We're having fish...

The kids were excited to see me return from my quick trip to Canada. I sent them off to school this morning with hugs and kisses and all was well. After school, things were still peachy. We did the normal after school things -- emptying backpacks, looking through school papers, getting snacks, etc. I told Madison she could have a playdate if her friend was available. She was.

They played and had a fun time. There was a lot of peace, happiness, and NO WHINING in the Richards home. Then Madison's friend went home. And it started.

"What are we having for dinner?" Madison asked.
"You won't like it, but we're having fish. It has vegies and a yummy sauce on it and it's really good" (I'm not a fish lover myself, but I do like mild fish prepared with this recipe.)
"What? FISH? I'm not eating fish!" Madison complained.
"Well, actually, you are going to have a taste, then you can have leftovers" I said.
"No, I am NOT eating any fish," said my sweet, obedient daughter.

At this point in the conversation, it became "THE BATTLE OF WILLS" and I was determined not to let it go. I was going to win. And that is where I became the Wicked Witch, the worst mom, the control freak. I made an ultimatum: "You eat this tiny piece of fish (smaller than a dime) or you go to bed without eating".

She screamed, she cried. She screamed and cried. Surprisingly, (not) Madison is very stubborn. And once she makes up her mind about something she seldom changes it.

So guess what? She went to bed. At 7pm.

And apparently she is starving. Or so she says. Over and over and over again.

But I am mean and I am not giving in. She'll eat in the morning.

And it won't be fish.

A picture a day: the "365 Challenge"

So I've taken on a challenge this year that I think is awesome. It involves a camera, which can only mean good things, and scrapbooking, which is also excellent. The challenge is to take a picture a day (of course you can take more than one, but you need to take at least one picture EVERY day) and make a WEEKLY scrapbooking layout that includes your pics and some journaling. At the end of the year, what you'll end up with is a fabulous scrapbook that captures the little every day moments; the moments often overlooked or missed when trying to get that "poser" shot. This is about spontaneity and looking at the little things, then taking the time to make a few comments about those shots you capture that are meaningful to you. I dare you to give it a try.

"All in"

I don't know about you, but I've been of the opinion that a person doesn't need to go to church every Sunday to be a good Christian. Maybe that makes me a heathen, maybe not. Regardless of what you think of me, I do like to take a church break now and then; a "sick day" so to speak. "Moderation in all things" is something our church promotes and I freely apply it to most everything, including my church attendence. Taking a break keeps me sane. And I'm all for preserving my mental health as long as possible since I know, given my family history, that my mental health is a fleeting thing.

In mid-December I had a little guilt attack, realizing that my attitude about church attendence may start to impact my kids. I started giving some serious thought to how I felt about ALL things church related and realized that my attitude kinda sucked. And then I had this brilliant idea. The Richards needed a reality check. I decided that we should have a family vote: we would either quit going to church OR we would commit to be "all in".

The definition of "all in" was just that: we're in it, completely. We would commit to read our scriptures daily, have weekly FHE, say personal and family prayers, attend church weekly (or as often as possible given work schedules). Quite frankly, I really didn't care which way the vote went. On one hand, it'd be nice not to feel the pressure to go to church every week and experience guilt knowing there was so much more we could be doing to develop our spiritual selves. On the other hand, it'd be nice to have everyone's commitment and support to be "all in". We voted and it was unanimous... the result, "ALL IN".

It's been interesting to see and feel the changes that have been happening in our home over the past month. And it's been great to see the kids step up and remind Ken and me (mostly me) that we're "all in" and that it's time for prayers or scriptures. Though soooo very far from perfect, we have been doing really well with our commitment to be "all in" and are all taking baby steps towards doing the things that will help us build relationships with Heavenly Father and with each other. I think it's a good thing.

Not much to say...have to go play wii

I just wanted to check in quickly, say hi, let you know that we had a great Christmas, other than one of us being sick (me) and are gearing up to welcome in the New Year tonight...

And with that said, I'm off to play Mario Kart on the Wii and see if I can open up another level of fun!!

Catch you in 2009.

Snowstorms and a lesson (learned the hard way) in Preparation

OK, so we've had this fantastic snowstorm... in fact, it's still dumping buckets and buckets of beautiful cold fluffy snow all over New England. The roads are icy and nasty, so it's really better just to stay indoors watching TV, drinking hot chocolate and playing games... BUT, some of us have to work, celebrate anniversaries, finish Christmas shopping. That leads me to the lesson learned this week.

Kendon is a stickler for getting the snow off the driveway and NOT driving on it (can't be packing it onto the driveway now, can we?) So Saturday morning we went out to shovel the walk and use the snow blower on the driveway. We had stuff to do. Ever heard of shear bolts aka shear pins??? Anyone? Well, they are a necessary part to have in order to have a functioning snow blower. Without them, the auger won't turn, the machine won't blow snow which will result in having to MANUALLY REMOVE THE SNOW (aka shovel it yourself, buddy!) Suffice it to say our shear bolts were gone. And we didn't have any extras!!! DUMB MOVE, I tell you!!

Now remember that we can't drive on the driveway while the snow is on it... three hours later and several hundreds of pounds of snow, and thousands of shovel loads later, the driveway was sort of clear (understand, it hadn't stopped snowing). Kendon and I drove to Home Depot, got some shear bolts, headed out to run errands, celebrated our 19th anniversary by going out to dinner, and came home.

Fast Forward to Sunday morning... we'll just pop in the shear bolts, clear the snow off the driveway (sort of, still snowing folks) and be on our way. I wonder how much pressure it takes to get these shear bolts in... this leads me to my "lessons learned the hard way":

1. It's a good idea to know what shear bolts are, when they are missing, and how they should fit in the snow machine. This little bit of education can save you several hours of hammering, cussing, and frustration trying to get the jammed shear pin out of the appropriate place on the snowblower...

2. You shouldn't have to hammer in shear bolts. They may take a little tap, but if you have to apply more than just a little tap, you HAVE THE WRONG SIZE AND SHOULD STOP IMMEDIATELY!!!

3. Don't assume that the guy from Home Depot knows what the hell he is talking about... chances are, he doesn't have a clue and will tell you what you want to hear so he can move on to the next customer. Don't trust said HD guy, even when you provide appropriate model and serial number AND he uses the computer to look up the lot number for the parts. He's clueless.

4. When you finally get that shear pin out and replace it with the RIGHT ones, it's okay to celebrate, do a dance of joy, hug, kiss, and THEN go out and clear off the driveway.

And last but not least, in fact, the most important lesson learned...

5. It's probably a very good idea to check said snow machine BEFORE the worst snowfall of the season hits New England. Making sure said snow blower works properly will alleviate several hours of frustration, several trips to Home Depot, and hours of back breaking labor. Oh ya, and one last thing... always keep several extra shear pins on hand so you can replace immediately when needed.

Ice, Ice Baby!

Talk about crazy ice storms... I woke up middle of the night with my bedroom lights blaring which was weird because I KNOW I turned them off when I went to bed. It was pouring rain, hitting the house so hard it sounded like little stones on the windows and roof. At the time it didn't register, but now I realize it was ICE rain (not hail or sleet really, but frozen rain -- don't know what else to call it) making all the racket. Kendon, of course, was out of town and I was a little unnerved, so of course, I got up, checked the kids, did a walk-through of the house and checked all the doors to make sure everything was secure. All was well and I turned off my bedroom light and went back to bed. This was somewhere in the 3am ballpark.

Fast forward to 5am... I woke to loud cracking sounds and again bedroom lights that were on. Thinking Madison must have gotten up and I didn't hear her over my obnoxious snoring, I got up and checked her and Todd... they were sleeping and didn't stir. It was still pouring ice and was REALLY LOUD. But there were other sounds I hadn't heard earlier. Creaks and cracks, moaning... kinda weird and scary. Then the phone rang... school cancelled in the morning because of the ice storm, power lines down and roads flooded all over the place. No sooner did I hang up the phone then the lights dimmed, flickered and went out.

NOT COOL! So what's a girl to do? I went back to bed.

When I woke a couple hours later, the house was still dark, ice pouring from the sky. I looked out the window and was amazed by the sights... trees down all over the place. Huge limbs broken from the weight of the ice. The trees were encased in ice -- and I don't mean a thin layer of ice, either. It was beautiful in a cold "I'm completely covered in ice" sort of way. I got ready for work in the dark -- Madi and Todd went to a friends house (thanks Lisle -- you are truly awesome). It was pretty wild driving. Some roads were impassable, trees down everywhere, power lines down, and flooding... quite a nasty combination.

Our power was out for about 12 hours which really wasn't too bad considering the possibilities. There are still families and friends around the area who are still without heat and light. Not good when it's 30 degrees outside. Northborough declared a state of emergency and the town set up a shelter in the middle school. We're blessed to be warm, dry and safe. The kids had their first "snow" day and will enjoy a long weekend. Kendon got home safely and all is well.

Comments...what to do?

So I have a bit of a quandary (awesome word, eh?) that I thought I'd post about in case anyone reading wants to share their thoughts with me re: particular problem. This quandary is related to comments in response to my blog posts, which I LOVE to read, by the way -- comments make me feel HAPPY! I love to get em, love to read em -- they make me feel like someone cares! Silly, I know, but true just the same. Anyway, back to my quandary -- because the comments definitely aren't the problem, well at least not directly.

I'm still pretty green at this blogging stuff -- clueless, really. So much about blogging is new to me and I haven't come close to figuring out all the ins and outs... which, in a very round about way, leads me once again back to the quandary to which I keep referring. OK, here it comes... just about there... wait for it...

THE QUANDARY: when someone makes a comment on my blog, and I want to respond to that comment, do I respond back to them beneath their comment in my own blog? Or should I be sending an email? Or do I post something randomly on their blog? How does that work exactly? WHAT SHOULD I DO??? Because it seems to me that if I respond in my own blog beneath their comment they may never see said response.

I'm just thinking about me and my own brain and lack of retentive memory function (I blame the kids, of course), but if I comment on someone' blog post, first off, I don't always remember that I made a comment and second, I don't remember to recheck said post for a response to my comment.

I'm thinking I should send an email. But then it looks like I ignored the post all together. Is there Blog Etiquette? Is there a right way to manage this issue? Am I just being stupid? Nevermind, don't answer that last question. Just help me out with my little blog quandary...