A Musing Mother 6

Life is so busy! I have barely had a moment to look at others' blogs much less write my own. Nothing exciting happening which is very, very nice. Just the usual of scouts, Young Women, choir, choir tryouts, basketball, homework, homework, and more homework, work, breakfast, lunch and dinner, housework (not getting done), reading (that's me getting right on my list of books - thanks to all who suggested books. I am REALLY enjoying them. As I finish them, they are going to the bottom SHELFARI widget), parenting, driving, etc. Right now I am cussing at my laptop because I changed modems and can't get the wireless to respond. The most exciting part of our lives is that our dishwasher is piece of crud and needs to be replaced. Expensive but maybe we'll get one that is quieter and actually cleans the dishes. I ask for so much. Actually, another expensive hobby is speeding in a school zone. Not that I would know but I hear it is extremely expensive and requires a ma...

I am choosing specific books to read this year and I'm planning ahead. I want to be sure to read excellent books with the option of getting them from the library. If I plan ahead, I believe my success in this venture will be much higher. I have updated and added a Shelfari widget to the right. These are books I have chosen so far. I would love input from anybody who has suggestions for a good read. The more comments I get on this subject, the better! If, by some wonderful chance, you own one of these books and want me to borrow them, I will oblige willingly. If you don't want me to borrow them and I find out you have them and are hogging them for no apparent reason, I will withhold good reads from you until you bring me chocolate.

Post Script to yesterday's activity: Last night we went to IKEA and bought a couple of wood rectangular boxes to put in that huge drawer that holds all the kitchen gadgets. I now have my messiest drawer divided into two messiest drawers! One side holds all the long gadgets like rolling pins, spatulas, turkey baster, teflon spoons, non-teflon spoons, etc. The other side holds everything else. This cuts down my digging time much more than half. I now know which side to start sorting. Really, it looks much, much better. I took a picture but decided it would require a "before" and "after" picture to truly appreciate the improvement and I don't want to get that personal on a blogspot. I'd rather discuss my last pap smear than share something as intimate as my drawers. A great bonus was that in order to fit the containers into the drawer, the drawer had to be removed. I found a treasure trove of lost items! It was like Christmas! Two forks, an old straw, a bou...

It has been nearly 17 years since my bridal shower. My cooking skills have greatly improved (you can't get worse than burnt offerings). I love to cook and I love to try new things. I have also discovered that I am crippled in the kitchen because I don't have the right tools. My saucepan collection is down to one very small pan. I do have a larger one that has a crack so the lid doesn't fit. I used to have a really nice 3 qt. copper bottom sauce pan. I don't know what happened to it. I miss it. So today I threw myself a shower. Here's what I treated myself to: Two sauce pans with lids A skillet with a lid A large pot with a lid Two frying pans A pizza stone A meat thermometer Small spatula Silicone basting brush Biscuit cutter 30 clothes hangers Hair cutting scissors A child's haircutting cape Ziploc containers Mini-muffin pan Diet Coke Okay, the Diet Coke was a splurge. I can barely believe I spent the dollar on it that I did. Regardless, if you are hungry, I no...

Even the lamb and the lion, er, the dog and the cat.

Let me start by saying we had the most wonderful Family Home Evening tonight. I don't want to share too much because it was so special and attaching words can't do it justice. We discussed becoming more Christ-like and one child shared how our struggles make us special. Suddenly we had two children crying and they each shared how they know they are special because... and they shared their struggle turning it into a positive. It was extremely touching and spiritual. I love the way our children teach us and also connect the dots in ways we don't realize. One child had previously asked if we could finally make our gingerbread house. Having shared such a uniting and spiritual experience, the children continued to be cooperative and supportive of one another. Of course, it all started out as working together to build the gingerbread house.. But once the house was built and decorated, it was time to decorate the 8 year old. But once he was decorated, we still needed to eat the ...

...to not like January. Quarterly statements from IRAs, 401k, 403b, and any other stock holdings. Losing thousands. Fortunately, we had a large percentage of our money in money market funds a year ago. We talked to a financial planner and we were ready to invest but never got around to it. It's still sitting in money market funds earning around 2%. Not much but it's in the black as opposed to the other funds. Okay, we also invested some of it into a plasma t.v. and a fence. It's not earning money in either of those ventures but we are enjoying both of them. Last night hubby and I went out without the kids. We were on our way home and I called to check on the kids. They told me they were watching Kung Fu Panda. We came home and found them, sitting in front of the big screen t.v. on the couch, huddled around the portable DVD player. That's right. They chose to watch the movie on a 7 inch screen. Another sound investment.

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We changed satellite providers so we can watch BYU football games. Now we find out it doesn't carry the channel with most of the Jazz games but that's another diatribe for another time. With the new subscription we get three months of HBO free. First thing we did was block all movies that were rated R. Next we looked through the guide and found movies we hadn't seen and wanted to see, had seen and wanted to see again, or had seen and thought the kids would like, too. I'm saving The Brady Bunch Movie for a night I can't sleep. Not appropriate for kids but very, very funny to people over the age of 40. I DVRed (that's a real word) Back to the Future believing my children would benefit from such an iconic cultural experience. Particularly when I offered that movie as an option and my 13 year old asked what it was about. Seriously. We all sat down to enjoy a classic movie. It is a very different experience when seeing it through the Mommy Filter. I had no idea it...

To the untrained eye, this may appear to be a group of friends meeting at a Thai dig. Upon closer inspection, the observer would notice the amazing women I have chosen to associate with. These are my dance friends, Kari, Jennifer, and Kristy. We danced together, laughed together, cried together, and continue to support one another. I loved dancing. I felt graceful and free. That was the gift of dance. I have a wonderful support system and friends who know me and accept me anyway. That was the gift of the dance class. I can live without group dancing (I have hardwood in my kitchen and a large space for practicing my pirouettes) but I can't live without the reciprocal support system I have with these amazing ladies.