Heart breaking loss

Today my Nana would have 74 years young.  Yes, I said young.  Have you ever known a 74 year old red head who wasn't feisty?!  Me neither! My Nana could tongue lash with the best of them.  She was the strongest woman I have ever know.  She lost 2 sons and a husband (one week to the day after her birthday).  You would have had to lock me up in a padded room.  Now, she had her faults.  She was nosy, bossy and thought her way was the best way!  But she was my world from the time I was born until we lost her 3 years ago. 

I have to say, for the most part today was a good day.  The sun came out and it was warm.  She never did like the rain.  Hated how it messed up her hair. :)  So for the sun I thank her. 

So, to be short and to the point (sorry but it is hard to type through tears):
Happy Birthday Nana.  I love you and miss you so much every day!!

A wonderful surprise

So today started out like any other day.  Husband off to work before I wake, me and the kid getting ready in sleepy silence.  Then it was off to work and daycare.  At work, I was met with the pile of papers I had left yesterday.  Yeah me!  Everyone seemed to be in good moods, so, so far so good.  Then mid-morning, my husband brought a package to my office.  Now that sounds way more romantic than it really was.  See, we work for the same company and he works in the receiving department. 

Apparently, I had received a package from "Sherrie's Berries" via UPS and he was bringing it to me.  I was very confused.  I mean, I never get anything like that.  The company gets great gifts during the holiday season, but never addressed directly to me.  At first, I thought my husband was being tricky and got me something great, but after seeing his curiosity about the sender, I knew that wasn't the case.  So I opened the box and guess what I found.  Chocolate covered strawberries! 3 different styles.  There was: white chocolate, dark chocolate with mini chocolate chips and chocolate with crushed almonds.  MMMMM
And then for the card.  It was from my Daddy and Stepmom!  What a wonderful surprise!  They live in California and I don't get to see them as much as I would like, so I was one happy girl!  And before you ask, no it is not my birthday or anniversary.  I received that wonderful, edible present for no reason other than I am loved.

After sharing with the office, there were still plenty to bring home.  My daughter was very excited for such a wonderful treat.  She managed to down two of them tonight, but I still have her beat.  I have tried one of each.  Well, they were for me remember :)

So tonight, I am full of sweet, chocolate covered strawberries and happiness.  I had forgotten how nice it is to get an unexpected surprise.

Science Project NIGHTMARE

OK, so I will fully admit:  I am a procrastinator.  I work better under pressure.  But will my child?  Do I teach her about mapping out her time to make the most of it, or do I teach her the bad habit of procrastination just because it is easier?  I elect for procrastination!  Hold on people, just joking. 

So my child has a fourth grade science fair experiment due March 9th.  I have been trying to be the good parent.  I gathered all the materials we needed and tonight we got started.  Unfortunately,  I have a child who could care less about all of this and is only doing it because she has too and a husband who wants no part and fights with me when I ask him for some guidance.  I should say, that once the fighting was over, he did help with what I asked him to.  Thanks Dear.

Trying to get your kid to think for herself is no easy task.  Mine is very smart, yet she will try and manipulate you into answering everything for her. (Guess she learned some laziness from me after all)
She started out fine, but after being asked the same question three times on the same piece of paper, got a little tired of trying to find a new way to word her answer.  I don't blame her.  I was getting irritated also.  I mean, come on, they are 10!  If you want them to become future scientists, then you shouldn't expect them to do these projects at home, with parents who hate these things.  I mean, we already had to do these type of projects for numerous years and celebrated when the torture was finally over.  I know I did!  Sorry, but I am no scientist. 

We tried to pick a fairly easy experiment, in both procedure and final result.  We are finding out which type of sugar, white or brown, forms crystals faster on cotton string.  4 easy steps and then a week of monitoring and something fun to show the other kids and judges.  So I thought.  Then you start trying to answer their "procedure time line sheet", they are trying to keep the kids and parents from falling behind, and our simple project became too simple.  Oh well, we have completed the questions, and because nerves are raw, we are going to complete the sample graph tomorrow.  It is not due until Friday, so I guess we are technically ahead of schedule.  I just hope it stays that way.

 How many more years of this do I have to go? I must have been pretty evil in my past life.  HA!

to birthday or not to birthday

So yesterday was my birthday.  Yes, I am one of those unfortunate people whose birthday fall near or on a holiday.  And mine is almost worst than Christmas!  It is Valentine's Day!  The most commercialized holidays of them all.  People spend absurd amounts of money on flowers and candy and diamonds all to impress the one they love.  Or maybe to whoo the one they want to love them.  Either way, my birthday gets the short end of this stick!!  Now I am a 37 year old woman who should not care of these things, but people, I LOVE my birthday!!!  I mean it when I say LOVE.  I am going to be that 90 year old lady at the nursing home singing myself Happy Birthday, because no one else there is going to be able to remember.  HA!  If my mother doesn't call me early enough, I actually call her and sing "Happy Birthday to me", it drives her crazy!  LOL She called me at 6:30am just so she didn't get that phone call.

Anyway, me and my husband will be celebrating 17 years of marriage this May.  Now he is no romantic and that is perfectly fine with me.  I hate the blubbery cards and the hoopla associated with Valentine's Day.  But, in all these years, I have ALWAYS woke to a wonderful, perfectly chosen birthday card on my night stand.  Until, this year, that is.  He doesn't know it, but my feelings were REALLY hurt, when I found the card, he had bought on his way home, on my nightstand last night at 9pm when I was going to bed.

I don't need a present, in fact, many of the years we have been married, we just haven't been able to afford them.  And this year, well, is really no exception.  We didn't get paid until today.  But really? My birthday is no secret.  He couldn't have picked up a card a week ago?  Am I over reacting?  I have been asking myself this question all day.  Maybe all of these years he has waited until the last minute to get my card and I just didn't know it.  All I can say to that is, I didn't know it!  This year, this year hurt my feelings.  I don't know how to tell him because then his feelings will be hurt.  I have a kind and considerate husband.  He doesn't hurt me on purpose.  I tried not to make a big deal out of it yesterday.  I am trying to be an adult about it.  But people, my 10 year old made me a card and gave me $5 of her own money. (I put it back in her piggy bank when she went to school)  She does love her mommy. :)

I just don't know.  I think I am feeling better about the situation now.  I can tell you he was more upset when I told him he was not allowed to spend any money on me for Valentines Day.  I guess at some point this year, I will have to break down and tell him how much I loathe the big V Day.  I mean, it has been robbing me of my birthday all of these years and I now think that I am fed up!!  NO MORE!!  This is the last year that damn, made up, over exaggerated holiday takes over my birthday!

Busy, Exciting Patterson Weekend

Well, this was the big birthday weekend for my monkey!  She turns ten on Thursday the 9th, so we had quite the sleepover party on Saturday.  We started the day at Lily's Pampering Spa in Seattle.  They did a wonderful job catering to the girls. They got manis, pedis and make up.  This was very exciting for the four girls. My little big girl is the one in the peace sign.  This girl is a genuine 80's baby, must have been all of the 80's music I listened too when I was pregnant.

We then went for some lunch at Dick's Drive-In, her favorite.  This pic is her with her BFF Lilly, wearing the ultimate present.  It is a grey wolf hat with attached mittens.  Your BFF always knows the best presents to give. The other girls got her great things also, she loved everything.

We then headed to the mall for some retail therapy.  We shopped til we dropped.  Almost literally.  My feet still hate me.  LOL  The girls were really good and it was a great time had by all.  We refueled at Olive Garden and then headed to the hotel.  Yes, I said hotel.  A girlfriend of mine gave me the idea and it worked out perfect!  The girls loved it and so did us adults.  It really was a wonderful day and night had by all.

We were all home and ready for the Super Bowl today.  My poor NY Giants loving husband was a nervous wreck.  He knew the Patriots were looking to reclaim the ring they lost in 2007, so he was really hoping his team could last all 4 quarters.  And of course they did, but they had to do it in classic NY style and not win until the final seconds of the game.  I swear that team is trying to give me a stroke at 36!

So, all and all, this was a great weekend for the Patterson household.  We enjoyed a wonderful birthday celebration and my husband gets to hold his head high tomorrow when he goes to work and throws this crazy win in all of the haters faces.

I will say sorry to my cousin Casey, who is unfortunately, a huge Patriots fan.  Maybe next time sweetie.

growing up..

Tonight my girlfriend designed my daughter's upcoming birthday party invitations with a few ideas from me.  They are beautiful!!  I love them! And I am very grateful for a creative friend.

My daughter will be 10 years old on February 9th.  We are celebrating her big day on Saturday the 4th because her actual birthday falls on a Thursday this year.  To ring in her decade of life, we are doing a special birthday extravaganza.  We will start the day, at what looks to be a very cute boutique in Seattle, for manis and pedis for four 10year olds and pedis for me and my trusty sidekick Nikki (that I have roped in to help me chaperone).  They will also be getting a little make up done.  oohh lala  We will then be hitting the mall so they can strut their new pampered selves around and spend some money.  LOL  After that we will fill our bellies with some dinner and crash at a local hotel.  Apparently, slumbering at a hotel is all the rage these days.  This works for me cause our house is small and four giggly 10year olds are not my favorite way to pass the night away.  This will also be saving my husband from abandoning ship that night.  LOL

I am actually looking forward to the day, not only for the pampering, but let's face it, who doesn't love staying in a hotel on a Saturday night?!  Now she has been told that this isn't an every year type of party, because it is not cheap, but you only turn 10 once.  Maybe we will revisit this type of party at 13.  But who knows, by then, there will probably be something else that is all the rage and a must do for birthdays.

She is growing so fast, I can hardly keep up.  She makes me a proud mommy everyday, so we will celebrate her "decade birthday" with some style. 

benefit of the doubt

As I have gotten older, I have become more cynical.  At the same time, I have become less judgmental and I am starting to understand the phrase "not everything is at it seems".  Yesterday I had a conversation with one of the salesmen at work and he relayed a story that really fits this subject perfectly.


His daughter is married to a soldier.  He has been in the Middle East since February of last year.  He was given his orders a few weeks ago and he is coming home.  To celebration, they have put a hold on Christmas.  He specifically asked her to keep everything in the house just the way it was until he gets home next month.  Decorations, tree (fake of course), presents, and even outdoor lights.

Now, if you are like me, Christmas lights outside after New Years is annoying.  I make sure all decorations are down before New Years is over.  But living here in the Pacific NW, where the service men and women are in abundance, this story gives a whole new meaning to Christmas lights after New Years.

Now some of you will say that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and not about presents and decorations, but think about it people.  What a better Christmas story, than a soldier and his wife celebrating Christmas together, even if it will be in February.  Made my eyes well up when he was telling about excited they were to see each other and to get to celebrate the holidays together.

So, the next time you are complaining about Christmas lights after New Years, remember this story.  I know not all people are waiting until their loved ones come home, but give them the benefit of the doubt.  Sometimes things in life are not as they seem.

evil monday

Well, ask anyone who knows me and they will confirm, Mondays and I just don't get a long.  I went to bed late last night and had to be up by 5:30am this morning to get ready for that place I call work.  The morning started out just fine.  Had my coffee on the way in, and when I got there, there was no drama waiting for me.  Then the next thing I know it is 1:00pm!  What just happened?!  I still have no idea where the morning went.  All I know is that I still had mass amounts of work to do and only 3hours and 45 minutes left to do it in.  Not to mention the President of our company was there today to do the whole "beginning of the year outlook" speech.  That ate up about 40 more minutes.  OK, it was now 2:00pm and I had a deposit to make and a report to go through.  Now, I should admit that I can do my check deposit from my desk thanks to modern day technology and I only had about 6 checks to deposit.  But that report, well that is another thing all together.  But before I could take care of these two items, I had to sit down with a couple of our salesmen to discuss an account they share.  It is a good thing we all get along and they see my point of view on a few things or that little sit down could have gone a lot worse.  But in the end, I had their support and will work on that account tomorrow.  OK, that ate up almost 30 minutes.  Now to hurry and deposit my checks so that I could tackle that report.  OK, another almost 30 minutes gone. I am now looking at the clock and it is 3:00pm.  UGH!  just to give you an idea, this report can take anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours depending on how clean it really is.  Thank goodness today, it was cooperating and was clean.  It took me just over 1 hour.  I was able to close the two credit card machines and run out the door at 4:50pm.  Now, normally I don't get out of there until at least 5:00pm.  It is usually closer to 5:30pm, but today, I had my daughter to pick up.  Due to the unheard of amounts of snow we got last week, my husband was still carpooling with me today, so he wasn't able to pick her up like he normally does.

Well, good news everyone, all went well.  I managed to get done just what needed to be done for the day and get the little monkey picked up on time.  Whoo Hoo!!  Superwoman watch out!  LOL

Anyway, to end an already "ugh" day, I spent all our money paying bills online once I got home.  Checked out Facebook and am now retelling all of this to anyone who is reading my blog.  In addition to my little monkey who is sitting here reading this over my shoulder, in awe of how fast I can actually type and without even having to look at my fingers :)

Tomorrow is another set of 8hours to try and complete 15hours worth of work.  Good luck to everyone who lives their lives the same way!

A graceful defeat

Well, no one likes to lose.  Certainly not any members of my family.  Today was a very stressful day.  That darn NFC Championship game, I thought I was going to have a stroke.  All I could think about was how to make my husband feel better, even though I knew all my kind words would still be salt in his wounds.  But my husband is a gracious loser.  He would pout and sulk and lick his wounds tonight so he could have a brave face for tomorrow facing all of the haters we work with.

Thank goodness that is not going to happen.  Way to go NY Giants!!!!  My husband is one happy man and I am one happy wife.  My life will continue to be peaceful, at least for the next 2 weeks.

He will proudly wear his shirt, hat and jacket tomorrow.  He will proudly take all of the pats on the back and the snide congrats with the follow up of the "no way they will be able to pull it off in the Super Bowl" comments.  He likes when everyone doubts his team.  Makes for a sweeter victory. 

And because he is such a good sport, he will be sporting NFC Championship t-shirt and ball cap in 3-6 business days.  He is lucky it is payday weekend.  LOL  (oh and my daughter is pouting because I didn't buy her any football gear, even though her Lions made it to the playoffs).

Way to go babe..  I am happy for you.

Sunday Afternoons

Sundays are supposed to be lazy, uneventful days.  Not for me.  Those days are called Saturday.  Sunday is for chores and getting back into work mode.  But I worked yesterday to help make up for the 3 snow days I was forced to take due to Mother Nature.  So today was spent mixing chores with mindless pleasures.  In between loads of laundry, I spent hours trolling Pinterest and Facebook.  Looked at ideas to update my tween's room and other things that make me happy.

Now, I am no Martha Stewart.  I am the complete opposite in fact.  I do have vision, I just don't know how to get it out of my brain and into action. I am working on that.  I think my first test will be my daughter's bedroom and the spare bathroom.  Now don't get me wrong.  I don't plan on making this happen over night.  Ha!  Anyone that knows me, knows how funny that really is.  BUT, I do plan on baby steps.  Today, I took the first step.  Ideas.  Yep, ideas.  I need to see my ideas in action to make sure they are good ones.  So today, me and my daughter looked at different bedroom ideas and we are both on the same page as to what we would like her room to look like.  Now, I have to start my frugal shopping.  I am not made of money, so I have to start looking for individual pieces that I can make into something she will love.

It is a good thing I surround myself with people who are creative: my best friend, of 23years is a hairdresser (One of the best!), my wonderfully friend Dominique, who runs her family's restaurant and banquet room and then there is Nichole, my own personal Martha Stewart.  With their opinions of my new ideas, I am sure my daughter's room will be great!

There I go getting off track.  No big surprise.  I did tell you that I made today a mix of work and play. Now to finish off today with the rest of the laundry, dinner and a clean kitchen.  Oh, and for good measure, the New York Giants winning, so I can live with my husband for another couple of weeks.

Hope your Sunday was what you wanted it to be. 

The First Ever

Welcome to my very first blog post.  Feels kind of odd that someone may read my words, but very freeing at the same time.  I heard that keeping a journal, or something along those lines, can extend your life.  I guess by getting it out of your head, it reduces stress.  Well, I am not sure if blogging my personal insanity will help, but I am willing to give it a try.

I guess I will start with the basics:  I am a mother, wife, sister, daughter.  I have been married for almost 17 years now and have a beautiful daughter.  We live 2 states away from our families, but have managed to join a few extended families in the 7 years we have been here.  We love where we live very much and have been very fortunate to make some wonderful friends.  I am a true believer of friends for life, so I never had an expectation of making new friends.  We are a simple family, very much home bodies.  It has been the three of us for so long, that it has become our norm.

So, I imagine this blog will be filled with random rantings of an insane me.  I want it that way.  I want to be free to say whatever I am feeling.  I would love people to be able to take my rantings and make them their own, but if no one reads my words, that will be OK also.  I have decided to do this for me.  Something I don't do very often as a mother and wife.  I spend most of my days doing for others, at work and at home.  If I can keep the grey hair away for a few more years by writing my frustrations, happiness and horrors down, then I am all for that.  This girl will not be going grey gracefully.

My friend Nikki, aka Martha Stewart, started her blog (see blogs I follow) and I was extremely jealous that she could write her life down so perfectly.  I have been reading in envy for a few months now.  Then, what do you know, tonight I decided I could do that too.  Her drive to complete projects and be a working mom who manages to juggle numerous balls at once frustrates the hell out of me.  Don't tell her, but I am envious of her.  The funny thing is, she is way to hard on herself.  She tells me she loves my positivity and wishes she had more.  Guess that is what makes us a good team.  She has the drive and kicks me in the butt and I have the positivity to keep her from going insane when she can't get all of her projects done at once.  LOL

Well, welcome to the ride.  Buckle your seat belt because it will probably get bumpy at times.  I look forward to the company though, I have never liked traveling alone.