Journal Buddies - Review

Darly is really into keeping a diary (a great place to keep secrets from dad & me) or sharing her thoughts with her friends. So when I had the opportunity to review Journal Buddies by Jill Schoenberg, I knew my daughter would be thrilled.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The journal buddies books are fun, interactive journals intended to help adults (parents, teachers, mentors…) build and strengthen a child’s self-esteem. These powerful but simple journals are truly a fresh and invigorating take on journal keeping.

"Journal Buddies: A Girl's Journal for Sharing and Celebrating Magnificence"
has been awarded the Dove Family-Approved Seal. "The Dove Foundation has
established itself as a valuable resource for consumers seeking quality
entertainment and programming that's suitable for their entire household,"
says Jeff Yordy, VP of Marketing, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Dove's Review of Journal Buddies states that it is "a very creative way to help
encourage self esteem in young girls. It is so important in this day and age to
help children with their self-image. This delightful ingenious journal will show
them a way to capture their imagination, ideas and thoughts and share them with
others. Giving the diary concept a different look. This is a perfect gift for
young girls." To learn more about Dove's review of Journal Buddies visit
http://www.dove.org/MovieReview.asp?Unique_ID=7478

Furthermore, Journal Buddies interactive journaling systems for boys and for
girls are both winners of the 2008 Mom's Choice Awards, an award that
represents quality and ingenuity. Like other symbols of quality that consumers
have come to rely on, the Mom's Choice Award on a product, service or media
production alerts consumers its appropriateness for children. The Award is a
symbol of family-friendliness that parents, educators, librarians, social
service professionals and others rely on to help guide their purchasing
decisions.

MY REVIEW

Jill was nice enough to send us a girl’s copy of Journal Buddies for Darly. She also autographed the book which left Darly totally unimpressed. I had to explain the entire autographing thing to her, even though she has another autographed book. Sigh!

This is no ordinary journal where you keep all your thoughts a secret. Journal Buddies is meant to be completed and shared with friends. Darly really liked the fact that you don’t have to have the same buddy every single day. One day it could be her friend “E”, another day it could be her friend “I”, even I can be one of her buddies. I think what she liked even more was a great excuse to call up her friends when she doesn’t see them.

For each journal entry, Darly needed to write 3 things that she likes about her buddy and 3 things that her buddy likes about her. This was a great way to help her think about the positive in other people. Journal Buddies focuses on kindness to others, an important trait to instill in our children.

There is also a focus word for the day complete with lined and/or blank pages. Darly really liked this part because she would rather draw a picture than write any day of the week. She could write down her ideas, draw pictures, or even glue magazine cutouts and photographs to help her express her thoughts.

When she’s done with Journal Buddies, we’ll put her book in her memory box. I know this will become a treasured keepsake that we’ll both enjoy reading when she gets older.

I would really like to thank Jill Schoenberg for the opportunity to try out Journal Buddies and the Family Review Network.

I didn’t run fast enough!

Mel over at Box of Chocolates tagged me for another meme. I had pretty much given up doing memes a while ago because I figured that everyone who reads my blog…all 6 of you… know everything there is to know about me. So now I have to think about 10 totally random things you may or may not know about me…without giving you enough info to steal my identity. Sigh!

I just remembered that today is Thursday. So if I put 13 things on this, I can call it a Thursday Thirteen and maybe get some more folks to come & read my blog.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

1) Hummmm So the thing about me is that because it isn’t really required of me to know what day of the week it is, I usually don’t have a clue. And if DH has a day off or takes a day off, I’m totally LOST!
2) That leads to a nice segue … I don’t watch LOST. Hee hee I realized a few years back that all the TV networks are trying to get me to watch their shows. They want me to see their advertising and help make money. But I decided that there isn’t any way that I can possibly watch all those shows and still have a life…or a blog! So now I make myself NOT watch all the new shows. I’ve never watched LOST, Grey’s Anatomy, and many of the other shows out there. I did catch an entire season of Desperate Housewives once, but gave it up easily after the tornado! What were the writers thinking?!?!
3) Back in the day when I did watch TV shows, Seinfeld was one of my favorites. To this day you can still hear me spouting Seinfeld quotes. However, I’ll never be as big of a fan as Bone (his screen handle is from the show!) and sometimes I do have to look up what he is talking about!
4) Another TV show I used to watch religiously was Northern Exposure. What was funny was the very season I didn’t want to watch it. I was totally annoyed by most of the characters…but by season two I was hooked. Turns out that in another part of the country, my future DH was also hooked. So when we had to drive out to Seattle to have our car shipped to Korea we stopped along the way in Roslyn Washington. It’s a very cute little town but now it’s totally a tourist trap banking on folks coming through to get a glimpse of the show. FYI remember the totem pole…it’s totally fake! It’s a prop strapped to a telephone pole!!! I stopped watching when Joel finally was allowed to leave and Dr Kapra took over…he just wasn’t as good…he actually wanted to be there and there wasn’t all the tension because he had his wife there with him.
5) So what do I do now that I’m not watching prime time TV shows? Well I spend a lot of time on the internet. Mostly I’m chatting it up with my blog readers and the gals in my homeschooling group. Once it gets warm here I’ll be out doing more stuff and you won’t see me online as much.
6) What TV do I watch? I’m a huge fan of Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, Good Eats and other food network shows. I try to stay away from some of the more gimmicky shows on food network…like Emeril. I was watching him once and he would bam his food just to make the audience go “oooh!” I wonder who is eating that over spiced junk he puts out…I bet the stuff he feeds the folks was made in the back! BTW: On Good Eats, Alton Brown will refer to extra spices as “Bamage.” Too funny!
7) I also read books! In this house you will usually find Darly & me both with our noses stuck in a book. We keep a pile of books in the “reading room” and are proud members of the circle butt club. And I’ve found that the way to keep me on my elliptical trainer is to have a good book. If I finish my book, but not my workout I’ll try to start over…but I’m usually not a happy girl about it.
8) I thought earlier in the year (all 4 weeks of it so far) that I might join this challenge to read 100 or more books this year. But I wisely decided to not make it official and it wasn’t until last week that I realized how unrealistic that goal is. In order to read that many books it would mean that I would need to do two books a week…every week! I like to read, but come on! I don’t have that much time. So instead I’m going to enjoy as many books as I can, but not stress myself out over it. For a list of what I’ve read so far, see my side bar. Yes, some of the titles are kids’ books…hey they help me keep an eye on what Darly is reading and they’re quick!
9) Hum I wonder if this counts… an update on our water heater situation. The new water heater is still leaking water from the pressure release valve. Yesterday when I went to check on it after running our dishwasher I found that it had filled up a 5 gallon bucket to overflowing! I also realized that the hose that DH had attached to the valve did reach all the way to the drain and I set it up the hose so we don’t have to empty the bucket anymore. DH called up the manufacturer about getting it fixed. The gal asked who installed the water heater, and since it was him she is sending us a new valve for him to install. It should be here tomorrow. That related to info about me because I figured out that the hose could reach the drain. ;)
10) This past week two of my blog friends have posted about qualities to look for in a man. I too had a list of what I was looking for… I wanted a guy who had a good job, who was at least as smart as I was and who drove a car that was in at least as good of shape as the car I was driving (my car was brand new at the time!) The reasons I had these requirements were… I had previously dated guys who while very good looking (at first! Looks fade fast, especially when beer is involved!), weren’t smart and didn’t value a good education, couldn’t keep a good job and didn’t have reliable transportation.
11) I’m perfectly happy to stay at home if I have nothing better to do, but if my car is out of commission it drives me up a wall! I don’t like being “trapped” at home. I also don’t like living too far from town. I need to be able to walk to the grocery store if by some chance my car is in the shop or something. Course right now it is below freezing outside so walking anywhere is out of the question.
12) I don’t like to be cold. My hands and feet get all cold like they’ll never have warm in them again and it just makes me shiver. If my ears get cold, I will get a terrible headache. I just look in wonder at these folks around me wearing shorts when it’s only 40 degrees out! Burr!
13) And for some odd reason in my old age instead of getting hot flashes, I get cold flashes. A nurse friend said it was probably my thyroid. :p I do not want to be put on any medication. I hate having to take any pills. I had low iron as a kid and so it was suggested (not by a doctor but some technician at a health fair) that I take iron. My mom went all gung ho on it and made me take iron pills every night. After about a month of that crud, I started spitting my pills out in the toilet. Funny how your entire life gets messed up by your childhood experiences.

So if you came here via Thursday Thirteen, THANKS! Leave a comment and I'll come see you too. And if you're my regular peeps, I'll come see you too! Happy Thursday!

Co-op & Water Heater

Monday night was the registration for my homeschool's coop. Seeing as I'm the coop coordinator, I had to be online to make sure everyone who needed to be in was in and to keep a count on space in the classes for when they would get full. It would be nice if the computer could do that for me, but alas that hasn't happened yet. sigh.

From 7:20 to 10:00pm I was taking care of coop. Lucky for me I had the help of two great assistants. They're my best buddies and cohorts in this homeschooling group that I'm in. I have to brag about my homeschooling group. We have the best group in our area drawing in folks from all over cuz we're just so good. We have a ton of great classes coming up this coop and silly me, I'm the teacher for 4 of them. Lucky for me, two of mine are not being taught by me...I just made the arrangements for them. The third is really Darly's class...I'm gonna let her take that one, so that leaves #4 which I'm co-teaching. That one will probably be the toughest...but it will be fun too.

Now for the water heater....

This afternoon I was finishing my lunch and reading when I hear a pop noise...kinda like the noise you hear when your cookie sheets warp in the oven. I had no idea what could have caused that noise and chose to ignore it. Darly came running in and was thoroughly perturbed that I wasn't doing anything.
A few minutes later she tells me she hears water running and a knocking noise from the bathroom. She is no good at pinpointing noises. So I go to the bathroom...can't tell where it is. I decide to check upstairs and have her check the basement. She finds it...the water heater is pouring water all over!

By the time we get down there the water has gone almost all the way to the sump pump. I call DH to figure out how to shut off the water. The valve on above the water heater won't budge for me...so I shut off the water to the house. Then Darly & I start moving wet items to dry and squeeging the water to the drain. (we really need to make some sort of water barrier to keep the water from flooding the basement!) Luckily this time we didn't loose a lot of stuff...just a few boxes.

DH came home as Darly & I headed to the gym. So I'll fill you in on the latest gym saga. Last Thursday we got a notice that Darly's class will now be only 1 hour twice a week...that's down from a hour & a half. But if we would like to make up the extra hour we could sign up for a Wednesday night class. (can't, Darly has confirmation on Wednesday!) Why are they doing this? Cuz they can't keep enough coaches. Tonight they were short again and had to combine casses. Darly started off her time in the gym with one coach and beginner girls and then after the hour she got a different coach and more advanced girls.
So I went to talk to the office manager about what's going on. She says they are interviewing a new coach on Thursday and are hoping that works out...but they are also going to restructure the classes. Remember how back in May they told us that Darly could move up to this class but in reality it was because there weren't enough girls in her class and another class? Well now they are going to "demote" the other girls that were in Darly's old class who shouldn't have moved up.
I don't know for sure what level Darly is supposed to be at. What I do know is that Darly is the best in her class at most of the skills and the only skills she is lacking in are the ones they haven't been able to do due to not having enough coaches. I asked if Darly could get an evaluation to see where she's at. Perhaps she'll be able to at least move back to where her old classmates are.

We get home from the gym and DH has decided that we need a new water heater. So he leaves to go get one...with no dinner. We discussed his dinner options and apparently I assumed he was going to eat out for dinner on his way home from getting the water heater... and he assumed I would hold dinner until he got back. Darly & I had breakfast food for dinner w/o DH. He came home hungry, so I had to make him some dinner too...left-over spaghetti.

DH is still working on getting the water heater installed. Darly reported that there is still a leak. He's gonna be tired tomorrow! I sure hope he doesn't call in "sick." :p

Pondering...

Have you noticed it too?

People today are mean. You see on the news how someone has just snapped and gone "postal" (my appologies to any postal workers out there), the road ragers and others. But I'm mostly concerned with down and out meaness just because.

I totally get that sometimes you have a bad day. We all have a bad day now and then. But since when did it become okay to take that bad day out on anyone?

I think the problem all comes down to stress. Stress triggers the fight of flight response and now days most of us are more apt to fight than flight.

And why are we so stressed? I think it's due to stuff! We've been taught that we "need" all this stuff and we're stressing ourselves out to get the stuff. We're maxing out our credit and taking out even more credit to get the stuff...RUINING our economy and then making our government bail out the credit agencies, who were just hoping to make a few bucks off of us, but instead loaned out way too much money for us to ever even hope of paying them back!

I'm trying to figure out an answer! I don't think the politicians have the answer...and I certainly don't think it's the government's job to make us happy.

What do we truely NEED?

Well we need a house or form of shelter. But we don't need a 5 million dollar house with 8 bedrooms & 9 bathrooms that is sitting empty down the road from my house...and apparently most others around me know they don't need it either since it's been empty since it was built.

We need clothing. But we don't need to pay extra for designer labels or for the latest fashions. If it still fits and hasn't worn out (note the built for the dump part of the Story of Stuff) then keep it and wear it. ya know, you shouldn't be worried about what others are thinking of you cuz most of the time they aren't...that only happens in high school.

We need utilities to make our house work. We don't need some super cable of satelite service to get us channels from outer space. Do we really need to be available to talk on the phone any time of the day? I don't think so.

We need transportation to get to our job to pay for our other needs. And nope it doesn't have to be a brand new super luxury car.

Oh we need food. I think other than going to a fancy restaurant or going out to eat a lot that no one is really overspending on food. At least I hope so.

I'm pretty sure that everything else is just a want. And you can put off or save up for a want. Did you know that 9 times out of 10 if you put off a want long enough you'll realize that you don't want it anymore for some reason or another. I've only found one item that I've wanted for a really long time, that I still want. It's the bedroom set that DH & I picked out when we were first married. We don't need it. But we would really like to have it...so maybe one day.

I wonder if we all could choose to just go after our needs instead of this endless pursuit of wants if we could be happy and less mean?

new place for my workout log

I've decided to move my workout log over to the side bar. I'm just going to enter the date and how long I worked out now.

I have another list down there of the books I'm reading while I'm working out...well the books I've finished. I'm about done with The Red Tent and will add it to the list when I'm done.

Here's hoping that by the time I finish my 100+ books for this year I'm smaller.

No time to workout today

I've been "running" all day!

I got up at 8am and we left the house at 9:15 to head off to a Webkinz party. The party was great fun for the kiddos.
We grabbed some sandwiches from the grocery store for lunch and then had our Girl Scout meeting, where we talked about Safety.

Darly's friend came home with us so her brother could go to ground school (learn how to fly a plane). But while the girls played, I caught up on paperwork.

Then I made dinner. DH & I had Beef Stroganoff (spelling?), Darly had her beef w/o the sauce...and her friend had a PB&J (cuz she doesn't eat meat or much of anything else!)

I hope to get in a workout tomorrow...I missed it.

Online Book Signing Party

My friend Carmen over at Gone to Plaid is now officially a published author! Woo HOO! We've known that she is an awesome author for a long time and now she finally has her first book. To celebrate she's having a book signing party. Here are the details...


Time and Place Start Time: Friday, January 23, 2009 at 5:00am
End Time: Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 10:00pm
Location: www.thelistbook.blogspot.com


It's a celebration! My new novel, "The List" is now ready for its debut!

So I'm throwing a par-tay. From Jan. 23-Jan. 25 (Friday-Sunday), if you visit the book Website:

http://www.thelistbook.blogspot.com

you can purchase a SIGNED COPY (by me, of course) at a DISCOUNTED friends and family rate. It sells on Amazon for $15.99 (qualifies for free shipping if order is over $25) but for the people I adore, the rate will be $11.00 plus $2.50 for shipping.

You'll be able to enter your autograph preferences when you check out, and I'll send your signed copy right out!

Additionally, I'll be having a contest.

When you visit the Website during this weekend, be sure to leave a comment. Then, tell your friends to come visit the Web site, and leave a comment that you sent them. Whoever sends the most people to the site will win.

(sample: Monica visits the site and leaves a comment. She then tells three people, who comment on the site "Monica sent me." Then they can send people, etc.)

My great friend and jewelry-maker to the stars, Peggi Li, (http://www.peggyli.com/) has graciously agreed to have one of her beautiful necklaces be the prize. Peggy's jewelry has been featured on several television shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CSI, Private Practice, Without a Trace and more. There's a $50 hotel discount card in it for second place.

If you just can't wait, you can go ahead and order it on Amazon. You can find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/143920957X/ref=cm_pdp_arms_dp_1

Though I do hope you'll join me for the online signing event.

Workout Log

40 min today! New book. It's really good so far.

Workout Log

today I only did 30 min cuz it was getting late and I needed to get ready to take Darly to the park.

Darly made a new friend today...hummm I guess that means another kid at her Bday party.

I survived!

Well yesterday didn't look like it was ever going to pan out. I'm just going to have to pay more attention to what day I start co-op and make sure it isn't on a day that DH is home!

He posted on Craig's List our old range, a TV stand (the one we replaced with the roll top desk) and Darly's Princess Castle blocks. He got a few emails arout the range and a lot on the TV stand...they came and picked it up last night...LOL! He tried to talk DH down $5 on it...har har. DH told him that he had 5 other emails wanting it so the guy forked over the cash!

Co-op went very well despite my lack of computer time. However, DH mentioned that perhaps we do need at least one more computer. Keep your fingers crossed!

It sure is nice to have the computer all to myself today...and funny how Darly hasn't wanted it at all today...now that she doesn't have to stand in such a long line for it. weird!

Today I moved my phone over so I could reach it from the eliptical trainer...and sure enough, no one called! Murphy is at it again! Have the phone where you can't reach it, someone calls...put it in easy reach and no one bothers to call. @@ I was able to get in a full 40 minutes. YAY!

So far I haven't seen any weight loss. :( But I have noticed that I fit into my old sized jeans better. I'm hoping that I can get back into my old shorts by summer time.

Holidays stink!

I got in 37 min of a workout today. but that got inturrupted by a phone call. great!

Today of course is MLK day, which means that DH is at home. Well he decided to take this opportunity to try to get rid of a bunch of ours stuff on Craig's list. Which means he wants the computer.

Darly's friend wants to play on the computer while they talk on the phone.

And today is the start of co-op (my job) for our homeschooling group...so I need the computer too...oh and well never mind me complaining about that!

So if you don't see me much, don't worry...it may take a day or two before life is somewhat normal around here again!

Workout Log

I did 35 min today but DH decided to pick on me about it. @@

If I had known that he was going to work on the yard today I could have waited to work out until now. sigh Oh well, I did my time and didn't kill him or me. Maybe I'll get a workout in tomorrow too.

Workout log

I did 35 min today and we had our roast (that didn't get eaten last night) for dinner tonight...it was yummy with asparagus & noodles!

Review – Skin MD Natural

Being a mom is tough on your hands. Laundry, cooking, dishes, tending to boo-boos all require lots of hand washing which washes away the natural oils that help protect your hands. Add to that the winter temperatures and winds here in Colorado and you’ve got a recipe for dry cracked and in some cases bleeding hands. So I was thrilled to get the chance to try out Skin MD Natural.

I checked out the website and saw this really cool video of how this lotion protects your hands by creating a barrier to keep moisture in and harmful stuff out. You can see it here.




Here’s what the maker has to say…
Skin Care Breakthrough – Shielding Lotion
Your Skin Has Rarely Felt or Looked So Good

If you‘ve been looking for a skin care product that can heal dry skin and keep the ravages of time at bay, take a look at a breakthrough based on years of research by doctors and chemists - shielding lotion.

A Shielding Lotion is far more effective as a dry skin treatment than conventional moisturizing lotions or protective creams. If you suffer from dry skin, you know that just using a moisturizing lotion doesn't solve the problem. A shielding lotion does much more than just treat dry skin – it’s a new kind of skin care product that makes a real difference to all skin types.

Skin MD Natural™ is promptly absorbed, without the slightest hint of any greasy or oily feeling or residue, transforming the outer layer of skin into a hydrating invisible shield.

Glycerin has been the standard against which all humectants are measured. Until now no other humectant drew in as much moisture from the air as glycerin. But the proprietary formulation in Skin MD Natural has a moisturizing factor of at least 6 times greater than glycerin. Combined with its protective properties and natural ingredients, this makes Skin MD Natural a truly unique product.

New Product for Complete Skin Care:

Everyday skin care routine should provide complete protection and hydration to the skin. To achieve this goal, harsh environ¬mental irritants along with excessive sun radiation should be kept away from the skin so that it remains youthful and healthy.

We would like to introduce the unique product that combines the most beneficial features of shielding and sunscreen lotions - Skin MD Natural + SPF15.

This product helps prevent loss of natural oils and moisture, doesn't allow irritating substances to penetrate the skin and absorbs the part of UV spectrum that contributes to premature skin ageing and development of skin cancer.
Skin MD Natural™ utilizes the finest effective natural ingredients for dry skin treatment along with the latest advances in technology to hydrate and protect the skin.

This is an entirely new concept in skin care requiring a new classification: "Shielding Lotion". A shielding lotion keeps moisture-robbing irritants away from the skin while the proprietary "super" humectants hydrate the skin throughout the day.

An accumulated effect of Skin MD Natural is fully realized after only a few days of daily use. Depending on how dry your skin is the first few days may require reapplications after only a few hours. Usually, after a few days of continuous use, only one or two daily applications are necessary to see the improvement.

Me again!

When I received my lotion I tried it out right away and the first thing I noticed is that it rubs in quickly. That’s good cuz as a mom who’s busy cooking dinner you don’t need slippery hands! The next thing I noticed is this lotion has a pleasant scent that dissipates quickly…another good thing as my hubby doesn’t care for perfumes. The final test…how does it work? Well my skin feels great! No more dry and cracked skin…and no more bleeding knuckles! YAY!

I was also pleased to see that Skin MD has “No animal products or testing. Dermatology tested, fragrance & colorant free, paraben free, and hypoallergenic.”

Now for the even better part…
YOU CAN TRY THIS TOO! Skin MD Natural will give one lucky commenter on my blog a sample of Skin MD Natural to try out too.

Thanks to Family Review Network
and
Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion for this opportunity!

Who should be my friend?

I recently became a facebook-er. As part of the sign-up process I entered my High School info...I thought it would be cool to see if I could find my old friends. So far the only person from my High School graduating class that I was good friends with is an ex-boyfriend. And while that relationship ended pretty well, I just have no desire to start that one up again...and so far neither does he.

My problem is there is this one guy from my High School who keeps sending me friend requests. I know who this guy is, but we were NEVER friends in High School. I don't think that he really has a clue who I am (I don't have my maiden name on there). I've clicked on ignore for the second time. I hope he gets the idea.

But I'm wondering if I should just remove my HS info from my profile and if I do will that keep this guy from trying to be my friend.

Any thoughts?

Workout log & TNO

30 min today... I probably could have done more, but it was getting late in the day. I've really gotta cut back on my Facebook-ing...it's a huge time killer.

I almost forgot that today was TNO (Teacher's Night Out - or when us Homeschool moms get together for a night out). This morning when I got up to get my second cup of coffee, I decided to toss a roast into the crockpot for dinner. So I had dinner all set and then I remembered TNO...oh, I won't be eating dinner here....hummm how to figure this out.

Darly had gymnastics til 7pm. So DH would have to pick her up cuz I couldn't be at TNO & pick her up both at 7. But would DH & Darly have the roast I made for dinner?

Darly still had the Claire's gift card burning a hole in her pocket so we went there and spent most of it on toys. LOL! The gal told us we would have a dollar & some change left on the card as if that were a problem. She was trying to get me to spend more than the card. HA! I would rather loose that money if I have to. But I'm sure that Darly will come up with some way to spend it. hee hee

I dropped Darly off at the gym and came home to see what DH wanted to do about dinner. Turns out he didn't want to have to deal with the roast, so I didn't have to deal with it either. They went out to dinner and I had dinner at TNO with my friends.

On my way home from TNO tonight I pass a cop car and I was speeding...but either the cop didn't think I was going fast enough to write the ticket or the cop wasn't really in the car, cuz no one came after me. WHEW!

Workout log

30 min today!

I felt like I could have done a bit more, maybe 2 to 5 more minutes...but it was getting late and I had to go grocery shopping!

So Productive!

Today started off not looking so good. I was reading this book and didn't get to bed until 3am...and then at 6something am I got awoken by an ambulance siren coming toward my house. They shut off the sirens as soon as they come into the subdivision but by then you're already awake and want to see where they're heading...it was a house behind mine.

I did manage to get back to sleep for a while.

Today was the big day when my new range would be coming! My delivery window was between 9am & 1pm. So when was I going to get anything done?

Well I thought about trying to cram all I needed to do in before 9am (yeah right!) but I don't function without my coffee so that is what I needed to start with.

So as my coffee is brewing, I turn on the computer and start all my computer fun. The deliver folks actually called me at about 9:30 to let me know they were on the way.

I hurried upstairs to put on some clothing since I was still in my robe considering a shower...that would now have to wait until after the delivery folks left.

They came, they put my old range in the garage, he even set the clock on my new range and leveled it all out. YAY! I had to wait at least an hour or so to actually turn on the range to make sure it worked because the range had been sitting in the delivery truck all night and it was very cold! If I had tried to turn it on right away I would have broken the glass.

Next I went and cleaned the rabbit pen. it wasn't too bad and I gave them the box that Darly's new practice balance beam came in...they love long tunnel boxes. They were happy bunnies.

Then it was finally time for my workout. I grabbed my book and hopped on...hoping I had enough book for my entire workout. Unfortunately I didn't, so I started back on Chapter one...not so much fun actually. but I did get in my 30 min.

Off to a well deserved shower! but while in there I notice that DH has left a little hint that he wants the shower cleaned. so after I get out, I spray it down with some cleaner.

I've now got the new range
cleaned the rabbit pen
worked out
showered
cleaned the shower!

time for lunch and a new book!

oh and now Darly is giving me the evil eye cuz she wants to go see what she can get with her new Claire's gift card. time to go!

Workout log

For today's workout I decided to "shake things up a bit" and change my routine...

Actually I didn't have much of a choice. Last night we got hit with about 6 inches of snow and if I didn't get it off the driveway it would turn to ice!!!

So I got out and shoveled up DH's side of the driveway first (you're wondering why we have sides, right? He parks on the right side, I park on the left...that's why.) That took about 30 minutes. After doing DH's side and the sidewalk I needed a break. I was getting all sweaty and my arms hurt.

I went in and heated up my soup for lunch, and read my book for a while. About an hour later I went back out to shovel my side of the driveway too...I was hoping to get it done in time to still have some sun to melt off the rest of the snow. I got it done in about 20 min...all hot and sweaty again.

I had turned on the self cleaner on my oven, so I walked back in to the oven that was my house! and it smelled like burning food too.

Now I'm freezing while I type this as my office while right next to the thermostat is kinda like in it's own wing and is always colder or hotter than the rest of the house. I should go find the space heater! burr!

workout log

30 min today. Not so bad. I think I'm going to keep at this level for a few more days before trying to go longer though.

workout log

30 min today...then fast shower to hurry up to Girl Scouts. Then I didn't get my lunch until 3:15! I scarffed that salad & all the flat bread with it too. darn...there was 30 min for nothing.

Why I'm up so early!!!

DH warned me that work might be calling him this morning last night before he went to bed. He said he didn't know what phone they would call on. I asked if I could place the land line over on his side of the bed (it is usually on my side) he said no, he would put his cell near the bed. So I asked if it was okay to hit him in the head with the land line when they called. He just lef the room. @@

So this morning I'm somewhere in the middle of a dream and I hear his cell phone go off. RING! I hear that DH is in the shower. RING! So I'm up looking all over for his darned cell phone. RING!
RING!
Is it on the night stand? NO!
RING!
Is it on his dresser? NO!
RING! <-I'm thinking.."how long does this sucker ring before going to voice mail???"
RING!
I yell to DH "WHERE IS IT???" He yells back "Never mind, I'll call them back when I'm done."
It has stopped ringing and I find that he had placed it on the bathroom counter. @@

He gets out of the shower and calls them back from the closet. The dog who had heard all the commotion before now hears him talking and she starts barking cuz she wants to be with us!

I get up cuz I can't go back to sleep NOW. DH is off the phone and I explain my early morning "Easter phone" hunt to him. To which he laughs.

I tell him that he SHOULD have placed the phone next to the shower where he could reach it. He says he doesn't want to answer the phone and get it all wet.
I say putting the phone by the shower isn't so he can answer it...it is to prevent Murphy from calling while you're in the shower. He laughs!

I go downstairs and let the dog out and make my coffee. Sigh!

Oh by the way...It's time to order your Girl Scout cookies!

workout log

30 min today. I didn't die (am I supposed to be all shakey afterward?) and I didn't wake Darly up either. Weird!

MedNotes - a place to keep track of your meds

I have to admit that I’m very lucky in that my family doesn’t have a lot of medications that we have to take…yet. Currently the only one of us on anything is DH…he is treating his thyroid problem that he inherited from his mother. Sigh.

However, when my mom came and stayed with us in 2007 we got a bit of a taste of what managing prescriptions would be like. She’s on everything it seems! It didn’t help at all that my mother has telephobia and made me do all her prescription refill calls. We spent a lot of time at the pharmacy while she was here.

I sure wish we had known about this back then…

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workout log

25 min today. didn't die.

Me + Snow Skiing= DANGER!!!

TC asked me to blog about my skiing experiences. Lucky for me I've only gone skiing 3 times so I won't have to bore you too much...and who knows it might even be humorous.

Let me first say, I grew up in the south. I do not like to be cold. My body has NO insulation against cold...I don't know what all this fat on my body is for, but it doesn't keep me at all warm. So when it's cold out, I layer up and I look like the Michelin Man. I wish I could look like a cute snow bunny...but it aint happenin.

The very first time I went snow skiing was when I was 20 or so. I went with a male who swore that I wouldn't need any snow skiing lessons because he could teach me everything that I needed to know... ummm I should have never listened to him because his idea of teaching me was to yell at me for not picking up how to do this intuitively. sigh I did manage to figure out a few things on my own, but I made the very sad mistake of falling down near a skiing class. The instructor decided to use me and an example to his entire class. Now before when I fell down I would just pop my bindings open to remove my skis, get upright and then pop my skis back on. But "Mr Instructor" wanted me to help him show his class how to do it without taking off my skis. @@ So Mr Instructor is telling me to turn around on my bottom to align my skis perpendicular to the hill (note: I was already perpendicular to the hill to begin with!!!) then he is telling me to put my ski polls on the downhill side of my skis while my bottom is on the uphill side. then I'm supposed to heave myself up over my skis. Problem...I didn't have the strength to do that. I tried about 3 times before the instructor decided that perhaps I might be telling the truth. He then decided to give me a hand up...and when that didn't work either! He gave up and allowed me to pop off the skis. I popped off my skis, got up popped my skis back on and was on my way. sigh! This was also the trip where I ended up doing one of those cartwheel falls and at one point ended up with my back facing downhill!!! Lucky for me we called it a day at about noon.

My next ski trip I went with DH & BIL. We first tried out the ski area with some harder runs for BIL since he is a black diamond skier. We got to the ski lift and headed up the hill on a 3 person lift. I was in the center and as we reached the top I realized that I needed to push off on something to get off, but there was nothing for me to grab as the entire lift was taken up by BIL & DH!!! I'm trying to figure out what to grab and the next thing you know I'm still on the lift as it is going down. I'm sooooo glad I had on sunglasses as I was so embarrased!!! As I'm heading down I can hear the people heading up saying "I wonder if they know she's still on there?" Apparently they did know I was on there. DH & BIL met me at the bottom and DH says he overheard some of the conversations that happened there. The ski patrol was all upset that they had not been notified of an injured skier...they send injured skiers down on the lifts. They were told that at the top they had no idea why I was still on there. When I reached the bottom they stopped the lift for me...figuring that I must not know how to get off...but since they don't use the down side the snow there was all fluffy and I promptly fell down! (kill me now...PLEASE!) DH & a lift opperator came over to help me up and drag me away.

We then decided that perhaps it would be better if I was on an easier run and headed over there on another lift. This time I was on the edge so I could push off! We did the easy run a few times and decided to try out a different run nearby. This run was labled as an easy green circle run. DH & I get there and find that no one is on this run??? and it's powder! WHAT??? I've never skied powder before and faster than you can blink I'm under the surface. I ended up falling and getting snow in my pants! BURRR! I somehow manage to get myself and my skis above the snow and try again only to be under the snow again. Phoey! I give up! I pop off my skis and I walked down the mountain. I spend the rest of our time on the very easy, not too long hill.

My very last ski trip we go back to this same ski area and I am determined to stay on the hill I know. And at first I'm doing very well zigzagging across the hill. But as time passes the slope gets more crowded and the sun came out & the winds picked making the slope start to ice over. My last time up the slope is packed with humans...there was no where to go except right under the chair lift. There was no where to zigzag to slow down, and I'm headding straight down the hill picking up speed cuz it's all ice. As I reach the bottom the hill is even more crowded and I don't know where I'm supposed to try to stop. Picture crazy fast skier waving hands & polls around trying to get oblivious folks to move out of my way! DH sees me, but he's on the lift and there isn't a thing he can do...I guess he was going to trip me or something. Finally I spot an area that had no humans in it and aim for that. I plow in for what was supposed to look like a beautiful stop like you see in the movies..only it wasn't beautiful. It looked more like a slide into home plate with me twisting flat on my back and the skis popping off! what I landed in was a rock hard pile of snow that had been plowed from the parking lot. And it is only by the grace of God that I didn't end up making a new doorway into the giftshop.

I haven't had the urge to go skiing since. But I do want Darly to go...and get lessons! I'm so glad that my brother & his wife are smart enough to send my nephew to lessons instead of trying to teach him themselves. I should take Darly up during the week while DH is at work...yeah, that would work. hee hee now to save up the money for this. LOL!

workout log

worked out today for 20 min...was going to try to do longer but I ran out of book!

workout log

worked out today for 20 min. need to try to do more.

Birthday report 2009 edition

I have to back track just a tiny bit to tell you about Saturday. ;)

The weather man had reported that we would get some snow on Saturday and all day the sky was yucky, like it was gonna snow, but you really couldn't be sure it was gonna happen. So since we had nothing better to do we loaded up the car to make some returns & exchanges and did a bit of shopping too.

While we were at Michaels (which DH fell in love with!) it began to snow. By the time I had looked out the store's front windows there was already an inch of fluffy stuff on everything! I pointed this out to DH & Darly. Seeing as we were already out it didn't matter really how much snow was coming so we kept on shopping.

When we were ready to leave there might have been an inch & a half of snow but it was still falling. I'm not sure why but we chose to not put the Explorer in 4x4. Going home we had two choices of routes...I told DH to take the route that goes up a hill because it is shorter. My Bad

As we are trying to get to our turn we notice the cars in front of us trying to avoid something. Finally we reach it and realize what is going on. There are two small sized sedan type cars that are pretty much stuck in the middle of the road trying to get up the hill. Luckily there was plenty of room to get around them on both sides and we pulled into the left turning lane to get off the hill...we slipped just a bit. As we turned we saw a "bumper bump" where a mini-van had rear ended a Jeep. This was a bit crazy. Luckily we made it home only slipping around a bit, but had to put the Explorer into 4x4 to get it up our steep driveway.

DH stayed outside to shovel the snow but it was coming down faster than he could shovel, so he gave up.

DH woke me up this morning (thank goodness! or I would have overslept...bed felt so good this morning.) and while I was in the shower he went to shovel the driveway so we could get out to go to Church. We had about 6 inches of snow with some drifts too.

We had to be at Church at 9:30 because I had to teach Sunday School...however, I slacked off on that today. It's my birthday! And they have us teaching the kids the same Bible stories that they've heard over and over since Pre-K for 3 weeks each. My kids have begged that we don't do 3 weeks worth and I agree with them. Last year they had tests on these lessons...they know this stuff! So instead of our lesson we chatted about our Christmases and some other stuff too. But eventually the kids got tired of that and I just let them go to the Fellowship hall in search of cookies. (aren't I evil to return these kids to their parents hyped up on sugar? ;) bwahahaha!)

So we get upstairs to go to service and notice that the folks who were supposed to usher are not there yet. Holly & I volunteer to usher until the other folks get there. Pastor thanks us and goes off to get ready. After about 5 minutes Holly & I realize that we get to usher the entire service. DH came up and offered to usher for me, but I decided to do it anyway. (DH was the head usher at our Church in TX, so I have plenty of experience at this!) Everything went really well no worries.

After Church I get to pick what we're doing for lunch...I pick Quiznos. YUM! although the meat in the middle of my sandwich was a bit cold...I don't think the kid spread it out very well. I should have had a sammy like DH, but I was hungry.

We head home for my loot! Darly made me the cutest birthday card! It says: "Dear Mom,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! From...
=:3 =:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3 >^..^< (meow) =:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:3=:341 Bunnys and 1 Imposter!
Love,
Darly"

I LOVE IT! hee hee

then inside she has given me coupons for a free hair style by her and a backrub too. Cool!

Dh gave me a very nice card with a coupon for dinner tonight...my choice.

Darly & I watched my all time favorite movie... BABE. And this time Darly finally got why I think its so cute (I think!). LOL! I just love the little mice with the chapter titles. hee hee

So I had to decide where we should go for dinner. Tough choice. We ended up trying this place called The Dusty Boot Steakhouse & Saloon. They should really call it a Salloon cuz the steakhouse part was debatable! When we pulled up we could see through the HUGE plate glass windows a very large bar and massive big screen TVs everywhere. My first thought was RUN! But we decided to see how bad it was.

When we got inside it wasn't that noisy at all. Good!
they sat us next to one of the HUGE windows. BAD!
The view of the gas station nextdoor was impressive. BAD!
They chose to leave the second door of the air lock open. BAD!

Then we looked at the menu. Seeing as it claimed to be a steakhouse, we first looked at the steaks. YIKES! The cheapest steak in the place was going for over $20. Gulp! That's a bit hard to swallow...pun intended. Instead DH & I decided to try out their Sunday special which was buy one buger get one free. Good choice...turns out they have very good hamburgers there. But it was so huge we could have shared one. Lilly is a happy pup tonight as she got the second half of my burger.

When it came time for dessert DH asked if they had something special for a birthday. They didn't, but the manager said we could have our dessert for half price...while our waitress was finding this out we decided that we would go to the grocery store and pick up one of those microwavable cakes isntead.

At the grocery store we picked up two microwavable cakes, icecream & some caramel sauce. YUM!

DH* over cooked our brownie cake tonight, but it still tasted good with the ice cream & caramel sauce on it! We topped it all off with sparkling apple cider and called it good! (*edited to remove all blame from Darly who did NOT over cook my brownie. I warned DH that the microwave was powerful and would probably take less time. sigh I love to be listened to.)

It was! Very good!

I broke my own rule!!!

I broke my own rule by buying myself a new range for my birthday/valentines day/St Patricks day/Easter/Mother's Day/Anniversary etc present...for a while! I suppose it's okay though seeing as I didn't really want anything else.

After begging and pleading with my oven for it to not be broke I've finally given up!

I asked DH if we should call an appliance guy out to look at it to replace the part. The part alone is $200...who knows what the appliance person would charge to come out, labor and what his mark up on the part would be. DH figures for all of that we might as well just get a new oven. Course I don't think he was planning on it costing as much as it did.

So today after looking online we went to Home Depot (cuz they're having a sale) and looked at ovens. I decided that I really wanted a double oven range. I grew up with the old double oven range that looks a lot like the range with a microwave where the hood goes...can't find those anymore! LOL! So this double oven takes out the storage drawer and uses that space for another oven.

At our Home Depot store they really didn't have much that I could look at...they only had one double oven in the store (wrong color of course!). So I decided to look at their website. Just to be sure I checked out Lowes, Sears & Factory Appliance Outlet...OH and AAFES too (that's the Army Airforce Base Exchange store). Yup, Home Depot definately had the best price.

So I got the range much cheaper than the other stores had it for, then HD was offering 10% off that price...AND I got a rebate on my delivery. (sucks that I have to wait for that money back)


Here's the link http://tr.im/2w73

I am giving up three features for this range though. My current range has a dual burner that can either be small or large depending on how you turn the knob. It also has a Sure Simmer burner where you push in the button and instead of cycling on and off like a normal electric stove it stays on (I tried to use it once and it was just too hot to cook with!) and this range also has a split rack where you can take half of it out so you can fit large items in the oven and still bake on the other side. Kinda cool.

but I don't use the Sure Simmer cuz it gets too hot. I'll learn to live w/o the dual burner (it was my favorite!) and since I'll have two ovens I shouldn't need the split rack.

Now I should clean up my old range and see if anyone wants one that needs some work.

workout log

worked out on the eliptical trainer for 20 min. getting easier to do.

New Years

First a late shout out to my "little" brother...Happy Birthday "lil" brother. Of course he will immediately emphasize that he is my YOUNGER brother, not little brother...which is quite obvious if you get us all together. LOL! I'm the oldest of 4 kids...the rest were boys. This affords me the status of being the Favorite Daughter, Favorite Sister and even Favorite Granddaughter... because I'm the only. LOL!

New Years Eve I was about 6 minutes into my attack of the eliptical trainer when the phone rang. I ignored it knowing that I could call back whomever it was when I was done in about 14 more minutes. but the next thing you know my cell phone was going off! I knew from the ring tone (I've assigned each of my friends their own tone) who it was. And sure enough she called back on the land line a bit later. I went ahead and picked it up as it was right next to the eliptical trainer and continued my self-torture.

She wanted to borrow my daughter for an evening of New Year's fun, but emphasized that she wouldn't keep her overnight. In my delirium, I agreed to take the girls afterward. but we would work out the details after I finished working out and got a shower.

Next the phone rings just as I'm getting off the eliptical and it's my co-Leader of the Homeschool Support Group. We hash out a few details and then I call back the New Year's Eve party planner. note: still no shower! I now have a to do list. I call up the mom of the other party girl. note: STILL NO SHOWER! I'm just about to step into the shower and DH calls...he wants to confirm our NYE plans. I never did find out what he really wanted though cuz I told him about our plans. He was coming home early.

Finally I get a shower...whew! Things were getting a bit rank...reminder: wash the bathrobe!

I take Darly to her friend's house for NYE party and head for home.

Dh & I enjoyed a nice dinner of Broiled chicken, linguini alfredo (fetuchini takes forever to cook!) and asparagus. YUM! We then watched TV. DH was annoyed about something and never told me what that was so we sat in silence. sigh

at about 10:30 I checked in with the party and found that they were just about to transfer over to me.

The girlies arrived at about 11:15 or so and promptly went to play. We didn't hear anything out of them. Ahhh this could be a good evening?

At 11:55 I called the girls up for the countdown. They grabbed their hats & horns to get ready. DH poured them all plastic cups of sparkling apple cider which we had a hard time keeping them from drinking early. And finally it was 2009!

The girls made a ton of noise, both inside and out, drank their cider and went back to playing.

They all stayed up way to late while I slept on the couch! Nice evening.

Vaseline Clinical Therapy Lotion – thoughts

Well I’ve been using my Vaseline Clinical Therapy lotion for almost a week now and I wanted to report on its progress.

I love how it feels. The lotion goes on with no greasy feel and makes my hands all silky smooth. I also tried it on a really dry and itchy spot on my leg and that feels much better too. Before the lotion I had those “snag on everything” type hands. I tell ya, doing all the extra holiday dinner dishes had done a real number on me! But the Vaseline Clinical Therapy lotion made a real difference. And maybe it’s my imagination, but my fingernails feel healthier too…usually by this length I’m getting splits and snags on everything.

And now you’re wondering about the giveaway…
Well since I have 5 bottles of lotion to share and I had exactly 5 folks who said they wanted one…that worked out pretty well. Don’t cha think? I think it was fate that we had been chatting this lotion up on my Homeschooling board right before I got the review. One of the other moms had just been saying how much she liked the lotion and wham! I have some for the other moms to try out. I’ll be sending out the samples this week.

Thanks again to Vaseline for giving us the opportunity to try out this product and also to the Family Review Network.