Shuffling it all around

There are times I wonder why we do it all and there are times when I wonder how we get it all done.

This weekend was a lot of moving stuff- Kitchen table and chairs for a friend, her old table came to my house for a work station, new cabinet for the Showroomfx product because it wasn't working where it was. The old dryer leaving and the new one being delivered. The boys doors went on Saturday and then I cleaned their bathroom from top to bottom while they weren't here and rearranged vanity cabinet.

Mostly I was trying to get as much cleaning done so that A) I would not have to do it during this week since I have two meetings, one at the school and one for TPC (more on this below) and we have Cars and Coffee Saturday AM, and Sunday I have my very first cooking show! I am so excited!

The boys had a grand time this weekend since they went to my best friends house and stayed til today, then we went and visited with my dad while mom was at work (we were picking up the cabinet from their house) and looked at his computer, got some ideas on how to improve the Scorpion I page, and I showed him some weights that I have that were my Grandmothers. I cannot fathom what they are used for and Dad had never seen them before either.

Dinner was great will upload pictures later- we had Teriyaki Meatballs and Lo Mien, it was quick, tasted fantastic and will be a sure let's do this again.

As always during this crazyness and even though he didn't feel good Shawn was helping me with the loading/ unloading of furniture, and being a willing guinea pig. I am glad he is already in bed and didn't see that the cake that I made while looking good enough to eat was sadly very dry- I cooked it in the microwave just like the one last week but used oil instead of apple sauce as I ran out. Hmmm maybe different cakes take different cooking times? well duh.... :)

Saturday no day of rest!

Well it has been a busy week here, new recipe every night and the boys and the man have loved most of them. Most of the items we have been trying are out of the Weekday Dinners DONE set of recipe cards and are start to finish in 30 minutes.

Day work is crazy as ever and there is still not much happening in the political part of it. Bummer... But that is the way it goes. Happy to be employed I would go nuts if I wasn't.

TPC business is up and running nicely have about 10 shows booked right now lots of interest. My fan page is up to 47 fans which is so awesome!

As usual we have no kids and that is pretty cool but I do miss them. But taking advantage of it before Baseball starts up for E. For the first time this school year both kids are passing all classes, and if E keeps it up he gets cable back in his room. The bedroom doors are also going back on this weekend as I think they have both learned when not to push!

As for the furry children they are rotten as ever- the boys are still picking on Belle and get hosed down with the water bottle about 4 times per day. Sigh....

Our new dryer is being delivered today, gave the old one to a couple that didn't' have one and had two kids, it worked I was just ready for a newer one. I remember being in that position and it was hard, hoping that they get lots of use out of it.

So now we are off and running some more, today I have gone and picked up AF, to the bank, Starbucks, bought the gift card for my CPA, got Shawn donuts and caffeine, cleaned out my trunk. Now we are off to swap vehicles with my mom and go pick up a table and chairs that I found on Craig's List for my best friend because hers is falling apart. Then back here to meet the guys with the dryer and then I get to start in on laundry. Somewhere in between this I am going to go vacuum my car and enjoy the sunshine! Love yall have a great day!

Been busy busy!

Well this is still playing catch up from this weekend, when I started this I had planned on writing daily, but with everything going on time has gotten away from me. The weekend was pretty involved with TPC stuff, a meeting with my director, the glorious arrival of my kit, and getting everything washed and trying to find a home for everything in my limited cabinet space.

Sunday night we tried a new recipe after I got back from Scentsy party in Wylie ( see picture of new warmer it is so cute! It totally matches my living room that we are never in! ) I also just painted the mantel Saturday and it goes great!


Such as right now the boys and Belle are watching G force up here in the loft as I write this. We had awesome Easy Pork Fried Rice for dinner tonight and it was very yummy! Showing it in my Bamboo bowl as the Bamboo is the special for the next month, which is fabulous since they are so eco friendly and easy to care for. I have the large platter also and I am trying to decide what I am going to make that I can display on there... hmmmm might have to bake and take to work.




My fan page for TPC is up to 40 fans as of last count and that just thrills me, as with taking on any new venture it is definatley a little scary but so far so good on this one!

Catalog shows seem to be very popular with my set right now and that is great but I am thinking of adding a bake and take aspect- Preparing something the night before that just requires heating/ or display and letting the hostage take it with her to work, school, meeting etc... Just a thought and something I am kicking around...

Change? Or Progress?

It strikes me every time I drive through Wylie how much it has changed in the last 10 yrs or so. The biggest change is turning down the road by the High School of off 544 and there is a building where their used to be a road! I have driven that road so often for the last thirteen years I know where the old road was and if you take it now there is a building you will drive into. Sunday I was in Wylie and left my best friends' house to go to her Mom's for a Scentsy party. I drove the long way winding around to look at my old neighborhood, the day care the boys used to go to, and the school where they both went to Elementary (which seems so long ago with B). The largest impact I can see is all the strip shopping centers down 1378. The road is horrible still 2 lanes full of pot holes and they are lining both sides with businesses you cannot get to now and once they get up and moving the same problem that the other two elementary schools of that road have, two lane road and everyone trying to get in and out and get past at all the same time. I feel for the people who will have to drive that road.

Anyways my meanderings took me down past downtown Wylie, and it struck me as how some of the older businesses in the little curve on Brown St have fallen into disrepair, and yet they are building new ones. The old frame houses on Brown and Ballard most are gone or they are changed into businesses. It is a rough time to open a small business and I am in favor of doing what you love and being able to get by in this economy, I just realized that the Small town homey feeling was gone. I noticed it even further at Brookshires. They were still friendly the store is still laid out the way it always has been. It just didn't feel the same.

But most of all I realized that the feeling that I realized was missing I realized I was not the only one. The employee who took my groceries out to my car said he had noticed the same thing and was thinking of moving back to Plano where he grew up because it was less expensive to live and he didn't like the missing homey feel either. His exact words were" I am going to live in a city that wants to be a big city I mine as well move to a bigger city that IS that way."

In 1997 when I moved to Wylie there was a big debate against the railroad, they voted them out and the Railroad came anyways. Then they fought against Walmart, ten years later it is there, with a hotel across the street. My point is, when we clear all the land for strip malls, shopping malls, stores, houses, and schools is it a good change, this so called progress? I am not so sure anymore.

Patience

Well we all I know I have absolutely no patience when it comes to anything. Even more so when it comes to something I am excited about - namely my Pampered Chef business getting off the ground. Tomorrow is the big day, the Fed ex gods of awesomeness will bring my packages of goodies, new products, catalogs, paperwork etc. For some reason it takes 5 days to ship from IL to TX 71#. Strangely enough I can ship something at work that ways more and has more pieces and it will get to IL, OH, etc in 3 days or less but that is because LTL. But I digress.

Tonight the boys and I relaxed and watched Simon pout because Shawn wasn't home, we had Chicken Fajita tacos and Vienetta ice cream (yes Shawn we saved you a piece) It was a nice night as it was but I am not used to this crazy schedule Shawn is on right now.

During dinner we watched The Proposal which both the boys thought was great, I knew this I laughed so hard I cried in the theater when me and the girls went and saw it. Side note- need a new girls night out that was too long ago.

I spent some more time working on my website for TPC, getting my host packets together and working on Quicken. I will have to admit I am horrible with money but I am getting better.

Earlier this evening I spoke to my Grandmother in CA, and she is doing worse than I hoped but is optimistic that the new doctors she is seeing for her eyes and her osteoporosis will do some good.

Well off to bed, Space Balls is over and I have an early meeting. Night all

Musings and the weekend

Every now and again I start thinking wow I am really strange... We all have our little hang ups, but the past few days mine had really been on my mind. Such as when we go out to eat I cannot have lemon in my tea- the thought of all those people touching the cut up lemons yuck! When I mentioned tonight at dinner (Chinese take out) that I thought I was overly phobic, the three boys of my life informed no more than anyone else. So good to know :)

Dinner was nice and relaxed and we poked fun at the idea of working at Google, Shawn and I decided it is a definite WIN for both of us because you can wear jeans, ride bikes in the hallways and take your pet to work with you. I of course turned and looked at Jazz who I am pretty sure was plotting something. Simon would make a great paperweight but Jazz would be my attack kitty he would stand at the edge of my cube and whenever people I didn't like tried to come in he would bite. There is a running joke in the house that Jazz has MPD so instead of the seven dwarfs he is just pissy, clawy, scratchy, etc...

E has read enough through the schools program to earn 2 free tickets to Six Flags so that will be put on the agenda for the summer, on top of Orlando. Might have to grab the GP kid and see if she wants to go as well since Six Flags is in her hood.

Tonight is the last night Shawn will be home for a while at a decent time due to work and it sucks. We will get through it good practice for when he starts traveling again which I am dreading (probably as much as Simon) but I am not used to not being able to talk him in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed etc. Not to mention that if the boys follow procedure they will both abandon me to their weekend homes again.

I do have a rep in town from Houston that I am dying to meet he is one of those that I have mentioned in a previous entry that make my job worth while.

B has been a little quiet about school and girls the last few days but is still talking as much about cars so I am figuring everything is fine for now, or he will talk to me this weekend when it is the two of us.

My TPC stuff won't be here till Saturday and I am so impatient to get started! So hoping to spend at least some time this weekend getting all of that together. And I have interest in shows and booked another show yesterday. Which is why I have to get my stuff together as I have to give her a host packet on Sunday.

Not the best and not the worst

Rough morning no one got out of the house on time, taking the boys to school wasn't as smooth as it could have been- it happens- I am curious to know why on earth it is hard for bus drivers to realize how large the vehicle they are steering is and try to pack them into a lane like sardines in a can- not to mention the whole can't see kid factor but what do I know. Thankfully this was at the middle school and you would hope the kids getting off of it would not be as B puts not the brightest. Coming from a teen that is really hitting below the belt as they have a different ideal than we do about intellect!

At work (which truly is a 4 letter word) we learned today that if you are the lowest on the totem pole and your boss is ambivalent you must take an hour and half lunch to recover, and that a Frosty from Wendy's will help most things. I also learned that if your reps and your customers still love you it is worth it at times. At times :)

All in all I was excited to get home today and reconnect with my kids and my honey and see what was what and how their days went. So far so good- it seems E had his Valentines party today since they were out of school on Friday (and yes I refuse to call them Friendship parties) and even though I dislike Valentines' day for the commercialization on it we participated and sent what was requested-it is also his last one as he is going to Middle school next year. As usual I got a non committal response from B so I am going to assume nothing earth shattering happened today. Shawn just got home so we will talk and discuss our days and then go downstairs for dinner- Beef Stroganoff today with Broccoli and something else that i haven't quite figured out yet.

On a side note I got my last goodies that I ordered from a girlfriend's TPC show in January and of course Jazz was overjoyed he got a bag!




And E brought me flowers too!

off and running!

Last night Shawn and I watched the movie “How to lose a guy in 10 days” I love that movie, he had never watched it before, but it was funny the boss keeps saying write about it, write about it! So why not, is what I am thinking. Will anyone read it? Maybe but that is ok too J

Right now there is all kinds of exciting things going on in this house, for our cars side of things, Cars and Coffee is about to start up again, for those who haven’t’ been it is a huge car meet at 8 ish one Saturday morning per month, way early for me but it is great to get out and see the huge variation of cars that are there. The boys are usually ok with it as we stop and get donuts on the way there (no eating in the STI please, thanks!) and then they get to wander a bit and see what is what. Did I mention it is held at a BMW dealership? Well it is and that makes it even better for the 2 bigger boys.

E is getting ready to go to Middle school next year and he is very excited – we are going to have to figure out his varied clubs he wants to join as there is 5 of them right now. He is also going to be in G&T which is a big step for him as usually I was told he is bored, needs to be challenged we don’t know how to do it! Baseball starts soon as well which I am glad because I have missed it and his Uncle Pepper got him all new equipment 2 seasons ago. He is also reading voraciously and I am generally trying to talk him into just a few choices at the book store because he will be done in a week with them.

B of course is excited the next “Big” birthday is coming up and he is gearing up for it (I would not be ready however but I don’t get a vote) this is his last year at middle school and then he goes to HS. Again so not ready for this! Also of course we have multitude of race things going on with Dad’s car (www.scorpiondragsters.com) there is the Auto Rama this weekend, next weekend is the Texas Thaw @ Denton. Then in April there is the Austin Garage Crawl. He is also going to be working soon on the weekends I am really not sure when we will see him.

So I guess that leaves the big people that live in this house- Shawn is going to be crazy busy till ummm March, I will see him sporadically till then. Yuck! And I am off to a running start on my Pampered Chef business. Still wondering how I will work it all in, but looking forward to the challenge. Tonight was busy which is about normal. I finished up my online training, cooked dinner, supervised laundry for the boys and rearranged E’s room with his new bed frame. So it is about time to shut it all down and fight the good fight again tomorrow.

Night All

C

Today I am trying my hand at Chicken Fajitas- Pampered Chef style of course- Check out the pictures along with this great tip about slicing bell peppers I picked up the other night at our Monthly Sales meeting. Slice the bell pepper from the bottom - about 3/4 of the way down on both sides then peel open- the seed cone stays together you loose less of the pepper and it is easier to slice!

So after I combined everything and popped in the micro I had enough time to go swap laundry, load & unload the dishwasher and cook leftover chicken in same spices for something later this week- just thaw, heat and serve... Btw while I am doing all of this one kid is at his other house, and the other is at my parents, cats are trying to figure out why I am not feeding them if I am in the kitchen and Shawn is in garage playing with the WRX... typical Sunday for us

Of course I am still on a high because yesterday after long and careful consideration I signed my commitment to be a Pampered Chef consultant - this is something that has been brewing in my head for a while but honestly- until my support system was in place I could not conceive even doing it... So expect to hear total joy until the buzz wears off hopefully it won't for a while. In the meantime today I have been doing my online training and downloading all my forms etc, and getting my calendar in shape.


The boys don't have school tomorrow which is so totally not fair since we had snow on Friday and they got a snow day, Shawn was on a much needed Vacation day and I had to get up and go to work because that is just what I do when the weather is icky... But now the boys got a 4 day weekend... I so miss being a kid!