What In The World.

I am asking myself that question daily these days....what in the world is this world coming to? While the bank hasn't been laying off thousands of people like some companies, Marty was informed that there wouldn't be any raises or bonuses this year. As nice as a raise or a bonus would've been, we're taking the attitude of "we're just grateful we're still employed".

I get so angry at these places who are cutting jobs, cutting hours, cutting pay only to turn around and give their CEO's or what have you nice hefty raises. Look at Bank Of America, they begged for another portion of bailout money only to turn around and give dividend payouts to their shareholders a few hours after recieving their money. That's just wrong. That's greedy, that's self centered and it's wrong.

I've heard stories of other companies, smaller businesses, doing the same type of thing. Cutting their employees hours, slashing pay scales, giving speeches about how times are tough and we need to make some changes only to turn around and give the higher ups raises. In one instance that I know of people were given 10% raises! 10%!

I have to ask, how do these people sleep at night? I think it screams volumes about the true character of people and I think the people accepting these pay raises or divident payouts should be ashamed of themselves.

I'm off my soapbox! Happy Friday everyone!

Big Day.

Yesterday was a BIG day at the Schires household. Noah went on his very first field trip. While to most people this may be seen as no big deal, to us and to Noah, it was huge. For some unknown reason Noah has never wanted to go on class field trips. Until yesterday.

Yesterday our little guy decided to be brave, try something new and go on his very first fieldtrip with his Kindergarten Enrichment class to William Obrien State Park. Albeit there was some bribery of getting to roast marshmallows as a special treat if he went, but the most important thing was he overcame his fear and decided to go.

He had a blast!!!!! He learned about different animals, went sledding, roasted hotdogs over a campfire.....and roasted marshmallows. Six of them to be exact!

(Thank you Mrs Kinney and Mrs Pederson for bringing the marshmallows! We couldn't have gotten him there without 'em!)

Recipe.

Got this recipe off Jeanette Lynton's website. (see sidebar)

5 Minute Tortilla Soup
1- 12.5 oz. can of chunk chicken breast
1- 8.8 oz. package of Uncle Ben’s Spanish Style Ready Rice
1- 10 oz. Rotel diced tomatoes with limejuice and cilantro
1- 15 oz. can of pinto beans
1- large spoonful of sour cream
Crushed tortilla chips to taste

Pour chicken breast with its own broth into a soup pan. Break chicken chunks with a fork. Bring to a boil. Add rice, tomatoes, and pinto beans with liquid and stir. When soup is hot, stir in the big spoonful of sour cream and top with a few crushed tortilla chips. (For those who want a little less hearty soup, just add a little chicken broth.)

So easy! So yummy! And it literally only took 5 minutes...love it!!!

D-Day.

January 4th has been coined D-Day by me and Marty. It is a day that neither one of us will ever truly forget. January 4th, 2008 was the day we found out I was leaking amniotic fluid while I was pregnant with Addison. It was the day I was put on strict bedrest.

I think every minute of that doctor appointment is forever etched in my brain. (the four weeks following are too) Now, it takes a lot for me to get rattled at doctor appointments. After everything that has happened to me over the past 11 years I have learned to go with the flow, take things one step at a time and explore every option and every possibility before reacting. But this, this floored me. I couldn't stop crying. (and I am not a crier) I couldn't sleep and on the rare occasions when I did sleep I was haunted with nightmares. Horrible nightmares that I can still vividly recall. I remember thinking I just need to get through the next hour. Then the next hour. Pretty soon it was I just needed to get through till tomorrow. Then the next day and the next day.

But for as horrible of a time as that was for me and Marty, we have managed to be able to look back on that time with a fondness. There were hours and hours of movies, hours and hours of conversation, gallons and gallons of coffee and 48 utrasound pictures all while Marty was working from home.....

The best part of all of it was actually making it through. We beat the odds. Not everyone does~ the vast majority of women deliver within 24 hours in that situation. We beat the odds all the way to the end. Talk about a feeling of accomplishment!

While the endless doctor appointments were not fun..nor was the Diabetes...nor the preterm labor, I would do it all over again if I had to. Not a day goes by that I don't look at Addie and think about how close we were to losing her. Not a day goes by that I am not grateful for surviving that horrible time. Addie wouldn't be who she is today had I not gone through that awful awful time in my life. And I wouldn't trade her for the world. She is truly one of life's greatest gifts and a wonderous miracle from God.

Happy New Year!

I don't know about you, but I love New Years. Not for the staying up till midnight to ring in the new year, but because it signals a fresh start. A clean slate. It's a chance for me to regroup a bit, decide what's truly important for the upcoming year and purpose to work towards a few goals.

It has been my ritual for the last 15 or 16 years to pull out a fresh notebook and dream about what I want to accomplish for the upcoming year. Some are pretty easy like read 15 books. Others a tougher, like get up 15 minutes earlier to read the bible or have devotional time.

This year won't be any different. I am truly looking forward to this afternoon when I can sit down with a mug of coffee and a brand new notebook and decide what I am going to work on for 2009.