Oh, the excitement

Actually, there really isn't much going on. Blake is on a new antibiotic, and after a month and a half of being sick, finally feels better. Just in time, because he has had to go into work for training all week.

I've been on an organizing kick, and got our closet cleaned out. Part of the rod had been broken, which left less space, which made everything a mess. I got a new rod, a sweater rack, and am getting rid of a LOT of clothes. All mine. Wish I could convince Blake to give some up . . .

I joined Spark People, which is a free diet/health site. I really like it so far. Haven't been to the store to fully implement the nutrition info yet. I must say, the food recommendations look a little bland, so I plan to get a lot of use out of my spices.

I also found (actually they sent me an email) a company that has some FREE web seminars that I can use for contact hours for certification. I attended one today. It was actually fairly interesting, and occurred during James' nap time, so I was able to pay attention.

Also, finally finished the scrapbook from our trip to Italy. I want to put up photos of the entire project, but that could take a bit.

That is about all that's going on here. There is a Mizzou game tonight, which I will watch, but since 5 of our players have been suspended, it is unlikely to be a very pleasant experience. I appreciate the tough stance our coach is taking. I just wish we'd recruit players who wouldn't do the things that get them suspended. On a final note -- I've got James watching basketball with me now! I'm starting him early.

One Down . . .

and who knows how many to go. Hopefully not many! We went to a possible wedding/reception site. It was at an historic home/mansion in St. Louis. It was very beautiful, especially imagining how pretty it would be not in January, when everything was actually in bloom. And the people there were so nice and seemed really accommodating. But, unless we wanted to be out of there by 2 in the afternoon, the minimum number of guests would be 125, which is about double what we are planning. And the food wasn't very good. So, strike one. We are making more appointments with other places soon, including the Bistro, which has been our first plan all along.

Larry and Debbie came here to visit, play with James, and watch him while we went on the wedding mission. We enjoyed visiting with them. And James had a BLAST. He loves to show off what he knows, including the parts of the ABC song that he sings. Each day he adds in another letter or two. They also took him to the hippo place to play, and Red Robin for lunch.

I started that day by getting a fasting lipid and glucose level. Fasting -- as in no food, coffee or exercise until it was done. Wouldn't have been too bad (except for the coffee part), except they didn't open until 8. I got there at 8:01, only to find out that they didn't have a lab person there that day, the nurse who attempted to get the blood dug a needle around in my hand for quite a while before I talked her into giving up, then I had to drive 25 minutes further to get to the place that would have a lab person. I think I did a pretty good job of not being cranky, and then rewarded myself with a grande skinny mocha latte and reduced fat cinnamon swirl coffee cake at Starbucks on the way home. I'm not pretending these are health foods, but I looked up the nutrition info, and it doesn't kill my diet. And, I waited until after the cholesterol test!

A Little More Organized

Here's my new organizer! I really like it, and I keep getting it a little more customized to what I need for it to do. It's more fun to look at my to-do list when it's pretty! I would definitely recommend this class, Rachel, but if you take it, bring Mod Podge and a tape runner. They gave us a glue that made the paper buckle (even on their demo).

In other happenings, I took James to Gymquarters with playgroup Friday. He was pretty tentative, at first. But, once he realized the fun that was to be had, he took off and it was hard to keep up with him. He really liked the trampoline built into the floor.

The de-cluttering is progressing. I'm back to working out. Blake is taking a nap. And James is bothering Nutmeg. We've also been playing board games lately -- Compatibility, Hoopla, and Bandu. Technically, only one of these has a board, but I don't have a better term to use.

Here are some recent layouts I've done. Still have more of the Italy ones to post, but haven't taken photos yet. This first one is page one of a 2-page LO of James playing at the Botanical Gardens with Larry and Debbie, while Blake and I went to CPR class. Larry got some great pictures, which won't show up as well as they should, since my photos are a little dark.

This one is about James crying when he saw Santa, even though he was going to ask Santa for a cookie.The journaling in this one is about taking what comes in life, because it might be better than what you planned for.

Here's one from Italy. Blake and his giant beer, while I had my tiny espresso.

And, finally, this one talks about a woman at our resort in Sorrento who commented that we always looked so in love. And, since Blake proposed soon after, it was a wonderful comment to hear.

I'm pretty sure there was more I wanted to post about, but I can't think of what it would be.

Time for an update

Even though there really isn't anything to update. It's been a pretty slow week. I had a cold for a few days, but am over it now. Haven't started working out again or anything crazy like that, though! Blake is still feeling sick. So, we haven't gone anywhere except to Outback last Saturday. That was fun, especially for James. We had a wait of about an hour, and a server kept bringing by little trays with bites of appetizers on it. Our little picky eater LOVED all of them and kept crying out for more. After we were seated, she even brought him another one. I think she liked how he got so excited every time she came out.

Coordinates Collections had an online crop, and I won a prize! And, when Jamie, the owner, saw me post that I already had what I won and that I was offering it to someone else, she removed the post and gave me something else! That was such a nice thing to do. I got a lot done at that crop, and at the one I went to on Friday with my playgroup friends. I will have to post some pictures later. I am actually getting close to finishing the Italy album!

Tonight, I am going to a class at Archiver's to make a household organizer album. Finally, the answer to all of my problems. After this class, I'm sure my home will become so much more organized. Magically. Well, at least I will have a pretty place to store my "to do" list . . .

I am actually on a decluttering mission throughout the house. Working on an area at a time. First was James' room. After Christmas, we got rid of so much of what he has outgrown. And his toys are divided into 3, with only one batch out at a time. He appears to have about a 2 week attention span. He loves and plays with toys for about 2 weeks, then not so much. So I put them away and pull out the next batch, and he feels like he has all new toys. For about 2 weeks. Now I am decluttering my office. Scary.

Not much else going on. We're hoping to start looking at possible wedding/reception sites soon. It is frustrating when they are only available M-F 9-5, since Blake is working then. So, I guess they have to meet my criteria first!

New Dishwasher!!!

I love it! Our old dishwasher appeared to be a 1992 model with only ONE sprayer, at the bottom. So, really, only the underside of the dishes on the bottom rack got cleaned. Our new one (thanks, Mom!) has 3 sprayers, adjustable top shelf, fold-down gadgets everywhere, and lots of cleaning power! And, it also has a feature I love -- a rinse agent level indicator, so you know when it's full and when it is time to refill. There also seems to be a lock, but I haven't been able to figure it out or find info in the manual. Maybe James will figure it out. I didn't know the microwave had a lock, until he kept pressing buttons and activated it, leaving me to then figure out how to unlock it. I gave the dishwasher a good test -- a dried-up casserole dish from yesterday. Clean as a whistle. I am so happy with my new gadget.

The delivery guys were here at 8:15 and out by 9, so James and I still got to meet our playgroup at the Hippo Place. James had so much fun. But, the point of being there with playgroup is pretty much lost on him, as he just runs around, with me having to chase after him. There's not a lot of interaction with the other kids. At least for him. Several of the kids kept coming up to me to show me how many tickets they'd earned. The Hippo Place is great, and actually safe for him to run around, except that I have to keep up with him, because he'll grab people's rears, take their tokens, any toys or drinks he finds . . . and SHOES. Loves to move people's shoes (you can't wear them on the play areas). All of this chasing left me with almost no time to do what I am there for -- visit with the other moms! But, tonight, the scrapbookers of our group are getting together for a crop. I'm still trying to finish up our Italy album, so I have lots to do to keep me busy.

Perspective

I was sooooo excited today! When Mom was here last week, she bought us a new dishwasher (because ours is LOUSY) and today was delivery day. The installer was looking at everything, and said he couldn't do it because the water shut-off/pipe that it connects too is the wrong size and would have to be replaced. We know from experience that calling a plumber (his suggestion) is more expensive than we wanted to pay right now. So, it looked simple enough, so we tried it. (Ok, Blake did the physical labor and I sat there calling out things that I thought would be helpful.) So, I went to Home Depot for the replacement parts. I was feeling pretty discouraged, because everything that just shouldn't be that difficult always is. But, then I was listening to a story on NPR on the drive home about all of the horrible things happening to women and girls in Congo. http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/15166 (don't follow this link unless you are really prepared) Ok, so my not getting a new dishwasher today isn't such a big deal. As I pulled into the driveway, I saw the family photos on the shelf through our front window. I am so lucky!

As for the dishwasher, we don't feel comfortable with the soldering it will take to maybe fix the problem, and the old piece won't go back on without squirting water. So, we have no water in the house, except for the couple of gallons I ran to Walgreens to buy for the night. The plumber is coming tomorrow. I really should put him on speed dial . . . And, once the new piece is installed, we have to wait until the delivery guys come back to install the dishwasher, so I will be *gasp* washing dishes by hand.

I am really looking forward to my new dishwasher!!! Mom, I can't wait until I can call and tell you how great it is!

A Rant About Photographers

I went to a wedding show yesterday. Blake still isn't feeling well, so he stayed home. I'm so glad he did! It completely wore me out, so it would have killed him. At least every other booth was a photographer. And I'm guessing that's why they charge so much -- there can't possibly be enough work available to keep them all in business, so they have to make lots each time. Some of them are charging $4000, and you still have to buy the prints! They do offer lovely books to tell the story of your wedding for that price, but I'd really just rather have the photos. I do, however, really want good photos, as they are so important. But, at this point, the best photos we have of us were taken by my friend Chris (who is excellent!), by Blake holding the camera at arm's length, and by a drunk guy on the street we asked to take our picture once. None of those photos cost anywhere near $4000.

But, I did get a lot of good information, including some other ceremony/reception sites to check out. And I got to try wedding cake samples! Archiver's (scrapbook store) had a booth, as it turns out they are going to start a free class next month on making your wedding invitations. I am looking forward to that. But, their booth didn't seem to be getting a lot of traffic. They recognized me and looked as happy to see a familiar face as I was. I've discovered that wedding shows are informative, but would be much more fun with somebody. If I go to another one, I need to take a friend. I don't think there are any coming up, but if I see one, Lori -- expect a call!

Here's a picture Blake took of me and the bags of information I brought back. And, the little white plastic cup in the photo is one of the cake samples I brought for Blake. James liked them, too. I've never shared 1-inch pieces of cake with 2 other people before, but it worked out.

Today was a beautiful day, so we went to the park. We were amazed to get to the dog park and find it empty, especially because so many people were walking their dogs in the park. But, then we noticed it was locked, so we just found a nice spot to hang out, keeping Nutmeg on the leash. Which is actually fine with her. The last time we went, Blake tried really hard to encourage her to run, but she is old. As we left, we saw the dog park FULL of people and dogs. Must have opened at noon.

My Goals

Ok, here they are. As the year goes on, feel free to ask me how I'm doing on them -- it might provide some extra motivation! And, I am aware that not all of them are monumental. And, the one about lose the rest of the weight I planned for 2007 . . . I have exactly one pound less this year. Good grief. The spaces under the goals are where I will document my progress at the end of the year.

James says "Happy New Year" and "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas". He may still be saying this in March . . .

Happy New Year (for procrastinators)

My mom came to visit for a few days, which was really fun! For the scrapbookers who read this blog, she gave me the greatest little scrapbook about me and her thoughts about my life and the joys and stresses that entailed. It was really a sweet gift, and I cried -- not just at the picture of my clothes and hair circa 1990.

Here's James waiting for Grandma.

Blake has still been sick with his sinus infection, so it is a good thing we decided against our original big New Year's plans! Instead, we had junk food, party hats and noisemakers here. Mom thought she would just have James here, so she brought Elmo plates and napkins for the occasion. After James went to bed, the adults played Phase 10. Very fun, but we are old wimps now and got very tired. We were all relieved when Blake won the game at about 10pm, so we could all go to bed.

Some of us had more fun with the noisemakers than others.

I've been doing a little scrapbooking. I updated my list of goals for 2007 to reflect how I did on them (not great, but not too bad, either). Then I did a page of goals for 2008, and a page of some accomplishments from 2007. I'll try to post the 2008 goals tomorrow, to keep myself honest!

Now that Mom has gone home, there is no excuse not to take down the Christmas decorations, so I've been working on that. I'm about 2/3 done. I'll finish tomorrow.

Fianlly, here's a picture of James learning to ride his new tricycle. It would help if his feet could reach the pedals better.