Mom leans into daughter, kisses her head, and says, “Boys suck.”

Daughter resolutely replies through her tears, “Yes, they do.”

A Mother-Daughter Moment is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

Sometimes I think I am a bit crazy for the way I think. See, when I think it is oftentimes in the form of a conversation, with someone else. Perhaps I am not the only one who does this; or maybe I am a few cards short of a full deck. Either way, this is how I think.

Making Mashed Potatoes

Tonight I was reflecting on my mother’s pot roast. It was one of the very few foods I absolutely loved. This was one of those meals I would eat well passed being full, and yet, I would go back for more. To me, it was just that good.

This then led me to another thought. Would I have enjoyed my mother’s pot roast that much more if I had known it was the last time I would ever eat it?

Maybe I would have savored it’s flavors more. I might have chewed a tad more slowly. Or maybe I would have ate to my heart’s content, going back for seconds and thirds.

Live Like There Is No Tomorrow

When I was married to my children’s dad we had but one rule: never leave the house without telling the other you love them.

No matter how mad we were with each other, we always said ‘I love you’ with a kiss. You never know when it will be the last time.

This brings me to what has been bothering me.

Yeah, cause I have these nagging things called feelings and they can sometimes really get in the way.

Last weekend my dad was in town. This is a big deal as he has never been by this way in the nine years I have lived here. I did not see him, though, and that was my fault.

Try as I might to justify my actions, I cannot seem to let go of the fact that I am certain I hurt his feelings. This goes against my careful nature and making sure I do not have those thoughts of ‘I wish I had not done this’ or ‘if only I had done that differently’.

I really hate guilt!

Do I always have to be the good girl? I am only human, after all.

Your Thoughts

Would you say you are more aware of how you are to others or that you just take each moment as it is and let your feelings fall as they may?

image credit

Reflection: Would You Do Things Differently… is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

Happy Mother’s Day to all the first time, umpteenth time, no longer with us,
soon-to-be, and in-spirit moms world wide!

Happy Mother’s Day is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

Sand Gone is a dry body powder that when applied to sandy parts of your body removes the sand leaving your skin soft and smooth.  A must for beachgoers.  Works great after children after playing in the sand box. All natural ingredients smells like coconut.

How it Works

After a fun day at the beach or playing in the sandbox (thinking children here, but adults can play in sandboxes, too) the first things you want to do is get all of the itchy sand off of you. Sure, you can use those showers at the beach or hose off in some fashion, but it never seems to work all that well.

Sand Gone is a powder that removes sand from your skin leaving you feeling smooth, smelling great, and sand free!

Does it really remove the sand? Yes, yes it does.

Does it really smell great? Oh yes, most definitely. (caveat: if you don’t like the smell of coconut, then you will not think it smells great.)

Does it really leave your skin feeling smooth? Yes, but a little powdery, too. The sand is completely gone and the powder residue is easily smoothed away.

Sand Gone has a powder puff applicator that allows you to apply the powder to your skin, gently and easily removing the sand and leaving just you. I will be using this on my next beach outing.

After years of cleaning sandy children, I discovered a little trick to remove sand without using water. After a few more years of improving the ingrediants, I perfected an all natural, non-toxic powder.

- Tiffany Smith, founder of Sand Gone

Price Point – $12.95 plus shipping for an 8 oz container.

Win an 8 oz container of Sand Gone

Giveaway Rules:

Mandatory entry:

Like Sand Gone on Facebook.
or
Follow @SandGone on Twitter.

do both for 2 entries

Please complete the form below to enter this giveaway.

Giveaway will end on February 25, 2011 at Midnight EST and is open to residents of the U.S., 18 years of age or older. Winner will be selected using Random.org. Winner will be notified via email. Additionally, I will post the winner’s name on my site in a separate post on or around February 26, 2011. Winner will have 48 hours from the time the email is sent to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀
Disclosure: All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. I would not tell you something was wonderful if I did not truly believe it so. Please read my Disclosure Policy for more information. I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Love the Beach, but Hate Taking it Home with You? – Sand Gone (review & giveaway) {closed} is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

A little recap if you will

1. Send out resumes. I started my new job on January 13th!

2. Drink more water, at least 4 glasses a day. I now carry a water bottle with me everywhere I go. I drink at least 3 glasses of water a day. No soda except for the weekends. One cup of coffee and maybe an iced tea, but mostly it’s just water.

3. Go to the gym 3 days a week, minimum. I made it on average twice a week. Not bad, but I can do better.

4. Work on book, 3 hours per week. Didn’t even come close to this one.

5. Organize my coupons. I did a little organizing, but this still needs work.

On to February

Continuing on with what I started here are my goals for February.

1. Workout 3 times a week, minimum. I am not giving up on this one. I have a school trip with Amanda in April and shorts will be my friend. Nuff said!

2. Spice up my veggie life. I love vegetables, but I pretty much eat the same ones over and over and over again. I want to incorporate more variety in this area.

3. Continue with the water consumption, limiting the soda. I love not having those extra empty calories and see no reason to go backwards when I can keep towards my ultimate goal of healthier, sustainable habits by the time I am forty. Only 8 more months to go.

4. Work/Home Life Balance. This can be tricky for a number of reasons. One, I am very all or nothing when it comes to work. Second, I just started a new job and I really don’t want to be that person who beats feet out of the office every day just because I’ve put in my 8+ hours. BUT… I have to find balance and not let one overpower the other.

What about you?

How did you do on your January goals? Do you have any goals for February?

February Goals: A Look Back & Going Forward is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

I remember making homemade pies with my mom when I was a young girl. She would make the big pies cherry with lattice and her special apple pie. I would get to make smaller versions with the extra homemade dough and fillings. So, this year I wanted to make my pies with homemade dough, just like mom used to make.

With a little help from Betty Crocker

Since I was making 2 pumpkin pies I follows the recipe for a two-crust, 9-inch pie.

• 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons shortening
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 to 4 tablespoons cold water

I sifted my flour. This was not a requirement; I just like sifting my flour.

Add flour and salt in bowl. Cut shortening into mixture until pea-size balls form. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl.

Place a cloth over a large cutting board and lightly flour.

Next form 2 balls. Take 1 ball and flatten into a circle on your floured cloth. Using a rolling pin, carefully roll dough until it is roughly 2 inches larger than your pie place when it is inverted. I took my time with this step. Make sure you stop and re-flour your rolling pin often to avoid dough sticking to it.

Using your cloth, fold your dough into quarters to place in pie plate. Of course, I misunderstood this. I ended up rolling my dough. It worked out just fine for me.

Ease your crust into the pie plate and press gently and firmly into bottom and sides.

Repeat.

Remember, it doesn’t matter if it isn’t perfect. No one is going to see the crust once the filling goes in. Besides, mine didn’t even have the nice fluted edges, but you don’t see me crying over it!

Then it was on to the filling

My mother-in-law used to use fresh pumpkin she scooped and prepared herself. Sadly, she didn’t live long enough to pass this on to me. Maybe one day I will attempt it anyway. For today I used Libby’s pumpkin pie filling. The only ingredient: pumpkin. I like that!

Following the directions on the can I was able to comfortably make two pumpkin pies. One for my family and one for the neighbors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mmm, Mmm, Good: Thanksgiving Edition – Let Them Eat Pie! is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

I think she would have asked where’s the fruit?

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

A few months ago Dwayne acquired a gelatin/cake mold. It had been shoved in a corner gathering dust while I figured out what I was going to do with this thing. Then, the other day Dwayne had requested some Jello. Okay, truth be told he is always wanting Jello.

A study at Ball State University sponsored by Nabisco, the former parent company of Knox gelatin, found that gelatin supplementation relieved knee joint pain and stiffness in athletes.

-Wikipedia

So, I un-shoved the gelatin/cake mold and washed it with some hot, soapy water. Since it resembled a wreath I chose lime green gelatin (and Dwayne had just so happened to request lime). I used 1 large and 2 smaller packages of gelatin. I boiled 4 cups of water on the stove. I added the hot water to the gelatin and stirred for about 2 minutes. I then poured the mixture into the mold. Next, I added 3 cups cold water to the mold. It was refrigerated overnight (it was ready this morning, but wasn’t unmolded until tonight).

To unmold I filled the sink with warm water and dipped the mold into the water for about 15-20 seconds.

Note: make sure you have something to hold your unmolded gelatin. The mold I used was quite round. I ended up putting aluminum foil over a small pizza pan.

What do you think?

Oh, and just when you lift up and think the Jello isn’t going to un-stick, it will. Fwoop! Make sure you’re close to the center of your plate, cause trying to move your mold isn’t fun (or neat).

Mmm, Mmm, Good: J-E-L-L-O Mold! is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

____________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________

At least we communicate, sort of.

Of course, what Ivy really wanted was a) a treat, b) to get up on the couch, or c) both a & b.

Family Life: Texting, It’s Coming From Inside the House is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

Friend

Protector

Ivy watches over us when we’re sick. Knows when we need a little extra attention. Protects us from the big bad squirrels. Reminds us that we all need a little play time.

Part Cat

She has 9 lives, you know.

Parvo Virus ✿ Hit by a car ✿ Ate raw pizza dough

Demanding

Spoiled

A Child

At night, after she has eaten she will pace and whine if she cannot get on the couch. For some odd reason she does not believe she should be banished to the floor. Rotten kid, uh, dog!

Family

Family Life: She’s More Than Just Our Dog is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

Happy Birthday! Get Well Soon! Thinking of You…

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be really bad (and I mean, REALLY bad) about remembering to pick up cards. And if I do remember to buy a card, then there is still a good chance said card will get lost on a table somewhere in my house only to be discovered at some later date when it is no longer needed. No joke.

With enGreet I don’t have to worry about those things.

See, I can go online and pick out a card like this one

Then I can add a personal note. My name, their name, a date if so desired.

Next I choose my recipient. It’s easy to add new people and enGreet stores this information for future reference.

I can opt to send my card directly to my recipient or have it delivered to me.

Oh, and if I feel so inclined, I can include a VISA gift card in the amount of $25 or $50.

Pick a date to have my card sent or send it immediately and I’m done.

Everyone loves getting mail, especially cards

I sent three cards to family members. The first was to my step-dad. He hasn’t received his yet, but should be getting it any day now. Since this was a Thanksgiving card I delayed having it sent until 11/15.

The second was to Megan. She’s at school now and won’t be home for Thanksgiving this year. I also sent her a Thanksgiving card. She called me when she received it and I could just hear the smile on her face. Of course, this could have something to do with the chickens on the card.

The last card went to Dwayne. He’s been home for the past few weeks on temporary disability due to his back. He’ll be going into surgery soon {we hope}, so I sent him a Get Well card. He was a bit tickled to get a card in the mail and couldn’t wait to open it up. Again, big smile. Priceless.

About enGreet

enGreet allows consumers to personalize greeting cards and have them printed and mailed directly to their friends and family.  You can also order cards directly to your house for those times when you need them on hand. The service is aimed at busy professionals, moms, military families, and anyone who otherwise finds it difficult to get to the card store, post office, etc.

enGreet carries over 2,000 cards from artists around the world for tons of occasions (from Chinese New Years to Christmas!).  They also offer numerous features such as the ability to Import Your Facebook Friend’s Birthdays, include a Gift Card inside your card, and schedule your card to be sent at anytime.  You can even upload a spreadsheet of all of your friends and mail a card to them in a click of a mouse (think holiday cards).

Win a $15 Gift Code to enGreet approx. 4 cards (2 Winners)

Giveaway Rules:

Mandatory entry:

Follow @enGreet on Twitter
OR
Like enGreet on Facebook

do both for 2 entries

Please complete the form below to enter this giveaway.

If you have problems with the form, please send me an email with your information [be sure to include enGreet Giveaway in your email] and I will manually add your information to the form according to the time stamp on the comment.

Giveaway will end on December 3, 2010 at Midnight EST and is open to U.S. residents, 18 years of age or older. Winner will be selected using Random.org. Winner will be notified via email. Additionally, I will post the winner’s name on my site in a separate post on December 4, 2010. Winner will have 48 hours from the time the email is sent to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀
[Product review & giveaway disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."] All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Please read my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Review & Giveaway: Send (Paper) Greeting Cards From the Web With enGreet (2 Winners) {closed} is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010