Sick, Sick, Sick

That's what I am today. That strep throat I had a few weeks ago? Came back, or never went away, I'm not sure which. If they want to give me the shot today I'm going to take it, I can't afford these $25 a bottle herbs that make me feel better but I go through one a day. I'm on the fourth right now. Expensive health!

Update: Went to the doctor's. It's strep again. Another round of antibiotics - different this time. Didn't do the shot because it was the same as the antib that didn't work. Tears. Just want to be well. Lots of Friends episodes and Hubby's going to get Meet The Fockers and Chicken Sizzling Rice Soup. And my prescription. Please God let this go away.

Out of Commission

Well I guess I've been out of commission for a few days, so I'm going to try and save this day. To sum it up, yesterday feeling yukky and sick and still somehow managed to be out all day and have a great day. And today was Hubby's BDay! Happy Birthday you Sexy Thing!

Big Guy's speech thing was early yesterday, so we went for lunch afterwards that turned into an hour long date for the three of us, hit the nurseries afterwards to find a citrus tree to plant in a pot on our deck as we have no space for a garden. We ended up finding a couple neat ones I had no idea were around. One of them was huge, at least an acre, which is a big deal for space around here. They even had 'tea trees' that's how extensive their selection was. Or maybe nurseries normally carry tea trees, but somehow I doubt that. Any way it was a blast, the kids had fun running around, and I'm just in heaven wishing I had a big piece of land to plant everything imaginable. Afterwards we kicked back at the beach with a few towels, a good magazine, sand buckets and shovels. The kids had a blast and I told them beforehand I was exhausted and wanted to rest, so I wasn't going to be playing, but if they wanted to stay they could. Worked out nice for me : ) .

That's another thing, I've been waking up at 6:30am - 8am the past three or four days, mostly because I've actually been in bed by 9pm or 10pm! Any way today was Hubby's BDay. He woke up realizing today was a co-workers grandmother's funeral, so he attended that, and had the rest of the day off from work. He joined us and his Mom at The Buttery for lunch (we picked up his adorable and yummy ollalieberry palm tree cake there) and we went back to her house afterwards where she watched the kids and we took off to see The Interpreter, we've both been wanting to see that and it was perfect it opened on his birthday. Really good by the way, definently lived up to the suspense of the preview. Afterwards we came back to her house and did birthday cake and presents (from her, how horrible am I that I didn't get him a card or presents?! He's never big on presents any way unless they're the really expensive electrical kind I just can't justify spending the money on unless he's there to pick it out). She got him a remote control airplane, the same one we'd bought and lost the first day, and a remote control helicopter. Very cool stuff. Fun for the kids too. We ordered pizza afterwards, Tony & Alba's, which has the BEST Italian Garden Salad and I gorged myself, on pizza, salad, AND cake. At least I evened it all out (three each is good, right?). We pretty much spent the rest of the day there sitting back and watching movies and TV, including Flight of the Navigator, Alaska, King Snakes, and American Chopper (you can tell who had the remote) on her big screen TV and relaxed in the big comfy recliner loveseat while she played outside all afternoon with the boys.

Now off for the weekend! What's in your plans?

Search Strings

Hey I've found my first batch (possibly because I don't check that often, but whatever) of interesting search terms that ended them up on my site, and none of them YUCK thank God! I actually found most of them kinda cute.

"stop eating chocolate" - If you find the secret let me know.
"bridal shower pictures" - Not yet, I only got two at the last one I went.
"rooms done in pink" - As much as I love pink even that would be a little much for me.
"sun drops candy" - That sounds yummy. Maybe I'll give it a try.
"sushi samira shoes" - Okay that just sounds SQUISHY, all I see there is SUSHI and SHOES.
"sun drops" - That's me!
"poke the penguin" - Isn't he cute?
"pink tuxedos with a little green on it" - Unless you're trying to make a fashion statement...

Little Toes

I just watched out of the corner of my eye as Little Guy (who's supposed to be in bed) tiptoed past me hoping I wouldn't notice. When I confronted him he says, "I was just checking to see if Daddy's here." He makes my heart melt.

Things We Did This Weekend

Saturday:
SIG came over and we watched her 3D ultrasound, SOOO neat, and had tea and 'crumpets'
Scrubbed, cleaned, and elbowed our way up to two hundred and seventy eight dollars doing jobs for my Mom she otherwise would've hired out.
Watched our nephew and included him as one of the "family".
Took the boys for a two hour trek at the local skate park.
Enjoyed, ate, and watched the waiters and waitresses dancing, the pizza maker juggle already spun pizza dough, the stove burst into high flames as alcohol was put on it - all part of a little show they put on - at our favorite local restaurant.
Crawled into bed, exhausted but happy.
Sunday:
Woke up bright and early to the sounds of happily playing 6 and 5 year old boys.
Went and had breakfast at The Buttery. Yum.
Enjoyed dessert at same (yes, it's still breakfast).

to be continued later... got to go pick up my car who just got all spruced up in the shop. Plus, I'm learning from OD : ) .

later..., with a few added ones I'd forgotten up top:

Ran a bunch of errands including looking for a tiny camera that we can tote anywhere. Thinking the Sony PS200 looks good - any recommendations?
Came home and had quiet, restful time.
Went to the beach and played for two hours.
Came home to see Nephew off with Grandma and Grandpa, he was so sad he didn't get to stay with us and go to Oma's.
Went over to Oma's house and kicked back with a movie and a massage chair (full back, lower calves, and body stretch - ahhhhh).
Boys fell asleep in the car with Mommy while Daddy went and got eye drops and ice cream.
Came home utterly exhausted with a full, but very wonderful weekend behind us.
Put the boys in their own beds.
Crawled into ours for a bowl of ice cream and a few episodes of Friends until we fell asleep.

Beaches & Houses

Hubby and I have been perusing open houses on Sunday for the last month or so. Nothing serious, just checking out these beautiful homes that we otherwise might never have a chance to see. Usually he sits in the car with the boys and I run in and leisurely look around. Most often I'll just go into the homes that I know are going to be gorgeous inside and would just love to look at for ideas. Every once in awhile we'll check out ones that maybe aren't so great just because of the location. The one we saw today, known locally as "The Pleasure Point House", I had actually gone there with a friend and sat in the hot tub on.the.cliff. when I was just a few months pregnant with Big Guy. As we drove by and realized which house was the open house I told Hubby he HAS to go in. The view is AMAZING. You can see the entire east cliff and the whole coastal curve of Monterey Bay, besides the private beach, the hot tub overlooking the crashing shores, and the gorgeous deck. He did, and was equally amazed, as was I when I went in to check it out for the second time. The house is super ugly - well I'm not sure about the outside there's enough plants and "private courtyard" looking stuff that you don't really notice the outside, but inside is '70's wood veneer walls, art deco fireplace and single pane windows, the only thing halfway pretty was the kitchen and only because it was recently remodeled and your view as you chop the veggies for tonight's meal? The entire Monterey Bay. The view, ohmygosh the view, makes up for it all. This is what you see walking in:



And this is the view from the bedroom with the deck that has the hot tub overlooking the shores below:



And at 2.5 million it's ACTUALLY a steal. A nearby home with comparitive view is an easy 3.5. This home, because of it's size, 1600 sqft, and age is over a million less. I told Hubby nobody who has 2.5 million is going to buy that without the idea of fixing it up, so next time it's on the market it's going to be absolutely gorgeous.

To see more photos and the private beach you can go here - it is a pdf file so it may take awhile to open and requires Adobe Acrobat which most people have already, if not it's just a simple download if you want it.

We Are Known

From Imprimis, abridged transcript of a speech by David McCullough, an awarded author and Historian,

"We are not just known by our failings, by our weaknesses, by our sins. We are known by being capable of rising to the occasion and exhibiting not just a sense of direction, but strength."

Written by Abigail Adams to her son, John Quincy Adams, when he was faced with crossing the Atlantic for the second time while still a child,

"These are the times in which genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life or the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman."

These words really spoke to me and I wanted to share them with you. This next one struck me as kind of funny:

And later, upon learning he had become enamored with himself, she wrote,

"If you are conscious to yourself that you posess more knowledge upon some subjects than others of your standing, reflect that you have had greater opportunities of seeing the world and obtaining knowledge of mankind than any of your contemporaries. That you have never wanted a book, but it has been supplied to you. That your whole time has been spent in the comany of men of literature and science. How unpardonable would it have been in you to have turned out a blockhead."

I love how she builds him up, mentions all the things he was given, and then tells him through all these things of course you're smart, if not you'd have to be really dull.

Elsewhere in the transcript is written how both John Adams and George Washington wrote about not being able to guarantee success, but being able to deserve it. John Adams writes to his wife at home, "We can't guarantee success, but we can do something better. We can deserve it." They were actually quoting a line from the play Cato, a line from the language of the time. How interesting is it that such great men, with such great words, have something more that they hold themselves to.

In the words of the play,

"`Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we`ll do more, Sempronius; we`ll deserve it."

Sharks & Fishies

We ended up having a wonderful day yesterday. I decided to go to Monterey to try on the dress, and then check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium to have a little entertainment. Then I decided since I haven't spent ANY time with my sister lately I would invite her. She was more than happy to come, then informed me she had no money for gas or parking. Neither did I. So we met at Starbucks in Aptos, parked her car, loaded her and her kids in mine, she treated for Starbucks as she had a gift card, and we were on our way. Venti Coffee and Grande Vanilla Latte half caff in hand.

First we went to Macy's where she sat in the car with the kids while I shopped. Insert amazing angelic heavenly sound here. Shopping alone. It's amazing. You can actually THINK you know. Which I did - lots of. I found the dress that they'd put on hold for me, tried it on, loved it, appreciated the sweet little Mexican lady in the dressing room ooohing and aaaahing over me in it, decided while I was there (and kid-free) I really should see if there's an appropriate bra to wear with it so that I would actually wear it when the time came. After a call put in to a friend to find out the best kind to get, I ended up with a Lily of France clear Strappie. I was going to go without the clear straps as the halter provides plenty of coverage for a normal one, but they didn't have one. And I didn't have THAT much time. So as soon as I'm done there I decide you know what would be really great is if I could get some shoes to go with, the outfit would be complete and I'd be set to go. So I swung by the shoe department and the first ones I laid my eyes on were the ones. Oh yes, I tried a few others, but it was love at first sight and no going back. Coral Leather just sounds beautiful, and the color goes oh so perfect.


Outfit complete and an hour later, I headed out to a car full of roused kids and we headed off for our reward. Two and a half hours later, tired, happy, and with enough fish memories to last until the next time, we headed home.

Today was to be equally as a good day. Sweet Ireland Girl to come over and show us her baby 3-D ultrasound CD, then over to Oma's to color Easter eggs (I know, I know, weeks late), then to Big Guy's Nice Lady Two. Only thing is, SIG and Oma bailed on us. Now I just get to find something else to entertain our keisters with. Have I mentioned how much fun it is to come up with alternative words for the word ass?

Snails Pace

It's been a slow week. I haven't been out yet this week and it's already Wednesday. I did go out last night to see about that dress, which they didn't have in my size, but a million other Macy's do so hopefully I'll be able to find it somewhere. Need to go pick up the boys tuxedos today. It's been a month since they called and said they were there and I need to have time before the wedding to have them altered or reorder a different size if need be. There's a bridal shower (I just wrote baby shower, too weird) next week that I need to get a gift for. I guess I could get off my arse and go do some of these things. I'm just having a major case of the Idontwannas and Iliketobehomes.

Multiple Post Monday

I thought I'd finish the day off with a post about posts. I had a few things to say today and looks like I wasn't the only one. Over at Teatopia, Hannah had a few things to spout off about today. OD had a few stories to tell, Girl had one extra long one, and Michele always keeps us on our toes. Plenty to entertain today.

Summer Weddings

Can you guys tell me what you think of this dress?

Do you think that would be absolutely perfect for a summer wedding or what? I seem to be inundated with weddings this year which is absolutely fantabulous but need to stretch my wardrobe to actually include some wedding wear. I went over the top in January to get May wedding attire and now am stuck with three gorgeous skirts but no appropriate top for that occasion. I am thinking a dress for the July wedding will be much simpler.

Healthy Eating

This is from one of my absolute favorite reads, Rachael, over at Fresh Approach Cooking. She's absolutely delightful and her cooking is mouth-watering. I have only tried a few of her recipes and each one has been unique, different, and stunningly good. I am now going through her archives to present a delicious menu other than the normal fare (but surprisingly easy to shop for) to my family and came upon this gem of a post. I have always had strong feelings about healthy eating as well, but never put it into words quite so well. The rules here encompass so many things and so many foods on the market, you'll be surprised at all that shouldn't be eaten, but seriously, the alternative is really so much more tastier. And fresher. Please take a moment to go say hi to Rachael and peruse her site, you might find a new recipe for dinner tonight! And Rachael, I hope you don't mind that I've posted the text here as well as sending readers over there, this is so good I wanted to have it in my files to look back at or refer to if need be.

"I have pretty strong thoughts on weight loss and why it is Americans struggle to lose weight. As someone who is constantly around food, I understand how much of a struggle it can be to maintain your ideal weight, so I thought I would share my thoughts on the subject.

1. Eat real food. Stop eating strange, processed, diet,low-cal,low-carb,low-fat foods. Your body needs real food, not substitutes. Buy fruit, vegetables, meats and legumes and grains. Like your friends (ha ha) at Breyers say, if you can't pronounce the ingredients on the label, you shouldn't be eating it. Nothing in your cupboard should have a shelf life longer than your life expectancy.

2. No more soda -- drink water. Even diet soda is bad. Cut it out of your life. Try green tea.

3. Stop eating junk. Just stop. Don't buy it, don't have it in the house, avoid it at the office. There is no middle ground. Do not buy junk substitutes, just don't eat junk. Period.

4. Stop and eat. When you are eating, just do that. Sit down, at a table, and eat, slowly. It takes your brain up to 30 minutes to realize your stomach is full, so you could eat almost 4 times what you really need in the time it takes your stomach to feel full. So slow down. Chew. Savor. Enjoy.

5. When you buy groceries, take the extra ten minutes to chop everything up. Mince those onions, put them in a baggie and have them on hand. Peel some carrots and store them for snacks. It makes cooking easier and snacking healthier.

6. Taking carbs completely out of your diet is not a healthy way to lose weight. Sure, cutting back on them makes a difference, but cutting back and cutting out are two different things. Try portion control and go from there. Bread is good, a lot of bread isn't. Also, there is a risk with low-carb eating -- you don't get fiber. Fiber is important to your health.

7. Eat seasonally. Vegetables have seasons. Find out what they are, and eat accordingly. You know peaches won't be any good in the middle of winter, but potatoes will...so choose accordingly.

8. Exercise. Walk, run, hop, skip, lunge, leap...whatever it takes.

I don't know if that sounds easy or hard to you, but if you change the way you deal with food, you can change the way food affects your life. We have such abundance, it can be overwhelming, but it shouldn't be. You are in charge of your weight. "

Weekend Round-Up

Friday we had family night at Chili's. I swear, you'd think we lived back in Marble Falls where they were the only decent eating place - I guess it reminds us of home. Catch in the backyard, and a good night's sleep. Saturday we went all out - bike ride to West Cliff, catch in the backyard, and the park, came home to the babysitter and friends we went out to dinner with. Drinks with more friends afterwards. What is it about drinking that just is not appetizing to me anymore? I didn't even have any last night. Two sips of a "Surfer on Acid" a friend we ran into surprised me with and that was it. I think I od'd on Halloween night. Since then just a little bit has made me sick, up during the night, and basically yuck. Sucks because I love a glass of wine with a meal - maybe that's the part I need to be keen on. Any way came home smelling like smoke and exhausted to find out Big Guy had just gone to bed half an hour earlier. Equals tired exhausted kiddo the next day, but he wasn't actually too bad until he broke down at seven in the evening the next day.

Sunday was nice. Church in the morning, and Starbucks afterwards. A leisurely lunch on the back deck while Grandpa played catch with the boys down below. An even more leisurely walk down to the coast to enjoy a $100 lunch (and we didn't eat - go figure) with my parents, who went to town. Merlots (or MerLOTs) as my Dad put it, appetizers galore, desserts even more. Afterwards they headed home and we stayed the next few hours at the beach. Lots of sand, ocean water, buried bodies, and sand buckets.

Show Your Support

Amanda is a wonderful girl to begin with and now she has gone and done a very wonderful thing. She has completed two gorgeous masterpieces, "Chasing Spot" and "Replenish", one whimsical and cheery, and the other a gorgeous array of beautiful blended relaxing colors - as one astute reader put it, reminiscent of Van Gogh's "Starry Night". My favorite is the "Chasing Spot" and that is the one I have chosen to bid on. If I am so lucky as to be the winner I would be ecstatic, but even more so I hope that somebody who is able to give much more than I will see her talent and her belief and be able to support her and her cause that much more. So go check it out, and if you are able to, show your support - by bidding and/or giving her a mention on your site.

Realization

I took Big Guy to his second appointment with his speech lady yesterday. I dropped him off and headed out to the car to deal with insurance. When I picked him up she said she noticed I had worked with him. Slightly confused, I said yes, as in of course. She went on about it for awhile, how he seems to have made a complete 360 turn around, had everything down that she had laid out to work with him on today and was doing amazing. She also seemed blown away that I actually worked with him. I guess most parents don't. Relieved and proud of my little guy I said maybe he just needed a little reminder to watch how he's pronunciating. She agrees that may be the case. When we had gone for his screening she noticed a lot more things than we had realized he needed to work on, I guess not working with somebody for so long had brought back a few of his old habits that we didn't notice. Really I only worked with him two or three times - extensively each time, and I know how much better he does when I work with him at home, on a continual basis as well, but I didn't realize it would make that much of an impact.

It continually amazes me the little amount of time kids need to learn. I understand that they go to school eight hours a day and when you're thinking about home-schooling that is often intimidating because you know there's no way you're going to be spending eight hours a day teaching them. But if you think about it that's because there's often ten to twenty kids a class, and they need that time for each child to get the individual amount of time they need. When I stop and think about that, I feel a little relieved.

Any way, back to Big Guy. We did a memory game with LOTS of cards twice, and worked with a handful of Cheerios on where his tongue should be. That was hard for him at first, but he really got it down and wanted to finish the whole handful. I'm so glad. Now we have a new load of stuff to work with and I can't wait to see what he accomplishes next. I remember his speech lady in Austin always talking about how quickly he picks up things, and I've always known that myself, but sometimes I need a little reminder. This was a big one. The kid loves to learn if somebody will just sit down and teach him. Sometimes I really wonder if all children love to learn like that, the ones that aren't may just be being taught in a way they don't learn or absorb well.

Times

I liked Girl's list of this sort so I'm going to use it. Hope you don't mind?

1 made bed
2 full children
3 times I've vacuumed
4 0 minutes until I need to leave for sure to make Big Guy's appointment
5 times I've thought about leaving earlier to make it to the library
6 things I'll probably have to do in order to get out the door
7 vases full of flowers in my room (aren't my boys sweet?)
8 cheerios eaten by practicing with Big Guy to get used to moving his tongue to to the tip of his palate
9 toys I've picked up plus some
10 minutes until I want to be out of here

Memories

Last night Hubby and I put the boys to bed. Gave them their baths, said prayers with them, and tucked them in. Then we contemplated me running to the store for ice cream and toothbrushes (mine's strep infected, so I'm paranoid). We looked at each other and realized we could go to the store together. A benefit of living with your parents. So we did.

Him in his Sugar Daddy pajama pants and me in my comfy gauchos - like heck I'm going to the grocery store in my pajama pants! We decided upon super funky toothbrushes for us and an Aladdin one for Little Guy (no other options) who'd used his Clifford one as a toy and fanned out all the bristles.

Dreyer's Natural Homemade Vanilla. Hubby pointed out I had picked out the Safeway brand, the one I had gotten the last few times. No wonder it tasted different. Hubby grabbed condoms, and paid for the 'sex & candy'. And I paid for the toothbrushes. And a magazine with all the fun things to do in California to boot. Oh and ice cream cones for a fun treat for the kids. It's all the same money, he just has a different part of the budget to be responsible for, than I do. I.e. fun "us" and family stuff, clothes, gifts, the house and all the bills. Me? The rest - groceries, household, herbs (yes we actually budget for that), gas for my car, a few others I can't think of right now.

We came home and he scooped himself a huge bowl of ice cream and me a good sized one. I came out of the shower and saw the huge bowl of ice cream with tons of chocolate and thought it was for me and was about to get upset - because he knows I would eat it all, then I saw the smaller bowl and thought to myself how do I ever doubt him. We settled in our comfy bed and watched another episode of Friends. Hubby sighs and says, "This is nice." I asked what? The eating ice cream, or doing what we used to do?

See, back in Texas, we almost always had a half gallon or two of Bluebell, only the best ice cream in the world, around, and every night he was home we'd put the kids to bed and curl up on the couch in our guest room with a big bowl of ice cream and a movie. Now that we've been spoiled by Bluebell nothing else compares, not even Ben & Jerry's (though sue me if you want but I never liked them in the first place). Dreyer's Natural Vanilla does, at least it gives the very illusion of Bluebell. He said doing what we used to do. So we had a night of memories last night. And it was nice.

I've Been a Good Girl

I'm up this morning - before 9am. A feat for me.

~Later. And that is why I try to avoid the mainstream of the morning. Not that I mind holding Little Guy and rocking him while he gets the last of the sleepy out of his eyes. Or that I mind laying on the couch with Big Guy in his little motorcycle robe over his pajamas. Or that I mind taking Little Guy to the bathroom, when he's perfectly capable of doing it on his own. It's just that it adds that much more to my day.

Any way before they were up and I was about to type - I've done a load of laundry folded, bed made, bathroom cleaned, corner of our room where all the computer cords were piling unsightly sorted, and now showered and shined. All before 10am. And they're dressed and playing outside already too.

100 Things

1. My favorite thing to wear is strapless or cami tank tops.
2. My favorite seasons are spring and summer.
3. In relation to the above, I love to wear summer dresses.
4. Or as little as possible.
5. I wasn't always a girly-girl.
6. I've learned to be a girly-girl over the earrings.
7. My favorite accessories are big earrings.
8. My other favorite accessory is any of the jewelry Brando has given me.
9. I've been married for eleven years.
10. I got married at 19 and haven't looked back.
11. My husband and I renewed our vows last year for our tenth anniversary.
12. Our vow renewal was bigger, way more beautiful, and way easier than our wedding.
13. My husband and I have been to Hawaii twice in the last three years.
14. My Aunt has a house there that we only recently realized we could use.
15. As soon as I realized we could use it I was on it.
16. My favorite part of a trip is planning an itinerary and then following it.
17. I am amazing at tying all the research I find together to find interesting things to do.
18. I also love finding secret spots to visit that only the locals know about.
19. My husband and I just started decorating our house for the first time ever.
20. In less than two months my house has come together more than it ever has before.
21. I used to be much more organized with my house than I am now.
22. I've let my house fall more by the wayside in lieu of having more adventures.
23. My husband and I would like to start a business together.
24. We don't know the first thing about working together.
25. We started a blog together to try and learn to work together.
26. Starting that blog together has been an adventure.
27. The blog still isn't ready to go live.
28. I look forward to the day it is.
29. I love my kids.
30. I have two boys.
31. They are now soon to be twelve and nine.
32. I wouldn’t trade my boys for the world.
33. They are turning into amazing men.
34. Especially the oldest.
35. The youngest is still growing in that area.
36. Together they have been to a total of five schools.
37. I'll admit, the school thing took me awhile to figure out.
38. The oldest one got the brunt of it, having been to all five of those schools.
39. The younger one is a handful.
40. He is very assertive with his personality.
41. On the other hand he is so sweet and thoughtful.
42. I never imagined myself as a mother at 19.
43. Much less a mother of an eleven year old at 29.
44. I thought I would go to college.
45. Become a teacher.
46. Possibly be an old maid.
47. Because I thought I wanted that.
48. How wrong was I.
49. I may’ve been happy doing that.
50. If that’s what was meant for my life.
51. It wasn’t.
52. I got pregnant at 17.
53. I had my first baby at 17.
54. I met my husband-to-be at 18.
55. I married at 19.
56. I grew up a lot between the ages of 16 and 19.
57. You might say I was a different person.
58. I’m glad.
59. Who knows where my life would’ve been had I not gotten pregnant.
60. I was in a bad relationship.
61. A relationship where the guy actually felt he could say to me have an abortion or I’ll leave you.
62. He did.
63. I’m so glad.
64. My husband is amazing.
65. I couldn’t have imagined a more wonderful man to spend the rest of my life with.
66. He is so strong at times.
67. And soft at others.
68. Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve him.
69. Before I dated him I saw him with a friend playing video games at the Boardwalk.
70. I thought to myself, why can’t I get a cute boyfriend like that?
71. I tell him this now to stroke his ego.
72. He loves it.
73. Now I want to run a business with my husband.
74. A business that will allow us plenty of time as a family, vacationing together and working together.
75. In the past I've home-schooled my children.
76. It worked for the moment.
77. I wasn't really disciplined or organized enough to be effective.
78. I sometimes wish I had just kept them in one school so they would have more than a few people they've known for years.
79. I love to hike.
80. Three years ago you would not have known that.
81. I have a wonderful friend who taught me to "hike" by looking twelve seconds ahead so I wasn't always falling over my feet like I used to.
82. She opened my eyes to the beauty of nature via hiking.
83. Now people are amazed at all the places I find to hike.
84. I’m amazed at all the place I find to hike.
85. There is so much peace in nature.
86. I love it.
87. I love to hike in the places I vacation in.
88. I've hiked some of the most gorgeous places in Hawaii.
89. Including atop the beach where Sports Illustrated shoots their swimsuit edition.
90. My favorite hike so far has been down a cliff to tidal pools on the southeast side of Oahu.
91. Hiking anywhere brings me peace.
92. I love that I love it.
93. I love chocolate.
94. I don't eat chocolate as much anymore because the caffeine breaks me up and makes my chest tender.
95. I do still love my ice cream.
96. Occasionally, depending on my mood, I'll have a bowl every night.
97. The first time I did my 100 things I thought I'd have a hard time.
98. The second time (this time) I did my 100 things I thought I'd have a hard time.
99. I didn't.
100. Both took less than five minutes.
This has been updated as of April 12, 2011. See my original 100 Things here.

What are your 100 things?

100 Things

I couldn’t come up with a serious 100 things for forEVER so I decided I’d do it quirky. Goofy. And see what comes of that.

1. I have leopard slippers that I’ve had and loved for 5 years.
2. I was about to throw them away when I realized I could wash them and make them last possibly another 5 years.
3. They’re now washed and still kind of gross, I may not keep them after all.
4. I like the water to be scalding hot in the shower.
5. Sometimes, when I turn the water off, I’ll turn the cold off first and then rush to turn off the hot so I only get scalded a little.
6. That’s fun to me.
7. I like to start things.
8. I hardly ever finish them.
9. I don’t buy the tools I need until I get done with everything I can do without a tool first.
10. Sometimes I get to the point where I need more tools and stop for awhile because I haven’t gotten them.
11. I started a drawing book.
12. I drew a bird. It’s beautiful.
13. I’ve stopped because I need new pens to fill in my drawing to create texture.
14. These are some of the tools I didn’t allow myself to get until I followed through with what I could.
15. This is one of the stopping points I create for myself because I don’t allow myself the tools.
16. At least I don’t waste a lot of money on wasted habits.
17. I’m trying to get better at finishing things.
18. I used to be a horrible housekeeper.
19. Two years ago I discovered flylady.com.
20. She was my housekeeping savior.
21. People think I’m so put together and organized when if only they knew.
22. I feel put together and organized.
23. Sometimes.
24. Thanks to Flylady.
25. I realized it’s all about baby steps.
26. And doing stuff before it actually needs to get done.
27. And realizing I’m not lazy, I’m just a perfectionist, and if I can’t do it right, I’m not going to do it all.
28. And getting over that.
29. I love my kids.
30. I have two boys.
31. People tell me I must have “quite a handful on my hands”.
32. I wouldn’t trade my boys for the world.
33. They are the sweetest, most kindest, most sharing, generous, loving boys any mother could ever hope for.
34. They make a wonderful team.
35. I try to teach them that when they work together the sky’s the limit.
36. Scratch that. The universe is the limit.
37. I try to teach them that one may be better at something then the other.
38. And that that’s okay.
39. And that when they combine their strengths it makes them an even stronger, and better team.
40. It works.
41. Sometimes.
42. I never imagined myself as a mother at 23.
43. Much less a mother of two.
44. I thought I would go to college.
45. Become a teacher.
46. Possibly be an old maid.
47. Because I thought I wanted that.
48. How wrong was I.
49. I may’ve been happy doing that.
50. If that’s what was meant for my life.
51. It wasn’t.
52. I got pregnant at 17.
53. I had my first baby at 17.
54. I met my husband-to-be at 18.
55. I married at 19.
56. I grew up a lot between the ages of 16 and 19.
57. You might say I was a different person.
58. I’m glad.
59. Who knows where my life would’ve been had I not gotten pregnant.
60. I was in a bad relationship.
61. A relationship where the guy actually felt he could say to me have an abortion or I’ll leave you.
62. He did.
63. I’m so glad.
64. My husband is amazing.
65. I couldn’t have imagine a more wonderful man to spend the rest of my life with.
66. He is so strong at times.
67. And soft at others.
68. Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve him.
69. Before I dated him I saw him with a friend playing video games at the Boardwalk.
70. I thought to myself, why can’t I get a cute boyfriend like that?
71. I tell him this now to stroke his ego.
72. He loves it.
73. I still want to be a teacher.
74. I thought it would be cool to have the summers off with my kids.
75. Now that I want to home-school my children, I’m thinking I’ll be their teacher.
76. Which is even better.
77. Sometimes I wonder if I am disciplined enough to teach them anything.
78. I hope I am.
79. I love to decorate.
80. Two years ago you would not have known that.
81. I had a wonderful friend who decorated my home and created a peaceful haven for myself and my family.
82. She opened my eyes to the world of decorating.
83. Now people are amazed at what I do.
84. I’m amazed at what I do.
85. I’ve created a peaceful haven for my family here.
86. I love it.
87. I can’t wait for another blank sheet to create a peaceful haven in.
88. I could use some money to do that.
89. My Mom financed what we have here.
90. Because she’s going to keep it as her guest room she always wanted to do, but never knew how.
91. I love that she loves it.
92. I love that I love it.
93. I love chocolate.
94. Sometimes I’ll eat chocolate for breakfast.
95. Like today.
96. Toblerone’s are addicitive.
97. I can’t believe I’ve almost finished my 100 things.
98. In less than 5 minutes.
99. With wiping a popo in between (my kids).
100. Does this mean I’m a real blogger now?

Well it’s goofy. Did it work?

Guy Friends

hey psd,

sorry i didn't write you back sooner, but i've had a hectic week... i was really sick and i have had a bunch of tests and projects. do you all know yet when you are planning on going back to texas? how are the kids? If you are still down about friends, call me up whenever you need to talk, i'll always have time for you. i hope everything is going good for you and the family. i'm just counting down the days until graduation.... then real life begins. i have no idea where i am going or what i will be doing starting in june, but i guess i'll find out soon. keep in touch.

guy friend

Thank God for platonic guy friends. This guy was in town a few weeks ago for a few days. He goes to college three or so hours away and I haven't seen him too much since I got married. He was only in town for a few days and didn't call and I gave him heck for it. I was feeling down about face-to-face friends any way so I wrote him later and told him I was just kidding and why I gave him such a hard time, and that I missed him. This letter from him just cheered my heart. He is such a wonderful friend.

Final Post

This is it folks. I have created myself a new little cozy home here. Please come visit me and update your blogrolls? I've moved all my archives over, but the comments didn't come with : ( .

I mentioned I would be away on my other blog - mostly strep throat, and partially thinking I'd managed to kill this blog. Amazing what antibiotics, a night in a hotel, and a Hubby watching the kids for two days can do. My necks still sore, and my throat hurts a little, nothing like yesterday. My head is starting to pound. But my move is DONE. At least for this blog.

It's Here

Sort of. I'm still working out all the kinks and personalizing it. So far, OD, I'm liking it. WordPress, that is. A little hard to configure and get my archives over, but now that that's done *whew* I'm really appreciating the "unbugginess". The only thing I'd really like to do is personalize it more - I was really liking the look I had going with the pictures and changing the background whenever and stuff. It'll just take some experimenting I guess.

Also none of my Haloscan comments were loaded over here. Not sure if I can fix that *pout*.