27 Onesies and Frozen Meals

One of our old neighbors/daughters' best friend/our own faux daughter is having a baby shower this afternoon that I will be attending. Julie is already the mother to Hayden and she and her hubby, Shane, will soon be parents to children #2, #3, and #4! Yep, Julie is expecting triplets and they are all boys! Hence the baby shower.

I was fortunate enough to come to come across a great sale on carters.com and was able to pick up 27 preemie onesies for the boys for just over $50 including shipping! I'm really not a huge bargain hunter but I am thrilled with this purchase - SCORE!!

Additionally, one of the items on my summer to do list was to make some dinners for Julie, Shane, and Hayden and the shower seemed the perfect time to do this. Since I've been sucked into the Pinterest vortex all summer, I have come across a ton of make ahead and freeze dinner recipe/websites. I spent some time further poking around and even though I originally choose 6 recipes, finally settled on the following recipes to prepare -

1. Creamy Chicken Casserole (Once a Month Mom)
2. Aunt Sissy's Poppy Seed Chicken (Once a Month Mom)
3. Raspberry Glazed Pork Chops (Once a Month Mom)
4. Stephanie's Goulash/Beef Stew (The Test Kitchen of Melissa Fallis)

Needless to say the project kind of grew from this point.  I figured that since I was making meals for Julie, I should also make meals for Leslie, my oldest who is also due in October. And since I was making meals for Leslie, I should also make meals for Kate, my youngest. Then I thought, since I am already making 12 meals, why not make 4 more for Mark and myself! And that's what I ended up doing.

I ordered/bought/pick-up all of my ingredients on Thursday and Friday. With Leslie's help, made the Creamy Chicken Casserole and Stephanie's Goulash on Friday. Finished up the last two recipes on Saturday. Everything is now frozen and ready to go to the shower this afternoon. I am definitely proud of my accomplishment.

 Will I do this again? In a heartbeat!

Right Now

Right now . . . I am still resting up my butt after a 140+ mile ride to visit the wind turbine farm up around Paulding. Perfect day for a ride with temperatures in the 70's and sunny skies.

Right now . . .  I am thrilled summer vacation is here and I can rejuvenate from my worst ever year of teaching.  Really working on having a much better mind set next year and being far more prepared than I have in the past.

Right now . . . Leslie is looking more pregnant, Katie is playing 'nurse' to Jamie after his motorcycle accident on Friday, and Mark continues to totally enjoy retirement.

Right now  . . . I am mentally planning my upcoming weekend scrap weekend at the Gotta Scrap Inn in Manchester, MI. OMG, I haven't scrapped for myself in over a year and I don't know where to even start to plan!

Right now . . . Aiden is 5 years old, into everthing Spiderman and super heroes, and preparing to become a big brother.

Right now . . . I am loving the Microsoft 2007 PowerPoint class I am taking on-line! Who knew you could do all those neat things with PowerPoint? My students aren't going to believe what amazing PowerPoints I am going to create next year!

Right now . . . ScrapScription stuff seems to continue to overtake my life. I had hoped I could get it together once school let out but that is not the case. I did however design our first ever ScrapKids album over the weekend and I couldn't be happier with the final result.

Right now . . . our condo looks like a bomb went off! How can two grown adults make such a mess? Crystal gets here at noon to clean, so there is a lot of picking up that needs to be done!

Right now . . . all seems right with the world and I am definitely working on getting myself in a better place mentally when it comes to school. Seems like when that is working well, everything else just falls into place. Have a great day everyone!!

Six on Sunday - September 11

Well here we go it is a Monday again . . . Better a day late than never!

• Celebrated Leslie's and Chris's birthday down in Anna Sunday afternoon.  Fun time.  Love how all of the guys actually played Catch Phrase.  The females were once again triumphant, which was a good thing after our unexplained demise this summer while on vacation.
• Met Lori in Indian Lake for a ScrapScription breakfast Sunday morning.  Went over ScrapSchool plans and our upcoming kit releases.  Feeling very overwhelmed with ScrapScription and school work right now.
• Bought two, yep two, Pandora bracelets this past week!  It was their annual sale so if you bought so many beads the bracelets were 'free'.  Doing one that is personal with beads to represent my life and doing one that a ScrapScription one.  It is going to be fun adding more beads and charms.
• Seem to be working way too hard for school this year but fortunately the days are flying by.
• Decided to make a trip up the coast to San Luis Opispo when we are out in California this Christmas.  Going to stay at the Apple Farm - - - Should be a good time.
• Nails and toes were done on Wednesday.  Switched over to my fall shade . . .

Six on Sunday - September 4

Note:  Actually posting this on Monday because today kind of feels like a Sunday since it is Labor Day weekend

Thought I would try something new - Six on Sunday will be a random collection of thoughts from the past week.  So let's give it a whirl!

• New school year in full force.  Kids started Tuesday after two teacher work days.  Love the way that Sheri has switched things around!  I am now teaching just high school students and we have the high school and middle school separated into two separate buildings.  Really like who I am teaming with, Lana and Elisha, and we have quite a bit of leeway when it comes to making the high school program our own.
• Went to Aiden's soccer game on Thursday night.  Forgot how disinterested the little kids are when it comes to playing the game.  While in goal, Aiden spent more time shooting webs than watching the game.  Mark took this great picture of Aiden and his best friend Joey - note Joey's concentration and his tongue hanging out.  I think this was one of the few times that Aiden was actually running during the game.

• Bought tickets to fly out to Orange County and visit my sister for Christmas.  We had pretty much written off making the trip this year because the fares were as high as $650 a ticket - OUCH!  Got my Kayak fare update on Saturday morning and ticket prices had dropped to $401!!  Needless to say we scooped two tickets right up.  We will fly out December 23 and come home on January 2.  Planning on attending the Rose Bowl Parade - another check mark on my bucket list!
• Working with a new computer program at work called Moodle.  It basically allows you to put all of your content for a class on line.  Putting way too much time into setting things up but it is fun nonetheless.
• Behind on ScrapScription business - Teaching stuff is taking up most of my time.  We actually released our September 1st kit on time!  I spent the better part of the weekend 'puking' and getting orders out.  The paperwork never seems to slow down but at least that means we are doing business.

• I totally love the program "The Closer" which is on TNT Monday nights at 9PM.  Mark and I have been making a 'date' to watch it together each Monday.

So I Haven't Posted in Awhile . . .

Can't believe that it has been over a year since I last posted.  Totally blown away by this fact.

Since we last spoke . . . .

• Mark retired 
• Mark and I visited Alaska
• Lori and I attended CHA-Chicago 2010
• Mark and I drove around the Lake Michigan shoreline
• my mother had a stroke
• Cathe came for a visit
• another school year started
• my mother moved into a skilled nursing center
• Dick and I packed up her apartment
• ScrapSchool 2010 was held in Columbus, OH
• the holidays came and went
• Mark and I flew to Panama City to visit Fred and Lynne
• ScrapScription had a record breaking sales year
• attend CHA-LA 2011 with Lori, Mark, and Gregg
• I became eligible for Social Security
• my mother had a second stroke
• missed 2 weeks of work when I was sicker than a dog the end of March/first of April
• Mark and I spent spring break in Las Vegas
• Lori and I took ScrapScription on the road to Mega Meet in Novi for the last time
• finally finished out the school year
• ScrapScription had it biggest sales month ever in June 2011
• Mark and I spent a week in Glen Arbor, MI with the girls and their families

Coming up in the very near future I hope to . . . .

• attend CHA-Chicago with Lori July 19 - 21
• move my classroom for the third time in three years
• visit my aunt and uncle in Georgetown, TX
• attend MIS for the NASCAR race on our 40th anniversary
• scrapbook more since I have completed less than 5 pages in the past year
• make ScrapScription the best mini-album website online
• put on ScrapSchool 2011

So there you have the past and the future.  Let's see if I can keep this blog up a tad better in the coming weeks . . . .

It's 3:52 AM and I Can't Sleep . . .

It's been awhile since I had one of these nights.  I think I have heard the clock chime each hour on the hour tonight . . . UGH!!  So much to do in the next week before we leave for Fairbanks and my mind is racing 100 mph . . .

Think I'll get a good cold glass of milk and try to rest my weary head again . . .

Hope everyone is having a great sleep!

Memorial Day 2010

Whenever I think of Memorial Day and honoring those who have served our country, I can't help but think about both my own father and my father-in-law.  Both men served during World War II in the European theatre;  my dad, Bob, was an anti-aircraft artillery soldier and my father-in-law, Reg, was an Air Force pilot.  Even though neither one of them talked a whole lot about the war, as I have grown older and learned more about those times, I am truly amazed at what those very young men did to preserve our freedom.  Thinking of you both today . . . Thank you for allowing me to live the life that I now live.

The final countdown has now begun in the Carpenter household for our trip to Alaska!  We are down to 11 days until we leave for Fairbanks.  We are starting out our trip by spending 2 days in Fairbanks before we meet up with our tour group.  Still having a hard time deciding exactly how to pack.  Hate taking tons of clothes, like I always seem to do . . . gotta leave room to bring home some goodies, so what is a girl supposed to do?

Tomorrow is my official final day of the school year.  It has been a very long and frustrating year.   Don't know how many more years I can take like this one.  To get the most out of my retirement, I need to work at least 4 more years.  Hope I can make it . . .

Still don't have any idea what I will be teaching next year . . . too many loose ends that need to be tied up in our program.  I really do not like the uncertainty, so hopefully by the time I get back from Alaska I will have a better idea.  All I can say to the powers that be, "Just give me all the math and let it be done.  I'll make it work!"

Hey everyone, have a great Memorial Day!

6:27 AM and a Random Thought . . .

I honestly have to say that this is probably one of my favorite times of the day.  I am definitely a morning person . . . .  I could just sit for hours 'listening' to the quiet.  After all of the hustle and bustle of a normal day's activities, I find it very relaxing.

A couple of weeks ago I told that to Mark.  He told me that many years ago, he had remarked to my dad that he was surprised that he (my dad) drove around without the radio on in the car.  Dad then told him that he simply enjoyed 'listening' to the quiet.  Kind of freaky how I would say the same thing years later.

Like father, like daughter . . . Miss you Dad . . .

Have a great day everyone!

Long Time, No Write

Can't believe that I go through all the trouble to have this blog redesigned and then I do zip, zero, nada with it!  Typical of me, huh?

Sitting here listening to the Nationwide race and poking around on the computer when I should be doing some ScrapScription work.  Christopher (my SIL) made this fancy dancy Excel worksheet for me to track our ScrapScriber members and it kind of freaks me out using it.  Have this feeling that I am going to majorly screw it up.  So even though I know I should be working with it, I just can't bring myself to 'get er done'.  Maybe as I poke around and procrastinate, I will finish up printing our June 1st release instructions . . . sounds like a plan!

Two weeks from today Mark and I will be in Fairbanks, AK and Mark will be officially retired.  Definitely entering into a new era of our lives . . . Kind of freaky.  No not, kind of freaky, big time FREAKY!  Really, really looking forward to Alaska.  Ran into a friend this morning at breakfast and she is heading there next Saturday.  Also have a couple in the condo complex that left this morning for two weeks and my sister and brother-in-law left for Anchorage this morning too.  In fact we will be seeing Lynne and Fred when we finally get to Fairbanks.  As I type, it is 68 degrees in Fairbanks right now.   Still working on what type of wardrobe to pack . . .

Think I will go read for awhile.  Loving my new Kindle!  Even bought a light for it last week.  Have a great day everyone!

Weekend Wrap-up . . .

We ended up getting a good 8+ inches of snow.  Once it finally started snowing at a good clip around 6 PM it really kept on going until early morning on Saturday.  The blowing was amazing . . . parts of our lawn were not snow covered at all and other parts had 3 foot drifts.  Took them until after 4 PM to plow us out.  Finally got out and about yesterday.  We are currently under a 2 hour delay . . . a lot of the roads are still snow covered and slick.  Looks like another storm is heading our way.  Supposed to hit late tonight and all day tomorrow.

Looking out of our garage before they came around to plow.  The drifting was amazing!

Looking across our driveway once the plow came by.

Since my crop down in Columbus was postponed I actually did some scrapping at home this weekend.  Did this layout for my Hawaii album.  Slowly but surely I am working on layouts for this book.  The photo was taken at a Japanese garden park we found in downtown Hilo while we were driving around.  Very pretty and serene place.

This layout is a picture I took while at CHA just a couple of weeks ago in Anaheim.  My sister, Cathe, spent two days with Lori and me at the show.  The first day she pretty much just followed us around but on the second day she spent a good part of the day doing make and takes.  She is sitting here making a necklace using Tim Holtz Ideology products at the Tim Holtz booth.

Watched Daytona qualifying on Saturday . . . great job Mark Martin . . . , fell asleep during the Shootout Saturday night, and watched the Super Bowl last night.  Didn't do much else all weekend.  Kind of nice to just stay hunkered down here at home both days.  Made a big batch of vegetable soup that we ate throughout the weekend.

Well I had best get my butt in gear and start getting ready for school.  Need to leave a tad earlier than usual so I can stop at the bank on my way in.  Have a great day everyone!