How Bold Are You?

I saw this on Cindi's blog and decided to follow suit.

The idea is to copy and paste to your own blog and bold or underline the things you have done.
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73 Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (in the process)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Para sailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read them
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (do fish count?)
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

If you do it I would love a link to your post.

Twas the Day before Thanksgiving...

And all thru the house...all the creatures are stirring but please, NO MOUSE.

The kids are home from school and we had what I consider a pretty good day. We got up leisurely and had breakfast and the kids played while i grabbed a bath. Dale went to the gym and the imps and i headed up to Publix to pick up a few last minute items. We came home and made Turkey Treats (see picture below) I found the idea in some kiddie cookbook i picked up at the Reader's Digest warehouse sale. I was amazed at how much fun the kids had doing it. I thought they'd grow bored quickly but they really stayed focused on it.



Then we had lunch and teamed up with Christine, AJ and Nana to take all the kids to see ENCHANTED. (an adorable movie in my humble opinion) Came home...kids played outside for a bit and then we did dinner and now John is in the bathtub and Josh & Ebeth are watching THE GOONIES on the couch (A film I liked a lot when i was a young teen.)

Tomorrow afternoon will be busier than a one armed paperhanger, but should still be fun. I have to admit I'm bribing the imps into good behavior. Not a good thing, but I'm soooo tired of threatening with punishments if they MISBEHAVE. And the day is usually so long and boring to them with no other cousins to play with. Cross your fingers for us.

Thanksgiving Preparation

Today is Tuesday...big push to get things done today because tomorrow the imps will be home from school. Hard to go shopping when they're with me. Plus the grocery stores are always so crowded on Wednesdays. My big thing I'm in charge of this year is Macaroni & Cheeses. Finally an excuse to use my Paula Deene Celebrations cookbook that Christine & Jeff gave me last year for Christmas. (autographed no less!) One for Thanksgiving at Grandmother Siler's. One for Thanksgiving w/Dale's family. For the King Thanksgiving dinner which will be all seafood (we figure that's more of what the 1st Thanksgiving was like) I'm supposed to bring some sort of Seafood salad. Thinking I may cheat on this one and buy it at the grocery store and put it in a pretty bowl. Bad Gina. Need to pick up some of those heavy duty compartmentalized paper plates. That's for the Simpson party. See, if i were hosting it...in my imaginary huge dining room, I'd get out my nice china and crystal. Alas...it's Solo & Chinnette for us.

Here's hoping everything goes smooth for your family.

13 Things I want my new home to have

My husband Dale and i are hoping to buy a new home relatively soon. We currently live in a small 3BR/2Ba home in Auburn...Who knows where we'll live next, but of this I'm certain..it MUST have the following 13 features.

13. GARDEN TUB. Actually, I should have put this as number one on my list...but it came to mind first. I'm a soaker. I love nothing more than kicking back in the bathtub with candles lit and a good book. Oblivious to the rest of the world. That's living I say!

12. 4 Bedrooms and room for an office. That office can be another bedroom or it can be a living room...whatever. We have just got to get our office out of our immediate bedroom. Dale works from home and it's just too much to have him in here.

11. Dale a closet. Poor man is using the coat closet in miniscule hallway that we currently have. The man needs space in his own bedroom to get dressed.

10. A Master Shower. In our current bedroom, we have a garden tub...but it's still the world's smallest master bath! There's no room for a shower in there and we must use the kids bathroom and then traipse across the house to get dressed.

9. A large backyard..preferably fenced so that we can get a pooch. And so the kids can play ball etc. I dont want a postage stamp back yard.

8. A Pantry. I'm so tired of having to use my cabinets for food when i have so much other STUFF that could go in there.

7. A LARGE linen closet. We will have 3-4 beds...with 2-3 sets of sheets each....Then add towels for the 5-6 of us. I need SPACE.

6. At least 1800sf. I want it large enough that anyone can have some quiet time. I want space to turn around in without bumping into someone.

5. I want it to have a good school district that is NOT Title 1. Call me a snob. I dont care. When it comes to the kids schooling, I just feel they would get better educations at a school that has more money.

4. A room for laundry...not just a closet. Room to put the baskets down and still be able to shut the door to company.

3. Either a front porch or a back deck. Or Both. Currently I really dont have either. We sorta have a front porch, but it's hardly big enough for a bench. I want a place to relax and watch the kids.

2. A Rhompus Room. Did i spell that right? i dont know. But you know what i mean. A kid's play room where they can have the majority of their toys and shelves of their own and tv and bean bags chairs and I'll decorate it with framed game boards.

1. Room for all of us..for the kids to each have their own room and at least one extra room for company/friends/foster kids.

Am I asking for too much?

I Quit

I quit my job today...granted it was just a part time position, but I quit it none the less. I was working as a photographer's assistant and we went all over the Atlanta area to daycare centers taking pictures of the imps. We had them dressing up in nostalgic outfits in front of a really cool background. That part I enjoyed...but i hated the driving all over god and creation. I'd be in Union City or Canton or Rex or Alpharetta...none of these are even remotely close to where I live. It was just to wearing on my car and I hated being gone that much. So, I gave notice today. I told her I'd work today in Dawsonville but she said not to bother...but not in a bad way. My boss Kelly wrote me a very nice goodbye letter, so all was good with the world.

What a load it took off my shoulders though! I was spending a minimum of an hour to an hour and a half each way in the car. This is of course time you dont get paid for. They did pay you for gas...a whopping .18c a mile...but this just barely did cover gas. Nothing for my time or wear and tear on the car. We'll talk more about me going back to school after the holidays.

I'm going tomorrow to do one of those Marketing research studies where they actually PAY you for your opinions. This one pays $75 for 90 minutes. Not bad.

halloween pictures

Had to post them since in my opinion they look so cute. The pumpkin one was taken at a pumpkin farm in Watkinsville.

13 Things that fascinate/Intrigue me

13 The sinking of the Titanic. I'm fascinated with studying this beyond words. I have always been a big history buff and this sad story always has intrigued me. When the exhibit was in Tampa, i went down there to see it and the tragedy of it really hit home for me. I was on pins and needles waiting for the movie to come out back in Dec of 97...and was so disappointed that she broke her promise (She DIDNT hang on!!)

12. Lizzie Borden. Again..the tragedy of it. What would drive a person to do that to her family? Did Lizzie do it as everyone assumes? or was she truly innocent as she was found by the Massachusetts jury? We shall never know.

11. Concentration Camps. No, I'm not Jewish...but the atrocities that race have faced have captured my interest since I was a little girl and first read The Diary of Anne Frank. Then came The Hiding Place...then when i was in my late 20s a semi-boyfriend of mine took me on a train trip to Washington DC.While there, we visited the Holocaust Mueseum and it made me see things in such a more personal level.

10. Westerns...beit Western books like Louis L'amours...or Little House on the Prairie...or Butch Cassidy or John Wayne movies. Billy the Kid...Tombstone & Doc Holiday and the Earp Brothers.

9. The 20's & 30s. I love reading about the roaring twenties! I even did a 7th Grade social science project about the fads and fashions of the 20s. Love reading about the Lindberg baby kidnapping...or the St. Valentine's day Massacre. Morbid i know. Then the stock market crash and it's effect on everyone..the resulting "great depression" and our entry into World War Two.

8. David in the Bible. I love reading the Bible for it's literary value. I think David is the most fascinating character in it. So much of his life is simply unbelievable. I think I've read everything about him or written BY him. Much more interesting in his mistakes and triumphs. I mean this man messed up time and time again and yet he always returned remained in the favor of God. What a rolemodel for reality. Unlike Paul (my LEAST favorite character! that woman hater! LOL)

7. The Weather. Yes, it's true..i love to watch the weather. I love it when it may snow, or storm, or dip down to historic lows (or highs) i love giant storms and the power within them. I love watching clouds roll by or seeing the results of high winds.

6. Photography. Oh i'm not very good at it, but i love pictures. I love looking thru old pictures that arn't even mine. I love snapping shots and preserving a history thru them. I almost always have my camera with me and I'm really not even a very good photographer...but I manage to capture a lot that hopefully my kids will appreciate one day. I love making gifts out of them...of reminding people how important they are to me thru them.

5. Oral History. I love hearing old stories about the good old days. About how things were done "back then" about who's related to whom and how? I sooo need to get my grandmothers on tape telling some old stories or passing down some of their old recipes. Then I can weave them into some DVDs to give people in the future.

4. Life after Death. Ghosts...Spirits...Mediums. Too many episodes of Medium, Ghost Whisperer and Crossing Over. But golly it fascinates me. And it makes me feel so much more assured about the promises we read of in the Bible. It makes sense to me somehow.

3. Cemeteries. It all started when I first visited the main cemetery in Savannah before starting college down near there. I wandered from tombstone to tombstone reading the inscriptions and feeling the pain of the loved one who had it inscribed. Then I had a class in statistics where I had to visit the cemeteries and figure out statistics on what month most people died or were born. I love the history that the cemeteries preserve even if i do feel it's a waste of space in many growing communities.

2. Musical Lyrics. I love em!! I determine how much I like a song based on what the song is saying! First thing i do when I buy a CD is to pull out the jacket and read along as the song plays. I so envy songwriters and their amazing talent. Of taking our emotions and writing them out to song.

1. Weight Loss Success stories. I could read them over and over again. Stories of how people overcome adversity to lose multitudes of pounds. What I can learn from them. How I dream of one day losing my weight and inspiring others.

1, 2 & Thus...all about Us

My friend Cindi had this on her blog and I thought it was cute, so i decided to steal it.


A Little About Us

The basic facts:
Who is your significant other? Dale
How long have you been together? Just over 3 years.
Dating/Engaged/Married? Married for 2.5
How old is your S.O.? 45..46 in late November
What’s his/her middle name? Dale

Which one?
Who eats more? about the same but he takes bigger bites.
Who says "I love you" first? 50/50
Who weighs more? I do
Who sings better? He doesnt do it much, but when he does, he has the better voice.
Who’s older? Him.
Who’s smarter? He has the higher logical and mathematical aptitude but I'm better educated an more well read.
Whose temper is worse? His
Who does the laundry? He washes, I fold & put away
Who does the dishes? He does...I cook
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're standing at the foot, looking at the head, i sleep on the right.
Whose feet are bigger? His
Whose hair is longer? Mine
Who’s better with the computer? HIM
Who mows the lawn? He does
Who pays the bills? i do...when he tells me to. And how much to send them etc.
Who cooks dinner? I do
Who drives when you are together? He does 90% of the time. But i dont mind doing it.
Who pays when you go out to dinner? I give the credit card/debit card to the waiter and sign for it. It comes out of our joint account of which he is the primary contributor.
Who's the most stubborn? He says me, I say, i don't know
Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong? I am
Whose parents do you see more? Probably mine
Who named your dog? We don't have any pets currently, but if we did, i'm sure i'd name it.
Who kisses who first? 50/50
Who asked who out? He asked me out
Who's more sensitive? I say he is...he'd probably say I am.
Who's taller? He is
Who has more friends? Me
Who has more siblings? Him
Who wears the pants in the relationship? He does because he doesn't look good in a skirt.

Over all, I'd say he's the quieter more introverted, neater more organized one. I'm the outgoing, louder, more creative one.

13 top Halloween candies

In honor of Halloween, this week i'll discuss how i came to be this size. It wasnt by accident. It was due in part to these TOP 13 CANDIES

13. Marathon Bars...Do you remember them? they were about a foot long and braided i always thought like a ladder of some sort. They were chewy and yummy.

12. Hershey's Miniatures. Keep the dark chocolate, never wanted any of that...but bring on the Mr. Goodbars and the Krackles especially.

11. Milk Duds. Usually a staple at the movies along the following number 10, these gooey hard candies also come in miniature size. Love em cause they last a long time.

10. Raisinettes. One would think that with raisins in them they'd be at least a little bit good for you. No, they're just good.

9. Sugar Babies/Daddies, Mamas...they're all good. Oh I know how bad they are for my teeth but they were the best tasting of the "cheap" candies to me. Along with number 8.

8. Tootsie Rolls. I especially prefer the long narrow ones. But will take any of the ones in their multitude of sizes.

7. M&Ms. Again in just about any flavor, but in the old days my favorite were the peanut ones...these days bring on the peanut butter ones. And they lie, they DO melt in your hands!

6. Zero Bars. No chocolate in this item so i'm surprised it makes the list, but they harken me back to the old days at the public swimming pool and this was the one item i always bought.

5. Heath Bars/Skor. In the old days it was the Heath bar but with my more sophisticated palate the Skor bar has come to be a favorite. I also enjoy using them in Toffee Coffee Cake recipe that's to die for.

4. Kit Kats. Really, the serving size is too small in my book. One bite and it's half gone. who can really just bite off one stick of it at a time? And the miniature versions? Oh really now. Who are we kidding?

3. Snickers. A favorite all year..especially Easter with the egg shaped ones. My husband says that Milky Ways are nothing but snickers w/o the peanuts..but if that's the case, bring on the peanuts!!

2. Almond Joy's. Never been a Mounds gal, but i can eat TONS of the almond joys. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you dont.

1. REESES. Anytime, anywhere.

13 Thursday

13 Things on My Mind This Week

13. I'm Tired. I had to get up this morning and will again tomorrow and Monday at 4:45am. That's rough on me. My job is kinda like a split shift. Somedays, I work early and some I work evenings...The days I work mornings, I work harder. I do more manual lifting and toting etc. So I admit it, I'm Tarred!

12. Pumpkins. We need to go buy some and I'm trying to figure out the best thing to do. I can go to Bert's Farm up in Dawsonville, but it's going to be soooo crowded. Or I can just pick a roadside place and still have a pretty good selection. Or I can just go to Walmart. Decisions, Decisions.

11. Rain. We need it so bad. And while it supposedly rained today it really was hardly more than a sprinkle. My plants look sickly. They've cancelled what was going to be a really cool exhibit thing at Stone Mountain Park called Snow Mountain cause of it. Lakes are down, watering restrictions everywhere. Where's Burt Lancaster when you need him? (Cool points to you if you get the reference)

10. Weight Watchers. I'm doing better, but it's constantly on my mind. I've lost some this week, but not sure how much because I had to work Monday night (weigh in night) So, I'm thinking I may just hold out and go next week instead of trying to work in a weigh in.

9. My Headlight. I had a wreck back during the summer and we got the insurance money on it. But we still haven't had my headlight fixed. Now the light has gone out and we can't drive my car at night. This is driving me bonkers because I have to take Dale's suburban everywhere. His car is the best one to drive when I'm with the kids, but I don't prefer it for doing all the driving I have to do this week.

8. The grass needs mowing. It's a catch 22. Dale says it's the "man's job" but he hasn't had time to do it. It's too hard to try and mow when you've got three imps underfoot wanting to play, argue, etc.

7. Dinner. Wednesday is usually our going out to dinner night, but I had to work last night so we're going out tonight. Should we go to Golden Corral? Applebees? Sonny's? So many decisions.

6. Mom's finances. Trying to get everything in order on that. Since she's had the cancer, the bills have been mounting in amazing quantities and multitudes. So many forms and agencies to contact. Been trying to help her out but my schedule has kept me from doing all that i could. She did get some hopeful news from one place today, so maybe things are looking up.

5. Fight with my Brother. I've been irritated with him because he's only been to see my mom once in the past month and half that she's been so ill. So I confronted him about it yesterday...and let's just say it wasn't pretty. I'm not losing sleep over it, but it drained me yesterday and is still on my mind today.

4. My Finances. We're trying to save up the money to move...probably in June when the kids get out of school. So, we're putting every penny we can scrounge into savings and I'm constantly trying to figure out other ways to bring in money. We're doing ok, but it's always On my mind to quote Willie Nelson.

3. Gotta get my meds re-filled. Somewhere on this messy desk of mine are 3 prescriptions I need to have filled. 2 for my type 2 diabetes and one for this eczema thing i have going on my knee. I need to bite the bullet and sort this desk out and find them as I'm officially out of the old meds.

2. John's birthday. It's not til the end of November, but he gets the birthday party this year. With three imps that all have birthdays within 6 weeks of each other, we made the decision to only have one birthday party a year. They go in order as to who gets one. It's John's year an he'll be 6. I've decided to have it at this cool gymnastics/Jumpy place in Carl called A to Z (or something like that) I need to pay the deposit and get him a cake ordered. Also need to order E'beth a cake too. She wants one of those Barbie cakes like they have at Publix...but I asked about it the other day and it costs $45!!! I think that's too much to pay for the cake. Contemplating making one myself but i'm not very good in the icing department.

1. How little I've seen the kids this week. I've only seen them for 30 minutes Mon-Wed in the morning and maybe 5-10 min in the evenings when I get home. Then this morning i didnt get to see them at all...(but have spent all afternoon w/them...although I did fall asleep on the couch with them watching Wendy & Casper)
This kind of schedule will last thru about Wednesday of next week. We're trying to "make hay while the sun shines" with this part time job of mine. I feel like it's going to dry up in how much I'm working so I want to get all i can while i can. But I've missed them a lot.

So now you probably know more about what's on my mind than you ever wanted to.

Grant me patience...NOW

So we were talking at Sunday School about how we can be more High Performance Believers in our homes, community and work. Since i spend the majority of my time in the home, that's where I felt i should focus the most. And I got to thinking, if my children look at me (and Lord knows we know the kids DO watch us!) Do they see what Christian behavior should look like? Do they see a good example to follow? And I have to think that the majority of the time they don't. They see a shrieking woman trying to get three children off to school. Fussing at Joshua because he can't seem to realize he needs to put on deodorant EVERY day. Yelling at Elizabeth not to wipe the dray erase board with her knee pads. Hollering at John that we DON'T hit/grab by the arms our sister when she plays with our toy that we're not playing with in the first place.

I've got to learn a better demeanor. I've got to learn how to get my point across to the children in a more pleasant yet still authoritative manner. I want to make a loving non-violent home. I don't want the yelling. I used to dread when my mom used to yell at us as kids. Made me sick at my stomach. Now I find myself doing it all the time (which from a different view, completely diminishes it's impact)

I'm a naturally loud person, i come by it honestly! (Just listen to my Dad sometime!) But there's a difference between being loud and yelling. It's just something I need help on.

Thursday 13

With the weather turning colder (somewhat), my thoughts turn to the top 13 things I like about October.

13. Tons of festivals!! It seems like every weekend there's some sort of arts and crafts or apple or sunflower or SOMETHING worthy of a festival being named after it in the state of Georgia. Although my favorite festival (The Yellow Daisy Festival) is actually in September, there are tons of others I enjoy during October.

12. The showing of IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN. With the advent of dvds and videos of all the old favorites we grew up with, it's not so much of an annual event the way it was when we were kids...but I still like to watch it on tv...usually sponsored by Kraft Foods or Peppermint Patties (get it? grins)

11. The fall foliage. (Did i spell that right?) Anyway...here in the Atlanta area, it starts peaking around the last week in October. Take a look at my imps and our nieces in the below picture and you'll get an idea of how beautiful it gets. We have a HUGE leaf tree outside our front window that provides a wonderful view on crisp days.


10. Our first fire of the year. It's always sometime in October and I know that when we move to Florida that's going to be the one thing I miss the most. The sound of the crackling logs, the aroma of the scene, all of it just gives me a big case of the warm fuzzies.

9. Columbus Day. Obscure I know, but my husband actually gets the day off from work! Whoo hoo. How many holidays do we get that the kids are in school, but Dale's off from work? That's a double goodie. We're going to have a grand time on Monday!

8. Catalog Heaven. There's a huge push by all the companies to send out their catalogs in October so that you will consider them come Christmas. I love going thru catalogs and dream shopping. Right now, I have Lillian Vernon, E-Toys, etc all vying for my dollars.

7. Cooling Temperatures. After a long hot summer, it's so relaxing to have the temps dip below 80 in the days and below the 60s at night. The kids (and adults too) actually start going outside again to play. We all got in the front yard the other day and played giant frisbee together for half an hour. The kids frolicked in the front yard with my brother's pooch and we all just had a ball. We dont have have that kind of outdoor fun in the summer.

6. Birthdays. 2 notable ones in our family. My brother Steven's is the 23rd and son Josh's is the 6th. Steven will be THIRTY FIVE this year...and Joshi will be 9. Happy B'day to you both.

5. Football season is in full swing. I'm an oddity I know...a girl who loves football. But I love it when Sunday rolls around and my thoughts turn to the Falcons/Cowboys/Saints etc. I love the competition, the excitement and intrigue. I follow the Dawgs & Yellow Jackets some but I prefer Pro-Ball. Go Falcons.

4. Octoberfest in Helen. I know I should have put this in the festival section, but it's so big, it deserves it's own number. I love all the celebration, the brats, the music, the hype, etc. I love the drive up into the mountains. Etc.

3. Pommagrantes come in season. Another obscure thing, but when I was a kid, i loved these things. I begged my mom to buy them whenever she could...but they were only at the grocery store in October. I loved cutting them open and getting that purple juice all over myself! And I love the sour sweet taste as a fat seed pops in my mouth.

2. Christmas shopping starts. For me anyway. I may occassionally pick up something before now, but I start in earnest in October squirrling away things to give as gifts. My closet starts bulging at the seams as I try to get all of the shopping done before Thanksgiving. (It never happens, but I always try.)

1. Halloween. I'm sure noone is surprised by this revealing number 1. But god I love this holiday!! The costumes, the chocolate, the late nights, the parties, the chocolate, the jack o lanterns, the scarecrows, the haunted houses, EVERYTHING!! And here's my favorite picture of our family from Halloween.

Thursday 13

I don't have the fancy graphics that my friend Cindi does, but I'm just getting started on this. Today's topic will be...

13 Things I like to serve for breakfast as breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.

13. Cereal to the imps. Their favorites are cocoa puffs, apple jacks and Lucky Charms. And the one they all agree on and my personal favorite, FROSTED FLAKES.

12. Cinnamon Toast. My mom used to make this for us and I always loved it. I dont make it for myself because it has so much sugar, but I do make a Weight Watchers variation of it on bagels with splenda and "i cant believe it's not butter"

11. Mini-Bagels/Bagels. The imps love the mini-bagels with white cream cheese for Ebeth, strawberry cream cheese for Joshi and "sprinkle" (shredded) colby jack for John. I use a diet peanut butter called PB2 on mine and all fruit. Also buy my bagels from Publix and get the "alternative bagel" cause it's only 1 WW point.

10. Pancakes. Now I'm not a fancy maker of these...I admit to buying the "add water" mix and cooking them up on the griddle. And, I buy the low fat version to make for myself. I always make too many and end up freezing the rest for fast breakfasts during the week.

9. Egg Sandwiches. I haven't proven to the kids how wonderful these are, but I love them. Josh & John will occasionally join me with them. I like mine with light mayo and 2 scrambled eggs. But when I have them at Waffle House, I add the bacon and cheese.

8. Scrambled Egg Mix. I do this with egg beaters, salt, mushrooms, onions, and diced tomatoes. Very WW friendly and good too.

7. Grits. Sometimes with cheese, sometimes just butter, sometimes with chopped up smoked sausage. Any way shape or form, Grits are the way to go in my book.

6. Oatmeal. A staple on Weight Watchers. Personally, I have mine with sugar free syrup and I cant believe it's not butter.

5. Pop Tarts. For the imps, not me. The favorite in our house is Strawberry and Chocolate ones.

4. Leftover Pizza. Always a good staple but I have to admit that I do heat mine up.

3. Omlettes. Preferably from Waffle House with ham and cheese and hashbrowns on the side scattered, covered and chunked.

2. Golden Corral Buffet for breakfast. EVERYTHING on it.

1. Sausage Egg & Cheese McMuffin from McDonalds. I admit it, I'm a junk food junky!!!

Weight Watcher Failure

How do I start over? I know it sounds like a stupid question....the obvious answer is you just do it. But when you're 40 years old...been on weight watchers for closing in on 2 years and you've gained back all the weight you've lost. ...you just seem to wonder what's the use? Obviously, since you've been over weight all your life, this is what's destined to be!

But then I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror last night and i want to cry.)Heck, who am i kidding...i AM crying) At the sad blob I am. At the huge belly hanging down...and I dont want this! I'm huge guys! My eating is out of control...tons of excuses...none of them good ones. I start EVERY day with such good intent. I start each week with goals set...only to be broken. I start each week with pedometer on and exercise in mind...and my will power is so very week.

Here it is 530 in the morning and husband is AT THE GYM and has been for over an hour! Does that inspire me to do similar (we cant go in the morning at same time due to imps to get ready for school) ?? Noooooo. I MAY log in my 30 min on the treadmill...if i'm feeling extremely energetic. I'm so pathetic.

So back to the original question. How do i start over AGAIN? How do i get back into the swing of things? How do I become that person I was 1.5 years ago when i first joined weight watchers and measured and weighed everything? when I was counting every mouthful? When I lost 40 pounds in 6 months? (only to gain it all back!)

Any advice?

I'm Tarred

That's southern for I'm tired!! I've started a new part-time job working for a photography company that goes around to daycares taking pictures. It's a quality company that takes cool looking vintage, glitz and traditional pictures. My position is multi-fasceted. I help the photographer by getting the kids dressed in their outfits (we provide outfits) I set up the scene, I try to help them smile etc. And of course I help set up the backdrops and strike the set too. Additionally, I come back once the pictures come in and sell at the center. (We dont send them home ...we sell them right then and there) So I'm on my feet NON-Stop! And that's just not something I'm used to anymore. I am internet girl. I'm butt on a chair girl. But not at this job. so maybe it will help me out! Sure hope so. I had to get up at 5am this morning to leave by 530 so that I could be on the southside of Atlanta by 7am!! We wrapped up shooting around 2pm. Going back tomorrow for same thing.

The reason for this job? To earn enough money for us to make the move to Florida...hopefully by Jan 1. We'll see. Cross your fingers for us.

stuff

Ok, to catch people up on me and mine--

*** Mom's still in hospital but it's sounding better. Hopefully she'll be home in the next couple of days. Chemo is not set to start for at least 3-4 weeks.
*** Had a semi visit today. John's been sick so we kept him home from the visit and I stayed with him. Dale dropped the older two with her and brought Sheena home with him to go with me and John to lunch.
*** Which brings me to my eating. UGH. I have been AWOL from Weight Watchers for almost a month. I went back this past Friday with Christine and I was at the EXACT same weight I was 4 weeks ago. Which was UP from the last time I posted my weight on here. So I weigh in at 287.4.
*** I sorta have a part time job with a photography company but they haven't been keeping me busy. So, I'm thinking about becoming a substitute teacher here in Barrow County. The meeting is next week and we're still pondering it. It doesn't pay well and it's unstable. BUT, any money is one step closer to us moving.

All for now...

Mom

It's funny how when things are going well i'm all for blogging. Sharing my joy with the world. But one would think that in times of trouble I'd also find myself venting to my blog. But that hasn't been the case. It's like if I put the words down for others to read, it makes them all the more real. Well for the first time I'm putting down the words I learned a couple of weeks ago. My mom has cancer. As the chiild of a mother who's smoked all her life, I've always feared this day would come. That cancer of the lungs would rob her from me. But this colon cancer that has spread to her liver took me by surprise. It wasn't something I could be mad at her for contracting. It was noone's fault. She was in such pain and the doctors were mis-diagnosing her with diverticulitis. The surgery was last Tuesday and it went relatively well...but the doctors were unable to get the part that had to spread to the liver. So now she has to go thru Chemotherapy to shrink it (and hopefully disolve it all together) so they can go in and remove it too.

This has shaken me to my very core. I'd break out crying at the drop of the hat because I feared the worst. That she wouldnt be with us much longer. And it scared me. Scared me that we hadn't had enough good times together. Scared me that she wouldnt be here long enough to really get to be a part of the kid's lives. Scared me that I'd no longer have my biggest supporter around.

Her favorite words to me have always been, "if you think you can, you will. It's all in your state of mind." So I keep that mantra going these days for her. Trying to help her keep a positive state of mind.

Keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming.

First Day of School

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Weight Issues

Well tomorrow is weigh in day and it's going to be a large gain. I had a BAD
previous 2 weeks...and I'm one of those people that my body reacts
BADLY to being off plan. grins (dont we all?) I didnt weigh in at WW
but I did at home and I was UP about 8 pounds. So I jumped back on the
bandwagon this week. And it's slowly come down some. According to my
scales, I'm still UP from where I last went to meeting by about 4
pounds...but that's down 4 pounds from the end of last week. So you
can look at it either way. I had been toying with the idea of GOING to
the meeting but using the No-Weigh pass. But that's just playing
games with myself. I know I'm up I just need to face the OFFICIAL
music so to speak. Will post tomorrow after I get the BAD news...but expect about a 4 pound gain :(

Another Sunday, Another Visit

Another Sunday, another visit. We had a good time at ours (w/exception of a bad bad headache I've had all day) ...we went to Jillian's (an adult arcade/restaurant similar to Dave & Buster's) and had lunch and played games. The kids were taken to an outdoor flea market (not the best idea in my humble opinion due to the HEAT WAVE this area has been experiencing of late. But the kids like it because they know Linda will buy them something. It just helps re-enforce the idea they have that she's better because she buys them things. But that's another argument for another day.

Today's episode came when the kids were apparently hunting around for coke tops for me. I collect MyCokeRewards points to get free things like movie tickets. They apparently said they were collecting these for Mom. That pissed Linda off...and she fires back that "i'm not their Mother. She is!" Now somehow, I know that Elizabeth helped precipitate all this...she loves to stir things up like that. But still. And on top of this all, Linda had already been told by a stranger that the kids were horseplaying and needed to stop and she yells at the MAN that they're HER KIDS and she'll handle anything that needs handling. Oh good lord. I can just imagine she was talking to someone and the kids get to horseplaying and she never even notices. GROWLS. It's soooo unfair that she gets to put her name as mother on anything.

Reading

For those of you who dont know me that well, I'm an avid reader! I have been since the age of 8 or so when I discovered biographies (the first one i read was of Babe Ruth) then I discovered this line of western fiction books for young readers although I can't remember the titles. I've been thru Judy Blume and Norma Klein to Hardy Boys and Bobsey Twins. And it's really cool that my imps are picking up on my reading habit now too. Both Josh & Elizabeth have read Bobsey Twins books and each have read one of Judy Blume's...(I'm careful which ones I let them read yet tho...Josh read BLUBBER & Elizabeth is currently reading IT"S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD) John I think will turn into a reader soon too. He enjoys all kinds of books that I buy him including the Little Critter books that i ADORE.

Most recently, I've read THE MULBERRY TREE by Jude Deveraux (not sure if i spelled that right) and I loved it. I've read several of her books before because she writes time travel books which is a genre that I love in and of it's self. But this was a present day book that was both romance and mystery. Now for the most part, I'm not a mystery lover. I'm one of those people who turn to the last page and read who dun it and figure why read the book then...but then again I've been known to do that with romances too. I'll skim the last couple of pages and if i see the names of the main characters, I figure they end up together. I've been doing this for a while and only really been burned once. I read KRAMER VS KRAMER and the last line of the last page said, "And Ted Kramer got to keep his son" ...well, no sense reading that one huh??

Books have always been a wonderful past time for me...something to do while i'm in traffic (not a great idea i know!) or in the bath tub...or travelling. My ex and i use to read to each other in the long drives into work and home again (we lived 1.5 hours from work) and that was fun. Additionally, I enjoy the books on CD and books on tapes more than I ever thought I would...but nothing beats a lazy Sunday and a hot bath.

Dog Days of Summer

Well family fun week is officially done and over with and I have to say I'm glad! It was tiring. Oh we had a lot of fun and got the chance to do a lot of things I havn't done in YEARS (ie Six Flags & Stone Mountain Park) but we were on the go Every Single Day! Sheena's gone back to her home with Linda in Athens and I have to also admit that I'm glad of that too. Her presence here upsets a delicate balance we have. If she lived here full time it would be different...she'd have her own room and space and the kids wouldnt spazz out over her presence so much.

A couple of negatives going on right now...I got kicked in the butt by an old credit card debt wanting payment or they want to sue me. UGH. What kills me about it was that it was originally a $500 bill for a stove that we never even got to use. Don and I bought a stove for the house we were buying...and then lost out on. He kept saying he was going to go pick it up and return it...but of course that never happened. So that 500.00 stove is now costing me 1700 in interest and late charges. Growls.

2nd negative is my weight. I've put on about 6 pounds in 2 weeks. When I dont follow weight watchers, i balloon. Seems like it would be motivation to me to lose dont you think? to stick with things...but no!!! Sonic and other fast food demons call my name...and i respond. Thinking I'm going to do a No Weigh Pass this week.

On the positive, despite the huge cc bill that has befallen us, Dale has been so nice about things and positive that we can still make our move to Florida...I'm considering taking a job...preferably a part time position to help bring in more money til we do...We'll see. I've also put in for substitute teaching.

All for now.

Family Fun Week Begins

today was Waterpark day and the official start to Family Fun week. We gave up vacation in Florida this week to have a stay at home vacation instead. The video (if i can get it to post) is of the imps at the water park on the water slide. You can tell I was the photographer today, not a single picture of me. Oh well. Also, if you want to see all the pictures from FFW, go to www.dropshot.com/georgiagin I'm posting them all there too. Tomorrow is Six Flags!

Weight Watchers was :( this past week...i was only down .2. and This week isn't looking so good either if you take into consideration Steak N Shake tonight! But golly that turtle milk shake was amazing. Wonder if the grilled chicken sandwich I had with it off set each other? Somehow, I'm doubting it.

Weight as of weigh in...282.6

Having Fun

I'm getting better at this posting a blog thing....I want to be more regular even if it's just for me! Todays like today I really enjoy being a stay at home mom! (well most days are like that anyway....but today in particular) It was nothing extraordinary...we just had some fun. It's helped that Josh has turned over a new leaf sorta...He's gone 10 days now with no fits! That's the most since we got back from Las Vegas back in April. When he pitched that humdinger fit at Jeff & Christine's pool, we laid down the law with him. He was no longer allowed to go anywhere with me alone (meaning w/o Dale with us) so that one of us could watch after him and the other one pay attention to John & E'beth. That left him at home a LOT. Dale is sometimes able to go with us various places due to his schedule and working from home...but lots of times he can't. And I'm not one to want to stay at home. So he cried and pitched a lot of fits. Then one day, he just turned it around. I dont know what really did it. I think one thing was his realization that school didnt start back for another month and that he could get in 2 weeks to a month of good good behavior and still have time to make it on some outings before school started back. Whatever it was, it was nice to have him back with us today. I never liked leaving him at home even tho, truth be told, it's easier. Still, I wanted him with us.

So all we did today was go to Borders Bookstore for storytime. They made pet rocks after the story and got to paint -which is always a popular thing. Then we rode over to Mall of Georgia and they got to play in the giant water fountain. Both were free activities which is always a good thing. Tomorrow I think will be a stay at home day and then Thursday we'll go to the local pool. That's my good luck thing to do on Weight Watcher's day.

Went to the movies last night with Christine, Janice & her son John...RUN, DONT WALK to see Hairspray!!! I loved it!! Better I thought than the original..and that's saying something since i really like Ricki Lake in the part. I've already bought the soundtrack with the gift card Kim gave me for my birthday!! (Thanks again Kim!!!)

Joshi or Michael Jackson

Ok...so maybe they wouldnt be twins, but I told Joshi when he came home with this hat today he looked like a young Michael Jackson. He of course turns to me and says, "Who's Michael Jackson???" So I came in here and googled images of Michael and Joshi says, "MOM! You didnt tell me Michael was a GIRL!!!" But when I found the picture on here, he then understood.

How was your weekend? We had a busy day yesterday but it was productive. I went to one garage sale and got me a shelf for our videos for a mere $3...I bought Josh some stencils to create this that and the other with. And I bought a John Mayer CD for $1 which I promptly listed on Ebay and sold for $3 + shipping. Small potatoes I know, but I'm slowly trying to build a small nest egg in my Paypal account. Right now, it's pretty darn small. But give me time! Lately, I've also sold a couple of pairs of mens jeans that didnt fit Dale ($6) and some videos that the kids have outgrown ($5). Also sold some old Racquetball books ($5)...etc. So I'm slowly trucking along. I have the consignment sale coming up in mid-August so hopefully that will net some change too. Anything to help towards the moving fund.

Weigh In Day

The day is invariably the same! I get up and eat a normal breakfast but I down the water heavy duty. I eat lunch...very light one. Drink more water. But cut the water out by 2pm. Want to have it all out of my system by the 630pm weigh in. Nothing to eat or drink from 2pm on. Naturally i'm starving and parched by time i get to Weight Watchers! Today it was so bad, I swung into Walgreens on the way to pick up a Diet Coke and a box of fiber one bars so I could snack during the meeting. Couldnt wait for the meeting to be over so we could go out to eat. Thursday nights are free-for-alls as far as I'm concerned! Tonight, we went to Chili's and NO, i didn't order the Black Bean burger! LOL. I ordered the friggin greasy fried chicken crispers! With Corn and Fries and Honey Mustard sause...and split a dessert with Christine. Then tomorrow morning I'll be back on plan.

Bought a new journal tonight at the meeting. I really prefer the older ones that are thin and easier to take along with you. Luckily my meeting leader Jan kept a few older ones and sells em to me when she discovers them. By the way, I was down .6 this week. Not very good. That's what I get for having chinese food on Tuesday night! Growls. And the funny thing is I know that was it!!! I was down much more than that prior to that day...But maybe one day I'll learn.

Went to Dacula pool today and only got to stay for about 1.5 hours due to periodic thunderstorms. But at least the kids got to play some. That was good. I got in some too...but i need to do more swimming. I need to increase my exercise dramatically. That's my goal this week ON TOP OF trying one new recipe each week...to increase my exercise. I'll keep you posted.

Weight tonight: 282.8.

Shutterbug

i'm a shutterbug. Did i ever mention that before? i love to take pictures...for this past Christmas, my lovely husband bought me a new Kodak Z650 digital camera. It does 6.1 megapixels and even does vidoes with sound. For us anyway, it's almost done away with the camcorder. I've got a couple of memory cards and I can get all the pics & videos i want. Recently, a friend shared with me the site she and her husband use for online picture storage and I love it. I even paid the monthly cost to be a premium member (since I have so many pictures) and it's perfect for me. My computer is always on the brink of failure. I really need a new one...and I"m always scared that one day my computer is going to crash and I wont have a backup for the thousands of pictures I have. So this unlimited usage place I found is perfect. By the way, if you want to take a gander, it's www.dropshots.com/georgiagin

Maybe because I'm a shutterbug...maybe because I want to give the kids a record of their lives, maybe just because it's a hobby of mine...I love taking pictures of the kids. Today, John saw a picture we have out of Dale with Joshua and Elizabeth when she was a newborn. He was asking why he wasn't in the picture. And I said, "you weren't born yet"...He then replies..."oh...was I still in your tummy mom? " OH that about broke my heart! I wanted to say yes hun it was....but I just said you weren't born for another 2 years. We're going to have remind him that he was adopted...But right then wasnt the time I wanted to get into it with him. It does my heart good that he only thinks of me as his mom (and NOT LINDA) but one day we're going to have to explain about adoption.. and how technically...I'm only the step mom.

Anyway...a good weight watchers day so far...Just had one of those one point bagels with 1/2 slice of cheese on each half. That should last me til dinner time. Not sure what we're having yet.

Until we chat again...

An Ordinary Day

I was sitting here reading other blogs and I thought you know I COULD actually be writing in my own. The kids are in bed right now and Dale's taking a bath. I'm listening to Allison Kraus sing some bluegrass gospel type of music. An oddity for me, but I do love a few of her songs. We just finished playing dominoes with the kids. It's a good game for them but it can get trying. They care more about playing with the dominoes than the game it's self. But we're trying to play more games at night instead of watching so much television. Our repitoire isn't very large yet. Dominoes and Our First Uno game is about it. I'm looking forward to adding more kids games to our family.

Ran some errands today...had to drop some books off at the library and pay the water bill. Nothing exciting I'm afraid. Went by Mall of Georgia to pick up my contact lenses and walked around there some. Found some bargains at The Disney Store...the kids found a double dutch demonstration going on and they got to try it out. I was really impressed that all three could do it! With Joshi, I wasn't surprised. He has so much natural talent. But even little John was able to do it. I took some cute videos.

So this wasn't a very exciting blog, I wasnt very creative on a topic. But I posted and I like to keep things current. Weight Watchers is going well although I've maxed out on points today for certain!! I did try a new dish tonight which was a resolution of mine...to try new dishes. I made a Chicken Marsala on pasta that was good. Not great. But good. I lost 2.2 pounds this past week so that puts me at 283.4. Keep the faith.

Top List of Movies according to AFI How many have You seen?

1. Citizen Kane ---yes and doesn't deserve to be #1 in my opinion
2. The Godfather no...i know it's a sin in most men's eyes, but i've never seen it.
3. Casablanca -Yes, you realize where all those one liners you've said all your life originated from
4. Raging Bull - no
5. Singin In The Rain - yes....love it. But then i love Gene Kelly & Donald O'Connor!
6. Gone With The Wind - uh....YES. like a million times!!
7. Lawrence of Arabia - no
8. Schindler's List - yes. only movie i've ever walked out with everyone in the theater SILENT
9. Vertigo - No
10. The Wizard of Oz - YES. funny thing was my oldest daughter didnt realize that it was filmed partially in black & white and partially in color. she told me she'd only see the colorized version! LOL
11. City Lights - Yes in college. had to view it as a history of cinema class.
12. The Searchers - Yes
13. Star Wars - Yes
14. Psycho - No
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey No
16. Sunset Blvd. - No
17. The Graduate - No
18. The General - Yes
19. On The Waterfront - No
20. It's A Wonderful Life - Yes Yes Yes. over and over again
21. Chinatown - No
22. Some Like It Hot - Yes
23. The Grapes of Wrath - No
24. E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial - Yes. I remember my cousin had seen an advance screening of this movie and told me that I'd never think of the phrase PHONE HOME in the same way again. Same goes for seeing Reeses Pieces
25. To Kill A Mockingbird - Yes
26. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - Yes same movie class. It was awesome
27. High Noon - Yes
28. All About Eve - Yes
29. Double Indemnity - No
30. Apocalypse Now - No
31. The Maltese Falcon - No
32. The Godfather, Part II - No, see #2
33. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Yes. so many great actors in their early roles
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Yes
35. Annie Hall - No
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai - No
37. The Best Years of Our Lives - Yes
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - No
39. Dr. Strangelove - No
40. The Sound of Music - Yes and this would probably be my favorite musical. I think.
41. King Kong (1933) - No...did see the recent remake, but didnt like it.
42. Bonnie and Clyde - No, but i think i should
43. Midnight Cowboy - No
44. The Philadelphia Story - YES...and it's soooo under rated! It's my #2 favorite movie of all time
45. Shane - Yes. the ending scene with SHANE, Come baccccck.
46. It Happened One Night - Yes, I loved this movie.
47. A Streetcar Named Desire - Yes
48. Rear Window - No
49. Intolerance - No
50. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - No
51. West Side Story - Yes. Rita Moreano was great (probably mispelled tho!)
52. Taxi Driver - No
53. The Deer Hunter - No
54. M*A*S*H - Yes
55. North by Northwest - No
56. Jaws - No. See #2...one of those movies I should have seen in my lifetime.
57. Rocky - No, See above
58. The Gold Rush - No
59. Nashville - No
60. Duck Soup - No
61. Sullivan's Travels - No
62. American Graffiti - Yes. See #33
63. Cabaret - No
64. Network - Yes, funny thing saw it just recently. Wasn't as great as I thought it would be.
65. The African Queen - Yes. liked it because of Katherine Hepburn not Humphry Bogart.
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark - Yes
67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - No
68. Unforgiven - Yes. DEPRESSING
69. Tootsie - Yes. love it
70. A Clockwork Orange - No
71. Saving Private Ryan - Yes
72. The Shawshank Redemption - Yes. TONS of times and read the novella
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Yes...Paul & Robert at their bests in my humble opinion
74. The Silence of the Lambs - Yes
75. In The Heat of the Night - No but should as it won the academy award the year I was born
76. Forrest Gump - Yes
77. All The President's Men - No
78. Modern Times - Yes
79. The Wild Bunch - No
80. The Apartment - Yes. I think this is an underrated movie too. a very young Shirley McClain and one of my all time favorite actors Jack Lemon
81. Spartacus - No
82. Sunrise - No
83. Titanic - Yes. and it kills me that she DOES let go even tho she promises not to. SHE let go!
84. Easy Rider - No
85. A Night At The Opera - No
86. Platoon - Yes
87. 12 Angry Men - No, but i want to!
88. Bringing Up Baby - Yes
89. The Sixth Sense - Yes
90. Swing Time - No
91. Sophie's Choice - Yes and it kills me every time
92. Goodfellas - No
93. The French Connection -No
94. Pulp Fiction - Yes, under protest and i didnt like it!
95. The Last Picture Show - No
96. Do The Right Thing - Yes
97. Blade Runner - No
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy - No
99. Toy Story - Yes
100. Ben Hur - Yes

I would put Steel Magnolias on the list WAY ahead of Pulp Fiction!

It Was A Tie Dye 40th Birthday

Had my big 40th birthday party Saturday night and it turned out great. We had a lot of worries over it...We had reserved the party place with a 150.00 rental fee and a 250.00 deposit. The deposit, Mrs. Amaru told us, would not even be cashed, simply held and given back to us if everything was fine....but the housing company cashed it anyway!! We ended up bouncing 3 checks etc. Mrs. Amaru really helped us out and gave us back the $250 immediatly and she'll take the deposit when it comes in. We had about 20 or so people at the party and a little dancing and a lot of eating! LOL. But I'm back on the band wagon today. Wish me luck. I weighed in at Weight Watcher's last Thursday and I was down 4 pounds. So my weight today is 285.6. I could really see in the pictures how much of my weight I'd gained back.....My face to me, looked huge. Can only work towards the future.

Catching Up

So many things to possibly talk about...so little time. Grins.

Kids are in bed, Dale's fallen asleep on the bed as we were watching BIG LOVE (a VERY interesting series from HBO about Polygamy) and I'm sitting here surfing the web for Weight Watcher's success stories for inspiration. I've soooo sucked at weight loss the last 6 months or so and I've put back on 25 of the 36 pounds I'd lost. How depressing is that? But something in me switched last night and now I"m back to being poster child for WW. I've been an angel today and I've every intention of staying that dedicated.

Had some sad news from one of my dear friends...turns out her husband has been seeing another woman and even went so far as to exchange "i love yous" with this other woman. My friend is at a crossroads right now and thought i might understand. Boy do i ever. The last 24 hours...since she told me everything, i've been re-living the 1st week after Don confessed his transgressions to me. Unlike her husband... mine didnt want to make things work with me. You know the old saying, "oh he'll never leave his wife!" ? Not true in my case. I wanted things to work with us, but it wasnt meant to be. And golly am I glad that it didnt in my case. The best was yet to be...

I was listening to sappy ole Delilah on the radio the other night and she had a caller who was dedicating a song to her daughters...she'd never had children of her own and had wed her husband later in her life and was suddenly Mom to 2 imps. She was talking about what a wonderful change in her life they'd made. And it sounded like I could have been the one talking. Delilah played WONDERFUL WORLD for her and I just smiled out loud.

We're all doing well here..just getting ready for my big 40th birthday party. I guess i was a bit...self absorbed to have a party for myself but I decided...WHY NOT! I wanted to celebrate so many things in my life and this seemed like as good of a time as any. I think my timing sucked financially....probably should have had a delayed party in say September...but anyway. Cant resend the invites. Will post pics from party next week.

I'm going to start posting weights on here to keep me accountable. I'm not going to be ashamed. It's merely a number. So as of last night at WW... 289.6

Change in the Air

The winds of change are blowing this way. And hopefully blowing southward. A huge financial burden that's been a monkey on our backs for 3 long years has been lifted. We can now start thinking about buying a house. Or at least making changes. Currently, we're considering moving south. We've had variuos thoughts. California, Nashville, etc. Our thoughts these days seem to be running towards the Tampa area. It's so very exciting to me...I've wanted to move somewhere different all of my adult life. I was just on the cusp of moving to Raleigh when I met Don. Then he & I were on the verge of moving to Virginia when i got a huge promotion at work. Then it seems I was stuck here.

But Dale has a marvelous job that allows him to work from home. And home can be anywhere. He's going to double check with his boss to make sure nothing would be jeopardized by a move, but as of right now it looks good. We need to save a little money...and considering we're going to have a large birthday party for me in July AND we're going on vacation to the beach come end of July, it's not likely we could see this move til the end of the year...But I'm quite hopeful. I love this idea!!! A fresh start. New places, new people, new friends. I would never in a million years want to give up my current friends...but we'd like to try this for 1 year...rent a house down there while we save money for a down payment etc. If we like it, we can stay. If we dont, we can come back up here and buy a house at that time. We're talking about giving ourselves a year away so to speak.

I'm so very excited about the prospect.

Age Old Traditions

Today we had an Easter Egg hunt over at my Mom's. It's a tradition as old as time...well maybe i'm being a BIT dramatic. But they've always been a part of my life. Aunt Frances used to have one down at her house and I remember my Grandmother Siler having one for us all too. So it was GREAT fun hiding the eggs and various things at Aunt Marilyn's & Mom's today. The kids were running amok burning energy and just having a ball. Everyone behaved well and the food was delicious. The imps are on spring break next week so I need to come up with some not so expensive ideas to keep them entertained. Would love to take them to Six Flags one day but with three, it gets awfully expensive. And with our trip next week (can't wait!!) we dont have the extra money. So looks like it'll be the dollar movie, picnics at the park and who knows what else this coming week.

Afraid I have nothing earth shattering to discuss, but that in and of it's self can be a good thing. No major things to complain about other than my ear infection. So for now, I'll just say goodnite.

Just Wishin & Hoping

Ok, I admit it. I want a baby. A little imp of my very own. Josh, Elizabeth & John are sorta mine- i mean I'm the mom to them but anytime she wants, she can lay claim to them as she did Thursday night when she came to Josh's ballgame. She was mad because John asked me if he could go to the bathroom and not her. And she said her infamous line, "Afterall, I'm his MOTHER!" Growls.

I want a a child who is mine & Dale's and has no ties to her at all. I dont feel I would love this child any more or treat them any differently-but. This child would be mine in a way that I only wish the other three were. Oh well, a girl can dream. But physically, it's not probable that Dale & I would ever have kids...so we'd have to adopt...and I just dont know if that could truly come to be. There's a lot to take into consideration.

Grandmother King's 92nd Birthday

Had a bad night. It's grandmother King's birthday...all the family met out at The Blue Willow in Social Circle...kids were in rare form. Rambunctious as all get out. Too many people around in figure positions so they could pick and choose who they wanted to mind. Then Kim tells me I'm too "mean" to them. Really hurt my feelings. I feel like I work really hard in trying to keep them disciplined and respectful. I know those kids like the back of my hand. I know what triggers them, what they're going to do if allowed to do one thing....what will follow. And it really hurt my feelings that she'd say that.

Was a cool photo op tho..Here's a good pic of the kids before the whinning commenced. The "other" child is Dawson, my cousin's son who's Elizabeth's age.

A day of love

What a feel good type of day. Who says the day is all about candy and roses? Not I said this fly. Money was tight this year so we had already decided to postpone exchanging gifts until early next week (after payday and the weekend finances had passed) so this morning, i got the kids off to school and Dale went to the gym...He got back around 8:15am and we decided to indulge and just go back to bed! What luxury!! So we woke back up around 10:30...and he got a shower and we took off to Macaroni Grill. No, not exactly Weight Watcher's faire, but it was the location of our first date so to heck with the foods. Then we came back here and just hung out watching tv and talking. Overall, I call it a good day!

SuperBowl Sunday

The game is still in progress...an exciting 1st quarter for sure. I'm pulling for Peyton & the Colts. A bit ago, apparently Elizabeth was yelling for me or Dale while she was taking her bath..we didnt hear her until John came to inform us. Dale went to see what was up and she was crying in the bath tub..." All yall care about is that dumb ole cereal bowl!" gigggggles. Poooor Elizabeth is so mistreated. Prince is now squealing on the Half time show...that's one artist I've just never had an appreciation for. Oh sure i liked 1999 & Little Red Corvette...but past his pop stuff...nope...doesn't do a thing for me.

Well i'm going to crawl back in bed and snuggle with my man. Go Colts!!!!!!!!!!!!

In A Bad Mood

Ever just have a blue day? one where you're in a bad mood for no good reason? I had literally no good mood for it! I usually love rainy cold Sundays with a fire in the fireplace and football on TV. But today for some reason, I just felt grumpy. I would errupt into tears for no good reason. No food, no activity satisfied me. I can't explain it. It seems to be waning right now and even tho the team I'm cheering on in the playoffs is losing 21-6. Hopefully i'll be in a better frame of mind tomorrow.

Winter Ramblings

So it's playoff weekend and I love watching football with Dale! Don was never into football like I was. And when I wasn't married, there was noone to get excited with over the games/plays. So we've had fun the last couple of weeks watching the playoffs and rooting on teams (although it's a shame the Falcon's didnt do well)

Today has been a very low key day...kids have played, rode their bikes, got out the sidewalk chalk etc. It's been unseasonably warm and hit 70 degrees today. Went to a new McDonalds and the kids got to play on the playground. Then tonight, they've been playing and are now watching Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas. Dale's about to go out to get us some chinese food. I know, I know, I dont need it...I just seem to NEED it while watching football. It's become a habit with us. I started making a Potatoes & Ham au gratin, but it's not finished yet...so we HAVE to eat chinese.

Kids are going to stay with my mom tomorrow night which will give Dale & I finally a chance for some alone time. And to see Dreamgirls. Which i didnt get to see last time! But we do have to have a D**N visit tomorrow with Linda. She hasn't called them or seen them at all since Christmas Day! If it weren't for wanting to see Sheena....

This That & The Other

If it's not one thing..Irritated today with a sore knee. I fell Christmas Day at the movie theater. Took a wrong step coming down the steps in a stadium theater and my right leg fell down between the stairs and the concrete siding to the seats and my other leg got wedged in...couldn't move. was stuck...Anyway, the right ankle got all swollen and the left knee was hurt. The ankle has since healed but now the knee has gotten steadily worse. It's hurting to walk, to sit, to do about anything! GROWLS.

Mom's taking the kids tonight until tomorrow afternoon and Dale and I are going to dinner & a movie date night. YAY. We have some restaurant gift certificates we're anxious to use. AND, finally will get to see Dreamgirls. Will let you know if it's as good as I hope. I havn't looked forward to a movie so much since Chicago.

Went back to Weight Watchers last night and i was UP almost 3 pounds. To the unknowledged eye, you'd think, my how she sucks at this....and i was sucking big time! But i WAS up almost 10 pounds and i'm down to only up 3 pounds! Make sense? to me, yes! Anyway...I'm back on program and doing well. I know i'll get this weight off!

Out with the old and in with the new. The new year finds it brisk and chilly here in Auburn although last night we about burned up! I went up to Bath & Bodyworks to pick up some of their $5 air freshener refills while they were on sale and I went to pick up some Freecycle blue jeans for Josh. We can never seem to keep him enough jeans. The kids are all tired today as we let them stay up to see in the new year last night at Jeff & Christine's. They all had a ball. I've been bringing in the new year with them for the last 20 yrs or so. I think we may have missed one or two...but certainly not more than that. It used to be big parties, but now it's more of a quiet thing at one of our houses.

As for last year's resolutions, I did pretty well. The were:
Organize & Keep Neat my bedroom/office/bathroom (that one is debatable...Dale organized the bathroom and it's stayed pretty good...the bedroom goes thru stages as does my desk area...I wouldnt say it was as successful as I would have liked. )
Get my fasting blood sugars Under 200 (DONE!!)
Get BACK into my jeans (DONE!!)

So two out of three isnt bad.

For this year...hmm...
Yell Less (not really measurable...but something i want to work on none-the-less)
Find a Church & attend on a semi-regular basis
Get under 200 pounds.

So we'll see how I do this year.