Monday Moment

Thanks everyone for your PRAYERS...and letters & cards for my sister Christi.    Her Walk to Emmaus was amazing!  She is filled to the top with God's love, rested in His Spirit, and simply glowing!  It was my honor to be her sponsor!

How'd that Taste?

When Randy told me that he was buying John an iPod Touch for Christmas I was NOT thrilled!! 

Hello...he is 2 for crying out loud!!  What 2 year old has his OWN iPod...this is totally ridiculous! 

Plus...I don't have an IPod!  I have an old antiquated MP3 player that is huge, heavy, and...and...and it is NOT fancy!

Here's the deal.  John fell deeply in love with Randy's iPhone .  He figured out how to operate by himself when he was about 21 months old.  He loves looking at the pictures and videos that we take of him.

So...Randy bought him the  iPod.

As I went looking for him this morning I could not find him.Then I noticed a little head sticking out of John's hamper.        There he is....playing with his iPod.

Now I need to publicly apologize to Randy for giving him such a hard time about this! - this iPod is it is a life-saver when we are in public and need to entertain him.   Plus Randy's phone will not be destroyed by a toddler!

Thank you Randy - you were rrr....rrr...rrrrr....right.

My only issue now...I am scared we are raising a narcissist!

Manic Monday Moment - M.M.M.

      

How did this happen???

Usually between 1 & 2pm every afternoon John takes a nap in the "big" bed.  More times than not I usually take a little snooze with him...I have to admit - I love this! 

Well...today John looked at me and said "nite-nite"...went to his room, got in his bed, and to sleepy town he went!

Valley Forge

I am reading about Valley Forge in one of my daily devotionals and thought I would share this with you.  I know that I learned about this in school but I guess I didn't pay attention.  It is unbelievable what the people suffered to make our country a free country.  Simply amazing!George Washington's army was suffering by the time they made camp at a place called Valley Forge in the middle of a very cold winter.  The army was dressed in rags, most of the men did not have shoes, there was no food except for water & flour, and disease was sweeping through the camp.

Quoting directly from the book:                                                                   But the patriot spirit never broke.  Somehow, they managed to march, drill, and trained themselves to fight.  "If we can just live through this winter", they told themselves, "we can win our freedom."  When they arrived at Valley Forge there were 12,000 but only 8,000 remained after the bitter winter.

Story goes that a Quaker farmer Isaac Potts, who lived near Valley Forge was walking through the woods when he came upon George Washington.  He saw Washington bowed on one knee, weeping, and asking God to look after his men.Mr. Potts went home that evening and told his wife what he had seen.  Then he said "All will be well, Martha.  If there is anyone the Lord will listen to, it is this brave man.  I have seen the General Washington on his knees.  Our independence is certain."

So cool...  I might have to have that picture in my home someday.

(BTW - we ate on Fiestaware last night and no one complained.  Although...Randy is really sick with some sort of belly-bug this morning.  It is probably my plates - huh?)

Fiesta...All Night Long....

I know....ENOUGH - we are sick of reading about Fiestaware!! 

But the saga....continues.

The party is still in my cabinet...and when I open the doors I just smile.  The saga/drama is with me....imagine that.

I am still not sure Randy is on board.  Although yesterday when we were sitting down to dinner Randy grabbed a Fiesta plate - the dark blue one and was about to eat on it until I yelled STOP!!!  He was like "what now"?  I said I was not 100% sure if we were keeping them...plus I need to wash them.  He rolled his eyes.

I should say...that even though I said I wasn't 100% sure if I was keeping the party I did spend some more of my Christmas loot on some Fiesta bowls and placed an order for a set that Dillard's had sold out of - Peacock Blue.  FaBuLoUs!!!

Then this morning something happened....

Something that made my jaw drop....

Someone had been messing with my Fiestaware...

Someone moved the coffee cups!  See them...behind the little plates on the second shelf?   I had put them in a different cabinet on the top shelf since we will never...or at least hardly ever use them...but Randy moved them!  He said they look better with the other dishes....plus and I quote...they were lonely!!  LA.LA.LA.LA.LA.LA.LA

HE HAS COME TO THE OTHER SIDE!    The dishes have started talking to him!!!   YEA!!!  I believe I have my confirmation -  he is 100% on board...game set...and ready to play!   YEA!!!   And there was much rejoicing!!!

So...I am leaving you now to completely reorganize my kitchen....make sure everything has a proper place!  Then tonight I am going to make Randy his most favorite meal... Tina-Ziti's...and we will use the Fiesta - tonight!

Let's all sing along...

We're going to Party, Karamu, Fiesta, forever
Come on and sing along!
All night long (all night), All night (all night)!

"Fiesta-Gate" Continues....

(Thanks Laura for the title)

Before I even begin my rant today I want to apologize.  I know there are waaayyyy worse problems to have then deciding what dishes to have ...or not to have.  I really feel really sort of foolish because I know that many of you have WAY bigger problems....and here I sit "belly-aching" over dishes. This just happens to be my problem right now...and I am so thankful that this is my problem instead of John being sick - thanks LeeLee for that observation.

So...yesterday morning I had decided that we should take the Fiestaware back and try to get something we both completely agree on - thanks Janine....great advice!  I was really good with this idea and very open to this.  The more I thought about it the more I thought Randy was right...."it is really heavy"...."it probably will break & chip"....and "shelf space is going to be an issue". 

After dinner last night we started conquering every store that had dishes that we both could agree on. Which was Wal-Mart, Kohl's Sears, Dillard's, JCPenny's, Target, & Bed/Bath & Beyond.  The entire time we were running around to all of these place I could hear my Fiestaware in the back rattling around.  It was like the Fiestaware was crying saying..."No - Tina...keep us.  You know you love us & want us."  (I have official lost it - call the Pavilion...the dishes are now crying & talking to me - I have lost my mind!!)  Every where we went and all the dishes we look at had no appeal to me at all. I really tried to have an open mind but nothing came close.  Plus the stores we went to that had Fiestaware I was constantly mixing up the plates & bowls - Randy would yell at me to concentrate!  When we got to Dillard's I told Randy I was not ready to return the Fiestaware.

We went ahead and bought four different patterns of Corelle so that we could try to decide.  (I know....this is insanity!  Understand - we will NOT use these dishes.  This is for a visual decision.)  I set the dishes up last night and here are the "Top Four Corelle Choices"

Yea....this is a crappy picture - because these are not the dishes I really want.  The pictures below show the dishes I really want.

I really want the Fiesta - they are so bright and beautiful.  I decided to test them out in my cabinets to see if I would have any room.  What do you think?  (Note - the big red bowls are my mixing bowls.  I have an entire set of red mixing bowls and serving platters by Chantal.  I love my red stuff...another reason I want Fiesta - it will go with my existing collection.  Some of you may not know this but my middle name is Chantal.)

Before:

 After:

Before:

After:

Oh my....

Don't you think they look lovely?

So I had a heart to heart with Randy last night.  He told me that he really wanted me happy....and "if Fiestaware was what makes Tina happy...then Fiestaware is what it will be".  But I really want him happy...so I asked him exactly what he had against the Fiesta...don't we all want the Fiesta?  He said that he did not think it was practical, he doesn't like the heaviness or the pastel colors, and he thinks the bowls are unorganized.  You know what...the bowls seem to represent my life right now....and I like it.  2009 was not the best year and getting these dishes seem like a new beginning to something old.  For all ten place-settings it was $200.00 which is totally under my budget.  This is what I really want.  So I told Randy....this is what I really want.  I told him he would get use to them...heck - when he first met me he didn't like me - he had to get use to me - seriously.  He didn't like saurkraut & sausage either - but he does now.  He didn't like Country & Western music - but he does now.  He didn't like babies - but he does now.  He didn't like thin pizza - but he does now.  For crying out loud the man drove only Chevrolet Suburban's for the past 20 years and switched to a Ford a few months ago!!  A switch from Corelle to Fiesta should not be that hard...right???

The jury is still out.  I am not going to use the Fiestaware in my cabinet....I am going to let it hang out a day or two and wait to see what Big Daddy thinks.

Have I totally lost my mind?  Did the flu overtake me?

To Party or Not to Party....

Do you remember "Butterfly Gold" by Corelle?

Here....see if this jogs your memory....

This was the pattern that my family used in the seventies...when it came out.  So...imagine my surprise in 1998 when I learned Randy had the entire collection of  Butterfly Gold.  Wow - talk about a blast from the past.  When we got married we did not request...as most newly weds request...a new "everyday" set of dishes...hello...we have a ton of Butterfly Gold - seriously....we have around 16 plates, bowls, cups, and saucers.

Well...I am tired of Butterfly Gold.  I mean I am really tired of these plain plates and plain bowls.  They are starting to look pretty bad too - they are chipped and wearing down.  Randy said they belonged to his Mother...he started using them when he was about 10 in 1972 and when he went to away to college in 1980 she gave them to him.  These plates....are as old as I am - 38 years old!

I think it is time for a change.

When we got married in 1999 and merged our households I brought Fiestaware to the table.  Awww....I loved my Fiestaware.  It is bright in color, heavy, been around forever, made in the U.S.A. - West Virginia to be exact!  I had four - four pieces place settings - I remember me & Mom buying them right before I move to Amarillo.   Once Randy & I started combining dishes Randy refused to eat from my Fiestaware....he wanted his Corelle.  So for the first several years of marriage when I would cook I would serve his food on his Corelle and my food on my Fiesta.  It was so silly but I did not want to give up my color and my...Fiestaware.  But as years passed...more mixing bowls and Rubbermaid bowls appeared my Fiestaware lost it's space.  I finally surrendered and packed my Fiestaware away.

Then in 2006...Fiestaware made its way BACK to the Hare household!  After much complaining about the Butterfly and a huge fight Randy bought me Fiestaware!  I had it for several days on my kitchen counter until I insisted Randy take it back to the store.  I didn't want the dishes....they would only remind me of the fight we had.

Now...here we are 2010.  For Christmas I scored a significant amount of cash.  I have spent the loot many times in my mind but I always keep coming back to...you know...Fiestaware.  I thought my love and desire for Fiestaware was gone but Laura got Fiestaware for Christmas and she told me how much she loved it...and it rekindled all these sparks of desire that I thought were dead and gone.  I started searching and Dillard's has a great offer - buy four-five piece place setting for $24. each and get one free!  The time has come.  But to make this long blog short...or at least try too...a HUGE disagreement - doesn't that sound better than fight - ensued amongst me and my mister.  The details are not important - but it wasn't pretty.  I wasn't going to get my Fiestaware after all.  The shock and awe of this situation has had me really down.

So...imagine my face last night when I went to the back of Randy's Expedition to get some stuff out and there...in the back of his Expedition were TEN - FIVE PIECE PLACE SETTINGS of Fiestaware.

What is a girl to do?  Yes...I should just take the stinking Fiestaware and shut-up...but will I think of all that we have been through with this Fiestaware?  Randy did tell me last night as I was overjoyed looking at my plates... that "the plates will take up a bunch of space"...they are" going to chip"...."they are so heavy"...but..."if that is what I really want".

I am trying to decide if I should keep the Fiestaware, get some new Corelle, or look for something completely different.  So....now you know why I am blogging at 3 am.  It does seem silly...there is a war going on, people are starving all over the world, and I am worried about...dishes.

Why is He getting so BIG....so Fast?

Happy 75th Birthday Elvis!

Despite what many people may think I am not a huge Elvis fanatic.

Wait....let me clarify this...I am an Elvis fan but not one of those types that has lots of his records, wears shirts with his imagine, has over a dozen coffee mugs referencing Elvis, been to Graceland more than once, has several Elvis collectable dolls, at least five purses/bags with Elvis on them, bought her son a shirt about Elvis so that he can match his Mother on Elvis's birthday and death day, has one of the best memories with my Mom & brother regarding Elvis & a stamp & an investigation, and no I don't eat peanut butter & banana sandwiches...without thinking about him.

Okay...I guess I am a huge Elvis fanatic.  There.  I admitted it.  Everyone has at least one friend like this...and I am your friend like this.

I don't worship him.  I don't like to call him the king. And I do think he was apart of the "fall" of society.  But I still like him.  When I see him I just smile.  I think of happy times & memories.

This crazy addiction  started at a young age thanks to my folks.  I actually got to see Elvis in 1977 - two months before he died.  I was five years old and remember everything about the concert.  When he would pull the scarves off from around his neck I can remember wanting to have one to give my Momma.

So twice a year in this Hare household you can drop by and hear a cd player constantly belting out Elvis tunes, see an Elvis movie on the television,  taste a peanut butter & banana sandwich, and hear a middle aged woman reminisce a funny story about Elvis.

Here is my favorite clip from my favorite Elvis movie...which I actually don't own!  See...I am not that big of fan!  (Be sure to mute the sound on my player below if you watch this clip!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhFrSwSIgc4

Happy Birthday Mom!!

My Mom is my very best friend - I am very blessed to have her as a Mother.  She is my #1 fan, head cheerleader, and my go-to person when things go awry.

She had my brothers in her early twenties...and fifteen years later at the age of 37 she had me.  When she found out she was pregnant with me she immediately started calling me Tina.  Since her age was considered "high-risk" for pregnancy and she was RH-negative blood type the doctors constantly told her that I would not live, that she would not be able to carry me full-term, and if...by chance I was born alive I would be very sick and I would have to have my blood changed immediately.  She worried...and she wouldn't buy any baby items...but she would tell everyone that "her & Tina were just fine".  When I was born a few weeks before my due date I was perfectly healthy...except for a little jaundice.

Maybe it is why we are so close?...it started in the womb.

She had her boys but they were becoming men.  I guess God knew Mom would not want an empty nest.  It makes me laugh to think about my youngest brother Larry graduating school in May of 1977...and I started Kindergarten in September 1977.  She was getting one out...and just starting another one! 

Mom and I are alike in so many ways...we like to have everything in it's proper place, if there is a job to do then we do it - right that second, we both love purses, cold Cokes, Elvis, and I totally agree with her that King George is the next best thing to slice bread!

I will conclude my salute to my dear Mom by thanking her.  She gave me everything and went without.  She went along with me when I decided to change an overnight girls trip to Santa Fe into a week long vacation - across the Continental United State!  She has made me laugh until liquid spewed from my nose.  She drove me all over Texas looking for the perfect dress to wear to a dance...and then she worked days making me the perfect...one of a kind prom dress.  I almost went to jail with my Mom.  I have...cried the most with my Mom, laughed the most with my Mom, worried the most with my Mom, enjoy the most  with my Mom, and treasured every moment with my Mom - how many girls can say that?

Happy Birthday Gertie.

I love you. 

A Happy Boy

We are doing much better - not 100% but better.  I feel better today than I have in a week...although I have no voice whatsoever - which is a nice break for Randy...and John thinks it's funny.

Our Christmas was sort of a bummer but praise the Lord it could have been much worse!  I haven't taken many pictures of John and his new loot but I did snap this photo on him on his new pony...which he named "Toot-Toot" - imagine that.  For those of you not around John..."toot-toot" is his favorite saying!You should see this little boy jump up on this pony!!  He makes me a little nervous - he tries to make it a wild horse!  He has given pony rides to all of his stuffed animals..with the hat on.  It is really sweet.

John's biggest gift...and his most favorite gift was what Santa brought to MaMa & PaPa's house - his first electric train.

The first look...

Now for the close-up...

PaPa showing John how it works...

John learned quickly how to turn the train on...the Santa Fe train that is.  No one had to show him how to change directions, blow the whistle, or slow the train down - it was like he had played with one before!  The only problem was John liked the train to go fast...all the time! 

John was so happy and proud of his Santa Fe.   Thank you MaMa & PaPa...he loves his Santa Fe.