Cardinals Edition
1. The Arizona Cardinals are going to the SUPERBOWL!
2. For the first time in Arizona Cardinals history (and possibly the only – you never know), they are playing for the championship.
3. They played an amazing first half, a scary second half, but pulled it all together when it mattered the most.
4. Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald were awesome.
5. And I’m in love with football again for the first time in a long time.
GO CARDINALS!!
Everybody Needs Gadgets
Food! Glorious Food!
Epicurious predicts the top 10 food trends for 2009.
White Chocolate Mousse with Pomegranate Sauce
Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins
Leek and Carrot Mashed Potatoes
Everything in the Cupboard Oatmeal Cookies
Sweet Potato and Linguica Sausage Soup
Salmon Cakes with Potato Fennel Puree
Creative Pursuits
Editing photos with Photoshop Elements
What everybody ought to know about posing for portraits.
Techno Geekery
Time your contractions online.
Life Is a Highway
Healthy habit changes for the new year.
25 ways to clean with vinegar.
15 alternative uses for credit cards.
Signs that your child has a concussion.
Things That Make You Go Hmmm
Spend money and save for college.
Good Ideas
Top 10 ways to save money in a recession
For the Kids
For those of you who actually have snow, here are some things to do in the snow.
Weekly Features
1. Mike and LG had a great time at the party today. LG played with her friend (the birthday girl) and Mike hustled a couple of jobs.
2. I stayed home since I’m not feeling my best right now and actually took a nap. That was nice!
3. Mike was able to stop by and see his grandfather after the party. Still hanging in there.
4. Signs of spring!
5. Having Melody to keep me company while I was alone today.
1. I went to visit the preschool that LG will hopefully be attending in the Fall. It was a nice visit and I might actually sub for them once she’s in school full-time!
2. LG gets to go to a birthday party tomorrow and we actually managed to get a birthday present for it today!
3. Got doubly good news about some friends yesterday. I’ll share it at some point if it gets to the point where I can, but in the meantime, send them good thoughts!
4. LG’s Leapster that died is going to be replaced. (If I ever get the code from the merchant so I can send it back.)
5. This last one isn’t really happy or positive, but I’m going to try and find the positive in it, so bear with me. The doctor visited Mike’s grandfather yesterday and said he probably wouldn’t make it through the weekend. The positive that I can find in that is that it won’t be too long and drawn out and that he’ll no longer be in pain and Mike’s parents can once again have some freedom in their lives and not be tied down taking care of him. I’m not sure they’ll know what to do with it, though.
1. That the US Airways plane that went down in the Hudson River today was flown by a hero.
2. That all the passengers and crew got off the plane alive.
3. That the rescue workers were there within seconds.
I’m still a little teary over this story, because when I first saw the breaking news I figured it was bad, and wondered what had happened. But this pilot, who I’m sure would say was just doing his job, kept so many families intact today by his brilliant flying. Mike happened to be home when I got the breaking news email, and mentioned that there had been no major airline fatalities in 2 years in the US. I was afraid that the end of that streak would be today, but it wasn’t. Just such an amazing goosebumpy story. So happy for those people and their families. I want that pilot on all my flights.
4. I filled out a preschool application for LG today, and I’ll go tour the facility tomorrow. My goddaughter went there, so I feel pretty confident about the school, but they offered a tour so I accepted. It’s unbelievable that my baby is going to be old enough to be in a pre-kindergarten class this fall, but I’m excited that she’s going to be able to stretch her wings and learn. Remind me of that on the first day of school when I’m sobbing, will you? (Two mornings a week is all I’m aiming for, but still…hard to let go of your baby!)
5. Hummus
Go here. Help her out! I hope to get to it after I get the rest of the stuff done on my to-do list. But maybe you’re not as much of a procrastinator as I am and you can do it without feeling guilty!
1. Good news and bad news from the doctor today. Heart rate has slowed down, but I’m still in flutter. So, I now have an appointment with the electrocardiology specialist on Monday to decide what we’re going to do with me. But the good news is that my heart rate has slowed down and I didn’t have to report to the hospital!
2. Strawberry Rhubarb anything
3. Mike cooking a T-bone steak and giving me the nice tender little filet. He’s such a sweetie!
4. Really gorgeous weather.
5. Showing LG our wedding album (our anniversary is Monday) and telling her who people were as we were going through it by saying (instead of this is our friend so and so or cousin so and so, etc.) this is so and so’s Daddy or this is so and so’s Mommy. When we got married, we were the first amongst our friends and immediate family to do so, and no one had kids or was even dating the person they eventually married. It’s really amazing to look back and realize that! Edited to add: Actually one set of friends that eventually got married was dating.
In honor of Marlene turning the big 4-0 today, this edition of 365 Days of Grace in Little Things is dedicated entirely to her!
1. She has a beautiful voice and is my partner in song. It makes doing music all the more enjoyable when you do it with someone you enjoy being around!
2. She is the best godmother! LG absolutely adores her and I think she thinks Marlene is her second mother. (Which is cool!)
3. She is always there to listen to me rant and rave and mostly agrees with me. Which is good, especially when Mike doesn’t. ;)
4. We like so many of the same things. We have really random things in common. Like our favorite word: tintinnabulation.
5. She’s my best friend and I don’t know what I would do without her!
Happy birthday!!!!
1. All the Christmas gifts are finally delivered as of today. Hurray! No more Christmas gifts in my house!
2. Bacon and scrambled eggs for dinner courtesy of my beloved husband.
3. Mike being able to take LG to dance class for me today.
4. Finishing my top secret project!
5. 70 degree weather.
1. Our priest tonight (who is visiting while our pastor is out of the country for a month – don’t you wish you could take a month off?) related the story of how where he comes from (somewhere in Africa – not sure exactly which country, but maybe Uganda since that’s where our pastor is from?) many of the families have only one chair in the whole house. The father sits in the chair and the mother sits on a skin and the children sit on the floor – dirty or not. Can you imagine having only one chair? I know that there is a lot of suffering going on right now and scary economic times, but I don’t think most of us can even imagine having only one chair. We have so very much here, even when times are bad.
Lighter things now…
2. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants today, setting up an NFC championship game against the Arizona Cardinals right here in the Valley. Can’t even believe it. The game sold out in 6 minutes, by the way. And also the game being at 1 so that I don’t have to miss it!
3. Crab Puffs from Panda Express
4. A stool to sit on while I’m singing during Mass when I’m dizzy. (Thanks medication.)
5. Mike’s job that he’s starting this week not getting cancelled.
Somehow I managed to set this to post on the wrong day. So, sorry it’s late!
Everybody Needs Gadgets
Food! Glorious Food!
Basic cooking terms and abbreviations.
Marinated Flank Steak Part One and Part Two
Hot tuna and egg salad sandwiches
The perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe?
Carrot, Courgette & Hazelnut Muffins with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
14 scrumptious pancake recipes
Creative Pursuits
How to photograph a convention.
Taking photographs of strangers.
Snowman stitched greeting card
A quick guide to sewing buttons.
Techno Geekery
Buy, sell, and trade your unwanted gift cards online.
Life Is a Highway
Laundry helpers for busy moms.
How to clean a toilet with Coke.
How to consolidate your lipsticks.
Things That Make You Go Hmmm
For the Kids
Too Much Time on My Hands
Weekly Features
 Video of the week |
1. Global warming has been proven to be a myth. Must be, because hell hath frozen over. The Arizona Cardinals are in the NFC Championship game.
2. Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner
3. Jack-in-the-Box tacos
4. Finally exchanging Christmas gifts with my dad.
5. And I think the Cardinals deserve one more mention. Because seriously? The NFC Championship game? Go Eagles!
This has not been a banner day in HeartSongs Land. Oh, my heart is chug chug chugging along. At times I was thinking my heart rate was a little low oddly enough. Low for me anyway. So, I might have to try adjusting when I take my meds – like instead of two times in 24 hours, maybe two times in 36 hours or something. I dunno. And LG’s new Leapster, which was working fine yesterday, even after I changed the batteries, mysteriously will not turn on this morning. Sad little girl. But all of that pales in comparison to the news that Mike’s grandfather has stopped eating and drinking. To me that says he’s reached the end of his road and he’s ready to be done. So, it could be anytime now I guess. I pray that it is painless and peaceful and I pray that the family – all of us, including a little girl who loves her “Pop Pop Pop” – are able to handle it with grace. Prayers are welcomed and encouraged.
So, I guess when life hands you lemons, it’s even more important to find grace in small things, no matter how hard it may be. I think I might have to steal some grace from someone else for a few of these, though. I hope she doesn’t mind!
1. My friend’s daughter got cast in a role in a church youth group fundraiser! Yay!
2. And her son wrote a stellar book report – called by his teacher “the best book report she’d ever read”. Yay again! (I totally need to read that book report.)
3. She also got good news from the insurance company. Yay yet again!
Okay, time to come up with some of my own grace…
4. Mindless computer games to take your mind off things like very ill grandpas and stupid heart medication and money worries.
5. And the fact that our little girl had the chance to know and love her “Pop Pop Pop” for four years. That’s something to be thankful for. I hope she always remembers him and holds him in her heart.
1. My heart rate has been (as far as I can tell from just taking my pulse) in the “normal” range all day. Now, my “normal” pulse is right around 78. (I know this because I tend to take my pulse incessantly because I’m paranoid about going into atrial flutter.) And my pulse today has been between 88-92, and a heck of a lot better than 120-130. So it’s not “normal”, but in the “normal range” of 60-100. It’s a little higher right now, but that’s probably because I just remembered to take my nighttime dose of medication. Yet another reason I don’t like being on medications – I always forget to take the darn stuff.
2. Mike is managing to keep working fairly steadily. He’s had to take a job or two that he normally wouldn’t do himself (like painting), but whatever keeps the money coming in at this point.
3. I’m almost finished with a super-secret project. I think it’s going to be cool!
4. Mike came up with the plan for tonight’s dinner: take the leftover taco meat from last night and make it into spaghetti sauce. It was pretty good!
5. Lime sherbet
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