Not Good Enough

I told Brian about my new goal and he says it is not enough. He said to lose weight I need to walk 20 miles a week. Since that is what I was doing the last time I felt like I looked good I guess he is probably right. But since I am sure I am not disciplined enough to do that I am going to compromise with a 15 mile/week goal. That means I need to change my chart to 780 miles instead of 600. Wish me luck!

Let's go for a walk

I was talking to my Aunt Kathy the other day about New Year's Resolutions. I decided I was not strong willed enough to give up fast food so she suggested another walking goal. Since last year's was not enough to help me lose a single freakin pound, I decided to make this year's a little harder. I will be attempting to walk 600 miles this year (I did 400 last year). I won't be wearing a pedometer and none of my daily walking around counts. Nothing I do out on the playground with a bunch of little kids counts. The miles of walking around campus do not count. The hours spent walking the grocery store aisles? Nope, not that either. The only thing that does count is when I intentionally go for a walk for exercise. Anyone want to walk with me? A little 600 mile stroll?

Pogo Stick Movie

This is a little long. And maybe a little boring. But there are some entertaining parts (like Brian falling on his ass butt) if you have about 5 minutes to spare.

Because Once Wasn't Enough

Chase & Kenny got to experience Christmas twice this year. Here they are with everything from Grammy & Grampy and Aunt Lisa & Uncle Toby. See that tall box in the background? That's a pogo stick. If I can figure out how to get videos from my video camera to the computer to my blog I will be posting some entertaining home movies on here later today. Anyway, here's a great big THANKS to Grammy & Grampy and Aunt Lisa & Uncle Toby for the second Christmas :)

Cleaning House

For the past two days Brian and I have been cleaning the house and garage. And I don't mean just picking up the clutter, I mean real spring cleaning. Yes, I know it is January. I also know that once my new semester starts I won't have time for this kind of cleaning. Heck, the boys will be lucky if they have clean underwear to put on in the morning. Last night I said, "It is so nice to have the house this clean. I feel so comfortable. I wish it would stay like this all the time." Then he said, "You want to see uncomfortable? Let me show you some pictures of how I lived in Kansas for the last two months."

I have decided that the house doesn't really need to be this clean all the time. I will just be glad it is comfortable to live in!!!

Another Run Around the Sun

January

February


March


April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December

Do you know where I got the idea for the name of this post? If you do I have a prize for you. Seriously! Think of me as Pioneer Woman except my prize is worth about $10, not $500. The first person who gets it right will get a prize. I promise. That's my New Year's Resolution. To give out a $10 prize. It'll be a hell of a lot easier than walking 400 miles.

Merry (belated) Christmas

More Yahoo Popular

Check out this dog I found on Yahoo Popular yesterday:

In this April 24, 2008 file photo, Hungarian Puli sheep dog, Fee, jumps over a hurdle during a preview for a pedigree dog show in Dortmund.

And these cute pandas:


In this photo released by Chiuna's Xinhua News Agency, giant pandas Tuan Tuan, top, and Yuan Yuan play in a breeding base in Ya'an, southwest China's Sichuan Province on Feb. 17, 2006. The pair of pandas left China Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008 on a long-awaited goodwill journey to their new home in Taiwan in the latest move symbolizing the warming ties between the rivals.

And last, but not least, this strange baby aardvark:

This recent photo, supplied by the Detroit Zoo, shows a newborn aardvark, Amani.

I am telling you, I lead a pretty boring life. But there's always something out there that I can entertain myself with!

Resolution '08

I finished my 2008 New Year's Resolution with three days to spare. I guess that will give me three days to think of something good for 2009.

Happy Birthday Chase!!!

1996


2008

Happy 12th Birthday Chase! We love you :)

One Year Supply

Apparently a four pack of scotch tape lasts me exactly one year because every single stinking year when I get ready to wrap Christmas gifts I have to go out and buy tape. I get to the store and I think it would be smart to buy a four-pack. I buy it, have plenty for Christmas and don't think about it again until the next year when I am alone in the house (a rare occasion), have all of the gifts out where the kids could see them if they come home early, and have all of my wrapping paper ready to go. UGH!!!

Wordless Wednesday -- This is what happens when Kenny picks out the decorations at the store!

Isn't it Ironic?

Sometimes I like to look at Yahoo's week in photos. The caption on this one says:

Two hundred thousand plastic figures, representing every signature collected for a climate initiative, are displayed in Poznan, Poland. The 14th U.N. conference on climate change will be held here, where attendees hope to set the groundwork for a new global climate pact.

Am I the only one who finds it strangely ironic that they produced 200,000 little plastic figures to make a point about being green?

Winter Break and a Survey

My fall semester has ended and I am already enjoying my second day of break. Yesterday after I got the boys off to school I went back to sleep. Then I stayed in bed and read a book. An entire book! Then I got on the treadmill for a while, but I can't claim that I was being totally healthy -- I watched TV while I was on there. I took a shower just in time to go pick the boys up from school. It was great. Today I am staying out of my bed and cleaning the entire house. It might not sound like fun, but it is definitely something that I neglect while I am attending classes so it needs to get done. And if I crank the music loud enough to annoy my retired neighbors then it can be almost fun. I don't go back to school until January 20th. Maybe I will be better about blogging between now and then. But I am warning you now ... next semester is my student teaching semester so I will probably be gone from the blogosphere for the entire 16 weeks. I'll be busy, overwhelmed, scared, dazed and confused (you get the idea) for the entire time I am there! And speaking of next semester ... I have a dilemma that I want you to help me with. I am a pretty good student. Of all of my classes I have ever taken I have received (earned) all A's except one C and two B's. I was hoping to graduate magna cum laude. You have to have a 3.7 for that. I have a little problem ... my Russian grades. When I was in the Army I went to DLI and studied Russian. It was very, very, very difficult and my instructors were very, very, very mean! I would not have made it if weren't for my friend Ryan helping me study and my boyfriend Brian (that seems so funny to say now!) keeping me from quitting. If I quit they would have sent me away and that would have been bad for the whole dating thing. The first semester I got all C's, the second semester all B's, and the third semester all A's. Ironically the first semester you needed a C to not get kicked out, the second semester a B, the third an A. Basically, I did what I needed to do to stay in the program! Anyway, because of my Russian grades my overall GPA at my current college is a 3.678. I am .022 away from magna cum laude. Student teaching is pass/fail so it won't help my GPA. Here's where you come in. I want you to vote. Should I try to have my Russian grades removed from my transcript (which would probably include a messy appeal process) or should I just suck it up and take my cum laude because I did get those C's in Russian so that's what I deserve? Vote over in my sidebar and let me know what you think --------------->

Italian Women Are Tough!

My Aunt Kathy sent me this today. And if you knew how I treated Brian on days when we are going to have people over to the house you would know why I think it is so very, very funny (and appropriate!)

An elderly Italian man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite ravioli wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen, where if not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven, for there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were hundreds of his favorite ravioli.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of love from his wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man? He threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in a crumpled posture. His parched lips parted, the wondrous taste of the ravioli was already in his mouth. With a trembling hand he reached up to the edge of the table, when suddenly he was smacked with a wooden spoon by his wife. "Get Away!" she said. "Those are for the funeral."

Wordless Wednesday -- Great Friends & Christmas Cookies :)

(and some margaritas too)

Ding Dong Ditch

When we heard the doorbell ring at 8:00 pm we all just sat there and stared at each other because we don't really know anyone who is out and about after dark. We're boring like that. So imagine the boys' surprise when they opened the door and saw this monstrously huge bag:

Chase opened it up and found this note inside:


With a little more digging they found this:


Ooooh ..... and this: (this person must know me well)

There was even a package for Sam & PJ in there:

We were all very surprised and very grateful to our Secret Santa. Or should I say Secret Santa-ette?!? Because I am pretty sure I know who this sweet, kind, funny, intelligent, caring, beautiful Santa-ette might be. She might just be someone that I have truly enjoyed getting to know this semester. Someone I have come to care about like a fun little sister. Someone that I think is going to be the best teacher west Texas has ever seen. Someone that I hope student teaches in the same school as me so that we can continue to work together towards our common goal. Someone who might just find her own ding dong ditch bag at her doorstep if she is not careful!

I am a scaredy-cat!

They say you learn something new every day. Today I learned where the staples are for the staple gun. And I learned how to get creative with two ladders so that I could hang the Christmas lights on the house without climbing up on top of the roof. I learned that because I also learned that I was too scared to get on top of the roof ... even though Kenny did it when he was barely 7 years old! It's interesting what kinds of things you learn when your husband isn't home to just take care of it for you!

(This was taken two years ago)

Would You Live Here?

This is a house in my hometown of Oswego, NY. I think it is very interesting. But I am not sure I'd want to live there!

Idiocracy from Coast to Coast

Yesterday in Palm Desert, CA two men shot and killed each other after their babymamas female companions got into a fight in a Toys R Us. If you want to read about it click here.

A 34 year old man was killed yesterday after being trampled by the more than 2,000 customers fighting to get into a NYC Walmart. He was a WalMart employee who was attempting to control the crowd. If you want to read about it click here.

A woman in Farmingdale, NY was trampled by overeager customers in a Walmart. She had minor injuries and finished her shopping before she filed a police report. She probably wanted to make sure she still got that Black Friday bargain!

I could go on and on with the crazy stories I found on the news this morning. But really this quote from the NYC WalMart story sums up the insane craziness that has come over some American shoppers:

Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages."

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling `I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."