Lots of new stuff and changes...

Hello all!!  I'm a terrible blogger!  Since Nick got home back in March, we've been busy living our lives as a family again.  Nick is off in Maryland for a school until the end of July.  It was a difficult thing for him to leave again but this is something that needs to be done for his career so off he went.  He should be home the end of July and we can't wait. 

Work has be extremely busy.  As most of you know, Harold was an attorney in our office and was no longer with us after the beginning of December.  So there was only one attorney in our office.  And that was difficult.  I am not one to keep things to myself that bother me but in this instance, I will leave this alone.  So from December from May, it was one attorney and myself running the office.  Really, it was just me running the office.  I was finally named Office Manager although I had already been handling that task for quite some time.  In early June, we let another employee, who had been there longer than me, go.  So then it was really just me and this is where we are today.  I have another paralegal in the office and that's been a help. 

We've been through several recpetiontists and it's always been a difficult task for our office to keep receptionists.  Well, we recently participated in a co-op program with a local high school program.  Through that program, we had a high schooler who came in from 1-5 each day.  It worked well at first but the more she was there, the more difficult it became to have her in the office.  Eventually, she gave her 2 week notice and left.  During those 2 weeks, I interviewed several girls in hopes of them becoming our recpetionist.  We found someone who I thought would work really well with our firm.  I called and offered her the position and she started the following Monday.  She was with us for one month and then she sent me a text message on a Monday morning to tell me she was quitting.  She had family issues, which I knew about because she and I had talked about it, and wasn't coming into work anymore.  I was really upset about it and not because she was quitting, I mean that didn't make me happy, but that she did it in the manner she did.  I was disappointed in her because I thought since we had talked about her situation and I have given her some resources, she would have been more of a grown up to call and tell me.  Well, I was pretty wrong.  So on the day we were to pull the entire office apart and rearrange the office, I also had to make some snap decisions about getting a new receptionist in the office.  I called the person we liked best next and asked her to come in.  Thankfully she did and started the next day. 

The office is now starting to flow well.  We've not got a new partner in the office, which I will tell you, I wasn't happy about.  I wanted the help and some stress relief.  But that person was coming and was going to be in Harold's position.  If you know me well, you know that Harold is one of my closest friends.  So I was not happy with this and met it with some resistance.  To be honest, I'm still not happy about it but I'm dealing with it. 

I have been trying to simplify my life.  Making things easier, enjoying the little moments, not getting upset at the small stuff.  It's a hard task to do sometimes.  Life is ever changing and I'm trying to remember that as the time goes on. 

I hope this blog finds you guys well.  Talk to you again soon!

Menu Planning Monday!

Hey y'all!  I've decided to start something new.  It's called  Menu Planning Monday.  There are several blogs that I follow and they have been doing this for a while.  With Nick gone, I don't have to cook every night and most nights, Zachary gets what he wants as do I.  But with Nick coming home (very soon!!!!!!), I decided to start doing this on Mondays.  There is a site I visit often, http://orgjunkie.com/ , and there are tons of menus.  This week alone there were 383.  That's alot of ideas to pull from.  My whole outlook on food has changed since losing the weight.  I am now cooking more low calorie recipes.  For me, it's about the calorie count and not the fat intake.  When I was about half way through my weight loss, I started to put together a cookbook of low calorie recipes.  I have been trying to find these type of recipes.  I have found alot of resources to help with that.  So with all of that...here is my menu!  I should also say that I'm not going to be starting this until Nick comes home. 

Monday- Corn, ham and potato scallop, corn muffins
Tuesday- Lemon chicken, rice, peas, bread
Wednesday- Taco bake, chips/salsa
Thursday- Crock pot brisket, potato salad, bread
Friday- Country gravy w/chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans
Saturday- Baked ravioli, salad, garlic bread
Sunday- Pork chops, fried rice

For any of these recipes, let me know.  Some of these are weight watchers recipes.  Some are ones that I made up, like the crock pot brisket.  If I can figure out how to make it in the crock pot, I will.  I love my crock pot.  It's a working mom's best friend.

Bad Blogger!

I know I promised to be a better blogger and I haven't.  Nick was just home for R&R in mid January and it was so great having him home.  It was so nice having our family unit back together.  Sadly, the 2 weeks had to end of course.  But the good news is that he will be home in about 1 month, which is fantasic news.  Zachary and I are very ready for him to be home.  Nick is ready to be home too.  We did some fun stuff on our vacation.  I was off the entire 2 weeks Nick was home so that was good.  We went to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine and had the best time!  It is a 84,000 sq ft indoor water park.  The nice thing is that all of the water was under 5 ft.  We also got to visit with my sister Stacy who lives close to the lodge.  You can see pics on my Facebook page if we are friends.  After that we traveled to east Texas to see Nick's grandmother, dad and brother.  After a visit with them, we went to the Houston area to see Nick's other grandmother and aunt.  We then went to my parents house to visit.  We also needed to pick up our dog, Belle, because she had stayed with my parents so we could do all of this.  Finally, we made it home and still had about a week to spend together. 

We are all ready to be a family again.  Not too much longer and that will happen!