Oh motivation, where art thou?

Not sure why I can sit here and stare when there is so much to do and I am so ready to be done.  Guess I need a muse?  I guess I just need to figure out what will make me do what needs to be done.  How can I get those thoughts of writing and those ideas of daily exercise out of my mind and into my being?  Am I just feeling overwhelmed so I shut down?  Any ideas are welcome!
One thing I do know is that I can't sit here doing nothing and expect my tasks to get done!! 
Off to seek the elusive motivation.

Honesty and Integrity will get you nowhere...

I've been an Amazing Race fan for quite a few of the last 18 seasons.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch this season - Unfinished Business - until I saw that my favorite team was going to be back.  Yep, I am a Cowboys fan - Jet and Cord McCoy.  They are just good ole boys with a lot of integrity.  They have gone from last to first a couple of different times showing their fortitude and energy.  I thought I was just mad last night when they got eliminated until I happened to see the CBS message boards today!  I am not alone!  If you TIVO the race and haven't seen last night's episode - STOP READING.  Seems the roadblock last night was to take a map, follow it, and figure out how far it was on a motorized bike.  As the first team approached and figured it out correctly, the right answer was then passed to every single team except for the Cowboys.  Nobody likes a nice guy, I guess.  It was pure jealousy.  Everybody was afraid of Jet and Cord because they are awesome racers.  It wasn't the first time they were bumshackled.  Jet completed the roadblock correctly.  Can any of the rest of you say that???  Didn't think so.  And at the very end, when there was only the Cowboys left, the Globetrotters u-turned them, knowing that Jet and Cord were the only ones behind them.  Classy move boys. 
So I've stewed about it and deleted my TIVO season pass, but at least now I know that I AM NOT ALONE!  Thank you other race fans for voicing your opinions as well.  And yes, I did let CBS know my thoughts. 

Easter Sunday

So it wasn't the Easter that we usually enjoy, but sometimes enjoyment comes from less.  We are so thankful for the success of the bakery and yesterday was another "slammin' Saturday."  Would it be so bold of me to say that we really do have the BEST breakfast in town.  Add the bakery's charm and nobody wants to miss Saturday breakfast/brunch at Sugar Magnolia.  So when one employee fails to show up (for the second weekend in a row) and another one's sister goes into labor, that wipes out most of our options!  I had students at the Farmer's Market that would have been fine without me but I felt like I needed to support them, so Barry ended up working the bakery and then off to work at JA for the rest of the day. 
When we had made no plans for today, Barry said he'd just like to stay home and do as little as possible.  Mission almost accomplished - as he is still doing a little research on the backs of his eyelids.   Brooks and Caitlyn are enjoying a day at The Heritage and Whitney and Andrew are in Peachtree City with Eileen.  Jan had "dug" some new potatoes and "made" (it to the house with) a delicious strawberry pie (Thanks Esther!) so all that was necessary for the day was KFC. 
We did miss the Turner clan, but overall, it has been a nice day.  I do need to do just a tad of work, so I am off to read.

Sunday Nights

I have such vivid memories of Sunday nights.  Growing up, we were still out on our bicycles trying to get in one more ride around the block before dark, using a blade of grass for a whistle, or just sitting for few more minutes in the tree in the park.  Talking.  Laughing. No cell phones.  Good times.

Sunday nights during nursing school meant one of two things.  Scavenging the dorm to see what everyone had done on their weekend home, or getting off from a 40 hour weekend at work.  "Working extra" we called it.  Starting Friday at 3pm, we would work until 7am Saturday, go back at 3pm and work til 7am Sunday, then round out the weekend with a 3-11 shift on Sunday.  So those Sunday nights were pretty much falling into bed for a few hours sleep. Good times

When my children came along, Sunday nights meant packing up to go home after a weekend at Mama and Daddy's when Barry worked EMS all weekend.  As they grew, Sunday nights were spent winding down from softball, roller hockey, or a cookout with friends.  There were also those Sunday nights getting back from Taekwondo tournaments and unpacking the trophies and the suitcases.  Good times.

When Whitney left for college, Sunday's often meant sending her back to Athens.  And waiting. It is my right as a mother to worry. After the requisite phone call, I could relax and piddle around until bedtime. Good times. (once everyone was back where they were supposed to be)

Now that we have the proverbial "Empty Nest", Sundays just give me time to think about what I've done over the weekend.  Plan for the week ahead.  This weekend was productive.  I made a "Dukes of Hazzard" birthday cake for Cole.  Tried some brioche dough in the bread machine that I used for cinnamon rolls.  They turned out pretty good.  Combination sticky buns/cinnamon rolls.  I finished the third of six ancillary projects for my book.  Getting close.  I watch my Sunday night show - The Amazing Race.  I am pretty much a Cowboys fan.  I almost get too nervous to watch.  And now - for the two hundredth time - Sweet Home Alabama.  Good times.

The windows are open and I hear the night sounds.  Crickets.  Takes me back to that tree in the park.  Good times.

Has it really been that long?

Since I've written I mean.  I've needed to vent, to share, and to create but I just totally forgot this outlet.  So, I'll attempt to catch up on the venting, the sharing, and the creating here now.  And I may even throw in some complaining.  I am sad to say that my book has become my albatross again.  The manuscript is hopefully done with the help of a "ghost writer" but the ancillaries are giving me a fit now.  Why - since I wrote the book, can I not come up with questions for the six online activities?  Maybe because I am trying to make each and every question unique?  Or I am, as usual, just making it harder than it is and taking the "I can't do this approach?"  I've seen other books with the same questions asked different ways.  This is not hard, so why am I making it so?  I should probably be writing questions rather than venting here.  Let me share before I go. 

I made a quilt top for Lydia's baby.  I ended up with one pink square in the corner rather than the blue square that should have been there.  Not sure how that happened since the pattern worked out.  I will post a picture later.  I am sure that nobody would have noticed (nobody did) but I did.  So, I took it to have an initial monogram placed on that now obvious pink square in the corner!  I thought I knew the baby's name, but something made me stop by the bakery and ask for sure - in case I wanted to put all three initials.  Turns out, I misunderstood the baby's name and would have had the wrong initial monogrammed. Does a 'curlz' H look anything like a 'curlz' K???  The H looks good even though no one would have noticed the pink square!  I really want to try quilting it myself.  It's small and I read a trick about using glad wrap (the sticky on one side) to draw your pattern.  I am going to try it.

I have always though 'madeleines' are the cutest cookie/cakes.  So I found a pan (thanks Amazon.com) and found an interesting recipe on the mini madeleine pan for lemon almond madeleines.  I love lemon and almonds are good for you, so that was to be my first attempt.  The almonds are ground with the sugar so they are very fine and somewhat like the flour.  The recipe made about a million of them.  And of course, I thought I had to eat them all.  The lemon glaze was a perfect topping.  I'll be making more of them, but maybe with a smaller recipe.  Barefoot Contessa made some coconut ones, but since I am the only one around here that likes coconut, guess what will happen.  Same reason I haven't made cupcakes lately. 

Vent, share, and create.  I've done them all.  Back to the questions.  After all, there are so many...

I'm back!!

It has really been a while and so much has happened!  We finished Fall quarter.  What a wild ride!  Students who don't care, students who care but can't make the grade, and the disgusting drama that is a bunch of women in the same room at the same time!  BUT - the most exciting news is that my #1 daughter got engaged!  We have been hoping for a while that it would happen and now we settle in to wedding planning!  An early fall date has been set, so here we go!!
I have been baking a lot the last couple of days.  I have done a little more shopping.  I am running out of funds, but thankfully, I am getting close to the end!  Of course, my door handle broke off of my car yesterday, so there goes the last of my Christmas Club funds!! 
I hated sweating yesterday while shopping.  Christmas shopping is supposed to be cold!!  The problem was the humidity, but the air temperature wasn't cool enough for me! 
My #1 son has settled into a very good relationship with such a sweet girl.  They seem very comfortable together, much like #1 daughter and her fiance' did in the beginning.  It does help to be friends first.  We'll see where they go, but we are hoping they go together!  As parents, we feel very lucky to have two wonderful children who seem to have made good choices!
Back to the baking, sewing, and oh yea - writing!!  Got a lot of chapter reviews to read (where's the wine???) and then onward to the last chapters and the all important resource guide for the whole book!  What have I gotten myself into......

Saturday morning

I am writing!  I have a chapter due to my editor by tomorrow afternoon which is technically the end of "the weekend" which is when I promised to deliver. I have the info, I am just rewriting and rewriting it now.  It is a chapter than can basically be said in one paragraph, but I'll keep expanding, deleting, and revising to make it long enough without repeating myself.  I ordered myself a birthday present this morning.  A new, more sophisticated sewing machine.  I have really enjoyed sewing again, so I found one that was 65% off the regular price and it had good reviews, so I am counting on receiving a few dollars for my birthday which will pay for it!  I did use some Christmas Club money to buy it since there was only one left in stock, but I promise to replace it.  If I really won that netbook, I will be SO excited, since that is what Jan, Robert and I were going to get for Meema!  I think she will love it.
Life is good.