This weekend went by so fast. It was a great weekend. We accomplished quite a bit, but it was over far to quickly.
Saturday I decided that our DVD situation needed to be addressed. Nick had taken down some shelves that had been holding most of our movies. The ended up in two packing boxes. It's hard to look for a movie to watch when digging through a box. So I Got some DVD crates and organized the lot of them.
The result:
Nick built a shelf to go on top and they are now accessible and look good to boot. Score one for mom.
Not to be outdone by my spurt of organization, Nick got the traditional bows organized too. He built a hanger and a shelf for the arrows.
Spring cleaning/organizing is happening. It's got to get lots warmer for lots longer before any outside stuff happens. We currently have a nasty glacier in our back yard. Makes for muddy paws when it gets warm enough to thaw a bit back there. Therefore the dogs got baths last night too.
Squeaky clean.
Nick and I did get a night out together sans kiddos. The overnight was a huge success. Nick and I even went to breakfast together. It was wonderful.
Now on to MMMM. This week's Theme is British invasion. These are some of the bands that I loved in high school. All British.
Eurythmics Sweet Dreams:
UB40 Red Red Wine:
Escape Club Wild Wild West:
Join in with your own favorite British invasion bands.
This week the Spin Cycle topic is women who inspire us. This one is tough, because it's hard for me to figure out a woman who really inspires me.
I went looking for current inspirational women and found that most of the admired women of today are public figures who are involved in charity activities. Actresses who have time to support charities, models who do much the same. Or they are admired for their work on stage and screen. There are a few who are admired for their business sense, or for politics. In most instances, it's for making inroads to traditionally male areas.
I find that I admire women from history more--their accomplishments are more tangible to me--Marie Curie for her work in science, any of the women who fought for the right to vote, and women who created professions--such as nursing.
Still, I think the women who do what they do well and take pride in it are more inspiring than the celebrities of today who do charity work. Charity work is well and good, but most of us don't have that kind of time and money.
Angelina Jolie is considered an inspiring woman. And I can admire her dedication to charity work. She is also the mother of six children, several of whom are adopted. Were she a normal person, not celebrity, I'm not sure she would be able to "do it all". She not exactly someone who I would feel comfortable modeling my life after.
Finding a woman that I find truly inspiring, some one I can point to and say I want to be like that is not so easy. One I can identify, after some thought, is a teacher of mine. She has been in the geological field for close to 50 years now. She was voted as AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists) president. Randi Martinson was my first geology instructor. She is a strong woman and has toughed it out is a traditionally male world for a very long time. She is respected and a good teacher.
If I can have a career that I can look back on as successful and as having had a good contribution to the field I work in then I feel I have lived up to her example, at least somewhat.
What woman inspires you? Spin it up and link it up with Gretchen and Ginny Marie, they would love to have you!
I was poking around the internet and found a list on MSN Living that was about 20 Things You Should Do at Least Once. I looked it over and was surprised at the number of things I've already done and got a couple of good ideas for my bucket list.
Own your own business. I did this, or at least I was self employed. It didn't go well. I'm much happier letting someone else worry about paying Uncle Sam.
Live in a foreign country. This one holds no appeal for me. I will visit them, but living there? Not so much.
Buy a home. Done. Still paying the bank.
Drive coast to coast. This holds appeal as a bucket list idea. Nick and I like road trips and this could be fun.
Get your heart broken. I was a teenager. I dated, I had boy troubles, then I found Nick and the rest is history.
Be cheered by a crowd. I've performed in plays and had the applause. That counts.
Keep a journal. I did this in college. I do it now, but I call it a blog.
Take a leap of faith. Nick and I do this constantly. Isn't life a series of smaller and larger leaps of faith?
Give something back. We donate our unwanted clothing regularly, but we don't have time for other forms of volunteering.
Design and build a house. We have remodeled our house and designed most of those remodels. As for building a new house, it holds some appeal, but the process looks like a pain in the butt.
Make a meal with food you raised yourself. I have done this. The first and second summers we grew zucchini and summer squash, I made minestrone from the bounty, as well as zucchini bread. We have harvested wild game and we enjoy eating that too.
Buy a piece of art because you love it. I really need to do this, but we also have to be in a place to find said art.
Go wilderness camping. I did this when I was in geology school. The fall field trip had us camp in wilderness areas--no bathrooms, tents, sleeping on the ground. Hold absolutely no appeal now. The ground is hard on the body.
Take a sabbatical. Sounds lovely, but I just don't have that kind of job.
Make a piece of furniture. I'm not handy, but Nick is and I am a great helper.
Go snorkeling or scuba diving. I have been snorkeling, but I would love to go again and see more.
Adopt a pet. Have done this twice now--Guiness and Thullee are both adopted dogs.
Do something that really scares you. I gave a talk in front of people for work last year. That scared the bejeezus out of me. That's really enough.
Take a stand. I'm not sure I really believe in something this strongly, but I do know I take a stand with my boys daily--otherwise they would walk all over me.
Do work you really care about. I like my work and think it does make a difference. I also work for my family and I care deeply about them.
Have you done some of these? Do you think you should do some of these? Feel free to borrow.
And Monday is over for the week. Too bad it will be back for a repeat engagement next week. Anywho, let's get all random:
Nick and I finally get a kid free night and the kids aren't going to the grandparent's house. Bruiser has done so well with the potty stuff that he has gotten an overnight at the cousins' house. To say there is excitement on all sides is an understatement.
Our weather has been a bit nuts lately. We have a lot of ice around right now. Ice that has built up all winter. warm temps melt it during the day, but at night it freezes again. Makes walking interesting.
We should get more snow tonight--not much, but white stuff will fall from the sky. This will be normal until the end of April. Spring is a long way off.
Mardi Gras tonight. We don't do much for it, but we are going to try to take the boys swimming. Activity keeps us from biting each other's heads off.
Bruiser has been feeling better. He has also been more ornery. He truly is a more normal boy since we got his insides working right. The nonstop kid is even more nonstop now.
Well that covers random for now. Have a good week everyone!
Blinking, not recommended when you actually want to enjoy something. Cause I blinked and there went the weekend. It was good, just far too short.
After the long week Nick and had last week, we really wanted to relax on Friday night. I made green chicken enchiladas (a bit hotter than intended, I grabbed the hot version of the green chili enchilada sauce). There was minimal protest on dinner, after I scraped most of the sauce off the boys portion. A few TABs (Tasty Adult Beverages) and I got a start on the laundry. We really know how to rock a Friday night, huh?
Saturday dawned with snow and very slick roads. This killed our plans of going out of town, so we hung out at home, Nick took the boys swimming and I dealt with the laundry. Homemade Mac and cheese for dinner, still trying to have easy to chew foods for Turbo, who was still adjusting to his bottom braces.
We did do something else on Friday. We have been trying to reduce bills and AT&T, who we have our phones with, had a deal that would save us money. Turbo has also been lobbying for a cell phone of his own. He actually put together a very good argument for one as part of an assignment for school. We relented and got him a cell phone. Not a smart phone, but a flip phone that he can call and text with. He was over the moon excited about it.
Sunday we were able to escape our little town and get out on the road. We headed to the new Cabelas store south of us in Denver. We weren't that impressed, but it was a fun trip. The kids got to help feed the fish. We stopped at an archery shop to get Turbo some arrows for his new bow. We also got a late lunch at a brew pub/restaurant called Coopersmiths. Amazing thing, the boys were hungry enough that they ate their meals with a minimum of cajoling and urging from us. I love it when meals are eaten without tons of drama.
Once we got home, it was all about finishing the laundry, roasting a chicken, and getting ready for this next week. I could have used another day--to catch up on sleep, if nothing else. Although I probably would have read for most of it, given the choice.
MMMM is freebie this week. Wondering what I feel like this week...
So, since it has been 21 years since I met Nick--as of last Wednesday--let's go back to 1993 and what I was listening to then.
Ace of Base, All That She Wants:
Aerosmith, Livin' On the Edge:
Meatloaf, I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)
These are the songs I remember listening to back in college. Oh so long ago.
Tall tales are the spin cycle topic this week. Truly tall tales have never been huge at our house. I do have an interesting connection to the Johnny Appleseed tale though.
I spent about 4 years when I was young living in Yuciapa California. My mom got involved in the Little Theater they had there. I was given several of the child roles when they were available--I played Tiny Tim in the production of A Christmas Carol they put on. I was also involved in the original production of Johnny Appleseed they produced.
It was a musical. I remember singing songs and getting to run around as one of the kids of the pioneers. It was fun. The production was put on both indoors and outdoors.
There was one scene where the kids come to the kitchen area and steal the potatoes that were being cut up. Raw potatoes. Sadly this is where I learned that raw potatoes taste good--at least to me.
One of the last productions we were in was when my baby brother got to play the baby in the cradle. He slept through most of the production, only to wake when the adults were singing the lullaby to put the kids to sleep. Because, of course, that's when the baby would wake, right?
So that's my connection to an American tall tale--who actually existed.
What's your favorite tall tale?
Spin it up and link it up with Gretchen and Ginny Marie, would love to have you!
Wednesday, and we are still doing staff training for work. It's some kind of fun, but I'm not sure what kind of fun.
On to the We Want To Know questions:
Tell us about your job or daily routine. I don't tend to talk much about my job here. It's just something I like to keep kind of separate. But here goes: My work day starts at 7:30am. I get to work, turn on my computer and go make myself some tea. Then it's on to database work and screens of oil fields for interested parties. We head home at 3:30 because we sort of skip going to lunch most days. Once home it's direct homework, make dinner and other home type stuff. Would you rather live in the city or the country? I'm much more a city girl. I grew up in the country and I didn't like it much. I like the convenience of living in town. Do you like to sing in the car, shower, etc? I sing along with the radio in the car. Not so much a shower singer because there's no music to sing with. Share some things on your bucket list. I'm not sure what's there right now. For this year it's not looking too good for bucket list things. Visiting national parks west of the Mississippi is a bucket list goal of ours though. If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be? Conceitedness. People are very self centered these days. Also stupidity--a lack of common sense is rampant too. If these were abolished things would be generally better.
Monday is over and I couldn't be happier to see Tuesday, even if this Tuesday comes with Staff Development at work. Two whole days of communication styles and more effective teamwork. Sadly, the coworkers that need to attend are out of town and wouldn't get anything out of it anyway. On to the random:
I joined a swap. Mug O' Comfort swap. Send a fun mug and yummy stuff to go in it and I get one in return. Looking forward to some yummy tea or cocoa and a fun mug to drink it out of.
Bruiser had a bubble bath this weekend:
He went for the very full tub.
I think I'm going to attempt to make chicken stock this weekend. We are going to roast or grill a whole chicken and I want to cook down the bones to see if I can successfully make stock. I use so much broth to cook with that making my own would be good--I can control the salt and such. I plan on freezing it in ice cubes for use when I need it.
So far my meal planning has been mostly working. My biggest problem is motivation. Sometimes I just don't want to cook. Sometimes Nick steps in, but sometimes we both just can't face it. This last week, leftovers have been a real life saver.
Thullee, our puppy has been quite entertaining. If he's not chasing his tail (the white tip really teases him), he's climbing on our laps. He's almost too big for this but that doesn't stop him.
I think my life has become a bunch of random. Nothing big is happening. Well nothing big that is bloggable. The unbloggable will work itself out. A vacation would really help, but with everything that has happened this winter, the vacation time is lacking.
What's your random this week?
