Friday, February 29, 2008

Give me strength

I've had three successful diet days that are now behind me. I tell myself to eat like the person you want to become... having small portions or next to nothing. I've walked the last two days. Not a long walk, but at least a mile or more. With the amounts that I'm eating, I don't need to walk much. I'm not doing anything that's unhealthy, but you do have to be a little hungry at times or it's not a diet. This is the part of my life that I hate, hate, hate.

I hope that what I saw during this morning's step on the scale moment is enough incentive to keep me going. The weekend is coming up and this really worries me. It's hard when Ray and the kids are home during the day and my schedule is not as structured as the weekdays. Plus, tomorrow is Hayden's birthday and we will be going out to eat. I'll have to be careful.

If I can make it through the weekend successfully, then next week will surely be exciting.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Doggy Sitting

My neighbors, Chuck and Jan, are going to be away from their house all day today, so they have asked me to babysit their dogs. Well sort of. The dogs stay at their house and I run over and let them outside, once in the morning and again in the afternoon. I'm also in charge of feeding them their evening meal.

Diva, who is a beautiful white schnauzer, is not at all happy about me entering her happy abode. She barks like mad when she sees me to let me know that she is going to tear me apart as soon as I release her from her crate. But then all she does is grab her shoe, which isn't a shoe at all..its a bone shaped stuffed toy, and runs out of her crate and waits to be let outside. She had a shoe shaped toy when she was a pup and so now her owners refer to her toy by the name "shoe". As in, "Get your shoe", "Where's your shoe?".

The other dog, Nikki, which is also a schnauzer, is just like my schnauzer Mia. Shy, cautious, nervous and the same coloring.

We had some good bonding time outside today. I think Diva was coming around by the end of our day.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Kidd, Kellie and Big Al.... I still miss you

There's a morning radio show in Dallas, that we were blessed to have here in Tulsa awhile back, that is the best show ever. I finally found a way to tape their show on the internet broadcast and put it on CD. So now, I can listen to Kidd Kraddick whenever I'm driving around in my car, whether it's morning, afternoon or night. And yes, I might be getting the broadcast a little later than those lucky folks in Dallas, but better late than never.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Weather is unpredictable, plain and simple

First thing I did today was take a shower and get a quick grocery trip out of the way. Luckily that trip was accomplished before the unexpected rain came. Not only was it not suppose to rain, but the sun should have been showing it's shiny yellow face today. No sign of Mr. Sunshine today.

Hayden went to a ropes course with his soccer team today and from looking at the pictures, it looked to be a fun time. Maybe a little scary at times, but fun in the end.

Cody has been chillin' with me under the warmth of a blanket and relaxing. Not a bad day afterall.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Fashionably late

I just barely made it before the cutoff date to sign Cody up for soccer this season. In fact, I was so late that it was at the point where you could sign up, but you could also be getting your money returned if there were no teams available. Luckily we received a call from Cody's new coach last night. I wasn't able to get him on his same team from last season because of our lateness. But it sounds like it may have worked out to our benefit, because when talking to his coach last night, this team has been together for quite awhile and they've placed first in the league every year. They also participate in tournaments and that is something Cody hasn't experienced yet.

So tonight is his first practice. I hope it goes well.

Friday, February 15, 2008

3 day weekend

No school for the kids today because of teacher/parent conferences. But the kids will attend school on President's Day to makeup a snow day. Having today off makes losing Monday a little easier.

Cold and wet here the entire weekend. woo hoo.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Whew!

I am so glad to have that evening behind me. Our Neighborhood Bunko night was successful, in more ways than others. After much prodding and begging, my friend Leslie came to fill in for one of our members who was out of town. I'm so glad that she did because she had never played before and she had a good time. Not only that, she won $10. Woot Woot!!

I'm lucky to have such great neighbors who are a lot fun.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Valentine Bunko

I'm hosting Bunko tonight. And although it's something I've somewhat dreaded, in the end, I did have a little fun putting it all together. My theme for this evening is, of course, Valentines Day. I have been planning on a Valentine theme for this month since the end of last year but I recently learned that I could also have chosen to go with a Mardi Gras theme. That would be fun, so maybe next year if I have February again!

This night will be filled with red, red and more red. One of the red items is a dish that was given to me from Tanya and Alan. It's actually a red snowman plate but the goodies are covering up it's cuteness. Besides the entree and side dishes, I have included chocolates, hearts shaped deserts and heart shaped candy. From my last post you can see that I added heart stickers to the score sheets and I'm also supplying valentine pencils to keep score. So I think it's going to be real cute. Hopefully everything taste good and the night is a success.

Monday, February 11, 2008

What a gal does

It's only noon and it I feel like I've achieved a whole day's work.

  • took a shower

  • ate breakfast

  • fixed some things with the computer

  • started laundry

  • took the kids to school

  • shopped at Walmart

  • exited the doors of Walmart only to hear the annoying sound of someone's car alarm which happened to be mine

  • arrived home

  • cleaned the stovetop

  • washed cabinet doors

  • spilled water over almost the entire kitchen floor (long story)

  • mopped up floor

  • made some preparations for Wednesday's Valentine Bunko night

  • put laundry away

I know, it's boring. But it's what a gal does to keep things running. And you thought we ate bonbons and watched soaps. Puhleeeze.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Happy 10th Birthday Cody!!

Today was Cody's birthday and we celebrated by going out to eat at the restaurant of his choice. After we returned home, he blew out the candles on his cake and then opened his gifts.

We bought him an Airhog Copter and the entire family has enjoyed flying this around the house. Pretty cool toy. Brandi barks at it and Mojo makes sure he is always in close vicinity, just in case he gets his chance to snatch it.

And here he is playing a Nintendo DS game, another birthday gift. Pretty serious stuff.

Friday, February 08, 2008

A good listener?

I've been listening to an audio book whenever I find myself in my car running errands. I'm bound and determined to finish it even though the narrator sounds stupid when she's performing all of her different voices for each character and the writing is not all that great. A friend, who was getting rid of books she had already listened to, gave this to me a couple of years ago and I'm just now getting around to listening to it. I figured I would use it on one of the road trips I take for soccer tournaments, but I mostly travel with Caitlin and she's quite the talker. That doesn't leave much time for book listening.

I like audio books so hopefully my next one won't be so corny. "The Girl Who Loves Tom Gordon" is the best audio book I've ever listened to. The story is great and the narrator is Anne Heche. She did a great job. I think being an actress makes for a good narrator.

Additions

I've made some changes to my diet in the past few weeks that makes me really proud of myself. My breakfast has gone from poptarts to Cinnamon toast using a whole grain bread with twice the fiber and I've been making fruit smoothies. So I've added whole grain, fiber and fruit to my life. It's a great feeling.

I'm also trying to like wine. Only for medicinal purposes, of course. I wouldn't normally think this was a good addition, but you can't turn on the tv these days without hearing that a glass of wine a day is good for your bod. It sure better be because I'm not finding any enjoyment out of it.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Positive Thinking

Oprah's show today was about positive thinking, vision boards, and lists that help you get the things you dream of in your life. You start off by telling yourself how much you love YOU. Even if you aren't in a good mental place, you start sowing the seeds to find your awakening.

An example that was used on the show: if you want to live somewhere different, you add it to your list, think of this daily and put a picture of your ideal location on your vision board. Your dreams become reality by the power of positive thinking. I love the whole idea of this because it is so simple and being positive is a good way to live, whether it gets you what you want or not.

And if you're looking for that someone special, make a list of the qualities making sure that you aren't listing something like "someone to make me happy" because that's a shallow want. The list would read more like, "kindness, humor, etc".

What if you want something positive in yours and your partner's life but your the one who is the positive influence working with a negative partner? It won't work and unfortunately for me, I'm in trouble on that one. Everyone needs to have the same optimistic vision.

I'm positive by nature and tend to be optimistic most of the time. And I'm always thankful for where I live and that my kids are healthy and I do have these thoughts all the time. I'm missing out on expressing love towards myself but I can work on that.

Well, I'm off to start my lists.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Yes, it was great.

Yesterday was unseasonably warm with record high temperatures in the area. We reached 81 degrees here and took full advantage of that by walking, washing off the back porch and washing my car by hand.... yes that's right... BY HAND! The past two days have been very nice. We've had the windows open and the heater turned off. Needless to say, I was quite happy to be enjoying that little taste of what Spring will feel like. It felt like "aaahhhhh".

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Cody is sick :-(

I got a call on Thursday to come pick up Cody from school because he was running a fever. On Friday he seemed to be perking up and feeling better. But this weekend has been terrible for him. He definitely has the flu; fever, chills, cough and running nose. I feel so bad for him. His throat hurts and he just wants to cry but is trying to tough it out. And something else that I've noticed and I'm so impressed with is that our dog Mia has not left his side the entire time. I can honestly say that we have not seen her out and about the past few days. I think it is so sweet of her to stay with him. She usually drives me crazy because she's a little bit of the "anxious" type: always up trying to figure out where to be, what to do and very undecisive. But I think I'm going to be a little more patient with her, after seeing her dedication to Cody.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Superbowl Sunday

I'm trying to decide what to prepare to eat for the SuperBowl even though I don't know how much of the game I'll actually watch and Ray will be on his way to Canada where he'll be working this week. The commercials will probably be great entertainment and you know how many commercials you have to watch during all those breaks in a football game. Anyway, back to the menu; I think the kids will enjoy having fingerfoods as our meal for this occasion. Who doesn't love tray after tray of appetizers. The problem is that I want more than I know we'll eat. I think I'll just go crazy. Afterall, you only live once.

Friday, February 01, 2008

First snowfall for 2008

We've had our first snowfall for the year and it might even be the first for this winter season. We've had ice storms a couple of times but I don't think we've actually had snow yet. So after accumulating a couple of inches on one day, it is followed by a very sunny day. Just what we need to heat things up and get this white stuff out of here. I actually don't mind the snow so much this time because the schools are still in session and the roads are clear and dry. As it should be.