Fall Is Finally Here!

I've been waiting a long time for fall.  It's my favorite time of year.  This year, however, I had to wait a lot longer than most years.  Summer started out mild but hit us hard early August, and never really went away!  August, September and October were extremely hot months with temperatures hitting in the upper 90's and then at times climbing to triple digits.

A couple weeks ago, after being asked repeatedly by the kids, we finally decorated for Halloween amidst 90 degree weather.  It just didn't seem right.  We then took down the Halloween decorations and put out the fall decor, again with temp's in the upper 80's to low 90's.  Then all of a sudden the clouds, rain and then cold, crisp weather came.  So far it's still here and I cross my fingers that the heat is gone for a long, long time.

The trees are starting to turn color and it's starting to feel like the holidays.  Today I noticed Christmas commercials and although, I think it's rather early for that, it's a welcoming sight and feeling.  Now, I think I'll start turning on that oven and start baking yummy treats!

HAPPY FALL!

A Little Organization Please!

From This

To This

Today I went grocery shopping and went to put away my groceries but froze when I opened the pantry cabinet.  How can I put new fresh items in such a cluttered mess.  I can't make heads or tails what's in there.  I decided to clean them out and my 11 year old son eagerly volunteered to help.  (He's such a big helper!)

We went shelf by shelf, and pulled everything out.  We started at the top, in the snack cabinet.  Opened bags of chips and cookies.  Ugh!  It goes stale and then nobody wants to eat it.  I don't blame them.  I used my handy dandy Food Saver www.foodsaver.com.  It is so great for sealing anything and keeping food fresh!  Anything that was opened went into a bag and got sealed.  There were movie size boxes of candy that I placed into small single serve bags and sealed.  These are great when we are heading out the door to a game or for school lunches.

Next the baking shelf.  Oh so much stuff but who knows what's lurking in the back of those shelves.  Out with the boxes and packages and in with the Tupperware containers www.tupperware.com.   These are especially great for keeping little bugs out of the flour and pancake mixes.

We finished the cabinet and tossed lots of unneeded boxes and bags.  Now there is room to see and get to the things I have on hand.  The only thing left is to start the oven and get to baking!!

Neecy's Blanket

I love to do crafts.....lots of different crafts.  So far, I've done cardmaking, scrapbooking, altered paint cans, brick painting as well as other various crafts.  I love them all and I love learning new things.

About 30 years ago, I dabbled in crocheting and made a blanket with a zig zag design for my ex-mother-in-law.  I had seen my mom make a beautiful blue one and loved how it turned out.  Not having my mom around anymore, I asked Lou to show me how to make that same design and the blanket turned out very nice.  I think that was the last thing I made....until now.

I think it's always good to keep those wheels turning and learn new things so I decided to start crocheting again.  One more thing to add to my list of know-how's.  I sought out the help of tia Chabela, who at 89 still does various crafts.  She is one of the most crafty people I know and remember the many things she has created over the years.  I also bought an instruction booklet (I hate reading instructions).  Tia insisted I learn the different crochet terms and abbreviations. 

I made a baby blanket for my niece that came out nice but I wanted to to something even more challenging so I decided to tackle the zig zag design again.  Neecy asked me if I would make one for her when I was done with the baby blanket.  She said she wanted pink, white and grey.  I didn't think the colors she wanted sounded very complimentary but Neecy being the DIVA she is, know what she wants!

I went shopping for the yarn and found the colors then decided how I wanted to organize them into the blanket.  As I started to crochet the blanket, I realized the colors were actually really beautiful together.  I would take my project to softball games and waiting rooms to pass the time and would get many compliments on the color combination.  I guess Neecy knows more than I thought about color coordination! 

After months of working on it and putting it aside for a break, then picking it back up again, I finally finished it last night.  I was determined to finish and move on. 

I took it to my aunts house today so she could "grade" me on it.  After teasing my a little bit, she looked at me and said "This is absolutely beautiful mija!"  I felt so good that she was pleased with my work.  She gave me an A. lol!

What brought me even more joy was when I got home and presented the blanket to Neecy.  She was so excited to have it and happily agreed to pose for a picture with it.  I am so happy I finished it and now can't wait to start on my next one.  I'm getting ready to go get the yarn for that one soon.  It's for Patrick and I can't wait to see how that one turns out.  I'll keep you all posted!

Southern California Heat Wave!!!

Summer is finally here!  This last week has been one of the hottest on record.  We had a pretty mild start to our summer and I was proud of the fact that we hadn't turned on our air conditioner.  My goal was to go all summer without it to avoid a high bill.  Keeping the doors and windows closed during the day, our house stayed really cool and then in the evenings, we opened all the windows to let the cool air in. 

We used fans in the house when it was too warm but last week, I finally broke down and turned on the air.  It has just been so hot and humid.  The temperature has reached 100º.  That's just too hot for fans. 

In the evenings, there is no breeze and the heat is uncomfortable.  I really hope that this heat goes away soon.  I don't do well in the heat.  I feel tired, grumpy and lazy.  Looking forward to the fall when the weather is cool and I can start to bundle up and light a fire.

No Pink Slime Here!

As a seller on EBAY, I come across many things that I wouldn't normally know about or use.  One thing in particular that is hard to find but brings in great money is a Kitchen Aid Food Grinder attachment for the stand mixer.  When I do find one, (which is usually few and far between) I'm usually really excited because I know I will get 4-5 times the money I paid for it. 

A few months ago, while out at an estate sale, I came across one that looked pretty new in the box and immediatley thought of the money I'd make on it.  At the same time, there was lots of talk on the news about all the fast food restaurants burgers containing pink slime.  After seeing pictures of the disgusting looking stuff, I decided I might forfeit the money and keep this little gem to try it out.  I've had my Kitchen Aid stand mixer for about 10 years now and have never used any of the attachments that are available for it.

Today, I decided to try it out to see how it works.  Oh how fun!  I bought a piece of beef and cut it into chunks small enough to fit through the mill.  I can't believe how fast and easy it was.  I'm gonna make burgers tonight.  It sure feels good to know that what I'm putting on the table is pure and not processed with who knows what kind of junk. 

The possiblities are endless with this little gadget.  I'm looking forward to trying chorizo, which is actually pretty easy, or so I've heard!

Homeschool thoughts!

As many of you know, I home school my son who will be starting 6th grade next month.  I can't believe that 6 years have gone by since that dreaded "first day of school" experience.  We were all so excited (well, I was sort of excited) about our son starting kindergarten.  After all, his dad was a teacher there, his sister was a 7th grader there and I had spent almost every day at the school since he was born, either working in the classroom, helping with lunch duty or just attending school events.  He knew all the teachers, and most of the students and a lot of the parents.

He woke up his first day of school and got dressed in his cute little uniform and off to school we went.  I tried really hard to hold in my tears and emotions and pretend to be excited for him.  He was quiet and somber and looked so sad as he stayed in the classroom watching me and his grama walk away.  When I picked him up at noon the first day, he didn't say a word.  I took him to Jack in the Box and anxiously asked him about his day but he just sat there shrugging his shoulders.  The next day was no better.  He didn't want to eat, didn't want to talk and when it was time to go to the classroom, he cried.  The teacher tried to pull him in and I was telling her to wait so I could calm him down.  I didn't want to leave him crying.  She pulled him one way and I pulled him another.  Eventually, he came home with me.  The third day, after 2 days of not eating and not talking, we never even made it out of the car.  As we pulled into the school parking lot, he cried and said he wanted to go home.  I tried to tell him how exciting school was going to be but all I could see was his sad face and those big crocodile tears.  I called my husband on the phone and he walked out to the car, tried to talk to my son and finally said, "Take him home." 

That afternoon, when my husband came home, he announced to me that I would be homeschooling our son.  What!!!  I wasn't a teacher.  I didn't know the first thing about teaching.  He found a school online and signed us up.  A week later, UPS dropped off 4 boxes of materials.  My son was so excited to see all his new school stuff.  He didn't care how much work he had to do, he was just excited to get started!  That was 6 years ago and now, he is just as excited about his UPS deliveries as he was then.

He can't wait to open those boxes and see what the year has in store for him.  I must say that I was very reluctant about homeschooling and although, it's no piece of cake, I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 6 years.  People ask me every year when I'm going to stop and send him to school and every year, I say when he decides.  He is an excellent student and has scored extremely high in his STAR testing every year.  He does fine socially and has no problem joining in groups with other children.

Homeschooling for us has given us the freedom to spend more time together, work longer on subjects that he struggles with and really take the time to teach in a way that he understands.  We research things he has questions about, and we can find ways in everyday life to incorporate what we've learned.  I hope that these school days will become fond memories for my son.  I think the hardest part is following my heart and to stop listening to outside influences who mean well but think they have all the answers about what's right and what's wrong.

For now, we'll enjoy what 6th grade brings and revisit the issue in the spring!

Where's the Summer Fun!

It's the middle of summer and somehow it's not quite as fun as I remember it being as a child.  When I was little, I remember there being a certain feeling that started in May.  The weather was changing, the days were longer and the anticipation of the end of school meant only one thing....SUMMER vacation!

The last day of school was so exciting and it seemed like an eternity before it started again.  Summer meant sleeping in and staying up later.  I got to play outside till well past dark and I remember the sound of the crickets at night.  Grama's kitchen was always stocked with fresh fruit - oranges, peaches, plums, watermelon and those oh so delicious strawberries!

I remember one big vacation was planned (either camping or Mexico) for 2-3 weeks.  There were beach visits on more than one occasion with my aunt and running around barefoot was the norm!

Now, however, summer is just another season.  There's no vacation for me, no sleeping in or staying up late.  The thought of running around barefoot makes me cringe thinking of all that dirt on the bottom of my feet!  Summer to me means more bugs and I really hate bugs!  I never realized that someday, I would grow up and lose that excitement!

I wish I could be a kid again and just feel the freedom from responsibility for a few months.  There lies ahead another month of summer and I'm gonna do my best to try to relive those feelings and just let go of the worry and stress of life!  Wish me luck!!

Sunday Morning

Life has been so hectic lately.  Work, end of the year school wrap-up, graduation activities and summer anticipation have left me feeling depleted of energy. 
I decided to get up early today and slip out for my pedicure and manicure. It feels so good to just sick, relax and be able to clear my head of all the noise.
I am truly blessed to be able to have this time to re-energize. 

End-of-the-year-Jitters

Spring has come and is almost gone. I can almost smell the sweet smells of summer, with the fresh cut grass and the succulent fruit that goes with the season. It's that time of year again, when everyone is rushing around trying to finish up school activities and school work and the anticipation of summer vacation is upon us. Normally, I would be waiting for summer with bated breath but this year is different. This is Alyssa's last year in high school. Another graduation to plan. It's not like I haven't known all along that she would be graduating this year, but I guess I figured there would be more time. Now, I realize that along with planning a graduation party, I also have to fit running around for prom, finish up with Patrick's home school assignments, CIF games (yes, Troy made the CIF's again this year), do favors for the end-of-the-year sports banquet and everything else that goes in-between. I'm a little overwhelmed. It just seems like there is more than usual going on this year.

Maybe it's the fact that I'm a little more emotional about this graduation because I feel like the end of seeing my girls experience the high school "life". No more formal dances, sleepovers, sports and the usual activities that go with it. I know that Neecy will be starting high school but it will not be the same for her or us. There won't be formals and softball games and all the things we've come to know with Amber and Alyssa.

It'll be awhile before Patrick gets to high school (3 years) and then it'll be a whole new experience. No more mom and daughter shopping for dresses, hanging out with the "girls" and getting hair done etc. I am sad but excited that I still have my girls at home.....for now. Alyssa will be at the college and playing softball.

I need to just push through and get the ball rolling. There's food to order, decorations to buy, favors to make, shopping to do and invitations to make. I guess I better get to it....Graduation won't wait!

Out of Sync

I hate the feeling of being out of sync.  I left work Friday, looking forward to the week-end.  I came home and mentioned to my husband that I felt like something was biting me.  We have a cat so perhaps a flea.  I was going crazy scratching and finally my husband checked to see all the bites but there were none.

I was so uncomfortable that he gave me 2 benedryl.  I took them and was knocked out by 9:30pm.  I woke up yesterday (Saturday) at noon feeling achy and sleepy so I went back to bed.  I slept all day and nite.

It's now Sunday morning and I feel out of sorts.  I need to get moving but my body doesn't want to cooperate.  I haven't felt like this in such a long time.  I wish I could just learn to rest and not feel so guilty about doing nothing.

I guess I'll get ready and take the day one baby step at a time.