Well, the kiddo’s are off school today. Uhm. Wanna see the view out my window?

Not too bad eh? Yeah. Apparently the roads OUTSIDE of our subdivision are bad, so the kiddo’s get another free day off school. Perfectly okay with me. I told the oldest girl last night that I seriously thought there was no possibility that they would be off, and uhm. I think I was wrong.

We were going to make Valentine’s while we watched AI tonight cause its a nice long two hour show. I think instead I’ll have them make them during the day today and we will have time to perfect 80 valentine’s (not including the ones they plan to make for teachers)

What are your plans today? Is your neck of the woods off school for the weather?

Who’d have ever thought?

I seriously never thought I would be driving a mini-van. If you had told me that, fifteen years ago, I would have never believed you. However, here I am today, with a mini-van. And honestly, I love it.

It’s just a simple Ford Windstar, nothing special, no bells and whistles (unless you count the 8 CD changer that is located beneath the passenger seat), and it was given to us by Mike’s ex-father in law after he passed away.

In fact, the best part of it is that it did not require any type of car loans or monthly payment. It was free essentially, although as everyone knows nothing in life is free and it needed a few little tweaks at first that certainly cost us a dime or two.

It isn’t the color I would have chosen, or the interior I would have chosen, nor is it even the brand/style I would have chosen. But over the past two years that I have been driving it, I love it.

Of course, having five children doesn’t allow for a lot of other options in car ownership, unless we want to purchase a small bus, which at one point we thought would be very funny to do, but we haven’t….yet. Mostly because the insurance rates on a larger van or small bus were outrageous and we are perfectly content paying what we pay now. We did our homework and spent time to compare car insurance just to see if it would make more sense to get the larger vehicle. It didn’t.

So now, I’m a mini-van driving mom. I really hope I never add “bus driver” to my list.

p.s. Notice anything funny about the pic? In the background through the van window, can you see my neighbors EXACT replica of our van? :LOL :

Addicted to Coffee.

I know I am.

I’m totally addicted to coffee and there is no end in sight.

First, I must have it every single morning. If I don’t, I tend to just kind of muttle through the day without any real purpose. I drink the entire pot. Very rarely do I waste any of it, and typically I will even add a little water to make the pot stretch a bit. Whenever my best gal pal and I get together, we sit and talk over coffee. She lives very close to me so imagine how much that must be in addition to my typical consumption amount? Hey, I’m a writer - I *need* coffee because it is at this time that I am the most

I know its an unhealthy addiction, but there are still so many other things I could be addicted to and I am not. I cannot, no matter what life altering moves and dieting things I do, give up my coffee for anything. I just *have* to have it.

See:

I am 96% Addicted to Coffee

Ahhh! Guess I’ll go grab a cup and catch up on some blog reading.

I found this while blog surfing a couple of days ago and finally had a chance to do it. I am such a book addict I thought it would be super easy and really fun. However, it was a lot harder than I at first thought. I think I’ve read TOO many books. Anyway, here are my answers. If you do this, leave a link in my comments so I can come read your answers.

The Book Meme

• One book that changed your life: Honestly there are a whole slew of them that pertain to the writing genre and doing it better, that certainly have played their role in changing my life. There is even a fictional title that paid a greater impact in my desire to become a writer. However, by far one of my favorites is Heather Seller’s “Chapter After Chapter”. (I promptly read Page After Page when I finished it. Both books have been read numerous times now). It was extremely motivational for me and even though I have had the strong will, desire and drive to become a writer, it definitely helped broaden my thinking and move beyond where I was originally headed.
• One book that you have read more than once: Well, I could have listed the book above, but lets be different. It was an easy question anyway, the first one that popped into my head: “Catcher in the Rye”. It was one of my favorites.
• One book that you would want on a desert island: “Coconut Delights Cookbook: A Collection of Coconut Recipes” by Karen Jean Matsko Hood.  For obvious reasons.
• One book that made you laugh: I couldn’t pick just one, so I want with the Ted L. Nancy series “Letters from a Nut” I have picked those books up again and again throughout the years when I am looking for a good true to life laugh out loud experience. Companies can be quite idiotic if you want to know the truth. LOL
• One book that made you cry: Almost any single one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. They have also made me laugh too.
• One book you wish you’d written: “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult. What an amazing gift she has to put words out there that can make you totally feel for the “bad guy”. It’s an amazing read where you will laugh, cry, get angry and possibly feel emotions you never knew you had. That would be the EXACT type of book I would want to write.
• One book you wish had never been written: Honestly. I cannot list a single book. There are dozens of books that I have read that I did not like. Alright, more like hundreds. But I will honestly say as an author, I am proud of every book that is published. The good, the bad, the ugly and even …. anything Philip Pullman would write.
• One book you’re reading: I always have about five books going at a time, but right now I am reading “The Spinster Sisters” by Stacey Ballis. I am in love with Ms. Ballis’ writing ability, her style and her book is absolutely funny, cute, poignant and perfect all wrapped up into a cute little library copy book.
• One book you’re going to read: I have had “The Secret Life of Bee’s” on my darn bookshelf for over a year now. I want to read it so badly, but I am waiting for some uninterrupted time so I can basically devour the book. I know I am going to like it. I am dying to see the movie when its released.

Okay, I admit it. I am a TV addict. Well not completely, but I have a few favorites that I simply MUST see. I want to watch every House episode new or old. I want to watch every Law and Order: SVU episode even if the same episode came on two hours earlier. LOL There are a handful of others.

Well, Mike has been growing increasingly more aggravated with our digital satellite and its cost. First, every single storm, wind or otherwise, we typically lose the satellite signal for a few hours. We could live with that, because its a normal part of having satellite. Then about three weeks ago, all of a sudden all of our digital satellite receivers are getting multiple copies of channel 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 24 and 30. Apparently they are pulling from all over. Except we aren’t actually GETTING the channel. You have to flip through all the channels to find the CORRECT channel 2 that you wish to watch. I’m sure you are thinking why not use the guide to find what you are looking for. I.Would.Love.To! Except the guide channel has gone crazy as well. Dealing with the above mentioned channels there are multiple copies of each channel to flip through and in addition to that, the NORMAL channel 2, 4, 5 and so on that we are supposed to get, no longer says what’s coming on. All it says is “Regular Programming”. Yeah. Helpful. Not.

So apparently he got peeved enough last week to call them, yell at them and promptly cancel our digital satellite. Uhm. Then he just told me about it on Thursday and they shut it off Friday at midnight. Let me just tell you how much fun it is with five kids, no Hannah Montana, The Suite Life, etc. They are about miserable and have almost exhausted all avenues of playing, every DVD we own and every video game we own. I never thought I would hear my kids complain about being sick of video games!

So now we are going with a new service. According to my best gal pal who just got it about 2 weeks ago, it took them A MONTH on a waiting list to get the service installed. Am I seriously going to be without cable/digital satellite/digital ANYTHING for a month? Please tell me the list has gone down to a much more manageable one hour? hehehehe

Anyway, the plus side is that Mike did not have a DVR when I moved in. I did before I moved in. I was totally accustomed spoiled. NOW, with the new service we are getting, I will have it back!! YAY!! I am seriously so thrilled about this because honestly I wouldn’t be such a “tv addict” if I could just watch the shows when I wanted to and delete them when I’m done.

Guess I’ll get a lot of reading, scrapbooking, writing, work and family time in before its installed. This could be a good thing.

I swear I’m not a technology brat, I just need some eye candy during the quiet day from time to time and before bed.

What are you up to this weekend?

My step kids are at their moms, so its pretty quiet around here with just two. I got a bunch of scrapbooking done. Well not really a bunch but I did organize a few albums and start a few layouts.

I also got a number of articles written for the print magazine I am writing for. I am very pleased with the results and hope they are too.

We went to the library and I swear I could have been there two more hours. I always find things to look up and learn about. Why am I like that? It is strange. I have also been right at home in the cooking and baking section, checking out new foods, recipes and more. I can’t seem to get enough.

I got a few posts collected together for the progressive dinner and the Drinks After Dinner Reception. I am so excited about it. I guess I should mention I will be hosting a portion of a future dinner, so I am really excited about this one to jump in and get my feet wet. Kilroy has the coolest blog carnivals ever. If you have never joined in a blog carnival, you should. Even if you think your blog is boring, you have to have at least a handful of posts that get comments or seem interesting to other people. It’s a great way to get more traffic to your blog and find other interesting blogs. And you can enter one post from each blog you have. Any subject.

So that’s all about my weekend to date. I am hoping tomorrow brings something a bit more exciting to the table.

…I’d like to finish with “It’s off to work I go” but that is only sort of the case since I work from home. LOL

I’m back in the full swing of article writing and have been writing my pretty little heart out. In the past three days (since January 1) I have written over 50 articles on everything from parenting, blended families, scrapbooking and frugal living.

All of my frugal living articles and scrapbooking articles can be found here: My Articles at Families.com

The other two sets of articles will be published soon and three of them will be in print. Yay!

I was re-arranging a scrapbook layout when it occurred to me, that I am absolutely working on my goals for the next 365 days! Woot!

If you are still figuring out your New Years Resolutions or are just curious about mine, go here. I cannot wait to read those that participate and encourage/cheer you along.

Now, back to continue working on them.

I honestly never thought I would have to ask that. LOL

My ex-husband was not a sports fan, I grew up in a non-sports household (in other words nobody watched games) and most of my closest friends are not into sports.

But Mike is.

I’m utilizing the time to catch up on some game playing, reading and scrapbooking.

What are you doing today?