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"Dad.  Can I wear a skirt and tights to school?  Some of my friends and I started a cute club."

Cute in a hysterical way.

I had to email her teacher about something else today and I just added a note stating that I could not be held accountable for G's attire.

Her teacher says they want to be fashion designers.  G has created her own catalogs of hair and dress designs.  You could get a pretty interesting cut for a mere $100.

I really need to stop making fun of my children.

Brilliant discovery

Today, the New England Journal of Medicine released this study.  They should give that credit to me.  Really.  For the last 10 years I have been watching the diet and health news and laughing at every new fad that came out.  

There is only one thing that is required to lose weight. 

We learned it in third grade. 

If you want a negative number, the number you subtract must be bigger than the number you put in.   In case you didn't get it, calories burned must be greater than the calories consumed.  

If you want to eat 3 snickers a day, fine, eat 3 snickers a day.  If you run/walk/karate and burn off those 873 calories, go for it.  

I was going to go on and on, but then we get it, we all get it.  We just don't want to admit that there is no magic pill.  We must exercise.  

I think I'll go have a thin mint and some skim milk.

Sucker

Last night, I was sitting at my computer when Z came out of his room and was crying because he just couldn't sleep.  I said I would come lay down with him. He gets to me, I don't know why.  

Andy was in the living room (below the loft) and I said to him, "you know what is stamped on my forehead"? 

We both said, "SUCKER!" 

So I laid down with the little munchkin and he pushes up my hair and says, "I don't see anything on your forehead."

Tonight I just confirmed what a sucker I am when I realized just how much work it is going to be, to put together a school yearbook in less than a month!

It is stamped on my forehead in bold print.  

Victory!

The 2009 AWANA Grand Prix

By victory, I mean, no one went home in tears. 

 

These cars traveled at 196 mph for a mere 30 feet.

It is amazing what a difference .01 seconds makes.

EB, I mean the kids, did a really great job on their cars.  They stayed up late the last couple of nights making sure that paint was dry and all those nuts stayed in place.  

Yeah, right.

G did win her trophy for the best paint job, which she actually did.

The whole thing was exhausting.  They event was quite sophisticated.  Unlike our last church, where three guys sat at the end of the track to see who won the heat, they had and electronic timer.  Each kid ran 4 races and they posted the results on the screen as they happened.

I think there were about 50 kids participating and 20 trophies:)

Because 24 years is not enough.

I have been thinking about how I would spin this post since long before the event happened. Should I talk about all the fun I knew we would have or should I talk about the seriousness of the event.  So I am taking my cue from something seen on the back of a shirt.

24 years is not enough.

This past weekend was a "girls weekend" with a cause.  There were eight of us who participated in the 2nd annual 26.2 with Donna, Breast Cancer Marathon.  Some of us ran 26.2, some ran 13.1 and some walked 13.1.  We were all moved by something beyond the event.  It was a sight to behold.  Almost 7,000 runners with one focus.  Eradicating breast cancer.  

There was a lot of pink.  In fact, we were a vision in pink.  

I could have also titled this post, "Shopping, eating, shopping, eating, shopping, running, eating, shopping and then eating again."  How many people do you know that can spend 4 hours shopping at an expo.  A marathon expo. 

And then there is the shoe department at Dillard's.  Personally I think the shoe buyer needs a new job.

Would anyone really wear these shoes? 

There may have been a cocktail or two to celebrate.

It is all about the hardware!

It's an inny, but it aint pretty.

Last night I was walking to G's bedroom to kiss her goodnight.

She says to me, "Your belly button is ugly."  

I happen to be wearing my lounge pants loosely and she could see the scar that starts at my belly button.

I said, "That is a scar from when I had surgery when I was pregnant with B. They opened me up and they could see him moving around in my tummy."

She says, "I'm going to adopt."

She probably won't want to hear my delivery story either.  

Charging up

In the technicalness, that is today, I am busy charging everything I own,  just to leave home for 3.5 days.  BTW technicalness did not get flagged by spellcheck.  That can't really be a word, can it?

I am charging my phone, my Zune, and both of my camera batteries.  Yes both.  Yes. I know, I am only going for 3.5 days, but I must take both of my cameras.  

The little one is for the race.  I must take pictures while I am running.  Believe me, that is no special feat, you can barely call what I do running. 

Then there is THE camera, my special baby.  I must take that because we will need to take fabulous pictures of us sweating like pigs when we are done with the run.  

I need my Zune because, I am flying and I don't like to fly and I have a tendency to talk to strangers to much when I am nervous.  I have found that not as many people like that as I do.  If I have my Zune I can just sit quietly and pray!

The phone speaks for itself. 

 See you soon girls!!!!!

On again, off again, on again and now off. Really off

We are sad, but I am somewhat relieved.  Something just wasn't feeling right the last couple of weeks.  Could be something with the economy.

The deal fell through with building our house today. 

Fell through for the last time.  I am not going to try to make it work this time.

God is telling us something.

EB doesn't want to listen. 

But we will.

The count down is on.  

In just 4 days, I will be were it is warm.

I will be with my wonderful friends, minus one.

This isn't about the beverages that will be shared, we will be running and walking for a cause.

26.2 with Donna

Year two.

There will be lots of pink, lots of laughs (Save the ta tas) and lots of tears.  

And probably some alcohol.  But just a little and not until we cross the finish line.

The high is supposed to be 69 on Sunday. 

Much better than the 92 last year.

The good, the bad, and the down right ugly.

The Good

The have had this balloon festival for 20 something years, but they have only launched balloons about a 5 or 6 times.  We were lucky enough to have it happen the first year we were here.  I took 110 pictures.

The Bad

We had our taxes done.

THE DOWN RIGHT UGLY!

We owe the IRS a lot of money.  

Way more money than we owed last year. 

We have to file taxes in 3 states.

We had to pay someone to find out we owe lots of money.

Is it over yet?

Today was the 30th day of below zero temperatures this winter.  The worst part, apparently that is just average. Or maybe the worst part is, it is only February 4th and last year it was still snowing in May.  I know, I was here interviewing.  They said it was a fluke.

The weatherman was kind enough to say that even though we usually have around 30 days of this stuff, it is normally not this far below zero on those 30+ days.

That should be a highlight right? I mean -3 is so much warmer than -15.

HELLO...........

Thankfully EB is kind enough to not say I told you so every morning when he gets up.

Justifying our life

For the last few months we have been going through the fabulous process of trying to build a house.  We haven't even broke ground yet and we are not having very much fun. 

When we thought we were going to buy a house, they quickly approved us for the mortgage and said go buy a house.  

Then we decided to build a house.  Well that is another story.  The stuff we have had to go through to get approved to build a house is ridiculous.  A house that costs exactly the same amount as the house we wanted to buy.

Today we gave them every bit of information about the last 6 deposits we have made into our checking and savings.  Including answering questions about why the deposit was not equal to the paycheck.  Word of advice:  Don't get cash back from your deposit. They might ask you were you used the money.  Now, if the EB had direct deposit like 99% of the rest of the world, we could have avoided half of these questions.  And don't write anyone a check for Christmas.  And don't cash our your points card for cash.   

The bank is now swamped with refinance work, so they are putting off our closing once again. This of course puts off digging the hole.

I really just want them to dig the hole!!!!

Potato explosion

Last night I was baking potatoes, to make potato skins.  I poked one of them with a fork to see if they were getting done.  They were close but not quite.  

The next time I opened the oven, that potato was naked.  The peeling was in one piece about a foot from the potato.

The potato itself had not moved, but shards of it were spread across the bottom.  

I wish I had taken a picture, but I ate it instead.  God forbid a camera should come between me and my food.