Laugh of the Day

Did you ever wonder what was on the other side of Mt. Rushmore?

Time to Move In!

We got the official OK to start moving our stuff into the basement yesterday. So I thought I'd better take photos before we fill it up with crap! :)

Family Room:

Office:

Hallway:

Violet's green bedroom:

Bathroom:

Lu's Oriental-themed room:

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. I'd really like to win the lottery right now. Then I could quit my job.

2. OwOwOwOwOw! is the word you'd most often hear me say if I stubbed my toe. (Boring, I know. But I'm not much for profanities...)

3. Possession is the precursor to drowning in too much abundance.

4. My daughter loves any movie that features Captain Jack Sparrow.

5. Marshmallows and fire go together like pineapple and cottage cheese (one of my favorite lunches).

6. I hate it when one of my co-workers blathers on and on.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to shuttling kids around, tomorrow my plans include watching my girls' basketball games and Sunday, I want to move stuff in downstairs!

Delinquent

Email I received from Lu:

Subject: I'm in trouble

Hey mom, I got into big trouble today in school. I'll tell you when we get home but I thought I'd give you a heads up.

Well, ok then.

Apparently the middle school principle decided Lu should be the person who needs to "control" her friend's behavior at school. Lu responded that she can't "control" anyone. So the principal wanted her to be an influence on her friend, to help her with her homework and get better grades. Lu told her she already does this. And then she added:

"You've had my friend down here in your office all day. She's missed all her classes. I don't think that will help her grades get better if she isn't in class."

And that, my friends, is considered "disrespectful" and "talking back" to the principal.

Wordless Wednesday

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I saw a co-worker eating some “Fruit Naturals” grapefruit. I hate that brand. It is false advertising in a name! Unless, of course, people think that added sugar to their fruit is “natural”.

Beans and legumes are awesome food. I just wish I knew how to cook with them so I’d eat them more. Mostly, I just stare at the packages of dried little beans and say, "Hmmm."

The Post Office just came out with a new, small flat rate box on Jan. 18th. I’m very happy about this! However, I’m not happy that none of the Post Offices around here have any (“Sorry—we haven’t received our shipments of them yet.”). I even ordered some online on the 18th, and they haven’t shipped yet. Yet another shining example of our government dollars at work.

A couple years back at work, a consultant was brought in to our company to look at the viability of outsourcing the IT work. It made a lot of us paranoid. When they left, our company decided outsourcing wasn’t the thing for us. About a year ago, all our printer support was outsourced to a local company. And last week, they announced the recommendation to outsource our 1st level tech support (phone people) to another company. We’re all taking bets on how long we have before we’re outsourced. **sigh**

I think that most adults don’t feel like adults inside. We’re all just children, pretending to be grown-ups.

Washington ruled in my favor. Now it’s Utah’s turn to clarify the support order and fix the mess later next month. Right now, I am grateful for the accomplishment of Step 1 in this long process.

I’m in the process of starting up a new blog that will follow my attempt at losing my ‘muffin top’. More details to follow…

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!



1. Oh, I am so pissed at our two cats who have pooped all over my new carpet in the basement!

2. My butt changes, big and little. (I really want it to say, "big to little")(A girl can always hope, right?)

3. During American Idol season, I watch more tv than the rest of the year combined.

4. I shipped a pair of brand new Doc Martens to a customer in Arizona. Now they are trying to get their bank to stop payment; are you kidding me???

5. Right now I'd like to be home. Taking a nap. While the kids are at school. And then make a batch of gooey, hot chocolate chip cookies and eat them all by myself. With cold milk.

6. My "Crackberry" is my favorite gadget. (I swore I never would be addicted to the thing, but I didn't understand the POWER of The Dark Side instant email and internet gratification.)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to working late (sucks to be me)(why am I supposedly "looking forward" to it?), tomorrow my plans include attending two auctions to buy crap to sell on Amazon, and Sunday, I want Nikki to have the best 15th birthday party ever!

Science Fair

Today, I was a judge at my kids' school science fair. It actually was a lot of fun scaring the bejeezus out of talking to the kids about their projects, what gave them the idea, etc.

The best project, in my opinion, was a math-oriented one. The girl had overheard her father and uncle talking. They are both in the real estate business, and had made the comment that the median home price in American has doubled every 10 years since 1950.

This got her thinking. So she figured out the median family income from 1950 to present, and the median house price from 1950 to present. Then she calculated, in graph format, using current trends, to make a prediction on what the median average house price would be in 2040.

1.6 million dollars.

Maybe you California folks aren't too shocked, but I was floored.

The worst part is that if wages keep going how they are, the average median income family won't be able to afford to buy a home in 2040.

Sobering thoughts on a Thursday afternoon.

Wordless Wednesday

Inauguration Day of a Different Sort

Mrs. C. has finally started her own blog! Please stop by and say "hi" to her. You'll like her. I know you will. I've liked her since I met her in what... 6th grade? Wow. That means I've known her just about forever.

(All that whining to get you to start your own blog finally paid off, I see...)

Considering

I've got these extra 40 pounds on me that I really don't care for. They suddenly appeared (and it was within a 6-week time period, really) after I quit taking hormone replacement therapy crap. So my body, deprived of the estrogen it really wanted, decided to fatten me up in revenge.

While I can hold my weight well (I can always win at those "Guess Your Weight!" games at the carnival and such...), it does take a toll on my back. Even an extra 5 pounds is enough to cause me misery.

But losing the weight this time around isn't working. I've done all the usuals (hardly any carbs, upped my protein intake, I don't drink sodas, exercise, good healthy diet, etc. etc. etc.). My body wants nothing to do with it, unless I feed it more estrogen (which isn't an option anymore).

So I'm really considering the hCG diet. It's not that I necessarily want to drop the weight as quickly as they say you do on this diet (that part kind of worries me, actually). I just want something to kick start my butt into downsizing.

I would like to know if anyone has tried this, or if you know someone who has. I'm particularly interested in any long term stories and/or side effects of having done this.

I've Eaten A Lot Of Mice Today

I am hard at work today, eating mice in the snake game. This is quite possibly the coolest piece of flash I've seen in a long time.

Almost Done!

The basement is almost done! The carpet is being installed, even as I post...

At work, I'm trying to remember how to do something...

Me: (wondering out loud) What am I missing?
Co-Worker: Paint fumes?

Yeah.

But it's almost done!!!

Wordless Wednesday

How to Prevent Migraines and Headaches

A co-worker stopped me today, to thank me for some advice I gave her about a year ago. The advice? Take magnesium to prevent migraines.

I'll say it again-- take magnesium to prevent migraines.

I learned this important lesson two years ago, when my migraines were so bad that they finally hospitalized me for them. And they still couldn't make the pain go away....

After spending untold thousands of dollars on the regular medical establishment, I decided to go to a Naturopath. After talking with him for 10 minutes, he diagnosed me with magnesium deficiency. He said that 90% of the intractable migraine sufferers he sees in his office are magnesium deficient (as are most Americans). He gave me a magnesium shot right then in the office, and within a half hour, my migraine went away. Yes, went away.

I've been on magnesium supplements ever since. I prefer magnesium glycinate (easiest absorbed), or magnesium citrate. You take it to tolerance, meaning you take it, a lot of it, throughout the day until you have loose stools (that's the side effect of too much magnesium). Then, back off a pill or two. If you're having trouble absorbing any magnesium at all, be sure to take B6 and zinc (a multi-vitamin has sufficient zinc, but I would suggest taking additional B).

It takes a few months for the magnesium levels to build back up in your system, but you will feel better and better. I've had numerous co-workers thank me for letting them in on this "secret"-- they are also headache free now. It also helps with tight shoulder muscles and regular headaches.

Here's to migraine-free days and nights. Thank you, magnesium!

Painting

We're in the process of getting our basement finished. I've been spending all my free time this last week (ha!) painting.

See the photo of Violet below, in the not-yet-done bathroom? It's the current painting project. We've finished just about everything else, but I am SO tired of paint fumes.

I'll post some photos of the finished work. Maybe tomorrow. If I'm not still painting.

Wordless Wednesday

If You Could Only See Yourself As Others Do

For the past year or so, I've been fairly unhappy with my approaching-middle-age-body. I've put on 40+ pounds since I was married 2 1/2 years ago (long story, but hormones are a huge player). I feel like a whale next to my skinny, wiry Ron. I think we look like Jack Sprat and Wife in photos.

So I had this very interesting experience happen to me the other day, while I was buying a new bus pass for Kayla. As I stood at the counter, waiting for someone to bring the pass, I had been looking up at the top shelf of various leftover Christmas items. My eyes caught the sight of a monitor, and I curiously looked at it to see who was being monitored.

I noticed a woman standing there, and the thought came unbidden to my mind, "She's pretty." Nice figure, not too skinny, not too fat. Cute hair.

And then it dawned on me.

It was me I was looking at in the monitor. It was one of those monitors that flip the image around, so the camera will film what is really happening, not a mirror image of things. And since I've only ever seen myself in a mirror image, the recognition of me didn't immediately happen.

I've been thinking ever since. That image in the monitor is how everyone else views me. How I'm really seen by the world. The person who looks back at me from the mirror is only how I see myself.

Since then, I've been reframing my mind to try-- really try-- to see myself as others do. Not just my physical appearance, but also my deeds, actions, and words. I learned a powerful lesson that afternoon-- and am now endeavoring to silence my inner critic that wants me to see what the two-dimensional mirror reflects back. I am far too multi-faceted to confine who I am to the reflection I see every morning.

It is time to break free.

Conversation

Violet is at WalMart with me, wanting to buy some valentine candy for her "boyfriend":

Violet: I have $1.00 in change. Will that be enough?
Me: I think you'll be about 7 cents short, because of tax. What do you want to do?
Violet: The begging begins.

Girl = Under 18

I swear, if my male co-worker answers the phone just ONE MORE TIME with "Hey, girl!" when I call, I will march right over to where he is sitting and shove the receiver down his throat with much perverse pleasure.

I wish I were quick enough on the retorts to say, "How's it going, boy?" to him when he does that. But my automatic "hello response" just kicks in, and then I quietly fume on the other end of the line.

Grumble.