The time has come

To see if I am really made of what I think I am.   NYC here I come.  If I make it over the Veranzzo Narrows bridge, all will be good.  I promise to post more often now that this training crap is done.

Thursday we will have real high speed internet.  Can I here a woo hoo!

Out with the old

I don't know about you, but I get tired of eating the same old thing over and over again.  It is not that I am not a good cook, I just stink at deciding what to make.  Then there are those picky children.  So I am on a mission to cook something new each week.  The week before last I had the kids each pick something out of my cooking light magazine and I made it.  They were basically different varieties of things we have eaten before, but still different.  Tonight I made Spinach, Pasta and Chick Pea soup.  It was really good.  I tweaked it a bit by adding the extra bacon, from the BLTs we were also having.  That may have thrown off the nutritional value, but hey it tasted great and the kids ate.  Even the chick peas.

I am also going to make a fennel and spinach side dish later this week.  I have never made anything with fennel but here's to trying something new.

Any other suggestions?  I am going to try to make pumpkin soup soon.

EB and B passed their practical test for hunter's safety tonight tomorrow is graduation and a video on field dressing a deer.   Boy are they excited about the movie.  I am sure they will serve popcorn and M & Ms.

Ouch, ouch, ouch

That could be a reference to my really bad typing on my last post, but no.  Last week I decided to run 16 miles, in my brand new shoes and inserts, in the cold and rain.  Since then, my hip has been really bothering me, really, really bothering me.  So to make sure it didn't get any better, I ran 18 miles today.  I should have ran 13 today, but next week when I was supposed to run 18 I have a 10 mile race.  Anyway I had to switch things around.  This is the stuff you have to put up with when you decide to do crazy things like run a marathon at age 45.  I am excited to go to New York, but I am hoping now that I can make the at all.   I have 6 weeks to get it together. Training for a race, has a tendency to take the fun out of running.  There isn't the option of saying, "I don't feel like running today.

Another ouch.  Our house is back on the market.  The bank took to long to approve the loan and the buyers backed out.  Their realtor made sure we didn't get a cent of their earnst money, when she made us sign a new contract and her buyers never did, even though they asked for the extension.

Y camp was a lot of fun, in spite of the crappy weather, the piece of plywood I slept on and the nasty smell of ten year old girl's tennis shoes. Oh my Lord. I met a few really nice women and even learned a little about the environment.  I took 355 pictures for the 5th grade slide show and still not sure I got a one of everyone.  I  learned some new camp songs and spent some time talking to the teachers.  Our school is so lucky.  The teachers are awesome and they really care about our kids.

After having this mac book for 6 months, I finally figured out how to make it do the right click I love so much on my work PC.

I am trying to upgrade my imac to snow leopard and it is not going well, all because I wanted a track pad for a mouse, which requires snow leopard.  It keeps getting stuck in the same place every time.  It is making me cranky.  I did what I was supposed to do and it still won't work.  Of course, there is no support on a 4 year old computer.  Poop.  I might try using support for my laptop to see if I can get some help.

The Packer game starts in an hour.  GO PACK GO.  I can't believe I am cheering for the Lions, but I certainly would like to see Detroit have a couple of positive things this year. Only 2 minutes to go.   Go Tigers too.

Okay, that is a whole lot of nothing, but it's all I got.

One cranky puppy.

Ellie is on a diet and it is not going well.  She is a couple of pounds overweight, which doesn't seem like a lot, unless you weigh 20 pounds.  Then it is 10% of your body weight.  She has been sitting in the kitchen crying every night.  She sits and cries by the dog food closet.  I know how she feels.  I stinks to be deprived.  I mean really, I only let myself have 3 fudge graham cookies tonight when really I wanted 5.  I am trying to get them more exercise, but they can't make it 4 miles with me and it is getting dark early again, so after I run doesn't really work.  Okay now she is eating EB's crocs.  I really do feel bad for the poor girl.

New TV starts this week.  I recorded Glee and am watching Raising Hope and the Biggest Loser.  If you haven't watched Raising Hope, you really should.  I don't know why but that show makes me laugh all the time.  There isn't really anything else that I am excited about.  Oh except, Modern Family. I always forget about that show.

Tomorrow is camp and, goodness, I haven't even packed.  I have been lectured a couple of times about how I really should get my stuff together.  I have to get to bed.  I need to run 6 miles before camp.

I should call it quits.

I know I should just call it quits with this blog.  My posts have become almost obsolete.  I just can't quite do it.

School has started, fall is here and the garden is done.  The pumpkins are just sitting out there waiting to be carved.  It is a little early, but it won't be long.  We are still waiting for something to happen on the house, but I am not holding my breath.

Training has been going well, but I am certainly not going to do this again.  I feel good, but there isn't enough time.  Just realized I was supposed to go over to another parent's house and work on the yearbook tonight.  Oops.  I even had it on my calendar.

Went to a wedding yesterday where everyone, of the groom's friends and family, really dislike the bride.  AWKWARD.  It was strange.  His Dad didn't even come.    I did get some great pictures of the family though.

The Packers , Bucs and believe it or not the Lions won too.

Looking forward to chaperoning 82 fifth graders, at sleep away camp, for three days. Of course camp is just 5 minutes from school, but if you have great facilities, close, you should use them.  I hope the weather forecast improves for Wednesday.  Right now it looks like it will be much like today, which was, lets just say, crappy.  Oh well, it is rain or shine!

Toffee is laying next to me on the couch and one of us needs a bath.  I am thinking it is him, since I showered today.

I have had "The Help" on my list to see since it came out.  Guess I'll be renting it from Redbox.

Lame post, but my brain is tired along with my body.

My pumpkin runneth over

No one will ever accuse me of being a "Type A" gardener.  Of course they would never accuse me of being a "Type A" anything, except for the constant need to be doing something.   

My tomato cages are bent, falling over, full of weeds and way too close together.  I am shocked by how many tomato plants came back after the @#^$ ground squirrels did their thing, but they are there and quite full of tomatoes.   I think there might be a little blight going on but we will survive.

This is just one hole out of a hundred.  Maybe there will be a few less, now that EB has had some success behind the scope.

One should read up on some things before you decide to just throw one a plant in the garden.  Looks like we will have a pumpkin bounty.  This one is already a foot long.

There are probably 10 more on this one vine.  One vine that has turned into a plant that is about 20 feet wide, 10 feet deep and 4 feet tall.  Who knew.  It has taken over the beans, which is fine.  I think I have eaten my fair share of beans so today I froze a couple of packages.

There are quite a few that are just a couple of inches.  Hopefully the bees have done their job and we will have enough pumpkins to fill our porch with jack-o-lanterns.

P.S. Things seem to be moving along on our house, just a couple more steps to go.  The inspection is complete and they are only asking for $1500 to make necessary repairs.  I am good with that. 

Keep us in your prayers!

We have an offer

We have an offer and they have accepted our counter offer, unfortunately the inspector they are using is known to ruin many a deal.  It is an old house, it has lots of quirks.  Please say a little prayer that all goes well or at least the things he identifies can be fixed for less than $4000.00  That is our threshold for not having to pay money on a house we don't own.  

It is hard to believe that I can be excited about selling the house we have had for 15 years for $23,000 less than we bought it for, but I am.  I sat down yesterday and figured out what it cost us to actually be in that house, including the interest, loss on the house, improvements etc and it really came to about $1400 a month.  You could say geez that is a lot of money to lose on a house, but all I have to do is think of all the wonderful people I would not have met and called my dearest friends if I had not lived in that house.  We had great times there and we miss our friends a lot.  But we have moved on and dammit I want to be done with the house.

B ended up winning his baseball game Thursday so we have another game today and I have to say it is sticky and yicky outside.  It was a very long 8 miles this morning.  Thank goodness for the EB who is now the WB (water boy).  He saved my life again.

Appliance repair man is coming back this am, so hopefully we will have an oven that works.  A really expensive oven that works.

Much better.

85 and zero humidty.  My kind of summer night.  Last night of baseball too.  Yeah.  The puppies would be excited too if they understood anything besides food and belly scratching.  They have been in the kennel way to much lately. 

Saturday, EB has tickets to the Twins vs. Tigers game.  He is taking the children, I think I may go see Larry Crowne.  Bad reviews or not.  Of course, that is after I run ten miles, have the oven fixed, do the laundry, clean the house, weed the garden, water the flowers......  You know the everyday stuff. 

Can I really blog from my phone?

So I will probably post more often, but they may be less coherent.  I am not sure that is possible, but we shall see.

We are sitting in the sauna. The boys clearly could not care if we win or not.  I say, lose on purpose so we don't have to play two more nights this week.  At least our team's back is to the sun while we are on the bench.  Z is pitching so I need to pay attention.  Ooh that was painful.

I ran on the treadmill when I got home, showered and then came here, now I need another shower.

When did companies stop standing by their products?

I am so completely frustrated and ready to give up my favorite brands.

About 3 weeks ago the buttons on my Kenmore oven stopped working.  First it was the bake button, next it was the pre-heat button, then the convection bake oven and lastly the convection roast.  This is the oven we have had for less than 2 years.  Yes less than 2 years.  I called Sears and spoke to someone from another country, who of course, didn't speak English as their first language.  I work with a lot of non-native english speaking individuals who I have no trouble understanding, but over the phone it is much more difficult.  Anyway they told me it was going to be $129 for just the service call.  I still had one button that worked so I said pass, but then I really can't bake a cake on convection roast.  So I called again, same situation over again.  I said I wanted my oven fixed, she put me down for the microwave.  That was after a 10 minute conversation.  Then I had to call back to fix the appointment.  That took another 15 minutes while they tried to sell me a million things they tried to sell me when I made the original appointment.  I said, "I really just want to fix the appointment, not anything else, just fix my appointment."

So the service man gets here yesterday, he was here for about 15 minutes and there was a lot of talk, no real action and he says okay that will be $500,  and I'll order the parts and come back next week.  Come back next week, are you fricking kidding me.  I took 1/2 a day of PTO, I am not taking another 1/2 day of PTO, do you know how valuable PTO is.  I said all of that except the fricking part. I should have said, "yeah this is the same thing I told the people on the phone, so you could have had the parts and fixed it right now".  He then said he could come back on a Saturday in a couple of weeks.  Oh yeah.  $500 for an oven that cost about $800 and is less than two years old.

I am so mad.  BTW, when we built our house we bought $4000 worth of Kenmore appliances.  Can't return them, what do you do.  So now I will not be shopping at Sears, which means I can't shop at Land's End.  Do you know how much I love Land's End.

Okay on to other really great news.  It is going to be around 95-100 for the next 7-10 days.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

THANK YOU TO ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO KEEP US FREE!

Seems like it should have been a much more productive weekend than it was.  I have no idea where the time has gone and now I just realized all the kids are out of the pool and I should be helping EB work on the edging at the front of the house.  

BE RIGHT BACK.

Okay, a day later, but back none the less.

I am just going to have to do a list.....

Movie reviews are overrated.

Cars was better than they said.

Looking forward to Larry Crowne, in spite of the reviews.

Fireworks are underrated.

We had at least 7 fireworks shows in our subdivision alone.

Our dogs do not like fireworks, therefore sleep was overrated this weekend as well.

Training is going well.

EB is now WB, the Water Boy.

Signed up for a couple more races.

Yard work is never ending.

A super duper zippy lawnmower will take out a $200 light pole in no time flat.

Bought 300 ft. of weed block and 220 feet of edging.

In hopes of not taking out any parts of the house.

WB does not like hostas.

They are cheap and good filler for around the house.

We'll be having this conversation again.

Wasabi peas are a little overwhelming if you stick 6 in your mouth at once.

Berry mania mmmmmm.......

Almond and chocolate pound cake with cream cheese, whipped topping and berries.  Lots of berries.

Thankful for the swimming pool.

Sunscreen should be free.

Friends coming to see family. but staying with us.  Can't wait.  We'll have lots of good breakfasts.

Painted a cookie jar that we have had for ten years, still in the box.  (Amy you should finish your pig.)

There are pumpkins on the vine.

Tomatoes too.

Green beans should be plentiful.

There are 6 less ground squirrels in the back yard.

The scar will heal WB.

Casey Anthony, not what I expected.  Thank goodness the final judgment is not up to humans.

Ellie and Toffee make me laugh all the time.

Nice to finally have summer weather.

Happy Birthday to my big sister.

Blogging by the fire.

Today turned out to be a beautiful day, even if it does feel like September and not June.  I had a great run of 10.5 miles this morning.  I started out with long sleeve shirt, running skort and gloves.  EB met me at mile 5.5 with Gatorade and more Kleenex.  I dumped the gloves and dirty tissues, downed as much Gatorade as possible in 1.5 minutes and carried on.  It is actually hard to run when you can't breath, darn allergies.

EB, G and I managed to get the errands run and groceries and lunches prepped for the week before 1:00.  We have been trying to empty the pool so that we can move it over about 5 feet and level it, but it taking longer than expected.  Not sure when we will be able to refill it as tomorrow we head to the rents to wish my sister well on her move to Germany.  I certainly hope we get a chance to get there this time.  Everything, of course is waiting on that damn house in Michigan.  Please just sell and be done with it.

We also managed a trip to Trader Joes to stock up on dried fruit for my trail mix for snacks.  Thirty-nine dollars of dried fruit and a few pita chips.  Not even a grocery bag full.  Oh my, why must we eat.  It really just only makes me crazy anyway.  While on that little trip we stopped and picked up some new tomato and cucumber plants, seeing how the blasted @#$%^ ^&**% squirrels literally chewed them in half.  They didn't even eat them, just chewed them off like little beavers.  Really why!! You don't like them, you should know that from last year.  I am going to buy some plastic owls and put them on the side of the garden, they are working to keep the woodpeckers off my bosses house, so maybe they will do the same for me.

Now we are sitting by the fire (still light out) watching the sun set and the hot air balloons float through the sky, while listening to Jason Aldean.  We already ate S'mores, for me it is just graham crackers and marshmallows, I can do without the chocolate.

Today was the Joyful Noise Family Fest and my favorite band, Casting Crowns was there, but we decided to save the $150 and stay home and get things done, but right now they would be getting ready to go on stage.  Oh well, another day.

A little funny,

Last night we were watching America's funniest home videos and there is a video with a kid with panty liners stuck all over his head and body.  Knowing what they are, G says,  "That is disgusting."  Z says, "What they are just big band-aids."  G wants to correct him, I just told her to play along.

I may have been abducted by an alien.

I believe I have been abducted by an alien, had my brain replaced, and then returned.  On Saturday the boys and I dropped G off at a birthday party and headed to Wal-mart to get a pool.  Yes, I said a pool.  In my back yard, yes I did.  When we picked up G from the birthday party, several hour later, and were pulling into the sub G looked over and said...."OMG, did we really get a pool.  No kidding we really got a pool, I don't believe it we got a pool."  We filled it up and the kids wanted to get in.  Ummm yeah, we have well water and it is cold!  58 degrees to be exact.  They did get in, but I didn't let them stay in long.

Then of course the temps hit 100 and the pool warmed up considerably.  Today it was 85 and not just the top foot, that was 95.  Of course it is going to be 65 over the weekend.  Can't win them all.

As you can see the pool is leaning a little to the right.  That is a problem. It was just a couple of inches lower than the other side and we thought it would be okay, but now we are planning on taking it down and fixing it before we have our own America's Funniest Home Video.  The only thing that really bothers me is the wasted water.  I am going to water the yard with it, since we used salt and not chlorine, but that still makes me sick.  I figure my neighbors water their yards everyday, what's another 4400 gallons.

I have also heard some very interesting conversations while supervising the pool.  10 year old girls have active minds.

Lots more to write about a lovely conversation with the Michigan tax assessor regarding our house there,  but right now I need to get to bed.  

   

Just call me a slouch

Tonight Z had a really bad headache and didn't go to baseball, he went to bed instead. That worked out really well for me.  G went to B's baseball game with EB and I stayed home.  This is prime productivity time for me, but something happened and not a whole lot got done.  I took the puppies for a walk, tried to water the garden, did a couple of dishes, prepped for breakfast and now I am sitting on the couch under a blanket.  Yes I know it is June and I am cold.  No the air is not on.  

I really need to get back to blogging on a regular basis.   There so many truly important things to tell you.

Like....

How my dogs crack me up.  They act like children.  They talk to each other and then get mad when the other doesn't respond.

How G is singing church hymns in the shower, nope, she just changed to Taylor Swift.

How the wind just won't quit blowing and ruining the $200 in plants that I just put in.

How, tonight, I ate two rice krispy treats and then buried the wrappers in the garbage can.  Then I ate a handful of stale cereal and then a handful of stale chips.  Why I continued to chew and then swallow them, after I realized how bad they were, is beyond me. PMS

How I woke up with a tick crawling on my arm a week ago and haven't slept well since.  And in spite of the tick medicine on the pups, we keep having to pull them off them.  It is so hard to find them on Ellie, since she has silky black fur.  Tick check.

How EB and his friend totally messed up my satellite tv while trying to wire the house for the upcoming internet connection.  I haven't had tv since Monday, which wouldn't really matter except I need my weather!  I need to know in advance if I am going to blow away while walking the dogs.

How my trainer made me do squats while holding a 30 pound wight bar over my head.  My inner thighs hurt!!

How our former tenants are suing us for the security deposit, claiming we didn't properly notify them that we were keeping it.

How I added a 1/2 ton of rock around my pond and it looks so much better.

How my 12 year old believes he needs braces based on an assessment by his 12 year old friend.  He has perfectly straight teeth.

Don't you feel like a more complete person just by reading this!

Is 8:25 too early to go to bed.


Happy 70th Birthday to the most wonderful daddy a girl could ever ask for!  My very own super-hero!

Is it spring yet.

I just spent a week in Hilton Head and to come back to this weather has been more than a little depressing. I really thought we would be having weather in the 70s, at least.  Tomorrow, G & Z have track and field and I am afraid they are going to have to wear their long underwear under the shorts.

I have been trying to get some work done outside, in between the training, baseball, swimming lessons, work and cleaning the inside of the house, but it is not going all that quickly.  Looks like most of my perennials came back, with the exception of the columbine.  It seemed like it was coming back, but we must have had a couple of cold days last week and now it is deceased.  Oh well, I bought a couple of new ones to stick in there.  I really need to be a little more thoughtful about what I buy, but I have a tendency to just try to get it done.   Now that I look at it, it needs more color.  Anybody have any suggestions for colorful perennials.  I have lot of different textures and even lots of shares of green, but not much color.

I do have a bunch of pots on my porch that I will finish filling with annuals, for color, but even those seem to be primarily green.

While I was in Hilton Head on my workation, my wonderful daddy weeded my 10 x 10 vegetable garden and it was in sad shape.  The weeds were thick and 3 feet tall.  It was beautiful.  The children helped, but you know how that goes.  Sunday night I rand to Mainerds at 7, during the only hour of sunshine, so I could get some tomatoes, cucumbers and beans.  I got them planted and weed block down by 9:00.  We will have cucumbers again.  YEAH.  My co-workers will be happy.

Enough of the garden growing, how about those children growing.  G & Z turned 10 on Saturday.  10 how does that happen.  We are lame parents and did not have a party or anything. We did take them shopping and out to lunch, what more do they need.

My mom got G the American Girl book "The Care and Keeping of You".  It has made for many interesting conversations over the last couple of days.  The book is great and very thorough!  I had already had a chat with her about the some of the stuff they cover in the book, but maybe not in enough detail.  She said, to those sitting at the dining room table, including her grandfather, "This book is full of the "V" word and the "B" word.  Some of this stuff is just disgusting".  I thought I was going to spit out my drink.  Later on we had a lovely talk, on our walk, about tampons.  So if you have a girl and are not comfortable starting those conversations the book should take care of starting them for you.  Very accurate illustrations too.

Lucky you who only have boys!  Your conversations are much simpler, body hair and morning penis.   Okay I guess that is a good closer.

Happy Wednesday!  At least I think it is Wednesday.

Where oh where has our little girl gone oh, where oh

where could she be...........

Having her own little pity party once again.  I am done now, so I will come out and play again.  The last month has been a little stressful as the rotten, nasty, lying kind and generous people who had agreed to buy our house found a way out of the contract and bought another house.  Now they are just being nasty about what they need to do in the house, since they moved out.  I am 99.9% sure we will actually win this one, so I have decided to stop being nice and am just going for everything I can get.

I remind myself everyday that this is just about money and that God has provided for us in spite of what they have done.  He is an amazing God.

 I did finally talk to and see my friend who lost her son and she is really a special person.  Her faith is something I can only dream about.  She said that she is sad when she wakes up and he is not there, but she is okay with everything because she knows that he is going to have a secure and safe life in Heaven.  Her biggest fear is forgetting him, because she had him for such a short time.  

A couple of months ago my running friends and I put our names in the hat for the NYC Marathon.  No one got in except me.  Over 90,000 entries and I got picked.  I could defer and then if my friends get in next year I get an auto entry, but I have tell you I am seriously considering doing it this year.  Of course only if some of my friends will come cheer me on.  I don't think I have been this strong physically in a long time.  I am eating right, I have a trainer who said she would help me through, I have frequent flyer miles to get me there and I feel like it would be a good way to burn some of this stress I am having.

After I found out I got in I went and bought a couple of lottery tickets.  That didn't turn out quite the way the marathon did, but it was good for some entertaining conversation.  We stopped at the Kwik trip on our way home from AWANA and I got my tickets.   When I got in the car, G says, "If we win the lottery I am going to take a bath in money."  I thought I was going to die laughing.


Hard to believe it is going to be May 1 on Sunday and just yesterday it was snowing.  I really am done with winter.

I am not a very good friend.

Today I checked in on Facebook and found out that one of our friends, from our old church, three year old passed away last week.   I have not been good at keeping touch with people.  Sometimes Facebook, can make you feel like you are always connected when you are really not.

You think, oh I'll just send them a Facebook message and then you never do and then you don't call and then something happens and you can't figure out what to say if you could even pick up the phone and call.

I really don't think there can be anything as painful as losing a child.

God Bless you Johnathan!

  

Inspiration for change

It has been another great week at the "Always something" house again.  Unfortunately that hasn't been true everywhere.  The pictures from Japan are really heartbreaking and frightening.  I feel guilty for thinking thank goodness it is on the other side of the world.

On to more positive things.

This is my inspiration to change......

 

Change my decor that is.  Not change me. I mean, really, I am perfect just as I am.....chuckle, laugh, guffaw.

This chair goes with nothing I own, but that didn't stop my from buying it.  I can say I didn't buy it on a whim.  I slept on it overnight.  Then I went back to the store the second it opened  on Sunday and snatched it up.  Apparently out of the hands of another person who was going to come back and get it.  "You snooze you lose."  The dark color is actually a deep purple and not black or brown.  I love "Home Goods" store.  Oh my goodness, I could spend my days alternating between Home Goods, Michaels and an occasional pass through Lowes and my life would be complete.  I am putting it in our bedroom and we are in search of a coverlett and shams that will go with it.  I think I am looking for something in a chocolate brown.  Then I will need to paint and either make or get new curtains.  That is the only thing that makes me sad.  I spent a lot of time making those curtains and they are beautiful, but not near as much fun as the chair and right now I am looking for fun.

I also purchased a couple of low back slipper chairs for the living room, but they were very cheap, but cute.

On Monday these came to my work.

Seventeen years of wedded bliss.  chuckle, laugh....  mostly it has been bliss, but there have definitely been moments.  Here's to Seventeen more EB, you are a wonderful and oh so thoughtful husband.

Wednesday could have been a disaster.  My car just stopped while on my way home from work at 8:45 pm.   Frightening, but I turned it off, took out the key and then restarted it.  Amazingly enough it worked.  I took it in Thursday and they said it was a sensor and it was actually covered by my extended warranty, whoo hoo, but they didn't have the part, so unfortunately they were going to have to give me a loaner car.  So I stopped after work and picked up this...

That was a hoot to drive.  The guy said, "Don't get a ticket."  I didn't, but I easily could have.


The week ended with this.....

Of course we hadn't eaten 1/2 of it before we decided to take the picture.

Thanks EB, again, for a wonderful night and another wonderful year.



Please continue to pray for all of those in Japan and around the world, may something good come from all of this.

Awesome week

It has been a great week.  My final check out went well.  Okay, Stephanie said I kicked butt.  I am not one to brag about myself but just for a second I will.  I lost 15 pounds and 9 inches, 5 of which was off my tummy.  I also did 34 push ups without stopping.  My blood pressure was way down and my V02 was way up!!!

Then there was some bad news.  The value of the house in MI, dropped another $11K.  Yep now down to $30K less than when we bought it in '95.  Boy that real estate was a good investment. I am not sure how that really fit in to my awesome week, but it is all part of life.

Then there was some really good news at work.  And then there was some more good news at work!!

I finished 8 scrapbook pages, thanks to all the teachers who called in sick.  I am trying to drum up sympathy for these teachers, but I am having a really hard time.  Welcome to the real world where when the economy tanks, things get tough and tight.  I watched what the unions did to the state of Michigan.  I know it wasn't entirely the unions, but they certainly had a hand in it.  (Please don't yell at me Green Girl)  I do think Gov Walker could have phased some of the cuts in over two years, but something has to be done.  Okay, I will get off my soap box.

Today is the last day of basketball.  I am so happy sad.

This afternoon we get our taxes done.  Let's hope the week ends as positively as it began.  

After we are done with our taxes, we are going to work on the basement ceiling. Let's hope that doesn't end in divorce:)

Dread and Glee

Tomorrow I have my 12 week Wellness check out.  I am both dreading and extremely excited about this appointment.  I know it is going to be better than week one, but just how better.  This has been a bad week for eating. We didn't eat at home all weekend, which is never good news.  I had a burger and fries on Friday and I have been snacking, snacking, snacking.  I did put in tons of exercise as well, but I am still not sure what is going to happen.

Wish me luck.

One day to go!!!

Tomorrow is the big day and I can't wait.  Snack ingredients and beverages are in the fridge.

I burned as many calories as possible the last couple of days, so I could eat all those snacks and drink all those beverages.

Craziness abounds at our house as usual.  Let's see, today is basketball x 2, Aikido, birthday party, balloon launch, iceskating and snack preparation.  Of course we have yet to buy a birthday present, why be prepared when you can cram it all in one day.

It is supposed to snow again, surprise there.  I mean we have only had 60 inches of snow so far this year.  I think we should shoot for 100.  Let's go for way above average.  Of course we could be south of here and getting feet of snow in one day, so I shouldn't complain.  My sister lives in Dallas, just a mere 15 miles from the stadium, where she has had to work from home because the roads are way to icy.  I feel genuinely bad for all those people who have tickets to the game and may not make it there, due to this stinking weather.

These are the times when I global warming, where?  We have had below average temperatures this winter again!!

GO PACK GO!

Yesterday I took green and gold cookies to work and I made them say Go Pack Go, before they could have one.  I think there may have been a few Vikings resistors that stole cookies when I wasn't looking.

Boy am I good at rambling on about nothing!

GO PACK GO!!

WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!

I may never walk again.

168 squats/lunges in 25 minutes.  Holy cow, I could barely make it back to my office.

The trainer is part of this wellness program we are doing at work.  It cost me $50 and I got an initial 1 hour assessment.  5 -  1/2 hour 1:1 training sessions and 2 - 1/2 final check-ins and assessments.  The two women are registered dietitians and personal trainers.  Mine is a 26 year old triathelete, who is wonderful, even if she makes me cry.   She helped me come up with a great eating and exercising plan.   I am not training for anything other than being able to breathe in my pants:)

Will it be me?

B wants me to be the person to download the 10,000,000,000 mac App.   He is checking it when he gets up and when he gets home. I am not holding out hope since I don't think I can stay up all night and watch the numbers turn.  Seriously what would I do with $10,000 in itunes gift cards.

I am not looking forward to tomorrow.  I have my 8 week check in with my trainer and I really don't want to weigh in.  I had been doing so great right up until this past weekend.  Nachos, beer, chips ahoy and a chocolate chip muffin.  I am going to bed hungry and I am not going to eat until after I weigh in.

Okay that is a lie.  I know I am going to eat breakfast.

BTW - My trainer wants to be Jillian's replacement on Biggest Loser and tonight she tried to prove she could do it.  My arms were noodles and I thought I wouldn't be able to drive home.

Write this on the calendar.

I sat on the couch today and watched 3 movies.  Yes three whole movies, with only minor interruptions. Okay I can't really say I watched them.  I, more like, listened to them while I worked on a prayer shawl, for one of my co-workers and did a little yearbook. Of course I did empty the dishwasher, let the dogs out four times and ironed Z's clothes for their orchestra performance tonight.  But still, my butt was on the couch for approximately 5 4, 3.5 hours in one sitting.

Really I did.  By the way, anyone have any earplugs.

So far so good.

Third quarter and we are ahead.  Yeah PACKERS!

The snow can go at anytime.  Tonight EB and I went to his work holiday party.  We were letting the kids stay home alone for the first time after dark.  I didn't want to stay late, so we took two cars.  Well there is so much friggin snow, there were no places to park and I ended up coming home, without dinner.  EB stayed.  I do have to complain about the Embassy Suites, yes I put their name out there.  If you book a  party with 400 people you should at least have parking for 200 cars.  We drove around the parking lot 6 times and then stopped to ask where we could park.  They said, "Sorry this is all the parking we have."  Really, that is unacceptable.   Find a parking lot, use your empty shuttle and take people back and forth.  Seriously you need to have a plan.  Plus I bought a dress, new shoes, hose and had good hair, dang it.

Okay, I am done now.  Back to football game.  Aaron Rodgers, you rock!

Again a repeat

Seriously this making me cranky.  Thankfully Biggest Loser is on.  Amy, football on Tuesday would have been great if it had been someone other than the Vikings.  Oh pooo.

Verizon is coming out with the iPhone and the EB can't wait.

Moved up to 8 pound weights for my upper body class.  Should be fun driving tomorrow.    I am going to need to go shopping soon:)

Did you know that you can waste an enormous amount of time on apps for the MAC.  I am going to be a great pilot one day.  I can land 39 planes, on 3 runways, in the snow in about 5 minutes.

How is that for a useless post.

I am ticked off!

Glee was a re-run again!

That is all I have to say about that.

I am not ready for the talk.

The Y is right next to our Vet's office, so we pass by it often.

Tonight's conversation was unexpected.

G, "Mom, when is Ellie going to have her surgery so she can't have babies."
fine
Me, " I am not sure."

G, "When can Ellie have puppies?"

Me, " She is old enough now, but she is fine because Toffee can't have puppies so she will be fine."  I meanwhile can see the path she is going down and I am not sure how we are going to get around it.

G, "Toffe can't have puppies, he is a boy."

Me, "I know, but a girl puppy can't have a puppy without a boy puppy.  Just like people."

G, "But how?"

Now I am thinking, I should have just stopped at soon.  Why didn't I just say soon.

G, "What about the other dogs in the neighborhood?  Can she have puppies with them? Can she just have a baby if she walks by them?"

I do not want to have this conversation..........

Me, " G, that is more than you need to know anymore than that right now.  I will tell you when you are 12."

G, "Okay"

Really that is it.  I could have just stopped at soon and she would have been fine!