Friday, June 17, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
unconditional love...The best thing you can teach your children.
Some of us are romantics. Some of us are realistic. Some of us are a little in between.
As a child you look up at the adults around you and you can't wait to grow up. You see all the things that people do around you, you remember the fairy tales, the cartoons, the hugs of your father and the kisses of your mother.
You grow up and you have children and you see in them all the wonders of love and adoration. You hold them and kiss them and keep them safe. You read them stories and sang to them (even out of key :) ) at night and you looked in on them while they slept and often got all teary eyed at the creation you were blessed with. You cradled them when they were scared. Rocked them when the could not sleep.
Through life's ups and downs and boo boo's you loved that child...those children. You prayed that God would bless them with wisdom and riches that you never had and you protect them with your very life. Sometimes we often over protect that precious one and they resent and become angry but their little hearts and minds are quickly growing and soon they forget that resentment and that anger and play happily along.
That child learns from you how to love, to forgive, to cherish..to hug. You pray that the precious moments are never lost in the quickness of time as they grow. You pray that they remember the love, the hugs, the kisses. You pray they remember how much you loved them and how that never changed as they grew from baby to toddler to teen to adult.
What you pray for most is that the child who grew from your heart to your arms and into the adult they are today, is the unconditional love that you gave them and hope that they return that to their own children..and then back to you. Because when they don't the ache you feel deep within is as a hundred tons is upon your heart. Unconditional love...the best thing you can receive back from your children...the best thing you can teach your children.
As a child you look up at the adults around you and you can't wait to grow up. You see all the things that people do around you, you remember the fairy tales, the cartoons, the hugs of your father and the kisses of your mother.
You grow up and you have children and you see in them all the wonders of love and adoration. You hold them and kiss them and keep them safe. You read them stories and sang to them (even out of key :) ) at night and you looked in on them while they slept and often got all teary eyed at the creation you were blessed with. You cradled them when they were scared. Rocked them when the could not sleep.
Through life's ups and downs and boo boo's you loved that child...those children. You prayed that God would bless them with wisdom and riches that you never had and you protect them with your very life. Sometimes we often over protect that precious one and they resent and become angry but their little hearts and minds are quickly growing and soon they forget that resentment and that anger and play happily along.
That child learns from you how to love, to forgive, to cherish..to hug. You pray that the precious moments are never lost in the quickness of time as they grow. You pray that they remember the love, the hugs, the kisses. You pray they remember how much you loved them and how that never changed as they grew from baby to toddler to teen to adult.
What you pray for most is that the child who grew from your heart to your arms and into the adult they are today, is the unconditional love that you gave them and hope that they return that to their own children..and then back to you. Because when they don't the ache you feel deep within is as a hundred tons is upon your heart. Unconditional love...the best thing you can receive back from your children...the best thing you can teach your children.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Dinner is Ready!!
Worked most of the day trying to work on the kitchen cabinets, pot some of the house plants we've been growing and vacuuming and cleaning up before the hubby gets home from his 4 day flight. Before I knew it, I looked at the clock and it was 7:30!! So I needed to figure out what I needed to make for a quick dinner. Looking through the pantry I found:
1 can Mexican Corn
1 can Palm Hearts
1 can Garbanzo Beans.
In the fridge was:
1 head of iceberg lettuce
and in the freezer:
a bag of frozen mix veggies (blackbean,onions,corn, green peppers and onion)
a bag of individually frozen chicken breast, but i only needed 4.
What i did was place 4 of the frozen chicken breast in a strainer and ran some cold water over them. While the water is running over the chicken to "par-thaw" I chopped up the lettuce and put it in 4 bowls. I then opened each can veggies and drained them. I divided the contents of the 3 cans into each of the 4 bowls on top of the lettuce.
I put the frozen veggies in the microwave and cooked for only 2 minutes. I topped my salad with that as well because i love the little kick it gives. I then heated a pan with about 2 tablespoons of oil. While that was heating up, I seasoned each chicken breast on both sides with just salt and pepper. I cooked the 4 breast in the oil over med-high heat until they were a nice brown on each side. You can add a bit more oil if necessary. Cook the breast for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown.
I then cut the breast at a diagonal and placed the meat on top of the salad.
You can use any type of dressing you like but this went really well with Ranch Dressing.
There you go!! Dinner is Ready!!
1 can Mexican Corn
1 can Palm Hearts
1 can Garbanzo Beans.
In the fridge was:
1 head of iceberg lettuce
and in the freezer:
a bag of frozen mix veggies (blackbean,onions,corn, green peppers and onion)
a bag of individually frozen chicken breast, but i only needed 4.
What i did was place 4 of the frozen chicken breast in a strainer and ran some cold water over them. While the water is running over the chicken to "par-thaw" I chopped up the lettuce and put it in 4 bowls. I then opened each can veggies and drained them. I divided the contents of the 3 cans into each of the 4 bowls on top of the lettuce.
I put the frozen veggies in the microwave and cooked for only 2 minutes. I topped my salad with that as well because i love the little kick it gives. I then heated a pan with about 2 tablespoons of oil. While that was heating up, I seasoned each chicken breast on both sides with just salt and pepper. I cooked the 4 breast in the oil over med-high heat until they were a nice brown on each side. You can add a bit more oil if necessary. Cook the breast for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown.
I then cut the breast at a diagonal and placed the meat on top of the salad.
You can use any type of dressing you like but this went really well with Ranch Dressing.
There you go!! Dinner is Ready!!
Before and After Photos of End Table and Wine cabinet
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| End Table Front View Before |
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| End Table Side view Before |
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| End Table After with new handle |
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| Gold Handle before painting |
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| Old Handle from End Table |
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| Wine Cabinet after paint and stain Minus the one handle i forgot to buy! |
A day of Rest
I love getting up in the morning and it be so quiet. I have a morning routine. Bathroom, brush teeth, make the bed, let the dogs out, make coffee. Same thing every day. I sit in the quiet with my coffee. No tv. No music. Just quiet. I enjoy this part of my day.
My friend came over yesterday and we worked on my kitchen a bit. She has been so wonderful. She got busy painting another coat of paint onto my kitchen cabinets after she convinced me it would be easier for me to put the raised stencil on the doors if we took them down. We are doing it a little at a time. Each side so it's not as overwhelming. She made my day yesterday by coming over to help me. I could not have gotten so much done without her. One thing about painting or face lifting a room or furniture is that everything is in disarray when you do it and it bothers me so much! It's a mess everywhere but there is nothing you can do about it.
After she left yesterday I finished my end tables for my living room, except for the handles. I'm stumped as to whether I should reuse the handles I have and if I do what color to paint them or should I wait to buy new ones. To buy new ones is an expense I just can't justify right now but really the old ones...I just am not sure what to do with a color for them. I painted the end tables a shiny black (semi-gloss) and then painted tan color I mixed myself with paint and a glaze to create a "pickled" look. I painted the tan color into the crevices for the table and around the edges. I've taken a few pictures but am waiting to upload until I get the handles on them.
I also finished the cabinet I got off of freecycle. I still need to run out today and get 1 more handle for it but i did decide to put the cabinet in my dining room. I took out the wood rod that was in the top cabinet and screwed in a wine glass holder i had purchased from World Market many years ago. So now it is a liquor/wine cabinet. I was going to use it as a tv console but it was just a bit too tall (bummer) but it does look nice in the dining room.
I'm trying to stay busy and get as much done as I can. I have a busy day tomorrow as well. First off a dreaded appointment with the dentist. I have to have some fillings removed and replaced and then I have a to have a root canal and crown which by itself depresses me for several reasons. It is a tooth that is in the very front. I had gone to the dentist because no matter how white my other teeth were this one tooth seemed always to be dull and was getting worse. So last week at the dentist I asked him about it. He (my dentist) asked me if I had ever had any trauma to my face...had I ever been hit in the mouth... I just sat there... i remember the words that someone said to me..."there are no bruises...no cuts..no bleeding...you have no pictures and you have not proof so no one will believe you..it's just your word against mine and no one will believe you".... Yes, I said to the Dr. I did have a few incidents. He explained to me that because of being hit in the face it most likely damaged the nerve to that tooth and gradually through the years the nerve has started to die and so no amount of whitening would fix it and I would need to have a root canal and crown on it. So yeah...
Sometimes it doesn't matter how happy you are or how well life seems to be going. Something happens that brings the past right back up and it's pretty hard to deal with but you just have to try and sit and let that feeling run it's course. It helps to pray and let it go...it's easier said than done. For me..it's easier to stay as busy as possible and try and work into exhaustion so I don't have time to think about things. Someday though, it won't even bother me at all and I'm looking forward to that day...i'm looking forward to a day of Rest.
Time to get ready for church then back to working on those cabinets. I've got a ton to do today!
My friend came over yesterday and we worked on my kitchen a bit. She has been so wonderful. She got busy painting another coat of paint onto my kitchen cabinets after she convinced me it would be easier for me to put the raised stencil on the doors if we took them down. We are doing it a little at a time. Each side so it's not as overwhelming. She made my day yesterday by coming over to help me. I could not have gotten so much done without her. One thing about painting or face lifting a room or furniture is that everything is in disarray when you do it and it bothers me so much! It's a mess everywhere but there is nothing you can do about it.
After she left yesterday I finished my end tables for my living room, except for the handles. I'm stumped as to whether I should reuse the handles I have and if I do what color to paint them or should I wait to buy new ones. To buy new ones is an expense I just can't justify right now but really the old ones...I just am not sure what to do with a color for them. I painted the end tables a shiny black (semi-gloss) and then painted tan color I mixed myself with paint and a glaze to create a "pickled" look. I painted the tan color into the crevices for the table and around the edges. I've taken a few pictures but am waiting to upload until I get the handles on them.
I also finished the cabinet I got off of freecycle. I still need to run out today and get 1 more handle for it but i did decide to put the cabinet in my dining room. I took out the wood rod that was in the top cabinet and screwed in a wine glass holder i had purchased from World Market many years ago. So now it is a liquor/wine cabinet. I was going to use it as a tv console but it was just a bit too tall (bummer) but it does look nice in the dining room.
I'm trying to stay busy and get as much done as I can. I have a busy day tomorrow as well. First off a dreaded appointment with the dentist. I have to have some fillings removed and replaced and then I have a to have a root canal and crown which by itself depresses me for several reasons. It is a tooth that is in the very front. I had gone to the dentist because no matter how white my other teeth were this one tooth seemed always to be dull and was getting worse. So last week at the dentist I asked him about it. He (my dentist) asked me if I had ever had any trauma to my face...had I ever been hit in the mouth... I just sat there... i remember the words that someone said to me..."there are no bruises...no cuts..no bleeding...you have no pictures and you have not proof so no one will believe you..it's just your word against mine and no one will believe you".... Yes, I said to the Dr. I did have a few incidents. He explained to me that because of being hit in the face it most likely damaged the nerve to that tooth and gradually through the years the nerve has started to die and so no amount of whitening would fix it and I would need to have a root canal and crown on it. So yeah...
Sometimes it doesn't matter how happy you are or how well life seems to be going. Something happens that brings the past right back up and it's pretty hard to deal with but you just have to try and sit and let that feeling run it's course. It helps to pray and let it go...it's easier said than done. For me..it's easier to stay as busy as possible and try and work into exhaustion so I don't have time to think about things. Someday though, it won't even bother me at all and I'm looking forward to that day...i'm looking forward to a day of Rest.
Time to get ready for church then back to working on those cabinets. I've got a ton to do today!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Friday - It's a new day. Everyday is a New day.
It's Friday and i'm glad. I don't know why...I just am. It's as ordinary as any other day though. Nothing major happening today and nothing minor either. I'm trying to give a much needed face lift to several pieces of furniture. I'll attach before and after picutres later. I just finished a cabinet that someone gave me off of freecycle and it actually looks pretty good. I went to Home Depot yesterday and although I specifically wrote down how many knobs i would need i purchased "1" less than I needed......Ahhhh Sondee's world. Even notes to self don't always get through to me!!
So what I'm doing now is painting 2 end tables that I have had for like almost 14 years!! I can still remember when and where I bought them though! I got them from the Salvation Army in Alabaster, Alabama. I did try to fancy them up at one time with some copper glaze but yeah...that didn't turn out so well. Lucky for me when we moved to Fayetteville in '03 I made friends with this absolutely gorgeous woman who did Faux Painting. I mean whatever she touched turned to gorgeous!! I wish I had learned more from her. I was just and never will be as good as she was. I do believe she was just naturally gifted with mixing colors and seeing what others could not in piece of furniture...or colors for a wall or cabinet. Just amazing.
Anyway, I'm painting. Actually I've been painting in this house since maybe '09 - we moved here in Dec of '08. First I did the powder bath downstairs. I painted the hideous stamped ceiling with a brown then copper glaze to make it look like it was that fancy tin stuff that i could neve afford. I painted the cabinets a chocolate brown and then a light copper glaze on that as well. Heck I even painted the sink fixture so it looke antique :) I then painted the walls which my oldest son said looked like Monkey Poo but after I finished putting it all together and hung things on the wall and then fininshed it up with a throw rug that had a splash of color in it, I felt pretty proud of myself. Nothing close to what my friend would have done. (I believe hideous was the word she used most often when i decorated or chose to paint something on my own lol) I am a total amature compared to how she does things but she was so sweet to me anyway and told me it looked good...ahhhhh i miss her.
I hurt my back pretty hardcore back in 09 and was unable to work for a while. I thought maybe I could paint my dining room with all the extra time I had since I couldn't do anything else but that was a huge mistake. What normally would have taken me about a week to accomplish took almost a month because of my injury. But I finished it. Finally. I painted the top of the wall a soft brown and the bottom i fauxed with random colors of brown, black, bronze and copper, and then stenciled fleu de lis at random spots in different shades of metallic brown...yeah...ok..so i like brown!!
In November '10 I decided to paint the wals and cabinets in my kitchen. Lawdy Lawdy!! Another huge project not meant for someone like me. I did finish the walls but the cabinets to this day still have an off white primer on them. They will be next I assure you. I mixed the paint for them today...hey...i know i bought the paint months ago...1 step at a time!! By the way, I only buy oops paint. Sometimes you get the greatest colors and deals at Lowe's and Home Depot. Usually on like $5 a can!! I've even lucked up and found metallic paint for that price as well as some Venetian plaster paint....it's orange..i'll figure that one out later too!
So back to the end tables. I've based coated them a suede tan color and and then maybe i'll do a darker brown then a black glaze or something. I just am not sure yet. I'll try to post up some before and after pictures of everything later. The next dilemma I plan on addressing is the kitchen table i have. i think its mahogany or a laminate mahongany and it's a bit to big for my kitchen so I'm thinking about amputating it's legs and turning it into coffee table. Any ideas? I have to repaint it anyway so I figure why not?
Other things going on...
Still waiting on the Temporary Child Support to be signed by the Judge. Then the attorneys will hash out the Permanent Support Order which will have the extracurricular activities added in. The "X" stopped paying child support back in April of 09. He actually called my daughter while we were at Disney World to tell her that he would no longer be paying child support. Can you believe it? She was only 11 at the time...and he called her instead of me. He even laughed about it. He was suppose to pay $910 a month starting in Aug of 09 but never did. I had not been able to afford an attorney for the longest and then after the stress of winning then having a decision overturned by the "Xs" new attorney I finally buckled and asked for help. I got a loan and hired an attorney. She has been pretty awesome but the process has still been a long drawn out one. I hired her back in Aug of '10. We just finally got to court in March of this year. The madness of it all. What is ironic is all we ever ask for was the $910 a month. The attorney fees that the "X" has had to pay in the last 3 years equals way more than what he would have had to pay in child support. I'm not even joking. So his vindictiveness has cost him more than what he would have ever had to pay. That is truly sad. During the whole process of my attorney gathering of information to determine what child support should be set at (because it is based on what both he and I make) we found that he makes over $150,000 a year and then there are bonuses on top of that. That's just what he makes and doesn't include what she makes which never factors in to the child support amount since it is my and his daughter. My attorney also went through his bank statements which shows on a monthly basis they eat which totals from $500-$1200 any given month! I've also heard rumors that they send random letters to friends and family for financial support as well and claim that they can't afford the exorbitant amount of child support and to pay the rent of the house they live in. They have begged and borrowed money as though they were paupers. Gone on vacations and cruises all at the expense of someone else. I don't know how they could do that and live guilt free. It just amazes me. I could never do that. We have struggled to make ends meet but I know that we are still living a blessed life and God carries us through each day. What else is sad is the constant lies that he and his new wife (Oh did I forget to mention her? yeah...they got married 10 days after the divorce...uh huh...he had been seeing her since I think July or August of 08 - you want to know who introduced them...the"X's" mother..yeah.... I know - she was someone that i had turned to for help...someone who I had admired...someone who I had thought was a wonderful gracious Christian woman..her parents were missionaries and everything..yeah...another story/rant we'll explore later)..anyway back to the lies he and his wife tell...Rumor has it that I demanded $2400+ a month in child support and I would take nothing less...hmmmm I wish lol. That would be nice though. After 22+ years of marriage to this creature I learned that "demands' are something HE makes...not something he listens to. So anyway now that we have a temp order with a small arrearage that will only date back to the time the "X' got a job in March of ’10, I seem greedy...right? Go figure. He started paying like $300 twice month starting in June of '10. Not regularly, and if I asked for it to be on time (suppose to be on the 1st and the 15th) oh that would set them off. At Christmas I asked him if he could please send the support by the 15th so we could have money for the daughter for Christmas and he smugly stated that since I asked he would send it on the 29th. He was true to his word for once. We got it in Jan '11.
I finally got the first small temp child support check early April and I took my daughter to the beach. It was glorious. We had not been to the beach in so long. The beach is just an serene oasis for me. My fondest memory is of my daddy taking me to the beach. We had the best time. Just me and Shayla and her friend from school and her friends Mom who is now a friend of mine. It was such a beautiful 4 days.
So I am waiting for all this court mess to sort out, trying to stay busy. Learning to survive everyday. I say everyday because Everyday is a new day.
So what I'm doing now is painting 2 end tables that I have had for like almost 14 years!! I can still remember when and where I bought them though! I got them from the Salvation Army in Alabaster, Alabama. I did try to fancy them up at one time with some copper glaze but yeah...that didn't turn out so well. Lucky for me when we moved to Fayetteville in '03 I made friends with this absolutely gorgeous woman who did Faux Painting. I mean whatever she touched turned to gorgeous!! I wish I had learned more from her. I was just and never will be as good as she was. I do believe she was just naturally gifted with mixing colors and seeing what others could not in piece of furniture...or colors for a wall or cabinet. Just amazing.
Anyway, I'm painting. Actually I've been painting in this house since maybe '09 - we moved here in Dec of '08. First I did the powder bath downstairs. I painted the hideous stamped ceiling with a brown then copper glaze to make it look like it was that fancy tin stuff that i could neve afford. I painted the cabinets a chocolate brown and then a light copper glaze on that as well. Heck I even painted the sink fixture so it looke antique :) I then painted the walls which my oldest son said looked like Monkey Poo but after I finished putting it all together and hung things on the wall and then fininshed it up with a throw rug that had a splash of color in it, I felt pretty proud of myself. Nothing close to what my friend would have done. (I believe hideous was the word she used most often when i decorated or chose to paint something on my own lol) I am a total amature compared to how she does things but she was so sweet to me anyway and told me it looked good...ahhhhh i miss her.
I hurt my back pretty hardcore back in 09 and was unable to work for a while. I thought maybe I could paint my dining room with all the extra time I had since I couldn't do anything else but that was a huge mistake. What normally would have taken me about a week to accomplish took almost a month because of my injury. But I finished it. Finally. I painted the top of the wall a soft brown and the bottom i fauxed with random colors of brown, black, bronze and copper, and then stenciled fleu de lis at random spots in different shades of metallic brown...yeah...ok..so i like brown!!
In November '10 I decided to paint the wals and cabinets in my kitchen. Lawdy Lawdy!! Another huge project not meant for someone like me. I did finish the walls but the cabinets to this day still have an off white primer on them. They will be next I assure you. I mixed the paint for them today...hey...i know i bought the paint months ago...1 step at a time!! By the way, I only buy oops paint. Sometimes you get the greatest colors and deals at Lowe's and Home Depot. Usually on like $5 a can!! I've even lucked up and found metallic paint for that price as well as some Venetian plaster paint....it's orange..i'll figure that one out later too!
So back to the end tables. I've based coated them a suede tan color and and then maybe i'll do a darker brown then a black glaze or something. I just am not sure yet. I'll try to post up some before and after pictures of everything later. The next dilemma I plan on addressing is the kitchen table i have. i think its mahogany or a laminate mahongany and it's a bit to big for my kitchen so I'm thinking about amputating it's legs and turning it into coffee table. Any ideas? I have to repaint it anyway so I figure why not?
Other things going on...
Still waiting on the Temporary Child Support to be signed by the Judge. Then the attorneys will hash out the Permanent Support Order which will have the extracurricular activities added in. The "X" stopped paying child support back in April of 09. He actually called my daughter while we were at Disney World to tell her that he would no longer be paying child support. Can you believe it? She was only 11 at the time...and he called her instead of me. He even laughed about it. He was suppose to pay $910 a month starting in Aug of 09 but never did. I had not been able to afford an attorney for the longest and then after the stress of winning then having a decision overturned by the "Xs" new attorney I finally buckled and asked for help. I got a loan and hired an attorney. She has been pretty awesome but the process has still been a long drawn out one. I hired her back in Aug of '10. We just finally got to court in March of this year. The madness of it all. What is ironic is all we ever ask for was the $910 a month. The attorney fees that the "X" has had to pay in the last 3 years equals way more than what he would have had to pay in child support. I'm not even joking. So his vindictiveness has cost him more than what he would have ever had to pay. That is truly sad. During the whole process of my attorney gathering of information to determine what child support should be set at (because it is based on what both he and I make) we found that he makes over $150,000 a year and then there are bonuses on top of that. That's just what he makes and doesn't include what she makes which never factors in to the child support amount since it is my and his daughter. My attorney also went through his bank statements which shows on a monthly basis they eat which totals from $500-$1200 any given month! I've also heard rumors that they send random letters to friends and family for financial support as well and claim that they can't afford the exorbitant amount of child support and to pay the rent of the house they live in. They have begged and borrowed money as though they were paupers. Gone on vacations and cruises all at the expense of someone else. I don't know how they could do that and live guilt free. It just amazes me. I could never do that. We have struggled to make ends meet but I know that we are still living a blessed life and God carries us through each day. What else is sad is the constant lies that he and his new wife (Oh did I forget to mention her? yeah...they got married 10 days after the divorce...uh huh...he had been seeing her since I think July or August of 08 - you want to know who introduced them...the"X's" mother..yeah.... I know - she was someone that i had turned to for help...someone who I had admired...someone who I had thought was a wonderful gracious Christian woman..her parents were missionaries and everything..yeah...another story/rant we'll explore later)..anyway back to the lies he and his wife tell...Rumor has it that I demanded $2400+ a month in child support and I would take nothing less...hmmmm I wish lol. That would be nice though. After 22+ years of marriage to this creature I learned that "demands' are something HE makes...not something he listens to. So anyway now that we have a temp order with a small arrearage that will only date back to the time the "X' got a job in March of ’10, I seem greedy...right? Go figure. He started paying like $300 twice month starting in June of '10. Not regularly, and if I asked for it to be on time (suppose to be on the 1st and the 15th) oh that would set them off. At Christmas I asked him if he could please send the support by the 15th so we could have money for the daughter for Christmas and he smugly stated that since I asked he would send it on the 29th. He was true to his word for once. We got it in Jan '11.
So I am waiting for all this court mess to sort out, trying to stay busy. Learning to survive everyday. I say everyday because Everyday is a new day.
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