New Shoes!

They are supposed to be slippers, so they are warm! The hard soles tell me I can wear them wherever I want!



On clearance at Target for $11.88. I love you, Target!

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Weekly Winners, January 3rd-9th, 2010

Thanks for the inspiration, Sarcastic Mom!

Keira made crowns for us. They were the inverse cut-out from her construction paper when she made butterflies for us.

What do the children of a professional educator do during their free time? I would like to note that both of those DSs are were at one time mine, and YES, the boy is playing the pink one...

Atonement: Book vs Movie

I have recently finished reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. Like most books I read, I tried not to find out anything about the plot or characters before reading it, which was great in this case, but it really through me for a loop when I found out the reason for the title. I hadn't expected Briony to be the one atoning. I have been digesting the story for a few days, trying to figure out how to summarize it. The plot is somewhat simple, but it seems complex when I try to put it into words!
After finishing the book, I watched the movie. While the movie follows the book almost exactly, I enjoyed the book much more. The book allows the reader to know the thoughts and feelings of the characters, which is lost in the movie. I LOVED Briony (what a fantastic name!) in the book; I didn't really connect with her on the screen. I didn't really feel a connection with any of the characters in the movie. From reading the novel, I knew the history of Robbie and Cecilia's lives, which made their falling in love more realistic and believable in the movie.

The language Ian McEwan uses in the book is beautiful; he is so descriptive and eloquent. It would take me forever to write such "pretty" sentences! Here's one of my favs:

"Briony resisted because she wanted to chase in solitude the faint thrill of possibility she had felt before, the elusive excitement at a prospect she was coming close to defining, at least emotionally." (chapter 3)

Here is what I would've written: "She didn't do it because she was afraid of the truth."
Talk about eloquence! Maybe Ian writes a blog. We would all be better for reading that one!

So, anyway, I enjoyed the movie, but it was mainly because I had already read the book. I have to wonder if I would have liked the movie better if I hadn't read the book, but I kinda feel like I wouldn't have liked the movie at all...

Update on Dash

Well, I think Skyla is still in heat, but Dash has lost interest in her. Whoo hoo! No more whining and scratching at the door to get to her!

The weird part of this story is that Dash still feels amorous, but now it is directed towards Charlie. Charlie is our old, fat, almost crippled, black lab. He has been neutered.
Whenever Dash gets the chance, he is trying to cuddle and lick Charlie's face and ears! It is as if Dash is trying to woo him!



Even more disturbing, I think Sky is still in heat because she keeps...uh...strutting her stuff in Charlie's face.


Charlie has gone from the lump that occupies space to the mac-daddy of our doggy population! Unfortunately for Charlie, he is not enjoying his new status quo. The annoyed look on his face says he misses his alone-time.



Poor Charlie! Hopefully soon the raging hormones will settle down and he can have some peace!

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Puppy Love

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

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

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

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!


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Rachael and Mari

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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...

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

Hair

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!!