Bridal Shower

Today I hosted a bridal shower for my friend and former colleague Bridget. We had fun. Our staff gave her gift cards to use on their honeymoon. We made her get them by hitting a pinata! We also had a candy tower in her colors as decoration. Our staff also gave her a collection of our favorite recipes! It was a nice day. I hope she enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed planning it! Matt, we missed you there!

Sangria

If you entertain frequently, you are probably know for something that you often serve. I am known for my sangria. Everyone that is coming over always requests it. It is not all that hard. There is no science to it. My cousing "cool" Jill, as Ben calls her and I agree, taught me how to make it at my 40th birthday party. Here is what I put in mine, I guess at the amounts.

Red wine of some type. It can be cheap, you will never know.

Lemonade

Sugar

Ginger Ale

Lemons

Oranges

Limes

Strawberries

It is SOOOOOO yummy!

Exciting Adjustments

I have been enjoying adjusting to life now that I am not working full time! Don't get me wrong, I am still working...it is just different. I have been working at Ozzie's, the boutique where I sell jewelry, and I just love being there. It is so fun. They just arrived back from market, and I have been opening boxes of new fun stuff. It is like Christmas! I am so visually stimulated by this task! I love it! I am also proud of how little I have purchased. I have only purchased a few gifts.

In the afternoons I am teaching piano lessons and doing some tutoring. I really do enjoy this. I don't like that my afternoon is interrupted everyday, but I do like the task.

I have been doing some substitute teaching. I am enjoying that. It is so nice to be in the classroom without the stress of planning, after school activities, etc.

I have also been making plenty of jewelry! I hope to be online soon, but there just hasn't seemed to be enough hours in the day for this!

I have been enjoying our garden and doing some freezing and canning. So far I have "put up" strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, peach, and blueberry jam, pepper jelly, salsa, spaghetti sauce, corn, zucchini, applesauce, and fresh fruit for pies. It is nice to have full shelves and freezers.

I hope that we will be able to adjust to the pay difference. The time at home is much more valuable than the money, but it still is a big adjustment. I have been able to make wise choices. We are doing really well. We will make it work. It just requires some major life changes! We are eating out much less because I am home more to actually be cooking. I love that!

All in all, I am very, very, happy! I thank God and my family for helping me make this reality!

German Meal

Tonight I made a German dinner. When we were in Wisconsin we didn't get to go t0 our favorite restaurant, Weissgerber's, and I have been craving rouladen ever since. So, I looked up the recipe and tried it out. I am not so great at gravy. If I could make a good beef gravy it would have been great. It was fine. I also made braised red cabbage and spaetzle. The dough might have been a bit too heavy. I need the tool that helps with spaetzle.

If anyone has brown gravy advice I would love it.

Lizard Spit

In October, right before we left on our big Disney trip/cruise, my diabetes went a bit out of control. It just happened out of nowhere. I went in because of an infection, but soon found out the reason for the problem. Since then, we have been working hard to find the right combination to produce a reasonable numbers in my blood sugar readings. It has been frustrating. About a month and a half ago my doctor put me on Byetta. It is relatively new. It has to be injected into the stomach twice a day. I was surprised at what an easy thing this was for me to do. When taking the drug you start at 5 mcg for a month. As the doctor warned me, it took a week to adjust to the drug. I was quite sick for about a week. I became used to it, and life was good. The drug not only lowers blood sugar, but it also suppresses hunger. After a month, you are then increased to 10 mcg. This happened almost two weeks ago. This has been a difficult adjustment. The plus is that weight is coming off. This is a good thing. The minus is that I am still feeling quite sick. I will have a day or two that I might feel well, but the bad days still are existing. Not fun. I went online to research how to combat the sick feeling. While researching I found that the drug is a synthetic form of gila monster venom! Can you believe that? How did they find out that gila monster venom lowered blood sugar anyway? Hopefully this side effects will soon subside. Meanwhile, I am enjoying the weight loss and the lower sugar readings!

Where does the time go?

One week of school is under our belts. I have been a free woman for a week, and I am not sure what I have to show for it? Monday, Rich's birthday, was spent cooking and cleaning for company. Tuesday, I worked at Ozzies. Wednesday, I made jewelry most of the day. Thursday, I was sick. Yuck. I was out almost all day. Friday I did not feel well yet. I did manage to do our grocery shopping that evening. It was exciting. At one store I saved more than I spent! Yesterday I worked at Ozzies for a while and then went home sick. My tummy and I just haven't been getting along. Rich and I did manage to kick out some bracelets last night. That is. Not too eventful. I need to work on that! Hopefully the week ahead will be a bit more exciting!