my lead foot?

I got pulled over last night for speeding for the first time in my 16 years of driving! It was about 1 AM; I was coming home from a Scrap n' Crap with Shelly. I was going exactly the speed limit when I was stopped so when the officer asked if I knew why he pulled me over I honestly didn't know. Apparently he clocked me going 56 in a 40! Yikes! I never drive that fast--I thought I was in a 50. He started out being the "tough cop" but quickly became friendly when he realized I hadn't been out at the bars. He let me off without a warning and told me he was looking for something bigger anyway. Then we chatted about my Cricut (scrap tool) and how his fiancee is making him help her make 200 wedding invitations.

This was not how I expected my first stop to go. I am so happy he decided not to ticket me but I am horrified I was paying so little attention to the speed limit! Perhaps my car paid me back for my recklessness because as I pulled away, the tiny crack in my windshield from a rock turned into a huge splinter running the entire width of my windshield.

Have you ever been stopped? Is your experience similar?

olivia may be a compulsive hoarder

Today she pulled out two tubes of lip gloss, a battery and a toy car out of her leggings. Not her pockets--her actual leggings. Some of it was down around her ankles. The other day I found a thimble in her pocket that she swiped from my sister's house. And when you look around our house, you'll see evidence of her collections. Baskets full of odds and ends, buckets full of the stuff from my junk drawer, a shopping cart full of treasures in her eye. It is really quite funny and makes me laugh. She totes them around the house like they are the most special things she's found.

I think Ethan's nickname of Beba has been retired. Olivia has been calling him that since she started talking and within the last few days, she will only say Ethan. It makes me a little sad but Ethan is happy--he never liked the name. She is growing up!

my friend, the big winner

BTW--Shannon (Brenda) Daugherty won the cooking contest on Fox 9! Actually, she smoked the competition (along with the smoked trout pate) and got 45% of the vote. They will be getting $3,000 worth of groceries in the next year and will be getting Cambria countertops in their kitchen. And because their kitchen is on the small side they will probably be able to get their bathroom done too! Thanks to all who voted--this is a great win for the Daughertys!

apparently i'm a golden oldie

Do you ever wonder what demographic advertisers are trying to hit in the shows you watch? I watch quite a bit on History and Discovery and apparently only seniors watch it. The ads are always for Citrical, The Scooter Store, or Boniva (such a gross name). There must also be a large percentage of people who have beefs with the Social Security Administration or people who have a "structured settlement and they need cash now"--that one comes along with a nice little song that is pretty catchy. Call JG Wentworth, he'll hook you up!

So I'm a golden oldie before my time. Lovely.

i resolve to have a resolution

I think New Year's resolutions are pretty worthless. They are fun to come up with but really hard to stick with. With that said, I have made a resolution for this year! :)

I resolve to clean out my freezers and my pantry. I have piles of food at my house and no idea what I bought them for or what to do with them. So I let them sit until they spoil or get so freezer burned that they are unidentifiable.

So today I made an inventory of the freezers and the pantry. I posted this inventory on the pantry door. I pulled out some stuff that I knew what to do with for tonight. I am off to a good start!

Does anyone know of a great website where you can put in a few ingredients and it will show you recipes that will work? I know Google does that but I was wondering if there were any actual recipe websites that do that.

BTW, Pibs has polished off an entire can of mandarin oranges since noon today. I found it whilst cleaning the pantry--imagine that!

introducing more>>coaching

(This is the email I sent out earlier)

Greetings friends!

I am excited to introduce more>>coaching! Starting a coaching business has been a dream of mine for quite some time and I, along with my business partners Sally Foot Reed and Terri Miller, are thrilled that it has finally come to fruition.

more>>coaching exists to help individuals, couples, families, small groups and teams understand their strengths and how they can best put their strengths to work in their lives and their world. We use the StrengthsFinder tool developed by Gallup. When we use our strengths, we feel more engaged, energized and excited about what we do. Understanding our strengths can have a great impact on the way we make decisions and interact with those around us.

more>>coaching offers a unique two session approach. The first session focuses on understanding your strengths; the second session focuses on putting those strengths to work and using them in daily life.

If learning and understanding your strengths sounds like something you or someone you know could benefit from, please connect with me! You can reach me at rachelolson@gmail.com or morecoachinginfo@gmail.com.