Just got checked...by God!

I have been moping around the house feeling crappy...because I just cannot seem to get into the whole Christmas thing this year. I have gone Christmas shopping, done the family party thing, baked goodies and even made a couple gifts this year, but I cannot pull myself out of this Holiday slump.

I prayed the other night for God to help me, to help me bring this all into perspective and to help me get back into the Spirit of the Season. See, I know it's not about what I bought people or how much I did or didn't spend on the gifts, my parents raised me to know the true meaning of Christmas and to believe in the spirit of Santa....but to know the true meaning of the season is to know God and to know his Son's story. I don't talk very openly about my beliefs, as I feel that they are mine and mine alone to be shared whenever I feel and with whomever I choose. That may sound snotty, but it is not my intention. I just think that too many people try to prove just how "Christian" they are around this time of the year more so than any other time of the year. I have my belief in God all year round...it does not intensify or dissipate certain times of the year.

OK, anyway...I digress, I was telling Hubby just how I was so ready for this Christmas to be over and so forth when my phone rang. My good friend, B, called me to let me know about a group of 5 siblings who were recently abandoned by their parents. Yes, their parents just up and left them in the home with no money...no nothing and one day when they returned from school (which is amazing that they continued on the right path left alone like that.), they were locked out of their place of residence. Yet, they still continued to attend school. It wasn't until a teacher at the youngest child's school (she is 8 yrs old) noticed that her clothes were dirty...very dirty that they questioned the little girl and she told them everything. The children are ages: 17 girl, 16 girl, 15 boy, 13 boy and 8 girl. An elderly couple, in their 70's I am lead to believe, have taken the children in. They cashed out their savings and such to buy new clothes and beds/bedding for the children. Until things get sorted with the state they are going to have to lives 7 people on a budget of just under $1,000 a month.

So, here I was asking God for help and telling my hubby how much I wanted this season over with when this call comes in. WOW! I have not one thing to complain about this year...at all! I am Blessed to have my family with me, great friends, a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and 2 vehicles...hubby has a job and we have medical insurance. All our needs are being met, it's sad that I cannot say the same about those 5 children. How a parent can just pick up and leave is beyond me, I mean to not even drop them off with a family member, friend or hell even a stranger would have been better than what they did. I understand that people with addictions don't always think right, but still...these are their own children. (shakes head in sadness)

I will be going through our clothes and such here to see what we can donate, I am going to be making goodies for them and maybe some hats and scarves too. I am no longer looking for a reason to celebrate this season, I know that the true meaning of this season is Faith, Love and Togetherness. It is also all about giving and not the receiving.

I thank God for bringing this situation to my attention, it truly was the slap upside the head I needed.

Peace, Love and Giving,

Cold...when did we get so cold?

I'm curious, just when did we start to notice that cold was COLD? I mean, when did we grow out of the 'Hey, its winter and lets go outside and play' phase? Was it a progression or was it something that just happened over night?

I remember my parents having to fight with me to get me to come inside all year round and in the winter, OMG, they would have to almost lock all the doors and windows to keep us from going outside because it was "too damn cold out" for any human or animal. LOL Did your parents have the same issues with you when you were a kid? Do you have the same issues now with your own kids?

I have seen a change in my own kids as they have reached the age of those teen years; they are not so keen on going outside and playing in the cold white crap that we so loved as children. It's sad really that they aren't begging to go outside and wreck havoc on the neighborhood....but, I guess what is even sadder is that we as the parents sit and worry about the neighborhood wrecking havoc on our children these days. :(

Am I the only parent or person who sees this these days? I have great memories of all the seasons, playing with friends and such, as a child/teen. I remember praying for a snow day just so me and my friends could get together and launch a massive snowball fight or build the perfect snow fort. I remember waiting for that perfect snow where it was just right to build a snowman or two...or three.

Now the kids pray for snow days so they can sleep in or stay home and play games all day. SMH...am I the only person who gets a little sad at this?

Now a days I am not a fan of the cold...I can deal with the snow, but HATE the cold. This makes me feel old...VERY OLD. LOL 

I hope you are all staying warm and safe out there and that kids everywhere go out and build at least one snowman this year! :)

Peace, Love and SNOWMEN!

WARNING...FOOD PORN ENCLOSED

Hey there Bloggers! :) Well, remember that list of goodies I told y'all about, the one for the Family Christmas party and the goodie boxes? Remember how precise I was? HA! I have yet again changed my mind. No real surprise on that, is there? (I can hear some of you laughing and agreeing with me in a mildly sarcastic "Noooo....YOU? Change your mind? HA!") And, just so you know, I appreciate that...it just means you are paying attention. lol

I have revised my goodie boxes more than the treats for the party, I have actually made the list of goodies a bit smaller and more manageable for me. Yup, I hear that sarcastic laughing of disbelief going on out there. lol I was going to wait to make the goodie boxes til closer to Christmas, but then I decided that since I will be baking anyway this week that I am going to just make them up and deliver them....making less work for me close to the big day. Right? You all agree? OK...Ok...the laughter can stop any time now folks. lol

Here is what I am making for the Family Party.....

 

 

 And, I am going to be making some cupcakes as well....with little candy penguins on them in honor of the daughter. lol We went and got most of the ingredients today, but I did realize as I was putting the pics in that I forgot to get the nutter butter cookies for the large penguins. Oh well, I gotta run to the store tomorrow anyway. LOL

 

For the goodie boxes.....

 

 

Plus some peppermint cookies that my friend, Sarah, has requested...and, well, since she is pregnant...I am going to do this for her. :) The daughter and I are looking forward to doing all this. OK...maybe I have put a lot on my plate and MAYBE I will end up changing my mind on when I will be doing the goodie boxes and what will all be going in them...BUT, the ones for the family party are a definite. :) And, well, they will be made first since the party is this Saturday. I love working with chocolate...for the obvious reason of course, but also because once I make the goodies, I can store them very well in an air tight container in my fridge...and because the family is distracted by all the cookies and such, they don't touch them. LOL See...there truly is a method to my madness. :)

 

I decided this year that I am going to give my friends home made gifts, and I figured that what better way to do that than to make these goodie boxes.? I mean, we all get people stopping over and such during this time of the year and it is always nice to be able to share goodies with them, right? OK..OK...I hear the snickering and know that some of you...ok, most of you, are thinking..."Share? WTH are you talking about Lu? These are MINE...ALLLLLL MINE!" LOL That's ok too. :) Just as long as they are appreciated and enjoyed is all that matters. :) 

 

WOW...totally off topic...but I just heard our snow plow go down our street twice while I was typing this blog. WOW! I'm now afraid to look outside and see just how much snow we have gotten. lol I am happy that the son has a place to crash tonight after work so he doesn't have to drive back in this crap at midnight and then again tomorrow morning for work. It also saves him on gas. :) I am really thankful that his buddy and his buddy's parents give him this opportunity, it is truly a blessing. Hey...maybe I will make them a goodie box to say Thank You. :)

 

Ok, enough blogging....I'm sure you are all now hungry and cursing me out due to the content of this blog....maybe I will put a disclaimer in the title. :) (just changed the title to the warning. lol)

 

Have a great night everyone and please, be safe out there. For most of us, this is not the first time we have driven in snow and ice....but however that has never stopped others from becoming blooming IDIOTS. :)

 

Peace, Love and Chocolate!

 

'Tis That Time of Year....with photos and everything. ;)

Good Day Bloggerville! I hope that you are all having a wonderful day and if you are one of the many stuck with the snow and icy conditions, I hope you are all safe and warm. Thankfully, up here in NW Indiana, we are just dealing with the cold; and really, there are days that I wish it would snow and the cold would ease up...BUT, I don't dare say that too loudly or repeat it in fear that it just may happen and then I somehow get blamed for it. ;)

A week from tomorrow (Sat) is my families Christmas party, which my parents are hosting this year. I would love to say that my mom put me in charge of desserts, because it would seem better to place the blame somewhere else, but alas...I volunteered for the job. Am I crazy? Crazy like a fox! I figured it would be more in my wheelhouse to do desserts, especially this time of year, when cookies and such are the must do/have of any good Christmas party. :) See, there is a method to my madness. :) It's not that I was looking for an easy way out, its just that I love to bake and I have been struggling to get into the Christmas mood; and so what is a great way to join the two than baking for the Christmas party?! My immediate plan was to bake my arse off and have such wonderful creations that they would have the family talking in awe of it for the next year....but then reality set in. LOL

Keep
It
Simple
Silly

Yup, that is my motto for everything Christmas this year. (OK, so I'm struggling with that when it comes to Christmas lights and such...but then again, who isn't. LOL) I did Google Christmas cookie ideas, and let me tell you this: You think that Pinterest is the Devil? Nooooo.....no, my friends, Google (especially when it comes to Christmas anything) is the true evil one here. lol I got sucked into Google like the frickin' Bermuda Triangle last night, but I also came away with the realization that SIMPLE is the way to go....that and 2 great cookie ideas to boot. :) So, here is my plan of attack...

I have decided to make sugar cookies (both cut out and just plain round), which will be frosted and decorated in proper spirit of the season. Then I found these ADORABLE penguin cookies:

Are they not the cutest thing EVER? They are simple to the point of an OMG that is so SIMPLE! Nutter butter cookies, melted chocolate and you can use fondant or if you are like me and not fondant friendly, just use icing. :) I think I will let Kbug handle these, yup...that EASY folks. :) And, then I am going to make these cute and easy reindeer cookies:

Told you...CUTE and EASY! :) You can even use..GASP...the cut and back sugar cookies in a roll for these. And, of course there will be the traditional chocolate chip cookies for the true traditionalists in our family....like my Dad. LOL I am going to make a dozen or two cupcakes too and frost them and then top them with some sugar penguins I found at Jo Ann Fabrics a couple weeks ago on their awesome sale. :) Now some of you may be thinking, "Simple?! This all is not simple Lu...", but for anyone who knows me or has even just met me in person or through Face Book....they know that YES, this is tone down 100 notches from my usual ambitious list of things I wanna do for Christmas baking. ;)

My mom was going to have Kbug and I make up a gingerbread house village for center pieces for this party, but thankfully she came to her senses and got on board with the whole K.I.S.S. train and decided to make them activities for the younger generation at the party...which can then be taken home and enjoyed in their own homes for the Holiday Season. :) Yup, my mama is one smart cookie...see, I come by it naturally. :) She also acquired, in her after season stock up last year, some homemade candy/cookie snow globe kits; which all I have to do is bake the cookies and WALLAH! Kids can construct them at the party and again, take them home to share within their house. ;)

It's also nice to get a lot of the baking done this next week for some of my goodie boxes that I make up for friends. I will be adding some fudge and I think some cake balls and one or two more goodies...all pretty simple in the making tho. :) I have friends that look forward to these goodie boxes each and every year now, along with their kids and or spouses. LOL I really do enjoy baking and giving of those bake goods too. There are times that the kids and hubby rant about how good it smells in the house and how it makes their mouths water at just walking through the front door....(lets be real, they get their fair share too), but these goodie boxes are made with love for the special ones in our lives and it makes me feel good to put all that love into gifts that even though they don't last too long, put smiles on my friends faces and love into their heart...love from me and my family. :)

OK...I got a bit mushy there at the end, sorry. LOL I seem to be really into blogging and talking this morning. lol And, no....I'm not on caffeine, I am still on the decaf train. :( lol

So, I leave you this morning with these questions...do you bake during the Holidays? Do you make certain people gifts? Do you do all your shopping online? Do you brave the stores for the greatest deals? What do you do that is a tradition or special to you for the Holiday Season? Share...please! :)

Have a wonderful and Blessed Day....

Babblin' Blog and Music for the Memories....

I was amazed that the Paco dog let me sleep in til 6am....but then he also let me go back to sleep for a couple more hours. LOL It amazes me that I'm the one he wakes up, even when hubby is there...sleeping right next to me...I'm the one he head butts to wake up to take him out. I guess it's because he has learned that I will actually get my arse up out of bed to let him out. lol Yeah, he knows who to go to. :)

I only left my house twice today...once to go and get hubbys medications at the pharmacy and then again to go out to get Taco Bell, as no one was wanting any more turkey or anything to do with turkey. lol Anyone else do this? Come on...I know you do. LOL

The daughter and I watched a movie, The Call, and WOW...it was intense! Not a movie for the younger crowd for sure, just because of the intensity of it I think. Then we watched the rest of Garth Brooks Live in Las Vegas. LOVE THAT MAN! This is what has me blogging tonight...music and the memories it evokes from us. I'm sure we all have times in our lives that when a certain song comes on the radio or you play a certain CD that it automatically takes you back to a certain time in your life, right? I know I do. Garth Brooks' music plays a big part of my life memories, most of them are good ones. :) Bob Segar is another one who I can listen to and it just takes me THERE...driving my truck down a dark highway jamming to Betty Lou's Getting Out Tonight....ohhh or Her Strut! Yup...I have a lot of memories that are connected to music or music that is connected to memories.

When my son was born, he was 2 months premature and in the NICU they kept a radio playing of country music...well, it was Galveston, TX after all. Anyway, when we got to take him home I couldn't get him to sleep...til I turned on the radio to a country song and it was playing Reba and wow..that kid went out like a light! LOL From that night on we always kept music playing at bedtime. To this day I think he still falls asleep to music, maybe not country music any longer, but music still the same. When our daughter was born, 7 yrs later, I sang to her...as best as I could, to get her to fall asleep. A lot of the songs I sang were songs my own mother sang to me as a child and that always made me feel like a good mama. :) She now has a love affair with music, she claims not to like country, but she can't hide the fact that she knows the words to a lot of my favorite country songs. lol

The opening line to Bob Segar's song, Her Strut, I have claimed as my own...

 



She's totally committed
To major independence
But she's a lady through and through

 

Yup...LOVE those words! I would love to have that on a shirt or a tattoo even. :) To me, it means I can be strong...I can be self dependant....I don't have to NEED a man or anyone....but I can also be loved by a man and not give up anything of myself. I can be strong and still be a lady. Such simple words of a song, but yet so strong that they have spoken to my heart for many, many years now.

 

There are songs, love songs, that can take me back to the first time I knew love. Those songs used to make me cry and miss that time of my life, but now they make me smile and realize just how far I have come and see that when I thought I had lost love, it only opened the doors to find the love I have now with my hubby. Then, there is the song that brings to mind the struggles hubby and I have been through and conquered. There is a song by Rascal Flatts, called God Bless The Broken Road...that song could have been written with us in mind...but it was written before we met. lol No matter, it is our anthem. The other song that we claim as ours is by Alan Jackson, Remember When....sigh...it just says it all and so well.

 

I have songs that make me think of my children too....songs that I sing as a type of prayer for them. Songs that make me smile through the tears and laugh through the hardships. Dream Big is one of those songs...and I Wish...both country songs, of course. lol

 

Like I said before, so many memories connected through music. It's all good! :)

 

OK, that's tonight's babbling blog. :)

 

Peace, Love and Sing On!



Thanksgiving 2013....

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I hope you all had a wonderful day giving thanks. Today was a very good day here in the Steel Workers Wife household. I got up and had the turkey in the roaster a little after 8am, it was only a 12 pounder this year as it was just the 3 of us, so it was done by noon. I love using my roaster as it was the same one my late mother-in-law used and it always makes me feel like she is with us whenever I use it. :)

The turkey came out delish and super moist. I have been blessed to never have made a bad turkey, but this year hubby said it was the best one yet! :) That always makes me feel good.

The son was not able to be home today as he had to work, but it was still a great day! Today is my moms birthday, yesterday was the hubby's birthday...we have a lot to be thankful for this month. The good outshines the bad, which is always a good thing. My mom just recently had shoulder surgery, so my Aunt and Uncle took Thanksgiving to my parents; which is another blessing as this took all the work out of my moms hands. From the photos, the turkey turned out very nice there too. :)

Today was a first for our daughter, K, as it was the first time she got to experience the madness we now call Dark Thursday. LOL Yes, we were one of the many souls who braved shopping in the madness...our madness has a name...Wal Mart! :) She only almost lost it twice, which is better than I had expected from a 14 yr old claustrophobic who had to deal with maddening crowds. It's bad enough when I have to, as I too have the same phobia and hate crowds, but to have her with me was a real blessing as we seemed to keep each other calm during the storm. lol We were lucky enough to find out right before we left that they would be handing out wristbands to those going after the "hot ticket" items...like the $98 32" TV we were going for. lol So, we got there early and stood in line for about an hour or so to get the wristband, which guaranteed us a TV and it also gave us the chance to continue shopping until a certain time at which we got into another line for only 30 min or so to retrieve said TV. We were one of the lucky ones who were only going after one hot ticket item, my friend B and her family were going after several, so that meant that they had to split up and then hustle to the next line...with 2 small children in tow. (I prayed for their peace of mind.) :)

The people were not that bad...all for the one lady who came charging through a jam in cart traffic yelling that if people didn't get out of her way she was going to start bashing them in the head. (sigh) Honestly, it would have been kinda fun to see her try and then see the police taser her. Yup, Wal Mart had quite a few of our city's finest out in force tonight....don't really blame them, do you? LOL I was also lucky enough to stop at a store before hand to get K's number one priority gift...and NO ONE was shopping there! :) I could have saved $10 had I waited to get it til Saturday, but they didn't have many in stock and well, once I got the thing I got a $10 off coupon for my next trip in...so, it all worked out in the end. :) And, best of all, we will have one happy girl come Christmas morning...that makes this ALL worth while.

AND...to my amazement, they had EVERY register open....except funny enough the ones in the garden area where they were having special deals every hour. LMAO You can't have it all at Wal Mart I guess. LOL

I had wanted to go to one more store tomorrow...for one thing, but seeing as how my body is not happy with me for my 6 hour stay at Wal Mart, I am not so sure I will be up to making that trip. It's not a huge importance, but the price is AWESOME...so, who knows, I may hobble my way over there first thing in the morning. lol

I have babbled on enough..but, I wanted to share a bit of our day with you before limping my way to bed. LOL Again, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have much to be thankful for this year.

Blessings,

Inside an Insomniacs Brain

As the title suggests, I have been dealing with a bad bout of insomnia this last week and well, at least I can say that I have thought up enough things for this blog. :)

There has been a lot of debate on whether or not it is right to go out and shop on Thanksgiving...I'm going to be honest with you all and tell you that YES, I will be one of "those people" who will be standing in lines on Thanksgiving Day and the day after. lol Would it be great if all the stores in the Nation could close on Thanksgiving and allow everyone to enjoy that day with family/friends? SURE! Is it realistic? NO! I figure, if I am out spending money on Thanksgiving and enjoying the time with my daughter (her first Thanksgiving/Black Friday event) and putting said money back into the economy then I'm not hurting anyone. I know....I know...don't even start in on me about it...I have heard it all already from my friends and family members on how its the principle of things..etc... This is not a perfect world people and well, people have to make money and if that means working on a holiday...then so be it. Not everyone has a job where they can afford to take off on every holiday, some people NEED to work any and every day they are given. My hubby worked last Thanksgiving and will again be working this Thanksgiving. It's not that he doesn't want to spend the day lounging around the house, eating good food, watching football and spending time with our family, no, it is simply because he needs to make a living for our family and lets face it folks, holiday pay is nothing to sniff your noses at.

I have been posting via Facebook about the things I am grateful for this month, I decided that I am going to TRY to post something like this every day. Why should we only announce that we are thankful during this time of the year? I am thankful for something every day of my life...aren't you? This thought took me onto another thought...

I am very grateful for my parents. We have been through the ringer since I was a teenager and well, doors may have been closed, but thankfully they were never locked for good. I used to wonder, a lot, if my dad (who adopted me when I was 8) and I ever really had a bond or not. He was not an emotional kind of man when I was growing up, let me interject that since the grand kids have come along he has gotten much better with showing his emotions, anyway, I digress...It was usually my dad and I who butted heads the most. I found it much easier to talk to my mom when it came to issues I was having, I never really stopped to think about how he showed that he cared for me in ways outside the realm of actual communication until just recently. See, my dad is a DIE HARD CUBS FAN...and well, at the age of 7 I became a DIE HARD WHITE SOX FAN; yes, this started out as my way of rebelling against him. Hey, I was 7 and he had just married my mom, I was allowed. lol Anyway, it was not til recently that I sat down and started thinking about how he may have showed me he loved me in other ways that I realized that this man, my dad, THE DIE HARD CUBS FAN, bent for me by taking me to baseball games....ALL were to see the White Sox play. I never thought of it then, I was a self absorbed kid after all who thought dad didn't like me. Now, after looking back on it, I know he must have loved me to put his likes aside to make sure that I enjoyed mine. I hope he knows how much I love him, how sorry I am for all the dumb and hurtful things I have said and done to him and mom over the years. It wasn't til just several years ago that I realized how important it is to have a loving and wonderful relationship with your parents. It is still hard for dad and I at times to communicate, but we are both getting better at it. We no longer sit in the same room just pretending the other is not there...yup, we are at least trying. And, for that,  I am extremely grateful.

My parents have bent over backwards to help me and my children, a lot of the times without being asked. I never understood how a parent could do that until recently...it really opened my eyes. I love my parents, unconditionally. I have done and said things that they didn't have to forgive me for, things that could have split our family up with no hope of repair, but they never really truly shunned me. We may have had times of struggling to be civil to one another for the sake of my children, we may have had awkward times at family gatherings where we hardly spoke to one another, but with time, patience and lots of love and work we are starting to move on towards a much happier and healthier relationship. Yup...I have a lot to be grateful for.

Our son is going through similar issues right now...he is almost 21. He moved out when he was 18 to go live with my parents, the way he did it was very hurtful and it took us time to be able to move past it but we did. Now, he is living back home, in college and working...all things I am grateful for. He is not the most responsible adult he could be, were we ever at that age? I'm thankful that he doesn't have any children, like I did, at his age. I am trying to teach him that he has to man up and be responsible and get his priorities in check or he will be facing some very hard times down the road. Hubby and I are trying our own form of 'tough love' with him, don't know yet if it is working...I pray it is. Our daughter is going through her own mid teen crisis right now too. It is easy for us parents to forget how it was when we were teens, especially us moms. She is a Freshman this year...low man on the pole and that is not an easy thing to go through. She has a hard time seeing that she does have friends, friends who actually care about her and her feelings. I would love to say that I never had that problem, but well, that age is never easy and especially for us girls. I am doing my best to try and relate to her as much as possible....I must say she has a great relationship with her daddy, she seems to talk to him easier than she does with me. I can say that I am just happy she is talking to one of us, but honestly, I feel left out sometimes hearing things second hand. lol BUT, I will not let my feelings get in the way here. What is important is how our kids feel and of course we are always trying to make sure they know that they come first with us. Not always an easy job, I'm sure you know.

OK....I have rambled on long enough. Insomnia sucks! I am going to try and fix all my typos, but please look past any that I may have missed....after all my brain is not running quite right at the moment. :)

Hugs and Blessings....