Finally Have My House Back

I did not blog last week really because...well...I barely wanted to breathe.  You see, our house has been in a state of disarray for about about two months now.  This was a combination of piles of stuff in the living room that was for a yard sale.  We were having a yard sale because we cleaned out the room we were using for storage because that room was getting finished to be used as a combo dining and 'Masterpiece Theatre' area.  Then, we also had been waiting for a fridge for a long time from Best Buy and then needed to be cut and sanded down, blah, blah, blah.

For me, it was a nightmare.  I have issues.  I know, who doesn't?  Unfortunately, my issues lead me to Crazytown when I can't get a handle on the condition of my home.  I tend to spiral off into rants that make no sense and lose all focus when my house is in the condition it was a few days ago.  Mostly, it is my husband who gets the brunt of it.  I don't need the house spotless (although that makes me very happy) I just need it tidy.  Last week there was a conspiracy against me.  Between the cluttered crap, the curtains being closed ALL the time to hide the crap and the fruit flies I started to seriously lose it. I remembered the feelings of anxiety and they frightened me.  The more I got scared, the worse I felt.  It was a big nasty circle.

Now, the yard sale (which I will write about later) took care of the crap in the living room, the kitchen is clean and free of (almost) all fruit flies, the fridge is in and working great.  I was finally able to make dinner in my kitchen without having to scrounge for counter space.   I have my house back and I feel so much better. 

The reason I am writing about this is because, looking back on how I felt and the way I handled it all tells me that I need to do somethings to help myself out.  I am not handling my anxiety/depression well and I think it's time I went back to someone to talk about it or get something medicinal to help me focus.  At times I feel like I am weak for needing this but then other times I see that at least I can recognize the warning signs rather than letting get as bad as it got several years ago.  This time I am choosing to get some help and it feels better.  Hopefully soon, I will get back to feeling really good...one step at a time. 

Getting my house in order in this case means not only my physical house but my mental one as well.

Happy Mothers Day!

So now I am in the down stage after entertaining. It's when my body goes, "Ok, your done, here's a nice headache and unexplained nausea." The nausea is kind of funny because it used make me wonder if I cooked something wrong. I know now that it's because I work myself into a tizzy to get everything together and PERFECT. Have I mentioned I am a control freak? Anyway, after a nap I feel better and can tell you about our day.

I made the pics small so you may have to click on them to see better.

So, everything went very well and was very much enjoyed by all. I did not take this picture. If I had everyone would be looking at the camera.

From left to right, my Mom (she has the scorpion pic and will be sending it to me for your enjoyment. She got back from Honduras yesterday.), P's G-mom (she waitresses for fun and 'mad money' at 82) and P's Mom (incredible cook and I've learned a lot from her. . She speaks like 4 languages and is leaning more).

I only had one issue and it was that my pie crust fell in the oven while prebaking it. Luckily, I bought a frozen one at TJ's for just this emergency. It was quite good. I patted myself on the back for not freaking out when it happened. I'll still try the crust again but not in a straight sided mold.

These are pinwheels. The only thing left of the pie dough I made. :( When I was little and my Mom would bake a pie we would make pinwheels with the leftover dough. I used to ask her to make pie dough just for pinwheels. Each person had one on their coffee cup plate. Her mother taught her how to do it.

The triangle-like pastries are the tyropitas. They are a Greek pastry made with mostly feta and eggs, folded into phyllo. P's G-mom is Greek 100%, as it his Mom (yes, Peter is usually pasty white b/c he is also German). The other puffed things are something I threw together with the extra filling I had from the tyropitas. It's just puff pastry with tyropita filling.

The plate on the bottom are the cheddar-dill scones. No story here, they are just GOOD, a recipe given to my by a friend who is a fabulous cook. I also had banana bread b/c I didn't have anything for the top tier but you don't really need to see that.

This was an idea I had at the last minute. I didn't want to do anything big food-wise before the brunch but knew I would need a little time to finish up in the kitchen once everyone got there. So I made a toast and jam plate. The little toasts are just very thin white bread cut into small squares and triangles with a little brushed on melted butter, toasted in the oven. Then there is jam.

I don't have pics of the sausages or the quiche as all the pics were taken during the feast (with the exception of the toast and jam) and the quiche went fast as did the fruit salad. We also had fresh squeezed OJ, sparkling lemonade and coffee (could not have make it thru without).

That's about it. I am still tired and the Flyers are on. I am told there has already been a puck to the face and a big fight so I am missing out. Hope you enjoy my little food post.

Mission (Half) Accomplished!

I got the front gardens weeded and raked out. They look much better. I planned on mulching them as well but I ran out of time and instead, planted a few things in the urns by the front door. I have to tackle the side garden but I think I am going to turn it into an herb garden so I need to get some herbs to prepare. It is mostly bulbs in that area anyway that flower in early spring so planting perenials should not be a problem. I also need to seperate them badly.
The back garden is a mess. I really don't think there is much I can do with it anymore but start over. It is really overgrown and there is a creeping weed that literally grows like a foot a night. Maybe Suburbia can come over and lend me her gardening skills.
We went to dinner at P's parents' tonight and his Grandmom is there. She is doing ok but they still have not competely nailed down what the problem is. She is getting better on steroids so we'll keep our fingers crossed that what they assumed was wrong is being taken care of.
I got P in a little trouble tonight but at the same time it was a good thing. We have a little issue with our taxes b/c P's former employer also evil ex-brother in law (was married to my sister, L) has not given P his W-2 causing us to have to file for an extention which means...no stimulus check yet. P has been being non-confontational about it and puts me off when I question him about it. I needed some help to convince P of the seriousness of the situation. So we had a long discussion with his family about it and although I felt a little bad about the 'ganging up' like nature, they gave us some good advice and I think P is finally getting through his head that this business (crap) has gone too far.
I heard from my brother T, finally. He let me know Mom is alive and well in Honduras (forgot to call and tell me) and she had some sort of confrontation with a large scorpion (also forgot to tell me). He forgets also when he is supposed to pick her up at the airport. I know she is coming back on Friday, I am just not sure of the time. I also know that even though she has not bothered to email me, she is coming to her Mothers Day brunch if I have to drag her. :)

Halo...Again

So there are three grown men playing Halo 3 in my family room. There are usually four but one had other commitments (a life). They will probably play till 7pm b/c P told me they would be playing only until 6:30pm. The only thing different from them and 12 year-olds is the fact that beer is involved. I have even occasionally had one or two of them stay for dinner. Tonight is not one of those nights because up until about1pm, I thought this was a Halo Free Sunday and I planned dinner for me and P only.

You need to understand, I really don't have much against the whole video game thing. I can actually play although I usually end up being a mark for target practice. It's just this has become an every weekend thing and it takes over the house with all the shooting, grenades and blowing up noises. Our bedroom is right next to the action so that is like vibration central...and not in a good way. I came up to the office intending to make it my own but there is so much crap that needs to be done it's a little overwhelming. So I decided to sit down and blog a bit to kill time...well..I think that's about all I have to say at the moment so I guess I'll clean

the office

and hang pictures

and move stuff around

or maybe just sit here and imagine it.