Great Bargains and Inspirational Words

Today it's the last day of November which means I have only 25 days till Christmas. Last year I was all ready at this time and this year not so much. Till few days ago I didn't even think we will have Christmas this year, but Lady Luck finally smiled at us and Mr. Misery has a job.

I've been expecting Mr.Misery home soon, but unfortunately he was stuck in Yuma for 3 days due to the Thanksgiving and he should be heading home today.

I was planning on going shopping with him, but I decided to take my boys on a little shopping spree.

December is very emotional month for my boys and especially HB. I try to make it as fun as possible for both them.

December 21st, 2005 HB was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and spent the Christmas Eve in a hospital. December 24Th, 2008 our puppy died in the middle of her seizure.

That's why I decided to spoil the boys a little today, because I know what is coming....

Anyway, we had lots of fun. We went out for lunch with my sister and her 2 boys. Then we hit the mall. I couldn't buy much with HB and LP being there so I mostly bought wrapping stuff, baking supplies and gifts little gifts for others.

I did buy myself a coat which I am still feeling guilty about since we have to watch our pennies now and I am still considering taking it back next week, but I know Mr. Misery won't let me.

I found lots of great deals that I put on my mental list for when I'll go shopping with Mr. Misery.

I found these beautiful vintage looking gift bags for only $0.25 which made them officially the Deal Of The Day.

I've been looking around for good deals and bargains everywhere I go.

Not only in the stores, but also online.

One of the great deals I came across last night I want to share with you is 50% Saving on Candy Cane Snowman Snack Assortment from The Popcorn Factory

If you are a mom you always need a supply of Cold & Cough medicine. You can visit Triaminic website and print $1.50 Off coupon for the Triaminic Thin Strips.

For the Bread Bakers out there I found a great deal. FREE 48 page recipe book. Just visit The Bread Breakthrough. On top of the page click on the drop-down menu and select magazine ad. It will take you to a page where you can order your free book for only $1.00 Shipping & Handling.

So I will leave you today with words from Winston Churchill:

"We make a living by what we get, but we make life by what we give".

HB Update and My Little Rant About Tom Cruise & Co.

Saturday morning and I get to sleep in. LP's early morning hockey game was canceled due to the other team no wanting to play that early....bless them all. I might have to send them a muffin basket,lol.

Yesterday I took HB to our doctor for the ER follow-up. His eye was just swollen, purple and he was in so much pain. The ER dude told me it is probably because of his sinuses, but apparently all this trouble was caused by a little sty in HB's eye that got badly infected due to his low immune system. Our GP the man I love so much gave us a prescription for an antibiotic eye cream as an extra boost for faster recovery. This morning HB is feeling much better. He still looks like he was in a fight, but the pain is mostly gone.

I also got tested for Celiac disease yesterday so I will have to wait for the results till next week. If a parent has a Celiac there is a 25% change that their child will have it as well. The odds are not that great, but better then 50% chance.

My GP doesn't think I have it since I don't have any real symptoms like my mom, but you never know. I started to do a little research on it to prepare myself for it. If I don't have it I still want to be prepared for my mom. She loves bread, cakes, cookies and all that forbidden stuff. She's one of the people you love to hate. She can eat anything and not gain weight. So I am getting ready and learning how to make gluten free cakes and treats that taste good.

Yesterday was a little lazy day due to HB being home and me trying to take care of him.My friend took LP to his hockey practice so I had some extra time for myself before dinner.

I was browsing through the world wide web see if there is anything interesting I can read. I came across a picture article called "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the cutest child of them all?". It is a picture article of 14 photos featuring little Suri Cruise.

I am not a celebrity stalker. I believe in privacy and celebrity right to live their lives without people judging and talking about them. I haven't read one tabloid magazine since August 1997 when princess Diana was killed. I made myself a promise and I kept.

With all that said I was looking at the pictures of little Suri. She's such a cutie.
I didn't want to be judgemental, but there is one thing I noticed and it kind of bugged me so I had to share it with you. Check out the pictures for yourself.

According to my count at least half of the pictures show little Suri in sleeveless dresses and/or bare legs while the adults with her and people in the background are bundled up in coats, jackets, sweaters, hats, scarfs, boots which tells me it's cold.In one of the pictures she's wrapping herself up in her blanket.

Again, not judging here (OK, maybe a little). I don't care what kind of little fashionista she is or if she throws a fit when getting dressed, but if mom is wearing boots,parka,hat and scarf it is a good idea put something more on that child then just sleeveless dress and ballet slippers without leggings.

Katie and Tom put some sweater on that child....it's late November for crying out loud. Have you heard of H1N1 lurking around? I am sure she got her shot, but your doctor should have told you it's only 70% safe.

And another thing Tom. You were all over Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressants for her Postpartum depression, but guess what? I am sure she puts coats and jackets on her kids in winter when going out.

Sorry, I had to put it there. I have a completely different opinion of Tom Cruise since that day. Perfect example of the thing I mentioned in my Wednesday Wall of Shame. He's not a woman, he's not a doctor yet he had the desire to loudly voice his opinion on national TV about something he has no clue about.

Am I Moving Forward Happiness? I think I am.....

Another week is almost gone. Yes, Thank Goodness It’s Friday.

Not only Mr. Misery left again on Tuesday morning, but my parents left at the same time for 3 months. So the Seasonal Single Parenting is getting more interesting as we speak.

Before my mom left she wasn’t feeling good and her GP suspected that she has an enlarged liver. On the day she left her tests came back and we found out that she has Celiac Disease. Yes, Celiac…..

To make matters worse her GP also informed her that all of her children should be tested as well because there is a very high possibility that if a parent is suffering from Celiac disease so are the children. Aren’t we lucky bunch?

So today I am going to get tested for Celiac disease along with my sister. The good news is that HB was tested for Celiac a year ago due to his diabetes and he is negative. Poor kid doesn’t need any more problems.

Other then that the week just flew by. This week I learned that Monday dinner should be big enough to have leftovers for Tuesday since I have a 40 minute window between figure skating and hockey practice to make dinner, eat it and get LP into his hockey gear and to the arena. I'll tell you, I was sweating bullets by the time I got home that night.

I was so happy that the boys were feeling better and they both went to school on Monday. My happiness didn't last long. Yesterday HB woke up with fever and his eye was so swollen....seriously it was huge and purple. I wanted to take picture and show you, but I think the flash would kill the poor child.

I took him to the ER yesterday after LP left for school. The doctor told me that he has some kind of infection for sure especially since he had quite a high fever. He prescribed some antibiotics for HB that he's not happy with. HB hates pills. He has troubles swallowing them since I can remember. These pills are huge and he needs to take them 4 times a day so we are not a happy household right now.

His appetite is not that good either and the pharmacist warned me about taking lots of food with his medication. Great, just great.

I made him some Pineapple Carrot Loaf so he has something to eat with those horse pills. HB seems to be happy with that.....for now.

Pineapple Carrot Loaf

I was just thinking how I wanted to write about my journey to happiness and about things I am slowly changing to make that happen. Lately it's all about my sick kids and misery, isn't it?

On the other hand I am taking all these setbacks with positive outlook and that's a big change. I am also moving forward slowly, but surely with my writing. I am learning new things every day and I am trying not to repeat my mistakes....so I guess I am doing what I wanted to do and that's all that matters.

So tomorrow I will write about something other then my sick kids and the fact that I might add a Celiac disease to a long list of things that are wrong with me, I promise.

Happy THANKSGIVING To All My American Friends

On this Thursday morning I don't want to bore you with long post as you are all probably busy.

I want to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING To All Of My New American (and old)friends. Enjoy the day with your families and make new memories.

I wish I was having Thanksgiving feast today, but apparently we Canadian need to do it way too early to be different. Oh, well.... at least I took the advantage of the $0.59lb turkey deal in Oroville, Washington last week for our Christmas dinner so I am thankful for that.

Mr. Misery gets to celebrate a second Thanksgiving this year being somewhere in Arizona right now. Truck Stop Thanksgiving Feat....YUMMY (not).

So I don't want to keep you any longer. Today I decided to bring you some Thanksgiving laughs.

First a little Thanksgiving Song:

Then a little Thanksgiving Dance:

I finally little Thanksgiving Humor:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING MY FRIENDS

Wednesday Wall Of Shame

I've been thinking about what or who to put on my Wall Of Shame today.

The wall is a special place and I want to make sure that only serious offenders will make it there.

I want my wall to serve multiple purposes. It needs to be a frustration and negativity relieve for myself so I can concentrate on positive things, but it also should serve a purpose of helping others or let others to relieve their frustration and negativity.

So if you feel so incline go ahead and leave your frustration in your comment. Think of my wall as your weekly outlet if you wish. I like to share....

So this week's Wall Of Shame contestants are:


#1 People Who Comment On Certain Subjects without an experience, expertise or clue about the subject just to comment and get negative reaction out of strangers.

I don't mean you bloggy friends. I mean idiots who comment on articles most of them of a value written by people with knowledge or experience. Know-it-alls who go around reading articles they know nothing about, but have the need to comment, argue and insult people who either wrote it or people who are trying to have a valuable conversation and input with others about the topic through comments.
I myself try not to get involved in this because that's what they are waiting for....the reaction, but every time I come across something like this my blood is just boiling.

I can't stand people who never had children yet they call you bad parent or try to tell you how to raise a child without having one.People who put money and careers before their children and call you lazy and dumb because you chose to stay home and raise your children. People who have no idea about certain disabilities or diseases, yet they think they are the expert in that field and they know what you or your child need and why you or your child is suffering from that particular disability...You get my point. I can go on and on.

#2 Companies Knowingly Using Children with Cell Phones To Make Money.

This is a new low for many companies using children through their parents cell phone accounts to make money while promising special perks to the unsuspected minors.
Children (adults as well) are being offered special promotions, tokens, secret levels while playing free online games or using Facebook and other social networks. All they need to do is to enter their cell phone number and the company will text them a special code they will enter online in an exchange for already mentioned perks. Of course there is that pesky little tiny disclaimer that nobody reads that allows the companies to sell your number or use themselves to send your child never ending stupid trivia or useless facts text and your account will be charged $3.00 per text received.

If you want to track them and scream at them how dare they charge your account since your child is a minor, account is in your name and you didn't give them or your child the permission.....good luck with that. Your bill will show it as Premium Text without any numbers or contact info.

The only thing you can do is to take your child's phone away and every time you receive the unwanted text you have to reply to that text by typing STOP. After that you should receive a confirmation from that particular company letting you know that you unsubscribed their service. You might need to do this few times till all of them stop.

Yes, HB learned a valuable lesson last few days and the penalty of going behind mom's back was severe.

To give you an example this is what you can get for $3.00 to be delivered to your phone without your knowledge:"When planning a date, pick a location u can afford & an activity u enjoy"

Isn't that wonderful....what a great tip and it cost my son only $3.00 so now he can't go on a date because all he could afford was $3.00 and he just spent it on this enlightening tip. Oh, and another reason why he can't go on a date is because he's little ass is grounded till he's 30.

Lucky I'm In Love With My Best Friend & Best Sunday Ever

Hello Monday....beautiful Monday.....

Yesterday was the best Sunday I had in a long time. It was simple, but beautiful. It was a day I spent with people who I love the most.

It all started 2am when Mr. Misery showed up in our bedroom...he did scare the crap out of me and I wasn't impressed with the fact that I didn't hear him coming, but I was so HAPPY to see him. It was 10 long, long days since he left.

After the proper Hello I felt asleep just to be woken up by LP's screams: "Daddy is home, daddy is home. I can't believe my daddy is home". That was the end of my Sunday sleeping in.

I didn't really care about sleeping in. I just wanted some time with Mr. Misery before he has to leave again (tonight or tomorrow morning). We did some catching up on what is happening in our household in the last 10 days over morning coffee. Then I did little modeling in my "skinny jeans" (I got some nice looks with a wink from Mr.Misery).

Mr. Misery fed the boys and then took me out for Sunday Brunch....just two of us...yeeey. I was so bumped out that I had nobody to go to the movies with me Friday or Saturday night so Mr. Misery decided to make it up to me while he's home.

The Sunday brunch was in a swanky Bistro in our little town. The food was really good, but for $16.00 per person I expected more then little bit of breakfast food and cold cuts with cheese. In my culinary experience that would be a breakfast buffet since there was not 1 lunch item there. Desserts were Jello in a fancy tall glass and single servings of 2 kinds of pie. So looking from my professional point of view it was a bit of a disappointment, but the company was wonderful and that more then made up for it.

The afternoon we decided to hang out with our boys, watch movie and just talk about our week.

Sunday dinner was an anniversary dinner at my parents house.My dad made my favorite Sunday meal he used to make for us back home when we were kids. Schnitzels. I love Schnitzels. You can find a recipe for my Schnitzels on my Gourmet Meals For Less blog.

On the way home from a wonderful dinner with my parents and my sister's family we stopped by at my best friend's house for a visit with our out-of-town friends we haven't seen since March.

Like I said it was nothing super exciting, but it was nice and full of love. This is the way every Sunday should be.

Before I leave I want share with you a wonderful recipe from my childhood. I am planning to make this for my boys tonight as a part of something new I am trying out...Meatless Mondays. I do not know a proper English name for this so I call it Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding.

Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding - Zemlovka

I hope you all have a great day. I am off to spend some quality time with Mr. Misery and also bake him some cookies and bread for the road. Apparently he bribes the loading dock workers with my baking goods to get him through faster. Whatever works...I guess.

Sunday Reflections To Keep My Universe In Balance

I decided to put another feature on my blog to keep me going. Since Wednesday is taken by the Wall of Shame that I truly enjoy I decided to make Sunday my positive reflection day.

I need to make sure things are all even in my universe. The worst thing you can do is to have your universe out of balance. That's just not right.

So every Sunday I will write about things that happened over the week that made me happy, grateful or proud.

#1 I fit into jeans from my Dream Box. I never was a tiny girlie girl.Through my teen years I was always size 10/12 and into sports. In my twenties I gained a little weight and I was solid size 14.When I got married I was size 16 and getting bigger (after I got engaged we decided to have a baby right away just to find out that I can't have babies without fertility treatments). I tried for 4 years to get pregnant and in the process I ballooned into size 24. I never really lost the weight. I was jumping between 18-24 for many years. About 3 years at size 24 I decided to seriously lose the weight. I bought few pieces of clothing to keep me motivated. Two years ago I managed to go from size 24 to size 16. I was happy, but I still couldn't fit into my new clothes. Over the course of few months I got distracted by life. I put the clothes away and I slowly managed to climb up to size 18. Last year when we bought our new house I found my clothes and I decided to put them in a box up in my walking closet marked DREAM BOX. This summer I lost some weight due to the stress and that's when I decided it to turn it into positive and I've been conscientious (most of the time)about what I eat and try to get more exercise.

Well, yesterday I decided to look into the Dream Box and try on a pair of size 14 jeans......DRUM ROLL PLEASE......they fit like a glove. I don't remember when I was size 14 last time....I think I was in my early twenties. I could not believe it....next stop size 12. Since I am 5'10" size 12 is my GOAL. Anywhere between size 10/12 I would be a happy woman. It is so close I can taste it.

This made me really HAPPY.....

#2 I survived First Week as a Seasonal Single Parent and I am Proud of Myself. Mr. Misery left for work 10 days ago and I am doing fine. I stuck to the schedule I made for me and the boys, the house is clean, the meals are cooked, the bills are paid and the boys are happy and healthy. I am thinking positive and moving forward one day at the time.....Yes, I will say it....I AM PROUD OF MYSELF.

I know, many people have it harder then me and I am not trying to win some competition or I am not trying to say how extraordinary I am.....all I am saying that finally after many years (if ever) I am looking at myself in the mirror and saying to myself: " I AM PROUD OF MYSELF and I LOVE MYSELF. Those who know me would tell you that this is a huge step for me.

This made me really PROUD...


#3 My Son Is Feeling Better. Yesterday we attended Type 1 diabetes seminar. It was a great opportunity for HB and myself to interact with other families, doctors and professional athletes with Type 1 diabetes.
After talking with some parents and grandparent of D-children HB's age and hearing their stories of the problems they deal with due to the rebellion and kids not realizing how important the proper care is I felt so grateful and proud of the attitude HB has toward his disease.Most of the kids didn't even attend because they didn't feel like it. The parents were there to listen and educate themselves and maybe pass little bits and pieces unto their children - the ones who really needed it. What a shame. One of the speakers was an Olympic athlete with few gold medals and his life story was such an inspiration for HB. How can these parents relate this to those children without being there.One mom actually told me that I am brave to bring my kids as she was asking for a special backpack for her son after seeing one of the reps giving the backpack to my son while discussing with him diabetes control. The rep just looked and hesitantly said "of course". He was probably thinking where is your son? HB overheard this and answered before I had the chance.
His answer is what makes me proud and grateful...he said: "Why wouldn't my mom bring me? These people are here to talk to me and help me since I am the diabetic and not my mom. She's here because she's my ride and of course she also cares." The lady was speechless and walked away. The rep gave him thumbs up. I'll tell you there was no prouder mom in that room at that moment.

I am so grateful that I have such a responsible young man I call my son.....we'll discuss his Friday long term grounding due to misuse of his cell phone at later date....today I am still proud

Too Emotional For My Own Good....

Another Friday is here. Day 8 of my SS Parenting. Kids are doing much better.

LP went to school yesterday and HB might be going today.

We had a little scare with HB Wednesday night. He wasn't feeling well and his blood glucose was dangerously high.He started to show Ketones in his urine which is a bad sign. I suggested that maybe we should check his insulin pump site even thou he wasn't due to change it yet.

HB went to his room to take out his site and I could hear him cry quietly. I went over there and his site looked so sore and swollen. Something went wrong with the tube under his skin and the insulin wasn't going into his body , but it was forming a bump full of insulin just under the surface.

This is the part of his disease I HATE. Usually Mr. Misery helps him with this yucky needle stuff.

So first I did my mommy stuff. I hugged him and told him to cry it out. We did it together. It will be 4 years next month and I still cry sometimes just over a simple word like diabetes. The Juvenile diabetes commercials on TV? You might as well pass me the Kleenex box.

Anyway, it was time for new pump site to be put inside his little body. I never done it. HB does it himself or Mr. Misery does it for him when he's not feeling well.

I left before I started the waterworks again. Few minutes later I hear quiet cry coming out of his room again. The site is in, but it was painful.

So I did the mommy thing again and after a good cry I promised HB that I will learn how to do it so I can help.

One thing you need to know about me is that I know how to give my son insulin needles and how to prick his finger and collect blood sample. According to HB I am very good at it. The problem is that it is my child and every time I give him a needle or a prick I have to go to my room and cry.Don't ask me why, that's the way it is. I was hoping it will go away. No such luck.

So now I have to put aside my fears and emotions and learn how to insert a nasty tube into my baby's body. I would suck as a nurse.

Anyway, the new site is working. HB is feeling better. His blood glucose is going slowly down. The pesky ketones are still hanging around, but they should be gone by tomorrow.

I am so glad this week is over.With house full of sick kids I didn't get much internet learning done. I was upset about it middle of the week, but I realized some things are more important....like my sanity.

I wish Mr. Misery was home. He is in Sacramento making his way home....slowly.

I need a night out so bad. I want to go to movies tonight to see Couples Retreat so hopefully my sister or my BFF can go out on a date with me. I'll even pay....in case they are reading.

Last night for dinner I decided to make some Ricotta cheese ravioli. They were delicious. Mr. Misery sure missed out. Poor guy, he's eating truck stop meals. I hope he'll let me know when he'll be home so I can make him nice dinner before he leaves again.

Ricotta Cheese Ravioli & Tomato Sauce

Since my head wasn't into learning this week I decided to catch up on my kids scrapbooks. I am happy to announce that yesterday I finished year 2007 for both of my boys and as of now I am only 2 years behind. Believe me, that is an accomplishment for me. Before summer I was almost 5 years behind.

I decided that I MUST completely catch up by end of 2009. Not much time left, but I know it can be done.

Wednesday Wall of Shame

It's Wednesday and you know what time is it....it's Wall of Shame Time.

Remember only the worst of the worst will make my wall. You have to be pretty bad or you have to really piss me off to make it here.

Today Wall of Shame Winners are:


#1 Psycho Hockey Parents you know who you are. All of you sitting in the stands screaming your heads off at your grade school children. Yelling at them every time they make a mistake or are not playing to their potential "according to you" because we all know your little Johny will make to the NHL... You didn't make it so what gives you the idea that your child will. Oh, yeah I forgot you are trying to live through your children since you didn't accomplish much and your life sucks...How about cheering for them once in awhile....I won't think you're soft...I'll just think you are a good parent.
And stop yelling and swearing at the referees. It's not their fault that your child is a bully on ice. Sometimes they do deserve a penalty....and so do you.

#2 Retail Stores Playing Christmas Songs First Week of November - yes I get it Christmas is coming. I don't need to be reminded of it when I go to buy a gallon of milk or a toilet paper. I am not a Scrooge and I do like Christmas songs, but hearing them over and over as loud as can be 2 months in advance is little bit too much.I don't hear you playing music all year round so why the desire to crank up your old stereo way too early? Isn't it enough that you have your Christmas stuff displayed way before Halloween? Seriously shut the music off or let it play softly in the background....and for crying out loud change the CD once in awhile.

#3 Restaurant Chains That Refuse To Provide Nutritional Value of Their Meals. These days most of the large chains have no problems providing a nutritional value so people can make an educated decision To Eat or Not To Eat.It really bothers me that some large chains REFUSE to make their nutritional values a public knowledge. If you ask me public needs to know. If you are not hiding anything then what is the problem? I don't make a wise choices when it comes eating out sometimes, but I still would like to know what I am putting into my body. Also having a child with diabetes I would like to know what to enter into his insulin pump so he doesn't have to pay for it later.
Shame on you APPLEBEE'S, IHOP, OLIVE GARDEN, OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE and RED LOBSTER. Are you hiding something you don't want us to know?


So there you have, my Wednesday Wall of Shame.

Red Bull Doesn't Give You Wings....I Tried

I am sitting here and wanting to write....honestly I do.

But I am so exhausted. Both of my boys are home sick, but not sick enough to stay in bed and away from me...just sick enough to be whiny like every male out there who gets the sniffles.

What is it about men....little cold and they behave like they are dying and we should feel sorry for them and cater to their every wish? Yes, I do live in total testosterone household. I used to have a female puppy, but she died last Christmas.

We've been thinking about getting new puppy. I want something small and sweet I can love. My men want a BIG MANLY DOG that can protect us. Typical. That's why I am not in a rush to get a dog.

Why can't we compromise?

Woman can be sick as a dog with every bone in her body aching yet she still takes care of the house and the whiny man with sniffles.

You get the picture.

So anyway, I am exhausted. This seasonal single parenting doesn't look good on me.

In 16 years Mr. Misery was gone like 4 times for no more then 5 days. This is gonna take some time to get used to especially after having him home for 12 months 11 days and 2 hours.

Last night I had to have a Red Bull at 7pm just to make sure that I won't miss my show "Castle". No worries I was out like a light within 15 minutes after. I was little disappointed and waiting for the Red Bull to give me wings, but nothing. False advertising, I tell ya....NO FREAKING WINGS.

NO WINGS...I WANT MY WINGS

Hey, RED BULL people if you are reading this I want my wings or you will go on my Wednesday Wall of Shame. You have till midnight tonight to deliver them or WoS here I come.

But, seriously can you tell I am exhausted? Did I mentioned that I am exhausted?

I just spent 2 hours and 7 minutes cleaning the boys playroom and bathroom. Seriously over 2 hours people!!! I found stuff you don't want to know about and I came to conclusion that boys are GROSS.

This is Day 5 of my seasonal single parenting or as I like to call it SSP and I am so happy that Mr. Misery got a job, but I'll be so happy to see him back home. Even for a day or two.

As you know Mr. Misery took a temporary Long Haul driving job after 12 months of unemployment till the oil rig he works on reopens. Then I'll never see him,lol.

Well, yesterday Mr. Misery calls me from......LAS VEGAS.He had 18 hour break in VEGAS of all places.

I LOVE VEGAS. VEGAS is my home away from home. To explain, for last 10 years we spent 2 weeks every September in Vegas as an annual family vacation. This was the first year we couldn't go and I miss it so much.

My men enjoying Smores at Blondie's

We don't gamble or drink. We do love the hotels, pools, fine dining and shows. I also love the shopping. Yes, that used to be my life....and it will be again,oh yes, it will be again.

HB and his "Shadow" strolling through Vegas

So when Mr. Misery called from Vegas it was bitter-sweet. He said he never felt so lonely like yesterday. Everywhere he looked he saw all of us in the past having fun and now him being there by himself working and trying to survive. It's funny how life changes overnight. One day you have it all and then it's gone...just like that.

OK, that was just totally unexpected. I didn't want to depress you or feel bad for me. We are doing fine, finally caught a break we needed and we are on our way up.

I do have to tell you that looking back I wouldn't change much. I learned so much in the past 12 months and I have totally new appreciation for life. I could do without screwing up my credit, but the good news is I talked to the bank and I found out that my credit is not as bad as I thought and it is on the rise for the last few months.

So there.....I am back, baby and Vegas here I come.I am still exhausted thou.
Now, I have to go and make lunch for my sick babies and figure out dinner....great.

Before I go I want to share with you one of my recipes. Yesterday I made a Orange Pumpkin Loaf with Chocolate Chips and it's the bomb. I impressed myself.

Orange Pumpkin Loaf

Full Time Single Parents Are My Heroes

It's Monday....what a busy weekend I had.

Most of Saturday I spent on the road. First I had to take my Little Peanut to his hockey game 1 hour away. Since I promised my BFF to take care of baby S I decided to take the Hormone Boy with us for the extra help at the hockey arena.

Little Peanut woke up with little bit of a sore throat that went away after nice bowl of oatmeal. I was little concerned to take him to the hockey game, but he looked fine and he assured me that he's just fine.

They lost the game, but LP was named the MVP of the game by his coaches and he got to take home the Yellow Hard Hat that every MVP takes home till the next game and puts their name and number on it....LP was cool as a cucumber when he received it. He didn't show any excitement in front of the coaches and his teammates. The minute everybody was out of sight he put it on and didn't take it off till bedtime. He wore it to the grocery store and to dinner...my little weirdo.

He was little sad that his dad wasn't there to see it, but I took a picture and emailed to Mr. Misery right away. He was so proud...

After the game we had plans to go for dinner and bowling with my sister and her boys. As I mentioned on Friday was my little nephew's birthday so we decided to take him bowling. I made him a special birthday cake he requested and his reaction was the best reward I could ever get.

The cake I made was a Lemon Sponge Cake with Raspberry and Lemon Buttercream in a shape of a Hot Air Balloon.

Giblet's Birthday Cake

By the time we came home everybody including me was exhausted. I'll tell you, this single motherhood is hard. My hat goes off to every single parent out there including my sister.

Sunday morning I slept in....my wonderful boys didn't wake me up. I love them so.

By the time I got out of bed it was 9am and time for my coffee. As I stumbled into the kitchen to turn the coffee pot on I noticed that LP is not himself. He was complaining of dry cough and his eyes looked all glossy. My worst fear came true, my LP was getting sick and had a fever. So right away I gave him some fever medication and set him up on the couch. As the day went by he was feeling little better, but by bedtime he was coughing and the fever was back.

So there will be no school for him today. I don't think it's H1N1 , but I still will keep him home to make sure he doesn't get the H1N1...that's the last thing I need around here.

I've been missing for a few days from my bloggy world so I have a lot of catching up to do.

First things first....

I want to thank my friend Kristen from Scrappin'My Bliss for the Gorgeous Blogger Award she awarded me with over a week ago.

By accepting this award I am suppose to tell you 6 things you might not know about me and then pass it onto another gorgeous bloggers.

1. I am a Chocolate Lover and I will eat only top quality European chocolate and when I have a craving the prize is not an object.
2. I met and talked to John Ritter 2 days before his death
3. My son was chosen to be an onstage assistant for David Copperfield at the MGM Grand in Vegas (twice) and I got to see the show for free and from a special box
4. I am deadly afraid of public speaking
   
5. For my honeymoon I went to DISNEYLAND
6. I love liver, headcheese and blood sausage and my hubby thinks it's gross

So there you have it....few things about me I bet you didn't know.

Now I want to pass this wonderful award to these gorgeous bloggers:
Jenn at
Rook No.17

Shelly at Tropical Mum

Yesterday I received another wonderful award from Noelle at Elastic Waistbands and Comfortable Shoes. Noelle is one of my new bloggy friends and followers. She has a great blog and if you don't know her yet pop over for a visit.

Thank you Noelle for the wonderful Lemonade Award.

Rules of this award are as followed:


- put the lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.

- nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.

- link the nominees within your post.

- let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

- share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

I do not have lots of Followers yet, but majority of my followers have great attitude and gratitude so I give this award to:

The 5th Sister
Scrappin'My Bliss
ParlinMom
One Cluttered Brain
Just Because My Pickle Talks...
A Lot Of Loves

Midday Escapades
Live Laugh Latte

November 14th - World Diabetes Day

As a mom of a child with Type 1 diabetes it is important to me to spread awareness about this awful disease that is part of daily lives for some many children and adults.

Today, November 14th is the World Diabetes Day.

World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated every year on November 14. The World Diabetes Day campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations. It engages millions of people worldwide in diabetes advocacy and awareness.

World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2007 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public spotlight. This year sees the first of a five-year campaign that will address the growing need for diabetes education and prevention programs.

World Diabetes Day is celebrated worldwide by the 212 member associations of the International Diabetes Federation in more than 160 countries and territories, all Member States of the United Nations, as well as by other associations and organizations, companies, health care professionals and people living with diabetes and their families.

The World Diabetes Day logo is the blue circle - the global symbol for diabetes which was developed as part of the Unite for Diabetes awareness campaign. The logo was adopted in 2007 to mark the passage of the United Nations World Diabetes Day Resolution. The significance of the blue circle symbol is overwhelmingly positive. Across cultures, the circle symbolizes life and health. The color blue reflects the sky that unites all nations and is the color of the United Nations flag. The blue circle signifies the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes pandemic.

For more information about diabetes and life with diabetes visit these information websites:

• JDRF
• Diabetes.org
• Canadian Diabetes Association
  

Friday the 13th....Should I Say More?

It's Friday, Friday the 13th and also first snowfall....my official first day of being Seasonal Single Mother (SSM).

Mr. Misery surprised us and came home yesterday to spend the day with us. He left for his 7-8 day trip this morning and is heading down to Yuma, Arizona.

He had to do his first pick up in Washington State about 2 hours from home so his boss told him to sleep at home.

The boys had the chance to check out his big truck. They were so excited and I had the chance to bake him some cookies and brownies for the week.

I decided to spend the next 3 days organizing and cleaning my house.I made a daily schedule for the boys and myself. There is lots of going on in our lives right now and trying to do it alone and without some kind of schedule would be near to impossible. I might not be able to blog till Monday, but I will start my full time blogging again.

I have been neglecting commenting this last few days, but I promise starting Monday it will all change.

I feel little sad today, but I am OK. It's bitter-sweet. I wish Mr. Misery could get a good paying job he enjoys near home and be home with us every night and on weekends, but that's not a possibility right now. Maybe one day......

Today is also my little nephew's 5TH BIRTHDAY....Happy Birthday Little Giblet....I Love You.

Happy Birthday Giblet

I spent all day baking yesterday. I made some delicious Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies and Orange & Candied Ginger Brownies with Orange Buttercream Icing. I wanted to make sure that Mr. Misery has enough treats to last him 8 days.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Orange & Ginger Brownies with Orange Buttercream Icing

White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies

I am off to organize my house a bit and unpack our winter clothes since it decided to snow today.

I will be posting all of my recipes on my Gourmet Meal For Less blog. I will mention them here and if you like the recipe you can just follow the links.

I almost forgot....before I go...my new lovely friend Kristen from Scrappin'My Bliss gave me this wonderful Gorgeous Blogger Award over a week ago and I have been so preoccupied with everything that's going on that I forgot to thank her for it and pass it along.

Kristen, you have my sincere apologies for taking so long to acknowledge this award and I will pass it on next week.

Mr. Misery Got A Job

In honor of Remembrance Day and Veterans Day I will not do my usual Wednesday Wall of Shame. I will leave that for next week.



This morning I became a SINGLE MOTHER (no, not completely).

Mr.Misery is GONE, gone and gone.For those who don't know my story, please don't be upset at Mr. Misery. He's a good man and he'll be back.

Yes, my dear friends Mr. Misery HAS A JOB. After 12 months and 11 days (who's counting) of misery he is working.

It's not the job he's been waiting for for 4 months now, but it's good enough for now.

The oil rig that Mr. Misery will work on for 4-5 months is still not going due to unusual warm weather.

Monday night let's call it BLACK MONDAY (I totally lost it hence my missing posts)Mr. Misery received a call from a small company and offered him a job to drive a Long Haul for them.He will be hauling a produce from California to Canada. This is something he used to do in the past and is qualified to do beside million other things.

So Mr. Misery contacted his oil rig boss who told him to take it for the time being and he will give him enough notice to come back to the rig when it's open (could be another 2-3 months). That's what I call a win-win situation....hold on, did I hear that right.....we won something???

My wonderful husband is back feeling good about himself and on the road as I type this. We can finally start working towards getting out of this DEBT HELL HOLE I hate so much. He's not making the money he would on the rig, but he is making more then he did at the job he lost last year.That's good enough to start us on the road to recovery and happiness.

This morning I dusted off the old stainless steel thermos and filled it with strong coffee. Packed some granola bars and toiletries. Kiss my husband goodbye and sent him off to work....YEEEEEY.

WORK, WORK, WORK....how I love to say WORK.

I won't be able to kiss Mr. Misery for 6-12 days, but that's OK. It will be that much sweeter.

I did start my journey from Misery to Happiness 42 days ago, but now I can go full speed ahead. Just watch me.....nothing can stop me now.

For those of you who are in similar situation....DON'T GIVE UP.....PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP on yourself, your spouses and most of all GOD.

UPDATE ABOUT THE LITTLE GIRL WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES:

They had to transport her at 4am to Children's Hospital. She is out of her coma. They managed to find insulin that agrees more with her body and her blood glucose is lower now. It is still high, but not dangerously high. The most important part is that she will make it....she has a long and hard road ahead, but she will make it.

Don't ignore the signs of Type 1 diabetes

A little 8 year old girl my family knows is in a hospital coming in and out of diabetic coma after seizure and being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes little too late. This little girl is also allergic to insulin which causes a great deal of distress and problems since her high blood glucose is extremely high and large quantity of insulin is needed to bring her down and out of her coma.

This little girl had the same warning signs as my son.

My 12 year old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in December 2005 at the age of 8. It came as a shock to all of us. In a matter of weeks he changed from bubbly and healthy hockey player to sick-looking skinny boy who was always tired.

He lost 15lbs in a course of 4 weeks. When he started peeing his bed I took him to our family doctor and my worst fear came true. Our life changed within seconds.

His blood glucose was extremely high and he was immediately admitted into the pediatrics unit. He was white as a ghost, very fragile and had to be hooked up to an IV unit for almost 2 days just to get him stabilized.

At that time I just wanted to crawl into bed and cry, but there was this little person looking at me and waiting for my reaction. I assured him everything will be fine and I'll be there right beside him. I always knew my son was special, but that was the day my child became my hero. My little boy was forced to grow up suddenly overnight.

Somebody was watching over my son. I can’t even imagine if he went into coma in the middle of his hockey game and we wouldn’t know why.

My son 3 months before being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes

This is my son the day he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes

For all the parents that suspect their child might have type 1 diabetes. Don't ignore the signs. Have them checked out right away.

The signs your child might have type 1 diabetes (these signs might occur suddenly):

• Extreme thirst
• Frequent urination
• Drowsiness, lethargy
• Sugar in urine
• Sudden vision changes
• Increased appetite
• Sudden weight loss
• Fruity, sweet, or wine-like odor on breath
• Heavy, labored breathing
• Stupor, unconsciousness

Type 1 diabetes also known as Juvenile diabetes can occur at any age, but is most commonly diagnosed before age 30.

Sometimes the signs of diabetes are mistaken for ADD/ADHD as the behavior problems are quite extreme due to high or low blood glucose.

Research has shown that the trigger – an event or series of events occurring many months before the symptoms present themselves – is a combination of environmental and genetic factors that begin a process in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

There is no history of Type 1 diabetes in our family. The doctor figures that my son was sick with a flu and bacteria attacked his pancreas. There was no warning or a chance to prevent it.

My biggest issues is with people who compare Type 1 to Type 2 diabetes and suggest that my son ate too much junk food. There is no prevention or cure for Type 1 diabetes as of yet. It is a life threatening disease that needs to be taken seriously and managed properly.

To stay alive, people with Type 1 diabetes must monitor their blood glucose frequently, inject insulin several times a day or continuously infusing insulin through a pump. They must coordinate all their physical activities with their meal plan and insulin intake. Special planning must be done before traveling, attending school and pretty much most of the day to day life.

Please, all parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles....if you suspect that child you know might have Type 1 diabetes don't wait and have them tested immediately. It takes a second and a little drop of blood to find out and you might save this child's life.

I still have nightmares and guilt about putting my own child in danger because I was too busy to notice.Don't let this happen to you.

Please, send your happy thoughts and prayers to Vancouver so this little girl and her family have happy ending.

P.S.
It was very hard for me to post these pictures. Please, so share this post with others.

My Top 10 Hottest Male TV Foodies

I thought I will start my post today with a tweet from Tony Robbins (one of the people I admire):

"The reason some people are hurtful is they are hurt-FULL. Only the miserable can create misery, have mercy for them". sean stephenson

Now, let move on.....

The other day one of my foodie friends twitted an article about Top 10 Hottest TV Foodies

It was a major disappointment to women foodie followers (a.k.a. groupies) like me. There was NO Hot Men Foodies....common, admit it...you prefer some of the cooking shows over others because of the eye candy....the recipes are a little bonus.

So I decided to rectify this situation and make my own Top 10 Hottest Male TV Foodies list:

#1 Guy Fieri

#2 Jamie Oliver

#3 Tyler Florence

#4 Chuck Hughes

#5 Bob Blumer

#6 Bobby Flay

#7 Duff Goldman

#8 and #9 Bobby and Jamie Deen

#10 Michael Smith



So there you have it....My Top 10 Hottest Male TV Foodies. I never judge on looks only. I look at the whole package and all of these gentleman have it if you ask me.

There are some "pretty boys" in the TV Foodie World that didn't make the cut, but I don't watch their shows because they irritate the crap out of me.

What do you think?

Good Things Are Happening....

Last night Shelly from Tropical Mom posted this video on Twitter. I admit I almost needed some Kotex....I showed it to Mr. Misery.

When he was getting dressed this morning he turned to me all smiles and said: "Look honey, I am putting on my business socks and the conditions are perfect".

I just looked at him. Yeah, OK.....good for you.

Hope you had a good morning laugh...like me.

Something exciting happened yesterday (no, no business time). I received an email from POM Wonderful people:

"..... I’m writing you from POM Wonderful. I was searching blogs for recipes and came across your blog. Your recipes are amazing – I get hungry just looking at them!

I’d love to send some of our 100% pomegranate juice your way – perhaps you can experiment and use in a new recipe, it’d be great to hear what you create...."

I am so stoked. I can't wait for my POM to arrive so I can experiment with it.

Mostly I am excited that SOMEBODY is reading and enjoying my blogs.

I told my dad about it. He's a trained French Chef and he was so freaked out by it..."What are you going to make?....What if they don't like it?" I bet he was thinking about it all night and I am surprised he haven't call me yet.

Another thing I want to share today is a great website I discovered browsing around trying to find a Christmas Wish List Widget. I didn't find any widgets I liked, but I found BoogSpace The Ultimate Gift Exchange Website.

It is awesome. You can create your own group as a family or workplace and every member can make his own wish list with URL links to the gift of his/her choice. I created a group for my family and close friends.

I am not sure on the exact workings of it yet, because all of my peeps are in a process of making their own wish lists. I gave them 2 weeks to finish so we can all participate in an exchange.

Yes, Christmas is almost here. We just finished our Christmas Boxes and Hormone Boy took them to school for the drop off. Every year my boys and I get involved in Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child.It's a program where we get to fill shoe boxes with certain gifts for children around the world who wouldn't otherwise receive any gifts. We also include little letter and photo of my boys telling them where we live and little bit about our life. It makes it more personal.

My boys get to fill a box each for a boy in their age group and I always fill one for a little girl.It is something that I will always do no matter how tight our budget is. I just think it is very important for every child to receive at least one gift a year and to know that there is someone who did it with love while thinking about them.

HB taking the shoe boxes to Drop-Off

Samaritan's Purse Canada is the Canadian arm of a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that has been providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.

P.S.
I think I was listening to the video little too loud this morning while trying to put it on my post because LP is home today and I can hear him singing in his room....it's business, it's business time...poor thing he has no idea what he's singing about (I hope).

It Takes All Kinds To Make The World Go Around

It takes all sorts of people to make the world go around.

We all are surrounded with some characters, aren't we?

Well, there is this girl an acquaintance of mine that I shall call Ms. Oblivious. This girl is actually a woman in her early 30's and is a mother of 2 school age children. I like her, but she's not the sharpest knife in a drawer.

Anyway, Ms. Oblivious likes to hang around my best friend and myself sometimes.

Last weekend we all attended a birthday party for Mr. Best Friend. I had the pleasure to sit beside Ms.Oblivious for a bit and have this conversation:

Ms O (talking to Mr. Misery while reading front of his shirt): Captain Morgan (that's all front of his shirt said)? Where did you get that shirt?
Mr.M: Vegas
Me to Ms.O: Did you check out the hottie on his back?

Mr.Misery turns around to proudly show off his shirt.
Ms.O: Who is that woman?
Me (not realizing she's actually being serious): That's Captain Morgan's Sweetheart, don't you know her?
Ms.O (very serious)Who he thinks he is putting his girlfriend on shirts and selling it to people? She's not even all that hot. How would you like it if my boyfriend advertised his business all over by putting me on a shirts and selling them? (I don't think anybody would buy them...but that's just me)
Me(speechless and not believing what's going on): You do know that Captain Morgan is a brand of rum and the girl is not real, right?
Ms.O: Are you sure?
Me (still not believing this is actually happening): Yeah, I am pretty sure. She's just a graphic design to get men to buy rum and shirts.

At this point I think I got her convinced and calmed down. I look at her boyfriend (smart guy with my sense of humor). He's shaking his head and giving me one of his "I KNOW" smiles.

That's Ms Oblivious for you....I have more stories for next time.

Yesterday I posted an article on my other blog Gourmet Meals For Less about The 20 Worst Kids Meals In America. It was an eye opener for me. If you have kids and you eat in restaurants check it out. It's worth the trip.

Also I have a new post on my information site Guide For Busy Moms about 10 Ways To use Baking Soda.

Thursday Thunk

I decided to join Lynn from Midday Escapades in her Meme Week and today's Meme is Thursday Thunks.

I don't do many Meme, but this one seemed like fun.


1. Mad Cow disease, Bird Flu, Swine Flu...what barnyard animal will cause the next big outbreak of disease? Goat Virus...here we come


2. Sesame Street turns 40 this month. If you were to be on Sesame Street, which character would you want to be in a scene with? Cookie Monster....cause...Me Love Cookies

3. We are out shopping for a new laptop. Which one do you pick and why? I just got a new Sony Vaio and I love it...I just wish it was pink

4. Have you ever dried a flower in a book (pressing)? Yes I did, but in my defence I was young. I have no idea what book it was, but the flowers were Wildflowers I picked outside...oh, and I also pressed few four leaf clovers in my days.

5. Do you think it's important to study other planets? Never really thought about it, but my kids are right into that if that counts...and they have my support,lol.

6. Have you ever walked out of a movie at the theater? What was the movie, how much was the ticket and why did you walk out? Yes, I did. Mr. Misery took me to see Mr. Saturday Night with Billy Crystal and it was the most boring and slow movie I ever saw. I think the tickets were like $4.00 back then.

7. Does the city/town you live in have traffic enforcement cameras? Have you ever gotten a citation/ticket/fine from one? If so, did you pay or fight it? No, we don't have cameras and I never ever, ever gotten any tickets...knock on wood

8. If your neighbor is having a baby would you buy a baby gift for them? I absolutely would, but only if we were on speaking terms or more (nods and polite Hi doesn't count).


9. How many questions are too many questions? I am good for 8-10 then it's taking too long. So you are 3 over, but I am feeling generous today so I will answer them....

10. Do you have a handwritten journal you write in everyday? I used to, but it was replaced by my blog and it is way more fun...

11. Have you already made plans for 2010? Some...I have plans not to be broke anymore and I will take my family on a vacation...destination unknown

12. Thursday Thunks has a huge party for all those who play along each week. Where is the party, how long does it last and does Kimber fall off the roof dropping crayons? If so, what color of crayon does she fall on? This is my first Thunk so I have no idea, but my Spidey senses are telling me that she will fall off and she will land on green and blue crayons

13. We may have "blogger celebrity" questions in the near future. Are you excited? Depends on who is it...I am not a big celebrity lover....they have to be deserving (or hot like my boy Matthew M.) for me to get excited.....Matthew playing his Bongos shirtless....now, you're talking

If you want to join in just post your answers to these questions on your blog and then link up with Thursday Thunks and check out the other participants' answers.

Wednesday Wall Of Shame & Other Stuff

There are many things and people that bug me everyday.

Yes, I am trying to change my life with positive attitude, but that doesn't mean that I will be a quiet little mouse sitting in the corner. I do have opinions and things to say.

I decided to start a Wednesday Wall of Shame. This is where I will post the worst of the worst every Wednesday.

Today's Wall of Shame recipients are:

#1 CALGARY FLAMES

As you may heard there is a huge shortage of H1N1 flu shots and people who are high risk are waiting in a long lines to receive this shot that can save their lives. Some of them are turned away after hours of waiting.

The Calgary Flames players and their families don't have these worries. All players of Calgary Flames and their families were offered H1N1 flu shots last Friday in secrecy at a private clinic in Calgary. A clinic that wasn't even on a list offering flu shots to the "regular people".Most of the players and their family members took the shots. According to some players "they didn't realize there is a shortage and they feel bad" (really, you didn't realize...do you live on Mars?)

As a mother of a child with Type 1 diabetes I am appalled by this. My son almost didn't receive his shot due to a shortage (as his immediate family we should receive shots as well to keep him safe, but there was none for us). We had to take him to Seniors Centre (luckily we found out early because they were there only for 1 day) and stand in a lineup to make sure he gets one.

I don't even want to think how many children are there in Alberta with high risk not receiving their shots.

SO, SHAME ON YOU CALGARY FLAMES and CALGARY FLAMES MANAGEMENT and SHAME ON YOU whoever offered that to them!!!

#2 ROGERS WIRELESS

Shame on you Rogers Wireless. Over 10 years as a customer, not missing payments. Last month we were able to pay only half of our bill and you cut us OFF. Then you changed our plans to more expensive plans, changed the length of our contracts and charged us twice for re-connecting ($50)without connecting us (all without our knowledge).After asking you to put our phones into minimum plans till we can pay off the bill you refused. You expected us to pay $160.00 monthly for not receiving service. We talked to you for over an hour getting nowhere , you kept lying and telling us stories...until I told you to cancel our phones, put it on our bill. We won't pay it, you can take us to collection. Then we'll ask to go to court and there you can explain all you've done to a judge....SUDDENLY you became nice, polite, helpful and actually did what we asked you for....WHY couldn't you do that right away.

SHAME ON YOU ROGERS WIRELESS!!!


#3 LARGE OIL COMPANIES

Shame on you large Oil Companies like Esso and Shell....shame on you for not opening Oil Rigs and giving thousands of people jobs in this economy and shame on you for sitting in your fancy offices and creating shortages of Natural Resources to drive the price up so you can make few more billions. You don't care about the thousands of people starving and living below poverty line....you disgust me.

I think government should protect little people and tell the Oil companies to either start opening the Oil Rigs and start drilling or they should give the contracts to ones that will.

SHAME ON YOU OIL COMPANIES AND SHAME ON YOU OUR GOVERNMENT for letting them get away with it.

....and other stuff

My wonderful SUPERHUMAN BFF is in her bed as I type with H1N1. I never saw her this sick. Luckily my son wasn't around her for a few days, but apparently there are 20 kids with H1N1 in his school. That scares the crap out of me. My BFF has 3 girls (22 months, 13 and 15)and I am praying that neither of the girl gets it.

I called her this morning to see if I can do anything to help. All she asked for was some yummy food. I decided to make some Potato Pancakes for her. Since I was planning on making Sauerkraut and Smoked Pork Chops for dinner I made enough to serve with my dinner instead of Buttered Potatoes.

Potato Pancakes with Sauerkraut & Smoked Pork Chops

Hormone Boy started his first blog yesterday. He came to me and asked for help with it.I was so proud. He decided to write about life through eyes of a child with diabetes. It might be good for him and it's sure cheaper then therapy (just kidding).I can wait to read his posts and see what's going on in that pretty head of his. Maybe it will help me to understand better what he's going through and how he feels. He named his blog: They Don't Get It... I love it.

Oh my, look at my post. Sorry for keeping you. I'm sure you have lots of blogs to read, lots of comments to make and interesting posts to write.

Sharing Some Love

It came to my attention that I have 3 awards that I received and I need to Share The Love and give them out.

On Saturday I received Friendly Blogger Award from a wonderful Lynn over at Midday Escapades

This award doesn't come with any instructions so I will give this award to one of my friendliest followers (it's hard to pick just one all my followers are AWESOME) ONE CLUTTERED BRAIN. She is one crazy mama. Her blog is a hoot and a half. Upbeat and friendly.

Yesterday I received 2 Awards and both from Lynn at Midday Escapades. Lynn you are the best....

The I Give A Good Blog award instructions are:
Make a cocktail, pick out some of your favorite bloggers. Send this award to 4 of them. Tell them why you think they give good blog.

I give this award to:

Rook No.17. Great blog with lots of inspiration and how to posts....her choice of music - awesome.

Marilyn at A Lot Of Love. Great blog that will make you laugh, think and inspire. Plus her babies are just adorable.

Shelly at Tropical Mum. I enjoy reading about her family adventures Down Under.

Country Mom at Country Mom Recipes You need to go over and check out some of her recipes.

My second award from yesterday was Superior Scribbler Award and these are the rules that come with it:

1. Each Superior Scribbler I name today must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving bloggy friends.
2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog.
4. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

This award goes to:

Polly at The 5th Sister
Karen at Strictly Simple Style
Charisse and Holly at Life Laugh
Latte
Gwen at Parlin Mom

and finally

Karen at Scrappin'My Bliss.

I mentioned Karen last on purpose. I want to let you know about her 4th Blogoversary and the awesome Christmas GIVEAWAY that's part of her celebration. So dash over and show my friend Karen some love.

And once again THANK YOU LYNN for all these awesome awards.

Rainy Days and MONDAYS Always Bring Me Down.

Yes, it is MONDAY again.

I never liked Mondays. When I was growing up I hated Sundays because I had to go back to my dorm. When I grew up I started to dislike Mondays especially after my children reached the school age.

Yes, I am one of those moms that likes to keep her kids at home. I can't wait for Summer Break and I do not like September. Call me weird, but I love having my kids around.

So, it's Monday. Not only it's Monday, but it's 5am and I am up....yesterday I went around the house and changed all the clocks, but the dumb ass that I am I forgot to change the alarm on my cell phone....here I am.

My eyes are half closed (no, not half open), my body is screaming " let me sleep". I am not sure how I managed to make my kids lunches and snacks, but I do not remember what I put in. I guess it will be a surprise. If they come home all pissy, not talking to me we will know what was in a lunchbox, won't we?

Coffee is on, did I do that? Not sure, but I can smell it...."Best Part Of Waking Up Is Folgers In Your Cup"....I bet the differ.

By now you might have guessed that I am not a morning person. No, I am not.

I see my BFF just signed in on her Blackberry. She must be ready to go to work. Honestly, I don't know how she does it. That woman is a SUPERHUMAN that doesn't sleep and is powered by coffee and my cookies. Gotta love her.

OK, concentrate (not you, me....).

Yesterday was the first day of month #2 of my journey. It was a very long (thanks time change)and busy day.

My hubby took LP to his hockey game (1,5 hour drive)in the morning which killed most of their day. Me and HB stayed home....actually if he didn't come out for food once or twice I wouldn't even know he was home.

I did some blogging and I found out that I won my first Giveaway over at Rook No. 17. If you never read her blog you must go over. There is always something that will inspire you in one way or another.

Then I noticed that my Halloween post got 23 comments....the most comments I ever received.

First of the month....first giveaway won....first post with lots of comments.

After all that bloggy love I looked around my house and realized I need to clean so I decided to bake.

My friend J is re-opening her Beauty Shop today and I decided to make her nice bouquet of cookies to show her my support in following her dream. I was thinking flowers, but I decided to go with something more personal and yummy.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookie Bouquet

I was very pleased for the way it turned out. I will go over this morning to surprise her.

After I finished baking (I baked enough cookies for the week)I looked around and there is still mess. What the.... Where are my secret elves? When I was a little girl growing up in Slovakia we had this popular TV show called Arabela. She was a princess living in a "real" world, but she had this ring and when she wished for something and turned her ring her wish came true. Since that day I wish for that ring...now for different reason.

Since last time I checked I wasn't Arabela so I started cleaning up......till I heard "Mom, what's for dinner?" Oh, shit....I forgot about dinner.

"Come on, think, think fast. You good at thinking on your feet, come on, what's wrong with you....he's waiting for an answer, he's not leaving...go away kid, don't look at me like that....can he see me if I close my eyes...maybe if I ignore him he'll go away (all voices in my head)"...."chicken" (just came out). "Oh good, I like chicken...with what?" Seriously what's with the interrogation?

I knew I had about 30-40 minutes till the masses turn on me.

This is what I came up with.

Let's start with Mozza-Spinach-Proscuitto Wrap & Tomato Salad to keep them quiet.

Mozzarella Wrap & Tomato Salad
Then I whipped up my George Forman grill threw some chicken breast on it. Pan fried potatoes with butter and onion. Cover the chicken breast with fresh asparagus and Mozza cheese.....and Voila....dinner is served.

Grilled Chicken with Asparagus & Mozza

I finished it off with Chocolate Cups filled with Orange and Chocolate Mousse. I had the mousse leftover from the pumpkin cake I made for my BFF's husband's birthday on Halloween.

Chocolate Cups with Orange & Chocolate Mousse

Sunday dinner was saved....yeey me.