Spoiled Brats!

My dogs are hopeless. Just simply hopeless.

When the weather was cold about a month ago (really cold! Well, at least by our California standards) we started letting our canines come into the house for the night because we felt sorry for them. One of them is old and arthritic so she especially was a concern. Pierre, well he's just so dang cute how could ANYBODY leave that little guy outside all night long?

Okay, flashing forward to like NOW! Yeah. Those dogs of mine sit at the back kitchen door and just look in our window with those sad eyes. Holly (the old one) even barks when she feels like we aren't noticing her sitting there. Really, it's like 45 degrees outside and they have big fur coats on! They need to stay outside!!!

Fine! I give. The dogs are inside snoring right now. I admit it, I'm weak!

Tea Time!

I've decided that I have become a tea maniac! As I was having two cups of tea this morning (yeah, at the same time!), I came to that conclusion. I seem to be drinking tea most of my day. Mind you, I ONLY drink herbal teas and they just keep my world a-hummin!

In no particular order here are some of my faves right now:

• Green tea
• Peppermint tea
• Smooth Move tea (well, maybe not a favorite but definitely enjoy the side effects)
• Pomegranite tea
• Sleepy Time
• Chamomille
• Lemon Ginger

I especially love the Yogi Teas They have really cute little messages written on the tab of each bag. I also really love that Brandilyn always has tea available when I go visit. Go Brandilyn!

Well, I gotta run. My tea kettle is whistling and you know what that means! It's tea time!!!

The Good Stuff

In my ongoing quest to get back to my happy self, I decided to take a look at the wonderful things that I have to be grateful. Wow! There's a lot! Amongst them are:

My winter veggie garden! I love my garden. Whenever I walk outside in my front yard I pick out all the nasty little weeds that think they have the right to live there. This garden makes me so happy. Not only is it pretty (in my opinion, of course) but it's edible! A super duper plus!

Pierre! I love this little guy. After his near miss with the big, bad coyote, I have become fiercly protective of him. Although he is technically Brandilyn's pup, he has bonded with me and really wants to be my dog. Sorry, Brandilyn. I'm just so grateful that he's healed and healthy again (of course we are STILL paying that vet bill, grrr).

My Gator. It quit working the other night while I was feeding my horses. I abandoned it on the driveway and quickly forgot to mention it to Skip because I got caught up in homework, dinner, kids etc. The next morning while I was going to feed I remembered that it was broken and I was bummed (insert sighing, kicking and being ticked like a teenager here). When I got to the place where I had left it, it was gone! My wonderful man had just fixed it and put it away without saying a word to me! My hero!!!

Like I said, though. There is a boat load of more wonderful things that are great in my life. I guess the trick is to focus on all the wonderfulness and just take a sideward glance at the icktified crud. Right?

Just What I Need

Boy was I hopping mad when I was informed that one of my children (who shall remain nameless) was suspended from school for the balance of the week (happened on Tuesday). I mean, really?????

So here I was grounded from my life out there for three days (five if you count the weekend but that was already a done deal). Well, I was not going to be the only miserable individual. Nope, not me! I have made a list and checked it twice and this child has worked their little buns off. My kitchen has been scrubbed from top to bottom. All the drawers and cupboards are sparkly clean. The Christmas tree got taken down and put away. The wood got restacked. The garage got swept out.

Me? Well, yeah. I've got to spend three days at home (which is an ongoing complaint of mine that I don't get to spend enough time at home) and actually got to take a little snooze a couple of those days. I got my little office/spare bedroom all set up with my stuff from my office and made a nice vegan dinner for the fam each night (well, Skip wasn't that excited about the vegan part. I'm sure he was expecting some meat and potato fare. Ooops, sorry).

As it turns out, having a kid suspended from school can be a beautiful thing. Depends on who you are and how you look at it! Me? Well it turned out to be just what I needed! Thank you, child of mine (sucks to be you!).

Figuring It Out!

How funny is it that I am in school and studying and studying how to apply herbs, fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and whole grains to our lives so that our bodies will function at their optimum and then I wait until a book like Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet" comes along to actually apply the principles of what I learn?

Yeah, well, that's the way it is! To be honest, though, my latest text book that I just finished was "Eat to Live" and the wheels had already started turning. Somehow, though, the information was overwhelming and I just couldn't figure out how to organize myself to actually start.

However, here I am in full swing now and actually (after four days) starting to get the hang of the whole deal. Go me! The first couple of days were pretty scary but this morning I feel energized and ready to tackle my life again. The depression has lifted and I'm feeling like ME!!!

So, here's to a great start on a great new year!

The 2010 Plan

It's taken me frickin forever but I finally did it! I came up with a plan for 2010! I so suck at making New Year's Resolutions. They just aren't my thing. However, 2009 sucked so bad that I decided that I should have a positive outlook for 2010, right? Okay, here goes:

• I will be kinder to my body by eating foods that make it happy (not that make "ME" happy but foods that make my body happy)
• I will be kinder to my planet by attempting to recycle and use more earth friendly products (way harder than it sounds)
• I will be kinder to those around me by doing something nice for someone each day (I even have it on my calendar each day to remind me)
• I will be kinder to myself by not beating myself up when things in life just don't go according to "the plan"

That's it! Just all about kindness because a little kindness goes a long way and, baby, I have a llloooonnnng way to go!

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

I like surprises! I really like being the surpriser more than the surprisee, though.

Anyway, Skip and Brian were driving to Idaho to take Brian back up to school. Brandilyn and I were both super duper sad that I wasn't coming. I couldn't take it any more. I had received two calls from my Princess where she was pretty upset and made arrangements to go, unbeknownst to her.

I just arrived today and she was pretty blown away. I'm happy to be here with her. I miss her so much and struggle with being so far apart.

Yay, yay, yay for surprises!!!