1.31.2008

No Longer a Virgin.....

A blood donor virgin that is! This afternoon was my first experience of donating blood. I used to donate plasma back in college for happy hour money, but that was years ago.
I had to complete this massive questionairre with such questions as, have you left the country in the past 3 years, do you live with somebody that has hepatitis, and the ever so common question - have you ever been paid for sex? WHAT?!! Of course not. Wow.
Then I start thinking about it as a needle the size of a garden hose is sucking out my blood - would somebody actually say yes to the question? Does that automatically disqualify them? How embarrassing. Of course I was not about to ask the lovely blood drawer as that would probably raise suspicion. I just thought that was weird.
Anyhow, for the lucky (I guess they would be unlucky if they needed blood) sole that gets my blood, I will have you know it has a great iron supply according to the iron testing machine. For those that believe you have to eat a lot of dark green, leafy vegetables I am walking proof that you don't. I don't take vitamins either so I'm not really sure where that iron comes from. I most certainly know it's not from my daily dose of Tootsie Rolls - or is it?!

1.29.2008

Date Night

Jenny posted about making time with your spouse to remember what brought you together and how to keep that going....little did she know that really inspired me to plan a date night with my hubby.
I think the last time we actually went and did something with just the two of us - no kids, no friends - was back in September. Well, four months have passed and here we are. So, I found a sitter (thank you Grandma Claudia!) and planned the day/evening for us.
I hate to admit, but it was actually hard to do. I was trying to think of something other than dinner and a movie. I thought about taking a tour of the brewery. Apparently, lots of people like to do that and it's booked until Feb 23! Then I thought about ice skating at The Depot - huh, believe it or not, they weren't open on Saturday. I thought about going to the Go-Kart track. Tempting, but after seeing how intense this place is, I might have ended up with broken bones.
After a day or so of thinking about options....I came up with something.
We're dropping off the kids at about 3:00pm. Then it's off to Dave & Busters for some air hockey, dance competition and skee ball. From there we'll go out for dinner and drinks and then we're going to the comedy club.
I think the best part of all of this will be the fact that we get to sleep in on Sunday! Grandma is keeping the kids so we can catch up on some zzzz's and maybe go out for a peaceful Sunday breakfast!

1.28.2008

18 Month Check Up

Mike took Brett to his 18 month check up (just a week shy of him turning 19 months, but who's counting?) today. Everything is looking/sounding good. He's got some new back teeth popping up. Finally - a good health report.
Stats:
10th percentile for weight
55th percentile for height
91st percentile for head circumference!!!

1.26.2008

Practice, Practice, Practice

Here's a couple pictures with my new camera. This little man of mine may be the most uncooperative model, but he sure is a cute one.What a little peanut butter can do....
Colton will be my little guinea pig next....he doesn't know that yet. If you see him, don't tell him as he'll take off running in the opposite direction.

1.25.2008

Do They Sell Will Power Online?

The place where I work out has given me an incentive. I work out 12 or more times per month and they give me $20 off my monthly fee. Excellent. If somebody is 'giving' me money, I'm not one to turn them down.
So, I've been diligent on attending at least 3 times per week in order to fill my minimum quota.
One would think if you work out for at least 30 minutes 3-4 times a week, you are bound to loose some pounds right?
Not this girl. And I know why. I have no will power. Zip, zilch, nada. I rationalize everything I eat. I say to myself, "I'm going to work out tonight, so I'll go ahead and eat these 12 Starbursts. Ah, what the heck, I'll wash those Starbursts down with a couple of Tootsie Rolls." See, makes sense right? Not if your goal is to loose weight. Apparently, this method only works if you want to maintain. Oops.

1.23.2008

New Technology

I don't know how you gals with those fancy cameras do it! I finally got a new camera last week as part of my birthday and Christmas gifts from 2007....yeah I know, it took me awhile to figure out what I really wanted.
I decided on just doing another point-and-shoot as I clearly do not have any extra time to learn something new right now. Well, man, there is still a lot to learn on this fancy little gizmo I've gotten. I think I've read the manual twice now and went on-line to the website for some more tips. Not to mention, I haven't downloaded the new software onto my computer, thus no updated pictures of the boys lately.
Let's just say I've got a hot date with my Cannon and my computer Saturday night. Jealous aren't you?!

1.20.2008

Stir Crazy

It's Sunday evening and I've been couped up in my house since I got home from work on Friday. Mike took off Friday afternoon on his annual ice fishing trip which leaves me with the boys and weather that's too cold for me to venture out in.
Trying to entertain a 1 1/2 year old and a 5 1/2 year old for 2 days as been interesting. We've made homemade pizza, read 146 books (give or take a few), played video games, played Matchbox cars, danced around the family room, made root beer floats, did 12 loads of laundry, yes the boys actually did help, took baths, ate LOTS of food and attempted to clean, only to mess it up again.
I think it will be an early night to bed for all of us!

1.16.2008

A Few of My Favorite Things.....

They got me...hook, line and sinker.

Jill and Marilyn came up with five of their favorite things, and so now, here are mine:

1. Trader Joe's Three Buck Chuck wine. Seriously, a bottle of wine that costs $2.99 per bottle that actual tastes really good? Believe it my friends. If you don't have a Trader Joe's around you, I feel for you.

2. Downey Fabric Softener - pick a scent, any scent. The stuff makes our clothes smell fabulous! I never use to be a fabric softner user. I'm really not sure why I started using it. Actually, I think it was because Mike brought home softener versus detergent.

3. L'Oreal Bronzing Lotion - Love this stuff. It doesn't streak and it works fast. I really appreciate a little sunless glow during our long winters. My friend Jamie recommened the towelettes of this same item. I haven't tried those yet.

4. Pay at the pump gas stations. I know that this has been around forever, but after I had children these became more of a necessity than anything. I would drive to the next gas station if they didn't have a pay at the pump. Now that we are in the age that you can't leave your kids in the car when you run in to pay (details, details), it's a lot of work getting kids out of car seats just to run in and pay.

5. Flannel sheets - I am always always always cold. I start putting flannel sheets on our bed in October and don't switch back until April. Oh, and it doesn't help that our bedroom is the tundra - I mean our basement.

1.12.2008

Is it a boy thing?

Call me crazy.....I guess I thought you were suppose to sit down in a sled. Apparently, they double as a snowboard.


Brothers

Sometimes when I don't hear the boys, I get a little nervous and think "what could they be up to?" So, I tip toe to where ever they are (luckily my camera was near by) and see the following sites:
It just melts my heart.

1.09.2008

Yoga

Ok, so I realize that the yoga craze started years ago. I however, was never interested. It just seemed way to complicated and weird. Well, tonight I participated in my first ever yoga class and it was great! I go to a small health club in town and they had an interest sign-up list right around Christmas time. I thought, huh, what the heck, let's see what this is all about. I don't really buy into all the heavy breathing and forcing the toxins out and only letting positive energy in blah blah blah stuff, but the exercises, excuse me poses were a challenge and I could actually feel my muscles getting sore. Success. Guess I'll go back to class next week.

1.01.2008

Happy New Year!

2008. Wow.
I'm not one for resolutions. As soon as I tie an action to that word, it's for sure a failure. Therefore, I won't call these resolutions, just a change in how I do things. ;)
I went to Target last weekend and bought a handy little whiteboard calendar to hang on our fridge. Each day there is a room or two to be cleaned. Don't get me wrong, we clean our house, but I'll be honest, it could be done a bit more frequent. Nether of us are clean freaks - unfortunately. So what tends to happen is that we let things build up and then we spend a whole weekend cleaning versus doing something more fun. Hopefully this will keep us on track. I'll keep you updated on how it all goes. Any helpful hints would be appreciated!