An update....

I'm going to try my best to give a good update. I have tried to sit down and blog so many times lately. I have so much to say, but I draw a complete blank if I try to get it all out on here.

Lets start with my health. Its a sensitive subject for me right now. I recently saw a great doctor that specializes in female issues, like hormones. I thought that there was something wrong with me, and I got a reality check when I found out that all of my problems are stress related. I need to change the way I am living my life, in many ways. I need to take vitamins, stop eating sugars and starches, and find a way to relieve some stress. So, I have had a couple of weeks to process all this and do some research, and get a game plan together. I will keep you updated.

Christmas was good. I only got 1 day off, so it was a little rushed, but it was good. We all got spoiled. Dennis got me a star necklace, and a BOSE docking station for my iPod. We also got Guitar Hero World Tour as a family. All 4 of us can play at the same time. We have all tried all of the instruments, and Dennis assigned us each a position in the band. I'm the singer!!! Can you believe that? I am so totally awful. LOL! We all have fun playing in our family band though.

I am watching The City right now. How cute is it that Whitney and Olivia have the same hair style? I havent decided how I feel about the show yet, it seems a little forced, but I think it will get better.

I am having a family dinner here on Thursday. I tossed around some ideas of what to make and finally settled on just a traditional turkey dinner. Tomorrow night I am going to make the pies (pumpkin and chocolate cream). We arent doing anything crazy for New Years Eve, just having a few friends over to play some games and stuff. I will be really suprised if I make it to midnight.

So get this. I believe that Hermiston has the worst Starbucks in the nation. For real! Everytime I go there it takes 15-20 minutes to get through the drive thru. They are so slow, my coffee is never hot enough. I dont think I have ever had two of the same drinks actually taste the same. Half the time they don't even get it right, I ask for a peppermint white mocha, and either they leave out the peppermint, or give me a regular mocha and not a white one. grrrr! I do have to say that I am excited for the new line of mugs that should be rolling out anyday. Valentines Day mugs!!! I got one last year and its still my very favorite mug. Infact, I am drinking tea from it as I type this.

Ok, well that is about all I have for now. I know there is more. I know it, I just cant remember it right now. See, that is how life has been for me lately. I gotta add that I have been working A LOT of extra hours. One of the people in my branch is having some "life problems" and hasn't shown up to work for almost 2 weeks now. On one hand its been really nice and quiet, and on the other, its annoying to have to be to work at 6:30am every morning, and work until closing at 5pm. When I get home at the end of the day, I am exhausted.

So.... toootles!!!

Happy and Sad

I am so happy at all of the joys in my life lately. I have had an exciting weekend full of Christmas baking and fun. But sad because I have no pictures to share.

Yesterday morning I woke up at 6:30am because I was so excited for the day ahead. My plan was to bake 5 different kinds of cookies and enjoy some hot cider. The early morning started out with the Pampered Chef consultant dropping off my goodies. Then I went to the store and got the rest of the baking supplies. I had the cider going, and the recipes all organized, and I grabbed my camera. No memory card, and the battery was dead. I couldnt find the card, or the charger, anywhere. I still cant.
:-(

I baked all day. My special friend came over and hung out with me. I made chocolate chip first. Then I made no-bake cookies. Then I made thumbprint cookies. I got the recipe for the thumbprint cookies from a blog, and I thought they looked fun to make. I made half of them with raspberry jam, and the other half with lemon curd. They didnt quite turn out like the picture. But the taste is good!!! After my friend left, I made another batch of no-bakes. Then I made the dough for the sugar cookies, and the chocolate crinkles. Both of those doughs had to refrigerate. I did manage to get the sugar cookies done last night, but was exhausted in bed and asleep at 10:00. This morning I finished the crinkles and assembled the plates.

Dennis, Harley, and I set out in the snow to deliver the goodies. Everyone was so excited. Cindy messaged me shortly after dropping hers off and said that her favorite was the thumbprints.

Today it snowed more, a lot!! We watched Home Alone this afternoon, then we went to Dennis's dad's house, then to Safeway to get some dinner stuff for the week. I didnt get to clip any coupons today because there were no Oregonians!! They havent made it over this way yet because of the weather.

I just got done making home made biscuits and gravy for dinner. I even made the biscuits from scratch!!! It was yummy and now we are all enjoying cookies and milk. Dennis is watching football, and I am going to try and get him to change the channel soon!!!

Peace.

Holiday Spirit

I love this time of year. I love having a tree in my living room, and stokings hung. I love shopping for gifts. I love the smell of Christmas. I love the baking.

Its been snowing, and normally I would be "ugh" about it. But right now, I am loving it! Its so crisp and quiet outside. Its so cold that the snow literally sparkles, like glitter!!!! My poor little pooch, she can barely stand going out to potty. We put on her little sweater when she goes out, but I am sure her tiny feet are just freezing.

I have been enjoying a cup of tea every evening. I looooove tea. I got some new starbucks mugs recently and love using them to have a cup of tea. Its so relaxing. I've been drinking Honey Vanilla Chamomile, but tonight I picked up a box of Honeybush Orange, and its pretty decent. I first tried Honeybush a few weekends ago at TeaZone in downtown Portland, yummmm.

I had a great day with the 3 BFF's on Saturday. We enjoyed shopping and lunch at Nothing But Noodles. We also enxhanged cute little gifts. I received some very awesome and thoughtful gifts. It was a great way to celebrate the season.

I am thankful that all of my shopping is done, with the exception of a few things that I have to pick up here locally. I can't wait for Christmas. It's always such a fun day for our family to hang out, and I am really looking forward to it, and the day off of work. =D

Be the change.....

Hi everyone!

Do you like my new headline of my blog? I spent an amazing day in downtown Portland yesterday. Just taking it all in. Shopping, and people watching, thinking about pretty much everything. Thinking about the kind of person that I want to be. The kind of person that I already am, inside. And how to bring that person out to share with the world. Anyway, on my way back to Gresham on the MAX train, I looked up above the windows at the little placards on the train, and there was that little snipet of poetry staring right back at me. I thought, wow, how symbolic is that. "I believe in myself slowly", so true of me. I am always under-estimating myself and the things I can achieve. "It takes all the doubt I've got" I'm always doubting myself, my decisions, my abilities. "It takes my wonder" It does. My doubt, it gets in the way of me achieving my goals. I sat there for a while and thought about all of the signs. Signs that I need to change my lifestyle, and become a healthier person.

I bought a motivational piece during black friday shopping. Its a sterling silver ring that says "be the change....." I am going to wear it as a daily reminder that the only person that can change me, is me! I assume the message on the ring is intended to be "world" or "earth" related, but I also think it can be interpretted many different ways. And I thought it would be a perfect motivation for me as I start this journey again, for the hundredth time.

This time I am not setting a goal right away. I dont want to set a weight, or a size. I want to reach a place inside myself, where I feel healthy and comfortable. Once I get to a point where I am ready to set a goal, I will.

For now, my focus is...... change.

Bummed

What I thought was going to be a great holiday is getting worse and worse. My mom had to cancel our dinner on Saturday because her father in law died, so they have to go to California for the funeral this weekend. I completely understand, but I was looking forward to seeing my mom, so I am bummed.

I called my grandma tonight to find out what time our dinner is on Friday and she informed me that my dad had called and said he wasnt coming. I guess he had some home repair emergencies come up this month, so now they can't afford to come down. I tried to call him to get the whole story, but I had to leave a message. I'm still going to my grandma's but it's not going to be the same w/o my dad there, so I am bummed.

I'm nervous about the holiday. My weight has really been affecting me lately. Everywhere that I am going to be this weekend, I will be the largest one there. I'm so embarassed and disappointed in myself. I really want to hammer down and do what I need to do to change, but I can't do that 2 days before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the whole year. I hope that by thursday, I can put the weight thing behind me and try to just have a good time with family.

my thoughts after treadmilling

* i'm not going to make it

* i have terrible balance

* i think one leg is longer than the other

* i'm going to hurt tomorrow

* Rachel Ray magazine is probably not the best thing to look at while running

* this is going to make me want to eat healthier, right now apples and black beans sound good

* i really don't know if I am going to make it

* i've never seen my face so red before

* i need to get a sweat band, do they still make those?

* i'm pretty sure that eventually one of these workouts is going to end with me vomiting

* holy crap am I going to be able to do this?

Time for Change

Change is happening all around me right now. Some are exciting changes. Some are scary changes. Change is happening no matter what.

What's not changing?

Me.

I'm still fat. I'm still lazy. I'm still uncreative.

People, I'm not sparkly.....

shit.

I need to change!!!

I need to get a handle on this.

Tomorrow, I am going to start exercising. I just need to move you know. Be active. My treadmill is in a great spot now. I have the Wii Fit. I have outside. I have videos. There is no excuse. I dont give a shit about my stupid dumb sore feet. I need to do something. It might not be running quite yet, but I am going to make an effort.

I'm going to be 30 in 3-1/2 months, and I will be a different person on my birthday.

Why I love this time of year

* Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday

* It's not hot outside

* Shopping, shopping, and more shopping

* Gives me an excuse to fill my cupboards with baking supplies

* Starbucks goes from plain white cups to pretty red Christmasy ones

* The smell of chimney smoke outside

* Eggnog

* I can wear a hoodie everyday!

* Fall scented candles

* Christmas bazaars

It's a time for giving, and that puts a smile on my face.

PEACE!

Weekend is over

So I leave you with this. My side is hurting from laughing so hard for 3 minutes!!! Dennis and I thought it was hilarious, and I hope you find some humor in it too! PEACE!

Chimpanzee rides Segway @ Yahoo! Video

Wondering if I am going to be able to run....

Some of you already know, but I have been talking a lot about trying to start running. Kristi recommended following the couch 2 5K plan, so I checked it out. I am very intrigued by the whole thing. I have a treadmill that needs using. If I stick to the plan, I could be able to run 3 miles without stopping. It might take as little as 9 weeks. I wanted to start last month, but I have a bad pain in my heel that I didnt want to make worse by running. I made a dr's appt to have the pain checked out. Since I made the appt 2 weeks ago, more pains showed up. My right foot has the heel pain, my left foot now has ankle pain and pain on the top of my foot (like in the bones). I have also developed some knee pain. I'm falling apart, I know.

Anywhoo, fast forward to today. I went to the dr. A regular dr since my insurance is jacked up and wont let me see a pediatrist unless I am referred by a MD. So, turns out I most likely have a heel spur (right foot) and tarsalitis (sp?) in my left foot. I don't know if I am going to be able to run. Apparantly running is really hard on your body. Especially the leg joints like ankles, knees, and hips. I don't know when my appt with the pediatrist is going to be, waiting for a phone call. If I can't run, I dont know what I will do. I have really been sold on the idea of being able to acheive this goal before my 30th birthday, at the beginning of March.

So, for now, I will just get some foot massages, and eat cream puffs.

Lets talk about sex baby......

Ok, I'm not really going to talk about sex, but it's just as good as sex. Maybe even better! It's my savings! I did good at Safeway tonight. And I haven't shared a good haul in a while.

Motts Apple Sauce 6pk
5 boxes fruit snacks (roll ups, gushers, fruit be the foot, etc)
2 boxes of cake mix
1 bottle of maple syrup
1 bag of Cheetos (not for me)
1 bag of Chips Ahoy (not mine either)
2 Healthy Choice soup bowls (mine)
1 tube of cresent rolls
4 containers of Dannon light & fit yogurt
1 pkg hamburger buns
1 box frozen pancakes
2 bottles of coffee mate creamer
2 packages (12 oz) sliced turkey breast lunch meat
1 tube Colgate toothpaste
24 pk of Quilted Northern toilet paper
1 large TIDE detergent

Shelf Price = $97.36
Actual Price Paid = $36.91
Total Savings = $60.45 (62%)

I was telling Dennis in the car on the way home that the Tide and the Quilted Northern at regular price would have been $36.00 all on its own. So I was pretty excited about the savings.

In other news......

-excited about attending another Scentsy party at my dear friend's house this Thursday

-ran into the awesome Dawna at Safeway yesterday, where she caught me without coupons. It was so nice to see her. :)

-tried the Strawberry Soyjoy bar, and I gotta say I won't recommend it unless you enjoy eating something similar to a cross between burnt stale Fig Newtons and 40 yr old fruit cake.

-i ate a lot of Whoppers today (the candy, not the hamburger)

-I have a whole bunch of apples here thanks to Stacy, making a lovely crisp tomorrow.

amy's reviews......

I have tried two new products this week that I wanted to share.

First one is the as seen on TV Anti Static Dryer Balls
I have been wanting to try them for some time now. I hate finding dryer sheets all over my house. Plus they are filled with chemicals and aren't biodegradable at all. So I finally got them and tried them. Love them! They really do work. No static. The clothes are softer. They actually smell cleaner! So worth the $12.99, they should last for about a year or so. The box says you can buy more and use 4 or 6 at a time for better results. But I am happy with the 2 for now.

Second one is Chloraseptic Allergen Block Gel. So basically, its a gel that you apply around your nostrils and it keeps you from having allergy attacks. A lot of people know that I am severely allergic to cats (except for my late cat Puddy that I had for 15 years and became immune). So anyway, I have a hard time when going over to a few friends' houses because their kitties, while very sweet, cause my airways to close up and send me in to a sneezing frenzy. So, I picked some up at the store, because I had a 3.00 off coupon, and thought it was at least worth a shot. I used it today because I knew I was going to be at my friend Teri's for most of the day. So, I took an Alavert before I left the house, and I applied the cream. It worked! I didnt have any problems breathing at all. After about 3 hours of being at her house, my nose started to run and I sneezed once. I went in the bathroom and blew my nose and put on some more. It still worked. I only sneezed that one time. I am sold. Normally when I am at Teri's house I can hardly talk because I am trying so hard to breath, and the sneezing is just awful. But not this time. Can't wait to try it at Cindy's house next time.

Sometime in the next few days I will review Soyjoy bars. I got 10 of them for free tonight, but I havent tried them yet. I love the adorable little commericial where the lady with the ridiculously long legs that bend the wrong way walks up to some kids jump roping and the dog and cat form a jump rope with their tails and the lady jumps in and does a few hops. Have no idea what that has to do with Soyjoy, but it is a cute commercial.

thankful today

for.....

* my clean kitchen

* my scentsy wax that is making my house smell scrumptious

* family time tonight carving pumpkins, and the fact that BOTH kids are now able to carve their OWN pumpkins!!!

* my healthy stockpile of cereal, toilet paper, shampoo, hand soap, body wash, tooth paste, tooth brushes, deod, razors, canned corn, pasta, soup, sjdfiu...... you get the point.

* my bonus check from last month (Whoa!!)

* the box of toys, boardgames, and misc items (all brand new) that I have to donate to needy kids this holiday season.

* Harley meeting her AR goal (reading)

* Dennis and I's date day coming up this Saturday (shopping and food.. no kids)


Not so thankful for...... the GIANT zit on my chin. Grrrr.

sex toys and organic raisins

What do the two have in common?

The Northwest Women's Convention. duh.

This weekend was the women's convention. My favorite thing to do in October! Full of free samples, coupons, massages, palm readings, etc etc. This year there seemed to be an over abundance of sex toy booths! I mean, how many different home party companies does there have to be for sex toys? Pure Romance, Slumber Party, Passion Party, blah blah blah. No really though, I got a ton of free stuff. Chocolates, granola bars, raisins, and cookies. I ended up buying a few things too. Some natural doggie shampoo from Touch of Mink, some wierd anti-oxidant chocolate nugget things, and a do-it-yourself face hair threader thing. So its like a spring that you roll up and down your chin and lip and it rips the hair out. Hey, I'll try just about anything. Oh and one of my new favorite snacks is Larabar. Who doesnt love a great tasting snack that only has like 4 ingredients? I scored a handfull of the Coconut Cream pie ones, and a stack of stickers! IKEA was there, they had stickers too!

Possilby one of the best things can ever happen...

has happened!

click!!!

Whats happening in my head lately....

Earlier I took a bath, and I realized that my brain didnt stop thinking the whole entire time. So many random thoughts in my head right now.

* Dennis's b-day next week. Need to finish shopping and plan a lovely b-day dinner. Oh and cake!

* Need to remember to send in my Rite-Aid rebates.

* How I can't believe this week is flying by so fast, I had to ask Cindy if it was Tuesday or Wed because it seriously doesnt feel like Wed.

* Oh! I thought about recipes! I really need to get a system down for all of these recipes I see in magazines, websites, etc. Something to get them all in one place. Maybe a 3-ring binder. I can typewrite the recipes, add the pic if there is one.

* I have the most precious-ist dog in the whole world. hee hee.

* Gotta get those invites sent out for a friends baby shower next month.

* I want to spend more time on Amazon, Etsy, and maybe Ebay, looking for some awesome Christmas present deals. (already scored a bunch of stuff, 6 or 7 toys and games on Amazon last night, for $36.00!! plan to donate.)

* Shorthanded at work tomorrow, I have to work open to close. hmmm, maybe its a good thing this week is flying by.

* cake sounds good.

IKEA, my love

Its such an amazing place. I was so numb after leaving there. Sensory overload? maybe. Dennis was tired too. Here was our conversation on the way back to Canby.

After about 15 minutes of silence:

Me: IKEA isn't far away...
Den: yep
Me: IKEA is my favorite store
Den: yep
Me: I'm going back to IKEA
Den: yep
Me: IKEA has a lot of stuff
Den: uh huh
Me: You like IKEA, huh babe
Den: yep


Here is what the store looks like on the outside, about 1/3 of it. The parking lot wasn't full yet.

 

I love the dinnerware deparment!!! How can you NOT?

 

The awesome fabric!!! I tried to touch it all, but other ladies were in my way....

 

I bought this for Carrie for Christmas. tee hee.

 

in a nutshell....

Some pics of the organic veggie farm that is behind my mom's house. There are about 4 very large fields full of veggies. Everything from lettuce and cabbage, squash, herbs like dill, sage, and cilantro, to artichokes. You can see the huge artichoke field here. My mom is picking sweet onions and cabbage. We brought 2 giant bags of veggies back to Dennis's mom's house. Tonight we cooked up a bunch of the artichokes and they were awesome!!!

 

 

 

 

Yikes, I'm a crappy blogger!

In Portland for the weekend! Hung out at my mom's house yesterday and scored a TON of organic veggies from the organic veggie farm behind her house. Today, we are headed to IKEA and hopefully I can sueeze some other shopping in there too.....

I just wanted to check in and make sure everyone was still awake in blog land...

dolla dolla bill ya'll.......

Another successful trip to the grocery store, and I just had to share this one. Saving enough money this time to even suprise the cashier! YAY!

Check out my haul!



6 boxes of cereal
4 boxes of pasta roni
2 bowls of easy mac
2 boxes of pop tarts
2 6 packs(24oz ea) of Pepsi (NOT for me!!!)
5 tubes of Crest toothpaste

Shelf Price: $55.90
Out of Pocket: $20.07
Total Savings: $35.83 or 64%

I got all this for $$20.00!!!!!! I am so proud of myself.

I know you all are dying to hear about my girls camping getaway weekend. I am going to do a post about it, I am just waiting for some of the girls to send my some pictures. I took some, but I want to see what they have too.

BH 90210 is coming on. Bye.

Time for a change?

In the past year or so, I have been wondering if I need to change careers. The more time I spend with Bubba and Harley, and going to their school functions, I wonder how cool it would be to work in a school.

When I left college, I didn't have my degree, in anything. I was in my final year of the education program, and I just up and quit. Things got a little hard, and I gave up. I had problems. Financial problems, social problems, and drinking problems. For years after college, as I worked a "normal" job, and grew up, A LOT, I realized I hadnt made the right decision. Even though I knew I made a bad decision, I still didnt regret NOT doing the teaching thing. In my heart I knew that at that point in my life I would make a horrible teacher!

In the last year or so, I am starting to realize that I might like kids. LOL. No really, I do like kids. Being a part of Bubba and Harley's life and watching them learn and grow is pretty amazing. I love when I get to go to their school functions, watch them interact with other kids, and watch all the teachers interact with the kids too. I love getting to talk to the teachers, and just getting involved.

I have talked to a couple of my teacher friends recently about job opportunities within the school system. While I still dont think I would like to be a "full blown" teacher, I think I am ready to be a part of the action.

I say "i think" because there are a few things holding me back. Okay, 1 thing. The money thing. If I end up getting a job, say, as a teacher's aid, or assistant, its quite the pay cut. I feel almost guilty when I say that. Because I know that people who teach, do it because they LOVE teaching. They dont do it for the money, because there is not much money to be made in the teaching business. They do it because its their passion, and it doesnt even matter that they don't make what they deserve, because it makes them happy anyway. So I wonder, would I be happier? Would I love the job so much, that the pay wouldn't matter? I'm still looking for the answer to that question.....

I hope that I can find that answer soon. Especially after today. Today I was informed that my boss has put in her 2 weeks notice. She is not happy in her job and had decided to quit. She doesnt even have another job lined up. Her husband works, and they are willing to deal with the temporary loss in money to salvage her happiness. I knew she wasnt happy with her job. I love having her as a boss, but I always knew that something inside her wasn't right, know what I mean? She always had conflicts with one of the co-workers, and it was totally unfair. I hated seeing my boss treated badly.

I like my job I have now. The company is a great company to work for. I get benefits, and vacation, and bonuses, and little random perks here and there. All for just showing up to work everyday and doing my job. I work bankers hours, and get major holidays off. The pay is good too. And I must say, I am good at my job! I would say that there is somewhat of a high stress level in my job. When working with industrial accounts, and contractors, there are always deadlines! Those deadlines have to be met. It's also always a challenge considering that I dont have any experience in the electrical field whatsoever other than the experience I have gotten from this job. I am also put in a situation where I have to deal with the above mentioned co-worker on a daily basis. I like this person. But this person is quite un-predictable. Its hard waking up everyday wondering if its going to be a good day, or a bad one. Am I going to get blamed for something that I didn't do? Am I going to get "called out" in front of customer or other co-workers. You get the picture.

So, after hearing about my bosses soon "departure" from the company, I am starting to wonder. Should I do that too?

how do you like them apples.... or pears?

my good deals that I have gotten this weekend. My "stockpile" has started. The big thing this weekend was cereal! I want to share my list and what I spent because I think its so cool.

1st trip to Safeway:
3 boxes of cereal (cocoa puffs, trix, golden grahams)
3 boxes of hamburger helper
3 cases of water (24 bottles in each case)
3 bottles of Dial anti bacterial soap

Shelf Price: $41.40
Out of Pocket (which is what I actually paid): $18.36
Total Savings: $23.04 or 56%

Not too bad!

Check out my 2nd trip:

5 boxes of cereal (cocoa puffs, cinn toast crunch, and 3 cheerios)
2 Kraft Easy Mac
3 cases of water (24 ct/ea)
2 bags of Lays Potato Chips
3 cans of Progresso soups
2 McCormick seasonings
1 box of Glad Force Flex garbage bags (75 ct)
1 24 pack of Charmin Double Roll TP
1 bottle of Tide laundry detg (the 150 oz one with the spout!)
1 gallon of milk
1 magazine
2 loafs of french bread
2 beef roasts
3 lbs of seedless grapes
1 lb of asparagus
1 lb of sweet onions
2 lbs of bartlett pears
5 lbs of potatoes
6 boxes of raisins
2 containers of fresh raspberries
1 bag of baby carrots

That is quite the list!!! Especially considering that the laundry detg is usually around $20, even at Costco! The trash bags and TP are usually $10.00 or more.

Shelf Price: $174.04
Out of Pocket: $93.24
Total Savings: $80.80 or 46%

$93.00 might sound like a lot to some people. But consider this, I wont have to buy trash bags, toilet paper, or landry detg for a couple of months. Same with cereal since I have 8 un-opened boxes sitting here. The 6 cases of bottled water should last for a couple months also. Also consider the fact that I bought this all at Safeway!! Wow!

I'm game!

After my trip to Wal-Mart, better known as "the worst place in the world to be on your day off", I decided that I need to do something else. I've tried avoiding them, and shopping somehwere else, but I ended up spending way too much money. Today I was starting to wonder if the extra money was worth keeping my insanity and not reaching across the scanner and shoving the divider stick strait up the cashiers ass!!

Fast forward to this afternoon: We went to a friend's daughter's birthday party and in my visiting with the other "moms" I was re-aquainted with "The Grocery Game". You know, you clip coupons from the Sunday paper, and the grocery game helps you by telling you which coupons to spend, and when and where to spend them. The Grocery Game tells you where all the sales are at your local stores. They help you "stockpile" dry goods. Bottom line is you buy when the items are the cheapest and save lots and lots of money. I have done the grocery game before and I did save, but I quit doing it because for one, I didnt have much room to have a "stockpile" per say, and two, well, I am just lazy. One of the ladies there has a stockpile of 40 boxes of cereal that she has bought for less then $1.75 each box, and they are good brand name cereals. She also has 14 packages of Venus razor refills that she got...... FOR FREE!!!! She also has shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc. Things that dont go bad for a while, that she bought for dirt cheap! She has a group of ladies that all participate in the Grocery Game together, and they do a coupon train. In clipping coupons you come across some that are great deals but you have no use for. ie.. diapers, cat food, baby food, etc. So you put them in the coupon train for someone else to use, and you might get some good ones out of the train that someone else put in there for stuff they dont need. Oh, and one of the best things that this lady shared with me? She hasnt shopped at Wal-Mart in monthes!!!! All of these great deals have come from Safeway, and Rite-Aid.

So..... I was thinking about starting our own group here in town. I am talking about a group of about 4-5 girls maybe. You would be responsible for getting your own Sunday papers and clipping the coupons. The Grocery Game is $7.00/month. That is way cheap considering, if you play right, you could save at least $100/month.

So... who's with me????

More protein, Less sugar

That is my mantra for the next little while. I need to lay off the sugar for real. I have been having these horrible ups and downs with my energy level. I eat a bunch of sugar and I feel fine one minute, and I am completely out of it the next. I mean out of it, too weak to even make myself a sandwich. Happens when I eat all fruit too, and yea I know, fruit has a lot of sugar in it. I am trying to find some different ways to get more protein in my diet because I havent been too much into the whole eating meat thing lately. And I am getting tired of cottage cheese. The sugar thing though, for real, its outta control. I love me some milk duds and whoppers.

I have been going for walks at night, because the weather is awesome! And I love walking through the neighborhoods around here. Everyone has the most perfect green yards. And everyone is mowing and it smells so fresh, it's just so peaceful. Tonight I ate 1/2 a watermelon and I was vegging on the couch when I made myself get up and go. So the pooch on her leash, and we were off. I did a new route, which I later drove and found out that it is 1.6 miles. I could have gone longer but I havent worn my tennis shoes in a long time and I am re-breaking them in. So I have a nice ugly blister now on the back of my heel. Grrr. The Wii-Fit has been calling my name, but I really want to take advantage of this weather while its here. Bob comes to my side of the bed at night and pokes at me. I think he puts spiders in my bed too. He is so mean!!!

I am so tired of being a fat slob. Oh and by the way, anyone who was on here the other night a the right time to see my F/U FAT post, my apologies to you. I needed to vent, but later realized it was completely innapropriate so I took it off. I know some people saw it, so oh well. Yea I hate my fat. I told it to go to hell, but not that politely, lol.

So, today marks 6 months until my 30th b-day. Pretty scary. I am not going to look like this when I turn 30, I just cant. I dont want to look older than 30 before I am actually 30. The frump has got to go!!!

Another IKEA post

I <3 them.
And I am going to try a compile this while watching the premeire of 90210, so it might take me all night.

But anywho.... I go to IKEA's website, I would say, everyday. We are going there next month, so I am trying to compile a list of all of the things that I am going to buy. BUT, IKEA, as awesome as it is, doesnt have a very user friendly website. I would say 90% of the items for sale on their website, arent for sale online. So therefore, you cant add them to your shopping cart. Not that I intend to buy anything online, but I would like to be able to stash things in my cart so I can keep track of what I want.

omg, I already like the show. Whoa they even used the same theme song! LOVE IT!

Ok, here are some of the items that I KNOW I want:

this - I would put them in my bedroom.
this - It speaks to me for some reason. I dont know if it could replace my current full length mirror, but its possible.
But oh my G, look at this one. Did you see what it said about using the little flowers as hooks???
If I had enough money, this would live in my house somewhere. Probably the dining room.

Alright, I have suddenly become very tired. And I am in to this show. Drama drama drama.
Do you guys even "like" looking at my IKEA stuff? Maybe I should keep it to myself?

LPA Convention

Well, here is a summary of what happened in Spokane this weekend. First of all, our hotel, The Red Lion Inn At The Park, was FABULOUS!!!! The place is huge, and nice, and the service was awesome. One of the coolest things I thought, was that the little toiletries were from Bath and Body Works!!!

One of the biggest things that all the kids do at these conventions is SWIM! Harley isnt the greatest swimmer, but once she saw how good all the other kids were, she really tried hard, and made it about 1/2 way across the pool by her self! And that precious little boy next to her is 2 year old, Tanner.


We really lucked out that this weekend in Spokane was the "Pig Out At The Park" event at the river front park. Our hotel had a walking bridge that went across the river over to the park. There were hundreds of food booths and lots of live music and stuff going on. We had southern roasted corn on the cobb, and Greek Gyros.

Saturday night was the Beach Party. It wasnt at the beach, but it was up on the 12th floor of the hotel in the Skyline Ballroom. Everyone dressed up in there beach attire. We didnt participate too much with the dressing up, but oh well. The biggest part of the convention is really all about the dance. The kids just have a blast being able to get out there and dance with each other.

Bubba was the star of the show at the dance. He is really into hip hop dancing, or break dancing, popping, whatever they call it. I dont know, but he is pretty stinking good!!!


And after this 5 yr old little boy saw what Bubba could do, he started trying it himself. Bubba gave him a few lessons. It was really sweet.


There were lots of very cute teenage girls there this time. Bubba was being quite the "mack". He walked all the way across the ballroom, by himself, and asked this girl to dance. And, well, she said yes. Her name is Michelle, and she is 13 just like Bubba.


And when he was done with her, he moved right on to the next one.


And.... I will leave you with a few pictures from our trip to Hooters. The Hooters food was AWESOME!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

To this spunky little lady!!!!

Love ya!

helping out

Just wanted to do a quick post to help out this sweet lady.

She entered a recipe contest over at Saucy Eats and was chosen as a semi finalist for some awesome Mudpie Brownies. And she needs our votes!! The recipe speaks for itself, it sounds AMAZING!!! So please just click on the above link, and then you will see in the right sidebar a little poll window where you can choose "mudpie brownies" and vote.

Not only are you helping out, but you will get the recipe too!! Oh and the whole story behind the recipe is super interesting. Cruise on over to her blog (the first link in this post) to check out her story.

So, I was embarrassed...

What happened to me last night:

Text message convo between Stacy and I (at around 10pm) while I was in town with Dennis......

Me: Hello!
Stacy: Hello, what is up? Are you having a good day?
Me: Yea, but I am kinda bored.
Stacy: Well you can come over here and visit.
Me: Really? Do you have snacks?
Stacy: Yes.
Me: Okay I will have Dennis drop me off.

vroom vroom vroom to Stacy's house. Knock Knock Knock. Dogs Bark bark bark bark bark, and bark some more. Dennis drives off. Stacy's husband answers the door. I walk in and sit down. Pet the dogs. Her husband, how are you, so whats up? blah blah blah. No sign of Stacy. So finally I asked "Where is Stacy?" He says "she's not here, she is at Cindy's house." What??? Ummm.....ok. Call Dennis, ummm babe, she isnt here, come back and get me!!!!

Yea, totally forgot that yesterday was scrapbooking day and I couldnt make it but Stacy and Cindy were still planning on it without Carrie and I. When Stacy had asked me to come over, that is what she was talking about.

I felt so dumb. I felt so bad for dropping in on Corey like that. What an air head, and totally embarrassing!!!

been there, got tagged

I was tagged over at my friend, Lisa's blog, to come up with 6 random things about myself. And since I like her so much, I guess I will play along.



Here are the rules: (some of which I am NOT going to follow)

1) Link to the person who tagged you

2) Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading)

3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below)

4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them

5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6) Let the tagger know when your entry or post is up.

So, here are my random facts:

* I hate the way I look, yet everytime I pass a mirror I have to look at myself. Especially at my butt!

* I have this thing about running in to people that I havent seen for a long time. I will completely avoid them for no reason. Even if I never had any problems with them in the past, I just cant bring myself to go up and say hi because I am a big fat chicken.

* I watch the same movies over and over again. I need to do a seperate post about this. I am actually watching one of them right now.

* I chew on straws really bad. I have always had a chewing problem, and it just got 100 times worse when I quit smoking 2-1/2 years ago. And I cant stick anything wooden in my mouth. Including wooden spoons, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, etc. Just freaks me out!!!

* I am addicted to the MTV show, The Hills!!!!

* I have an obsession with cook books. I read them for pleasure. I will buy one, and almost never make anything out of it. I will just read it cover to cover. I love the little cookbooks that are in the checkout stand lines.


Okay, so I am going to tag a few people.... Dawna, Tanya,
Carrie,Stacy

and I'm spent....

Well, today Harley turned 9 so we had our girls day out. Went to Monkey Dooz where she was treated with a sparkly up-do, pedicure, and nail polish. Then we went to the mall for some new shoes, earings, and a few other things here and there. Had a blast shopping and eating mall food. Came home and had all the family over for presents and cake. I would say, at the end of the day, Harley is definitely set on clothes, and perfumy lotions and sprays.

I am so tired from today......

 

Ta Da!

My first non-square or circle cake.
I'm no pro decorator but..... I think it turned out pretty good.

Happy 9th Birthday Harley!!!

This weekend..

has gone by way too fast!!!
But I got a TON of stuff accomplished.

Here are a few of the highlights:

* Friday night Dennis raced his hot rod at Renegade Raceway in Yakima. He won every round and made it all the way to the finals! The final round he was guaranteed at least 2nd place. The car he was up against was really good and he got beat, but he still got 2nd and got a trophy, it was pretty cool.

* Took Bubba school clothes shopping on Saturday. Hit some really good sales at JC Penny and Macy's.

* Got all the laundry and dishes done.

* Ate a whole watermelon.

* Hung out with Stacy at the pool this morning. Fun!!!

* Cleaned both kids' rooms today. Huge accomplishment considering that Bubba's room has been the "dumping ground" for all things in the house that we dont want to look at. lol. Poor kid had to stumble over 2 drum sets, school supplies, boxes, etc just to get to his bed. Well that is fixed now!

* Finished shopping for Harley's birthday presents.


And there you have it, I didnt get all I wanted to done. That would include washing my car, changing the oil, and cleaning my bathroom.

Things I am looking forward to this week:

* The Hills season 4 premiere tomorrow night!!!

* Harleys 9th b-day, and having Wednesday off to hang out with her and do some girly stuff together.

* My last week of nightly water aerobics.

*

What do you do.....

when someone you dont even know can inspire you so much???

Just gotta say that this blog has touched me in so many ways lately.


She writes about Portland, and dogs, and fabric, and veggies, and everything else that I love. Makes me cry too..... damn it.

one word....

To describe the weekend,
the food,
the weather,
MY FAMILY!!!

Amazing......

No doubt, I have an amazing family. We had an awesome time. My grandmother turned 70, she is without a doubt an awesome Grandma. I wish I would have taken more pics. But the weekend really was about her. So here she is with her birthday cake. The only 2 pics I took the whole weekend.




Isnt she beautiful? I just love her. And that is my studly uncle in the background.

Funny story about her cake, and my family's dry sense of humor. Apparently there was some "miscommunication" about my gram's b-day cake. My mom swears that my gram told her that she wanted take care of the cakes. But my aunt volunteered to take care of the cakes. My mom told my aunt that my gram wanted to do it. They both thought it was wierd but ok, my gram is really adament about certain things so they told her to go ahead with the cakes she wants. So fast forward to yesterday, my mom and aunt go down to pick up the cakes (one was for my step-dad and granpa that also have bdays this month). Anyway, they get to the store and take a look at my grams cake and what does it say??? "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!" They just look at each other like omg. So they bring home the cakes and look at my gram, she is just cracking up. My gram tells everyone that she "got stuck" ordering her own b-day cake, the lady asked her what she wanted it to say and so she said "Its MY bday cake, I want it to say happy birthday to me!" LOL. So to pay her back, they brought the cake out to my gram with the candles on it. Instead of putting a 70, which is how old she is, they put a 73!!! So for the rest of the day, we all joked around about her being 73.

Took pics!

Took the kids out to take some pics this evening.

Here are a few of my favorites.

So mad!

I love everyone that reads this!

I just had this HUGE entry typed out for you guys, but my fingers spazzed out and hit ESC and deleted THE WHOLE THING!!!

So, a condensed version for me peeps:

* Check out my updated song list to the right. I am going through an acoustic phase right now. I highly recommend "The Scene Aesthetic" their music is pretty magical.

* Oh! I found the greatest freaking website ever!! Its about IKEA! So if you are interested.... check out it. The Greatest Freaking Website Ever

* And.... in my really great post that I already typed then lost, I talked about how I have had this "revelation" of sorts. It's about my weight. Honestely, it took a lot out of me to write it, and I dont feel like going back there now. Maybe at another time.

* I got my hair cut. I will post a pic someday, but dont get your hopes up. Hey, just being honest here.

Peace out, girl scouts!

Highlights from this weekend......

* Nice weather

* Finding some kick ass vinyl albums at a yard sale. (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, The Police, Top Gun Soundtrack, Dirty Dancing soundtrack, just to name a few) They are in excellent condition, and only .50 a piece!!!

* Cleaned my bedroom closet. Not cleaned OUT, just cleaned.

* Nicole broke things off with the cute boy..... broke his poor little heart.

* Late night cruise in the hot rod Saturday night.

* Watched the movie, 21. And it was excellent!

* Stuffed a beer up a chicken's ass.

* LOL, to the above one, we had a family dinner today, complete with beer butt chicken, homemade biscuits, corn on the cobb, watermelon, taters and gravy. Oh, and chocolate dream pie.

* Cleaned out my car, you know, cleaned it, vacuumed, and washed it. Now the wash job isnt the greatest, we have horrible water pressure at home. Need to take it to a real good car wash.

* Nicole decided that she liked the boy again......

* Watched both Overboard, and 10 Things I Hate About You, TWICE. Each.

Now, I am watching Design Star, and next is the finale of Food Network Star.

Later Skater....

ice cream cake anyone?

I just saw a commercial for DQ ice cream cake and it looked yummmy!!!

So, anyway, no real news to report here. I have had a couple people ask about "the date" and I wanted to give an update....

First of all there was no date. It didnt happen. The boy texted her and told her that "some stuff came up that he had to take care of." So what 18 yr old boy has stuff so completely serious? T think he;s a little shy and got cold feet. Oh well. He got a hold of her later, and asked her to hang out, but she just told him that she would see him at the drags on Sunday. They talked all weekend on myspace, and text messaging. They see each other, on Sunday, at the drags. Freaking kids!! Do you think they used the opportunity to say one word to each other????? NO!!!! He spent the whole time, sitting about 2 rows behind her, and she spent the whole time applying lip gloss and looking at her own reflection in my sunglasses. Ugh, she drove me nuts. LOL!!! So, anyway, the races get over, and we are all on our ways home and they start texting. Ahhh, teen love. He tells her that he was sorry he didnt say anything, he felt "awkward with everyone there." Poor kid, its understandable I guess. The whole thing is cracking me up. I just love being nosey, and Nicole tells me EVERYTHING that they talk about. She is really open about everything, and I really LOVE that about her. I wasnt that way with my parents, or anyone in my family for that matter.

Anyway, Im outta here, I will update more on this soap opera at a later time...

Oooooh, we should think of a name for the soap opera.... How about?

"Hormones of our lives"

LOL

Quick Update

So its been a very long week. No reason in particular, its just dragging to no end. But I do see some light at the end of the tunnel. Tomorrow, my friends, is FRIDAY!!! I hope the day goes fast. Here is what we have in store for the weekend:

Work tomorrow.
Dad is coming to town.
Having a bbq tomorrow night at my grandpa's house.
Heading to Portland Saturday morning.
Neice's 1st birthday party on Saturday afternoon.
Family dinner Saturday night.
Family breakfast Sunday morning.
Drag Races in Woodburn all day Sunday.
Come home Sunday night.
Yay.

So here is a cool thing happening around here.... Nicole has a date tomorrow night!! OMG! I am probably more excited than she is. She is going to the movies with a boy, and another boy and his girlfriend. One problem: she hasnt asked dad yet, and is afraid to. I just hope that he is understanding about it. I mean, she is approaching 17 years old. And going to the movies on a friday night, its no big thing. We cant really ask for a better boy to be asking her out. We know him, we know his parents, he has a job, he has a diploma, and a good personality. So..... hopefully all goes well, and she can have a good time. She has been cooped up in this house all night everynight since she has been here. I feel for her. I wish there was something that I could do, but when I have to be to work every morning, its hard to hang out until midnight everynight. LOL.

Trailer Park Tetherball

Stimulating dinner conversation

I know, I get it. Siblings argue.....

Dad: Harley? What did you do at the library today?
Bubba: Cheated!
Harley: I did my thing, I'll tell you later!
Bubba: I saw you cheating at that game!
Harley: It was I SPY!! I found it, it was a bumble bee!
Bubba: That is not I Spy, I Spy is played way differently.
Harley: They call it I spy and that is what I played Bubba!
Bubba: I spy a dog, I spy a butterfly
Harley: I spy EAT YOUR DINNER!!
Bubba: I spy leave me alone!
Harley: Knock Knock
Bubba: Leave me alone
Harley: Leave me alone who?
Bubba: Use your brain Harley
Harley: You dont even have a brain!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Oh! M! G!

Home by myself.
Dinner by myself.

I just created a MASTERPIECE for my taste buds!!!!

1 Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime Patty (baked in the toaster oven for 15 min)
+
homemade Tzatziki sauce (greek yogurt, diced green onions, fresh mint, garlic, lemon juice, and some Pampered Chef greek seasoning)
+
1 chopped up farm fresh cucumber
+
some shredded lettuce
+
a sprinkle of Feta Cheese
+
a whole wheat Pita pocket

= a wonderful homemade "Greek Gyro"

I am in LOVE!!!

I dont know how this all came in to place. I just saw ingredients and started mixing. I so wanted to take a picture, but couldnt bear the thought of putting down the pocket.

It's my hips, isn't it????

Dudes. I am in a funk.
Just a real down in the dumps funk.

I am starting to feel like I don't have much to offer as a friend. Sometimes I feel like an outcast, or even some kind of nuisance.

I think one of the reasons that I am feeling this way is because of a friend of mine. We both have families, and jobs. The worst part is that I work days, and she works nights, so we rarely have the same window of free time. But she is home every evening. I ask her to hang out all the time, and she almost always says no. Its a different excuse each time. Either she has to take a nap, or can't leave until the husband gets home, or has to watch Survivor, etc. Its always something.

This last weekend, I sat down with Harley and we went through her closet and dresser and took out all of the clothes that dont fit her anymore. She hands down clothes to my friend's daughter. So when I got this bag of clothes together, I called my friend on Saturday and invited her to bring her daughter over to swim with Harley, and offerred for her to sift through the clothes. She said she would come over on Sunday. Sunday night came around and she ditched me. Last night came around, and she tried to ditch me but came over anyway "only because she said she would." And only stayed for about 20 minutes at best.

Tonight I called her while I was on my way to the pool. She was at her friends softball game. huh? I mean seriously? Why can she find the time to go down to someone else's softball game, but I have to beg for time with her. I dont feel like I should have to beg my best friend to hang out with me. But that is what its turned in to. Sometimes I am afraid to ask her to do anything, because I dont want to get rejected. Then last week she called me, and I was so excited when she asked me if I was busy, or had any plans, that I just blurted out "no I am totally free." Then she asked me to freaking babysit...sigh.

I just feel so sad. I mean I know I dont always go to things that I am invited to. Everyone is intitled to say no. It just gets old. And I hope that things start to get better soon.

Got tagged.....

Got tagged to do this awesome (NOT) blog challenge.
And I dont have it within me to just not do it, so here you go.

Self Portrait:
Courtesy of the integrated webcam...


What are your kids doing right now:

Ewww. 13 yr old boys, they are just icky, yes?

And I was just informed that he is watching "The worlds most unique McDonalds'" on the Travel Channel.

Harley enjoying the already 90 degree weather before 10AM!!!!!




Favorite room in the house:

Currently the dining room, because of its fresh coat of paint, and the fact that the a/c vent is under this table, and it keeps me cool while on the computer.


My ghetto laundry room:



My refrigerator:



My kitchen sink:


My favorite pair of shoes:
I love flip flops, and this is my newest pair.

Son of a bitch!

Isnt that crude?
Ya it is, but for some reason, its my new phrase of choice.
My computer messes up... my response? "you son of bitch"
I drop something... my response? "son of a bitch!"
I stub my toe... my response? "ouch!" followed by...
well, you get the point.
I need a new phrase, I know this particular one is not very flattering.

So, I just havent felt like blogging lately. Sorry.
I have a time management issue.
I started water aerobics last week, and its really messing with my schedule.
I get home at 5pm, and water aerobics starts at 8pm.
What I do in between??? No idea! I mean, I eat dinner, and then....???
I waste it! I waste it doing nothing. I wait for it to turn 7:30 so I can change into my suit and leave. Then when I get home I am freezing my son of a bitchin ass off that I just change clothes and get right into bed and stay there.
So, I need to work on getting things done during the window between dinner and pool.

Guess what???
Rachel Ray makes dog food now!!! Yea, I saw it at Wal-Mart.
My dog needed food, and I love Rachel Ray, so I got her some.
Its supposedly made with all natural ingredients, and part of the proceeds go to some pet charity. So its a winner in my book. Boots seemed to like it too.
She also got some new Peanut Butter and Molasses dog treats. She loves Molasses treats. And I think I am going to make some molasses cookies for the bake sale at Relay for Life.

So, Dennis and I are on a "no eating out" pact right now. Pact: did I spell that right? hmmm, it looks wierd.
So anyway, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all from home. I love it!!! Save so much money this way. And feel good about yourself, and feel good physically. We really have the crappiest restaurants here in town, there isnt much to chose from. And I can easily spend $5-10 per meal. That is outrageous. So considering my recent financial debacle, and the fact that Nicole is coming and we have to shell out for her plane ticket, and the fact that we want to be able to do fun things with the kids this summer, this is a good way to save money. We are doing it for a week, but I think we can go a lot longer. Yay us!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

To this sweet person......



Wishing you all the best my BFF!!!

Hello from Seaside!!!

Hey everyone.
We are in Seaside now.
I love Seaside, it is just the cutest little town.
We are having a blast with all the hotrods in town for the car show.
We ate dinner at Doogers, and got a window seat facing the main drag and got to watch them all crusising up and down Broadway. Dennis is in heaven, I am so glad that I talked him into coming here this weekend.
I had crab cakes tonight for the first time. They were pretty good. We had some awesome clam chowder too.
I love the candy shops, they are my fav. We have to go into every single one. I bought a few pounds of taffy. haha.
Omg, I have to add, for all of you that watch Little People Big World. You know Matt's invention? The "short stature accessibility kit"? Its like a step stool with a big knob on it? If you have seen the show then you know what I am talking about. Anyway, our motel offers those for their guests, so they brought one in for Dennis. Its so great, usually we are having to push one of the chairs into the bathroom. Our motel is pretty nice, but the room is very small. I think we are going to head down to the lounge in a few.
We have spent a lot of time at the arcade, we love playing this game called Fascination. You roll a rubber ball onto a little grid, and try to make a line, kinda like bingo. Then you get a ticket if you are the first one. So far, we have spent $30 on that game. ooops. But we have like 28 tickets. The Juno DVD is 60 tickets, and I want that. LOL. Too bad the Magic Bullet is 105 tickets, that is what Dennis wants. Anyway, its just a quarter a game, and its super fun, $30 goes a long way.
Well that I really all I have to report right now, we are having a great time.
Dennis has been taking lots of pictures, thank goodness, since I am lazy and havent even gotten my own camera out yet. There is always tomorrow. Hopefully I can find a cute sweatshirt or something.

The Diagnosis

I am not a doctor. I don't know for sure what this all means.
I had my follow up appointment today for my hormone test.

Turns out I have PCOS and possible "adrenal fatigue."
My progesterone levels are extremely low, and my testosterone is pretty high.
My Estradiol to progesterone ratio is like 36, when 100-200 is considered normal.
Pretty crazy stuff. The doctor didnt spend too much time with me.
Handed me some pamphlets and copies of some magazine articles, and told me that she was calling in a prescription for some topical hormone cream.

I am not sure how I feel about the cream. I dont really know if I want to take hormones. She didnt even tell me the name of the cream, so I can't do research on it or anything.

I think I might feel better about going at this naturally. There has got to be other answers than "here you need this cream." I have never questioned her before, but hormones are crazy stuff. I dont think you really should mess around with that. Maybe I should get a 2nd opinion from an actual OBGYN? I'm just not sure. I really would like to return to my normal self. This whole acne, facial hair, and low libido thing isn't fun.

What to do?

real quick

I just need to jot down the things that I need to do before leaving Thursday night.

- laundry (mine and kids) - check
- pack clothes (mine and kids) - check (kids)
- get root canal, appt tomorrow at 8:30 (freaking hate this!) - check, grr!
- wax
- mail dad's fathers day gift - check
- make fathers day cards and mail - check
- make mom b-day card and mail - check
- charge camera batteries - check
- give dog a bath and cut her nails - check

Little MissUnderstood

I'm so tired of being miss-understood.
I am so tired of my words being twisted into something that I didnt say.
I am tired of everyone being pissed off at me all the time.
I am tired of my intentions being questioned.
I am so tired, that it is draining me, emotionally.

And what I dont get, is that the people that are getting pissed at me, know me well. They know me (or at least they should) well enough to know that I would never say something like that. I dont "intentionally" hurt people's feelings. Its just not my nature. I dont "intentionally" try to control things. I'm not a bad person.
Everything that I do, especially when it comes to my friends and family, is done with the best of intentions.

I am an easy going person. I don't get mad over stupid things. I was born with this voice, and with this face. A face that is often misunderstood for someone that doesn't give a damn. A tone of voice that is almost always mistaken for someone who is trying to be over bearing.

I have heard the expression "my way or the highway" and believe it or not, I don't live my life like that. I think everyone has bouts of this belief at one time or another. I have been known to be quite selfish at times, and I can admit that.

I am tired of clashing. Having to dispute and defend everything I say is not my idea of a good time.

Its got me so frustrated, I am considering becoming a mute!

Howcome when I am purposly trying to be a joker, or a smartass, no one cares. But when I do or say something with the deepest of sincerity it blows up in my face?

I spent most of last week and this weekend in a haze of whispers, and under the breath comments. I can't escape from it. I honestly don't know what is causing this. I dont know any other way to explain myself.

Do I need to take a college course in communications? Or do I just need a shrink?

So........

Well, lots of little tidbits of stuff going on today.

First of all, work sucked, okay moving on.....

The change: we have a changed jar, well pig. Its a large plastic pig, and we have been putting our change in it since last December (like over a year ago December). The pig got stuffed, full! So we had to start another change container. That container was about 1/3 of the way full. Dennis has been trying to convince me to let him go cash in the coins. We were supposed to be saving the change for a trip to Vegas. Well we dont know when Vegas is going to happen, but this whole beach trip is happening next weekend. So we decided to take it in today. We were rewarded with $364!!!! That pays for our motel room and our gas. I'm happy. I wish I would have taken a pic of the change before hand. Pretty impressive.

Well, today was the last day of school. Harley's school had an award ceremony. Harley received 4 awards! She got a physical fitness award, one for reading, one for math, and one for behavior. That was pretty cool. She passed all of her benchmarks this year so we are pretty proud of her for working so hard.

I had to laugh at the whole behavior award, because she almost blew it yesterday. She got in trouble at school. Apparently she hates a girl named Vanessa. She wrote "i hate vanessa" on her white board in class. One of the kids told on her so the teacher took her aside to talk about it. The teacher asked Harley to explain what she wrote, and why. Well Harley doesnt have the best handwriting and thought she was going to use that as a way to get out of it. Apparently her "h" looked an awful lot like a lowercase "n". So Harley tells her teacher she didnt write that she "hates" her. It says "nate", "I nate her" LOL!!! Well, obviously the teacher wasnt falling for it, so Harley got in a little bit of trouble. And I cant help but laugh.

Bubba didnt have much to report from his last day of school. The highlight of the day was that there was a "cat fight" at school. He got the honor of being the kid that distracts the principal so the girls could start the fight. He was pretty proud of himself. I will never forget junior high. There was always one good cat fight about every year. Loved it!

I am so happy that tomorrow is Friday. This has been a long week. Work has been slow business wise, so I have been very busy trying to catch up on a few things around there. The days though, have dragged!!!
Bring on the weekend!!!

Veggie dogs and Wii Fit

Seriously?? Is that ALL I have to talk about???
I mean, I kinda think it is!

Work: nothing to report

Home repair: Nothing to report

Weight loss: talked about that yesterday, and the day before, I am sure you are getting bored with that.

Ok, I just have a little tidbit to throw in about WiiFit, I totally avoided Bob tonight. He doesnt show up in the aerobics, or balance section. So I only did those two sections. I did all of the aerobics stuff: hula hoop, boxing, step, advanced step, super hula hoop. Then I did all of the balance stuff too. I will talk to Bob tomorrow. Oh, I lost .9 pounds from yesterday to today. :-)

I had veggie corn dogs for dinner tonight. I made both kids take a bite and they both agreed that it tastes just like a corn dog, only better. Carrie, if you get this brand, I promise you wont be disappointed. It tastes just like a corn dog.

I think Bob is mad at me......

Well, I am not saying that the Wii Fit is fool proof. Believe me, it has some discrepencies, but I can learn to look passed that stuff. Yesterday as I was doing some cleaning, I was going to throw away the box that the Wii Fit came in and I noticed that there was something still in the box. Huh? And I pulled out some little round feet looking things. Carpet extenders! So then I proceeded to read in the manual that you need to use these extenders if you are using the Wii Fit on carpet, or it may not give you an accurate reading. Well! I knew that the weight was a wee bit off before, but at least it was consistant on a daily basis. Bubba was the first one to use the Wii Fit with the extenders on it. It told him he weighed 66 pounds. Right on the money! That is what our scale at home says. Hmmm.

I didnt get on the Wii Fit with extenders until today. Whoa baby! I gained 9 freaking pounds!! In one day?!?!?!?! *sigh* all my hard work down the drain. Its almost like starting all over again KWIM??? Bob seemed a little stand-offish today. I think he is mad at me. I wish there was a way that I can prove to him, that it was just the extenders. I wish I could show him my freezer full of Morningstar Farms. He has no clue that the banana bread I made the other day had whole wheat flour in it. I hope that Bob forgives me by tomorrow. I may have to get a new trainer. Dennis and Bubba seem to like their female trainer. She does have a great ass.

How do they do that???

My wonderful georgous friend Carina is always a wealth of information about anything and everything. Especially if it comes to healthy eating and living, or skin care. So the other night we were chatting about different foods, and veggie burgers came up. We both agree that Morningstar Farms makes the best veggies burgers!! But what I didnt know, is that they have more awesome products other than veggie burgers. They make veggie corndogs. She told me they were good. My Wal-Mart has a new section in the freezer aisle that is ALL Morningstar Farms products. Low and behold, I spotted the corndogs and me being very curious, decides to buy them. The recommended cooking method is the oven for 20 minutes. I just ate the corndog. Inhaled would actually be a better word. It was delicious. And I am not kidding when I say that it tasted just like a real meat corndog! How do they do that? I cant wait to try all of their products. I dont have any intention of giving up meat entirely. But I could definitely eat Morningstar Farms pretty regularly.

P.S.
Its Friday!!!!
Its time to do some Wii Fit.
I am getting a lot better at Yoga.
I found out that I cant do push-ups.

Excuse me, this is MY basket!!

Ok so I am about to Wii Fit, but I first just had to blog about Wal-Mart. UGH!
So I ran in today right after work to pick up a few things. I got everything I needed (well not everything, since I only had 40.00 on me) and I went to the check out. The minute I stepped in front of my cart to put my merchandise on the belt, a lady got in line behind me. But she didnt just get behind me, she was almost on me! She walked right up to my basket, like it was her basket. I thought it was a little wierd so I pulled my basket toward me. She then took a GIANT step forward to put herself directly next to my basket again. I was thinking, man this lady is wierd, and rude. I mean... who does that??? My purse was in the basket, so this is why it was bothering me so much. I was almost done putting my stuff up on the belt when I looked back at her and noticed that she had put her hands on my cart, and did the whole "foot rest" thing on it. You know, the foot rest thing, when you put your hands on the cart, and pick one foot up and rest it on the bottom of the cart. Its a common stance for those standing in line at a Wal-Mart checkstand.. but normally people do it on their own basket, not just some random basket they happen to walk up to that already has someones purse and groceries in it. But anyway, when I saw her do that I CAME UNGLUED!!!! I grabbed the front of my basket and I YANKED it and said "Excuse me!!! This is MY basket!!!" LOL! I must have looked like the biggest bitch ever, but oh well. Maybe she will learn something from it. I mean I know its Wal-Mart and all, most people that shop there leave their manners in the car, but come on. You have to draw the line somewhere.