Christmas time fun

What a wonderful Christmas, come and gone. It's always amazing how fast it comes and goes. I LOVE Christmas time, so it's tough for me to get back into the groove of working and doing chores! This year was especially fun because I made a lot of things that I had never made before. One day in September I called my mom and asked if she wanted to make rag quilts for my 2 kids and my niece and oldest nephew. Neither of us had ever made one, but she knew how to sew, and really that's all there is too it. We had a great time making the 4 quilts, although I think I got the better end of the deal, since I couldn't work on the quilts at my house since 2 of them were for my kids. I didn't get pictures of the other 2 quilts yet, but here are the ones we made for Aaron and Maree. We made them twin size.
Maree's with high heel shoes and purses..

and Aarons..

Then I also made jar cookie mixes to give out to friends.



And just for kicks I started making jewelry. Who knew that could be so much fun!!


This year was especially fun because of Aaron. He just melted my heart, and I am so proud of the the little man he is becoming. After he got his quilt, he was just so appreciative, and kept going on and on about how much he loved it. He asked me how long it had taken, and just kept saying thank you. He also told me that he was so glad I was his mommy.... *sniff sniff*. Precious. Then when he got to "open" the picture on his wall, he was just so cute.
I think with every gift he received he said "Thank you sooooo much" with so much sincerity.

Here is the big wall unveiling for those who haven't seen it on my Facebook..





Happy New Year!!

Dates with Daddy

When Steve took Aaron hunting this year, he also promised Maree he would take her on a date when he returned. Today is date day!! Maree is sooooooo excited to go on a date with her daddy. She has chosen to go to Arby's because they have curley fries, and apparently those are "da bomb". Everytime she talkes about her date, her little eyes light up, and she gets the cutest smile on her face.

Anyway, things have been pretty busy around here. Fortunately I am not feeling stressed, which is great. I've been teaching a Pilates class Monday and Wednesday evenings, working, trying to get ready for Christmas, etc. We have a lot of fun gifts planned this year...including this one for Aaron...

Now under wraps until Christmas...

Christmas will be SO fun!

Pilates...again

Wow, I've been neglecting my blog!

Several people have inquired about what I plan on doing with my Pilates certification. I was planning on creating a cardio/pilates class as this is what I felt would be most beneficial for me. And to be honest, a huge reason I decided to get certified in Pilates was so that I could do it too. I have a hard time getting my cardio in at home, and I don't have a gym membership anymore (or at least they haven't been charging me, and I'm afraid if I go, they will realize they haven't been charging me...). So, I thought doing a cardio (bootcamp style) followed by a Pilates mat class would be a great combo. Anyway, I wanted to do a test group beforehand to make sure I could make it run smoothly and see how it went. However, my Pilates instructor/studio owner asked me if I could teach a class starting next week...eeks! A real class with paying customers! So the cardio/Pilates class is on hold for the moment.

I'd love to have any of you out there in the area to come take a class with me at Southern Oregon Pilates. It will be on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:30 starting on Dec. 1st. It will run for 4 weeks only. Then maybe I can start the cardio/Pilates class....but I have to find people to come to it and pay for it too :)

Pilates

Today I had my final exam for my Pilates certification, and yeah, I passed!!

Standing on a soapbox today...

After watching the election coverage last night, and seeing the swarms of people standing outside the White house chanting for Obama, I couldn't help but to feel sorry for President Bush. Today, while perusing the news I came across this article which really summed up all that I felt.

Click Here

Wrap Rage?

I was just perusing my favorite website to shop at ....Amazon of course, and on their main page they have this article about the packaging of products. As you fully understand, because the manufacturers of toys are relatives of Houdini, they like to make it as difficult and frustrating as possible to get the intended item out. So much so, that they have named this frustration "Wrap Rage". Yes, it has an official term. Seems like everything has a diagnoses these days....

Anyway, even though I thought it was kind of silly that they coined a new phrase for the frustration we all feel (especially parents of small children) when trying to extrude a small toy from an ungodly amount of hermetically sealed plastic, metal twisty ties (twisted 47 times), and zip ties (12 of them on all body parts, corners, etc), it is SOOOOOO true. The amount of packaging material that goes to waste on toys is obnoxious. And trying to get some toys out of their packing is like trying to get gracefully put on a full body shaper/squeezer inner.
Other companies (probably sister companies of the toy companies) have started marketing "Wrap Rage Cures"...which are essentially heavy duty scissors to combat against the packaging.

Great Britain did a study and found that 67,000 people reported injuries from opening packing.

Thankfully, Amazon is a smart company.
"Amazon is working with leading manufacturers to deliver products inside smaller, easy-to-open, recyclable cardboard boxes with less packaging material (and no frustrating plastic clamshells or wire ties"

I haven't seen a company do something that made this much sense in a long time. So refreshing that they are using common sense to help make their customers experience more pleasant, even though these are not their products. Way to go Amazon, WAY TO GO!!!

Mommy time

Today has been a great day so far. Got a great night of sleep, went to Pilates class, went to my parent's house to give them a short Pilates lesson/class. Then went for some extended retail therapy. I ended up buying only things for DH, and kids...although I did get myself some new underwear :)
DH and the kids are at Grandma's ...DH and his Dad are working on a loft bed for Aaron.

Came home and did some mandatory chores, internet surfing, then jumped on the new Wii game DH bought last night. I've wanted this game since I saw the reviews for the Jillian Michaels Wii game got such bad reviews. I really wanted a workout game for the Wii because to be honest Wii fit doesn't keep me occupied for very long. There aren't a whole lot of options at this point, which is why I was really excited for the Jillian Michaels game to come out, but I'm so glad I didn't pre-order it from Ama*zon. While seeing the awful reviews for the JM game, Ama*zon brought up the suggestion of this other game that had gotten way better reviews, called Active Life Outdoor Challenge . In Outdoor challenge, there are a ton of different activities that you can play on your own or with a friend. Last night Steve and I did a sprint competition together...HOLY COW we both plopped onto the couch totally out of breath. He totally smoked me! (I will practice in secret until I win!!)
Today I put my heart rate monitor/calorie counter on just for kicks and did the "fitness" mode. There is a marathon mode where you are running for 10 minutes. I burned 100 calories doing that, then about another 100 doing various other shorter activities. It was a LOT more fun than regular exercise, but it is definitely exercise! My calves were burning during the marathon. If you have a Wii I would totally recommend Outdoor Challenge.

I'm not good at math, but....

Today DH and I had some interesting and intellectually challenging conversation on the way to Costco. You see, DH often thinks he is right.

By often, I mean always. And I must admit that he is knowledgeable in a lot of different things, in which I don't even pretend to have knowledge in. Usually, if I don't know the answer I say "I don't know" whereas DH usually pulls some retarded answer out of his....well you know where.

So in the car Aaron asks if more air came out of the vent when it was on high vs low, to which I said yes, and DH says no. DH proceeded to fervently argue his case giving analogies about pipes and water and the like. I, however, believed that if the fan was pushing air out at a faster rate, then of course, more air would be coming out. DH continued to disagree wholeheartedly, and starting talking about molecules, and other technical sounding information, at which point I knew his theory was faltering and he was just trying to talk big in order to try to confuse me. This probably works for him in some cases. Anyway, after having this conversation we went straight into the following one...
We've been considering areas in our budget that we could cut back on or cut out in order to save more money.....


Me: maybe we could cut out the bug spraying (we get the outside of our house sprayed every 2 months to avoid bugs coming in the house...DH hates ants and I hate spiders).

DH: Hmm

Me: That would save about $300 (it's $54 every 2 months)

DH: Um, I beg to differ...it would be more like $600 dollars

In my head I'm thinking...well I know I'm bad at math, but I'm pretty sure it's $300

Me: Um, no if it's $54 every 2 months or every other month, wouldn't that be $300

DH: No, it's $600

Me: huh? How do your figure, if it's about $50 x 6 months, 5x6=30....that's $300 dollars.

DH: No.... say we start in January, that would be $50 (for simplicity's sake), then in March, if we're adding, it would be $100, then in May it would be $150, then in July it's $200....

At this point I'm laughing inside because I know I'm right and when DH gets to the end of his brilliant example that he is going to see the error of his ways, and it is going to be sweet victory for me... whaahaahaa

DH continues: then in September it will be $250

I can't believe he's still counting, he must know that he is wrong by now

DH continues: then in November it will be $300

Me: Haahhaaahhaaaahaaa......brilliant!

It's small victories such as this that keep me going :) He will not live this one down....for a very very long time.


And by "very long time", I mean probably not ever.

:)

Hmmmm, choosing your battles...with your kids...

Yesterday after church we went out for a late breakfast. I love breakfast foods!! However, it is often hard to go out to eat and have anything close to a healthy breakfast. Anyway, we went to the Black Bear diner, which has notoriously HUGE portion sizes. I ordered an egg beater omelet thinking that would be healthier than the 3 egg omelet. However, I was sorely disappointed when it arrived as there was butter or some other oil oozing out of every crevice. So, what did I proceed to do. Spread butter and jam on my big 'ol biscuit and enjoy every bite :).

Okay, back to the title of this post. My dear 4 1/2 year old daughter is not much of an eater. She eats like a bird. She loves ham though, so I ordered her a breakfast sandwich, which came with eggs (not her favorite), cheese (mostly okay), and ham (favorite) on an english muffin (she loves bread like her mother). However, she was about as enthused with her sandwich as I was with my omelet. After I cut it up for her, and she had maybe 2 bites of ham, I looked over and she is munching away on the small piece of kale garnish they had on the plate. Dear husband was getting irritated at her because she wasn't eating her breakfast, and I'm thinking, well at least she's getting some great nutrients in. She proceeded to eat everyone's garnish off their plates. She also ate all the strawberries off the small bowl of fruit that had come with her meal. So all in all, she had a very nutritious, if not darn right healthy meal. Maybe I should order like her. I'll take the garnish and the fruit, hold the meal......

Murphy's Law

What I find baffling and something that has to be involved in someone's conspiracy theory is the fact that the batteries in smoke detectors ONLY GO OUT AT NIGHT. I think there is some sensor that senses the increased CO2 when you are in bed sleeping and then they beep. I've had many-a-smoke detector start beeping in the middle of the night...not to alert of some disastrous fire, but to alert you that the battery MUST be changed right away.

Last night I had been laying in bed no more than 4 1/2 minutes when the first beep sounded. Dear husband was already fast asleep as he had gone to bed earlier. He didn't stir, so I say "babe, the smoke detector just beeped". He says, "I know, I heard it". I'm thinking he was going to pretend he didn't hear it, hope it had been a bad dream, and pray that it didn't beep again. However, he got up, I turned the light on, and he gets the ottoman that's in our room to have a look at the unit.

Interestingly, it's attached to the house electricity as a back-up, so the battery is really only in case the power goes out. We've lived in our house 4 years and never changed any batteries.....did you know it recommends testing the unit WEEKLY?? Really, who does that??

Anyway, he had a hard time getting the unit back on after changing the battery...turns out there is a special compartment on the top of the unit, and you don't have to take it off the ceiling to get to the battery...things you learn after you take the unit off the ceiling. So he goes to get the step ladder from the garage, gets the unit attached to the ceiling, he puts the step ladder away, we turn the lights out.

BEEP

Lights go on, out he goes to get the step ladder, he fidgets with the unit again, tries to read the directions, puts the unit back on the ceiling, takes the step ladder back out to the garage, gets in bed. Lights out.

5 minutes later. BEEP.

Repeat above steps.

Advise hubby not to put step ladder away until morning.

Then we notice that the unit is blinking red instead of green like the rest of them in our house. It is blinking red about every 10 seconds. The directions state that if the unit blinks once a minute or 4 times that there is wrong with this or that...it says nothing about continual blinking every 10 seconds.

Uhhhh.

Enter laptop to google stupid fire detector...discover we are not the only ones with this particular unit who have had this problem. Meanwhile dear husband is still fidgeting with the unit, and thinks he has fixed the problem. He once again reattaches the unit to the ceiling.

This took 45 minutes in total.

Thankfully, there was no additional beeping in the middle of the night.

Side note: hubby bought batteries to replace the rest of the detectors in our house in order to avoid any additional night time disturbances....they aren't in yet...so there is always tonight.

Selective Attention Deficit Disorder

Yes folks, I have just diagnosed myself with S.A.D.D., Selective Attention Deficit Disorder. Last week I got this email from my mother-in-law....have a look



Did you watch the video? Don't skip ahead. Okay, so you've watched it. Did you see it? I didn't see it ...not even the second time around. How sad is that. I couldn't figure out what the audience was laughing about. I guess I can pride myself in being extremely focused!!!
Then as I was trying to find that video online, I came across this one...have a look



The crazy thing is that even though I knew what to expect, I was still diligent about counting the number of passes, and I totally missed the character moonwalking. Yes folks, I have S.A.D.D, and I might need to be medicated.

More coffee ought to do it.

Ta daaaaa

I was on the phone with my dear sister this morning, also making a birthday cake for my son's 7th birthday. The kids were playing "Indiana Jones"...not a single fight, cry, or whine for a solid hour..it was delightful. So I walk into my bedroom to check my email, and this is what I find...

I just laughed...notice he had the red ottoman as a safety net ..safety first. He says that Indiana Jones has to know how to hang...which is true! Then he gets down and looks at himself in the mirror and says, "Wow, Mom, look at my muscles...they look like grown up muscles".

Shattered Dreams

I have mentioned before that hubby and I enjoy playing Faceb*ook games against eachother. For a while we were playing "Scrabulous", which was just like Scrabble, but it wasn't licensed by Has*bro so it got removed. Prior to it's demise I won every single game against Steve. Then it left and we had to find a new game. So lately we've been playing "Scramble", which is just like Boggle. The other night we tried playing the real live version on the kitchen table, but it was too slow to have to write each word down....I can type way faster!! So anyway, we've been playing a couple of games a scramble a day, and I have won every single one. He has not one a single match...not one. We've played 36 matches (5 rounds each). So last night we were playing, and he mentioned that he just wanted to win ONE match...then he would quit playing forever being satisfied in winning just one. Suddenly he squeals with delight saying "I won, HA, I finally won" and on and on he went gloating in his success. I was currently finishing another match we had going one, so after I finished I went and looked at the score page. As usual, every match listed me as the winner. So I asked Steve were he saw that he won. He says "well it must not have updated yet". Well, 12 hours later it still hasn't "updated". Steve thinks it's a conspiracy against him. He swears the computer told him he won. Evil computer! I think his eyes/brain were playing tricks on him....poor guy. Maybe next time honey.

Fashion can be so weird

Sometimes I think fashion designers are only out for the shock value. How is it possible that people would actually wear some of these things...take this for example. Will this come in handy when riding a motorcycle...perhaps...because it matches her dress, which is important. Or maybe it's a new diet plan, almost like a chastity belt...if you can't reach your mouth, you cannot eat. Maybe it's so you can "drive by braille" and pretend you are pacman?? Will you be able to fend off aliens? Does your ipod hook up to it for a surround sound effect??


Or how about this...
It's like a girly Darth Vador...I wonder if it comes with a voice changer?? Probably wouldn't be safe to wear while driving...just a guess.

That is one floppy eared wabbit. Or maybe it's a rain catcher so you don't have to carry around bottled water...you'd just need one VERY long straw to reach the bottom of the dress.

So strange...so very very strange!

Am I standing straighter yet?

The last 4 days have been filled with anatomy lessons, Pilates demonstration, and actually doing Pilates moves. I had NO idea that the certification I was getting was as in depth as it is....which I am thrilled about. The faculty member from BASI (Body Arts and Science International) that we had, Meredith, was incredibly smart and really knew her stuff. She had a beautiful Pilates body and performed the exercises with perfection. We went from the basic mat moves on Thursday to the advanced moves today...wow, that was challenging!! In the next month I need to memorize each exercise, what muscles it focuses on, what the objectives of the exercise are, and how to make sure my students (and myself) are doing it correctly, and how to cue them to do so. I feel like I am getting a degree in Pilates. Did you know that you can get "certified" in Pilates for $49.99 in just 45 minutes online....seriously, I just looked. After learning what I have in the last 4 days, that is just really scary. You can really hurt yourself and your clients if you do not know how to do the exercises correctly. Oh, and I'm not done yet, I still have to do observation hours, student teaching hours, and I have a practical test to pass in October....and I'm only getting certified to teach mat classes. Anyway, I've got a lot of work to do, and a lot of practice too. I am recruiting friends to be my Pilates guinea pigs....

I am sitting up straighter today though...doing Pilates makes you so much more aware of your posture and how you are carrying your body...always a good thing!!

Some thoughts

First of all: Note to self; do not shut the car hatch while your head is in the way. It hurts!

Second: Have you ever noticed bumper stickers seem to be attracted only to crappy cars? Why is that? Ever seen a Jaguar, BMW, Lexus etc., with a ton of bumper stickers???

Third: It's a lot easier to get up early if you go to bed early. Duh.

Delinquent

So sorry I've been slacking on the blog front. My mind is too consumed with my current schedule and all free time is used by getting kids ready for school, picking them up, chores, and beating my husband at Facebook games (insert evil laugh here). As you all know, school started on Tuesday, which catapulted me into a new crazy routine that is so unfamiliar to me that I've actually seen my head spinning and come to a complete stand still mid sentence. You see, the last several years of my life have been relatively leisurely. If I had two events scheduled in one day it was a busy day. I slept in most days, usually had a full hour to enjoy my coffee and breakfast while perusing all my favorite websites before having to start work or do anything important really. That all changed on Tuesday!! Now, I wake up to an alarm clock (haven't done so in about 4 years). I have several time-sensitive events happening every day, sandwiched between working, sandwiched between coaching 8th grade volleyball. Next week in the midst of the already scheduled events, I also start my Pilates certification classes. Mind you, I'm not complaining...I'm enjoying it so far, it's just a huge change...and I guess that's my excuse for not blogging. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Love the UPS man....and my husband

I think it speaks for itself. Except for the fact that I was not suppose to know it came, and it was suppose to remain hidden until dear husband goes for a week long hunting trip in a month with my son and other boys...err...men from our extended family. Oh well :) Guess he'll have to think of something else to pamper and butter me up with :)

Love you babe! Thanks for the goodies!

Long week

Wow, a lot has happened in the last week. Last Saturday morning, my dear son started complaining of a bad headache. I had a lot to do that day including pre-baby pedicures with my dear sister and friends...then some other errands to run. That evening Aaron looked miserable with what appeared to be a migraine and a fever. I was concerned so I spoke with the pediatrician on call, and she wanted to draw labs and see him at the hospital. Of course, as is one of my fears as a former pediatric nurse, as soon as the doctor came in, Aaron was chatty and smiley and looked fine. However, at midnight the doctor called and said Aaron's labs did not look good, and we would need to re-draw them in the morning. Anywho, he had his labs drawn again, we talked to the on-call pediatrician multiple times, and by Monday he was looking pretty good but Aaron's regular pediatrician wanted to see him. This was NOT in the plan as the doctor wanted to see him at 10, and Kelly's c-section was scheduled for 12:30, and I still needed to run some errands. After waiting in the doctor's office for quite a while (since they had squeezed us in) I got a call from my MIL stating that my dear sister's scheduled c-section had been moved from 12:30 to 11....it was 10:45. We still had to go get labs drawn, which, conveniently, was right across the street from the family birth center at the hospital. I called my husband at work and asked if he could come be with Aaron, so I could make it to the birth of my new niece or nephew (it was a surprise). His work is about 20 minutes away, but I think he made in 15! Luckily dear Aaron was so brave for all the blood draws...never cried, never moved his little arm. Such a trooper! So Steve made it just as they were done drawing blood, and I literally ran out of the building, across the street, to the family birth center. Luckily hospital schedules always run a bit behind, so I was able to see Kelly and her cute pregnant belly one last time. At 12:10 little Benjamin Levi was welcomed into the world. The plan was for me to stay the night with Kelly in the hospital to help her out since I'm also a former OB nurse, and I don't snore :) . Steve called at about 8:30 pm to say Aaron had been crying for me....so I headed home to see how he was doing, thinking I might not be able to stay with Kelly if Aaron was not doing well again....luckily when I got home all the lights were off and Aaron was in bed with Steve. I gave him a hug, got him to laugh, and I knew he would be okay, so I headed back to the hospital. So then we had a couple of days of everyone recovering, Aaron from this crazy virus, me from lack of sleep, etc. Friday Aaron had his last lab draw and everything seemed to be back to normal. Little did I know.......
Saturday morning I woke up with a terrible sore throat. I gargled some salt water, and told myself it was nothing. Steve and I had been invited to a World of Wines event at a local vineyard, and I'd spent hours shopping and deciding what to wear to this event. I was really excited and nothing was going to stop me from going. I felt pretty good during the day, so off we went to the winery. All was well for the first few hours, but then I was standing there and things started to sound far away, and my vision got darker and I started to see stars. Mind you, this was NOT from drinking wine. Steve and I sat for the remainder of our time there. Which was a bummer because we had only made it through the white wines....we hadn't even started with the reds yet. But, it was not meant to be. We made it home and I crashed into bed with the chills and a worsening sore throat. Sunday after not eating and having a terrible time swallowing, we went to urgent care and I was diagnosed with strep throat. I was actually relieved because that meant they could start treating it pronto. So yesterday I was in bed ALL day. Today I am feeling a little better but am laying low....Aaron said he would take care of Maree :)

As a side note...things my kids said this week that I thought were funny.

I was doing a fashion show of the 5 dresses I was trying to decide between for the wine event. I came out in one and the kids were oooooing and aaahhhing, and then I mentioned that I didn't really have shoes to go with that particular dress and Aaron says "Mom, I don't think they're going to be looking at your shoes".
So next Tuesday Maree will be starting pre-school, which she is really excited about. However, she calls it "pretty-school". I wonder what she thinks she'll be learning there........

Heebee jeebees

Looked out my back window today and noticed this beauty..........

Affair...

Sorry, been neglecting my blog... been having too much fun on Facebook......

A little bit of everything

Things that have happened in the last week:

*Worked out once...goal is to workout 4x this week!
*Sister-in-law was down to visit which means Maree was gone from Wednesday night to Sunday afternoon...although we saw her on several occasions
*Had a fantastic wedding day brunch with a bride-to-be, who is also a close family friend
*A fun outdoor wedding where we got to see a lot of people we haven't seen in years
*Had visitors from out of town (college friend) whom I haven't seen in 2 years
*Aaron learned to tie his shoes
*Aaron lost another tooth (that's 4 missing currently)
*Yard work
*Pizza visiting with sister and family
*Got a new office chair and a new mouse, which will hopefully make working more comfortable
....that reminds me, it's time for me to get to work...

Garage sale recovery

I am still recovering from my garage sale adventures on Friday and Saturday. I had NO idea how much work they would be. My parents were an amazing help on Friday...really couldn't have done it without them. We did pretty good, and got rid of a large chunk of our stuff. The rest I am either selling on craigs*list or taking to charity, so hopefully by the end of the week my garage will be nice and clean! I can park my car in it, so I figure that is a good accomplishment!

The big perk in it all was the kid's lemonade stand. My dad brought over a canopy to provide some shade for us to sit under, so I set the kids up under that, and we made signs for the prices of everything (strawberry lemonade, chips, cookies, muffins, coffee), including a sign that said "Disneyland Vacation Fund"...since that is where all the money was going. Maree was a great little salesperson, and since she was dressed as Belle, she was nearly irresistible. My Dad asked Maree if he could buy a bag of chips and asked how much they were, and she says "Five dollas" not dollaRs because she doesn't say her "r"s. My Dad said something to the effect of "boy, that's steep", and she says "Okay, how 'bout 6 dollas". They ended up making.....get ready for it....you won't believe it....ninety-six dollars!! She's got a career in sales coming! I think I might make them start paying rent...have them sit out on the corner every weekend and sell lemonade and cookies.

Whew!!

Enjoying my morning cup of coffee...

EEKKS

The guts of the espresso machine.....

Dear Lord....

....please please please let my dear husband be able to put the espresso machine back together, as it is currently gutted :(

A big one a big one..

Maree wanted me to blow up a balloon for her to play with.....
Sorry, I'm retarded and can't turn it the right way..grab your monitor and turn it counter clockwise :)

In Mourning....

Do you ever finish a great book or series of books, and mourn a little when you get to the end of the story. You get so wrapped up in the character's lives, the story, and then you hit the last page, and it's over. Never to know what else happened with these people you've become so close to....

Well, the best thing happened today. I finished a GREAT Trilogy (The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker)...which happened to be in one huge 1182 page, hardcover book....and then I got to the epilogue and discovered that there are SEVEN more books in the series..now known as "The Books of Histories Chronicles". Woohooo!!! I'm so excited! I'm going to make a run to the book store tomorrow!!

Hint hint

If you've followed this blog for any length of time (I think that would make 2 of you), then you know that my dear husband tends to buy me things if I mention that I want them. This takes out the "what do I buy my wife" conundrum that often overtakes men's minds when birthdays, Christmas, and other holidays are just around the corner. Sometimes he just can't help himself and he buys these things when there are no such holidays coming up.

Why do I mention this, you ask? To make a long story short, I have samples of this great product from Philosophy called Amazing Grace bath and shower gel. I really like the smell, even though it's not my all-time-favorite-shower-product-I've-ever-used. However, dear husband REALLY likes it...as in bacon to a dog likes it...as in cat to catnip likes it, as in lays in bed and sniffs my arm likes it. So honey, this is for you since you asked where you could buy it....

If you are going to buy it for me, which I would be eversoappreciativeof, then this is what I would love this or this or if you're quick...maybe this :)

XOXOXOXO

Just because

Okay, so here is the full speed version of the video the other day....some thought the slow-mo was a tad creepy. This will bring a smile to your face.

Spring cleaning in July

Okay, so I guess I'm a little late with the Spring cleaning, and I'm not pregnant so nesting is out of the question! On Friday, Steve informed me that "we" needed to clean the garage out. This was not the most exciting thing I could think of doing on a Saturday afternoon!! Needless to say, we got so much accomplished yesterday!! I wish I had a before picture of the garage. We have these 2 long huge shelves that Steve built when we moved into the house, and they had boxes and bins galore...mixed with all kinds of other stuff. Next to those shelves there was an oozing of other stuff that wouldn't fit on the shelves so it just sat on the ground and moved like an amoeba closer and closer to my parking space. Costco toilet paper, paper towels, kids bikes, scooters, too small kids clothes, worn out toys, shoes, soda, and other stuff that couldn't find a good home all threatened to overtake my brand new car. I decided to start with the gazillion shoes we had in the garage. You know the ones that my dear mother-in-law organizes ever so often. Well, there were shoes in there that I haven't even seen for a good 2 years. What had started as a place to kick your shoes as to not wear them in the house had become a graveyard for abandoned shoes. I probably discarded about 50 pairs of shoes. After looking at the pile of unwanted shoes, I decided I needed to have a garage sale. Steve wanted to take everything down to our local charity (he doesn't like garage sales), but there was SO much that I decided I would have a garage sale by myself (Steve will be working). We are saving for a trip to Disneyland next year, so this will hopefully provide a nice chunk of change. So now my garage is very clean on the shelf side, since we moved all the garage sale stuff to the other side of the garage. We also cleaned out our linen closet where I still had crib sheets from Maree...she's been in a big girl bed for at least a year now! We cleaned out the cabinet next to the lined closet which housed slew of sewing paraphernalia (I don't sew) that my Mom had let me borrow in the hopes that I might learn. I used them to make baby burp rags, and 1 skirt..then gave up on my sewing endeavors. Anyway, I'm so pleased that all the doors now close all the way, and that there is a ton of room for other things that can't quite find a good home, like the 1000 picture frames I have....oye!
I'm exhausted today..I think the cleaning took about 10 hours! Plus I didn't sleep well because I think I had 8 shots of coffee throughout the day yesterday.

Same 'ole, same 'ole

Nothing blogworthy has stuck out this week. However, I don't want to fall into the "abandoned blog" category, so I thought I'd give you something to watch that is both hilarious, and slightly disturbing...
hint..it's in slo-mo



Have a great weekend!!

Gone fishing....

Last weekend we had the pleasure of meeting some friends at a nearby lake, borrowing their parent's pontoon boat, and fishing on the lake. We had such a great time because the fish were biting like crazy, and they were small fish, so the kids could easily reel them in. We threw them all back, but it was still a lot of fun.
Yesterday we decided to go back to the lake and fish off the shore. My parents were in need of some fresh air :), so they joined us. They didn't know Steve had ideas about breaking trail and 4x4'ing through the woods over red clay dusk that thoroughly coated their white car (since they were following). They were troopers through, and we it was quite an adventure! Mom and Dad had decided not to fish on this trip, and were just going to relax (mom), and help the kids with their fishing endeavors (dad). We immediately noticed that the fish were not quite as voracious as they were last weekend...probably because of our location. We were just using worms as bait, but Dad thought I should try one of our fancy/pretty new lures. Since I'm a fishing amateur I have no idea what difference any of those things make. Dad set me up with a lure and the first cast I got hung up on some rocks (there were a lot of rocks). I handed the fishing pole to Dad because I didn't want to keep getting stuck on the rocks. Well, this is what Dad found...
okay, notice the bend in the pole and the splash....
Okay, it's a little hard to see and I didn't get a better shot of it, but it's about a 12" bass.
This may not seem exciting to you, but we had only been catching like 5 inch sunfish, and very small bass...I had no idea there were any bigger fish in this lake. So it was very exciting! And as an added surprise, when dad gutted the fish, there was a WHOLE crawdad in the fishes belly. I told dad that if he had only gutted the fish a little earlier, we might have saved that poor crawdad's life :).

Anyway, here are some more random pictures from yesterday..

Oh, and almost forgot to add. We went back to mom and dad's for dinner, and dad grilled up the fish he caught. Aaron was the first to sit down to eat and says "Poppa's fish is EXCELLENT". I, however, only had a very small bite. I like my fish frozen and vacuum packed from Costco with no bones :)

Multi-tasking....or.. notsomuch

Today, similar to many other days, I try to get some household chores done. I'm not the kind of person who keeps an immaculate house at all times, it's just not a priority to me. I usually try to clean 1-2 areas a day, or at least keep the mess at a category 2 tornado. So when I find some down time during the day I will try to throw some laundry in, or clean the kids bathroom, or tidy up the kitchen. I've noticed though, that I start one thing, like walking to the laundry room intent on starting a load, but pass the kids bathroom and start cleaning in there...totally side-tracked from the laundry I was going to do. Then I'll check my email (as I do about 20x a day), and get caught up in some other project in my bedroom. Today the kids were begging to get in the pool, so I was going to get my book I'm reading (The Circle Trilogy, by Ted Dekker), my cell phone (it notifies me when I get a new email), and the house phone in case someone called. So I'm in the kitchen looking for the house phone and realize it's in our bedroom, so I walk down the hallway and see the laundry sitting there, and figure I could start a load real fast. Then I head back to the kitchen in order to proceed outside. Then I remember that I needed the phone, and where the heck had I put it after I'd gotten it out of the bedroom....oh yeah, I never made it to the bedroom. So, I go back to our bedroom and get the phone, but oh, while I'm in there, I might as well check my email...and I had a work email I needed to deal with, so I sit down and do that. 2 minutes later I'm walking back to the kitchen to proceed outside. Where is the dang phone??? Right, sitting on my desk in my bedroom where I had moved it from the bed. Back I go, to the bedroom, but by this time I was quite focused and slightly annoyed that I'm so easily distracted.

Drum roll please.......

My husband, my dear husband, who actually made fun of me when I told him I had started a blog...my dear husband who has snubbed his nose at sites like Face*book for quite some time now...this same dear husband who just signed up for Face*book, and yesterday STARTED A BLOG.

Yes, it's true. Although I must say, I had to help him with the blog, so if you like it, thank you :) If you don't like it...he did it. Don't go rushing over there just yet, as he hasn't actually written anything. The "testing" was my doing in order to get a new template up and running. He wanted a little help getting it going since he says I'm the more "technical" one, despite him being in I.T. (Side note, yesterday I also had to program our new car's built in garage door opener after he had tried several times, because I seem to be better at things like that). I think he mentioned that his first post would be about his new quest to spreadsheet all the books he's ever read...including how many pages. Yep. Hold on to your pantaloons it's going to be a fun ride!!

I love you honey! :)

He hasn't signed yet.....

If I had a dollar for every time my dear husband said he was going to "cut back" or "cut out" or otherwise reduce the consumption of a whole gamut of unhealthy foods, or increase the consumption of healthier foods, I'd be rich. No seriously. So I decided to make him sign a contract.....

Vows to Health

I, _____, do solemnly swear to pay my beautiful beloved wife one dollar every time I say that I am going to eat better and/or am going to “cut out” any unhealthy food out of my diet. I also agree to pay said amazing wife seven dollars for every week where I do not workout at least 2x per week, and when my food intake is less than 80% healthy, and/or includes more than 2 of the items I vowed to “cut out”. All proceeds from this contract will be kept in a secret location, and will only be returned in the event that I obtain a six-pack as verbally agreed upon on the ___ day of ______, 20__. I agree that my wonderful wife will keep all proceeds for a duration of no longer than 6 months, at which time they are non-refundable, and may be spent at the discretion of my thoughtful wife. If at any time a payment is not made, my caring wife will be allowed to confiscate any “man toys” that she deems fit.
I fully understand that my loving wife is doing this in the best interest of her wonderful, but mostly unhealthy husband, because she hopes he sticks around long into our golden years. At no time will I complain or whine about the rules and/or definitions given with said contract. This contract, once signed, never expires, is non-negotiable, and non-transferable. Signing of this contract does not imply that I can pay myself seven dollars per week if the rules are followed, as the reward of a six-pack (and increased health and fitness that comes along with such a physique) is exponentially more than any monetary value can produce.

Important definitions:
Workout: A period of time, no shorter than 30 minutes, of intentional increased activity, including body weight exercises and/or cardio. Walking, mowing the lawn, weeding, hunting, playing paintball, and sex are NOT considered a workout.
Healthy: A healthy diet will not include daily iced kickers, regular soda, cookies, candy, Ritz crackers, pizza, anything fried (including chips), and no fast food.
Six-pack: this shall not, under any circumstances, be associated with strapping beer cans to one’s stomach and/or airbrushing with tanning products.

Signed ___________________________
Date____________

Witness ___________________________
Date____________

**© by Kristen :)
Hubby says he's having his "lawyers" look this over before he signs.

A conversation my kids just had

Maree (age 4) talking to her brother: I'm half beautiful and half sassy!

Aaron (age 6) : Well, mom is whole beautiful.


I don't know where Maree gets it, but she just cracks me up! Aaron, God bless him, I just love that boy!!

Seriously??

I'm speechless.

"The Shack"

All I can say about the book "The Shack" is that it is a MUST READ. As in, get in your car, drive down to your local book store, and buy it immediately, do not delay!! I have never been so enthralled and uplifted by a book, ever. It is a book I want to read over and over, and I NEVER read books more than once. My advice though, is to NOT read the back of the book before reading it. I never read the back of books, but I would have been particularly disappointed if I had read the back of this one prior to reading it...it just gave too much away in my opinion. But, you know, do what you want :)....just read it!! It's not a huge book, and will only take 5-6 hours to read. What are you waiting for, get in your car...seriously...quit reading blogs....gooooooooooo!!!!!

Storytelling a la Maree

On the way to our big "fishing" trip, Maree told us MANY stories!! Not enough emphasis can be placed on MANY, since we were in the car for about 1.5 hours. Here is one I captured on video. I couldn't edit it, as my editing program kept crashing...the funniest part is at the end in my opinion.



Who knew Jesus had big teeth.

Get the spray kids

If you've seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you probably remember how the dad always had a bottle of Windex handy for treatment of all kinds of ailments. Well, I have to tell you, I have a similar item that I use for just about any kind of skin issue. It's called Dermoplast. It's a antibacterial/pain relieving spray. I first came in contact with the product when working in the maternity unit, we would given this to women who had torn down there or had an episiotomy....making for very sore hoo-hahs. About a year ago, I saw it on the shelf at Tar*get, and thought "hmmm, if it's safe for using on hoo-hahs, it's gotta be great for other parts of the body too". So I bought a can, and used it first on a burn I got from the oven. After spraying it on, seriously I did not feel the burn again. Since that first discovery, I have gone through several cans, as now anytime my kids have a scratch, bug bite, blister, or any other bothersome skin issue, they request "the spray", and it always makes everything all better.

Today, both kids have mosquito bites because we "attempted" to go fishing yesterday....long story in itself. I will say that at one "fishing hole" we got out of the truck and literally 7 seconds later we all jumped back in because there were so many mosquitoes flying around. Unfortunately we had glanced at the bug repellent while buying fishing equipment, but had passed on it thinking we would get some at another store......which we didn't. Lesson learned!! Currently the Dermoplast is sitting on my desk for whenever the kids come in complaining of itches. So far it seems to be effective for a couple of hours. Not bad!

Don't you just love products that work so well and are so multi-purpose!!

The logic of UPS??

I like UPS, really, I do. However, I don't understand their shipping methods at all. Currently I have a package coming from Ama*zon. I just tracked the package and it came from Nevada, went to a town 1.5 hours away, and then traveled the opposite direction to a town 4 hours away, and it is schedule to arrive here tomorrow. Doesn't it seem like a waste of gas?? A couple of weeks ago, I had a package go from California to Tennessee before coming back to Oregon. Where is the logic in that?

Random thoughts

Last night after the kids were in bed, Steve and I watched the new show Wipe*Out. Initially, Steve had rolled his eyes at me turning the TV on as he was trying to read, but I could tell he was interested. Long story short, I have not laughed so hard at a TV show in a very long time, maybe never. I know, it's a little twisted that we're laughing at people bouncing like rag dolls off big rubber balls, but hey, they volunteered for it. I think what made the show was the commentary, which we found to be very witty.

Also, I haven't mentioned this before, but I've been meaning to. I've been going to a chiropractor for the last few weeks for some neck problems I am having from working at my computer. I've gone to a chiropractor before, but all he did when you would walk in is ask where it hurt, plop you down and crack your back...which sometimes left me breathless because it hurt so bad. I figured this may not be helping the problem. So I did some internet searching and found another chiropractor. This guy was pretty much the opposite of the other chiropractor. He didn't "crack" anything until the 3rd visit, and even then it was so mild in comparison that I wondered if he was really doing anything. He also uses a very interesting technique that I have named "voodoo magic" because I swear he's not doing anything. He has you lay face down on a chiro table, and he stands at the foot of the table and examines your foot length to determine if they are equal, then he pushes down on your right butt cheek *I'm not kidding* (I try not to clench...you know what I'm talking about), then he looks at your feet again, then he pushed up on the right cheek....repeat on left side. Then he makes a swirl motion on your sacral/lower back area, looks at feet, then swirls in the other direction. Apparently something is usually out of whack because he gets this little thumper thing out and "adjusts" your pelvis...basically it produces several thumps (for lack of a better way to describe it) to several key areas on your pelvis. He does this pushing up and down thing on multiple areas of your body, then looks at your foot length. Mind you he is pushing very very gently so I still can't figure out what my feet have to do with it, but I know that this is an actual method they teach in some chiropractor programs. At one of these sessions, I was telling him that it was my left neck/clavicle area that was really bothering me, which he seems to rarely address even though this has been the key area of discomfort since the beginning. So he is doing his whole voodoo ritual, and starts doing the same thing on my clavicle area. When he pushed down on one area of my clavicle, then checked my feet, he said "oh, there's the problem", and then got the thumper out and "adjusted" my clavicle. It's bizarre to say the least. I try not to giggle while he is doing it (it's good that you're face down), because it just seems so strange. All that being said, my neck has somewhat improved since going to him, but I'm not entirely sure it's just from his "adjustments" or if it's because I've been going to Pilates as well. The best part of the visits is that you get like a 5 minute mini massage each time, which is like a mini vacation. I love it.

Pilates

I'm really excited.... In November I am getting certified in BASI mat Pilates. What is Pilates you ask??

"Developed in the 1920’s by Joseph H. Pilates, this safe well rounded approach to exercise focuses on flexibility, core strength, a return of muscular balance, coordination, and improved posture. Since its beginning people have been experiencing amazing changes when they practice Pilates. The workout leaves their mind and body feeling stimulated, rejuvenated, and alert. They are stronger, more flexible, and more “connected” to their bodies."

I've been doing Pilates for the last several months, and awhile back I was addicted to a mat Pilates class at the YMCA. After taking a long Pilates break, I got back into it after having some neck pain that kept recurring from working at my computer. Pilates has been a huge help with my neck pain, and overall it just feels great. It's a very gentle, yet challenging type of workout.
There are so many different Pilates certifications, and some of them are a little scary. Just like becoming a certified personal trainer, you can go online and pay $49.99 and get "certified" for Pilates. That is NOT the kind of certification I am getting. I will be doing class time, student teaching, and taking both practical and written tests.
I really think that in the long run, this is going to be hugely beneficial for my neck issues and posture, and also really look forward to doing classes with my Mom and Grandma, who could both really benefit from this type of gentle but effective exercise.

Someday I may also get the full certification using the reformer and other Pilates equipment, but it costs A LOT of money, which I just can't justify at this time.

Sports for exercise

Yesterday I was in need of some fun physical activity and needed to get myself and the kids out of the house, so I called up my Dad and asked if he wanted to do something. We decided on Tennis. Dad played tennis in high school, while I have only played a handful of times...but we both haven't played in about 10 years. I wouldn't necessarily called what we did "playing tennis", it was more along the lines of individual serving with the occasional volley. Because I knew I'd be doing a lot of running around, I wore my heart rate monitor. We "played" for little over an hour, and I burned around 700 calories. I think we're going to try to do it more often as it was so much more fun than doing a cardio machine for an hour.

I think the key to exercise is to find things you enjoy doing. What a drag to force yourself to workout if you hate what you're doing....you probably won't last long doing it. For me, the key is variety. I have LOTS of different things I like to do to get my workout in, and it rarely looks the same from week to week.

A great weekend (last weekend)...

Last Friday, the 13th, Steve and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. Despite it being Friday the 13th, we had a fantastic day. Steve took the day off, and we started out with gifts in bed. Aaron had made us an anniversary gift all by himself. He drew a picture of the 4 of us, then put it in a frame he had found and wrapped it. He was so excited to give it to us, and we were just tickled by his thoughtfulness. We then told the kids we had to pick up a "friend" of Grandma and Grandpa's at the airport, then we were going to our favorite restaurant in Grants Pass (Matzukaze). Well the "friend" we were picking up was Auntie Deanna, whom the kids adore. It was so fun to surprise them. Grandma and Grandpa were also surprised, although Grandma in all her wisdom had figured out that Deanna was coming. We had our yummy lunch, then Steve and I headed back to Medford, did a little shopping, then headed to the cottage in Jacksonville we had rented for the night. We had a great dinner in Jacksonville. The next morning we woke up (too early I might add), laid in bed, read, sent Steve across the street for coffee, then finally got up and went out for breakfast. Saturday was Lyle and Jean's (aka Grandma and Grandpa, shoe fairy, the bestest mother-in-law, etc) 40th anniversary and Jean's birthday, and we had planned a BBQ at their house with some of their friends to join us. It was a great evening. Then Sunday we all went down on the Hellgate Jetboats, which was just a blast. The kids had ear-to-ear smiles.
Here are some pictures. 1st, Steve and I on our 10th anniversary (notice my new Tiffany's necklace)


On the jetboats


Auntie Deanna and the kids at the O.K. Corral (the restaurant you take the jetboats to)

Some elk we saw on the river

What's real and what's not??

I found this video very interesting, and an eye opener/reminder on how you have to view magazine pictures with a grain of salt. Also need to be careful what my daughter views, and make sure she knows (eventually) that these pictures are not "real".



This is another example, which many of you have seen before, but I found it fascinating.

Calories burned with Wii Fit

My heart rate monitor/calorie counter watch has been out of commission for a couple of months due to a dead battery. I just put a fresh one in this morning and decided to see how many calories I was burning while doing Wii Fit. Here are the totals

Hula Hoop x 10 minutes (5 min going right and 5 min going left) = 70 calories
Free run x 5 minutes= 47 calories
10 lunges per side, 6 push-up plank combinations, 30 second plank= 69 calories
Total for 21 minutes of Wii time (about 25 minutes actual)= 186 calories

Not too shabby!

Very interesting article about maintaining weight loss

This article was very interesting to me because ever since my first Body for Life challenge, which was very successful and got me at an ideal weight, I have struggled to maintain that ideal weight. In fact, I am now about 10 pounds over what I would consider my ideal weight. I've always felt it was easier to lose weight rather than maintain weight and now I know why. It's a long article, but rather interesting.

God's Timing

We have some dear friends, Brad and Alisha serving God right now in Uganda. Our link group (bible study group) got together and made a care package for them and sent it over. It took about 3 weeks to arrive. About 2 weeks later, I sent another package to them with some stuff I REALLY wanted them to have. Well, 3 weeks came and went and the package had not arrived, then 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks. I so badly wanted them to get this particular package, so we prayed that it would arrive. When I had sent the packages, I got a receipt with a tracking number on it, but I hadn't been able to find the receipts in order to track the packages (kind of important). Today, I was sitting at my desk, tidying up a bit, when I found some paperwork about a warranty I needed to register online for. I couldn't find the receipt I needed so I was looking in my desk drawers for it. Low and behold, I find the tracking receipts for both packages I had sent, so I got online. Unfortunately, it only said that it had left the US on 4/14/08 and no additional information was available. So I called my MIL because she is a retired Post Master, to ask if there was anything else I could do to see what happened to that package. As she is telling me that there really isn't anything I can do, I get an email from Alisha, and I opened the email while still on the phone with my MIL, and the first line was "GOOD NEWS...Guess what arrived in the mail" . See, God does have a sense of humor, and such good timing!!
Thank you God for seeing that the package arrived safely!

OH, AND I then saw that Alisha was on Skype and got to talk to her, and since she had her webcam set up, I also got to see her!! Isn't technology amazing!!

Nose in a book

When it comes to reading, I seem to go in waves...come to think of it, so does my fitness routines! Hmmm, I'll have to ponder that later. Anyway, for the last 2 weeks or so, I have been reading a Christian Fiction series by Liz Curtis Higgs (Thorn in My Heart, Fair is the Rose, Whence Came a Prince, and Grace in Thine Eyes). It all started when my dear friend Jen got me an Evangel gift certificate for my birthday. Being the avid (read: anal) online researcher that I am, I scoured Amazon in search of the perfect book. After writing down a list of all the books that looked interesting and had gotten great reviews, I marched myself down to Evangel full of hope. Alas, they had NONE of the books on my list. So then I had to find some other strategy for picking out the perfect book, which is a little tricky because I don't read the back of books before reading them. I feel like it gives to much away, and I don't like to know ANYTHING prior to opening a book. So I carefully thought about how I might pick out a good book, and settled on finding an author that had several books out, and then something with an intriguing cover. Forget the "don't judge a book by it's cover"...that's exactly what I did. After carefully checking the book to make sure it wasn't part of a series, and finding no evidence that it was, I purchased the book. I rushed home and checked on Amazon to see what the book was rated, and discovered 1) it was rated really well...yeah, and 2) is was #3 in a series...drat!!! Anyway, I went and bought #1 at another book store since Evangel didn't have it at the moment. About half way through DH said he was ordering a book from B*arnes and Noble, so he ordered the #2 book for me as well. That was the week where it was raining and dreary for days on end, and I think I read about 300 pages in one day. So then I was in a quandry because I finished the #1 book, but the #2 book wasn't expected in for 5 days. Thankfully B&N had #2 in stock and said they would let me return the one coming in the mail. I finished that and started #3 on Saturday, which I finished today (it's 537 pages long). Thankfully, when I returned the #2 book to B&N this morning they had JUST received the #4 book about an hour earlier. So, I gotta go.... I'm anxious to start the last book, but also sad that it's the last book. It is an amazing series.

Wii Fit part 2

We've been enjoying the Wii Fit for the last week, and have some pictures to share.


This is Aaron doing a balance game where you walk across a high wire. Maree is just pretending.
This is Aaron (in his standard uniform), doing a side plank in the strength training mode. The side plank is coupled with a push-up. He actually does it quite well, and it's way cute to watch.

I've really enjoyed all the exercises. There is even a feature where you can do "free step" which is sort of like Dance Dance Revolution where you are to follow the steps on the screen. Well, instead you can watch television while the Wiimote ticks off the steps and counts them, and also counts down the time (however much time you have designated to do the exercise). Basically you are just stepping on and off the balance board, which is similar to going for a good paced walk. I love that I can watch my favorite TV shows AND be working out at the same time instead of sitting like a lump on the couch.

The sad thing about the Wii Fit is that if you eat like crap over the weekend and then do the body test, you will watch your little Mii person puff up to indicate the 2.8 pounds you gained. :(
Back to egg whites and whole wheat toast for breakfast, lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats, and no sugar, white flour, and processed foods. I can't stand to see my little Mii looking all chubby. Oh, and the icing on the cake is if you have gained weight it then asks you why you think you might have gained...it really is like having a trainer there with you.

Wii Fit.....

This morning I woke up unusually early, and whereas usually I would have seen the time, rolled back over, and gone back to sleep, I was too excited to sleep anymore. I got up and showered...(gasp, I didn't even have coffee first), and went down to Fred Meyer to grab the Wii Fit. I didn't know what to expect...if there was going to be a long line or if they were going to have 4, and sell the last one to the lady in front of me. Anyway, when I saw the empty parking lot, I thought I was in good shape. Apparently very few people in Medford were as excited as me to get their hands on one of these, as there were no lines, and stacks of Wii Fit sitting behind the counter. So then I came home...had my coffee, and got the Wii going. The instructions say that you need to attach some enclosed feet to the balance board if your carpet touches the unit, but mine didn't so I figured I didn't need it; however, when the unit indicated I was 10 pounds lighter than I was yesterday I figured something wasn't right, but I appreciated the compliment!! ;)
I put the little feet things on, and then it was dead on with my weight. So far I think it is quite fun, and I think the kids are really going to enjoy it. I think, realistically, I will use it more to track my weight and supplement my regular workout routine, but I don't think it will be enough to use instead of my regular routine.

Random updates

So I was all excited that Wii Fit came out today, only to find out it only comes out today in the Nintendo World Store in New York City. Hmmmm, that doesn't really help me out. It actually is available Wednesday to the rest of us. 2 more days ;) . Probably better that way since I work today-Wednesday.

My cat is currently standing in my closet meowing incessantly....why??? I have no idea. Does she sense something paranormal? Should I check for critters? I have called her out and she acts fine, but then returned to the closet. She's a little nutty.

Guess what!! I worked out 6 of the last 7 days. I had planned on taking the weekend off, but when the weather is nice I really like to go running, even though my body doesn't seem to like it. Last night I think I ran about 2 1/2 miles, which was great because we had just had movie theater popcorn....mmmmmmmmhhhh. The kids had gone to Grandma's because I work today and Steve is out chasing Turkeys with a bow and arrow...makes me laugh out loud because he hasn't shot his bow for months and months, and he's never actually shot anything with it anyhow except for a random grouse from 20 yards away. Anyway, good luck to you honey! I digress, so we were without kids last night and decided to go see a movie. We went to see Iron Man, which was a great movie. Then I went for a run....then I had ice cream :) Hey, weekends are my time off from good eating.

$837 cell phone bill=heart attack

So if you follow my blog, you know that last month I got a new cell phone for my "birthday". I actually got it at the beginning of the month. We had received one bill which seemed to be at the expected amount. We then added 2 more lines onto our family plan so that my Mom and Dad could each have cell phone. Anyway, the whole purpose of me getting the cell phone I did was to allow me to check emails and my work website if I need to be away from my desk during work hours, or to check up on things on my days off. So today I went online to check on our minutes and such, and to my utter horror I see that the balance due is $837 !!!! Say what? So I look over the charges trying to figure out what went wrong and see that they have billed me $648 for the 64,800 kilobytes of information I downloaded/uploaded or whatever. Um, no, we had purchased an unlimited data plan when we had ordered the phone and phone service (through an outside/discount distributor website). So I call up the friendly AT&T customer service representative to see what the deal was. The very nice gal informs me that I am being charged for the data I'm using, and I inform her that I purchased an unlimited data plan, and she says that they don't show that on the account, and I read her off my order confirmation from the other company (who should have then notified AT&T). Well apparently this other company failed to mentioned the unlimited data plan to AT&T :) . Thankfully, AT&T really does have great customer service and they are reversing the charges and adding the data plan retrospectively. Whew!
I also decided it would be smart to put data blocks (text messaging/email/internet use) on the other 3 lines, which belong to my mother-in-law, Mom, and Dad. It's not likely any of them would need those services, and this will help avoid any unintentional charges. Somehow my mother-in-law's phone had periodically been uploading data, but she has no idea how this has happened, as she only knows how to make and receive phone calls on her phone. All the more reason just to put a block on it. Although it felt a little funny to email my parents and MIL to inform them I had to put a block on their phones...felt like I was the parent and they were the children. To which my very witty father emails back
"But Moooooooooommmmm! Everyone else has text messaging...."

Sorry Dad :)

Wii Fit...and some other randomness

I am so excited!! 10 more days until Wii Fit comes out (May 19th). I guess it seems appropriate since it's target customer are working moms... Plus I just love the Wii, Wii Fit combines working out and fun, and it's something the whole family can do. So I think it's going to be great.

I worked out 4x this week, which is shocking considering my track record from the last 2 months. My eating was good too.

This morning my daughter crawled into bed with me sometime early, and when I woke up it was 9 am ...9am...wow! I laid there for a while (I'm not a morning person), and didn't want to get out of bed because she was snuggled up so close to me, I knew she would wake up the instant I got of out bed, so I just waited. She woke up a few minutes later. What a nice way to start the day! For some reason I've been more tired than usual so getting 10 hours...yes 10 hours of sleep felt great...although I still felt tired today. I'm also feeling slightly lightheaded and foggy, so I don't know if I've got some kind of viral thing going on or what.

Steve got up at some ungodly hour to go turkey hunting with a co-worker. I just can't wrap my head around the desire to wake up at 4am, go tromp through the woods looking for some elusive bird that only seems to be around when no one is hunting it, but mysteriously disappears when the guns come out. Anyway, he came around 2....with nothing...yet wants to go out again next week to repeat the process. Definitely a guy thing!

Any of you watch Survivor??? OH MY GOODNESS!! I won't give it away because I don't think Kelly has seen it yet, and may watch it tomorrow, but it was like the best Survivor episode EVER!! Classic!!

I've had a curtain sitting in the corner in our living room for over a month now. It is the wrong size, but it hasn't moved from it's original position when we brought it home from Ikea. Sad!

My dear 4 year old daughter went outside yesterday to say hello to the birdies that live in our yard. She was just standing there looking up at them as they sat on the fence about 5 feet away. She stared and stared at them, and they seemed to stare back at her...then she puts her hand up with her pointer finger out (like a perch) and just stands there beckoning the birdies to come land on her finger....(cuz you know, princesses can do that...and the birdies just come sit on there finger and sing a pretty little song). Then she came inside and told us that the birdies wouldn't come sit on her finger...she was truly shocked. It was pretty cute.

I've got a lot more random thoughts, but I don't want to overwhelm you :)

Small victories

Most of you (all 3 of you who actually read my blog) who know me know that I've struggled a bit with fitness since we got back from our Cabo vacation. It's pretty easy to stay motivated when you have a beach vacation coming up, but now that there isn't really anything uber-fun on the horizon, I seem to be dragging my feet. Some of my pants seemed to be getting snug...couldn't be from the ice cream every night and no exercise could it?? Last week I decided (again) that I really needed to get back on track....but I didn't want to say anything to anyone because I've said it many times before and I like to be a person of my word. Anyway, today is day 6 of good eating....not fanatically clean eating, but definitely good. I still was having a hard time motivating myself to work out though. Yesterday went out to the garage to jump rope since that was really the only thing that sounded fun.....couldn't find the jump rope though. So I decided to do one of my Beach Body videos...I ended up doing the P90 fat burning express, which was filmed in Hawaii overlooking the beach. It is one heck of a workout, but actually pretty fun. I was actually getting lightheaded because I was sucking wind so much. Can you say 'out of shape'!!
I'm still afraid to get on the scale, probably best that way. Hopefully I can maintain this wee bit of momentum I have.

From my 4 yr old

Maree was walking out of her room after I told her she could get up from having some quiet time, and this is what she yells in the hallway....

"Hang on Mom, I have to write something in my checkbook!" I giggled and thought maybe I had heard her wrong, so I went out to the living room (as I am working in my room), and asked her what she had said, and she says "Oh, I had to write in my checkbook." So I ask what she had to write in there (as nonchalantly as possible), and she says (as nonchalantly as possible) "Oh, I had to write something in there for school." Sure enough, she has a little notepad out that she was scribbling in. Also...she isn't in school. She just has a vivid imagination....especially since Mommy and Daddy never write anything in the checkbook, so I'm not sure where she heard that from.

:)

Freezer dinners?

Anyone out there have any experience with freezer dinners? A couple of girlfriends and I are getting together this weekend to make freezer dinners, but I don't have any experience with this, and think I might be going about it wrong. I had intended on making a chicken enchilada recipe...just assembling it, not cooking it, then vacuum packing it in a disposable pan and freezing it. I know there are some great books out there on the whole process, but if anyone has any insight into it, any advice would be appreciated!

Amazing song

I downloaded the album Wake Up the World (2008) from Kari Jobe with this song on it. It's called Revelation Song, and I have it on repeat as I work. It brings tears to my eyes.

Surreal moments....and some frustrating ones too

Last night I went to a ballet with a girlfriend of mine whom I've known since we were both babies. We had a girls night and took both of our little girls out to dinner then to the ballet. At one point I looked over at her, as her 3 year old daughter laid her head on her lap, and my 4 year old snuggled with me, and just had this surreal moment. I've known this friend all my life, and here we both were with our own little girls enjoying a girls night. It was just so fun.

On a completely different note. Do you ever have those days where it seems everything goes wrong. Yesterday I had some really frustrating work issues to deal with. Then when I started my work day today, more and more wacky things were happening. Like my computer speakers quit working (they do that occasionally and I just have to reboot my computer...then they work again). However, when I reboot my computer I have to close out my email system and then the computer forgets all my contacts, and will not autofill anymore until I've entered a name at least once. It's not a big deal, just minorly annoying. So then I go to make a call on my work phone and all I get is dead air...no dial tone. Hmm that's strange. So I go check all the cords...all looks well. Call my DH since he has some phone technical experience, and he gives me some things to check, which I do, and it appears that the phone is the culprit..not my phone line. In the meantime I've emailed all my co-workers that my phone is not working and that they should call me on my cell phone if they need to get a hold of me.....but I failed to realize that my phone was still on silent from being at the Ballet last night...so I missed 3 calls even though the phone was sitting right on my desk. At one point I got a dial tone on my work phone and emailed everyone stating that my phone appeared to be working again...then right after that realized that it must have been it's last breath, because once again it was dead. There were so many other things that happened today that were unusual and frustrating, and kept me from getting all my regular work done. Then I spent 3 1/2 hours gallivanting around town trying to find a replacement phone. Since it is a work phone, and my office is in my bedroom, and the phone cord does not reach my desk without having to be strung over the door and around the bookcase (not what I want to do in my newly clean and nicely decorated bedroom), there were certain requirements for the phone that were difficult to find. It seemed no one phone had voicemail, and headset capabilities and was above 2.4 ghz all at the same time. So today I toured Office Depot, Costco, Walmart, Fred Meyer, Staples, Sears, and Target. After Fred Meyer I recruited my husband who had been at work and school to help (actually he knew I was so stressed and offered to go out with me and go a couple more places). Anyway, we finally settled on a phone that is not exactly what I wanted, but it should work fine. Also, at one point...around 4:30, I looked at my phone and I had received 96 emails from today....96!!!!

And more to come later in the week: My husbands new obsession with Big Brother.....

Busy Busy

I feel like a blog delinquent as of late because I haven't had as much time to check blogs and to blog myself. We've had some rearrangements at work which have made things a bit busier, which is actually a good thing, but an adjustment none-the-less. The weather has also been pretty nice (off and on), so we've been spending more time outside.
So here is some randomness...

Have you ever remembered something your parents told you when you were a child, that stuck with you throughout your life. Well, this is nothing profound, but I've always remembered it. I have always liked hot drinks like coffee/tea. My Mom has always been an avid tea drinker, and I grew up enjoying tea as well. When I was a teenager an espresso business started in my home town (Dutch. Bros), and I loved getting the really sweet espresso drinks like caramel mochas, or some other sugary drink. Well around that time I remember my Dad telling me that someday I would be drinking black coffee, and I thought, nah...gross! Well Dad, you were right. It's been a slow progression over the years, going from sugary coffee, to just cream in my coffee, to Americanos with cream, to just Americanos. Now for all you non coffee drinkers, and Americano is basically very strong coffee. For about the last year I've been making Americanos with a splash of 1/2 and 1/2 with our espresso machine. One day I made my regular coffee (3 shots, then hot water, and the cream) except I accidentally omitted the cream. Well when you make espresso right you get a nice layer of caramel colored crema at the top, plus when I add the hot water it creates another layer of bubbles on the top. I started drinking the coffee and thought it tasted a little different, but still thought it was good. It was only when I was half way finished with it that I could see that it was black coffee. Ever since then I've just made it black ...saves me a step in my pre-coffee grogginess!!

Cell phone adventures

My birthday is coming up, and I had hinted to DH that I would really like a new cell phone. My current one had a crack in the face, and since I have a job where I work from my computer, I thought it would be oh so handy to be able to check my email and work even when away from my desk. Of course, the thing that is getting all the rave right now is the i*phone, so I had initially mentioned my interest in that. I knew that DH had done some research on the i*phone, so I wanted to make sure that it was actually the thing I wanted. Well, to make a long story short, I found through much research that the i*phone is really cool, and great as an i*pod, but not so great as a phone and not as great with the features I was looking for. So, basically I found the best deal on a family plan (what the DH had been researching), and basically handed the paperwork to my DH for him to order :)

I got my new phone (my birthday present)...I picked the AT*T Tilt...

Initially,I spent about 2 hours working on my contact list. You connect your phone to your computer and it downloads all your contacts from your email system. Well I had a ton of duplicate contacts.....contacts I didn't even recognize, and contacts I would never need on my phone. I also discovered a whole article on things you should do to your phone to make it more user friendly.... remove unwanted "bloatware" aka...software on the phone that you don't need...like trials of games etc, software you should add to your phone in order to modify some of the settings, etc. Well, turns out in order to get rid of all the "bloatware" you have to do a hard reset of the phone which gets rid of anything you've saved to the phone :) So all my contacts that I had modified were lost.
Yesterday DH and I spent most of the day working on the phone...not because it was hard...but it was slightly technically challenging to add/remove/modify programs and software, and I'm sure we did everything the hard way because neither of us completely understood what we were doing (I'm sure DH will disagree). Anyway, today, everything is working smoothly, and I'm really enjoying the phone. Being able to receive emails while I'm out and about is just so fun. Also having the ability to check the ratings on Ama*zon before buying a book at Target will relieve a great deal of anxiety!! Last week I had to call my dear sister from Target and ask her if she could look some books up for me on Amazon because I just couldn't buy a book without knowing what it rated...or how well other people liked it. (as a side note, I'm the same with recipes...I almost exclusively use allrecipes because people rate the recipes after they make them...so I only make recipes rated 5 stars). Anyway, I can think of so many things that this phone is going to be useful for when I'm out and about.....maps/directions, movie times, amazon ratings and prices, phone numbers for restaurants, and a myriad of other things.

Yes, I am addicted to the internet. I don't know how people live without it!!