Meme Time

I've been Meme tagged by Cat and I'm going to try to get this one done real quick, so I don't feel that I forget to do it.  I'm usually notoriously bad at getting back to these.


The 11 questions I want answered:

1. Name the one product in your kitchen you can not function without.  Olive oil if we are talking food product.  My Kitchen Aid mixer if we are talking about a prep product.
2. If you can change your career decision, what would you like to be (disregard training, money etc-  this is a dream job).  This is easy, but I pick two. A high-school math teacher and a yoga teacher.
3. What is your favorite toy (as in gadget, craft item, etc).  My daugher's iPad.  It's even better than my iPhone.
4. What is your favorite book of all times? (or just choose one for now)  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
5.  If you could give your 16 year old self one bit of advice only, what would it be?  - It will all be OK.
6. Chocolate or vanilla cake? And specifically what type.  Chocolate, although my real favorite is carrot cake with real cream cheese icing.
7. Meat, fish or chicken?  Fish! Especially salmon or tuna
8. On what would you spend R300 or 40US$ or the equivalent thereof as a spoil for yourself? A massage.
9. Which building in the whole wide world do you think is beautiful or have captured your attention? My favorite building is the Fine Arts Library on the University of Pennsylvania's campus.  It's by Frank Furness who I think was a fabulous architect.  This building was shown as a   law library in the movie Philadelphia.  This building is beautiful inside as well as outside.

1. If you could go on a dream holiday right now, no costs spared, to which one destination will you go and who will you take along? (no world tours allowed - one destination).  Rome, Italy
2. If you were a flower, which one will you be. And why?  A Chrysanthemum.  They are by far my favorite flower. 

Well, my putting in the picture messed up the numbers, but you get the idea.  I'm going to get a pass on tagging for the next round, as I have to go bug my husband to stop working so we can leave for the wake of my grandfather.

Enjoy!!!

The Last Real Cowboy

My grandfather passed away Tuesday evening.  He was the only grandfather I ever knew and he was the best.  My Dad's dad passed away when I was very little and I don't remember ever meeting him.  So Poppy was all I had as grandfather's go.  By the way, my absolutely fabulous grandmother does read my blog sometimes, so if you see this, "Well now, Rose Marie."  LOL.

Poppy has had a long fight with Alzheimer's, so in some respects it is good his suffering is over.  He's on to better places and eating donuts with the angels in the sky.  I will always remember his stories of World War II, in which he was a Marine.  I will always remember what he looked like coming to meet us on a tractor with the sun setting behind him as he finished work in the fields.  I always remember the conversations we had while we picked blackberries along Pennypacker Lane.  I'll always remember riding on his shoulders of his 6'3" frame and ducking under the door frames as we walked around.  It's a wonder I became afraid of heights.  I'll always remember the stories of how I was just like his brother who died in WWII.  He always said I got my intelligence from his brother.

We'll be leaving soon for the wake and the funeral will be tomorrow.  Phoebe will go with us and we'll leave the boys at home.  I can't believe looking at pictures of Phoebe with Poppy when she was a year old that she'd become such a young lady that fits into my dresses.

By the way, for those of you who listen to the Flylady radio show, the title is from a song she plays and is one of the only country songs I really love.  It's always reminded me of Poppy.

Awesome Toddler Pics and Au Gratin Potatoes

I got some good pics of the boys over the past weekend.  Enjoy!

Tommy with all his cuteness...

 Here's the boys eating lunch one day this weekend!

Cutie Liam!!!

Tommy saying "Cheese" and showing us his chipped tooth!

Here's the boys outside getting ready to play with their ball.

Boys kicking the ball with Daddy

Liam showing us his best Primal Scream, as he is allowed to do that outside!

I also made Au Gratin Potatoes last night and they were so yummy.  After seeing this recipe on Dinner A Love Story for this, I was in such a mood for it.  I can now remember this recipe by heart, as it is so easy!!!!  Here's how it looked:

Post Surgery Pic

I'm sure it's hard to tell any changes as I'm wearing black, but needless to say, I always used to wear this dress with a bra on, and I don't have one on at all!  I'm very happy with my new found curves!  Best thing I ever did.

By the way, I know a lot of people think what will I do when I get older.  My thought is, if I don't like them anymore, they can come out!  Especially since this is not a forever surgery.  The implants only last about 10 years and then they need to be replaced or come out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone is having a great Valentine's Day!!!  I'm feeling very blessed in love this Valentine's Day.  Can't believe DH and I are still so happy in love!!!  I also got to drive Phoebe to school today, as she did a great job making sure her bed was made and laundry in the hamper, but we realized at the bus stop that she forgot to grab her Valentine's Day cards before we left the house.  So we went back to the house and I drove her to school.  It was nice spending the extra time with her this morning.  She's in 5th grade and that's only the second time I've ever done the drop off line in the morning.

Sorry I've been MIA, but I've been off taking Action very seriously.  Here's some of the things I've done recently:

• Made an appointment with a vascular surgeon about my varicose vein on the back of my right leg
• Made appointments for Phoebe to have her HPV shots
• Had a culposcopy done because I've been HPV positive two years in a row.  Let me tell you, if you haven't ever had this done - you don't want it!
• Called the preschool the boys are going to in September and got them on the roster to start full time then.
• Got another elliptical machine so DH and I can work out together!!!  It also arrived today, which is why I'm working from home and I could afford to drive Phoebe to school.
• And I'm sure tons of other stuff that I'm forgetting right now.
• And lots of great stuff at work that aren't worth mentioning.  But I did get a great document done today for work that I'm very proud of and I had to call some people to talk about how proud I am for pulling that together! No one asked me to put this together and I think it will help so many people at work!

On my recovery from surgery back on Jan 5, I'm doing great!  Today was the first day I could wear jeans without any compression garment on underneath.  And it doesn't hurt!  I will still say that the tummy tuck was the hardest to recover from.  I can also feel the movement of the muscles where my breasts are and that feels kind of odd, but the doctor says that will become less noticeable over time.  I'm currently cleared to begin using the elliptical again.  The doctor still does not want me to do any abs or upper body strengthening exercises yet. 

I will also say I'm very happy with how I look.  At first my breasts were pretty swollen and much bigger than what they are turning out to be, and I was scared they would stay that way.  But after a month post-surgery, they are looking very nice, natural and what I wanted them to look like.

Word for 2012 - ACTION

My word last year, if I never posted it was "Dream".  I wanted to dream about all the great things I wanted to do in the future, now that my dream of having a complete family was realized.  Last year was about dreaming about what was next.  This year's word is Action!  It's time to take action on what I've dreamed up last year.  When DH and I talked he suggested "Execute", but that has such a work ring to it, I'm not a fan.  Action is really resonating with me though. 

I've already started working with this word.  I've been taking lots of action both at work and home.  My surgery alone is an example of taking action that I've been wanting for quite some time.  Now I'm off to look at my to do lists that I've been keeping track of and seeing what's next for me to take action on.