A New Year

This morning my friend and I talked about positive thinking. She has continued to tell herself she can't lose weight and she is always going to be the weight she is at now. For the New Year she wants to break that thought process. I told her I had the same thought 2 months ago, and now I'm 10 lbs lighter and I feel great. I don't count calories and I'm not hungry. We went to McCormick's for our anniversary. I had stuffed lobster, which was stuffed with shrimp, scallops, and more lobster. It was amazing. I don't eat this way every day, it was a special occasion. Many of us start the New Year out saying we will exercise and eat healthy. But by the end of January, most people stop going to the gym and go back to their regular eating habits. Why is that? I know for me it is usually the Super Bowl. I love super bowl food, potato skins, mozzarella sticks, chips & dip, and beer. You just have to figure out what works for you. If you can eat healthy all week and take Sundays off, try it. Eventually the days you go crazy and eat the "bad" stuff, you will feel it and not want to anymore. Exercising, be realistic what works with your schedule. If its really important to you, make it a priority. When you eat healthy you don't have to exercise as much. Make small goals like 3 days a week. And do something you enjoy, if you dread every time you go to the gym eventually you will stop going. For me its classes at the gym, I really enjoy them and I go for the entire hour because its a class. If I was out in the gym by myself I'd leave after 30 minutes. Another reason I believe we stop doing both is because we don't see results fast enough. I know I'm in that category as well. Take a before picture and save it. After a month take another picture and compare the 2. Its hard to see progress when we see ourselves every day. Its a New Year, anything is possible if you believe it.

The Secret

Today is my 18th anniversary with the pilot.  Anytime I tell people how long we've been married inevitably I get asked "What's your secret?" I've given different answers to this question, one being separate bathrooms, another being laughter. But there truly is one answer which I will share at the end of this. I don't ever give people advice on their relationships because I truly feel that every relationship is unique. I just know what has worked for us. Early on I learned to not say things I will regret. I believe that their are  certain things you can't take back. I may have to calm down first before I talk about why I'm upset but I'd rather do that than say something hurtful. I've joked with the pilot that at times when I'm mad I would say "So when is your next trip? And when can I drop you off at the airport". Its funny if I'm joking but not if I'm serious. I still tell the pilot thank you for things I appreciate. He took my car the other day to wash it and buy me flowers. When he cooks dinner, I tell him thank you. I want him to know that I am thankful for those thoughtful gestures.  Every time we talk on the phone before we hang up we say "love you". The days he is on a trip we talk everyday and text. I don't ever feel like he is too far away. We got married at a very young age (19 & 20) and really we were still teenagers. Early on it was a lot of learning about each other and growing up. I love that we grew up together and built our lives to what it is today. He is my best friend and when I said I do I knew we had become one. When I thought about what the real secret was to our happy marriage the answer is respect. (And a hot husband ;-)

Friday Folder

This is something my son made at school this week. I have no idea what it is and he doesn't either. I asked if it was a bowl and he said "yeah, its a bowl thing". Now my question is how long do I have to keep it?? The better item he made was a cute ornament for the tree that has snowmen on it. Now that is a keeper. Every Friday he comes home with a folder filled with drawings and his work from school. I have to say I hate clutter, if I could I would just throw it all away. But once in a while my heart melts over something he drew. The digital age solution for us is to scan the picture and save it on the computer. Then I don't feel as guilty about throwing it away. I have to admit I've been caught on several occasions by D-boy and yet I have not learned my lesson. He will look in the trash and say "Mommy, why is this in here?" I have started throwing things away in our trash outside so he doesn't see it. Its not that I'm not sentimental but did you read about how we get this folder EVERY Friday. That is a lot of Fridays over one school year. It all started in preschool when they would send home the things he made. We do hang some of his stuff up on the fridge. Right now I have a drawing of flowers he drew for me. See sometimes I just have to keep it and when I look over it reminds me just how lucky I am to have such a sweet boy.

Christmas Traditions

I've really been in the Christmas mood the last couple weeks. Lots of Christmas music and an overload of Soy Eggnog is probably helping with that. One of my favorite gifts was from my best friend, it was a Santa ornament that had a scroll inside. The scroll was to record that year looking back and looking forward to the next year. The best part is we've continued to write each year on a piece of paper what we did that year and what we look forward to in the new year. We've done it for about the last 10 years. I love that every time we put up the Christmas tree we get to read all of them. Looking forward to 2013 we are planning a family trip to Hawaii. The pilot and I went before we had D-boy and I think it would be so amazing to take our son with us. He is at that fun age that he will enjoy it and remember the adventure. Although I will try not to remember that Chuck E Cheese was the best day of his life. Since a trip to Chuck E Cheese is ALOT cheaper than a trip to Hawaii. When he had a chance to draw his favorite thing he did in the summer, it was the park down the street. Ok, lets not focus on those things. I loved when we went to Maui and I know D-boy will enjoy it as well. This last year the big event for me was quitting my job to become a stay at home mom / desperate  housewife. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Without a job I've truly had to learn who I am as a person and who I want to be. I had a couple rough months at first but now I'm thankful I can stay home to take care of my family. Enjoy the season and some of your own favorite traditions.

Santa Claus is coming to town

When I was 5 years old I told all the neighbor kids that Santa Claus was not real. That didn't go over so well with the neighborhood parents. My parents raised us on the bible and I knew Christmas was about the birth of Jesus Christ. I still believe that but when my son was born I had to think was I going to let him believe in Santa. The pilot said he wanted to let D-boy have Santa in his life but I wasn't so sure. I definitely didn't want him to ruin it for other kids that believed in Santa like I did. The bad part is the dilemma for me is that I don't want D-boy to believe Santa gets him expensive gifts. I am making this about me as usual, I don't want Santa to take credit for a gift that I spent money on. So last year Santa got D-boy a truck (the price was probably $10 or less). This year Santa has "bought" D-boy an angry bird from space stuffed animal. Again this was only $9.99 at Costco. D-boy started to make a book about Christmas and the first thing he wanted to write was that Christmas was all about presents. Not a good way to start, I told him Christmas was about the birth of Jesus and about giving. I love that he repeats this to others now, because they think "Wow, this kid has great parents". Of course I've left out that originally he said presents. This year we are celebrating on the 24th since that is when the pilot will be home. A bonus for me and D-boy we get to open our presents a day early. This also means on Sunday we will be making cookies for Santa and the pilot will take a bite of some so D-boy sees "Santa" ate the cookies. It is fun and now I'm not regretting that we decided to let Santa be a part of our son's life.

Weight Loss Update

I've been sick for about a week. I haven't exercised but I have continued to eat healthy. I've decided I won't be vegan anymore. Eat to Live is basically vegan for 6 weeks and now I'm past that. I would like to continue to be vegetarian though. Although this week doesn't count cuz I've been eating lots of chicken noodle soup. I tried the "fake" chicken noodle, after one bite I threw the soup away. When I got on the scale this morning I couldn't believe the number, I was thinking the scale was lying. So I got off and got back on. I've lost a total of 11 lbs, I tried on clothes and I'm down one dress size. I guess I thought I would be more excited. I am happy but I'm losing some of the curves I loved about myself, the pilot says its all proportion.  I've been giving away some of my clothes that are too big to my friend. I told her tonight though if I gain the weight back I want my pants back! Its funny that this is what I wanted and all I can think about is when am I going to ruin it. I tend to do that though, it has to do with not having very high expectations of myself. Sometimes its a good thing sometimes it is not.  I have to admit reading the book Eat to Live truly has changed my perspective on food. And the author is smart by having people try it for 6 weeks. It is a lifestyle change. We have saved several hundred dollars by not going out to eat as much as we used to. I'm slowly finding places that we can go that have healthy alternatives that actually taste good. For example Noodles & Co has a great vegetarian med sandwich, Panera Bread has low calorie vegetarian options, and Wahoo's Fish Taco now has tofu. So for now I will put this topic to rest (until I lose another 5 lbs ;-))

All I want for Christmas...

Do you remember when you were younger and you had that one gift you really, really, really wanted for Christmas? December 1st rolled around and you either wrote a letter to Santa or pestered your parents every day until December 25th. D-boy wrote a letter to Santa, he wants a Wii and an Angry Bird from space. I thought the second request was oddly specific. Of course the stuffed animal will be from Santa because their is no way I'm giving Santa credit for an expensive gift that I purchased! Anyway back to the gift I wanted when I was little. I wanted an original cabbage patch doll, one with a birth certificate that told me exactly when my kid was born. And it had to be in a box exactly like the one above. Even if it was a cabbage patch baby I would've been happy with that. Well apparently my parents decided to tell my grandparents to buy me the cabbage patch doll for Christmas. I was so excited and I just knew I would get exactly what I asked for, I'm sure I wanted one with blonde hair. When it was time to open my gift I couldn't wait, the box seemed to be just the right size. However when I opened the box it did not say Cabbage Patch kid, it was a non de script box with a doll inside. My first thought was "What the heck is this????" which of course I did not say out loud. My grandmother had made me a doll that looked like a cabbage patch doll. She had brown hair, a little dress, and no birth certificate. Looking back what I should've said was Thank you very much for making me a beautiful doll. But I didn't, I was sad.
Its funny how things change when you grow up. This year all I want is for the pilot to be home for Christmas, unfortunately he will be working. However, he will be here for Christmas Eve and we will see if D-boy's gift that he really, really, really wants makes it to our house.

Volunteer Fired

Last time I volunteered I joked about being the only volunteer that would actually get fired. I had to do a craft project and I can honestly say I suck at crafts. I did my best but definitely was not proud of my work. I tried to foster puppies but after the first experience we got the puppy we wanted and I quit. I have a good reason though, the organization I was trying to help was completely disorganized. I was told they needed me to take care of 2 puppies, I was given a huge crate and NO other supplies. When I went to pick up the puppies 2 turned into 6. On a Friday morning they asked me to take the puppies to an event at 10 am, when I got there nobody was there. We waited a while and at 11 am somebody finally showed up. They didn't say a word to me and I had to introduce myself and ask who they were. I do want to help but so far the experiences I've had have not been the best. When I was volunteering downtown I got a parking ticket for $25. I have issues with parking, if I can't find a place to park I get angry. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much. And I hate parking tickets even more.
Truly the one consistent volunteer activity I've done that I've enjoyed is going to my son's school for one hour each month. Maybe because I just walk to the school and kids really don't have high expectations. My motto is have low expectations that way you are never disappointed. It probably helps that I don't have to go in until 1:10 in the afternoon. I will continue to search for a volunteer job that fits me. As long as "they" don't have high expectations of me, it'll work out just fine.

Hello Motivation

I'm not sure why I didn't think to do this earlier but I just tried on all my pants I used to wear to work. Guess what?? They are falling off. I thought my jeans were feeling a tad bit big but I didn't realize just how much. This morning I walked a mile before I went to my body pump class. I've been trying to stay away from the scale since I'm sure the pilot might be a little bit upset if he came home and saw that it had been thrown out his bathroom window.  It is very easy for me to quit, in fact I wrote an entire blog about my formula for it, its hard = time to quit. I'm definitely motivated by results, luckily for me the results have happened quicker since I changed my eating habits. I remember about a year ago when I was working out all the time and not seeing the scale move, how easy it was for me to give up. I truly believe whatever change we decide to make in our life good or bad it has to be our choice. I can't force my ideas on anyone else. I know the pilot has been waiting for me to make the choice of eating healthier. We are going out of town next week and I won't be using that as an excuse to eat bad food. I will try even harder because I have worked hard the last 5 weeks and I'm not willing to give all that up. Initially I decided to give up coffee, well that lasted 4 1/2 weeks.  I need to make this a reality of what I'm willing to do for the rest of my life.
What type of change do you want to make in your life and what would motivate you to make it a reality?

Nice People

I would not consider myself a nice person. I can be kind and do things that are sweet for others. But being nice ALL the time is just too much work. And I don't trust people who are happy and nice all the time. At my last job I met someone that didn't talk about other people at all, I knew right then we could never be friends.  It just seems to me that at some point that happy, nice person has their moment when they are frustrated, upset or angry, but they hide that part of themselves. I'm better with people when they are themselves and not hiding that "other" side. I try to be sensitive and read people so that I'm not offensive but sometimes that smart ass in me just can't keep quiet. For example yesterday I was volunteering and the other person in the office said we should have Christmas music. She started to sing and my first response was "Please don't". I may have hurt her feelings and as I type this I'm thinking I'm a jerk, but I couldn't help it. I did laugh after I said it but I'm not sure that helped. Then I had to back pedal and say I wasn't accepted in the choir in 8th grade and I stopped singing. I suppose a small part of me felt bad.  Its better if I just stick to my friends and family who understand that sarcastic side of me. I blame my mom, she is worse than I am. The good thing is I'm confident enough to say it doesn't hurt my feelings if you don't like me. I don't need to be friends with everyone. So if you are offended, you were warned at the beginning that I'm not a nice person ;-)

Christmas Giving

A couple weeks ago I received an email from my friend stating she had everything she needed this year and if I planned to buy her something for Christmas she preferred the money be used for charity. It was a group email she sent to all of her friends and family. My first response back to her was "So does this mean you aren't getting me a gift this Christmas??" She laughed and said she was making gifts, which she does every year. I know this wasn't her intention but now I feel like the a-hole that wants gifts. I love Christmas and my favorite part is getting gifts for my friends and family. Gifts don't have to be extravagant, for me truly its the thought. I've also made this into a competition with the pilot. He of course doesn't see it as a competition but my goal is to win. He does so many wonderful things throughout the year, I at least have this one chance to out do him and get him the perfect gift. The other fun part is when you have kids, the excitement they feel for the holiday is contagious. Of course I do want to teach my son to be generous, I will make sure to do something where he sees that we can help others this season. My parents are going out of town and decided not to buy any gifts. I'm totally fine with that if it makes them happy.  It is very easy to be stressed about the holidays, what gifts you are going to buy, are you charging all this on credit cards, are you trying not to hurt feelings if you can't buy any gifts. My thought is don't go into debt for the holiday, if you can't afford gifts, take pictures of your family and send those out with maybe a update letter of what is going on in your life. If they are truly your friends and family they will understand.

Wanting to Quit

I feel like maybe I should just keep driving and not take the exit of change. Its been 4 weeks and I'm back at only a 5 pound weight loss. I've exercised at least 5 times a week and continue to follow the Eat to Live plan. Now the challenge is to continue. Its strange its not like I have any particular cravings,  I think I just need variety. Breakfast is easy, but the focus is on so many vegetables that I've started to want something different. I tried to inspire myself the other day by taking a picture of me with my bikini on. I'm hoping in another 4 weeks I can take another picture and actually be able to see a change. Its difficult when I see myself every day and I can't tell if my body has changed or not. It probably doesn't help that the pilot's schedule has really sucked the last couple of months.
My friend pointed out today that its kind of like a honeymoon when he is home, then when he leaves it feels lonely. I suppose my comfort before may have been food or an evening drink.  However those things don't really make me feel better anymore. The easy thing for me now would be to quit, go to a drive thru get my buffalo chicken sandwich, fries, and strawberry shake. But this time I'm not going down that path. I'm tired of quitting, I'm tired of being disappointed in myself for not trying a little harder.  Several years ago when I worked with a personal trainer she would let me have one free day. A day where I didn't worry about calories or the nutrition of what I was eating. I may go back to that after the 6 weeks is done. I think the true challenge for me is to figure out what my balance is going to be. What depressed me the most about this book is according to Dr. Fuhrman (the author), I should weigh 111 lbs for my height. Which means I weigh 30 lbs too much!  We are going out of town in a couple weeks, thank goodness. I need to focus on something else, on somebody else, on anything else.

Being Happy and Thankful

This was a couple years ago in our front yard. D-boy loves when the pilot rakes up the leaves so he can run in them. This year we watched our new puppy go crazy running around through the leaves. We have 3 huge trees and the leaves are insane every year. I could easily gripe and moan about helping with this chore, but instead I get to watch my sweet boy run through the leaves with a huge smile on his face.
My friend and I talked about being happy tonight. We both know people who have that sense of entitlement and that their life is so unfair. Its not that I think their aren't those out there who have it rough, I just believe that we have it within ourselves to be happy. Happiness is a choice, just like being angry is a choice. I have my grumpy days and trust me I've been frustrated and upset. But I have more reasons to be grateful for the life I have with my family. When the pilot was sick, I was even more thankful for every day and every moment he was here. I think now that he is healthy I need to have that same outlook. I don't ever want to forget the wonderful gift of life my best friend gave him. She told me that she was not just doing it for him but for our family. Their will never be enough words or love that I can show her to let her know just how thankful I am. She saved my pilot's life. So this Thanksgiving, I will remember to be thankful for this life and for each day I get to spend with my amazing family.

The Note

First a translation of my son's note: mom and dad I stole ate patrick's cookie at lunch. I will bring a piece of candy tomorrow. (Of course I did save this note because I thought it was cute)
However, I was disappointed that day because my son had taken something away from his friend. Especially since his teacher told me he had shown such compassion to Patrick earlier in the month. We had a little talk at home and I asked him what if somebody took your cookie without asking, how would you feel? I also said that before he does something he should think would I want somebody to treat me this way. I think as adults this basic idea goes a long way. I treat others the way I want to be treated. Do I want to be flipped off by a driver because I didn't put my foot on the pedal fast enough when the light turned green? Nope.  I know their are rude people everywhere but I find when I don't return that negativity, I'm treated differently. Its hard for them to be rude when they've got some sweet, cute, curly haired, crazy woman smiling at them. And this doesn't just apply to strangers, what about our family and our friends?
The holidays I know can be stressful, but just remember how do you want to be treated? I want to be treated with love and respect, so my plan is to treat my family and friends with love and respect.

Food For Thought

How many fruits and vegetables do you eat on a daily basis? Before I started Eat to Live I could honestly say maybe one fruit and does lettuce count if it's on a burger? Usually when you tell someone you are no longer eating meat the first thing they say is, but what about protein? Now I have an answer broccoli has twice as much protein as steak. The other thing I've learned is most diets fail because they involve limiting our food and our minds think we are starving. This plan changes the way you eat dramatically for 6 weeks, but I think its to get our minds to figure out we are eating badly. I'm never hungry and I eat a lot of food. For example today I had a strawberry-banana smoothie with soy vanilla milk, piece of toast with cashew butter, and a chai tea latte. Lunch will be a huge salad with avocado, beans, carrots, broccoli, red pepper, and salsa for my dressing with an apple. For dinner I will probably make a fake chicken sandwich with my rice cheeze and a side of steamed broccoli and carrots. Before I started I received a phone call from my doctor saying my cholesterol is high and I needed to make a change in my diet and exercise. In 3 months I will get tested again and I really want to see what this has done to my cholesterol numbers.
Thanksgiving, I plan on making Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, yams and pumpkin pies. But I will also have veggies and a fruit tray to munch on before dinner. I will have a small portion of each thing and then Friday I will be back to eating healthy. I think its ok to balance, but I think at some point the urge for those bad foods will go away. Or at least when I eat them my body will remind me that I don't need them anymore. I'm out of excuses for eating the way I did, it was time for me to make a change. And I can honestly say I feel great!

Talent

I have no talent. I am totally fine with this but I do wish that I did. When I was 8 years old my father sent me to piano lessons. I had lessons until I was 16, I was terrible. I begged my dad to please let me quit. He told me that one day I would tell him that I wished he would've made me keep playing. 21 years later and I still feel the same way, I'm glad he let me quit. I love to listen to others that can play an instrument. I'm hoping that D-boy has a talent, he has a guitar and loves to sing. We watch The Voice together every week, I think secretly I want him to be inspired. However I think this might've backfired on me. Last week he told us he wants to be a teacher which I thought was sweet and then he told me his reason. He wants to be a teacher for the hugs. Cute when a 5 year old says it but I'm thinking he should leave that off his resume at 25. Then this week he told me instead of being a teacher he wants to be on The Voice. I wasn't sure how to explain to him that being on The Voice is not a job. The list of what he wants to be when he grows up is getting longer. Rock Star, race car driver, professional soccer player, teacher, aspiring singer on The Voice. My hope for him is he finds something he loves to do and does that. I do feel bad though if he ends up playing the guitar, because I will ask him to play it every day and night :-)

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The Weigh In

I used to hate the scale, it was my secret enemy and every time I got on I knew it would attack. Give me bad news and make my day worse. Of course I make sure I get on first thing in the morning with no clothes so that I weigh as little as possible. Its been 2 weeks since I started Eat to Live and I've lost 6.3 pounds. Yes I'm putting the .3 because damn it I worked hard for it.  I don't feel deprived at all, I found alternatives to my favorite foods. The pilot laughed at me when I told him I bought vegan spicy chicken. I also have a new favorite rice cheeze, yes its a real thing (not real cheese though).  You might think I'm crazy for starting this before Thanksgiving, but I had to do something. I was tired of wanting to take a baseball bat to the scale for not giving me the number I wanted. And conveniently the pilot has a bat under our bed which isn't that far from the bathroom scale. Losing weight does make me happy, especially since I know I'm doing it the healthy way. The book says eating this way will lead to a longer life. The little devil in me though was thinking maybe I'd rather not live as long and still eat my bacon. Of course as soon as I got on the scale this morning, that changed my mind.

Today I have my own happy quote:
"Find what makes you happy and do it!" Jody

Grumpy Chicken Nugget

I walked into to Zumba tonight and the teacher had only a sports bra on and Zumba pants. No exaggeration, her abs looked exactly like the picture above! I'm not sure if this motivates me or just makes me want to go home and eat an entire box of Oreos.  I tried to make myself feel better by saying she isn't that cute, but I wasn't even fooling myself with that. I'm doing all of these positive things, eating better, exercising daily, and yet tonight I just felt grumpy. No particular reason rock hard abs probably.  I don't know why but several years ago we called it being a grumpy chicken nugget.
Today D-boy's teacher told me he had been really emotional and he was crying when I picked him up. When I asked him why he said he didn't know. Is it in the air? For me it might be because I haven't had coffee, meat, dairy, or sugar in 2 weeks. The Eat to Live book says eventually the craving for those things will go away. I'm not so sure, I did write an entire blog about my love of bacon. I almost ate something "not allowed" tonight but I decided to read instead. I was thinking a cup of tea might do the trick. Great now I sound like some a-hole from England. Alright, its time for me to go relax and stop being a Grumpy Chicken Nugget...

Twilight Addict

Yes I'm counting down the days until this movie opens. I plan on going Friday afternoon with another mom in her 30's. I own all 4 movies and I have the books on my nook. Take a moment -  laugh - then judge. Ok now, why am I and so many women hooked on this series?? Its vampires and werewolves, can this be any more unreal? Deep down its truly a love story and I have to say I'm a sucker for a love story. When I met my friend she asked me who's team I was on. If you haven't seen any of these or don't know what that means, well I'll give you the short version. Bella is the girl, Edward is the "soulmate" vampire and Jacob is the best friend werewolf. Apparently there is Team Jacob if you want Bella to be with Jacob and there is Team Edward if you want Bella to be with Edward. This sounds even more ridiculous as I type it, but I'm still hooked. For those of you hanging on to your seats wondering, I will tell you now I am team Edward. And so is my friend so I passed that test.  The acting in the first movie is terrible and yet I couldn't seem to turn it off. Which lead me to watch the 2nd, 3rd and 4th.  I think I feel like a teenager again watching these movies. Especially since that seems to be there target audience. Friday will be a little bittersweet, since this is the last one and I'll have no more to look forward too.....

Chuck e Cheese

My son is 5 and I've kept him from this franchise for 5 1/2 years. Friday night we went to a birthday party at this fine establishment. I've had very low expectations of this place, since I had heard the pizza taste like cardboard and everything else wasn't great. When you go in with low expectations it's easy to be pleasantly surprised. When we first walked in we were greeted by red ropes, is this some sort of VIP entrance? I found out they stamp your child's hand and the parent, to make sure you match on the way out. Not a bad idea. Surprise number 1. Next the tokens are 25 cents or less depending on the amount you purchase. And every game is only one token, surprise number 2. Since we were at a birthday party, the tokens were included. They sell beer for under $4 and wine, another surprise. I didn't have the pizza but the other parents said it was pretty good. I was also able to eat at a salad bar, which wasn't fantastic but I'm glad it was there. The birthday was fun and it was great to watch D-boy have such a great time with his friends.

On the way out he told me this was the best day of his entire life. WHAT? Apparently I could've saved a ton of money by knowing this earlier. Our trip to Legoland and the San Diego Zoo apparently didn't compare to Chuck E Cheese. Or the 4 day trip this summer to Disneyland. Or the trip to the Toys R Us in Times Square. Nope nothing compares to Chuck E Cheese. On the way home I had to remind him that this place was only for special occasions. I'm not sure how well that went, his definition might be different than mine.

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Favorite Things

Last night D-boy decided to draw out all of his favorite things. Some were very cute and some just seem so random. Here is a list:
Favorite number: 120
Favorite animal: Cheetah
Favorite dog: Curly (not one of our dogs, one of the foster puppies)
Favorite food: Pizza, soup and apple pie
Favorite drink: Milk

The funny thing is he wanted me to guess. When I started to get it wrong, he would start slowly saying what it was and I would guess right, of course. At the end he told me I was really good at this, Yeah I'm great when someone is telling me what to say ;-)
I was thinking about a few of my favorite things. My favorite mini-series is The Tudors. It is based on King Henry the 8th, although I guarantee the real King Henry is not as good looking as the actor who plays him. My favorite number is 4, I think its because my birthday is in April. When he asked me my favorite food, I couldn't come up with an answer. With changing my diet I guess I didn't want to commit to any one type of food. I suppose my favorite things are also cute and random. I see now where he gets it from.

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Changes

I chose the most random day to make changes in my life, Tuesday October 30th. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions because I feel like I'm just setting myself up for failure. In one week I've lost 5 lbs, which is definitely a first for me. I don't feel groggy anymore and I've made more meals this week than I have in a very long time. One of the reasons I decided to make a change was because of the pilot. He has been wanting to eat healthy for a while because of his kidney transplant. He doesn't want his new kidney to have to work any harder than it needs too. I think I was being a little selfish by not making it a bigger issue in our home. It is important to him so it needs to be important to me. This leads me to my next change, being a better wife. I'm a stay at home mom and I need to be proud of my job. I don't want the pilot to feel like everything is his turn when he gets home from a trip. I want him to enjoy his family time especially since there are times he is only home for a couple days and then gone again for 4 or 5.
My friend told me that today is her "someday". She has decided to do all the things she had been putting off for that someday. I thought that was a great way of putting it "Today is my Someday". There is no reason we should have to wait till New Year's.
Is there something in your life you'd like to change? Or make a new commitment to? If so don't wait, decide to do it now.

A Happy Evening

Last night we had a similar meal to the one pictured above. Tofu and veggie stir fry, we all loved it, even our 5 year old. The best part is he wanted to help make dinner so while I chopped up the broccoli, him and his daddy cut the tofu together. It was so sweet watching them work together as a team. I love these moments, especially when I think about when my son is older and he remembers how his daddy taught him how to cook.
We never turned on the TV, we just enjoyed each other's company. Music was playing in the background, I prefer music over the TV. I wish I could just bottle up these family moments, I try to appreciate them and not take them for granted. After our meal, D-boy picked up all of our dishes and took them to the sink. Now he is learning how to load them in the dishwasher. I love that he wants to help. I want him to be self-sufficient when he is older. Its amazing as parents the affect we have on our little one's lives, how we are shaping them. My goal is for him to be happy and to always know how much his parents love him. Its great when I hear other parents tell me how sweet and kind he is to others. Hopefully these are traits we can continue to nurture in him.

Happy quote for today:
We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.  ~Frederick Keonig

The Nut Man

We went to Sprouts yesterday and as I was filling up a bag of slivered almonds, the nut refill man was repeating over and over "Seriously!!" It sounds and looks a little silly when somebody else is angry. The reason he was so upset is somebody dumped granola all over without picking it up. It was all over his face and his body language that he was really upset about this incident. I can understand that it is probably annoying when you are the one that has to clean it up but is it worth getting that angry about?
A couple a weeks ago my friend and I were discussing being mad. She mentioned she had heard from Oprah or Dr Phil (same thing), that we should think when we get mad "Is this something that will matter in 1 hour, 2 hours or 24 hours from now?" How much energy do I really want to spend on being upset?  I've really thought about this when I tend to get upset over the most trivial things. I want to teach my son as well to not get too upset over things he can't control. And I have to say the nut man did look ridiculous, I will try to think about that the next time I'm mad.

The Food Trap

A couple months ago I had a spicy chicken sandwich with fries from chic fil a for lunch. Afterwards my stomach didn't feel so great, although I loved the taste of what I ate I think my body was telling me something different. Dinner that night was buffalo chicken pizza from Papa John's, after that my stomach felt even worse. Reading the book Eat to Live is very enlightening. As Americans we eat so much food that has no nutritional value. I've been following the plan in the book since last Tuesday, I've lost 3 lbs. Doesn't seem like a lot but for me to lose any weight in that short amount of time is amazing. I'm not ever hungry I just changed what I eat. I didn't realize how much my life revolves around food. I have gone out to eat and still was able to follow the plan. Not only am I eating healthier but so is my son. We have more fruit and veggies in the house, so when he is hungry I cut up an apple for him or give him carrots. The way I was able to make this change is I started to think about all the new foods I could make and could have, and not what I couldn't.
If you drive around look at all the places there are to eat. Its amazing, fast food, chain restaurants, take out. Our society really revolves around food, we go out to eat with our family, our friends, spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends (not at the same time). This is a day to day thing but I think for me it is going to change my entire perspective on food.

Boot Camp Friday

Went to a new class today and I really liked it!! The guy that teaches the class is also a personal trainer at the gym. It was tough and I was sweating which means it was working. I did mumble a few four letter words during the workout but in the end it was worth it. Now I know this is where I will be every Friday morning at 9:30. And whats even better is I know someone else in the class.
Now for my observation, there was a lady up front who looked like she was made of pure muscle. She definitely seemed like sunshine at 3 am. She was jumping and moving the entire time, even when we didn't have to, WHO DOES THAT?? The class is hard enough and then you add your own moves. I say Good For Her. During the class at moments she was my motivation and at other times I wanted to call her a show off.  I'm not sure why I do this to myself, I tried many times to look away but I couldn't.  It seems every class I go to has its show-offs. At least in this class it was only one. If I'm lucky in 6 months maybe that will be me..... doubt it ;-)

Beautiful

I think that Keira Knightley is one of the most beautiful women in the world. I believe I've watched almost every movie that she has been in. She doesn't seem too flashy to me and most pictures I found she didn't seem to be wearing a ton of makeup.
About 6 months ago I decided not to buy any new make up until I was completely finished with the make up I have in my bathroom. It's difficult when I get Ulta emails daily with the newest trends and coupons. But so far I've stayed true to my commitment. This made me wonder how many women out there have tons and tons of make up they never use? I looked up some statistics and women spend an average of $13,000 in a lifetime on makeup. The survey also stated 70% of women won't leave the house without makeup. One in 5 women stated there boyfriends have never seen them without makeup, even in bed.
What are we afraid of? Don't get me wrong I wear makeup and I try to make it as natural as possible. Its been easier since I left my job to be ok with going out without any on. I want to feel beautiful too but make up isn't going to do that for me. What makes me feel beautiful is when my friend calls me a sweetheart because I volunteered to watch her boys. Or when a friend tells me she cried because I sent her a thoughtful card. Even when my son says "Mommy, your beautiful", right when I've gotten out of bed with no make up and my hair looks like Medusa. I want my character to be beautiful, I want people to describe me as caring, loving, and fun.
What do you find beautiful?

Cleaning out the Junk

This picture literally grosses me out. Today we went to the store and loaded up on fruits and veggies. I actually made vegan ranch dressing. My breakfast was steel cut oats with almonds, strawberries and blueberries. It was delicious, the pilot made it before I got out of bed. I've traded my coffee for tea, that won't be as difficult to give up since I only drink one cup of coffee a day. And I usually dump the last couple sips of it in the sink. Lunch was a veggie burger on top of a salad of greens, tomato, and avocado with my home made dressing and an apple. I also did an hour on the elliptical.
On Sunday I cleaned out my closet, I put away the cute summer outfits and started a bag of clothes to take to goodwill. The pilot just started cleaning out our cupboards of any bad food so we aren't tempted to eat it.
This made me think, what other junk do I have in my life? Negative thoughts, was the first thing I could think of, how about you?

Live to Eat

If you haven't noticed from any of my previous posts, I love food.  I don't like diets because they seem to always restrict the things I love the most. Like sugar and carbs. The pilot just recently purchased this book Eat to Live. I thought I had finally come to the conclusion that I was fine with my body and my weight, until a couple days ago the pilot mentions he just happened to have lost 5 pounds. I asked him how and he had no idea. Really how is this fair?? AND I have to mention that he is only weighs a few pounds more than me and is 6 inches taller. This was my setback, all that positive self talk went out the window. I have asked him not to tell me anymore how much he weighs.
Which leads me to finally making a change. I have no excuses, no job that is keeping me busy. I know deep down I'm just lazy. Does anyone really admit to that? I want what's easy and I want to eat when I'm hungry.
My friend told me yesterday that it takes at least 6 months for our bodies to adapt to change and for us to see a difference. What the??? Great I have no patience, I want it to happen over night. So here it is, I'm going to start tomorrow which is Tuesday. Or maybe I'll start Thursday after the Halloween party on Wednesday. Ok, I'm lazy and I have no willpower. I've asked the pilot to help me so we will see how that goes. Did I mention he is out of town quite a bit?? Ok back to one day at a time, I'll let you know how it goes....

Saturday

I certainly didn't think when I was younger that a fun Saturday night would be listening to my son and his 2 friends chat with each other.  I will refer to the one that is his same age as the negotiator. The negotiator has been an expert at not eating dinner, he will give every excuse possible to get away from the table to go play. I took this on as a challenge of course, this little one was going to eat his dinner and I was going to win. The first curve ball is he tells me he is full, ok well he has had 4 bites of his dinner so I know this isn't true. The next one is "I don't eat crust". I have to mention he just told me 45 minutes prior that he loved crust. I told him that he couldn't leave the table until he was done with dinner. Next one, the sauce is now cold. I solved this one by re-heating his food in the microwave. Last try was "I have to go to the bathroom". This one I don't mess with, I let him go but he did know that he still had to finish his dinner when he was done. It only took 45 minutes but this little boy finished his dinner, I WIN!!!! Really.... this is my Saturday evening, getting excited that I won in a "fight" with a 5 year old.....

Where was it?

Sunday morning as I was ironing my dress, my puppy decided to chew something of mine. When I walked in my room I saw that he was chewing on my over-priced Victoria Secret bra. At least I know he has good taste. I wasn't incredibly upset by any means, but he had been doing so well not chewing on our stuff. He likes shoelaces and occasionally will grab one of D-boy's toys. Since I was a little bummed I decided to send a text to the pilot. I simply said the puppy ate one of my bras, awesome. His response was "Where was it?" I knew exactly what he meant and I'm not sure why he even asked the question. He should've just said "Jody, if your bra was on the floor it is your fault the dog chewed your $45 bra". I should've known to send the text to one of my girlfriends, because they would have the response I was looking for, something like "That really sucks but now you get to go to Victoria Secret and shop for a new bra". The very next day I received a coupon in my email for $15 off of 2 bras, so I guess it was time for me to get some new ones. Also I'm waiting to send that text that says "The dog ate your shoe" and when he asks me where was the shoe, I will simply reply "It was on the floor".....

If only I looked like that..

I think sometimes we can be our own worst critics. It seems every time I get back into working out I want to see results asap. If I've done a body pump class when I get home I should have rock hard abs, my biceps should be like Madonna's, and my figure should be perfect. If these results don't happen soon enough for me then I quit. Because why am I putting all the effort and work in, if nothing changes?  I have to admit I do feel better afterwards and I have more energy. But that can only sustain me for so long, I need to see results and I need to see them now. The weight loss doesn't happen very quickly for me either. Just around the corner is Thanksgiving and Christmas. Lots of baked goods and yummy foods. This year Thanksgiving is at our house and I'm telling you right now I'm not holding back. I may even fill up my plate twice. 
Yesterday at church I took a couple notes, I usually don't but I had invited a friend and she was taking notes so of course I had to. At the very end of the service the pastor put on the big screen "Stop comparing yourself to others". I needed to see that and hear it. I don't compare myself when it comes to "stuff" that other people have but I certainly do when it comes to my body. Once I saw that I realized I do need to stop comparing myself. So many women out there are different shapes and sizes, I should be happy with my own. There isn't anyone out there that is exactly like me.  From now on I'm not going to look at what I don't like but what I do. Because I know if my friend was having any body issues that I'd encourage her and tell her how wonderful she looks. Now I need to start doing the same thing for myself. 

Me + Body pump = pain

I just came home from a body pump class, let me tell you I do not feel unstoppable. I feel like taking a 2 hour nap. I also have to admit today was the first time I skipped the abs and stretch portion of the workout. I really didn't like the teacher today. She sounds like a drill sergeant, she spends the entire workout yelling at us about our form. No one in the class is new so we get it, she always follows up with "well I don't mean to harp so much but I want you guys to get a good workout and not get hurt". This isn't boot camp, stop yelling at me. All of the other teachers are able to teach the class without yelling at us. Also their are no classes today after her class so their is plenty of time to put our equipment away. However in her class she splits up the room and makes us put other people's stuff away. I don't want to do that either! Yes I'm selfish when it comes to this, I brought my equipment out I can put my own stuff away. Did I mention she was wearing a scrunchy? Ugh. I think I'll stick with the teachers I know and I like.

Pearls and Downtown

This morning I had to set an alarm to get up at 7:15 am. I actually had somewhere to go. I dressed up to go downtown and work for a couple hours. I put on my pearls and a flower in my hair. I was so excited to be able to volunteer but also to go downtown. I really did feel fancy. Its been 5 months since I quit my office job, I don't miss it at all. What was cool about today is I could go in when I wanted and leave when I wanted. I haven't worn my work clothes since May, so it felt more like a special occasion. I love downtown, I like people watching and I like being on a high floor so you can see all the buildings around you. I did some basic data entry but it felt good to do it for an organization I can be proud of, The American Transplant Foundation.
I was trying to think what I could compare this day to since I obviously was not excited every day to go to work and dress up. I was thinking its like birthday cake, you only have it on special occasions and not every day. If I had cake every day it would make me sick and I'd weigh an extra 30 lbs. I plan on going back on Monday and I've already picked out my outfit. The building in this picture is where I worked from 2006 to 2009 on the 30th floor. I didn't realize how much I would miss it. You know how sometimes you don't realize what you have until its gone? My parking was paid for, my health care was 100% covered (no premiums), I had a free gym, and the salary was great. The only bad part is they filed for bankruptcy and when they re-emerged they could only offer me a part time job. Plus they were moving the office out of downtown.
Part of me wishes I had a real job downtown again, however I wouldn't be able to walk my son home from school. At least I can volunteer and still get a little taste of the city once in while.....

Skinny Girls

5 months ago this woman had a baby, I officially hate her. How is this possible? It took me 2 years to lose the "baby" weight. I know its supposed to be happy Wednesday, but I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I did boot camp yesterday and every muscle in my body is screaming at me. I thought I'd get on the elliptical this morning but I'm still sitting here in my sweats surfing the internet and reading other mom blogs. I walked my son and the puppy to school, bad idea. It is so incredibly windy I thought all 3 of us would be blown away. The puppy doesn't heel like he does with the pilot which is very frustrating. Then I come home and see this 2.5 million dollar bra on this woman who just had a baby!! Not my morning. I told my friend that it is so frustrating the amount of effort it takes for me to just lose a pound. And that most of the time I'm really ok with my body, until I see some skinny girl. She said we should work on not being jealous. Thats a thought, probably a good one but right now my grumpiness seems to want to sabotage my entire day. Yesterday we went to whole foods for lunch, I thought I'd eat something healthy for lunch. I had a big fat burrito and you know what?? It was awesome, every single bite. I guess it comes down to what I'm willing to sacrifice. I've been working out 5 to 6 times a week. And trust me I'm no where near looking like Miss Victoria Secret model. I need to get off the internet and do something productive.  I need to take a break from feeling bad about my body. "They" say we should focus on the things we like about ourselves, I like my arms they don't jiggle. I like my curly hair, which really isn't part of my body image but I need something positive today. No happy quote today, maybe tomorrow I'll wake up in a better mood. I sure hope so.....

Kids

If you have children this post will totally make sense, if not I'm going to apologize right now. Kids can be cute, cuddly, sweet, crazy, frustrating and just plain gross. Tonight as I'm telling my son to take a shower, I see a small little pebble on the floor. I'm assuming its a rock from his shoe. So I take a closer look after I've picked it up and guess what?? Its poop, YUCK. I immediately throw it in the toilet and wash my hands for 30 minutes. When I ask my son if he pooped his pants and tell him what I've found, his response is "I was looking for that". Really, because you lost it recently and was hoping you'd find it before your mommy or daddy did to hide the evidence. Or, does he have a collection that I don't know about.
When he was younger, picking his nose was an issue. I was determined to be the one parent who could get my child not to do this activity. I also thought that only little boys pick their noses. Well I was wrong, the little girls in his preschool were all doing it too. It is not attractive and I just don't know where to look when I see another kid doing it, I'm not their parent but I really want to tell them to stop.
Their is such a long list of things you do as a parent that you thought you'd never do. Or that you'd be able to stomach. I'll spare you that list but if you are a parent you will totally understand. And if you're not, now you've got lots to look forward to :-).....

Zumba Cheeks

Once or twice a week I go to a Zumba class with a girlfriend of mine. Last night the instructor had very, very, very short shorts on. And when I say short I mean I could see her tiny little butt cheeks out the back of them. If you've ever done Zumba or seen others do it, you'll know there is alot of rump shaking so I saw those little cheeks alot during the class. Its great that she is so tiny but I can guarantee you that she didn't get that body by only doing Zumba. As much as I enjoy the class and have fun laughing at others I can't seem to take it too seriously. I ran 2 miles prior to the class so I'd at least burn more calories. I like workouts like boot camp and body pump, because the next day my entire body usually hurts. And that is when I know I've really gotten a tough workout. 

Every time I go to a Zumba class at this particular gym I see 3 people who I'll call the Zumba show-offs. They add their own little moves and dance with each other. And last night it didn't help their ego when the teacher let them lead with her. My thought is you should let people who are new or don't do Zumba be up front. Not 3 people who could teach the class. 2 of them wear earplugs because the music is so loud, really?? The guy and girl do little cute moves with each other and all I can do is roll my eyes. This is a 24 hour fitness not Dancing with the Stars.  Also its somewhat depressing when I'm looking at the mirrors and thinking "Do these mirrors add 10 lbs?" 

Well, it won't stop me from going again. I'm meeting my friend this Thursday night for the next "party". And the Zumba show-offs will be there with their new moves and earplugs.....

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

I have a bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in finance. I didn't earn this degree until I was 32 years old. I was tired of employers telling me they could only pay me so much without a degree. After I graduated I thought I'd have open doors to any job I wanted, the reality is you still need experience. I had experience in administrative jobs but not in accounting or finance. Great I thought my degree would open more doors. I will admit though I could ask for a higher salary because of the degree. The pilot has asked me many times what would I love to do for a living? I would love to have a TV show where I go to different cities and find great places to eat at reasonable prices. However in real life I have no idea, I've been content with the jobs I've had because they didn't define me they were just work. But now I have a chance to really think about and discover the answer to that question. I have to admit thinking about it stresses me out.

Every 6 months I decide on a new career path based on what I think I enjoy doing. A year ago it was a personal trainer. I contacted the trainer I had worked with a couple years ago to have her as my mentor through the process. I think the pilot was really excited because his wife was about to become this hot, in shape, hard body. Well, I found out my trainer had moved several hours away and she couldn't meet with me one on one. So I gave up on that career, plus I knew that part of being a personal trainer is being a salesperson and I suck at that, although I've never tried.  Sorry Mr. Pilot, your stuck with this soft body. Next idea, nutritionist. This was based on the purchase of a juicer. I bought a book on how to juice and it had some very interesting information on the foods we digest. Well, like everything I looked on the internet to see how to become one and what type of education I needed. I think it was going to take too long and it seemed too hard. That leads me to today. I met with my son's teacher for a 20 minute conference. When I told her the things we are doing to teach our son to read, she told me I should be a teacher. Plus she has seen me in her class 3 times helping out. I never really thought about being a teacher. Of course my first instinct is to be a teacher's assistant. Yes I believe that would be easier. Once again I will go online and see what it takes to become one. I'm not sure how far I will get but maybe this time I'll make it to an interview.  

I think their are more people out there like me who aren't doing what they really want to but have to work to live. I'm volunteering next week at the American Transplant Foundation, maybe that will be my calling in life. Who knows, right now I really enjoy being a stay at home mom. Today I met with my son's teacher, I visited with my neighbor, I washed my car, I helped the pilot pick up leaves, and I made fancy pumpkin cream cheese muffins to share with my friends and neighbors. Right now this is what I love doing....

My Happy Place

No need to adjust your screen, this is a real picture taken in Maui. I was amazed when we got home from our trip that so many pictures we took looked like post cards. I have a terrible memory so I can't remember what year we went but I believe it was 2003 or 2004. The second day of the trip we decided to go on an adventure, we hiked to find 4 beautiful waterfalls. The book that was guiding us said each waterfall would be more beautiful than the one before it. On this little adventure I stopped to take off my pants (don't get excited, I had my bathing suit on underneath), well I was standing on a slippery surface and I fell in the water and cut the bottom of my foot. What really sucked is it was the second day and I'd plan on being on the beach the rest of the week. My pilot came to my rescue and bandaged me up. We still had to swim to the last waterfall and believe me it was worth it.

When you take a trip to Maui, people tend to ask if you are on your honeymoon. I said yes, even though technically it wasn't. It felt like one, I remember every morning when I woke up there was a single flower on the night stand next to me. Being in a romantic place makes everything so much sweeter because life isn't in the way, you have the time completely to yourselves. When we did go to the beach I couldn't put my feet in the water, so I sat on my towel enjoying the incredible view. I watched the pilot body surf in the water. I had no concern for day or time, I just wanted to enjoy every moment.  As incredible as the trip was though eventually it came to an end. I love the way the pilot makes me feel on vacation. However I also love the moments when we are just hanging out at home watching a movie together and holding hands. I love the mornings when I get out of the shower and their is a cup of coffee waiting for me on the sink. I love when he drives my car and brings it home with a full tank of gas. I love when he lets me sleep in while he gets our son ready for school. I love who we are together.  Vacations are amazing and I do look forward to them. But what means more to me are the every day ordinary things that make me smile. When people say "think of a happy place", well my happy place is him.

Quote for the day:

Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.

Franklin P. Jones

What did you say?

Once a month I have the privilege of spending a little over an hour in my son's classroom. Today was my third time, I realized I really enjoy it and I usually end up smiling the entire time. Its true 5 year olds say the craziest things. Today they were discussing what was in their pants. I wasn't sure if I should stop the conversation since it seemed inappropriate at first. But the answers to this question were too funny so I let it go. One little boy said he had a fire in his pants and that he had to get matches for it. Another boy said he had a bomb in his pants, good thing we weren't at the airport. I almost wish I could record these conversations to share with them when they are older. Another kid was asking my son what does p-o-o-p spell and sounding it out for my son. I decided to end that conversation (Even though I was laughing inside.) 

I had to walk my little group of 7 to the library to pick out a book at the book fair, where they would write down a book on a wish list for their parents to buy. An older lady that was helping me asked a little girl in my group what her name was, the girl started to spell it out and the lady's response was "I don't need you to spell it, just tell me". Apparently she was doing this in the interest of saving time but after she wrote the girl's name down she confirmed the spelling. Really did you save that much time by telling the little girl not to spell her name? People are strange. I didn't help her cause since I asked each kid in my group to spell out their name for me. 

I look forward to this hour every month, I get to see what my son is doing in class and I get to meet his friends. The best part today was when I was walking the kids back to their classroom and one of the little girls grabbed my hand. The days like today make me even more sure about the decision I made to stay home...

Jeff Probst

Remember this guy, he was the host of 22 seasons of Survivor. I've never seen the show but I knew of him. Last night I was searching random things on the internet and discovered he now has his own talk show.  I came across one of his shows where an older famous model Paulina Porizkova was going on air without her make up. At first I was thinking this is a ridiculous premise to a show. Really some famous person isn't going to wear make up on TV, who cares. Also the show was on October 2nd. Well on CBS some other morning show called The Talk debut its season in September with all of the hosts not wearing any make up for the entire show. And by the way I went out in public today to the vet's office, Ulta, Home Depot and Einstein's bagel shop with no make up.  I realized though that young women look at celebrities trying to be like them in appearance, so for a famous person to go on TV without makeup and be proud, well maybe it isn't silly after all.  I was ready to make fun of Jeff and his show until I did some research. I looked up what the focus of his show is and here is what I found:

THE JEFF PROBST SHOW’s mission is to entertain and inspire viewers with stories about people living their lives to the fullest and saying “Yes” to life with every opportunity they get.

Darn I wanted to make fun of him but the truth is now that I know what his show is about I think I would enjoy watching it. But what exactly does it mean living our lives to the fullest and saying yes to every opportunity? Now I'm sort of feeling like a slacker. Maybe I won't watch the show, it'll probably just depress me and I'll start saying yes to things I really don't want to do. Or I'll go sign up for sky diving and I'm positive I'd regret it. I did indoor skydiving once and hurt my nose. This is what happens when I do research, next time I'll just stick to making fun of people.....

Costumes

Yesterday we went on a search for a Black Widow costume at all the local halloween costume shops. I'm not sure why but every year when I look for any costume my selection is very much like the picture I've attached. Even when I look online, type women's halloween costumes and this is what you get. I feel like men are the ones mass producing these costumes. I didn't type stripper costumes, I typed women's costumes. We found an Avengers black widow costume that I did try on. Well looks like I'm no longer going to be her for halloween. The pilot thought the costume fit but there was no way I was going in public with the costume on. I quickly decided I had to do something else.
The pilot was in the Navy for 6 years, he left in 1999. Last night he found his dress blues and they still fit! I can assure you nothing I have from 1999 would fit me. We came up with a great companion costume I can wear to match him. I'm very excited and when it gets closer to halloween I will share. I bought my costume on ebay last night and it actually reaches my knees. It obviously was not made for halloween. Last weekend I put a hulk costume on the dog. He may have to join my little Captain America. I'm not usually one of "those" people who dress up their dog but its only for one day. Especially since D-boy is a little disappointed that his mommy won't be part of the Avengers. He is too young to understand this mommy isn't going to wear a skin tight costume any time soon....

Facebook update

Let me be the first to say I'm just as guilty as anyone for posting personal sentiments to my spouse on Facebook.  On our last anniversary I stated it had been 17 years and how wonderful my husband is plus more, but the truth is I can write that in a card. Do all of my friends and family need to know how I feel? This morning I read a very sweet happy anniversary post, but I felt like maybe I was violating that person's privacy, like I had picked up their diary to read the most intimate details of there relationship. When did Facebook replace cards? I know, probably when we all started using it. Trust me I wouldn't know when people's birthdays were, and I happily get online to wish a happy birthday to the next person on the list. I like when its my birthday and I get to read all the sweet happy birthdays to me. However in years to come will I go back and re-read the happy anniversary from my pilot? Probably not, what I will read is the card I received on our 10th anniversary because it was incredible. And it reminds me how lucky I am to have the pilot in my life. I also keep my cards from my birthdays. I know the electronic way is easier but sometimes I just want that card. I want to know that somebody took the time to look through a bunch of cards at the store and found that perfect one that they knew would make me smile or laugh.  When Facebook first came out I was reluctant to join. I'm not saying I dislike it by any means, I get to be in contact with family and friends that I may otherwise never see or talk to. I like that I can share sweet pictures of D-boy and his friends. As well as vacations that we go on and it helps me take more pictures then before. I guess what I'm looking for is a balance. And our next anniversary I think I'll keep it short and simple. However the card I purchase will have how I really feel.
Is there someone in your life that could use a card from you?