Norine's Notes

Five years ago today I was sitting in this very same spot, my hand hovering over the mouse of my computer, my finger shaking, waiting to push the “Live” button for “Norine’s Nest”!

It took me years to master a really good Spaghetti Meat Sauce made with ground beef. This sauce is full of flavor, rich, and hearty. I’m sharing the tricks I’ve learned to make a really fantastic sauce. One that the whole family will love. At least this family loves it! I hope yours will too.

Do you make New Year Resolutions every year… only to fail year after year? I struggled for years setting goals and trying to making them happen! I felt like a failure time and time again. Then last year a fellow blogger taught me about “Vision Boards”. It was LIFE CHANGING! So life changing that I wanted to share it with all of you! I’m sharing everything I learned last year about how to make a Vision Board and, more importantly, how to make it work in your life!

It’s time for a visit from Frazzled Frannie! Hooray! I thought we’d take a short little “food” break, just for today. I want to share some of my thoughts about the toughest job in the world…Motherhood! Not just “motherhood” but, the stages of “motherhood/womanhood”. I think we as women spend too much time joking about the harsh realities of motherhood and we feel guilty if we say “HEY! This is HARD! HELP!”. So grab your favorite drink (maybe sneak in a cookie or cupcake) and join me for a couple of minutes.

Vacations are great! Trying to get back into the swing of things after vacation…not so great! I’m still trying to catch up on the laundry. Anyone else ever struggle with this when they come home from vacation? Whew! If you don’t hear from me in a few days come looking under the mountain of laundry!

I like to call day two Venus vs. Mars! After surviving the cave (Mars) it was my turn to pick our next adventure (Venus)! I realized once again, that while Mars and Venus may be in the same solar system, there are millions of light years between the two! I thought I was a pretty darn good sport about cave exploring and my honorary position as “Ranger Norine”. So, I picked one of our favorite Southern Utah towns. Santa Clara for day two. I just knew that “Mars” was going to love my adventure as much as I was! (light years people, LIGHT YEARS!)…

Several months ago Grill Master and I started planning a vacation. It would be our first “alone” trip in 17 years. Our last, was a cruise to Alaska in 1999. To be frank, I’m not sure that even qualified for “alone”? It was a couples cruise with all my siblings and their spouses! It was a wonderful trip but, we are WAY over due! With the nest empty we decided we would do something just for us! (Yes! It does feel good to be totally selfish after all these years. I’m not going to lie!) As we began planning our trip there were a few “unspoken” guidelines. First, any location requiring flight…OUT! (It’s a long story for another day! I might have “wings” but, not the kind needed for flying!) Tropical locations equal swimsuits…definitely OUT! (His legs have not seen sunshine since the great sunburnt feet incident of 1990, and my body hasn’t been stuffed into a swimsuit since…yeah, well…that long! Nuff said) Hot locations…totally OUT! (Me+ heat is SO not pretty! I make Godzilla look like an annoyed little lizard!) All that said … It had to be some where we love, could drive to, (fully clothed), in cool weather. We tossed around all kinds of ideas but, nothing appealed to us. Then one day while we were talking, I was on Pinterest, (I like to think of it as multi-tasking not ignoring Grill Master) Anyway, I saw a pin that read…

It happens every year… Mother’s Day! The day all mothers secretly anticipate glorious, wonderful gifts and pampering! It took me about 24 years to realize that dream ain’t ever gonna happen! So…

I’d like to introduce the newest member here at Norine’s Nest. She is my alter ego Frazzled Frannie! I asked my dear friend Brenda if she could come up with a picture I could use when posting my personal stories here on the Nest. Somehow it just doesn’t seem fair that every other category get’s to hog all the photo’s and “Norine’s Notes” is left out! Since most of my stories leave me completely frazzled, (that may be the biggest understatement I have EVER made!), I wanted my alter ego to look EXACTLY how I feel after one of my crazy adventures! Doesn’t poor Frannie look frazzled?! Brenda did an amazing job! I was positively giddy last night when she sent her to me! Thank you Brenda! Your talent is amazing!

We all have that “one” embarrassing moment in our lives that we would love to forget. You know the one where you’re praying the earth will open up and swallow you whole so that you never have to be seen again? Yep, that one. If you only have one…well, aren’t you lucky! I’ve often said that when God needs a laugh he pulls up his recliner and clicks onto my life channel. This was one such episode…