We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family. I hope you did also! We were invited to spend the day with Steve's brother's sister-in-law. Confused? LOL. It probably isn't "normal" but our family does spend a good bit of time with my sister-in-law's family. They are a wonderful group of people. Good food, good conversation, just plain good. :)

So, I have been pretty quiet lately. I have been almost entirely consumed with finding a different vehicle for myself. We have known for a couple months that my Grand Caravan was going to need replaced in the next year or so. We were continuing to hope that we could hold off until our "old" house sold. When it started looking like we might have to replace the van before selling the house we started thinking interim vehicle. You know, something to get me by until we could buy what I want. We were hoping to find something in the 5-7 thousand dollar range. Um, that would be TOTALLY doable if I only needed a 4 or 5 passenger vehicle. But, I need an 8 passenger, or at the very least a 7 passenger -- leaving us to drive separate cars everywhere, not the most desirable.

When we started looking we quickly realized that a vehicle big enough for us is not available in the 5-7k range. The few that we did find had more miles and were older than my current van. A little less than a desirable idea.

Ok, new plan. Bump hoped for price range and get an used vehicle that we plan to keep "forever" (you know, until it dies, like we have this caravan). I quickly realized that there are only two true options if I don't want to go to a hongo van - which I don't. The Toyota Sienna and the Honda Oddessy. Yes, there are a handful of SUVs on the market that seat 8, but they are lower gas mileage and higher initial cost. Since I don't need the features of an SUV, not to mention that getting kids into the 3rd seat requires some doing in an SUV we decided not to look seriously in that direction. I really like both vans, but like the Sienna a bit better. The main pros: they sell for a couple thousand less and Steve drives a Prius. What this means is that our controls would be basically the same. So, after driving his car, I wouldn't get into my van and turn on the windshield wipers instead of the lights.

I have spend HOURS, literally, online looking for vans that would fit our needs. But I was still conflicted. I mean to get a Sienna we are basically doubling our hoped for expenditure for a different vehicle. So, maybe I should get another old Caravan and pop my bench in for the captains. I can get a decent used Caravan for 10ish. Steve isn't a big fan of the idea - a little to redneck, even for him. LOL. But, I realize there is a flaw in my idea. Dodge started using "stow and go" seats in 2005. That means I have to look at an '04 or older. Hmm, looking less desirable again.

So, now the hunt is on for the "right" Sienna for the Crew.

Shoe review - part 1

I admit it - I have been intrigued for a couple of months on the claim of Sketchers new line, the Shape-Ups. My walking shoes were in need of retiring so I was going to immediately go get the Shape-ups, until I realized the MSRP was $110! Oh. After thinking about it for over two months, finding them at the outlet store for $99.99 and having a $10 coupon for that store. I finally went ahead and bought myself a pair. I rationalized spending nearly $100 on myself until the cows came home. But, the fact of the matter is: I actually do feel the difference in my thighs already. I bought them less than a week ago. And since some weeks I do extra walking upwards of 10 miles, good walking shoes are probably in my best interests.

I was dubious, but hopeful. They do take some getting used to as they are shaped on the bottom differently than normal shoes. I find that I can only wear them about 4-6 hours before I need to take them off for a bit. But, yes, definately my legs are feeling a bit more toned, and I haven't done any extra walking in these babies yet. :) I'm looking forward to my first 3.5 miles this weekend sometime.

I'm feeling so good I might actually try to hit a black friday sale in a couple days. LOL. For those who don't know me, I hate, hate, hate shopping. And the more crowded the store, the more I hate shopping. It might come from working at Kmart for 4-5 years. Holidays are HECK if you work retail. People are rude, grabby and totally not understanding that the 18yr old working the electronics department REALLY had no control over how many of those $5 keyboards we got in. But I digress. I am feeling great. And maybe, just maybe this improved feeling/mood might help those extra pounds I have been carrying around since my baby was born, might start to come off. Let's be honest here, I don't mean I have been carrying aruond extra weight since my 2 yr old was born. I mean since my almost 7 yr old was born. Now you are wondering, doesn't she have a 10yr old? Yes, I do, and a 9 yr old too. But, betweeen my 9yr old and my almost 7 yr old, I actually got to 5 under my pre-first pregnancy weight. :-) So, I probably can do it again. LOL.

Off too the chiropractor and well-child visit for my youngest. Happy Thanksgiving all!

The little known mommy secret -

I admit it. It is true. I am a better mommy when I get some time off here and there. I come back refreshed and excited to read Go Dog. Go! for the thousandth time. I want to know what they did while I was gone. And I don't feel like if someone touches me again I'm going to bite their head off. Yep. Even a simple hug can send me into touch overload after too much time being hung on and clung from. My poor hubby. He gets the left overs at the end of the day, when I am way touched out.

It occurred to me that maybe we seasoned moms' haven't shared this tidbit with our new mommy friends. It seems like a simple concept. I mean we all know that we need to leave work at work, at least sometimes. That we simply can't be on-call for work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. We take vacations, we work more or less set hours. When we work more than usual we are compensated for our overtime. And yet, when it comes to taking time away from the family it is all too easy to set your own needs aside and focus on what the family needs/wants. Putting the children's needs first IS part of being mom, but there is a time when what is best for the family, is mom taking a little time to herself.

As mommy, you are on call all the time. If a child develops a fever at 3am, mom gets woke up, not dad. The children don't come into the room saying "Dad, I don't feel well." It's "M-O-H-M-!" Quite honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I like that they want to come to me - but sometimes I need to get away. I need someone else to handle customer service for awhile. And I see that need in other moms too.

Car time and technology

I am going to take my sister's recent blog post and add my own comments. :)

As my sister mentioned, conversations in the car can be a beautiful, beautiful thing! My children have talked to me about things that I know they would never ask me in settings other than in the car. The car allows a bit of "space" and "anonymity." I can't look directly at them while I am driving. Perhaps there is a feeling of less judgement. I don't really know the cause, but I do see the blessing. Some of my most treasured time with my children, especially my older children, is time we are able to talk freely, one-on-one. It is like God is giving me an opportunity to stay close with my children through these pre-teen (and beyond?) years. I would be a fool to not grab that chance!

It saddens me to see dvd players going in cars so much of the time. I understand the potential value for long trips. (I say potential value, because we did a 700+ mile trip, just 6 kids and me with no dvd this summer, it was fine.) But it seems that many parents are allowing the dvd player to play anytime the kids are in the car. Even when they run through the drive thru for dinner. Not only is there a lost opportunity now - the kids are staring at a tv and not talking to their parents, but kids are learning that parents would rather keep them quiet and glued to a tv then to talk to them (kids). When the big things come up, are the kids going to feel that they can come to their parents? Relationships take years of building. Don't waste the chances God puts in front of you!

Love the skin your in!

As you may know, recently pictures of Sammy Sosa have plastered the web. It seems that he uses some cream to soften his face which also has lightened his skin.

Whether the lightening of his skin was intentional or not, it has sparked quite a bit of internet buzz.

Recently my almost two year old has taken a liking to running around the house shirtless singing "I naked, I naked!" She has no care in the world, she is enjoying the feeling of freedom from shirts. While some may find this a little disconcerting I realized the beauty of the situation. God was reminding me to love ourselves as we are. As a two year old she sees nothing wrong with running around without a shirt. She isn't wondering if she looks too fat or if her skin is too light/too dark, if she has a big bug bite on her shoulder or if there is some "too large" mole on her back. She simply doesn't care. I was hoping to add a video here for all of you to enjoy, unfortunately, my camera is not playing nicely with either of my computers. Go figure.

Ah, the lessons I can learn from her! Like Adam and Eve after eating from the forbidden tree, I can not bring myself to be unclothed for much more than the shower every morning. To run around like her, I would be worrying about all that fat around my gut and low hanging boobs, even if I was 100% alone.

The doctor hesitation?

Perhaps it is my fear that I will be viewed as a hypochondriac, or that I am making something of nothing, or that it really is something... I don't know why, but getting me to do anything at the doctor other than a standard annual exam, well, it just doesn't happen. Note, that I do not have this issue with taking my kids in, just me. I adore my doctor, she delivered 4 of our children.

I have a doctor appointment today, standard annual of course. I scheduled it knowing that I would never schedule an appointment about the shoulder that hurts nearly constantly for 4+ months, or the the hair loss I have been experiencing or that I can't seem to lose weight no matter my food intake and exercise level, or my mood swings/depression. Or any of the new things that are going on, pains here and there, etc. I keep thinking I am getting older and there are just aches and pains with getting older. If a friend told me about constant shoulder pain I would tell her to get to the doctor. If a friend told me that suddenly instead of being 28 day cycles she has moved to 21 day or less cycles, I would tell her to check it out. If she told me about cramping and pain not associated with cycles or anything else she could define, I would tell her to go to the doctor. So why can't I take my own advice?

I scheduled myself an annual exam with the hopes that I might actually talk to my doctor about some of these things. Honestly, I still don't know if I really will. When the doctor asks me how I am feeling I will probably tell her "good." My husband has the opposite problem, when work asks if he has any questions for them, they are expecting "nope." Mentally, they are already onto their next item for the day, they don't expect a "actually, yes." But my hubby fought every natural instinct the other day at his review and said "nope." If he can say nope, then maybe, just maybe I can actually tell my doctor about some of the things going on with me.

"We shall see, we shall see..."

The Merce

My Mercedes is one funny gal and smart! She is always saying and doing stuff that just cracks a person up! Like chasing the chipmunk through the house with a toy gun. And no, she didn't let the critter in for the photo op. Welcome to an old house in the country. LOL.

The other night our family was coming home from spending the night with my brother-in-laws family. A couple blocks from home Merce says "You know how to spell bear? B- E- A- R." Wow! Not bad for three. "I can spell duck too. D-U-C-K." Ok, I get it, you are spelling Word World friend names. Ok. Cool! "Can you spell Dog, Merce?" "D-O-G" Great! In the interst of full disclosure, she could not spell pig, sheep or ant. But Kudos to Word World for getting her this far, this young!

Her newest Merce-ism our beloved 3yr old was sitting on daddy's lap and looking intently at him. Finally she says, "Daddy, some of your teeth are trying to get out." LOL.

I have the world's best friend!

I have had the same best friend for over twenty years! Yes, over 20 YEARS. She is awesome!

We of course have had our rough spots over the years. We have both been a little flaky in places. But considering that our friendship started in high school, that really is to be expected. There were times were one or both of us chose the guy we wanted in the moment over each other. I still kick myself for not being there for her when both her brother and her first real love, were fighting for the United States in Desert Storm. You know, the first Gulf War, the one we are having a second go at finishing now. Through all our rough spots, we have always found our way back to each other. I Y "Betty"! She gets me like no one else does, it is like we are two halves of the same person sometimes. I only hope I have been as good a friend to her as she has to me!

Betty and I live in different states. We are not able to see each other all that often. Even our phone conversations are somewhat sporadic. We both have children, spouses, and the activities that come with both. She also has a full time job. All of this means that we don't talk often but when we get a chance to catch up we might be on the phone for an hour or more. Anyone who knows me, and knows that I HATE, HATE, HATE phones - so a phone conversation over 5 minutes is huge for me. LOL.

This weekend Betty and I were able to talk for a bit. You may have noticed a passing comment here or there about my husband's long work hours. It is not all choice on his part to work such crazy hours. There are work politics no matter where you work. He sometimes shares some of his frustrations with me. Usually, work frustrations are just that, but the love of my life discovered some questionable things some of his superiors have been doing to him. My husband is probably THE most ethical man on this planet - seriously (but don't mistake ethical for religious!). The things he discovered directly impact me and our kids; they cause my husband to work under false restrictions, which leads to more time away from the kids and I. As I was outlining the basic happenings to Betty, she says "Then of course you don't want to tell him about the things at home and add to his stress." BINGO! Yes, absolutely! She so gets me!

This is just my public thanking of God for putting Betty in my life! Y

It took me how long to think of this?

My husband works in intellectual property. He once told me that patentable inventions need to fit a need and when they are first discovered many times there is a "duh moment." You know, when everyone knows that THIS is what solves the problem and everyone wonders why no one thought of it earlier. I have had a handful of these myself and thought I would share some of them with you.

It only took SIX kids to figure out that if I put an old towel between the booster seat and my chair, the chair does not get so nasty and the towel is easily washed. It also protects the chairs from getting scuffed up from the booster seat. This had to be my first shared item as it took me six kids to figure this out and many people don't have six kids anymore. I want you to benefit from my er, um, wisdom. :D

The long handled spoons designed for stirring tea, are ideal for making PB&J sandwiches! I HATE getting jelly all over my hands. After the jar hits 1/2 full I can't get a regular spoon in and out of the jar without getting jelly on my hands - UNTIL I made this little discovery.

Finishing the jar of PB with a rubber scraper - duh. Gets so much more than a simple knife can.

I'm sure there are many more that I am just not thinking of right now - and they will show up in later posts. :-D

Miss Domestic hits Columbus, and bounces off

I decided that since we GREW pumpkins this year I should bake said pumpkins and make pumpkin puree. After much research online I decided on a course of action. Cut pumpkin in half (easier said that done - those things do NOT like my kitchen knives), scrape out seeds and stringy stuff, place pumpkin in baking dish upside down, cover in aluminum foil, bake at 350 until soft to the fork prod. Lesson #1: A duh moment here - don't cut the pumpkin with a kitchen knife. You know those little carving tools you get at Halloween - there is a reason they sell them, they work MUCH better than regular knives. Lesson #2: grapefruit or citrus spoons are the way to go with cleaning out the guts!

After the pumpkin is baked, remove flesh from skin. Place vegetable (or is it a fruit?) in blender to make puree. Lesson #3: blenders really aren't up to the task, you really should borrow a food processor. But I got it to work, and even made Pumpkin Muffins with the puree. They were GOOD (note the key word: were).

The muffins in fact were so good I baked another pumpkin a couple days later. Then I roasted the seeds after baking the pumpkin. There is very little that you can't eat from a pumpkin and they are so easy to grow too. I left 2 kickers (uncut pumpkins that will be kicked off the porch to rot) to start next year's "patch."

I just love cooking with food from our garden! Now if only that domestic goddess would decide she wanted to clean or cook dinner.