i heart primroses

I feel in love with these pretties a several years ago when I saw them in a magazine. I just love how bright and happy looking they are. So when I saw that they were on sale at Calloway's, I decided to go and get some for my front porch. Don't they make you wish for spring?

unsolicited advice

Recently one of my best friends announced that she and her husband are expecting their first baby. So exciting! They have been waiting so long and now it's finally their turn! So, being the wise mother of 3 that I am (stop laughing), I decided to put together some advice for her.

1. Enjoy being pregnant. Those sweet little kicks and somersaults don't last and are the beginning of you bonding with your baby. Savor it!

2. Start stashing your extra fast-food napkins in your glove box. You never know when (or what) you will have to clean off your kid and his car seat.

3. Pregnancy and breast feeding ruins your boobs. Period. Just go ahead and wrap your head around that now.

4. You don't know what it means to be tired. Sorry to break it you, but all the times in your life that you have thought you were tired will pale in comparison to life with a 4 week old. Go ahead and wrap your head around that too.

5. Be prepared to miss your mom more than you ever imagined. Becoming a mother when you don't have a mother is very difficult. Friends cannot take her place, but they can listen to you cry about it...

6. Invest heavily in products from the Clorox and Lysol companies. But be warned, your house will never really be clean enough. You'll get over it. Babies have survived dirt and germs for generations.

7. You will become far more familiar with poop that you ever thought possible, hence the need for the aforementioned Clorox products.

8. There are a lot of parenting books, but unfortunately none written specifically for your child. Use the bits and pieces from books that you like, trust your instincts and wing it.

9. Make time for yourself. Even if it only means taking 15 minutes to shower, take the time to do something for yourself every day. Read a chapter in a book, watch a TV show, browse the internet, whatever. Maintaining your sense of self as a person and not just a mother is important.

10. Make your husband a priority. As hard as it might be to muster the energy, try and set aside a few minutes for him each day. Ask about things that matter to him, aside from the baby. I promise, you will both benefit. Trust me.

society of the sick

Two days ago I boarded a plane just before dawn and made my way to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota to be with my parents as my Dad underwent heart surgery. The Mayo Clinic is a world renowned hospital where people from all over the world come to seek help and hope for their medical needs. There are so many people here that it feels as though there is a separate sect of our society whose lives have come to revolve around doctors' appointments, various forms of testing and hospital stays, a "society of the sick," if you will. As I walk the halls of this famous institution, I cannot help but notice their faces.

There are families of all sizes and walks of life who have gathered here to be with loved ones, each of whom means as much to their family as my Dad means to me. There are sick children, whose parents wear brave, capable faces. There are elderly couples, who have spent their lives together, holding hands as they struggle to navigate the maze of underground tunnels and skybridges on their way to the next appointment. They walk slowly, unsure both of where they are going and what the future will hold. And, there are those who have traveled here alone whose faces are taut with worry.

I do not spend much time in hospitals. I have been oblivious to those who do. There are those to whom hospitals must feel like a second home, distressing though it may be. Loved ones put their lives on hold to help care and advocate for the sick. Huge sacrifices are made in the blink of an eye.

Fortunately, the Mayo Clinic is able to help and offer hope to many of the patients and loved ones who come here -- as it has done for our family. But, I know that not everyone can be helped.

I am glad that I have made this trip, not only to offer support and companionship to my parents but also to learn a lesson of gratitude. My husband and I are healthy, our families are healthy and our children are healthy. We are truly blessed and I am grateful...

back in the swing of things

We officially got "back in the swing of things" this week. Jeff went back for his first full work week in quite some time and on Tuesday, Avery and Hannah headed back to school. With everyone else back at their normal routines, I had no choice but to return from my housecleaning hiatus and get down to business.

Now its the end of the week and we are all exhausted. Avery moaned about having to go to school this morning and can't seem to keep her mind focused long enough to learn her spelling words. Hannah is sleeping late, very late. And I am not even finished with my coffee and am already trying to talk myself out of going to the grocery store this morning. Who needs bread and milk anyway???

more snow

Yesterday marked the 3rd time we have had snow so far this winter. Believe me, snow is typically a rare thing around here. But, this winter seems to have a mind of it's own.

according to martha...

I was lucky enough to get this giant book as a Christmas gift. I love it! It is over 700 pages full of all sorts of useful information about taking care of your home. I have only just begun to flip thru and read, but I have already learned quite a few new things! Anyway, Martha isn't for everybody but I thought I'd share a bit from her book just for fun.

Six Things To Do Everyday

Get into the habit of completing these basic tasks daily. With just a few minutes' work, you'll easily be able to keep chaos at bay.

1. Make the bed
Tidiness begets tidiness. A crisply made bed makes the whole room seem more orderly, which makes it less likely that you'll let other things-such as clothes and papers-pile up around it.

2. Manage Clutter
Whenever you leave a room, take a quick look around for anything that isn't where it should be. Pick it up and put it where it belongs. Insist that everyone in the household do the same.

3. Sort The Mail
Take a few minutes to open, read, and sort the mail as soon as you bring it inside. Keep a trash bin near your sorting area for junk mail. Drop other mail into one of four in-boxes: personal correspondence, bills, catalogs, and filing.

4. Clean As You Cook
Instead of filling the sink with pots and dishes, wash them or put them in the dishwasher as you prepare a meal.

5. Wipe Up Spills While They're Fresh
Whether it's tomato sauce on the cooktop or makeup on the bathroom counter, almost anything is faster and easier to remove if you attend to it immediately.

6. Sweep The Kitchen Floor
Every evening once you've finished washing up after dinner, sweep the floor. This will keep tough-to-clean dirt and grime from building up, which will make the weekly mopping much quicker.

christmas memories

This year, our Christmas was one to remember. Unfortunately, I don't mean that in a good way. Our Christmas Eve was the worst ever. Seriously.

Our plans for the day consisted of hanging out, waiting for the snow and doing some cooking. My parents were supposed to be over at 4:30 pm to exchange gifts, eat dinner and then go to church. The "fun" all started about 9 am on Christmas Eve when our electricity went out. After several frustrating attempts to call the electric company to report the outage and get some information regarding when we could expect our lights to come back on, I learned that we could expect our power to be restored around 11:30 am. So, we tried to make the best of the situation. The snow started around lunchtime and was so pretty (and exciting)! I read somewhere that the last time we had a white Christmas in Dallas was in 1926!

The snow continued to fall and fall and the winds picked up so that we really and truly had near-blizzard conditions. When our power still wasn't back on by 2:30 pm. Jeff ventured out into the blizzard to talk to the Oncor repairman working up the street. He came back to report that there were 2 bad power lines and a blown transformer in our neighborhood and that Oncor hoped to have power restored by 5 or 6 that evening. Panic started to set in for me at this point. I had no way to cook our Christmas dinner, and I even started to fear that the power wouldn't come back on at all that night. What about Santa??? Where would we sleep?

We decided to ditch the plans for church and take the food to my parents' house (half an hour away) to cook, eat and open presents. So, we loaded the car and braved the blizzard. The drive over was a pretty one with all the snow and the lights.

At my parents' house we were warm, we cooked and enjoyed opening presents and spending time together. All was good. When we were ready to head for home, it was dark, it had stopped snowing and the roads were frozen. We made it to the first overpass on the highway before we hit a patch of ice and slid into another car which then slid into another car. Sigh.

Thankfully, there were no injuries, just some busted up bumpers, broken lights and bent up panels. After the accident, one of the other drivers insisted on calling the police rather than just exchanging insurance information. So we had to wait for the officer and then wait for everything to play out. We finally got home about 2 hours after we had left my parents' house and tucked the kids into bed just after 10 pm. Santas elves got busy right away getting things ready for Christmas morning. Jeff and I finally got to bed around 1 am.

Christmas day was much better! The kids loved all of their gifts and Jeff and I were able to put the previous day's woes behind us and enjoy the day. But we sure hope to never have another Christmas Eve like that one!