At 4:45 this morning, Cala the Dog woke me up by panting her really bad dog breath directly into my face. I shot out of bed and realized she was desperately trying not to wet her pants, so I took her out.

‘Cept I was still basically asleep.

I plowed into the screen door, cursed loudly as I fell through it, and cut three fingers on my left hand. As Cala pulled her leash down the sidewalk, and I was blinded by pain, and rain and the darkness, I stumbled again over something sticking up from the sidewalk and I careened into the soft, wet, and icky-smelling backyard.

Yesterday, in anticipation of Hurricane Hermine, I had moved the hose. The coiled hose and sprinkler head had been blocking the drainage of rainwater and consequently, my laundry room flooded last week. With Hermine’s impending arrival, I thought I was doing a good thing yesterday by moving it away from the house and onto the sidewalk.

Not exactly.

I tripped over that hose and sprinkler.

So, by 5am this morning, while everyone was snugly wrapped in their bedsheets, dreaming of sugarplums and whatever else, I was laying on the earth, drenched, and covered in wet grass, cursing my luck.

Then I went to work.

And went home for lunch to check on Cala the Dog. On my way back to work, the rain started coming down in buckets…

And then I got a flat tire. Don’t ask for details. I’m not giving any. I have blocked it out in self-defense…

It is now 12 hours later, and I’m wondering how the day will end. Surely food poisioning or something is in my future, wouldn’t you say?

It seems likely, all things considered.

I know, my simple pleasures are ridiculous, aren’t they?

I’m a tad obsessive when it comes to these things and I know it. I wasn’t always like this. When I was single, I used to have a second bedroom in my apartment that served as my closet. At least, I called it a closet, but in fact, it was more like a laundry dump. Before I had a family and responsibilities, my entire paycheck seemed to go toward clothes, shoes, and accessories. I’d wear it, and then throw it on the pile in the ‘closet’. When I needed something, I would rifle through the huge pile, find it, launder it, press it, and wear it. Good grief, that seems like a lot of work on-demand, plus it was a mess the whole time.

Now years later, I realize that I was missing something in the whole ‘cleanliness department’. I have since curbed my slobby ways. I used to use the excuse that I couldn’t be bothered to keep things picked up and neat, that it was stifling my creativity…. uh, yeh right. Whatever, Casey. That was a huge excuse for being lazy.

Lazy I am not. At least not any more…I derive too much sick pleasure from folding things just-so, and organizing everything down to the smallest possible degree. OCD perhaps? I don’t know, but the similarities between me and the crazy guy with the kitchen towels and right-facing canned goods in Sleeping with the Enemy sometimes get disturbing… Even last night, after our dinner party had ended and our guests went home, I just could not leave the dishes piled in the sink, though I was desperately tired with a horrific pain in my left leg (thank you varicose veins, I hate you so much). No, I stood there at 1am and washed all that china by hand, dried it, and put it away… then, just when I thought I was done, I flicked the light on the back porch and saw tons of cups and saucers from the evening’s after-dinner coffee and dessert still sitting there. I had just closed down the kitchen, but guess what?

You got it.

I cleared and washed all those dishes. By hand. (There was no choice in that part of it, they couldn’t go in the dishwasher. I had used the china and that has to be hand-washed.)

After all of that was done, I headed to bed. But not before I straightened the hand towels in the guest bath.

*yawn*

I know I’m laboring over things that I should be able to just walk away from and do later, but I just can’t. I can’t say that I enjoy doing the work, but I do enjoy the satisfaction of seeing things cleaned up and put away, the gleam of a clean kitchen, or the beautiful precision of freshly folded or pressed laundry. Weird, I admit. It’s labor, yes, but a labor of love.

*sigh*

He walked up behind me and patted my head, said “Hey Shorty!” in my ear and kissed me on the cheek. I spun around to come face to face with that dazzling smile.

As I took a long look at him from head to toe and marveled at his deep tan, his magnificent smile, the casual jeans and polo shirt that just could not disguise the  tall, athletic frame underneath, my eyes filled with tears as I searched for any reminder of that little boy that I used to hold in my arms.

“Mom, I’m home” he said as I hugged him tight and cried into his strong chest.

Then I woke up. Crying, of course. What a dream. It felt so…. real.

Fortunately, with the new blog theme, you can see a lot of what is available, right from the main page.

Believe me, I understand that although it might be a great thing, the change is not easy on the eyes initially, and there is a certain panic that sets in, not knowing exactly what to click on or where to go…

Let me try and help you out….

Starting at the top, you see the aqua header that explains exactly what is going on: I readily admit that I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I’m trying. That’s not just about the blog, you know that right? Every single day is about my quest to understand what I’m here for. Every day I am getting closer, let’s hope… I’m also gaining clarity with each passing day, about what is possible with the blog, so it has a double meaning, you know?

Below the header image are several titles to Pages in the site: About, BwhoUR, Contact, FORK, Herbalife, Quotes… these are Pages located within the site that are static, meaning that they are not blog posts, just regular pages. The are alphabetical, and I can’t change that. The FORK page is something new… it stands for: (F)ree (O)nline (R)esource for your (K)itchen. If you just put your mouse over this word, you will see sub-categories (Categories and Share a Recipe), where you can click and actually upload your own recipe to the site. I did this because I have had people coming out of the woodwork when it comes to my recipes! It is wonderful and I’m just thrilled that so many people have taken a shine to my cooking. Almost every single time I ‘talk food’ with someone, they tell me a recipe that I am dying to have, so I created a place that we can all share recipes… I hope you’ll upload some and participate! One caveat: if you upload a recipe and want to include a photo of the dish, you’ll have to email me the picture and I’ll add it for you… so far, I haven’t figured out a way that YOU can add your own photo, but I’m working on it!

One more thing, if you go to the FORK section and it looks a little sparse so far, it is because we don’t have any recipes yet except for my super, easy margarita recipe! (Hint, Hint, please post some more!)

Under the navigation bar that has all the page names, there is a scrolling box that shows you the Featured posts. I feature the current posts, so if you click on the little thumbnail picture, you’ll see the title and the first few words of the post come up in the big box and you can click on the text and it will open up the whole post for you to read.

To the right of the big, scrolling box is an ad box that chooses content based on the topics I post. Just so you are aware, I am not pulling these ads in that box, but I have been pleased with the content so far, it has been decent and relevant and I have clicked on a thing or two myself to see what it was all about. Don’t be afraid to click…

Directly below the ad box is a subscription box where you can subscribe to get the daily post emailed directly to your mailbox, or you can read it in a Reader. If you don’t want the hassle of surfing to the site and you want to read the daily rambles on your phone, for example, this is a great idea.

Back to the left is a mini ad box. You can’t blame me for trying, can you? I am not getting rich on this site, unfortunately, but if I were to make any sort of $$, it would be a great way to offset the costs of keeping the blog running. The ads are chosen based on the content that I write and I was alittle miffed just this morning to see a Szchophrenia ad come up! What’s up with THAT?

Below the scrolling big box and the little, rectangular ad  are four categories that are stacked 2 on top of another 2. These are currently BwhoUR, My Recipes, Photography, and Rambles… depending on what category I choose for each post will determine where it falls. They are listed in order from most recent to oldest, and each category shows just 3 posts on the main page, but underneath them, there is a link that says “More from this Category”… The blog has a total of 11 categories altogether, and if you want to scroll through the posts in each category, you can just click on any link in the Category box. The box that shows all the different categories is located on the right sidebar right under the search box and right above the “5 Minute Vacation” video I posted from the ranch.

If you don’t like to hunt by category and you just want to keep up with the recent posts, you can do that too! Also on the right sidebar is a box called “Most Recent Posts”. This box lists the 10 most recent posts in order from new to old, making it easy for you to just click on what title sounds interesting.

You’ll notice right above the Most Recent Posts box that there is the Google Translator (lots of little flags)… if you hover your mouse over a flag, it will tell you what language that is spoken in that country and if you click that flag, the entire blog will translate into that language. I’m pretty sure that the translations aren’t always perfect, but it is my hope that this translation service will help those people that are interested in the blog but have struggled in the past reading my english… see? I have heard your comments!!!

Also on the right sidebar is the FORK logo that, when clicked, will direct you to the recipes…
Below the FORK logo are two of my favorite Herbalife products that I swear by… without Total  Control, I was feeling sluggish and ready for bed in the mid-afternoon every day at work. And what can I say about the Herbal Tea? Gosh, it burns 80 calories with each glass! It has become my ‘go-to’ at least twice a day to burn some extra calories and boost my energy. As a result, I have been back into my size 8′s!! If you are interested in these products, the photos are actually links. Click them and see what happens!

Under the 5 Minute Vacation video that I posted of scenes from the ranch, I have a membership form. It’s called the BFF’s. Basically, when you sign up, you are given a key to the inside scoop. Sometimes there are things that go on that I want to post but feel kind of funny putting out there on the main blog. The BFF’s get all the dirt. This is soon going to be a much-expanded part of the blog. For the past few months, I haven’t done much with the BFF’s except send them a week’s worth of posts on Monday mornings so they can catch up on the posts from the week before. Starting this coming week, the BFF’s are going to to have at least one special post per week. If you haven’t joined, what are you waiting for? I’ve placed a special sign-up form right here in this post for you to make it effortless! Go ahead!

Right under the BFF sign up form is a BMI calculator. Calculating your Body Mass Index is a great way to find out if you might consider shedding a few pounds or not. The guidelines are what the CDC considers to be normal, overweight, obese, morbidly obese. Most of us know full well if we need to lose weight or not, but if you just think that a little confirmation might be exactly what you need, punch your numbers in and see what happens. Don’t worry, this is just a widget for your use, I can’t magically see what you’re typing!!

One more thing I would like to explain about the new-and-improved blog…

Under each post, you will see a  Facebook “F” and word “Share”. This gives you the opportunity, if you have a Facebook page, to share my post on your Wall and even add your own comment if you like. This is essentially a referral from you to your circle of influence, telling them that you just read something that they might like too. A link to the post is created on your Facebook Wall, referring your friends to the post. A referral from a satisfied reader is the very best compliment that I could receive about my writing. Won’t you consider this each time you read a post?

I hope this helps you to navigate the new site and as always, thank you so much for reading!

XOXO,

Casey

The day has completely gotten away from me. I wound up cleaning the house from top to bottom, and that really does take quite a bit of time. I started early this morning and just got done…. just in time to wonder what I will feed my family for dinner, and plan a quick trip to the store.

I had planned to go out to the ranch today and take the dog and let her run in the pastures. I just don’t have the energy. I don’t feel like fighting all the Labor Day travelers who are out on the roads. I guess I would just prefer to stay closer to home and stay relatively quiet.

Cala will have to wait to run at the ranch...

It is a holiday weekend but we don’t have much planned. Some friends coming over tomorrow night for dinner, but that’s it.  This morning when I was talking to my Aunt on the phone, she asked what fun things we had planned this weekend. Huh? Our weekends, especially hubby’s, are just like any other day. Sometimes worse. This morning, in fact, he arrived to the ranch to find a fence down and several hundred cows chomping happily at the neighbor’s! Not only does that mean extra work to round them all up and get them home but fence mending, counting heads, and retrieving any that might have gotten lost along the way. All that on TOP of the usual day’s work.

He’s a hard worker, that man. And he loves it, so when people shake their heads in disbelief that we work all weekend, every weekend, they just don’t understand that it isn’t ‘work’ when you love what you do.

We should all be so lucky.

Since moving off the ranch, my weekends are more my own, though that doesn’t necessarily equate to ‘fun’, either. I try really hard during the week to be available as much as I possibly can to the family for homework, playtime and after school activities, dinner, and whatever else they need. But there’s no getting around the fact that I need to get to bed early to be able to rise at 5. Of course, since moving closer to work/school, I don’t really HAVE to wake up at 5, but I prefer to rise early and enjoy my morning routine instead of getting up later and having to rush frantically. It’s all about staying calm…

So, since I work during the week and transport The Kid to baseball and guitar and whatever else all week, do dinner and the usual, I kind of need the weekends to tend to other things that fall by the wayside. I need time to clean my house thoroughly, catch up on laundry and ironing, and sleep-in a little bit (although I never sleep past 7:30). I’m “working” on the weekends too. I don’t always do it, and I make sure to take some time out for fun, but I do feel better and content when my house gleams and my clothes are pressed and folded just-so.

Now that the house is clean, I’m headed out to the grocery store and then back to the house to prepare dinner. I know that Hubby will be late tonight with so many extra things going on today at the ranch, so I may throw in a surprise movie for little D and me later on. It’s fun to rent a movie and turn the surround sound on and pop some popcorn and cuddle on the sofa… we’re such homebodies! But we love it, and that’s our idea of fun…