… or even Witches so often go awry.

Friday was a run-around day.  I worked my usual half-day and went food shopping.  Just like my trip to the health food store I was shocked by how quickly my budget winds up increasing just because I’m cooking and eating healthier.  And then there were a number of errands to run, including one of Miss Artistic’s doctor appointments.

The plan Saturday was to do my once-a-week cooking once the kids were home from art class and flute lessons.  It was a miserable day outside, so it seemed like a perfect day to be in front of a hot stove, unfortunately right in the middle of my cooking the power went out … and stayed out.

We decided after a couple of hours to go out to eat, since we had no way to heat up anything.  We drove to one restaurant, 20 minutes away, to find that they had lost power, lost a backup generator, and running water and weren’t taking customers.  We drove to a second restaurant, found out the wait was 45 minutes, and kept driving.  We drove around, all told, for over an hour and a half.  Every place we tried was either closed due tot he black-out or way too busy.  In the end we made 8:30 reservations, came home for a bathroom break, and headed out to eat.

We got home after 10:00, sent the kids to bed with glow-sticks, and read by flashlight until we gave up and went to sleep ourselves.  The power came back up in the middle of the night and so luckily I was able to do my once-a-week cooking today instead.

The moods in the house are pretty lousy.  Pain levels are high with all of the rain, Miss Artistic is in the throes of PMS which only exacerbate her ongoing issues.  Tomorrow is another day though … right?

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:family, life

… but the health food store sure can!

Tonight, I dropped the girls off at Tae Kwon Do and dashed over to the neighboring shopping center where there is a health food store. I am determined, one way or another, to reclaim my health and as we are just about a week before Ostara (and more importantly a few days ahead of Gamer Dude’s monthly check) it seemed a fitting time to start making some major changes in what I’m putting in my mouth each day.

I bought a bunch of supplements. Green tea and chromium to boost my metabolism from its present slow as a slug rate. I plan to (hopefully) be able to have the caffeine in the green tea replace my morning coffee (and the fat and chemicals it contains). An omega 3-6-9 supplement for heart health. Nature’s Plus – Animal Parade Kid Greenz since with my digestive issues (no gall bladder and bowel adhesions) often cause any intake in greens to cause an increase in pain.  And I finally broke down and spent the money on supplements I can found in my research several months ago (Nature’s Plus – Source Of Life Green/Red Bilayer Tabs) because they contain all kinds of trace levels of whole foods.

I also bought some fat free strained Greek yogurt (love this stuff!), local honey (to help the allergies), an acai-pomegranate-cranberry juice blend, and some whey protein powder.  The latter two will be used to make smoothies for breakfast every morning along with frozen and fresh fruit I have to buy tomorrow at my supermarket.  I also picked up raw almonds (a few a day for “good fat”), Guiltless Gourmet Blue Corn Organic Baked Tortilla Chips, and some ingredients for some dishes I’m making this coming weekend.

In other news, GamerDude and I are talking again about a home business idea we came up with 5 years ago and, right now, this is looking like not only do I have to get off my tail and start blogging more regularly here again, but I am going to have a whole new blog/website to get up and running too.  Thus, my motivation for jumping on the bandwagon with both feet and trying to get myself on the path to wellness.  On the bright side, this probably means I’ll be getting a new laptop sooner as opposed to later.

Finally, my thanks to those who took the time to leave kind words on my last post, or who have held me and my family in your thoughts. Words alone cannot express how much it means to me.  The wonderful thing about the Internet (as was summed up in a recent episode of House) is that no one ever has to be alone again.  All of you …  every day … keep me from feeling alone …. and I love and bless you for it.

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:diet, health, life, supplements

As usual, when I am feeling soul-sick, my blog posts dwindle down to the level of little to nothing. For that, I apologize. This is exacerbated by, as Lady Rose mentioned, the lack of a laptop which lessens the time I have to actually sit down and blog. Hopefully, in another couple of months this will be resolved (if nothing else I hope to be able to do it for my birthday in June)

Unfortunately, there are a number of other things that take precedence. There are the family issues to still resolve, the monthly medical bills (a total of 9 prescriptions (and counting) for 3 people, doctor visits, and therapy sessions), getting the taxes done, and hopefully getting a resume together at some point so I can look for a better job.

We first need to do some costly repairs on the car, we need to finally break down and purchase a second vehicle (so that I CAN actually look for another job), and we need to take care of some other impending expenses such as registering Princess Nature for summer camp.

In addition, I am still in the midst of playing catch up with my health. In addition to starting Prozac, I am now also on a cholesterol lowering drug. I went in for my eye exam (and am now the proud owner of a script for bifocals) and will be getting my eyeglasses in mid-April. My sleep study is set for the end of the month and I am trying to make peace with the knowledge that I may just wind up needing a bedside buddy (I think I’ll name him Henry). My follow-up appointment with my primary is on the 19th, where we’ll go over all of my lab results, talk about other aspects of my symptomology, and probably wind up with orders to see other Drs (i.e. a cardiologist). The gynecologist is on the list as well (though I am waiting to see if my labs still show me as non-menopausal in spite of a total hysterectomy and ovary removal).

Additionally, the girls need to get to the dentist (technically so do Gamer Dude and I as we haven’t been in YEARS) for their check-up and cleaning. And, we have to start the process of getting Miss Artistic evaluated for a breast reduction. Which, right now, we are hoping to do right after school lets out in June.

Speaking of the girls. Both Princess Nature and Miss Artistic have some kind of bug. It “feels” viral to me. Sore throat with no obvious signs of infection (redness, swelling, pus pockets), malaise, nausea, and a cough. No fevers, but still I am considering a trip to the pediatrician as it is the time of year for strep. The bulk of the weekend (so long as my Netflix shipment cooperates) will be spent watching Glee with one or both of them (in-between my usual marathon style cooking) while they rest and I force fluids into them.

In other news, I attended a wake last night for a friend of the family. “A” was one of my older cousin’s oldest friends. Since they grew up together and remained friends into adulthood, “A” was often in attendance at family functions over the years and while I didn’t know him well, or consider him a friend of my own, I still knew him my entire life. So, it was incredibly sad to hear that his car was struck on his evening commute by someone who ran a red light.

Beyond that I keep hearing this nagging thought in my head that reminds me of my own mortality. The voice that whispers that none of us know when the proverbial lightening bolt will fall from the sky bringing us to the end of this life. The voice that with increasing volume speaks to me not only of my regrets but of the realization that I have now been living with my life on hold for almost a decade, waiting for our life circumstances to allow me to be the person I want to be in full sight of the world.

Which brings me back full circle to one of the factors of my having been, to one degree or another, soul sick for the past too many years. Too much stress, too much heartache, too much hardship, with too little in my life to fill me back up. Hopefully getting myself back on track with my health will play a role in not only my feeling better physically but also in helping me have the energy to do the things that need to be done in order for me to reclaim the life I want to lead.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:depression, family, health, life, stress

We are all still here, in spite of another dose of high-pitched drama. My nerves are frayed, in spite of my new pal Prozac, and sleep is as unrefreshing as always. In fact, after spending the entire morning at work nodding off in-between phone calls I left early, came home, and crawled into bed. My “cover story” with Mr Grumpy is that I had one of my bad headaches, took meds, and lay down for a bit. Not much of a stretch since later will probably find me taking said medications so that I can sleep in spite of my on-and-off nap.

Sad isn’t it? That at the age of 40 I am still accountable to my father for my work, sleep, and yes even my eating habits. Wait until he finds out that I need to go on cholesterol-lowering medication!!! But, I digress.

The home situation is at a stand-still and much of what is going on falls into the category of not fit for blog fodder. In fact, the bulk of it isn’t really discussed outside the home at all, unless we happen to be at the therapist’s office.

Work is the same, and while the official conversation has yet to occur I am well aware that my head is on the chopping block in terms of a pay cut. Granted, they could be “nice” and give me a warning and more time to get my stats up to their arbitrary levels, but my company is rarely nice, even more rarely fair, and is frankly most often dishonest and unrealistic.

But, again, I digress.

The weekend actually wound up being fairly productive.

Friday Gamer Dude and I had blood drawn at the Doctor’s office, went out for breakfast, and then had an hour long, fairly unproductive I.E.P. meeting at Miss Artistic’s school. I did the food shopping, ran Princess Nature over to Tae Kwon Do (where she participated in three classes in a row) and made a thoroughly unhealthy and in no way to be considered “from scratch” kind of meal.

I spent the bulk of Saturday (with Princess Nature’s help) tearing the girls’ room apart and putting it all back together. Translation …. every drawer, shelf, and piece of clothing was handled, sorted, and many many things where thrown away. And while I feel guilty about my additions to already overburdened landfills I am happy to have 3 huge lawn and leaf bags less clutter in my house.

When I wasn’t folding and hanging clothing or shaking my head at the things I found in drawers, and at the bottom of their closet I was cooking. This week we are alternating between two dishes (as opposed to my usual three). I made a monster-sized batch of my family’s recipe for Cream of Tomato Soup. I made so much that despite giving some away, and having for dinner a total of 3 times already I have no choice but to freeze a bunch of it. I also made a double batch of BBQ ribs and decided (yet again) that I need to find a really good (and cheap) recipe for BBQ sauce that doesn’t have any type of smoke flavor in it as I am tired of having to pay for the stuff.

Sunday, I took the girls out for a sharing of appetizers at the local Japanese restaurant and then to Walmart where I picked up some things we needed (itty bitty bras and underwear), some stuff so cheap I couldn’t pass up (4 Tshirts for $1 each by Miley Cyrus that are British themed and will be perfect as “disposable clothing” for summer camp) and the inevitable stuff I was either pestered or suckered into buying.

Tonight is belt testing at Tae Kwon Do and I am looking forward to going, watching, leaving, and then spending some quality time with my couch and my Hubby, though not necessarily in that order.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:family, kids, life

I feel so very un-Witchy. Lately, my updates are focused on keeping you abreast of day-to-day life and little else. Of course, part of that is the continued lack of a laptop and the limited time I have to blog as a result. But, mostly this is because I am too busy simply putting one foot in front of the other to feel particularly inspired or spiritual. This too shall pass and hopefully at some point I will have a new baby to keep tethered to my lap in the evenings.

The snow is still here, and our snowman is still standing, but both will probably be gone soon as temperatures are hitting the high 30s during the day and rain is predicted by this time next week (though if another cold front moves in first we could get buried again … too soon to tell).

Saturday, Gamer Dude and I went out on an actual date for Valentine’s Day. Nothing extreme, just dinner out using a gift card Mr Grumpy gave us for Xmas (as well as a little extra he tossed us as we headed out the door). Our meals were wonderful (but then they generally are at this particular place) and our evening quite relaxing. As usual we brought our desserts home and ate them during our TV viewing.

Things are mostly stable. For that, I am most grateful!

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:family, life, valentines day

Its amazing how a little bit of snow, or more accurately a whole heck of a a lot of snow, can through such a monkey wrench into an ordinary week.

The snow started late Tuesday evening and I woke up Wednesday morning to a world covered with white and the news that work was closed (without pay of course) due to inclement weather. For a while all we were getting was that lousy wintry mix, which made me grumpy, but then the white stuff returned, and returned with a vengeance.

I spent much of the day crocheting and watching TV but did manage to get outside and help the family build a 7′ snowman in our front yard. He’s quite the looker … big blue eyes (brillo pads), a well formed nose (sculpted snow), and a wide smile (red stones from our yard). Unfortunately, with the strong sunshine the last couple of days he is not long for this world.

I got to work Thursday thanks to Gamer Dude and my father using both shovels and the snow-thrower late Wednesday (while it was still snowing and blowing outside) and my darlin’ hubby waking up to use the snow-thrower again to get me out of a plowed in driveway.

The kids had no school on either Wednesday or Thursday and a delayed opening on Friday and so we’re all a little off of our schedules.

We weathered the storm well, overall. The irony was that as the storm snowed its last upon us, just as the official blizzard warning was about to be over, we lost power. We were without electricity from 11:30 PM Wednesday night until 4 PM Thursday afternoon. The girls spent the day at a neighbors house (on another part of the grid and still had power) and Mr Grumpy and Gamer Dude suffered through the boredom of no TV and the lack of heat (gas heat but electric thermostat).

The weather forecast looks pretty clear for a while, a little flurry action here and there, and I’m glad to hear it. Because, while normally I’m a big fan of the white stuff, this year I’m itching for Spring.

Stay warm and stay well

Blessings

Mama kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:family, life, snow, weather, winter

If the predictions are right, it seems that we are due to be pounded again with another round of heavy snow accumulation. According to weather.com we should start to see wet stuff falling very shortly and white stuff falling sometime after 9 pm.  The snowfall is expected to continue unabated (though stronger at times than others) until at least midnight tomorrow (though at time there may be some freezing rain and sleet through in to break the monotony), with accumulations that can range from as little as 10 to as much as 20 inches before all is said and done.

My workplace has decided to hold the expectation that they will be open tomorrow, regardless of predicted road conditions and advisories that recommend that people only drive if absolutely necessary.  If they are closed tomorrow, or if I simply cannot get out of my driveway (or if Game Dude forcibly bars the door and forbids my departure), the plan is a day in front of the fireplace, crocheting in hand, and a marathon viewing of an old favorite, The 10th Kingdom, if I can get anyone to watch it with me.

We have more than enough food.  We have plenty of milk and bread (and ice cream).  I picked up bagels for the morning as a treat.  In other words I am as prepared as I can be for a good old fashioned blizzard.  I may even pull out my old dogeared copy of The Long Winter (Little House series) and read it just for the sake of nostalgia.

Stay well, stay warm.
Be Blessed

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:life, snow, storm, winter

We woke this morning to a world covered in white.  Since both Miss Artistic’s art class and Princess Nature’s flute lesson were canceled due to the inclement weather it was a lovely lazy morning.

After my period of becoming one with my couch and the TV remote, the bulk of my day was spent cooking and crocheting.  I made two large meatloaves (for later in the week) and a batch of chicken and dumplings.  The later was my first attempt at this dish and it was well received by all, even Mr Grumpy who rarely has a compliment to offer.  And, best of all (in my opinion) there is enough left of the chicken dish to be served another night (so long as I make another batch of dumplings and boil up more egg noodles).

Tomorrow will find me whipping up a batch of mashed potatoes (to go with the meatloaves of course) and a pot of vegetarian chili (with TVP in place of ground beef) and probably doing more crocheting in front of the fire.

There is so much that needs to be cleaned, tidied, or organized around the house.  There is so much work I could be doing in terms of working here on the blog or even the book project that I’ve been playing with for the past couple of years.  But, lately, both seem to be insurmountable tasks.

I can only hope that as my depression wanes and my health improves my energy and inspiration will return. In the meantime, I am off to do more crocheting (and the never ending task of weaving in those cursed ends).

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:cooking, crochet, family, life

Today Princess nature and I are having a mommy/daughter day. It is her favorite part of the weekend and honestly our weeks are generally so busy (and often filled with drama and chaos) that even though it means my house remains clutter filled and not as clean as I would like it is a gift I try to give her as often as possible.

Today started with some TV viewing, while I shared sips of my hot sweet creamy coffee. Now that she’s eaten lunch we are moving on to some microscope slide viewing of specimens from our kitchen (including green mold we grew specifically for this purpose), baking brownies from a box, a game of scrabble, and perhaps some time playing Wii. And then, she has requested to help make dinner (roast beef).

Miss Artistic is welcome to join any and all of these activities, but generally does not. But, later, we are going to be sitting down as a family to watch the animated movie 9 with some snacks to nibble on. This last activity she has already indicated she WILL be joining us for.

In other news, I have figured out a crochet motif that I think will work well for a shawl design I’m planning to sell on Etsy. Now, I just have to make a test version in the cheaper yarn I purchased at Walmart and approximate how many hours it takes to make one so I can figure out a sale price. Tonight will find me making at least one more motif, weaving in countless ends, and joining two together so that I can see if what works in my head works in real life.

In the meantime, it’s time for me to get back to the kitchen and our various experiments.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:crochet, family, kids, life

Today will be a busy day but in a good way. Miss Artistic was dropped off this morning at her second (of a series of art classes and I will be leaving in a few minutes to pick her up and take Princess Nature to her flute lesson.

Afterward, we will be picking up Gamer Dude and running a few errands before coming home (perhaps trying to get in my Wii Fit, which I haven’t done in almost 2 weeks) and getting ready to go out to dinner for a belated birthday celebration.

Tomorrow will find me cooking for the coming week, Miss Artistic both catching up on missing assignments and studying for midterms, and Princess Nature working on a crystal radio she got for Xmas/Yule.

Things are mostly stable, though Miss Artistic continues to have a hard time both situationally and with the usual school and teenage angst issues. My own depression/anxiety is high and other health issues are flaring up as well. Luckily, I have my Dr. appointment this week which will allow me to perhaps look into not only medication, but some long overlooked diagnostic testing in an effort to get my health back on track.

I wish you all love and light and many blessings

Anon

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:birthday, depression, family, life