It's an all-skate...

In the words of Robin -- Holy Icecapades Batman!!! We had another snow (ice) day today...for good reason. This is how my day went...

6:45am Kiss hubby good-bye and tell him to "be careful", wash his slowly back out of the drive onto the road and slide to the bottom of the hill. Promply run downstairs, grab the ashes from the woodburner, wake my daughter and throw on a jacket. We spent the next 40 minutes trying (and ultimately succeeding) to get him to the top of the hill and onto work.

7:30am Well I'm all sweaty now so I might as well go get my barn work done and then get my shower. Now you have to picture me...blue jeans tucked into barn boots, pink nightshirt and hubby's flannel. Yup everyone should get to look out their window and see their neighbor looking so fashionable.

9:00am Paid for a guy to spread salt around our driveway then spent the next THREE hours chipping and shoveling at least an inch of ice off of the driveway. Woohoo...got my cardio AND strength training in for the week. The kids were such a big help. They hung in there with me...and when Mom decides something is getting done, we don't stop until its done. A few breaks to get a tissue or regain feeling in their hands but they stuck with me until the end.

The rest of the day was filled with tax clients, dishes, grocery shopping, 3 loads of laundry and another trip to the barn. A busy but very good day! A little snow this evening but nothing too severe. Tomorrow I plan to do some work with the household notebook, hopefully!

I had to include a picture of our dog, Sidney! She was running and playing and thought the ice was super cool. When she should run little pieces of ice would skid across the surface and she would pounce on them. Plus she LOVES to play and chew on sticks and how elated she was to see Mother Nature had showered the yard with so many "toys".

Making up for Lost time...

WOW what a winter it has been! I'm just recovering from my 2nd illness, the first being a nasty cold and this weekend the flu -- YUCK!!! And we have all been really getting hit with storm after storm...#7 on the way.

School was canceled this morning because everything was covered in a thin (1/2") sheet of ice and by the looks of things out there now tomorrow will be another snow (ice) day. Walking to the barn was downright dangerous! I had to stomp each step to keep from going down...all the while my 13 year old is running and sliding---ahhh to be young and not afraid of breaking anything.



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As you know I have been following A Bowl full of Lemons and she continues to inspire me to clean and organize. Well when we were all home today I thought it was a perfect day to clean out the hall closet. I live in a home built in 1920 and closet space is at a premium so while it is still full -- it is organized. I started organizing my Household Notebook and will share all the ideas and details when I'm done.







{Before}

{After}

Bluegrass...

Saturday we went to our first Bluegrass Festival. I grew up on Country Western music...which is a long way from today's country music (of which I listen to regularly). My family used to watch Hee-Haw all the time...I was fortunate enough to find it on tv the other day. What a fun time! People enjoying being with people making music either by playing beautiful instruments, picking up a set of spoons or joinin their voices together.

I didn't know what to expect when my friends asked us along. Jon and I went with an open mind looking forward to enjoying a new experience. It was held at a local hotel. From what they said during the summer they hold them outside at campgrounds and such. In the main banquet room bluegrass acts would perform and change every half hour or so. Everything was free but they did take donations. There were instruments and goodies for sale to. But that wasn't the best part!

I come from a musical family. My Grandmother and Mom both have beautiful singing voices, my Uncle plays piano, daughter plays clarinet, son plays trumper and french horn, and hubby plays an amazing guitar. Plus we have many friends who are musically talented. There have been many nights sitting around a bonfire or just the kitchen table that the guitars come out and a "jam session" insues. This is a time when everyone joins in tapping their foot, playing or singing along...sooo much fun.

The best part of the Bluegrass Festival are the jam sessions aka picking rooms. As you walk up and down the hallways of the hotel many rooms will be open with music flowing. You are welcome to hang in the doorway, sit on the bed or if you have an instrument in hand you can join right in. These pictures were of some very very talented musicians just a pickin' and a grinin'. My son and I were sitting on the floor inside the room because there were so many people. At one point the banjo player asked the guitarist if he wanted to play it slow or fast, to which he replied "well, how fast can you play it"...it was game on! The banjoist tightened his finger picks and they were off. WOW! They were so good...what a great time.

Even if you are not into bluegrass I think you would enjoy checking a festival out. They are usually free. A few clicks of the mouse would tell you if any are playing in your area. For me it took me back to a simpler, happier time.

**sorry for the picture quality...I forgot my camera and only had the camera on my phone**

Out of the Fog...

We all have fog in our lives! It could be illness, obesity, debt or a messy chaotic house. We have all driven through fog before. Isn't it amazing how a road we travel daily suddenly we are lost on when the fog is heavy. January is a time to come out of the fog...or start to. It's the perfect time to start getting healthy, start a new household budget and organize your house and/or life.

Notice I didn't say lose weight! Get healthy is different, although many times results in losing weight. Eating whole foods, cooking at home, getting exercise are all great places to start for your physical well being. But alot of times we forget about our mental health. Take time to do the things that make you happy...spend time with friends, in prayer or doing a favorite activity. Have you been putting off talking to your doctor about something? Now is the perfect time to make that appointment!

Take time to work on a budget. Be honest with yourself...how much are you really spending every day! You have to count the latte's, life savers and trips to the vending machine. It is truly amazing how much money we spend every month without realizing it. But when we recognize them and allow for these expenses we can build our savings and pay off that debt! Be creative...don't give up the things you love because you can't afford them...buy life savers by the bag or your favorite snack from the store where it is much much cheaper than the vending machine.

And one of my goals for 2011...a spic and span, organized home! Everything will have a place AND everything will be in its place. Don't try to tackle the whole house or even a room...start with a drawer or a closet. My first order of business is going through my closet and drawers...getting rid of the clothes that don't fit, are outdated or I just don't wear anymore. Moving on from there the list includes every drawer and cupboard in the house, washing walls and curtains, repainting the bathroom, developing weekly menus, and posting regularly on my blog and my business web-site.

It takes time for the fog to lift or burn off. Take baby steps to come out of your fog...then take another baby step and before you know it the road in front of you will be crystal clear.

SNP aka Taco Soup...

I love to cook, bake, can...just being in the kitchen creating is my favorite place to be. Making soups and stews is a so enjoyable on these cold winter days. It's such a great feeling having a pot of hot delicious soup simmering on the back of the stove...ready for the next cold hungry family member coming in from outside.

While looking around the internet I saw a recipe for Taco soup. Why hadn't I thought of that?! I love stuffed pepper soup which is made my throwing all of the ingredients for stuffed peppers in a pot, so why not do the same with Taco's? My family loves tacos.

Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite way to cook is to throw things together. I start with a basic idea and then just start adding things, tasting, correcting what I don't like and calling it food. The downside? It makes it hard to duplicate the same thing again. Well here's a shot at telling you how I made Taco Soup aka S#*t N a Pot (SNP).

I browned up about 1 1/2# ground beef, added a onion and green pepper finely diced. Drain off excess fat. Then stir in a can of corn, black beans and chopped tomatoes, all UNdrained. For seasoning I added taco seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, hot sauce and cumin...all to taste. At the end I added about 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. When you serve it you could top the soup with smoked cheddar cheese, Doritos, corn chips or anything along those lines. You might like to stir in a dallop of sour cream. I hope you enjoy this very easy, flexible and delicious soup.

Just what I needed...

FINALLY!!! I love being organized! It actually makes me all fluttery inside when everything is neat and organized. I have been looking high and low on the web trying to find just the right organizing blog/site. I finally found it! Just like different crafting blogs she offers challenges to help you get organized...gives you direction and inspiration. This is exactly what I needed!!!

Lemons, lemons, lemons -- what's not to love! Refreshing and juicy!

Hmmm...

As my kiddos like to say "I got nothing"!

Throughout the day I think about things I could and should blog about, but never seem to pull the whole thought together. Probably because I jump to the next topic in my brain.

I thought about posting a list of goals for 2011...but that seems to set me up for feeling like a failure when I don't achieve all the goals.

One goal I absolutely MUST achieve in the early part of 2011 is to become more technologically savvy. I am working on building a web-site through WordPress and feel totally lost. There seems to be this stigma (at least in my mind) that if I spend 4, 5 or 6 hours on the computer that I have wasted my day.

Anyhoo...I need to go do something more constructive than ramble here on my blog. If you would like to watch the evolution of my web-site the URL is http://www.mjbusinesssolutions.com/ and if you have any suggestions or tips on how to learn all this techno mumbo jumbo I am all ears.

Have a great day and as Peggy says...count your Blessings every single day!!!