September is gone??

I know I've said how much I love fall, and I've been very excited that summer is finally ending with it's never ending 100 degree days, but September was a blip on the screen!! sigh.

We celebrated my hubbies bday yesterday, and it was good and bad. Good in that I think he enjoyed the day and we pretty much relaxed, but bad in that the cake turned out somewhat not done...in the middle. Ugh!! I was being good and cooked it on Saturday, just before going to the Women's Conference. My son was testing it, figured it was done and took it out. It's like ...runny in the middle!! I got home and it was all concaved and I had no idea why. Now I know. sigh. My hubby still liked the edges. He's a very good sport about things. At least dinner turned out good. Today he suggested that I try microwaving the middle and see how it turns out -- frosting and all. I tried it and it was yummmy!

I think he's glad the day is over.

Well...onto the next 25 things...I'm running out of things!

51. I love my children. I think I mentioned how I never thought I'd have any -- maybe one? But I wouldn't trade any of them for anything in the world. They enrich my life in a way I never would have though possible. Just because I want to string them up sometimes...like yesterday...sigh.

52. I love where I live. I think Utah is amazing. I love the Wasatch front, and I love mountains. Does that count as three?? lol

53. I like listening to the wind blow through the trees. It makes me think of the ocean crashing against the shore. Perhaps that's one reason I love the mountains so much...the trees.

54. I love my hubby. I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating. He is the greatest. He loves me back -- and that's the most precious gift I've ever had. I'll never forget the first time I realized how much he did love me. I still tear up over it.

55. I mentioned I love my children, well, right now I love my daughters the most. They are out in our backyard right now picking our apples that have fallen off the trees. It was all their plan. They amaze me sometimes.

56. Carrot cake is my second favorite in the world. We have a recipe that makes just the best kind... (the one my hubby likes and that I talked about above) and it's supposed to be a three layer. Anyone know how to make them sit right?

57. Sunday comics make my whole week. I look forward to them. We used to get the weekly paper, and gave it up as too expensive. Now we just get the Sunday ones, and we get both papers so the kids don't fight over the comics. They do it anyway...I think it's in the genes.

58. I am a mystery shopper. I love it. It hasn't been a great money making venture, but it's been fun and cheap dates for my hubby and I. We get to see lots of movies this way, and sometimes a free meal. (of course it's all reimbursement on meals, so we have to be able to afford the wait...)

59. I wish I could afford a new living room set. We have never had new furniture. We've never been able to afford it. Our bed is the same frame my hubby had for his water bed before his mission. It's solid, it's got drawers, and it's still in one piece. sigh. We're ready for a change.

60. I'm a hopeless romantic. I like the ending of my stories to be happy, I like people to fall in love and stay that way, I like for kids to find happiness in life and make good choices. I love movies like While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seatle, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Fools rush In, Nottinhill, (although we've bought it and gotten rid of it twice...just too much of a bad thing.) Lake House, Runaway Bride and Wedding Planner...sigh.


61. I love wind chimes! We finally got my hubby a larger set for Father's Day, and I love leaving the window open just a bit and getting the sound of them through the house.

62. I confess -- I'm a carnivore. I tell myself over and over that I could get by without eating meat, but I just love the taste. Sometimes I want a piece of roast so bad that I can just taste it in my mouth! I try to fix meals that don't depend on meat at least twice during the week, but that's about as good as it gets. At least I can cut down on the amounts of it most the time. Like when we have tacos, we use refried beans as well as the beef so that you don't need as much meat for filler. And a couple of large chicken breasts go a long way in pasta... But I tell ya, a thick grilled cheese burger with mushrooms, onions and pineapple is my idea of heaven.

63. I hate helping my kids with homework. Most of it I don't understand anyway, so it's like huh?? You're teacher wants you to do what?? I'm soo not helpful.

64. Sometimes I dream of moving somewhere where we generate our own electricity, have fireplaces for heat, and don't have to pay utility bills. I hate paying bills. Anyone else?

65. I love the temple. We went to the Bountiful Temple on Saturday, and it's such a wonderful feeling just to be in the Celestial room and see the beauty and feel the peace of the spirit. It was totally bizarre to come out and find it snowing...lol

66. I can't act. It doesn't matter how hard I try and fool someone, I still know deep down that I'm not what I'm saying I am, and I feel like it's lying. It's the only hard part about doing mystery shops. If I go to an apartment and pretend I'm looking for an apartment, it's soooo hard! I don't like to lie. Can you tell? lol

67. We have 11 cats. Serious! Don't call the humane society on us, we do have an acre of ground and there aren't any fences. It's also not our fault. 8 of them belong to our daughter. (her mommy cat got pregnant just after she moved back home - ugh!) She claims she's going to take two of them when she gets moved into her new house. That still leaves us with too many. One of them is probably going to the pound. Mommy cat is such a pain! She attacks everyone.

68. Our cats are not normal. Of course, my hubby says that no cats are normal anyway, but our cats like to lie on their backs and have you rub their tummies. I thought that was a dog thing! These cats just crack us up.
This one is called Paws...for the obvious reason. He is the oddest of them all. He sleeps like this most of the time. I was doing laundry and he came and plopped right in front of the washer where I'd have to be careful not to step on him. When they want attention, they want it NOW.

69. I used to wonder why some people had big monitors. What was the big deal? Well, I have to say I like my new big monitor. It's great for seeing all the stuff on a site. And...it's good for my poor eyes. sigh.

70. I don't like laundry. If I miss just two or three days it becomes a mountain that takes me forever to get to the bottom of. It's taken like forever to get to the tops of the baskets that I'm down to probably three loads total. Yeah!! I'm dreading when my sons decide to finally clean up their room...and hey, I found I have a huge drawer of dish cloths and towels! I thought I was going to have to buy some more!

71. I don't iron. Well...not if I can help it. It drives my mother-in-law crazy. I love cotton, which is a pain, because you usually need it iron cotton. Part of the problem is my dad is a lawyer, and part of the girls jobs was to iron his white shirts. I swear my dad has about 30 white shirts. Seemed like it would take hours to get all his shirts ironed. As a result...I don't iron unless it's really going to kill me to have my sons seen in church in that shirt! ugh.

72. I love the library. I can't afford to buy books, so checking them out is the next best thing. The only problem is that some of the books have stuff I'd love to keep...like the killer food series. I can't remember the authors name, but one of her books is called the Lemon Meringue Pie Murder. It has the recipes in the book, and I've mentioned how I collect recipes!!

73. I used to get big library fines. I'd forget that I hadn't gone to the library in a while, and it was so embarrassing to check out a book and have them tell you that you're over the limit to check out until you pay some of the fine. I'm so proud of myself now...I only have like 60 cents in fines!

74. I like dried apples in my oatmeal. We are drying apples in our dehydrator, and I love freezing them and then using them in the winter in my oatmeal. Sooo tasty. They are also good in muffins.

75. Well...finally the last one for today! I don't know how I'm going to come up with 25 more for tomorrow!! You'd think I would have no problem, since I'm a writer, but hello...who said my life was full of inspiration? LOL. I have 7 children, as I mentioned before, and 6 of them are ADHD. It's enough to drive any self respecting parent loony.

Have a good one!!