Seems like my week flies by....filled with projects that demand all my creative juices so I've had little time or motivation to blog. It has been really great to "wrap up" several projects this week.

I love this cartoon because it is exactly how I feel most of the time. I pitch the idea and then have "to defend" it. Doing any project by committee is very frustrating.

We have been having 6 day work weeks for the last month or more which has been really exciting but also exhausting. Yesterday we had a youth group that help us move 984 boxes of clothing ( over 28 thousand pounds) for people in Kazakhstan. It was wonderful to see the clothing going out and know that it will be used. However, Mr. Wonderful is moving pretty slowly this morning.

I love this picture of Oz sitting in his chair reading. My boy is growing up way too fast. He definitely seems "wrapped up" in his book.We have a trip planned for Easter but it can't come too quickly for me. His momma and I are collaborating on a website for the mission so I can always say I need to do some extensive research on the project.


Just got this picture of the divine Miss Em on her sled. She loves the snow and had an outing to the park with her parents. She definitely looks really "Wrapped Up" warmly for the snow. I remember our son slipping off the back of the sled landing on his back. He was so wrapped up that he couldn't turn over. I love that this sled has a backrest as well as a sides to keep little ones from tumbling out.


How do you like my new coffee mug? If the picture looks skewed it's because the cup is not symmetrical. It says, "It's hard to keep everything in balance!" I love to "wrap my hands" around it to keep them warm when I'm drinking a hot cup of tea . Notice my warmer. It has been especially helpful keeping my tea warm when I'm in the middle of a project and forget to drink it.

The latest thing that I'm all wrapped up in is my Mr. Wonderful doll. You press his hand and he says things that every woman wants to hear. For example: " I don't really know where I'm going. I think I will pull over here and ask for directions." Another favorite: "Why don't we talk about our feelings."
He says about 12 things. My Mr. Wonderful says the doll really makes him look bad. I keep him on my desk at work whenever I need to hear words of encouragement. Hey, a girl's got to keep her spirits up and it's either him or chocolate and chocolate is fattening (at least in the quantities that I eat!)

Well, this was probably more information than you wanted to know about me. I'm alive and well, just "wrapped up" in special projects. Love ya and miss you. That's a Wrap!

Labels: weekend wrap up

"Home is where the heart is" so this weekend I followed my heart home to Virginia Beach to visit with my mom. We left the mission at noon, went home, packed, took care of the animal, had lunch, went to the library to snag an audio book, filled the tank and set off.


The audio book I snagged was called The Christmas Train by David Baldacci. Yes, I know its not Christmas but bear in mind I had to find an audio book that would keep both of our interest. Mr. Wonderful loves trains and this is a story about a journalist who rides from the east coast to the west coast on a train (because he has been banned from flying commercially for 2 years) . He decides he can write about his experience on the train to pay for the trip. The characters are colorful and of course there are delightful twists and turns along the way. It kept our interest all the way there and back. The book was read by Tim Matheson who is a fabulous reader, changing his voice for all the characters.


My Mom is 82 and still very active in her church and weekly Bible Study. Mr. Wonderful fixed a few things around the house for her and she was thrilled. (He's a right handy fellow to have around). Mom rewarded him by making all our favorite foods and he rewarded her by eating them all. We also got to do some shopping in some of our favorite haunts in Virginia Beach. We left after church on Sunday.




Saturday was Valentine's Day so Mr. Wonderful (being the wise and wonderful man that he is...)bought me chocolate. Dark Intense Chocolate...rich in antioxidants. As you can see I was rather anxious to dig in. Never fear dear reader, I did share. If you know me at all, you know this girl loves chocolate. Check out a former post here if you need any convincing.




Sunday was Mr. Wonderful's birthday. My mom made him a fruit pizza. He was thrilled and tried to convince me that fruit is healthy. (He forgets about the cream cheese, and sugar cookie dough base, not to mention the glaze!) His sister makes him a shoo-fly pie every year for his birthday so he made sure we checked the mailbox to see if it had arrived before leaving town. It was and he is a happy camper. He cuts thin slices and rations it out so it lasts. He always gives me the first bite! What a man!



One year ago today I had lap band surgery. Can you tell any difference? I've lost 55 pounds. I still have a long way to go but now there is hope at the end of the tunnel. I'm making better choices and learning how to eat much slower. I hope to lose the same amount of weight this year (more if I'm able). My goal is "Lose your behind in 2009".



Well, this is probably more information than what you want to know. Hope your weekend was a great adventure and you were treasured by all those that love you.

Labels: weekend wrap up

Lots of activity at the Daisy Patch this weekend. Most of it on the domestic front. Lots of laundry, cleaning, vacuuming up cat hair (I think we got enough hair to make up another cat!) cleaning out the gutters filled with leaves as well as cooking up some dishes for the rest of the week.


We hosted a small youth group this afternoon. They helped up move computer monitors from downstairs. We were able to fill up 10 Gaylords (approximately 90- 100 monitors. Needless to say Mr. Wonderful was a tired boy and I think all the kids in the youth group will sleep really well tonight.

Absent-Minded adj.

Deep in thought and heedless of present circumstances or activities; preoccupied. That pretty well describes me the last couple of days. I've always been a list maker but now I've misplaced my list....I may well have to go to yellow sticky notes. I call my lists "my portable brains!"

Most of the leaves have dropped now. It seems like some trees lost all their leaves in one day. It's looking more and more like winter will be coming our way soon. I love the crunch of the leaves underfoot. In some ways I've never grown up when it comes to fall leaves.



We got Mr. Wonderful's safety steel toed shoes just in the nick of time. Friday he was building something and dropped a hammer on his foot.....fortunately it just bounced off without injury. God is Good! He limps a little but the toe is looking better all the time.



I'm looking over some quick and easy recipes for thanksgiving. I found some good ones on the food network that work well with a turkey breast. I may have to experiment this week. We are planning on going to my mom's house for Thanksgiving weekend.


Look at this cool atomic projection clock I got from my sister for my birthday . These are some of it's features:
Projects time on ceiling or wall with red LED
Automatically adjusted to split-second accuracy, based on a daily signal from government transmitter
LCD display shows time, day, date, month and indoor temperature (Fdeg or Cdeg )
Clock also has light, snooze alarm, AM/PM display, perpetual calendar and 12-hour/24-hour time display.


Guess who has a birthday this week? If you said ME....score 5 points and I will be expecting a birthday greeting from you on Wednesday. If you can't send a card or a greeting at least send cake! This girl does love birthday cake.

Hope your weekend was wonderful.

Labels: weekend wrap up

1. Mr. Wonderful and I arrived in Savannah on Friday evening just in time to keep Floozie and her Mr. from watching the last 10 minutes of a movie that had been watching for 2 hours and eat their left over pizza (what are friends for!) After a long gab session where I gave hugs from all of Floozie's Blog friends (boy was I exhausted.... that's a lot of hugging!) we went to bed .

2. Saturday morning we went exploring Savannah. There have been lots of changes in the last year. We also went to our favorite place to eat, Hironos....basically a whole in the wall place with great food. It's always on my short list of favorites whenever we are in Savannah. There dinner portions are huge so I've been enjoying it for the last 3 meals. Mr. Wonderful got his fill of squid salad. He offered to share but why take away the thrill of something he enjoys and only gets bigger in my mouth while I chew it.


3. Mr. Wonder and I got our eyes checked and new glasses. We have an amazing friend who gives us a great deal on glasses. The optometrist was wonderful and gave us the best exam we have ever had. She told me that the blood pressure medication that I take is a very old one and I need to be careful if I get my eyes dilated because the medication that they use could kill me instantly. Wow! That was good information to know! She dilated my eyes and gave me a card to carry in my wallet whenever I get my eyes checked. It had been 6 years so it was definitely overdue. I get my new glasses on Tuesday.


4. We went to the Movies today and saw Prince Caspian. I was disappointed that the movie was so different from the book. It's been a long time since I read the book so I'll definitely check it out again and see if I just forgot most of it. Asland was awesome and was the best part of the movie for me.

5. We have been camping out at church the last two days trying to see as many people as possible. Tomorrow we will be going to two Small Groups and out to lunch with old friends. For the next 5 days I'll be everyone's favorite lunch date. Thought you'd like a peek at our weekend. Stay tuned for updates and pictures. As always, Savannah is a whirlwind of activities with old friends.

Labels: weekend wrap up

Yep, we are back in the Daisy Patch for few days before heading off to Savannah for 9 days. I got to spend Mother's Day with my two youngest ( Andy and mom-to-be Suzy). Mother's Day was beautiful weather so we went to the Cloisters, and Wave Hill. There's just something about being in a beautiful setting that just makes everyone look better. The background is the Hudson River.



We spent a whole day shopping for baby boy clothes, baby furniture, and maternity clothes. Who knew that there would be such cute clothes for little boys ? Mr. Wonderful even bought a bomber jacket (12 month size) for our grand baby boy and helped dad Tim put together the new crib. What fun to spoil the new mom and talk babies! Of course I had to check out all the baby clothes, toys, furniture and even suggest a nursery theme.

This Diva is thrilled with the prospects of having a favorite grandson and grand daughter. I even got to pat our boy! Suzy is so cute....with her little baby bump.
Proud Daddy Tim did well with his surgery on Monday. He is sore but will be home for a week or more. We were glad to be able to be with Suzy in the waiting room during his surgery. We are all glad that the surgery is over now and he can recover long before baby is due.

We were also able to meet Andy's girlfriend Laura. She's a sweetheart and it was nice to get to know her a little better. She's a beautiful girl.

Of course my kids can't resist photo opportunities. If the Saturday Photo Hunt theme is ever "weeping and wailing" I've got a picture handy.

Labels: Mother's Day, weekend wrap up

Weekend Wrap - Up or
(Your Mother knows what you've been up to!)


It's been a busy week here in Virginia. Mr. Wonderful and I are getting ready to hit the road again this coming Friday. We will be going to New York to visit with Suzy, Tim, Andy and go shopping for Jellybean's arrival.

We planted a Bloodgood Japanese Maple tree in our front yard. One of our Dogwood trees died so we replaced it with this colorful Maple. I love the splash of color it gives to the yard. Whatever we plan on planting this spring has to been done this week as we will be traveling the next two weeks.

I'm packing away our winter clothing. My winter clothes are too big now as I've lost two dress sizes. It's a nice problem to have. So they are all boxed up ready to take to the mission. I'm going through the attic trying on skinny clothes and deciding do I really like this? Some of those clothes that I saved till I got skinny aren't as cute as I thought they would be.

Good News, Bad News....Emma had the 3 day flu and passed it on to her mom and dad. She is getting into everything ( so you know my baby is better!) Suzy Q ended up with a bad head cold and so congested she could barely breath. Her OB told her she could take plain Sudafed which helped her considerably. I told her she has to be all better so we can do some marathon baby shopping this weekend.

Wednesday is the day we may be able to know "what flavor" our jellybean will be...passionate pink or blissful blue. Either way this Diva will be glad to see a picture of our baby. Emma was a very modest baby so we couldn't tell...hopefully Jellybean will be a little more cooperative.

New York this week, Savannah the following week and my Canadians arrive shortly after we get home. Can life get any better than this?

Labels: Emma, Jellybean, Suzy, weekend wrap up