Friday, September 21, 2007

I'm Outta Here!

Just wanted to brag that I get to leave work early today. We're heading to the state capital for my brother's wedding tomorrow. Sure to be lots of family fun, insert sarcasm. Actually I look forward to hanging with my cousins from DC. And finally having my husband back after 5 days away!

Tag

My best friend from high school and I recently reconnected and now we catch up on each other's blogs. She has tagged me, so I guess I'll play!

Rules:1.You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Middle Name:
A-anxious
N-nail biter
N-New Yorker

1. Do you like cheese? YES
2. Have you ever been arrested? um yes, once for shoplifting
3. Have you ever shot a gun? YES
4. Your favorite song? Probably Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? sometimes, moreso with the dentist, even though I only have one filling
6. What do you think of when you eat hot dogs? I try not to
7. What's your favorite Christmas song? O Come All Ye Faithful
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? non-fat pumpkin spice latte or chai tea
9. Can you do push ups? barely
10. Is your bathroom clean? Mine, not so much. The one for guests, yes.
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wdding ring and my tennis bracelet
12. Favorite Hobby? Travelling
13. What are you listening to right now? People talking down the hall (I'm at work).
14. What is the last thing you ate? 3 rolled chicken tacos yesterday at lunch. Ah, life as a mom, I tend to eat one meal a day!
15. What one trait do you hate about yourself? I'm a procrastinator
16. Middle Name? Hello, Ann
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? I can't wait to go to my brother's wedding this weekend. I'm so glad our freakin' pool is finally done. Thank God my husband comes home today.
18. Name the last 3 things you have bought. Lunch yesterday, an oil change for the van, our Halloween costumes
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. Water, iced tea, iced coffee
20. Current worry right now? How we will all do in a little hotel room this weekend.
21. Current hate? My SIL, but that's not current, that's always.
22. Favorite place to be? Somewhere tropical
23. How did you bring in the New Year? at a party
24. What is your quirkiest habit? I am anal. I cannot stand clutter.
25. Name three people who will complete this and return? Probably Corey, she's good like that. I'm not sure about anyone else. They don't like memes.
26. How many siblings do you have? Two younger brothers
27. Do you own slippers? yup
28. What shirt are you wearing? A tan cami under a chocolate brown t-shirt
29. What shampoo do you use? Pantene
30. Favorite colors? blue and purple
31. Would you like to be a pirate? you mean Mrs. Jack Sparrow, yes
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? none, I usually have 2 or 3 others in with me!
33. Favorite female name? Desiree
34. Favorite male name? Joaquin
35. What's in your pockets right now? No pockets
36. Last thing that made you laugh? My BFF at lunch yesterday.
37. Best bed sheets as a child? Holly Hobbie
38. Worst injury you've ever had? I haven't really had any.
39. When's your birthday? June 9
40. How many TVs do you have in your house? Three
41. Who is your loudest friend? I'm the loud friend!
43. Does someone have a crush on you? Hopefully my husband! (And maybe Becky, wink, wink)
44. Do you wish on shooting stars? YES!!
45.What is your favorite book? Right now, Pinkalicious (the kids love it)
46.What is your favorite age? I'm not sure. There have been a lot of good times.
47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding? That Aerosmith, I Don't Want to Close My Eyes one
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? Something old school and fun, maybe Boom I've Got Your Boyfriend?
49. What were you doing at 12 am this morning? Sleeping with Jocelyn
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Thank God my husband is coming home today. He's been gone for 5 days.

I won't specifically tag anyone, but if you want to do it, feel free!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Correct!




Finally, finally we have our pool! They are starting up the equipment tonight. Hopefully the kids can jump in right after. It's still in the 90s here. Although the pool is 82 and that's way too cold for me! I'll gladly watch from the hot tub!

Take a guess!

Take a wild guess at what this is! I'll give you until this afternoon.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Body for Life Update

I've been putting this post off because it sadly is not accompanied by pictures. Not that I didn't do well, but my dear husband is out of town for the week, so I cannot get full body pics.



But, I wanted to update on my success! I did my 12 weeks. And I am now 10 lbs lighter. And that's saying a lot. I wasn't really heavy before, and those 10 lbs have been hanging on for awhile. I just wanted to tone up more. I'm kindof soft after having four kids.



I think that I probably lost about 15 lbs of fat and gained about 5 lbs of muscle. I feel SO much better. I have more energy. And I feel better about myself.



Unfortunately, I didn't see a big difference in my waist line. I think that most of what's there is just excess skin. But, I saw a big difference in my face (no more second chin) and my arms (I'm losing the jiggle).



I was pretty good about the eating and the exercising. Although I didn't push myself as hard as I could have with the cardio. And the last few weeks I really slacked off.



I'm taking a break for our vacation. But, I'm going to start another 12 weeks when we return. I hope to get down to 130 (7 more pounds) when I do that one!



I'm just really proud that I actually stuck with something for so long. I'm usually a binge dieter and exerciser.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Good mail

Do you ever run out to the mailbox thinking that wonderful things might be inside? Only to find junk mail and bills? I don't know where or when my obsession with the mail started, but I ALWAYS look forward to the mail. No matter how many times I've been let down and gotten a bunch of shit, I continue to run to the mailbox every day. Maybe it's because on occassion I recieve an unexpected treat. (Or maybe it's because I buy way too much stuff on the Internet and get packages fairly often!)

Last week I happened to get a really funny postcard from Cami and her cousin mielikki. I knew I had given her my address, but was still pleasantly surprised when I got the card. And I just loved it! You know how you used to (ok, maybe not you, but I did) drunk dial people? And now I have a friend that drunk texts! This was another version. The drunk postcard!

Oh, how I wish I could have joined in the drinking!




Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Friday, September 7, 2007

2 fer 1

Two memes that is.

First Cami asked me to share with y'all (I don't really use that word when speaking, just typing) seven songs that I'm SINGING right now. I take the work singing loosely. Because I can't sing for nothing. Even my kids warn that I should never go on American Idol (because I guess they think that's a dream of mine). I have VERY eclectic tastes in music, so here goes:

1. Big Girls Don't Cry, by Fergie. I love this song. Don't know why. But, I love to sing it in the car. IF (captial, bold IF) I was to sing karaoke, this would be the song.

2. This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race , by Fall Out Boy. And yes, I do know the words, I looked them up.

3. She Wolf, by Megadeth. Megadeth is my favorite rock band. Cryptic Writings is my favorite album.

4. Ain't My Bitch, by Metallica. I know, hard core Metallica fans don't like Load and Reload, but they're my faves. I like almost every song on both of them. My husband thinks it's funny to play this song for me and it gets stuck in my head.

5. Stealing Society, by System of a Down. I used to hate System of a Down, but once I actually understood a little (although I still don't know what terra cota pie is) I liked them better. This song is in my head because we saw a puppet show over the weekend that actually used System of a Down music! And hubby had to pull out the CD afterward for a listen.

6. All Fired Up, by Pat Benatar. This is my favorite Benatar song. And I usually listen on my ipod while I'm walking. I have a hard time trying to hold in my howling singing when in public.

7. Regulate, by Warren G. This is the thug in me. I loved this song when it first came out and I still do. I listen to this one on my nightly walks too.

Now, I ask Ingrid, Corey (who I know sings some karaoke) and Sara what's floating around in your head? What do you belt out? Let's hear it!


*************************************************************************************

And Papaya Mom has tagged me for the Nonsense Meme

1. Copy and paste the story below, and the rules, on your blog.
2. Find out who you’re going to tag. (2-3 people, or more, if you wish)
3. Write one or two sentences to continue the story, and use the titles of the blogs you’re tagging or any word(s) associated with them as keywords in the links you include in your part of the story.
4. Remember to tell your taggees that you’ve tagged them!
5. Feel free to use this and start your own viral link story. I’d very much appreciate a link back to Mother’s Home! if you do. (Or a tag, if you prefer!)

The story is below. The last paragraph is mine and it has links to the 9 friends I have chosen. If you got tagged, feel free to do the meme or not. It could be fun, if you decide to continue the nonsense story.


Here’s the beginning:Mother’s Home! the cave troll yelled. I have been out all day strangling chickens like CRAZY! for the evil Empress. All i want now is a MOment to myself, but i keep getting Linda talking Drivel, but that is better than a certain someone Mooing. Then suddenly what should appear but the NOT evil Empress and all her strangled chickens and Mags cooked them all up and made us a lovely cake to eat. Gracie wanted all the cake for herself but the NOT evil Empress was able to hack off a good sized slab for herself!!! Ha ha ha, Gracie belched loudly after eating all the scrumptious cake that Mags had baked and watched Callie scrappin’ with Sarge about who was gonna win Big Brother 8. Sarge started humming “Dixie,” and almost choked on the bite of cake in his mouth! So he got some coffee to go to wash down the cake. The coffee helped a bit but he had to vocalize before he started singing again so he began, “Mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi…”

…who heard him all the way from Bloggingham Palace and said, “Where is that awful noise coming from? Is there a sick wailing Wacky Mom loose in the woods?” She said, “I’ll bet Songbird can teach him to sing!” but she was busy BONDing in the desert with Kathleen who sat writing heresy in her diary. She was absolutely no help. So Mi-Mi asked Kat to put him on the PP&P list to save his sorry soul. Alas, Ralph the Airhead made a new batch but the Patti-cakes fell in Polliwog’s Pond and nobody got to eat cake after all! It was all Bee’s fault (somehow). Feeling sorry for herself, she pranced over to Odat’s for a dance but she only heard strange mumbling…
That mumbling, however, resulted from The Alien Next Door trying to clone Justin Stanely’s Weblog. The meticulous and risky cloning occurred throughout several millennia, past, present, and future. Or so it seemed; no one could keep count. It was just too much. The mind-numbing years had finally sublimed the earth into a pristine Bobbarama. All well and good, said Bob, but whatever happened to the rules? Before anyone got hurt, however, enough stars fell and crashed to alert Sci-Fi Girl, who grabbed her laptop and returned to the woods, where Mimi’s Dating Profile popped up, allowing a lion to lie happily next to a lamb…

Now, the insane writer burst into the forest, kissing the dogwood and sat on the lion, spinning tales about sci-fi girl’s boyfriend, sci-fi guy, who had his eye on [her] DNA, which he was hoping to sell for anything goes. But just then the mad goat lady and the drowsey monkey pranced into the forest and sang a truly quiet symphony, which annoyed the insane writer.
“What’s that funky sound?” screamed sci-fi guy.

“Well, it sure isn’t a raspberry-latte!” grumbled the insane writer. “Get a grip, sci-fi guy! You’re my main character! I expect you to know how to split an atom! Ignore that woman and her indolent pet! Now, go and do your dastardly thing!”

Kissing the dogwood had been a lure, a trap set by the Mighty Morgan to take control of the BlogWood. Those petulant witches disguised as writers must be eradicated, them and their man slaves. She stuck her talons into the lion with A Twist and a Skewer till it rolled over and laughingly pleaded to go back to Neverland where it had been extremely happy. Her faithful followers, the Gargons grouped around her skirt folds, drooling and kissing her hem in adoration. “Here, take this poison” she commanded, “why? (asked) paisley“, the only rebel in the camp. “To blight their computers my little friends, it’s a special potion A Bit of This and a Dash of the Other“…she smiled mysteriously in her best Mae West accent and set off in search of the Englebert Humperdink Fan Club.

Well they searched all over boricua in texas….till they found just write road… aha this was the place… if they could just get in the front row,, surely that was the place that screamed “flash your knickers here“… and oh yes… they would… in doing so they could only hope to distract the masses long enough for the twisted sisters to sneak in with the special potion they had cooked up………

But the potion did not work. They were missing the secret ingredient… Papaya!!! There was no use hiding in public. Off they went in search of an abyss to gaze into, for they had heard the place was haunted and they could find Pyreflies there. Picking up pieces of somebody else’s memories was a habit they enjoyed very much. Live and love!

The new memories straight from the mouths of babes were the ideal target - they were so much fun. The Gargons started to get dizzy as they gazed through the looking glass in search of the right abyss that would be full of little nurslings. Suddenly the world began to spin and they fell down, the only sound was the sorta crunchy fall leaves crunching below their backs, and if no one was there to hear it - did the sound even exist? If these Gargons had any hope of surviving they would have to pull away from the peaceful nap that the spell was laying around their tiny little minds and run for their lives to Cafe ala Mode where the Fairytale Godmother kept her super secret brew hidden behind pots in the dark deep industrial kitchen (next to the MSG). It was their only chance to break the spell that held them in her control.


When they arrived, the Fairytale Godmother was in her kitchen whipping up a brew. It was one to wake a sleeping prince. It seems that someone had switched the roles in the famous princess tale. When she was done she went to work on the secret brew for the Gargons. But, she had a question, brown or gray for the bottle? It was quite a loaded question. The could not agree. It was quite the dilemma, indeed! The decided to go with the gray, which was definitely the wrong decision because.....

Thursday, September 6, 2007

I Heart my hot tub!

After all of the trials and tribulations and 6 months, yes, 6 months, of construction, we finally have our hot tub and the pool is scheduled to be done on the 14th. This very one (1044, except ours is a mottled white inside and gray on the outside).

I have never owned a hot tub. My family has always had a pool, but never a hot tub. I don't even really like them when we go to hotels. They are always stinky from chlorine and make me too hot. But, my husband wanted one and we figured we'd go for broke (literally) when we put in the pool.

I actually admitted to him last night that he was right. (Don't worry this is the only time this year that I'll do it. I do have SOME dignity.)

The thing is WONDERFUL! We don't make it super hot, just 99. It is Arizona you know. And it seems just right. Not too hot that I feel like my blood is boiling and not too cool at night. And we have a Nature O2 system that doesn't use chlorine. We've been in twice now and it's just heavenly. (As long as we go without the kids.)

The first time they were invited. Big mistake fun! They were climbing all over us. And trying to drown themselves. Miss J has no fear of water and the more times she's goes under the happier she is. She HATES to be held when in the water and that makes for an interesting time. Xander on the other hand wants to climb everything. The handles, the seats, the other people in the hot tub. We have come to realize that in order for it to have a relaxing effect we must visit after the kids are asleep.

Last night we put them to bed and got ourselves all suited up. (Yes, we wear our suits.) We got the baby monitor and a drink and our towels and headed out. We get in, me in the lounge section and Robert in "the captain's chair". We put the calming blue lights on and stared at the stars. All of a sudden I see a light on in the house. Robert gets out and goes inside. Minutes later he comes out with Mr. X trailing behind. Seems that someone could sense that Mommy and Daddy were enjoying the hot tub without him. So, he sat on the patio chair for a few minutes while we finished up and closed it down.

I have to say that this has been one of our best investments yet. It is so nice to sit and relax, or have some crazy family time. It's a bonding experience for us all. And it doesn't involve the TV or video games.

Many pictures soon to come!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Sorry



Sorry for the silence. This was me and Windows Vista the last few days.




Luckily we've worked it out and now we're like this.