Catching up

I'm starting to become a blog slacker like my cousin-in-law Kacy. (ha!) I'm going to work on improving that. We're all still trying to hit our stride just right with life in general these days.

First off I'm happy to report Brooke seems to be adjusting to kindergarten better. She still tears up and says she misses me when she is gone all day, but overall things are going well and will hopefully continue on the upswing.

Last weekend, I bailed on the family to go see my sweet new nephew, Brayton. He is just precious. See for yourself:

I drove to my mom's house on Friday and spent the night there. We went out to dinner, to the new Bass Pro Shop, and to the casino for awhile. Once again I did not win.

I got up Saturday morning and spent the whole day with Ryan, Megan, and Brayton. I just held the baby a lot which was fabulous. I got a little teary meeting the little guy for the first time. I'm a very proud aunt:

We met Mom and Brad for lunch at Joe's Crab Shack. It was yummy, I sure wish we had one here. Some day I'm actually going to order one of the big crab steampots and eat it. all by myself.

I did some pictures of Ryan, Megan and Brayton because I like to play photographer:

Sunday I got up early and hauled ass back to Wichita. I hadn't told Brooke before school on Friday that I would be gone when she got home, and she was pretty darn upset on Friday night. I talked to her several times on Saturday and she seemed much better but I was just anxious to get back home so we could enjoy Sunday afternoon and evening together before I sent her back off to kindergarten.

Since I got home, I have just been exhausted. I don't know what it is, maybe it is my allergies and this claritin-d. Maybe I'm drinking too much Diet dr Pepper and not enough water. But I just feel e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d. I was sooo tired by the time I got to bed last night, I didn't sleep worth a darn.... you know how they say little kids have trouble getting to sleep when they just get over-tired. That was me. I'm praying to come out of the tired fog soon!

I'd been feeling highly stressed and overwhelmed the last few weeks, and it had really been taking a toll on my wonderful personality. Some things finally resolved themselves this week to help alleviate some of that stress, so I'm hoping to start feeling more like myself again soon. I've also been struggling with some melancholy and just flat out loneliness, which is hard for me to understand, and I'm hoping that will go away soon too. I am blessed with a great family and some wonderful friends, but some days I don't feel like I have a friend in the world, and that just sucks. Some days it is almost like those junior high days where you just long to be one of the popular kids and you just aren't. But the adult version. Shit I have no idea what I am talking about. :0)

I'm going to end this post with a quickie little recipe for you to whip up during your labor day weekend. dice up 2 chicken breasts, and cook em up in a pan sprayed with pam and sprinkled with some Southwest / taco-y seasoning. mix your cooked chicken with a block of softened cream cheese, about 3/4 cup of cheddar cheese, and 1/2 cup salsa. Spread in a little dish and bake (or even microwave) until hot thru. You can serve this with plain ol tortilla chips. but I didn't have any, so I took some flour tortillas, cut them into triangles, sprayed them with pam, sprinkled on some seasalt, and baked them till crunchy. Then tell everyone your wonderful friend Angie created this recipe-- Chicken Enchilada Dip.

Have a great weekend!