Thursday, May 7, 2009

These are the days...

My momma told me there would be days like this. She laughed when she said it, with an evil look in her eye and a strange look on her face. A look of knowing and bedevilment. I had no idea what she was talking about... no idea at all.

Of course now I am 43... have two charming daughters of my own, who get along about as well as oil and water... and I know exactly what my mother was thinking and doing when she said that to me. She was cursing me. Cursing me... her very own first born child...

So I hereby officially write it down for posterity (or however you spell that lovely word). Let it be known that I, Regi, hereafter known as cranky mom, do state for her two daughters... teen girl and dictator of the universe, that... there will be days like this! And may you be blessed abundently. May you both be overcome with a multitude of daughters of your very own. Little charmers with dancing eyes who fill your lives much as you have filled my life. Little girls... just like their mommas. *sprinkles holy water and fairy glitter around* let it be, let it be, let it be.

Woot! *throws fists into the air*

* drags herself off to find the coffee pot and a painkiller*

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Crazy

Well the world is finally slowing down a bit and this is a lovely thing. The college kid is home... and DANG did that girl have some stuff at school. I am not sure how she and her father got all of that into our little car. Her DF has a jeep full in the driveway... he will be heading home tomorrow or Friday, we arent sure yet. His orders for basic have been changed yet again which is causing untold stress to our daughter. My sister and I are chuckling (Umm not cause she is stressed... but because not everything in life can be arranged and categorized the way the eldest would like... this is a good life lesson for her, something she needed to learn at some point) ... we well remember how things changed so often for our dad when he was in the Navy. The military was all about "hurry up and wait"... Guess that hasnt changed much over the years.

Maddy is driving me insane! Thats all im gonna say. I love the kid but she is seriously pushing all the buttons... and the kid is bright... she knows exactly which buttons to push when. *sigh* You know that old mother's curse? The one where you wish upon the child ... children just like them or worse.... Hah... this kid is going to have a houseful of mouthy, button pushing kids... (course this could backfire... when she was 5 she told her sister and I that she was going to have 6 kids and they were all going to live with mommy and daddy... (us... her father and I...) of course she also had the dream of being a bag lady at the grocery store at that time.) *sigh* Im tired already and its just begun. LOL

I finally have a plan for the quilt I want to make for my nephew... Its going to be very nice I think. He is totally into star wars and a few months back i found a nice piece of fabric at ebay just chock full of star war characters. Im going to fussy cut out all the different little pictures, add colored borders to them in varying widths to make blocks of the same size and then put sashing inbetween the blocks. Hopefully I can get this done before his birthday... otherwise it will be a Christmas gift.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Wow... Its not Monday and yet a post from Regi.

Ok ok... i have been missing in action for a while. So many things happening on the home front... all good and all very time intensive. Things are finally slowing down and we can breathe and yes this is a good thing.

I am way behind on loser mondays... so I think perhaps we will start from the beginning... ahem... not because we gained a bit of weight or stalled on the exercise front but just because ... If you buy that i have a lovely bridge to tell you about =P

Madelynne's spring musical is almost over... its been a lot of fun and a long road to arriving but here it is... I went up to orono on Friday morning and picked up the eldest so she could be there for opening night. It was rather important to Miss Maddy and she was pleased as punch that her sister could make it. Then I turned around and at 9:30 pm started the long trek to taking the eldest back to school. I finally poured myself into bed at 2 am. Monday and Tuesday are finals for her and then she is done with her freshman year so the timing wasnt great... but she so wanted to be there to support Maddy. Im pretty proud of both my girls... The musical went very well... as I type this we are gearing up for the last showing. Then we will take Miss Maddy out to dinner to celebrate. Tomorrow Maddy has her cast party as well as the wrap up of the play... taking down the sets etc.

Eileen will be home for the summer on tuesday following the last of her finals. She is very excited to get it all over with... she has done extremely well in school this year. However with the end of the school year along comes the departure of her fiance to bootcamp. She is kinda nervous about this but we will keep her busy this summer with all kinds of fun and no so fun stuff. She has her classes for next semester all picked out... knows where she is living so all is good.

Our landlords will be arriving back in Maine after a winter away in sunny florida. So we are gonna get the yard nice and spiffy for them. Just have to work on mr jasper and his tendency to bark at the wind... *sigh* the little brat. We have been having an awful time with ticks and spiders as well. Country living at its best I guess. Frontline check... a doc visit to get a new prescription for his heartguard... and lots of research on gentle ways to repel spiders. The things are so huge they could carry the dang dog away... we now have these lovely little electronic devices that emit a high frequency that supposedly spiders dont like... we have lots of lemon pledge to dust window sills and door frames with. Lemon scented floor stuff... we are getting rid of all the cardboard we can find in this place... keeping things off the floor... keeping outside lights off unless absolutely necessary... adn so on. I just wanna nuke the dang thigns but thats not acceptable. *sigh*

I have a quilting project or two I seriously need to get finished... several that i need to finish up by the end of the year... and quite a few I need to start. I am so far behind its scary lol. I think I am going to put a few things I signed up to do on the back burner so I can get some projects that are intended to be birthday and holiday gifts finished up first.

We are busy looking into summer camps stuff for Miss Maddy... get the little blue car either up and running or in a junk yard where it belongs... and plan what we are going to do when and in what order. Things are just crazy I tell ya.

Hope all is good in your neck of the woods...

till i talk to you again...

Peace..
Regi

Monday, March 23, 2009

Loser Monday ~ Fruit recipe

Its Loser Monday and well you know what that means... A post from regi. Hah! I told Sharon a couple weeks back if it werent for Loser Mondays, my blog would get dusty and aint that the truth lately.

So... I gained .7 pounds according to the wii fit. The thing is grilling me now... it wanted to know why I had gained. LMAO... I was being sternly talked to by a machine. Sheesh. It also let me know I should weigh in at the same time of day (which I already knew mr smarty pants thank you very much!) and that if i checked in more then once a week with the wii, i would do better. *sigh* I know that too.


My recipe of the week is right out of my copy of YOU on a diet by Michael F Roizen and Mehmet C Oz. Sharon asked for fruit and so here is one that sounds yummy and simple.

Sliced Peaches with Raspberries blueberries and chocolate chips

2 small ripe peaches, sliced
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup (1 ounce) fresh raspberries
1/4 cup (1 ounch) fresh blueberries
1 1/2 tablespoons mini semisweet chocolate chips

Combine sliced peaches with cinnamon and nutmeg, transfer to 2 serving plates. Top peaches with raspberries, blueberries and chocolate chips.

2 servings, 46 cals per serving, total fat .4 g, sat fats .1 g, fiber 2.6g, carbs 11.5 g, sugar 8.9 g, protein 1 g

This book is outstanding... honestly it is. If you dont have it... run, dont walk to the nearest store and get yourself a copy. It explains so many things I had no idea of. Things like why our bodies need protein and carbs (healthy ones) and why excess sugar is so bad. Sure you hear from experts that lean protein is good... healthy carbs are best and excess sugar is bad... but why? What do these things do to your body ... how do they affect you chemically... and what is the result from eating the good ones as opposed to the bad ones besides gaining a few pounds. I am still reading the thing and once I finish it ... I am going to reread it again and again. I wish I could say i have lost a ton of weight and revamped my lifestyle since I started reading it but I havent and thats because A.) I am still reading it and B.) I wasnt following their advice and/or doing what I should. Isnt that truly the problem for many of us. We KNOW what we should be doing. We KNOW what we shouldnt be doing... but its easier to stick to old habits. Its so much easier to just continue on the way you are and promise yourself you will start tomorrow then it is to crawl out of that rut and make changes starting now. For the whole getting out of a rut I have discovered I needed an inspiration. Soo...

I have been thinking about my girls a lot lately... not the whole "damn it why cant you clean your room" or "call me more often" kind of stuff. I have been thinking about their graduations and possible weddings... and possible grandchildren, I have also been thinking about my mom a lot and how awful it was when she died the year I was set to turn 30.

My mom was a spunky lady, very caring and giving. My sister reminds me so much of her, I am more like our dad I think. Anyways... she died at the young age of 51. She was under a lot of stress and having "stomach pains" and "heartburn". My husband and I made her go see a doc... but we didnt go with her and express our concerns. So she walked out of the docs office with a prescription for heartburn meds. We assumed the doc did a full exam. We also assumed she told him everything that was going on .. but regardless... she died 3 days later of a sudden massive heart attack. That was in 1995 and there isnt a damn day that goes by that I dont miss that woman. She was truly my best friend as well as being my biggest supporter. I feel jipped... and my kids were too. So what is my damn excuse? Why in the hell would I want to put my girls through what I went through... The answer is I dont... I owe it to myself and my girls to make sure I am around a long time. Someday... a long time from now, I want to be peering over their shoulders, watching them diaper their children... and of course telling them they are doing it all wrong. *smiles*

So thats my inspiration... the thing that will help me out of my rut... the thing that will keep me going when my resolve is being whittled away by a chocolate brownie or a box of girl scout cookies. My mom and my girls...

~Regi

Monday, February 23, 2009

Snowy Monday

Maddy had a snow day today. Just cant imagine why?

We got just a little bit of snow...



I mean... how bad was it really... we could still see out the windows...



So... if they didnt want to run the busses... I can understand. I could have driven her in the car.



If I could find it that is!

We lost power several times last night... the longest we were without was 3-4 hours. We are lucky. The news says there are over 90,000 people without power as we speak... and that number is due to rise. Wet Heavy snow on branches and power lines are coming down. We are very lucky... the house has a gas stove that even if we lose power still heats the kitchen area. The blower doesnt function without the power, but we could pull our mattresses into the kitchen if it ever came down to it and stay nice and toasty.



I love living in Maine... just cant stand the cold and the ice... but for scenes like this... who wouldnt love it!



Mother nature in all her glory!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my Monday loser update... I lost another pound. I am very happy with that... and boy am i going to get some exercise today... shoveling.

Have a good day!

~Regi

Monday, January 12, 2009

Veggie Soup via Weight Watchers

WEIGHT WATCHERS ZERO POINTS GARDEN VEGETABLE SOUP
Makes 9 cups

6 cups broth
Cooking spray
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 teaspoons garlic (from a jar or substitute four cloves minced garlic)
1/2 cabbage, chopped (or use a bag of slaw, the biggest chunks you can find vs the fine, don't skip the cabbage for it somehow makes the soup)
1/2 pound frozen green beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large zucchini, diced

Spray a Dutch oven with cooking spray and heat on MEDIUM HIGH. Add the carrots, onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the zucchini and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to MEDIUM and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini are tender. Serve and enjoy!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Cup: 61 Cal (3% from Fat, 24% from Protein, 73% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 13 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb10; NetCarb10; 52 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 701 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol;