My Little Life

Ready for our next installation of Talkin ' Shop...Dissecting the Reader's Digest? Last month, when I received this month's issue (why is that? Why do you always receive this month's issue last month? Wait. What? Never mind ...I just confused myself.) of the Reader's Digest, it boldly displayed this: Bah. And to think I wasn't invited to play. ;) So, I decided to do what anyone would do...cut it apart. Look at it from another angle. Get down to the guts of it... dissect it. Which, basically, means I'm just saying what I think about it! This week's quote from the Reader's Digest "50 Secrets Nurses Won't Tell You" ( Michelle, Crouch. "50 Secrets Your Nurse Won't Tell You." Reader's Digest . November 2011: 132-42. Print) is this: "When a patient is terminally ill, sometimes the doctor won't order enough pain medication. If the patient is suffering, we'll sometimes give more than what the doctor said and ask

But last night, I started to organize like a mad woman. We were still at about 60% for our "Operation Get Rid of all This Crap" and had totes and piles and bags of toys scattered throughout our basement. It was The Pal's comment of, "Are you ever gonna finish this? 'Cuz you know what's gonna happen? It'll be December 23rd and we'll be scrambling to get the house clean and we'll just end up shoving it right back into the cellar." And you know what? He was spot on. That IS what would totally happen if I didn't get my behind in gear! So, when the hubs popped in a movie for the kiddos (they have an unplanned day off...more on that later...) I decided to tackle the mess. At about the time a mouse scampered through the living area downstairs, much too close to Hambone for his liking ("Mom, I seriously almost peed my pants.") I had reached about 85%. That, coupled with the rodent amongst us, prompted me to call it a night. I went upsta

It's late, but I feel like such a blogging flunkie lately that I just wanted to post something... ANYthing ! So, here you go...a quickie for you! Thanksgiving was wonderful...a low key event at my parents on Thursday, followed by a more festive celebration on Saturday with the extended family! Was fairly hard to get into a celebratory mood, as little Jack's funeral was Saturday morning. Wow. That was a tough one. I am amazed at the strength his mama possesses (and dad and brother). Her faith runs deep and she knows her baby boy is being taken care of up in Heaven, but wow. It has certainly made me more conscience of soaking up my kids. Of hugging them close...in fact, Baby Girl got a little exasperated with me when I asked her (for probably the gazillionth time), "Hey Baby...know what?" Baby: "What?" Me: "I love you." Baby: *sigh* "You say that all night long." *pause* "I love you, too." Now, she doesn't even ask "Wh

Well? How was it for you? ;) My Thanksgiving ( waaaaiiiiit ...just what did YOU think I meant?!) was wonderful. Good food, great conversation, a little competitive gaming (Taboo, anyone?)...how could it be bad? Santa comes to town tonight! Our town's annual "Santa Parade" is this evening, and the kids are PUMPED! The Christmas season is in full swing, now...there's no denying it or resisting it anymore! We have another Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow...more fun, more food, more wonderful people. And then? A year-long nap please. *yawn* Okay, onto the task at hand! Welcome to 5 QF ...the perfect answer for when your muses have gone and ate too much turkey and refuse to get off the couch. Lazy bums. Rules for 5 QF : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP! Don't forget the very most important rule of all: HAVE FUN!! Question s for Friday, November 25 th : (Special

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! When I decided to do a Five Question Friday for this week, it only seemed right to do a Thanksgiving themed one! Hope you are all enjoying time with your families and lot's of great food!! Unless, of course, you don't live in America, in which case I hope you had a good "same as any other day" day! Rules for 5 QF : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP! Don't forget the very most important rule of all: HAVE FUN!! Question s for Friday, November 25 th : (Special thanks to @ katieb 38 , @ gasfamily , @ mamaphan , Sharayha and little ol ' me for their [our] question suggestions! I love linking y'all in 5 QF ...offer up a question suggestion in my community or watch for my Twitter shout out on Thursdays and I'll link you up if your question is chosen! If you go the Twitter route, remember to @5 crookedhalos me and use hash

You know that feeling you get when someone is hurting and you just want to HELP? That pull to try to ease the pain that a fellow human being is feeling? That very pull has gotten me involved in coordinating a (small) part of sweet Jack's funeral . I have never been one to get very involved prior to this...but you know what? It feels good. It feels right. It feels like I actually AM helping, in a very small way. I had a conversation with a complete stranger tonight. I could tell by her voice that she had many more years of experience on this earth that I had, she was wise and warm and kind and I immediately felt at ease talking with her. She and I talked "business" at first, then shared what our mother's hearts were feeling. The tragedy , the hurt, the knowledge that a family in our church is living every parent's worst nightmare. She has 5 children. I have 5 children. She shared with me something that gave me goosebumps...she told me that as she and her husband st

Eight years ago today, at 2:47 in the morning (although it could be 2:49...there are differing opinions. Guess I should verify what the "official" one is...), an amazing little boy was born. His delivery was one of those that books are made of...calm, controlled, I watched him emerge via a mirror and the doctor encouraged me to reach down and deliver my baby "all the way" once his shoulders were out. Seriously...best. delivery. ever. The warm fuzziness never ended. My E.W. is a sweet, soft hearted lug of a boy with a penchant for Legos and Chicken Nuggets. He has the most amazing laugh...one that, even when he's "forcing it", is still so infectious, you can't help but smile and chuckle along. He's a brute of a kid...we joke that if he gets his dad's build and his mom's height...well, scratch that...make that "his mom's family's height" (I have brothers that are 6'2" and 6'4") that he could be...well,

Living in MinneSOOOOOOta , I get to experience all sorts of things... hotdish , lutefisk (actually, I've never had it), triple digits below zero, walking on large bodies of water, saying "pop", " youbetcha " and " dontchaknow ", and dry, itchy winter skin. I know, I know...don't everyone rush here all at once. You know you want to. As soon as the weather cools down, it chases away any and all of the moisture in the air, which, to be honest, coming off of the summer we just had, really isn't always that terrible. Except for the toll it takes on your skin, including that on your scalp. Enter Head and Shoulders, the shampoo that promises to ease the dryness, itchiness and sensitivity associated with dandruff. So, what, exactly IS dandruff? Well, it's a combination of scalp oils, a fungus called " Malassezia globosa " (doesn't that sound appealing?) , and your body's reaction to that fungus. ( Grody . I know) And while I don&

It's my weekend to work. 3 days away from my fam for the majority of the day...it's a good thing I love what I do! I'm happy to say that I've gotten a pretty good start on my Christmas shopping this year. Kind of sad that I need to cut back a bit this year due to my bro's wedding in Mexico in January, but it's not about the gifts, right? E.W's birthday is on Tuesday, I always need to take a step back, clear my mind of Christmas, and focus on just his birthday! Should be fun...I think he's going to be happy with what he gets! Okay...let's get to the questions! Rules for 5 QF : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP! Don't forget the very most important rule of all: HAVE FUN!! Questions for Friday, November 18 th : (Special thanks to @ gasfamily , @_ mycrazy 4 , @ trooppetrie , @ katieb 38 , and Sandy for their question suggestions! I'd love to