Hope you had a great Fourth!

Don't you love it when holidays actually feel like holidays.  There have been years in which holidays have felt like just another day.  This year though, the special celebratory days of the year actually feel...you know, like days that were celebrated. 

Saturday, instead of doing nothing or even rushing around like chickens with our heads cut off, we spent the day having family time.  Chad, Cyn & I headed out to go to garage sales.  In matching shirts and for Cyn & I, matching hair bands.

Cyn at the picnic we went to last night.  Isn’t she just adorable?

Oh, I’ve not mentioned my latest insanity, have I?  It all started when I couldn’t find a ponytail holder that I liked.  Plus, when I do eventually find one I might like, the price of it is astronomical.  Seriously, when did hair accessories get so much?  A woman could go broke just buying hair scrunchies and such.

So, I got all crafty over the past month and began putting my know how of crocheting to good use.  I bought a bunch of cheap ponytail holders and used some yarn I already had…plus bought some more to match mine and Cyn’s outfits..the whole point of the endeavor.  And this is what I came up with.

I know, Anne, this is where you roll your eyes and growl how much I’m like mom…Though I would like to point out that I’m not like mom because these aren’t a work in progress…they’re actually DONE!  Luv you, mom!!!  No offense!

So, these days when I’ve some down time and don’t feel like reading, I crochet hair scrunchies.  It keeps me busy, entertained and plus they are nice to give away.  I figure I’ll just keep making them till I don’t feel like making them anymore, because I do get bored easily.  Though, since they make up quickly I don’t have to worry about leaving them undone.

See, it makes wonderful sense.  If not, oh well!

So, on Saturday we spent the day going to garage sales.  We had a budget and we…kind of stuck to it.  It was a lot of fun.  I bought Cyn a bunch of clothes and even a few things for Chad and I. 

Then, of course, I also bought things I didn’t need, but wanted. 
Like these baskets.  I’m not sure what it is about me and baskets lately, but if I like them, I buy them.  Aren’t these two cute?

The things I buy make Chad cringe at times.  Like this tray.  Actually he didn’t cringe so much as refuse to comment when I asked him what he thought.  I do love that man.  Though he did almost cry when I I saw this mirror because he knew there was nothing to stop me from buying it.

And, of course, every kitchen needs a chalkboard.

Because…I’m not even sure why, it just seemed right.

And we bought a bread box.  Okay, I bought a bread box.  Hey, it was only a dollar and kind of neat. My reasoning is that if we put the bread in the bread box then it will prevent Mia from stealing it off the counter and stop it from getting smashed in the cupboard.  A good plan…I think.  We’ll see!

Okay, so we did the garage sale stuff on Saturday morning till about three and then headed home for dinner.  Bratwursts…yum.  Then fireworks at Gotl (Geneva on the Lake).  That was fun.  I was smiling the whole time.  I still am smiling.We had a picnic we went to at our Pastor’s house on Sunday night and then headed out to see the Conneaut fireworks.  They do a much, much better job than Gotl and since we got to watch them with our extended family it made it even more fun.

Isn’t little Irelyn getting so big?  She’s going to be a year old this August 1st and absolutely adorable!

The weekend was a lot of fun and we’re just relaxing today.  Chad’s last day of the holiday weekend and right now we’re catching up on Hannah Montana.  Not Chad’s first choice, but I’ve really become addicted to Disney shows lately.  Chad has a point, almost every time the TV is on, the Disney Channel is what its on.  I guess it could be worse…We could be watching shows with lots of bad language.

Hope everyone had a lot of fun this weekend.  We did!  I’ll leave you with one last pic.  I do love Cyn when she’s eating my home made Strawberry Pretzel Dessert.  Yum

Bye!

Little bits, one by one

Quiet.  That’s what I hear.  The quiet of a summer day.  A dog barking in the distance and cars as they drive by our house.  As quiet as it gets in the small city of Ashtabula.

**

I admitted to Chad and Sis Laura the other day that I am more relaxed with Cyn at church youth camp than when she is at her father’s house.  I realized this phenomenon last year and in a way it is sad that I trust strangers more than my ex.  Very sad.

Cyn was gone last week to her dad’s house and this week to camp.  At least I get her for the fourth so we get to spend some time together.  I do miss that little runt a lot if she is gone longer than three days.

***

We went and saw Transformers 2 this past weekend.  A very good movie.  I liked it a lot.  Didn’t realize how long it actually was until it was over.  That’s how you know a movie is good.  not even noticing the length of time you are sitting down during it.

****

I got a stupid cold.  I call it stupid because I am just so mad I got a cold when the weather is so nice.  An icky kind of cold.  Sore throat, stuffy nose, annoying congestion and a slight cough.  So not fun.  If not for Nyquil I would be getting no sleep.

How did I get the darn thing?

Traced it back to the last time I was around cigarette smoke last week.  Yeah, my allergy to that brought on the cold.  Yuck.  Its going away, just not fast enough for me.  I whine a lot when I’m sick. 

Only thing that makes it bearable is the Vaporub on my feet.  Yeah, I said Vaporub on my feet.  It keeps me mostly decongested and helps me breathe.  No idea how it works, but it does.  My feet feel cold all the time now though…odd.

*****

Our calendar is filling up so quick these days.  I use Google calendar to keep track of our lives.  Without it I would be completely lost.  Anytime I need to check if I am busy on a day I just text the date to Google calendar and it lets me know. 

I know, I’m a geek.  Get over it.  I even print the thing out and post it to the fridge so Chad and Cyn know what’s going on too.  There are days I actually know what the date is, go me! 

Hey, when one does not have a job it is easy to lose track of dates and times.

******

I’m a bit tired now so I am going to head back to bed.  Well, after I eat lunch.  I can honestly say I have no plans to do anything today and no guilt because of that. 

Hope you have as relaxing a day!

This is how we overcome.

My birthday present from Chad has been filling up my free time.  How so? 

Well, normally my free time was spent on my laptop when I’m not doing crafts and Cyn’s busy being a kid.  There is only so many kid’s shows I can watch.  Especially considering I don’t have much interest in TV these days.  I watch a few of the shows that Chad records, but not all.

Even the TV shows I used to take delight in like all the CSIs and Ugly Betty hold no interest for me anymore.  So much so that a few months ago I sent my DVR back to TimeWarner because I had the whole season of Ghost Whisperer on it and wasn’t in the mood to watch the show.  I used to love that show.

My impatience and disinterest in TV began with the heavy onset of my headaches.  I even got to the point that I couldn’t watch a movie without getting one.  Actually, the headaches were constant, it was the migraines that occurred from the constant pain. 

The migraines that made me lose hours and sometimes days.  Those were the worst.

I got a cat scan and a few other tests and no one had any clue as to what caused them.  So, I avoided my triggers.  Bright light, lots of noise, loud noise(like commercials!), caffeine and TV.  I couldn’t even handle two people talking at the same time.  It wouldn’t cause a migraine, I just couldn’t focus on what either one was saying. 

Mo & Bryan had so much fun with that one.

I was at breaking point when one day I just gave up and stopped taking every medicine the doctor’s were giving me to prevent and stop the migraines.  Once the medicine got out of my system, the migraines stopped. 

Praise be to God for that one.  We prayed for healing and it came.

I traced the migraines down to stress.  See, I get stressed, my neck tightens up and causes the headaches which cause the migraines.  So, if I limit my stress, I limit my migraines.  Not so easy, but I work at it very hard.  Like I used to tell everyone;

Breathe and let it go.

Now that brings me back to my birthday present which definitely helps me de-stress.  Have I ever mentioned that I love to read?  Oh, I do.  At times it gets me into trouble since I would rather be reading than doing most anything else.  Like I tell Cyn, a book can take you anywhere.  I read while Chad watches TV.  No trouble there.  He watches what he wants to and I read to my heart’s content.

The library has a website where I am able to get eBooks anytime of day I want.  I finish a book and am able to start on a new one instantly.  I love it since I discovered it, but because I only had my laptop to read on it wasn’t very comfortable.  Staring at a bright screen all the time.  It was putting a strain on my laptop and on me.  Rather annoying. 

Plus I knew the amount of time I was on my laptop wasn’t good for it since it would get annoying hot.  Not very comfortable at all. 

So, for my birthday I put in an urgent request to Chad.  In my mind it was urgent and it was my birthday.  I wanted an eBook reader.  I begged, I pleaded…Oddly enough I didn’t bring it up constantly as I am wont to do.  I just convinced him it made the most sense and would save money in the long run since it would mean less wear and tear on my laptop.

All sound reasons and just the basic simple reason that I wanted to read books in the comfort of my bed without worry of a big, bulky laptop.  So, Chad did what Chad does and spoiled me.  He bought me an eBook reader.  I’ve gone nowhere without it since.

This thing is awesome.  The eInk technology it uses is just neat.  Its not backlit so I do need a book light, but the battery last forever because of that feature.  Chad calls it an extremely advanced Etch-a-sketch.  It uses just enough power to write the page when you press the button for the next page and that’s it.

I already had a 4 Gig SD card so I popped that in and now I can read practically any book anytime I want.  Can you tell I kind of love this thing, lol.  It even plays mp3s too. 

Always nice when I want to block certain background noises out…like our neighbors yelling.

Okay, so we’ll be paying this thing off for a bit.  Yet in the long run, it will make sure I don’t overuse my laptop forcing us to buy a new one too soon.  Plus, I can carry all my books around on one little device.

Yes, even the Twilight series.  C’mon, you knew that was coming.  It was first four books I put on here.  Okay, besides Pride & Prejudice.  That was the first.  Hey, it was free and I happen to be very fond of that book.

I spent last night organizing my digital library.  The books I own and don’t own.  The ones I don’t being borrowed from the library.  They’re on a 21 day time limit which is definitely enough time for me to read them.  Especially now that Cyn is gone to her dad’s for a week.

A whole week and one day.  That’s eight days without my baby girl.  I miss her so much already.

The house is much too quiet and today would have been a nice day to go swimming.  We haven’t been getting many nice days lately.  Rather annoying for it being summer and all.

Tonight we’re heading out to what is called the Church of God Camp meeting.  No, we’re not actually going to be camping.  Chad and I checked, lol.  We’re just going to a really big church service.  This will be the first one we’ve gone to.  Well, Chad is a church elder and I am a kid’s class teacher.  We were bound to go sometime.

Right now I am waiting on my clothes to dry that I plan on wearing there and then I’m heading to Pastor Chris’s house.  We’ll be riding there with them.  Should be fun.  Chad considers Pastor his brother and Amy and I are as close as sisters.  We do spend a lot of time with them even out of church activities. 

Its nice to have people around us who love and accept us faults and all.

I was just telling someone the other day how hard it is for me to trust.  That it took years for me to trust one of the sweetest, kindest people in my life.  I won’t name names…Just that she is the mom of one of the kid’s I have adopted as my own.  (That could be anyone!)  I had been burned too many times.  Yet, when I opened up and let them in, it was like there were no more shadows and only sunlight remained. 

That’s not to say it doesn’t still take me awhile to trust people.  Yet, now instead of not even trying to give someone a chance at being my friend, I take baby steps and eventually after I realize they will catch me, I jump.

It all started with Chad and once I realized that he wasn’t going to let me fall, I started giving other people chances.  Chad’s noticed a difference.  When I started letting other people in our lives became so much fuller.  We became a part of something bigger, something that lets us feel like we belong.  Family.

Our friends became our family. 

I’m not saying we don’t have family.  I love mine and talk to them frequently.  Probably not as often as I used to and at times more than they want, but I love my family.  I’ve never not trusted them.  They’ve always been there for me.  I gave no one else that chance though.

Because of how I had been betrayed in the past, I had stopped letting people past my wall of defense.  No one could hurt me and it didn’t register till after a few years with Chad that because I was letting no one in so I couldn’t get hurt, I was in actuality hurting myself.  That was painful to realize.  To know that I was distrusting those who didn’t deserve it.

With God’s help I learned I could trust others.  Not just those blood related.  It took awhile, but even I can see the light. 

It saddens me all the years I have wasted by not trusting at all.  It saddens me to know that have alienated a few people forever because of these actions of mine.  Over time, maybe, even this too can be overcome.  I shall not dwell on it though.

I’ve learned to not try so hard.  To just be myself and know that those God wants around me will learn to accept me for who I am.  A woman who is far from perfect, a woman who is trying her best live, a woman who is finally admitting that she is old enough to be called a woman.

Dude, I’m 29.  My little girl years are so over.  Now I have have to figure out how to be an adult.  Any ideas?  I refuse to be a boring one, I tell you what…lol.

Sorry I rambled on for so long.  Nah, I’m not sorry.  Turns out I must have needed to say these things.  Probably why I’ve been avoiding posting.  Just needed to get my thoughts in some kind of order. 

Okay, now I really need to go get lost while trying to find Amy’s house.  I am not exactly known for my directional capabilities.  I still can’t find Jefferson!  Have a great Day!!!!

Spending a lil money.

Is it sad that I held onto my birthday money check until today so that I could take that money and blow it in less than an hour?  Probably.  It wouldn't have taken so long, but whenever I go shopping in Fashion Bug I have this need to go through every single clothing rack.

Actually, I went quicker this trip because Cyn kept up a steady chatter throughout the whole shopping process.  Yeah, my kid can talk and talk and talk.  I say "stop talking" (because using the words shut up is not allowed in my house) and she still keep talking.  I love her dearly, but couldn't she have been equipped with a mute button?  I'm just sayin'!

So, I bought this shirt:

Isn't it adorable?  I tried on a few others, but this is the one I fell in love with.  Makes me feel less fat...or something like that.

I got a couple pairs of earring and then Cyn and I stopped at Payless for flip-flops.  For her, not me.  She has a pair for her dad's house, but we like to keep things separate.  Or try to.  Lucky kid has two of almost everything. 

I'm kind of crashed now after the afternoon of errands and then shopping.  I should clean a little...I just don't wanna!  Was that whiny enough?  Oh, don't worry Chad.  I'll pick up in the living room.  Just don't expect more than that.  Hey, the house is mostly clean.  Won't pass a white glove test, that's why I said mostly.

Remnants of my birthday party.

It began with a water balloon fight that we played just like a dodge ball game.  That was a lot of fun and ended with Mo and Paul soaking each other with the water left in the buckets that were holding the water balloons.

Then the kids and we played kickball till Pastor showed up and then I quit so I could get the camera and take pictures.  Oh yeah, my team won on kickball too…after we took the other teams score and divided by two…I was the birthday girl and my team won no matter what!

I did pretty well at avoiding the camera.  I know, even on my birthday I am still the paparazzi.

Sis Amy was there with little Irelyn.  I think she’s dealing a lot better with my picture taking.

 

Emily & Shelby were as adorable as always.

Sis Amy and Pastor Chris feeding Irelyn.

Mo & William fighting over a slushy.

Jeff-fuh-fuh & Sister Sandy being entertained by the silliness of everyone.  Mostly just giving me weird looks while I run around taking pictures.

Emily doing a good job of hiding.  At one point I was chasing Paul around and no one knew she had hidden herself in the tubs.  When she popped out of them it scared Paul and I and stopped the chase.  It took us awhile to stop laughing.

Emily’s version of a sack race.  That’s Mandy in the background looking ecstatically happy.

Cyn showing off and looking as cute as only she can.

Picture of everyone as the sing me Happy Birthday.  I love all of them dearly.  So much so that I couldn’t resist getting a video of their song as they sang it the second time.

Paulsef  was determined i must take a picture of his piece of cake and ice cream.

But the best picture of my cake was this one.  Isn’t it pretty?

My birthday party was a lot of fun.  I just may do the same thing next year.  You know…when I turn twenty nine again.

Finally