Secret Bunco Society

When I was a kid my best friend's mother was in a Bunco group.  We were strictly forbade from attending said bunco group!  I remember wondering for one what bunco even was and for two what in the world these women talked about or did that was unfit for the presence of young teens. Especially since this family was and still is very faithful, Godly people. My mind ran wild at the possibilities. Did they tell their deepest darkest secrets? Did they sit around and drink and smoke and tell dirty jokes?  Maybe they went skinny dipping in the nearby river. I never thought I would figure this mystery out but then it happened. A year ago I joined a bunco group at church.

I call it fight club because there are only two rules: no husbands and no kids!  Bunco is a real simple game. You roll dice and try to get sixes.  When someone rolls three sixes at the same time the fight is on to snatch up the die. I'm talking flying across the table, chairs falling over, drinks getting spilled, fingernail induced injuries type fighting to snatch up a die!! It's serious business! There is tons of delectable, fattening food; door prizes; a sinful dessert and most important of all the sanity inducing, stress relieving fellowship between 12 outstanding women.  I have finally figured this whole secret bunco society thing out and tonight it was my turn to herd my husband and kids out the door and host these women! Fun was had, food was devoured, all tables survived and no blood was drawn. We left after this all female party feeling recharged and refreshed.  Hubs and kids were thrilled that there was some leftover banana pudding!! Now my kids are left to wonder what in the heck it is that makes monthly bunco such a huge deal.

So, I Quit my Corporate Job...

This is my first week as a homemaker, co-owner of Capstone 27 Realty and hopeful substitute teacher.  Most people are very supportive, but there's a few that think I've gone mad. After all, who in their right mind would walk away from a job they have dedicated ten years to, a job that pays well and has stellar benefits? Not many, but I chose to. Here's why:

1. Those books and magazines, they say you can have the best of both worlds. They lie. Who is "they" anyway? When you have a 30 minute commute (one way) and your work day is 9.5 hours long, including lunch, your career defines your entire life.  I just watched several people who had devoted 20+ years to this company retire. When I asked them what they would do, they didn't know because up until that point their entire life revolved around their career which is fine for some, but I want to leave a different legacy rather than: she was a great pricing analyst.

2.  To elaborate on #1, I'm not getting any younger and neither are the kids God so graciously blessed me with.  The babysitter, who we call Mimi still to this day raised them until they started school.  Thank God for her because she spared my sanity knowing she loved my kids as I do.

3. The hubs needs help. Not the kind that I would need a PhD and a couch for, but that of an office manager. Our business is growing and the one man show that he has been for the last few years just isn't cutting it anymore which is a great problem to have!!

 

 

Basically, I want to be the wife and mother that God intended for me to be; not this stressed out, worn out, impatient, crazy person I am when I have had a rough day.   And, I want our house to look like it's actually inhabited by humans, not animals!  So, here I go on my new journey...

The DIY Project

To start off, I must first say that the hubs and I are not do it yourselfers.  We once tried to put one of the metal strip thingy majigs that covers the seam between the carpet and tile down ourselves and three trips to Home Depot later, we were ready to sign up for marriage counseling. See, I'm the type of person who is a perfectionist to the point of annoying.  My other half, on the other hand, is the type that wants to get the project done ASAP by whatever means is necessary so he doesn't miss the Hog game!  However, considering we wil be one income less just a week from now, we decided we would venture down DIY lane again and save some money.  When hubs broke out the chain saw to make a simple cut in some lumber, I feared not only would marriage counseling be in our future, but we may not make it out alive this time. After some compelling arguments from yours truly about why a skill saw was more suited for the job, he borrowed one and off we went again.  We hit some snags and we did a few things the hard way, but not only did we make it out unscathed, we are still married...happily! And we have this little jewel:

Yep we built a safe yard for our laying hens and their rooster, Mr. Cogburn. This may not seem like a huge project but this is the first successful husband/wife DIY project in our 11 years of marriage. I couldn't be prouder. Maybe next time we will go really big and build a birdhouse together! 

The Miss List

My chapter as a Pricing Analyst is coming to an end on November 1. You will hear more about that later. There will be things I will miss about Corporate America, like the friends I have made and the bi-monthly paycheck, but that's not what this post is about. Here are the things I can't wait to be away from:

1. The noon time microwave wars...everyone standing in line patiently waiting to heat up their gourmet, frozen foodish creation in a plastic tray!

2. Meetings. Corporate meetings, what a time suck. Need I say more?

3. My 30 minute, one way, commute every morning of my life.

4. The bathroom. Sure, it gets cleaned like every hour, but no amount of disinfectant spray can cover up the aroma that hangs in the air in there. Not to mention, the women here are apparently scared to death of catching something from the toilets and their squatting accuracy is that of a male dog lifting his leg.

5. The clicking of an office full of keyboards. That noise day in and day out is enough to make a sane person crazy.

6. The lunch thief. You would think an office full of adults would know better than to steal someone else's food, but apparently there's a few bad apples on every tree.

7. Cubicle life. There is only so much beige and dust a person can handle in one lifetime.

8. And last but not least...drumroll please...I will not miss spending 10.5 hours a day away from my perfectly imperfect family!!

Lumberjackin'

Most people don't look forward to, or even plan on cutting wood on the weekend.  But, we aren't most people! Hubs and I actually enjoy cutting wood for our stove. Weird, I know. There's just something about being on the middle of the farm, smelling the mixture of chainsaw gas and cow manure that really makes me feel as one with nature. No, the fumes haven't gone to my head!  Cutting and chopping wood and tossing it in the back of the truck is therapeutic.

What better way to relieve the weeks frustrations than chopping stuff up and then setting it on fire later??  I'm kind of a wimp so the hubs does the "man work" and I do the loading! See my outstanding loading technique below:

Then again, maybe the stress relief isn't the only reason I like to cut wood. I mean who can resist a man in overalls wielding a chainsaw? 

Can't forget our faithful sidekicks:

The life of a farm dog is so rough! And all that work was with it to be able to relax by the first fire of the season. 

A Saturday well spent. 

Witchin in the Kitchen

I got to craving potato salad so I logged on to Pinterest (the only place you can find a recipe, the workout needed to burn off said recipe and a new outfit to reward yourself for working out all in one spot!) to find the perfect recipe. There were half a million recipes but the perfect one was nowhere to be found. So, I decided to wing it!! Last time I "winged" something, the dog wouldn't even eat it. 

You know it's bad when even the dog turns his nose up! However, this time my inner chefness came out and my potato salad was delish so here's the recipe: 

8 medium potatoes, peeled, cube and boiled

8 oz sour cream

1 cup mayo (give or take)

8 oz can olives, sliced

Small packet of bacon bits (NOT The nasty imitation stuff!)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt and pepper all to taste

Drain potatoes and allow to cool. Mix all ingredients together and try not to eat it all in one setting!!  

Sorry, no picture of this yummy creation because it is in mah belly!

Disclaimer: I truly threw this together on my own so if there is another recipe like this published, I have unintentionally copied you! 

Goodbye 20 Something

Today is the day I lay my 20's to rest. Most people take turning thirty hard, but I'm okay with it even though I didn't meet my goal of being in the best shape of my life by my 30th birthday!  I'm not mourning the loss of my 20's but looking forward to what my 30's bring. Here are some of the more notable moments of my 20's:

1. I had two perfectly beautiful children. 

They get their incredible good looks from me!

2. I worked for the same company the entire decade: FedEx. That's loyalty people! 

3.  Stayed married and in love with the same incredible man. 

He even cooks for me and he can multitask!  Yep, I found a man that can multitask!! Go me.

4. Opened a real estate business with the hubs...Capstone 27 Realty. 

5. I made some of the most amazing friendships a person could ask for. I'm talking friendships that last a lifetime regardless of the occasional hormone infused rant! 

6. Made too many memories to count, cried more tears than I care to remember, worried myself sick about decisions that didn't make a hill of beans, grew in my faith by leaps and bounds, embarrassed myself more times than I want to admit, laughed to the point of tears (which I'm sure contributed to my laugh lines!) and learned more about myself than I ever imagined. 

My 20's weren't spent the way most people spend their wild and young years but I'm proud of the last 10 years and hopeful for the next!!!