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.

countdown to Christmas

The countdown begins to Christmas. The kids are out of school finally and Sheena is staying here with us til Christmas Day. I think it will be fun having her here with the kids when Santa comes.

Sickness in the house the last couple of weeks has been a bit of a damper but we're getting thru it. Alas i've been AWFUL on my Weight Watchers. It's quite depressing! I just want to get thru the holidays with minimal damage at this point. At one time I actually thought i could lose during the holidays. YEAH RIGHT!

So most of the gifts are all bought now and that's a good things. Only have 2 left to get and I'll get them over the weekend after payday. I hate post poning purchases until paydays! Wish i could just buy when i see it. Oh well. If all wishes were horses, all beggers would ride. Still need to get some stocking stuffers etc bought. I'm posting a picture i took of our fireplace the other day...back when it was still cold here. I'm so jealous of the snow they got out in Denver. We fantasize about moving some day where it snows....who knows.