laugh.  

Sunday morning we got the bug to plan a trip so we made some impromptu travel arrangements for the New Year’s Eve weekend. Then we HAD to stop procrastinating and get to work. Closing is in two weeks and there is still a lot left to do. We got all of his furniture moved to the storage unit, moved his couch over to our house and then being the sweetheart he is, he still took the time to suck up leaves in the yard with the mower even though it was well after dark. All of our neighbors had spent Sunday getting their leaves picked up so he worried that if a strong wind came up they would be after us with pitchforks. (Plus we hate to waste a Monday yard waste pick up day).  

I love the weekends that allow us to make time for both work and play. Hopefully the elimination of one household will hold a lot more time for relaxation than we’ve experienced the past year. 

The Many Faces of a Halloween Drama Queen

Syd love, love, LOVES to dress up and it doesn't have a thing to do with Halloween. However, the holiday does give her an excuse to go out in public.

Kim Kardashian Wannabe

The annual Zombie Walk down Mass St. is held each year to raise money for the Humane Society. Syd and her friend could not resist the urge to dress up and scare "the living." I was having a good time watching all the freaks until a Zombie Clown came down the street. That was the end for me!

Zombie Walk

This is the Oread Hotel at night. Daniel and I bet a beer at the Bird Dog on who could take the better picture. I'm not sure who won but the drink sure was good.

Contract Pending

It hasn't been quite five months since Daniel put his house on the market. He knew that such a unique and rather large house would require a special kind of buyer. The layout is very accommodating to a two family situation and that is exactly the type of buyer that the home attracted. After viewing the home on at least eight different occasions, a negotiated amount was finally reached. Hallelujah!!

It's hard to let go of a home that is full of memories. It is equally hard to go through possessions and decide what needs to be boxed up and what can be pitched. For him it's the space, the garages and the fear of not having those things again. I don't discount those feelings; I've been there twice before. I wanted so badly for Daniel to be excited finally getting a contract on the house but instead he launched into freak-out mode. It took him two days to even sign the contract. 

That was a little over a week ago and while the seller's remorse still surfaces every one in a while, he says he's ready to forge ahead. Soon we will be able to concentrate on maintaining one space and hopefully NOT be working on something every weekend. I am not a roofer or a tiler... but I could put both on a resume. I'm dreaming of Sunday afternoons watching football and not feeling guilty that we aren't painting.

The sale of this house turns a corner for us and while we aren't sure what's ahead, the horizon looks inviting. Perhaps we will just chill until Spring and do some traveling. I hear the Titans are still playing in Nashville and I bet we could find some palm trees somewhere if we looked hard enough.

Welcome Baby Brenna!

Lil' Brenna Mae entered our lives Tuesday September 25th. She weighed a whopping 8lbs 11ozs and was 21 inches long. Aside from her other family members, who think she's the cat's meow; her big brother could not be prouder.

This precious little girl was referred to as 'Big Bertha' for the past 6 months because she was measuring in the 90th percentile. We thought it would be hard to break that habit once she was here but honestly it was not even a descriptor we thought of once we saw her pretty little face. Welcome Baby Brenna! Your cousins (and Auntie Cj) can't wait to spoil you.

Rain Dance

Who Would You Like To Be Today?

I'm convinced the reason Facebook doesn't die is the fact that it gives some people the opportunity to persuade the rest of us that their lives are exciting, important, and happy. Like we give a rats ass. I'm not saying everyone does this but you can pick out the ones that do. When every other day you see the same, Life is SOOOOO good post a red flag goes up that says, Wow. She must be miserable to be overcompensating to that degree. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe she really is that high on life. I'm easily annoyed at my FB friend who religiously rubs her running distances in my face and constantly posts where she is golfing each day. We get it; you are a good golfer. Get over yourself bitch. Or what about the dude trying to reinvent himself as a cowboy to cover up the fact that his home life is a complete farce and his wife is a crazy old pot head. And what about the pictures of all the women in their shorts and cowgirl boots? Seriously?  You went out in public looking like that? You are over forty. Go shopping FFS!

All I'm saying is there are a lot of people making up stuff, making themselves look like something they're not. In addition to a "like" button I wish FB would add a "BS" button. Then we could all call a spade, a spade and be over it without making a big deal about ticking somebody off.

Well I’ve been in my new position going on 7 weeks now and I haven’t had a real lunch since. There is a tremendous amount for one person to handle but luckily my manager is not afraid of OT. Good thing because I’ve been accumulating quite a bit. My new office is really nice; big windows, a cool brick wall, and new furniture.  I’ve had this place all to myself but that will come to an end on the 10^th when my new roommate starts. I may be drowning in paper but it’s been nice to have the space to spread out. 

Aside from working a lot more than usual, my oldest has had this boyfriend for three months now. He’s a senior at the other high school and so he drives which makes me even more uneasy. He has been spending a lot of time at our house and she at his. *ugh* I’m so not ready for her to get serious with one person but she seems totally consumed with this boy. Yesterday I made her angry by telling her she would start working out at least two days a week. Softball tryouts for the high school will be coming up soon and she needs to be prepared. The competition is going to be tough for spots and hanging out watching TV with her boyfriend is not going to give her an edge.  There has been some disagreement on curfews, how much freedom to allow, and why doesn’t this kid have a job? At least he stopped bringing his entourage along to hang out. I didn’t enjoy coming home to a living room full of teenage boys and surprisingly enough, Syd wasn’t thrilled either. Now I’m just hoping they get tired of each other and soon. My child has suddenly turned into Becky home-ecky and is constantly baking cakes, and fixing him chicken nuggets after school. Dang it, if you feed them they will NEVER go away! 

Syd is loving middle school. Having a locker seemed stressful for about a day and then once she mastered the combination, she was fine. She then moved on to more important things like decorations and what clubs to join. Much to my delight, she’s very excited about PEP club and drama-rama. She’s made some new friends and seems to be spreading her wings a little. She made the decision to drop band and instead take a semester of communicative arts and the other in technology. So far that is going very well because the communicative arts class is taught by the drama teacher so they do some play acting in both verbal and non-verbal communication. Plus, I didn’t have to fork out $600 to buy a French horn that she would only play for a year!

I just have so little time to write now and struggle to put my thoughts into words. I need to work on that and hopefully get my inspiration back. I have some trips coming up that might just do the trick.

Behold, the power of the pallet!

I occasionally browse Pinterest because people pin some pretty cool ideas on there. A prime example is all the stuff you create from a simple pallet. The next room in the house I want to tackle is the office. Daniel teleworks often and I'd like for him to have a space that is comfortable and motivating. The first thing we needed was a bigger work surface so I thought, "wouldn't it be cool to make a pallet desk?" If I remember correctly he simply chuckled and walked away shaking his head. However disgruntle, I was so happy the afternoon he slammed on the breaks and yelled "Pallet!" when we found this beauty along the side of K-10.

Our creation was going to require two pallets. Luckily my bro-in-law has a local store and he offered to let us come rummage through what he had.

After a little sanding and a clear coat this is the finished product. The only thing missing is a sheet of glass for the top. As you can see, Daniel did all the work; I was the one cheering him on and of course, snapping the pictures.

Vacation Post III

We spent one afternoon out on the lake boating, swimming, tubing, and doing flips off the side. The hundred plus degree heat was still very noticeable but the water made it bearable.

Cheeser

Syd took a turn driving. *AGH!*

Vacation Part II

While my sister was at White Water with the younger kids, we opted for something a little more low key with mom. The two hour train ride was comfortable in nicely restored cars and big band tunes were piped in to add ambiance. I was really hoping they throw in "Crazy Train" just to spice things up.

a

Somewhere in Arkansas

"Pay attention to me!"

Trouble. Plain & simple.

A redneck vacation isn't complete until someone gets a tattoo.... even if it's airbrushed.

Vacation Part I

My mom's birthday is today so as a surprise, last week my sister and I made arrangements to take her to Branson for a birthday getaway. We found the ideal spot situated on 40 acres of forest perched in the hills above Table Rock Lake just minutes away from the marina and just far enough from the bustle of town.

 

It wasn't until we got home Sunday afternoon that we realized we hadn't even turned on a TV in nearly a week and hadn't miss it at all. What a great feeling!

Mom relaxing on the deck.

From the moment we walked through the front door all of our stress melted away.

No, this isn't the "hot tub."

Every window housed a glowing candle.

The kids found a cabinet stocked with board games...

and the owners had a treasure map hidden in the cabin leading to this treasure box.

My big bad ballplayer turned 11yrs old yesterday and today is taking part in day one of the USSSA Fastpitch World Series. I have no idea when this young lady replaced my baby but regardless...., I think she's pretty cool.

Love you Syd! Happy Birthday!

Just Life...

Things at work have been very weird lately. Good, but odd. Odd in that my manager AND my only co-worker both gave their notice and have transferred to a different department on campus. This is due in part to KU’s new Changing for Excellence program and their decision to create centralized business centers rather than have departments handle certain human resource and financial activities. It does make one a tad bit paranoid when everyone jumps ship at once but I know them leaving had no reflection on me. This change is good, in that I am starting a new position within my current department that will provide me with a clear path for advancement starting as a Grants Specialist. This is a transition that was put into the works last fall and is just now coming to fruition. It’s amazing what can happen when you take the initiative to offer a better solution. Of course, it helps to have management that listens as well. 

Friday I was given the opportunity to take the afternoon off so Gentry happily agreed to go with me to shop for a swimsuit. We are leaving on vacation in two weeks and now that I’ve lost a few pounds I felt I was mentally ready to go the store. Luckily the first one I looked at and tried on fit perfectly and met her approval. Easy peasy! Although it was 101 degrees outside, I left Gen no choice but to walk up Mass St. and go into some more stores. Very rarely do I get the chance to shop downtown during the week so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. This kid did not appreciate the concept of window shopping. “What’s the point of window shopping if you don’t plan on buying anything?”  Well I did end up buying some stuff and she actually apologized on the way home for being so obstinate. 

This weekend I finally got my new Galaxy III phone. Two year contracts are the devil and I could NOT wait to get rid of my ancient Blackberry. This phone will do everything except cook your dinner and I’m not even sure it won’t! I bet there is an app for that and I just haven’t found it yet. It has an app identical to Siri on the iPhone so Sydney spent considerable time asking it random questions like, “What is the meaning of life? Do you love me?” and “Why are you so stupid?” Then she would ask it to send random texts to her sister telling her why SHE is not mom’s favorite. Priceless.  

Although it may seem like a small thing, I was finally able to ditch my old phone number which to me signifies closure to a life that is no more. Since I moved, every aspect of my life has changed. Maybe this small thing will help me to let go of the hurt and the anger that consumes me whenever I think about where I was two years ago, once and for all.  At the least, I took back some element of control. 

Four weeks ago I sent a grumbly girl to her introduction to vocal training. She came home the first day complaining about having to take tests, and learn notes, and pitch… blah, blah, blah. By the end of that first week her tune (no pun intended) had changed dramatically. She was actually enjoying it! She worked on her flash cards and put a binder together with all her papers. She actually showed genuine interest in something and I bit my tongue to keep from saying, “I told you so.”

From the time Syd was three she has serenaded whomever would listen with concerts. She would prepare in her room then come downstairs decked out in pink plastic heels, a pink feathery boa, and a pink guitar ready to perform her latest creation. These songs had a tendency to run on and on. She would pause, we would clap (thinking it was over) and then she would start another verse. It was not unusual to hear a ten minute song about a hairbrush. My dad especially got a kick out her songs and would encourage her to keep singing.

Wednesday evening her singing group held a recital showcasing what they had learned this month.  The little blond girl that I watched singing wasn’t nervous at all. In fact, she absolutely glowed as she sang her heart out. She’s no longer that little pixie decked out in pink singing about her hairbrush.  I have never doubted this child craves the limelight and I’m anxious to see what she does with this gift. Hopefully this was just the beginning.   

Sittin' Pretty

Hazel enjoying her morning in the yard.