changes

just an FYI notice:

as some of you with blog reader (or whatever it is called) may have already noticed i have been switching all of the posts on "tough enough" over to my "perfect storm" blog. i was having a difficult time keeping up with so many blogs. in order to streamline the Internet for myself with hopes of being able to post more consistently everything will be on "perfect storm". i have really been glad to have the posts i do from when i was starting on a path of healthier living but i wish that there weren't so many gaps in my progress. so.... i am currently up-to-date on the blog beginning with the new year.

thank you to my track buddies for your continued support. i appreciate the waves, hellos and time spent talking about life. here's to us all making great strides in 2010.

2010 take me for a spin

Looking forward to 2010... Cheers to a new year, hopefully new beginnings and definitely new adventures!


Foster new friendships and nurture old ones

Lose a "certain" amount of weight ( I have a # in my head)

Cook a full meal once a day

Complete 700 miles as of December 31, 2010
(+ 25 miles left over from last year)

Eat better

Take at least 2 trips out of state

Be able to jog a mile by December '10

Not be afraid of failure

*reserves the right to add additional items*

What 2010 Can't Do

It can't erase this past year, I have scars from it.
It can't bring loved ones back.
It can't give me my old job.
It can't forget the physical pain.
......................................................................................

I cautiously look towards 2010.

Falsely Titled

Boy was I optimistic before 2009 began. I posted this on the 1st of last year... little did I know that my world would be rubble with-in a few short months. Anyway, lets get this look at the last year over as quick as possible.

Bring on '09

Cheers to a new year, new beginnings and new adventures!

Foster new friendships and nurture old ones
-- :)

Lose a pant size
-- :)

Pack my lunch at least 4 days a week
-- :/ for the most part, while I was working

Complete 600 miles as of December 31, 2009
-- :(

Eat better (cook more meals at home)
-- :/ there is much room for improvement

Take at least 2 trips out of state
-- :/ tech. yes but not for fun

Be able to jog 1/2 a mile by December '09
-- :)

Not be afraid of failure
-- :/ I think I am more afraid, but not of the failure I was speaking of here

Compete in triathlon
-- :(

Merry Christmas...

G-mo's newest facination

A few days ago I had some left over ice chips from a drink, so they were tossed into the sink to melt away. Moments later I hear a weird noise coming from the kitchen, I walk in to see G-mo smacking the ice around. He will sit and stare at it for awhile waiting for the right moment to pounce on it ( he is doing this right now as I am typing!) then he begins to smack it around but of course it is cold and wet so every couple smacks he has to stop and lick his paw for a minute or so. Then the boy is back at it peering into the sink and waiting to pounce once again.

12th row for $12

Charlie and I also found some time to go to a Kings game while she was staying out here. She knew of a website with CHEAP tickets... and so we went. The action was great...
They broke the glass not once but TWICE!

We also got to see 3 Canadians in the penalty box at one time!

Truly a great game.

Charlie Comes To Town

Quick what do you do first?

Disneyland of course!

Charlie and I picked up Morgan and off we went...

Lots of self-portraits on rides.
Conquering the mountain

She volunteered to be in front, I swear!

A great time was had.

Calming down...

It's looking like things will be slowing down a bit at work. We've had a lot of thug kids lately...intimidators, fighters, future road rage arrestees. One left on Thanksgiving and another today. They're being replaced by non-aggressive kids which is something we haven't had for a long time. We still have a few thugs, but they're isolated right now and another one will be leaving within a couple of weeks. We haven't been able to even try and find jobs for these kids because we've been so bogged down with behavior issues and needing to supervise several locations 24/7 instead of the independence our unit is supposed to give them. It'll be a welcome break from the stress of the last six months or so.

Successful

Since 2003 we have been Black Friday shoppers, although we did miss one year due to being out of state. Our first year was spent outside of a Best Buy, the following years were Circuit City. With Circuit City having gone out of business this past year we looked the ads over and decided since Paul needed new jeans from Old Navy and we really wanted to get Lego Rock band it would be the best place to begin our holiday shopping at. The thing that was great about this year was we didn't have to sit outside till 5am!

We got to ON about 12:30am, there was less than a dozen people in front of us we were kinda surprised. Across the street at Best Buy the line wrapped around the building, parking lot and out on to the sidewalk along the street. Paul got settled in line and I headed to grab the gift card we forgot at home, some blankets and coffee. Then we sat and waited, talked, flipped through the ads and listened to the crazies next to us. At 2:30 the employees handed out wristbands for those who would receive the free video game. Paul and I both wanted to try on some jeans so this was not a run in grab what we came for and leave, because of this the line in the store to pay became longer than the line outside. The Mr. and I waited for over 1 1/2 hours to make our purchases.

Since it was nearing 5am by this time we made a plan and headed to Target, as we were parking they opened the doors. We went to the back of the line and waited our turn to be let inside. It was quite packed in there! Target apparently doesn't think that handing out tickets for big items before letting hundreds of people in the store is a valid idea.

Next up was Best Buy which was easy to get in since they already opened doors the hour before we arrived. After comparing styles, makers, and prices we picked out a laptop for my mom. Then it was time to stand in line again. While waiting our turn to check out we came to the conclusion that we needed SLEEP!

Back to my moms for us and to bed! The pair of us woke up for lunch, then it was time for Round 2 at the mall! The three of us walked the entire mall, hitting any store we needed something in. Around 830pm it was time to call it a day. Back to the house to relax and pack up all the treasures we found.

Paul and I made sure to follow one another home to make sure neither of us was to tired to drive.

It was another successful Black Friday!
NOW on to Cyber Monday.

Getting in the spirit...

Last year I could not get into Christmas music. Even when it actually was Christmas. This year is the opposite. I've been listening to it off and on for a week or so thanks to a local radio station that plays it 24/7. Now iTunes has been playing it all day as well. I've been looking for new songs to add to the mix. Bob Dylan's new Christmas cd? Unlistenable. Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Bad theology, good singing. Barenaked Ladies featuring Anne Murray? Surprisingly good. Any suggestions for really good ones?

In related news, our only mail today was a Turner's holiday catalog. It was addressed to a former resident of this apartment "or current resident" so we kept it. What does Turner's sell you may ask? Weapons! What better way to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior than with a discounted .38 Special or an M4 Tactical 12 gauge shotgun. The Maxim Tactical folding knife claims to be a perfect stocking stuffer. If we want to do our part to help battle breast cancer while controlling the deer population there is a whole collection of pink weapons available. Cyndi wants the pink taser, but it's a bit pricey. For that price you could get two pink .22 rifles ("This ones made especially for your little girl!"). Don't worry, I'll be careful. If you get a present from me this year I'll make sure it's unloaded before I sent it.

Something I was not thankful for on Thanksgiving....

On Thanksgiving I ended up having to work. I was supposed to have the day off, but a co-worker had twins on Monday so he's out for a little while. I figured if I worked his early shift I would be able to use the extra money to balance out my furlough day and still have time to make it to Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house. My boss said he'd even leave money to take the boys to a movie.

They couldn't agree on anything (as usual) so we took a vote. The dominant voice who showed up to vote rallied everyone to vote for New Moon because it looked cool with werewolves and vampires battling. By the time we got to the theatre and the boys saw the movie poster, some of them started having buyers remorse. We didn't want to have a big arguement at the theatre, so we quickly got them inside and said to at least be happy they weren't stuck back on campus.

I went into New Moon expecting badness. I didn't realize just how bad it was going to be. I tried to type out something here to express all that is wrong with it, but I kept feeling like I was leaving something out. For the most acurate review I've been able to find, read this: New Moon: Review

Out of the 40 or so people in the theater, 8 walked out at various times during the first hour never to return. I wished I could join them. Many teens in there could be heard talking about how ridicuous the whole thing was throughout the movie. Seven of the boys hated it with only one saying it was "ok".

There were a few things that got the entire audience laughing: 1. A future vision of Bella and Edward running through the forest in all white dress clothes to show their love. 2. A scene where Bella crashes her bike and Jacob runs over to see if she's ok. He has to take off his shirt for some reason to provide first aid. Not that he uses the shirt for anything. 3. When the movie cut to black at the end. That got the most laughs from everyone and a lot of "what the hell was that?" questioning.

Bottom line: Bad script, worse acting, a disjointed feeling throughout, and a horrible example to the teen girls the movie is being targeted at. It's sad they're going to try and get 3 more movies out of this series.

Turkey Day gives way to Black Friday

I had the pleasure of sleeping in today which was delightful! Mom and I had a light lunch at the house, lounged around a bit, looked through the newspaper and then got ready to head to the Robinson's.

Mom and I got over to Lynn and Steve's place just before dinner was to be served. There was turkey, 2 types of cranberry sauce and stuffing, green been casserole, rolls, mashed potatoes, veggies, pies.... all delicious. We enjoyed spending the evening with the whole family talking and watching football. Michelle and I even took a side trip to Micheal's which opened today from 5-9pm to begin our shopping early!

Paul had to work this morning and then headed over to his family's Thanksgiving meal. I am sure there was terrific food there as well and that a good time was had by all.

The boy is now on his way down to SD so that we can head out and do our Black Friday shopping. It is tradition to hangout in front of Best Buy or Circuit City for the past 4-5 years. Mom and I did a drive by Best Buy on our way home this evening, there are already droves of people and new this year about a dozen camping tents set up throughout the line.

Hope everyone enjoys a good nights sleep in their warm toasty beds while me and my Bubba are out on the cold concrete. Who am I kidding, I HEART Black Friday.

With A Thankful Heart

I am so thankful for my life.

husband.

family.

friends.

freedoms.

opportunities.

future.

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope you all remember the many people and things in our lives we have to be grateful for not only on this day, but always.

Fascinating

We have not figured out what is so interesting in our ceiling, but there must be something. Recently G-mo has decided to start hoping up on the fridge and pawing his way into the light fixtures. He tries with all his might to get his nose up in there but it is just a little too short.

Yes or No

I have been trying to decide if we should do a Christmas Letter this year. Many people have expressed over the years that they actually enjoy getting our letters and photo every Christmas and look forward to seeing what we have been up to. It just seems like it would be a mostly "Debbie Downer" type of letter. Of course I can try an make it as positive as possible but the bottom line is a lot of hard stuff has happened this year. Part of me thinks good or bad it is what it is and people would still want to know what happened with us this year, the other part doesn't want to damper the holidays for others and thinks just send a photo this time around. I just don't know which way to go on this.

Missed by that much...

This past week Sports Authority had an event announcing their new partnership with Nintendo and the Wii Fit. They had the largest Wii Fit demonstration in the parking lot (trying to get into the World Records book). Jillian was on hand to give a speech, and run a short workout routine off the Wii Fit. Sadly I did not have the opportunity to get a photo with her. She was incredibly personable, sweet and took the time to shake hands and talk to a few fans who showed up.

Christmas @ Disney

I love Christmas at Disneyland.Our first stop was a photo in front of the tree. Then we met up with these two and Jenny along with her kids and parents. Everyone split up to hit a few rides before it was time for the fireworks show. We stationed ourselves close to one of the light displays so that Cole would be close to the "snow" that falls at the end.

We tried to go on Small World after fireworks but it was crazy over there and a massive line was forming. Cole decided he was ready for bed so Co and Cole took off. Paul and I wanted to hit a few more rides before heading home.



Of course we had to stop by Buzz. Paul now challenges all of our friends who have Disney passes or are planning a visit to beat his score!

Planning

Venting: I am frustrated that I feel like I cannot even plan my life for the next week. There are so many balls up in the air. I do not know which will drop first and until that first ball drops I cannot make further plans. Ugh! I just wish that I could give one solid answer to anyone, the problem is nothing is depending on my decisions it is events that are out of my control that are going to dictate what happens next week. I just hope that everyone is okay with whatever the outcome is.

Oh well, off to enjoy Friday at the "happiest place on earth" with my Bubba. Hope everyone out in blogland has a great weekend.

Respect

From the first episode of Survivor this year I have hated Russell. He dumped out all their water, and seems a bit off his rocker creating conspiracies that aren't really going on. I will never be a fan of Russell. However, he has gained my respect as a game player.

Sequel

Gizmo returns to the stage after a years absence for an exciting performance of "Places I don't belong 2"

He is our little Rock Star

Keyboard Box Tote Bag
Kitchen Cabinets
Under the Couch
File Cabinet
Costco Milk Box
If you would like to view his past performance... click here

Long Awaited For

The Biggest Loser 8:30 on NBC tonight!

This is the episode I have been waiting tight-lipped for. Before this season started I was invited to go to the taping for the makeover episode. It was an incredible experience getting to meet the trainers and was so much fun to be there and see the transformations the contestants had made.

Every time someone would complain about Tracey I had to bite my tongue to not blurt out, no worries she wont be in the top 6. I have never been so happy as the day she was voted off, Paul can attest to my constant arguing with the tele when she kept getting to stick around week after week.

Good riddance!

Really? Really!

I cannot wait for our upstairs neighbors to MOVE!!!

Hurry up and get out people.

They vacuum at 3 in the morning. They drop loud objects on the floor at all hours of the day and night.

Really? REALLY!

They cuss, scream, and fight with each other so loudly that we cannot hear our own conversations.They hit the walls and slam doors when they are mad at each other.

Really? REALLY!

They turn on the air conditioner, shut up every window in their place and smoke which comes down the heating vent into our apartment. Not to mention that we are convinced they are involved in some sort of illegal activity, we just can't seem to figure out what it is. The possibilities: meth lab, stolen goods, insurance scams involving car accidents...

Really? REALLY!

We heard rumor they were moving out at the end of Oct., well that didn't happen. I saw the guy stacking up some random items and taking a handful of trips to the car with un-boxed items so hopefully by the end of this month we will be rid of them.

The End of the Blogcation

Apparently my blogcation is over. Cyndi was unable to post today due to forgetting to take her computer with her to San Diego. She claims that I haven't posted since around January. It doesn't seem that long, but who knows. I told her I can barely manage Facebook status updates, so coming up with enough material for a blog post is stretching it.

Our Disneyland passes expire in 3 weeks so we're trying to go as much as we can. We'll renew them again at some point, but aren't going to spend money on that right now. We went on Saturday night, but didn't go on much. We got there just as the Christmas parade was about to start so we watched that. Then we went over to California Adventure. We just found out that they are going to be expanding, so we checked out all the displays showing the new Cars themed land and the new entrance plaza they're going to put in. It seems pretty cool....new stuff each of the next 3 years. After that we went on Soarin' and the 3-D Toy Story game/ride and then headed out right before the fireworks crowd.

One of the highlights of my night was the conversation between two high schoolers sitting on the tram next to us:

Guy -- "Isn't blue your favorite color?"
Girl -- "No way!"
Guy -- "Then what is?"
Girl -- "Glitter."

Magic. In case you're wondering, I think glitter is now my favorite color too. I can't believe I never even considered it.

Up to-the Date

I did not step it up quite as much as I would have liked this week. I did complete 13 miles however I was only at the track 3 of 5 days! Which means the days I went I was productive, I just need to get there more often during the week.

I have 122 miles to my goal. 47 days left in the year.

Just over 2.5 miles everyday to accomplish this feat.