Monday, August 31, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

5:26 PM 1 Comments
Wow, here it is. The last week before school starts. That also means that it's the last week that I have the boys with me (except for every other weekend) until Christmas. I'm so not ready for this.

Of course, I also wasn't ready to take one of the babies to the vets this morning either, but that's what had to be done. Miss Mittens spent the weekend running a fever and with goopy eyes on and off. The vet prescribed some amoxi and that was that. We also picked up worm meds for the two babies and flea meds for all three cats. I've dosed them with the flea meds and worm meds and tomorrow morning, I start Mittens on her 10 day round of antibiotics. Hopefully it does the job.

Now, since it's the boys last week here, I've let them choose most of what we're eating this week so nobody be horrified by the fact that it's not totally nutritionally balanced.

Monday - Omelettes
Tuesday - French Toast
Wednesday - Mac n Cheese w/ Hamburger
Thursday - Brats w/ Chips
*Friday - Pesto Chicken
*Saturday - Pizza Rolls
*Sunday - Grilled Cheese

There we go. The food plan. It's totally unhealthy but we're going to focus more on enjoying those last days together. Maybe starting next week I'll plan healthier for myself.

* - Kids gone.
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Friday, August 28, 2009

Finish It Friday

11:37 AM 1 Comments
It's Friday again! This summer has flown by way too fast. Next week will be the boy's last week here until they're off on Christmas holidays. It's going to be so weird not waking up every morning and hearing their voices. I much prefer when I have them during the week and their dad has them every other weekend. School is starting up on the 9th though and that means they need to be back there. At least I'll be far more active in their school this year. I wonder if they're looking for a teacher's aide or anything like that...

Anyway, no more melancholy. It's Friday and that means I need to look around and finish a task that I've been needing to get done and I haven't..and I know just the one. My bedroom. When I started trying to catch up on all the laundry and things that had gotten damaged in the not so waterproof basement apartment, I neglected to get them all put away. So, they've been sitting here stacked (and then not so stacked as kids/cat came through). Today, I'm going to try to find the time to put some of it away where it belongs.

What do you have out that needs to be put away? I challenge you to put it away..clear space makes for nice clear minds!

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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Time for Me Thursday

5:09 PM 0 Comments
Today's weather inspires naps. I swear it does. I woke up full of energy and ready to go but the more overcast it's become, the stronger the urge to curl up under a handmade blanket and nap has become. Since it's nearly dinner time, I can't indulge in that desire. Instead, I'm going to indulge in some comfort food. When it's chilly and overcast like this, there's something wonderfully comforting about a bowl of chili and some delicious biscuits. So, today, I'm going to give into that yummy desire and make some homemade chili and bake some Grands biscuits to go along side of it. And what else goes best with overcast days? A good movie and good snuggle partners. Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, the boys and I take turns picking something to watch together. Since we now have our dvd player hooked up, I suspect that Ben will choose a movie for tonight. Sounds perfect to me. :)

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

2:04 PM 1 Comments
Wednesday again! One of these days I really ought to come up with some brilliant tips for Works for Me Wednesday but to be honest, I'm just too plum tired to do a lot of thinking today. Plus, I have a really awesome picture to share with you all! It's one I took hmm...a couple of weeks ago and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Actually, it's one of a series that I took and I'm hoping to find the time to take some more. I already have my helpers lined up. Oh goodness, just 2pm here and I'm already yawning like I need a nap. I'm never going to get anything accomplished at this rate! I'd better show you the picture while I have some energy left to go do other things!
Purple Magic 8

What awesome things have you taken pictures of lately? Post here and let me know!

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A Week's Worth of Posts

1:31 PM 0 Comments
Well, after the bat drama of Wednesday night, I couldn't escape the house fast enough on Thursday to run those errands. Ok, plus I totally procrastinated coming back to the house as well. The boys had dentist appointments at 2pm and with everything from the night before, we slept in. What does that mean? No lunch before we left! So, for this week's time for me, I splurged and spent $10 on lunch for the 3 of us at a hotdog place in Hastings. The food was good and the company (my two boys) was even better. So, now I challenge all of you who check in here to take some time and spend it with someone you love.

Friday...oh Friday...it seems so long ago. Ok, so it has been more than a few days! On Friday, I didn't complete a darned thing! No wait, that's not totally true. I made myself leave the bedroom (did I mention I'm afraid of bats?) and got showered and packed and I took off for Corunna. I miss it over there sometimes. I spent some time with some friends I hadn't seen in years and loved every second of it. So, what did I finish? I took my nephew's birthday present to him! He turned a year old on July 11th and I didn't get it to him before and his mom forgot to take it with her when she was out here last. Now, I just have to find the time and creativity to do something for my older nephew (he's 13 already!) and my older niece. I'd love to buy them something great but I don't have the money, so I'll just have to be inventive!

Woo! Monday! Monday was one looong day here at the Roets hacienda. We had to drive into Charlotte (pronounced Shar-lot) to deal with governmental types. Ugh! We got there at 8:30 and I don't think we left that office until after 10am. Then, they were less than helpful. I hate people who don't know how to do their jobs. Seriously. Anyway, then it was off to Walmart to pick up a couple of things and the boys and I decided to check out the Goodwill store there. They have this one section that is nothing but clearance types and we got a couple of movies for 59cents each! I think this is going to be our new Amvets. Then, the governmental type people called me and we had to go back into their office. Oy! At least this time they were helpful. By the time we got back to the house, it was nearly 3pm and we were all wiped. We had a late lunch, so we didn't even have dinner! So, since it's technically Wednesday...I need to figure out meals!

Monday-No dinner...late lunch.
Tuesday- Picked up A&W 99c coney dogs after grocery shopping
Wednesday- Tacos
Thursday- Chili
Friday- Pizza (homemade)
Saturday- Brats & Baked Beans
Sunday- Breakfast for Dinner day ...either french toast or omelettes

Well, we finally got some grocery money so my big tackle for Tuesday? We went grocery shopping. Now to some, this is no big deal. For us, it's an adventure. To get decent groceries (and semi-decent prices), we have to drive into Grand Ledge which is about 20-30 minutes away. Then, since we were basically out of most everything and since I don't know where anything is in the store, we have to go up and down every aisle. We left the house somewhere between 2:30 and 3pm yesterday and it was 7pm'ish when we pulled back into the driveway. Oh if that were the end of it! Then we have to unload the van ...ok, I unload the van onto the back porch, while the boys haul bags into the kitchen, quite often fighting along the way. Then, we managed to at least get the perishables put away before we all collapsed into exhaustion. Even Roger was yawning and saying how tired he was when I tucked them into bed less than 2 hours later.

So that's me, all caught up! Did you guys tackle anything? Pamper yourselves? Make menus? Let me know!

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Where I've Been

12:25 PM 0 Comments
Ugh! Life got me! Actually, I think it was more like Mother Nature. Last Wednesday night, I'm innocently laying in bed when I hear this noise..and it keeps getting louder. Just as I decide I'm going to have to go figure out what it is, my cat runs into my bedroom with a bat..yes, a bat..hanging out of its mouth! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! He runs straight under my bed and I run straight out of the room. Not much totally terrifies me, but bats in my house is one of those things. I spent the night on the boys floor with the door firmly closed. Now, I figure I'll have to deal with a dead bat under my bed the next day..ugh, MN gets me again! I'd had no sleep so after running the boys to the dentist, running errands and then leaving them at their dad's, I was too exhausted to deal with a bat. I figure, it's ok, I'll deal with it tomorrow..nope, not my luck. I'm again laying in bed when I hear the noise again. Oh god, not another one. This time I grab the broom (yes, I know it's not a mighty weapon but it's what I had.) and head downstairs, but I can't see it. Then, I see my cat sticking his paw into this space..and yep, there's the noise. Well, I freak out..just a little, mind you..and go knock on the neighbor's door. Cept they don't answer. I call Peter (the ex-husband) who suggests I hit it with a golf club. Ok, clearly I am on my own in this..so I try to be all brave. I go in the house, lock up the cat, clear a path to the back door and try to turn on the living room light so i can see it..cept the living room light does not come on. Oy! So, back upstairs to get the flashlight. I sit down for 2 minutes and see something out of the corner of my eye..oh dear lord, it's the bat. It got up here and was sitting in the corner of my room. Then, it started flying in circles above my head..cue hysterical screaming from me. Finally, it flew out the door and I shut the door. End my bravery. I finally made myself go into the boys room and open up their window to give it an escape route..and the next day, I escaped to my grandmother's for the weekend!

While I was there, I did get to get-together with some friends from high school which was great and I got to spend time with my family too which was nice. So, now that you know where I've been, I'm going to try to catch up on this blog!

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

4:17 PM 2 Comments
This week's (almost) Wordless Wednesday post comes right off my camera. Today as a treat, the boys and I stopped into Sunfield Coffee Company and got some lunch. We probably shouldn't have on a financial level but on a family level, it was just what we needed. We needed to get out of the house, enjoy something tastey and each other's company. To see other photos that were taken on our adventure today, feel free to hop over to our flickr account. The link is in the blog header for pictures or photos or umm..something like that. So, without anymore babbling, here is the delicious lunch that I had today!
Happiness Is...


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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tackle It Tuesday - Randomness

2:04 PM 0 Comments
*yawn* Yep, that's right. I'm super sleepy today. It's "girl grossness" time around here which always leaves me totally drained. What does that mean for Tackle It Tuesday? It means my list is full of very non physically intensive work. It also generally means that I spend most of the time puttering around, doing things as I have little energy bursts.

So, that's my plan for today. I'm going to putter around the house. Dinner is already decided (I love Menu Plan Monday!), tomorrow is baking day and the bread dough is already made and in the fridge waiting for me. My youngest son is insisting I play Bakugan with him. I have no idea what I'm doing, but he's enjoying it and that's what matters to me.

This week is a short week with the boys. They're here tomorrow but on Thursday (warning, Thursday's post will be late in the day), we have to get up early and go to DHS so that we're there around 8:30am with the hopes that someone will actually see us like we were told. Then, we should have enough time to drive over to Hastings, snag some lunch and then the boys both have dentist appointments. Since we'll already be in Hastings, I'm going to drop them off at Peter and Donna's. I still need to see if Peter will bring them back here on Sunday to save me a trip in.

So, that's my "lazy" day around here. I might even find time for a nap since I just feel plain old wiped. What are all of you tackling today?

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Monday, August 17, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

1:42 PM 1 Comments
The weekend flew by way too fast. We had a nice one though. This past weekend was the Farmer's Picnic here in Sunfield. What I didn't realize is that this is actually the village festival each summer. The boys and I missed a lot of it just because we didn't know, but we did get to check out the parade (it runs a block from our house!) and they got a ton of candy. I love that this parade still throws out candy to the kids lining the street. After that, we checked out the library book sale and met the librarian (who is very, very nice) and walked away with a bunch of vhs movies and 4 boxes of books for something like $12. He threw in some books so anything that we don't want may find itself as a giveaway here or a freecycle donation. We shall see! We also went down and saw the various games that were being run at the park and hauled a blanket over and watched the fireworks display. It was the first time the boys had ever seen them up close and in person and they loved it and are already talking about next year. As for me, I loved them too but we were so close, I had to come home and shower the bits of firework paper and ash out of my hair and where it had fallen down my shirt..lol. Saturday, one of the homeowners came over and fixed some problems on the house. Much to my relief, he seems like a nice guy. Yesterday was a total be a bum, be lazy day. We spent some time reading and then the rest of the day just relaxing. Now, I s'pose that I've spent all this time talking about the weekend, I should actually figure out my menu. It's a bit of a crazy week with DHS appointments and Dentist appointments, but here we go:

Monday- Cheeseburgers w/ Corn on the Cob
Tuesday- Goulash
Wednesday- Roast w/ carrots & tatos
Thursday- Mac n Cheese w/ tuna & peas **
Friday- Pesto stuffed Chicken **
Saturday- Leftovers **
Sunday- Eggs & toast **

** - Days the boys are at their Dad's or eating dinner there.
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Friday, August 14, 2009

Finish It Friday - Box Sorting

11:46 AM 2 Comments
Woo! It's Friday and tomorrow is the weekend! Ok, not that it makes much difference in our household. Our weekends look a heck of a lot like our weekdays. That's ok though, we're all happy and healthy. Money is strangling us, but we're not giving in. We're fighters around here.

Speaking of fighters, it looks like Roger is down for the count. The poor kid crawled onto my bed complaining his leg hurt and two minutes later, I look over and he's zonked out. Ben did that yesterday. He got mad about something and took himself off for a 4 hour long nap. Must be something in the water...

Tomorrow, the homeowner's husband is supposed to be here to actually fix a couple of things. From my talks with the neighbors, I'm going to have to stick to my guns and fight to have anything repaired around here. Luckily, there isn't anything major (that we know of) wrong with the house.

But, today is today and no sense worrying about tomorrow until it gets here. Today, I'm going to continue working on my "box organization" plan. I realized the other day that I spend as much time hauling boxes from room to room as I do actually unpacking them. So, I devised a new system. I'm stacking all boxes that are full of miscellaneous items in the laundry room. Across from that, I'm stacking all of the boxes that say books. Then, I'm going to start a stack for crafting things and all other boxes need to be hauled to the appropriate room. That way, I can clear some floor space and actually finish getting my final furniture pieces into place so I can then actually put stuff away. Good plan? I sure hope so!

What are you all wrapping up this sunshiney Friday?

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

My Creative Space

3:14 PM 5 Comments
As all of you probably know, we moved into our new home about 2 months ago. We are still buried in boxes, but I am so happy to say that we've actually made a dent in "The Wall" (the boys named it that because our front room was nothing more than a wall of boxes). We still have a long ways to go until it's finished, but here's a sneak peek at what we've gotten done so far.

"Before" picture of "The Wall"
Before we started, you couldn't even get into the room. There were two bookshelves and a dresser blocking the doorway totally. Where did they go? Keep looking and find out!

What's Still Left To Do
Ack! These are just some of the boxes (well, all the ones in here) that still need to be tackled and dealt with. It may be a while before this room reaches completion!

Bookshelves & Drawers in place!
Ah ha! Here is one of the bookshelves. It's up against the front wall of the room and now actually has all of the shelves on it and books slowly starting to fill it in. I'm still not sure where the missing drawer is to my plastic drawers but it has to be in a box somewhere!

Drawers & Other Bookshelf
You found them! There is the second bookshelf and the dresser that used to block the doorway. I got them into the room and into place and now they're slowly filling up. The two "missing" drawers are actually out in the living room on the couch. When I moved this in, there wasn't room to actually put the drawers back in. The top drawer is broken (yes mom, I know you fixed it but it broke again..I'm thinking duct tape) so nothing is being stored in it until I can find a way to fix it.

Paper Sorter
Just another angle. You can see how I got the paper sorter up on top and all of the papers organized into it by color. The two drawers that aren't broken and are in are storing my stamp sets. I'm going to have one more drawer for that, as soon as I get it into the dresser and emptied out of other things.

So, that's my progress! It's slow but it's coming along. Other things keep getting in the way of unpacking! Darned life!

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Time for Me Thursday - Sanctuary

2:42 PM 1 Comments
Thursday is here! Where is this summer running off to and why is it in such a hurry? Today's Time for Me Thursday is all about creating a sanctuary for yourself. As a mom and as someone who seems to be under constant high stress lately, I quickly realized that I needed a quiet place where I could just go and relax, someplace safe to unwind.

So, meet my bed..lol! It's covered with one of my favorite quilts and comfy pillows. The colors are soothing and calming and for me, it's a haven where I can curl up and read or write or when the need is there, take a nap. Now, usually the stand is not covered with a million bottles but this was the only picture I could find. Usually, it holds a bottle of water, a book and that pretty little lamp there. From time to time a teddy bear or another friend may pop in for a visit, as well.


Bed

Women these days seem to be trying to do it all. We work. We take care of our children. We run our houses. We care for our houses. Now, I know that sounds as if men don't do diddly squat, but I think y'all know what I mean. We spend every day trying to be SuperWoman or Wonder Woman or some other mythical figure and it's stressful and it's plain exhausting. Take some time out today to create your own sanctuary, your own oasis.

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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

(Almost) Worldless Wednesday - Rainbow

1:59 PM 0 Comments
On Sunday our area got hit by a series of really big storms. Just as one ended (and before the next began) the boys and I were driving home from Hastings. As we were driving, Roger said that he saw a rainbow out his window. I couldn't see it but a couple of minutes later, I looked up at the sky and saw one right in front of me. Looking from side to side, I realized that we were seeing something pretty rare..at least for me..we could see the full arc of the rainbow..from where it met the ground on the left to where it met the ground on the right. I managed to pull over and snap this picture with my camera phone. I was so disappointed that I hadn't thought to have my regular camera in the van with me. This picture doesn't do it justice. A few minutes later, the colors got gorgeously intense and then another rainbow formed directly over top of it.


rainbow

What gorgeous things have you seen lately? Post your own Wordless Wednesday post and drop the link here in the comments so that we can all see!
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Tackle It Tuesday - Kittens!

11:11 AM 0 Comments
Happy Tuesday to all of you out in blogland and katieland and just to everyone! I have no idea why but I seem to be in a good mood today. I'm tired as all get out and have tons to do and stresses galore, but I seem smiley anyway. Well, good. *grins*

So, this week's tackle it is a bit different for our family. We were given two adorable kittens last night so today is going to be all about letting them loose in the insanity that is our home right now. Byron checked them out in their carrier last night and no hissing, no growling, only when can you come out and play? That's always a good sign. Poor cat also was forced into wearing a tag with his name and phone number on it. The other night, during all those horrible (well, horrible to him) storms, we came home and found that someone had opened our back door and let him out. He was terrified. It took me 20 minutes to convince him to let me get him to bring him back inside. Since he tries to sneak out sometimes anyway, I felt it best to spend the money and get him a tag. He was suitably horrified and spend a good 30 minutes throwing his body around trying to reach it to get off.

Have a great day everyone, we're off to get these kittens settled into their new homes! Cat litter to change, new cat litter to put down and a food bowl to track down. And in case you thought we weren't going to show you, here are the new girls...Bella (the grey) and Mittens (the black).

Mittens & Bella



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Monday, August 10, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

11:13 AM 2 Comments
It's Monday and I am happy to report that we all survived the storms that hit over the past few days. The only thing to take damage, as far as I know, was a cardboard box I had sitting on the front porch. Luckily, it was empty and just waiting to go out to the garage. In fact, on the drive back from picking up the boys, we saw the most incredible rainbow. Usually, when we see them, we only see one part of it. In this case, we could see the entire rainbow and it had the most intense colors. Then, another rainbow formed right over top of this one. I didn't have my camera with me (grrrr...), but I did stop and get a not very good picture of the single rainbow.

Monday = Menu Plan for the week so here we go:

Monday - Homemade Chili
Tuesday - French Toast
Wednesday - Hotdogs w/ Macaroni Salad & Corn on the Cob
Thursday - Macaroni & Cheese
Friday - Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Pesto Stuffed Chicken w/ Green Beans
Sunday - Pot Roast w/ Carrots & Potatoes

What tasty things are y'all making this week?

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Friday, August 7, 2009

Finish It Friday - Beds!

1:12 PM 1 Comments
WoW! (no, not World of Warcraft but an expression of shock..hehe) I cannot believe that it's Friday already. This week has totally flown by and today we've already been super productive. I have a load of laundry going, the dishwasher going, two loaves of bread rising on the counter top and we're waiting for my sister to get here.

Which brings me to today's Finish It Friday for our household. My sister is coming over to help me put together Ben's bed. I couldn't get the exact hardware for it, but I think what I found will work. So, today if everything goes as planned, Ben will have a bed all put together which will hopefully give us some additional storage underneith. We're still working on figuring out the best way to store everything in their room. I think one of the next things I'll try to do is to pick up an under the bed bin to store their clothes and to buy shelf pins and a shelf to go in the behemouth of a cupboard thing in their bedroom so we can store more smaller bins with their toys organized into them.

So, today is wrapping up a few things but most importantly, it's getting my little boy a real bed. That makes me feel much better as a mom.

What are all of you finishing up this week? What projects will you complete?

*hugs n loves to all*
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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Time for Me Thursday - A Good Book

1:29 PM 2 Comments
Has anyone else noticed that this summer has seemed to just fly by? I feel like I just moved a couple of weeks ago and suddenly I realized that it's been two months! I ought to be frustrated that this house isn't in tip top totally unpacked shape by now, but I'm not. I've had a fun summer enjoying time with my boys, working part time and just remembering how to enjoy life. We've unpacked some boxes and we have more to go. They'll get done. I'm not worried about that at all. In fact, I need to take some pictures today and hopefully by next week, I'll be posting some "look what we got done" pictures here to the blog.
But for now, it's Thursday. Thursday means taking time out to say what can I do to make me feel special today? Well, yesterday I managed to get one of my bookshelves into position which reminded me that it's been a while since I just got to relax and spend an hour or so with a good book. So, that's my plan for today. I may pull out the History of Ireland or another book that I spotted when hauling stuff around yesterday. Either way, I have a date with a good book and maybe a nice glass of something tasty to drink.

What will you do for yourself today?

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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Works for Me Wednesday - Routines

7:26 PM 0 Comments
Routines are the cornerstone of my life. Some of the people who know me and those who have been reading here for a while know that I suffer from bouts of depression. One of the things that can set that off is me becoming overwhelmed. This move had a huge potential for sinking me, but my routines have totally saved me.

Each morning, I have a routine that I follow and then I have another one that I'm working on building for before bedtime. So, if I wake up and I'm feeling low or I just know that there's this huge list of things to get through, I always have a starting point. I've found that as long as I get up and I do my routine, things seem to be that much easier. Sometimes the hardest thing is to just get moving and with a routine, I always have a starting place.

The kids and I also have household routines. The garbage always goes out on Tuesdays. They feed and water the cat first thing after they get up. This helps keep our household moving smoothly. They know that on Friday's, they're going to clean their room and if they're headed to their Dad's, we're going to pack up their bag so everything is ready when he picks them up.

So, I encourage all of you who may be feeling overwhelmed by life to start building up some small routines. As soon as these become habit, they're going to make your life soooo much easier.

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Touch Base Tuesday

6:18 PM 0 Comments
I'm taking a bit of a break from Tackle It Tuesday to introduce what may become a new feature here. Touch Base Tuesday is just a place for me to talk about whatever is on my mind, to catch folks up with what's happening in my life and all of that.

So, what's happening? Umm..now that I think about it, not a whole lot. The unpacking is coming along slowly. I had to work most of last week so not a whole lot got done. This week is moving slowly as I got sick on Sunday night and am still recovering from it. My main goal for this week is to get a handle on my finances. The US Postal System has goofed with my bills so I haven't been getting them all. Hopefully I got that sorted out earlier today. Now, I just have to complete my list of bills and start getting them paid. Yeehaa!

I may/may not be going back on air for those of you who know me from my radio days. TrainRek radio approached me about doing a show three times a week for them, but we're still working out the details. They have the chance to get a big name into the very time slot I'd wanted and so I'm waiting to see if the time slot is still available. If it's not, it will be back to the drawing board. There are already some really great shows on their network, but I do want to warn you that they are of an adult nature. Please feel free to check them out, though!

Let's see..other than that, not much is happening. Life is settling into its routines and that is good. I feel happier and healthier (ok, other than the stomach thing the other night) than I have in the past two years and I really feel like life has hope and promise again. There are things that I'm finding myself interested in and projects that I want to persue.

So, for now, I'm off to listen to some music and relax while my body heals. Post again tomorrow! Mwaaaah!

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Monday, August 3, 2009

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