How about that new HGTV dream home?????

One of my earliest post on A Creative Spirit was on the HGTV Green Home in May.

Some of you that have followed since the beginning know that I wanted this blog to be a window to my old interior design days...... A way to get reconnected with the newest styles, colors, textures and crafts.

But a little curve ball along the way took be off course.

My plan is to start slowly and get back to some design stuff.....to do at least one post per week on design, design trends, craft or baking trends.

So I decided my first design post in a LONG time would be about the new HGTV Dream Home!!!

OMG!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

OK, OK, I have heard a lot of folks blog or tweet or facebook about how they don't like this home or they don't like a particular space in the home.

NOT ME!!!

I am looking at it for what it is. A beautiful vacation home near ski resorts and other wonderful things in Stowe, Vermont.

It may not be the perfect home for me in my everyday life, but I can see my sipping hot spiked cider or some yummy spiked coffee drinks in front of the fire a couple of times every winter. You betcha!!!!

Do I ski? Only been twice in my life!

Do I go snow tubing? Never have!

Do I LOVE snow? Guilty as charged!

And then what about summer???? WOULD love to getaway here... HMMMM need to check the flights to Stowe and start planning just in case I win.

OH, I digress....

So let's take a look at this new giveaway home.

I mean look at the view and just a dusting of snow......

From the HGTV Dream Home Website

I am sure there is a LOT more snow by now, and if I was going to get stuck somewhere in the snow, this would be the place.

Stay tuned as I will be exploring this home in depth in the next few days and you will want to see all the wonderful stuff in store for the winner of this beautiful home.....

I sure hope it is me!!!

Sunday Morning.......

I have been MIA in the blog world this week - just a quick drive by to check on a few of my bloggy friends once a day.....

Let me tell you why the absence........

I won the Soul Restoration online workshop on one of Where Women Create's blog giveaways.

What is it you say????? What is Soul Restoration? Well that was the same question I had.

So I looked into it and this is what the website says about it....

Soul Restoration is a course that is often beautifully healing and even life-changing.

Wow did that sound like a wonderful workshop that I NEED right now!!!! I believe my winning this wonderful gift was another gift sent to me by God.

I know... I know.... some of you may say I am a little off thinking this.....but I seriously have been getting a lot of "gifts" lately. Like reading  posts on some beautifully written blogs, devotions from friends, a kind gesture from someone close to me................and Soul Restoration.

At first I wasn't sure I really wanted to do it when I looked at the curriculum for the first week, but I won it so what was the harm in trying it out.... Jumping in and being a Brave Girl.

So I have been taking a little time for myself the last couple of weeks. Let's just say a little time to restore.

MUCH NEEDED TIME

The great thing about the 6 week online workshop (which can be done on your own time....anytime day or night) is that it blends some great creative projects with the wonderful soul searching that the lessons inspire you to do.

I am going to try to write a few posts this weekend to send out this week, but if you don't hear much from me..... keep in mind....

I AM CLOSED FOR RESTORATION

If you would like to take the workshop, there is another session in April and I HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE. It is worth every penny, and how do I know that????? Because they just put up information on a second workshop - SOUL RESTORATION II and I will be paying for that one on my own dime. I have three weeks left in this session and will be anxiously awaiting number 2!!!!

Until next time!!!

A gift.....

After yesterday's post, I received the following devotion from a friend....... Now, how well timed is this........

Rejoice Now!

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Despite your problems, your trials and your temptations be assured that you will benefit in the end. So look to the end and rejoice now!

Burnout.....

A word thrown at me by the counselor I have been seeing since early fall.

I have been having so much guilt for having doubts and anger about the current situation of being a caretaker for mom, because we are only 3 months in. Once my counselor mentioned burnout, I felt even more guilty. How could that be happening already?????

But by talking it through with her, I found reasons for the feelings of burnout. But burnout wasn't the only work she threw out at me.

BOUNDARIES PEOPLE BOUNDARIES!!!!

I realized I let mom take control too often. I let her push my buttons and jump when she says jump. But not anymore!!!!

I am taking my dear counselors advice to heart, and setting the boundaries I should have set a lot earlier. I am also explaining to mom that she CAN'T call me away from what I am doing for every little thing.......I am going to bed when I want and letting her do what she can to get herself ready (this was a problem earlier in the football season where she would want to watch a game til WAY past my bedtime).

I could go on and on but no need to bore you with all the gorey details....

Will this help with the burnout? Not sure but it does feel good to take some of my life back.......

Until next time....

I HATE SHOPPING.....

Really???? Really!!!!

There, I said it.

I have NEVER truly LOVED shopping - well maybe as a teen when spending mom and dad's money. :o)

But not as an adult.

Grocery shopping??? I would rather get a root canal and I HATE root canals.

Clothes shopping??? Are you kidding me??? Have you looked at yourself in one of those mirrors?

Window shopping??? A big bummer as then I remember how LITTLE I have to spend.

But lately I have become a wandering shopper.

So what is different???

Case in point------

Item needed:

New Hair Dryer

WOO HOO an excuse to go to Target and spend time just wandering the aisles.

I mean I think I spent an hour picking up a hair dryer. It was so relaxing, taking in all the wonderful new stuff on the shelves....

This is SOOOO not me, but I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, it is a refuge. Shopping as a refuge?

How sad is that????

But it does give me a few minutes where I am not a caregiver. For just a little while I am the single, empty nester, and loving it gal, I was just a few short months ago.

So, now my biggest issue is just looking and not buying......

Anyone else out there enjoy just wandering a store to see what is new? Then tell me how you keep from buying EVERYTHING that catches your eye????

I could sure use some pointers....

Until next time.....

Flying Lessons Update......

Last week I gave you the biggest reason I have to fly is to NOT have to run around like a crazy person throwing stuff in closets, and in the oven and under beds when a friend calls to say they are going to stop by.

So how am I doing?????

Making bed every morning. CHECK. OK except on weekend cuz I know I am going to climb back in for a nap.

Wiping out shower..... mmmm well, check on some days.

Wiping up sink at night and making sure all dishes put away.... CHECK, at least on most evenings.

Take stuff upstairs instead of leaving on steps.... CHECK, but only because my son's husky pup was coming over and she likes running up and down steps and she would have knocked everything down, broken stuff and torn any paper to shreds.

The Fly Lady challenge going on now is the SUPER FLING BOOGIE.... it involves flinging stuff.... in the trash, to Good Will or whatever.... just OUTTA my house.

I have to grab a trash bag and run thru the house and choose 27 things that I am getting rid of. REALLY???? 27???? Are you KIDDING me???? Well, what she really suggests is picking 27 things to throw away AND 27 things to donate. OH MY!!!!

So that is what I am going to do this week..... open cabinets and closets and just start flinging.

I will let you know next week how it goes.....

Shakin it up a little.....

Mom has been here for almost 3 months now, and I keep trying to keep meals interesting. Not always an easy task, so time to shake it up.

Luckily mom is pretty adventurous on food like I am, or at least she USED to be. So much has changed in her personality since the stroke in 2000, so you never know.

Today I decided to dig back into my Rachael Ray cookbooks. I LOVE RR, of the 30 Minute Meals and for a while I was on a REAL roll with making her concoctions. I find them fairly easy, and even tho some I hear think she uses weird ingredients or stuff that isn't in the normal pantry, I like trying new things and adding new taste sensations to my pantry.......

I bought a buncha stuff at the grocery store to make a couple of recipes I have done before and then am going to try a couple of new ones.

Rachael Ray's Garlic Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon

Now, the yummy one above wasn't on this weeks agenda but YUM OH!!!! it sure is next week. 

Here is the recipe. Let me know if it sounds like something you would wanna try.

4 servings.

 Ingredients

•2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks

•6 cloves garlic, crushed

•3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves stripped from stems

•3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it

•1 lemon, zested and juiced

•1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Seasoning) or, coarse salt and black pepper

•1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Arrange chicken in a baking dish, 9 by 13-inch. Add garlic, rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest and grill seasoning or salt and pepper to the dish. Toss and coat the chicken with all ingredients, then place in oven. Roast 20 minutes. Add wine and lemon juice to the dish and combine with pan juices. Return to oven and turn oven off. Let stand 5 minutes longer then remove chicken from the oven. Place baking dish on trivet and serve, spooning pan juices over the chicken pieces.

Until next time.....

Sunday Morning.....How BIG I'm Blessed

It has been a few weeks since I did a Sunday Morning post but I couldn't resist this morning. I was driving home last night and I heard a couple of new songs on the local Christian radio station, 104.9 The River. You can stream it on the net wherever you are.... it's worth a listen.

Anyway, back to the story. You know how God sometimes sends you a little gift? A friend says just the right thing at the right time, or maybe that gift is a song on the radio. And that was MY gift last night.

The new song by Francesca Battstelli is cute, upbeat and fun! JUST what I needed and boy does it speak to my life right now.

I was always taught to share, so I am sharing the gift with you on this beautiful sunny Sunday morning in Ohio

It is called This is The Stuff so check it out on You Tube.
.

THIS IS THE STUFF

I lost my keys

In the great unknown

And call me please

Cause I can't find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy

This is the stuff that's getting to me lately

In the middle of my little mess

I forget how BIG I'm Blessed.

This is the stuff

that get's under my skin

But I've gotta trust

You know exactly what you're doing

Might not be what I choose

But this is the stuff you use

45 in a 35

Sirens and fines

While I'm running behind

This is the stuff that drives me crazy

This is the stuff that's getting to me lately

In the middle of my little mess

I forget how BIG I'm Blessed

This is the stuff

that get's under my skin

But I've gotta trust

You know exactly what you're doing

Might not be what I choose

But this is the stuff you use

So break me of impatience

Conquer my frustrations

I've got a new appreciation

I'ts not the end of the world

This is the stuff

That drives me crazy

This is the stuff

SOMEONE SAVE ME

In the middle of my little mess

I forget how BIG I'm Blessed

This is the stuff

that get's under my skin

But I've gotta trust

You know exactly what you're doing

Might not be what I choose

But this is the stuff you use

WOO HOO.... Is BLUE really back???

Let me start by saying I love blue! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I have been sneaking blue into my home in all kinds of touches for years.....when it is IN and when it is OUT!

There are times when blue is NOT the in thing that other than paint, it can be downright impossible to find some presentable home dec stuff.

But I was shopping at Target today for MORE clear containers for my ongoing organizing project, and I saw BLUE......

BLUE??? WAS I SEEING THINGS????

I was sooooo excited. I seriously had to stop myself from doing the happy dance right there in the aisle.

Check out this lamp and lampshade!

They also have the shade in cream with the blue piping. I am thinking the cream shade would look AWESOME on the blue lamp. I know it does as I linked them up when I was at the store.

And they had quite a few blue and white accent pieces and pictures. I can only hope that there will be a blue invasion.

One reason I am more than joyful over blue showing up in stores again is that my sofa and matching chair are blue. AND I just ordered 'worn denim' draperies from JCPenney. (good ole' JCP ALWAYS has drapes in all the colors of the rainbow).

Now I can't wait to go shopping to see what blue gems I can find.

If only I had an unlimited budget :o)!!!

Until next time.

Reason to Fly.....

If you don't already know, I am learning to FLY with the Fly Lady. You can read more about it here and here with some other posts along the way....

Well the goddess Fly Lady talks about CHAOS, which is 'Can't have anyone over syndrome'. And MAN do I have it.

A couple from church wanted to stop by to give my mom and I a poinsettia, which meant I needed to make a MAD dash around the house to make it presentable. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Ok, now I was mad at myself.

Don't get me wrong, I have been doing MUCH MUCH better but I am sure it wouldn't be ok by some people's standards.

So this impromptu visit makes me even more committed......

And so a little update on my daily tasks I have been working on......

MORNING

Make the bed This has been a YES on most days, at least since I got over the creeping crud I had. It includes putting all the pillows on the bed. The whole shebang.....
Wipe out tub after shower This I am still working on, but I get to it about half the time.

EVENING
Put all remaining dishes in dishwasher or WASH them I would have to say YES on this one too....well at least on most days...
Shine the Sink Again, YES on most days.....
Carry ANYTHING on the steps upstairs and put away UMMMM, WELL, LET'S SEE! DO I HAVE TO ANSWER... UMMM, WELL, I PLEAD THE 5TH.....

So there you have it.... I now have more reasons to keep up my flying lessons and yes, I WILL, I WILL, tackle the step problem. I swear!!!

I will keep you posted on further progress, but I have decided not to add anything new in for another week as every little birdie needs patience when learning to fly. I am just trying to get off the ground. :o)

Until next time....

Bills, Bills, Bills.......

OK, confession here..... I HATE BILLS..... are you all with me here?????

So I find it irritating to sit down and pay bills even if it is just sitting down at the computer and doing it..... BUT NOW, I am responsible for all of dad's remaining bills, as well as all of mom's present and future ones..

I KNOW I KNOW.... quit complaining.....

I have just never been so confused!!!! There are hospital, ambulance, transfers, meds, and so on and so on........ I start by laying all the bills out in a row that would stretch all the way around my condo building... HMMMM maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration but not much......

Next I have to separate into what type they are to make sure don't have duplicates.

Then I try to reconcile EOB's with the actual final bills. OH MY GOODNESS!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

OK, I feel better now!!!! Thanks for letting me vent!!!

Until next time.....

Another day at the hospital........

Wow, the place seemed so familiar...... the same sights (oh but the people in masks was new), the same sounds (with ambulance carts , and monitors beeping and the sounds of people in pan), the same smells (not even gonna go there).

Mom was in pretty bad shape yesterday.

She could tell me she was in pain, but not where it hurt. She was lethargic and weak and said she wanted to go to the hospital. SOOOOO, I called the squad as there was no way I would be able to get her in the car let alone into the ER by myself. They checked her over and her vitals were OK, not great, but OK.

So they carted her off to the ER and I met them there. OK, so I got a little freaked out in the waiting room with people with masks on..... I just got OVER something that lasted WAY too long and I am not wanting to see a repeat performance.

Seven hours later, we were on our way home with a perscription for antibiotics in hand. She has another unrinary infection as well as mild dehydration. I say another because this has been a frequent occurence in the past....too much caffeine, not enuf other liquids. It used to happen so often that she is on a mild dose of antibiotics EVERY day as a preventative. When she gets them BAD, she gets them BAD. So I am thanking God we caught it early this time.

Mom and I talked and she agreed to listen when I tell her she should be drinking something more than her 6-8 cups of coffee a day.

So far so good today..... I pray that she continues to listen.

I am thinking she REALLY doesn't wanna spend another LONG day in the ER for the same issue!!!!!

Whatever it takes, I am ready to roll with it.

:o)

Until next time.....

A Cake Pop How To!!! :o)

Here is a little more on my latest obsession... OK, these, cupcakes, marshmallow pops, etc. Anything sweet, and yummy and creattive!!!!!

Check out this short video on creating perfect cake pops!!!!

I have also posted this over at The Creative Cupcake!

My obsession........

I have been obsessed with Cake Balls (AKA Cake Pops) since I wrote about threm here and here!!!!

And now I am THRILLED that Wilton now has info on THEIR website about cake pops and cake balls. Between Bakerella and Wilton I am a HAPPY HAPPY girl.

Then my share partner drops off her version of yummy fudgey cake balls a couple days before Christmas. YUM and double YUM!!!

All I have been making that are balls or pops this holiday are Marshmallow Pops and Truffles.....

In the new year, I will be playing with more cake pop, marshmallow pop, and cupcake ideas just for fun!!!

Also posted over on The Creative Cupcake.

Resolutions for 2011!!!

1. Get back on Weight Watcher Plan for healthy eating
2. Start exercising again (baby steps)
3. Continue my Fly Lady Journey to organize and make my house visitor friendly
4. Toss the stuff I haven't worn, used, looked at in the last 2 years since I moved to my condo
5. Research caregiver sites and newsletters to become a more patient caregiver to my mom.

I FINALLY watched Eat Pray Love and even tho I love the word that Julia Roberts chooses in the movie as HER word, I have decided my word this year is PATIENCE.... patience with myself, patience with mom, patience with my children, grandchildren and friends.

Oh, and in case you missed it, the Eat Pray Love word was attraversiamo, which means 'let's cross over together".  I just LOVE that word....

So now on to a BLESSED 2011!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

May this new year find you healthy.

May this new beginning give you hope.

May this time of renewal give you strength.