snoring....no more!!

Jon snores.
He actually sounds like he's cutting down an entire forest.
EVERY.
SINGLE.
NIGHT.

It just started to get bad...but it was so bad that I really couldn't sleep in our room on some nights. It would wake me up in the middle of the night like a freight train.

Poor guy.
He knew it was bad and did a little research.

Enter the zQuiet.
I thought it was a sham...and expensive sham.

But it came in the mail a few weeks ago-
AND IT CHANGED MY LIFE!!

I LOVE THE THING.
Jon loved the thing!

We were once again able to sleep peacefully.

Unfortunately there was another member of the family who also loved the zQuiet.



Gypsy.
I swear, I'm giving her away.
I almost cried when I walked into our room and saw it in gnawed up little pieces on the floor.

And Jon....when I told him he went ballistic.
To say that we are huge fans of the zQUiet is an understatement.

So Jon called them today...I thought he was out of his mind.
What are they going to do honey? The dog ATE it. There isn't a warranty for that.

But guess what?
Those super kind folks are sending him a new one- at no cost!

How awesome is that???

So, if you've got a snoring problem (or sleep with someone who does..) check out the zQuiet.

I'm pretty sure you'll thank me, you'll thank them and you'll sleep in peace!!!
(just make sure that you hide it from your dog)

Tongue and Cheek

Yesterday we stopped at the drugstore to pick up a few things...
Cooper needed a new toothbrush and took great care in choosing one himself.

The one he picked had a tongue and cheek cleaner which impressed him. I didn't give it another thought.

Until, I walked into the bathroom last night and he was rubbing the back of the toothbrush on his cheek. The OUTSIDE of his cheek.

It took me a 1/2 second to figure out what in the world he was doing.

Goodness, he couldn't be any sweeter.
I ADORE that child...



And now, the INSIDE of his cheeks are appropriately maintained too.

Hope you hug your kid today...just like I hugged mine!!

Muffin News

I've got piles in various places around the house. I really need to get it under control...it's a constant battle.

Over the past few weeks I've been working at it more than usual and came upon a recipe that I'd clipped from somewhere and wanted to try. Oddly enough, I had everything I needed to make it (the main ingredient is pancake mix!).

Banana Praline Muffins- YUM!

You can find the recipe here. It's really easy and would be perfect to make for a brunch or breakfast on the go (which was my intent).

I made them last week and was pretty impressed with myself.



Don't they look delicious?
I'm pretty sure they were....but the only one in our family who might be able to give a review cannot talk.



GYPSY ATE ALL OF THEM.
Crazy dog.
She loves a carb.
And evidently, a Banana Praline Muffin.

Let me know how yours turn out...if you're so inclined.

Vegetable Challenged

Cooper didn't have school today (but Jon did) so we spent the day together at the river. Our neighbor planted a fall garden in our field and there were some random crops still in various stages of growing and we were doing some exploring.

I found this-



And I promptly sent the picture to Jon with a message that said,
BEET IT!
I thought I was so funny.

Until tonight at dinner when I said, "Hey, didn't you think my beet message was so hilarious?"

And he said, "Yeah, especially because it was a radish!"

Oops, I'm beet red!!
(and I make myself laugh!!)

But really, does that look like a radish to you? It was white inside, and it did smell radish-y, but my word. It was enormous!

Here's hoping you ate some veggies today that were recognizable.

Order- COMPLETE!

I'm a total procrastinator- it's a flaw, I'm aware. I'm pretty sure I could reduce a large amount of stress if I could just be more organized and plan ahead. But that would take planning and being organized- and I'm no good there.....at least on a consistent basis. On the other hand, if I just lower my expectations I might achieve the same thing.

Who knows.

Anyway- I'm TRYING!
And today I saved 40% on my Christmas cards by ordering in November vs. my typical mid-December time frame. Genius.

What's different this year? Instead of pouring over options, trying to come up with something witty and stressing out about the perfect photo- I used a picture from the summer that I like, sent a generic wish for happiness & love and called it a day.

What about you?

"delete this from your memory" (an early morning exchange)

I woke up today and couldn't bring myself to walk on the treadmill. It was dark and cold and I was super cozy. When I finally pulled myself out of bed, Cooper padded in to our room and promptly sneezed five times.

Then he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said the words I never want to hear.
"Momma, I'm sick"

Poor kid- sneezing, sniffling, headache, body aches.
So. NOT. Good.
I had a marathon meeting from 9 until 5 that I simply couldn't miss.

So, like any good mother, I dosed him up with meds, stuck him in the shower and waited to see whether there might be any hope.

NONE.

So, I got him snuggled back in bed and sent an email letting my team know that I would need to attend the meeting via phone.

I'm thankful that I have that option because otherwise, I'm up a creek.
There is no back up plan.

To calm my nerves and get me ready for the battle of an 8 hour conference call, I did what I'm sure many people would.

I cleaned out a closet.
I've needed to do it for a while and I had 30 minutes to kill since I didn't have to drive to work.

And after I was finished, I shot a message to Jon-

*************************

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 7:39 AM
To: Jon
Subject: Sick kid

Ughhhh.
No school for him.
Poor thing.

His response-


From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 07:48 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

What wrong with him? Too much candy? His ear hurts? Do you need me to come home?

My response-

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 7:55 AM
To: Jon
Subject: Re: Sick kid

Not ear silly. (he had this weird ear wound...but it's not a reason to stay home)
He is sneezing, stuffy, head aches, throat hurts, can't move his body hurts.

I can work from home today- you stay

*******************

He shot me back a message letting me know that he had downloaded some sports stuff on his computer that Coop might like and this was my response-

From: Neblett, Carolyn [mailto:carolyn.neblett@capitalone.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 8:55 AM
To: Jon Neblett
Subject: RE: Sick kid

Awesome, thanks.

I cleaned out the hall closet- tons of stuff to take to the Good Will and
lots to throw away too. I'm getting brutal!

Hope you have a good day-
xoxo


And with that, I thought the exchange was finished and we'd both go on with our days.

Until this came....

From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 9:26 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

Wow that's awesome.

Another thing I think we could do is revamp our whole disk/glass situation.
I think we could buy some place setting of just one thing. We have such a hodge podge of plates, bowls glasses ect. Some of which we use very little if at all. I don't know how much that stuff costs but Im willing to pay for it as I really think it would help us stay more organized. Im thinking something very plain but practical (like a solid color).

Perhaps we could take all the old down the river. Let me know your thoughts.

My response-

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 10:38 AM
To: Jon
Subject: RE: Sick kid


I'm not sure what a disk/glass is but I think you may be treading on thin
ice here.
We have dishes- they are blue/yellow/white and we have a service for 8
(dinner plate, bowl, salad plate and cup/saucer). What about them isn't
organized and what about dishes that we already have isn't practical?

So that my head doesn't explode- this is probably a conversation to have in
person.

: )


His response-

From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 10:42 AM
To:Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

I will never speak of it again, please delete from you memory.

The word disk should have said dish.


************************

Ok, couple things here.

1) I'm not sure what he could have written that might have shocked me more.
2) I ADORE our dishes. They make me happy every time I take them out of the cabinet.



3) I have been working really hard over the past year on being more organized and being less attached to "stuff". I'm purging and getting rid of things that I never would have dreamed of throwing away before. And for the life of me, I couldn't imagine what in the world was wrong with the way our dishes were organized and how changing the color of the dishes would help.

UNLESS.
Unless he doesn't like the dishes.

But seriously- is that even possible? How could he have an opinion on the dishes that we've used for our entire married life?

4) To be clear, these dishes pre-date him. We didn't register for everyday dishes when we got married because I had these and they were basically brand new.

So, when he got home I brought it up. And do you know what he said?

"It really doesn't have anything to do with being organized. I don't like those dishes. Well actually, it's not that I don't like them really- it's just that I'm TIRED of them"

Really? Tired of them? Do they really impact you that much? Would it kill you to eat from the same plate that we've used since 1999?

And then I wondered.
Are these dishes out? Am I screaming 1995, which is when I got the dishes? Am I living in the past? Are they offensive? In bad taste? Tacky?

Should I cave and get new dishes (after all, he did say he'd pay for them!)
Because really, I do love plain white dishes and have coveted them from Wade and Sarah ever since they registered for them.

But a replacement plate is selling for $54 at Replacements and $30 on e*bay. That's gotta count for something. And so does using what you have- and not creating more excess.


HELP!!!
What do I do?