D Blog of D Life

I can't believe it! I actually completed my first NaBloPoMo with 30 posts in 30 days! I, like several others that I know who have posted the same sentiments, never really expected that I would actually not miss a day and have a post up for every single day this month. I really thought that it would just be a challenge that I would accept and that it was more of a commitment that I would "post more often" this month. While some of my posts were more than a little lame, they were still posts and I am happy to say I actually completed my goal! YAY ME! This is the most I have ever journaled in a month whether online or with a pen a paper....feels kinda cool! :) I am hoping I will keep it up (though admittedly I don't expect to post every day from here on out) and post more during the next year. Congrats to all my friends who have also completed their own NaBloPoMo.

I know it is officially the day after Thanksgiving, but since I dedicated Thursday's post to food, and Friday's to daily stuff, today's post will be the finale of my Thanksgiving week of posts.  I am thankful for the love of my Lord and Savior - without Him, my life would mean nothing and I would have nothing.   I am thankful for my husband who is as different from me as night is from day, and that's a good thing (even when I don't think it is).  He's a good man who takes excellent care of his family and takes pride in that...and I am very thankful for him, for his love, and for the man he is.   I am thankful for my children - I can not imagine life without my two precious girls.   I am thankful for the days when Addison does not feel well.  Even though I wish she could always feel great, I love those tender moments when she isn't feeling well and she realizes that she actually needs and WANTS me.  Those snuggles at night when I am rocking her are something ...

Steve and I went ahead and made the drive back home with Addison on Thursday night. He was getting a sore throat, I have had a very dry and yet runny nose, and Addison was growing more and more congested and worn out by the minute.  I had hoped that she would get a good nights sleep once at home in her own bed.  That wasn't necessarily the case though.  She still woke up a few times during the night and struggled a little with sleep.   This morning she woke up and seemed in decent spirits and didn't sound too bad so I went ahead and drove back out to the lake with her, leaving Steve here to work from home.   I enjoyed getting to spend more time with the fam, but Addison just got more and more grumpy as the day wore on - even after a nice nap she was still in a bit of melt down mode most of the day.    I finally decided to pack it up and head home again for the night.   Shayna came home tonight from a week at her Dad's.  I was very anxious to have her back at home!  It is ni...

...there was a lot of cooking to do.   It was a wonderful surprise that Wednesday night Steve showed up at the campsite to spend the night!  We thought we would be lucky if we got to see him on Thanksgiving Day at all - work has been sorta crazy lately.  However, he was able to make it out that night and stay overnight and until after Thanksgiving Dinner tonight! Addison was VERY happy to see her daddy whom she had asked for several times over the previous few days.   He was able to spend time occupying Miss A while I spent most of my time in the kitchen that morning.  All good feasts require much preparation...and so it began.   When all the work was done we had more than a feast.  We had a Fried Turkey (our first one ever), honey ham, two kinds of stuffing, scalloped potatoes (a new recipe courtesy of Jeff Vitt that was AMAZING), mashed potatoes, squash casserole, noodles, baked beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and key lime pie.  If I have left any food items off this list, it was...

Today was the first full day of having both a cabin and an RV.  It was also the first day that The Vitt's (my lil sis Debi, her husband Jeff and their three kids; Haven (14), Carlie (9), and Carter (6) were here!  We had a fabulous day of fun and family.  There was football in the street, playing in leaves and in the park, walks by the lake, playing fetch with Tippy the dog (she loved being in the lake haha), games of Upwords, fishing - and more!   Here are some pics of our fun day!                                                                        One of the highlights of the trip for Addison was playing in the leaves                                 The fishing crew - they came back with about 60 striper fish!!!                                                        Carter played well with Addison                                             Addison enjoying some downtime with Grandpa

Today was a wonderful and relaxing day.  We all woke up smiling, had some breakfast and just enjoyed being at the lake and with each other.  It was still just mom and dad plus Addison and I.   Addison took a nice long nap this afternoon in the RV while mom and I played chicken foot (a domino game) and dad obsessed over getting the cable television working at their campsite.   At this I have to laugh a little, cause we are - you know - CAMPING! Can we really not go without the TV for just one more day until Debi and Jeff arrive and we have a TV in their cabin?  haha.  I think more than anything it was just giving my sweet daddy something to do all day.   After a lot of work on the cables and several conversations with the park managers, they (the park managers) decided to let us use Debi and Jeff's cabin for the day/evening so we could watch TV. :)  I took advantage of that and decided to take a nice hot bath and give Addison a good bath (the RV only has a shower and the site we wer...

Addison and I arrived at the RV where mom and dad were staying on Lake Texoma on Monday late in the afternoon.  The drive was a little faster than I expected, just at one hour (63 miles).   The first thing I noticed was that the view was fabulous from their RV - as fabulous as it gets in Texas anyway. :)  We had a nice evening with mom and dad just relaxing mostly, but we also took some time to take a short walk to let Addison greet the Ducks and see the sights.   It was a great start to our Thanksgiving vacation.                                                This is the view looking from the RV window                                                                             Addison REALLY liked the ducks - and they liked her too -                                            until they found out she wasn't going to feed them. :)

Just a quick entry as I am on my way out the door to spend Thanksgiving at the Lake with my rents and sis! I can't wait! However, I am not entirely sure that I will have internet service nor am I sure that I will have cell service. So, if you do not hear from me until after Thanksgiving, that is why. I assure you I will continue preparing my posts so that I will have all days made up for when I return and you will hear all about my wonderful family time. :) Hopefully, I will have service though and I will be able to get all my NaBloPoMo posts up on the days they are due. :) Happy Turkey Day to all!!! What are YOU thankful for?

We went to our friends the Thompson's house tonight for a little dinner party.   What a fabulous evening.  It was essentially a co-worker party in that all three of the men work together and us ladies...well, we are the women who are getting to know each other as our husbands work closely together.   Sometimes, these things can be a beat down, however, it seems to be quite often that I get along fabulously well with the wives of Steve's co-workers at this particular job.  In fact, I get along well with the husbands too...so bonus!  :)  I am really happy that there seems to be such a great group of peops at Steve's current gig.  Last year, when then it was time for the Christmas "holiday" party, I didn't know anyone and made a few fast friends whom I have come to truly love!  Over this last year, it seems our group has grown quite a bit and it will be an even more amazing fun night when we all gather and celebrate.   I can't believe I am saying this, but I ...

I just returned from a fabulous girls night with Stephanie  and her mom (otherwise known as my second mom).  We had an awesome time.  We started off our evening by having dinner and margaritas at Cristina's at Firewheel and then went to line up for Twilight.  It surprised me actually because I expected very long lines at an early time.  That didn't really happen.  We got there just a little over an hour early and were the 7-9th people in the line.  This was great because we had PRIMO seats for what was almost a sell out show.  I guess I just expected the line would be longer, faster.  Kinda like a Harry Potter flick since that was what this was being compared to in terms of hype.   Anyway, as for the movie.  Well, I won't give away anything because I certainly don't want to spoil anything in case some have not read the book yet.  What I will say is that casting was GREAT for Bella, GREAT for Charlie, & SUPERB for Alice.  The others were mostly just so-so for me w/ a...

This year, Thanksgiving is going to be a little different than in recent years past.   For several years we have had family gatherings at our home.  I make a great big Turkey with a cranberry glaze and we have a feast that could feed multiple families! This year, Steve has to work through Thanksgiving and Shayna is at her dad's for the week.   Dawn is off doing her own thing and that just leaves me and Addison.  We will be joining up with my folks and Debi and Jeff's family out at Lake Texoma for the holiday week.   I'm really looking forward to it, though I do wish my whole family could be there as well.   Jeff will be making the Turkey this year, and I will be making a squash casserole to switch things up a little.  In fact, he is making a FRIED turkey!  I have heard these are really yummy so I am super stoked to get to try it out!  I am even more stoked to get to spend almost an entire week with my parents and my sis and her fam!  I am ready for some good old fashioned f...

We had a wonderful day at the zoo with the Howard clan! This is our day as told by the pictures. Addison, Gavin and Grayson when we started the day Addison thought the giraffes were cool She was not scared of the Monitor...I was a little though ;) She went for a ride on a big lizard and gave him "love loves" when she was saying goodbye. We played in the park by the children's zoo - as usual Addison loved the slides She also discovered the tunnels that you climb through I don't think she liked sharing "her" tunnel very much I am fairly certain that petting the bunny rabbit was her favorite part Great big Koi fish were pretty to watch We finished off our day with a ride on the Merry Go Round Addison enjoyed her Zebra ride! We had such a great time...she didn't even seem phased that we went well past her nap time before heading home. There was just too much fun to be had to worry about things like naps. :)

I left Addison at a child care facility today that allows drop ins and you just pay them by the hour.  Let me just say first off that I LOVE THIS PLACE!  The fact that I can pay them for even just one hour during the day is awesome!  I don't have to worry about how I will be able to make a hair appointment or doctor appointment anymore.  I now have a place that when the going gets rough...the mom can still get going!   Today, I had a hair appointment.  It was just a simple trim up and change the bangs a bit thing, so it only took about 20 minutes.  When my appointment was over I came home and was able to actually get some work done!  I got the dishes unloaded and reloaded, the stuff in the dryer all put away, moved stuff from washer to dryer and started a new load.  I dragged out the Christmas tree from underneath the stairwell, and throughly cleaned Addison's bathroom which had been a little neglected lately.  I did all of this in only 40 minutes...and why was I able to do tha...

The title of this blog post is the lyrics on a song that a few of my friends from my middle school days sang on a tape (yes, one of those cassette jobs that we used to listen to back in the day when I had to walk to school in the snow, up hill both ways!)  for me when I had to move from Houston to Dallas (Rockwall).  It was really the song "All My Ex's Live in Texas" but they changed the lyrics to fit my impending move away from Houston.   Somehow over the years this tape got lost, but the memory of hearing it when they gave it to me will never be forgotten.  We were young, and so smart that no parents could tell us anything that we didn't think we knew better.  We thought our friendships would last forever and always be as strong as they were at that time.   Sadly, after I moved to Rockwall the summer before my freshman year, I did not contact or hear from most of these friends again.  We all had other things going on in our lives and life took us each in many differ...

If you haven't given up on your trips to Blockbuster and moved to Netflix yet....let me urge you to do so!  We have been using Netflix since January 2003 and just have absolutely nothing negative that can even be said.  They are quick to send movies, have great monthly rates with plans that would suit anyone and are constantly trying to monitor themselves and make sure that they are keeping up the great work that they are known for.   We are extremely pleased with them.  Check them out for yourself if you haven't already!  A gift membership is also a great holiday idea ... the gift that keeps on giving whether it is for a month or a year.   

It is interesting how we take for granted the time we have with each other....until that time is taken away.  This year has been a year of many changes.  We now have a teenager and a 15 month old.  We went from having a child at home most of the time, but largely self sufficient, to a child away from home most of the time and another child at home all of the time, but very dependent.   It has been quite an adjustment....and very much a balancing act.  We have had to learn how to balance nap times with carpool times.  Meal times with times that people are actually home to eat and that I am able to work around the needs of a toddler to prepare.   All in all - life is great.  We have a better than average teenage daughter and a willful but spirited (read: fun) toddler.  Lately, Steve has had to work a LOT of hours, including weekends and no family vacation as planned during Thanksgiving.  This will continue for another 4 weeks (though I am not convinced yet that it will truly end at that ...

When Addison was about 9 months old (maybe younger?) she started doing something that absolutely floored us. Anytime she would get frustrated or mad she would throw her hands out to the side - fingers spread - jut her neck out and GROWL! Now I know we shouldn't laugh...in a year or two we will not find this funny at all I am sure. But right now we can't help ourselves. We have laughed at her enough times now that she will copy us when we do it and then clap for herself. No description I could give of this action could do it justice...so I couldn't help but get it on video tonight so we could share it for many years to come. Funny, funny stuff!

I don't usually post topics like this...but this particular one has been weighing on me big time lately for some reason.   I guess I just really do not understand the logic/inconsistency behind some of our laws.   I'm not going to get all in depth and go off completely on this (well, maybe I will...not making any promises), but I just have to pose the question: What is it that makes the difference between murder and the right to choose? Is it weeks?  Days? Physically being a living breathing creature that is no longer sustained by its "host"?  Whatever the answer is for you - does it answer the following question?   If a woman finds out she is going to have a baby who would be less than perfect and chooses to have a late stage (third trimester) abortion.  The child is alive right?  It moves, it kicks, it hiccups, it's heart beats.  Is this murder? Okay, so now let's say this abortion fails.  The baby is born - now it is premature in addition to its other probl...

How we love you....our little "boo woo woo"  This is the "routine" we go through each time she eats.  She gets a little excited and in a hurry sometimes, but she always does well before she can eat. :) This is Juni doing a little "counter surfing". We had known for some time that she steals food from our kitchen on occasion. We had never actually seen it though. Steve caught her in the act of "attempting" to get some garlic bread one day and instead of busting her he just busted out the camera. :) Much more fun this way.

I had to change up the blog a little yesterday.   I think it was time for a facelift and a fall look seemed appropriate.   Today was a good day.  My fabulous friend Diana W. came by for some hang time and brought me some lunch!  Pei Wei even!   It was great to be able to hang out and just chat, no stress over whether Addison was being good or loud or throwing things.  Just good old fashioned hang time.  Awesomeness!   You know you are close to a person when you know they are coming over, but you still don't bother to do your hair or makeup or dress particularly nice. lol.  I just knew she wouldn't care - so I didn't care!  Ahhh...what a nice feeling. :) The rest of my day was rather uneventful - just kinda did the mommy thing.   Oh...I did make some really delicious Asparagus tonight with the chicken that I cooked on the grill.   Try it out if you want sometime...super easy and super yummy! Take 2 pounds of Asparagus and break off the tough part. Arrange them on a cookie sh...

All is well with my boobies. :) I have just developed a few small benign appearing cysts - but all is well and there is no need for further testing.  YAY! Dude.  That thing HURTS!  I am really glad I don't have to get another one for six years!  That will be six years too soon in my opinion! Have a great day!  

On a visit to my ob/gyn last week I mentioned that I had found a lump in my left breast that I had not ever felt before. The awesome Dr. Michelle Heintges checked it out and the good news is that it doesn't feel like a "bad" kind of lump. Apparently lumps that are cancerous are not able to be "dragged around" and are more stuck to the spot they are found. However, just to be on the safe side she is sending me for a mammogram and an ultrasound in Plano tomorrow. I wanted to be fully prepared for my procedures tomorrow - you know how I like to be a fully informed, totally with it patient. With that in mind - I have been doing a few exercises each day to make sure that I am fully prepared for my mammogram. I thought you may be interested in reading about them as well so that when your time comes, if it hasn't already - you will be able to prepare yourself as well as I have been able to. :) ___________________________ HOW TO PREPARE FOR A MAMMOGRAM-- Many wom...

Thanks to a great recommendation from Stephanie R up in Alaska - I am now the proud owner of a new Dust Buster. I dutifully let it charge overnight despite my strong desire to start using it right away. After church today I used it for the first time. YES! It SUCKS! And I mean that in a good way - as in it sucks up all the stuff on our hardwood and concrete floors almost as great as the big ole hefty vacuum! FABULOUSLY FUN! Well, okay, maybe not fun...but I am sure am thrilled to know that we will no longer have to wade in Husky fur. I daily have mounds of fur in the corners of every room - but vacumming with the big vacuum daily is simply not gonna happen. So this will be a great solution to the daily battle. Thanks Steph!

Steve had to work today...bummer. Addison and I decided to make the best of it though. After breakfast this morning I threw on my baseball cap, got Addison dressed and we took a walk. Usually, when we go for a walk it is really me walking, pushing the stroller. Not as much interaction when you can't look at each other and when she is strapped in so she can't feel her way around the world and explore. So today, we took a different kind of walk. Our destination was the neighborhood park. It isn't very far from our house - about a five minute walk if it were just me and I take my time. About 15 minutes with Addison on her own two feet walking with me. We had a great morning. Here are a few quick videos of our first "walk - together" and some of our time at the park. This was on our way to the park. She got distracted from the end goal a lot but I was in no hurry - it was fun to watch her discover the world around her on the way there. This is when Addis...

I haven't much to say tonight...so I will just leave you with a quote that left Steve and I in absolute stitches.  It's from the movie "Get Smart" "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "I dunno, if you're thinking 'Holy Shit! Holy Shit!  That swordfish almost hit my head!'  Then YES!" ROTFLMBO!  I know...it probably doesn't sound very funny unless you are watching the movie and see all the "action" just before this exchange (so just in case you want to watch...I've now included a link to this fabulously funny exchange)....man!  I am still laughing!  That was HILARIOUS!!!!  I honestly don't think I have laughed that hard during a one liner in YEARS!   Great funny flick!  Mindless, lots of goofy laugh moments.  I loved it!

I decided a while back to watch Dallas - the TV show all the way through every season (seeing as I'm always still wide awake when Steve is already snoring).  I remember the show being on in our home from time to time when I was a young girl.  Mostly because I remember the whole "who shot JR?" craze.   It's kind of funny to me that I've lived in Dallas almost my whole life - and yet never really watched this show.  I have visited Southfork Rank  twice, toured the property and the home each time - and yet not seen the show.  I lived in Rockwall during my high school years - only a few minutes from the Ranch by back roads.  I now live in Allen which is again, only minutes from the ranch.  It seemed kinda weird to me to be so close to such a landmark spot and yet not have ever seen the show that placed this area on the map!  So I decided I should watch it...see this historic show for myself.  Compare my viewings of the ranch and home to the way it was presented to the...

I didn't wait up to hear the results last night,  I was simply too tired.  I had heard enough to realize though that it was unlikely that McCain was going to be our next President.   This morning, I woke up and was greeted with the news that Obama had indeed won!  While he was not my choice for President, and I disagree with him on many points, I can not overlook the fact that history has been made here!  We as a country have come a long way!  We have gone from  a "back of the bus" mentality to electing a black man to lead our country!  This is big...this is bigger than big, it's HUGE!  This is history and how cool is it that we are here on this earth to witness it!   I am proud to be an American!

Who will it be? Rock the Vote folks! Exercise your right to be heard! Nuff said!

Why is it that service means so very little to institutions today?  I got so mad this evening that my hands were shaking...so silly to let something so small get me so throughly ticked, but it did.  Let me explain.  Back in August we FINALLY decided to replace Shayna's cell phone for her.  She had pretty much mangled the old one after a series of drops - and while still operable, it was looking pretty ghetto.   Thank goodness for the insurance we pay for right?  WRONG!  We pay $5.99 a month for phone insurance for several years now (which, in hindsight is rather silly for a phone in the price range of hers).  When I called the problem in, we were two days too early to receive the "new plan deductible" so because of those two days the deductible was $70 instead of the $40 that it would have been if I had just waited two more days! ARGH.  Whatever though, I managed to let go of that bum deal pretty easily.   What really hacked me off though is that when we got the "new...

My friend Stephanie H. recently turned me on to a book series that she was reading...she said I just "had to read them too".  So, I dutifully went to Target to find the first of four books in the Twilight saga.   The first, is of course Twilight.  I had no idea what to expect, she didn't really tell me anything except that I would love them.  While I was looking in Target, I actually passed the book at least half a dozen times without even giving it a second thought.  The cover was so strange that I definitely noticed it - but it never even occurred to me that the book I kept passing up as "odd" could be the book that she wanted me to buy!  I went home thinking that my particular Target didn't have it...then saw it on Amazon.com and went...uhhh....really?  That's THE book?  The MUST HAVE book?  *The cover is all black with two very pale outstretched arms holding a bright red apple* I went back and bought it the next day.   I was equally skeptical as I be...

Well, here we go. I'm not entirely convinced that I can accomplish a post every day for the entire month of November...but I am going to give it my best shot. Last night Steve, Addison and I skipped the trick or treating in order to stay home and answer the door for the trick or treaters. We were a little disappointed in the small numbers this year...but I guess that should have been expected since there was a High School football game and multiple parties among the Jr. High crowd. Shayna was off at a party last night so we didn't see her much, but the three Breen's sat out front and passed out candy to the cute kiddos that came out and said their "magic words" for the night. (one cute little kid said "please" when I asked him what the magic word was...so adorable!) We also passed out flyers to everyone who came around because our a friend of ours from down the street has a husky that got out the night before and hasn't been found yet. :( We are...