Much Ado About MOPS

Today I attended my very first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting.

And I quite liked it.

Jackson got to go in a room with all the kids and play and I got to interact with other women who have young children. And who live in Norwalk. It was a two-for-one deal for me. I've lived here for 6 1/2 years and I still feel like I don't know anyone. This was just perfect.

They did some introductions and then there was a speaker on children's first aid. It was really interesting and we even got to make first aide kits for our cars. Mine is proudly located in my glove box. Then we broke into groups and answered health-related questions like how we baby-proofed our house and why kids seem to wear their boo-boos as badges of honor. All of the moms were super-nice and I felt at ease talking to them.

The group meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month but I secretly wish it was every week. :)

Baby, it's cold outside

So I am lying in bed this morning with Jackson watching The Weather Channel's Local on the 8's and they say it is -13 with a windchill of -34. I don't remember it ever being that cold out before. Although, I did read somewhere this past Summer that the Farmer's Almanac said this winter was going to be bitterly cold.

Anyway, while watching tv, I started to think about how lucky we are to the greatness that is Local on the 8's. Every eight minutes it tells us what the weather is in my town. Every. Eight. Minutes. I guiltily admit that there have been times that I have kept The Weather Channel on for an hour and just watched all the Local on the 8's that play in that time frame...that's five times. I feel that perhaps I am borderline obsessed with Local on the 8's. I watch it first thing in the morning, I watch it as soon as I get home from work, I watch it again before I lay clothes out for the next day, I watch it right after dinner and I watch it right before bed. Then it starts all over again.

But then, there are the times where The Weather Channel decides they have to play an actual show and then Local on the 8's doesn't come on! Seriously, I need my Local on the 8's fix. Why must they torture me like that? And my poor mother. She lives in the country and has a satellite dish ... her Weather Channel doesn't do a Local on the 8's. It just does an overview of the major metro cities. It doesn't have the catchy guy saying "Currently, it is -13 degrees in your area with partly sunny skies". Or better yet "The Week Ahead!"...the computerized male voice says it with such vigor.

Sigh. I *heart* you, Local on the 8's.

Have you EVER?

I saw this on Shaunda's blog and I thought it looked like fun!

The things I've done are in bold.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis - got bit by one, too!
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (from the beach)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch - only if graphic design counts!
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice --- this is my dream!!!!
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run -- on Wii baseball :)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone - my toe
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible required to be an Honor Star
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club9
3. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. DONE any thing this silly before?

This is why I love JC Penney

I was reading a current blog posting at one of my favorite blogs -- www.jenontheedge.com (you must follow this blog; it is sheer genius) -- and it reminded me of an email I received about JC Penney catalog ads from years ago. And since we could all use a good laugh on a Friday, I thought I would share. Too bad these styles aren't still available. :) The commentary added by whoever came up with this original email just adds to it. Enjoy!

Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife's grandfather. While my wife's brother and I were fitting the fan in between the joists, we found something under the insulation. What we found was this:

A JC Penney catalog from 1977. It's not often blog fodder just falls in my lap, but holy hell this was two solid inches of it, right there for the taking. I thumbed through it quickly and found my next dining room set, which is apparently made by adding upholstery to old barrels:

Also, I am totally getting this for my bathroom:


There's plenty more home furnishings where those came from, however I'm not going to bore you with that. Instead, I'm going to bore you with something else. The clothes.

The clothes are fantastic .

Here's how to get your ass kicked in elementary school:


Just look at that belt. It's like a boob-job for your pants. He probably needed help just to lift it into place. The belt loops have to be three inches long. And way to pull them up to your armpits, grandpa.

Here's how to get your ass kicked in high school:


This kid looks like he's pretending to be David Soul, who is pretending to be a cop who is pretending to be a pimp that everyone knows is really an undercover cop. Who is pretending to be 15.

Here's how to get your ass kicked on the golf course:

This "all purpose jumpsuit" is, according to the description, equally appropriate for playing golf or simply relaxing around the house. Personally, I can't see wearing this unless you happen to be relaxing around your cell in D-block . Even then, the only reason you should put this thing on is because the warden made you, and as a one-piece, it's slightly more effective as a deterrent against ass-rapery.

Here's how to get your ass kicked pretty much anywhere:


If you look at that picture quickly, it looks like Mr. Bob "No-pants" Saget has his hand in the other guy's pocket. In this case, he doesn't, although you can tell just by looking at them that it's happened - or if it hasn't happened it will. Oh yes. It will. As soon as he puts down his matching coffee cup.

Here's how to get your ass kicked at the beach:


He looks like he's reaching for a gun, but you know it's probably just a bottle of suntan lotion in a holster.

How to get your ass kicked in a meeting:



If you wear this suit and don't sell used cars for a living, I believe you can be fined and face serious repercussions, up to and including termination. Or imprisonment, in which case you'd be forced to wear that orange jumpsuit.

How to get your ass kicked on every day up to and including St. Patrick's Day


Dear god in heaven, I don't believe that color exists in nature. There is NO excuse for wearing either of these ensembles unless you're working as a body guard for the Lucky Charms leprechaun.

In this next one, Your Search For VALUE Ends at Penneys.


As does your search for chest hair.

And this -- Seriously. No words.


Oh wait, it turns out that there are words after all. Those words are What. The. F***. I'm guessing the snap front gives you quick access to the chest hair. The little tie must be the pull tab.

Also, judging by the sheer amount of matching his/hers outfits, I'm guessing that in 1977 it was considered pretty stylish for couples to dress alike. These couples look happy, don't they?




I am especially fond of this one, which I have entitled "Cowboy Chachi Loves You Best."


And nothing showcases your everlasting love more than the commitment of matching bathing suits. That, and a blonde girl with a look on her face that says "I love the way your junk fights against that fabric."



Then, after the lovin', you can relax in your one-piece matching terry cloth jumpsuits:


I could go on, but I'm tired, and my eyes hurt from this trip back in time. I think it's the colors. That said, I will leave you with these tasteful little numbers:

Man, that's sexy.

It's been a while ...

Well, I am a slacker. It's been almost two months since my last post. If my blog were alive, it would be dead by now. I tried to make it up to my blog by giving it a new look for the winter season.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season -- you know, the two or three of you who may happen to read this. haha!! :)

I will try my best to keep this updated, but damn Facebook seems to have taken over my life!

Happy Halloweiner!

I should preface this by saying that I don't know who's dog this is, I found it on the Internet.

Hope you all have a great fright night!

What Halloween Costume Should I Bee? :)

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

A Bumble Bee

What Should You Be For Halloween?

Swim Lessons & Camping at Mohican

This past weekend Jackson had his very first swim lessons and we also went camping at Mohican! I had never been camping before and it was so much fun. It was really good, quality family time. We even went canoeing...and saw a drunk guy fall out of his canoe into the river. BJ and I couldn't even look at him as we paddled by because we were laughing so hard. We also ate hot dogs cooked in the fire and made s'mores. Mmmmm! I had to laugh at BJ though because he forgot to pack warm clothes and wrapped himself up in a big blue blanket he had in the back of his car. I can't wait to go back next year and hopefully stay more than just one night. I will put the pictures in two posts, since you can't upload too many at once. :)

Let's go fly a kite

So in the midst of the big wind we had not too long ago, we decided to go to the reservoir to fly Jackson's kite. The three of us haven't laughed that hard in a long time. We had so much fun and we almost lost the kite -- the wind blew it right out of our hands!

Jackson's 4th Birthday

I can't believe my little boy is 4 already! This year we had his birthday party at the bowling alley in town and everyone had a blast, especially Jackson! On his actual birthday, I took the day off of work and BJ and I spent the whole day with our little guy. We went to the game room at Kalahari, to the Exchange to get him a used X-box game, to Toys R Us to use a gift card Jackson had gotten and then finally to Applebee's, which is what he wanted for his birthday dinner. It was a busy, fun day. I should also mention that I bought a Wii that day, too. I told BJ to consider it his early Christmas present!

First Day of School

Words to live by

I subscribe to a newsletter at work that comes from a psychologist and it discusses effective ways to live a better life. I love the things that this newsletter conveys and wanted to share part of the one I received today:
_____________________________________________
1. Personal Effectiveness Tips

A. Keep in mind that, when holding grudges, the only person that really suffers is the person doing it. It’s also an unfair way to deal with people-nobody is perfect, and it is difficult if not impossible to deal with someone who is always bringing up imperfections, mistakes, or other things that happened previously. Deal with things as they happen, and move on.

B. Get fierce about your time management. This means:

i. Scheduling priorities at the beginning of the week. This entails actually
putting them down on your calendar.
ii. Eliminating as many time wasters (internet, TV, conversations with coworkers
that love being paid by the hour, etc) as possible
iii. Building flexibility into your week. Do things when you have the energy to
do them-even if it means working at midnight and napping at 11 am on a
Tuesday.
iv. Blocking out chunks of time to do things that have nothing to do with career
or your profession. This allows you to recharge your battery on a consistent
basis.

C. Practice being more responsive. Return emails and calls more quickly, listen better for longer periods of time, and start offering those around you more reasons to hang out with you. You’ll surprise most people, and stand out in the crowd.

Nobody controls your life but you. Some situations and events are outside our sphere of influence, certainly, but in the end, it is you that controls how you react to things around you. You are directly responsible for the quality of your daily life, and for the quality of your relationships. So, before you begin complaining about your lot in life, stop for a second and figure out what it is that you have done to bring about these consequences. You may not have had a choice in being fired, or divorced, or any other unfortunate event, but you certainly had a choice in how you responded to that event and portrayed it to others.

Work to eliminate excuses. You’ll find out that you actually have much more influence over your life than you previously thought. You’ll also be a much more productive and well-adjusted individual.
________________________________________________________
Everytime I read one of his newsletters I just have this feeling of wanting to make my life better. And I like how he gives it to you straight...I am not a beat-around-the-bush type of person. Be honest with me, don't sugar-coat things for my benefit. That only makes me feel patronized and that you don't think I can handle the truth.

Whoa. I just had "A Few Good Men" moment.

Randomness

1. Do you put the toilet paper on coming over the top or underneath, or does it matter? If someone puts it on wrong do you have to fix it? Nope, I don't care as long as their is TP on the roll.

2. Do you wear shoes in the house? If I am cleaning I do. Otherwise I go barefoot. In the winter I wear socks or slippers to keep my tootsies warm.

3. If something falls out of the dryer when you’re folding clothes or putting it in the laundry basket, do you have to rewash it or do you just continue on like nothing happened? I just shake it out and keep on trucking. The 5 second rule also applies to clothing.

4. Which side of the bed do you sleep on? What about in a hotel? Considering that I usually sleep alone because BJ is at work, I sleep in the middle. But on the weekend when he is there, I sleep on the left. Same with hotels.

5. Do you do everything in the shower in the same order every time? Yup -- wash my face, put shampoo on my hair and rinse it, put conditioner on, wash my body, rinse conditioner. If I have to shave I insert do that after the face-washing.

6. How many times a day do you think you wash your hands? Never. Just kidding -- I don't know that I have ever counted.

7. What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning? Does it ever vary? I always go to the bathroom.

Alphabet Game

This was too cool not to do!

A is for age: 31

B is for burger of choice: The ones my husband makes are pretty darned good!

C is for the car I drive: 1999 Honda Civic

D is for your dog's name: Maddie and Lucy

E is for essential item you use every day: toothbrush and toilet!

F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Design Star, Next Food Network Star, Greatest American Dog

G is for favorite game: Trivial Pursuit

H is for home state: Ohio

I is for instruments you play: used to play the flute and sort of piano and guitar

J is for favorite juice: Orange or CranApple

K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: our wonderful state legislators

L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Peking House

M is for your favorite Muppet: Kermit the Frog

N is for number of piercings: 6 (three in each ear)

O is for overnight hospital stays: 2004 -- childbirth; 1997 -- gallbladder

P is for people you were with today: Jackson and my co-workers

Q is for what you do with your quiet time: sleep -- that's the only time it's quiet in my house

R is for biggest regret: i try not to live with regrets, although i will say ever getting involved with my ex-boyfriend definitely classifies as a regret.

S is for status: Married since 2004

T is for time you woke up today: 6:18 a.m.

U is for what you consider unique about yourself: When I was in 4-H I was in Purple Cirlce magazine :) haha! I was also in an article in American Baby Magazine when Jackson was about 18 months old.

V is for vegetable you love: Green Beans

W is for worst habit: Leaving dishes in the sink

X is for x-rays you've had: teeth, head, knee, chest, wrist, hand, foot

Y is for yummy food you ate today: So far I have only had a whole wheat english muffin with dutch apple pie jam that i bought at a farmer's market

Z is for zodiac: Sagittarius

Photographic Update on Us!

Whew! It's been almost a month since my last post. It seems like that month has just flown by. Below are just some of the things we've done from May 24 up until a couple weeks ago. There's us at Thomas the Train in Cleveland, Jackson riding his bike and playing in the sprinkler with Lucy, Jackson eating watermelon and Jackson pretending he is a cowboy.

We also went to Kalahari, had my sister's college graduation, went bowling and went to the zoo. Hopefully I'll put those pictures up soon, too. The next couple of weeks are going to be hectic. I am flying out next Monday to Minnesota for three days for a work-related training. I'm looking forward to that; hopefully I'll get to see the Mall of America!! :)

Hoppy Times

I can't believe it's been a month since I've made a post! Where does the time go?! This video is of my silly boy having fun with the bag that my Mother's Day present came in :)

Meal Plan Monday

It's been a while since I've done this, so here's our menu for the week:

Monday -- frozen pizza, carrot sticks, salad

Tuesday -- crockpot lemon chicken, corn on the cob, salad

Wednesday -- breakfast (scrambled eggs w/veggies, potatoes, oatmeal)

Thursday -- Lasagna, green beans, garlic bread, salad

Friday -- Pot pie, warm applesauce, salad

Easter

Yes, I'm a little late, but better late than never, right? :)

Feeling Funk-y

I've been in a funk the last few days. Yesterday, I should have been in the hospital delivering a beautiful little baby, but instead, I was at work -- my uterus empty and my heart broken. Yes, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 should have been my due date.

I had been dealing with it semi-ok up until Saturday. My family was supposed to come up for Easter, but we ended up postponing it until this coming Saturday. I was hoping that having everyone at the house would prevent me from thinking about it so much, as that was all that was on my mind for the days leading up to Tuesday. I spent most of Saturday morning and afternoon in bed crying until my husband almost dragged me out of bed to get me out of the house. So the rest of Saturday was ok, then Sunday we dyed eggs and had our own little holiday celebration.

Today I'm doing a little better, not much, but a little. I felt bad last night; I was so impatient with Jackson and snapped at him often. He wanted me to play with him but all I wanted to do was sit in the recliner, watch Dr. Phil (coincidentally about women who were tired of being moms) and feel sorry for myself.

Everyone told me that with time I'd get over having a miscarriage or that it would get easier to deal with. I have yet to experience either of those. I think I just get better at hiding how I feel about the situation.

Then I think, 'is it fair of me to be so upset?'. I was only 6 weeks along and a baby never developed -- I was pregnant without a baby. So I didn't lose a baby. I just lost a "growth". Maybe that's what's hard to swallow. How can your body make you feel pregant -- your stomach swells, you have morning sickness and cravings, yet there's no baby? I constantly wonder: would it have been a girl or a boy? What would he/she looked like?

Luckily we start counseling next week so hopefully I can work through these issues. I feel like sometimes all I do is whine about it. So for those of you who read this and who I've whined to, I'm sorry.

Happy Easter

I hope you all have a glorious Easter! My mom and grandparents are coming up on Saturday and we are all going to go to the egg hunt up town. This will be our first time going to the egg hunt as we are usually in my hometown for Easter and take Jackson to the one there.