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...
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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.
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."
"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."
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, October 27, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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.
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