FlyLady - not what it sounds like

Just wanted to quickly recommend www.flylady.net. It is a site about getting your house in order. As you may imagine, mine is not. But this is an excellent, and free, organized method for getting rid of the clutter in your home and life in general. I am just starting - taking baby steps. It is extra hard for me because I am carrying a baby most of the time, but slowly but surely little parts of my house are getting cleaner. And parts that I get clean are staying clean. My sink is still shining!

Reconnecting

This blog has been idle for quite sometime. I think the title says it all. But since my last post a lot has happened and I have reconfigured my life. I had a pregnancy that ended with me giving birth at 20 weeks to a daughter, Camellia Claire, with Trisomy-13 on February 18, 2009. It was devastating. Her death is something from which I'll never fully recover. Then last August we found out that we were expecting once again. We were, of course, thrilled and nervous at the same time. I quit my job in October so I could re-prioritize my life and spend less time away from my loved ones. We welcomed Arabella Grace on April 22, 2010! She is completely healthy and a true blessing. Her smiles melt my heart.

A close friend of mine shared this prayer - meant for people like me who over commit.

To Set Boundaries

Help us to realize when our workload is too heavy to carry alone, whether at home, on the job, at church - sometimes all these and more. Help us to see we can't be everything to everyone, and please keep others from expecting us to.

Show us how to let go of some of our responsibilities to be able to prioritize and focus on those things we must do personally - and be willing to delegate whatever responsibilities we can delegate. Help us to protect our times of prayer, with too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Help us to set boundaries over time and schedule so we are not rising too early or staying up too late, trying to stretch our days. Be our resting place and refresh us when we are weary.

Help us to know what to let go of and how. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The weekend was so nice and relaxing and it was fun to just hang out with the kiddos. We did have an invitation for dinner on Saturday night, but could not find a babysitter, so it was not to be. :( Oh well - c'est la vie! Most of my babysitters are elsewhere for the summer and it has been tough finding someone when we need one!

Considering I did not have a plan in mind for dinner last night, the family ate well last night. I had never really made a monte cristo sandwich before, but I flipped through several recipes on Foodnetwork.com and sort of combined them to fit what I had in the fridge. Please go to that site and search if you want to see lots of good recipes and the source of most is listed below.

Monte Cristo Sandwich (makes 1)
3 slices bread
thinly sliced turkey
muenster cheese
mayo
mustard - i know dijon would have been better but mine was expired, so good old French's was used instead
3 eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
butter
veg oil (about 2-3 tablespoons)

spread mayo on 2 slices of bread and mustard on 1 slice.
put turkey on each of the 2 mayo slices and top the turkey with slices of muenster
put the bread with mustard on top of 1 of the cheese and turkey slices and invert the other turkey and cheese half on top of it to make one beautiful sandwich.
Cut off crusts and wrap in press-n-seal. Refrigerate for a while. I think mine was in there maybe an hour and a half.
Heat a pan with veg oil and butter (maybe a tablespoon)
beat eggs with milk in a shallow bowl, big enough to dip sandwich in.
unwrap sandwich (common sense) and dip in egg wash, covering completely and letting excess drip off before placing in hot pan. I had my heat on about medium or a little above. The oil lets the butter get to a higher heat with out scorching it, but still - you don't want a monte cristo briquette. Now - exert patience and leave it alone for about 2 and half minutes. flip carefully so you don't spatter yourself with hot oil (ahem) and cook for 2 and half minutes on the other side.
Cut diagonally to serve.

It was a thing of beauty for the nanoseconds before I ate it.

True Confessions: I made the banana bread again this morning.

I have a League meeting tonight at 5:30 and then am going to walk with Mary Beth and Bundle. Yea! We are going to try to offer her (Bundle, not Mary Beth) water every time so maybe she'll finally let her guard down one day and actually hydrate on the trail...silly dog!

Finally - check out www.cuil.com
Interesting alternative to Google. I like the results setup and the graphics that accompany them.

I finished my week as a Nielsen family and found I watch a lot of Lifetime, Bravo, Food Network and HGTV, with a daily touch of Discovery Channel's Cash Cab. Man, that's a good show. As to the Lifetime thing - who can resist Golden Girls and Frasier?? Is it just me? They are funny!! RIP Estelle Getty. Sophia was a great character!

Mary Beth and I have walked a couple of times this week. I am not dieting, though I need to, but it is nice to get a little exercise. I have been taking my mother's dog, Bundle, with us and she basically just stops when she gets tired. That's how we know we are through! And though she is hot and tired, her suspicious nature keeps her from accepting any water from Mary Beth - Bundle has to be home with her own water bowl before she'll take a drink. She just looked at Mary Beth's bowl as is to say "I am not familiar with this bowl. Why are you so anxious for me to drink from it?" Weird dog.

I brought my umbrella to work, which explains why we haven't seen a drop! Yea! Maybe now we can go swimming!

If you are wondering where I have been - the overcommitted one has been in a blur of activity. I finished and published the first edition of the Keller Center Research Report . We have had excellent feedback from our readers and I am so pleased. All you Realtors out there, this is a must read report! New research that will help you market most efficiently!

Coming soon, We are working on a cross-disciplinary study about the state and future of the housing market! Should be good stuff! Be watching for more info...

My sister-in-law, Alison Indergard, married her sweetie, Brad Allen, on July 5th in Dallas. It was a gorgeous wedding and a good time was had by all. And I had a sitter with me because I was matron of honor and Mike was a groomsman. If you have children and are in a wedding party, I HIGHLY recommend having a sitter with you. Allowed all of us to have fun! Plus our sitter, Nicki, was such a dear. It was nice to have her around!

Alison and Brad went to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. Brad surprised Ali with a limo to take them to the airport, but the bigger surprise was when the limo drove the wrong direction and only barely go them to the airport on time. Not so good news for the luggage though. It had to take the next flight. It all worked out though since they were staying overnight in Los Angeles anyway. On the way back, they left their passports and money in the hotel safe and had to really think fast to get it in time. It all worked out as the native Bora Borans (can that be right?) all worked together to get them their belongings and get them on the flight. Was it the bottle of Tahitian rum Ali had given the ferry driver? We may never know...

On the tropical island note, Mike and I went to a Tiki party at Merryl and Will's house last Saturday night. Fun group and nice tropical cocktails! We all went swimming - which I now recall is a lot of fun without the kids - and came home dripping wet at 1 am. Completely out of the norm for me! It was a great time and I was exhausted! A couple of our friends announced their engagement! Congrats Lee and Leandra!

Back to the grindstone...

Verdict is still out...

I tried Biosilk Hydrating shampoo and conditioner based on the fact that it is from the makers of CHI. It smells fabulous, but with my thick hair I need power conditioner and I couldn't tell that this made any difference. I still use CHI silk infusion afterwards (love it!) but I am not sure I'll use the conditioner again. Just not strong enough I don't think at this point. The verdict is still out...

My dad joined Facebook! I love that!

The kids are having swimming lessons this week and I am so proud of how well Brooks is doing!! He is going to be swimming like a pro in no time!

Family dinner tonight - yea!

Gain 5 pounds in 2 Easy Steps

1. Bake the ultra-delicious Hawaiian Banana Bread from the Houston Junior League Cookbook.
2. Devour.