It smells like Christmas!

It can be hard to get into the spirit of the holidays here in southern California, especially after having lived the majority of my life in places where it gets cold and snows. You know the chance that the snowball has in...well, you know where. Its got about the same amount of chance here in "Sunny San Diego". We can dream of a rainy Christmas, although that is nearly as unlikely, but there certainly will be no WHITE Christmas. (Yeah we could drive out to the mountains, but its not the same.)

BUT...Mrs. Meyer is helping make that seem like no big deal this year. No, not THAT Mrs. Meyer...the one that makes these super yummy smelling aromatherapeutic cleaning products.

I discovered the Lemon Verbena dish soap a while back and I fell in love. Now you all KNOW it has got to be good if I am in love with a cleaning product. I loved how much it smelled so much that I ran right out and bought the Lemon Verbena countertop spray.

I didn't even know they made other smells, I'd only seen the one, until on a trip to Target several weeks ago I came across this lovely little wonder...the Iowa Pine fragrance!!!!! Being an Iowa native, of course I loved that it was their pine trees that inspired this and not somewhere like, I dunno, Vermont or something (that's state name #4 in this post, in case anyone was keeping track). But what totally sold me was the heavenly pine scent, so...so...Christmas tree-ish! Its like being in a forest surrounded by snow-tipped pine trees.

I have saved it for this time of the year and finally broke it out this week. So now even it if doesn't look like Christmas outside, it definitely smells like it inside!!!

Bob Harper is an evil man

I doubt its a big surprise to anyone that, despite good intentions, I never went back to the 30 Day Shred. The thought of Jillian Michaels making me want to die was just too much and I haven't been brave enough to tough it out again. That and I've had way too many flare-ups with my back this year.

A fellow 30 Day Shred dropout (any others of you out there, its ok to admit it, we can form a support group) mentioned that she had done one of Bob's workouts and liked it much better. I searched through my Exercise TV On Demand and found Bob's CardioMax, a level 1 (whatever that means), 20 minute cardio workout. I watched it through and it didn't seem too bad. Bob seemed nice, saying things like 'If you can't do it all don't worry, just keep moving, you'll get there." The people were Biggest Loser contestants and not skinny people who you want to hate. Awesome I thought, something motivating instead of intimidating.

So yesterday I decide to go for it and do the workout. It definitely got my heart rate up and I was sweating. I felt like I had definitely worked, but not so much so that I was begging for my life before it was over. "I'm liking Bob," I was thinking.

Today...not so much. Behind the smiles and words of encouragement lies an instrument of torture. He tries to make you feel good, all the while stabbing a knife in your muscles and twisting it, over and over again. I am SORE. After only 20 minutes and thinking like it wasn't the hardest workout I'd ever done, I HURT. My gluteus has pain to the maximus. The outside of my hips from my waist to the tops of my thighs are tender. Every time I have to sit down I cringe. Climbing the stairs is near agony.

I wonder if all the Biggest Loser contestants leave the show addicted to prescription pain pills, if I hurt this much after 20 minutes, can you imagine doing it for hours, every day?

What happened to Thanksgiving?

I thought it was the holiday that came in between Halloween and Christmas. The time when decorations changed from pumpkins and bats to turkeys and cornucopias. We all think about the things we are thankful for in our lives. You remember Thanksgiving, don't you?

Go into any retail establishment however, and it seems that Christmas is already upon us. Within days, some places hours, the Halloween adornments completely disappeared. And instead of those turkeys and cornucopias...snowflakes and lighted trees. The only vague reminders of T-day are the endcaps with displays of canned pumpkin and pie crusts. I've looked and looked through several places lately, from Target to grocery stores...and hardly any hint of Thanksgiving can be found. I even saw a Starbuck's yesterday, they are no longer advertising their Pumpkin Spice Latte...its all about the Peppermint Mocha's and Gingerbread Latte's.

Thanksgiving was always one of my favorite holidays, still is even though its just our lonely little family. It doesn't get much better than great food and spending time with the people you love, even if they may drive you insane. But the whole buy, buy, buy, more, more, more mindset seems to be edging Thanksgiving out sooner and sooner each year. Its bad enough the stores start stocking Christmas decorations in August and play holiday music the day after Halloween, do they really need to abandon an entire holiday?

Gone, but not forgotten...

That is I have been gone, but you, my few and valued, readers have not been forgotten.

Not long after the last time I posted we decided that we were going to move to a house a block away. So I morphed into a being that I did not recognize and didn't particularly like...a being that cleaned and dusted and organized almost every spare minute she could. The house was clean, which was a nice change, but I was either totally exhausted or totally on edge all the time.

But I had a mission, a mission to make this move be the easiest we'd ever had (excepting the last one where I didn't have to pack or lift a thing). I'll just say, I really, really, really miss not having to pack or lift a thing!!

Of course, my life isn't as easy or as pretty as my mental fantasies, and so the move did not go as planned. Not even close. What wasn't supposed to be a huge deal, became an utterly disorganized mess. This was due to circumstances beyond my control...and in the control of my 8 year old who ran through the glass patio door at the new house. He was mostly fine (spent 3 hours in urgent care and got 5 stitches), but glass door was anything but.

It took 5 more days of hauling crap out and cleaning to get the old house in tip-top shape. Er, as tip-top as that place can be, hence the reason we moved out. It was annoying work considering the place was filthy when we moved in. But, with a new piece of glass to pay for we need every cent of our deposit back that we can get.

And now I have laundry baskets and reusable shopping bags full of random stuff laying everywhere here in our new house. I have no idea where anything is and I have to close my eyes when walking through the garage because the sheer chaos in there just about gives me hives.

So as you can see I've had very little time to sit down and think about a blog post. And really, the only things going on was cleaning and more cleaning, and I didn't want to frighten you all or make you think there was an invasion of the body snatchers around here. (HA! Like anyone would want mine!!)

I can make no promises about when I will post again, but I shall be back some day. I hope that everything will get put in its place and I can come back someday...

Do you have a business?

Then you should think about donating an item to this GREAT cause!! It will help them and it will help you, check it out!!

Miracle Diapers Holiday Fundraiser

Recipe of the week!

Not that I'll actually remember to post a recipe every week, or that I even know enough good ones to last more than a month, but its at least something to strive for.

This doesn't really have a name. C calls it "Tuscan sausage" or something like that, not really sure why. I think I got it from Jenni-O, LOL. Its really good, something we've made now and then for several years now. My kids all love it and its super easy to make...which makes it a great family meal!


1 package penne pasta (I use whole wheat)
4-5 links sweet italian turkey sausage (you could also use the spicy italian turkey sausage if you're so inclined)
sliced black olives, however many looks good to you
1 can diced tomatoes w/ italian seasonings (not drained)
1 jar alfredo sauce

Cook pasta according to directions on package, drain.
Slice sausage links into bite size pieces and cook in frying pan.
Mix pasta, sausage, black olives, tomatoes, and alfredo sauce together.

Eat!

I don't think we've ever done this, but it would go great with some garlic bread!

Yummy recipe that you have to make!

This recipe came from Kaysvillemomma's blog, I've made a couple adjustments to make it a bit healthier. It has been a HUGE HIT at our house!! I made it for the second time last night and R kept telling me that I made really good food. And if you know my son, that right there says everything!! This is a must make recipe!! So, go right now and buy the ingredients, its super good and your family will love you!!

Crock Pot Pizza

1 bag of whole wheat egg noodles
1 lb ground turkey
2 jars pizza sauce
16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can low fat/reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup
Pizza ingredients (I used black olives, mushrooms, and pepperoni...but you can use what you like, or experiment with different ingredients every time!)

Cook egg noodles according to the package.
Brown the ground turkey.
Spray slow cooker with oil/non-stick spray.
Place ingredients in the slow cooker making layers in the following order - 1/2 of the egg noodles, 1/2 the ground turkey, 1 jar pizza sauce, 1/2 can cream of mushroom soup, pepperoni, olives, mushrooms (or whatever you chose), 1/2 of shredded mozzarella.
Then repeat making a second layer.
Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
Eat and love it!