Crazy Week

Sorry for the bad blogger. I think I am ready to update from this crazy week now.

Friday- I drove myself into Chicago for my OUAF training. I knew going in that I would only know one other person there and I was determined not to cling to her. I was very nervous and did not stop for lunch. When I got there, my one new recruit was there so I sat and talked with her. Then came all the training which was very exciting for me, but boring for you. We had a prime rib dinner, yum, and then we all changed into jammies and talked in the lobby of the hotel. I slept on the couch of the room my only "buddy" had gotten.

Saturday we got up and had a yummy buffet breakfast. The French toast was to die for. Especially after 3 weeks of dieting. Then more exciting training. I got soo many ideas for boosting sales and sharing our message with more families. We also have a new motto: "Happy homes don't just happen." We are all about being intentional with our families.

Saturday evening I drove home and the boys were out having dinner at Machine Shed so I had an hour to calm down before I saw them. They got home and I was on the computer catching up. I said I had just gotten home a little bit ago and Joey said "Yeah right, you've been on the computer the whole time." Daddy about fell on the floor laughing. I guess I have a bit of a computer addiction. I am getting help. Soon.

Sunday Daddy was gone all day. We did some house cleaning and I worked out twice. That felt good. Just mostly a lazy day.

Now for Monday. Black Monday. I had a couple of girls from my mom's group bring their kids over for a playdate. It went pretty well and I was able to share my excitement for OUAF with Cindy. She booked a show, yay! But when she went to leave...(Side note- we have a double wide driveway, but it is narrower at the end and there is a fire hydrent right next to it.) yes, she backed right into the fire hydrant. Popped her tire and scraped the whole side of her new car. OMG. I wanted to die. We both felt like it was our fault. I should have warned her, she should have looked, etc, etc. Of course it was no ones fault, but oy, now she has to get her car fixed. Daddy came home from work to change her tire for her, and then she was back on the road. Ben and I left to run to the library and then to Michaels. I got a bunch of fun books at the library that I can't wait to dig into. Then I just headed down N 2nd to Springcreek to cut over to Mulford. We got off the ramp onto Springcreek and had to stop because of the red light and there was an ambulance going by. We were just about to start going again when I looked up in my rearview mirror and there was a car quickly filling my view. I had enough time to think I should move but not enough time to do it when BAM. I hit my head on the headrest but it didn't really hurt. I turned around right away and asked Ben if he was ok. He said "Yes, but what did we hit, Mommy?" I said someone hit us, honey. I got out after a minute and the driver was already writing down his info. I called the police. They arrived in about 30 seconds (but just by coincidence. He was pulling someone else over.) Then I called my husband and he had to leave work for the second time in one day. He came right away and took Ben home. Ben thought he was at some kind of party where we play in the streets and I was getting really nervous with all that traffic. The cop had us sit in his squad car while he took all of our info, then let me go. I drove straight home but with my eye on the rearview the entire time. I just could not believe that we had two accidents in one day. There was seriously a black cloud over us.
So DH had me make an appointment for the Dr the next day just to make sure we were ok. Ben was fine but I have whiplash. My neck is really stiff and sore, I have a headache and I keep getting dizzy. They did x rays just to be sure nothing was broke, then sent me home with muscle relaxers and ibuprofen. The muscle relaxer makes me sleepy and I feel weird so I'm trying not to take it. But my head and neck are still pretty sore. They hope I'll feel better in about a week. Meanwhile there is no way I can work out like this so I'm worried that I am getting off track. And the whole experience of the last 3 days has left me feeling crabby, which I can't relieve with exercise so I'm getting more crabby. Probably I shouldn't be around people until I feel better.

So that has been my week. This weekend is our genealogy meeting and next weekend is scrap weekend, yay. If I can just make it to that I'll be ok.

Scattergories

I got this in email. Passing it along. Consider yourself tagged if you are reading it.


*Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions...* they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers, especially, if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. (WHICH BY THE WAY IS HARD IF YOU ALREADY READ THEIR ANSWERS) You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl.
1. What is your name: Stacie
2. 4 letter word: star
3. Vehicle: Saturn
4. City: San Francisco
5. Boy Name: Sam
6. Girl Name: Sarah
7. Alcoholic drink: Stone sour
8. Occupation: Sanitation Worker
9. Something you wear: Socks
10. Celebrity: Snoop Dogg
11. Food: Starfruit
12. Something found in a bathroom: Slippers
13. Reason for lateness: Stopped by Police
14. Cartoon Character: Swiper
15. Something You Shout: Stop!
16. Animal: Sloth
17. Body part: Skin
18. Word to describe you: Saint (Ha-ha)

Insomnia

Help! I can't sleep. I shouldn't still be awake. I have to drive into Chicago in the morning. I went to bed and just laid there with my eyes open listening to my husband snore. Now I'm down here checking out everyone's blogs and not drowsy at all. Except I know I will be tomorrow, when I'm going to want to stay up late. I'm sure it is because I am going to a new place and meeting new people and having new experiences. I'm kind of a nervous person. New stuff makes me jittery, anxious, etc. But I'm doing it. Just with less sleep than I'd like this time.
Good night, I hope. Update on Sunday.

Mustaches and Pizza!?!

Yesterday was my full day of working. After work I ran Grandma home, got Joey off the bus, straightened up a bit, then headed out for a haircut. I love getting my hair cut. {Which might explain why my hair is so short.} My stylist and I are a lot alike and we always have a great conversation. Last night, she had a student with her who she was "training." It was interesting to hear her talk about my hair. It is very thick and there is a ton of it, which apparently makes the cut a little complicated. I found out that she razors my hair every other time and uses scissors every other time. And she can never thin it enough. I don't ever have to worry about going bald. Gray, yes. I've been plucking many of those. Anyway, then it was on to the lip wax. My abundance of hair does extend to my lip, and I would prefer not. In case you've never had a lip wax, you should know that I am subjecting myself to great pain to avoid my mustache. But this time she had this new wax that she used me as a guinea pig for. I wasn't too keen on being a guinea pig, or having 4 people stand over me to see the hair removed from my face, but it really was less painful. Gotta love that.
So after all of our chatting I got home 20 minutes later than I expected to find the hungry family waiting in the driveway for me. Apparently I can't leave at dinner time and expect Daddy to figure something out. He figured out Pizza Ranch. It was my first naughty eating since starting this diet and it was good, but my tummy hurt after and the scale didn't like me this morning so I consider it not worth it and not going to happen again anytime soon. Except maybe this weekend when I'm out of town. Going to Chicago for OUAF training. I'll do my best to eat healthy, but I don't think I'll always have too many choices. Super excited to meet other consultants and get motivated, though.

Today after work I did Tae bo Sculpt Express for 45 minutes. I am going to be so sculpted!

Quick Exercize Update

Saturday I did Tae bo Lower Body - 35 minutes.
Sunday went bowling
Today I did Tae bo Amped - 45 minutes

Sunday Recap

I have a lot of things I want to write about today. I hope I can get them all down the way I want.

*This morning we had our everybody wrestle in Mommy and Daddy's bed ritual for the first time in a while. Our schedules have been too crazy to sleep in lately, but today both boys woke before us and came to our bed. Ben starts with me, being goofy and trying to tickle me. I send him to tickle Daddy who doesn'r even stir. Then Joey jumps in and starts getting Ben and me. All of sudden I'm getting tickled by Daddy which just amazes the kids. It was fun family time that we've been kinda missing out on. (I'll have to check for bruises later- Daddy tickles hard!)

*We took the boys bowling for the first time today. It was a blast, especially not having to deal with the smoking. Joey was able to hold the ball and throw it down the lane pretty well by the end. He had this crazy wind-up dance that was fun to watch. Ben marched his ball up to the line, set it down andshoved it as hard as he could. The ball never got stuck, but it sure was agonizing watching it meander down to the pins. He was just delighted with himself every time, coming to give double high fives with each score. A couple of times he set the ball down and kicked it before we explained to him that bowling is not like soccer.


*Have to share this dear husband story. I'm standing at the sink washing dishes and he is standing at the fridge. He notices that there are no bottles of water in the fridge so bends down and opens the new case right next to him. I'm about to say I'm going to grab the camera to record him putting water in the fridge since it never happens when I realize that, no, he is not putting water in the fridge. He is getting one for himself and leaving the rest to get warm. All I could do was stare incredulously. He noticed me staring and still chose to walk away. So I finished the dishes and moved on to loading the fridge. Then laundry, straighten up.... all for his family to come over to watch the game this evening. Hmm.

*Going to talk more about this later, but I'm just finishing up The Golden Compass series. I think that some of the subjects in the stories may not be appropriate for young children, but I did find the books to be quite fascinating. If they are read as fantasy. I like fantasy. I loved Harry Potter (who didn't), and The Wheel of Time series, and even the Left Behind series. But I read them as fiction. Not as something trying to influence my beliefs. I am strong enough in my faith that I don't find them to be offensive. So that's my opinion about that subject. Now I would like to see the movie to see how it is adapted from the book. The special effects seem pretty awesome.

Bullet Points

*Joey got his kindergarten report card yesterday, which means he is halfway done. Oy this goes so fast. The good news is that even with the trouble he's been getting into he still had a great report card- all S's. The teacher says he is an eager learner and is well-liked in class. Super news.

*I had another OUAF show this morning. I think I like doing morning shows, because I still have the rest of the day to do stuff. Like run to Target with the rest of town. It was way crazy in there! I had to park far away and run in the -20 degree windchill. Crazy. Got some milk and cereal and a gift for our gift exchange tonight at scrap night. Can't wait for that since I had to miss the last one. Then in 3 more weeks we go away for a whole weekend to scrap. I'm excited, but unsure of what I will do. I need to get more organized before I go.

*Speaking of -20, my crazy husband is on his way out to go hunting. This is the first year he hasn't gotten a deer and this is the last day so he refuses to stay home. Stupid. What if he gets frostbite? And if he does get one, he's going to make me really late for my scrap night. Grr. I don't get it. What is the point?


*Oh, I sold my first ebay item. My Tae bo videos went for $41. Pretty good for my first try. Better than $.99. The person who bought them is actually a Tae bo trainer, so I guess they're going to a good home. She already told me she's selling some of them, though. Oh well, guess I can't control that.

*I did get my new Tae bo amped set. I did the first 2 Thursday and Friday. It uses a 3 pound bar- a big adjustment for me. My shoulders and back HURT, but I am going to be so strong. I got to work out Friday because we had to cancel school. When we arrived in the morning our rooms were 53 degrees. Not good. The furnace guy didn't come til lunch time so we couldn't let the kids come in and freeze. Not sure what's going to happen with my paycheck, but it was nice because Joey went to school in the afternoon and Ben took a nap so I had like 3 hours to myself. I worked out and then read in silence for a while. I actually got a little bored!

*Ok I can't seem to tie my thoughts together coherently, so I'm going to do my blog in bullet points. I am jealous of people who write their blogs all about one thing, or are able to transition from one topic to the next. Not me. Oh well, this works for me.

Celebrate!

Yesterday was a great day! I worked all day and then drove out to Itasca (about an hour and 15 minutes) for my first celebration in a WHILE. The hostess was one who doesn't DO home parties but just fell in love with our product. She had the same reaction I had when i found it. Her party went well, and I didn't leave there until 10:30. She is considering becoming a consultant, but with three kids and her own business she's not sure when she'll have the time. I hope she joins my team because I think she'd do great. She has the passion. And two of her guests wanted to do a show and I'm not so sure how worth it it is to drive out there all the time. Hello? Is there anyone else in Rockford like this? I do have another show Saturday here in town with another "love it" hostess, so I hope to get more leads and bookings from that. And next weekend is corporate training in Chicago so I'll come home with even more ideas.

So we talked to Joey when he got home on Tuesday. He knew he was in big trouble and at first refused to talk. After we had an honesty talk he told us the story, which was the same story the principal told us. Joey wanted to sit next to his friend but another child was in his way. He told the child to move, and when the child refused he hit him. Wow. I still cannot believe my child did this. I pray that this is the first and last call I get from his principal. Poor kid had a dream the next night that the principal called me again but he hadn't done anything wrong. I think he'll be on his best behavior for a while.

I adjusted my weight loss goals. Right now my BMI is in the obese range. In order to move to the healthy range I need to lose a total of 40 pounds or 35 more pounds. So my goal is to have a healthy BMI by the end of summer. And MAYBE try for another baby at that point. There, I said it. You heard it here first. I want another baby. Not sure I'm ready, but the desire is there. I miss my babies so much.

Ben just came over to sit in my lap. He was rubbing by hairy legs and asked "what's this on your legs?"

"hair"

"no this stuff"

"goose bumps"

"no- gooses have goose bumps at the zoo."

well, duh mommy.

So here are some pics. Bill posed like this with his family about ten years ago when he first started seeing them again. The kids wanted an update. They are so grown up. And this is our completed kitchen wall finally. I love it. And, of course, just a cute pic of the boys together.

Uh-oh

After Joey gets on the bus on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ben and I take Grandma home and then run any errands we need to do (today it was library and Walmart for OJ and doilies). This afternoon when I got home, I could hear someone finishing up a message on the machine. I checked caller id- Joey's school. Uh-oh. Pushed play- "This is the principal. Please call back. Joey had an incident on the bus this morning and we have to assign him a seat." Oh crap. What happened? My first thought is that someone messed with him. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's completely innocent, but I also don't picture him as a bully. So I called back- yes my child hit another boy and made him bleed. Horror. I am just in shock. Now I am waiting for him to get off the bus and tell me what happened. He is soo grounded. I still think someone probably instigated, but that is no excuse for hitting. What has gotten into him? Now I'm worried that when his progress report comes home Friday there is going to be a note about behavior.
Joey has always preferred to play by himself and I have always worried about him making friends. He is not reassuring me right now! He doesn't come home and tell me about friends he plays with. When we go to other people's houses, he either plays by himself or with adults. How can I teach my child to make friends? Raising children is a fine art that I am feeling very unqualified for lately.

Diet department: I took yesterday off partly because I had no time and partly because everything was sore. So much for just my calves hurting. Today I did 45 minutes of lower body Tae bo. And I know I'm a scale addict, but I can admit that and still go on with my life. How can I not get on when I'm seeing these great numbers right now. I have already lost 5 pounds! I'm back down to my pre-holidays weight and less than 30 to go.

Random Occurings

I did an hour of Tae bo Extreme yesterday and 1/2 hour of abs today. The only thing sore today is my calves for some reason.

Grandpa Bill, Grandma Julie, Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Jeff and Uncle Mark came over for a visit today. The boys love playing with their Aunt and Uncles, and really kept them busy. We finally got my pics hung up in the kitchen right before they came and we got comments on them right away. It does look really nice, if I do say so myself. I took a picture of my pictures, but it's not quite the same.

I have two OUAF shows coming up this week. I am very excited to get back into it. It's been a while since my last show. I have high hopes for both of these shows that they will lead to more. I would just like to bring in a little extra income each month. And it would have been nice if it was enough so I wouldn't have to work this summer, but that is not looking good so far. One step at a time.

Tomorrow we have a playdate in the morning and I'm covering for my boss in the afternoon so I don't think I'll work out. Tuesday I'll hit it, then Wednesday is my full day and my show. I cannot let myself get off track. Maybe I can squeeze something in tomorrow.

I'm selling my first ebay item right now. I have 12 VHS Tae bo tapes that I can't use anymore because we don't have a VCR hooked up, so I'm hoping to get a little $ to go towards the new ones I'm getting. If anyone is interested, I can deliver here in town. The item # is 120209368450. I'm just a tiny bit worried that they'll sell for $.99 and then I'll be a little screwed. But hopefully everyone with their New Years resolutions will be looking for these.

I'm realizing my post is really choppy today. Just little snippets. Tomorrow I will try to do more early memories. Have a good week.

Prayers and Weekends

First of all, we need a lot of prayers over here. My boss lost her Mother-in-law Thursday and her kids lost their Grammie. They are relieved that her pain is over but sad to not be with her. And our Mayor lost his baby Thursday night. Words cannot express how heartbreaking this must be. I cannot imagine losing a child and hope I never have to. I hope that both of these families find peace that their loved one is in a better place.

In the better news department, I've still been working out and even ordered some new Tae bo DVD's. I've lost 3.5 pounds this week which is amazing for me. Usually it takes a month to see any results. I've already noticed more energy and I've actually been able to get more stuff done around the house. And I've finally been able to go to sleep and stay that way the last 3 nights. I had been having some major insomnia for the last few weeks. I would go to bed and just lay there thinking for an hour. Then I would fall asleep only to wake up every couple hours. Not fun.

Weekend plans: Get my pictures hung, grocery shopping, house cleaning, workout today. Visit from Father in law and family tomorrow. Doesn't sound too busy but hope to get a lot done.
Have a good one.

Old Movies and Babysitters

I am sooo sore today. It hurts to move anything. So I just did a 15 minute stretch. But I'm twitching to get back to it, and I've already been shopping for the new Tae bo set. That's how I do things. Jump in running. I get almost to the point of being obsessed with it. Whatever works to get this flab off, though.
Today was a bit crazy because my babysitter/MIL called in sick at 6 o'clock this morning. We kept saying we needed a backup, but of course never figured one out. So I ended up calling our friend Amy who stays at home with her kids. I woke her up, oops, but she watched the kids for me at the last minute. And she said they were good! I ended up working the morning, but got a sub for the afternoon so I could get Joey to school and I didn't want to take advantage of Amy. I rushed over to pick the kids up after my morning class, picked up Burger King for them on the way home (I had a grilled chicken sandwich- no fries), and shoved Joey onto the bus. Then Ben and I had a relaxing afternoon off. Ben watched a new Backyardigans movie we got from Netflix while I tried to finish my latest book.
It's funny. We've been getting the kids movies that we used to watch when we were young. They've seen Home Alone, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and The Neverending Story the last few weeks. Certainly some reminiscing from Mommy and Daddy watching those. And the boys really liked them. Now they want Home Alone 2 but my memory tells me it wasn't nearly as good. We'll also have to get Goonies and Short Circuit.
Off to finally finish that book. Good Night.

Woo-hoo!

I worked out again today. I really wasn't planning on making this commitment right now, but I'm moving while I have the momentum. I am really sore from yesterday's workout, but that didn't affect today, 'cause I mostly just did cardio. The scale was nice this morning and showed -1 pound, which was helpful.
Tomorrow I will take a break and I have to work all day. The real test will be Thursday.

Today at school, the only thing we could talk about was the tornado and the apple orchard. These 3-year old kids are very sad that the orchard was hurt. Fortunately they said on the news tonight that they plan to rebuild and be open by the fall. We also had a chance to talk about what we do during a tornado warning. I was glad to hear that most of them went to the basement.

I want to record a few more memories from childhood:
*The earliest thing I can remember is getting in trouble with my Mom. I must not have been too naughty because she asked me where her good Stacie had gone. I just remember thinking I was some interloper who had taken over the body of her good Stacie.
*When we lived in North Dakota, my Mom was driving us to church one day, and my Dad must have been home sick. Well, she drove off the road and down into a ditch. Several other cars stopped to help us and we were able to sit in their cars until ours was out of the ditch. Once out, we turned right around and went back home. We had to wake Daddy up to tell him what happened. It was quite the adventure for us, but I'm sure not for my Mom.
*When we lived on Guam?, my Mom worked at a day-care center as the cook. I remember she used to make tuna and noodles there just like at home. Yechh.
*If you know me, you know my front two teeth are caps. When I was six I was sleeping on my bed in a sleeping bag and fell face first onto the ceramic tile floor. My two front teeth were broken in half and there was actually pieces of tile stuck to the part that was left. My Dad let me pick a book out the next day and I picked a Garfield cartoon book. I remember thinking I was a little cool because they put things like braces on my teeth. Have I mentioned my dorkiness?

I've run out of memory for now. More later.

Trying To Get Back In The Groove

I worked out today! For the first time in several months. I managed to do 45 minutes of Taebo with the boys' help. They like to stand in front of me and do the exercises, especially when we pull the resistance bands out. Billy Blanks was really life-size on my 52 inch TV. I can tell I will be sore tomorrow, but it felt really good and I hope I can keep it going. I also signed up with sparkpeople.com. It's a free site where you can track your weight loss, exercise, and eating goals.

I also baked a cake. I know, that doesn't really fit in with losing weight, but it was for a co- worker's birthday. Cake baking is not really up there on my list of things I like to do, but it turned out ok.

And can we just mention the weather today? This morning I just thought it was so wierd how warm it was. Ben and I went to the grocery store in short sleeves. But then it got kinda scary for awhile. We had a tornado warning and one actually touched down east of us. Our favorite apple orchard seems to have been destroyed. :( Joey was 20 minutes late getting home because he had to put his head between his knees right when school was supposed to get out. But as far as I know everyone is safe. Phew.

This is just a cute picture I caught of Ben. He fights getting his picture taken so I took a bunch while he was in a good mood this evening.

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

I just had to put this on here- I didn't write it, someone shared it with me.

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning. Uphill BOTH ways. Yadda, yadda, yadda..........

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but Look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Play station video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids' and the graphics sucked ass! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens it was just one screen forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen Menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!

You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled.

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd

My Precious Few Memories

I've been thinking about my blog and wanting to put something a little more than just my boring day to day stuff (which even to me has gotten pretty boring), so I'm going to try to do some reminiscing. Now, I need to put a disclaimer that anyone who knows me knows I have terrible memory, so I really should get down what is still up there before I've forgotten everything.

Ok, so most of the things I remember are traumatic and I don't want to go into those. How about sports? I remember playing t-ball and my dad was the coach/ sometimes umpire. No, it must have been Little League, because I remember pitching. My strongest memory is of one player on our team who was maybe developmentally disabled. He would swing at the ball well before the pitcher even pitched it, or well after it crossed the plate. I remember trying to understand how hard it would be to not be able to do things like that. I also remember that we did not tease the boy. I don't know that we were especially nice to him, but nor were we cruel the way children tend to be. I was always the "nerd" of my family. I was never really pressured to be in sports, though my younger sisters played at least one sport thoughout their childhood. I know at the time I could have chosen to play, and once in a while I did, but usually I took the easy way out. The thing about that is that I really felt left out. My sisters played, my dad coached, and I just watched. That's kind of been a pattern in my life. I have a hard time jumping in and being an active participant in things. The other night I was riding in a car with 4 other moms. They were all talking and I did feel like I had something to say a few times, but I couldn't jump in fast enough. I felt uncomfortable and hated myself for it. But that is something I continue to work on, and as an adult I can see what I need to do most of the time. Like today. I officially took over as vp of my genealogy society, and had to stand up in front of everyone and speak into a microphone to introduce our speaker. I was nervous, but I did a great job if I do say so myself. I never would have been able to do that 2 years ago.

Wow, somehow that ended up being a negative memory! Ok I'm racking my brain for a good one. When we lived on Guam, and I was maybe 9 or so, our next door neighbors who we called Aunt and Uncle had this elaborate party at their house. I think it was for their daughter's birthday. Was her name Gina Ann? My friends and my sisters and I got hula skirts and choreographed a huge hula dance to do in front of everyone. I remember practicing for weeks, but then that night when we went play the tape the music kept cutting out. It was fun, though.

I also remember my best friend from that time, no I remember 2 friends. One from school was Patricia. She moved away before we did. And one who I really think must have been a "local." She used to tell me she was really a monkey and I believed her. She was small and dark and obviously very creative. I think she was the one who taught us the dance.

Oohh. I remember riding my bike to Patricia's house. Looking back, her Dad must have been an officer because they had a way nicer house. And I rode my bike to piano lessons, which were near Patricia's house. One day I fell off my bike on the way to piano lessons, and got through my whole lesson with skinned knees and ripped pants.

Then we moved to Utah. My best friend there was Nikki. She was a naughty girl and I don't think my parents wanted me spending so much time with her. We watched Dirty Dancing in her basement and she used to claim Jennifer Grey was her cousin. We also played spin the bottle with some older neighbor boys. There was probably a reason for me to not hang out with her. Our neighbors across the street had four boys: Trevor, Tate, Todd, and Tyler. Creative. The two older ones were real cute. Perhaps one of my early crushes. But a boy at school asked me to "go with" him. Kevin. My first love. Cue aawww. This was sixth grade. We put on a play of "The Christmas Carol" and I was the narrator. I remember the dress I wore. Was I a dork.

Here I found some Christmas pictures from around that time. I was a dufus. Hee. Oh well, we get better with age, right? Sorry Heather and Trina, had to put you on there too.

Well that's enough reminiscing for tonight. Hopefully I've inspired someone else to look back to their chilhood as well. That was the topic of our program today. :)

Did You Know I'm Royal?

It was back to work and school today. Actually it went rather well. Ben didn't want to wake up at 7, but really neither did I. The kids were anxious to tell me everything from the break, so it was a little noisy but otherwise they were good and I had missed them. It was nice to see everyone again. Joey was getting ready for the bus and said he had really missed his teacher, too. He has the greatest kindergarten teacher. I'm glad he likes her. Except she is a Packers fan, so he comes home and tells us about that. He almost wants to be a Packers fan just to make his teacher happy. Not quite, though. He also veers toward the Vikings because Grandpa Scott and Ti-ti are fans.

Tonight is Bunco. Yay! 24 moms get together and eat, then scream at the top of our lungs over this dice game. It is so much fun. Can't wait. Oh, and we win money. Last time I won $40. Woo-hoo.

I found out that Shedd Aquarium is free next weekend, so thinking about dragging the family there. The only way we would go is for free. It is way too expensive otherwise, but I think the kids would really enjoy it. We took them to the Field Museum a couple years ago but Joey was bored. We'll wait a few more years to try that again. And I remember going to the Museum of Science and Industry and really liking it, but I think they should be a little older for that too.

Last night I was actually doing some family tree research and discovered Ancestry's new content- passport applications for all of the 1800's. I didn't find any for my direct ancestors, but here is one from a cousin. Really cool. Some of them even had photos attached. I'm hoping with some more digging to find one for one of my direct ancestors. Somebody had to have traveled during that time. It also reminded me how fun it is to do research. I've been away from it so long and feel like all my lines are dead ends. I really need to take another look and get back into it. The excitement of finding a new ancestor is like winning a huge contest. I do really love it. Oh man, am I a nerd or what?

I don't think I've mentioned on here the famous connections I have made. On my Dad's side, we are related to President Bush and the Wilson brothers from the Beach Boys. Also the founder of The Seventh Day Baptists in the 1600's in Rhode Island. And we have royal ties in England.

On my Mom's side we descend from a family on the Mayflower. And there is a historic site in Indiana with my ancestors' first home in the US.

Boobie Update

Here is Ben with his "boobies"/"earplugs."

I keep trying to take pictures of the nice new office, but there is still clutter. Will keep trying.

Today I got up, washed dishes, did laundry, took down all the Christmas decorations (by myself), went to work for a couple hours, came home, did laundry, ... the house looks nice, my classroom looks nice, I feel like I accomplished something, it's all good. Now I just need to get all the laundry put away. The hard part.

Oh, yesterday we went to 2 movies. I've been to the theater 3 times this week which is a record. We saw National Treasure - very cute, and I Am Legend- very tense. Then we came home and I fell asleep on the couch but woke up for the countdown before heading to bed.

Tomorrow Daddy has to go back to work. I am actually looking forward to going back on Thursday. I start missing the kids and the interactions. I don't think I could be a stay-at-home mom. Hats off to those that can.