Yesterday was my sister's 33 birthday!  I got her a card but as usual, it will be late.  *sigh*  I have good intentions with cards, but mine generally always arrive late. 

Yesterday was also a friend from church's 33rd birthday.  Makes it easy for me to remember since it falls on the same day as my sister's.  So to celebrate that, my son and I went to dinner with him, the pastor and family, and two other families from church.  We went to My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, which was so fun!  I had never been there before and we had a good time.  I had a Mediterranean pizza, which included feta cheese and olives, and my son had a cheeseburger and fries.  We did not have dessert, but for my friend's birthday, he was given a slice of baklava and it looked so great!  I think only one of the other families ordered dessert, but if I had been hungry, I would have considered it, because they had an amazing look cheesecake. 

This morning we slept in late and then just did stuff around the house for the rest of the morning.  This afternoon my son went with another friend from church to get fitted for a tux for a wedding he'll be in next month.  I took that hour and went to visit the coffee shop guy, and also got a glass of tea while I was there.  I would love to own a coffee shop someday.... a coffee shop/bookstore was my dream when I was in highschool.... I wanted to live in a city and have a two story building.  The shop would have been on the first story and then I would live on the second story.  Obviously that has not (yet!) become reality, but a girl can dream!

This week's recipe of the week was Cherry Nut Crisp.  It turned out great! My son gave it a 10 and he has eaten half the pan of it!  I also took some to coffee shop guy today so he can rate it, and whatever is left I think I'll take to church tomorrow or else to work on Monday.

Speaking of church, it is my day to take snacks tomorrow.  I have 3 ripe bananas so maybe I'll make some mini muffins and then stop on the way and get some fruit...maybe grapes or little oranges to put as an option, and that will be it. 

Crazy news on the asteroid that hit earlier in the week, isn't it?  Signs of the times..

I am still working on finishing up this absolutely terrible book:  

Currently Toxic People: 10 Ways Of Dealing With People Who Make Your Life Miserable By Lillian Glass see related

Obviously, I am not a huge fan of it. I've taken away a few tidbits of interesting ideas, but mostly it is a waste.

Well, I did end up blocking that random reader that had subscribed silently to my blog.  I got a response to the friend request but then that person's site hadn't had a post since 2010.  Weird.

My son turned 9 years old on Sunday!!!  Such a big boy!  I am proud of how he is turning out to be and am looking forward to seeing him grow and change each year.  I'm very proud of him.

This week has been good so far-it has been cold and rainy since Friday, and I sure do enjoy that, although I am finding it somewhat harder to get out from under the covers in the morning, that's for sure!

Ok- I better get going-have to run to the grocery store and pick up some treats for my son's class for tomorrow.

There is someone named "havery" who has subscribed to my blog.  When I click the link to that name, it says that they have enabled Friends Lock, so I cannot see anything about them or their posts.  That makes me nervous.  If someone would like to read my blog enough so that they feel the need to subscribe to it, then why are they a secret to me?  I clicked the little button to send a friend request and see what happens....but perhaps I should just go and block them from my site right now. I don't know.  What would you do?  I have had random subscribers in the past, but it was always an obvious "junk" thing and not an actual person.  Otherwise, if it was legitimate, I could find a link or a reason for why said person found my blog.  This is totally anonymous.  Weird.  Also a puzzle as to why someone would subscribe to and read my blogs, and not comment on a single thing. 

I watched the movie October Baby at church tonight.  It was really good! I didn't expect too much of it, to be honest.  I figured I would cry and then it would lighten up at the end and I would go home.  I actually enjoyed it and it certainly didn't seem like it actually lasted 2 hours.  It was fun.

My little man came home and started complaining that he was cold, and then shortly after that it was that he felt hot.  His eyes are looking a little puffy so I sincerely hope that he isn't getting sick! He has 2 more days off of school, since Monday is a holiday-so I'm hoping that if he is coming down with something, that those two days will be enough time for him to heal up.  He was lots of fun to hang around with today-he is changing and maturing, and sometimes I feel like I don't have much in common with him, especially as he becomes more interested in sports and "boy" things, but there are those special days here and there when everything lines up quite well and I have a great day to bond with him....and when that happens....all is right with the world.  Love him.

That little man picked the recipe of the week this time:  Irish Creme Chocolate Trifle.  I messed up and forgot to buy the Irish Creme at the store, so ours is just "Chocolate Trifle". Hahah-it still tastes good.  All my pretty glass serving dishes are in the wash, so I had to just photograph it in a regular Tupperware bowl. Here is a snapshot:

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Sunday!

This has turned out to be a pretty nice week!  It was very busy because the flu has hit, so now every time anyone gets the slightest fever or runny nose, their parents are rushing in them in to the doctor for a flu test.  That is very good for business, but also not entirely necessary.  Either way, it keeps us busy!!!

An interesting question/topic came up this week.  It has left me with the following question:  What is your definition of "poor"?  There are so many different ways that people think of things when they are thinking of that term, and it is actually very interesting. 

There is a movie night at church tomorrow-the movie is called October Baby.  I've never seen it.  I think we will probably go. There will be a different movie playing in the kid's room, because I guess October Baby is rated PG-13.  I can't remember which one they are playing for the kids. 

Hmmm...nothing else for tonight.

Did you ever have one of those days where things just kind of...get on your nerves?  I am kind of having one of those days, although not completely either.  There are a few things that are really on my mind in the annoying category, and then a bunch of really good things happened today too, so although I don't want to focus on the negative, I'm going to list out a few things that have me a little on edge.  I'm hoping it'll be therapeutic!  Hahaha

1) My parents.  Since my car broke down when I was helping them move from Yuma to New Mexico, I never made it all the way to see their place.  I've felt bad about that lately, so thought it was time to make a trip to visit.  I talked with my sister and she said she'd like to go also but didn't want to stay the whole weekend.  That is actually preferable for me, because I always like to have a day to recuperate and do laundry and all that kind of thing.  So-we made plans to have me pick her up on Friday night and then we'll all ride together (us and our kids) to my parents place, and then spend Friday night and come home Saturday night-no specific time.  I was reviewing the plan with my mom this morning and she got all irritated with me because they wanted us to stay longer.  It got to the point where I got a little defensive.... they always seem to blame these things on me, even though in this case, my sister was the one who specified that she didn't want to spend the whole weekend.  I didn't say anything about that part because I don't want to cause trouble for my sister.  Anyway, I got off the phone and went to work.  I got off tonight and talked to my sister and found out that my mom called her up after we talked and told her that she knew the only reason that I was wanting to come just for one night is because I don't want to miss church on Sunday, and that she is worried that I am getting "sucked in" to the church and getting too involved and that it will only cause trouble, etc.  I was just so ticked off by that.  That is crazy.  I'll bet you if I was in some sort of beer drinking club that then they'd be supportive.  It is just because they don't believe the same things in the same way that I do, that somehow everything that doesn't go their way always gets put off on that.  There is more to that story- but the bottom line is that I am saddened and also today...irritated, by the fact that they just don't respect the things that I do, and yet even so, instead of saying anything to me, they will go behind my back and say things to my sister.  I can't say anything about it without causing her grief, so I won't do that either, but it makes me so mad. 

2) A coworker.  She is bringing WAY too much of her personal life in to work and I can already tell that if she doesn't get a grip, it will not continue to go well for her.  That has absolutely nothing to do with me, it just makes me uncomfortable for her.

3) Another coworker, who is also a friend.  This one is a bit sticky because she is also a member at my church.  She is a good person, but very....strange.  (aren't we all?).  She doesn't like her job, but won't look for another one.  She continues to work there unhappily ,and her complaints are becoming more verbal and she is having an even more negative attitude than usual while at work.  Like all of us, she is being pulled to cross cover different positions, and she just doesn't put herself into the work. She doesn't even seem to be trying to do a good job...she just complains and complains and complains.  On the personal (outside of work) angle, things with her are always very touchy.  If she is in a good place mentally, then all is well.  If not, then she acts like a mean dinosaur and seems to expect people to put up with it, and also to try and dig from her what is bothering her.  I do know that she truly suffers from depression, but sometimes it seems that she uses that as a crutch for having a bad attitude all the time.  I don't know....I know she struggles and I try to be a good friend for her, because I know that she truly needs one... but sometimes I get so frustrated.  I feel like if anything or anybody upsets her balance or does something she doesn't agree with that she feels she has the right to act like a crazy maniac. She has gotten pretty good at the "pity me" thing, and it is sometimes very draining. 

All in all, though- life is good to me.  I have a great son, he is healthy and happy.  I am healthy and I have great friends and family.  I have a job that pays my bills and I have everything that I need.  So really....nothing to actually dwell on or spend time moping around about.  It was just a "vent" post!

This was one interesting day! We had two employees call in sick, so I was pulled from my job and covered in the front office.  It was SO busy!!!  I ran around like a maniac all day long and still didn't really manage to keep up.  I was helping one of the girls who normally works up there all the time, and I was thankful because she was so patient with me.  I know the job, but since I don't do it every single day, it was crazy to try and step back into it, especially on a busy Monday.  I hope the sick girl returns to work tomorrow and is all healed!!!! 

I had a really, really great weekend!  There is a guy from church... who I might like.  He is a great Christian man... but we'll see what happens.  I hesitate to even say to much because I don't know if anything will happen, and I don't want to think too much on it, because if it is supposed to happen, it will----but I did have a good conversation with him over the phone Friday night, and then Sunday after church we went hiking for several hours.  I had a great time and it made the whole weekend nice.  I don't know that anything more will come of it, but we'll see....     

Hope that everyone's week is off to a great start!

Oh! What a great idea that you all had for the pumpkin pie yogurt!  I didn't throw it away yet, so I will definitely be looking up a recipe that I can incorporate it into.  Actually, I am pretty sure I saved a pumpkin cranberry bread recipe and I bet it would work great in there! 

Thank you all for the ideas!!!

Well, the pumpkin pie flavored yogurt was on clearance for a very good reason! That stuff is nasty!!!   Oh well, half the pack was vanilla, so we'll still use that, and the value is still good for that amount of only vanilla.  So, I'm still happy with the deal!

The church sermon was very good today.  The pastor talked about the gifts from the Magi, and the history behind that story.  It was good and he was very passionate about what he was saying. 

This afternoon I made a new recipe- Apple Raisin Oven Pancake.  It was ok=it had more of an egg taste that I expected, which was a little odd.  I won't make it again, but I probably will eat all of it without having any go to waste, so that is good.  Here is a picture of it-the raisins sink to the bottom so you can't see them, but they are in there!

I am reading Toxic People.  This is a book my sister gave to me.  She read it and wanted me to read it, so I am, and then I'll return it to her.  It is about different types of personalities and how to deal with each one.  I find some of the stories hard to believe, and I haven't yet gotten to the part of how to deal with each personality-I am still in the section where the writer (Lillian Glass) is describing each type of personality that she feels she has identified.  I'm not sure how I'll end up liking the book as far as using the suggestions it offers, but it is interesting to read.

Off I go-working on a few last loads of laundry and cleaning up a few things before going back to the work week.

Hope that everyone here has had a great Sunday!

Currently Toxic People: 10 Ways Of Dealing With People Who Make Your Life Miserable By Lillian Glass see related

I had to pick up a few things at the store tonight and I was happy to find Karo syrup (light AND dark) on the clearance rack for 50 cents each!  That is great! They were marked down from $4.88 cents each!  I bought one each, light and dark.  That is a cool deal to find.  I also found some pumpkin pie flavored yogurt that was marked way down, below 50% off.  I'm hoping it'll taste good.  I think it'll kind of be a weird taste sensation because when I think of pumpkin pie flavored things, I think of the actual pie! Either way,  I figured that for that price, it has potential. 

I did not stay up until midnight last night.  I think I fell asleep around 9:30 or 10:00.  I woke back up at 11:45 because I had to use the restroom....and also I heard some fireworks going off, so maybe that is what woke me up in the first place.  I'm not sure.  Either way I fell back asleep before midnight! 

This morning I slept in until 8:00 and when I woke up I started reading a book and read until 11:00am.  After that I got up and took a shower and then fell back asleep on the couch until 2:30pm!  I will be lucky if I get any sleep at all tonight!  That is a LOT of sleeping!  I don't know why I was so tired...maybe just from sleeping TOO much?  I don't know.  Either way, after I woke up, I did a couple loads of laundry and watched a couple of movies on TV.  Other than that...nothing! My son stayed with his dad today-they watched the football games that were on. 

The two movies I watched were Sleepless in Seattle.  That was actually the first time I've watched that all.  I had just seen bits and pieces of it before today.  The other one was How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days.  I had seen that one before but I couldn't remember anything about it, so it was fun to rewatch.

Some of you may remember me talking about the guy from church who was trying to look my blog up that time.  Anyway, after he became convinced that I was not, in fact, going to marry him...he moved on.  He signed up for a dating website and met a lady.  They started dating 3 months ago and he proposed to her on Christmas Day.  That is something, isn't it!?  Wow!  Anyway, he has brought her to church for the last couple of months, and I actually really like her!  She is super nice and they do seem like a good match for each other.  I am happy for their engagement, even though it did seem to go wayyyyy quicker than I would think.  I am glad that he was able to find someone who makes him really happy and is on the same page with him about things.