Cookie Exchange!

Tracy P. at The Journey is hosting a cookie exchange! So there are lots of yummy recipes there to try out, just in time for Christmas baking! Hop on over and check out all the goodness, and let me share one of my favorites with you.

This isn't a cookie recipe, per se, but it's something we always had for Christmas get-togethers when I was growing up. I think I got the recipe from my Aunt Jo, but it's been so long, I can't say for sure. It's tasty and easy, and a great addition to any tray of holiday treats.

Butterscotch Candy

1 6-oz. package butterscotch morsels
1 C. Spanish peanuts
1 can chow mein noodles

Melt butterscotch morsels. Mix in nuts and noodles until well coated. Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper and let set.

And that's it!

Just for fun, I'll put another one out there. I got this from a co-worker back when I worked at the Ellis County DA's office, and it's another easy party favorite that would be good for any holiday gathering.

White Trash

1 C. Rice Krispies
1 C. peanut butter crunch cereal
1 C. salted peanuts
1 C. mini marshmallows
1/2 package almond bark, melted

Mix all ingredients together until all the dry ingredients are coated with almond bark. Drop onto waxed paper by spoonfuls and let set.

Happy eating!

Brrrr.

This morning when we left the house, the temperature was in the 60s. Now, when it's time to go home, it's in the 30s. I'm glad I brought my coat, and it's no wonder we're all sniffling and sneezing.

99 Life Experiences

Pilfered from Karla. I thought I'd see what all I've done, and what all I might want to add to my to-do list! The things in bold are the things I've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (jazz band in high school counts, right?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (at least it felt like more than I could afford at the time)
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (and the odds of this happening are slim to none! LOL)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (I hit a triple once, but that's as close as I ever came)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (Alas, yes, I have.)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (it wasn't all that)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (my little toes on both feet)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (more than once, in my hometown paper when I was growing up!)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (I met Patrick Duffy when I was in junior high school - hey, he was famous at the time.)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (got sued by a defendant when I was a prosecutor - someone once told me you weren't a real prosecutor unless you got sued at least once!)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

So, clearly I've still got some things to do! Realistically, I know some of these things will never happen. But some are certainly within reach!

How I rate as a 1930s wife

Somehow I never thought of myself as June Cleaver, but I must be:

76 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

So how do you rate on the 1930s marital scale? I shamelessly pilfered this from I Hate Whine.

Halfway there!

I'm at 20 weeks and 2 days today - halfway done with this pregnancy! It seems like just yesterday I got the surprising news that I was, in fact, pregnant. I don't think I'm doing too badly for someone of "advanced maternal age", especially considering I was short and fat to start with, and not exactly the picture of fitness. I get tired more easily, and I think the pain I've been having is my gallbladder giving me fits (not uncommon in pregnancy, I hear, and I'll be making some changes in my diet to try to prevent more nights like the few I've had this week). But hey, if that's all the problems I have to worry about, I'll say thank you and consider it good.

I don't think I ever mentioned this. The day I found out I was pregnant, we were going to take pictures for our church directory. I don't remember what the photographer said, exactly, when he was taking the picture of just Brian and I together, but it was something along the lines of, "Say 'more kids!'" Brian and I just about died laughing at the timeliness of that comment. LOL

So, next week is our "big" ultrasound, when we hopefully find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. Pretty much everyone who's expressed an opinion thinks it's a girl. Julian is convinced he's going to have a baby sister, although he said it would be OK if he ended up with a baby brother, "because God just gives us what He thinks we need." Kevin thinks it's a girl. Brian is leaning toward hoping for a girl, I think (especially since we've settled on a girl name but have big fat nothin' for a boy name). All the grandparents think we're having a girl, although that may be just wishful thinking on their parts. So maybe this time next week, we'll know for sure. I hope so - I'm ready to register for all that stuff you really don't want to pick out until you know who you're shopping for!

Morning!

Well, fancy that. I ate a light dinner last night - yogurt and a piece of toast - and I slept all night, pain-free. I guess I'll keep that up for a while and see if it continues to help. I'll just have to make sure to eat a decent breakfast this morning, because I'm hungry. LOL

Apparently there's no big rush

And as luck would have it, my doctor is at a conference all week! As is his nurse! I talked to the nurse filling in for Jennifer and explained to her what was going on. She said there was a bug going around (if this is a bug, it's the strangest one I've ever seen, that only shows up at night), or that perhaps I should check with my lap-band surgeon. I told her that if there's one there at Baylor that Dr. Norwood has worked with, I'd prefer to see him, as my original surgeon is in Arlington, and it's a whole lotta driving from one doc in Arlington to one in Dallas back home to Midlothian. (Gee, I should have planned the logistics better five years ago, huh? LOL ) She said she can talk to my doc on Monday, and that if it gets to hurting too much, just to go see my surgeon. I said I would. I mentioned gall bladder as a possibility and she didn't seem to think much of it (although it does seem like it could fit, but I realize I'm no medical expert). So for now, I wait. Since the problems seem to be happening at night, I'm going to try eating a really light dinner and see if that makes a difference. It seems to me, thinking about it, that if it were a problem with my band, I'd have issues anytime I tried to eat normally, and not just at night. If eating less helps and I can get a good night's sleep, that will help.

Pain and regret

I feel awful. I started having stomach pains on Sunday night. Sunday night and Tuesday night, Phenergan helped and let me sleep. The stomach pain returned last night, and this time Phenergan didn't help. I barely slept, and I'm a raging grump today. The pain is upper abdominal, not lower abdominal like cramping or needing to go to the bathroom, so I worry that something has gone wrong with my lap-band. If that's the case, I don't know what will be done or what could be done, given that I'm pregnant. Curiously, though, the pain only flares up at night (and not every night - it gave Monday night a miss).

And because I felt bad, I was short-tempered with Julian this morning. I explained to him that I really didn't feel good and that's why I was crabby, but still. I feel bad about that. The overdramatic part of me worries, what if this pain is something that requires surgery and something goes horribly wrong, and the last thing Julian remembers me saying to him is fussing for not being ready to get out of the car when we got up to the drop-off point at school? I regret that I couldn't keep a better handle on myself and make my words to Julian this morning kind ones, pain and tiredness notwithstanding.

I just want to feel better, and for the baby and me to both be OK after whatever it takes to help me feel better.

Now here's the kind of note every parent likes to get

I got this e-mail from Julian's teacher this morning:

He has done really well the past two days. He seems really excited about learning, but is staying in his seat and working really hard. Thank you so for working with me. I think we are going to see him grow by leaps and bounds in his academics.

I was so excited, I could have cried. What a change from the start of the school year, with two U's in conduct for the first two six weeks' periods, and constant notes coming home in his folder, and a visit to the principal's office, and all the crying about how hard school was! His handwriting is getting better, and it just thrills me to see stickers in his folder instead of notes telling me what went wrong that day. (He's started off this six weeks with stickers for five days in a row! Woo hoo!)

We're still on the 30 mg of Vyvanse, and it certainly seems to be helping. Julian hasn't lost one iota of his personality - if anything, he's more creative than ever, and his drawing has really taken off. His handwriting is improving, he's more excited about reading on his own (although he still prefers that we read to him, and there's nothing wrong with that!), and he doesn't complain anymore about school being hard or too much work. I am so, so glad that we did something now, rather than waiting to see if he outgrew this or if trying things other than medication worked. I'm glad to know he's on track now to being a good student, rather than one that elicits the reaction, "oh, great, it's THAT child" from teachers when they see his name on the class rolls. I know he's got the brain power to do well, and it looks like we're getting the focus and behavior concerns under wraps to where he can put that brain power to good use. What a great way to start my day!

So parents, if you've got a child with ADHD tendencies and have considered medication but are hesitant, let me tell you, don't be. You find the right thing and the right dose, and it can truly work wonders. (Carrie, if you're reading this, I know - you told me so! :-) )

December already?!

Boy, the Christmas season is just sneaking up on us, isn't it? Are you ready? :-)

The lovely ladies at Secret Is In The Sauce, or SITS, are getting the season started with a bang. They're hosting a Merry SITSmas giveaway! Just go visit their site and comment - there's a different prize every hour throughout the day, and for each comment you leave, you're also entered into the Grand Prize drawing (a $200 Target gift card!). I don't know about you, but a $200 Target gift card would make my holidays very merry indeed.

Enter for prizes, make some new friends, what's not to like?! :-)

Making Your Home a Haven, Day 5

We did have fun last night! We played lots of Wii, but gave the fire a miss - Julian decided Mario Kart was more fun. I usually lose and he almost always wins, so you know he had a good time. LOL

Today's theme for the Making Your Home a Haven challenge is Inviting & Giving. I think I've got that covered for the day. Brian's mom is coming for the weekend, so she's invited. We've been working to get the house tidy for her visit, and the challenge this week has helped. I found out my ex may be getting divorced from his second wife - he's talking apartments, and I'm not sure their marriage can be saved. So I told him that if he should need a place to crash for a few days, he's welcome to sleep on our couch. (Yes, my ex and I get along well enough that we could do that, and my marriage is secure enough that Brian wouldn't blow his top over it.) That's two invitations. And I guess that by having a garage sale tomorrow, we're inviting lots of people to stop by and browse and chat! Who knows, maybe someone who stops by will see a little bit of God's love shining through among the trash and treasures. :-)

Making Your Home a Haven, Day 4

Yesterday's challenge: I didn't manage it until the end of the day, but I did manage to take care of myself a little! Success!

Today's theme for Making Your Home a Haven is Fun. I'm really going to have to think about this. Some days it's hard to make room for fun in my life. I know my son does lots of things he considers fun, like playing with the Wii, but sometimes there's not much fun in my day at all. And with me not getting home until after dark, outdoor fun is right out (unless we go outside again and watch Brian start a fire with flint and steel - Julian thinks that's dandy fun!). Hmm, maybe tonight would be a good night for a fire, and maybe I can talk Julian into a round or two of Mario Kart. And perhaps other inspiration will come to me during the day.

OK, gotta get dressed, and I've got to find something "professional" to wear - we're having an open house at work this afternoon for our business partners. Let's hope that after eight years of business casual, there's 1) something in my closet that even qualifies as professional attire, and 2) that it fits. All I know for sure is, this pregnant lady is not wearing heels! LOL

Making Your Home a Haven, Day 3

Yesterday's Clean challenge was what I'd consider a success. We cleaned out a LOT of trash - I'm sure the garbage men wanted to go for an extra truck when they saw the pile on our curb this morning. LOL We've got a lot of good stuff ready for the garage sale on Saturday, and while the kitchen floor did not in fact get mopped and steam cleaned, the old table did get cleaned off and polished and moved outside, and we are now able to neatly organize things still left to go through in the empty space. So it was a good day!

Today's Making Your Home a Haven challenge is Cared For. While I've got lots of little extra things to tend to - shredding excess paper, going through Julian's old artwork and school papers and deciding which ones to keep as memories, steam cleaning a variety of things - one thing that gets shorted in the care department a lot of the time is me. And I know if I'm not feeling my best, and feeling put upon and run down, then I don't have a lot left to give to my family. So tonight, the thing I'll do to care for myself is a good soak and scrub for my feet (since a hot bath is right out), and a good moisturizing treatment. I feel so much better when my feet aren't sore and tired. When I feel good, I have a lot more energy and motivation to work toward making my home a haven for all who enter.

Making Your Home a Haven, Day 2

The theme for today's Making Your Home a Haven challenge is Clean. Boy, is that easy. Today will be nothing BUT cleaning! We're trying to get the study cleaned out so that it can be transformed into the nursery for the baby, and we're trying to get as much out for our garage sale on Saturday as we can. I'm off work today, so we are cleaning up a storm. By the end of the day, we hope to have the old kitchen table dejunked and removed to the garage, and the floor of the breakfast nook freshly mopped. The tea cart is already gone, as we started as soon as Julian got off to school. We may have piles of junk to contend with after the day is done, but the breakfast nook will be clean and ready for a new table and chairs, and progress will be made on the nursery. And at least the front part of the house will smell of Pine-Sol. :)

A little good news!

Brian got a call from his supervisor today. First, he wanted to know if Brian minded if John (his boss) passed Brian's cell number along to their HR person. Brian said of course not (because this means they're checking with contacts internally to see if there's anything with the company that's in this area for Brian). Then John asked if Brian would mind moving from A shift to B shift, and Brian asked how that would affect the holidays. John told him to go in to work on Sunday this week instead of Wednesday, and do a shift and a half right now, and then he'll be off the week of Thanksgiving and the week of Christmas, and work the week after Christmas. So instead of losing a shift due to the holidays (we thought he'd have a three-week stretch with no work at all), he'll now be gaining half a week of overtime! Sucks that he'll be gone this time for a week and a half, but it will work out. And boy, will half a shift of overtime pay be appreciated right around the holidays.

Free Target Re-tote Offer!

I thought this was a pretty neat deal. Target will send you a coupon redeemable for one of their Re-tote reusable bags (made from recycled Target shopping bags!) if you send them your shopping bags! If you're like me, you've no doubt got plenty of Target bags taking up space in your pantry, so put them to good use and get yourself a nifty reusable shopping bag for the cost of a stamp!

Making Your Home a Haven

Monica is sponsoring a Making Your Home a Haven challenge at her blog. Her challenge looks like it's for this week only, and my projects are so big, I'm not sure they can be completed in a week! But this is something I'm working diligently on, so I'm playing along.

Today's challenge theme is Tidy. My house has a LOT of stuff that needs tidying, so I'll have to pick just one or two things to tackle this evening when I'm home from work. So this is my evening plan to make something tidy around my house:

~Make sure all the dinner dishes are washed and put away before bedtime - no dishes left in the sink!
~Put up clean laundry.

Between work and homework and just plain old being tired, I reckon those will be sufficient tidy accomplishments for one evening. I've got to start somewhere, right?

Get the Bean!

See that button on the side with a big coffee bean on it? Click it and go check out Get the Bean. They've got all kinds of yummy coffees and teas and delightful things, and if my blog generates the most traffic to their site in November, I win a prize! I absolutely love coffee, so y'all help a girl out - click the link, go find something good for yourself, and help me win some coffee. :-)

Still trying

TDCJ is looking for teachers for their prison unit in Venus, which is only about 10 miles from Midlothian. Brian said he'd be qualified, although it's kind of scary that he's considering teaching inmates. He's going to apply, and I told him I'm not wild about the idea, either, but at least working for the government, it would be stable employment, and decent salary and benefits. So we'll see what happens.

He applied online for Wal-Mart today. He said he had to take a psychological assessment, and if you passed, your application would be good for a year. If you didn't pass, it would only be good for 60 days and then you were "welcome to reapply". Apparently he doesn't think exactly like Wal-Mart wants its employees to think, because he didn't pass. I told him maybe that was a good thing. LOL So his application there is good until January.

We keep looking and paying things as we can, and things keep getting behind and piling up. I just hope we can scrape by until such time as we can catch up, without anything truly disastrous happening. It's been fifteen years since I graduated from law school - the money troubles started when I first got married in 1994, and it's just gone down and downhill ever since. When we have sufficient money for our needs (because I have to keep believing that one day, we will - if I start thinking that this is just how life is, forever and always, I will go screaming yellow bonkers), I really won't know what to do with myself, because it feels like this hand-to-mouth business is all I've ever known since I started working.

We're off to scope out the garage sales this morning and see if we can find any super deals!

So which way will this thing go?

OK, this is unnerving. Brian said that, per higher-ups in their parent company, Lone Star will be transitioning into a community service-based camp now, supposedly to take effect in February. Not sure what that means exactly, as they're a wilderness program and not a residential program - it's not like the kids can be put on work release for the day to go do community service and then come back to their dorms to sleep. I don't know how the logistics will work out, or how this may affect his job, but it's just more on the pile of things to worry about. I hope he can find something close to home SOON.

On the plus side, this gave him a good chance to talk to his boss about his job search, and how he'd like to find something internal, if possible. John (boss) is going to get in touch with his internal contacts, see what openings there may be, and he also said his dad runs a company here in Dallas, and he'd pass Brian's resume along to his dad, too. Brian told him what he's doing in terms of looking, and also told him that if/when something came open, he'd give John as much notice as he could, but that it might not be much. He said John was pretty understanding about all that, and thankfully isn't one to throw an employee under the bus when he's looking for something else for valid reasons (and not just saying, "this job sucks, I want out").

On the down side again, Brian is working Thanksgiving. He'll be off Christmas, but he won't be working a double shift to make up for it - they have enough staff to basically divide into three groups for Christmas, A shift, B shift, and Christmas shift. So there will be a three-week stretch where Brian has no work at all. And thus, no paycheck. Which really, really stinks.