Turning In

I'm not sure why this has been so difficult, to get back into the swing of the blog, but it has. Maybe it's the two-year-old Bubba constantly on the go, or the complete busy-factor of summer, or very possibly the lack of brain power to do it after the usual day. Whatever the case, I know I put too much pressure on myself - to post pictures, share detailed excitement or edit and then edit again. Well, this one is off the cuff.

Tonight we had a nice night at home to start off our quietest weekend in months yielding few obligations or schedules to follow. We enjoyed a fabulous grilled meal - chicken and veggies - one of my summer favorites as the season technically comes to a close. Like most other nights, we dined, played, turned around and it was time to start the bedtime routine. Time races. But unlike most other nights, Bubba had the option to bypass the books and watch Cars in mom's bed before hitting the hay. With mom. And the pup. He couldn't have been happier... well, until dad joined, too. Bubba went to bed smiling. Days that end like this... are good. and happy. and sweet. special. memorable. scarce. not to be taken for granted. loving.

Everything is not always perfect at one precise moment, but to have it so good in one place when turning in for the night... well, that's a really good start.

Whew! Week

In case you're missing me in the next week, I want you to know why. You haven't been forgotten, I'm just uber-busy!

* Friday, 1/30 - Dinner, drinks and games with family friends
* Saturday, 1/31 - 'Dirty 30' birthday party for a friend
* Sunday, 2/1 - Superbowl... 43??
* Monday, 2/2 - Dinner with all, or most, of my girls
* Tuesday, 2/3 - A couple of my dearest friends are taking me out for my birthday
* Wednesday, 2/4 - Lunch with the ladies
* Thursday, 2/5 - So far, NOTHING!
* Friday, 2/6 - OSP Outing... It's with a few gals who all worked at the Office of Sponsored Programs at SCSU. BigCat refers to this as my Old St. Cloud People outing. And no, he doesn't mean old in age, just former! We'll eat lots of appy's and enjoy drinks for about 8 hours in a booth at Houli's!
* Saturday, 2/7 - Dinner with that old friend... definitely have a bit of anxiety about this one
* Sunday, 2/8 - Birthday celebration at D&B's with my families!

Thank goodness I have all this happy to look forward to. Today is the start of my incredibly busy and stressful work week. In fact, I'm even working every day next week. Yikes!

Although I may not visit Blogland, it's a comfort to know it's there for me if I need it. It is an amazing relief for me to write... so I may just find my way here at some point.

Happy Weekend!!!!! :-)

Baked Goods

Last night, I wrote a long blog about why my ERCP procedure has been moved to February 17th, a month later than originally planned. In short, it's because of work, but my original blog went into great detail. As I was reviewing it, the Bird came up, smacked my laptop, and bam! it was gone. My stomach dropped - I was left with nothing after a good amount of time and thought went into it. I asked myself... is this a sign I should not post it? I was indeed venting and didn't have a whole lot of good to say about the workplace. Eh, I thought, I'll still write it.

After detailing the happenings of my Friday in the office again, I took a brain break in order to read it later with a fresh(er) mind. At 7 o'clock, I decided to bake some banana chocolate chip muffins I've been craving for months. I
never start projects so late in the evening (yes, I consider this late... it's my time to unwind, not get started), but last night I made an exception considering how fired up my mind was.

I cannot remember the last time I baked something other than pre-made cookies. Last night I learned that baking is quite good for my mind, and soul. After writing a therapeutic blog - twice - and baking some muffins, I knew I didn't need to air all of the dirt behind the date change.

Bloggin' and The Bird

For a variety of reasons, I've decided to change the name of my blog. However, I was looking for some help. I'm not always the best with descriptive words, especially when it comes to myself, but have a few ideas:

1) Mama's Boys and Me - A recent development in our household is that Peanut has become a mama's boy. I love it! I know at times BigCat feels a little bad because even he doesn't cut it, however, BigCat himself is a MB and he knows it. So, they're my mama's boys!

2) The Bird's Nest - Update: From here forward, 'Peanut' is 'The Bird'. BigCat is quite the nicknamer, and one of the most used is 'J-Bird'. Where that comes from, I haven't a clue. In conversation, we often refer to him as The Bird. It's stuck. And, well, this his world now, and BigCat and I are livin' in it! Note: BigCat came up with this blog name.

3) Spoken Soft and Strong: Spoken Soft but Strong?? I'm not sure where I'm going with this one. I like all the S's (ahem, my first and maiden name got me hooked), maybe it describes me, it has a ring to it???

I don't know. I want it to be a good one, something that will work for a while, not a whole lot of identifying info, etc. Any thoughts out there?