meme

Because it's Friday.
And because I feel better now and I have WAY too much to do in my house to make it clean - I mean hospitable - before Thanksgiving and I have obviously got a procrastination problem since the baby is very content and so is the little girl (meaning I could actually clean something - ugh), I think I'll take a moment to do a meme. I found it at My Quiet Corner. If you decide to play along, please let me know!

The Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions.

* They have to be real places, names, things. nothing made up!
* You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.
* Tag at least 5 people to play along

1. What is your name? cjoy (my 1st name really does start with "C")
2. A 4 Letter Word: Cape
3. A Boys Name: Charlie
4. A Girls Name: Carissa
5. An Occupation: Civil Engineer
6. A Color: Cranberry
7. Something you wear: Coat
8. A Beverage: Coke
9. A Food: Chili
10. Something found in the bathroom: Can (of spray)
11. A place: Canada
12. A Reason for being late: Changing
13. Something you shout: Can-it!
14. As for the tagging. I dare you to take the challenge and play along. (I Cheated and Copied that off Donnetta!)

(So in the midst of this, my daughter needed glue, the baby screamed to eat, he was fed & is asleep in my arms, and then my daughter asked if we could paint our toes - a little girl-time I make for her...which is definitely more important than clean clothes or dishes or floors, don't you think?)

lindsey joy designs

Like my new look? It feels like a good haircut! I am really excited about this - it's definitely a more personalized space for me and my thoughts.

Lindsey Joy Design did this beautiful work for me - you can find her by clicking this button.

(In the future, you'll also find the button down on my side bar.)

Thank you so much Lindsey!

it's wednesday, pooh

Oh my, the middle of the week is here. I'm dragging today. I started to feel sick last night and think perhaps I have a light bug, but it's hard to say. Mostly a tummy ache, a little nausea, a little shaky, a little "flushing", a little better and it cycles. I'll feel better for a bit, then bad for a bit.

And I have so many things to do today. Several errands and an appointment that's a good distance from my home this afternoon. I want to go back to bed. Not that my little ones would let me anyway.

Last week I finally did have to cut out a slew of foods from my diet - that's probably not helping how I feel today since my easy-on-the-tummy foods are limited. Here's what had to go:

Dairy
Soy
Eggs
Wheat
Peanuts
Tree Nuts
Fish
Shell Fish
Beef
Chicken
Corn

That includes all corn syrups and flours, and soybean oil. I challenge you to pull a few favorites from your pantry and read the labels. It's hard to find good food to eat, and you're probably asking WHAT IS LEFT?
Mostly whole foods and far less packaged/processed stuff. I think I've done okay being balanced - turkey, a bit of ham, sun butter (from sunflower seeds), lots of veggies & beans, lots of oatmeal and rice and applesauce; a little spelt bread, but now I think that falls under wheat. That's the core of it. I forgot to get a calcium supplement, and always fail to take a regular vitamin, but I truly don't think that's what is wrong today. I am shedding weight faster than I could have fathomed, but that's probably lack of calories and extra carbs. I saw numbers I have not seen in over eight years on my scale this week. Crazy! My clothes are sagging and hanging and feel funny. I know, good problem, but I'm going below my ideal now; there is a magic number I feel healthier at, and that number is slipping away fast. Not to mention I'm really missing my cheese and my eggs and my bagels. I've even mostly cut out coffee since I use soy milk in it. That is so very sad.

On the bright side, Baby J is finally sleeping as much as a four hour stretch a lot of nights, three hours is easy to come by and even the two hour stretches are welcome. The closer to morning, the shorter the stretch, and he's almost always up well before my alarm (which is set for 6:45ish - the little booger!). He is generally more peaceful as well. Soon, I'll start adding things back to see what exactly bothers him, and I'll start with the things I believe are less likely to cause trouble.

Now, if my body would stop rebelling, allow me to get well and remember what deep sleep feels like, we'd be in business!

what can i say?

Recently I went to Tuesday Morning, a cool store with great discounts. I found a fingerprint kit which I knew Little B would absolutely love with all of his detective play that he does (and I could swing $1.99). So, I got it as a special treat for him.

I was right - he loved it. We were all fingerprinted within the day, information to be kept “on file," complete with what type fingerprint we had. Very cool, I’ll admit.

Then, I saw the ink pad that came with the kit.
The label had three languages on it.
I did a double take. Twice.
And I have nothing else to say on the matter.

the most wonderful time of the year

I love the fall. (I've told you that before, I know!)

This weekend was probably considered our "peak" weekend for changing leaves (we’re in the South; can’t help that timing thing). They were astounding. And I'm just talking about my own yard! While my little ones were lovin' the out of doors Saturday, I took a few pictures of the trees out there. I couldn’t begin to do them justice, and only got some of them. This is only part of the back yard - I didn't have a chance to get the ones from my front yard or the woods across the street (they take my breath away!).

I even took a picture of about a third of the fruit fallen from the apple tree – we could not begin to get the amount we wanted from it thanks to swarms of yellow jackets. The tree was so heavy with apples a big branch broke under the weight of it. We ate what we could, gave some away, and had to watch the rest fall and rot. So sad. They were delicious (the yellow jackets still think so). Better than the grocery store, that’s for sure! I had plans to make pie and apple crumble and freeze some of those desserts for later, but alas, it just didn’t happen.

facebook

So I caved and joined FaceBook. I’m addicted (as a friend said, “crackbook”), but equally annoyed by it.

All the little fun games and icons and silliness are driving me batty. Especially since I have discovered the random option (at least on ismiles). I did not see it nor did I click it intentionally. But it sent ismiles to several (10?) of my friends. Unknowingly. Some of whom I barely know like some (single) guy from back in college that I’m surprised even remembered who I was! Yeah, I was so not trying to send him a “cute smile”. You know?

Anyhow.
I’m also thinking I like the past where it is. I love being in touch with those I know now, but the people from High School - notosmuch. It’s disappointing when I realize what some of those people turned into, especially some of the ones I was so close to fifteen plus years ago (Ouch. That’s a long time!). I can see so much now, looking back. It’s kinda funky seeing the crowds redevelop like they were so long ago. Ah well. Some people never grow up, huh?

There’s the good stuff, too; the people I’ve missed for years and suddenly I can find them and have a little mini-chat, catching up. Definitely fascinating. And not really a place to try to hide out!

So, I’m on there. I got my husband on there. Good, bad or indifferent.

proud american

I voted today.
I voted with pride.

As I stood in the line for an hour and half on this gorgeous Tuesday morning (while my husband, who'd already voted, stayed home with the two little ones), I felt a deep sense of pride and camaraderie with my neighboring voters. It was not "who" we voted for, it was not the issues we felt strongly about - it was the sense of being an American who had the right, the freedom, and the privilege to vote for our next leader(s).

I confess that this is the first election I have truly dug deeper into the "little people" on the ballot. For over a week, I've had a sample ballot bookmarked for the purpose of doing research on the names that eluded me - various judges, commissioners, and such. Last night I had three miraculously sleeping children and my eyes burned with exhaustion after accidentally dozing myself, but I pried them open and felt like I was in college studying for a major exam. As I looked up each candidate's site and their stand on things, our Internet went out for a while (a recent issue that's getting frustrating). I confess I almost curled up and slept anyway. But, instead, I persevered, and the Internet service came back often enough to make my choices. Three hours later, I was able to sleep (the kind of sleep that comes with a mother of three kids, one who wasn't feeling well and one who is still struggling through the nights; okay, that wasn't really sleep. I attempted to sleep.)

Today, I had my sample ballot in my purse; I walked up, slid in the bright yellow card, and immediately punched in my selections. It went so fast that I backed up to look at all of the pages a second time, then perused the summary closely before casting my vote. It felt a bit too easy otherwise.

Then, I walked out, loving that little sticker that proclaimed I'd voted.

Whatever the outcome, I know I listened to my God. And I know He's a sovereign and just God. I believe He has a deeper purpose than meets the eye, so I am trusting him and praying that He will have His way in this election.

(And that, my friends, is as political as I'm ever likely to get on here.)

more potty humor. . .

So we went out to eat the other night. It was one of those times when our errands had us out and kept us out later than we'd prefer.

Before our meal arrived everyone had to make our "potty & wash" stops - a prerequisite to eating in our family (well, typically). I went first. Alone. (Man, that was a treat all in itself!) No big deal. I took Miss C after that, then the boys went. Nothing exciting, nothing remotely potty-humor-ish about the evening n fact. Pretty impressive considering my 3 year old daughter is rapidly acquiring poopy silliness from my 7 year old son.

When we got home a good while later, I needed to run to the restroom again (I was trying to chug my fluids tonight). It was then that I discovered some toilet paper tucked into the back of my pants....I really hope my sweatshirt covered that all evening!