Not a single picture....

I don't have a single thing to share today except I am tired. I know, that is weird. On October 1, 2009 I went back to work part-time. I have managed to wheel and deal and do a whole lot of nothing until today. My boss is in town. I mean, is there any bigger inspiration to get out of your sweat pants and into big girl clothes and shoes (and boy are my feet unhappy)? We emailed, called and worried about the kids. Not sure why I worried about the kids as they were at Grandma and Opa's but still, this is an unusual day.

Kid #1 was in crazy, mean mood on way home, and even more so once we got home. She even called me a poop. Needless to say, dinner and bed was done by 6:15 and for some reason I am still working. Taking a quick blog break and then folding clothes and crashing. Monday night tv never looked so good!

What we ate today....

We had the best Sunday. It was full of food and love and family. Life doesn't get any better than good food, time with family and then home for a nap!

The high point was kimchee with my dad and my kids. Happy doesn't cover it!

(Check out Lilly's face. She is quite irritated because we interrupted her mrs. pacman game on her Opa's phone.)

Friends and Family....

There are times that I look back on my life and I remember those who were important to me. Now, I look at my life and I think about those who love my children. These people continue to be the most important, because my children are the most important. This being said, there are those from my past, and my family's past, that are just friends. They have been around a lifetime, but they don't know us anymore, and we don't know them. However, they are our friends. They are our past and our present. We don't owe them a thing, and they don't owe us. But they are our friends. They have just always been here. And we love them.

Thanksgiving....

What a time we had.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! We had a great day. I cooked for a year, and it took about three minutes for everyone to eat.

Today, our dear friend arrived to spend six days with our family. He is also my new boss. We will be working and figuring out how I am supposed to work amongst the craziness that is my life. In the meantime, he is wooing my kid and playing like a jungle gym.

I am thankful for my family, my friends and my life. Every day, not just yesterday!

And then they played....

Thank you Amazon...

Look what arrived today. There are no words to describe how proud I am of my dad, and of my family. This is our history; who we are and why we are. What a wonderful and inspiring story!

So tired...

I am so tired. But I have so much to do. But I don't want to do anything. NOTHING! That's it for today.

Except... I have 126 pictures on my iphone. Every single one of them is a picture Lilly took while hanging out in the car or buying time while I figure out how to get out of the house. Here are a few.

Playing for Change....

PBS has been showing episodes of Playing for Change, Peace through Music all weekend, and I have been entranced. It is amazing to see how music, spirituality of all kinds and human perseverance overcomes all. We should feel privileged to just be here.

Experience this!

What a wonderful Christmas/Hannukah/Kwannza gift this would make. You would also be giving back.**

**I am in no way affiliated with this, just think it is quite amazing!

Sunday....

While trying to avoid going to sleep this evening, Lilly asked me how many time-outs I had when I was a little girl. She hadn't been in trouble, or even in a time-out all day so I just thought it was a way to get out of going to bed. I told her that when I was a little girl, mommies and daddies usually gave spankings and not time-outs. After thirty more questions about spankings and how very old I was, I started thinking. Did I really get spankings? I am positive that I didn't get time-outs, but what did my parents do?

Although I like to express to anyone that will listen that I was a near perfect child that never did any wrong, the truth is I am sure I didn't behave at all times. In the past, a call to the parental units would be in order. It being 2009, I texted my dad. Turns out, I got a few swats, but mostly "deprivation." They took away priviledges and things that mattered to me. I don't remember this, but I find it interesting that this is exactly the way Jeff and I parent Lilly. It works about 90% of the time. The other 10% usually involves stomping of the feet and wailing of the arms. (By Lilly, not by me.)

"Discipline is different from punishment. Discipline is when a child has a choice." - Jerry Autry, aka Daddy, aka Opa.

Turns out this is actually a parenting theory derived from William Glasser. Who knew? My mom and dad, obviously, but not me. There are things that I remember specifically from my "rearing" that I will never repeat with my children. However, these are few and far between and I am really in awe of the circle. What my parents did with me, I do with mine. And so far, it seems to be working.

Cleaning....

Not so much cleaning as clearing. We are in the process of building a basement under our very high house. We have twenty years of stuff, minus about ten years of stuff parent's moved last year, that needed to be cleared out before we could continue. We found a treasure trove of things that we can't get rid of, but we don't want. What do we do? We just keep the things we love, or think we love because it has something to do with our past. Life goes by so fast and all we have is our history.And this cracks me up!

Dinner...

I cooked my first meal from my new favorite blogger, ThePioneerWoman, and the meal turned out pretty well. I made the meatloaf WAY too big and the middle was a tad underdone but the mashed potatoes were spectacular! And this was the end of my Friday...The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook is not only a cookbook with beautiful photos, it is a wonderful story about her life. I read it cover to cover and enjoyed every minute of it. I know, I gush, but if you like such things, buy it!

What have you done today?

What have you done today?

Try and come up with one thing that you did today to make yourself proud! Write it down! Do it again tomorrow!

Crazy weekend, glad it is almost Tuesday....

This past week and weekend was CRAZY. I will not go into details, but lets just say that I am glad it is over. It was a quite disruptive to my little family and I am ready to settle back into a holiday focused mode. Since I am still reeling, somewhat, from the events and I don't have it in me to blog much. This is what makes me feel better and happy!

Dinner Time...

We have the best time at our house during dinner!

From the mouths of babes....

While looking at a great picture of Jeff and I from our wedding day, Lilly had some priceless words. "Mommy, your belly is big. Was I in there at the wedding?" Well, no Lilly, you weren't but thank you for pointing out how beautiful I looked on my wedding day. And for those of you who are counting, it was nine months and six days later. Thank you very much!

Still feel yuck... And a goodbye...

I am still sick. I have a fever of 101 and am achy and for some reason ravenously hungry. My husband is coming home today after a 24 hour trip to do something fun. I know, I should have asked him to stay home but I was fine and he will be home in an hour or so with some really trashy food for me to eat so I can lie in bed for the rest of the day and night so I can get back to my life tomorrow.

Instead of watching my beloved Golden Girls all morning which usually would have made me feel better, I read blogs. Hundreds of blogs. There are millions of them out there and so far, I have found some great ones. If I didn't feel like I was run over by a car, I would share them with you. Maybe tomorrow.

Fine, here are a couple:
Doc's Sunrise Rants. She seems a little angry, but she explains that.
I Am Bossy: Cracks me right up and actually made me forget I was sick.
Erin Vey: Come on! Pictures of dogs. What isn't healing about that?

Speaking of cars, mine is going goodbye. My 2007 Volvo S40's lease is up and we are giving it back. We don't need two cars. We have Jeff's 2004 Nissan Xterra and it is actually more suited to carry around my kids, all their gear and me. Since Jeff mainly works from home, he can go days without needing his car. I keep telling myself all these things, but the honest truth is that I will miss my Volvo. It carried my babies around for three years, endured cheerios in every crevice, pacifier throwing, a colicky baby for six months, being mistaken for a trash can on more than one occasion and she even kept my children and I alive after a horrible accident. I will miss her.

I look forward to making some money at my new job for many reasons. Right up there on top of the list of things I need to buy with my new found fortune is my actual dream car. I have to get healthy so I can actually work so I can make that money so I can get my car! I guess I could stop reading blogs, or writing my own blog and work instead but I don't have the energy! :)

Just because... The Bubba makes me smile....

Brothers...

My dad's new book is available for preorder .
I am reading it, and so are many others.

It's a glorious, well written book about my dad and his family. How he and his brothers and sister grew up POOR in Eastern North Carolina is just the beginning. It is about the love a mother and father, a commitment to education and a remembrance of those who taught understanding and family loyalty.

I once wrote about a woman who started a blog about her family, specifically about her husband and the accidental life she inherited when she married him. She started telling her story through her blog over three years ago. The result of writing about cooking and her life on her ranch turned into a phenomenon. Recently, her cookbook was published and it turns out this woman is beloved by those whom have gotten to know her through her blog. The book is #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover advice and a recent giveaway on her blog turned out over 13,000 comments.

I hope this success for my dad, and this book. Not for glory for my dad, because he would hate that, but for the book and all it has to teach us. Along with all the other things I have going on in my life, I will try to make this happen.

I got's the pneumonias

So, after a weekend of coughing and trying to pretend all was well, I finally went back to the doctor to be told I have pneumonia. "It depends on who you see." Well that sounds a little wonky. Anyway, my dad told me about nine million times this morning to be aggressive. So guess what, I was aggressive. Told the doctor I had two children, four and one, and couldn't mother them if I continued to feel this way. I got antibiotics and an inhaler and was told to buy Mucinex. I feel complete health is right around the corner. Thanks dad! I was aggressive, and I am proud!

Speaking of my dad... His book, Brothers, A Somewhat True Memoir has me in tears. Happy tears mind you and not a result of my sickness or being tired. I am in awe of him and his brothers; my uncles. So far, my favorite visual from the beautiful narrative is one of my grandfather, whom I never had the privilege of meeting, going to ECU, overalls and all, to see my Uncle Raz to give him $20 so he could pledge a fraternity. What a beautiful moment.

I am proud to be an Autry!

An emotional crazy day

I had the privilege of sharing time with some wonderful women for brunch. These ladies are all connected to me through the wonderful Rosie. She passed away just over a year ago and we continue to try to make time for eachother while we celebrate her life. Her sister is one of the ring leaders making sure we get together at least every six months. She too is a cancer survivor and as of today, has a CLEAN bill of health. Thank you Lord!

This wonderful brunch was followed by the craziest phone call from an old family friend, the father to one of my oldest friends who really is no longer my friend. This woman is not in my life because of one too many burnt bridges and just plain insanity. Turns out, she needs help. She is on her way to a very long journey of discovering sobriety. I hope beyond hope that she finally finds some peace. I want this for her, but remain extremely skeptical if she wants it for herself or if she is just searching for a way out of whatever she did to her life this time.

I arrived home from the spectacular brunch with the ladies, and the mind-blowing phone call from the Old Family Friend, to find Family Football Sunday in full force.

I remain so happy that this is my life, my family and my journey. This is my home and my heart!

I'm sick....

I have had a fever and a horrible cough for three days now. I realize this is nothing to those of you out there whom are suffering from horrible diseases, or just the regular flu and are going on day ten. However, for me, I am suffering. I am a BABY. I demand 100% attention at all times, but still like to pretend I can do it all. I screamed at Jeff for like thirty minutes yesterday because he wasn't being nice enough to me. Poor poor man.

I think I am on the mend. After a trip to Urgent Care to have the doctor tell me I might have pneumonia, but oh no, it's not pneumonia but an upper respiratory infection and here are some very lame drugs to maybe help. Why don't they just start out giving you cough medicine with codeine so you don't have to go back to the doctor because you are still coughing and can't sleep. Oh, maybe that is the rub... More money.

Actually, I am getting better and am cooking dinner. I am ready to go to bed and wake up and feel just fine tomorrow. Wish me luck!

What I read everyday since I have nothing of interest to write

These days, I am working, parenting, being a wife and attempting to figure out it all. I did get a chance to get my hair and eyebrows done today, which I must say was the highlight of my summer/fall. Lilly has created a bedtime monster in the form of herself. She does everything within her power to get a timeout so she can stay up just four more minutes. Tonight, despite her punching me and kicking me, she didn't get a timeout. Hmmm, that doesn't seem right, but at least she is asleep. At 7:12 mind you. James went down at 6:15 dead to the world, thanks to my mom and dad keeping him busy all day while I got the aforementioned hair and brows done. Jeff is dead asleep on the couch watching the World Series, which is a nail biter apparently.

Here are some of my blog favorites:

My most faithful reader's website provides political commentary prudent to these times, book reviews, movie reviews and daily commiserations on life as well as information on his very important new book about his life with his brothers.

I have been reading this blog for a couple of months now, and I just love it. Ree Drummond is from outside Tulsa, Oklahoma, but I don't hold that against her. She is a great, funny writer who just came out with a cookbook and whose picture and cookbook was mentioned in the New York Times today. She loves her kids, her man and all her family in between.

Also, CityMama, who lives in Palo Alto has a great blog about her family, her cooking and her politics. She provides a weekly menu that is fun and inspirational. Also, she has the BEST yukimandoo recipe that I use occasionally.

Finally, a blog written by a woman who is hysterical and has the city of San Francisco by the tail. She is funny, self deprecating and has an in at all the cool parties. Not to mention, she is from my hometown.

Enjoy!

HappyMommy

He's Back...

For the past five days and four nights I have lived without my husband. It was manageable but it really made me realize what a great man I have. He helps, boy does he help! When I try to get out of the house three days a week with a four year old who is in no hurry to beat morning traffic and a one year old who just wants to do anything but get going, my husband helps. When I have groceries that need to be carried up our thirty-one stairs, he helps. When I am coming home with the kids after a day of meetings and driving and figuring life out, he helps. I missed him, and I love him and I am happy he is home.