The Pampered Chef, Saturday, and an Award.

Hi all,

I'm hosting an online Pampered Chef Party.  

If you have ever purchased anything from TPC then you know the top quality product and awesome warranty that they provide.   

Although I am hosting the event on Facebook, you can order without even going to the page.  

Here's how to place your order:

Go to www.pamperedchef.biz/intveldkitchen
Click "Shop Online"
Enter "Susan Fine" as your host
Select the blue link “Susan Fine "
Shop! Shop! Shop!

***FREE Small Batter Bowl with purchase of $60 or more!! ***

 
All orders will be submitted together and shipped when the show closes on February 26th; 

credit cards will be processed at that time. 

Direct shipping is available to anywhere in the U.S. 

~ local orders will be shipped to Susan for pick-up.

A big happy shout out to Becca who took my kid clothes shopping today.

$40 for 3 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, a pair of yoga pants, and  7 shirts.

YAY!  Thank you Becca!!!!!

Menopausal Mother  has nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger award. 

 It always makes me feel good to know that my blog has impacted someone,  other than sending them to the funny farm!

   The rules for this award:
1.  Link back to the person who nominated you.
2.  Post award image on your site.
3.  List 7 random facts about yourself.
4.  Nominate 15 other bloggers.
5.  Notify the bloggers that they have been nominated and link back to their site.

7 random facts about myself:

I have 2 birthmarks.  

Both are photosensitive so one has all but disappeared and the other is barely visible except in the summer.

I like Nickelback.  Yep, I do!  I don't understand why people don't like them or make fun of them.

 Some of you know that I have a Marvin the Martian tattoo. 

 I LOVE Marvin.  He's so cute and destructive. 

I have several tree ornaments, the tattoo, a notebook, pencils, 

and goodness knows what else with his cute little self on them!

I love using Paint Shop Pro to be creative. 

 I also make cards and scrap, and my hope is to start doing some more creative stuff with materials I already have.  I love re-purposing things.

Cooking stresses me out.  What if it doesn't taste good?  What if the people eating it aren't being honest. 

I have mentioned that I have issues so this should not come as a shock that I am a bit OCD about it. 

Although cooking stresses me out, I love cooking utensils.  I love using them.  It makes me smile and helps me to think that maybe it will taste better because I used kitchen gadget x.  

Neurotic, party of 1!  Neurotic, party of 1!

I am not religious but I follow an earth centered spiritual path.

I am constantly trying to be a better person in regards to those around me, new people, and the earth. 

I am going to nominate 6 bloggers who inspire me:

1. The Racy Redhead

2. Masshole Mommy

3. Not Winning Mom of the Year

4. Green 4 U

5. A Beautiful Day

and in a shameless plug for Becca and my blog:

6. Happy Hippie Heart

In all seriousness, HHH inspires me every day to get outside of my head and be positive.  

It forces me to look for beauty in the world, even when I'd rather turn from it.

I know I'm supposed to do 15 but I've already spent the whole day doing stuff, coming back to the post, taking a nap, coming back to the post, etc.. so 6 is what you get. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

That is all.

 

Why I LOVE My Life

Actual conversation that happened yesterday:

Me:  Beth, could you measure the Flarke bookcases in the hallway please?

Beth: 9 and 3/4 inches.

Kim: (Exploding out of the bathroom): Platform 9 3/4?

Me: Yes Kim, we are sending you to Hogwart's next year!

Kim: YES!

Beth: helpless laughter

Kim: You're not really sending me to Hogwart's, are you?

Me: more helpless laughter

Truth

I deserve better.

That is all.

Cake

So, I thought I'd be upbeat today.

What's more upbeat than Birthday Cakes?

Here are some cakes that Beth and I have made over the years.

 Sean's 5th grade graduation cake. 

 It looks more like a guy in his nightshirt and cap but he liked it and it was fun.  

I need to work on my people. :)

 

This was for Sarah's(I believe) 9th birthday.  It weighed 15 pounds and looked awesome.  It is supposed to be a castle but we can also go with Smurf houses! :)

 

One of my favorites to make was Sarah's 10th birthday cake.  She wanted a square foot garden and that is what she got.  Becca had the great idea of using crushed Oreos for the "soil".  Awesome.

This was for Kaitlyn's 4th birthday and it was a lot of fun to make!

 

This was for Kim's 10th birthday and was challenging.  

I don't work in fondant, so trying to get the skirt as smooth as possible was interesting.  

It looked great though at the end of it. 

 

Super Roller Chick Kim's 11th birthday cake.

 

Let's try not to laugh at my attempt at a sock monkey cake.

First time we worked with modeling chocolate and it was FUN!

Kim's 12th birthday looked awesome except for being lopsided and tasting really bad! lol  

Note for future: Test new cake recipes BEFORE making the actual birthday cake.

So, those are some of the cakes we've made through the years.  

Hope it made you smile!

That is all.

The Cycle In My Head

Nobody trips over mountains.  

It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.  

Pass all the pebbles in your path 

and you will find you have crossed the mountain.  

~Author Unknown~

 

Depression sucks.  After 13 years of this, you'd think that I'd be able to ignore it or shrug it off easier, but that's just not the way it works for me.   A lot of times, it is insidious and it sneaks up before I even notice it.  All of a sudden, I feel like everything is just too hard and I want to go to bed.  Most of the time, I don't.  Most of the time.  I end up giving up everything that's good for me for a day or two, then feeling like a failure and not going back to them, then I don't blog because I'm embarrassed that I failed, and on and on until even I'm bored of myself.  

I'm trying to fail forward.  I'm trying to learn from my failures, and I'm trying not to give up.

When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
~Author Unknown~

 
So,back on track.  Back to the 90 Kick Ass Days challenge (even though I missed many of them!)

 

and taking on DietBet.

 Okay, time to dust off me bum, again, and start all over.  Again.

That is all.