Nothing Like One Good Pair of Red Shoes

Well, I wasn't going to say anything about my new shoes. I feel almost guilty in having bought them, but ever since they arrived from Zappos I have had them on and I have zero regrets. My feet feel good, my arch feels good, my knees are fine as are my legs. I have worn them around the house all day and not one single complaint-it is as if they were made just for me. I have found my perfect Spring/Summer shoe. I want them in every color and they come in several. So cute and major comfort. I always buy GOOD footwear-and good cooking tools.

Back to Blogging -per MnMom request

I have not had anything interesting in my head for some time. I am without a car, stuck in the burbs, and I live where the wind blows constantly. It is no wonder that the plains pioneers did not go insane...or did they?

I am looking forward to Spring Break. My finance (schweetie-for you Cheesecake Maven) just booked a non-stop flight to Tampa for the whole family. We will stay with his aunt and uncle. We are including a day or two at Disney World. We are able to fly down, rent a minivan, and get into Disney World for under 2K. I have never been to Disney World and my seven year old has never flown. I'm not sure what I am more excited about...warm sunny beach, Disney, or the look on my son's face when the plane takes off. Kodak moment for sure!

That is all for now...will report back if my mind starts a stirring. I think I need a good hobby-suggestions?

Check It Out!

My dear friend, Nancy is selling the farm-literally. Please check it out and send any interested buyers her way...http://crestedbuttefarm.com/

Inauguration 2008 Parade According to a 7 Year Old

This was drawn in a span of about 10 minutes...captions follow picture.


I didn't see Herky the Hawk-but my son drew him into his parade. Once an Iowan-always an Iowan.

Here we have the float from the state of Illinois-Abe in his tall hat and the Sears Tower marked with an "S"

This is the George Washington University Float - you do recognize the GW mascot, don't you?

Here it is in full length...he was very interested in using lots of color. All of the dots represent the bands and the rectangles with a dot on each side are the banners of course.

I think I will frame this for my office. Such a great memory.

And so it begins...

How wonderful to wake up this morning in a country filled with hope again. Maybe it is just me, my there seems to have been a collective sigh of relief yesterday.

I watched and watched and cried and laughed and danced all day. When the Obamas stepped out of the limo during the parade, I held my breath and prayed that nobody would harm them. I watched the parade-yes the whole thing. LOVE CSPAN-no commentary and so candid and no commercials. My 7 yr old watched it with me and then drew a great parade picture. It looked very much like his Star Wars battle drawings. I will try to scan it and post soon.

So, what are we going to do next? I for one am looking into the possibility of getting on my neighborhood association board. It is an elected post. I have never seen anything in the mail from the assc. and for the amount of dues that are paid yearly, this neighborhood should be AWESOME. I am curious to know what we DO get for the money ...I will then be better able to talk with my neighbors about change. I will let you know how things are progressing.

Nothing

I've got nothing today. I am happy to be back home after a nice weekend with my schweetie in Dubuque. We danced like crazy and had a nice hotel room to ourselves for 2 nights.

I am getting myself setup to watch the inauguration, coffee and a blanket to curl up under. I love a good ceremony. I attended Clinton's first inaugural. I was standing on Pennsylvania Ave and listening to Maya Angelou speak. It was a gloriously warm day and I had a great time.

Other than that, I am just having a wonderful Tuesday.

Sing with me...We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave.

Yep, it is officially above zero...12 degrees above zero. WHOO HOO!

I've Been Tagged-6 Random Things

Now I tag Brenda K, Suzie Q, and Madame L.....

1. I have had a job up until August 2008 since I was 14 years old. I am not quite use to not having my own income. It feels weird and I feel guilty.
2. I am happy with my body. Sure there have been days when I wished for long legs and a flat chest, but all-in-all I love my body and have always felt confident.
3. My parents were great. They had terrible fights and probably should not have stayed together, but I always felt loved and cared for. I thought we were wealthy growing up and I cannot remember ever feeling that I was going without. Could explain number 2.
4. As mentioned in a previous post, I love cars. I like to pretend shop for them on the internet. I love the 360 degree views that the online ads offer. I would love to attend a big auto show.
5. I have worked as a certified nurses aide, a veterinarian technician, a marketing director for a real estate development company, a nanny, a manager of a cooking school and lastly an assistant director of catering at a college. I loved all my jobs.
6. I have an uncanny ability to remember names of classmates going back to kindergarten.

There are my six random things-which were almost impossible to type due to the fact that my 7 year old was sitting next to me-saying, "Mom, I can make this Anakin disappear in your ear." And, "Hey, look at me." When I looked over he was wearing a tissue paper green crown from a Christmas Cracker...he gave it to me and now I am wearing it. I feel oh so festive and am reminded that life is too short to continue typing while my son is home and wants to play with me. I am blessed-oops that 7 things.

Yes, That Cold.

Yes, it is January in the Midwest but this is ridiculous:



And this is without windchill....

Baby It's Cold Outside

So, it is January and it is cold. I fail to see why this is news in the midwest. If I hear anything more about clippers and wind chills I am...oh, oops I am watching The Weather Channel.

As time goes by...

My son turns 7 today. We made him birthday pancakes for breakfast and he just loved it!
Tonight we will take him to Famous Dave's for ribs. His "brothers" helped him pick the spot.
My son was born prematurely-only 25 weeks of oven time. He arrived at 4:00pm weighing in at 1lb,11oz. He stayed in the NICU for 101 days, had 10 blood transfusions and countless tube changes. He quit beathing and his heart stopped 2 times. The NICU team we had was unbelievable. Today he is a strong, smart 7 year old. AMAZING!
I do not know how I got through it all. I do know that the support and love from friends and family carried me most days and on the bad days, the days when the little guy struggled the hardest-I know that my mom and dad were with us, cradling me and my son in their angel arms telling me that everything will be okay.
SO, here is to my son, the survivor.

Bliss?

I miss shoveling. It is such a neighborly thing to do. In my old neighborhood, I would shovel my walk, then I would shovel my neighbor's because she was disabled, my other neighbor would bring over his snowblower and take care of the driveways and we all shared hot coffee and good conversation. Mind you, we would sometimes be out 3-4 times per storm to "keep up with it."

Now shoveling in my old town is a very serious matter. They print reminders of the rules for shoveling in the paper every year and most residents follow them. My fiancee and I were out for a walk last winter and noticed a particular system used by an elderly gentleman. He not only shoveled with precision, but actually pushed the snow back away from the edge of his sidewalk a good six inches-almost like firewall of sorts. My fiancee was rather impressed and also amused but how serious this guy was about shoveling...I found myself full of pride for my hometown. (And I reminded my fiancee that walking is sure a lot safer with shoveled walks).

I am now living in a subdivision outside of Chicago in an "exburb." Nobody shovels because they assume the snow will be gone in 48 hours. I cannot tell you how annoying it is to go for a walk. I am force to walk in the street-which if you know anything about inexperienced snow drivers-which is a dangerous path. I am praying for a heavy BIG snowstorm that would FORCE these people out of their cocoons.

It is such a reflection on the apathy of people these days. I mean, they move into a neighborhood and think that community will just happen, but they have no idea that it takes personal interaction to make a community have a soul.

How appealing is it to see this:

A driveway with only tire marks. An un-shoveled front walk and front porch and no sign of any activity between the drive and the front door. It says, "Leave me alone." "I do not welcome any visitors." "I don't care-it is somebody else's problem."

Basically they drive home, pull into the garage and then poof, they are "safe." They need not worry about anything else today. They are not meeting their neighbor halfway down the walk shoveling, finding out if Mr. Smith around the corner needs any help getting his driveway cleared or if he is even okay. Hell, they don't even know that Mr. Smith lives around the corner.

How do I live here?? I shovel like a crazy woman, go for lots of walks, say hello to everyone, wave as cars drive by, volunteer at the school, and keep on going.

I guess I am just homesick.

Queen of the Rhetorical Questions?

1. Do dogs think you know what they want when they sit right next to you and stare?

2. Do I really have to make "go-home" treat bags for my son's birthday party?

3. My ex-husband and his parents are spending the night at my house this weekend, am I crazy?

4. Do 14 year olds really know how to clean a bathroom without supervision?

5. Can I eat a big bowl of icecream with Jenkins Heavenly Sauce daily and lose 40 lbs?

Happy New Year

My fiancee and I had a lovely New Year's Eve at home with my six year old. We bought some King Crab Legs and tri-color potatoes. My six year old had a great time cracking open the legs and kept apologizing to the crab, saying things, "Oh, poor Mr. Crab, I am so sorry to have eat you but you taste really good." I gave him a corn on the cob holder to use as a pick-he can really clean 'em out!

The potatoes were a perfect match-roasted with a little thyme, olive oil, s&p-YUM! I made a delicious sauce of butter, shallots, thyme, white wine, and lemon juice to pour over the crab legs once they were done-scrumptious.

The rest of the evening we played Upwords, washed dishes, danced in the kitchen, and watched some of Hang Em High with Clint Eastwood. At midnight we went outside and let off some fireworks. The whole neighborhood sounded like they were doing the same thing. Noisy and fun and such a celebration.

Here's to a New Year!