Kickin' It Keto Style

  I sit here eagerly  awaiting the snows first arrival of W inter  2022-2023 kick off while I take small sips of my mock Starbucks coffee. It is cookie dough flavored today. Straight up black coffee with Toll House creamer and a small swirl of keto whipping  cream that was left over from an uneaten 4 slices of pumpkin pie. The drink tastes nothing like the "real" stuff but who am I to complain really? I am just happy to have some calm before I start a night shift.      Yesterday teased me into a frenzy . I spent most of the evening looking towards the blackened sky hoping for ... well, you get it. If we don't dream- dreams can't come true. I am still finding my gaze is  upwards  towards the quick forming clouds. It is 38* right now so anything that falls to Earth around here will  only be water in its drippy-est form. As I burn my tongue and the back of my throat while taking another sip of my almost to sweet happiness- I tell myself: maybe tonight? Maybe tonight. I n

                                           10:30 am on Turkey Day! I had a revaluation. If that is even the proper term to say in this spot? I will do little writes of all day festivities  - when I get a moment to steal away. Much easier then a full on secession at night - cramming .      Que the Christmas music. For once - okay twice in The Woods lifetime together, our bird is in the oven.  Get this. In.The.Oven.  Now anyone who know us knows this isn't a thing at our place. Most, okay ALL Thanksgivings start with a mad rush at 10pm the night before to get a frozen turkey - get it home, try to figure out how to thaw a 25 pounder before morning when it needs to be stuffed and shuck in the oven. Midnight is about the time we sit down. For us it is just a thing.       This year though the time has evolved somewhat. Just finishing up my shower, stopping to put my shoes on to complete my "Holiday" outfit of leggings and a t-shirt - really? Who knew? I stopped for a moment to

                                          " Never get to busy making a living that you forget to make a life." What a wonderful motto to live by yet sadly, one that I can not say that I follow at this point in my life.      When the pandemic "hit - " I stopped working. I fell into the "lazy" middle class of not wanting to do anything. I was at edge the first few months but then I quickly slipped into the routine of just ... doing nothing and to be honest, it was a great feeling. I didn't have alarms to wake me to let me know I was already late to go deal with people who, like me, didn't even want to be in the place they were in. I didn't have to shower at a certain time or have my bed made before my eyes were even open anymore. This was a feeling that was becoming normal to me and I wasn't about to question it. I didn't need too. I was able to be "FREE" at last.      FREE from the pressures of being a model employee.      FREE

A bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos.  A lit Peppermint Sugar Cookie candle from Bath & Body Works. A White Chocolate Pumpkin Mocha from Starbucks  and here I sit, wrapped in my bee blanket searching for something to write about.      Today was Lucee's birthday. She turned 9. Her theme was: On Cloud 9. How appropriate . Everything  was rainbows & sunshine. It didn't start out that way - more sophistication  honestly.  The rose colored pink hues & gold tones - so grown up. Still just a child though. Why rush time? Only one candle was placed on her cake today. I think one candle is just enough - after all, you only get one wish.   Like others, I often wonder what one wishes for? The young and old a like. Mine are simple wishes. Not of money or fame. I wish that I had more time with my children.  Any time. All time. I miss them so much. All the who-has of celebrations while they were growing up. I have 5 kids. I guess that is something that is less then any secret, if you kno

                        "If your gonna play in Texas                                                   You gotta  have a fiddle in the band." Each of us have very found memories of our first concerts - maybe all the concerts that we have ever attended but even though they just seem to get better with time - it is always the first one NO matter how good or bad it was - dare I say, will always be the most magical.  Mine being no different.      I have always loved Freddie Prinze. Not ... Jr. but the original. He was back then and still to this day a favorite of mine. Before he took his life - one of his greatest  friends was Tony Orlando from the group Tony Orland and Dawn. Okay, I might have known at tops - two songs they sung but that didn't matter. I heard they were coming to town and I HAD to go. I. Had. To. Go.       Vikki was supposed to get tickets for us to see them but somehow she "said" they were "sold out." Not. I ended up throwing this huge f

 

  Birthdays Come and Birthdays Go every year. It has become a tradition , somewhat - within my house between Shailah (my youngest daughter) and myself to see if I am able to come up with a perfect birthday cake for her. One to top the previous years sweet celebration.      I can't say that I always win at this game but you know me, I will take the challenge and well, okay - WIN! We started off simple - I am sure there were others before this but having 5 kids and 14 grandkids, it isn't easy to go through 100,000 photographs to find just what I am looking for so we will just start with this one.      Tai has always been well, kind of full of herself. Not saying that statement to lightly either.  So I figured what a better way then to let her know - I will put HER face on a cake. I did it as a joke but she really liked it and I honestly   believe  this is where the whole "better then last years cake dare started." I used a picture of her from when she was younger adding

 I have finally been able to catch my breath but that is only for a moment .      I did NOT forget about Halloween this year. With children, you must know how crazy things can get at any given time. We had 4 of them with us this time - in body. The rest followed along in heart. The week leading up to the great night of Trick or Treating went well, almost as planned. There were many and I do not say many lightly - Trunk or Treats going on. If you are not familiar with those, that would be where a group of people find a lot, decorate their cars (trunks) you go to each one rather then a house, ask for the inevitable stomach ache in a pretty wrapper kind of thing.  There were a lot of fun ones that were set up really cute - The Up House and the Bee Keeper ones were of course my most favorites. Other then just the cars dressed up there were also the ones encouraging the children to accept candy from strangers ... we met many monsters, aliens, animals and even Santa himself. The kids loved t