The stitches of life

Menu plan Monday

Monday--leftovers (baseball)

Tuesday--breakfast for dinner ;)

Wednesday--leftovers (baseball)

Thursday--Baked spaghetti, garlic biscuits, salad

Friday--leftovers (baseball...again ;)

Saturday--dinner out with the in-laws :)

Sunday--Mother's Day :D

currently working on: squares for Sandy Hook quilts, "H is for Hearts" by The Sweetheart Tree

Posted by hollyday @ 5:37 AM | Link

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Menu plan Monday

Monday--breaded cod, mashed potatoes, sauteed veggies
Tuesday--pork tenderloin stew or leftovers
Wednesday--going out :)
Thursday--crock pot Trader Joe's pot roast, roasted potatoes, salad, rolls
Friday--Turkey Burgers, cut veggies
Saturday--Globetrotters
Sunday--Marinated chick. thighs, rice, broccoli

Monday--Mexican black beans & rice
Tuesday--
Wednesday--leftovers
Thursday--Crab Cakes, asparagus, rolls
Friday--Zesty Garlic Chicken, noodles, salad, rolls

I'd like to do next week too, but that never seems to work out ;). So for now I'll see if I can do 1 week--I'll be happy with that :). Edited to add partial 2nd week list ;)

Posted by hollyday @ 7:11 PM | Link

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Quick thoughts

An ex-boyfriend found me on Facebook recently and so we've been getting caught up on the past 13 years. We dated in college while I was going through a really bad period in my life--dad had just died and mom was not handling it well. He was one of the only people I talked to about it, so he's one of the few who had an inkling of how I felt during that time.

In the email he sent me yesterday he said "it sounds like you are doing well and enjoying your life." I responded with the following:

I am enjoying life. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right? Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I stop and realize where I am and where I came from.

I've felt like that for many years now, and freely admitted it to whomever asked, but for some reason it really hit me when I saw it written down. Maybe 21 years after dad's death I'm finally ready to admit to some peace and happiness within myself. Maybe it's the beginning of dealing with his death and allowing him out of the box where he's been safely hidden all these years...

Anyway, that's been sitting in my head since yesterday, so I had to write it down. Growing older is a very interesting experience ;).

Posted by hollyday @ 8:54 AM | Link

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Menu plan Monday (on Sunday ;)

I haven't done this in forever but I really need to get back on track, so I'm hoping this helps ;). Of course this week I have a lot of leftovers to use up, but hopefully after that I'll be cooking at least a few days a week (as opposed to now which is only 1 or 2 days a week if I'm lucky ;). So here it goes:

Sunday--leftover steak and mashed potatoes from V-day dinner :)
Monday--Green Chili quiche, salad (meatless Monday)
Tuesday--leftover quesadilla
Wednesday--Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, sauteed broccoli & carrots
Thursday--Mahi Picatta (dinner done), broccoli, rolls
Friday--leftover meatballs, salad, garlic bread

And while I'm at it, I'm going to do the following week as well!

Monday--Mexican black beans and rice (meatless Monday)
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--tacos, leftover black beans and rice from Monday
Thursday--crab cakes, asparagus, rolls
Friday--something using the other pork tenderloin from last week ;)

Posted by hollyday @ 10:57 AM | Link

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Hello again

Hmm, I didn't mean to start off sounding like a Neil Diamond song--sorry about that ;). I've decided I need to make an effort to come here and write more often, that and going more often to my cross stitch board are 2 of my goals for the summer. My attentions have shifted the last few months from 2 of my favorite hobbies--gardening and stitching--to another one: travel. And not just travel anywhere but travel to Disneyworld! As with any of my obsessions I read (another obsession, fortunately one I can use for the others lol ;) everything I can get my hands on about it. That includes discussion boards, and as the Disney ones are rather large and quite busy it takes a lot of time to even skim them on a regular basis. So to my stitching friends I apologize--when I've had the free time to be on the computer (which hasn't been much recently) I've been spending it either reading the Disney boards or playing mindless computer games ;).

In my defense I've always been passionate about travel, and I've been very fortunate that I've been able to travel to many different places, both here and abroad. When the boys came we were limited in our travel options and didn't take any "big" trips for many years. I didn't realize how much I missed the planning/reading part of travel until I started planning for our first family trip to Disney last October. Because it had been so long and so much had changed (both at Disney and with travel in general) there was a lot to catch up on and learn new. As with other cases I threw myself into it and lost myself in it. I did the same when I first joined the cross stitch board--it had been so long since I had stitched on a regular basis and so much had changed that I just lost myself in catching up. Now that I feel more caught up with Disney I am emerging a bit from that "cocoon" and trying to get my other passions back online ;).

While I get a lot of information from the Disney boards they aren't communities to me. They are to others of course, just not to me. My community and my family are at Cross Stitch Crazy and I've missed them terribly! Not stitching, and not talking or reading about it, have left a hole in my life that I need to fix. Not gardening has done the same thing. So my main goal for the summer is to start stitching again on a regular basis and to get out in the garden again, at least to maintain it if nothing else ;). Visiting the board and updating here will hopefully help with that, so to those who are reading I say Hello Again!

Posted by hollyday @ 7:45 AM | Link

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When it rains it pours...and pours...and pours...

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated! The winter and spring were just packed and my attention was on other things. This post is actually taken from an email I sent a friend to update them, so please forgive me for being lazy and cutting and pasting instead of writing a whole new entry ;).

We just got back from Disney this afternoon and we're all a bit beat ;). This trip piggybacked on Dave's Microsoft conference, so we all stayed in his hotel room which was interesting (we usually get 2 rooms). I flew down with the boys while he came separately and I took them to the parks during the day by myself. It doesn't sound like much but this is the first time I've done anything this big with them without having Dave to help. He did meet up with us for the evenings which was nice. I'm so proud of my boys--2 years ago this trip wouldn't have been possible (well, not without me losing my sanity!) but they are so grown up and responsible now that it was really pretty easy :).

The past couple of weeks have been rather hectic to say the least. Ian got a monster ear infection 2 weeks ago. He missed most of school that week which also happened to be the week for their state testing. At the same time we found out our air conditioning has finally passed the point of no return and will soon die. This requires not only a new AC unit but a new furnace as well, as our old furnace doesn't support the newer AC's. Now all we have to do is find $11,800 somewhere--maybe change in the sofa cushions? The Friday before our trip Ian woke up in the middle of the night complaining about his ear again. Took him back Saturday morning to find out the infection hadn't totally gone away after all. He was given a new round of medication and clearance to fly (fortunately!). He did fine and the trip went well up until last night. We're at the Magic Kingdom watching the parade and he's freezing (keep in mind it's 75 degrees even at night) and fading before our eyes. Turns out he had a fever! Today when we get home there's a message on the machine from the doctor's office--his results finally came back and he also has strep! Yes, we hauled our son around Disney World with an ear infection and strep throat--you may now nominate us as parents of the year!

Oh yeah, the Saturday before the trip Dave was coming home with the boys while I was out and got into an accident a block from the house--someone ran a stop sign and plowed into the front corner of the van. She had more damage than we did, but she hit the wheel just right so that it bent and the van couldn't be driven. So the whole week before the trip the van was in the shop, and we found out she doesn't have insurance after all so we now have to pay the deductible! They left a message today saying it was finally ready, but we can't pick it up until Dave gets home on Friday.

There were a couple of other things (bad storms, Brendan in hysterics and we lost power (twice) because of said storms, etc.) but those are the highlights ;). I'll try to get here more often to update!

Posted by hollyday @ 7:02 PM | Link

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Songs of my life

Sounds like a bad rock song doesn't it? And yet I identify certain songs/albums/artists with certain periods of my life so strongly that listening to them brings back incredibly vivid feelings and memories. Such is the case right now--I'm listening to an album, and one song in particular, that is making me feel exactly how I did when I first listened to it. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing to be honest. I haven't listened to this particular album in a while and I think now I know why--too many mixed feelings, too many things I didn't know then that I know now. It's interesting on an intellectual level, and disconcerting on an emotional one, to listen to it with the perspective I have now. It sounds weird I know--it sounds weird to say it--but it's hard to handle listening to it having the original feelings, and trying to reconcile them with my current knowledge. At the same time I find myself craving this album, so maybe I'm ready to deal with those issues.

This is definitely one of those entries that's me trying to make sense of what's in my head--not that many people will be reading this anyway ;).

Posted by hollyday @ 11:25 PM | Link

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