Melanie

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Jambalaya! : And I leave you, dear Holidailies readers, with a very easy jambalaya recipe. There are many different ways to make it, and this is mine. A friend in California once told me he had jambalaya at a restaurant and it was served with rice. That confused the heck out of me until he sent me a picture of some tomato ... (posted Jan 6, 10:13pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Winter Weather : And according to this http://bobbreck.blogspot.com/ , we may be in for some of the white stuff? Really?? On of all days... SATURDAY. The day of Valerie's birthday party, which was already cancelled. (posted Jan 5, 3:27pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Twilight : I finally finished Twilight. I'm probably the last person on earth who hadn't read it before now. Some of it I found quite annoying. The mindless banter between Bella and Edward was just that - mindless. I guess it is supposed to be "witty," but I didn't read it that way. (posted Jan 4, 8:16pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Sleep : Sometimes I wake from a dream of her and I think how happy I am to "see" her again. Yet it is a sad reminder that she is gone. I'll lie awake sometimes unable to fall back asleep and those thoughts come creeping in. (posted Jan 3, 5:30pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Mistakes : What do you do when that chosen person fails? Unfortunately it is a mistake that can not be undone. What was agreed to be a lifetime commitment has fizzled to nothing in less than three short years. (posted Jan 2, 8:54am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Twenty Ten : Happy New Year everyone!! Welcome to 2010. New year, new decade. And hopefully greater things to come.... I would really like to work on myself this year. Somehow, some way I MUST lose this extra weight. I have the exercise part down. You'll find me at the gym at least three, sometimes four mornings a week. (posted Jan 1, 9:00am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Popular Soup : My most popular entry by far has been my Mom's Navy Bean Soup recipe. I always thought it was something only my Mom and Grandma made, but apparently it is more well known than I thought! Every single day I get many, many visitors seeking a recipe for this soup. (posted Dec 31, 6:12pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

2009 : I can remember a time when I would have been incredibly sad to stay home on New Year's Eve. Of course I have spent many NYEs alone and wondering what I was missing (nothing ha!) Many were spent out on the town partying the night away. How things have changed! (posted Dec 31, 8:56am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Who knew? And Christmas pics finally. : Who knew that posting a gripe on Twitter could make a difference!! Clint tweeted about our issues with AT&T giving us the run around and someone responded. A couple of phone calls later and a replacement modem shows up at our door today. (posted Dec 30, 8:27pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Books : My Mom took me to the library a lot. I was in the summer reading club for 12 years and received a gold medal my senior year. We went for all the summer movies. But most of all we went for books. I loved books. I loved to read. My Mom had a knack for picking out the best books. (posted Dec 30, 12:24pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Day 7 : Today is day 7 with out Internet service. Clint has called and bitched at AT&T three times now. On Thursday, our replacement modem would be shipped next day air and would arrive by Saturday. (posted Dec 29, 6:30pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Happiness : (still no internet ~ AT&T, where is my modem that was supposed to arrive 3 days ago?) (posted Dec 28, 12:51pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Still no internet : It's going to be Monday or Tuesday before our Internet is fixed. I've figured out that if I position my laptop in line with my kitchen window which is facing a tiny (bathroom?) window at my neighbor's house I can pick up their wireless. I guess I shouldn't complain since I'm "borrowing" it but man it's S-L-O-W!! (posted Dec 26, 2:28pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Merry Christmas! : MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!!! I wish the best for you and your families! ~So much for Holidailes as I have to miss a few days. Unfortunately, our modem has gone kaput. (posted Dec 25, 7:20am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Christmas Eve : Around high school, my Grandma grew weary of the Christmas celebration. She declared her hate for all of us and that was the end of that. My Mom decided we would do it ourselves. (posted Dec 23, 7:12am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Exhausted! : Tired, tired, and more tired is how I feel!! Veronica is sick and hasn't been doing more crying than sleeping. (posted Dec 22, 5:54pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Five years ago today : Five years ago today, my life changed forever! (posted Dec 21, 2:18pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Operation trampoline has begun : How does Santa deliver a trampoline?! We're going to find out. (posted Dec 20, 11:33am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

And they all asked for you! : Today we went on down to the Audubon Zoo! Earlier in the year I purchased a family four pack of tickets for $25 which were about to expire. Today was sunny (for a change) and one of the only free days we have left this year. (posted Dec 19, 4:55pm)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Our Elf : I really wanted to do this, but there was NO way I was paying $30 for the real deal. It's cute and all... but really, $30? (posted Dec 18, 11:37am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Christmas pictures : We attempted Christmas pictures a while back.... failed. Well, we did get ONE decent shot. The rest... well, see for yourself. (posted Dec 17, 7:08am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

My first love : My first love was a boy named James. I was 19, and so was he. We had known of each other for many years. We both attended the same junior high and high schools, but our paths never did cross. (posted Dec 16, 6:27am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

The Stranger : Best of Holidailies She often talked about how she wished her life had been different. How she was too old to do anything or change anything. It was too late she said. I always told her it was never too late. Never. (posted Dec 15, 8:27am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

December Child : It was a blessing to be home with a newborn that first Christmas. It made it so special. It still is and always will be a special time for our family. But to everyone else, sometimes it's a different story. (posted Dec 14, 11:16am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Cookies galore! : Yesterday we attended Cookie Day at a friend's house. (posted Dec 13, 10:07am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

The time of year : I love shopping this time of year. Not even buying things, just being out in the hustle and bustle. I love to look. Window shop. I love seeing the Christmas decorations. The music. The gift sets lining the aisles (posted Dec 12, 7:00am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Hello Mrs. Grinch ~ That's Me! : I'm a grinch when it comes to Christmas cards. (posted Dec 11, 6:22am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Bells for Her : The other day while we were there my Dad decided to get out the Christmas tree so the kids could decorate it. It's a tiny two or three foot tree because my Mom got tired of messing with a big tree. I called it the "Charlie Brown Tree." (posted Dec 10, 7:35am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

An awesome gingerbread house : I could not believe how well my little decorators did!! I know I am biased since they are my kids and all... but just wow. They each took their time and placed each candy in *just* the right spot. Valerie used her icing tip just perfectly. They are pros already!! (posted Dec 9, 6:42am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Ho! Ho! Ho! : Saturday (even though Valerie had the flu) I took the girls to the mall for their Santa picture. Some kids cry when they see Santa, but not mine. When she first saw him, Veronica yelled out "SANTA!!" And jumped up and down. Valerie followed with "I see SANTA!!" (posted Dec 8, 7:00am)

Valeroni by Melanie (31)

Holidailies kick off! : And so it begins... today is the first day of Holidailies! Last year I did surprisingly well and posted every single day. I even had a few entries chosen for "Best of Holidailies." This year... who knows!! My kids have suddenly turned into very needy life forms. (posted Dec 7, 7:06am)