Slowing Down

Puppy Love

2010-01-04T23:37:00.001-06:00

It is currently mating season in our house, and Josh and I are trying desperately to make sure no puppies get made!

Last Christmas, we inherited Skyla from our neighbor. He couldn't take care of her, and we seem to attract dogs, so Skyla joined our family.

Unfortunately, Skyla had not yet been spade when she came over. The main problem with this is that Dash has not yet been neutered either. Normally, it isn't a problem-neither one is too randy; however, this is not currently the case.

Skyla is in heat, and Dash is more desperate than (insert witty metaphor here-I can't think of one).

We have had to keep Dash in his cage all day and all night. When we let him out to drink and go outside, he goes berserk: chasing, humping, licking, chasing. When he is in his cage, he cries, whines, barks, digs. I don't think he sleeps even. If he does, I'm certain he is dreaming of Skyla!

Weekly Winners 12/27-1/2/10

2010-01-03T17:47:00.004-06:00

The Gingerbread House THIS week.

We left the dogs alone with it for too long!

Lego Rock Band!

Go check out the other Weekly Winners from Sarcastic Mom.

Weekly Winners 12/20-12/26

2009-12-27T09:06:00.003-06:00

In an attempt to SLOW DOWN and remember what life is all about, I'm joining Sarcastic Mom's Weekly Winners photo gallery. I really enjoy writing in my blog, and I really enjoy taking pictures, but when I have a minute to sit down, I think of it as more of a chore than a hobby. I don't want it to be that way!

Here are my weekly winners:

The first day of Christmas break.

We made the Gingerbread House on the second day of break!

Decorating cookies for Santa. Everyone except for Keira gave up after about 3 cookies. She stayed at the counter by herself for about an hour, making sure every one of them was perfect.

Keira in her new Snuggie!

My iPhone

2009-12-05T20:29:00.000-06:00

I just downloaded an app for my iPhone that let's me update from my phone.
Maybe that'll make me more motivated to blog. Let's see!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rachael and Mari

2009-07-24T19:21:00.003-05:00

I feel like Julie!

Another successful recipe from Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats cookbook.

We cooked #83, Ginger Vegetable Chicken Noodle Bowl. It worked out fantastically because Josh was the chopper and dicer and I was the stirrer and combiner. It was a lot of fun working in the kitchen with Josh, and I didn't have to do the part that I hate.

The noodles were DELICIOUS. Seriously, I had some of the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. It had the perfect amount of ginger. I would add more bean sprouts next time. Josh wants to try it with shrimp too. That'd be so yummy!

I can't wait to make this one again!

Tagged

2009-07-19T19:22:00.003-05:00

Del tagged me to do this meme quite a while ago, but I've been trying to compose my post in my head. I'm supposed to list ten things that my readers don't know about me. Ten things is a lot of things! Here goes!

1. I think my husband is a better parent than I am. He has more patience with them and seems to enjoy playing with them more than I do. It makes me sad, but at the same time, it makes me very proud of my husband for being such a great dad!

2. I am the youngest of 3 make that 7 , no 9, okay, definitely 5. I have a confusing family! My parents were both married and had 2 kids each before marrying each other, then they had 3 kids together. (7 kids so far) When I was growing up, one of my brothers, who was in the military, got a divorce, and his two kids came to live with us for a while, so that makes 9 kids, but I wasn't the youngest of my niece and nephew! I've actually never met my dad's two sons from his previous marriage, so.... I'm the youngest of 5 kids. My oldest brother is 15 years older than me, and my sister, who is the closest to me in age is 5 years older than me, so it was kind of like I was an only child!

3. I desperately want to move to Australia, but you knew that, didn't you?

4. I ADORE shoes. I know it sounds like a cliche, but I really do. I think it is because there are so many beautiful shoes out there! AND, it is far easier to find gorgeous shoes that fit perfectly than clothes that do!

5. I really like watching reality tv. I know that they are dumb, BUT I enjoy the drama. I like hearing and watching drama, but I HATE being a part of any drama. I am actually passivitistic when it comes be being a part of drama, but watching it and talking about it is fun. :)

6. I love playing poker. I really like any kind of board game or card game. I'm very competitive.

7. I have one leg shorter than the other. It really only becomes evident when my body is tired. Also, when walking in a line, I walk crooked. I could not pass a drunk-walk-the-line-type test.

8. I'm not a morning person. I could easily sleep till noon. I'm not a night person, either. By 10pm, I'm ready for my nightly glass of wine and my bed. I used to be more of a night person-staying up til 2 or 3am during college, but then once I started teaching, I couldn't do that any more. I'm a little more of a morning person than a night person, waking up naturally around 9am. My whole family usually sleep until around 10:30 or 11.

9. I hate, hate, HATE driving or even walking behind someone slow. When I want to go somewhere, even if it is just to another store in the mall, it annoys the hell out of me when someone gets in my way!

10. Josh says that I'm primal... When I'm tired, I'm grumpy RIGHT AWAY. When I'm hungry, I want food RIGHT AWAY. It comes out of nowhere, but it comes on strong!

THAT DREAM

2009-07-17T12:21:00.004-05:00

Have you ever had that dream where you are getting ready for work-you have a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed, etc, only to wake up and have to do it all over again?!

Well, last night I had an even WORSE dream! I dreamt that (for some crazy reason) we had a teenager staying with us, and we had set up a bed for her in our room. It was cuddle night, so I was trying to sleep with Night. Night and the other girl kept talking and arguing and keeping me up. WHAT A HORRIBLE DREAM-a dream that you aren't getting any sleep!

To top that off, the dogs actually DID wake me up at their normal time of 5:30am, begging to go outside.

How was your night?!

Makin' Mum Proud

2009-07-14T21:21:00.002-05:00

Tonight, I made # 69 in Rachael Ray's 365 No Repeats Cookbook, Garlic and Mint Lamb. Oh my gosh, it was delicious!! My host parents in Australia have sheep, so I'm always looking for ways to support them!
I'm actually kind of scared to cook lamb, since many times my meals don't turn out as planned. Lamb is an expensive meat to fuck up! Anyway, it turned out wonderfully, and the recipe made enough for about 5 extra lamb-patties, so we've got enough left overs to last a few days! I'm going to try to find some mint-jelly, which is almost impossible to get around here. It will just make it perfect.

My Family Left Me...Again

2009-07-10T10:15:00.002-05:00

My kids and handsome husband went back up to Indiana to visit his family for about a week. They will be back Sunday night. I stayed here because I had a few inservices for school, but most importantly, we needed someone to take care of the FOUR DOGS (what were we thinking-four dogs?!).
Here is how it has been so far:
Day One: Bliss. It was so quiet, calm. Did I mention QUIET?
Day Two: I cleaned.
Day Three: I got drunk. (Okay-it was Night Three, but that didn't fit the pattern, and I didn't really get drunk, I just had two glasses of wine, but with my new eating style, not having food to buffer the alcohol, it made me drunk!)
Day Four: The novelty of having the house to myself has worn off. I'm counting down the hours until I had have someone to mess it up and make it loud... Well, maybe just one more day to myself will be okay.

Why is It?

2009-07-08T10:57:00.002-05:00

That when I put the trash out the night before, the trash dumpster doesn't show up until 10:00, but when I forget, he's there promptly at 7:00am?!

Don't worry~I remembered last night!

Mid-Week Evaluation

2009-07-06T09:16:00.002-05:00

I just feel a sense of FREEDOM from my new way of eating. I haven't felt guilty one time since I've started eating according to my "thintuition." I've eaten pancakes, cookies, salad, biscuits, sandwiches, peanutbutter, apples, chips, cheese, veggies, rice, chicken, Indian food, ice cream (no cupcakes yet, ironically). Whenever I get nice and hungry, I eat whatever sounds delicious at that time. I've even been thinking about baking and cooking, but yesterday's attempt was a disaster, so I might not revisit that idea for awhile!
I like not having to worry about anything. It is nice!

Two Cupcakes In One Week

2009-07-03T11:45:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week, I was upset because I have gained a few pounds. Gained a few pounds despite working out somewhat regularly and trying to regulate what I eat. I hadn't weighed myself in months, thinking it would just happen. I don't want to be obsessive.

Trying to help me, Josh told me that I can't expect to lose weight when I eat the way I do. To this I became defensive. I've been monitoring my portions quite a bit-for about the last week or so. Before that, I wasn't doing anything. But, before THAT, I was trying to use the Weight Watchers Points system. And, before that, I was eating according to the Body for Life plan. And before that, I don't even remember because we are looking at more than a year ago!

As far as my exercise is concerned, I seem to like to change that up a bit too. Last summer (a year ago), I followed Body for Life religiously. I got into shape. I wasn't thin, but I was strong and healthy-people commented on how good I looked etc. Then, when I finished the 12 week program, it suggested I take a week off. I did. Then another, then another... I loosely stuck with the eating plan eventually, and I dabbled with the exercise program, but I never really went back to it-full force. School had started by this time, and I just didn't have the time or energy to devote myself to it. Then, I didn't exercise at all. Then, we joined a gym again, and I started to dabble, but I never really got into a groove.

A 12-week counseling session came with our gym membership, and I have been seeing Kay for almost that long. When she asked me what my goals were, I told her that I wanted to be healthy. I didn't want to have to obsess over what I eat or how I work out-I just want it to be natural. I want to be a good example for my kids. I don't really have a "goal weight" in mind or a time either. Although, there are days when I want to look like a supermodel TODAY, I am not really into putting in the effort that it requires. In my sessions with Kay, she basically asks me what my eating plan is, what my exercise plan is, and how well I followed it for the week. It seems that each week, I show up with a new plan. I follow it pretty well, but I never stick with the same one.

So, when Josh pointed out that eating two cupcakes in one week is a mortal sin and there is no way that I could lose weight that way, I started to think that I needed to reevaluate. (They are delicious cupcakes, but he pointed out that each one is probably more calories than I should have in a day.) Fine, I would start eating "right" and I would exercise ALL the time. If I just buckle down for a little while, I can get "skinny" and back down on all the exercise and strict eating and then eventually be "normal," which is all that I really want anyway.

During my reevaluation process, I was thinking about what eating "right" means. There is the low-carb approach, the low-cal approach, the Body-for-Life approach, the WW approach, the low-fat approach...... It made me think of an on-going conversation I had with one of my friends who is naturally thin. She was asking which food is better for her. (Like I'm the expert-she is the thin one!) The answer I gave depended on which approach I was following at the time--"don't ever eat bacon!" or "eat all the bacon you can fit into your mouth!"

Why does it have to be so complicated? Why CAN'T I just eat whatever I want? When I was just out of college-living all on my own for the first time, that is exactly what I did. I ate whatever I wanted to eat when I was hungry. (I was following a system developed by a Religious Whack-a-Do, but the eating concept behind it makes sense. Don't get me started on the religious aspect, though.) I lost weight naturally without even really thinking about it.

I've always thought that the concept would work-listen to your body. Shouldn't your BODY know when your BODY needs food? If my body is telling me to eat, shouldn't I eat? In all the photos of pilgrims (*wink), they weren't FAT. They didn't know about calories or fat grams. They were just natural. Look at my kids-they eat whatever they want whenever they get hungry. They aren't fat. I wasn't fat until I started to get older and worry about getting fat!

I just never went back to that way of eating (wait til you are hungry, then eat whatever you want but only eat a little of it) because the woman who introduced me to it was so crazy-religious, and since I have rejected this aspect of my life, I also rejected that way of eating.

I have, however, been looking for some guidance as to how to eat the "right" way, and there is a following called "Intuitive Eating," or "Thintuition" and it is basically the same thing without all the praying and shit. So, this is the beginning of my journey. I CAN eat two cupcakes in one week and I CAN lose weight doing it. I'm currently reading up on the topic. I'll let you know what I find out.

Such a Slave-Driver

2009-06-28T21:25:00.002-05:00

Last night, when it was time for Keira to get ready for bed, I told her to politely ask Night to pause his game and help her brush her teeth. She sighed and said, "He's just going to say, 'Why do I have to do everything around here?' again."

Well, she was right, he said it, but he was fine with brushing her teeth too. "Everything around here" entails brushing Keira's teeth and occasionally turning the channel to a cartoon for her. Its a pretty good gig.

Tonight as I was cleaning up the dinner dishes (right before Keira's teeth-brushing time), I thought how much I liked this new routine of having Night brush her teeth. She can be quite... um... belligerent when it comes to ~~doing anything~~ brushing her teeth, so Josh and I are both happy to pass off this ~~chore~~ special bonding moment to her big brother. It is also nice because he brushes his teeth at the same time, so it is one less task to deal with before he goes to bed.

So, when I mentioned to both kids that it was just about time for brushing teeth, I was looking forward to the new routine we've begun establishing. (Yes, the routine includes Night's mention about having to do everything around here.) Before getting up, Night calmly told me, "I was thinking that maybe one of you guys could start doing some of the work around here."

(me)"WHAT? Like cooking for you, getting your drinks, washing your clothes, paying your bills?"

(Night)"Bills? I don't have any bills..."

(me)"You think your food is free? You think this cushy air conditioning is free? You have bills. We just pay for them."

(Night)"Well, anyway, do you think that one of you two could brush Keira's teeth and maybe start changing the channels for her?"

(me)"You are right. We shouldn't expect so much from you. We really do need to start helping, don't we?"

(Night)"Yeah."

(me)"Well, you brush tonight and one of us will do it tomorrow."

(Night)"Okay."

Glad he set us straight before the Department of Labor caught us for breaking all those child labor laws.

Losing Halloween

2009-06-27T18:28:00.003-05:00

Nearly all of my friends are pregnant or have just had a baby. I think this latest round of babies rivals the baby boom of the '40s. Seriously, I'm not sure why so many people are having babies at the same time (well, I know why they are having babies, but it just seems freakishly weird that so many pregnancies/births are happening at the same time!).

Ever since Keira has ~~decided never to sleep~~ come into our lives, Josh and I have known that our family is complete. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our children, but we are looking forward to the freedom that comes with not having to change diapers and wipe butts. Although we've decided not to have any more babies, I wish I were pregnant just so I could say, "I've got Tivo." (I know Laura would get it.) Also, Keira says that she doesn't like babies, so that might be awkward if we get one.

Anyway, as we were driving home from spending a fun afternoon at the pool with the kiddos, I started to get sad-reminiscent of how much fun we've had with the kids since they've been born. It was then that I realized that we are probably half-way past getting to go trick-or-treating with the kids. Night is 6. He will probably stop going before he is twelve! We might be able to hold out and get Keira to keep going, but I doubt it.

People always say to embrace when the kids are young because they will never be the same, yada yada yada. I think it is sinking in. I miss my babies! I hope they are still cute when they are adolescence.

Although we've decided not to have any more babies, I wish I were pregnant just so I could say, "I've got Tivo." (I know Laura would get it.)

I wonder...

2009-06-25T21:33:00.002-05:00

With Farrah, Ed, and Michael dying, do ya'll think the media might have something to talk about other than Jon and Kate?

Hair

2009-02-25T17:48:00.004-06:00

Here are the before and afters, for Anna. I can't find an "after" of me with my eyes open. I can't find a "before" for Josh, but I know I've taken some. Interesting...

Anyway, here we are!!

Tooth

2009-02-24T19:26:00.005-06:00

Night had a loose tooth.

After much whining, he let Josh pull it out. He is so adorable!

The new tooth is popping through already.

This is his third "lost" tooth. Actually, only one is lost...

His bottom two adult teeth, much like this most recent one, were coming in before the baby teeth were pulled. They were both loose around the same time. I distinctly remember the first one. We played tooth fairy and Josh put the tooth in his little treasure box.

As for the second tooth, I don't remember it coming out! Josh doesn't remember either. Night says that he does, but he is 5, what does he know?

We checked the treasure box--the second tooth is not there! He now has both adult teeth in the bottom, so it had to have come out some time, but I think the tooth fairy missed that one!

True Romance

2009-02-19T21:02:00.004-06:00

Tonight, my husband bought me the book that was in my purse when it was stolen six months ago. He said he had been looking for the book ever since, and this was the first time he had seen it in the store. I had no idea! I didn't even remember the name of the book.

That book is one of the most romantic presents I've ever received.

I love my husband.

Meme

2009-02-16T08:57:00.003-06:00

SuperRelish tagged me for a meme a while ago, and I'm finally taking the time to fill it out!

The rules of the meme are

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules
3. Share seven random or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag 7 random people at the end of the post with their links
5. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

*Now that you know the rules, I'll tell ya'll that I'm breaking them--I'm not tagging anyone, but I'd love for someone to do the meme anyway!

1. When I was growing up, I used to love to climb trees. Because of this, me dad calls me MONKEY. He has always called me Monkey. I can remember the horrified feeling the first week of college when my dad called my dorm room and asked for MONKEY.
2. I don't like chocolate flavored things like ice cream and cake, but I love real chocolate like candy bars. I really like brownies, though.
3. We have four dogs and a cat-all of them are named after "famous" people or characters. Charlie is our fat black lab who never leaves the den (except to go outside). He is named after Charlie from LOST. Dash is our puppy. He is some kind of mutt. He is named after the author Dashiell Hammet (Maltese Falcon, Thin Man). Scully is our border collie/german shepherd/chow mix. She is named after Scully on The X Files. Skyla is an rhodesian ridgeback/lab. We actually didn't name her. Our cat Orson is a fluffy black guy. He is named after Orsen Wells. He had a sister Wanda, named after The Fairly Odd Parents, but she ran away. Our kids are named after people too. Night is named after the director M. Night Shyamalan. Keira is named after Keira Knightly.
4. If my kids touch me while I'm sitting down, I get sleepy.
5. I have no rhythm. I can't clap on beat. Ever.
6. I love to take photos. I have 6 lomography cameras, and we just bought a new Nikon DX. I have a huge tub of photo frames waiting to be filled and hung. I had to stop buying frames because I wasn't using them fast enough-but now we have ink in our printer again, so watch out!
7. Not a day goes by when I don't think/dream about coming back to Australia to visit. I'd LOVE to bring my family there to live. I think they'd love it.

Hmm.

2009-02-16T08:48:00.004-06:00

I'm bored with my food blog (a fact you probably already noticed since I haven't updated it!). I really like the layout of it, and I love that I can take a photo from my cell phone and send it to the blog right away.

My food is boring! I never take time to prepare for it, so it is always the same stuff!

I just need a new subject. Any ideas? I'd like to continue the photo theme, and I can't write too much in each entry because only the part I write in my "subject line" on my phone shows up on the blog.

What do you think?

ps An idea I had and vetoed was taking a picture of myself before work every day. I leave the house before 6:30 every morning--I'm not always picture perfect!!

A New Experiment

2009-01-19T23:00:00.002-06:00

I've started a blog on tumblr called FOOD. I'm planning on taking photos (with my camera phone-nothing too fancy) of what I eat everyday. It is just something fun, so if you want to check it out, here it is!

Perhaps the pictures will keep me honest in my quest for healthier eating. Maybe public shame will motivate me. Of course, I started the blog today, which was a day off, and it DID NOT follow my "diet" plan. Oh well, photos are fun!!

12/25/2008

2008-12-25T15:59:00.000-06:00

Yep. Christmas day wasn't quite as calm...

12/23/08 A Night at Home

2008-12-23T18:22:00.003-06:00

Josh is away working on a video. Here is what a quiet night at my house looks like!

The dogs are being themselves. The puppy Dash was just locked up, otherwise you'd be looking at completely different photos. He likes to play... a lot! Night is busy with his (my old) ds. Keira is playing with her little ponies (she made me do a reshoot because the ponies weren't ready in the first photo). And what am I doing during all of this? I'm getting dinner ready, of course!

I'm Jealous

2008-12-03T20:20:00.002-06:00

of my three year old daughter's coat.

and boots.

Cuddle Night

2008-11-26T13:16:00.002-06:00

Every Friday night at my house is cuddle night. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Don't be fooled. Don't get me wrong-it can be nice, but it isn't always nice...

Cuddle night started when Josh was working 3rd shift on Thursday nights. I would let Night sleep in my bed-we'd watch a movie through once then fall asleep to it the second time through. Okay, he'd watch a movie once then force himself to fall asleep the next time. I'd be out like a light within the first 5 minutes...

When I started teaching and Night went to school, we moved cuddle night to Fridays since he was staying up later than usual. Then, Keira wanted cuddle night. Good-bye to those romantic weekend nights with Josh. Night had me Friday. Keira had me Saturday. Then, Night decided to share cuddle night with Keira,

At least I have my Saturday nights back! The main problem with cuddle night is that these tiny little people I sleep with in my Queen size bed turn into giants with the longest (and meanest) legs and arms in the world! I wake up on Saturdays with bruises! Seriously.