Life In One Post

I've been a little under the weather the past few days with a silly sinus infection (hate those!) Generally, I am pretty healthy but this one really got me. After a few days in bed, lots of hot herb tea and homemade turkey noodle soup (thanks, honey), I'm back among the living, still a bit weak, but feeling MUCH better. A special thanks to my dear friend, Julie who with her adorable daughter, Rebecca, brought me the most beautiful orange tulips. They cheered me up and tulips are my favorite flowers!

Ever since my brother's accident, (he's doing great BTW) I have noticed that my almost 82 year old father is continuing his downhill slide. He calls all of his kids everyday now because he is certain that his time on earth is running out very quickly and he doesn't want to miss being able to tell us how much he loves us. It's very sweet! I think Mark's accident really took its toll on my sweet daddy. He is now pretty much unable to get out of bed and is just waiting to "go". It makes me sad, but we have lived with his health ups and downs for 30 years (he had his first heart attack at age 52). He is the sweetest man and has been an amazing father to us. I am so blessed to have him in my life and I love him so much.

My mother fell while gathering canning jars the other day and cut her right hand between her thumb and forefinger. She had about 10 stitches and has it wrapped and in a partial cast! She is a violinist and needs that hand to move her bow...she was sick about it.Thankfully she has been on vacation and should get her stitches out on Monday. She's supposed to go back to Symphony on Tuesday...we'll see! But knowing my mother, she'll be back right on schedule, after all, the show must go on!

I read "The Hunger Games"...I normally don't read books like that. My genre of preference is historical non-fiction/fiction or the classics. Someone had given me the book to read so I decided I'd see what the fuss is all about. I admit that I read it in one day (it's a super quick read) and it was pretty entertaining in a sick, macabe sort of way. I can't say I loved it, but it was a fun diversion. Not sure if I'll read the other 2 in the series.

I've decided that I am a "Food Network" junkie, and I especially love the challenge shows; "The Next Food Network Star", "Chopped", "The Next Iron Chef", "Iron Chef America", "Just Desserts" etc...I ADORE watching these people think on their feet and the things they come with completely blow my mind! If you like blogs that have fabulous recipes, here are two that I love...Both of these women are amazing and have wonderful recipes that are pretty easy to make!

One of my *Littles*, Stella, is having her third birthday party in a week. She is SO into princesses (Cinderella is currently her fave) and loves to dress-up as one (on a daily basis!) So Aja hired a gal who will come to her house and be a princess for one hour. She teaches them how to dance like a princess, sing like a princess and play games like a princess. She even has stuff for little boys to do so it should be a good time.

And my tiniest *Little* will be 1 in November. I can't believe how fast this year has flown. It seems like it was just a few days ago that we were driving back and forth to the NICU to see this tiny little guy fighting for his life...now he weighs 22 lbs!! He's a tank!

So that's about it. My life in a nutshell. Today is the day that, if I have the strength, I am going to bring out my winter clothes and shoes. I have the tubs sitting in my kitchen from the other day right before I got sick. It's always kind of fun to pull out the winter things, but also sobering because it reminds me of what's to come...and we get TONS of snow!

There's a lot to look forward to. The seasons have drastically changed and the Holidays are quickly approaching. Time is the one constant in life. It keeps up its pace no matter what. Now if I can just keep up with it!