It's the Simple Things...

Well, both of my hands are feeling much better this morning!  I am confident that the remainder of my week will be injury free.

As I told you in yesterday's post, I had Julianna this past Friday and Saturday for "Granny Camp".  We had a ball!  She has the sweetest disposition.  And I am not just saying that because she is my adorable granddaughter.  David and I cherish every moment we have with her!  On the way home from getting her, we always stop by his work so that she can see her Grandpa, and of course, he can take her through the shop and show her off.

I should tell you that after the previous weeks visit, when she had just started walking, we realized that we needed to update the toys in our house to keep her busy.  Toys have changed since our three were little!  Luckily, we had gone to visit our good friends, Nate and Kristen and their 1 year old son, Owen, (who happens to be the cutest little boy in my world right now!) to let the kids play together for a while.  Nate and Kristen are two of the best parents we have been around lately.  They are, obviously, much younger than us in age.  But they are equals when it comes to everything else!  I know I sound like my mom here, but parenting  has changed!  I could write another whole blog on that subject.  But for now, I will stick to the facts pertinent to this story.  In a world that seems to me to be very self-centered, even when it comes to parenting, Nate and Kristen stick out like the proverbial "sore thumb" as anything but.  They have had challenges from the get go (he was a preemie and had foot issues) and have put their son's well being as first priority!  They are the experts on bottom rashes and they had to deal with it with a child in two full length leg casts from day five of his life!  But again, that is yet another post!!

Back to the toys.  Kristen, a teacher, no wait, Teacher of the Year at her school, converted their dining room into a play room that rivals the finest of class rooms!  It is adorable, and amazingly, kid friendly at any age!  I am not quite sure how did that.  That must be why she got that award!!  David and I watched Julianna and Owen playing in there and realized that we had some work to do to create an environment more conducive to a toddler in our home.  It is funny, in a ha-ha kind of way, that the kids move out and you start getting the house like you always wanted it.  Then along comes a grandchild and we are back to guest rooms with cribs and toy corners of the living room! 

So, armed with my list of items that Julianna seemed to enjoy at Kristen's house, I went to a great little children's consignment store here in Vero Beach, Kidz Closet.  (Kristen told me about this place, as well.  What would I do without her?!)  If you live anywhere near here and have kids, you need to go check it out!  It is great!  I have gotten almost all of the things I use here at the house from their store.  Some of it has been brand new and never used.  They have EVERYTHING you could possibly need.  I spent $29 and got a booster seat with a tray (like a high chair), four toys, four books, and two very nice outfits. When I was shopping the stores for the booster seat, the best I found was $25 at Wal-Mart.  Score!!!  I was ready for week two, of Granny Camp for Toddlers.

The night before Julianna came over, our Son, CJ brought over a huge box from his work to make a little fort for her to play in.  He cut out little windows and a sky light.  Nothing but the best for his niece!  When CJ was a kid, he loved playing with sticks and boxes.  About the only toy that he loved was Lego's.  He wanted to be outside, as did all of our children.  But he made all kinds of things with stuff he found in the yard.  Bows and arrows out of Scheffelera sticks, as well as mole traps with the same sticks plus string.  We had mole traps all over our yard!  And boxes made great forts.  So he was proud to present Julianna with her first box, I mean, fort!
 
Julianna loved her toys and they kept her quite busy practicing using them.  Little minds never cease to bring a sense of wonder to me!  We had a good time playing together.  Then I remembered the fort out in the garage and brought it in.  Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!  Julianna's favorite new toy is.....the box!!  I will let the pictures do the talking.

Moving in!

Making it her own.
Notice the name in blocks over the entrance.

She loves the Sky Light!

And this years Favorite Uncle Award goes to...

Uncle C.J.!

It just goes to show you, you don't have to spend a lot of money to make a child happy!  $29, a cardboard box and lots of love go a long way!

I Just Had to Have That Strawberry Pop Tart!

My third week of chillaxin has not gotten off to a great start.  As you know, last Wednesday, I held my work out in the yard, trimming my palms and oaks.  Fresh air, exercise...it was great!  I did not mention something that happened when I was trimming my Robelinni Palms, because, honestly, it has happened before and was no big deal.  If you have one of these palms (aka: Pygmy Date palms) in your yard, you might want to pay close attention to the rest of my story. 

Robelinni Palm
If you have one of these, be very careful!!

Anyway, these palms have very long spines coming off the base of the fronds.  I have been poked by them before and it does swell and hurt for several hours.  Well, I had one go into the knuckle area of my right hand, straight to the bone and break off in my right hand.  And yes, I am right handed!  I finally dug out about 1/8" of the spine from my hand and cleaned it up good.  As usual, it didn't hurt right away.  I went to my hair appointment, came home and worked on my blog.  While I was typing, I noticed that my knuckle (at the base of my pointer finger) was starting to hurt and lock up on me.  I called David and asked him to get some peroxide so that I could clean it out real good, which I did, and put the triple antibiotic ointment on with a band-aid.  I was good to go.  That night, it was keeping me awake.  In the morning, David said I should call the Dr. and get a tetanus shot, just to be safe.  So I called my Dr. and asked if I could come in and get the shot.  No, he wants me to come right in so he can check it out, "these things can get infected".   "Well, it is a little red", I said, "but really, I think all I need is the shot."  Nope.  So, into the Dr.'s office I go.

He told me that I had an infection going and asked if I looked at the spine when I pulled it out to be sure I got it all.  Darn!  I knew he was going to ask me that!  Of course, I didn't.  "We will need to get an X-ray to be sure you got it all."  Okaaay...   He picked up on my apprehension right away and said that if I didn't get it all, he was going to have to get it out.  Fair enough.  Had the x-ray, nothing there, time to go home! 

Not so fast.  He proceeded to tell me that he was going to put me on a very strong antibiotic and that I was to check in with him daily for a report.  Now, I have to tell you that my Dr. is not an over reactor, which is why I like him.  I hate taking medicine, preferring instead to let my body fight things on its own.  He knows this and before I could get a word out in protest, told me, "Aven, I am serious here!  You know I don't over react, but I have seen these things turn very ugly.  This is not something that you want to treat as an it will get better tomorrow!"  My "about to start laughing" smile was gone.  He had my attention in a "come on, you are kidding me" kind of way and told me that these thorns on these things were like taking a hypodermic needle and injecting  yourself with bacteria.  Now he had my full attention!  I was told to check in with his office tomorrow morning with an update, and that if I started a fever after office hours, I was to go straight to the hospital and not wait to call him in the morning.

So I went and got my antibiotics, went home and started doing the things he told me to do to keep it from getting worse.  None of these things relieved the pain, however.  But I made it through the weekend, which wasn't easy since Friday and Saturday I had Julianna for Granny Camp again.  Luckily, she is walking quite well now, so I was able to manage until Grandpa came home and helped.  She was the best medicine!

I got up this morning and decided my hand was doing good enough that I might try to get back out in the yard and finish my weeding that I was not able to do.  After all, my left hand was perfectly fine.  But first, a quick trip to the grocery store to get a few things for tonight's special event.  The ladies Bible Study I belong to is having their last meeting before summer break.  We are having a salad supper over at my house.  So I ran to the grocery and while there, gave into a (somewhat embarrassing) weakness I have, frosted strawberry pop tarts.  Disgusting, I know.  But I can't help myself!  Sometimes, I just crave them.  And let's face it, there are worse things I could do.  Seriously, read the box next time you are in the store.  It isn't that bad!  :)  However, I am not encouraging such behavior.  But let's be honest, we all have our disgusting little food weaknesses.  Mine just happens to be Strawberry Pop Tarts...and french fries.  But fries are not disgusting, only a weakness.  I know, you are saying,"yeah, whatever helps you sleep at nigh, Aven!". 

When I got home, I decided I needed to toast (and butter!) a strawberry pop tart to get me going before I headed out to start weeding.  When I went to get it out of the toaster, the frosting had started to burn and melt.  The burning hot frosting stuck to my fingers burning them to the point of blisters.  But wait, it gets better!  Since I still can't use my right hand to pick up things, I used my left to get the pop tart out of the toaster!  So now my left hand has three burnt and blistered finger tips!  The good news is, my tetanus booster is only one week old, so my burns are protected!  The bad news is my guests will have to look at weeds when they arrive tonight.  But, hey, my palm trees look great!!
David said that he is going to have to send me back to work, it is safer there!  Funny guy!!  I learned two lessons over the last several days.  #1- Stay away from the Robelinni palms!  They are outta here next week!  #2- When you are toasting a frosted pop tart, don't over toast it!  Sugar burns hurt!!!  (Did you really think I was going to say they were outta here, too?!)

Not Working is Quite a Workout!

I am now in my second week of 'chillaxin", as my daughter calls it.  Today, after our brisk 30 minute morning walk with Millie and a homemade breakfast with my hubby, I did an upper body workout.  Only I didn't go to the gym.  Instead, I stepped out my front door, with my new loppers that David got me for Mother's Day, and began trimming our oaks and palms.  OK, in fairness to my husband, he did not give the super nice loppers (with extension handles!) to me for Mother's Day.  He bought them on Mother's Day and when he brought them in the house, jokingly said "Happy Mother's Day!"  He learned his lesson a long time ago about giving such gifts to me for special occasions!  Anyway, I promise you, this is not an work out that can be duplicated in a gym!! 

I admit to the fact that I haven't done any overhead anything, with the exception of blow drying my hair, in a very long time.  It felt great!  I don't know about you, but to me, there is nothing better than being in the outdoors.  It makes doing anything better.  Kind of like how butter makes everything taste better, so you use it every chance you get.  Well, the same goes for the outdoors, if I can do something out in the fresh air, then that is where you will find me.  It was a beautiful morning here in Vero Beach.  Perfect for yard work.  My front yard looks so much better, with the exception of the huge pile of limbs and fronds out by my curb for pick up tomorrow morning.  I am sure that the yard waste guys will be just as excited about all that I accomplished, as I am!  Yeah...

So I have noticed that the lack of inactivity, eating healthy home cooked meals, and absence of stress is paying off!  I have already been able to put on clothes that I could not have fit into two weeks ago.  Score!  I went to get my hair cut at 11:30 today, and started getting hungry.  I was about to pull into a McDonald's to get a small fry and sweet tea to hold me over.  Then I realized I hadn't had ANY restaurant food in the last 13 days, (thus the lack of bloating!) and it hit me, if I do this, I will probably feel like crap!  So, I decided to proceed to my hairdresser's and wait until I got home to eat.  I have to tell you that I get pretty crabby when I am hungry.  But when I walked in to her shop, Liz, my very outspoken hairdresser, was amazed at how good I looked and that I was smiling.  That helped keep the crabbiness at bay until I got home!  Thanks, Liz...I think.  (If you are keeping count with me, that is the third comment about my lack of smiling in the past.)  She must have been real excited to see me walk through the door before!!  Bless her heart!  I love Liz!

Another comment on lunch today.  You should have seen the look on David's face when I told him that he would have to heat something up for lunch today because I might not be home from my haircut in time.  He immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at me with this look (I think his lower lip actually curled a little!), and in a barely audible tone said "Bu...wha...I...what??"  I couldn't help but laugh!  He was so cute and truly disappointed that I wouldn't be home.

Well, honey, don't get too used to the idea of me being here every day for lunch!  At some point I have to get a job of some kind.  But for now, I think I will go heat up one of those nice little "not as bad for you" Tuscan Lemon Muffins I made yesterday, and have it with my 3:00 cuppa hot tea.  And, since it is still such a lovely day outside, I think I will put a little butter on it and enjoy it outside on my patio! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is an important day to me.  Not because of gifts given or received, or the fact that we went out to eat.  It is not even the wonderful cards I have received throughout the years.  My kids made some precious cards, and sometimes still do, which I love to get out every once in a while and read.  I have saved them all, whether handmade or store bought.  One year, and this is my favorite, they turned our kitchen in NC into a "Mother's Day Cafe", complete with a sign draped over the doorway from the family room to the kitchen!  It was precious!  That sign stayed there for years, finally coming down when we moved out of that house.  I never got tired of looking at it, nor did it's meaning diminish over the years.  When we moved back to Florida I tried to hang it over the door again.  But, by then they were in middle school and would have suffered major social setbacks if their friends had seen it!  So it went into my box of Mommy Treasures. 

Mother's Day is important to me because it is about a legacy.  When my children thank me on Mother's Day for being their mom and all of the things I did, I can't help but think of the person I have to thank for setting such a fine example for me, my mom!

My mom's name is Neva, which is my name spelled backwards.  Well, my name is her name spelled backwards, but you get the idea!  She is a wonderful mom and a best friend.  She, along with my dad, provided a loving home in which my sister, Rhondi, and I grew up.  She is one of the toughest women I know!  She is a cancer survivor, and has had both knees replaced.  She has burried two wonderful husbands and my sister.  While I have seen her go through pain and grieve, I have never seen her lose her faith in God.  She is such a source of strenght to me, not only in her faith, but in her example.

I come from a long line of strong southern women on both sides of my family.  They are some of the toughest women I know.  They are also some of the most ladylike.  Combining the two is a lost art these days!  For me, it is the definition of Southern Style.  I remember once, when money was tight, I had a birthday party to go to.  My mom had bought a small gift for me to take (I can't even remember what it was), which she had wrapped in aluminum foil and decorated with ribbon scraps from her sewing room and fresh flowers from our yard.  I admit, I was thoroughly humiliated to have to carry a gift in homemade wrappings to a party full of 11 year olds!  (Admittedly, not my proudest moment.  But what can I say?  I was 11 and very good at it!!)  Well, I don't even remember the reaction to the gift itself, but the presentation was a hit!  If that is not a lesson in Southern Style, I don't know what is!  And I won't even get started on her cooking, which is to die for!

To my mom, thank you for setting such a fine example of what a mother should be!  Without your example, my children would not be the wonderful adults they are today. 

To our oldest duaghter, Brittney, who is celebrating her first Mother's Day, we are so proud of your and the job you are doing raising Julianna!  Keep up the good work!

To all of the other mothers out there, I hope you have a beautiful Mother's Day!

Aven Gets Her Groove Back!

I have entered a self imposed "next phase of my life".  It had to be done.  My life was out of control.  Not in an addictive behavior kind of way, but in a "the joy is gone" kind of way.  I lost my groove!  Well, I never really possessed a "groove" as it were!   But you know what I mean.  I was one stressed out, miserable, no fun to be around chick!


A little history...


I have spent the last 3 1/2 years in one of those "pays well, but sucks the life out of you" jobs.  The part of your life that fuels your creative talents.  The part that inspires you to experiment with a new dish and invite your friends over to be your Guinea pigs, and be able to laugh at yourself if it is a flop, because at least you had a fun evening together with good friends who would do it all over again because you are such a joy to be around.  The part that can't wait to get home from work so that you can piddle around in your garden until dinner is ready...the dinner that you got up early that morning to begin preparations on.  Yeah....well that part of me was gone. 


I used to love to garden, collect orchids, cook, create healthy recipes, entertain, exercise and enjoy the great outdoors.  I had a social life and was quite active in my church, using my talents to give back to others through meals ministries, etc.  I cooked and ate three meals a day with my husband and family.  They loved coming home to the wonderful smells of my cooking.  My kids friends used to ask if they could bring some extras of the "leftovers" that were in their lunches, such as homemade soups, or the famous meatloaf sandwiches.  My yard was beautiful.  All while building and maintaining a successful real estate career.  That was then.


Fast forward to April 2011.  I had been in the previously mentioned job that "pays well but sucks the life out of you" for 3 1/2 years.  I should tell you that when I started there, I was seen as this annoying nice person who refused to let the job get to me and effect my positive outlook on life.  I was going to make a difference in that office! Be a positive force!  You know the line your mom used to say to you about the people you hang around with?  "It is easier to be pulled down by people that it is to lift them up.  Choose your friends carefully!"   Well she was right on so many levels!!!  Not only is this true of your friends, but also those you spend the majority of your day with at work.   Within a year, I had become a different person.  Not that my core values had changed, but my attitude and spirit had been deeply effected.  I mean, not even my 10 a.m. and 3 p.m cups of tea were providing the "aaahhh" moments I needed!  My friends and family had all been encouraging me to leave my job.  In the words of my children when they were young, I needed an attitudy adjustment, BIG TIME!  So on April 29th I gave a months notice that I was leaving, which probably created more stress on me than if I had just given the standard two weeks notice.  Some people never learn!


It is interesting to note the reaction of one of our good friends upon telling them that I was leaving my job.  My husband, David and I were out walking one evening and ran into them. They had been out of town for a couple of weeks and did not know that I had given my notice.  David told them that I would be getting back to my old self soon and our friend finished with "and we won't have to listen to you (that would be me) talk about it anymore".  OUCH!  By the time we got home I was crying and said to my husband, "I have become such an awful person!"  To which he said, "No you haven't, honey.  You're just not as much fun to be around as you used to be."  Now, I know that neither he nor our friend meant their comments the way I took them, but there was something very Freudian about them, to say the least!


So now, here I am, one week into my journey. OK, so I never had a "Groove", as it were.  However, what groove I did have is coming back!  Thursday, I had my first full day of NOT thinking about the mess I left behind in my job, and instead, doing things that are important to me.  And I did them quite well, if I may say so myself!

My creative cooking skills were not a casualty of the last few years of my life, after all!  Wednesday, David proclaimed, after having lunch together prepared by yours truly, that he loved coming home at lunch and having both myself and Millie (aka the maniac) there, all relaxed.  I chose to take that as the compliment it was intended to be!  Then, at dinner, I got a "WOW!" when he took his first bite of the meal that I had prepared for him.  I am not sure who was more shocked, me, that he liked it, or him, that it was good!  :)  He talked about it the whole meal.  And yes, my foodie ego was extremely inflated!


Which brings me to Thursday morning.  My good friend, Tami, (one of the ones that really encouraged me to take this step, had contacted me on Wednesday about having lunch together.  I figured, hey, I am on a roll (and a much tighter budget!), I will make lunch for her here at the house.  I prepared a fresh spring soup that my daughter, Hannah, had posted on her blog, Culture Connoisseur, yesterday and, stealing her idea (hey, that is what a blog is for!) served it with BLT's and a side of fresh fruit.  Tami loved it and took some leftovers home, along with the recipe.  We finished with homemade (from scratch, as in BUTTER!) brownies with ice cream.  We had a lovely lunch and a wonderful 2+ hours of visiting on the pool deck.  It is gorgeous outside right now in Vero Beach! 


Friday brought the first day of Granny Camp, as my friend Sue calls it, and a sleepover with our granddaughter, Julianna.  She will be a year old this month!  This is something that my husband and I intend to make happen on a regular basis now.  We had a ball with her all day and then took her to our friends, the Wilkerson's, for a wonderful dinner and great fellowship! Wait a minute, is that a social life I am developing?!


My house is clean, my food is good, my dog and husband are happy, and I am relaxed and ready to start figuring out the next chapter of my life.  I think this calls for a cup of tea!

Aaahhh...  :)