Saturday, March 27, 2010

Zoom Zoom...

So i finally did it.
I broke down.
I had no other choice!

I finally got rid of my Tibby. It's a sad sad day today.

But on a good note, i got a brand new (and i mean brand new) Mazda 6!

And i got a pretty darn good deal, to top it off.
Pictures to come later.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Thursday Thirteen...

My Thursday thirteen for this week is...

13 smells that make my nose happy:
13. Baking bread

12. A home-cooked dinner that i didnt have to cook myself

11. Frying bacon...oh yea, i can feel my arteries closing already

10. Flowers, especially roses

9. My daughter's hair after a bath

8. Gasoline...i know, i'm weird, but it smells good!

7. My hubby's new cologne...mmmmm

6. Coffee, though i don't like drinking it.

5. Popcorn with extra butter, especially from the movie theatre

4. Rain, especially right before it starts.

3. Play Doh...it's just good!

2. The ocean, especially when you're like 20 miles away and you open the car window and you can smell that you are almost there.

1. Fresh, crisp air on a morning run

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

It's a bird, it's a plane...

I've gotten my day down pat pretty well, with a 17 month old running around. She participates in almost everything i do on a daily basis. Well, the other day, i was going about my day like i usually do. I had made it about half way through the day when it happened. I was in the shower, and while i take a shower i usually let Mady play on the floor with her bath toys. As of lately, she has been throwing her toys into the shower and using her fishing net to fish them out. Well, after a few minutes of that, she was bored and she took off again. I thought she was going to get more toys to throw in the tub at me. Well, i washed my face and, when i rinsed it off and looked up, i saw it. Mady running through the bathroom, with her arm in the air. And what, you may ask, was in her hand? The end of the toilet paper roll, and the roll was still attached to the wall! She was decorating the bathroom in "streamers", hahaha. She went all the way to the door and back to the roll again. Needless to say, i had some cleaning up to do when i finished laughing so hard. But at least she had fun.

My future concert goer...

Mady and I were sitting on the floor last night playing. Of course, we had American Idol on in the background, so i wouldn't miss it of course. Well, we took some time out of playing to watch a few of the contestants, who were horrible by the way. Anyway. Mady was sitting in my lap, and i was joking around and having fun, so i put my hands in the air and started waving them in time with the music, like you would at a concert...except the concert would be good. Well, the next thing i know, Mady puts HER arms in the air and starts waving them in time with the music, right along with me. She was laughing and looking at me like "What the heck are we doing this for, mom?". It was too cute!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Some highlights from our day...

Waiting for the parade with Daddy and Lori
BFFs waiting for the parade to start
Doing her Irish jig
My lil leprechaun
And after she got a ton of beads, she gave everyone the "Don't mess with my beads, or i will come at you like a spider monkey" face

Friday, March 19, 2010

Thursday 13...

In honor of St. Patrick's Day (i know, i know, i'm a day late...better late than never!), my Thursday thirteen this week is...

13 Irish blessings:

13. Like the warmth of the sun
And the light of the day,
May the luck of the Irish
shine bright on your way.


*****

12. May your pockets be heavy-
Your heart be light
And may good luck pursue you
Each morning and night


*****

11. May the good saints protect you
And bless you today
And may troubles ignore you
Each step of the way


*****

10. These things, I warmly wish for you-
Someone to love,
Some work to do,
A bit of o’ sun
A bit o’ cheer
And a guardian angel
Always near.


*****
9. May your blessings outnumber
The Shamrocks that grow
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.


*****

8. May you be half an hour in Heaven
Before the Devil knows you’re dead.


*****

7. May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.


*****

6. Whenever there is happiness
Hope you'll be there too,
Wherever there are friendly smiles
Hope they'll smile on you,
Whenever there is sunshine,
Hope it shine especially for you to make each day
for you as bright as it can be.


*****

5. May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun.
And find your shoulder to light on.
To bring you luck, happiness and riches.
Today, tomorrow and beyond.


*****

4. May you live a long life
Full of gladness and health,
With a pocket full of gold
As the least of you wealth.
May the dreams you hold dearest,
Be those which come true,
The kindness you spread,
Keep returning to you.


*****

3. May the friendships you make,
Be those which endure,
And all of your grey clouds
Be small ones for sure.
And trusting in Him
To Whom we all pray,
May a song fill your heart,
Every step of the way.

*****

2. May the sun shine, all day long,
everything go right, and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!


*****

1. May those who love us, love us;
and those who don't love us,
may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn't turn their hearts,
may he turn their ankles
so we'll know them by their limping.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patty's Day...

...You'll never get me lucky charms, i'll eat them first!
...Erin Go Braugh, wait, daddy says i can't wear bras!
...Me Pot O' Gold, now where is that leprechaun?!
...Kiss the Blarney Stone, heck, i can buy it!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Welcome spring...

It seems official. Spring has sprung in our area. The temperature is up, and the snow is down. It's time to get out and start enjoying the days.

Mady and I took full advantage of that today. We loaded into the jogger stroller, and went for a nice long run this morning followed by a wonderful little stop at the playground. It was nice to get out and breathe in the fresh air. It was so crisp, so fresh, so inviting. It was like taking a first breath of life. No smoke, no toxins, just clean air. These early runs in spring also help your body flush out all the leftover winter blues and sicknesses you may have lingering in your body. You hear fellow runners coughing and sniffling, but still enjoying themselves.

Running is a blessing and a curse around here. It's a blessing for many reasons. The exercise, the joy, the get out and go, and the enjoyment of a beautiful day. It's a curse for an even more important reason...the smells. Don't get me wrong, i love the smell of a crisp spring day. But when you are running through the streets of town, and all you smell is delicious Italian food and baked goods and fried food. C'MON!! Even the strongest of wills will falter. It's just wrong that it has to smell so good. And you wonder why we try to run out of town on the highways?!
It's definately getting to be a tough workout though, running pushing Mady with me. She isn't the feather she was last summer. But. Maybe this will make me run faster when it's just me, or me and the dog?! One can only hope.

Bring on Summer!!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Thursday 13...

I know i'm about a week late with this topic, but my Thursday thirteen for this week is...

13 of Dr. Seuss's best quotes:
Yep…that Dr. Seuss was a pretty smart fella, if you ask me. There are some pretty profound concepts in his children’s books. For example:

1.“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” -How the Grinch Stole Christmas

2.“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” -Happy Birthday to You

3.“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” -I Can Read with my Eyes Shut

4.“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent.” -Horton Hatches the Egg

5.“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” -Seuss-isms

6.“I’m sorry to say so, but sadly it’s true, that bang-ups and hang-ups can happen to you.” -Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

7.“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!” -I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew

8.“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!” -Oh, the Thinks You Can Think

9.“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” -Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

10.“Young cat, if you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you would learn! The most wonderful stuff!” -I Can Read with my Eyes Shut

11.“If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, just go right along and you’ll start happening too.” -Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

12.“Don’t give up! I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small.” -Horton Hears a Who

13.“So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact, and remember that life’s a great balancing act.” -Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Hop in my ride...

In honor of the beautiful weather, i decided to take Mady out for a run today. No, i didn't make her run along next to me. I broke out the jogger stroller! I was so excited, as i dragged it up the basement stairs. I fondly remembered all our runs from last summer, how the warmth hit our faces and we strode out the highway. So i bundled her up (yes, she has her blanket and all...it was windy, and it wasn't exactly 90 out, ya know) and off we went. Oddly enough, i don't remember this much pain last summer. It's not that i'm out of shape, because i'm not. It's just the fact that last summer, Mady weighed about 14lbs, so she wasn't that bad to push. This time, she weighs 22 lbs, and it's much heavier to push around. I never would have thought it would make that much of a difference, but apparently it does. Man, after the 3rd mile, i was pretty tired! I guess we're gonna have to take this one push at a time...hahaha, get it?!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Warmth on your skin...

Yesterday and today were absolutely beautiful days. It was in the 50s, and it's going to be that nice tomorrow and wednesday too! So of course, Mady and I had to take full advantage of the nice weather. We started walking around town. And by we, i mean we, not just me. She is walking on her own, and more than just a few blocks. She walked almost a full mile today, and yesterday she walked about half a mile. I don't know where this kid gets all that energy from, but if she wants to keep going, then by all means keep going.
Today, we walked to the playground. This oh so brilliant idea of mine, clearly wasn't as thought out as i had originally thought it was. When we got to the playground, there was still about a foot of snow there. Granted, it was all hard and crunchy to walk on, it was still there. But since we were already there, i picked Mady up and carried her over to the swings anyway. She swung for a while, then we played on the slides for a while. That was about all we could do with all the snow, so we went on our merry way walking again.
I can't wait for tomorrow, to see where our walk will take us :)

Friday, March 5, 2010

Madylinn and Keegan's playdate...

Watching movies...
...sharing gummies...
...sharing stories...
...resting and relaxing

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Thursday Thirteen...

This week's Thursday thirteen, i'm doing in honor of the Olympics ending. So, in no particular order...this weeks thursday 13 is....

My 13 favorite Olympic activities (winter OR summer)
13. Nordic combined...this sport is actually pretty amazing to watch. Not only do they do ridiculously high, long jumps, but then they have to ski long distance afterwards.

12. Ice Hockey...now, i'm not normally a hockey fan. But watching the USA play Canada in the gold medal match really had me glued to my tv. I was actually cheering and everything. It was a truly good game to witness.

11. Figure skating...not to be confused with the ever boring Ice Dancing. Figure skating is pretty amazing to watch. And it never fails, we always go skating and i always think "some of that stuff can't be that hard to do", and then i try to twist or skate backwards and i fall on my butt. Yea, it really IS that hard.

10. Short Track...i'm not sure if its the pure speed i like, or if it's watching Apollo Anton Ohno that i like so much. It's a toss up.

9. Weight lifting...i know, i know, not something i would typically like. But there is something disturbingly entrancing about watching a woman that looks like a man with a unibrow, dead lift 3x my body weight. I don't know why...stop judging me!!

8. Rugby...there is something awesome about watching guys play a game that is a cross between soccer, football, and just plain running each other over. It's even better in person.

7. Luge/Skeleton...these have to share a number, for simple scare-a-bility. I can't say i love to watch this stuff, but it scares me to watch it so much i'm glued to me tv. It's like a scary movie. You cover your eyes, but you always peek through your fingers to see what's going to happen next. It's just so dangerous!

6. Super G...this was the really fast downhill skiing multi event thing. It was really neat to see. I never really watched it before this year.

5. Gymnastics...there is something about those height challenged, freakishly strong girls that makes you feel like you can get out there and do flips too. Or maybe just watch it at home where it's nice and safe.

4. Swimming...there is something that just gets you about swimming. It makes you want to yell at your tv "Go! Swim faster! Stroke, Stroke, Stroke!!"

3. The Marathon...i know, i know, this should be my number one. They just don't have enough coverage of it though. It's always, "there they are again, now back to you guys in the studio".

2. Snowboarding...just watching them flip like that, over 20 feet above the top of the pipe..it's just crazy!

1. Track and Field...i could make this probably all 13 spots if i really were to break it down into what i love, but i'll just lump it all into this top number. It's just great, you know it and so do i!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Something you can sink your teeth into...

So let me start at the beginning. Last monday, the sink in the bathroom started leaking. Well, it was more like just the hot water tap that started leaking. Anyway. When Frank got home from work, i told him that it was leaking, and, being the "handy man" that he is, he decided to go inspect it and see what he could do. After checking it out, he determined that it was a loose...something or other...and that he needed a new part from Cole's. Well, after going to Cole's and talking to our Uncle Jack the plumber, he soon realized that we would have to get a whole new faucet, and at that point we figured we might as well just get a whole new sink. We couldn't go right away because we were both very busy, but we were going to go on Thursday. For the time being, he tried to turn the hot water off to the bathroom sink. To his surprise, the valve didn't shut the water off completely, so we had a slow leak to start with. Everyday, that leak got bigger and bigger until by Thursday it was a fairly steady running. I wasn't happy about the leak to begin with, so as it went on, i was more and more unhappy. It was raising both our water AND our heating bills, since it was the hot water...and it was coming out hot. Thursday came and it was sleeting out, so we decided not to risk going to Lowe's with the baby. As each day came and went, snow and sleet kept coming, and we kept going without a sink. And the leak, it kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally, on Friday night, when the snow slowed down, we decided we couldn't wait any longer to get a sink and get the leak fixed, so off to Lowe's we went. Of course, i picked out the sink, cabinet and faucet. If it was up to my hubby, he would have picked the most expensive ones there...i'm still trying to break him of his spoiled habits. And finally, after a week of leaking, we got the sink put in last night...thank you Uncle Jack, for your help!!

What do you think?!

Monday, March 1, 2010

My new, non-diet, diet...

So you all know how much i hate diets. I don't believe that they work. They falsely allow you to lost weight by starving yourself, only for you to gain it back again once you stop dieting. They have pills that make you not hungry anymore, low carb, high fat, high carb, exercise yourself to death, all grapefruit, soup only...anything you can think of. None of that's for me. That's why i'm going on the non-diet diet. It's my own persoanl little experiment that i'm going to try, starting today. It's simple really. I can still eat what i want, when i want. I can still exercise as much as normal without having to go overboard. All i do differently is drink an 8oz glass of water 5 minutes before i eat lunch and 5 minutes before i eat dinner. From what i can figure, this will help me fill up and eat less, but i still get to eat what i love, it will just be in moderation. Plus, i don't drink enough water during the day, so this should help me with that. Now, how long this will last?! That's a whole other story. But it's worth a shot, right?

Picture of the week...

Picture of the week...