"When Technology Fails to Communicate" (or I could also title this, "No, I am not pregnant.")

Interesting title, huh? Allow me to explain:

I have more than made my feelings about another pregnancy quite clear to my family (um, no thank you). However, Christmas Day, I was made aware of their expectation of a big announcement. (My answer is still, um, no thanks.)

It was quite comical, really.

On the road from TN to KY, I sent a series of text messages back & forth to my siblings who were already at mom & dad's house.

The texts I sent were VERY straight forward and purely about our travels. Apparently, they were reading between the lines (the lines that were non-existent, I might add) and were just sure I was trying to tell them something.

Here, let me show you:

TEXT #1:
Ellen: "Got a late start. Big surprise! Be there around 1:30 pm"
Ellen Translation: "We got away late. That's not really surprising, now is it? [sarcasm implied]. We'll arrive around 1:30 pm"
Family translation: "We have a BIG SURPRISE!!!! Can't wait to see you around 1:30pm and tell you what our BIG SURPRISE is!!!!"

TEXT #2:
Ellen: "eta 4 cousins?"
Ellen's translation: "What is the estimated time of arrival for the other cousins?"
Family translation: "There are not 3 cousins coming with me from Nashville, but 4 FOUR, count 'em, FOUR cousins (1-John, 2-Maddy, 3-Will, 4-NEW BABY!!!!)"

Lastly, a CELL PHONE CONVERSATION:
Ellen: "When we get to the house, you all stay inside because the kids have a surprise for you. They want to ring the doorbell and do something, so just stay inside until we get there."
Ellen's translation: John & Maddy had been practicing Christmas carols and wanted to serenade the family with a new tune...but wanted to do it "carol style" by ringing the doorbell.
Family Translation: THIS IS IT!!!! THEY ARE GOING TO ANNOUNCE THE PENDING BIRTH OF YET ANOTHER PRECIOUS GRANDCHILD! The kids will have on "I'm a big brother/sister" t-shirts and this is going to be awesome.

I really should have kept their fantasy going, though--they were SO nice to me! "Ellen--you sit here and relax for a spell. A woman in your condition shouldn't be working so hard....Here, let me fix you a plate.....Oh, allow me to chase Will for a while! You just rest....."

So sorry to disappoint, but it's not happening, folks. And if I were having Nashville Cousin #4, I can guarantee you I wouldn't be announcing it via text (as my sister in law Aimee so comically pointed out). You'd probably have to pick me up off the floor!

Merry Christmas!!!

We've been up since 6:15 am (the kids let us sleep in this year!) and have done the presents, eaten the cinnamon rolls, and the kids are now playing silently with all the new toys. It's a Silent Morning and I love it! We've had a fabulous Christmas so far--looking forward to spending a few days in KY with my family!

I'll leave you with a few seasonal photos:

Our annual trip to see the Ace Hardware Santa Claus

The theme of this Christmas, for us, has been "Will screaming." If you were "lucky enough" to receive our family Christmas card, you will notice this thread continuing nicely in that photo. Oh, what the heck, I'll post it here again. It was just lovely enough to share once more:

MERRY CHRISTMAS, everybody!

and of course, a very Happy New Year!

My long term memory works just fine, thank you.

This morning, Michael asked me what I had going on today. I said I needed to wrap...(as in "wrap presents".)

In an attempt to be funny, he proceeds to spray me with a stream of saliva in a fit of beat boxing...(as in "rap songs").

In an attempt to be even funnier than he is (always my goal), I consulted the very back, very dark recesses of my brain and came up with a CHRISTMAS RAP, courtesy of Run DMC:

"It's Christmas time in Hollis Queens. Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens"

He busted out laughing so hard and had to know WHERE the heck that came from? You think you know your own wife....then she comes up with Run DMC lyrics. He's not so sure about anything anymore.

Now, mind you, I have never rapped in my life. I had no idea I even knew that song. So, of course I had to consult the only person who would likely know why and how I knew this song.

A phone call to my older brother Keith confirmed indeed that he was responsible for exposing me to this video over and over one Christmas. He then went onto sing the rest of the rap for me and so, now you know that my entire family is officially crazy.

If you'd like to see for yourself, click here and prepare to be dazzled by the talents of Run DMC.

Thank you, Nestle.

A few weeks ago, I played a little game with some girlfriends about holiday traditions. There were 3 questions:

IF NOT FOR YOUR KIDS, which holiday traditions would you:

1. want to ditch?

2. want to begin?

3. want to keep forever & ever and make them feel guilty if they don't do it too when they grow up.

My answers:

1. DITCH: I would totally ditch the whole mess of making sugar cookies and decorating. It is SO messy. You find sprinkles in all the crevices of your kitchen for months afterwards. Not to mention the sugar high and crash that ensues. Plus red dye frosting stains your countertops. Fights break out over who gets to decorate THAT angel because THIS angel has a broken wing. Did I mention that I do not like making cookies with my kids? I feel so guilty admitting this! I mean, what kind of mother am I? I could get my motherhood license revoked for this confession.

2. BEGIN: go to a midnight mass or candlelight service and then sleep in the next day.

3. KEEP: reading Christmas story from Luke and a big breakfast on Christmas morning.

Well, glory be! I have had the honor of revising my "Ditch" answer because Nestle has come up with the best thing since sliced bread. "Christmas Shapes Sugar Cookies". It's a package that has the shapes already cut out. You just bake and decorate with the pack of icing already mixed and ready to stain, eh, I mean spread.

Oh yes, I'm sure you've seen it and given it a little snide glance as you strolled past this "kit" on your way to the baking aisle to pick up your granulated sugar, vanilla, eggs, and flour to make a Homemade Christmas.

But, I have no shame. My "Mom of Excellence" status has been redeemed and I am back in my kids' good graces because we bought this kit and did the sugar cookie baking/decorating thing on Saturday. And I stayed happy and joyful and loving through the whole experience.

Nestle has saved Christmas, once again.

If you want, post a comment and answer my questions: Had you no children to dictate how Christmas is run around your home: What would you ditch? What would you start? And lastly, what tradition do you hope to keep for all time?

Crime & Punishment

When Will became mobile, he quickly discovered a great little spot in our house we like to call the toilet. No, he's not an early potty trainer--he prefers to splash in it with his hands. G-R-O-S-S. Grody. Really nasty habit, if you ask me. He has a sensor on his body that alerts him at the very moment that the bathroom door has been left ajar.

So, I posted little signs on all our bathroom doors..."PLEASE CLOSE DOOR" [notice that I did demand politely].

I talked with the whole family about it. I demonstrated how it was done. I sang songs about closing the bathroom door. I even made certain people who were responsible for leaving the door open SCOUR Will's hands when he was caught in the act of potty splashing.

Well, enough is enough.

A few weeks ago, John was the one responsible and I was just tired of it.

So, I came up with a sure-fire solution to get him to remember. And...it served double duty! He needed a little extra handwriting tutoring, so I had him write 50 times:

"I will remember to close the bathroom door."

And it's WORKED! He is the ultimate bathroom door closer in our family.

Now...any ideas for how to get my husband to remember?

That's my boy!

Will's first words were "mamamama" and "dadadadada". We're not sure which one came first and there is hot debate in our house over who won his heart first.

However, we discovered this week that his next word was none other than...

COOKIE.

[it sounds a little like "cooka" however, but you know what he means, right?]

He has become our resident Cookie Monster this Christmas with treats everywhere we go. The funny thing is, he's still got little skinny legs, but that's probably from all the moving he does. The boy does not stop. Unless he is in bed asleep, he is on the move!

Which makes for one tired "mamamamama".

Biggest Loser--the Biggest Finale!

Oh, we've worked so hard to get to this point, readers, and here we are!!!

The goosebumps have already formed on my arms and my eyes are already teary. This is the best episode. This is why we watch! This is what makes it all worth it! I love seeing the look of satisfaction and peace and happiness on their faces when they show up at the finale having more than reached their goals.

Here we go:

Recap, recap, recap. It's amazing to watch the recaps and see the contestants from the beginning--they have changed so much!

Recap, recap, recap.

Recap, more recap, followed by a touch more recap.


Ed vs. Heba:
Who did I vote for? Well, no one, actually. But, who did America vote for? Let's take a look.

Let's see how Heba did at home...SHE LOOKS AMAZING!!!!! She does not look like the same person. Beautiful, simply beautiful.

Let's check out Ed now....NO WAY! He is looking so good! Again, like a totally different person.

I'm so proud of the orange team!

ED WON AMERICA'S VOTE. Even though he pled (pleaded?) for America to vote for Heba. Ed blamed the economy....I think it's because Heba was so tight with mean ol' Vicki the whole season and everybody wanted to punish her for that. I do feel bad for her. That has got to be humiliating....I truly feel sorry for her.

Now it's time to see the 13 elminated contestants:

And they just look great. I especially can't believe how good the ladies look! Stacey takes the lead early on, followed by Phil just shortly, followed by Amy! Amy & Phil (husband and wife/red team) were SO close in their weight loss percentages, but Amy just BARELY won. Good for her!

Heba's weighing in now. And, did she beat Amy? YES. Heba won the "at home" biggest loser. Too bad--I wish somebody who truly did it "at home" would've won.

The Final Weigh In

Vicky, Ed, and Michelle are going to show us their new look. The ladies are having all kinds of trouble walking in their heels tonight! Vicky almost bit the dust, same as Heba earlier in the show.

Before they weigh in, however, I REALLY hope we can get a little recap about the season. NOT. Come on, people! We have had all the recap we need! Get on with it! If you took away all the unnecessary recap and product place (Subway!) ads...you'd probably have a 45 minute show. Which would be just fine, y'all.

Ed: Starting Weight 335. Ending weight: 196. 139 pounds lost for 41.% weigh loss!

Vicky: Starting Weight 246. Ending weight: 145. 101 pounds lost for 41.06% weight loss. CLOSE, but no cigar. I'm kinda glad...I was not her biggest fan.

Michelle: Starting Weight 242. Ending weight: 132. 110 pounds lost for 45% weight loss.

YEAH!!! Michelle won! Way to go...

Wife, mother, AUTHOR??

Today I went with John on a field trip to the children's theater which gave me time to chat with his wonderful teacher a bit. She said the students' writing prompt for the morning was..."if you could ask any author any question, who would you ask and what would you ask them?"

Guess which "author" John chose?

ME!!!

Now, before you go searching amazon.com for my latest novel, there is no published work out there by me (unless you read the Kentucky Kernel at the University of Kentucky in the late '90s).

He is referring to none other than the author of this very BLOG as the one to whom he'd like to pose a question. In his eyes, banging away on this blog makes me very official.

And the question? Where is the blog reader who lives furthest away from us?

And the answer? India. I had a comment from somebody in New Delhi. I'm still in shock over that one.

Back to Bethlehem

It's cold and wet here, so I thought I'd share a story to warm your heart today!

The day after Thanksgiving, my family did a "Turkey Trot" at a park in KY. It wasn't an official organized race....just my family (there are about 19 of us) complete with race t-shirts and a half-mile course. It's a great park that gets decked out for the holidays--lights and Christmas displays all around the walking trail.

Before the "race" some of the kids wanted to do a warm up lap. Maddy tried to keep up with the boys, but couldn't and before long, she was lost. (We could still see her across the way, mind you, but she was clearly turned around and didn't know which way to go.)

When I got over to where she was, I could tell she was a little unnerved, but surprisingly not frazzled or upset. I gave her a big hug and asked her how she got lost.

"I was trying to run fast like the boys, but couldn't keep up with them! So, I got lost. But I went to the place where Jejus [Maddy code for Jesus] was born and I bowed down and asked God to please let me find a re-dult [Maddy code for adult] that I knew."

She had gone to the manger scene in the park (pictured above) and asked God for what she needed. Oh to have faith like a child!

My heart leapt within me! My daughter was lost and instead of getting frantic and worried, she went to JESUS! She knows the way.

'Tis the Season...for school Christmas programs

I am so proud of my John--he was selected to be a part of a chorus to sing at the Nashville School Board Meeting tonight! (Now, whether he was chosen for his wide vocal range or his good behavior and low risk of humiliating the school before board members, I do not know...but I just will say that either way, I'm very proud!)

They've been practicing for weeks and tonight we went to see the group perform at the school board meeting. I have to say, I was blown away! I couldn't believe how sweet this very diverse group of public school kids looked as they sang these holiday tunes. They weren't the "traditional" Christmas songs we've all heard a million times--these were some fresh tunes that I'd never heard before. And let me tell you--they were harmonizing! There were parts! It was amazing! I didn't know my child was capable of these musical feats, but alas, he is!

Off to Applebee's to celebrate. Bless their heart, they gave all the kids a free meal. There were over 50 people there in our group between students, parents, and teachers/chaperones. It was WILD.

SO....all that to say, yes, I know that Biggest Loser is on and yes, I know I'm very committed to be blogging it, but it just might not get done tonight....

Other stuff going on with us....
**Maddy's having asthma issues. Pray for her! She was in bad shape last night--we were pretty close to taking her to the ER, but after another breathing treatment and lots of prayer...she improved. Oh, and yes, she's on oral steroids. Which means, she acts like she's on steroids. Which means I should expect some phone calls from the preschool this week when she takes somebody out on the playground for looking at her the wrong way.

**Will is darn cute. I mean it. SO stinkin' cute!!! He's started winking at me and I am in love.

**Sparkpeople is still a part of my life...even though it's the holidays. I even managed to lose 1/4 pound over Thanksgiving! (Look at that number again, please: Not 1 pound, not 4 pounds...but a quarter of a pound. And I was THRILLED. Seems small, but it's oh so much better than gaining which is my holiday norm!) I have officially lost that old friend "7 pounds" (see the original Sparkpeople post) and hope to keep going for a few more pounds to add a little buffer.

**Reading Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion series. OH MY GOODNESS! It is amazing. It's become a bit obsessive. I don't want to eat or sleep or interact with the world--just read. Of course that's not possible, so I'm taking my time and enjoying the series.

Treadmill + Cookie Dough = ????

Going to a cookie swap tonight. I made the dough this morning before I left for the Y to workout.

I picked up my friend Micah to go pound the treadmill and felt the need to alert her to the fact that I had just consumed an incalculable amount of cookie dough. Before I would drive any further, I needed assurance that if I upchucked on the treadmill she wouldn't abandon me. There's nothing worse than throwing up and having nobody there to console you. Am I right on that or what!

Thankfully I finished the workout, came home and cooked said cookie dough....well, part of it anyways. The rest is on my waist, hips and thighs.

Merry Christmas.

The Biggest Loser, Week 11, Dec 2

NEW YORK CITY! Makeovers! Tyra Banks Show! Sounds like heaven. Well, maybe not heaven, but sounds pretty fun.

They all look fabulous with their new hairstyles and clothes! Heba is absolutely beautiful, don't you think? And I love Renee's hair short like that. She was too old to have hair that long before. Looks fab now!

Vicky seems to be straightening up a bit in this hour. Did you see this blog that was on yahoo's homepage today? She is making quite a name for herself this season as "Reality TV's Biggest Villain."

The Challenge
They have to wedge themselves between two pieces of plexiglass over a pool of water--about 12 feet up in the air. The person who hangs on longest gets a 2 week ranch vacation. (No, not the one that I lost earlier this week, a different one.) Vicky takes herself out of the competition right away and has some major aquaphobia going on. BUT she doesn't jump.....she just sits there and refuses to jump because she's afraid. One by one they all drop out except MICHELLE (YEAH FOR THE BLACK TEAM!).

Vicky sits up there still until Ed jumps in the water to help her. Not sure what that was all about. I couldn't tell if it was all a big show or play for sympathy or what. Your thoughts?

The Weigh In
Vicky: Lost 4 Pounds (down to 176 pounds)
Renee: Lost 4 Pounds (down to 195 pounds)
Michelle: Lost 5 Pounds (down to 171 pounds)
Ed: Lost 3 Pounds (down to 250)
Heba: Lost 7 Pounds (down to 217)

Looks like Ed & Renee will be in the elimination room...

Elimination
Renee is going home. She almost made it to the finals...but it was not meant to be.
Love her speech at the end! "I may not be the biggest loser, but I feel like I'm the biggest winner for being here." TEAR JERKER!

How's she look now?
Wowwee! She's lost 95 pounds. That's amazing. love her hair, makeup, wardrobe. She's doing great!

OK, people. We're almost done. Only 2 episodes left. Next week is a regular episode to figure out who will be in the finale and then there's the live finale!!!

I'm The Biggest CONTEST Loser

I didn't win.

We're not going to Montana.

I'm not going to be giving Land's End Outerwear for Christmas.

You can read the winning entries here.

My sweet family has already started sending their condolences to me and cheering me up--
Keith (my bro) was the first to point out that the winners all played the sympathy card big time. My story was one of happiness and mirth. (Don't you just love when you get to use the word "mirth"?) Guess I'll know which way to write my next contest entry. Kleenex, anyone?

Beth (my sis) wrote the following in an email to me and I'm doing alright now. Thanks Sis!

"Well, I just looked on the web-site and saw that Ellen's entry was not a winner in the eyes of Land's End. But, she and her writing will always be a winner in my heart! I haven't read all of the winning entries yet that they posted, but I know that our family always has the most fun of anyone I know. Good try, Ellen! I guess we'll be getting something other than cashmere for Christmas."

Winner of Contest will be announced this week

Soon, we shall know! Am I Montana bound?

Click here to see the contest website.

A Dream Fulfilled

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Have a laugh for Thanksgiving

My newest favorite blog to read is Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong. We have been reading for just a few days and some of the posts caused me to laugh so hard I had tears streaming down my face! Oh, they are good. Grammar mistakes, Spelling errors, complete lack of taste and class....all those things and more are celebrated on Cakewrecks. To me, the funniest ones are when the instructions given over the phone to the bakery employee don't translate well to the cake. For instance...if you say you want sprinkles on the cake, be prepared for the cake to show up with icing flowers instead and the words "I Want Sprinkles" spelled out.

OR....if you want to celebrate the Olympics, make sure you take a photograph of the Olympic Rings into the bakery or you're liable to end up with a cake that says "Olympic Rings" on it.

So, while I'm "off" for the next few days, catch up on some hilarious readings over there. She has a Thanksgiving theme going right now (check out the cakes that are presumably "turkeys" but don't resemble the bird too much...and read her captions to get the full effect.)

Ode to Sweet Potatoes

Forget every word I ever said about Christmas being so awesome.

Thanksgiving is where it's AT!

And this is why:

And now I'd like to show my love and support for this favorite dish by commemorating it with a haiku:

Sweet potato love

Don't want to live without you

You're my favorite "veg"

Centennial Post Celebration

Drumroll please.....

We've hit 100 posts!

I've been racking my brain for something fun and special to do to commemorate such a special event....but I've come up with NOTHING. The kids ate my brain and I have poured all my creativity into the Thanksgiving treats I've had to make this past week, so I got nothin' for ya. I asked for questions or requests to make this post oh so personal to all my readers. But the only people who responded were the same 3 "anonymous" readers from Jackson, Baton Rouge, and Toledo who submitted questions last time. I am choosing not to print those questions because I am getting a little tired of hearing from those three.

So, let's skip the Centennial Post Celebration and move onto talking about much more exciting things....like FOOD!

Next post, please. #101 shall be a tribute to sweet potatoes. Give me a few minutes and I'll download my pics. And yes, I do have pics of sweet potatoes.

EDITED on 11/27/08:
I've been told that my jab at the anonymous readers and the fact that their questions did not get printed has stirred a debate that I'm not thankful for all my fans, oops, um, I mean readers.

I have a confession to make. Truth be told, I don't have that many readers, so any time I refer to the "anonymous" readers who submit questions....well, that would be ME.

[honestly, I thought it was glaringly obvious that it was me all along! Didn't plan on having to clear that up...maybe I have more readers than I realize?]

Biggest Loser, Nov 25, Week 10

This week starts off with everyone acknowledging what I surmised last week...AMY!!! You will rue the day you did not vote Vicky off the ranch. Amy is under the impression that she & Vicky are all hunky dory...not so. Vicky will not rest until Amy is gone. She still doesn't trust her.

NFL Week
Jerry Rice & some other guy are there to teach them some football drills. Everybody gets angry at Vicky because she seemed to be "onto" the whole gig and knew they would have to do it again. She held back in the first round and easily improved her time on the 2nd round and won the prize (money for kids' school programs, I believe). This just made everybody else quite miffed.

Rocco Cooks
Good tips for reducing the fat/calories on Thanksgiving dishes. Amy is cute with her little crush on Rocco! I love how they're all toasting each other with.....glasses of water.

Weigh In:
Amy: Lost 5 pounds (168 lb)
Heba: Lost 7 pounds (224 lb)
Ed: Lost 9 pounds (252 lb)
Vicky: Lost 7 pounds (180 lb)
Renee: Lost 8 pounds (199 lb)
Michelle: Lost 10 POUNDS!!! (176 lb)

AMAZING. Oh my goodness. I cannot believe Michelle & Renee, black team, PULLED IT OFF!!!

Heba & Amy are up for elimination....and as you probably already guessed, I'm sure Amy is kicking herself right now--she completely messed it up for herself when she didn't vote Vicky off last week.

ELIMINATION:
Amy is going home...just as we ALL predicted.

She looks just absolutely amazing after her makeover! I thought she looked fabulous before, but now she is just radiant.

G'night.

Dangerously close to 100 posts!

Yes, as the title suggests, we are getting very close to the Centennial Post Celebration (CPC) here on "Welcome to my Blog. Won't You Come On In."


This post is #98. Only 2 more and we'll be much farther along than I ever thought I'd be! I have officially posted about 94 posts MORE than I ever thought I would. I thought I'd try it; do a few posts; realize I didn't have time or material to keep it going; and then slowly fade away into the back of the web...

So, here I am 98 posts later and I still don't really know what I'm doing or why I'm doing it.

Why do I blog? I really don't have a great answer to that. I probably do it for a variety of reasons...I do it to keep my family up to date with our kids and their lives. I do it because I like to write. I guess I just do it because I can. It's a fun way to feel "published."

SO...for the next 100 posts, I welcome any comments, criticism, suggestions for topics...whatever you got, I wanna hear it.

I'll do a special "Centennial Post Celebration" (CPC) post in a few days to commemorate the event. If you have any Q&A you want to have answered...post a comment or email me and I'll do my best to get it on for the CPC.

Have a great weekend!

Over the top: HSM3 party

My friend/neighbor Hollye sent me the link to this:

It's a party that some mother who is not affected by the current economic downtown threw for her 10 year old .

They had it for the High School Musical 3 movie release a few weeks ago and I'll just say it was elaborate.

The invitations had red, white and gold M&Ms in a little case....(Wildcat colors, for those of you not yet in the know) along with a VIP movie pass thingy on a lanyard for them to wear around their neck. I don't know why they bothered with that, though, because I'm sure you could hardly see it for the red or white feather boa they had on as well.

What's that? A Boa?

Let me explain:

Here's a direct quote from the page:

"Gold purses double as gift bags (or “swag bags” in Hollywood terms!) filled with monogram jewelry and stationery, as well as plenty of HSM goodies. Chairs were backed with “Reserved” signs and red and white feather boas, which make for great party pictures!"

OK, ignore all my sarcastic jabs at the 10 year olds who don't know how good they have it. Truly, if I'm going to be honest, those of you who know me well....know....that....I....SO WISH I WAS THE 10 YEAR OLD's BFF!!!!

Apologies in advance

I just want to take a minute to apologize for your favorite shows being canceled.

It's all our fault. You see, we were selected to be a Nielsen Family for a week. They sent us $3 in the mail and I felt too guilty to accept it and not participate. Yes: $3. Not $30 or $300. Just $3. See how easily persuaded I am?

After reviewing our TV diary, I see that we are not really watching the most popular shows. There's lots of House Hunters International; of course we're watching Biggest Loser, as you know; and there are lots of random reruns of OLD college football games (John--he doesn't care if the game was played last year--he gets into the action and can't be pulled away).

And, because I think our viewing diary is going to be oh, so important to the Nielsen research (we are THE typical American family, right?), I think that we will be the ones to blame when your fancy schmancy "CSI" or "Ugly Betty" gets canned.

And thanks to me, "Making the Team: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders tryouts" will be renewed and you'll know all the names of the girls on the NFL sidelines by the time the Superbowl rolls around. That, my friends, is a great show. (It's on CMT...)

But look at the bright side, once all your favorite shows get canned, you'll have more time to read blogs and change your facebook status.

Biggest Loser, Week 9 Nov 18

Recap from last week: MAJOR drama. Amy voted Brady off--(Vicky's husband.) Vicky is viciously vindictive. (That right there was some good alliteration, huh? My English degree finally gets used!) Heba and Ed are very quiet during Vicky's rants and raves about her anger toward Amy. It's confusing because Vicky has been PLAYING the game this whole time and now when Amy makes an obvious choice to play the game as well, Vicky acts shocked and betrayed. HELLO! There's only ONE Biggest Loser each season.....

So, it's 80's Week. This should be entertaining.

And, yes it is. These outfits are outrageous (more alliteration for ya).

Ziplock. Product Placement Palooza (What's the word of the day? Alliteration.)

Amy. Amy, Amy, Amy. Why are you making apologies to Vicky for voting the way you did last week? Really. Amy! You have nothing to apologize for! You voted to win the game!

Weigh In:
Michelle: Lost 8 pounds
Renee: Lost 8 pounds
Ed: Lost 11 pounds
Heba: Lost 7 pounds
Colleen: Lost 3 pounds
Amy: Lost 8 pounds (Yea! I like her.)
Vicky: Lost 6 pounds

Vicky & Colleen are below the yellow line. This will be VERY interesting...Amy has the swing vote once again.

And going home.......is Colleen. DANG. She didn't do it. Amy!!! You disappointed me twice this week! First the apology to Vicky about voting for Brady last week and NOW....you had a chance to clean the house out...and you didn't. Dern it.

Alright. Another week down. Just a few to go...

Call me Irresponsible

Back in October, my parents were in town. Dad asked how Will was doing with his sleep @ night and early morning rising. (Remember all those posts?) Well, I was happy and proud to report with a big smile on my face that he was over all that and sleeps in until the rest of the family is up and that all is well on that front.

Do you think my dad was glad to hear that? NO. Instead, I was....

CHASTISED! I was chastised for being an irresponsible blogger! Apparently, he was under the impression that we were still undergoing Tough Love: Operation Sleep Later here in order to get him to sleep longer in the mornings.


Dad was very concerned about the crying babies left in their cribs all over America whose mothers read the blog and were heeding my advice on how to get their babies to sleep in. (I didn't have the heart to tell him that my readership doesn't quite reach that far...)


SO, I am clearing the air. We are all good here. No more early morning wakeup calls. We've even made the turn on the time change and I'm very proud to report that we all woke with a frantic start at 7:00 am this morning (way too late to get John ready for school!).

It was frantic, but just wonderful in a frantic sort of way to wake up with the sun shining through the window. Well worth almost missing the bus!

Friday night--what it was NOT

Michael went out with the guys Friday night to see the new James Bond movie (which totally stunk, by the way--he said it was a huge disappointment!) so my friend and neighbor Anna came over to pass the time with her two little boys. Picture this: it was 2 adults, a 7 yr old, 4 yr old, 3 yr old and 2 babies. After she left, she left the following message on my facebook page:

My dearest Ellen: It was so lovely spending the evening with you and your precious family. I so enjoyed our quiet time together while the kids quietly played. Elias and Will built such an amazing tower of blocks...complete with a color coordinated pattern. You must tell me your secret of how you got Maddy to speak in French so fluently...that must have taken some convincing to get her to switch from Latin to French. And that John - what a piano genius! I need to get back to homeschooling Cohen now - he always gets stumped on long division problems. Oh - and I must have that recipe for that no fat, no calorie and cholesterol free dessert you made. It was delectable! Sincerely, Anna

;o)

Thanksgiving: Fact or Fiction

I realize that in all my excitement over Christmas, I seem to have glossed over the fact that Thanksgiving is still 2 weeks away.

I was reminded of this fact quite a bit this week as Maddy brought home lots of little tid-bits she learned at school about the Pilgrims and their journey.

To put you to the test, I'm going to list the pieces of information she told me. The information below represents what she brought away from her lessons at school.

So, now, I want you to participate in a little activity I like to call "Thanksgiving: Fact or Fiction."

1. FACT OR FICTION: The people who came on the big boat were called the Pilgrims.

2. FACT OR FICTION: They were on the boat for 30 days.

3. FACT OR FICTION: They didn't take baths at all and the boat got very stinky.

4. FACT OR FICTION: They couldn't take a bath in the ocean or they'd drown.

5. FACT OR FICTION: They ate beef jerky and soft biscuits.

6. FACT OR FICTION: Their boat was called the "Cornflower."

7. FACT OR FICTION: There were 70 hundred redults (that's what she calls "adults") and 30 kids.

8. FACT OR FICTION: They landed in Chicago.

9. FACT OR FICTION: They went to Africa too.

10. FACT OR FICTION: They made houses before winter and met nice Indians.

Biggest Loser Week 8, Nov 11

Another week at the ranch! Let's see how they're doing.

Phillip got sent home last week....blue team couldn't be happier. Vicky & Brady--once again, being so incredibly annoying with their sly gameplay. THANKFULLY, the redeeming thought is that Bob is onto them and knows what's up.

OK--So, the eliminated players are back to try to win a spot at the ranch again. They're all very excited to see their family members.

How'd they do since they left?

Shellay: Started at 216, Current weight 177 for 39 pounds lost

Tom: Started at 314, Current weight 266 for 48 pounds lost

LT: Started at 357, Current weight 300 for 57 pounds lost

Adam: Started at 340, Current weight 305 for 35 pounds lost

Stacey: Started at 221, Current weight 190 for 31 pounds lost

Ed: Started at 335, Current weight 277 for 58 pounds lost

Amy: Started at 229, Current weight 182 for 47 pounds lost

Phil: Started at 331, Current weight 263 for 68 pounds lost


Phil & Amy have rocked it at home with both losing 20% of their bodyweight.

What is up with all the Phil-Hating!?!
Here's my theory:
I think the whole Phil-hating thing started at the challenge several weeks ago when they were put in the dark room and told that whoever ate the most calories got to divide the teams up however they wanted. Well...when Heba started to try to take control of that temptation and figure out how to divide the teams up and figure out who would eat the calories, that made Phil mad, so he just got up and started eating Reese's cups. Anybody else remember that? The blue team took that as him being sneaky because he wasn't on board with letting Heba call all the shots.

The sad part is that Stacey (green team) really wants to come back, but now with all the fighting in the house between Heba, Vicky, Brady, and Phil, she's not sure she wants to come back. AND....Heba is trying to convince her that it's all because of Phil. I have to disagree heartily!!! I think it's so negative because of Vicky & Brady.

The Challenge:
1000 steps on a step bench. First one to 1000 wins a place on the ranch.

I really hope Stacey does it! For the sake of the peace...really don't want Phil, Amy, or Ed back on. It would be too much drama each episode and I just don't know if I could watch all the conflict!

Stacey turns it on! My heart is seriously pounding at this last commercial break before the last 30 steps. It's Stacey & Ed...down to the wire.

ED.

Dern it.

My heart breaks for Stacey. Why, oh why!!! Why didn't she do it?!?

Will forever be an unsolved mystery.

Final Weigh In: The one that counts:
Ed: Lost 4 pounds
Heba: Lost 9 pounds
Colleen: Lost 7 pounds
Amy: Lost 6 pounds
Michelle: Lost 6 pounds
Renee: Lost 7 pounds
Vicky: Lost 8 pounds
Brady: Lost 6 pounds

Brady and Michelle are below the yellow line...REALLY hope that Amy comes to her senses and joins the old black team in order to vote Brady off. That would be fabuloso.

Let's see what happens....
BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY!!!!!

I am doing the dance of joy.
Way to go AMY! So glad she is thinking for herself.

Bye bye, Brady.

Christmas Kick-Off

I've put it off as long as I possibly could. I did wait until after Halloween this year and though my aim is always to wait until after Thanksgiving, I consider it a success that I waited until today, November 11, to turn on the Christmas music.

I buy a new CD each year. Last year was a total bomb. Jars of Clay's Christmas CD stunk. So, I was a little nervous about making my selection--I didn't want to have 2 years in a row of new bad music and resort to listening to Bing over & over & over again. (***Not a thing wrong with Bing, but really, when you have your heart set on something new....well, even Bing gets a little old).

SO....I am pleased to announce.....that I made a GREAT selection this year!

I went to Borders with a 40% off CD coupon and purchased Kristin Chenoweth's new Christmas album A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas. I love her voice and she's cute as a button, so I was already leaning toward that over Tony Bennett's new album...but when I saw track #8 listed on the back along with track #12....well, I was headed to the check-out register straightaway.

#8: She covers Evie's classic "Come on Ring Those Bells." YES! Come on Ring those Bells! Light the Christmas Tree! Jesus we remember it's your birthday! Yes, that's the one. I love that song--grew up listening to that, along with "Merry Christmas Darling" a la Karen Carpenter. Kristin Chenoweth does this song with a country-western feel which I didn't love at first, but now I'm cool with it.

#12: Sleep Well Little Children/What a Wonderful World. I am a sucker for anything "What a Wonderful World." Love that song. Doesn't matter who is singing it, it just conjures up a very grateful heart.

So....with that, it's all begun. And I love it! I love Christmas.

What's your favorite Christmas album (new or old)? Maybe this year I'll buy TWO new ones...

Christmas photo session

My friend Sarah takes awesome pictures and has done our family/kid shots over the last few years. She's so good....that when you go to pick up your pics at Walmart, they will often sequester you behind closed doors and demand that you sign a release form stating that they are not professional photographs and are not copyrighted. We always chuckle...yes, they are great pictures, but, people, really--we stand in her garage in front of a white or black bedsheet! No, Walmart, these are not copyrighted!

Anyways, today our family took a little trip to Sarah's garage to attain the following:
A. 1 year old pictures of Will
B. A family Christmas card photo
C. "Generation picture" and "Grandkids picture" with Mimi

We worked long and hard and I think it's safe to say we accomplished Goal C. See below:

HOWEVER....Will was unbelievably uncooperative and screamed his head off through most of the shoot. The only time he was happy (as in the photo above) was when we fed him Nerds candy and poked his belly with a broom all while Michael jumped up and down behind Sarah.

So, we have lots of shots that look like this:

And, more shots than I could possibly count that look like this:

But, there were definitely some good ones too....

Honestly, I think the family picture sums up our life pretty well for 2008 and I'm thinking I'll use it anyways for the Christmas card!
Joy to the World?
Peace on Earth?

Other caption suggestions, anyone? Post a comment if you've got any ideas.

Montana Bound? Sure hope so!

OK, now that the contest entry dates have passed, I can share with you my next big thing.

I have entered an essay contest to win a fabulous get-away for me and 11 of my closest friends/family....but I didn't want to tell you until the entry dates had passed because I'm real competitive like that, you see? I didn't want you to come along and snap it out from underneath me with a bigger, better essay.

I was perusing the latest Land's End catalogue (a personal favorite) when I came upon a discreet page in the middle announcing an enormous grand prize. A trip for 12 to Paw's Up Montana. Outfitted in complete Land's End gear. Wilderness adventures. Surely there's a spa and a massage involved in this somewhere. Surely.

So....I answered the question in exactly 300 words: "what was your best family get together?" I took the posting I wrote here several months ago ("Vacation? What Vacation?") and polished it up a bit, adding an extra tug at the ol' heartstrings, prayed over it and hit "submit."

AND I'M A NERVOUS WRECK!!! I want to win it so bad. It's a package valued at over $30,000. How great is that?!?

December 1 is when we'll know. You can bet I'll post the results here...

2nd & 3rd prizes aren't so bad either. The Land's End Cashmere collection for 2nd prize and the Land's End Fleece outerwear collection for 3rd.

The best part is, if I win this, I will SO be off the hook for Christmas shopping for 11 people. And that, my friends, is what Christmas is all about.

Well, not really, but it would be pretty rockin'.

The Christmas Miracle

Please, please, tell me you kept the receipt and can take back whatever you got me for Christmas. I received my Christmas miracle this morning when my children all slept until.....drumroll please....

6:30 A.M.

That's all I really want.

Reason #93: Why I hate the time change

John and Will have been up since 4:30 a.m.

Unfortunately, I think that has less to do with the time change and more to do with the stomach bug John has contracted. Lovely.

P.S. Maddy would like to say "Graduations to O'Bracka" upon becoming the President-Elect, even though she is quick to tell you that she voted for John McCain in her school's mock election.

(Translation: "Congratulations to Barack Obama")

Happy Election Day!

If you haven't already done so, make sure you get out and perform your duty as a citizen of this great nation and VOTE! In Tennessee, they have early voting, so I've been there/done that already this year, but it's still very exciting to wake up today knowing that we'll have a new leader elected by the end of the day.

I grew up in Kentucky politics--the year I was born, my dad ran for the state legislature. He retired the year I graduated from high school, so it was really all I ever knew growing up. Thankfully, most years, he ran uncontested, but there were a few campaigns that I've lived to tell about.

Dad's campaigning strategy involved going DOOR-TO-DOOR--as in EVERY DOOR of our hometown. This was his version of "Get out the vote." A group of friends and family would gather at our home around 5:00 each night of the week during the campaign and we'd map out our route for that night. We'd try to cover a precinct each night if it was small enough or we'd stretch it out over a few nights if we couldn't get all the houses. Dad would assign everybody a couple of streets, arm us with brochures and stickers and off we'd go! My BFF Andee and I partnered together most of the time [total aside--can you imagine letting 2 pre-teen girls go around to houses asking people to vote for a certain candidate these days!!! My, how the times have changed!]

Here's our script:
[ring doorbell. wait for someone to answer door. pray that they were fully clothed and they had no mangy attack dogs.]
"Hi. My name is Ellen and this is my friend Andee. My dad is running for state representative and we wanted to see if we could count on your vote....."

Oh, the stories we could tell (and actually do tell) about those days. There was the time that a precinct walker got bit by a dog. And, of course, there were houses that Andee and I would skip. SHHHHH!!!!! Don't tell anybody! We always felt guilty about this, but the houses with grass up to your waist and a Harley parked in the front yard next to the chained up bulldog...well, we just weren't sure we needed their vote. But, we still felt this enormous responsibility...."what if dad loses by 1 vote and it's all because we weren't brave enough to face the heavily tattoo'd, shirtless man on that one front porch..."

All the precinct walkers were fed a good meal afterwards. At Wendy's. Yes, at Wendy's. This was back in the days when Wendy's had the SuperBar. (Remember that?) So, it was a good deal. When I got a little older and too cool to walk the precincts, I'd show up just for the Wendy's portion of the festivities and my Uncle Don would tease me, "No walk, No eat." I think that's in the Bible.

Thankfully, dad never did lose and served about 18 years in the House of Representatives. He was the kind of man that Frankfort, KY hated to lose--he stood up for what was right. He was the same behind closed doors as he was in front of the House or the media. He taught me much about the political process, but most of all, he passed onto me the love of his country. He is such a patriotic man! He taught me the importance of letting your voice be heard on election day and all year around.

So, what are you waiting for? To the polls!!!

Reason #82: Why I hate the time change

Kids were up at 5:00 a.m....AGAIN.

Reason #46: Why I hate the time change

It's dark before you eat dinner.

Weekend Discoveries

A few things I learned over the past few days:

1. Daylight Savings Time. The whole "you get an extra hour of sleep" thing is a myth. If you have children, you know what I mean. The only people who get an extra hour of sleep are people without kids. Our offspring were rising and shining at 5:00 a.m. (Don't try to console me by saying it's really the old 6:00...it's still early.) We've eaten breakfast, bathed, dressed for church, watched a movie and we still had a couple hours to spare.

2. Nestle Crunch has made some really awesome new versions. The traditional Nestle Crunch Bar is just fine. However, the new "caramel" version is AMAZING, as is the Nestle Crunch Crisp bar, which is basically the marriage of a Nestle Crunch and a Kit Kat. Check it out.

3. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Marginal, at best. I ordered it "Comcast On Demand" last night to keep the kids up a little later in order to make them sleep later this morning (backfired, see Item 1 above). Veggietales has had a great run, but I'm wondering if their time is up?

Various Asundry for Friday 10/31

Currently Reading: Darcy's Story. It's a "spin off" of Pride & Prejudice--the whole story is told from Darcy's point of view. Well written. I'm waiting for Michael to finish reading The Shack, but truth be told, I started it and got to the part where the Great Sadness occurs and haven't been able to pick it back up. Since I do most of my reading at bedtime, I can't read that kind of stuff right before I go to sleep.

Currently Celebrating: 3.5 pounds lost! Thank you Sparkpeople!

Currently Bemoaning: Going to the class Fall party this afternoon at John's school. 20 kids hyped up on sugar....added to having Maddy and Will with me while I man some activity station, well, it's not my idea of fun.

Currently Drinking: Diet Coke, of course!

Currently Anticipating: not having an 8 am soccer game in the morning; bowling birthday party for Maddy's friend tomorrow afternoon; Trunk or Treat @ church; exciting weekend stuff for the new church plant we're a part of; sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving; finding some Reese's cups in Maddy's candy bucket tomorrow and gobbling them up since she's allergic to nuts...oh, wait, that doesn't fit in with my "currently celebrating" from above...

Current Ringtone on cell phone: HSM3 song "Now or Never." Call me. I'd love to hear it again.

Currently Needing to Do: TAKE A SHOWER. WASH MY HAIR. APPLY MAKEUP. All preferably before Will wakes up from his nap. Otherwise, it just doesn't get done.

On that note, I believe I'll sign off and take care of that. The students in John's class would be quite appreciative if his mother showed up not smelling like the gym...

And next time, I'll be going alone

There's this relatively new concept in dentistry in our neck of the woods. It's a place called "Dental Bliss". You can get a pedicure while you get your teeth cleaned. You get aromatherapy. There is live piano music playing in the lobby.

That is not where I went today, just so you know.

I just returned from the dentist where I had the complete opposite experience.

I took my oldest two children (7 and 4) to the dentist where we all got our bi-annual teeth cleaning.

John & Maddy went first and had their teeth cleaned simultaneously (by two different hygienists). So, then, it's my turn. They're tired from having been at school all day. They're hungry and haven't had a snack yet. And they've already been at the dentist for 45 minutes getting their own cleaning done. Needless to say, before I even sat down in the chair, they were D-O-N-E.

So, we're all crammed into the tiny hygienist room...which is a small room made smaller by all the equipment and chair in there as well. At one point, Maddy steps on the controls and makes my chair start moving up and down. Somebody is playing with my feet. They got bouncy balls out of the treasure chest after their cleanings, and those things are pinging off all the walls and windows. TV's on and there's some Elvira look-a-like doing a Halloween food special on Food Network with her dress cut down to "there" and I'm trying to divert their attention from that. There's only one extra chair that they're both fighting over. Somebody is unraveling dental floss.

And what can I do about it? Other than snap my fingers and make grunting noises, NOTHING. Somebody's hands are in my mouth and I am laying down flat on my back, so I can't even see what's going on, much less verbally correct the behavior.

And, did I mention that they're HHHHUUUUNNNNGGGGRRRRRYYYYY?????

Needless to say, when it came time to make our appointments in 6 months for the next cleaning, I decided to schedule mine for a different day. Perhaps I'll even go to that fancy Dental Bliss and sip a martini by the piano after my appointment is over. Sounds quite nice, actually.

Bad Joke of the Day

courtesy of my aerobics instructor:

"Did you all hear about the man who got caught in the upholstery machine? [said with sincere concern and alarm]. Don't worry, he's fine now. He's completely recovered."

Biggest Loser Week 7, 10/28

Bob starts with a heart-to-heart to Vicky & Brady. I can’t really read Brady. Last week, I was so sure that he threw the weigh in (I still think so), but he pulled off a relatively convincing performance for Bob. Aha!, However, Bob seems to be onto Vicky’s devious streak.

Challenge: This or That
[Total aside: Have you guys seen the book “Eat This, Not That”? Great book. Has some shocking revelations in it about what to eat when you go out.]

Teams have to decide between two choices--which is the healthier plate of food. I thought they were all pretty obvious until the last one with Heba and Michelle (the grilled chicken burrito and the 18 bottles of light beer).

Team Blue and Team Black Controversy
Before I get to the he said/she said situation…One super annoying aspect of this show occurs when they return from commercial break. They play the 30 seconds that happened right before the commercial….AGAIN. We have to see, not a recap, but the exact same footage two times.

OK, back to the controversy at hand. Heba vs. Phil.

I never thought I’d say this, but I kinda miss the guys from last season (remember Mark, Dan, Roger and Mark‘s brother?). They REALLY annoyed me with all their “Team Blue” /Man Power/Testosterone driven workouts followed by bonding and tears.

Why, you ask, do I eat my words from last season and say that I'd like them back? Because there are far too many girls in this house right now. We need some more men in there to balance out the emotions! Heba is being so passive aggressive…”I’m the bigger person. I will forgive him. I can look Phil the eye and pity him…He doesn’t deserve to have a quality person in his life like me….”

Physical Challenge
Harnessed in the air, they are somehow rigged into a pulley system balanced with their own body weight? I didn’t quite catch the whole explanation, but it looks quite grueling. Talk about rope burn! Their poor hands will need some Burt’s Bees salve after this.

Renee is amazing. The fact that she hung on to 918 pounds for any amount of time…that’s just simply amazing. Heba was right that she is the Bionic woman when it comes to challenges.

Blue team won their first challenge. They will pick one black team member’s weight to discount at the weigh in.

Weigh In
Black Team:
Michelle: 200 (Lost 2 pounds)
***Her weight won’t count. This kind of backfired on the blue team--I guess they were banking on her having a big number.
Renee: 222 (Lost 3 pounds)
Colleen: 177 (Lost 2 pounds)
Phil: 269 (Lost 3 pounds)

Blue Team:
Brady: 270 (Lost 13 pounds)
****That is such a farce!!! He water loaded last week and so this amount shows the weight loss of 2 weeks. I hate it when they cheat. Michelle totally knows what’s going on. Bob…still playing dumb and acts like Brady just worked really hard and pulled it out.
Vicky: 201 (Lost 2 pounds)
Heba: 247 (Lost 6 pounds)
Amy C: 187 (Lost 6 pounds)
Blue team kicked the black team’s hiney in the weigh in. Even if Brady hadn’t cheated…they still would’ve won with just the girl’s stats.

Who’s Going Home?
Phil is talking like he wants to go home!
Wonder who…
….and it’s…..Phillip.
How’s he look now? Great! He really looks good--I like his new image with the total shaved head and goatee. Looks great.

Blue Ribbon-winning Pie Recipe

Last night, our neighborhood (which rocks, by the way) had a Fall Party at the playground. There were goody bags for the kids, a pumpkin decorating station, costume parade, pumpkin carving contest and a chili cook off and pie contest. (No, unfortunately it was not a pie-eating contest.)

Well, Maddy and I entered our favorite "Chocolate Chip Pie" in the contest and guess who won the blue ribbon and Target gift card?

WE DID! She really earned it--she shopped for the ingredients with me at Kroger, then I measured them, but she poured them in. I put it in the oven (this was the point in which I badly burned my arm on the rack) and then we took our delicious prepared pie to the playground for the party.

Here's the recipe. It is so good and so easy. You don't even need to get out the mixer. You can't mess it up--try it for the holidays coming up!

Chocolate Chip Pie
(recipe from my sis-in-law Aimee)
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. corn starch
8 oz. choc chips
1 stick margarine or butter, melted
9" deep dish pie crush (overachievers can go homemade...I default to the freezer section)
2 tsp bourbon (optional)
1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
Garnish with whipped cream

Beat eggs and stir in sugar. Stir in melted butter and corn starch. Gently mix in chocolate chips (and walnuts and bourbon if you're going that route).
Bake 350 degrees for approx 45 minutes.

YUM-OUT.

Patience, my friends, have a little patience-

I know, I know. I've been absent from the blogosphere for several days. But, you'll just have to hold on for a few more hours. I have much to blog about...but it will have to wait until I get home from the Y where I shall commence a workout to purge last night's 2 margaritas, Chips & Queso, 2 brownies, 1 Reese's Cup, and Whoppers from my system. Thankyouverymuch.

High School Musical 3: SIMPLY THE BEST

Just got home. I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight....I'm so excited about what I just saw.

It more than lived up to my expectations. It exceeded my expectations!

OK, first onto the details of how we did just getting there. In the first picture below, you'll see where I started to get a little nervous when I saw some construction and lane re-routing on Briley Parkway. Thankfully....it amounted to nothing. (But I took a picture just in case.)

We were able to follow my "Plan A" just perfectly. In fact, we were running above schedule as we landed in line at:

4:34 pm.

We were SECOND in line. (Yes, that's 2.) My new BFFs Kerrie (Carrie?) and Kalyn (Kalinn?) were already there. We bonded over the things we do because we love our kids so darn much...anybody else's parents sit on a cold tile floor for 2.5 hours just so you could get into see a movie? (ON A SCHOOL NIGHT, no less!)

Might we have jumped the gun a little? Been a touch too anxious about this whole thing? Quite possibly. But, Carrie (Kerrie?) and I decided the story we'd be able to tell for YEARS about this experience was worth far more than the 2 hours of our lives we might've had back if only we'd cooled our jets and shown up casually at 6:30.

And, on that note, it did irk me just a tad when people casually sauntered into the theater at 6:45 wondering which seats they would take. OK, so I'll be honest and admit it. It wasn't a sell-out crowd. There were EMPTY SEATS in the theater.

But, at least I didn't check my kids out of school early like the #3 family in line. Yes, you read that right. The people behind us checked their 2 children out of school early to get in line.

OK, back to the schedule. Michael showed up right at 6:00 pm. We were then shown to Theater #9 where I was instructed to disassemble my camera (learned how to take the memory card out) and completely shut down my cell phone. Thankfully they did not make me take it back to the car. They had a couple of security guys there with nightvision goggles to make sure nobody started recording during the movie. Yes, you read that right. Security guards with nightvision goggles. The movie doesn't officially release until 12:01 am so they wanted to make sure the moms and tweens that showed up for this didn't pirate any grainy cell-phone copies in the 3 hours between the prescreening and its actual release.

Other fun stuff: I know this will surprise you (wink wink), but I made lots of fun friends in the line. Once we got into the theater, the Dad in the green shirt started throwing out HSM trivia questions to the crowd. I added a few questions in as well, but the fun stopped just before I started the Wave. Chin up--next time...

Spent a large portion of our next paycheck to buy popcorn and cokes (but hey, the tickets were free, so it's all good), went to the bathroom one last time and....big collective sigh...the movie began.

I'm not going to give away any spoilers. So, you'll just have to go see the film for yourself to find out if Troy & Gabriella stay together in the end. It's a BIG mystery. You know how Disney is always up for pulling a surprise ending on you....so I know you have NO IDEA what the final outcome of that storyline is, right? (winking) So, you dear readers, will have to go pay $8.50 to find out the relationship status of that fair couple.

HOWEVER, I would love to say something about a few of the song and dance numbers.

My favorite, by far, was Ryan & Sharpay's "I Want it All" song. It was chock full of dazzling (bedazzled) costume changes. Catchy tune, too.

Another favorite was "The Boys Are Back." I listened to this song on the soundtrack earlier this week and didn't really go for it. Well, seeing the story & dance with it made me LOVE it. Being the mom of 2 little boys, it made me very sentimental. It involves Troy & Chad in a car salvage yard reliving their moments as little boys...sword fighting and superheroes. It was just precious...in a tough and rowdy sort of way.

And, what HSM movie would be complete without several romantic duets between East High's favorite couple, Troy & Gabriella? They were aplenty in this installment.

OK. I'm ready to hit "Publish Post."

Let me know what you think when you go see it!

Good night, Wildcat Fans.

HSM3 Line Update

This is Michael, Ellen's husband. They made it and are second in line and I can jump in with them when I get there.

The Game Plan--High School Musical 3

OK--tonight is the night! I dreamed about the movie last night and woke up anticipating great things today at the movies. Maddy wore "Wildcat Red" to school today.

Have you all been praying & fasting like I asked? We really must get into the movie! Here's what we're up against, according to the confirmation email we got about our tickets:

"Please make note of the following:
SEATING IS NOT GUARANTEED and is on a first come first served basis.
Camera phones, cameras and recording devices will not be allowed in the theater. "

I've given this a lot of thought and this is what I finally came up with about 11:30 last night:

3:30 pm Start getting ready. Get diaper bag together; snacks and games for us while we wait.

4:00 pm Drop Will off at Vicki's (my M-i-L) house. Kids & I drive to the theater.

4:30 pm Park. Go in and survey the situation. Find out if they'll let us hold Michael a place in line. Call Michael and let him know what's up.

4:45 pm Take cell phone back to car. They will not let you bring it into the theater if it has a camera on it.

4:55 pm Assume position. Take our place in line. Yes, this is 2 hours before movie starts, but we are committed fans! Play Uno, color, eat goldfish, play I-spy a bazillion times, befriend other fans, make note of things to blog. NO DRINKS. We will not leave our place in line to potty.

5:45 pm Michael joins us in line.

6:45 pm Seated in theater with popcorn and a big Diet coke.

7:00 pm Take a deep breath. Relax. Show's on!

9:00 pm Come home and blog a non-spoiler revealing review.

OK, so that's what I want to happen.

Here's what I DON'T want to happen:

3:30 pm John's bus is late; busdriver gets lost in our neighborhood.

3:45 pm Find John in the next subdivision over.

4:00 pm Will has blow out diaper. Must bathe him head-to-toe. Must change my clothes as well.

4:30 pm Take Will to Vicki's. He has a separation anxiety moment and won't let go of my neck.

4:45 pm Drive to movie theater. All lanes blocked on the highway except one. They're paving.

5:45 pm Arrive at movies. Notice that line is already wrapped around Opry Mills, down the sidewalk beside Barnes & Noble and onto the General Jackson showboat.

7:05 pm Doors shut in our face. The people in front of us were the last to get in.

7:30 pm Arrive home to blog my depression away.

Biggest Loser Week 6, Oct 21

Alright people, here we go. Another week at the ranch.

Blue team goes to Self-defense lessons. That would be so scary to see that big ol’ dude coming at you. My prediction: Heba gets it done. I think she’s going to take this dude down in a way no other class participant ever has. She takes care of business, now doesn’t she?

The Challenge
Balance…over water…round and round. 25 times.

Vicky is a sore loser in my mind. She totally downplayed the Black team’s victory (and her loss) in the challenge. “I didn’t really want to win. It was a lame prize anyway.” That is such poor sportsmanship! No love for Renee who just completely kicked it in that challenge!

Good, good. Bob is giving it to them. I am glad he sees the blue team’s pettiness for what it is. I agree--do your best no matter the prize. Full force effort.

Oh, and I really don’t like Vicky’s eye makeup either. (How’s that for petty?)

Last Chance Workout:
Jillian: “If you’re not puking, you’re just not working hard enough.”

Weigh In:
Black Team
Renee: Lost 7 pounds
Michelle: Lost 7 pounds
Colleen: Lost 8 pounds
Phil: Lost 7 pounds

How do you feel about that number? “I just hope it’s enough to help my team.” They always say that!

Blue Team
Amy: Lost 6 pounds
Heba: Lost 5 pounds
Vicky: Lost 8 pounds
Amy P: Lost 2 pounds

Amy’s upset about her small loss…afraid of going home, but I think she has nothing to worry about. Here’s why: before Brady weighs in, Michael & I have a theory to throw out there. Brady & Vicky are evil. They are going to completely throw this weigh in. They want to get rid of Heba. She’s the biggest threat by far and we’re guessing he has purposely water-loaded (drank a bunch of water before the weigh in) to make sure their blue team LOSES this week in order to vote Heba off. Did you see that little wink Brady gave Vicky when she went to weigh in? Did you see the raised eye brows he threw out from the scale? E-V-I-L.

Let’s see if we’re correct. I promise not to edit all that out if we turn out to be wrong…I’m live blogging, you see, so we’re just going with the honor system here.

Brady: Lost 3 pounds
He & Vicky are HORRIBLE actors!!! It’s all over their faces.
Do they not remember a few seasons ago when Neal pulled this same prank?

Anyways, black team is safe.
Blue team is not safe….and I would guess that Heba is the one getting the boot tonight.

Let's see if we're right: And...

We were WRONG. But only half wrong. I still think Vicky & Brady threw the weigh in.

Going home this week is...
Amy P.

Here's why that was the wrong choice for the team: Amy P is not a threat. Heba and Brady are stiff competition for each other for the big prize--Heba had her chance to throw Brady off. She should've taken it--she's got to know that Vicky & Brady are going to turn on her at some point, right?

OK, enough brain space taken up by all this for one week.

Your thoughts? post a comment!

Sonic Burgers?!?

Today was just plain crazy, and it ain't over yet. (Yes, this English major does know that "ain't" is not appropriate, but I just couldn't resist using it here.)

To summarize the day thus far:

• Took Maddy to school
• went to the Y [to get more Spark points, of course]
• lunch @ Panera with Amy & Sarah [where I did quite well in making some healthy food choices, thank you Sparkpeople]
• Target [to purchase the new HSM3 soundtrack, of course]
• Did my civic duty and voted (they let you vote early here in TN)
• Took my first load to the recycling drop off place (I'm still going green! 1 week strong...)
• Attempted to get a flu shot @ Walgreens. Waited for half hour while they kept assuring me I would be ushered right in...they were almost ready....any minute now... I finally had to leave with no flu shot since it was preschool pick up time
• Now, I'm home for a quick blog entry & a shower before going to parent-teacher conference in an hour
• After that, I'll come home and throw 3 kids into the van to head out to soccer practice at 6pm

So, in order to make dinner a breeze tonight, I thought we'd just swing by the Sonic right next to the soccer field. After all, it is Tuesday night and you get 5 Sonic Burgers for $5.95 on Tuesday nights.

Great deal, right? Quite a bargain, I'd say.

In my attempt to stay right on track with my SparkPeople plan, I checked the calories on a Sonic burger so I could go ahead and log in my dinner calories.

It may be a bargain for your wallet, but it is no bargain for the waistline.

Dang Sonic...540 CALORIES for one Sonic burger with ketchup!

I was shocked.

Plan B?

It only takes a spark...

I can run, but I can't hide. Well, actually, maybe if I did run, I could hide. Read on to see what I mean:

My old, old, old, old, OLD friend "7 pounds" has found me once again. We go way back. WAY WAY WAY back. Before "Body by Baby", I managed to stay relatively fit. Then, this thing called "Approaching Middle Age" kicks in, along with the "Metabolism Brakes" gift set that you get for your 30th birthday.


So, in order to make sure my other old friend "10 pounds" doesn't find me as well, I am going to be hiding on this great new (to me) website called "Spark People." Oh, and I'll also start hanging with my good pal Lynn, the dietician, once again. [She's with this great program at the Y called "Action with Balance." It's a 12 week program in which you get on track with your eating/exercising and meet with a dietician once a week. Generally speaking, I believe after 12 weeks you're supposed to move on with your life and continue with these great new habits you've formed.]


Wouldn't you know, I am now signed up for my FIFTH (yes, that's 5) session of Action with Balance. I am apparently a slow learner on attaining that balancing action. My first round was about 3 or 4 years ago, so I do like to space them out a bit...


Back to Spark People: It's a VERY fun website. Track your foods, exercise, chat with other "losers." I am still investigating the different features, but one I'm especially excited about is this trophy they give you when you've earned 100 points. (You earn points by drinking 8 cups of water a day, making recipes from their website, logging your food, etc). No, it's not a real trophy...just some clip art/icon you get on your Spark People log in page. Doesn't sound motivating? Oh, just sign up and you'll see how addicted you get to earning points all to see this little trophy thing show up!

Anybody want to join in my quest to say goodbye to "7 pounds"?


Oh and one last thing...No snarky comments if you see me indulging in something that's not found in the lower half of the food pyramid... Deal? Deal.

Fall Fun

Last time, I promise!

Ok, I have blogged about our home improvements WAY past the point of deemed appropriateness, but since so many of you have asked...I will post, for the last time, I PROMISE, pictures of our new furniture...the completed look downstairs.

In case you're a new reader, I'll let you catch up for a minute.
First, click here to see some befores.
Now, click here to see some durings.
Now click here to see the afters.
Now...proceed below to see the final, final, afters:

New table & chairs! We got a "gathering" height table--bar-height. I love it. It's so comfy to sit around and chat. It is a 48" square table, or you flip the sides up to make it a 60" round. Had some family in town this past weekend and we were able to sit 7 around it with plenty of room to spare. I figure we can get up to 9-10 around very comfortably. This is a VAST improvement over our old table that struggled to seat 4 people. I need to have a party!!!! Wanna come?

The breakfast bar.

High School Musical 3 COUNTDOWN is on!

OK, I've held this in as long as I could, but now I am about to burst and must tell you my big news:

I got tickets to a private screening of HSM3 on THURSDAY NIGHT (yes, before it opens on Friday).

I just saw a preview for it on TV this morning and got goosebumps and tears in my eyes. (No, I'm serious.)

One small catch--I need you all to begin praying and fasting now that we get in. It's apparently a big deal and is first come first serve to those who have the vouchers--must get there early to get in.

Anybody have a sleeping bag I can borrow on Wednesday night?

Bed, Bath, and Beyond Shopping Spree

I got a hefty gift card to one of my favorite spots for my birthday! (Thankyou Pat & Sally!).

So, Monday, I decided to go see what I could find.

Boy, was it fun. I was like a kid in a candy store. Or a woman in a home decorating store. Same thing.

In case you ever thought you'd like to ask me the following question: "Ellen, pray tell. What would you buy if you could buy anything in BB&B?", here is the answer:

1. Yankee "Fragrance of the month" jar candle: Spiced pumpkin. Oh yes.

2. A cozy throw. This is divine. Makes me wish it would hurry up and get cold outside. (Dang October being all 85 degrees on us!)

3. A new trash can. But not just any trash can, friends....this one has a LOCKING LID. Why, you might ask, is a locking lid important? Because 1 year olds are far worse than any stray dog ever thought about being when it comes to an open trash can.

4. This was one of those last minute check-out line purchases: a microwave food splatter guard!!! I say it's just the part of me going green. I usually put a paper towel over our dishes as they reheat to avoid the splatter, but that's just a waste of paper towels, now isn't it? So, now I have a lovely splatter guard to keep my leftovers on the plate and off the sides of my microwave.

So, there you have it. That's how I'd spend a gift card at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I still have some money leftover too....will have to go back WITHOUT THE KIDS (yes I was sporting all 3 on Monday) and buy something a little less practical and a little more fun.