All Together Is Not An Option

No one has it all together that's like trying to eat once and for all.- Marilynn Gray

I'm trying to cozy our nest by putting up curtains in the study. I thought I had it figured out today but the rod was too big for my little crown hooks. On the threshold of inspiring but still looking...

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. - Mother Teresa- this is posted on my monitor at work and i try hard to follow it as i interact with people all day long. K. is particularly trying right now though and i'm not sure she is leaving better or happier yet she comes in to visit multiple times a day. i am running out of ideas to help her other then telling her to just get her act together!

Today i spotted someone i normally would greet and make small talk but dang it i could tell he was in the depressive state of mind and not the manic one so i just said hello. i hope i never get to where people no longer ask how i am because they know and they are tired of the poopy. i vow never to be poopy in public... geesh so depressing. please medicate me if i ever get to be someone people avoid.

Watching Oprah DVR today and the Harvard professor said if there was a Garden of Eden it was in Africa. That this has been proven. We all originated in Eastern Africa. Didn't know that I'll have to look into that... I set the DVR to record the new show Who Do You Think You Are? on NBC looks good.

2010 Goals Progress~

Plan: sidetracked majorly by boys, errands and grocery and maybe a tad by my own laziness

Quiet: read some before work, worked diligently at work leaving no time for talk

Meals: finished off the egg salad and realized I forgot to put the pickles in this time!, WG crackers, apple cider, chinese (once again someone bought it for me how could i not?) Coke Zero, Tombstone pizza (rushing back from the grocery after work) water, Crystal lite peach tea-ok here is a goodie, the first "healthy items" pic is of my purchases, the second "WHAT?" pic is of the boys' purchases. hmm.

Exercise: stretching this morning for 15m, does walking on heels count?

Spending: grocery, did great till the boys went back for some chili fixings and came back with cookies, cake, and sugar masquerading as cereal. although... i did see the coolest magazines while the boys went in search of junk and i plan to purchase some this summer for lounging by the pool perusing... some fashion, decorating titles I've never seen before. i should have jotted down some names. I'm going to have to break down and buy a curtain rod for the study. Curtains- have, hooks- have, rod- can't find a darn thing.

Create: worked on my blog... that's not enough i know, i did attempt the curtains but to no avail~

Vanilla Coke Zero~ heavenly

Ending the day with my own little Oscar party. I finally figured out how to join Adored Austin on chat by joining twitter, although now i don't think i had to join twitter at all I just jumped the gun thinking i was late but time zone confusion. But i enjoyed chatting fashion during the red carpet part and hearing what fashionistas were thinking.

Earlier today i attended a memorial service of a family member of some friends... the man, age 92, flew 92 combat missions in WWII and sang opera, and kept scrapbooks for all of his grandchildren, and wrote little songs and funnies for local events... what a beautiful memorial with family members reading scripture and telling stories of such a wonderful man... but that we all live such a full life...on the way back home i spotted some wildlife and pulled over for a few pictures. then i spotted this...

yes in the middle of Highland County a zebra... why? i guess the alpacas and donkeys needed company...

It is embarrassing how much i look forward to a Vanilla Coke Zero. Seriously. In January i was just going to stop drinking any pop by goodness i looked forward to the fizz. So i continued but now i have to say not until noon and then just one. It is better than looking for something sweet after lunch. it's comforting really. it is especially comforting when i'm at work because then it breaks up the day, or when we are running around with errands or shopping, it just feels like a treat.

Sally gave me Life is Meals: A Food Lover's Book of Days a few years ago for Christmas and I've been working my way through it. In January I tackled Creamed Chipped Beef p 20. I made a sort of gravy and added the chipped beef then piled it on toast. I liked it but didn't love it. John tried it. no comment.

"Proverbs 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. " I need to staple that to my forehead :)

Everyday we see wildlife on the little cutoff we discovered last fall. The deer have worn a path crossing the fields each morning at about the same time we pass through- slowly. Last week the boys spotted a female coyote but somehow i was just looking at their break lights murmuring "Come on! We are late!" Darn it i would have loved seeing that girl...

Eating: I made egg salad for breakfast while listening to NPR's Splendid Table. She is a genius- seriously. Then on the way back from the memorial service i stopped at Terry's Grocery for a deli sandwich, Baked Lays and a Stewart's Key Lime Soda. yum. not low cal but yum none the less.

I did make a gift bag and card for Madeline and Sally and wrapped up homemade frozen strawberry jelly. The idea for using the Anthro bag is out of Green Craft Magazine.

Tweet Tweet

I actually heard "tweet, tweet" today when walking marina this evening. My iPod blinked low battery when i was watching Allie McBeal on the treadmill. I tried to finish while walking but just a few steps in it died. Silence. Prayer. Mind wandering and birdy sounds. Sophia the golden from the end of the street greeted us. Bless her heart we called her Old Sam for 3 years until a few months back i hollared "hi Old Sam" and looked up to see her owners puzzled looks. They set me straight and Sophia actually acts pleased we now know her name. We also saw Gunner, Mozingo's little dog. He came after Marina when she decided to pay him no attention. She set to chase and he retreated. He's about a tenth of her size. Men- they never get how far out of their league they are.

I finished reading Black Elk Speaks and started Going Bovine by Libba Bray. Also read a little of A Dog Year by Katz. Continued working my way through reading my Quest Study Bible, and Making the Most of Today: Daily Readings for Young People on Self-Awareness, Creativity, and Self-Esteem- Espeland and Wallner, and listening to The Year of My Miraculous Thinking - Didion (love her insight on difficult times, death, and dying.) I'm just reading Making the Most of Today because it is in the library and I started it. Very teenager girl slanted but I do like the quote headings. I have already read this year: Love in the Present Tense- Hyde (my new favorite book!), The Girl who Played with Fire- Larsson (very edgy, disturbing and disturbingly entertaining), Graceling- Cashore (YA fantasy). Last year I read 63 books which is a record. I'm shooting for 70 this year and I'm a little behind at 1.3 a week.

The Day After Tomorrow is playing on the telly in the background. This is another movie I tune into every time it is on. I was actually hoping You've Got Mail would be on when I came home from my walk because I was playing The Cranberries at work today and realized they sing Dreams from the soundtrack... ahh very comforting. Of course I just watched some of it yesterday tuning in at

"Mary Chilton died which makes one less person I'm not talking to..." "Don't you love NY in the fall? I'd send you a box of sharpened pencils if I knew your address."

This makes about the 12th time this year I've listened to my absolute favorite all time movie~ great background for scrapbooking~

I found another DaShannon while googling to see if my blog popped up. We chatted back and forth and then friended each other. After 37 years it is really odd to think someone shares my name and see how our lives are alike and different.

My first 6 books to review this season appeared on the doorstep Saturday... due back April 15th... yikes now is when i think 'what was i thinking?!?' this year's category is adventure writing... hmm... there are books on cycling, diving, canoeing, sailing and a father traveling in memory of his family... they do look promising!

Yesterday hub and I ate dinner at Red Lobster ALONE. Yeah, bub was at a friend's so we chose an adult restaurant and TALKED- i know! It was quite nice. We both analyzed a situation a friend is in and made predictions. Got home and got a phone call- we were so right :) Wow we should talk alone more often just think of all the problems we could solve!

Exercise plan= 25min. treadmill, 40min. walked marina

Eating plan= wwtoast w pb, SF cappuccino, 32oz. water, left over Red Lobster, Coke Zero vanilla, salad and sausage, Carbmaster yogurt = went well today even though I almost let the stress get to me while checking the bank account!

Spending plan= talked bub out of Gold Star