Happy Homemaker Monday

Good morning Friends and Happy Monday!  

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. It was a busy one here filled with my son's hockey games, errands, house cleaning, and the big Super Bowl!We had some friends over last night and had lots of fun watching the game and gobbling up way too many naughty goodies. I felt the game itself was sort of underwhelming...but Lady Gaga's national anthem was great - and the half time show was so good and the best I've seen. I just LOVED it!! Only a few good commercials this year.  

But then, just like that, a busy fun weekend is over and it's time to jump into a new week!!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Chilly this morning. Only in the teens for temps and snowing. It's supposed to be a pretty chilly week with most temps getting in only the single digits and below zero with windchill. Ugh!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

1/2 of an onion bagel, toasted hazelnut coffee and yogurt with fruit.

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

Snow blows in gusts sometimes in front of my window and gets all swirly for a few seconds. It looks gray and cold. However, it was warm here Saturday - almost 40*!! And I saw 2 robins that day...so I'm choosing to take that as a very hopeful sign that it WILL be an early Spring! Lol

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Listening to soothing music as I work on this and try to feel fully awake. I already had my coffee, but this gray weather, in combination with feeling snuggly indoors, makes me sleepy.  

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

Tidy overall. Laundry as usual. But lots of housework was done before our Super Bowl gathering. And my sweet hubby was a dream boat and loaded the dishes last night after everyone left. I knew it was smart to keep him around. ;) 

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

Still working on my office organization and some crafting projects in there. I need to get a workout in and have been trying to take more of that priority time for myself. I need to catch up in blogging world too. With the busy weekend here  -I know there are many of you I didn't get to visit last week. I hope to get around more today and catch up with you friends. 

Some things have changed with my MIL's schedule now, and some decisions have been made. I'm so excited to say that I will have decreased time with her - but healthy safe changes are being made on her behalf. I will still be involved and doing some caregiving, taking her to her appointments and still cooking for my in-law's, but it's also going to be a healthier change for my mom and me as we will be caring for her less. I'm excited about feeling less drained and having the energy again to put into my immediate family time, my home, exercise, friends, crafting etc.  It feels like a weight is off my chest and I couldn't be happier!  Thanks for all the continued prayers and support. God is good and the power of all of it has helped so much!!

CURRENTLY READING:

Some magazines and a new Nora Roberts book - if I stay on it and finish it!! Lol

ON THE TV TODAY:

I watched Downton and just keep savoring every second. I don't want it to end!! I have some cooking shows taped yet. 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY: leftover game day food

TUESDAY: meatloaf, cheesy potatoes, mixed vegetable 

WEDNESDAY: salad bar night - fast/no meat Ash Wednesday

THURSDAY: slow cooker kielbasa soup with cold sandwich sliders

FRIDAY:  not sure - out for dinner?

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

Valentine's cards, valentine project

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

kielbasa soup is a new recipe

TIP OF THE WEEK:

I saw this and thought it was such a cute idea - if you host a Spring dinner or lunch in the coming months...use empty seed packets as recipe holders next to each place setting. You could cut the tops of the packets with decorative scissors to make them even more adorable. Festive, seasonal, easy and pretty!

FROM THE CAMERA:

Some of the yummy eats from this weekend (& why I need to hit the treadmill!!). I made Billie Jo's cherry berry pie and boy was it delish and a hit with my family!!!  Some of the eats I made for the Super Bowl were a variety of sandwich roll-ups, slow cooker sloppy joe sliders with fixings, and butterscotch chocolate chip bars. 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Lent begins this week.

I'm linking with Sandra from Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Five on Friday: Alzheimer's Facts

Happy Friday Friends! 

As many of you that visit here often know, I'm a caregiver for my Mother-in-law with Alzheimer's disease. My family and friends mean everything to me, and my in-law's are no exception. My MIL has been one of my best friends for many years and was there for me many times throughout my life (I've known here since I was a teenager). She is not herself anymore, but I feel blessed that I'm now able to be there for her at this time of her life. I pray that medical folks are truly on the verge of finding a cure for this awful disease! I thought I would share some facts about it with you today.

ONE

*Almost 2/3 of those with the disease are women.

TWO

*It's the only cause of death, out of the top 10 in the U.S., that can not be prevented or cured.

THREE

*Every 67 seconds in the U.S. someone develops the disease.

FOUR

*It's the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S., and 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's or dementia.

FIVE

*More than 60% of caregivers rate the emotional stress of caring for their loved one as high or very high.

This information is found at www.alz.org  I'm linking with Amy at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Good morning and happy Monday!! The sun is shining away here and looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. It was a wonderful weekend, but felt like it flew by so fast. We had fun at our friends' house playing volleyball one night and yesterday we had lunch with my Dad, step Mom, Uncle and Aunt for my Aunt's birthday. Then watched the Green Bay Packers team win their game  (Go Pack Go! - they are my team all the way!). And then went for a lovely pontoon ride. We ended the night with my daughter's final soccer practice  (she has 2 games this week then she's done). My hubby coaches so we wanted to make it a fun final practice so it ended with a parent's game where they played against the kiddos.  We also brought treats to share before everyone went home. Lovely weekend! 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Perfect! It's  upper 60's right now and sunny with a lovely breeze. It's supposed to hit about 73* today. 

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

I have really decided to work at my fitness and health so I had a protein bar with my coffee and then had a 1/2 glass of V8 green drink (veggie drink).

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

Watching the trees rustle in the breeze. We have one tree in the yard that has already turned golden and been shedding some of its leaves. There's a squirrel running around with something in its mouth - maybe an acorn  - I can't tell. He's busy at work though!  Looking forward to a walk in the sunshine later today.

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Sitting and watching the morning news with my MIL and visiting with her. We started something new for the school year and my Mom and I are switching up our caregiving times for the weeks now. The first week school started it was difficult the days I'd have her early in the AM and trying to get Annie ready for school too. My MIL was better last year and could wait at home until I dropped Annie off at school, and then went and picked her up. Now she's not able to be alone like that so she needs to be picked up much earlier. So my Mom is now taking the mornings and I'm taking afternoons. I have my MIL this morning, though, as my Mom had to drop her off a little bit ago due to an appointment. This system actually works nicer too as it gives my MIL a nice change in scenery. She can't focus on anything too long, so shaking things up during the day seems to make her happier too.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

Everything is pretty clean and tidy due to having company over this weekend. I also started to get out some of my Fall stuff  to decorate this past weekend - which makes me so happy!! I do need to throw in the usual laundry.

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

I'm going to get a head start on dinner so it'll be ready and just a quick heat up when we get home from my daughter's soccer game tonight.  I'll make my MIL some lunch (protein shake for me) and then we'll go for a nice long walk.  I have a PTA meeting to go to at the end of the school day too.

CURRENTLY READING:

I have finally been going through my pile of books and sorting out my reading plan. I'm finally going to start catching up on them. Yay!

ON THE TV TODAY:

We've finally been catching up on America's Got Talent. My hubby loves Bering Sea Gold and that's been back on. I have some cooking shows taped to watch yet too.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY: finally making rigatoni with sweet Italian sausage and pasta sauce, salad, garlic dinner rolls as I didn't end up making it last week. 

TUESDAY: stuffed pork chops, pasta side dish and mixed vegetables. 

WEDNESDAY: probably subway as my daughter has a later soccer game 

THURSDAY: turkey melt sandwiches and creamy tomato soup 

FRIDAY: not sure

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

I finished a Fall craft project I'll share later this week (didn't get to posting it this past weekend), have another Fall project in mind. Also, still some cross stitch and scrapbook catch up.

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

The next time I get to the grocery store I want to get some zucchini and finally make some zucchini bread! I think I have my Gram's recipe (which I've never made myself) and would love some of that.  I wish she were still here and making it for us like she used to.   I do have some bananas to use up, so if I make banana bread I may post the recipe I use for that this week.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

A little file organizer, or even a magazine holder that you could put a few file folders in, is a nice way to keep kiddos' papers and school info in order. I have a folder for each kiddo and I can throw any important school papers in there to keep track. It takes up such little space in my office room - or you could easily keep it on a kitchen counter. I have an extra file for me just for things I want to remember or recipes I clip out of the newspaper or magazines too. 

FROM THE CAMERA:

from my instagram

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

A Caregiver's Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me better understand
and believe I can do what you ask me to do.

 Forgive me for the times, even now,

when I question your judgment.

 As I go about the many daily tasks of caregiving,

give me energy.

 As I watch my loved one oh-so-slowly walk

across the room, give me strength.

 As I answer his/her repeated question

just one more time, give me patience.

 As I look for solutions to whatever

is the most recent concern, give me wisdom.

 As I reminisce with him/her about the

“good old days,” give me a moment of laughter.

 As I get to know my loved one in a new way,

seeing both his/her strength and frailty, give me joy.

 As I sit beside my loved one’s bed waiting

for his/her pain medication to take effect,
give me comfort.

 Lighten my burden, answer my prayer,

and give me the strength to do what
so often seems impossible.

 Give me a quiet place to rest when I need it

and a quieting of my anxieties when I’m there.

Change my attitude from a tired,
frustrated and angry caregiver
to the loving and compassionate
one I want to be.

 Remain my constant companion as I face

the challenges of caregiving
and when my job is through
and it’s time for me to let go,
help me remember
he/she is leaving my loving arms
to enter your eternal embrace. Amen.

~Unknown

I'm linking with Sandra from Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.