BULLETS

I'm just lovin' the bullets for giving out stuff I must share....

• In Tate's Kingdom I am almost done with the painting and almost ready to move the furniture back into the room! It is looking so amazing and I promise to post pictures soon.


• I am traveling next week out to Minneapolis MN to see TESS and JULIE! I am so excited I cannot stop smiling when I think of this! Here I am holding both gals during the Utah bloggy 2007 gathering. Tess actually was sitting with me happily, but for some reason, when it came time for a picture of these two gals and me, she wanted to bolt!


• The other day I got to do a thing that us waiting mommas without any children crave. I got to watch Eliza for one hour while her momma went grocery shopping. It was so fun sitting in the downstairs play room/storage room/ office. Who am I kidding by giving it a name- it is the JUNK ROOM! Playing with Eliza and having her undivided sweet attention. She is a such a smart cutie pie!


• Man I love me some good EB*Y shopping! I have been adding to Tate's Library. For the bargain price of .99 I have bought hardcover USED but actually new looking books. This week a signed copy by Jan Brett of Daisy Comes Home, three of the "Bear" series, Bear Wants More, Bear Stays Up, Bear Snores On.


• I did splurge on the new book Good Morning China amazingly illustrated by the artist Hu Yong Yi. You must see this one.


• I have been feeling so good about all the small projects I have been getting done around this house. It think it helps to be working on a major re-do and getting the little stuff done also. While working with the white paint for all the trim in the Kingdom, I have painted inside part of the front door and two layers on top of Tate's dresser.


• I am trying to organize my space to accommodate Tate and all her "stuff". When you live in a small 100 yr old house with limited closets (had one originally, I have added three) you have to try to be creative. I have been working on some creative projects, but these project as worthy of it's own post with pictures.


• I am feeling great and no longer like a stuffed Build A B*ar.

STUFFED LIKE A BUILD A BEAR

My head is stuffed like a stuffed bear from Build a Bear. I have a cold, a yucky, stuffy, COLD. On the plus side, I can't taste a thing. So the Thanksgiving gorge fest was not for me. I ate just because I was hungry not for the shear pleasure that the food was too good to stop. What is it that when you head feels all full, nothing even looks good? Hence, for once in my life I ate to live and not live to eat. But I feel that the tides of change is shifting soon. Today, as I was gazing at Chocolate Mint pie, I actually felt like taking a bite. I felt the smooth creamy chocolate in my mouth and the distinct taste of mint penetrating my stuffiness. I set my piece of Chocolate Mint pie aside to be enjoyed when I can taste its flavors in all it's smooth minty goodness. I'm hoping to indulge later tonight or tomorrow for breakfast.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2007

So much to be thankful for.....

CHEESE CAKE FACTORY

SLC area finally got their first Cheese Cake Factory! Here is was it takes to actually go and eat at the CCF!!!

Play by Play at the NEW Cheese Cake Factory…….

4:30 pm I start to stand in line just to get on the list for seating on a Friday evening. Now I am not sure if the choice to go on a Friday night was a poor choice, but heck, we thought it would be like a late lunch, early dinner.

4:45 pm after 15 minutes waiting in line to make the list, we are on the list and the proud bearer of an 8 inch, light-up vibrating thing. We grabbed the treasure and we're told that it was about a 2-2 ½ wait. Off we ran to do a bit of shopping and returned back after 1 ½ hrs! Only one hour left of our wait!

6:30 pm- we inquired when we would be able to be seated. The young blond who definitely graduated with HONORS*** (wink, wink) smiled and told us another 1 ½ hrs to 2 hrs!!!! CCF is adding time to their projected wait time on us! The High Honor graduate tells us that we can watch for seating in the bar and grab a table and get the same service and food. With this add knowledge, I knew without a doubt of her high honors!

6:30 pm- we spied a table and headed for it only to be intercepted by other starving waiting savages. Since they looked hungrier and meaner, we let them have the table and waited another 10 minutes.

6:40 pm- ahhh, we are seated and dreaming of the cheese cake and making our entrée selections. While we were discussing the cheese cake possibilities, there came a gorgeous man who sidled up to me with an offer to buy our cheese cake IF we let them have the table when we were finished. Although this hunk of gorgeous tried not to be “hovering”, we still felt the need to kind of hurry.

6:55 pm- we are finally breaking bread and smearing the butter. The order was in kitchen and we were prepared for the scrumptious meal.

Reminder: I still had in my purse the coveted possession of the reservation light-up, vibrate calling wand! So being the always thinking of being helpful and nice character that I am, I called my brother, John and offered it to him IF he could be at the restaurant in 30 minutes. No small feat for my sister-in-law, Michelle to get out the door quickly especially since it was just sprung on her. They live about 20+ minutes from this place.

7:05 pm- meal is served…. Me? I ordered the chicken Madeira- to die for! Polly (the other part of “we”) got the BBQ chicken salad minus the chicken… she is a vegetarian. Gorgeous man still hovering on the side wall, waiting.

7:30 pm- John arrives and takes the magic wand to check how much longer. We are done eating and give up the table to the gorgeous man and his family.

7:32 pm- John returns to me and tells me it will be another 30-45 more minutes. It was decided that he and Michelle would look for a table in the bar or wait for the magic wanted to go off…. Whichever came first. Gorgeous man spies a table ready to empty and sends his son to save the table and find John since I was so nice….. NICE REALLY PAYS OFF I AM THINKING. John and Michelle eat at the bar and still the magic wand does not make a single light or vibration. I think John just handed the wand off to two anothers waiting so they too could hold this coveted wand.

Worth the wait??? You bet it was!!! Feasted on Chicken Madeira and lemon raspberry cheese cake!

***Graduating with Honor is a way of referring to a young gal who has had bre*st enhancements. If they are overly enhanced, then she graduated with HIGH HONORS. In some high schools in our city, this is given as the graduation present to the graduate.

MARIE OSMOND

I was a little impressed what I heard come out Marie Osmond's mouth the other night. While channel surfing, I happened upon Donny and Marie Osmond on the Larry King show. Not being a big fan of Larry King or the Osmonds, I just clicked on through. However, I did catch this blurb of the conversation that made me pause for a few seconds. I really do not know a whole lot about Marie Osmond, but I do know she has 8 kids. Some bio and some adopted. I guess one of her sons is in rehab. What should have been a private family issue was revealed by Larry King. By the look of shock on Marie's face, she was not aware that this was known information shared by the media. Her first reaction was to protect her son and stated that he has some things he was trying to work through such as being a teen and being adopted. Larry King did not let the adoption thing slip by. He followed up with the "he was adopted?" thing. Marie immediately gained composure and said, "I can't remember whom of my kids are adopted" or something like that. The fact that Marie feels the same towards her children that she did not want to differentiate between the bio and adopted children made me like Marie a little bit more. As most of us who are adopting, we feel our little ones are our children and not less than or more than any bio children. Kudos goes to Marie.

I have just got to share an Osmond story.... being from the homeland of all that is Osmond, UTAH. This story has to do with my interaction with the purple sock stud.... Donny. As stated, I am not a big fan of the Osmonds. Growing up in Utah and around Donny's exact age, I found the hoopla over Donny during his hay day a bit "gaggy". I was a 13 yrs old and I will say that I was a cute "mature" 13 year old. My friend Terilyn and I decided to go roller skating at a local skating rink in SLC one evening. Now mind you, the Osmonds lived in Provo which is 40 miles south of SLC. As the custom was during this roller skating rink time, the lights are dimmed a little and it is announce that it is the snowball. A couple starts the "dance" skate and splits off asking another person until it snowballs with everyone skating. Out of no where skates two cute guys. One my age and the other a bit older. The younger one asks me to skate and when we split up instead of finding someone new, the older one asked me and the younger one asked Terilyn. After finishing the snowball with these guys, we stopped and chatted. While chatting up these two guys, we comment that they looked like Donny and Alan Osmond. Quietly these two guys confirmed that they were Donny and Alan but they just wanted to go have some fun and not be recognized. Hence the 40 miles drive to skate. I think that Alan had just gotten his driver's license. Terilyn and I had to promise not to draw attention to them and we had another skate and then they were off. Both Terilyn and I could not have cared less about "the celebrities" and just laughed at this encounter. I have since lost track of Terilyn, but I am sure she shares this with her family and friends now.

I do have a ton of other encounters with the likes of Robert Redford (several times), The Oldest son from Eight is Enough, and numerous Brady Bunch actors. As well as other Osmond stuff.

Just for fun.... tell me about your celebrity sights!!!

LID-IVERSARY

I had planned on using the Sesame Street numbers as part of the life book documenting the wait for Tate. Each month representing another chapter. Now I think twenty is the last number. I will have to search more cause I know just because Sesame Street only counts to twenty, CC*A knows how to count higher... as evident in the referrals.

One positive thing about the wait!?
I have gotten to know and love so many of my bloggy buds!

BULLETS

I love the whole bullet idea. I love reading them and I love doing them when you have random thoughts that you want to share. Here are some bullets.

• Tomorrow marks my 20 month LID..... time is passing so quickly when you see that a lot of my buds with babes are celebrating their 1 year referrals or family/metcha days. I want to thank them for adding to my wait by encouragement and sharing joy with their babes.


• As is the routine with Mesa and Me. In the mornings when I do not have to work, we gather in the car and head to my favorite coffee drive-thru..... Ahhhhhh, coffee for me, and treat for Mesa. These fine coffee magicians know just how to make my brew and know just how to snuggle Mesa and hand her a treat. Then off we go to the dog park. The area I live in is very dog friendly. I live in an area that I term "DINKs". Duel Income No KIDs. The kids are their indulged pups. One of the puppy parent is a tennis pro at a local tennis club and there is an endless supply of good tennis balls. As is our custom, we arrive with at ball in out CHUCKETT and leave with the same ball. Mesa will not play with any other ball but the one we come with. A real problem when it is stolen by another dog. Today as we left the park, Mesa grabbed her ball. But this time, the abundance of balls got to her and into her mouth she loaded another ball. Like a treasure she pranced back to the car sporting two balls in her mouth.....


• I'm changing it up in my house. With the onset of Tate's Kingdom, I have had to shift things around designating rooms for other uses. One of the rooms hit with this fate is the down stair guest / catchall room. I am getting rid of a double mattress with frame. I could not find any takers of this extra bed. Instead of designating this mattress to the land fill, I decided to list in on Craig's list as a free item. No sooner did I finish the posting and I got hit with an on slot on calls...... Free is way too tempting for people not to want. I hope that today will be the end of me looking at that mattress hanging out in my driveway.


• I have decided that I will be hiring someone to do the moulding in Tate's Kingdom, so things are put on hold for a few weeks as I try to find someone. This idea of having someone else do the mouldings is giving me thoughts of having the Sun room (Mesa's room) done at the same time. The temptation is too great to do more when you are actually having someone come in you home to do some work.


• Finally after two years of damage, I have had my front of my house fixed. With my procrastination and out of sight, out of mind mentality, I have put this off until now. My sweet neighbor, Fong, ran into it. She was new to driving and gunned the gas instead of hitting the breaks causing her to plow into the house. Thankfully no one was hurt except the house and now that is like new.

Congrats to those who have received their referrals.... so sorry and hugs for those who did not and were expecting to.....

ME and WAIN-

The other day I was introduce to Wain- a meeting I will always remember. What first felt like a cold emptiness, turned quickly into a warm embrace. As Wain steadily moved in, slowly the echoing stopped. Although Wain is a little bare right now, fully covered Wain will take me to the heights of love. So ends another day in Tate's Kingdom......



My next step is caulking, painting and the mouldings. My sister leaves on Monday. After having so many minor problems due to the lack of tools needed, I will be hiring the mouldings top and baseboard.

RECIPES

I really need to provide a few recipes. I want to do it with the least amount of effort for me or for the ones interested in them. The few recipes that I promised were... stuff I made for the Utah bloggers breakfast and now the Cafe Rio Mexican salad stuff..... I think maybe I can do a site for recipes only and then link to it when I sometimes to share? Any other suggestions?