Wow! The Comment Love is Overwhelming!

I want to say thank you to everyone who stopped by yesterday on my SITS day! I loved reading every single one of the very many comments but I'm not sure I can reply back to all of them in a timely manner but I will try my very best....
be patient!

I appreciate the support so much. I teared up myself reading some of the comments.

Please do come back and see me. Even if I take a break from blogging due to laptop issues (I will be sending it in to Sony to be looked at next week and they said I will be without it for 2 weeks!....all of this after 2 in-home repairs!) I also take a break whenever I am out of town or just extra overwhelmed with life.

I am also trying to go through my followers to try to follow back! I will get through all of them!

Thanks again and stayed tuned....

Welcome SITStas!

I am so excited to be the FB today over at SITS! They are such an incredible group of women who support each other as bloggers. Go over and check them out if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

My profile over to the left is quite long. I don't know how to keep it short. I spend all of my time with my 4 year old so talking to adults makes me ramble a bit.

I started blogging less than 8 months ago. I started to blog as a sort of therapy to get me through the grief process that I have been going through since summer 2008. It helps me to concentrate on happy thoughts as much as possible. I am better since last summer but still have a long way to go.

I am a SAHM of 2 girls (14 years old...just started high school this week) and 4 years old (starting preschool this month)

I enjoy pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. I have become a coffee addict since having my youngest. She's a handful (I'm praying for her teachers). I love technology. I can't help myself, it's in my blood. My dad has been a computer geek/technology buff all my life.

I love taking pictures and scrap booking (I am a Creative Memories snob).

I enjoy reading on my Kindle late at night and a good glass of red wine when all the house is quiet.

I love cooking for my family and trying new recipes I find mostly in Cooking Light Magazine.

I despise doing laundry (the separating of the clothes into piles, taking them out of the washer, putting them in the dryer, taking out of the dryer, hanging and folding!) too much work!

I grew up on the north side of Chicago approx. 1 mile from Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs! We have been in the Southwest for 6 years now. I have had a very hard time becoming a fan of any sports teams here. I think Chicagoans are true to their teams no matter where they live.

I am a night owl by nature and now it seems that late-night is the only time I have to myself anymore.

Please take a look at the right column for the recipes I love to make for my family.
I also have a new button over there. Feel free to take it and post it on your blog :)

I have some of my fav posts on the left column under: Things I Like to Whine About.

I am looking forward to seeing all of your comments and hope to see you come back to say hello another day!

PS...follow me and I will most likely return the favor :)

Writer's Workshop: What to do? What to do?

This is my very first time participating in Mama Kat's Writers Workshop.

The Prompt:

1) What will you be doing now that the kids are back in school?

First off, let me tell you that I have a 14 year old girl and a 4 year old girl.

My oldest just started her Freshman year of high school THIS WEEK! My 4 year old will get her very first taste of authority outside of her home at the end of August when she starts preschool for the first time.

As for me, I have been thinking of this moment of new freedom for approx. 4 years. Now it is upon me, I am excited and nervous at the same time. Preschool is only 3 hours a day 4 days a week.

THINGS I WANT TO DO:

1) go back to the gym...I did a full six months of gym time last year and since last summer haven't been able to get back into my 'groove'. This will be especially nice that I won't have to stop whatever I am doing to go and wipe a certain 4 year olds butt.

2) sit at a Starbucks or another friendly neighborhood coffee shop, drink a cinnamon dulce latte and read something on my Kindle...WITHOUT HAVING TO STOP TO WIPE MY 4 YEAR OLD'S BUTT!

3) meet a friend for a coffee (yes, I'm addicted, I know) again without having to wipe any part of my 4 year old

4) get a massage or pedicure...oh how nice that would be right?

THINGS I WILL MOST LIKELY DO IN REALITY

1) go to the gym...get on an elliptical machine and think about my 4 year old and who will be wiping her butt since I am not at school with her...picturing her sitting there on the tiny preschool toilet calling for me to wipe her (I am hoping she saves going #2 for at home)

2) make my coffee at home, adding come vanilla caramel liquid coffee-mate, look through my cooking magazines/books and find new things to make for dinner

3) go grocery shopping (at least my 4 year old won't be there telling me that SHE can push the cart and run into all the grandmas there)

4) dream about a massage/pedicure on my way to pick up the kids

I think I will still try to fit in a coffee with a friend whenever possible...spending too much time alone will not be good for me!

I have been in isolation for 4 years. We have no family here and only a few friends which makes isolation quite easy to do. Plus it is in triple digits here still and there's not much to do outdoors when it's that hot.

This will be a big change in my life and I really hope I learn to make the most of it for myself.

Honk (or in this case...comment) If You Are the Mom of a High Schooler!

Today is the first day of high school for my 14 year old daughter. I can imagine all the excitement and nervousness she was feeling all morning.

She has never used an alarm clock to wake up for school, until today. I have been her alarm clock BUT she wants to get up at 5am! No one in this house is up before 6:15am so last night we had a lesson in how-to-set-the-alarm-clock-that-has-been-sitting-on-your-table-f0r-two-years.

I can say that all went well this morning. I heard her get up at 5am, go in bathroom and shower. She's always been an evening shower-er until now.

I picked up some really cool Ed Hardy folders and notebooks for her. She picked out a backpack. She had her first-day-of-high-school outfit.

I can not believe how fast she seems to be growing up.

I can't wait for her to come home today so I can try to pry out of her how the day went. I'm guessing I'll get a shoulder shrug and and an OK from her. Teenagers!

Now it's just me and my 4 year old again at home...that is until the end of August when she will enter preschool for the very first time (sob)!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

OMG! I have been so freaking busy since the beginning of July! I was out of town for 3 whole weeks and did not have internet access for the most part. Being the techy person that I am, that is always hard for me!

Now I am trying to catch up with getting school clothes, supplies, filing out the rest of the forms, doctors appointments, etc, etc.

So I am hoping to get back on track in my blogging world in the next few weeks!

Been On Vacation!

I have been away for over 3 weeks and hope to get back here ASAP!

Flashback Fridays

I am participating in Flashback Fridays over at More Than Words again.

This is a picture of my mom and me. I am guessing that I am around 4 years old here but I'm not sure but it was taken in the 70's somewhere in Chicago.