February, a love story

Happy things that filled February:

. new cookware .

. a husband returning safely from a ski trip .

. a nephew who got another year older .

. 3.5 pounds lost for no apparent reason .

. being told I was a good nurse multiple times by my patients .

. tons of thrifting .

. months of collecting finally hanging in a collage for all to see .

. a PLANNED trip to Florida .

. successful trips home in the snow .

. our trash service offering recycling collection and bins .

. organic oranges .

. P(edatric)A(dvanced)L(ife)S(upport) certification .

. Nurse Jackie marathons .

. many conversations with my family .

. words with friends games with Mr. O .

. dinner with a friend that I hadn't seen in ages .

. discovering new music .

. tea parties with my favorite two year old little girl .

. Julie & Julia for $6 .

. 60 degree weather and sunshine .

. homemade Valentines .

. Mr. O seeing me, smiling , and then saying how cute I am .

. eggplant ratatouille .

. Scrabble games that never quite get finished .

. google reading time .

. a PLANNED girl's night out .

. late nights filled with Hoarders, Oprah, and Dr. Oz .

. keeping up with blogging .

Don't call me Grace

So today, as I gingerly strolled down to the mailbox to check the mail, I fell and it wasn't pretty. I could chalk it up to the rain, the steepness of my driveway, which is pretty dang steep, but I live in a place with hills in the name, so what do you expect, or I could I blame my super cute Cole Haan loafers. The true is this isn't the first time I've fallen on my driveway. No, it's not the second or even the third. I can count at least five. I guess, since living here six years, I'm ahead!

The worst part for me, besides the scabbed knee and ankle (oh yes, another scar), is that I put a hole and a run in my favorite brown tights. Hey, a good pair of tights is hard to find! Now, most people may have felt that the worst part may have been that a car happened to be going by at the same time and saw the whole thing. They even slowed, I'm pretty sure, to check on me, but it may have been to laugh. I avoided eye contact and acted as if nothing had happened, though my knee was there, throbbing, reminding me that it had just had a brief relationship with the aggregate of my driveway.

You see, grace isn't something I really have. I have been clumsy my whole life. Mr. O says that I stomp through the house, but, actually, I'm just walking. I admire how graceful dancers are when they dance. How they float and you don't hear them land when they jump. It's awe-inspiring.

So, don't mistake me for Grace, which is a running joke in my house, it seems I'm not the only one that is blessed with this feature, we are all lacking that beautiful name. So remember, Grace will be the one floating lightly by and I'll be the one stomping and possibly tumbling down. Hopefully, my crown stays intact.

Other interesting things, you should know about today:

• My tights were part of a super cute outfit. Picture it, chocolate brown tights, brownish-red loafers, a mustard, tan, orange, and blue plaid button up, gray cardigan, and my blue-jean shorts, which I've rekindled my relationship as the weather hints of spring. I read a lot of fashion blogs and think it wouldn't be a bad idea to photograph some of my outfits, mainly to remember some of the things that I throw together, but I'm sure it wouldn't be interesting to most of my readers. Well, on second thought, maybe one. Plus, it looks like a lot of work and I don't have a camera remote or a tripod and would feel pretty foolish posing for someone.
• I planned out my March menu plan. It only took about an hour and a half. Yes, I'm getting faster! It helped that I had already pulled some recipes that I wanted to make this time around last month. On the menu this week, bean burritos & mexican rice (we had this tonight), spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, white chicken chili, roasted eggplant ratatouille, veggie pizza (remember this post?), and buchons au thon, salad and green beans. If I hadn't just devoured some leftover Valentine's fruit snacks, I might actually have had a watering mouth over typing that. Instead, I'm nursing a gummy belly. What can I say, I'm a kid at heart. Check out the skinned knee, if you don't believe me.
• I cried while watching Oprah (an episode from last week), Hoarders, and Intervention. People's stories get me. I'm surprised my eyes aren't swollen. Hey, maybe that's why I fell?!
• I discovered this morning that I've lost 3.5 pounds. Maybe it could be that I've been eating better. I really have and I feel better too, besides the whole sleep thing, but one day it'll be back to normal. Yes, it could be that, or it could be that I work 12 hours straight, don't sit down besides my 30 minute lunch break, so that I no longer snack, burn tons of calories and my meals consist of things that can be eaten quickly, either 15 minutes before I leave, on the drive to or from Dickson, or in said 30 minute lunch break. Plus, on most of my off days, I sleep in, not this week, and miss at least one meal. Oh yeah, no sodas still. I'm proud of myself on that one. In fact, most sugary things taste too sweet now. Um, that could explain the gummy belly. Sugar may no longer be my friend...and we were so close.
• Every time I walked by the collage of pictures and things that Mr. O hung over the weekend, I smiled. I've been collecting things for a while and am happy to finally see them displayed. I may post a pic, even though it's incomplete.
• Finally, the most disheartening news today, I will not live in Wonder Valley, after all. I tried looking up the house today and it must have sold because it is no longer listed. I hope the person that bought it, lets it live up to it's incredible potential. It would be an injustice to do otherwise.

Nothing says I love you like grass fed beef

Okay, since today's post posted like it was Valentine's Day post, I thought I'd blog about Valentine's Day and see what happens.

Valentine's day was a good day. Aaron got home from his weekend of skiing. I miss him so when he's gone. Needless to say, I did not sleep very well with him away, six hours on Friday night and then four and a half hours on Sunday morning, when I got home from working Saturday night.

We meet up with B & D (my bff and her husband, if you are wondering) and ate dinner at Chipotle. It was delicious. It's a very low-key place, which is perfect when you want to avoid crowds on an otherwise crowded restaurant day. It's baja burrito with organic food. That's right, most of their ingredients are organic and bought from local farmers. How awesome is that? So with my new found love of organic food and eating healthier, then it was perfect for a day that focuses on love. After dinner we grabbed some delicious low-fat frozen yogurt. Oh yeah, I failed to mention that Aaron got me new cookware. I know, score!

All in all, it was the perfect day filled with good food, good company, and lots of love!

Negative Nancy

I have had a day today. Let's just say when you wake up to dog pee you can expect that your day is down the drain. So, I woke up to the dog pee, the coffee maker timer had ended, so the coffee was cold, I put a cup into the microwave and it boiled over making me have to clean out the microwave and did I mention the headache I woke up with? So we have the headache, the pee, the boiled over coffee, can you say cranky? I know, I'm forgetting something, but you get the gist of it.

Today got increasingly worse as the day went on. I let it take over and take hold of me. I was angry by about 3:00. I mean, really angry. I was scowling while driving, yelling like a sailor at other cars, and had said some not so nice things to say to my husband. Did I mention, I hadn't eaten anything all day?

Most of you know me as a happy-go-lucky kind of a person, which I really am. I am the person telling you to be positive, even in the worst of situations. I really do feel that the energy you put out, is the energy you are going to receive back. Um, do I even need to point out, that today proved that point?

All I know is that as the day got later and later I really saw how ridiculous I was being. So what, I had to clean up dog pee and clean the microwave, which needed it. Get over yourself. Really.

I think the juggling of my schedule and just getting used to working 12 hour shifts and odd hours in the day, has finally started to wear on me. I am so tired. I mean, insanely tired to where I'm taking naps and falling asleep if I lie still, which is so not like me. Maybe it's winter blahs and I'm ready for some sunshine? Maybe I need more vitamins? What I do know is tomorrow is another day and choose to face it with optimism because I know it will be a much better day.

Working it out

I just finished doing yoga. I am so relaxed and centered. I'm definitely going to try to do this more often. I can also tell that, even though I'm relaxed, my abs and legs will be sore tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm hitting the shower and I'm ready for work! Yes, I get to work on this lovely Saturday night. Let's hope the snow holds off until I get home at 8:00 in the morning!

Money can't buy me love

I love....

All you need is love

I LOVE love. It's good for you. It makes your soul happy. Whether it ends badly or ends well, somewhere along the way, it made you happy. If it didn't, then honey child we need to talk.

I actually like Valentine's Day. I know people babble about it being made by Hallmark and other card companies, but what's wrong with a day filled with telling the ones you love that life is better because they are around and that you love them dearly.

Now, don't get me wrong, I distinctly remember working at Dillard's when I was 21 and listening to hour after hour of romantic songs around Valentine's Day. I, being single, was a little jaded. In fact, my friend/co-worker, Lori and I made up new lyrics to the love songs that played and it was not pretty. We called our group Jaded and said we were going on a world tour against love. We loved until we cried (joyous tears) that night.

What I think of first, every time I think of that Valentine's Day, isn't that I was single, but instead how much fun we had that night. We still to this day joke about having a reunion tour. Moral of this story, Valentine's Day is what you make it.

So, this year, and pretty much every year since, I'm going to honor the ones that I love on the day that's devoted to doing just that. So, if you're reading this, my life is better because your in it and you make me happy and I am grateful.

Now go out and tell the ones that you love that you love them or go out with a single friend and change of the words of love songs into not so love songs. Whatever you do, do something that fills you with happiness and makes the best of the day.