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

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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...