Monday, October 27, 2008

It Really Doesn't Matter

I always wondered what the heck they were saying, so here you go!



I loved the music and the dancing when I was a kid, but now that I can actually understand it- I love it even more- talk about crack up!! Enjoy... once Nicole got me to search this on youtube... I couldn't stop- (it's almost one)- Good night and good luck!


Sunday, October 26, 2008

Faerie Tale Theatre

I was reading Nicole's post about her favorite musicals, and in searching for some info, I stumbled across a blast from our past, and decided to share since I know it will make some of you smile too!



We used to LOVE watching Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theater and couldn't get enough of it, and probably had tons of them memorized... and we didn't know at the time the big names that were in them, but too fun now. Like did you remember that Tim Burton directed Aladdin, or that Susan Sarandon was in Beauty and the Beast, or Carrie Fischer, or Robin Williams, or Bernadette Peters, Christopher Reeve??? Judging by one clip on You Tube, I'm thinking they might be available on DVD somewhere, somehow... which one was your favorite? or at least most memorable?

Oops, I accidentally added this video before I watched the end, so stop watching when the SNL version says The End... because some chick gets on and ruins it all... but otherwise- enjoy!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Third Annual Halloween Party

We held our now Third Annual Halloween Extravaganza last night, and I think it was a raging success! Patty and I have a lot of fun planning and scheming, and naturally, there was a ton of preparation, and money, time, and work but it turned out great! Even Chris who has been, uh, apprehensive about this party, thought it turned out pretty dang good and has even conceded that we should have it again next year (a week or two ago, this was the last one ever!) But we had great food, great friends, great costumes, and great fun!!
This year it was our Haunted "Hulaween" theme, so we turned the Maloy Manor into our forbidden island! As guests arrived they were greeted with Tiki torches, and a pumpkin carved into a Tiki god, and a Tiki mask on the front door. Upon entering, everyone was "lei'ed," and received a sheet of halloween stickers that they were charged with sneaking onto other people, a fun game to get people interacting since we had a mixed group. The dining room was transformed into our Witch Doctor lab, and the living room was the voodoo lounge. Patty and I made "grass skirts" to hang over all the main walkways and room entrances and windows for our thatched roofs, with bamboo poles for "support." Patty painted some awesome large Tiki masks that watched the festivities from the windows in our forbidden island family room . The kitchen was transformed into our very own Tiki bar, where our great bartender (Chris) mixed made to order tropical drinks (complete with cocktail umbrellas when he remembered).Here are our awesome glasses all tagged and ready to be served up at our Tiki Bar!

Neo is looking pretty cool, notice our awesome "thatched roof" in the background!

Our very cool Tiki Bar, one of the highlights of the evening!My Witch doctor lab, much more cool in the dark, but pretty cool nonetheless!
Check out the Tiki masks in the windows!
The Love Guru is in the house (aka Jesus to some)


"I am the Pirate Queen! And it is, it is, a wonderful thing to be the Pirate Queen!"

Eat it up, Yum!


We had a luau feast that was anything but vegetarian- Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Artichoke Dip, Bacon Wrapped Weenies, Kalua Pork, Huli Huli Chicken, Beef and Chicken Skewers with different dipping sauces, Macaroni Salad, Lime Rice Pilaf, Crab Salad, Hawaiian Rolls, Coconut Fried Shrimp, Fresh Fruit Tray, Banana Bread, Pumpkin Cookies, Lemon Squares, Mummy and Witch finger chocolate dipped pretzel rods, and Coconut Mango Cheesecake. I know, sounds good, huh?? We were wishing we had kept a whole plate full of everything- I was craving Sweet and Sour meatballs and Kalua pork for breakfast this morning!

Our food bar... and I just can't get enough!




While the main portion of the evening was a chance for us to talk and eat and just have fun without our kids... we had a few fun activities too! I have to give Chris props for this idea, he came up with the idea to play the "Newlywed game"- I altered it into a party edition, and it was a lot of fun- and some great laughs!

Playing the "Nearly Dead" Game- Chris was our (bossy but funny) Master of Ceremonies



Nacho Libre and his favorite Nun! (aka Frank and Ivana DeSantiago)


Elphaba and the Executioner (aka Derek and Kemari Nielson)

Grim Reaper and his dead Bride (aka Jeff and Wendy Laypath)

Tinkerbell and Captain Hook (aka Jason and Monica Bergstrom)

Salt and Pepper (aka Carma and Kepi Heimuli)


Surfer Babe and Dude (aka Jenny and James Olson)



We also had some very creative and fun costumes! We had everything the Love Guru, a "freaky a#* dark fairy," Tink and Captain Hook, Elphaba, and some more traditional scary Halloween folk- executioner, wicked witch, and white trash! So fun!!! Naturally we had a Costume contest with very interesting (and questionable) ballots!

Here are the results-
Funniest - Nacho Libre (aka Frank DeSantiago)
Scariest- Grim Reaper and his Vampire Bride (aka Jeff and Wendy Laypath)
Cutest- Tinkerbell (aka Monica Bergstrom)
Most Original- Salt and Pepper (aka Kepi and Carma Heimuli)
Best Couple- Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Granny (aka Chris and Megan Sliders)
and, drumroll, please.............................
Best Overall- Pirate Queen (aka Heidi Maloy)
Best Themed- Surfer Dude and Surfer Babe (aka Jenny and James Olson)


Love Guru and the Dark Fairy (aka Sonny and Patty Maloy)

White Trash and her cutest man on the Planet (aka Ben and Lacei Child)

Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Granny (aka Chris and Megan Slider)

Me, the Pirate Queen (aka Best Overall Costume ;)

Neo (aka Chris Maloy, my cutest man on the planet)

I think (and hope) everyone had a great time- what a great way to kickstart the holidays! "Happy Hulaween" everyone!

Party Planners Extraordinaire (aka Patty and Heidi Maloy)

Now we are off to Park City for some much needed chill time! See ya!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Will it blend?



So if you have seen any of these clips on You Tube (Chris watched them obsessively one night)... you know how funny they are, and how AWESOME that Blender is??!! Well, if you have read my earlier posts, you will know that Chris HAD to get this Blender and we have been having all sorts of fun with it since! We've made some great smoothies, cashew butter, almond paste, soups, sauces, salsas, etc. etc... but until now, we haven't tried to blend anything too wacky, no Chuck Norris dolls or Weezer CD's yet. At Claire's princess party I made mini fruit skewers with strawberries and red grapes and toothpicks, yum! We had a few leftover so Chris thought a great way to use up the rest of the fruit would be to make a smoothie, so here he comes with a Grape Strawberry Banana smoothie! Yum! We both start drinking it, and notice it's a little "fibery." It turns out he threw "all" the fruit into the blender and didn't notice the toothpicks! With most blenders, you would at least notice if you were trying to blend toothpicks! Not ours! And it even blended it so smooth, we only noticed tiny little slivers every once in awhile. That's one way to get your fiber!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Simple Sunday

I recently wrote a post titled I Am A Simple Woman, and I got a rather unexpected response. I wrote that post late at night, while Chris lay snoring next to me, and it began rather lighthearted and, what else, simple. It sort of developed itself into something I hadn't originally intended, but was happy with nonetheless. Yet, in finishing writing, I felt it was slightly random, somewhat personal (sort of strange for me), thoughtful, yet, I really had no idea what other's responses would be... surely, I could never have predicted in my wildest dreams, the responses and comments I received. I have thought a lot about that post because of the unexpected turnout and have decided to do a followup, which could probably never have the same impact or surprise of the original post, but could develop into a regular sharing of my random thoughts. So, here are my simple, random thoughts for this Simple Sunday.

Last night, Chris and I had a rather long discussion about all sorts of things, but a couple revelations I thought I might share. We joke that I live in my own little world. We haven't had TV (in the traditional sense) for awhile now, so he jokes that I never really know what's going on. Since he works with a bank, he's keenly aware of the financial crisis and many of the details, and minute by minute changes and affects. He called me to tell me about one of the first big market dives, "Are you watching the news?" What do you mean our market is collapsing? I am shopping for Claire's birthday party. The simple part of me is much more concerned with the changes and needs in the Maloy world. (That's not to say that I'm not concerned about the world around me, I'm concerned about our financial crisis, political changes, our environment, the abominable way women, and children are treated in other parts of the world, among other things- I'm just not obsessed with them). This may make me sound selfish but in keeping with a time and a season for all things- I have to be more concerned right now with my kids education, my family's happiness, and well being. I have to concern myself mostly with how all these issues affect me and my family. And other than being informed, I have better things to stress and obsess about.

Chris has taken it upon himself to educate me about the financial crisis, and frankly, the more I find out, the more I'm appalled! But still, I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised, because it all comes back to greed. We live in an age of entitlement. People think they deserve everything they want, whether or not they have worked or made the effort to actually earn it, let alone afford it. Proof of that observation is evident everywhere we look- and it's very obvious now that we are smack in the middle of a financial credit crisis. People think they deserve a house, simply because it is offered to them, what do you mean they have to pay that outrageous mortgage? It is absolutely crazy to me that people who couldn't afford a used car payment, could be approved for a $500,000 mortgage (or more)! We live in a credit society that will enjoy the good life now, and somehow find a way to pay for it later, possibly with even more debt. Young people feel that they need the same cars, houses, furniture, and everything else their parents have, and have given them, without the acknowledgment that it took their parents time to work, and earn, and build to where they are. Our children are entitled to the latest toys, clothes, video games- and if Mom and Dad don't deliver- watch out! People want what they seemingly think everyone else has- the new boat, the new SUV, the new house, the new "toys", the new whatever?! And they will max out their credit to get what they want, and now, they are surprised that the bubble has burst, and are too blind to recognize the greed that drove this whole mess in the first place (and that greed goes from the very bottom to the very top). And another problem with this mindset of acquisition, and entitlement, is that they will never truly find peace or happiness, because happiness doesn't come with getting what they wanted, because they still want more, and there will always be more, and they will never be satisfied. And everyone was so busy acquiring what they wanted, that they never stopped to analyze what they actually needed.

Humans actually have only a few basic needs- water, food, shelter... and human connection. People need human connection. They need to be touched, they need to be validated. And yes, those are part of those basic needs for survival. There have been studies in Romanian orphanages where babies have actually ceased to live simply because they were denied human touch. We actually NEED to be loved, hugged, caressed, and cared for to thrive. And beyond the simple power of basic human touch, we need validation. We need to feel loved, accepted, understood- validation that our existence is worthwhile and meaningful. We are social creatures, we need family and friends. We need to feel content with ourselves, and the people who surround us. And we all have individual needs that protect our sanity, and I'll say it, happiness, in this world. So, in my discussion with Chris last night, here was my revelation (not new by any means). And I know this will surprise many of you, but I need social interaction! I need to talk, and laugh. I need to spend time with family and friends. I need attention. I need to feel listened to, and understood. I need to feel cared about, and appreciated. I need to have fun. And yet, while they may be beyond our basic human needs for survival, I still think those are pretty simple needs. And more than that, those needs are probably not exclusive to just me.

Chris made the comment today that this financial crisis is going to require people to go back to the basics: budgeting, clipping coupons, making a meal vs. eating out, finding simpler and cheaper entertainment, watching their finances, saving, spending time with family and friends. I said, "Oh, they are going to live like us?" He laughed and said, "Yeah, isn't it great?" Sonny, Chris, and I were just discussing how the changes that are coming are going to be the hardest felt by the ones who have to make the most personal changes, for example: planning, saving, budgeting, being thrifty, and resourceful. He said this is going to change everyone's thinking, spending, and very way of life. But if it means going back to some of those basics, maybe that side effect isn't such a terrible thing afterall?

So, what do you want and what do you need?

Kemari Loves My Blog

Kemari said she loves my blog and asked me to do this! I love to read other peoples, so here is mine!

1. Where is your cell phone? On the charger
2. Where is your significant other? Sleeping
3. Your hair color? Chocolate and Caramel
4. Your mother? My hero
5. Your father? My standard for Men
6. Your favorite thing? Laughing and Smiling
7. Your dream last night? Can't remember
8. Your dream/goal? To be successful in my own mind
9. The room you're in? Bedroom
10. Your hobby? Sewing, Quilting, Crafts, Decorating, Party Planning, Cooking, Music, Scrappin'
11. Your fear? Not living to my true potential
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Comfortable- have my life, home, kids, finances in order
13. Where were you last night? Home, hanging out with my family
14. What you're not? High Maintenance
15. One of your wish-list items? Finished Basement
16. Where you grew up? So-Cal, baby
17. The last thing you ate? Homemade Sugar Cookies- Yum!
18. What are you wearing? Pajamas
19. Your TV? 32" TV ( I think, I'm not sure)
20. Your pet? Snowball the cat, (my family will be disappointed to find that Reese's is gone)
21. Your computer? IBM ThinkPad laptop
22. Your mood? relaxed, and and yet anxious
23. Missing someone? My California family
24. Your car? '99 Ford Windstar, it's still going
25. Something you're not wearing? Clothes
26. Favorite store? Costco
27. Your summer? Too short, and not enough beach- but fun, and chill just the same
28. Love someone? Of course...
29. Your favorite color? All shades of Red
30. When is the last time you laughed? Tonight
31. Last time you cried? Last night, unusual for me

I award the following 7 people to do the 'I Love Your Blog' post!
Chris
Nicole
Jodi
Scott
TJ
Sonny
Mom

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Waste of Time!

So, for anyone who thinks I'm uncapable of being lazy (Nicole)... this post is for you. This is my favorite creative avoidance, time wasting, silly stupid game... I found it while looking for games for the kids, and it's totally addicting. And now, every once in awhile, I still try to break 100,000 points, I did it at least once and have come really close a bunch of times, but, oh well... check out my favorite waste of time- a stupid game called Bouncing Balls!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Heidi's Version of Grandma's Meat Sauce

By personal request I'm including the recipe I used to make my now, almost famous Meat Sauce.
But it's sauce, measurements are not precise, just sprinkle and add until it tastes good to you... use what you have on hand (I happened to throw in some leftover homemade pizza sauce too...) Cooking should be fun, it should be a reflection of yourself and your own personal tastes- Enjoy!

Heidi's Meat Sauce

1 lb. Italian Sausage, sliced
1-2 lbs. whatever beef you have available (I happened to use sirloin), cubed
2 heaping T. minced garlic
a few pan swirls of olive oil
4 cans (14.5 oz.) crushed tomatoes (or diced thrown into the food processor for a couple pulses)
1 T. Oregano
1 T. Basil
1 tsp. garlic powder
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
(Next time I will try adding about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, but I didn't have any)

1. Brown meat in soup pot on medium-high heat, remove to food processor and pulse to coarsely chop.

2. While "grinding" your meat, add a few swirls of olive oil to the pan and saute garlic (just a few minutes), then add crushed tomatoes and spices and cook until gently boiling, stir occasionally.

3. Next add tomato sauce and tomato paste and bring back to boil, add meat, return to boil.

4. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. (I would add the cheese about the last 15-30 minutes.)

Serve over hot spaghetti with garlic bread, and of course parmesan cheese.

*For similar to Vince's garlic bread, use sandwich or grinder rolls sliced in half. Butter, sprinkle with garlic powder and parmesan cheese, liberally. Bake in 400 oven for about 3 minutes (or broil, watch until lightly browned and cheese is melted)

P.S. This would probably work great in a Crock Pot as well, just brown and "grind" you meat first, and then assemble all your ingredients in your slow cooker and let it cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Try it, you won't be disappointed, and let me know how it turns out.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Lazy Saturday


We've had some busy weekends lately, and the next few are even busier so we decided to have a lazy conference weekend. That worked out perfectly because today was cold and rainy, I guess fall has officially arrived for us.

Here is what Heidi does on a lazy saturday... I would have loved to sleep in, but Chris got me up early anyway, I really need to teach him about Saturday mornings. So I took a long, hot relaxing shower thinking about a hot mug of chocolate and what goes with that? So after I got out, I made Buttermilk Spice Muffins (a la Mimi's Cafe), while those were baking I did my first load of dishes. The we decided that regular old Hot Cocoa wouldn't be good enough for a rainy morning like this, so we made real Hot Chocolate, and whipped it up nice and frothy in our fancy blender. Yum! Then I decided it was the perfect day to lock myself in my closet and sew but it actually took me awhile to get motivated... so I went shopping in my basement o' fabric stash, and got inspired. I figured out the girl's Halloween costumes, finished my birthday wallhanging (two days after Claire's birthday), and made 2 (almost 3) awesome pillows for my family room! They turned out great (and if I wasn't so lazy I would go take a picture and add it)! Then I researched Meat Sauce recipes and made some great sauce and pasta for dinner (three hours to cook- but see my Tribute to Vince's post), did my second load of dishes. Watched some YouTube vidoes to hang out with Chris. Served and ate our great Spaghetti dinner with the family, and then watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" because Zach said "Mommy sit with me." I was going to go finish my 3rd pillow, but I'm being lazy and telling you about it all on my blog. Maybe I should go eat some leftovers, and warm up some Hot Chocolate... Enjoy your conference weekend too!

Tribute to Vince's Spaghetti

For some reason, today I was absolutely craving Vince's Spaghetti... for those of you who are deprived enough to not know what Vince's is... in Ontario, there is a little family owned spaghetti place called Vince's, it's not the most gourmet Italian restaurant, but they have the best Meat Sauce on their huge portions of spaghetti with great garlic bread! It is one of our family's collective favorite restaurants, and I miss it being here in Utah... that is one of the few restaurants I remember going to as a kid (and Griswold's). I even remember Grandma Hendrickson boycotting cooking for Christmas Eve, so she ordered Vince's for everyone for Christmas dinner...And it's still one of those places we all go when we come home to visit!

Anyway... what do you do when you are craving something you can't have? You try to make it yourself, or at least a decent tribute substitute that will satiate your appetite while you have to wait a few months for the real thing. So, first, I tried to google a copycat recipe but to no avail, so I decided just to look for Meat Sauce recipes. I found one called Grandma's Meat Sauce... and I had an A-ha moment while reading one of the suggestions for the recipe. One of the reasons Vince's is so great is because they have this thick meaty sauce, with little bits of meat in every bite- so when the recipe suggested to brown the meat and throw it in the food processor- that made perfect sense to me, and I figured it was worth a try! Naturally, I wasn't expecting it to be exactly like Vince's... but it turned out to be a pretty good substitute and everyone in my family LOVED it!



Fall is not only about soups and stews, but comfort food, and what is more comforting on a rainy day than a big, deep pasta bowl full of perfect al dente spaghetti covered in meaty sauce! Yum... Naturally, I changed the recipe as I always seem to do... but I decided to go ahead and share the original inspiration recipe. You can try it, or make your own changes, but it's worth a try for anyone who likes a thick, meaty sauce. I won't say that Chris even said that mine was better than Vince's because that would be blasphemy. And it makes a lot, so I even froze a couple quarts for when future cravings strike (and at least then I won't have to wait three hours for it!) So here is the link to Grandma's Meat Sauce.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Happy Birthday to Claire!

My little Claire turns five today, and she is growing into such a beautiful little girl- oh, how the time flies when we are having fun! (She is getting an over the top Pink Pampered Princess party next week...) So today she got to take cupcakes to her preschool, and has requested Macaroni and Cheese for dinner, followed by cake, and root beer floats! And she informed me that she doesn't care if anyone else sees her open her presents- "Don't you want to wait until Dad and your sisters get home?" "No, you can tell them about it, and I will show them what I got- I want to open them right now!" (She got packages from Grandma Grace, and Grandma and Grandpa in the mail) She might be spoiled, but she is so lucky to have so many who adore her!

Abigail's Artsy Fartsy Birthday Bash

I previously posted about the fact that I'm a party planning fool at the moment- and even though I'm about a week late in posting the pictures (about par for the course)... I know, you've been anxiously waiting- so here they are! The whole party was inspired by some Crayola crayon thermos' I got as party favors- so it turned into a creative, make it yourself, make a mess, bright, fun, colorful extravaganza- we made Kool-Aid play dough, Kool-Aid fingerpaint, Silly Slime, played a crayon drop game, made our own Pizzas, and enjoyed what else, Kool-Aid, our pizzas, Crayon box cake, bright cupcakes, and rainbow sherbert! The best part was that the weather was great so we kept all the kids (and all the mess) outside! We had great food, great fun, great messes, great kids, great help (Chris stayed home and Patty came to help- and I couldn't have done it without them), great gifts, and a great time! The kids all got to take home Kool-Aid dough, finger paint, silly slime, and the Crayola thermos with candy and Crayola markers... so fun and cute!
Abby tore through her presents (naturally)- we had to keep reminding her to slow down and enjoy it (i.e. actually looking at what she just opened, and saying Thank You...)
These are a few of our Pizza masterpieces... Yummy!
Just making our pizzas, the kids loved getting their hands in the dough and picking toppings!
Here we are adding blue food coloring to our Silly Slime... gross stuff!
Abby had a great time, and I think all her friends did too...
The kids figured out where the shade was, right at the end of the party when they were finishing up their ice cream cones- the sun cam out, and they ducked for cover... too funny!
My attempt at a Crayon box cake, it turned out cute, but I learned some things that I will do differently next time (you know, because I make so many Crayon box cakes)


Here is the initial group, playing and waiting for everyone to arrive
We're getting ready to mix another great concoction- finger paint. Ooey, gooey, messy fun...
Happy 7th Birthday Abigail!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

I am a Simple Woman

If any of you were asked to describe me with just five adjectives, "simple" would probably not be one of them(but "random" might be after reading this). But as I have been recently pointing out to Chris, I am actually a very simple woman. Take food for instance, that's simple enough. I can appreciate (and even make) a Souffle, Creme Brulee, Flourless Chocolate Torte with Fresh Raspberry Coulis, a great Cheesecake, or even Blueberry Mascarpone Crepes but again my favorite desserts would still be a perfect Chocolate Malt (thanks Grandma and Grandpa for that) or I am perfectly happy winding down at the end of the day with a big bowl of Ice Cream (it doesn't even have to be Baskin-Robbins). And there is no snack better than a tall glass of milk, and a plate of cookies. I love a big breakfast with bacon, eggs, hash browns, and since we are talking about what really makes me happy, let's add a hot scone with honey butter to that. Who doesn't like a fancy dinner, or an expensive meal? But I can be just as happy with a good crunchy taco, pot roast, crunchy fried chicken, or what can be more satisfying than a pot of homemade stew, or even a simple bowl of spaghetti and meatballs? Anyone else getting hungry?

I know that's a lot about food but that's only because the one thing in life that truly makes me happy anytime is a good meal, with good people, and good conversation filled with real laughter! In other words, what makes me happy? Apparently, it's the combination of family, friends, fun, and food! I guess that is part of why I love cooking, and being the hostess! It enables me to share what makes me happy with others, and if I can create the atmosphere, or food that puts a smile on someone else's face, I guess it's even worth doing the dishes that follow. That includes my own little family, dinner time can easily become a chore, but on the days that I can remember the bigger picture of the opportunity to serve my little family and show my love in the kitchen- it's all worth it (not to mention enjoying the benefits of the lost art of family meal time).

I've heard at different times in my life, that I am capable of anything I want to do. By the world's standards, I'm probably not a very successful woman (admittedly by my own, I'm not either, my expectations have always been very high, but that is for a whole other blog) but I don't measure by the world's standards so in my simple world, I am successful in the respect that I'm trying and progressing in becoming a better wife, mother, homemaker, sister, daughter, friend, teacher- woman. As women, we wear lot's of hats and juggle many responsibilities- and feel a sense of necessity in wearing each and every one of these hats perfectly at the same time. I don't always remember this, but have learned and will relearn that the key isn't in wearing every hat perfectly at the same time, but to remember that there is a time and a season, and the key is balance. We have to learn to juggle and prioritize. We have to learn at the end of the day to be happy with the items we crossed off our to-do list, and not regret the few we didn't. We have to learn to be in the moment. Just today I had to remind myself that it was more important to sit and watch "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" with Claire simply because she asked me to- the dishes would still be in the sink when it was done, and they were just going to multiply anyway. Claire is going to be five tomorrow, and I have to remember that probably too soon, she'll be trying to get rid of me during a movie instead of asking me to stay, so I will try to treasure those little moments when I can... But at the end of the day, if my house is not a disaster, and Chris and the kids are fed and happy, and I did a little better than the day before... than I can say that I'm getting closer to being the successful woman that I want to become.

And as long as I can find a minute or two (amongst my other responsibilities) to express my creativity in whatever mode I'm in the mood for, than again, I'm happy. Whether it's quilting, cooking, scrapbooking, decorating my house (my biggest white canvas), or even planning a party- give me a simple creative outlet and I'm good to go!

And some final random, simple thoughts- I'd like to think that my simple views extend beyond myself. I wouldn't say that I'm a very judgmental person, I generally like to see the best in other's, and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt... So I don't expect a lot, mutual respect and kindness maybe. I'm sure the whole world would be a better place if more people would just listen, and "Be Nice!" So they might be random, but there are your confessions and musings for the day... and yes, I am a simple woman, and proud to be one!