Bucket Bustin

This is the year. My 40th year. 

I've got all the way until December to finish out my 30s 

then I'll enter the greatest decade of my life, right?

Now, I'm not one to get freaked out about birthdays. 

In fact, I actually like my birthday.

 30 came and went, 35 no biggie. Now, here comes 40.  

There's nothing I can do about it, so might as well go gracefully. 

No lying, no hiding, just laying it out there. 40. 

Honestly though, there are a couple things

that make me fuss about aging.

I'm getting wrinkly! My hands, my eyes. 

Wrinkly.

Really the only other thing causing me fuss about getting older 

is being called ma'am. I know it's a sign of respect and when it comes from teenagers and young kids it works for me. But yesterday at the grocery store an older lady - at least 70 - 

said to me, 

"Excuse me ma'am."  

I literally turned around and looked behind me 

to see if she was speaking to someone else. 

Nope. 

I was the ma'am. Me! 

My wrinkly ma'am grumblings aside, 

there are things I am definitely looking 

forward to in this next decade.

My children are now each able to clean their own bottoms. 

I get giddy thinking of all the minutes I'll get back in the next 

decade that were lost to butt cleanings during my 30s!

But then again, I might just reallocate those minutes

towards reminders about flushing what they've just wiped.

Most of all I'm looking forward to kicking off 

this new decade with my 40th Bucket List items. 

1. Get a tattoo.

2. Buy an awesome pair of cowgirl boots.

3. Ride a Zipline.

4. Take a trip with my BFF.

I'm happy to say as of yesterday #1 is done! 

Check! Onto the next.

But Chad

I was reading my mom's blog today and she donned a beautiful pearl necklace she had found at Macy's for a shocker steal of $29 buckaroos. Her inspiration had been Kate Spade.

My bestie was at the mall this morning and sent me this fun photo. Her comment was if it wasn't for the $200 price tag she'd have bought it for me.

Dang!

Cuz I WANT THAT!

Off I went to my favorite local shop - amazon.com - to see what I could find that might satisfy my want and bargain desires.  I found this. By Kate Spade.

Better price - only $35.99. But alas, I don't have a fancy phone like that.

Keep looking.

Further searches left me finding the same bag my bestie had donned earlier in the day, by Kate Spade, and yet the lowest price was $148.00.

Dang!

Cuz I WANT THAT!

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my Hubby. I guess if I can't have that bag, at least I have my very own But Chad.

love, anthony

I picked up my latest read for two reasons, the title of course hit a soft spot thanks to my own little man, and the author. I have read Lisa Genova's other two books and enjoyed them both. She tackles current neurological issues and puts a human voice to them.

Still Alice
Left Neglected

Although those two books were great reads and had beautiful insight  Alsheimers and Hemispatial Neglect, her newest book, "love, anthony" actually had me in tears.

It's a story about two women, autism, and unconditional love. It opened my eyes and my heart for families struggling with this condition, for moms - all moms who just want to know their children feel loved, and best of all it reminded me ever so simply why we're each here.

Here's an official review of the book by usa today - don't just take my word for it.

Arsenic & Old Lace

Finally the lace is down. Three years later and I can't take it any more.

 (The brass is gone, the white walls are gone, only the lace remains.)

I don't know if it's because like the old film insanity runs in my family, or if lace on windows just makes me crazy. Either way, it was time for it to go.

Now for the last few days I've hated the bare windows, but it was the only way I could kick myself in the butt to actually make a change. Since I've yet to tackle the ceiling drama, I'm choosing to focus on something much easier. Or so I thought.

Valances, cafe curtains, blinds, shades, swags... now I'm faced with the cereal aisle in options for window coverings. I start these projects knowing what I want and then become overwhelmed with too many choices and end up stalling. With me one thing always leads to the next. Taking down the lace has led me to replace the playroom light fixture, and shop for a new bathroom curtain and vanity fixtures. I've actually started thinking about a new dining table.

Back to the lace.

One wall is beige. Two walls are wine. The floor is white tile. (Rug not an option.) Our dining room windows face east, sliding door south. We get a bunch of sun in this room every day. In fact, Hubby and I have considered moving the table out of the space and putting in a couple chairs to make it our own little sun-sitting room. The kids wouldn't mind eating on the floor every night, would they?

Right after we moved in (too much white, too much brass... too much lace.)

So chime in, what would be your liking? I like the thought of cafe curtains to give us more privacy, but I hate to cover up all that sunlight, especially this time of year when we soak up all we can get. I've found a couple valances but then wonder if I'll be disappointed.

So, how to link arsenic into this post? To my knowledge there isn't any need for that in my latest decorating dilemma. But speaking of poison, here's an interesting and bummer of a story about cyanide.

Our Harley

Last Saturday evening just before kid bedtime Bella began a crazy attack dog bark as she stood at the back slider door. I headed towards the barking in my jammies and turned on a light. I didn't see anyone through the kitchen window but since Bella's barking hadn't ceased I made the trek around the breakfast bar to see if it was a squirrel or masked burglar causing her fuss.

Thankfully since I was armed only with my pajamas it was neither. It was a dog. A big dog. 

In our small town there's two types of dog people. The ones who call the police and turn the dogs in to the vet - leaving the owners to pay a bail-out fine. And the ones who let the dogs in, feed them, then call the owners. Yep, we're the latter.

I opened the slider and the dog gently sniffed my hand. Bella continued her crazy dog fuss and was put in the garage while we let the big guy in. As the kids all gathered around oohing and awwing, I found his collar and started searching out his tags so we could call the owners and get him home. It was after all, about 20 degrees outside.

Upon quick inspection however Hubby and I realized this dog was very underfed, very well behaved and missing tags. I looked a bit closer and discovered on his Harley Davidson dog collar, a pretty red holiday bow, and a wrapped up piece of notebook paper. My gut sank as a I read ...

Of course the first question out of Madeline's mouth was "Can he stay with us?"  In my head a hundred thoughts ran wild. We JUST got our world settled down and now this?  We finally got life down to one dog and now this?  

Our plan was to let him stay the night, call the vet on Monday and then call the Humane Society. My husband woke up early Sunday morning and headed downstairs to check on the dog. He turned on the TV to a program about a man who rescues dogs from kennels and teaches them to hunt. All the while, Harley sat beside him with his head resting on Hubby's knee. Hubby's big dog love could barely stand it.

On Monday, a trip to the local vet brought nothing except the confirmation this sweet boy was about 40 lbs underweight, had a few worms, and needed some TLC.  He's a mix about 5-6 years old. He's neutered. 

Two weeks later, we have two dogs. Harley is officially a Hinz. Harley has proved himself to be a gentleman. He's gentle with the children, plays with and tolerates Bella, sits and shakes for treats, and comes when called. He sneaks up onto the couch at night but stays his distance from the dinner table. With each day he puts on a little more weight, shows a little more character, and gives a few more kisses. He loves to give kisses. 

There are things Harley does and moments we wonder if Buddy and Logan helped lead Harley here. We adore Miss Bella, but we welcome big boy Harley with open arms. Silly how the unexpected things can complete something in us. 

Today we celebrated Bella's first birthday. We decided to make it a dual event. Bella's birthday, Harley's gotcha day. She's one, he's five.  Paws on the counter allowed only for today. ;)

 First they let us sing.

Then they got to share.

Mmmmmm, good.*

Welcome to the family, Harley!

*Peanut Butter Carrot doggie cake found on BrownEyedBaker Blog.

He's claimed his favorite spot.

 First bath.

Bella & Harley - January 2012

Breaking Tradition

There are certainly things we look forward to each year at the holidays. People we can't wait to see along with a few we'd rather avoid. Foods and smells we've craved since childhood. Just like so many, our family holidays are filled with tradition - those ways we've always done it.

This year for the first time in our Thanksgiving histories we broke family tradition on both sides. On hubby's side the date, family, and foods were still the same but the avenue changed. Instead of a small town community building with little space and even less entertainment, we moved to a family farm. A family farm that happened to have a trampoline gymnasium on site.

It was better than Christmas morning for my kids' jaw drops and eye pops when they walked in and realized they could actually utilize the equipment. A real live six-foot deep foam pit! As a mom, having a place where my kids could run and jump and play and be noisy, and not get in trouble, was perfect. It filled their bellies and wore them out, and gave them great memories with their cousins.

On my family side, we just didn't go. No bah humbugs, I just voted to avoid three weekends in a row traveling. We decided to keep it low key and see what happened.

Thanksgiving Eve we spontaneously headed to a movie - at an actual movie theatre mind you. When we watch movies there's a couch and pause button involved, so an actual theatre for our kids (and us) is a BIG deal. We arrived to discover our movie was in 3D so we each (Mom, Dad, 10, 9, 4, 3) got to put on our awesome glasses. We headed in to pick our seats to discover we could have ANY seat we wanted as we were the only people there! I told the kids we rented the theatre as a special Thanksgiving treat (sweet babies believed me for three whole seconds.) Dad got treats and we all sat glued to our chairs (except for one little boy who shall remain nameless) for the duration of "Rise of the Guardians." Very good.

Thanksgiving Day we didn't travel or get dressed up. We stayed in comfy clothes, took the dog for a walk. We had an amazingly warm day, so we drew with chalk on the driveway and played outside. We played video games. We gave thanks.

On a whim stop to the grocery store I picked up a few "canned" items. Madeline and I prepared the quickest Thanksgiving dinner ever - no pressure, no timeline, no turkey.  Green beans casserole with chex crunchies, homemade mashed potatoes, corn, cranberry slime from a can, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie (crustless), and turkey hot dogs. Yes, hot dogs. That was the slam dunk. The dogs earned this Thanksgiving the "Best Thanksgiving Ever!" title from my children - and Hubby. And me too. After dinner by candlelight we played charades,  Ham/Ham/Turkey, and Freeze Dance as planned by our guitar-playing party coordinator, Madeline.

We all six agreed breaking tradition was one of the best things we've ever done! I think there may be more of it in our Christmas future. Although traditions are important for family bonds I have to say this year going against tradition is what led to creating one of our most memorable Thanksgivings ever and most likely some new traditions we'll be repeating next year.

Humble Thanksgiving

Halloween came and went, the Christmas countdown has begun.

Is is just me? Am I the only person who feels bad for Thanksgiving? It seems Thanksgiving is the one holiday Americans should honor above all - and yet it tends to get buried between all the candy and gifts thanks to retail America.

I like Thanksgiving because it's humble. It's not about 'look at my incredible costume', or 'how much candy I scored'. Thanksgiving doesn't need tape or bows. It doesn't flash it's dazzling light displays in your face. It certainly doesn't leave you feeling guilty about a forgotten gift. It's simply asks us to give thanks for all we have. Even the least of us, have so much more than most. 

I stand firm on my soapbox - no Christmas until Thanksgiving has passed. No decorations, no wrapping, no shopping, no lights. And if we're lucky, no snow! First we give thanks. We pause. We enjoy the blessings laid before us - great and small.  

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy your holiday and challenge yourself this week to savor the simplicity of giving thanks. Cherish it. It keeps us humble.