The List: one more down! July 19, 2008

Well - another item crossed off the list!  Rick bought his bike Friday, and he really picked out something awesome… I had a twinge of jealously, I must admit. 

He got a nice bonus at work this quarter and decided to finally upgrade from his 12 year old + Diamondback that he’s been riding to and from work.  This steel workhorse was at least three sizes too small for him (heck, it was smaller than MY bike), and weighed more than my bike with Henry in the trailer attached to it!  No joking. 

So, I was happy for him when he decided to spend the money for the better components, lightweight aluminum frame and comfortable ride of the Gary Fisher Marlin.  That’s the pic up there in the thumbnail.  Yay for him! 

Also, if you’ve been watching my list, you’ll notice that I changed a couple of items in the “Travel” section.  I was thinking about what I really want in the next 2.75 years and I felt like a month in Europe was not something I wanted to do while Henry was under 5 years old.  And there are a lot of things in THIS state that I’ve never seen (and I’m a native!!).  So, since the rules never said anything about changing your goals, I did a little editing. 

Busy Busy Hangs Over Our Heads! July 13, 2008

Have you ever packed too much into a week?  Even if it’s good stuff you’re doing, sometimes it’s just too much!  It’s like when you go on vacation and try to do everything there is to do and end up more exhausted than if you had been at work. 

That was me this week.  I feel like I’ve been going non-stop since last Monday.  Phone calls, orders, meetings, parties, play time, groceries, banking, sales, errands, exhaustion!  Predictably, I dropped a few of the balls I was juggling this week (if you were one of the people I have yet to call or email back, I’m SORRY!!)  The good news:  it’s a new week, and my calendar is back in control.  That, and I did about a month’s worth of sales last week, so the next three weeks should be easier… just follow up and reorders, scheduling next month, a little meeting planning, and the next farmer’s market.  Makes it nice. 

I plan to do something fun to reward myself this week for the hard work.  Maybe a little time spent on the bike, or with my scrapbook.  Who knows, I might even whip out the sewing machine?? 

 

p.s.  did anyone notice the pictures of me on Gerad’s motorcycle below??????????

Smores & more! July 5, 2008

Have you had a good weekend so far?  The Schell family’s been having non-stop fun and excitement! 

Thursday, we packed the 4Runner and headed up to camp in the Mt. Evans Wilderness area outside of Bailey.  This was the inaugural trip for the tent, Henry, Josie (and me) outside of the back yard (last year’s Memorial Day trip).  ;)  We chose the spot since it was close to my Grandpa’s house in case things weren’t going well. 

But, they went better than well.  They were perfect!  We drove passed a couple of crowed campgrounds on the way to the trail head, but were not discourage as we parked and hiked in a bit.  We found a great spot near the creek, and saw NO ONE until we were on the hike out the next morning.  The forest was great, the creek full and beautiful, and the s’mores tasty!  Henry loved hiking around to find firewood with Dad, and of course enjoyed the fire and the snacks.  He went right to sleep in the tent with no problems at all. 

Our only regret for the night was the decision to leave the sleeping bag mats behind (ouch!  The ground was hard!), and forgetting the camera.  Otherwise, though, it was fabulous! 

In the morning, we packed up, went for a hike, and then left the trail just as the parking area started to fill up.  We drove over to my Grandpa’s to visit for a while, had lunch and then headed down to Denver once again. 

Once recharged, we headed out to swim and BBQ with the Leetes & Bonds down in Castle Pines North.  We had a great time playing in the pool with our boys (Henry, Jackson & Aiden), eating steak and setting off a few fireworks. 

All in all, a great (but exhausting!) weekend so far!  Next up - a bike ride through Cherry Hills!  That is if it doesn’t rain!!!

Logging the miles June 29, 2008

Ok, so I just LOVE my bike.  The first week I had it, I rode everyday.  I mean EVERY day. 

One day, I rode 12.5 miles round trip to a library across town to meet a friend.  The next Monday, I ran errands too, stopping at 5 stores, all with Henry in tow.  (Henry, by the way, loves it.  He points out every bike he sees, even from the car, and clearly say “bike” as they pass.  It’s so cute!).

Last weekend, Rick, Henry & I did a 8 mile round trip to Home Depot to buy rope, stopping at King Soopers to pick up supplies for root beer floats before heading home.  I totally love it.  I’d go everywhere on my two wheeler if I could!   This week, I’m taking it in to swap out the seat (it’s a bit hard).  I can’t wait! 

So funny bike story - Rick rides his bike almost everyday to work.  But last Wednesday, Rick woke me up to take him to work because he had a flat.  On the way, he comments, “there sure are a lot of people on bikes today.”  Oh - that’s because it’s Bike to Work Day!!  We passed an REI tent on the way.  It was the second year in a row that Rick’s missed all the Bike to Work day freebies.  Kind of ironic. 

H2OH! June 27, 2008

The other day Henry found the hose…  (best viewed without sound!  sorry about the commentary!)

My Little Muscle Man June 24, 2008

BG, a Bat and Mr. Bento June 24, 2008

Busy Busy Busy!!!!! 

BG:  Yesterday, I could have given Rick the Husband of the Year award!  He helped me load the 4Runner, and set up two 10×10 booths in Castle Pines North at 6:00 am for the Market In The Pines farmer’s market.  Then he stayed around to refill water jugs, get snacks, dump dirty water and attract customers to the awesome Bubble Goddess booth that Emily, Teresa, Jenn and I were running until 1:00 pm.  Then he helped tear down and pack up, all while taking care of Henry.  What a guy!  If anyone deserves a good long soak in the tub (with some great bath salts, by the way), it’s Rick! 

The Market was the first of four that Em, Teresa and I are doing this summer.  If you’re in the area, come check us out: it’s the third Saturday of June, July, August and September from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. 

It’s the first time I’ve ever bought inventory for something like this.  We did over $800 in sales, which covered a portion of the inventory, all of our miscellaneous costs, and our costs for the booths all four weekends.  Three more weekends to go, and all that’s left to pay for is the rest of the inventory!!! 

This month really HAS been a great month for me with BG.  I have totally blown-out my usual $1800 goal (for the first time), and am very close to my secondary $2500 goal.  Which, I will blow past this week if I can close a couple of basket orders that I have been working on.  This is SO huge for me!  It’s puts me on track to cross off some of those Business items from my 101 in 1001 list (like paying for the family’s health insurance & my car payment, and working towards that Founder’s Circle!!!).  WaHOO!!!  Not only that, but I spoke to an accountant last week, and got three more people interested in my Premier 12 Club.  It’s amazing how just writing down your goals, and keeping them in front of you makes them so much easier to achieve!!!

A Bat:  last week we had a furry little visitor.  This little guy hung around the back yard patio all afternoon last Thursday, and through the night until Friday morning.  We caught a few snapshots and this little video, where we saw his face.  Of course I ran immediately to batcon.org to see if I could identify what kind of flying mammal was stopping by.  Turns out we got a rare chance at seeing him! 

When he was still there Friday morning, we decided that either he was hurt or sick, or that bats take flight by dropping down from where ever they are hanging and he was stuck.  So Rick gloved up and moved him to the tree in the front yard in hopes that it was the latter.  As far as we can tell, that was the case.  Shortly after being moved to his new perch in the tree, he took off.  And Friday evening we saw three or four bats hunting mosquito’s and bugs right at sundown.  I’m enjoying the thought that he flew by to say ‘thanks’. 

Mr. Bento: Have you seen this??  Rick’s finally got a replacement for his dilapidated old lunch bag that he’s been toting tired sandwiches in for the last three years.  Henry and I did our father’s day shopping online this year, and came up with this.  And so far, so good. 

I was really nervous that Rick wouldn’t be that into it, but when he opened it up Sunday morning, he was thrilled!  A lot of times, Rick has no access to a microwave at work, so his lunch variety has been limited so PB & J or ham and cheese.  Well… no more!  The Mr. Bento claims to keep hot food hot and cold food cold, all in one container.  And after a couple of test runs this week, it’s holding up it’s end of the bargain! 

Thanks to Wendy who first shared her Mr. Bento on her blog.  Yay for a great gift! 

5.5 Down, 95.5 To Go! June 8, 2008

Well, I’m off and running with my list (101 Things in 1001 Days)!!  I can’t believe that I’ve only had it posted for two weeks, and I’m already crossing things off left and right!  Numbers 1 and 3 were gimmes, but so far I’ve also been able to cross off numbers 19, 26, and 31!!  AND as soon as Tawnya writes her own list, I can cross off number 2 (so for now, I’m counting it as the half)!!  Yay!!! 

A happy accident caused the ability for me to cross off number 31: the dartboard.  Rick was going to get me a French Press for Mother’s Day, and when we went to pick it out, we thought we’d get a couple bucks off if I used the remainder of my left-over Williams Sonoma gift cards from Christmas.  Well, one of the cards had $50 on it!  Wahoo!  So I ordered the dartboard as a Mother’s Day present instead, as a surprise to Rick too.  I’m so stoked to get it mounted in the basement.  I’m waiting for it to arrive from Amazon, but I’ve already bought chalkboard paint to paint the wall it’s going on, and chalk!!  Then we will put rope around the board in case I miss (Rick, never misses, but I’m still an amateur)!  I even scoped out the rope prices at Home Depot on Friday!  I can’t wait for my first game of Cricket with **real** darts! 

But, number 26 is my pride and joy…  My spankin’ new Trek 4300!!!!!  I’ve been wanting a mountain bike for solong.  This is the third season I was shopping for one.  Last year, I rode the 4300, and liked it a lot, but I decided to aim a little higher - for the 6000 model.  But I didn’t save enough last year, so I didn’t get it.  Well, the 08 4300 model has some of last year’s 6000 upgrades and the sweet orange paint job.  But it kept the 4300 model price.  I HAD to have it!  And thanks to some money principals I learned from The Richest Man In Babylon (thanks Evania!), I had saved enough to get it!  This baby has been on my dream board, and in my WHY for too long!  I am happy that it is one of the first items crossed off the 101 in 1001 List!!

OH!  And I almost forgot… make sure to check out the motorcycle post below (Rick Should Get One!!).  I will hopefully be able to post a picture of the event soon.  I can’t believe I didn’t put this on my list of things to do, but if I had, it’d be crossed off now!!  Hee hee! 

Green & Clean and CNN.com June 8, 2008

Wow.  Some good stuff on CNN.com this week. 

Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy lead a march to “Green our Vaccines” to raise awareness about the link between vaccination & autism: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/showbiz/2008/06/04/bts.carrey.mccarthy.vaccines.cnn

CNN’s report on the march: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/showbiz/2008/06/05/riminton.carey.mccarthy.autism.cnn

I was really impressed with Jim Carrey & Jenny McCarthy.  And I was really moved by the video clip. 

I also came across this blog with some interesting posts about vaccinations: GreenandCleanMom.org - Debate and GreenandCleanMom.org - The Question. It’s always good to hear about more people educating themselves, no matter what decisions they make, at least THEY are making them, and not just trusting blindly.

Happiness & Homemade Pancakes June 4, 2008

Many of you know that I love to cook.  I was recently inspired to make a souffle by Jen, who was kind enough to share her recipe, and though it was not perfect, my souffle was tasty and looked ok considering I did not bake it in a souffle dish. 

         

I love it when I invent a simple recipe out of the things we have in the house and Rick raves about it.  What I can do with a little garlic, butter and white wine never ceases to amaze him… and I am glad he’s so easily amazed!

But MY favorite things are the simple ones.  Like Saturday morning pancakes. 

Every weekend, I wake up (long after Rick does), to a tummy grumbling for Rick’s homemade pancakes.  Sometime in our first year of marriage, I told Rick that my dad made pancakes every weekend, and it was one of my favorite things. 

Rick didn’t immediately adopt this tradition.  In fact, I’m racking my brain to try to think when it was he started doing it.  And I have a sneaky feeling it was around the time Henry was born.  Hmmm… maybe he wants Saturday morning pancakes to be one of Henry’s favorite memories too? 

Rick’s even gotten so good that he has memorized the recipe, and can make a single, double or a batch-and-a-half from scratch with no cookbook.  How impressed am I?!  And he’s even tweaked the recipe to make it his own, and almost as good as my dad’s. 

They are a delicious staple to me now.  I love the smell and the buttery taste.  I love the way Henry says “app-kacks” among other attempts to say “pancakes”  and I am so disappointed if I forgot to buy butter or milk or some other essential ingredient and we have to do without. 

And once in a while Rick makes a special treat for me.  I know it’s silly but how can you not love it….