Where Is It?

I hate it when I can't find something. In our downstairs rec room, there are a bunch of boxes that were never unpacked when I moved in with Josh. I can't seem to find two of my favorite cookbooks. Ugh!

Anyway, I am waiting for my baby bell peppers to cool. I am making mini stuffed bell peppers tonight. The bell peppers came from my parents' garden. It should be a great dinner.

Well, I need to get started on the filling for these delicious peppers. Hope you are all having a great day.

Good morning. I am here listening to a conference call at home. I have several things to accomplish today. I have three loads of laundry to do, I have to get some major grocery shopping done today, and I have to catch up on all my work mail.

Doesn't sound very exciting, but oh well.

I will check in later this evening. Have a great Monday!

I Can't Sleep

I can't sleep.

It's been exactly two weeks since I last posted. I apologize for worrying any of you. I needed the time off. I am still off from work until October 7. It was a pretty major surgery, but everything is fine. I do want to thank everyone for their comments and concerns. I really appreciate it! It's nice to know so many of you continue to care.

I can't sleep.

I think I have insomnia. I have not been able to sleep for a week now. I usually don't doze off until around 2 am. It sucks.

I have lots of time on my hands and I have to take it easy. So, I have been vegging out at home and at my parents' house. I am feeling much better, but I am limited on what I can do. No lifting of more than 8 pounds. Kind of sucks.

I have not kept up with everyone the past two weeks, and I don't think I will be able to go that far back with all of you to catch up with your lives. So, I will start fresh Monday afternoon. I have a small list of things I would like to accomplish tomorrow, so this will be one of them. Well, until then, I will try and get some sleep.

I'm So Hungry!

My tummy hurts. It's because of tomorrow. I haven't eaten anything since 8:00 this morning. Part of the requirements for tomorrow. The kid just cooked a homemade cheese pizza. Rotten! Rotten I tell you!

Okay, enough about my stomach and food. I am off to read blogs.

Fantastic Weekend

Yes, the flooding was happening the opposite direction of where we were headed on Friday. We did see lots of flooding on our way to Kansas City. We were near lots of tornadic weather and torrential downpour.

It was a great weekend! We arrived in Kansas City around 6:30 and checked in to our hotel. We met my brother at Dave and Busters and had dinner. We watched the kid play all of these games to obtain as many tickets as possible. When he was done, he bought Josh a little Chiefs memento. After dinner we grabbed some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery and headed back to our hotel in the rain.

On Saturday we went to the City Market and walked around for about an hour. The kid bought some zucchini bread from a local vendor and Josh bought some local salsa. After walking around and wishing we lived there, we headed to the Corner Cafe and ate a delicious breakfast. When we decided to waddle out of the cafe, we decided to go grab some groceries for the big game. I made homemade potato salad and pasta salad and Josh marinated the steaks. We spent the day at Josh's brother's loft. It is located downtown near the City Market. It's very nice!

After a long day, we headed back to the hotel to turn in. We woke up around 5:45 on Sunday morning to get packed up and head down to the stadium. We are the crazy ones who wait in line for a good parking space. We were about the sixth car back in our lane. Crazy, I know. After the gates opened, we got the grill going. One of our local friends decided to join us. He works for the Chiefs taking tickets and decided to stop by and eat before he headed in. The stadium is under major construction, so walking in was a b*tch. It took forever!

Anyway, to make a long story short, we lost. Ohio State also lost this weekend. It was a bad weekend for football. That's okay. I got to spend some much needed time with my boys before my surgery tomorrow. I am getting a little anxious. I am sure all will turn out just fine.

Well, I am going to enjoy the time I have off. I am planning to do lots of housework and laundry today, so I won't have to worry about it later in the week. I plan on reading blogs all day as well.

Have a great week and I will check in with all of you later.

Flooding Fun Weekend

Good morning. It's been raining for days and Cowskin Creek is flooding. I tried going to the west side today, but after seeing the creek already up to the bridge, um, no thank you. I am staying close to home today. I will just do some stuff from my computer. I am only working half a day and we are suppose to head to Kansas City this afternoon for the weekend! I am prepared to sit in the rain for the Chiefs game against the Raiders. Ugh.

We need to get packed, along with the grill and the food. Thank goodness we will have a kitchen in our suite. WooHoo! I have a place to make the potato salad and marinate the steaks for Sunday. The kid will be hanging out with my brother on Sunday during the game, so I am sure he will have fun with his uncle.

Okay, so I need to get going. Gotta follow the agenda, you know? I will holler at all of you on Sunday evening to catch you up on the weekend fun.

What's Up With This Vice Principal?

Good morning. I am wasting time before my appointment this morning. After my lab work, I have to drive to Hutch today for a meeting and to conduct some interviews. woohoo.... just so thrilled (spare me).

The kid got into some trouble at school last Friday. I guess he and another kid were taunting each other back and forth and the other kid ended up punching my kid in the back. Instead of retaliating, my kid said something to the teacher. The other kid was suspended from school and my kid had a day of ISS. He spent his day of ISS yesterday, with no phone call or note sent to the parent. When I finally got a hold of the vice-principal after school, she informed me that she had planned to call me last Friday, but after she got into her office, she just wasn't up to making any phone calls and decided to wait until after school on Monday. Seriously? Of course, I let her know that was absolutely not okay with me. I also told her this was part of the reason the system just doesn't work. If she would have done her job and notified me on Friday, I would not have been as worried and pissed off yesterday when I called. The fact that she told me she didn't want to make anymore phone calls on Friday because she wanted to get out of there put me over the top mad! So, I guess it's okay to wait and call the parents AFTER your child has spent his day in In School Suspension. The Wichita Public School System SUCKS!

I guess I should become a vice-principal so I can pick and choose my tasks for the day, and if I just don't feel like doing something, it can wait until after the weekend.

Okay, enough venting. I'll catch up with you later...

Busy Week Ahead

Hey there. It's a start to another week. Lots going on this week for me. Today consists of another long, conference call. Tomorrow I have to get some blood work done for my surgery the following week, and then I have to travel to Hutch to conduct some interviews. On Wednesday, I have to go back to Hutch to finish conducting interviews. Thursday I have to rearrange a department and do some holiday merchandising. On Friday, it's a half day as we will be heading out of town to Kansas City for the weekend. We will be going to the Chiefs game on Sunday. It is their home opener against the their biggest rival, the Oakland Raiders.

So, lots going on. I will fill you in on how the blood work goes tomorrow. I am sure it will be fine. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Rearranging The Bedroom

Good morning. I am getting ready to leave for my hair appointment. Josh has just informed me he will be moving things around in our bedroom while I am gone. Great, I think. He wants a different lay out in our room. I have two new night stands to put in there, so I guess I will have a surprise when I get home.

Since the Chiefs are playing today, I think we may have a snack night. They play at noon, but there will be other games on. I would love to make some home made panini sandwiches. Yumm-O!

Well, I need to get around here so I can head out. I'll catch up with all of you later.

Dinner With A Possible Attitude

Hey there! Just finishing up with dinner. This evening I made cheese raviolis with meat sauce and garlic bread. It was great!

Another average work day. I woke up and took a shower, then headed to the west side of town to do some store visits. The first store I went to was behind schedule. I went in to do some plan-o-grams for one of my department tables. The next store I went to was the department who needed the plan-o-grams. We are going to implement them on Thursday. I stayed at this store and did some paperwork and talked to the store manager about what to do with our chef. After lunch, I headed to my last store. We have some personnel issues with this store and I was told that they had some visits from some suits the day before. It wasn't a good visit for them.

As I was leaving, the kid was calling me with his grocery list. I feel like his personal assistant some days. I can't wait for him to start driving, responsibly I might add. Anyway, I filled up one of my reusable bags and headed for the house.

Did I mention today was just wonderful? It was rainy and cool all day. I should have lived in Seattle. I could live like this every day. It's the perfect weather for me. Not hot, but cool and mild. Wonderful weather!

This evening will consist of Josh watching football all night while I surf the web and the kid catches up on all his cartoons/shows. I have tomorrow off and Josh starts vacation. I do have a hair appointment at 11 am tomorrow, so at least I will be gone when the Chiefs kick off. I hate being around at home when the Chiefs are losing. Josh gets such an attitude problem. It never fails, around football season, the house gets tense.

Well, I guess I better get going. The kid is testing my nerves. Later...

Quickie Before Dinner - uh, yeah... not what you're thinking!

Wow, two posts in one day. Who would have thought? Anyway, I am just wasting time until dinner is ready. It should be ready in about 15 more minutes. Tonight we are having baked chicken thighs seasoned with garlic, salt and black pepper. We are also having my famous garlic mashed potatoes and steamed carrots. It should be a good dinner.

Today was a pretty boring day. I went through some paperwork at home, watched all of the shows I DVR'd, picked the kid up from school, came home and took a nap, and then started on dinner. Oh! And I made breakfast this morning. We had French toast and bacon. The kid had milk and Josh and I had our coffee. I woke up at six this morning so I could make breakfast for my boys. I didn't even have to be at work today.

Well, I better get dinner going. We always eat so late. I know it's not good for us, but sometimes you have to sacrifice time to be all together for dinner. I cherish these evenings. Later...

It Started Off As A Cheerful Post

Good morning! I am off today. WooHoo!!!

It's nice and cool today and it should get up to only 74 degrees. Lovely weather. We had a great dinner last night. I love fresh vegetables, especially grilled. Yumm-O!!!

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.... about life. Life can really suck sometimes. Life can be overwhelming when you think too much about it. I can see how some people literally go crazy.

I think about my parents a lot. It's scary to know that one day, they won't be here. I don't think they are scared to die, but I do think they are afraid to leave their children and grandchildren. I know from being a mother myself, the hardest part about dying is knowing you will be leaving your children behind. I cry now just thinking about it.

As children, we dread the day our parents pass. The pain is unbearable, to the point of breaking a person. I don't know what I will do without my parents. They are reaching close to 55 and 57, almost 60 soon. There are now times where they talk about friends and acquaintances who have died. It's scary. It's scary because I know how much pain people go through. If I was single with no children or siblings, my wish would be to die before my parents. That way I wouldn't have to feel the pain. How selfish am I? I know that sounds bad, but I don't know how I could bear it.

Oh goodness! Such a sad post now. I guess they can't all be peaches and cream.

To my dear friend Jamie,

I am so sorry you are going through this now. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Your strength is admirable and inspirational. I wish you lived closer. I would give you a hug.

We grilled again for dinner. It was really good! The kid is home, got home yesterday. I am so glad! Dishes are in the dishwasher, and all is great with the world.

I went to the gym last night and walked on the treadmill. Nothing exciting.

It's a beautiful evening. What are your plans?

Missing The Kid

Hey! I am already home from work. Glad that's over with.

I am really missing my kid right now. He has been at his dad's house for five days now. Ugh! I have holidays when I don't get to spend time with him. Oh well. He'll be home tomorrow evening. I just can't wait.

There was a bit of a storm this afternoon, but the temperature is still around 75 degrees. I can't wait for the low 60's and 50's to get here. Great cooking weather. I love to cook!

I don't have a whole lot to say. I am probably going to head to the YMCA around 6:30 and work out a bit. I will talk at you all later...

Dinner Was Too Fabulous For Pictures

It was a pretty productive day. Long, but short. Does that even make any sense. The day seemed long, but it was short. Yay, that makes sense to me.

We grilled tonight. I meant to take pictures of our plates, but completely forgot when the smell of char grilled rib steaks permeated into the dining room from the hot grill outside. I also made parsley fingerling potatoes with grated Spanish Manchego cheese on top, steamed broccoli spears and fresh grilled corn on the cob. Oh yes, it was very delicious.

After finishing all of my veggies and half of my steak, I knew I would need to hit the gym soon. I think I may go the YMCA tomorrow after work to exercise. Cheryl always inspires me with her swimming laps, but I never end up getting off my rear and doing it. I won't be swimming, but maybe a quick workout on the treadmill and elliptical machine wouldn't hurt these flabby thighs.

Hope you all had a great Monday. I am headed to bed. It's going to be an early day tomorrow.

Good morning. I am off to another day of work. Not a long day though, thank goodness.

I made Josh kill a huge spider the other night. I think it was a brown recluse. Scary! Those things can be anywhere! Gives me the shivers just thinking about it. Okay, enough about that.

So, hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I will post more later this evening.