There are a lot... a LOT... of sweet songs out there about little girls: "Butterfly Kisses," "I Loved Her First," and several Cinderella-themed songs of late, to name a few. It's not too often you hear a cute song about little boys, so today when I listened to this one, I decided I would put it up for everybody to enjoy. It's been a favorite for a little while now, and it still puts such a smile on my face and brings a tear to my eye.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Need a laugh?
Got this from last month's Reader's Digest:
Three dolts were out taking a walk when they came across some tracks. The first dolt said, "Hey, look, rabbit tracks!"
The second dolt said, "No, they're horse tracks!"
The thrid dolt said, "You're both wrong; those are cow tracks!"
They were still arguing when the train hit them.
Three dolts were out taking a walk when they came across some tracks. The first dolt said, "Hey, look, rabbit tracks!"
The second dolt said, "No, they're horse tracks!"
The thrid dolt said, "You're both wrong; those are cow tracks!"
They were still arguing when the train hit them.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Not a little girl anymore
It's been a few years since I last jumped rope. Quite a few. I remember it fondly, though, so at Target today I decided to pick up a grown-up jumprope and give it a shot. 
Wow.
It's HARD!
I don't pretend to be in good shape, but I can't even do it for more than a couple minutes at a time. My arms get tired, my knees get achy, and my flab gets pretty floppy. But it's still fun, so I'm going to work up to 5 minutes straight. Then I'll set my sights on 8 or 10 minutes, and then maybe even 15 minutes. If I ever get to 30 minutes straight, I'll be ready for the playground again.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
If you’re like me, you find it hard to navigate through all the fliers, 
commercials, debates, and TV spots to find out what the candidates really stand for. Here’s a great web site that shows where all the candidates stand on different issues. For the ones who’ve held office, it gives their voting records as well. There’s also a cool “quizzes” tab where you can take a quiz and see which candidates most closely match your views.
http://www.ontheissues.org/
From their mission statement:
Our mission is to provide non-partisan information for voters in the Presidential election, so that votes can be based on issues rather than on personalities and popularity. We get our information daily from newspapers, speeches, press releases, and the Internet -- it is a labor-intensive process that requires countless volunteer hours
commercials, debates, and TV spots to find out what the candidates really stand for. Here’s a great web site that shows where all the candidates stand on different issues. For the ones who’ve held office, it gives their voting records as well. There’s also a cool “quizzes” tab where you can take a quiz and see which candidates most closely match your views.
http://www.ontheissues.org/
From their mission statement:
Our mission is to provide non-partisan information for voters in the Presidential election, so that votes can be based on issues rather than on personalities and popularity. We get our information daily from newspapers, speeches, press releases, and the Internet -- it is a labor-intensive process that requires countless volunteer hours
A breakthrough
The past couple weeks at Weight Watchers have been slow. Last week I lost 0.9lbs and this week only 0.3lbs. Those are pretty low numbers, especially compared to Biggest Loser weigh-ins..haha
But I actually had a breakthrough today. It didn't bother me excessively that I didn't lose much. I have been concentrating lately on the *lifestyle* of being healthy, not just losing weight. I'm trying to get rid of the diet mentality where once I lose the weight, I'll be "done." Truth is, I won't ever be done. What would I be "done" with? Eating healthy foods? Controlling my portions? Using moderation in treats and snacks? Feeling good about myself?
None of those things are worth being done with. They will continue to be part of my life. Whether I lose weight quickly or slowly, or not at all, I'm more concerned with being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle.
This is a long journey, and I don't claim to have arrived. In fact, I still have to come to a place where exercise is a part of my healthy lifestyle. But I'm going along for the ride, and it'll all come together sooner or later. If I end up at my goal weight sometime soon, that will be the icing on the cake. Or maybe that should be "the low fat vinagrette on the salad"? ;)
But I actually had a breakthrough today. It didn't bother me excessively that I didn't lose much. I have been concentrating lately on the *lifestyle* of being healthy, not just losing weight. I'm trying to get rid of the diet mentality where once I lose the weight, I'll be "done." Truth is, I won't ever be done. What would I be "done" with? Eating healthy foods? Controlling my portions? Using moderation in treats and snacks? Feeling good about myself?
None of those things are worth being done with. They will continue to be part of my life. Whether I lose weight quickly or slowly, or not at all, I'm more concerned with being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle.
This is a long journey, and I don't claim to have arrived. In fact, I still have to come to a place where exercise is a part of my healthy lifestyle. But I'm going along for the ride, and it'll all come together sooner or later. If I end up at my goal weight sometime soon, that will be the icing on the cake. Or maybe that should be "the low fat vinagrette on the salad"? ;)
Saturday, January 19, 2008
You'd think they could have washed it
Yesterday we had the truck in for service. It was due for an oil change, and since we're almost at the 60k mile mark, we ended up needing to have that service done. That's a big one. Not only that, but it's recommended to have the fuel injection system serviced at that time. Plus, I'd been having issues with the brake light and gas gauge, so I wanted them to look at that too.
Before I left the dealership, they said it would be somewhere around $650. Of course, once they took a look inside, they discovered that the reason the brake light kept coming on was because the front brakes were at only 20%. Those need to be replaced. Add on another $300 for that. Oh, and the gas gauge? Another $300-$400 to fix something that's sticking in the gas tank.
We figured the brakes were pretty important, so we gave them the OK to replace those. However, we passed on the gas tank/gauge fix. We decided that if the gauge quits working altogether, we can still use the other display screen that tells how many more miles you can drive before filling up. Worst case scenario, we can just watch the odometer! Bottom line, we're not going to drop $400 right now to fix it.
So the grand total when I picked up the truck last night- $950 and change. Ouch! But that wasn't even the worst part. When they pulled it around for me, I saw that they didn't even wash it! I mean, it was there allllll day and we paid them an arm and TWO legs. You'd think they could have washed it.
Before I left the dealership, they said it would be somewhere around $650. Of course, once they took a look inside, they discovered that the reason the brake light kept coming on was because the front brakes were at only 20%. Those need to be replaced. Add on another $300 for that. Oh, and the gas gauge? Another $300-$400 to fix something that's sticking in the gas tank.
We figured the brakes were pretty important, so we gave them the OK to replace those. However, we passed on the gas tank/gauge fix. We decided that if the gauge quits working altogether, we can still use the other display screen that tells how many more miles you can drive before filling up. Worst case scenario, we can just watch the odometer! Bottom line, we're not going to drop $400 right now to fix it.
So the grand total when I picked up the truck last night- $950 and change. Ouch! But that wasn't even the worst part. When they pulled it around for me, I saw that they didn't even wash it! I mean, it was there allllll day and we paid them an arm and TWO legs. You'd think they could have washed it.
Legos still know how to groove
This video made me laugh. The song is actually old, but still funny. Somebody decided to put their Legos to work.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Just a little story
The other day a friend of mine, Kelly Rogers (not her real first name... you know, to protect the innocent and all that), had a baby. In trying to call her, I got my first preview of the new automated phone system at the hospital. First, you press 1 to get to the machine who tries to figure out who you want to talk to. It's one of those voice-recognition programs. It asks me who I would like to reach, and unfortunately I had to clear my throat at exactly the wrong time. In it's most robotic voice, the machine asked me, "Did you say Achmed Ahmad?"
So I tried again, and somehow my throat managed to clear itself at several more inopportune times. Finally I was able to say "KELLY ROGERS." Machine: "Did you say Kelly Waters?" No... "KELLY ROGERS." "Did you say Kelly Waters?" No... "We don't have this patient. Please wait for an operator." So I waited a full 5 minutes on hold with no receptionist in sight before I hung up. Calling back, the scenario was repeated, sans the throat clearing. This time the dogs barked. Then on the second try, we went through the KELLY ROGERS, "Kelly Waters?" routine again. Finally I just said, "Yes it's Kelly Waters I guess!!!!" and lo and behold, I got to the right place. Mind you, this was a 20 minute process broken up into several increments. But hey, I got to congratulate my friend.
Fast forward to today when Tyler and I decided to have a little cuddle time while watching Sesame Street, a real treat for him. You all know what comes on before Sesame Street, right? Mister Rogers, of course! I asked Tyler if he wanted to watch it, and he said, "Oh, KELLY ROGERS?"
So I tried again, and somehow my throat managed to clear itself at several more inopportune times. Finally I was able to say "KELLY ROGERS." Machine: "Did you say Kelly Waters?" No... "KELLY ROGERS." "Did you say Kelly Waters?" No... "We don't have this patient. Please wait for an operator." So I waited a full 5 minutes on hold with no receptionist in sight before I hung up. Calling back, the scenario was repeated, sans the throat clearing. This time the dogs barked. Then on the second try, we went through the KELLY ROGERS, "Kelly Waters?" routine again. Finally I just said, "Yes it's Kelly Waters I guess!!!!" and lo and behold, I got to the right place. Mind you, this was a 20 minute process broken up into several increments. But hey, I got to congratulate my friend.
Fast forward to today when Tyler and I decided to have a little cuddle time while watching Sesame Street, a real treat for him. You all know what comes on before Sesame Street, right? Mister Rogers, of course! I asked Tyler if he wanted to watch it, and he said, "Oh, KELLY ROGERS?"
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
If I ever had any respect for Eddie Murphy...
...it has quickly vanished today after reading parts of a statement about his recent wedding. I guess he and his significant other are married only symbolically, and they want to remain "just friends." What a bunch of baloney.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Fixed link
I just found out that the link to Stephanie Vasofsky's journal wasn't working. I fixed it below and I'll put it here too. Please take a few sittings and read it all.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Racecar.com
Colby's going through two big ziploc bags full of die cast cars and airplanes that someone from Brian's work gave us. I was confused by his "Ooooo, look, racecar dot com!" comment. He came over to show me what he meant. Pointing to the McDonald's logo on the hood, he said, "See? Racecar dot com!" I asked him if he was sure he didn't mean McDonald's. "Yeah, Racecar McDonald's!"
Conclusion:
#1- Racecar.com is an actual website.
#2- We never eat at McDonald's.
Conclusion:
#1- Racecar.com is an actual website.
#2- We never eat at McDonald's.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Ring that bell, Stephanie
I just sat here and read this whole journal today. It’s a really touching story. It’ll take a while to read it all, but start from the beginning. It will leave you in tears and will remind you what’s important. (Click on the "journal" link and sort from oldest to newest post)
Here’s a TV interview from a couple months ago.
Here’s a TV interview from a couple months ago.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Get thee behind me, Satan!
It's fundraiser time. Not just any fundraiser... See's Candy Bar fundraiser! Never mind the fact that this is the third fundraiser of the school year already, and that we've already had a See's *candy* fundraiser. I think these people are trying to sabatoge me.
On the Weight Watchers flex plan, you get a certain number of points each day to guide you on how much you should be eating. I, for example, get 25 points each day. A bowl of cereal and a large glass of milk runs me 6 points for breakfast. Dinner, I try and keep around 10 points. I say that to give you a reference point for the points on a See's Candy Bar. Seven. Yes, s-e-v-e-n. Roughly a quarter of my points for the whole day. See, this is why I love weight watchers. The points put everything in perspective for me. Sure, I could enjoy the milk chocolate and almond-y goodness if I wanted, but is it worth it?
Some things are worth it. My favorite meal at Red Robin is 16 points. Worth it. Milk chocolate and almond candy bars when I don't really care that much about almonds? Not worth it. They're sitting in the box out in the laundry room, basically as close to the door as possible without being outside.
Now, if we had the ones with the toffee pieces, I might be singing a different tune. :)
This can't be good
My gas light is on. I don't like to let the tank get that low. Usually I try to fill up around a quarter of a tank or so. Not only is the gas light on, but the gauge is waaaay below E... like pushing towards G or H. Funny thing about it is, I just filled up the tank at Costco this morning. $65 worth of gas, no less. This can't be good.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
IMAAAAA!X Theatre
Tired of sitting around the house this week, we decided to take a jaunt down to the California Science Center (www.californiasciencecenter.org) in LA. We discovered when we got there that Disney on Ice was playing at the sports arena; in hindsight it might have been a better choice.
The museum itself was good, if not a little over the kids' heads. The "fun" part came when we decided to try out the IMAX "Deep Sea 3D" movie. We told the kids how we'd put on funny glasses and our eyes would play tricks on us so that it would seem like the movie was coming out of the screen at us. Imagine our sheer delight in finding that the seven-story-tall screen and the "network of 44 speakers bath[ing] every seat in 12,000 watts of sound!" was showing a preview of MONSTERS OF THE DEEP 3D before the show! Tyler, having never even been to a movie theatre, was decidedly unhappy about the darkness, loudness, and scariness of giant sea creatures with millions of sharp teeth jumping out at him, inches from his face. Who am I kidding? I was screaming like a little girl too.
Needless to say, we stayed about 3 minutes in there before we made our exit. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I lost our ticket stubs, so they wouldn't issue us any kind of refund.
In March they're showcasing the "Body Worlds 3" exhibit, which includes human cadavers on display. Brian and I may go see that...sans kiddos. :)
The museum itself was good, if not a little over the kids' heads. The "fun" part came when we decided to try out the IMAX "Deep Sea 3D" movie. We told the kids how we'd put on funny glasses and our eyes would play tricks on us so that it would seem like the movie was coming out of the screen at us. Imagine our sheer delight in finding that the seven-story-tall screen and the "network of 44 speakers bath[ing] every seat in 12,000 watts of sound!" was showing a preview of MONSTERS OF THE DEEP 3D before the show! Tyler, having never even been to a movie theatre, was decidedly unhappy about the darkness, loudness, and scariness of giant sea creatures with millions of sharp teeth jumping out at him, inches from his face. Who am I kidding? I was screaming like a little girl too.
Needless to say, we stayed about 3 minutes in there before we made our exit. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I lost our ticket stubs, so they wouldn't issue us any kind of refund.
In March they're showcasing the "Body Worlds 3" exhibit, which includes human cadavers on display. Brian and I may go see that...sans kiddos. :)
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Clever
The kids (ok... me too) got quite a kick of this..
http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/kJN85OhzHtdnY9GTcWMuI4Bj
(you'll have to copy and paste, sorry)
http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/kJN85OhzHtdnY9GTcWMuI4Bj
(you'll have to copy and paste, sorry)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Weight loss success
I think it's time I update the blog about my weight loss journey. I started back in September at my all-time non-pregnant highest weight of 203.2 pounds. Right about Halloween time, I hit a low spot and was ready to quit. I didn't want to miss out on all the candy and subsquent gorging that goes along with the holidays. My good friend Kalani was doing the program with me at the time (she's since gotten pregnant, so she's on hiatus ;) ), and she convinced me to just keep going. I told her I'd give her that one week. Well, since that time, I've been on fire! I've been doing so well that for the first time ever, I decided that I wanted to go ahead and try to *lose* weight over the holidays. Usually I make a compromise and say I just want to maintain my current weight, but I felt like I could reach my first goal (lose 10% of starting body weight) if I stayed strong through New Year. I'm extremely happy to report that I did great! I enjoyed some treats, but I practiced moderation. We even had prime rib on Christmas, and I managed to lose 3.8 pounds that week! On December 26th, I reached my 10% goal by reaching a total loss of 21.2 pounds. Next stop, goal weight.... another 22 pounds to go. I'm half way there! It feels great to start the new year not vowing to start losing weight; I'm already way ahead of the game.
Not the best pics because I'm usually behind the camera, but here's me in September right before I started...
Not the best pics because I'm usually behind the camera, but here's me in September right before I started...
And then here I am at Christmas...
When I get to goal weight, I'll be sure to take a full-length shot... although I won't find many pictures of me like that in my fat state to compare...haha!
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