Lapiz De La Guerra

Pachyderms, Leaks, and R.O.U.S.'s

2012-01-27T20:00:00.000-06:00

I need a moment to bitch.

I am so effing tired of living in apartments. I am tired of poorquality buildings in which every noise can be heard. I am tired of inconsiderate neighbors who don’t give a rat’s ass about theirstomping and banging at all hours of the day and night. I am tired of giant unknown critters living in my ceiling, banging about on the pipes and scratching at my ceiling. I am tired of being tired becauseI can’t sleep at night, thanks to the pack of pachyderms livingupstairs and the R.O.U.S.

I’m also irritated with the apartment complex staff for sending me alovely warning notice stating that I have three days to remove thenon-patio furniture from my patio. Apparently, using a shelf todisplay my plants is considered non-patio furniture. This isapparently much higher on the priority list for them than noisecomplaints and critters And I’m paying close to agrand a month for what now?

[Big exhale]

Thank you for allowing me that. As you can see, things have beenpretty frustrating the last few days. The people who moved in aboveus are a family of five, and they don’t speak English at all, sotrying to ask them to soften their footsteps is nigh to impossible.All of the stomping has been setting my teeth on edge and I’m gettingreally tired of having this conversation:

[Thumping upstairs]
Billa: Mommy, what dat noisy?
Me: It’s the people upstairs, honey.

One to five minutes later...
[Thumping upstairs]
Billa: Mommy, what dat noisy?
Me: It’s the people upstairs, honey.

One to five minutes later...
[Thumping upstairs]
Billa: Mommy, what dat noisy?
Me: [gritting teeth] What do you think it is, sweetheart?
Billa: [shrugs] I not know.
Me: [jumps out of window screaming]

Yes, this happens on a regular reoccurring basis, at least 30 times aday (sans the window jumping, of course). I know I am prone to exaggeration, but when my guests comment onhow the walls are shaking and look at me in wide-eyed wonder like I’ma martyr, I ain’t telling tall tales people. This shit is for real.And I’ve just about had it!

The R.O.U.S. was one thing. Annoying yes, but at least it didn’t keepus all up at odd hours of the night. And an R.O.U.S. can easily beremoved and destroyed if need be. Evicting an entire family solely onthe basis that they are noisy and rude is not legal. It's been done, but I'm not that cold-hearted.

Oh! and don’t get me started on the leak in Billa’s bathroom. Y’know,the one we didn’t discover until our new neighbors moved in a coupleof days ago. Since they’ve moved in and have been using the showerthat sits above Billa’s bathroom, a massive leak has been discovered.I’m talking at least a gallon of water on the floor and dripping intothe tub from a 5 minute shower upstairs. The soffit is so soft thatMichael accidentally pushed his finger through it when he barelytouched it. The floorboards are soaked and soggy as well. AWESOME.

I really like this community. I really want to. But between theawful animal smell when we moved in (which now I wonder if it's from the R.O.U.S. and not the previous tenant's dog), the broken oven, the noisyneighbors, the R.O.U.S., being reprimanded for my plant stand, and thehorrendous leak in the second bathroom, I have just about had all Ican take. And we’re barely into the second month of living there,y’all. I have never wanted a house so badly in my life. If this isthe Big Man’s way of motivating us towards that goal, He doesn’t needto tell me twice!

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it,

Kelly

Sayonara Bacon!

2012-01-23T20:02:00.001-06:00

Tonight, I said adieu to bacon.

I finished reading Rip Esselstyn's book, The Engine 2 Diet, this weekend and we have decided to go on the diet for the next month. That means no dairy, no oils, no sweets and no meats. Especially bacon! But since we don't like to encourage wastfulness around here we decided to fry up the last of the bacon and make some gingerbread pancakes as a last hurrah and send off to our old eating habits. I was trying to be all sneaky like about it, but as if it sensed it's own impending doom (because eating it is not doom enough,) every piece came out perfectly crispy and chewy, with no burnt edges, just the way I like it.

Little bastards.

But no more!

We've already been increasing our fruit and veg intake over the last week, and cutting out some of our dairy. I haven't had milk or eggs in a week (save for the lone egg that was in the pancakes tonight), and we switched out our usual dairy creamer for a soy one over the weekend. It's pretty tasty actually, and so is almond milk. Cheese has been a little bit harder. I totally bought a wedge of Manchego cheese just before I read the book, and we had a bunch of cheese sticks and sliced Muenster hanging around here too. And I admit, i bought a small container of feta because while I don't mind veggies on my pizza, I can't stand the thought of not having some semblance of cheese on top of it. But once it's gone, that's it! No more!

I'm really grateful to my mother in law for taking Billa on Saturday, because it meant I could spend four hours grocery shopping at the farmer's market, Sprouts, and HEB. I normally don't take that long, and certainly won't in the future, but it gave me the time to get better acquainted with the layouts of my stores and read labels on a bunch of stuff. It was super weird checking out without dairy, meat, and especially eggs in my cart. It was even weirder taking the groceries inside and realizing I don't have to worry about not smashing the eggs anymore!

This week, our menu is going to include a potato leek soup, pasta primavera, a wild rice pilaf, black bean tacos (a regular fave in this household...cheap, easy, and super yummy!), and veggie pizza. Lunches will be finishing off the leftovers from these tasty meals, but also hummus and pita with veggies and salads. Breakfast is pretty much the same-ol'-same-ol' of cereal or oatmeal, but adding in fruit. Dessert has been changed to fruit, and most of our snacks have been too. I've been buying chips from the Food Should Taste Good brand (soooo addicting!) and stocking up on whole grain pretzels and crackers as we run out of the old not-so-good-for-you snacks. I'm looking forward to this week's meal plan!

The biggest challenge thus far is Sybilla. Michael and I have been fairly easy to convince that this is the way to go, but Billa ain't having anything to do with it! She's been good about eating a lot of fruit and I've successfully added carrot juice to her OJ and other juices, and maybe just possibly convinced her that chocolate soy milk is super yummy, but she's such a picky eater already that it's been frustrating. We keep telling her that the rule is you have to try one bite and that sometimes helps, although tempers have flared mightily over that one bite on more than one occasion. I think it will get easier over time as we keep giving her the same foods and show her what we're eating, as well as having her help cook, but only time will tell!

Oh bacon, I would say 'it's not you, it's me', but the truth is, it is you. You and all your fatty salty goodness. You're breaking my heart, quite literally. It's time you packed your bags and moved out. Goodbye, sweet bacon! Hellooooo, plant-based diet!

Kelly

2012-01-14T18:36:00.000-06:00

Hello bloggy world, and Happy New Year!

It’s been awhile since we’ve chatted. A lot has happened since then!We moved to a new apartment, Michael’s sister Michelle got married, and we made it through the holiday season in one piece. Phew!

The dust has been settling slowly but surely, and these are the thingson my horizon:

Resolutions – I’ve refrained from making an actual list this year, butmy tradition of keeping a theme for the year has not changed. Afterhearing the same phrase pop up a few times on different occasions atchurch, I’ve decided the phrase “be faithful in the little things” ismy theme for this year. It comes from Matthew 23:25 and Luke 16:10and I think it’s a really powerful phrase to hold close to my heart. Ithink it’s God’s way of telling me that I need to slow down and payattention to everything around me. I have a tendency to rushthings to get to the end result faster, sometimes cutting corners or people, and while I might get what I was looking for, I find myself dissatisfied because I didn't truly enjoy the journey and the experience. Iknow this isn’t necessarily the original intent of that scripturepassage, but God speaks to each of us in His own way. And for me, I feel that Ineed to slow down and be faithful in the little things this year.

Esme Barrera & Ben Breedlove – if you’re not from Austin, you may notknow who either of these people are, but they are extraordinarynonetheless. Ben passed away from a chronic heart ailment at the ageof 18 on Christmas Day. He left behind an incredible YouTube videoabout his near death experiences that inspired a lot of people andtouched a lot of hearts (the link above takes you to Part 1 of his video, which will then direct you to Part 2 when you're ready). Esme Barrera was brutally murdered in herhome on NYE and her death has rocked the live music and artscommunities here in Austin. She was virtually unknown to the rest of the world, but herkindness, generosity, passion for music and helping others(particularly kids), along with her cheerfulness are all anyone cantalk about. An article in the local paper moved me so much, I pastedit on my wall in my cubicle as a reminder of the kind of person I wantto be like. Hearing the stories of these two remarkable young peoplehas left me humbled and inspired.

Forks Over Knives – Michael and I watched this documentary the othernight. We’ve been meaning to eathealthier for a long time, but after seeing the documentary and doing somesubsequent research, changing oureating habits is long overdue. My biggest challenges will be ditching the bacon, cheese, andsugary treats, but the possible benefits of a whole foods plant baseddiet are really motivating. If it can reverse diabetes and heart disease, why not asthma, allergies, and chronic anxiety (my triple A’s!)?

Babies – after seeing so many babies over the holiday season, bothMichael and I were hit by baby fever HARD. We’ve decided that we’regoing to go ahead and start trying for baby #2 this year. This timethough, we’re not going to stress about it like we did with Sybilla.If the Big Man Upstairs decides to grant us another child in our life,we will accept that blessing according to His schedule. If it’s meantto be, it will be. And if it's not, we're ok with that too.

Financial Peace University – our church is starting off the year witha great series about finances, and they’re starting FPU classes.Michael and I have waffled on it before, but this time, we are
absolutely certain we want to do it. We’re tired of feeling like wecan’t really live our lives because of our finances. It makes me cringe when I think about how we've treated our money in the past. It makes my brain hurt to even think about changing the way I view money (much less actually change that viewpoint), butwhen I think about continuing to live my life the way we have, itmakes me sad and miserable. I’d rather buckle down for one year of mylife and enjoy the years after that than live all of my life inmisery.

Writing – I’ve been putting off a lot of my writing the last fewmonths because of work, moving, the wedding, etc, etc, etc. I threwmyself a huge pity party and woke up the next morning with a mental hangover. As I sat there kicking around the imaginary beerbottles, I decided enough was enough and vowed that 2012 is the yearthat I’m dumping my inner critic and telling her to piss off. I’mgoing to get published, y’all. I don’t know when, I don’t know how.But it’s gonna happen. I guarantee it.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Happy (belated) New Year,
Kelly

Ten Years Later...

2011-09-11T07:55:00.010-05:00

I was sound asleep in my bed, or at least trying to be. One of my roommates had already departed for class, and the other was clunking around in the bathroom, oblivious to the fact that I was still in bed. I dozed off as best as I could, until she popped into my room, a worried look on her face, and the phone in her hands. It was for me.

"Hello?" I said groggily.
"Hey, it's me," my newly minted ex-boyfriend said. "Turn on your TV. Now."
"Why?" I growled.
"Just do it," he said.
"I'm already doing it." I mumbled irritatedly, stumbling into the living room. Even though the breakup was mostly mutual, it was still hard to hear his voice and know that we were finished. Leela already had the TV on, sound muted with closed captioning running as always, her lips moving along as she read the words aloud softly.

I nearly dropped the phone as my hand flew to mouth.

"Holy f*ck," I said. "What happened?"

That is the question we all asked for hours, days, weeks, months, and even years later.

My roommates and I sat numbly around the television as the chaos unfolded. One tower fell, then the second. We cried silently as we watched footage of people jumping from the higher floors, determined to let their end be of their own choosing. We stumbled through the day in a fog, seeking the comfort of routine as we went to class. One professor asked us gently if we wanted him to teach, if it would help, but despite our best efforts, the lecture dissolved into nothing. One girl left the room in tears and we flipped the TV back on, desperate for more information.

I have not personally met or known someone who lost a loved one in the 9/11 attacks, but I have yet to meet a person who was not affected by those attacks in some way. Ten years later, the horror and shock have dissipated. The grief is gone, replaced by a dull ache for things long gone. Those of us old enough to understand what happened that day live with one eye over our shoulder. We live in fear of each other, of people different from us. We live a modern day witch hunt. We live in an age when security is tightened with each passing day, in an effort to keep up safe. I mourn the fact that my children will never bear witness to some of the things I experienced as a child because they are now deemed threats to our safety. They will become the "I walked two miles in the snow, uphill, both ways" stories of my generation. Those stories start with "Before 9/11..."

Is that what it was like when Jesus walked the earth? Did they tell stories the same way we do now? "I remember, before Jesus died..." Or how about Pearl Harbor? Or when the atomic bomb dropped? Or when the plague swept through the Europe? Or the Inquisition? It seems that we as a species mark our timelines with milestones of horror. We are forever comparing our lives to before and after that moment when the world stopped spinning and we all become acutely aware of our mortality and the value of life. It's almost as if we consider these events to be the passage into adulthood, that moment when we lose our innocence and awaken to the brutality of the world. It makes me wonder what event will transpire in my daughter's lifetime to precipitate the loss of her innocence. What kind of brutal world will she wake up to?

As we all take time to remember this day in our past, I pray for a better tomorrow.

Kelly

Comfort Cookies

2011-08-21T22:01:00.002-05:00

The day started out like any other Sunday. Got up early, volunteered at church, spent the afternoon doing chores and whatnot. School here in Austin starts tomorrow and I promised my best friend to help her finish the last of the tasks for her classroom. As I was getting into her car, my phone rang and I saw it was my mom. Too much was happening in that moment, so I let it slide to voicemail.

Two hours later when I finally check my messages, tears sprang to my eyes as I heard my mom's voice:
"Honey, it's your mom. I wanted to call and let you know that your grandmother passed away in her sleep last night. Call your dad when you get a chance." My best friend looked over at me from the driver's seat.
"What is it?" she asked.
My voice trembled. "My grandmother died."
My friend was silent and the tears fell from my eyes as the realization of what I said out loud hit me. "I hadn't seen her in forever. I was going to take PTO on Wednesday and go visit her." I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to think clearly. The kids in the backseat took notice and my friend's son piped up.
"Mommy, what's wrong with Auntie Kelly?"
"Auntie Kelly is sad, buddy. She got a very sad message."

The next few hours went by in a blur. We picked up my husband from work, started dinner, got settled in for the evening. I suddenly had the urge to bake cookies, something I hadn't done in a couple of months. It's been so hot and I got burned out on baking that I'd been taking a sabbatical from it. But all of sudden, it was damn important that I make those cookies. So important, I sent my husband to the store to go get eggs (I'd hardboiled the remaining ones earlier in the afternoon) and I ended up making my own brown sugar instead of sending him back out again for more.

Creaming butter and sugar and eggs together, I was taken back to the first time I made cookies with my grandmother. I remembered the feel of her hand on mine as we held the hand mixer together. I could hear her voice, a hint of Texas drawl as she issues instructions to me.

As I pulled the vanilla and baking soda from the cupboard, I saw chocolate pudding mix, muffin mix, cake mix, and other baking essentials stored there. I could see so clearly my grandmother's own cupboard; it was always full of the necessary items to make up a batch of cookies or a cake or jello. I loved spending time at her house during the summer because it meant I got to make something in the kitchen! I shook my head as I realized that I had inadvertently been storing things the way she did.

As the dough finally come together, I licked the batter from the spoon. The combination of salt and sweet mixed with the taste of my tears as they sprang unbidden from my eyes. I scooped a huge piece of dough, shoved it in my mouth and ran for the bedroom, where I crumpled to the floor and bawled as I simultaneously savored the fresh dough melting in my mouth. All of my memories with her came flooding through my brain in a torrent.

I've lost many relatives over the years, but none has hit me like the loss of my grandmother. Both of my families of origin haven't been the best at keeping up with each other. We have a tendency to let our human imperfections get the best of us and go long periods without speaking to one another or not at all. I haven't been the best granddaughter. In fact, I was a terrible one. I lived in the same city, a mere 20 minutes away from her, and yet I visited with her but once or twice a year. In college, just after my grandmother was diagnosed with congenital heart failure, my aunt paid me to visit my grandmother and help her with the cleaning and chores once a week. I spent my Saturday mornings scrubbing and vacuuming and running laundry. Consumed by my own youthful ignorance and emotional issues, I selfishly bowed out. I know that we shouldn't look back with regret on our actions, but that is one action I regret. And it's not that I regret missing out on that time with her. I regret the fact that I let shame and guilt from that decision wound me so deeply that I would go months in between visits when I was older and rediscovered the value of my grandmother. Had I been a bit wiser, a bit older, and a bit more compassionate, those mornings could have been some of the best I'd ever had.

In the last couple of years, I really tried to overcome that deep rooted self hatred and try to visit with her more often, but it didn't happen as nearly as much as I had hoped. But despite the fact that I rarely visited her, my grandmother was never far from my thoughts. I thought about her all the time, I prayed for her all the time, and I would call her more often than I visited.

The last time I called her, it was her birthday last Wednesday.
"You made it to 91!" I teased her.
"I sure did," she said, the tiredness evident in her voice.
"Think you'll make it to 92?" I asked. She laughed.
"I didn't think I'd make it this far. We'll see," she said.

We chatted for a good thirty minutes about a whole lot of what seemed like nothing. Our recent vacation to South Dakota. Her recent game of dominoes. The things my daughter was up to and the remarkable cheeky things she's been saying. Her doctor's visit. I wished her happy birthday and she asked me to come visit her. I told her I had PTO I needed to burn, and that I was going to take some time this week. I asked her when would be a good time to visit and she said anytime but Tuesday - she had a doctor's visit and she was hosting dominoes. I promised to call her Monday and let her know when I would make it - Wednesday or Thursday.

I booked that time off and I made a note to call her, but apparently, the Big Man Upstairs had other plans.

I wish she would have waited just another week. I know it's incredibly selfish to say that, but I wanted to visit with her one last time. I was going to make a blueberry lemon loaf and we were going to enjoy afternoon tea together. We were going to chat about her past, the things happening in my life now. We were going to sit and do crosswords or put together a jigsaw puzzle. Such mundane little things, but they would have meant the world to me, especially if it was the last time we spent together.

My cousin got married the day she died. My uncle knew something wasn't right when he kept calling to give her updates and she didn't answer. Maw Maw was a night owl; she never went to bed before midnight unless she wasn't feeling well. My aunt sent her husband to check on Maw Maw the next morning. I can't imagine what that phone call must have been like for my aunt.

Fast forward several hours later and I'm sitting on my bedroom floor, tears running down my cheeks and my chest heaving. My daughter enters and burrows her way into my arms and we both cry. She has no idea why I'm crying, just that I'm sad and she's sad too. God bless that little heart of hers! Billa proceeded to cover me with all of her blankies and stuff every single one of her most treasured dolls and stuffed animals into my arms in an attempt to make me feel better. I felt all the more terrible for having to explain to her why I was sad.

"Billa, do you remember Maw Maw?" She nods. I took a deep breath. "Baby, Mommy is sad because Maw Maw died."
"Maw Maw gone?" she asked.
"Yes," I whispered. "She's gone to be with Jesus."
"Oh," she replies. "Maw Maw was sick?"
"Yes. She was very sick."
"Oh." She digests this for a moment and then hugs me before continuing to shower me with every comforting object she possesses. This in turn makes me cry harder and finally, my husband ushers out of the room to let me be.

In the darkening bedroom, the taste of cookie dough still on my tongue, I weep for the woman I called my grandmother. I weep for the loss of my last grandparent. I weep for the regret and shame that has cracked my heart in two. I weep for lost opportunities. And yet...

The motto associated with my maiden name is Dum spero, spiro - while I have breath, I have hope. My grandmother was very lonely at the end of her life, her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren spread far and wide. But she was loved. And she was strong. She lasted eight years longer than the doctors gave her, even surviving a bout of breast cancer. She survived an abusive husband and birthed six children. She lived a very long life, and produced some of the most intelligent, compassionate, kindest, funniest, creative people I know. Her life was comprised of many salty moments, and so many sweet. Chocolate and butter and salt and sugar finally fade from my tongue as I savor that last thought.

Maw Maw may not be among the living, but she will always be in my thoughts, in my heart, and in every cookie I make.

Rest in peace, Maw Maw. I love you!

Kelly

SOUND OFF: The Justice System

2011-07-05T22:46:00.000-05:00

They announced today the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial: not guilty. To be honest, I'm not surprised. And in an even more honest admittance, I'm actually relieved.

Before you get your panties in a bunch, hear me out. I've been following the case for weeks, reading just about every article on who was testifying, what evidence was presented, and the commentary about it all. My gut tells me that the jury chose correctly. They were presented with evidence, a lot of it circumstantial, a lot of it conflicting, and at the end of the day, they had to make a decision about a woman's crimes based on the facts they were given.

Do I think Casey Anthony murdered her daughter? No. Is she responsible for the child's death? Yes, I think so. Looking at pictures of Casey and Caylee and reading the testimony of her former friends and lovers, I see a young mom who struggled with motherhood, but ultimately loved her daughter. I don't see her as a person who would coldly calculate and premeditate the murder of her baby. I do see her as a person who practiced poor judgment. She drank a lot, partied a lot, spent the night with lovers and sometimes brought Caylee with her on those excursions. While those actions in and of themselves are not always bad, in excess they can lead to poor decisions. And in Casey's case, they most certainly did.

But did the jury make the wrong decision? Did they fail at their job? I don't think so and that's why it really frustrates me that a lot of people have already convicted Casey of murder a thousand times over in their minds. The justice system doesn't work on emotions. God help us if opinions from Nancy Grace, gossip columnists, or political pundits are ever entered as evidence in trials; when that happens, you best hie theeself down to your bomb shelter because that is a blinking neon sign that America is ending, friends. (And don't get me started on Nancy Grace; she is entitled to her opinion, but please, take the time to do your research and form your own thoughts before following a sensationalist news anchor.) I have to laugh when I read comments on the web along the lines of "Those jurors didn't do their job!" Ahem, actually, they did. People want to have their cake and eat it too, but if Casey were to be declared guilty today, then it would be a very sad day for democracy and America both. The legal system was set up in a way in which a judgment could be passed down without an emotional taint. We are to remain innocent until proven guilty. Be glad that the system worked properly today!

For those of you who wish that Caylee would get justice, know this: the rest of Casey's life is going to be hard. Very hard. She will be sentenced for lying to investigators and hampering a murder investigation. She will still serve time. She still has to deal with the defamation lawsuit with Zenaida Gonzalez as well as any other legalities stemming from the money she stole from former friends. When she gets out of jail, she will be hard pressed to find a job or a home. She will be very lonely as most of her friends, and even her own family have deserted her (which on another note, if it's a parent's job to love their daughter no matter what and support her, then it's no wonder that she wasn't the greatest mom herself. Look at how her family has treated her during the entire thing!).

And while that may not sound like it's that bad, Casey must live with the truth of Caylee's death on her heart every day until she dies.

My friends, today proved that justice does exist. It just might not be the way you hoped for. Imagine if things went the other way: Casey would have most likely received a death sentence, where she would wait on death row for years, receiving shelter, food, and other amenities at the expense of taxpayers until her number came up. She wouldn't have to deal with the public. She wouldn't have to get a job to pay back the legal fees and lawsuits. She'd sponge off the rest of society. And when she was finally executed, it would be as painless and humane as possible. Is that really justice for Caylee? This way is much better, because it will serve to remind a young woman of her mistakes every day. It will force her to examine her actions and accept the consequences for them. She will have to grow up and be a big girl. And who knows? Mama always said the Lord works in mysterious ways; perhaps he saw fit to give Casey another chance to atone for her sins through suffering. I can only hope that she will recognize this opportunity for what it could be, and make the best of it.

Thoughtfully,
Kelly

Billa Babble: It's cool!

2011-07-02T09:07:00.000-05:00

I've been catching up on Doctor Who, which I neglected because I just couldn't bear the thought of having to finally say goodbye to David Tennant as the Doctor [sad sigh]. But now that I've fallen in love with Matt Smith, I am eagerly awaiting Season 6 on DVD so that I can catch up on that!

The 11th Doctor and his companion Amy Pond

I mention the good doctor, because he has a penchant for talking about how cool things are and it reminds me of some of Billa's choice phrases to reveal her enthusiasm. Case in point:

Mommy: Billa, what's that?
Billa: It's a [insert item here]. It's cool.

OR:

Mommy: Hey, Billa, I got this for you [random object].
Billa: Wow, dat's cool!

OR:

Mommy: Billa, we're going to go to [insert location here].
Billa: ALL RIGHT!!! [happy dance commences]
And it's pretty much just about everything that gets her excited these days, whether we're going to a friend's house, Target, or the doctor's office (not that Doctor, boo). Heaven forbid we go to the foodstore though; that apparently doesn't rank high on the cool factor scale for her, unless she gets a chocolate milk afterward and then that *might* be cool. Whatever. Maybe it's just as well!

I'm hoping that she'll add other words to her vocabulary, like 'awesome' or 'rad'. I think 'rad' needs a comeback, don't you?

That's all for now!

Radically yours,
Kelly

This One's For You, Pop

2011-06-30T20:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this story is for my dad.

Dad and I are two peas in a pod sometimes. We have the same interests, the same hobbies, the same illnesses and ailments.

So this evening, I'm suffering from a cold. My nose is raw from all the dripping and draining and sneezing and I finally got to the point where I shoved tissue up my nose because I couldn't handle it dripping or blowing it anymore. Of course, Billa saw me.

"Mommy, you have [mumble mumble something slightly unintelligible] boo-kers?"
"Yes, Mommy has lots of mocos {boogers, en espanol}."
"Mommy have big boo-kers?"
"Yeah. So Mommy shoved tissue up her nose to keep them from coming out."
"Oh." [Pause] "Like Papa?"

Michael and I burst out laughing then. Like I said, Dad and I are two peas in a pod. When our allergies get really bad, the kleenex plugs come out. (Hey, don't hate! Appreciate!) I hadn't realized she'd ever seen him do that, much less make that association.

Leave it to the kiddo to know how to make mommy laugh.

And there ya go, Pop. Hope you enjoyed that little nugget!

Cheers,
Kelly

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop: Thief in the Night

2011-06-13T22:10:00.000-05:00

I lay in the dark, listening to the digital clock tick away the seconds.

What's that you say? Digital clocks don't tick? I beg to differ. Pregnancy heightens one's senses, allowing a woman to perform feats of strength that would leave Superman sobbing like a little girl.
Digital clocks tick away the seconds (I dare you to challenge a pregnant woman's logic–you're either extremely sadistic or extremely stupid).

I lay there, listening to the digital seconds tick by when my mommysense detected a noise outside. I sat bolt upright, every muscle in my body on high alert.   The clock read 4 a.m. and I was alone.

My imagination raced, trying to determine the source of the noise. Somewhere in the back of my head where rationality hibernated, my practical self was churning through an old research paper I'd studied in college about the brain's processes when determining unknown noises, reminiscing about synapses and data assimilation. Practical Self tried to soothe Pregnant Self, that it was probably a possum or raccoon, they're common in this rural area of Texas, and nothing more. Pregnant Self shot Practical Self "The Look" and Practical Self mumbled about something in the oven before hightailing it back to the inner recesses of my brain. Pregnant Self then determined the source of the noise to be a burglar.

I sprang from bed and turned on every light in the apartment, electric bill be damned. I checked, rechecked, and re-rechecked every lock and window to make sure they were secure. My mind racing and unable to fall asleep, my blurry thoughts turned to arming myself. I waddled back to the bedroom and dug under the mattress for my shillelagh.   I crouched under the covers in the blazing bright lights of my bedroom, shillelagh in hand and waited.

The mind is a terrible thing to waste, you know, and despite the irrationality of my Pregnant Self, it was loathe to waste it's mind. In those wee morning hours, my pregnant brain slapped together a plan of action should a burglar enter the house. I just needed to hold out until daylight.   But wait, I thought...when daylight came, I'd leave for work. And what if the burglar came then!? Holy crap, what if the burglar was waiting for me to leave so they could steal all my stuff?! Then what?!

I waddled out of the bedroom and surveyed our tiny apartment and quickly appraised all of our worldy goods. The Xbox, TV, DVD player, our year old Apple computer, the printer, my straightening iron (those things aren't cheap, you know!), all just sitting there screaming to be taken. I'd be damned if I was going to let anyone think they could take advantage of a pregnant woman! I racked my brain and stumbled on an idea--I'd record all of the serial numbers and carve my driver's license number into the back of everything. That way, if the burglar made off with it, I'd be able to recover it since the cops would be able to trace it at the pawn shops. And just to be safe, I was going to backup all of our files from the Mac so that if the burglar got mad and broke the computer in a fit of anger from not being able to guess my password, I'd at least have that.

So there I was at 4 am, clutching my shillelagh and burning CD's like a madwoman, chortling to myself about how clever I was. I heaved and pushed and pulled all of the heavy electronics equipment and diligently recorded all of the serial numbers, product numbers, and hand carved my driver's license number into the back of it all. By the time dawn stretched it's rosy fingers across the hills, I was crawling back to bed, shillelagh held tight in my swollen hands, my mind finally at rest.

That burglar must have decided I was just too clever for him, because he never did break in.

He broke into my trash can instead.

Yeah. But hey, at least I'd finally backed up all of my files!

This post is part of Mama Kat's Writing Workshop. When I saw this prompt, I died laughing, because what pregnant woman DIDN'T have a moment like this? The prompt is: "Barefoot and hormonal...describe an incident that upset you when you were pregnant, but now looking back makes you laugh." And for the record, yes, I really did wake up at an ungodly hour and proceed to document the serial numbers of all our electronics and back up our computer before heading back to bed. Bless my husband, when I showed him my handiwork the next day, he just shook his head and told me to call him at work next time I was worried. And also for the record, I learned that handy little trick about serial numbers and DL's on your stuff from the cops. Growing up, my house was broken into twice, and after the first time, they told us to do that to all our stuff. It actually worked, because that was how they caught the thief the second time around!

Summer Project - Kitchen Cabinet Redo

2011-06-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

Apartments are great, especially if you're not ready to commit to a house and take care of your own lawn, pest problems, and fix the AC when it's broken. They're not great if you like to decorate and customize your home (unless you live somewhere, like NYC, where you actually BUY apartments instead of rent them).

I've been living in apartments for the last ten years and I think I've gotten pretty clever at learning how to adapt my space and floorplan into something less college dorm and more Better Homes and Garden worthy. My current floorplan in one of the best I've lived in–it may be small at approximately 700 sq. ft, but I've managed to make it work so far. We got rid of a lot of things and rethought how to do certain things, like a desk space (we have a built in desk, but it's awkwardly placed across from the kitchen that it's just not feasible for much beyond a bar and craft supply storage) and creating 'rooms' out of a large common area (living, dining, and play).

Since Michael and I got back together and he moved back in late last year, we've been on a quest to organize and downsize, since the space is so small and room is limited. I decided to start with the kitchen and while the majority of it is organized, I felt it needed just a little bit more color and oomph. Since it's an apartment, I can't really take out or paint the cabinets, so I did the next best thing...decorate them!

I measured my cabinet fronts and then took some pretty contact paper I found at Target and cut it to fit. Then after cleaning the cabinet fronts (to remove any grease...it is the kitchen afterall!), I peeled it off and stuck it to the front. I think it made a huge improvement and my kitchen is so much happier now!

Yes, my kitchen is a little cluttered....work in progress, people!

What do you think?

Cheers,
Kelly

Summer Afternoon Fun

2011-06-08T19:13:00.005-05:00

Since we only have one car right now, I work from home on Tuesdays since Michael has really long (and early) shifts at work. That means that Billa is with me on those days and it can be hard to keep her occupied while I'm busy managing my projects. By the time 4:30 rolls around and I log off, I know I need to do SOMETHING to occupy the munchkin while Daddy takes a much-needed nap...she's usually bouncing off the walls!

On one such recent Tuesday, we built tall towers with our blocks.

Yes, that tower is nearly as tall as she is!

We went downstairs and drew with sidewalk chalk. Then we raced around the building and up and down the stairs several times.

Finally exhausted by all that action, we came home and sat on the patio to enjoy a popsicle.

(By the way, the tat on her arm is "giant purple horse" aka a purple unicorn–kid loves her ink!)

To my knowledge, it was Billa’s first ever popsicle and she was in LURVE! I bought a popsicle mold last summer when they were on sale and I know now that I need to start coming up with some fun recipes for us to try. I know she’s going to enjoy helping me making and eating them!

We had a fun afternoon killing some time and now that we live in a building with lots of shade around it, I’m actually looking forward to summer afternoons outside now!

Cheers,
Kelly

Bloggety Bloggety Blog

2011-06-06T23:04:00.000-05:00

I've been a bit of a terrible blogger lately. I only have four followers, half of whom I question whether they really follow me or not, so I figure it's not that big of a deal. Not that it really matters in the grand scheme of things; I would love more followers, but I guess one has to post more often (and more interesting material) in order to garner a following. I've always marched to the beat of my own drum anyway, so forgive me if my tune is a little more chaotic than normal right now!

I have lots of pictures I need to post, but I keep finding things to distract myself with instead of working on uploading and editing them. Work, mommyhood, playing chauffeur (having one car in our family is humbling and wonderful and frustrating all at once), more work, baking stuff, birthdays, cleaning, Pinterest, reading, work, and random nothingness. I'm pretty good at that last one. No matter how hard I try sometimes, I often find myself easily distracted from something that I really want to do. Some wise person out there might say that the task in question isn't something I really want to do, but that's not it. It's fear, really. I don't do what I want to do, because I'm afraid of failing miserably. Or succeeding and then failing miserably. Blech. I've been working on that with my therapist, but I still have a long way to go.

I've been thinking lately, that I'd love to take the blog in a new direction. I love sharing Billa stories, but with so many other mommy blogs out there, it's kind of hard to make oneself stand out. That, of course, begs the age old question as to what the purpose of standing out will serve, but it's nice to be validated. I'm not, by the way, looking for validation on my Billa stories or my own existence. Ok, well maybe a little, but I don't need a blog to do it. Besides, as entertaining as my daughter is, I'm not nearly as good at relaying the stories in written word as I am in person. Blogging killed the live performer.

I know, I sound so cryptic. Forgive me. It's just one of those evenings, where everything was so nice and peaceful, and then that little niggling thought crept into my brain and tickled something there that made me introspective and thoughtful and a bit morose. I do this a lot, actually, just not publicly on a blog. I figure, what the hey, it doesn't matter. I'm not running for president anytime soon. Believe me, I'm the last person you'd want in office. I think my efforts to change the world would be better spent speaking softly (something I'm still working on, ha!) and carrying a big stick. Maybe I won't carry the big stick. I never did like violence much, despite my past propensity to yell and throw things.

Pinterest has tickled my crafty creative side quite a bit lately. I even went out and got some lumber for a project I wanted to do. Guess where it's at? Yep, sitting against the dining room wall. It's not a huge complicated project, but my energy puttered out. I got distracted. Welcome to the story of my life right now! Now if I could write an award winning and million copy selling book on that, I'd be made.

Speaking of books, I've been trying to read 111 books by the end of the year, but now I'm seriously doubting if that will happen. I could cheat and read kid's books, but there's no challenge in that. Last year would have been easy. But with all my distractions and everything else, I am finding myself lacking in time to get anything done. I need to really buckle down and get organized because the quiet chaos that is my life is getting kinda crazy. Oy!

Well, I suppose I've created quite a post now. Not much of one, but again, my four followers aren't complaining, lol. I will resolve to try and get those pictures at least uploaded, even if I don't put them in a post. And I'll think about the direction of the blog. And my writing. And my life! Yeah, definitely, all of the above.

Good night, dear friends! May flights of angels sing thee to thy sleep!
Kelly

2011-05-24T17:15:00.001-05:00

I am soooo addicted to Pinterest! I’d heard of it before, but I never really looked into it until the other day when I had a little bit of free time during Billa’s nap to catch up on my blogs. A blogger mentioned an item from it and when I clicked through, my world was rocked forever.

If you’re like me, you’re always collecting little tidbits and snippets of things that catch your eye: a crafty idea, a pretty picture, an awesome quote. Michael and I are notorious Googlers; we’ll Google some of the most random things and could spend hours researching and reading about them. Oftentimes we bookmark it so we don’t forget and can come back to it. Don’t ask to look at our Bookmarks folder, because it is SCARY. Pinterest to the rescue!

The Pinterest homepage

With Pinterest, you basically download this tool into your browser toolbar at the top. As you scour the interwebs, when you see something you like, you “pin” it to your board, which compiles a catalog of all those pins and tracks back to where you found them. And the cool thing is it has a Facebook-like air to it; you can follow other people’s boards and repin things that you like from theirs. You can also comment, like something, etc. I could spend HOURS on Pinterest. I admit that I already have.

As it is, I have several boards already. Interior design, crafty ideas, cakes and cookies, etc. I make a board for anything and everything that gives me inspiration. So if I’m feeling a little parched in the creativity department, I need only pop into Pinterest and get those creative juices revved and flowing. The fastest way to join is to receive an invite from someone who is already on Pinterest. Otherwise, you submit your email address and name and wait for them to send you an invite to join, which can take a couple of weeks. I’m not really sure why they do that, but whatever. I got a quicker invite by liking them on Facebook and posting a request for someone to invite me. The site is freaking amazing and if you’re the smallest bit creative, you're going to love it! Not to mention, it’s really nice to clear out that bookmark folder finally.

Pinningly yours,

Kelly

SOUND OFF: 3D Movies Suck

2011-05-22T14:31:00.000-05:00

I love just about every movie I've ever seen, except horror flicks, because I absolutely cannot stand paying good money or wasting precious time to watch people get hacked up simply because the director and producers have some sort of sadistic streak that they are trying to play out without getting sentenced to jail. Ick. If I want to be scared, I'll go ride a roller coaster. Or try rappelling off a tall tower. At least then I'll be scared and empowered!

Michael and I celebrated our 5th anniversary by going out to dinner and the movies. We both really wanted to see Thor, but the only showing that worked with our schedule was a 3D version. I gotta tell you, we loved the movie. Go see Thor. It's fun, exciting, sweet, campy and well directed (love you Kenneth Brannagh!). Don't see it in 3D, however. In fact, please don't see any movie in 3D. This is a fad that needs to die and quickly!

We've only seen one other movie in 3D (TRON, an equally amazing movie!) and when we came out of that one, I had a migraine for a day and a half. It's bad enough that I have issues watching movies in pitch black theatres thanks to my eyes doing weird things, but having to wear plastic glasses on top of it was a nightmare. But we soldiered on thinking that maybe it was just the dark colors of TRON that made it hard. Nope. It's just 3D.

Your eye naturally skims everything in lightning fast pace across everything it sees. It's so fast, you don't realize you do it...until you see a movie in 3D. Then, you're stuck having to fixate your vision on spot of the screen in order to see anything in focus and then you miss out on all the awesome detail that the CGI guys put together for you. You're continually forcing yourself to stop that skimming and in turn, you not only miss the detail, you miss parts of the movie because you're too busy trying to focus on what's happening on screen.

If you've ever worn glasses, you know that when you wear them you have a limited field of vision. You don't really have peripheral vision, especially if you're almost legally blind like my best friend. When you wear the 3D glasses from the theatre, you get that same field of vision. They're supposed to be one size fits all, but these were so poorly fitting that I couldn't see big chunks of the screen thanks to the limited field of vision. I love details in a movie and I was so bummed that I couldn't take it all in. I'm gonna buy the dang movie when it releases on DVD anyway, but still. First impressions mean a lot, Hollywood!

And don't get me started on the price! We were fortunate to be using a gift card from Christmas, but even then, $30 for a pair of movie tickets moves beyond ridiculous to redonculous. Especially when I can't even really watch the movie because my head and eyes hurt the whole time! For $30, we could have gone to Alamo Drafthouse and had dinner, drinks and movie tickets all in one (and if you don't live in Austin, Houston, or Virginia where they have Drafthouses, my condolences). We recently bought our first Blu-Ray, which inevitably included a 3D Blu Ray version of the movie. We'll never be able to watch that disc unless we drop a couple grand on a 3D hi-def TV, and a few extra hundred dollars on all the components, like 3D glasses and cables and such.

Honestly, I don't understand why 3D is such a big deal. If you ask me, it's a huge marketing ploy and a rip off. I don't go to the movies to necessarily see special effects (although it doesn't hurt, like with fantasy or sci-fi flicks, of course!); I go for the story and to be entertained. If I leave a movie theatre feeling stressed, then why bother going at all. Apparently I missed the memo that rephrased entertainment to mean "make your head and eyeballs hurt, stress you out, and make you feel guilty for spending money on something ridiculous." If I wanted to feel guilty, I just need to feed my kid candy for dinner. Much cheaper! Whenever I see 3D movies, I am not entertained. I'm just pissed off.

Hollywood, if you're listening at all, please go back to the basics. Our world is too full of worries and woes enough as it is. Please do us all a favor and let us find a happy escape in your embrace! Or at the very least, take all the extra dough made from ripping us off and donate it to charity for good causes.

Kelly

Five Years

2011-05-20T12:10:00.000-05:00

This time last year my subconscious was beginning to wonder if Michael and I would make it to today, our fifth wedding anniversary.

Three months later, I consciously mourned the fact that I would never get to celebrate another anniversary with the man I so fiercely loved and hated all at once.

Today, I am eternally grateful that I was given, no...that WE were given another chance to get here. It has been a long, hard, sometimes gutwrenching and terrifying road to get here, but I am glad it happened. I am glad I am here. I'm glad he's here. And I am more than glad that we are walking that road together. Already the bumps are smoothing out and the road is becoming more pleasant!

Tonight, my mother in law will be hosting Billa for a sleepover while Michael and I go out to a fancy dinner and a movie to celebrate this momentous occasion. I'm looking forward to spending some time with Michael without a three year old wunderkind jabbering/bouncing/swinging/screaming/climbing/asking/snuggling around us.

Tomorrow, we'll continue to take steps on our journey, hand in hand.

Here's to another five and then some!

Kelly

Who's been lazy?

2011-05-16T21:35:00.000-05:00

Ooh, ooh–me! Me, me me!!!

Ok, to be fair, my therapist would tell me that I haven't been lazy, my energy has simply been focused elsewhere. It's not like I was sitting on my bum doing absolutely nothing for almost two weeks. Although if I could figure out how to do that without driving myself insane, I'd be all over that like white on rice.

Instead, my energies were diverted to my trip to Chicago for training. Part of my recent promotion involved heading to the Windy City (well, one of it's suburbs anyway) for a whole week to edumacate myself on how my company does project management. It was a lot of fun when I got there, but the few days leading up were kinda hectic. Packing, worrying that the plane might drop out of the sky (I really hate flying), cleaning, making sure that Billa and Michael would be ok, worrying that I'd experience airplane ear and my head would explode, worrying that something would happen to Billa and Michael, unpacking and repacking, and more worrying. The plane didn't fall out of the sky (duh), and Billa and Michael were fine. I did experience one helluva case of airplane ear, but my head didn't explode. I lost my hearing for about a day and experienced intense migraines, but that was all. I need to find me some earplugs for next time I fly [shiver]. I did get a chance to visit with one of my relatives who live there and to visit Millennium Park for an hour or so before I flew out. I gotta say, Chicago in the springtime is GORGEOUS!

I also celebrated my very first 29th birthday! Next year, I will be celebrating the first anniversary of my 29th birthday. I spent the momentous occasion getting a mani and pedi, shopping, and eating junk food until I could burst. And the best part was that I did it all by myself. Not that I required assistance for these things. Sometimes all a girl wants is some alone time, ya know? My presents included a new case for my iPad, a super cute laptop bag for my new work computer, and the pedi/mani. My mother in law gave me a really neat solar powered butterfly for the garden that glows at night and Michael's grandmother gave me a fun little ceramic cross that she had for years. All in all, turning 29 for the first time felt pretty good! Most of my friends and family were all out of town or otherwise occupado, so there is still more birthday shenanigans to be had this month, hooray!

Mother's Day was equally nice. I baked enough to feed a small army and then had half the brunch attendees cancel on me due to some stomach bug. Oh well. It was a lovely morning with just us and Michael's mum. Michael and Billa both got me jewelry; Michael gave me a long necklace made of bluish black pearls that I can wear several different ways. I love me some versatility. Billa gave me a pink and silver butterfly bracelet that she made at school. She was so proud of the work ~~her teacher~~ she did. I totally wore it every day the week I was gone!

Now that I'm back home, I'm just kicking back a little bit before the craziness at work and with the baking sets in next week. Michael and I will celebrate five long years this Friday and Memorial Day is coming up. It's going to certainly be a busy rest of the month and early summer, so if I've been a little lazy, forgive me. I'm just enjoying the calm before the storm.

Cheers!
Kelly

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T13:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day, mamas!

Song in My Soul by Katie M. Berggren

I just love this painting! I think the name and the image perfectly encapsulates how I feel about motherhood.

Even though I cooked and did some cleaning today (I kinda had to after I accidentally dropped and shattered my Pyrex pie dish...Michael had already left for work, boo!), I thoroughly enjoyed my morning with my husband, daughter, and my mother in law. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast of bacon, spinach quiche, and mango coconut bread pudding. My mom was supposed to join us too, but she and my dad were both feeling really ill so they stayed at home. I hope you two feel better!

A friend of mine who struggled with infertility for years reminded me today that there are many women out there who don't get to enjoy being appreciated on this day. There are some days when I struggle with my role as a mom and throw temper tantrums when things don't go my way. No one ever said mommyhood would be easy, but I certainly wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. So for all of those women who are mothers in their hearts, I offer up a prayer for you today that someday you will know all the facets of motherhood someday. I pray that if you are struggling with infertility or have lost your child, that you find solace and comfort in whatever God you pray to, and that you are not forgotten today.

To my own mother, my mother in law, my former step mother-in-law, and to all of my mother figures, I send my most heartfelt love and appreciation to you. You have made me who I am, for better or for worse, and I am so very grateful to have your influence in my life!

Love and peace,
Kelly

Billa Bubble Wrap

2011-05-04T19:28:00.000-05:00

I finally got my laptop for work yesterday, hooray! Nothing like getting an electric leash to make you feel so important. Anyhoo, I didn't have a case for it, so to keep it protected on the way home from work, I wrapped in bubble wrap and put it in the box for the docking station. Voila, ghetto laptop case! I pulled it out when I got home to start customizing, hook it up to our wireless network, and answer some emails, when all of a sudden I heard a pop.

Pop.

Pop. Pop.

Pop, pop, pop, popopopopopopopop POP!

I turn around and Billa had spread out the bubble wrap on the floor and was dancing on it. Talk about the best. toy. ever!

Now I know what we can do on rainy days...should we ever get some rain :o(

Happy Wednesday!
Kelly

2011 100+ Reading Challenge: April

2011-04-30T00:11:00.000-05:00

Well, wouldn't you know it, another month is done!

I didn't get as much reading done as I had hoped, but oh well. The year is still young!

22-26. Apothecarius Argentum vols 3-8 by Tomomi Yamashita. The good news: this series is awesome! I loved it! I couldn't put it down. The bad news: The English translated series stopped at part of volume 9. Apparently, DC Comics decided to drop the branch that was responsible for translating the series into English for American readers before volume 9 was released. And of course, that would be precisely when the sh*t hits the fan in the series and you're left waiting to find out what happens. So this means that if I ever want to finish the series, I need to brush up on my Japanese or wait a long time for fans to try and translate it themselves. [sigh] But it was good nonetheless!

27. She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem. This was a very interesting book and a fast read. In a nutshell, it's Alice in Wonderland in a university physics department and that summary probably doesn't do the story justice. It was sent to me by a coworker in CT and when I started reading the first few pages, I was like, WTF?! But I couldn't put it down. So I kept reading and before you know it, it was 4 am and I had finished the book in about 7 hours. I say give it a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised!

28. Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. FINALLY finished the series. And it was totally worth the wait! It answered all of my questions, had a great ending, and left me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

So that's my list for this month! I wish I'd read more, but May is another month!

Happy reading,
Kelly

Easter 2010 Recap!

2011-04-26T19:26:00.030-05:00

Happy Easter!

This year's Easter was busy, busy, busy! This year we split our time between Michael's mom and my parents. We'd visited with Michael's dad and grandparents the weekend before, so that made things a little easier. We had initially thought we would only visit with Michael's mom since we saw my parents last year, but my grandmother and my Canadian relatives decided to visit with my folks, so that made it a tough call. It certainly didn't help that I was also performing at the Easter service for church and had lots of rehearsals. If only we could get another couple of days to recover from all the action!

Anyhoo, we spent a lovely, laid back, low-key Saturday morning with Gigi and a lovely, laid back, low-key Sunday afternoon at my parents after spending an action packed morning at church! I won't bore you with all the details but we certainly enjoyed ourselves on both counts.

Michael, Gigi, and Billa hanging out on the hammock

Dying eggs at Gigi's!

Our eggs from Gigi's...my favorites are the purple one in the front and the blue one with the red orange scribbles that Billa made.

Billa hunts for eggs at Boppa and Papa's house with Daddy.

"Look at my eggs!"

I wonder what's inside?

The eggs we dyed at Boppa's house. My favorite is the tricolored purple, orange and red one in the back. Apparently my family thinks I should be a professional egg dyer now...ha!

Family members: If you want to see more pictures from this Easter. you can click here for the Slideshow!

Happy Easter,
Kelly

Strawberry Pickin'

2011-04-23T19:18:00.002-05:00

It's berry pickin' time!

With my Canadian relatives in town this past week, I took them out to Marble Falls for some strawberry picking. We had such a fun time and came home with lots of berries. The berries weren't as plentiful or as sweet as last year's, but we still got a good haul and had a wonderful time. Last year Billa couldn't get enough of eating berries; this year she was content to hold the basket and tell me "thanks" every time I dropped some in. Silly girl.

When we were done, we got some fresh strawberry lemonade (yum!) and visited the goats that live at the berry farm. With tummies rumbling, we said goodbye to Sweet Berry Farm and headed into Marble Falls proper for some good ol' Texas home cooking at the Bluebonnet Cafe. I gotta tell ya, my dinner and dessert stomachs were both overflowing afterwards! We all ordered pie and I have to say, I was most jealous of my cousin's peanut butter pie. I know what I'll be making soon!

After eating some of the berries fresh, I made some strawberry jam and pureed the rest for baking. I'm going to use some of the jam for the angel food cake I'm making for Easter dinner with my folks. Michael was sad he couldn't come since he had to work, but we're thinking we might hit up the farm for his birthday in June, when the blackberries are ripe. Either way, I have quite a few strawberries I need to use!

Cheers,
Kelly

The Employment Saga Continues...

2011-04-10T11:19:00.000-05:00

As this blog post title suggests, things are still wackadoodle with the whole job thing. I've signed the paperwork and everything for my promotion at work, but it's still going to be a couple of weeks before they get me going on the training. I thought they were leaning towards NOT sending me out of town for training, but it looks like maybe I was wrong. So I still have to be prepared for traveling, but it looks like that will be at the end of the month or beginning of May, right around my birthday. Either way, whatevs. I'm just glad I don't have to travel next week when my family is in town to visit with my grandmother!

Michael's last day with Borders will be this Thursday. [sigh] I'm happy and sad at the same time. I'm obviously sad because of the loss of his job, but things at Borders became stressful really quickly and it's like walking into a sea of doom and despair in there. Unfortunately, customers see a liquidation and turn into total jerks. It also sucks seeing your store trashed every day and pieces of it being carried out by people acting like vultures. Such is the way of things, I guess.

We are so blessed however, that an old colleague of Michael's gave him some hours at World Market. She told him yesterday that she was able to find him some more, so starting next week, he'll be hanging around the 'Market a lot more often! Which is dangerous, because I'm seriously jonesing for some new dishes and furniture [grin].

Michael is still looking for something more permanent though. He's had a few interviews, but no bites yet. I'm proud of him, nonetheless. He's done a great job with his resume and really getting out there to sell himself. I know how hard it is, and I don't envy him one bit. I pray that something will come out of it all though!

It's another week and another day; we'll just continue to take one step at a time.

Cheers,
Kelly

2011-04-02T11:45:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY got word! It's official, I am now a project manager! I actually received a phone call from my boss last Friday letting me know my approval went through, but I didn't get the paperwork until today. At this point, we will be staying in Austin at least until December for sure. The higher ups decided to put the Atlanta expansion on hold until Q4, so we wouldn't be relocating until end of 2011, early 2012, if we relocate at all. To be honest, I'm kinda glad. As much as I loved the idea of going somewhere new, I think I need to work up to that. I'd really miss my family, my friends, my church, and everything Austin if we were to suddenly relocate. At least this way, I have more time to relax, visit with family, and explore my hometown even more. And if we never relocate, no worries!

We're still waiting for Michael's job situation to change, but he at least picked up an extra part time gig at World Market in the meantime. Once we figure out the whole transportation thing and his job, we can then figure out the child care thing. One thing at a time I guess!

I'm happy that I finally have something to orient myself with. It can be so frustrating not knowing which way to go or where you're going. I am so grateful for this new opportunity to explore a different career path and I look forward to the challenges it will bring. We will continue to take each day at a time, just like we have been for the last few months, and really try and listen to what the Big Man is trying to tell us. Again, that whole lesson in faith and trust and just going with the flow. Well, I'm listening!

Cheers,
Kelly

Bento Lunch Week 1

2011-04-01T10:59:00.004-05:00

Heeeelllloooooooo, weekend! So glad you're here :o)

This week I challenged myself by going bento for lunch every day. Well, almost every day. We had an in person training from our HR rep, who's actually based in LA, so the company ordered in lunch for us on Tuesday this week. Yum! I have to say, the focaccia sammich with spinach, bacon, turkey, and some sort of white cheese (provolone, perhaps?) with a chipotle mayo from Jason's Deli was pretty darn tasty. And yes, I braved it and ate the mayo. Shocker, I know!

Anyhoo, here is my bento showcase for the week. It was actually a lot of fun to plan out what I was going to eat and to arrange it in my tiffin box, which I finally used! Michael bought it for me for Christmas from World Market and I just adore it. It does have it limitations – you can't put it in the microwave and the circular shape prohibits some foods from fitting properly – but on the whole, it's a great little lunchbox. It's really helped me manage my portions and be conscious about what I'm eating.

If you're interested in getting one, they retail for about $10 at World Market and are dishwasher safe. The top bin is pretty dang tight, so you could even transport soup or other liquidy foods without issue.

MONDAY

Bottom layer: Spring mix salad with shredded rotisserie chicken, dried pears, candied almonds, orange cherry tomatoes, and a pear Gorgonzola vinaigrette (in the blue lidded container to the left).
Top layer: Chocolate chip cookies, cucumber slices, orange cherry tomatoes, string cheese, honey wheat pretzel rods.

TUESDAY

The office bought lunch. YES! But my homemade dinner of bacon shrimp with cheesy grits and baby spring peas was way better ;o) Recipe came from Kevin and Amanda. A little salty, but oh my heavens, it was sooooo good. Especially when paired with the Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay...now there's a good Chard to keep around!

WEDNESDAY

Bottom layer: Quinoa and black beans with shredded rotisserie chicken, and baby carrots.
Top layer: Honey wheat pretzels, cheese stick, green grapes, strawberries, and raspberry fig bar.

THURSDAY

Bottom layer: Homemade mac and cheese using "bat pasta" (really just bowtie pasta, but Billa calls it bat pasta, lol!), shredded rotisserie chicken, spring peas.
Top layer: Dried apricots, raspberry fig bar, blue corn tortilla chips, shredded mozzarella and colby jack cheese. I made nachos out of the cheese and chips for a mid-afternoon snack. OMG, it was awesome. I nuked it in the microwave at work for about a minute on half power...best. afternoon. snack. EVER! I'm totally doing nachos again next week. Maybe I'll add some black beans this time and make it my main meal!

FRIDAY

I discovered the limitations on spacial intelligence of my tiffin box for today's lunch. I ended up using an old tupperware container container instead which worked beautifully! In it I stuffed: (counter clockwise from top left) Muenster cheese, pita pocket bread, cucumber slices, roasted red pepper hummus, shredded rotisserie chicken, raspberry fig bars, and dried pears. The honey wheat pretzels sat on top of everything once it was packed.

So there you have it. I'm going to try and pack bento again next week. I'll keep you posted on my ideas, but so far, I think I have an Italian/Mediterranean theme going on lately. I'm going to try and actually make some sushi or simple Japanese stir fry to throw in next week. Whatever I do, I am so excited about bento!

Cheers,
Kelly

2011 100+ Reading Challenge: March

2011-03-31T22:39:00.000-05:00

Below is the summary of books I read in February for the 2011 100+ Reading Challenge at Overstuffed Bookshelf. I didn't read too many since I had a lot going on this month, but every little bit counts!

19 - 20. Apothecarius Argentum vols 1 & 2 by Tomomi Yamashita. I would classify this as historical fantasy shojo manga. Fun series about a reluctant princess who reencounters a childhood friend and the complications that arise, due to the fact that this friend was once her food taster. He's hot, all grown up, and works as an apothecary. The catch? He was trained since birth to swallow poison and as a result, his skin is poisoned. I can't wait to pick up the rest of the series!

21. The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman. Remember the Golden Compass? Yeah, same author, same provocative take on religion. The style was kinda similar to reading the Bible, but a little more fleshed out and gives a different perspective on the Gospels. Regardless of your religious views, I think this is a fascinating commentary on how stories get started and it was very well written. It definitely provokes the reader to ask questions and dig deeper into the story.

So there you have it! Hopefully I will have a much longer list of books for review next month. I have a bunch of non-fiction books I started but haven't finished; those always take FOREVER for me since I don't tend to get into them as much as fiction. What can I say? I like to lose myself in fictional settings!

Happy Reading,
Kelly

Spring Saturday

2011-03-27T21:24:00.000-05:00

Spring is here to stay in central Texas and there was no way we could stay inside on such a gorgeous day!

Let's go already Mama!

We spent the morning going to our favorite garden store, Natural Gardener. Even though my lemon tree is awash with blooms and my mint has grown back, we needed some more green to add to the patio. Problem is we have a lot of shade, so we needed to chat with the folks at NG to find the right plants. We got some really beautiful plants to pot and I am really excited to see how they grow.

While we were there at Natural Gardener, we spent some time visiting with the goats and chickens. Billa loves visiting with the chickens and we got a cute video of her talking to the chickens with Daddy.

After we dropped Daddy off at work, Billa and I headed to Lowe's to get some additional planters and then to Target to grab a few other things. Our Target recently expanded it's gorcery area, and there was a giant cow statue out in front of the store. Billa was so excited, it's not even funny. Here we are posing with the cow and mooing.

We capped off of our Saturday with a family dinner since Michael's dad was in town. We went to Guero's and enjoyed enchiladas, tacos, and margaritas while visiting with Auntie Cait, Auntie 'Chele and Uncle Kevin, and Zeydi. Before we knew it, it was time to go home.

Today we are cleaning house and finishing up our planting. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the patio when it's done!

Cheers,
Kelly

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-23T07:12:00.000-05:00

Still Waiting...

2011-03-21T23:24:00.000-05:00

I had my second interview at work today for the PM position. From what I gleaned, we will now most likely be staying in Austin. One of the PM's that recently went on leave decided not to come back, and so her spot is open and it makes more sense to put me there (assuming they offer me the spot, of course!) than transfer me cross country. I'm a little sad by that, because moving someplace new would have been a grand adventure, but Austin is a fantastic place and I do love it here.

I have to admit, that there is a certain amount of relief in knowing we most likely won't be moving. I don't have to pack up all of our stuff or hire movers or try to hammer out the logistics of it while trying to adjust to a new workload. I don't have to worry about finding a new church, or new doctors, or making new friends, or find a daycare for my daughter in a strange new place.

Of course, they could still decide to transfer us and if so, well, then I'll just suck it up and figure it out! And we're still playing the waiting game.

Michael found out that his Borders will be open for about another week. We knew that it was majorly optimistic to hope for it to stay open into April, and there is the possibility that while the storefront may close, he may still be working for a couple of weeks after that to pack everything up, sell the last of the fixtures, and shut it all down. It sucks, but at least it's a little bit more finite information. Since we will most likely be staying here in Austin, it means that Michael can be looking for a more permanent position in the meantime.

Everything is still in limbo, but I feel resolution coming and I can taste it on the tip of my tongue. It's proof to me that the Big Man is listening. I've been praying for patience and for something, anything to come in the way of relief. While it's nothing with a huge fanfare, it's enough to calm my soul and keep me at peace.

Whatever happens, happens!

Kelly

Waiting

2011-03-20T14:11:00.000-05:00

It's been a roller coaster around here lately. Our life seems to be composed of nothing but waiting.
Waiting to see if I get promoted to PM and if we'll be relocated to Atlanta. Waiting for Borders to close and see what job prospects Michael has. Waiting for upcoming events and parties to occur. Waiting for old wounds to heal.

We're stuck in limbo and it's driving me crazy. I've been praying for patience, but I'm failing miserably at it. I'm sure there's a lesson somewhere in all of this about enjoying each step of the journey blah blah blah.

Meanwhile, back in reality, I'm trying to keep myself occupied by writing, spring cleaning the house, reading, and being social with people. I've really enjoyed visiting with friends and family lately, something that we hadn't been able to do for a couple of months since the liquidators at Borders kept scheduling Michael for closing shifts.

Currently, I'm on a mission to declutter the apartment. It feels heavy in here most days, and I think it's because of the crap we have. We haven't really deep-cleaned in some time and we've been accumulating more stuff: the rest of Michael's things from when we were separated, books bought on clearance at Borders, toys and clothes from Christmas and Billa's birthday, and more. I can't function and focus in clutter. I think getting rid of a lot of things will help us to calm down, relax, and maybe allow some positivity and good energy into our lives.

The process is made harder not by getting rid of things, but because we find things that cause old hurts to bite all over again. We weren't very organized during our separation, so it's hard to know what you'll find in a box or a bag. I wish we could just chunk it all into the trash, but we have to gather receipts and other important papers for our taxes. Part of me wonders if it's more worthwhile to take the financial hit than the emotional one. Would ignorance be bliss right now?

Despite the difficulty and frustration we're experiencing, it's given us an opportunity to see firsthand just how much we've changed and what else we need to work on. We've come a long way, but there is still a long way to travel and it's hard to place faith in the process sometimes. Perhaps that's the lesson in all of this: learning how to trust openly–ourselves, each other, and God. I hope that I can move closer to that goal; I think my life would be much better for it.

I pray that we'll get answers soon. I know God will provide for us just as he always has. In the meantime, it's yet another waiting game.

Cheers,
kelly

Red Dress Club: Detour

2011-03-18T00:05:00.003-05:00

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

“Rachel!” Dr. Smith breezed into the room, interrupting her thoughts. She usually enjoyed his upbeat nature, but today Rachel wanted nothing more than to smack the smile off his face.

She’d spent hours offering up her vital fluids, her anxiety ratcheting up until she thought she’d explode. Her phone buzzed with incoming emails, text messages, and missed calls, further aggravating her migraine. Her face felt warm and she was certain her blood pressure had risen 100 points in the last fifteen minutes. The phone buzzed again.

“Do you need to get that?” Dr. Smith asked cheerfully.

“No,” she said sharply.

“I’ll get right down to it then!” he chirped. Rachel leaned forward, her manicured fingernails threatening to punch through the blue vinyl on the table.

“Good news, Rachel. No cancer!”

She blew out a breath of air and relaxed. No cancer. She was fine! Or was she? She frowned.

“Then what is it?” she asked.

He grinned. “You’re pregnant!”

“Wait, what? You mean, I’m going to have a baby?” She grabbed his arm, eyes narrowing. “Are you sure?”

Dr. Smith’s face softened. “I know this is unexpected,” he said gently.

“I can’t be pregnant! How did this happen?” she exclaimed, her voice rising.

He shifted awkwardly. “Uh, well—“

“I know how the reproductive cycle works, Doc,” she snapped. “I meant, how could this happen to ME?” She stared at her hands.

“It could be worse,” he reminded her. “I’ll have the front desk pull a list of doctors for you in case—,” he paused, searching for the right words. “In case you wish to go a different route.” He exited the room.

A baby. This didn’t make sense, she thought. She couldn’t be a mother. She didn’t have a maternal bone in her body. She never babysat. She wasn’t married. She didn’t even have a boyfriend!

She felt disoriented as she donned her carefully folded Armani suit. Her designer wardrobe! The six figure salary! She wanted to run back to her corner office as fast as her Jimmy Choo’s would take her. This wasn’t part of her plan to conquer the advertising world. She’d worked hard to get here; she couldn’t throw it all away now. She wasn't ready for this. She clutched her belly and fought the urge to vomit.

Swallowing her guilt, she made her way to Billing. She quietly placed her credit card in the receptionist’s waiting hands, signed the receipt and shouldered her purse. The woman pushed a manila envelope towards her.

“What’s that?”

“The list Dr. Smith promised you.” Rachel searched the woman’s face, but couldn’t find anything. She sighed.

Something bumped into her as she took the envelope. A pair of green eyes, sparkling with mischief, peered up at her.

The little girl was angelic with her round cheeks and soft golden curls pinned back by a huge pink bow. She grinned at Rachel and ducked behind her legs. Tiny warm hands gripped her knees, surprising Rachel and forcing the breath out of her body.

“Callie, where’d you go?” a voice called. A woman appeared and Rachel stood frozen, watching her with widened eyes. The child giggled.

“Callie!” the mother admonished. “I’m so sorry!” she apologized to Rachel. She scooped up little girl scolding her. Callie looked back at Rachel and waved.

“Ma’am?” the receptionist asked, breaking into her thoughts.

She stared at the envelope clutched in her hands and laid it on the counter gently.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll be needing this.”

This post was written as part of The Red Dress Club's Red Writing Hood. This week, we were asked to write a 600 word piece (fiction or non-fiction) about a time when we took a detour: where were we going and where did we end up? As always, constructive feedback is most appreciated!

Cheers,
Kelly

Red Dress Club: Ugly as Sin

2011-03-11T00:02:00.002-06:00

“We are NOT keeping it.”

“Please?” Myra’s hazel eyes begged.

A dog, she called it, though it hardly resembled one at the present moment. Its ears were torn, tail crooked, and fur caked in mud. Mud that also caked my daughter’s new dress and freshly cleaned kitchen floor. The “dog” snuffled and ran a pink tongue over its nose.

“Did that thing just eat its boogers?” I asked in disbelief.

Myra snickered. “It’s a dog, Mom! Isn’t he adorable?” She pressed her dirt-streaked face to his and was rewarded with sloppy kisses.

I fought back the urge to vomit.

We’d wanted a dog for some time, but my heart was set on a Black Lab or German Shepherd, the sturdy farm dogs of my youth. I wanted a large dog with glossy fur and excellent breeding. Not only was this dog’s parentage a mystery, he was small, crusted in filth, and looked like he’d hit every branch of the Ugly Tree on the way down.

I wanted an All-American dog, not an All-American reject.

“Where did you find it?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.

“In the park. Another dog was attacking him and I saved him!” she said proudly.

“You got between two fighting dogs?” I gaped. “Myra, that’s dangerous!”

"Mom, he would’ve been torn to bits!” she argued.

“He already has, if you didn’t notice.”

“Don’t worry, once he’s cleaned up a vet can fix it!”

“He’s ugly as sin! Nothing can fix that!” I protested.

Ignoring me, she carried the dog to the sink and filled it with soap and water. I rolled my eyes and set about mopping the floor. Patience is a virtue, I reminded myself.

After a few minutes, I snuck a peek at Myra’s progress. She sang softly as she scrubbed, and I paused to watch.

A ray of sunlight caught on the flaxen highlights in her hair and dust motes swirled in the air. I smiled, remembering the word Myra used for them as a toddler: fireflies. She would jump and clap her hands trying to catch them, leaving me in tears from laughing so hard. Now on the cusp of adolescence, the buds of breasts beginning to swell under her clothes and baby fat melting away, my chubby toddler was a young woman.

Bubbles zoomed skyward as the dog slipped in the water and he snapped at them. Myra laughed, that deep belly laugh I rarely heard these days, and I should have known then that I’d lost.

Watching her bathe the dog, the trappings of adolescence fell away and for just a moment, I got my baby back.

I wiped a tear away and sighed, startling Myra. The pre-teen mask snapped back into place as she watched me warily.

The dog’s tongue lapped at my fingers as I examined her handiwork. His sparkling white fur was dappled with black patches. He didn’t look half bad now that he was clean, but he would need some work. I cupped his face with my hands and stared into liquid brown eyes that mirrored my own gratitude and love. How could I refuse him when he’d given me something I thought lost forever?

“I think Waverly would be a good name.” I said slowly. “To match his tail.” I gently ran my finger over the kinks and he barked happily.

Myra stared openmouthed.

“You mean I can keep him?!” she shouted. She swung the pup in her arms, flinging water across the kitchen. “Hooray! Mama says you can stay!”

I’m such a sucker, I thought. But it was worth it.

Word Count: 600

This post was written as part of The Red Dress Club. This week's prompt asked us to write a 600 word maximum piece about something ugly–and to find the beauty in it. Feedback is much appreciated!

Billa's 3rd Birthday Recap

2011-03-08T23:44:00.000-06:00

We finally got around to celebrating Sybilla’s birthday!

Beautiful girl! I love this picture!

I wish I had more pictures, but unfortunately, my camera went unused, since I was socializing and having such a good time that I totally forgot to use it! So family members who are reading this and have pictures, please send them my way :)

Michael: "Psst! Billa, you have something on your lip."

Billa: "WHAT?!"

We kept it pretty simple and limited it to family with just a couple of friends. We had a Scooby Doo theme, so Billa’s Scooby Doo lunchbox, beanie baby, and action figures got in on some of the décor. I always hate it when I’m left with nothing but knives at the end of a party, so I told myself I wasn’t going to serve any food that required flatware. We served orange creamsicle cupcakes, Oreo truffles, sugar cookies, fruit skewers, sushi, chips and dips, cheese, and veggie crudités. It was perfect for a tea time get together and clean up was super fast, which made visiting afterwards very enjoyable indeed. And I admit, I did not bake the cupcakes from scratch, although the frosting was homemade. That’s just non-negotiable in my book!

Zeydi is being silly!

The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful and our friends Kellie and Anthony were gracious hosts to let us use their home for the venue. They’d mowed the yard and set up a bunch of chairs around the fire pit for everyone to sit in and the atmosphere was so relaxed. The kids played on the swing set while the grownups visited with one another. We nixed singing “happy birthday” and lighting candles since people couldn’t wait to eat cupcakes, but we did sit around to watch Billa open her presents, which was funny, since all the kids jumped in and were unwrapping stuff together. Billa, Madeleine and Cameron are thick as thieves and I will be sad for the day when they stop being so nice to one another at present time!

Mommy helps Billa unwrap her presents

Billa showing off her new apron from my friend Anna to Michael's mom

Billa received a play kitchen from the Marino family. Their kids had outgrown it and we’d been looking at some for Billa anyway, so it worked out perfectly. She also received a new big girl car chair from Michael’s dad (who drove here and back from Oklahoma in one day!), some books, a new Scooby Doo movie, and lots of cute dresses and clothes. My friend Anna also bought an adorable apron for Billa, which tied in wonderfully with the play kitchen. Of course I want one for myself now, lol! We hadn’t expected any presents, and we are so grateful for all of the things that Billa got. She is well loved and we are blessed to have so many friends and family around us.

Here’s to another year, Sybilla!

Love, Mommy & Daddy

Red Dress Club: The Adventures of Capt. Marius, Esq.

2011-03-04T07:00:00.011-06:00

With a strong breeze filling her sails, the Queen’s Key raced homeward at a merry clip. Heavy with goods pilfered from Spanish ships, we were riding high on spirits in the bright August sunshine. The waves crested gently across our bow and God willing, we’d be home before Michaelmas.

But as quickly as we’d left port, the waters darkened and the swells grew higher. The blackening sky felt heavy and the winds gusted violently.

“Hurricane’s a-coming!” the crow’s nest called. The crew threw their weight into the lines as the ship strained against the sea. Rain stung our eyes and the decks quickly became deadly slippery.

“Man overboard!” someone screeched.

“Tie your lifelines!” I shouted, but the words were thrown back into my mouth by the wind. I struggled to keep the wheel steady as the Key tossed about, but alas, it was too much! Blinded by rain and mist, I couldn’t see the rocks ahead and the wheel was torn from my hands. The ship shuddered and groaned, splitting in two. The crew screamed as we were pitched into the swirling water.

Desperately searching for flotsam to cling to, I winced as my face smashed into rock by the crashing waves. My hands gripped an outcropping and I clung to it, exhausted.

The wind tore at my back and despair settled like a stone in my belly. How much more could I take? Where were my men? I strained my ears for their cries, but the wind screamed, whipping around me.

Suddenly I heard a voice above the wind’s howl. Could it really be? Was someone else alive?

“HERE!” I cried. “I’m here!”

“Captain!” the voice called, soft and soothing. I stiffened. Something was wrong.

“Curse you!” I shouted. “I won’t be swayed by a siren’s song!”

“Captain Marius,” the voice moaned louder. “Come with meeeee!”

“Never!” I hugged my rock as I watched with dismay as the rest of the Key sank beneath the roiling water. The crew, the goods, my ship, all lost!

“Captain Marius,” the voice tried again, this time with urgency.

“No,” I whispered, shutting my eyes tightly and scrambling further up the rock. “No, I won’t go!” I shouted.

“Don’t be silly,” the voice crooned. “The storm is leaving. Loooook!”

I opened my eyes and blinked. The siren spoke truly; the water WAS ebbing away.

“This can’t be!” I cried. “What’s happening?”

“It’s called ‘bedtime,’ Missy May,” Mama’s voice thundered.

“Who is this Missy May you speak of?” I growled. “I’m Captain Marius, the fiercest sailor on the seven seas!”

“You’re certainly fierce!” she laughed. “Come on, out of the tub!”

“Never!” I shouted, diving back under the water. It swirled around me as I searched the bubbles for the plug. Mama snickered and I looked up to see it dangling from her hand.

“I’ve changed my mind.” I scowled. “You’re not a siren. You’re a harpy!” I screeched.

Mama cocked an eyebrow and placed her hand on her hip.

“Out. Now.” Her tone was icy, dripping with venom. I pouted as I climbed out of the tub. Definitely a harpy, I thought.

I stood naked and shivering as she toweled me off, combed my hair and dressed me in my jammies. Captain Marius wouldn’t complain, neither would I. Mama washed the suds down the drain, carefully placing my toy boat at the back of the tub to dry. As she carried me out of the bathroom, I took one last look.

“I’ll be back, me hearty,” I whispered as the light flicked off.

Word Count: 593

This post was written as part of The Red Dress Club. This week's prompt was to write a 600 word piece - fiction or non-fiction - inspired by one or both of these statements: "Water gives life. It also takes it away."

2011 100+ Reading Challenge: February

2011-03-03T14:24:00.001-06:00

Below is the summary of books I read in February for the 2011 100+ Reading Challenge at Overstuffed Bookshelf.

13. Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning - paranormal thriller and romance. Apparently the author typically writes romances and this is considerably darker fare for her. It was action packed, quick paced, and downright morbidly funny. The story is about a Barbie-esque gal of 22 who goes to Ireland to avenge her sister's death and what she finds is a whole world of things she thought were fictional. Definitely an interesting must-read if you like Twilight or the Sookie Stackhouse series!

14. Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning. The second book in the series mentioned in #13. Couldn't put it down!

15. Faefever by Karen Marie Moning. The third book in the series mentioned in #13. Couldn't put it down!

16. Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning. The fourth book in the series mentioned in #13. Couldn't put it down!!!! And dangit, I have to wait awhile before i I can get my hands on Book 5. Waaaahhh!

17. The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas. This was a super fast read since it's young adult/kid fiction. This was also a great read! I love her use of imagery in the novel and the world she's created. It's simple, accessible, and yet it excites the imagination. It's about a thieving gutterboy who ends up as the apprentice to a wizard after he steals the wizard's most prized magical tool. His talents pique the curiosity of the wizard and he goes on to save the city he lives in.

So that's my list! It's a bit shorter than last month, but that's because I ended up going on a reading strike for a bit. I'm currently reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and one of the weeks in the program asks you to not read for a week. OMG, I thought I would DIE. I never really fully deprived myself (um, does blogging count?), but I at least tried to not read any other novels or books to accomplish part of the process. But now that's over and March is here, mwahaha!

Look out library, here I come!

Cheers,
Kelly

Weeble Wobble Wednesday

2011-03-02T09:45:00.000-06:00

I'm calling today Weeble Wobble Wednesday because that's what I feel like. I have no idea what's caused me to wake up feeling a bit dizzy, but I feel like the leaning tower of Pisa this morning whenever I'm standing. Good times!

In all fairness, the dizziness could be brought on by the pizza and suds we consumed last night, but I didn't partake of that much and I drank lots of water, so who knows? Honestly though, I think it's due to the fact that my world has been rocked recently.

As I was driving home Sunday, I called my parents to tell them about my win at the cake show. My dad confirmed something that I pretty much knew, which was the fact that my 90 year old grandmother has been diagnosed with breast cancer. I'd known she had an oncologist appointment last week and had prepared myself for it, but I hadn't prepared myself for the wave of emotions that crashed over me when I actually admitted to myself that my sole surviving grandparent might not be around much longer. My family has had it's share of hardships and suffering and I know a lot of that created deep wounds in all of us. I haven't been the best granddaughter as a result, and I felt immensely guilty over the fact that I don't visit with my grandmother as much as I should. Michael reassured me that as long as Maw Maw is still here, I still have time to see her and make amends for my lack of visiting her. I felt much better about that and am planning on visiting her sometime this week and help her with anything that needs to be taken care of.

I've also been rocked by recent developments at work. I've been feeling a bit stagnant with where I'm at, and for several months I'd been bugging my manager to let me take on more responsibilities and start working towards becoming a project manager. He and his manager have been incredibly supportive of this, and they agreed to let me start shadowing some of the PM's so that I could learn some more about it. Then crazy Q4 hit and we all forgot about it.

Now that things have settled down a bit, I asked him about it again last week and he told me he couldn't talk about it yet because he was waiting for more info from his manager. Yesterday morning he called me and told me that they were going to skip shadowing for the job and instead outright interview me! He also told me to think long and hard about relocation as there is a very strong possibility that they may ask me to move to a new office they want to open.

This happened about five minutes before I had a meeting, so I was a little shell-shocked. I was wearing my best "deer in the headlights" look that's for sure! It was certainly hard to focus the rest of the day, what with all the questions running through my head about what a move would entail, would I be able to handle a move as well as a position change, how will it affect my family, does this new city have good Tex-Mex, etc. (Hey, a girl has her priorities you know. I need to know that I can get some decent enchiladas, guacamole, and margaritas without too much effort!)

Granted, this is all up in the air right now. I have to be approved for the position firstly, and then they have to decide whether they're going to open the new office, but it sounds like it's 90% certain that this will all happen. I can't help but feel that this is all happening for a reason.

Since starting the Artist's Way back in January, I've been amazed at how much the book has really helped me as a writer and an actor. I can't help but think that this week's theme of Abundance is part of what's happening to me recently. I didn't ever think I would act again or work in production and yet, I'm now heavily involved in the production team at our church and performing this upcoming Sunday! I'm writing more frequently and getting positive feedback on it from the peeps at Red Dress Club. And now, my career seems to be taking off.

It's a lot to take in and it's no wonder I'm feeling a bit like a weeble wobble! But you know what's funny about being a weeble wobble? Is that no matter how much you knock them around, they never fall completely over. So while this all may be a bit much to take in, I know it's not the end of the world.

Wobbly yours,
Kelly

Cake Show 2011

2011-02-27T21:28:00.000-06:00

I am on Cloud Nine...I placed at the cake show!

It's all about the glory and the medal!

This weekend I competed in the 7th Annual That Takes the Cake contest here in town. I started competing in it last year at the beginner level and this year I competed in the intermediate level, confections category and I took home the third place medal. I am so pumped about it. I've been baking ever since I was a kid, and it wasn't until Billa was born that I really took it seriously as a hobby.

Out of all the cookies I made for the competition, these two were my favorite!

Last year I felt like my category and skill level was over saturated with entries, so I chose confections this year, especially since I've been on sugar cookie kick for awhile. I toyed with all sorts of ideas in my head and even debated NOT entering when at the last minute, I saw some Dia de los Muertos cookies on a baking blog I follow. It had been one of my original ideas and seeing Sugar Belle's cookies inspired me to jump on that train. Apparently, I wasn't the only one as there were several Day of the Dead themed entries in the entire contest! That and peacocks, which was also another one of my ideas.

This was a real challenge for me as a baker, because I'm usually known for the flavor and design of my cakes and not my piping skills, which are seriously lacking. It was a huge trial in patience to pipe the different colors and then wait for them to dry before going back over some of them. I'm so glad I did, though, because that hard work paid off! I've decided that I really should take some time this year to improve my piping and finally take a Wilton class. I also want to do gumpaste flowers, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms!

My college buddy and fellow baking aficionado, Brianna, joined me in the contest this year and she came home with a first prize again. Brianna, aka Twinkie, is AMAZING when it comes to piping. Sometimes I wish I could hate her for it, but she is one of the sweetest people I know and she's incredibly humble, so it makes it really hard. Seriously though, she's got skills, and I am always amazed at what she can do with buttercream icing. We certainly set the bar for one another!

Brianna used stringwork and the Lambeth method to score her win! Her piping is so neat and mine is usually, well, NOT.

All in all, I had fun looking at all the cakes and decorating my cookies and getting some super ideas for stuff I want to try. Brianna's convinced me to compete in October at the Oklahoma show, OSSAS and I'm getting pumped up for that one. We'll see what happens!

Winningly yours,
Kelly

Red Dress Club: Free to Good Home!

2011-02-25T19:16:00.000-06:00

PLEASE NOTE: This post is a JOKE. It was written as part of The Red Dress Club weekly prompt, which asked us to imagine that we just had a fight with someone and decided to get even by disposing of some of their stuff. The task was to write a humorous listing for eBay or Craigslist and talk about the history of the item and why it must go in under 600 words.

After putting up with the trials and tribulations of motherhood and housewifery, I’ve decided that I need a total change in my life and career choice. I’m donning my pirate hat to embark on a worldwide trek to pillage, plunder, and seek out buried treasure. As this new venture might be quite dangerous and will cause me to move from place to place frequently with nothing but the clothes on my back and cutlass swinging from my hip, my last act of goodwill in the world is to find a new home for my husband and daughter.

Husband is in late 20’s, good health, very few behavioral problems. He does fart a lot, but a change in diet should fix that. He’s sweet, very social, and handsome to boot. He’s 6’0” even, has dark hair, hazel eyes, and weighs 185 pounds. He’s usually pretty good about cleaning up after himself, but you may need to stay on top of him every once in awhile. He’s also very creative and loves to show his affection by writing poetry, bringing home books, and giving back rubs. The husband is very laid back and spends his spare time reading, dinking on the internet, and listening to music. He can be very adventurous and will keep you on your toes with his latest ventures.

Daughter just turned three and is up to date on her shots, also in good health.; She’s a little over 3” tall, has long strawberry blonde hair, blue-gray eyes, and about 40 pounds. She’s very energetic and spirited, so an owner with lots of time and energy to spare is a must! She’s mostly potty trained (still wear pull ups at night), is very intelligent, and has quite the vocabulary. Some examples: “two minits, Mommy”, “Mommy, stay here. Be rye back!”, “NOOOO!”, and “I want Scoo-dee Snacks!” She is very affectionate and quite the ham. She loves chasing laser pointers, climbing things, and playing on the playscape at Burger King after a rousing shopping trip at Target.

Ideally, they’ll go to a good home as a pair, but I’m open to different arrangements. If you’re willing to take them both, I will also throw in my intelligence-challenged cat, Snack. She’s small, gray, fuzzy, and very lovable. Plus, she’s easy to take care of.

Location: Austin, TX
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Plum Tuckered

2011-02-23T22:52:00.000-06:00

Billa had a great birthday on Monday! Wanna know how I know?

The brown pooch nestled into her arm there is one of her birthday presents from us; it's a Scooby Doo beanie baby, which she has not put down for more than a few seconds since she got him. She usually takes a book to bed. The Poky Little Puppy has been a favorite lately. And I swear, this was exactly how we found her when we came in to turn off her Christmas lights!

As you can see, she done wore her little self out! So what got her so tired?

Well, after having cakes for breakfast (pancakes), we watched some Scooby Doo and Busytown, played "eh-lun"(Elefun), cleaned house, made some juice, baked cookies, played video games with Mommy, went to the shop (Target), visited the fishies (PetsMart), and then had dinner at Burger King, where she played on the playscape for over an hour and made some new friends. Whew! That exhausted me just writing it.

Happy birthday, Sugary. We love you so much and wish you many more wonderful birthdays to come!

Love,
Kelly

Three is the Age to Be

2011-02-21T08:58:00.000-06:00

Today is Billa's birthday and I'm having a hard time thinking of what to write. It's difficult for me to fathom that my baby is growing up!

It seems like just yesterday that she was placed on my belly, a squalling little pink-skinned bundle. I remember staring at her, half-delirious from no sleep for two months and half mesmerized by the realization that she was finally here. Holding her in my arms that day, I had a difficult time processing that she was mine. I made this, I remember thinking. Here is my heart, outside my body. She snuggled close and I held her in my arms as we both slept.

Was it only three years ago we looked upon you with wonder, little bit?

I should have known that was a taste of things to come! These days, Billa is a blur of activity and motion. She runs everywhere, climbs everything, and is hopping and bouncing from place to place as she soaks in the world around her. Stillness is anathema to every fiber of her being, and "hold still" might as well be said in any other language besides English, it's so foreign to her! As much as I've desired for her to grow, explore, and discover, I creep up beside her at night to watch her as she sleeps. It's the only time she's still long enough for me to drink in her every feature and breath in her little girl scent. It's only been recently that she's been sleeping in her own bed, and I still sometimes feel that loss when I wake up without her snuggled in my arms. My heart aches to hold my baby close.

She moves so fast, I can't even take decent photos of her half the time!

Billa surprises me every single day with yet another concept she's grasped or words she's learned and I experience joy at seeing the world anew through her eyes. I believe that she is part of the source of my new-found optimism in life. How can you not hold a sunny view when you see things from the perspective of a curious toddler? Everything is magical and shiny and new! I am so grateful to God for giving me this life with her.

So much spunk, from head to toe!

We will be celebrating Billa's birthday quietly today, enjoying her favorite foods, going to her favorite places and spending time together as a family. A few months ago, I didn't think Billa would ever have that opportunity again, and yet here we are, still together and still committed. Our daughter is definitely an inspiration towards that goal. She deserves nothing less than our best efforts at working on our marriage and our commitment to be better people.

Sugary, you have graced our lives with sweetness and wonder. We are so grateful for your presence and the light you bring to our lives. Happy 3rd birthday, love! May you have many more!

Love,
Mama and Daddy

Lolcat Snack

2011-02-19T09:39:00.000-06:00

Apparently Snack the Cat had a message for us after we did some laundry the other day...

Note to Self: Put the laundry away next time!

Cheers,

Kelly

Red Writing Hood: What-a-Shirt

2011-02-18T08:05:00.001-06:00

There were two of them.

Large white baseball style T's with bright orange raglan sleeves and the trademark orange W emblazoned across the breast. They were given away as part of a grand opening ceremony for another Whataburger. While they were most frequently worn by Daddy whenever he did any kind of sweaty man work around the house, they were communal property. They performed double duty as nightgowns for me and play shirts for my brothers. They sheltered Mama from the sun when she was outside with the horses. And when one of them was falling apart, it served as rags to clean the crystal. It was Shel Silverstein's giving tree in T-shirt form.

I'd taken one of them to college with me, wearing it as my dad did and then some. It was my armor when I had a bad breakup and needed stability. It was my uniform when I was ill and needed comfort. It was a reminder that I was loved, a physical representation of Daddy's hugs when I was little and thought he was Superman. I would swaddle myself in it, stroking the soft folds between my fingers, the adult version of sucking my thumb. It was instantly subduing and calmed me from within. Nothing could touch me in that shirt.

I wish I had one of them now. In what started out as a decent day quickly turned sour when Michael called with the news that he'd be job searching again. His store was closing, another victim to the economy and changing technology. It seemed like it was only yesterday that we'd finally found calm waters and now we were being tossed around in the storm one more time. I wanted to run from the world's troubles and hide from all our hardships. I wanted to wrap my body in thin, faded orange cotton and curl up someplace cool and dark until the unfairness of life abated.

But the shirts are lost and gone forever. I know, because I've looked for mine every time I clean out my closets. Somewhere in the course of moving from apartment to apartment in the ten years since I left home, it quietly disappeared without so much as a backward glance. I still hold out hope that I'll find it tucked away in a box somewhere, still soft and streaked with ancient grease stains, pocked with tiny holes where the cotton wore too thin. Occasionally I am treated to a tangible memory of the shirt when I pick up a cashmere sweater or silk blouse. It was nothing but simple cotton, but years of wear and love elevated it to the same tactile sensation as those elegant, costly fibers. I've searched my parents' house for its twin, hoping I might find it folded away in a closet or stashed in the bottom of the rag bag in the mudroom, but alas, it too passed from this plane of existence a long time ago.

As I contemplate the day's events and struggle to keep calm and carry on, I think about that old Whataburger shirt. I might not be able to wrap myself up in it anymore, but remembering the shirt is balm for my soul. Its memory serves as a gentle reminder that we'll get past this bump in the road too, just like we have everything else.

Life will go on, with or without a T-shirt.

This post was written as part of the The Red Dress Club. This week's prompt was to write a piece (600 word limit) about finding a forgotten item of clothing in the back of a drawer or closet, letting readers know how the item was found, what it is, and why it's so meaningful to you or your character.

Farewell, Borders...

2011-02-16T20:42:00.000-06:00

‘Tis a sad day in the Guerra household.

Borders was plastered on the front of the Wall Street Journal with news of their bankruptcy filing this morning. In a bid to make themselves profitable again, they will be closing 200 of its stores including the entire Austin market. Michael only started working for them back in early October but it doesn’t make this sting any less. I’m heartbroken for him as he and the rest of his coworkers will now be searching for new jobs. Borders was good to Michael, no doubt about it. Having finally broken free of a string of awful jobs, Borders was like heaven to him. His coworkers were awesome, the clientele was bearable, and Michael really thrived selling a product he loved. I can’t complain either, since they were very understanding of his role as a husband and father and were flexible with him when it was needed. Being able to buy books at a discount wasn’t half bad either!

Borders’s financial woes are also saddening, not just for the immediate unemployment status my husband is facing, but also because it means the book industry is changing yet again. As an aspiring writer, I’ve been watching the market and seeing how everything is going to digital everywhere. Borders lost out on the market because they resisted this change. They kept trying to prove that brick and mortar stores were the way to go, that eBooks were a fad, and that Borders would be a cornerstone of the publishing world forever. But they were wrong. eBooks gained popularity and they ultimately lost out to Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes and Noble. Their Kobo eReader was too little, too late and now hundreds will find themselves without a job in the coming months.

There is something to be said for holding a real book in your hands. I love the sensation of paper beneath my fingers and the sound of the bindings cracking and the pages rustling. I love the musty smell that tickles your nose as you dive deeper into the story. You lose out on that sensory experience with eBooks. I know that I’m probably one of very few who seems bothered by this, but I feel like the loss of real books is like losing part of your soul. Technology is continually numbing us to our own existence, allowing us to hide behind computer terminals and never interact with one another.

When we experienced voluntary blackouts in Austin a couple of weeks ago due to inclement weather, I got a taste of what life would be like without technology. I couldn’t power up my Mac to read the news. I couldn’t flip on my TV or radio. We had no heat, save for the fireplace which was miraculously working. I couldn’t make coffee or cook anything. If we’d had our water operating on an electric well system like my parents do, I wouldn’t have been able to get water! There we were, huddled next to the fireplace under blankets reading books to pass the time until the power came back on. I felt so frustrated by the inability to plug in and find out what was going on. Batteries and electricity won’t last forever and technology is continually out-evolving itself. Kinda makes you wonder who will have the last laugh...

But I digress. The imminent closing of Borders is a huge loss for Austin, especially those of us who depended on it for income. I’m sure that the Big Man Upstairs has something bigger and better planned for Michael; it will simply be a matter of time until we see what that is! Until then, we’re hoping they close the store later rather than sooner. If you have any ideas or leads for Michael, please let us know!

One last thing...if you go to any of the liquidation sales, please remember to be nice and sympathetic to the employees you encounter there. It's not easy to put on a smile when you're facing unemployment!

Here's hoping,

Kelly

Red Writing Hood: Then the World Shifted

2011-02-11T15:13:00.000-06:00

Neither Hair Nor There

I could never have imagined how much it would change me.

It was the stuff of fantasy novels. Not quite curly, not quite straight, and so full of volume I never needed hairspray.The cascade of fiery red locks that fell in waves over my shoulders and down my back drew compliments left and right:

“Oh, it’s such a gorgeous color!” they’d moon.

“Is it natural?” they’d say disbelievingly.

“I wish I had hair that thick and healthy,” they’d pine.

Through the sticky hot Texas summers I bore the weight of that cursed blessing, wearing it piled in a knot atop my head, the massive mop too thick and heavy to do anything else with in the torrid heat. I’d complain and threaten to cut it, always to be badgered by my friends and family: “But it’s so pretty! Why would you want to cut it off?” You can have it! I wanted to scream at them. I’m tired of the ponytail, tired of the nicknames, tired of feeling so plain!

But I couldn’t bring myself to step out of my safe little box.I could never look good with short hair, I told myself.I didn’t have the bone structure, and it would just look awful.My insecurities waged war with my inner hot mama and won every time I thought I might try something different.I fooled myself into believing that the compliments were enough and that it didn’t matter what I thought.

And then came the summer that everything changed.My marriage fell apart and my life went to hell in a hand basket.I lost almost 20 pounds, started seeing a therapist, and had some of my worst mommy moments ever.The woman staring back at me in the mirror was no longer scared and insecure.She was hungry and the look in her eyes told me she meant business.

Suddenly, I didn’t give a rat’s ass what my insecurities said anymore.I didn’t care what people thought.I’d allowed their words and thinly veiled threats to take root in my soul and shred any sense of confidence I possessed. So what if it looked stupid? So what if it looked awful? I didn’t care. It’s just hair, I told myself. Woman up!

I crawled out of the little black hole of despair I’d called reality and started combing Google and gossip websites for inspirations, ripped pictures out of fashion mags at the doctor’s office, and repeated my mantra in the mirror every day: “It’s just hair. It’ll grow back."

I sat in front of the salon mirror, watching as the hairdresser behind me finished picking at individual pieces of the side swept pixie cut he’d razored into those thick red tresses. The remnants of what had been lay on the floor, mixing in with the brown and blonde of previous clientele.

“Well?” he asked.

I stared back at the woman in the mirror and nearly burst into tears.

She was gorgeous. She was sexy. And she was me.

“I love it,” I said with a vehemence that startled everyone around me except the hairdresser. He grinned.

I sauntered out of the salon and the whole world shifted.

Total Word Count: 522

This post was written in response to this week's prompt by the Red Dress Club. The prompt asked to write a piece that begins with the line, "I could never have imagined" and end with the line, "Then the whole world shifted" with a max word count of 600. I welcome and appreciate any and all feedback!

Plagued by Pestilence

2011-02-05T15:53:00.000-06:00

The plague has hit our house!

Michael asleep on the couch. Snack doesn't look too thrilled with me.

I think it might be the flu and if that's the case, I'm going to be mighty PO'd if I get it too! I already missed three days of work a couple of weeks ago due to a sinus infection/cold thing and I really can't afford to miss anymore. Whatever this is, Michael got it first and ended up missing up work yesterday as a result (well, that and minor car accident thanks to the icy and snowy roads--he's ok BTW, just a little sore) and he's missing out again today.

Poor kid! She passed almost before her head hit the pillow.

Now poor Billa's got it! She had a little fever last night and her constant coughing kept me awake, but by mid-morning she was her usual spunky and energetic self, so we went for our usual Target run and foodstore trip, albeit a bit shorter than normal...I didn't want her to tax herself! By the time we got home, Billa was cranky, shivering, and her temp was starting to spike up again. Argh!

I really hope that this thing leaves our house soon and I hope all of you are taking precautions this winter season to stay warm and stay healthy!

Kelly

Snow Day 2011!

2011-02-04T10:34:00.000-06:00

We woke up to a wonderful surprise this morning...SNOW! For those of you not from around here, this is a BIG deal. We never get snow, so when we do, it's cause to celebrate and shut down the town! As I write this, the sun has been out for an hour or so and the snow is beginning to melt, but we still had enough on the ground to play in it and build a small snowman. Well, he's more like a snowdrop, since there was only an inch on the ground and it took us a little effort to scoop enough powder to create him. This is technically the second snow of Billa's life, but the first for her to actually play in because it didn't stick last year.

The view outside our living room window this morning.

Rabbit tracks...they were everywhere!

Billa is delighted to play outside in the white stuff!

Our snowman!

Mommy and Billa...I think Mommy is waaaaaay more excited than Billa!

"Mama, is cold!"

We didn't stay out for too long since it was cold and my fingers were starting to lose feeling. The wind has also started to whip up and was smacking us in the face with snow from the roof, so it was the perfect time to come in and have a second breakfast :o) Michael isn't feeling well, so he watched from the window and when Billa told him all about our snow adventures, she finished up with "And it was really cold!"

Stay warm everyone and happy snow day!
Kelly

2011 100+ Reading Challenge: January

2011-02-01T13:31:00.017-06:00

Here is the summary of books I've read in the month of January for the 2011 100+ Reading Challenge from Overstuffed Bookshelf! I've tried to give some info about the book, especially about genre, etc. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! All of these books are available on Amazon or elsewhere.

1-6. Fruits Basket vols. 18-23 by Natsuki Takaya - shojo manga series, this counts as six entries since it's six different books! Great series featuring a supernatural element, teenage romance, etc.

7. Bloodroot by Amy Greene - contemporary fiction, bestseller, about families and their dynamics, has a little bit of supernatural elements in it, features the Appalachian region of the US. I give this one 5 stars!

8. Onegai, Teacher vol. 1 by Yosuke Kuroda - shojo manga series about a teenage boy who finds himself in strange circumstances when he discovers that his new teacher is an alien! A bit silly, but fun nonetheless. I have yet to read anymore of the series, but I really enjoyed the first volume.

9-12. Protector of the Small series, by Tamora Pierce - young adult series with fantasy elements. Tamora Pierce is my all time favorite author, and I'd started this series years ago but never finished. Great story about a young woman who wants to become a knight and the struggles she endures on that road. This series builds on a previous one, the Song of the Lioness series, but you don't need to read those to enjoy this one! Perfect for the tween in your life.

So that's my January recap! I'm already onto some other things and will be sure to share those at the end of February!

Happy reading,
Kelly

Billa Babble: It Happens!

2011-02-01T09:57:00.000-06:00

This snippet of conversation was overheard while watching Scooby Doo for the umpteenth time the other morning. Allow me to set up the action seen onscreen:

A group of tourists are screaming for their lives while the walls of a pyramid in Egypt start to close in on them. As they try to push the walls back, they are absorbed into the walls, cutting off their screams before the intro song plays. (Don't look at me. I don't write this stuff, I'm just telling you what we see)

Billa: Oh no! The kids!
Me: [scratching head] Um...yeah–
Billa: [shrugs] It happens!
Me: ....

I guess I can't complain. If that's the attitude my child has through life, I will be perfectly fine. Water off a duck's back, my dear!

Cheers,
Kelly

An Artistic Streak

2011-01-12T20:46:00.000-06:00

We are a very creative household! We love to craft, paint, sing, dance, write, act, and create and we are very talented in our own ways.

Here, Billa is channeling her inner Picasso and painting a very lovely abstract piece that ended up being my mom's birthday present:

She loves to paint and gives all the colors equal love!

Billa got a little crazy with her markers the other day as you can see. Fortunately, it wasn't anything a little soap couldn't handle!

Sugar Pop, this is why I love you!

Artfully yours,
Kelly

2011 100+ Reading Challenge

2011-01-07T13:25:00.000-06:00

I love reading. I am voracious about it. There's a rule in our house that I'm not allowed to read fictional books until the weekend, because otherwise, I'll stay up all night to read them. I read pretty fast, too. I finished the last Harry Potter book in under 8 hours and 15 minutes (that's including potty and snack breaks). So I am beyond stoked to participate in a reading challenge for this year! Reading 100 books is going to be easy for me, so I've decided to step it up a notch by choosing to read books in other genres. This ties in nicely with my resolution this year to really challenge myself as a writer. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to list my books, but I'll start with a sidebar that lists the books I've read and then do a monthly post that includes a summary overview of everything I've read. If you like to read, feel free to join too!

Hosted by Overstuffed Bookshelf

1. The goal is to read 100 or more books. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. Posting on GoodReads or wherever you post your reviews is good enough.

2. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Manga, Graphic Novels, Library books, Novellas, Young Reader, Nonfiction – as long as the book has an ISBN or equivalent or can be purchased as such, the book counts. What doesn't count: Individual short stories or individual books in the Bible.

3. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

4. Crossovers from other reading challenges count.

5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2011. Books started before the 1st do not count. You can join at anytime.

6. When you sign up under Mr. Linky at the Overstuffed Bookshelf, put the direct link to your post where your books will be listed. Include the URL to this post so that other viewers can find this fun challenge. If you’d prefer to put your list in the sidebar of your blog, please leave your viewers the link to the sign up page. Again, so viewers can join the challenge too.

Happy reading!
Kelly

Goodbye 2010, Hellooooooo 2011!

2010-12-31T18:10:00.000-06:00

I have to admit, I'm probably more excited about 2011 than most people. Given how intense and um, challenging 2010 turned out, I'm hoping that this new year will be much more positive and relaxed. I know it's a bit silly, because anyone can make a change at any given point, it doesn't just have to be January 1st. But there is something about New Year's that makes me feel the start and end of something so strongly. In our case, it is the end of Year of Perspective and Introspection.

Due to our separation this year, my husband and I have had done a lot of introspection. We took time to look inward and really examine ourselves, our behaviors, our feelings and more. We are fortunate that our actions led us to a new perspective. What we learned is that nothing is more than our marriage and our family. And it's not just the basic concepts either; we realized and understood that while two individuals make up a team, it's only when that team works together that they can win. It isn't enough to feel those things are important, you have to work to make them important. We had placed too much focus on our individual selves and goals instead of our joint ones.

As difficult as 2010 was for me, I am incredibly grateful to the Big Man Upstairs for placing this obstacle in my path. I was given a glimpse of a possible future in my life and I won't lie, I didn't like it, nor did I want it. I know too many of my own loved ones who now have to blaze that trail, and my heart aches for them. I am a stubborn and proud woman at times (ok, a lot of times), and I had to fall really hard to learn what was truly important to me. I know how blessed I am to be given a second chance, and it's one I won't take lightly again.

I look forward to the prospects and challenges that 2011 will provide for us; i hope that it too, is a challenging year, but in a different way. We have yet to really sit down and think about our resolutions for the new year, but you can bet it is something that we will be doing together!

I hope that you all have a happy and blessed new year, and that everyone is safe tonight as they celebrate the passing of the old, and the birth of the new!

Happy New Year!
The Guerra Family

Bento, Manga, and Japanese!

2010-12-29T13:41:00.000-06:00

Amongst my close friends, it's no secret that I love the Japanese culture. It came about as an accident really, when I was in college. My best friend Kellie and I went everywhere together in those days, earning us the nickname of Kelly/ie Squared or K2 as some of our professors called us. People began to wonder when only one of us showed up anywhere! Part of our degree requirement was to have two semesters of a foreign language and we chose Spanish. None of the classes worked out with our schedule, but Japanese did. What the hell! we said, and we signed up. The next two semesters were some of the most fun we had, as our sensei was quite the character. She was new to America by only a couple of years and I daresay we taught her as much about American culture as she did Japanese culture with us. Those two semesters sparked something within Kellie and I.

This is hiragana, just one of several forms of characters used in writing Japanese. Hiragana is used to write out words that are native Japanese; katakana is used for foreign words that have been introduced to Japanese, and kanji is the complex language to spell actual words (as opposed to katakana and hiragana, which spell out syllables)

Kellie's daughter Madeleine is obsessed with anime, and in turn, Kellie and I got into it too. One thing led to another and now we're obsessed with manga, anime, bento box lunches, Japanese cuisine, and relearning all of our college Japanese. Kellie had told me about an anime called Fruits Basket on instant watch on Netflix which was a great show, but it ended on a weird note and I felt cheated. It's a nice thing that my husband works for a bookstore, because I've been tearing through the 27 volumes of the manga that the anime was based on. A side note: it's called Fruits Basket, because there is no 't' sound in Japanese. Everything is spelled out with syllables, so the word 'fruit' in Japanese is actually 'furutsu', thereby translated in English to 'fruits'! Pretty cool, huh?

Some of the gang from Fruits Basket: Hatsuharu, Kyo (my favorite!), Tohru, Momiji, and Yuki.

With the new year rapidly approaching, I've been meaning to live a healthier lifestyle and one of my new resolutions this year is to start doing bento boxes for my lunches. Bento is a way of packing your lunch in a little box that hits all of the food groups and keeps the portion sizes appropriate. There are all sorts of fun gadgets and do-hickeys that help to make the bento look cuter and more appetizing. It can get pretty serious, but I'm only concerned with trying to keep it healthy for now! I think I will also plan on eating more meals with chopsticks since it forces me to really concentrate on my meal and how much I eat.

See how fun bento can be? I'd love eating this for lunch every day!

I'm excited about relearning all of my Japanese and then some. I'd love to go to Japan someday and tour the country, trying the food, meeting new people, and checking out the scenery and historical sites. I'll be sure to share my adventures in bento box making as well as reviews on mangas I read or animes I watch. This is going to be an exciting year!

Cheers,
Kelly

Christmas 2010 Wrap-up

2010-12-26T18:31:00.002-06:00

What a lovely holiday season this was! We had a wonderful time visiting with friends and family and we are looking forward to the myriad of others we still have yet to visit.

The Sunday before Christmas we drove to Victoria, TX for the annual Guerra family Christmas gathering which was lovely. Michael's Aunt Cathy and Uncle Pat hosted a scrumptious Tex-Mex dinner and we thoroughly enjoyed visiting with everyone, especially since we hadn't been able to see everyone at Thanksgiving. We were so blessed to be surrounded by our family and to receive many wonderful gifts. We completely forgot our camera, so I have no pictures sadly. We did have a funny moment on the way home though: everyone had fallen asleep with the exception of myself and Caitlyn (who was driving). Billa woke up, looked around, and then suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, "Daddy, no go night night!" It promptly woke him and everyone else up. Cait and I were cracking up since we weren't rudely awoken. Gotta love a kid with a mind of her own!

Christmas Eve was spent with my family. My brothers and a couple of family friends joined us all for shrimp, ham, sweet potato casserole, green beans, and more for a delicious meal. Afterwards, we opened presents and teased my brother Philip for his get up. Billa ended up usurping the Play-Doh Philip gave everyone and had quite a good time carrying her "cake" everywhere. My brothers left to go to mass with my brother David's girlfriend Lindsey and the rest of us stayed to watch Zombieland, which is a really fun zombie movie if you haven't seen it yet. After that, it was close to midnight and we headed back home to prepare for Santa's arrival. Billa, was of course, thoroughly passed out.

Billa begins to unwrap her gift from "Uncle Folf" (aka my brother Phil!)

Billa helps Uncle Folf unwrap his present

Philip hands out Play-Doh for all!

She was so passed out that the next morning, she didn't even notice the presence of presents under the tree! We decided that we'd take advantage of that and take our time to open everything, which was nice. Billa was over the moon with the teddy bear stickers, dinosaur coloring book, and Kumon books that "Santa" got her. I was thrilled that she loved her puppy dolly that I've been working on for her.

Present time!

Mommy has to lend a little assistance. Check out Billa's awesome bedhead!

Billa's "dine-ror" coloring book with figures and stickers...she loves playing dine-rors with daddy!

The crown from Billa's Christmas crackers...she's not really sure what to think about it yet.

Later on, we headed to Michael's mom's house for Christmas breakfast. Oh man, it's a good thing I only eat her boyfriend's Carl's french toast once a year...that stuff is an instant coronary! He makes sausage and bacon and then fries up the french toast in the drippings which makes it super tasty, but also incredibly fattening. We then opened presents and me and my sister in law Caitlyn promptly passed out on the couch while Gigi played with Billa and Carl and Michael watched car shows on TV. It was nice and lazy!

Caitlyn, Billa, and Michael at breakfast. My fave Christmas pic from this year!

Billa unwraps her present from Gigi with a little help from Riley the beagle

Little People Noah's Ark! Gigi got Billa ALL the animals that come with it. Our only regret is that there is no Mrs. Noah with the set. C'mon, Little People...don't be hatin!

Me and my new scarf...I can never have enough scarves!

Gigi takes a picture of Billa's new froggie blanket. I can personally vouch for it's comfyness and coziness

We finished our day by stopping off at the Marino household to give them their presents and visit with them for a bit. Anthony started up the fire pit in the backyard and it was so nice, given how chilly it was!

We had a wonderful Christmas and we hope that each and every one of you did too!

Happy Christmas,
The Guerra Family

Twelve Days of Christmas: My Favorite Ornament

2010-12-17T15:10:00.002-06:00

I'm doing Anna's linky party again. Today's theme is favorite ornaments!

I love today's theme because it gives me a chance to espouse my love for my favorite ornament: the gay little elf!

This cheerful little cherub has been in my family now for a couple of generations. After my mom's mom passed away in 1995, we inherited a lot of her stuff, including some Christmas ornaments. The gay little elf was one of those ornaments. He actually has an identical twin and before I claimed my half of the pair, we'd hang them on the tree facing each other every year. My brothers HATE the gay little elf because they think he's dumb looking. I, on the other hand, find him absolutely adorable and hysterical in equal amounts. My brothers would always make silly faces or crack terrible jokes about the poor little elf, and we'd have great fun laughing about it all afterwards. Those memories are forefront in my mind when I unpack the elf and he always gets a place front and center on the tree.

Someday my mom will give me her little elf too and I shall have a matched pair. As time goes on, I hope that the elf will continue to witness many happy and joyful Christmasses from his perch on our tree.

Happy Holidays,
Kelly

Billa Babble: All I want for Christmas

2010-12-17T14:59:00.001-06:00

Billa is in love with Christmas decorations. When we drive around in the evening, if she sees Christmas lights, she makes sure EVERYONE knows it. She calls them "those lights", most likely because we kept pointing them out that way: "Billa! Look at THOSE lights!"

She is also obsessed with the jolly old elf himself whom she has dubbed "Santen." I don't know why, that's how she says it! She's grasped the concept that it is Santa that visits and delivers presents, something they must have talked about at school because we didn't really mention it at home. It's not that we don't believe in Santa (we do) or that we were trying to spread some sort of message to her (we are, but not overtly), it just never occurred to us that we should explain it to her this year. But as always, I am proven wrong by the extraordinary little brain hidden underneath those strawberry blonde curls. Observe:

The other night as we were driving to visit a friend, she saw a blow-up Santa and pointed it out.

"Mommy, look! A Santen!"
"Yes, that is a Santa." I said. "Hey Billa, are you excited about Santa coming?"
"Yes!"
"What does Santa bring?" I asked, a bit smugly.
"Um...presents!" she replied brightly.
Huh, I thought.
"And what would you like Santa to bring you?"
In the rearview mirror, I caught a glimpse of her drop her chin into her little hand in the classic philosopher's pose. She thought long and hard for a few seconds.
"Pizza!" she declared.
"I'll get right on that," I said. "I mean, I'll see what Santa can do."
"Danks, Mommy!"

Here's hoping "Santen" brings you everything on your list!

Cheers,
Kelly

Twelve Days of Christmas: My Favorite Person

2010-12-16T21:58:00.002-06:00

My friend Anna is doing a really cute and fun linky party on her crafty blog, and I felt like joining in on the fun. Today her subject is your favorite person. I'd be remiss if I didn't claim my daughter Sybilla as my favorite gal in the whole entire world!

My little toot has made my life bright, delightfully chaotic, and challenged me to grow as a person and a mother. Every day she finds new ways to make me laugh, to amaze me, or to melt my heart. She's almost three and her personality is full of spirit and spunk. She loves the color green, loves kitties and puppies, and is active beyond belief. Her vocabulary is incredible and every day I am blown away by what else she has picked up and learned. She says "please," "thank you," and "welcome" at all the appropriate times and usually doesn't need to be prompted on it. She knows just about all the colors including chartreuse (said "shuh-shoo"). Her counting consists of repeating 2 and 4 until she's satisfied. She loves to pick out her own clothes and loves to wear brightly colored things, just like her mommy. My heart just swells at how incredibly empathetic she is with others around her, and it warms me to my core to see her try and make things better.

As we come into the Christmas season and Billa absorbs it all, I find myself deliriously happy over the simplest things. It is pure joy listening to her point out "those lights, Mommy!" upon seeing brightly lit Christmas lights. And I love hearing her talk about "Santen" and asking her what she hopes he'll bring her (the other night it was pizza!).

Sybilla, you are definitely my favorite person in this entire world and I am so happy to be your mommy!

Cheers,
Kelly

Latkes for the Win!

2010-12-09T12:43:00.000-06:00

We usually do a small dinner party once a month with a couple of friends of mine. We all provide different components and it's so nice to entertain in an intimate setting. I love entertaining and I enjoy showing my love and admiration for people through food.

We aren't Jewish, but we've always wanted to introduce the customs and rituals of other cultures into our home so that we could inspire openmindedness and awareness in our children. Now that Billa is older and aware of holidays, we thought this would be a good year to start. Michael got a menorah and candles and we looked up the traditional prayers that are said as part of the lighting of the candles. My newest issue of Cooking Light had recipes for potato latkes and so we decided to give them a try and share the last night of Hanukkah with our friends.

We tried traditional latkes and latkes with serrano peppers and cilantro that were absolutely fabulous. The only downfall of these recipes was that it takes a while to fry everything up. Part of the tradition surrounding Hanukkah is eating foods fried in oil, as the oil is representative of the sacred temple oil lasting for eight days. I think it would have been faster had I not grated my hand. Yeah, you read that right. I was grating the onion and I totally shredded my hand too. Ouch! Trying to cook with one bandaged and aching hand slowed me down a bit. But beyond that, the latkes were amazing!

The recipe called for jalapenos, but I still had serranos to use from the garden, so we subbed those in. Michael did a really great job with the chipotle sour cream and the combination of the two was super delicious. This recipe will be added to our repertoire and cooked more often than just at Hanukkah!

Serrano & Cilantro Latkes with Chipotle Sour Cream
Recipe and picture from Cooking Light magazine
6 tablespoons light sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
3/4 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
6 cups shredded peeled baking potato (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup grated fresh onion
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
1 large egg
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil, divided

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

2. Combine potato and onion in a colander. Drain 30 minutes, pressing occasionally with the back of a spoon until barely moist. Combine potato mixture, flour, and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; toss well.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Spoon 1/4 cup potato mixture loosely into a dry measuring cup. Pour mixture into pan; flatten slightly. Repeat the procedure 5 times to form 6 latkes. Sauté 3 1/2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and thoroughly cooked. Remove latkes from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and potato mixture to yield 12 latkes total. Serve with sour cream mixture.

Some food for thought...

Cooking Light emphasized the importance of letting the shredded potatoes drain for 30 minutes or so. This is very important as the shredded potato gives off a lot of liquid and that liquid will affect the quality and texture of your latkes. I didn't let mine drain long enough and I could tell. In the future, I will probably place the potatoes in cheesecloth and hang it over the sink to ensure that they have plenty of drainage!
Serranos and jalapenos can be used interchangeably. Just remember that the heat of the pepper is mostly contained in the veins and seeds! You can scoop those out using a spoon once they've been split down the center lengthwise.
if you're making a huge batch of these things, place the cooked ones on a foil lined cookie sheet and keep them in a warm oven until it's time to eat.
On frying: you need to make sure that you're oil is good and hot to ensure that the latkes don't get too soggy with oil. Give the oil a minute or two to come back to temperature in between batches. You can also use paper towels and brown lunch bags to help sop up any excess oil.

Happy Hanukkah to all of our Jewish friends...we hope your Festival of Lights was a wonderful one!

Cheers,
Kelly

Some Friday Fun...

2010-12-03T15:37:00.000-06:00

A co-worker of mine sends out a fun email every week. I really enjoyed these and thought I would share! Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Real life definitions

BEAUTY PARLOR:
A place where women curl up and dye.

CANNIBAL:
Someone who is fed up with people.

CHICKENS:
The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.

COMMITTEE:
A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.

DUST:
Mud with the juice squeezed out.

EGOTIST:
Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.

GOSSIP:
Never tell a lie if the truth will do more damage.

KLEENEX:
Cold Storage.

INFLATION:
Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.

MOSQUITO:
An insect that makes you like flies better.

RAISIN:
Grape with a sunburn.

SECRET:
Something you tell to one person at a time.

TOOTHACHE:
The pain that drives you to extraction.

TOMORROW:
One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.

YAWN:
An honest opinion openly expressed.

WRINKLES:
Something other people have.

Cheers,
Kelly

Candid Camera

2010-12-02T18:17:00.005-06:00

Billa got a hold of the camera again. This is what she captured for posterity:

Her favorite thing to watch right now: Shaun the Sheep

Mommy's cooking!

Mmmm, Ponyo noodles (ramen)...my favorite!

Mommy: "Hey, whaddaya doing with that camera, Billa?"

Billa: "I takin' pic-cha, Mommy!"

Mommy: "Oh, ok. [pause] Wait, what!?"

Thank you, Billa, for making sure to capture my good side and my double chin. If only the media aspired to your standards of honest reporting!

Captivatingly yours,

Kelly

Gettin' Crafty

2010-11-30T07:12:00.000-06:00

There's just something about the holidays that makes me super crafty. Maybe it's because the cold forces us to stay inside, or the ideas are flowing out the wazoo on the interwebs. Whatever it is, I have all these great ideas floating around in my head.

Dolls, dolls, dolls
Since we decorated the house on Friday, Billa has been stealing the Christmas themed Beanie Babies and carrying them around everywhere, calling them her "babies." I gave her one of my old purses so that she could carry them around. I've noticed that she's started to develop an empathetic streak and is becoming obsessed with caring for things. So we've decided that Billa will be getting a doll for Christmas. I haven't liked a lot of the ones I've seen at stores, so I am going to make her one. I'm so in love with these soft bodied dolls I saw on Etsy and I am planning on making one that is inspired by them and creating clothes to go along with it, and maybe even a little carrier so that Billa has something to carry her babies in!

Dolls made by The Windy Hill

I also saw these peg dolls and realized I had wooden pieces left over from a craft project that would be perfect to make some of our own. And this cigar box dollhouse? Too cute to boot! Of course, I may end up saving these peg dolls for Billa's birthday, but they would also be really cute for ornaments or gifts for the other kids on my list.

iPad case
My company is giving all of it's employees an iPad for our Christmas gift this year and I am so stoked. I've been iPad crazy now, trying to decide what apps I'm going to get, and looking at cases. I love this owl case from Boutique ID, but if I recreate it, I'm going to make some adjustments/improvements to it so that it's a bit more functional for my needs.

Owl iPad case from Boutique ID

I might even use up some of my fabric stores to make some cute iPad sleeves for my coworkers too, since they'll all be in the same boat I will!

Gift presentation and Ornaments
Some of the people on our list will be receiving gift cards this year. I don't have a problem with gift cards as gifts, but I really dislike it when there's no thought given to the presentation! I saw these nutcracker ornament boxes from Crate and Barrel and thought it would be really cute to make some for holding gift cards. I started a tradition with my friend Kellie's kids and my own daughter by giving the kids a special ornament each year as part of their gift. That way when they go off on their own, they have a whole set to get them started! These little boxes would be super cute for this year's ornament, especially customized with favorite colors.

Advent calendar
Last year, it was the middle of December when I was blogtrolling and discovered all sorts of cute ideas for advent calendars. It being the middle of December, I couldn't exactly start one then, but I resolved to do it for the next year! I bought some felt from the craft store over the holidays and I am ready to st out to make an advent calendar for this year. My idea was originally that I was going to make little mittens and socks out of the felt and then hang them up on a line like this one from Martha Stewart, but I don't really have any place to hang them in our apartment now that everything is decorated.

I may just make a panel that hangs on the fridge and each one of the little socks and mittens clips to it if I can't find someplace to hang them all up. They'll all be little pouches so that I can stuff candy or other activities into them and hopefully it will grow with us if our family ever expands!

Hopefully my budget will allow for all of my craftiness. I haven't been able to craft in some time and now that I have some free time after finishing NaNoWriMo, I am ready to get crackin' on my craftin'!

Happy crafting to you!
Kely

Nanowrimo 2010: WINNER!!!

2010-11-28T19:50:00.000-06:00

I submitted my word count to Nanowrimo.org and I was rewarded with this image:

Huzzah! I finished my novel this morning with 50,010 words. Well, according to Nanowrimo, anyway. My word counter on Scrivener had about 60 more words, so I'm not really sure what Nanowrimo isn't counting, but who cares? I won, dammit!

It feels so good to claim victory, especially a little bit early. I spent about four hours Saturday night and pounded out almost 8,000 words before I gave into the siren call of sleep. And then this morning, Michael was really sweet and took Billa to the park so that I could finish the last 1,800 words and post my victory. Not ten seconds after I finished whooping and hollering over my win, my husband and daughter walked in the door and saw me grinning like an idiot. He knew why I was so happy and we celebrated by purchasing a bottle of wine to enjoy with our dinner and movie for this evening.

I am so relieved to have finished. I gladly took on the challenge and while I am proud of my accomplishment, I didn't realize how much pressure and stress I was feeling from the challenge! But like last year, I learned so much about myself and my writing. As I mentioned previously, I had started with another idea, but nixed it in favor of an older one. I'm glad I did, because I am looking forward to editing that story soon. It's total crap right now, but with a little hacking here and there, I think it will be much better. i also learned a lot about where I need to improve my skills as a writer. I'm good at dialogue, plotting, and characterization, but I need to do some serious work on describing things and figuring out how to tease the details to keep the reader engaged.

I'm also relieved because during the course of this year's challenge, I came up with several more novel ideas and now I can actually start them!

Thank you to all of the wonderful people at Nanowrimo for putting together this year's challenge and especially to all my friends and family for encouraging me to keep going. I want to give a shout out to my friends Victoria and Michelle for joining me in the challenge and helping to keep me on track and moving along. I hope you two are winners too!

Excitedly yours,
Kelly

Deckin' the Halls and Thanksgiving 2010 Recap

2010-11-26T10:17:00.002-06:00

Now that we are recovered from our food comas yesterday...

We had a wonderful time visiting with Michael's mom's family and my family yesterday for Thanksgiving. It was Michael's mom's birthday yesterday, so we drove out to Wimberley, TX to have dinner with Gigi, Aunt Cait, Auntie 'Chelle, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Steve, Aunt Jerry, Nana, and Mrs. Roberts (Uncle Steve's mom). Dinner was fabulous and we watched the Macy's parade, a dog show, and the beginning of the Cowboys vs. Saints game. We also took a lovely walk around the ranch to make some room for dessert:

Some of us climbed...

And ran...

And played in the birdbath!

Afterwards, we drove to my parents' house in Buda and enjoyed Thanksgiving 2.0 with my folks, my brothers David and Philip, Phil's girlfriend Andrea, and his roommate Aaron. I am sad to say that my beloved Longhorns put up a good fight against the Aggies, but it wasn't enough. We lost 24-17 and I was so very sad. I seriously hope the Aggies make it the Big 12 Championship though; we need a Texas team to represent!

This year's Thanksgiving was one of the best, although it was marred just slightly by the news that my husband's Gramma Bobbe took ill and so we won't be seeing that side of the family this year. We hope you feel better soon, Gramma!

We traditionally spend Black Friday decorating our home for Christmas and we definitely did that this morning! Michael had to work in the afternoon, so we got an early start and were done in about an hour. Now that's what I call teamwork! Billa lent a hand hanging ornaments on the tree. Here is a fine example of her handiwork:

At least she's consistent!

The stocking were hung by the chimney with care...

...In the hopes that St. Nick would soon be there!

In other news, the weather is finally cold! I don't know how long it will last, but I am s thrilled about cold weather. I broke out the sweaters this morning and put away some of my summer clothes. I like to layer in the wintertime, so I didn't put away everything of course, but it was so refreshing to see my sweaters hanging back up again.

I have to say, given everything that has happened this year, I am so grateful to be able to spend the holidays with my husband's family as well as my own. I have come to consider them as my family too and I grieved to think that I might not be seeing them at the holidays. You certainly never know what you have until you are faced with losing it.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well and that if you are going out today that you're safe! And if you are going out today, show a little kindness and appreciation to any retail employees you encounter...it will make for happiness all around!

Cheers,
Kelly

Writing Woes: An update on NaNoWriMo 2010

2010-11-18T16:44:00.000-06:00

I have to say that Nanowrimo is kicking my butt this year although I'm a bit ahead of where I was last go 'round. As of this writing, I have finally reached the halfway mark of 25,000 words. Woot! But I'm still struggling with it. I should have hit that mark Monday night and instead I hit it Thursday at lunchtime. I have to hit 37,500 this upcoming Monday night if I want to stay on track.

As one of the pep talk emails said, "I've been Week Two'd."

It's traditional to start the month roaring and to finish the month mewing like a lamb. Week Two is typically where a alot of writers stumble. The pizazz they started with has fizzled and they're starting to really question the soundness of the decision they made. I started the month scrambling for an idea that I felt I could commit myself to and yet, the idea I came up with just didn't resonate after five days. I know, I probably should have stuck with it, but I had such an aversion to it that there was no way words were going to fly out of my finges. So I scrapped it.

By this point, of course, two of my writing buddies were way ahead of me. Crap, I thought. [cue dramatic moan] What am I gonna write about?! I started digging through the scrap pile of my hard drive. There is a folder on my desktop entitled "Kelly's Writing" - any idea I have, any manuscript I'm working on, journal entries I've written, they all end up in that little blue folder that stares at me every day. The scrap pile revealed to me that I had a story idea I'd ben entertaining in the back of my brain for almost three years. I totally lucked out because I even had close to 5000 words already written of it! Technically, it's cheating, yes, but I'd already written 5000 words of the other story, so it's all a wash at the end of the day. I put in the effort, dammit, and twice at that!

So this buried treasure is what I've been working on but I keep finding myself getting distracted. I've had to go so far as to turn of my web browser, because otherwise, I'll be tempted to lurk through Facebook, or blog troll, or look up other random useless trivia to lock away into the recesses of my brain. Yeah, that's my life. Great, isn't it?

I was really proud of myself for banging out almost 5000 words this morning and I hope to repeat it tomorrow so that I can get a little bit closer to 37500 by Monday. It won't be easy, but I know that I am more inclined to met deadlines hen they're hanging over my head. Nothing like the proverbial feeling of "do it or die!" to get ya going in the morning!

And this time, I am determined to actually take time and edit the story once it's written. It may still be crap after I've hacked it apart a few times, but if I'm ever going to be a published writer (notice I didn't say REAL writer...that's a sound off waiting to happen, mark my words!), I need to get to a point where I can actually feel confident about my work to send it to an agent.

So here's to 50k and beyond...12 more days to hammer out 24,858 words!

Cheers,
Kelly

Shadows and Smoke

2010-11-18T13:18:00.015-06:00

I've been reflecting lately on how truly blessed I am.

Five months ago, I thought I'd never be able to pick myself up off the floor. I hated being out in public for fear that everyone could see just how truly flawed I was. My husband didn't want me, so surely there was something wrong with me, I thought. I hated seeing other women wearing their wedding bands. I hated it especially if they were moms, out with their husbands and children. I felt like I had a blinking light hanging over my head with the word "FAILURE" that everyone could see and judge me for it. And yet as much as I hated being out in public, I hated being at home even more, surrounded by memories of everything that my life had once been. I felt so alienated from my friends; in fact many of them stopped talking to me. I began to see who was rock solid and who was fair weather. Some of them just didn't know what to say. I was miserable and alone.

My life was over as I knew it.

I started to attend a new church and joined a Life Recovery class there and I signed up for DivorceCare, a support group for divorced and separated people. With the help of these new friends and love from one of the most unlikeliest of places, I began to stir to life again. I hated church growing up as a kid, and yet I found myself wanting to go back each week to listen and be surrounded by others who felt just as broken as I was. I felt safe. I felt like I could finally be me. I finally felt like I deserved to be loved by myself, God, and other people. I felt like I had a home in this church.

But still I felt like my life was over.

I mourned for the loss of my best friend, for the failure my marriage was, and for the dreams we'd shared. I mourned the fact that Sybilla would be an only child, I mourned for the future that was now shadows and smoke. I wondered what to do with my wedding dress and all the wedding memorabilia. I have to laugh at how silly that sounds; I was so genuinely worried about what would happen to my damn wedding dress that it kept me up at night!

Slowly, the spark in my heart flared to life and a fire began to grow.

I cried all the tears I had. I screamed all the obscenities I knew. I poured out my frustration, loneliness, and brokenness onto reams of paper. I sang every song I knew, letting music do the talking for my hurting soul. Every morning and night, I looked myself in the eye in the mirror, telling myself it would be ok, only occasionally believing it. I leaned heavily on friends as much they let me. I prayed every night and morning and rejoiced in completing the simplest of tasks.

"I'm still alive," I told myself fiercely. "I'm still here, and I'm still alive."

After five months of personal and couples counseling, turning the lens onto myself, gaining perspective, and learning to accept my faith and love myself for what they are, I have climbed beyond the treeline and am able to see the vista around me. I am nowhere near the top of the mountain, but I can see it without the trees obscuring my view.

I heard a piano song last night that resonated with everything I'd been feeling. It made me wistful and hopeful all in one. The song was called "Shadows of Someone I'll Never Be." I understand now that the shadows of the people we will never be are not always good ones. Sometimes it's good to acknowledge the bad shadows of one's self and to let them go. I mourned for my future as we once imagined it. But now Michael and I are imagining a new one, one that's more loving and kind. I mourned our relationship, but now I revel in what we are building anew. I am grateful for this chance at starting over, and grateful for the lessons I have learned. Even if Michael and I were not reconciling, I'd still feel blessed.

My life as I knew it WAS over. But where one life ended, another came to take it's place, one that I look forward to living.

It's a good life!

Kelly

Perspective

2010-11-15T10:22:00.001-06:00

This is what happens when you leave your camera sitting within reach of tiny hands:

You get some perspective on life.

Cheers,

Kelly

What Will You Be?

2010-11-12T10:21:00.000-06:00

They never stop asking me,

"What will you be?"

A doctor, a dancer,

A diver at sea?

They never stop bugging me:

"What will you be?"

As if they expect me to

Stop being me.

When I grow up I'm going to be a Sneeze,

And sprinkle Germs on all my Enemies.

When I grow up I'm going to be a Toad,

And dump on Silly Questions in the road.

When I grow up, I'm going to be a child.

I'll play the whole darn day and drive them Wild.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend,
Kelly

PS The poem is one of my favorites from my all time favorite kid's book, Garbage Delight by Dennis Lee. I received this book as a gift from my aunt and uncle in Canada when I was 5. Billa got her very own (brand new, non-colored or cut up, updated with new poems and art) copy from my cousin Katy, for her first birthday. It's those kind of things that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I can't wait to hear Billa laugh when she's older and will actually understand the silliness of these poems a bit better!

Parenting Paroxysm and Other Randomness

2010-11-10T21:40:00.000-06:00

You know what vexes me?

The fact that my child can remember almost two weeks later that the yard two doors down from her daycare had Halloween decorations out the wazoo ("Puh-kin patch gone, Mama. Puh-kin patch GONE!") but she can't remember me telling her not to stomp through the house not two seconds ago. Why is that?!

I love Billa's sense of fashion. Not only does she love bright colors (like me), funky footwear (also like me), but she sure loves layering and looking as strange as possible (definitely just like me!). Observe:

This is what Billa chose to wear to church a couple of Sundays ago. I have to say, it could be worse (And yes, she insisted on accessorizing with my keys and the shopping bags). Most days we pretty much let her choose what she wears with our only input being whether or not something is weather appropriate. In my opinion, I love the fact that she marches to the beat of her own drummer and as far as I'm concerned, I could really care less most days what she wears. It won't be long before society starts holding her to their beliefs as to how things should be, so I think letting her experiment is perfectly A-OK. Let her innocence and spunk shine through while it can, I say!

My Nano novel is coming along. I started with a different idea and after writing about 5k words, I realized my heart just wasn't in that novel. I kept thinking about this dream I'd had three years ago and the plot I'd created around it. So I figured after three years of thinking about it, playing with it, and dreaming it, now was the time for me to just suck it up and finally write it. I mean, come on, what was I waiting for anyway? I'm farther behind than I'd like, but I'm happy with the story and content to see where it goes. I need to try and hit 25k words by Sunday night; we'll see what happens! I am determined to finish this novel if it kills me (ok, well maybe not that extreme), but more than that, I'm finally ready to put the effort and time into editing it and actually having other people read it and see what happens with it. I've never actually bothered to try and publish any of my writing before, but I think that if I'm going to try and actually be a writer, well, I should probably actually make an effort at submitting it to an agent and see what happens, shouldn't I? I'll keep you posted on that!

Anyhoo, if I'm going to get anywhere close to 25k words by Sunday night, I better get cracking.

Love,
Kelly

Halloween Recap!

2010-11-03T10:00:00.003-05:00

Halloween was a blast this year. Because of our recent financial difficulties, it was a little bit different than I had hoped (I didn't get to do the costumes I really wanted to), but we got to dress up nonetheless and we had so much fun trick or treating twice. Yes, you read that correctly. TWICE.

Billa and Mama

My parents' HOA does a Halloween hayride every year since the neighborhood is so large and the houses spread so far apart (it's rural Hays County, what can I say). It's a win win for everyone: the kids are kept safe by going in big group, it fosters a sense of community, and for those giving out candy, it means one visit only so you aren't constantly bombarded by the doorbell ringing every two minutes. Billa wasn't the youngest by far, but she was one of the littler ones. She really enjoyed running up to every house and saying, "Trick er please!" for her candy. She got quite a bit too! My parents house was one of the last stops and after heading there, she had a total meltdown because she thought she was done and wanted to stay with Boppa and Papa.

One of the funnier moments that evening was when she tripped in someone's yard and fell down. She cried for all of two seconds before seeing the other kids pass her and then pushed us away to hobble to the door to get candy. Girl has her priorities, ya know! There were also a few times when she got really confused and bypassed people in their yards in favor of running up to their doors instead. At one house, the lady was just as confused as Billa when B ran past her to ring the doorbell.

"Trick or please!"

Halloween night we went trick or treating with the Marino and the Patterson family. This is now the third year that we've gone trick or treating as a group and it's been so much fun. The kids are all so close in age and they play together pretty well. Billa got tons more candy, although this time she was more interested in every dog and cat at every house we stopped by. She kept waving people off so she could pet the dogs and even refused candy at some houses as a result.

All the little trick or treaters: Bumblebee the Tranformer (Cameron), Ariel the Little Mermaid (Madeleine), Tinkerbell (Sydney), Superman (Jacob), and the Halloween Sprite (Billa)

Ding dong!

At several houses, Billa was far more interested in people's pets than the candy. I can't complain!

I think Halloween is easily Billa's favorite holiday now. It's not just the candy or dressing up (which she really enjoyed; she got mad at me when I didn't put her tutu on fast enough!) but the decorations that she loves. Every house that had decorations she wanted to stop and look at. One of the houses next door to her daycare had a lot of Halloween decor in their yard; the morning after Halloween they had taken it all down (I still haven't taken mine down...I'm in denial that it's over) and she keeps saying "Mama, puh-kin patch gone. Ghost gone. Puh-kin patch gone!" in the saddest little voice ever. Somebody loves themself some Halloween!

The only problem now is figuring out what to do with all of the candy we got. I've probably eaten my weight in it by now, so I'll freeze some for around Christmas time (stocking stuffers!) and maybe use some in some sweet treats to take to the office. Not that the office doesn't have it's own perils there...everyone keeps bringing in their own leftover candy. Argh! Time to hit the pavements and up my yoga intake :o)

Gimme all yer candy, or ye walk the plank! ARRRRRR!

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween too!

Happy Birthday!

2010-11-03T09:59:00.000-05:00

I ain't gonna lie...if it weren't for Facebook, I would probably forget half the anniversaries and birthdays of the people I love. So, thank you Facebook for reminding me that today are the birthdays of two very special people: my daughter's godmother (and one of my best friends) Debi and my cousin Kari!

If you have a chance, swing by my cousin's blog, Hound Girl. Kari has two awesome dogs, Hayley and Fred and I love reading her stories about their adventures. Plus, who doesn't like cute dog pictures?

And if you know a Marine, hug them or tell them thank you today in honor of my friend Debi. Debi is a Marine and she was there by my side as I was giving birth. She was also there by my side during some of the worst depression I have ever experienced and I am forever grateful for her friendship and her service to our country.

Happy birthday ladies...you are well loved in the land of Lapiz de la Guerra!

Kelly

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T09:58:00.000-05:00

Hey ho for Halloween
When the fairies all are seen;
Some black and some green,
Hey ho for Halloween!

We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Halloween this year!

Love,

The Guerra Family

Pumpkin Patch Adventures

2010-10-27T10:04:00.000-05:00

Every year Sybilla's daycare goes to a local pumpkin patch and every year, without fail, something has prevented me from going. The first year I had a big meeting at work. The next year was rained out. Not this year! I was taking the day off and we were going to go to the pumpkin patch!

Of course, Friday dawned gloomy and drizzly and our daycare lady called to tell us that she was cancelling the trip. No way, I said. We are going, RAIN OR SHINE! Besides, it was only drizzling and intermittently at that. We got to the patch just as it opened and already there were tons of kids. The kids normally wear their costumes and things being financially tight this year, I put her in some stripey Halloween pants and her bat shirt from last year. She however, decided to let her inner fashionista shine and added the skirt and boots all on her own! I kid you not, scout's honor!

Billa in her get up. Add some wings and sparkly makeup and she'll be the cutest Halloween fairy ever!

"Mama! I run!"

We ran around the haybale maze several times and then went inside the main building for the "haunted house" and The Great Pumpkin. It's all pretty tame since it's for little kids, but they love it nonetheless.

The Great Pumpkin, Jack. There's someone hidden behind a screen who will sing songs and talk to the kids as the pumpkin when people come into the room.

The "gross-ary" - like I said, it's pretty tame, but the kids love it any way!

Admiring all of the decor hanging from the ceiling. I swear, these people must have stockpiled Halloween decorations from the last thirty years...some of them are quite old!

Billa enjoyed riding on Daddy's shoulders to get a closer peek at the stuff hanging on the ceiling!

As we were leaving, daycare lady called and said they were going to come after all. It was Billa's lucky day. We ran around some more until her friends arrived and picture taking commenced. The kids all ran around through the maze together, we revisited the haunted house and The Great Pumpkin, took more pictures, and finally ended our trip by picking pumpkins for the kids to take home.

Billa's class. She's the only girl. It explains a lot about my child's personality and behaviour!

Running through the maze with her buddies!

The perfect "puh-kin!"

Billa had a blast and I am happy to say that third time's the charm on this one. I finally made it to the pumpkin patch! Her outfit was such a success that I've decided we're going to skip the owl idea for another time and do a Halloween fairy instead. I'll borrow some wings and do some cute makeup on her and we'll be good to go.

Halloween is my favorite holiday and I think it is quickly becoming Billa's favorite too. Now every time Billa sees Halloween decorations, she now calls them "puh-kin patch!" Even her little pumpkin that she brought home. I still haven't decided if we'll carve it or just leave it be. Either way, this will be a Halloween to be remembered!

Cheers,
Kelly

A Little Bit of Crazy

2010-10-21T11:53:00.000-05:00

Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy. - Janet Long

The above was one of my quotes for the day and I laughed out loud when I read it. The last couple of weeks have been a lot of crazy for me. I'm hoping that makes me very sane, because right now, I sure don't feel that way.

I've had a sinus infection since the Sunday before last which has completely colored my world in every shade of green and yellow. I haven't been this sick in a long time and it's really wearing me down. My mornings are spent getting cereal and chocolate milk for Billa and then hacking up my lungs and clearing my sinuses of all the gunk that's collected there during the night. I spent an entire week working from home because I felt so yucky and I had to bail on baking a birthday cake for a friend's son. I thought I'd recovered enough, but I was just too worn down. Earlier this week I thought I was getting better, but now I think it's turned into bronchitis or something similar. My coughing at night has become so bad that I had to spend last night on the couch to keep from waking everyone up. I can't speak half the time which is really frustrating. Sometimes answering a question with a simple yes or no is even too much at times.

I'm trying to remain upbeat about it all though. I'm grateful I have a job that allows me to work from home, so I didn't have to miss any work, although in hindsight I probably should have taken a day off to rest. Things financially have been terribly hard lately and by not going to work, I saved considerably on gas since I didn't have to go anywhere except daycare and back. It also enabled me to get a bit of cleaning done around the house that desperately needed to be done. That meant more time with Billa and Michael. It also meant enjoying the view outside my window and being able to sit in my pajamas while orking. That's always a plus, right? I don't know about this one, but my pal Wendi says that all my coughing is giving me a workout and rock hard abs. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt on that one, lol!

I'm hoping that this will all pass soon. I'm ready to climb back in the saddle and have some sense of normality, whatever that looks like. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to go to the pumpkin patch with Billa's daycare and I think spending the rest of the day lounging and doing nothing is just what the doctor ordered.

Cheers,
Kelly

2010-10-13T11:26:00.000-05:00

About a month or so ago, we were visiting my folks and we stayed so late that Boppa (my mom) gave Billa this shirt as a nightgown. The shirt was one my dad would use for working around the house, so it's super soft and cuddly. Billa LOVES her "blue shirt" and she looks so stinking cute in it! I really love it when she spreads her arms and runs around...it looks like muumuu on her, lol.

How can anyone say 'no' to this?!

Cheers,
Kelly

The Writing on the Wall

2010-10-11T11:23:00.000-05:00

Michael was helping me hang some pictures and things on the wall over the past weekend and we didn't realize how much Billa was watching us. Oops! Fortunately, it's just pencil, so it was easy to clean off. I just hope she doesn't get the same idea with marker or crayons or I'm really in trouble!

Kelly

Nature Center Trip Recap!

2010-10-08T08:14:00.000-05:00

Back in August, Billa's daycare provider took a day off and so I took one off too. I decided that we would spend part of our day visiting the Nature Center here in town. The weather was hot, but not super hot and since it was a Friday, there were very few visitors. Billa insisted on wearing sandals which are not very conducive to hiking the trails, but we still enjoyed seeing all the animal exhibits and enjoying a very short mini hike to a scenic overlook. Here are some of our pictures from the excursion. Yes, they're almost six weeks overdue, but whatever. One step at a time people, one step at a time!

Billa checking out the coyotes

Most of the animals were out since they were cleaning the cages and feeding. Here's the bobcat!

Billa really liked looking at the animals!

See? Proof that my brother isn't the only one with a sick sense of humor in regards to pet names. Snack (the cat) doesn't have to feel so bad now. I don't think she'll ever be able to find personalized pencils with her name on them, though.

Billa insisted on bringing a book with her. When we got to the scenic overlook we took a break and did some reading.

Needless to say, the Nature Center was a hit. Billa loved being outdoors and seeing the animals, and I loved seeing her explore. It certainly didn't hurt that the admission is FREE. I highly recommend taking time to check it out!

Nanowrimo 2010!

2010-10-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit! I just completed my registration for National Novel Writing Month and I AM PUMPED!!!

The actual event doesn't begin until November 1st, but I'm taking a page from the Boy Scouts and am going into it prepared. Last year I practiced the art of "fly by the seat of thy pants", which turned out pretty well, at least in terms of actually finishing a novel. Whether that novel was actually readable is another matter altogether. To be honest, I finished it and never picked it up again. It may not be that bad, but I'm too scared to even peek. That's why this year I am practicing the art of "having a plan a, b, and possibly even c".

I haven't really thought about what I am going to write about, but I have several plot ideas that I've been hording on my hard drive (my mother would be so proud) that I am going to look through. One or two of them I actually started to map out earlier in the year before The Worst Summer Ever occurred. Whatever plot I decide to choose, it has to be something that I don't mind thinking, eating, drinking, sleeping, and breathing over for 30 days.

Drama. Intrigue. Anticipation. Long nights and early mornings. Laughter, crazed or otherwise. 400+ cups of coffee or black tea. Equity screams. 30 days. 50,000 words. One novel.

BRING IT.

Kelly

Back to "Normal"

2010-10-06T20:13:00.000-05:00

Things have settled down a bit now! We are officially moved into the new place and I love it, love it, love it! Because we're on the second floor, the surrounding trees add greenery and privacy to my every day view. I used to be all about the nighttime, but I have officially fallen in love with mid-morning thanks to the way the sunlight filters through the foliage. It faces the north, so I get amazing cross breezes blowing through. And since the weather has cooled off, I haven't had the AC turned on AT ALL for the last week. If only I had a second bedroom and some quieter neighbors upstairs, I'd stay here forever!

I have no finished unpacking all of the boxes yet though, and it may be some time before I do. I'm trying to decide how I am going to decorate in some areas and until I figure that out, I can't unpack some of the boxes. I also have to reorganize the bedroom closet. We just started throwing stuff in there and I need to get it to a point where it's focused and less chaotic. But for the most part, everything is a notch above livable.

For my non-Central Texas compadres, fall has arrived! The temps at night are in the 70's and it's barely risen above 80 during the daytime. This is the time of year I love best here in the Hill Country - cool, but not too cold, and warm enough that you don't need to break out the winter gear. It's just so darn comfortable. And October is definitely my favorite month...let the countdown to Halloween begin!

This month has us going to several birthday parties, baking Halloween treats, going to the pumpkin patch with school, celebrating Uncle David's birthday, and of course, my personal favorite, trick or treating! Stay tuned for more...Now that we're moved and mostly settled, I am going to start uploading pictures again.

Happy fall,
Kelly

Billa Babble & a Parenting Paroxysm: Supermarket Sorry

2010-09-28T21:12:00.000-05:00

So we're at the grocery store (aka "food store") and Billa was beginning to act up and run off farther than we liked. So Michael scooped her up and proceeded to carry a forty pound squirming toddler through the store. After awhile his arms got tired, so I switched with him. Billa somehow figured (and rightfully so) that Mommy was considerably weaker than Daddy and pushed against me, but I held strong. She then proceeded to hit me in the face with her sippy cup. I then proceeded to have a mother of the year moment where I promptly smacked her butt and told her that we didn't hit people. Yeah, I know. Sheer parenting genius, right?

Anyway, as we're on our way home, Billa is in the back seat and she suddenly annoounces, "My cheek hurts."
"So does mine from where you clocked it with your cup," I pithily reply.
"I sowwy," is the response from the back seat, "I sowwy, Mama!"
"..."
"Tell her thank you," Michael whispers.
"Thank you, Billa. Apology accepted!"

Now this begs the question...just how much does my daughter REALLY understand and pretends otherwise? Either way, it was a pretty funny moment!

Cheers,
Kelly

Untitled

2010-09-24T23:41:00.000-05:00

There's so much going on in my life right now that I couldn't think of anything as a good title for this post. Between moving and counseling and everything else, it's been all I can do some days to actually manage to wear matching socks (which really shouldn't be that hard considering all I own are white socks!). I'm just so easily distracted by a lot, mostly moving related stuff. Billa and I move into our smaller apartment on Sunday afternoon and I've been panicking about it. At least I got confirmation from one other person in the apartment office that they will let me have my keys a little bit early on Sunday, so that was good news. Now if I can just guarantee my moving crew I'll be happier! I wish I had the extra cash to just hire a moving company, but things are tight right now, so I have to watch every penny. Michael left his job about three weeks ago and has been looking for something new since, but despite a couple of interviews, there's not much out there apparently. It makes me more thankful for my job!

In other news, Michael came back from a trip to Colorado earlier this month with news that he wanted to go to counseling together with the goal of reconciling our marriage. When he made the decision to go on this trip, he told me that he felt he should take advantage of the opportunity since he had no work obligations and he wasn't having to pay for it. I was very angry with him, because it meant that Billa would miss out on seeing her Daddy for almost a week and a half. (Ok, and because I was a frazzled mess and really needed a vacation from everything. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that part of my pissyness was because I really wanted to go to CO too!)

We had ourselves a little "come to Jesus" meeting the night before he left. I told him that he was going to take Billa for six days when he got back so that he could have some perspective on what it was like to walk in my shoes. He wasn't exactly pleased with my decision and it was then that I laid out all the dirty laundry for him, explaining how was self-serving, self-centered, and selfish. I told him that everyone was an afterthought to him, and that his daughter was a trophy to him. He could treat me however he wanted, but he damn well wasn't going to treat his little girl as secondary to his own desires and wants. She should be the center of your world, I told him. You're a father. It's time to man up and be responsible. How do you want her to remember you? I asked him.

I can honestly say that when I spoke to him that night, it didn't feel like me. This person was calm, precise, and to the point. I tore him down and probably could have continued to tear him down even more, but I didn't. I truly believe that Michael can be a great man and I made sure he knew that. Change or die, I told him. You have the choice to make something out of your life, or lose everything that is worth something to you.

I don't know if it was the come to Jesus meeting or if something happened on that mountainside in Colorado, but whatever it was, something got through I guess. He came back from Colorado with an action item list and his first one was to find us a counselor. Within two days he was calling me at work asking if a certain day and time was ok for an appointment that he was setting up! He's been incredibly helpful in preparing Billa and I for the move this weekend, and he's been stepping up in terms of spending time with her. On more than one occasion he has taken her for an overnight without my asking him to. And we've both noticed that Billa's behaviour has greatly improved as a result of balanced involvement from us.

Now, I know that a lot of my friends and family members are concerned with Michael and I giving reconciliation a shot and rightly so. Our relationship has been rocky for some time and Michael hasn't been the perfect husband. But I'd be a terrible person if I didn't accept culpability for my part in it. I haven't been the best possible wife. I think a lot of my friends feel that I should cut my losses and move on with the divorce, but the truth is, I love Michael very much. I meant it when I said "for better or for worse" and I don't feel that I can be a genuine person if I didn't honor that commitment by at least giving reconciliation a shot.

Being separated has opened my eyes to a lot of things, and one of those things is that life is a far cry from black and white. There is no cut and dry version of life in existence. For myself, to throw everything out the window when my husband is willing to put forth effort to rebuild the foundation of our marriage into something stronger, it doesn't sit well with me. I don't think I could live the rest of my life with that sitting in my heart. Some people will (and do) tell me that I'm not thinking straight. To them I say, "Bite me!" When you've walked through my shoes a few miles, when you've experienced heartache, brokenness, and pain on a level you never thought possible and then alternately experienced moments of pure joy and bliss when you thought you'd never see the dark side of happiness again, when you've had your whole world come tumbling down and slowly worked to rebuild it back up piece by piece, when you've taken time to turn the microscope inward and see your own shortcomings and accept them and yourself for who and what you are, and when you've come to terms with your faith and your God (or whatever higher power you answer to...I believe the ways are many, the light is one), then you come talk to me about what you think the best option is. I guarantee you, it won't be an easy choice to make.

But it is a choice that I've thought long and hard on, prayed a good long while on, and talked to lots of therapists, friends, and family on. And I have decided to give Michael a second chance. If I were in his shoes, wouldn't I want a second chance? I believe people can change for the better if they choose to. It won't happen overnight, and it won't be easy, but it's possible. Anything is possible. My friend Caroline once told me that even if Michael and I got back together, that the idea I held in my mind of "us" and our marriage would never be the same. The more I think about that sage piece of advice, I DON'T want my marriage to be like it was. I want it to be better and stronger and more loving. I DON'T want the old "us" and I sure as hell don't want the old me. I think about that girl and what she was like and all I can think is, "I wouldn't want to be married to her!" That's a hard thing to admit, but there it is.

We're still remaining separated for now, and I'm moving forward with my plan of getting myself to a better place emotionally, mentally, spiritually and personally. I'm continuing to see my therapist and we go to counseling together once a week. Michael is going through the same process too. I haven't set any deadlines, as I think that would be detrimental to the process. If either one of us will sincerely change, then it has be an organic process. That's not to say that I'm going to wait three years, but I think after a few months of hardship we will both have an idea of whether there is any progress being made or not.

Wow, that was a lot more than I intended on sharing, but I'm not going to go back and change it. I think I would do myself and the little progress I've made the last two months a huge disservice. I won't be something that I'm not. I can't photoshop myself IRL (but if I ever figure out how, you can betcher ass I'll share that secret...after I've made my million bucks off it, lol) and I shouldn't edit myself too heavily when I write. Sometimes the best things in life are unedited.

Ah, now that's a post title worth considering..."Unedited"

On that note, I bid you all good night! Moving in less than 48 hours!
Kelly

Boxes, boxes everywhere!

2010-09-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

Today was Labor Day and I definitely labored!

Billa and I spent a lazy morning at home; I made her chocolate milk for the first time and she was in L-O-V-E! Myself I enjoyed a Starbucks Dark Chocolate Frappucino and it was muy delicioso. Definitely cheaper than actually buying a latte every morning, which I shamefully admit to doing every morning last week. I don't normally do that mind you, but before I knew it, the gals at the front were cheerfully greeting me with, "Hi Kelly! Tall nonfat hazelnut latte with two pumps this morning?" Ok, well not quite, but they did recognize me and they weren't giving me funny looks when I asked for only two pumps anymore. I knew I needed to change that STAT!

After our lazy morning, we gassed up and then hit Le Target to get some Goo Gone and boxes. They didn't have either. Thus began the Saga of the Box Search for the next two hours as I literally drove by every dumpster in the Sunset Valley area trying to find smallish boxes. It had rained that morning and the majority of the dumpsters had been emptied over the weekend so pickings were incredibly slim. After only finding five boxes worth salvaging, I finally said 'screw it' and went to Lowe's to buy $7 worth. Yes, I probably should have done that in the first place since all that driving around most likely cost me more than the actual boxes themselves. At least Billa got a nap though! That's what I call a fuzzy logic win-win :o)

I spent the rest of the afternoon packing, with a little snooze in between and Billa brushed up on some Wonder Pets, which is now available on instant watch through Netflix. Hooray Netflix! Now that's what I call team work! After all of the books are packed (and I do mean ALL of them...we have a lot), most of my baking pans, and the dining room, I am exhausted. I've decided I have definitely earned myself a wine and movie break. This evening's feature is the Spiderwick Chronicles!

I am proud of myself for getting this much packing done! We move in T-minus 20 days, and I just signed the lease last Friday, so I gotta get a move on with my packing so I can get my move on...I'll stop while I'm ahead!

Cheers,
Kelly

A Season of Change..

2010-09-06T10:09:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

It's been almost two months since I posted last. A lot has happened in those two months, the biggest thing being that Michael and I are currently separated. Sybilla and I are readying ourselves for moving into a new apartment (smaller than our current space) in about three weeks. It's been a very rough two months, but we are slowly moving forward, one baby step at a time.

Over the past two months, I debated about posting the news on the blog. On the one hand I didn't want to share with the world that I was a failure and couldn't keep my marriage together, but on the other, I love blogging and writing. At this point, enough time has gone by that I feel I can safely post about things. In addition to that, I've decided that this blog is going to take a different tack now.

For a long time I've wanted to make this blog a bit more personal and more in line with who I am. I always hated the fact that I felt like I couldn't truly be myself while I blogged or on Facebook. It feels like living a lie. Don't get me wrong; I'm not going to start posting long diatribes against people or things. I just want to be able to share more things, like my interests, what's happening in our lives, and maybe some of my writing. I started Lapiz de le Guerra with the intention on sharing family news and pictures about my daughter as she grew, and I've done that. But it felt very flat and one-dimensional and as we all know, life is anything but!

There will be some changes coming to the blog soon. I plan on continuing the pictures and the stories and features about Sybilla, but I will also be sharing some of the things I love, like cooking, crafting, interior design, writing, gardening, and the creative arts. Lapiz de la Guerra will still be mostly family friendly (Yes, I swear. I'm working on reducing it, but it's still a part of who I am!) and I don't plan on using it as a forum to bash people. I might complain every once in awhile, but there it is. I ain't perfect, ya know!

Thanks in advance for stopping by. I have no idea what lies ahead, but know that you'll be in good company on this crazy ride!

Cheers,
Kelly

Oh Billa...

2010-07-17T15:05:00.000-05:00

How we love to watch you play. And dance. And splash. And um, whatever it is you're doing in this photo. I can't stop snickering when I see it.

I promise, no fabric tote boxes were harmed during the making of this photo. She was trying to get in it, not smash it!

Peace,
Kelly

Harvest Time!

2010-07-01T18:46:00.000-05:00

Our friends are away this week and before they left, they reminded me to check the garden. I stopped by a couple of days later and wowsa! Talk about a harvest!

I've been collecting serrano peppers for some time, so in addition to yet another harvest of serranos (I've probably harvested like 50 so far, no joke!) I was able to harvest some of my tomatoes:

I'm growing two varieties...one is a cherry variety that produces orange and yellow 'maters, and the other is a grape variety that makes traditional red ones.

Our black beans:

Apparently, you let them dry in the husk so that when you hull them, they're already dried and preserved.

And more peppers:

The only bell pepper is in the background on the right...can you see it? Told you it was warped looking!

I've also been able to harvest some green beans, which were mighty tasty and we've gotten one lonely warped looking bell pepper. The corn box produced some ears that we were able to eat at Michael and Hayden's joint birthday party, and we are currently on track for more tomatoes, more peppers, and soon, we'll have watermelons, carrots, onions, and potatoes! I can't wait!

Cheers,
Kelly

Ramblings on Writing

2010-06-30T12:07:00.000-05:00

I apologize in advance...this post takes a different tack than normal.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my writing lately. If Billa's godmother Debi were to read this, she'd tell me I need to actually write, not think about it. But the truth is, I was writing. And then I stopped because life got in the way and yada yada yada. I've been trying to maintain my blogs, work my day job, raise my daughter, manage my household, build a baking business, and be a good wife/friend/daughter/sister, etc. It's a lot. So of course, those things that aren't necessary for survival have fallen by the wayside, like my writing. I admit, I've also been doing a lot of reading lately and playing Scramble on my iPod and trying to beat Final Fantasy XIII. I know, those things aren't exactly essential to survival, but they are for my sanity.

I've been thinking about writing lately, because I want it to become a bigger part of my life. It's always been something that I've been called to, something that has always given me joy, and something that definitely always challenged me. I get bored very quickly if I'm not challenged. I require constant stimulation and to be pushed beyond my boundaries. Some might call it masochism, others ADD. I don't really care. It's actually a part of me that I really like and love to embrace, for all of the irritations it presents me with. I look at it as my instincts urging me to grab life by the horns.

There are only 24 hours in every day, and unfortunately, I can't get more. I have to get sleep at some point, and I have to work to make an income. So that shoots down about 19 hours right there. Everything that I want to do has to be squeezed into roughly 5 hours every day along with everything else I have to do: cook dinner, spend time with my family and friends, clean the house, etc. So how can I fit in writing? I find a lot of frustrations with it because I am easily distracted once I'm on the computer either by news, blogs, the husband, or the daughter. And of course my family wants to spend time with me too. (I know, how dare they?) I have to carefully balance all these aspects of my life and poor little writing gets left by the wayside.

But not anymore. I've always wanted to be a published writer. I even went so far as to humiliate myself in front of my high school classmates in freshman English by boasting about how I would become a published writer at the age of 18 (oh, the things one does for their art!). I've been writing since I was a kid, I wrote all through school, and I have continued to write to this day. I feel confident that I am a decent writer, but I think I could be a great writer if I kept at it every day. And the only way I can do that is to keep at it and make it a constant part of my life.

I've been doing research the last few days on novel writing strategies and templates for developing plots and characters and structure. And the one thing I've learned from all of this research is that there is a whole world to writing and publishing that I never knew existed. Well, ok, I should give myself some credit. I knew it existed, but I didn't realize how complex it all was. There's query letters and writing conferences and genre types that you have to know. There's loglines, synopses, samples, previews and more. And the process itself! It's enough to make your head spin. I came to the realization that I have a lot to learn if I want to break into this industry and make my mark on the world as a writer.

I relish the challenge and I hope you will all bear with me as I work at developing my novels (yes, there is more than one rattling around in my head!) and hopefully soemday, get published. I'm hoping to have at least something published by the time I'm 35. Considering I still have 7 years until then, I think I handle it.

Cheers,
Kelly

Family Reunion Recap

2010-06-25T18:39:00.001-05:00

I hadn't realized how much family meant to me until this past week. I've never had a sister, but my cousin Katy is about as close as I will ever come to having one biologically. She lives up in Yellowknife, Canada several hundred miles and a whole different climate away and yet, when we finally catch up in person with one another, it's as if there was never any boundaries or even years between visits.

And it feels that way too, with the rest of my family, from Vancouver, Indiana, New Mexico, Chicago, Houston, Kentucky, Washington DC, and even here in Austin. All of them descended for one weekend to celebrate my grandmother turning 90 and now that they have flocked back to their homes, I feel a little bit empty inside. It was an exhausting week, and sometimes frustrating and trying, but a good week nonetheless. I hope it doesn't take another several years before we all see each other again!

The Dillon Clan...all 42 of us spanning four generations!
(Technically, there are 45 within this unit, but three of them couldn't make it)

My uncle John Martin and his mom, my grandmother

Everyone cooling off in the pool...my cousin Jeff and his wife Abby and their twins; my cousin Kent's son Ryan, my husband and my brother David

Maw Maw

My cousin Jenny and her niece Sophia. Both are adopted and both are loved to pieces by our family!

Abby and one of her twins

My uncle Hugh and his granddaughter Mia (also adopted)

Billa gets thrown in the air by her daddy

My cousin Kent's daughter Emily

My aunt Pat, uncle John Martin, and my dad

The Dave's: my brother and my cousin

Me and Katy

The birthday cake I made for my grandmother

I love this picture!

My grandmother and her children: Ann (oldest), Michael (youngest), David (#4), Pat (#2), John Martin (#3), and Becky (#5)

Happy 90th birthday, Maw Maw! We love you!

Love,
Kelly, Michael, & Sybilla

PS. Special thanks to my friend Anthony for so graciously being our photographer that evening. You really took a huge load off everyone's shoulders by agreeing to take pictures for us and let us just hang out. I owe you lots of cake, man!

To the best baby daddy...

2010-06-22T22:25:00.000-05:00

Today is a special day! It's my husband's birthday! Huzzah! Michael is a great guy. How great? Well, let's see, shall we?

Michael sharing his birthday with Baby Hayden...Hayden's birthday was June 9th, but we celebrated both birthdays together!

Michael...

is a great father
never tells me my dreams or story ideas are crazy
has incredible fashion sense. It puts me to shame.
is hardworking and determined
creative
genuine and kind to all he meets
puts up with three red-headed women in his life: his wife, his daughter and his mother-in-law
always knows how to make me feel at ease
would give you the shirt off his own back if it would make you happy and whole
loves kids and is great with them
is a very talented actor, singer, and poet
is my best friend in the entire world
hurts more than I do when our daughter is hurt, sad, or upset
lets dogs give him kisses and loves it
loves his family like nothing else

Michael, my love, we consider ourselves incredibly blessed to have you in our lives and to hold you in our heats. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Kelly, Sybilla & Snack

Mom of the Year

2010-06-16T15:16:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, I became the poster child for Mom of the Year.

My child now has a new favorite word: sh*t. Yeah, when I apologized to daycare lady in advance for any usage that Billa might issue that day, she asked where Billa had heard it. I blushed as I slowly raised my hand. Yeah, that's me. And of course, later that night when Billa accidentally knocked over a half full bottle of beer, it was VERY apparent where she hears that word. Oops. I knew it was coming, and bless her, she actually used it in an appropriate sense, but I'm tripling my efforts at containing my "free" speech.

[sigh]
Kelly

SOUND OFF: Sail away, my heart...

2010-06-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

I've been following the story of Abby Sunderland for a couple of days now, since they announced she was "lost at sea" and then her miraculous rescue. I am impressed with this young woman and her tenacious spirit. Her zest for sailing and courage to take on such a daunting task as sail around the world by herself at the tender age of 16 is nothing short of stunning. As I was reading many of the comments that have been left on Abby's blog, 99% of them were incredibly supportive of Abby and her endeavor. And why shouldn't they be? Her journey ultimately failed, but she made it 3/4 of the way! Most of us could never dream of sailing out of our home harbor, much less setting foot on the boat.

But there was that other 1% who were incredibly rude and condescending. It made me sad that at a time when Abby is grieving the loss of her dream and her boat, these bitter critics are blasting her for being irresponsible. Excuse me? The kid sailed around the world, braved incredible storms, and lived by herself on a sailboat for several months. She's shown a level of maturity that is lacking in the majority of her peers. Hell, I know of several ADULTS who don't have that level of maturity! These same critics had harsh words for her parents in allowing her to do this, calling them irresponsible, endangering their children's lives, idiotic, and a good many other things. The critics talked about the costs of having to rescue Abby and that her parents should be responsible for the bill since it was their foolish decision that caused her to be out there in the first place. I can understand the sentiment of asking Abby's family to pay for her rescue, but are they truly neglectful by allowing her to chase a dream she's harbored since the age of 13?

My daughter's godmother told me once that becoming a mother was to learn to walk with your heart outside your body. Can you imagine letting it sail around the world by itself, far beyond your reach? But that is what we are called to do as parents. We are called every day to teach our children how to survive physically and emotionally without us. When you look at the lifespan of a human being in the US these days, our children spend the majority of their lives without their parents. We do a huge disservice to our children if we don't provide them the tools and skills to survive their lives without us. Having already let their son Zac complete the same trip at 16, I'm sure the Sunderlands were well aware of the risks it involved. They were very certain of the equipment and training Abby would need to complete her journey. And I bet they thought and prayed long and hard over whether they should say yes to her request.

So no, I don't think Abby's parents are neglectful at all. Abby survived the Indian Ocean during the worst time of year to sail it thanks to the training her parents provided, to the tools they had given her. She survived because her parents had faith in her abilities and placed their trust in God that she would be alright. One of the comments that Abby's parents have used in defense of their actions is that it's more dangerous for teenagers to be driving in a car than sailing on the ocean and I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly. We live in fear of kidnappings and murders happening to our children, and yet about 4000 kids aged 13-19 die in car accidents every year. Do you know how many kids get kidnapped by a stranger and murdered in the U.S.? Roughly 115 per year. We don't hear much about the kids dying in car wrecks because it doesn't sell. If I were in the Sunderland's shoes and deciding whether or not to let my daughter go on this trip, the stats alone would tell me that Abby is definitely safer out on the ocean than at home driving to the beach with her buddies.

I feel sad for the people who criticise Abby and her family for this journey. I imagine that the majority of these people are helicopter parents, constantly hovering around their children and refusing to acknowledge that their children could even remotely achieve anything worthwhile in their lives without their parents intervention. I imagine too, that a good many of them once harbored a dream like Abby's, but it never got off the ground. Now they point fingers in jealousy, trying to tear down an idealistic young woman in an effort to make themselves feel better. And the majority of these critics may also be people who have held themselves back from their dreams because they were afraid fo what society might say about them. Say what they will, the critics are the ones who lose out by choosing to see the negative aspects of Abby's journey instead of what she has accomplished.

And what has accomplished? Suffering equipment malfunctions, she carried on, determined to finish what she started, even if she wouldn't break the record she sought to undo. She has inspired countless teens (and adults!) to follow their dreams through whatever obstacles they encounter. Her parents have inspired countless moms and dads like myself and Michael to be courageous in the face of growth and change. My mother always told me that everything happens for a reason; I'd like to believe that Abby's failure at completing her trip is going to encourage many out there to get back up after they've fallen and ride, sail or fly.

I hope, like my mother taught me so many times when learning how to ride horses, that Abby will get back in the saddle and make this journey again. Even if she doesn't, I hope she'll her story and journey with others and rejoice in the accomplishment she DID achieve. I hope too, that as Sybilla ages and grows, that I will have the strength and courage to watch my heart sail around the world without me.

Kelly

One of These Things is Not Like the Other...

2010-06-10T22:51:00.000-05:00

The garden has been going CRAZY. The first weekend in April it was nothing but empty and sad looking garden boxes, now they're so overgrown it's hard to get at the produce it's producing!

Five more serranos (after the initial harvest!) and one lonely golden grape tomato...yum!

We've gotten lots of serrano peppers and I'm excited, because I have a whole slew of things I want to make with them. I already made salsa and cornbread it was delicious. Our tomatoes should be ready for picking soon, and I harvested some of our green beans. I didn't get a picture of them though. I had them in my purse in a baggie for a few days and then one day at work I discovered them there and decided they would be the perfect compliment to my baked chicken and basmati rice. I felt like the little red hen for a moment there. I also felt a bit selfish about not sharing them with my family, but more are on the way and will need to be harvested this weekend.

In sadder news, I will not be getting any lemons this year. AGAIN. My poor tree has been battered by the winds whipping around the corner of my third floor apartment balcony and no amount of moving it or trying to protect it helped. I keep telling my husband that we should now buy a house so that I can actually plant the thing in the ground, but he just looks at me like I'm crazy. That's not the ONLY reason to buy a house, but it's a compelling pro, right? I keep thinking I might give it to someone to plant in their yard, but it takes a lot of TLC to raise a citrus in this area, so it can't be just ANYONE. Not to mention I have been constantly fighting off scale insects which I can't just pawn off on someone. I do have scruples, people.

If anything, I can at least take comfort that my gardening efforts are much more "fruitful" than they were last year...

Until later,
Kelly

An Anniversary to Wine About...

2010-05-31T14:16:00.000-05:00

This month Michael and I hit the four year mark of being married and while it was actually a week and a half ago, we weren't able to do anything to celebrate it until this weekend. And really, there was no whining involved, but there was plenty of wine! My friend John bought us tickets to go to the Austin Wine & Music Festival out at the Domain and we had a great day tasting wines from local vineyards and listening to live music. The only whining was about the weather, which was hot and muggy, but even with an unexpected downpour in the middle of the festival, we still had a great time!

We started off with a light lunch at Tomo Sushi. That's John in the back and his friend Amy.

And by light, I mean a lot. John just kept ordering roll after roll, dish after dish. The above is sea bass, escolar, butterfish, salmon, and albacore tuna. My favorite was the escolar; it was like butter and so tender.

This was our favorite roll at Tomo. It's called the "Say my name!" and was jalapenos spread with cream cheese that had scallops, tuna and crab mixed with it, and is then lightly fried. It had a spicy chipotle type mayo on top and the texture was amazing.

We were definitely fat and sassy after all that and definitely ready for some wine tasting! (And note to self, Mama and Daddy were right about the slouching...gotta work on that)

It rained for about 30 minutes while we were there so we went under some tents to stay dry. It was a welcome relief from the heat, but when it passed it just got muggy and gross.

So we cooled off with some frozen yogurt from Mambo Berry. This stuff is amazing. This is their swirl with their green tea and original tart. Yes, I said tart. The yogurt has very little sugar in it, but you don't miss it at all. It was so refreshing and delightful without being overwhelming! If you want to try some, they can be located down on South Congress Tuesday through Sunday next to Hey Cupcake! in the airstream trailer food park. Seriously. You need to try it at least once! And yes, you can get sprinkles on it if you want :o)

John and Michael convinced Amy and I to do a cigar and port seminar with them which was very educational and actually pretty fun. I love a good port and we were able to sample ports from two different wineries, Dry Comal Creek's 1096 and Stone House Vineyard's Scheming Beagle. I personally preferred the Scheming Beagle although both were excellent.

And yes, I smoked my first cigar. It really wasn't that bad since you don't inhale it, but I don't think I will be making a habit of it--it makes it hard to taste anything for a bit afterward and my nose was not happy with me the next day.

All in all, a lovely day. We are so grateful to our friend John for giving us the opportunity to enjoy this milestone in a way we love best!

Here's to four years...may there be many more!

Bottoms up,
Kelly

Room Redo: Part Deux

2010-05-28T12:09:00.000-05:00

Billa's room redo has begun!

The last time I posted about redoing her room, I had started a list. Well, it is with great relief and accomplishment that I can actually cross the first item off of it:

~~Finish canvases and hang them~~
Make new curtains (and hang them this time!)
Make quilt and buy solid colored sheets to coordinate
Get big girl bed and refinish/paint if needed
Procure a couple of cute woodsy themed accents

Yes! Here's a sneak peek at the finished canvases:

And here they are hanging up:

I'm one step there! Hurrah!

Here's what I am working on next:

Stay tuned!
Kelly

Saturday Silly Soakiness

2010-05-27T21:09:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday Michael had to work overnight, so Sybilla and I went to spend the afternoon with my mom while Daddy got some sleep. Billa's favorite thing about Boppa is that she lets her run amok in the garden and outside. We live in an apartment, so it's not often Billa has a big 3 acre backyard to run amok in. The most exciting thing that day was when Boppa let Billa water the garden.

I just get tickled pink when I see this picture!

Making a swamp in the right side of the garden.

Making a swamp out of the left side of the garden. Equal opportunity swamp maker here!

We also visited with Gumerry, our former cat. Look, he's the size of Texas! REALLY!

If I ever had doubts about whether he was happy where he was, I have them no more. Gumerry is one fat and sassy kitty and it shows! (Should you be worried about his weight, never fear. The vet says 22 pounds is normal for a farm cat built like he is, plus, he has more fur than fat...my allergies can attest to it!)

Time to clean up! Mom just hosed Billa off in the mudroom sink. Good thing it's big enough to be a bathtub for Billa...that kid LOVES to splash in the bath!

Besides making a swamp out of my mom's garden and playing in the mud and whatnot, I also got some time on the sewing machine and started on the quilt for Billa's room redo I'm working on, plus I got to experiment with a new recipe featuring a star ingredient: serrano peppers. Yes, my friends, it is the first thing we have harvested from our garden boxes! I made a honey serrano cornbread that was very delicious, but I think it could use a little tweaking.

After our fun and wet day, we packed up and headed home, just in time to send Daddy off. Billa will get to play with Boppa again this Saturday while Michael and I finally go celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. I can only imagine what hijinks Boppa has in store for Billa this time!

Cheers,
Kelly

Kickin' It To The Man!

2010-05-21T11:31:00.001-05:00

A sampling of Billa's newest obsession...soccer lessons aren't far off:

Happy Friday,
Kelly

Random Tuesday Thoughts 5/11

2010-05-11T14:44:00.001-05:00

At the rate of which I've posting over the last seven days (read: nil), I'm doing pretty good by giving you yet another peek of random crap in my life. I wish my randomness was as funny as the Un-Mom's, but my funniness in real life doesn't seem to translate as well on the interwebs. Or I'm possibly not that funny. I really hope it's not the latter because then that makes me wonder a bit what everyone is laughing at whenever I'm around...

Anyway, it's Tuesday. I'm working from home (again), trying to save gas and my sanity. I somehow managed to forget I had back to back meetings this morning and early afternoon and I'm just now finally able to get some work done! Ok, well I will be in a minute when I finish this post. I needed something to transition my brain towards Excel and mindless tedium.

Someday when I get to posting about it, you'll get to see the pictures from strawberry picking and my birthday. Oh wait, there aren't any pictures from my birthday. Probably a good thing in hindsight considering that my skin decided to erupt in he worst case of acne I've had since I was a teen. An article a friend posted on her Facebook says it's a sign of spiritual awakening. Personally, I'd rather that enlightment didn't make me want to crawl under a rock and hide until my hormones die down.

My birthday was quite lovely besides the acne. My friends made me hot wings (my favorite!) and I didn't make my own cake. I didn't have any cake, but that's ok. I'm not much for eating cake these days. They gave me Final Fantasy XIII for my birthday which was awesome...until I opened the package and discovered that the disc had been stolen. My spidey sense started tingling when I showed my husband the blank disc and made a comment about how it was strange that it didn't have any logos on it. I ended up going to bed early in a huff because I couldn't get my game on. Luckily, my friend's husband raised some hell at Best Buy and got me a new copy which I played all day long on my day off.

Mother's Day was lovely. My mom and Michael's mom came over for brunch and we made garden stepping stones with Sybilla for their gardens, natch. Yes, I cooked and cleaned some on that most holy of holy days, but it's ok. I got to play my game, read a book, and sleep in, all of which I don't normally get to do unless I slight someone or unplug myself, both of which do not bear pleasant results. Except on Mother's Day, thankfully :D

Saw an article on MSN about macarons. Now I must try to recreate them for the baking blog. I love meringues, but I don't know if I can handle aged egg whites. Wines are supposed to age. People are supposed to age, but don't want to. Egg whites? I have my reservations, but hey, if it's all the rage in Paris, I have to try it.

Speaking of Paris? A coworker is going in two weeks. I'm jealous. The only time I was in Paris I was stuck with a snobby brat who wanted to do four star hotels on a college student's budget. Needless to say, it made for some interesting adventures, but I didn't get to see half of what I wanted. I'm going on a wine tour in a couple of weeks to local wineries here in the Texas Hill Country and my friend suggested we swing by Paris, Tx. Sorry, dude, it just isn't the same. I've been to both, and I much rather prefer the one where I must present my passport to get in the country.

Time to get back to work. Au revoir, mes amis!
Kelly