Stressed backwards spells Desserts

subtitle: Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.

I am a really nice person. I have my moments of totally bitch on wheels at times but I really and truly in my heart of hearts am a Nice person. I need a break though. Luckily, thanks to a really great friend, I'll be getting a break soon enough.

Nana still isn't doing all that well. I got a message from my brother today that her breathing is getting shallower but that she's still alive. Hopefully she'll pass soon but as one of the nurses that I talked with on Saturday said, she's a stubborn lady. This might drag itself out a bit longer.

I did get lucky today twice though. 1st instance was at Old Navy. My brother had gone online to get some presents for A&L and had them shipped to my mom's house. There was 2 of everything he had ordered except for one item that stated on the receipt would be shipped separately. So we waited, and waited. I finally called the Customer Service number and found out that it was no longer available but that I could try to find it at a retail store or exchange the one that I had for something else. So Mom and I along with the girls headed over to the mall today and found the item we needed. The only downside was that it was a 2T and not a 3T but now the girls can wear them somewhat together - A is more of a 3T and L is more of a 2T lately. Best part... they only cost me $5.99 total. The second instance was at Payless Shoes since I've been looking for some slippers for the girls that they can hopefully wear and not outgrow in a few weeks. I came upon a BOGO 50% off sale. I also found one pair of Dora slippers for L in size 7-8 and one pair of Princess slippers for A in size 7-8. The clerk was so nice and helped me clip all the tags so that the girls could wear them as they strolled the mall in their umbrella strollers. Total cost with the BOGO was $14.99 since the Princess ones came up at $12.99 and the Dora ones were $4 but I got them for half that or $2.

The girls have been putting us through the wringer lately since they have been cooped up inside for too long. So I took them to Grandma's yesterday to let them run around and play and hopefully nap. While there Anna told me that I am her best friend... awww... and Lily finally took a nap. Anna also has a new saying that we love to say back to her.. 'Come back here.... I like you.' They've also had some really bad runny noses lately too. Last night I finally got Anna to take some medicine and tonight when I offered it to her she willingly took more. If only I could get Lily to take some too. The poor kid - Lily- has been snoring so badly lately that she is rivaling her daddy.

Oh one last cuteism.. lately when you ask Anna a question or say that she's - fill in the blank - she'll say 'No I'm Anastasia'. Too cute.

Feeling Random tonight

so here are some random thoughts from me...

1. I am so glad that I found the last Wine Cooler in the fridge..

2. I really needed it

3. Visiting Nana wasn't that bad today... but a little harder than it was last week

4. I can't believe that I screwed up the socks ... again

5. I'm starting to thing that the socks will never get done.. and I really want to finish them

6. I think the girls are going stir crazy from being inside since Tuesday night...

7. I really don't want to lose one of them in a snowbank

8. that would be really bad

9. Tomorrow i am doing a deep clean of the apartment

10. I'll leave the girls room for Thursday... when they are at school

11. it will go quicker that way

12. I so need a massage.. but that costs $$$$ that we don't have

13. The basement is starting to look tons better since I've been deep cleaning down there also

14. 4 big black bags and 3 little white bags later... I also have quite a few donations to make to my cousin's florist shop and to a teacher friend of mine.

15. I still have tons to do down in the basement but I'll get it done.

16. My wine cooler is almost gone.. correction... it is gone..

Memories

I got some news tonight that has me feeling nostalgic... My Grandmother (I called her Nana) is not doing well and may pass away very soon. I've felt conflicted about her the past few years.. She has Alzheimer's and hasn't known me in years. I don't like visiting her too much since I prefer to remember her the way that she was and not as the way she has been for the past almost 12 years. She shares her date of birth with my oldest niece and I've always thought that was a really cool thing for my niece to share with her great grandma. I remember when Sammie turned 2 and Nana turned 90 that we took Sammie to go and visit with Nana and how upset Sammie was that we were leaving the balloons that we had brought for Nana.

I also remember

• the brownie incident that happened at our house when Nana attempted to make her delicious brownies and wound up burning them so badly that we couldn't eat them.
• how when she would be staying at our house in the summer that she got to sleep in my bed and I would sleep on a cot next to my bed.
• the card games that she taught me to play and how sometime a game of Go Fish would turn into us picking up cards till one of us got what we needed.
• visiting her in Florida and seeing the care that she took with her skincare regimen and that she would sing as she put her various creams on her face.

I hope and believe that when she does eventually pass (whether it's this week or some time further down the line) that she will be greeted with open arms by Papa (my grandfather) , my Dad and my Uncle Alan who passed before her along with her brothers and sisters that are up there too.

In a Funk

I admit I messed up... I posted on a mommy board about how well Lee and I have been doing lately and well let's say that my timing and wording was off... big time. I admitted my mistake once it was pointed out to me.. but the responses have put me into a funk over the past couple of days. I'm not mean or manipulative.. I didn't do it intentionally. Shall I mention that the responses rolled in on a day that is not usually a good calendar day for me.. and made what was shaping up to be a good day for once, into a not so good day.

I feel like I am surrounded lately by people who are having relationship problems and all I was doing was sharing my one little ray of sunshine. Unfortunately (like I said above) my timing and wording was off. Then again even before the responses came in I jinxed myself anyway by posting something happy and light on this particular board.

So I'm going to be treading lightly there for now.. I'll still post but I'll be more careful about what I say and how I say it. In the meantime... I just need a hug..

You Say You Want a Resolution...

Here we go... my resolutions for 2011. I hope that I get most of them done.. I'm trying to be realistic.

Running will be a bigger commitment this year. I am making my goal of 2011 to RUN the Tufts 10K in October 2o11. That's 6.2 miles or 2 5Ks back to back. I can do it.. I know that I can. I need to make the time to do it and make it a priority. I also want to run as many races as I possibly can (financially and timewise). I want to set a few PRs of my own.

Exercise will be a big commitment also.. I'm under doctor's orders on this one. Jillian Michaels will be my new BFF very soon.

Get out of Malden by December 2011. This one depends on us being able to afford to move. I feel that the girls need more room for running around than what a 2 bed apt can give them.

Knitting.. I love to knit and I want to be a better knitter, start working on more complicated patterns and to use up my stash of yarn since I recently inherited my MIL's yarn stash after our trip to California this fall. I need to finish the 2 blankets that I've been working on for a while now. Make my nieces and my girls some sweaters from a pattern that my aunt gave me somewhat recently (within the past year or so).

I will not be vanquished

I've been battling the sock quite a bit lately. Thankfully tonight was knitting night.. and even more thankfully my knitting knight in shining Alpaca wool, Aaron was in attendance tonight and was really really helpful to getting my sock back on track. I owe him BIG.

Everyone that came to knit tonight was really surprised that I am sticking with my sock and that I wouldn't give up (I had brought a blanket to knit just in case).. the thing is.. I was so ready to throw this project into the proverbial closet and give it a timeout but then it wins.. and that is not me. I am stubborn..unyielding...relentless. I try not to give up easily even when I get really frustrated. I am a knitter.. hear me roar (scream, cry and shout). I will not be bested by a ball of yarn. I have knitting needles and I know how to use them.. I also have the best group of knitters in my corner to help me along when I'm starting to limp along with my projects or I am lost in a pattern.

By the way, the pattern for these socks officially suck.. I am far from being able to write a set of knitting instructions at all, yet I think that I could have written the pattern for these socks much better than the company that published the pattern could at this point. My pattern has so many little notes and post-its on it for when I knit the next sock of this pair that hopefully the second sock will go much better than this first one has. I can't believe that it's taken me over 3 months for this one sock to get to the point that it's at currently (working on the gusset and instep).

I might need to buy the group a round of drinks* when they are done.

* Drinks refers to coffee, hot chocolate, lattes since we meet at a Starbucks

ReCalculating

So I got a GPS for Christmas from my nieces (yeah right Steve).. and I love it already. I've taken it to my Mom's and to our sledding adventure today at Mt Hood. It also went to knitting with me tonight. Going home was interesting since I am used to MY way of going home from knitting and I really didn't feel the need to take the highway home. I wanted to go past the Zoo so I could see the lights. I lost count of the times that it (I still need to name her) told me that it was recalculating the route. In a very perverse way it was fun. I actually enjoyed hearing her say it. Yeah I'm weird that way.