CAUTION: Woman In Progress

After the crazy soul sucking year-long week I've just survived, I am happy to report that I am going to be AT HOME on a happy-go-lucky staycation next week. I'm going to kick back, relax, do a little DIY-ing and some soul happy-ing baking/cooking and treat myself to some serious reclusive alone time. All that to say...I won't be around at all next week but don't worry. I'll be back. ;-) Until then... Not exactly a happy song but one of my favorites from the Nashville Soundtrack. :-D Edited 7/8/13: Ugh. Just realized the song I thought I put on here didn't post. So now I look like a total spaz. Nothing new about THAT of course, but still...*sigh*

My weekend was: groceries, laundry, napping, eating and watching TV. Then church, folks and more church. And it was GLORIOUS. But not exactly review worthy. I mean, I could wax poetic about the joy of a clean kitchen but then you'd be all, "Who are you and what have you done with Jana?" One thing I did learn Friday night: Egg whites will explode in the microwave. All. Over. The microwave. Ugh. First time cooking an egg white in the microwave (or any part of an egg, really.) but I had two whites left over after the pudding/mousse recipe I experimented with (YUM) and I didn't really want to drag out the skillet to cook them (for Libby, of course) so I thought...Microwave! And then I forgot I'd put 'em in the microwave until they exploded. Friday night was date night with the microwave and a wet dish cloth. Exciting life, I lead. But...chocolate mousse! So anyhow, since I don't really have a weekend review to share, I thought I'd share some t...

I know, I know. It's almost the weekend again and I'm JUSTNOW getting to the review of the previous weekend. I suck, etc. Honestly, though, this week has been completely cray-cray in the highest level of cray-cray. (crazy, for all ya'll who, like my sister, have no idea what cray-cray means. haha) Meetings, interviews, working lunches, presentations (attending--not giving, thank the good Lord above.) I thought after Mama's party craziness ended that life would calm down and be chill for a while. Work had other ideas. Yay! for gainful employment! ;-) So anyhoodles (yes, i'm being obnoxious and no, I don't care) Mama's party happened and nobody died. That isn't to say that I didn't get stabby at least a half dozen times. I thought for sure I'd have to kill Sis2 before it was all over. And I know! She's the favored sister! And I wanted to kill her! But she is also a worrywart and had a half dozen meltdowns that all resulted in her calling...

So yesterday I took off work to have a "girls day" with Mama, Emmy and Lyssa. We went shopping for bedding for the new bed Mama recently purchased for the guest bedroom at her house. She downsized from a full sized bed to a day-bed and let Emmy choose the new bedding for it. Emmy was all for that! Lyssa was bored with the process about ten minutes in. haha Truth be told, so was I. Shopping is not my happiest activity but at least I was with people I love. Sis2 and Efan met us at a local BBQ place for lunch and, well, it was a lot of fun. My baby boy insisted on sitting next to me and let me tell you, he is certainly entertaining. haha Before I show you the brief video Mama recorded while we were waiting for our food, I must explain the upcoming conversation. The plan for yesterday included Lyssa going home with Nana and Emmy to spend the night. When Lyssa started packing for her overnight trip, Efan decided that he was going to go spend the night with Nana as we...

So this weekend was busy. Fun, but busy. Instead of my usual Saturday routine, I went over to Sis2's to finalize the menu details and split up the shopping list. What could have taken twenty minutes took two hours because OF COURSE I had to play with the kids. ;-) They were so excited that I was there on a Saturday. They wanted to play Barbies! And play outside! And draw! Do all sorts of fun stuff! I tried to do as much with them as I could but we had to do the menu/shopping list and I had to shop and be home as close to noon as possible to take Milo out for the folks. I did manage to get home around 1pm or so. Shopping was a bit of drag because by the time I go to the store (11am) everyone in town had finally gotten up and gone shopping, too. Shopping during the busy time of day never fails to remind me why I'm not all that crazy about people. haha I was supposed to go to a cousin's wedding with Mama Saturday night but the Sonic burger I ate for lunch (I know!) sat...

I am super annoyingly frustrated with life right now. Nothing is going right. Sis2 and I have been making all these plans for how to pull off Mama's surprise 60th birthday party and everyone else keeps throwing monkey wrenches into everything. Not to mention the fact that only a precious few have RSVP'd that they're even coming to the party. She's depressed about life stuff (her oldest daughter being a butt, her dad's health issues, work stuff, etc) which really makes it difficult to keep her going off and doing something crazy like making her own plans for next weekend and shutting us out. Sis1 is being a butt. And a monkey wrench. She decided YESTERDAY that Emmy is coming up here next week for her annual summer vacation. Next week is IMPOSSIBLE for me to take any real time off to spend with her because work is taking over my life. I did manage to get Wednesday off with some begging. Work is taking over my life. And that's all the complaining I can do about...

I honestly slept through most of the weekend...stupid cold. But I did manage to attend (and stay awake through) Lyssa's first ballet recital. I know I may be biased but I think she was the best in her group. She didn't have to watch the instructor to keep up--she just knew her stuff! And what she lacks in gracefulness now, she makes up for in enthusiasm and heart. I hope she sticks with it for more than a couple of years. :) We weren't allowed to take flash photography during the recital and it was too dark otherwise so I don't have any photos of her dancing but I do have a few post-recital...  Efan was just not into the photography at all. ;-)  Her Mimi (Goofus's mom) gave her the big bouquet of pink roses. Nana I each gave her a red rose and her parents gave her a Ballerina Barbie DVD that she'd been begging for for months. That's what she's holding in the above photo. After the recital Mimi took us all out for supper. Lyssa, ...

I know, I know. It's THURSDAY and I'm just now finishing up my weekend review. Yesterday was a bear of a day, though. All I got accomplished was 6 hours of meetings/interviews. Awesome. But I didn't want to let the week end before sharing the happiest part(s) of the weekend that almost wasn't. (If you don't know what I mean by that, I suggest reading the previous post first.) So. After I escaped near death (again, no melodrama intended) I came home, ate my burrito (yes, I stuck to my routine and yes I'm pathetic) and hurried up to the pond. It was fishing time. Mama had called me while I was driving home and said that the kids were already at the pond and Efan had already caught two fish--Breem, I think she said. So yeah, I rushed through my burrito and then to the pond to see my babies fish. I did cast a line of my own out there but as the song says, I "caught no fishes." (Ya'll do know that song, right? Peter, James and John ? An old VBS...

I had a really great weekend. Quality fun time spent with family Saturday. Quiet Sunday and Monday. Just an overall lovely weekend. But things could have been very very different and it's only by the Grace of a loving God that I had a lovely weekend. So here's the thing. A praise report, if you will. Saturday morning I got up early to do my usual Saturday morning grocery run. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it here before but every time I get behind the wheel of my car I say a long heartfelt prayer for safety and a smooth trip--no car problems, flat tires, etc. That I harm no one and no one harms me. I praise God for the gift of independence and the blessing of my car. That heartfelt prayer came in very VERY handy during Saturday morning's trip to town. I was almost into the city limits, cruise control set on 55mph. I was quite a ways back when I first noticed a silver car pull up to the end of a driveway and stop for oncoming traffic. For some reason tr...

^ |   A  little Duck Dynasty quote for you on this Friday afternoon. ;-) Anyway, so today I am counting my blessings. I fell like so much of what I put out into the world...my cyber corner of it, at least, is negative or the "down" side of life. The truth is, there is always blessings and joy in every day. Even if it's just the fact that my legs support me enough to still walk when I wake up in the mornings. In no particular order, here are some happy blessings... ~The weather outside is amazing today. Cool but not cold. Warm but not hot. Sun is out. Breeze is blowing. Just one of those perfect days when it would be great to lay outside on a hammock and read all day. I wish all days were perfect days like this. But I suppose if they were all perfect days, we'd take them for granted and wouldn't even notice the glory of a perfect day. ~We got notice yesterday that we're getting raises in July. Small--of the 1.5% variety--but I'll take small over ...

So this day started off with a broken zipper. A zipper that broke AFTER I got to work, of course. No telling how long I'd been walking around flashing the side of my panties before I realized it was broken, either. Worse than that, though--it's one of my all-time favorite skirts. *sigh*  Thankfully, D keeps some saftey pins at her desk and loaned me a handful to preserve/restore my modesty. haha Then a long boring meeting. I hate meetings but I hate them more when they're on subjects I don't feel qualified to provide input on when input is required. Happily I was able to get through the meeting without having to open my lips other than to smile and was deemed "quiet but capable" by the PTB after I declined to offer input on a topic. I'll take quiet and capable anyday. As the old saying goes--it's better to be quiet and appear foolish than to open your mouth and prove yourself a fool. Or however the saying goes. You know which one I'm referring to...

So. I don't know if  ya'll remember but a while back Sis1 and my aunt from Colorado were planning this big surprise party for Mama's 60th birthday. And I don't know if you remember or not but I think I may have said something about probably ending up being me and Sis2 planning and pulling it off. Well. Guess what! I am a friggin' psychic! Because,  ya'll, Sis2 and I are the ones who are doing all the planning! Isn't that fun? *sigh* Aunt CO backed out of coming about a month or so ago and as soon as she did Sis1 was all, "Well, turns out I won't be able to come until late that afternoon anyway due to Emmy having a ball game that day. So ya'll should just do whatever you want." A ballgame, ya'll. Sis1 and Emmy aren't coming until late that Saturday afternoon for Mama's 60th birthday party. The party that five months ago she was all, "It's going to be huge! Everyone Mama's ever met is invited! We need a huge s...

Not rain, not heavy cloud cover nor threat of sever thunderstorms could keep this ladybug away from SAD. (Staff Appreciation Day) And yes, that is a fake cow in the background and no, I was not one of the peeps who "milked" it. Bonus Edit: I found this pic of my friends E and DD that the university posted on their social media that shall not be named account. It's priceless!

So where, exactly, is it written that the childless in the family are responsible for "taking care of" all the mothers in the family on Mother's Day? haha As usual, I hosted Mother's Day lunch at my house. This year M-Day totally snuck up on me and Sis2 and I were last minute "planning" what to do for it. Or, rather, planning the menu. Cooking on Mother's Day is hard because a) I still hafta go to church that morning and b) while Mama is happy (usually) with whatever cooked for her, Daddy is picky. And while technically it's Mama's day, Daddy still has to eat, right? So planning a menu that is Daddy approved and can be prepared fairly quickly after church is a bit of a challenge. A good crock pot recipe would be ideal but there is precious little that Daddy will eat out of a crock pot. So anyway, we finally decided on the menu, I worked up a game plan on how to get it all cooked in time and prayed. A lot. Saturday morning I got up with my l...

Sorry I've been so quiet this week. It's mostly because I've been busy but also because I've been lazy and uninspired. And also whiny. And nobody wants to read, THAT. haha I did have a few interesting dreams I wanted to report about. Sadly, I have forgotten them. I know one was about me being stuck in an elevator with toxic fumes--I held my sweater over my nose because of course that keeps toxic fumes from entering a body's lungs. Even in my dreams I'm not all that bright. The other one is just completely gone from my head though I'm fairly certain it probably had something to do with Duck Dynasty since I have become obsessed with it. Yes. Am am officially in love with some long bearded rich rednecks. I resisted it FOREVER, writing it off as stupid. And I didn't need to watch dumb rednecks because yeah. Rednecks are, like, my life. I mean, hello. This is on the front of Daddy's truck... This girl who often blathers on and on and on in...

So. Apparently "Throwback Thursday" is a thing. I've seen it on both of the social media networks I frequent. And since I'm nothing if not a lemming... This is another of the photos I scanned last week. This, too, was taken at Grandma's house in the Delta probably around 1982 or '83.  I totally dig those bell bottoms I'm wearing. Note: I still wear "flared leg" pants to this day. They're flattering on big girls. Even if you're, like, three. Or thirty-four.

So I was, like, the only one who didn't get the whole "make a gangsta face" memo? Or something? I'm blissfully all, "Oh, they're takin' our picture! Smile!" haha We do look like a bunch of jean jacket gangsta's or something tho, right? Weird. But since this was '90 or '91 (judging strictly by our hair--we weren't allowed to get bangs until we were 12--Sis2 has bangs and I don't.) I suppose maybe we were "in style"? Anyway I'm scanning some pics for the scrapbook Sis1 is allegedly doing for Mama's 60th b-day and came across this and it speaks to me. Just--all that denim! Sis2's pose! The stone wash! It was taken one Thanksgiving (I assume) at my great-grandmother's in the Delta. I don't even remember posing for it, or the holiday it documents. Honestly, they all ran together since us kids usually all disappeared once we got there. There was a park around the corner from Grandma's house tha...

I light of yesterday's dream, I thought it rather fortuitous that I stumbled across this song...

I had the most wonderful dream last night. It was the kind of dream that you're actually disappointed when you wake up. Ever had one of those? It's rare for me but last night's was...well.... I dreamed that Paw-Paw Joe was back with us. We were all crowded in this big banquet hall (that I'd never seen before) and were having some sort of family reunion. I was standing around talking with my sisters, gathering things from the kitchen--you know, busy work--when all of a sudden there he was, just standing in front of me wearing a pale violet button down and khakis. (Don't know where either of those items came from because he'd never worn either in his life. He was a white or blue button down with black slacks kindda guy.) I turned to him and when I realized who it was my heart just swelled up to bursting and I reached for him and hugged him so hard that he laughed and teased me about it. I cried all over him and when he tried to pull away I just pulled him bac...

So yeah. I took off early Friday to make up for some Saturday hours I was having to work. Here's what my afternoon looked like... Efan I played at their house until time to pick Lyssa up from school. Then it was off to the fro-yo place for coffee and white chocolate (for me and Lyssa) and chocolate and dulce de leche (for Efan and Sis2). Then it was watching the fish in the pond in front of the shopping center. They're fascinated by them. Then it was back to their house to play on the swings and ride bikes. Didn't get pics of that, though. Was too busy playing. :) Fridays with kids are even happier than usual Fridays.