Beautiful

Did you know Frank describes me as a "butterfly caught in a hurricane"? Wonder why?

.4 = 4!

Today was weigh-in day - lost .4 which is quite a bit considering that I didn't eat that muffin over a series of three days - I ate it all in one day. Then I went to find the nutritional information. Talk about a surprise. They were good muffins but not good enough to be 17 Points! Can you believe it? One Muffin equivalent to 2 meals plus a snack. UNBELIEVABLE! I was stunned. Needless to say my trip to Mimi's could have destroyed my diet. Will have to be more careful next time.

Like my monarch butterflies? It was so fun to have such beautiful creatures to take pictures of. My kind of project.

Shooting Butterflies ... not as bad as it sounds!

Amy and I went to the NC Arboretum today and though there weren't too many flowers blooming in the outside gardens, the greenhouse was all a "flutter" - with butterflies of course. We were able to get some really good photos. Here is one I am going to use in Foxfire Gallery's ad this Friday. Will post more tomorrow. (photos removed for publication)

Lunchtime Thoughts

It's lunchtime and the microwave is heating up my Smart Ones Chicken Parmesan. Kind of a letdown from the weekend's good eats. On Friday night after my photo shoot at Falls Park on the Reedy, we decided to give one of Angie's favorite restaurants, Mimi's Cafe, a try. Frank had the Seafood Fettuccine and I had the Grilled Chicken Tuscan Style. Both were pretty good ... I think mine was the best. It was delicious grilled chicken sauteed with garlic, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, squash and sun dried tomatoes. I chose the version with mashed potatoes instead of rice even though they were about 2 points more. It was worth it. The flavors of the vegetables with the creamy potatoes ... yummy! Anyway, we left we some complimentary free muffins (because it was our first time there ... how nice.) I had my low fat blueberry muffin on Sunday and took a bite from the buttermilk spice this morning. It was really good but probably more points than I would want to think about giving up today. Maybe I will just take a small bite for two more days and spread the points out. The restaurant definitely gets a "thumbs up." Thanks, Angie, for the recommendation.

PS We also got to use our gift card for Whole Foods while we were there. Thanks again, Angie.

Falls Park Garden Stroll

Falls Park, Greenville, SC

Yesterday, Frank took me to Greenville so I could try to find some pretty flowers to take pictures of. This is one of my favorites. I will add more later today. We are on our way to a (wet) company picnic for Frank.

3.6!

So my first weigh-in this trip around the WWW (Weight Watchers World) - I lost 3.6 pounds. Wow, only 71.4 to go. MUST. TAKE. THIS. JOURNEY. ONE. DAY. AT. A. TIME! You know I am surprised Jenny Craig didn't play up that theme with Valerie Bertinelli's weight loss!

Family Bowling Night

Last night we had our first Family Bowling Night and it was a lot of fun! There were 14 of us (Frank, Me, Amanda, Amy, Atley, Nick, Joanna, Ethan, Harmony, Xyla, Tiffany, Shawn, Andrea, and Justin) and we met at Sonic, had some eats and headed to the bowling alley! Zack even showed up after work, but not in time to get into the bowling.

Here's my Top 10 List of Things I Learned at Family Bowling Night:

1) Never walk up behind Atley when he is getting ready to bowl (right, Amy? How's the chin today?)

2) Amy has quite the competitive nature when challenged by Shawn

3) Harmony doesn't like to lose! She was really cute though when she knocked the pins down, blowing kisses and high-fiving everyone afterwards.

4) It takes 3 lanes to accommodate 12 bowlers

5) Nick is a great bowler - until Zack shows up! Guess big brother made him nervous, but before Zack arrived, Nick had only one open frame going into his 7th. Still he ended up with a 116!

6) It's okay to fall down when you are bowling, as long as the end result is a STRIKE (right, Frank? He said it was all strategy.)

7) If you volunteer to bowl for someone else, don't be surprised if it turns out to be a strike (right, Andrea? She bowl for Joanna twice, throwing strikes both times)

8) Just because someone throws 2 strikes in a row doesn't mean they'll get a third (right, Tiffany? After Andrea threw a strike for Joanna, then for herself, Tiffany thought, "Why not, she seems to be on a roll" and let her throw for her. Her third time up? ONE pin!)

9) Putting all the girls on one team and expecting them to finish at the same time as the rest of us and with decent scores ... NOT going to happen!

and last but not least,
10) If you invite 'em, expect 'em! I was so thrilled with the turnout! We will definitely have to do it again!

Happy Birthday, Tamara

May you be one of the fortunate few whose day is bright and fair, whose sky is blue, whose friends are true, and who finds joy everywhere on this day that's so special all because of you!

Happy Birthday!

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Look What We Did!

(photo removed for publication)
I admit it - I pretty much went to all the trouble to dye these eggs just so I would have something to take pictures of with my new camera. Cool, unh?

Can you tell I am going crazy with the new camera?

No More Film!

Oh and I got a call from Mom and Dad. They made it back and it sure sounds like they had a great time!

Counting Points Again ....

So today I officially start counting points again. I am going to try and focus on the positive fact that I haven't gained ALL of it BACK yet, instead of getting down about still having so far to go. According to the scales at home I will need to lose 70 pounds to get to my goal. I will admit I am ashamed to say that I have put back on about 25 pounds since this time last year. WOW! Isn't it amazing how quickly it adds up? To start this road again, I know that I must fess up and put it all out here for you all to see and to hold me accountable. Heather, my supervisor at work, and I will be going on Wednesdays at noon. She is a skinny little thing if you ask me, but she says she really needs to go and needs a friend, too. Now that I have my real estate people trained to turn their stuff in on Tuesdays for the most part, I should be able to make the Wednesday meetings again. Of course the down side is that Julia is no longer there on Wednesdays. She has moved to Tuesday nights and I am just not a night meeting person. I wasn't overly impressed with Linda, the lady who replaced Julia, but she wasn't too bad. She was quick, though. She must start right at 12 and we were out of there by 12:30 last week. I went with Heather last week to see if it was someone I could take as there was one leader I just could not listen to every week. Thank goodness it wasn't her! Anyway, today will be my first official weigh in and have chosen my blue jean dress as my weigh-in dress. I know that denim weighs more than some materials I could have chosen but I decided that would be a good thing to really make me try harder. I am expecting to have to lose 20% just to get me back to where I was a year ago this month. To save you the trouble of looking back at last year's posts, as of March 14, 2007, I had lost 53.4 pounds and was hoping to reach 55 pounds total by the end of March. It took me until sometime mid-May to reach the mark and then it was uphill from there on out. Between mom being in the hospital and me accepting a new position with lots more responsibilities and more pressing deadlines, I gave up! It's true. I admit it. (They say confession is good for the soul, I hope so, but it sure doesn't feel that good right now.) Anyway, I admit that I got tired of counting points, tired of weighing in, just tired of it all. And now it shows again. So I am asking you all now, please pray for me and for the strength and willpower it takes to get back into this. I WANT TO DO THIS! I think! LOL. Anyway, you can't be lazy and take on this endeavor and right now I feel lazy. Maybe rainy days are bad days to start again, but Heather and I promised each other and I have promised myself, too. I know I am rambling so you can stop reading when you want to if you haven't already. This post needs some pictures ... right? So how about we start off with a BEFORE picture of me. Didn't do this part last time but think I will post a picture each week of me. Maybe it will help me to actually see what everyone else sees ... the good and the bad! Gonna go find my camera. TTFN.

5 Years at War? Wow!

This date in History?

US enters war in Iraq. (Did I hear from someone that Nate was getting to come home this month?)

Did you know that about $1 billion was taken from Iraq's Central Bank by Saddam Hussein and his family, just hours before the United States began bombing Iraq. It is the biggest bank robbery in history. Think they knew what was about to happen? Weird.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I can't help but think about Pop on this day.

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall softly on your fields
And until we meet again, May God hold
you in the hollow of his hand

New Candy & Selection Sunday

Have you tried these yet? Frank and I shared a bag and they are pretty good. He describes them as "tootsie roll bits with m&m coatings." They were chewy and chocolaty and though I have never been a fan of the original skittles, I thought these were pretty tasty.

So, who watched the NCAA Selections? Can't wait to get my bracket and make my picks. Love this time of year ... and love that my Tarheels are the overall Number One Seed! Go Heels!
Thought it was cool that Louisville, Duke, and Tennessee all got high seeds, too. In fact, if things goes as planned, we could see a UNC vs UT battle in a couple of weeks. Won't that be exciting? Make your picks and then keep me updated through the comments section (Amanda, I will be counting on you for the updates of each round from the Etowah side of the family.)

I guess Mama will get a late start on making her picks as her and Daddy left today on a cruise to the Bahamas. Let us all pray for good weather and safe passage. I'm still not sure about them taking another cruise. Angie and I got them one for their 40th Wedding Anniversary five years ago and when I asked them how it was the first thing Daddy said was, "I can't wait to get some real food. I am going to Cracker Barrell." Anyway, this one is through Templeton Tours and Charles Stanley, the famous evangelist from Atlanta, will be on board. Anyway, I hope they have a better time this trip. Can't wait to hear the details.

Just starting to bloom!

Journaling on page: "When my sister turned 40 in March '08, I decided she should have a surprise party with old and new friends and with family and I decided I wanted it to be bright and cheery -more fabulous and 4o than a dark over the hill party - and so I made her a cupcake cake complete with 40 cupcakes." The flowers on the layout were actually used on the cupcakes, too.

I found the cupcake tree at AC Moore and Mom made the 40 cupcakes. The tree holds 38 that we topped with silk flowers from the dollar store and then we filled the tops of the last two cupcakes with 20 candles each! I thought it accomplished my theme very nicely. Isn't it nice to think that at 40, we're really just starting to bloom rather than that we're already over the hill? I think so, too.

And here is the video with the rest of the pictures from the party. Most of the folks there are Angie's friends from Biltmore Baptist and from their church in Greenville. I knew how to get Mom & Dad and Amanda and Amy there, but I had no idea who else to invite. That's where Gene came in handy. When I talked to him, he was all for it! We first thought about having it at their house and he would get her out while Mom and I decorated. Then he remembered the house in Sherwood Forest and said he would check with a friend about holding it there. Once that was okayed, he had to talk Angie into going. This was most likely the HARDEST part of all the plans. For two weeks, Gene has to listen to Angie whine and complain about what a stupid idea it was to drive all the way to Cedar Mountain just to spend the night and then travel all the way to Knoxville (to see UT play SC.) She complained about it to Mama, she complained about it to me, and she obviously complained A LOT about it to Gene. After the shock of the surprise wore off, she just kept repeating, "I can't believe I said those things to him." We're not sure what she said, but we're pretty sure she has forgiven him and he has probably forgiven her, too.

Enjoy the video, and if you are one of the great friends who helped bring all the food and fellowship to this event ... THANK YOU!

12 of 12 ... the Scrapped Version March 08

Special thanks to Cathy Zielske for the template to hold the photos. Love the idea of doing these as 8.5 by 11 - Will make it a nice way to save them.

Today's 12 Photos from the 12th of March

I try to remember to carry my camera with me every day, but on the 12th of each month, I get a reminder from the 12 of 12 Blog Site

These are my photos from today, beginning with 12:12 AM - the time I went to bed. Most people take the picture when waking up, but I thought last night since I was going to bed so late, "Why not?" The show continues with visits to John Johnson Ford, Fletcher Rec Park, Frank's new work, and finally, Matthew's baseball practice. And since I love the Carpenters so much and I can't "sing without my camera" I chose a favorite oldie for the background.

These are my favorite 12 shots from the 12th of March. It may seem boring, but hey, it's my reality.

Wow, This is so cool

My work website, www.blueridgenow.com is now showing video. This one is from Matt's game against Erwin last night. You can read the entire story on Matthew's Sports Blog.

Date Night

See a good deal and make it a date night! Every week Frank comes home at least one night and tells me that Tuesday night is bowling special night. Last Tuesday, I decided to go by Sonic and bring home a surprise rt44 Cranberry slushy for Frank and discovered that Tuesdays are 99 cent slushy and 1/2 price Sonic Burger nights. So, on Sadie Hawkins Day (February 29) I decided to ask Frank out on a date - a cheap date! So tonight was the night, we enjoyed our Sonic Cranberry Slushies and Burgers and then bowled three games at Tarheel Lanes. I won all three games (Frank told me it was okay to brag) - my first game was 125, then 141, then 119. That middle game is always my best!

Now, two weeks from now, all the kids will be on Spring Break and I think we will make it Family night. So if you are reading this and would like to join us, feel free to! We will meet at Sonic at 6:30 pm for cheap burgers and slushies and then make our way over to Tarheel Lanes. Bowling is $9.00 for three games and shoes! When I say you are invited ... I mean all of you! I know it's a week night, but who cares, it's great exercise and it will be nice to see everyone.

"Matt, " said Coach Hyatt,

"Your JV career is over." Now, when we girls heard that, we're thinking, "Oh my gosh." But Matthew, who knows he is a good player, knew exactly what Coach Hyatt meant. He meant, "NO MORE JV, YOU ARE NOW ON THE THE VARSITY TEAM!" WOW! So cool, Matthew and Zak Beard are the only sophomores to make the Varsity Baseball Squad. As you can imagine. We're pretty darn proud.

(Reprinted from Matt's Sports Blog.)

Did you see this promise a few minutes ago?

This was taken just a few minutes ago from our parking lot at work. We were all standing outside to look at this amazingly bright and gorgeous DOUBLE rainbow. It was so beautiful. You could see the arches so clearly and see both ends (well close anyway.) Patrick Sullivan took this shot. Stupid me left my camera laying on the couch this morning. UGH!

Happy Birthday, Angie

For some reason, people think when you turn 40 you should automatically remember the past as if from here on out it will be harder and harder to remember it ... haha! It has been true for me for the last 15 months, so maybe they are right! Hope it's a good birthday and honestly 40 is not that bad! Happy Birthday!

Scrapbook Weekend

Well, Frank has gone back to work and I decided to scrapbook. Here are a few of my pages: first ones are Amy in a photo taken today and Amanda just before graduation in May 2006; next two are Anna & Emma, my friend, Angela's daughters; and last is the little boy from Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Happy Birthday, Joanna

Happy 23rd to the darling little girl with the parasol - Peek-a-b00 - Daddy's still watching you and he is very proud of you! Hope it's a good one! (This picture was scanned from the one in Frank's wallet ... it's pretty worn out, but he says it's still his favorite.)

I saw the Eclipse ... and Saturn's Rings, too!

It was so cool, the moon looked so 3D when the eclipse was total - like a giant ball in the sky instead of the normal flatness I see! Frank got out the telescope so I could see Saturn, too. Gosh that is such a pretty planet. I love it when you can see the rings so clearly. What a great way to end a great day!

Good News!

Frank talked with the folks at FLS (where he worked until January 16) and they have a new warehouse opening up in Fletcher and have hired Frank back to work for them at the new facility. He goes tomorrow morning for his drug test and then onto orientation. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes ... not only for his job search but for my sanity (ha ha!)

Almost 2 Hours Ago...

Frank went into the kitchen to make my breakfast. This is the result. Breakfast quesadillas with sliced strawberries, mango, and sour cream. No wonder I need Weight Watchers!

Happy Valentine's Day

Chillean Sea Bass, Yummy Crab Stuffing, Fresh Green Asparagus topped with Lemony Hollandaise ... what more could a girl ask for? Apple Pie, maybe? I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that even if you ate out tonight at a 5 Star restaurant, your meal was not as delicious or made with as much love as mine was! It's so nice to have my own personal chef!

Being that I am NOT the chef and that I worked so hard today, I made a stop at Inlges and got to wait in their "Lover's Lane," along with a bunch of other GUYS. It was so cool, they had an arch of paper flowers and red and white balloons along with a sign that said, "Lover's Lane ~ for Valentine's Purchases Only." My self-decorated giant chocolate chip cookie, strawberries, and chocolate dipping sauce qualified!

When I got home and gave Frank his big cookie, he fussed at me because he said I said, "We're not getting each other anything." Then my sniffer caught the scent of apple pie coming from the oven, and then we both laughed! He broke the rule, too. Ahh ... isn't it romantic? I babysit to earn enough to buy his cookie and he chopped wood to earn enough to buy me a pie. Reminds me of the "Gift of the Magi" ` well sort of, neither of us lost any hair in the deal. LOL.

Okay, so tell me what you did on this day of love for the one you love or what the one who loves you did for you.

PS Be sure to check back later for results of Matthew's last regular season game tonight. It's at West and against North.

Kids say the cutest things ... even the older ones

On Monday morning I took Matthew to school and I asked him when he was going to take driver's ed (you know, since he turned 16 three weeks ago). Do you know what he said? It's pretty funny!

He said, "Can you do that online?"

Pretty sure he was serious! I guess I should be happy he's not chomping at the bit to add to our growing parking lot of vehicles and ever increasing insurance costs.

Amy Makes the Dean's List!

Blue Ridge Community College

Blue Ridge Community College announced the fall semester 2007 dean's list. Students must be full time student with a minimum grade-point average of 3.5.

The following students were named: Henderson County: Anne Adkinson; Chad Anderson; Kristine Barbour; Cori Blankenship; Henry Bleiweiss; Heather Bradshaw; Benjamin Capps; Christina Chavez; Jennifer Connell; Kelley Creech; Richard Cross; Robert Davis; Ashley Downey; Teresa Drevar; Kayla Edney; Diana Gamez; Sylvia Gossett; Kasey Hendrix; Casey Herbert; Sharon Huchzermeier; Reuben Jacques; Michelle Janes; Michael Johnson; Brittany Jones; John Jones; Shannon King; Michael Klipp; Kelly Leech; Tammy Lyda; Lisa MacDonald; Natasia Marling; Katherine McCraw; Connie McGowan; Ashley McGraw; Josie Medrano; David Morris; Glen Morris; Philip Olivier; Erica Ours; Sarah Parris; Kristina Patterson; Lindsey Prather; Maureen Rhodes; Amy Roberts; Guadalupe Robles; Kimberly Rodriguez; Laura Sexton; Courtney Shock; Stephanie Slinkard; Charles Smith; Eric Smith; Daniel Sutton; Kayla Thomas; George Tipton; Richard Van Wingerden.

And Amanda did well, too, she has a 3.0 Average!

Matter Scored to 3 Point Shots In Win Over East

Matthew and the Falcons beat Uncle John's East Eagles last night by 2 points and Matter scored 8 points to help! You can read the write-ups about all of his games on The Baller's Blog (click here: http://mattersports.blogspot.com ) I have copied all the stories off of the Times-News website to keep here as a record for him. The Headlines in light blue are by me ... as I am sure you will be able to notice right away since they usually talk about Matthew!

Did You See This?

It's Matthew! On the front page of the paper last Wednesday. I didn't see it until the end of the day. He has a guy's arm in his face, but it is definitely him. I have extra copies if anyone needs them autographed ... haha! (If you click on the image it will open up bigger so you can see him better.)

Two Layouts I did on Sunday

I know I have used this pic before, but I wanted to use it on a paper layout, too. The last one I did had Helen in it and was a digital layout. Today, I organized and then managed to "dis" organize all my paper supplies while scrapping these two layouts.

The Biggest Upset Ever?

That's what they said anyway. There were a few of us at work who actually really DID pick Eli Manning and the Giants to beat the Patriots. Sure, it was wishful hoping, but hey, they did! And what an amazing win. I have no fingernails left! Go Giants. I cannot wait to see Peyton hand off that trophy to his little brother (well, not literally, but hey they did get it back to back!) Way to go, Mannings!

Conrad Family Photo shoot

I did this paper layout today using photos I took of Frank, Justin and Tiffany back in December. Tiffany asked me to take them so she could give them to Art as a framed gift for his new "man cave." Some of them came out pretty good and there were way too many for a one page layout. Here I picked some of my favorites and even made a mini book on the second page to hold a couple more and a close-up of each of them. Enjoy!

Wowzers

My last challenge to do for January scrapping was a layout using one element in three different formats. I chose the circle and I used it on paper, as stitching, and for the journaling block. I called it Wowzers because it is so hard for me to believe the difference in these pictures. Especially Matthew. He looks so young in the first picture and so grown up in the second one. In case you can't read the journaling - the first pic was taken in 2001 when Amanda turned 13 and the second one was taken in 2006 at Thanksgiving at Mama & Daddy's. WOWZERS!

Pig Out Weekend

The last time Frank and I went shopping at Sam's, we got a really good deal on pork - not just pork chops, but pork butt and ham, too. And this is the story of how we ended up having all of it in one weekend:

One of the ladies was cooking pork chops with Classico Tomato Sauce and provolone cheese. It reminded me that Amanda had requested Lasagna for the next time she was here so we thought this might close but give her a taste of something new but still use some of the flavors of lasagna.

Now, I have been craving barbecue for about a month and when we got such a good deal on the pork butt, Frank promised to smoke it and make me some barbecue.

Last week Nick called and said to Frank, "Why don't you invite us over for dinner sometime?" Frank told him pick the food and he would be happy to. So all the kids got together and decided they liked his pintos with ham the best and it was set to have that on Sunday night.

So, after we were all sitting around tonight feeling stuffed and fat - Frank called us all little pigs and pointed out that every meal we had this weekend was courtesy of three little pigs!

Needless to say, we sure did eat "high on the hog" this weekend!

A Few of My Favorite Things

A scrapbook page for a Book of me I am doing.

Woo Hoo Falcons beat #1 Team in the State

Way to go, Falcons and a Happy Birthday present for Matthew! The Falcons beat the previously undefeated, and ranked #1 in the state, Smoky Mountain Mustangs, in a very close game tonight. It stayed close the whole game and came down to two free throws that put them ahead by three - it was so awesome! Because they are such a good team, we really didn't expect Matthew to get in the game much, but he did - long enough (almost 2 minutes!) to get called for 2 fouls! He said he was no where near the guy on one of the calls, but of course what baller doesn't say that? :) Anyway, Falcons can hold their heads up high tonight! The win makes them 2-1 in the conference and they face North Henderson at North on Friday night. Congrats Falcons and Congrats & Happy B-day, Matter!

PS I took pictures with b.w film and Billy took them to be developed, hopefully I got at least one shot of him playing!

Happy Birthday, Matter!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATTER!

I can believe it's been 16 years since you were born! WOW - where does the time go. I put up this picture of pooh because before there was always a ball in your hand there was a pooh. Oh how you loved pooh! It makes me smile to think about the little boy you were carrying around your blankie and your pooh. I am having to post from my work computer so I don't have access to any pictures of you, but when I get home, I will be sure to put up a few of my favorites. Love you so much! Have a happy, happy day!

Only one day ...

... until my baby turns 16! Sometimes when I think how cute Matthew was when he was little, I totally agree with Joanna when she says, "Sometimes, I wish they would just stay this little." But then I think about all the joy he has brought us as he as grown up. I mean, afterall, if it weren't for Matthew would any one of us know anything about sports? LOL!

Hope you enjoy the layout below ... maybe I will have to do one tomorrow of my baby!

Happy Birthday, Tiffany

Hope you have a great day! So glad we're family!

My Baby Sister - by Harmony

Xyla @ 5 Weeks & 3 Days

One of the pictures I took this morning at Tiffany's -Isn't she pretty? I think everyone is right when they say she looks a lot like Harmony did at that age. I guess I better make sure I label these layouts. I remember when Amanda and Amy were little I thought I would always be able to tell their baby pictures apart because Amanda's hair was lighter than Amy's. Well, let me just say there are a lot of pictures that Mama and I have looked over having to find other things in the pictures to help us remember which one it is a picture of. Pictures can sometimes lie ~ Amanda's hair was a lot lighter than Amy's - always has been - but there are pictures of her that I would swear were Amy, but when you turn them over, thank goodness, Mama had put the year on the back! Point is ... I should discreetly add the date to all of these layouts! I got some great photos today and hope to share more soon.

More to the Story ...

These are my friend Angela's daughters, playing in the snow. I think she got some awesome shots - she was very wise to have them dressed in such vibrant colors - they show up so well against the snowy white background. She sent these to me last night along with the funniest little story ... I just had to share it with you. After you read it you will understand why I like her so much, she tells great stories and she is just so funny - I can always count on her for a laugh and after the day I had yesterday, she knew I needed one.

READ THIS ~ It's great!

Okay, so I just uploaded some pics I took today of the kids playing in the snow. They're really cute, but it's what happened after the pics were taken you might enjoy most.

In the pics you'll notice a happy, excited Emma spending a ton of time working on building a snowman. This was her very first ever real snowman with rock eyes, stick arms and everything. Anyway, after working feverishly to get the snowman together, rolling up each ball, picking out the perfect rock eyes, etc., etc... the 6-year-old-snot-nosed-@!$$-ant-little-brat-of-a-boy who lives a couple doors down comes over and kicks it square in the stomach! Snowman flies everywhere! Emma is crushed. Mama Bear here sees it all. I'm like, "Hey! You don't come into someone else's yard and kick down their snowman! It took her a long time to make that snowman! What's wrong with you?!" The 6-year-old-snot-nosed-@!$$--ant-little-brat-of-a-boy who lives a couple doors down is standing shin deep in what's left of my daughter's snowman. He looks at me matter of factly and says, "Oh, I'm sorry about that." He then turns and points to a lady walking slowly toward us on the sidewalk and says, "That's my mom." I get down eye to eye with the 6-year-old-snot-nosed-@!$$--ant-little-brat-of-a-boy who lives a couple doors down and whisper quietly, "Good thing mom's watching or you'd end up like Mr. Snowman."

The moral of this story is there's always going to be a 6-year-old-snot-nosed-@!$--ant-little-brat-of-a-boy nearby, eager to kick down your snowman. Just hope he's dumb enough to do it in front of your mama. ;)

See what I mean? Bet you are laughing at loud! I just love her!

Not the best news I've had this year ...

At 4:19 today Frank called me to say he lost his job. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as he searches for a new job in a not so job friendly area.

Workin' it!

I don't have much to say tonight because I am really sleepy and a bit tired from working out tonight. I will say that my workout included something new tonight ... the elliptical machine. I tried it last week but it went backwards and I just couldn't get coordinated. I thought it was the only way it went. Thank goodness I saw my pod buddy, Ben, (from work) and he told me it was all in how you get it started. Funny, even after I told Frank I was too uncoordinated to do it backwards, HE never offered to tell me it would go forward. Wonder if he knew? I am betting he did, he just wanted to keep the machine secrets to himself! Anyway, he goes about 3 miles on the thing every time we go, I thought I did good to go 1/2 mile. That thing wore me out! I like the treadmill best. I do 3 to 3.5 miles/hr. at a slope of 3. and I make my mile in 20 minutes. Thursday night I walked 2.5 miles. I think I was walking off stress from work. Anyway, I just kept pushing it.

Okay, I am curious ... are we going to get any snow? Not you, Mama & Daddy, I know you've had some already. I want some here and not just some ... a foot! Something pretty and debilitating! LOL! Kidding ... well kind of! So I am pretty tired now, night night, please cross your fingers for me ... I really want to see some snow soon!

Saying Thank You

Tamara sent me this video and I think it is one of the nicest ideas to come along in a while. I followed the links at the end of the website to learn a bit more about the gesture. The guy who started the whole thing, Scott Truitt of Seattle, was an army brat as a child and always felt the need to connect with the military when he saw them passing by. The trouble was that it sometimes made them uncomfortable for him to just come up and start talking to them. He decided to start this national campaign to give everyone a way to show their gratitude without making anyone uncomfortable. Two news stations in Seattle aired stories about the campaign and the Seattle Seahawks played it on their jumbo-tron at a recent home game. He has also posted it on you tube.

The gesture starts with your hand over your heart like you were going to say the "Pledge of Allegiance" and then you bring it down opening it up at hip level. It actually means, 'Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

I would like to offer a "virtual" gesture here - (you can't see me doing it, but I promise I am) to the servicemen who've made a difference in my life ~ Thank you, Daddy (Navy, 1960's); Thank you, Art (Air Force, 1960's); Thank you, Pop Quinlan (Army, 1940's); and Thank you, Nathan Brookshire (Army, Today).

I hope you will pass this on ... Seattle gave us Starbucks, too. If this catches on as well as their coffee did ... well, you can only imagine!

12 of 12 January 08

My 12 photos from the 12th - Something I try to remember to do every month.

The journaling tells that we watched Carolina clobber State; Matthew downloading tunes to his new iPod; Amy studying Arts Appreciation; Amanda studying World Civilizations; the shadow I took of myself to prove how sunny it was outside; Amanda pointing out the answers in her book; my Titanic Music box playing to celebrate mine and Frank's first date 10 years ago; Matthew's new shirt and tie; our peppers drying on the front porch; parsley growing in the flower bed; an almost cloudless sky; and the thermometer showing that it hardly seems like January when its almost 60 degrees outside!

My Pretty Bags

First, since Amanda pointed out in the last post comments that I didn't mention it, is my adorable Eeyore Bag. The kids bought it for me to take to the gym but it's a bit small for all my junk when I am going to swim and workout. It is, however, ideal for my lunch and snacks every day. I love it! They also bought me a cool sweat suit for wearing to the gym. They're the best kids ever! Love you, all three, Amanda, Amy, & Matthew!



And second, the Vera Bradley bags - one big one for all the water, shoes, bathing suit, MP3 player (thanks, Art & Helen), books to read while treadmilling; and a smaller one for the shampoo, deo, q-tips and baby powder. When I fussed at Frank for spending too much on them his words were, "You are always buying fancy stuff like that for your kids and everyone else and I wanted you to have something that nice to carry to LPC. You said, 'Buy something from my heart', " then he patted his heart and said, "That was your gift from my heart." Isn't that just the sweetest thing?

We did it!

Frank and I joined LPC yesterday and ended up working out for the better part of the afternoon. I went 1 mile in hard fought effort of 20 minutes - I had to run at the end and a couple of times in the middle to make it - but I did it! Then we went around and learned all the different machines, taking turns counting and setting them up for each other. Frank did the elliptical machine while I did the treadmill. We ended it all with a nice 10 minute soak in the hot tub. I was a afraid I was going to be super sore this morning, but it really isn't too bad so far. I just got back from doing another 25 minutes on the treadmill and 25 minutes doing the weight machine circuit. Go to find something that works to get rid of my belly! That ab-machine is a killer! Oh well that is where my biggest problem is so guess I will just have to suck it in and keep on trying. Wish us luck. I really know this is where I need to be for now. Doing WW points, too. Decided since our first month and registration fees were waived yesterday, I could afford to do the WW online for three months. Their website is just full of helpful recipes and exercise ideas as well as the BEST place for me to track my weight. I am ashamed to say I have put back on quite a bit of what I lost but I am headed back in the right direction now and I have only added back one size (still out of the 20's, thank goodness, just should be headed more towards 14 than 16 at this point.) Oh well, if I dwell on the negative it will depress me, so here is to the positive! Two workouts down, 300+ to go (for this year anyway!) Have a great day!

PS Remind me later and I will put up a picture of the beautiful "gym" bage Frank bought me to go to workouts with!

Happy Birthday, Ethan

Happy Birthday to Ethan - hope you enjoy a great birthday with those 3 pretty girls you live with!