Here I go AGAIN!!

Tomorrow, I'm starting Couch to 5K. Its a plan from Cool Running, and I've done something similar to it before. I really need to do it now to get back in shape. My weight loss has stalled and I really don't want to be in this shape forever so I've got to do something. I found a site that some really cool guy had done Pod casts for this program so I'm really excited to have a plan on my iPod!

I'm supposed to do week 1 on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday this week. Send me some positive thoughts because I need them. My company participates in a charity 5K in exactly 9 weeks. If I stay on the program, I'll be right on track to participate. I'll participate either way, but last year I was the ONLY one who walked. Granted only about 10 of us participated so it isn't like I'm the worst person in the office, but I don't want to walk alone again this year.

I'm done.

I finished the new Potter book this morning. I was happy with the way it ended, but sad that it is over. I hope Rowling does something epic again. It was an awesome ride. One that I'd love to take again.

You only get what you can handle, right?

I truly believe that things happen for a reason and even if you can't see the reason it is there. It may be disappointing that you didn't get what you want, but if will come when you are really ready. Maybe you were ready, but those around you weren't and it would hurt your relationship if you got what you wanted. Maybe the reason you didn't get it had nothing to do with you. Maybe, just maybe it was for the greater good of those around you.

I'm mad as hell right now.

Ever notice that you get more peeved when someone messes with your family or friends, than you do if they mess with you? Right now, I'm totally PO'd and there isn't anything I can do about it. Today, I found out that two people I care about were hurt badly.

One was physical hurt. A life or death situation that caused my friend a black-eye and a dislocated shoulder. Right now, my friend is fearful that he might hurt her again and she's confused. Confused because someone she loved and trusted beat her up. She thought as he was hitting her that he might kill and that her daughter would not have a mother. This is just not right. Not right at all.

The other is pride. Someone put them in a position to get turned down. To get the wind knocked completely out of their sails. Not cool at all. I'm not 100% certain that it was intentional, but it was careless and thoughtless for sure. It was a public ego blow and one that it will take a while to recover from. It was an undeserved act and I don't know if the person will ever really feel confident again.

I'm mad as hell. I'm mentally drained.

It'll happen today or

it won't. Stand by.

I'm Back

You probably didn't realize I was gone, but I went to Baltimore yesterday for the day. Left early, got home late. It was a very successful work related trip. And the best part was that I had steamed crabs. YUM.

The only downside. I am beyond tired. But today is my FRIDAY! WooHoo.

Open IM -> Insert Foot

Having one of those days. Earlier, I opened up IM to complain that my boss wants to meet at the office tomorrow at 6:15am to leave for our flight rather than driving myself directly to the airport. Instead of selecting my friend Troy from my IM list, I picked my boss. I complained to my boss on IM that I had to meet him here so early tomorrow. Opps. Luckily, he stopped me before I said anything too bad and thought the whole thing was funny.

Seriously.

Enough already.

Lohan Booked on Suspicion of DUI and Procession of Cocaine

Good News

A friend and coworker that I dearly love moved to NJ back in April. She's decided to return to Atlanta and I'm going to be able to rehire her. I'm so excited I can't stand it.

I know no one that reads this knows her, but during my pregnancy and after my maternity, she kept me sane. She's the best and I'm so excited that she'll be back. I've missed her dearly. She'll be back in the office on 10/1 and I can't wait!

Book 7

I am half-way through the book that finally arrived around 2:30pm on Saturday. I've forgiven you Amazon, but next time I won't preorder from you. So far, I am loving this book. It has been a while since I read The Half-Blood Prince so it I'd forgotten where the epic left off but I'm picking it up as I go. I wish I'd re-read six over the last few weeks to reorient myself. I'm trying to not ignore my children too terribly bad and also to make the book last because it is the last. I'll probably finish it up by week's end, but that's better than 2 days. And if you finish the book before me, don't spoil it for me.

I still haven't watched the last Soprano's episodes that I Tivo'd and I've managed to avoid any talk, writings, interviews, etc that would spoil it for me. I just haven't had a few childless hours to watch it. Imagine that.

Listen Here Am-A-zon.

I'm getting a bit irritated. I could have dragged my butt over to B&N hours ago and picked up my HP book, but you promised me that I could have it delivered to my home on the release date. Its 2:17PM and UPS hasn't brought my book. When I track my book, the last scan was the Acworth distribution center at 11:30am yesterday. Is my book still sitting in some center waiting to be delivered on Monday or is it on a truck on its way to my house right now? Where in the heck is my book?!?! I knew this whole delivery on Saturday was too good to be true. Why did I pre-order my book? I've never done this before. I could be reading right now if I'd done as I've always done and gone to the store to buy it. Crap.

One of those crazy lists -

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Can't remember. Oh wait, it was the week after Memorial Day. Terrible week.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I'm learning to embrace it as I realize that almost everyone has bad handwritiing.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Can I say Chicken Salad? If not, a honey baked ham.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes - Sam and Ben.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I would hope so.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Queen of sarcasm.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? maybe after a couple of shots of tequilla

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Franken Berry or Captain Crunch Berry. I love cereal too much so I try not to indulge. I think it puts weight on me. Mostly because I like to eat it late night.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? not if I can help it, but I hardly wear tie shoes anymore.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I want to be and I am for a lot of things, but I'm not as strong as I would like to be.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? Chocolate

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? This is so bad, but how they are dressed. I'm so vain.

15. RED OR PINK? pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm a procrastinator and it bites me all the time.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my family in Cincinnati

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? no

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? still in my husband's shirt and underwear that I slept in. And yes I know that is 1:26PM, but its been a really long rough week and I'm taking it easy.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? hamburger from Dairy Queen that the man went out and got me about an hour ago.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the British Open

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Green? Who the hell knows!

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS? honeysuckle

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? my husband last night as I was driving home.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I like to read her blog from which I stole this list.

26. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? baseball - little league.

27. HAIR COLOUR? aak. Need to get my highlights done. Bad

28. EYE COLOUR? brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes, but day to day prefer glasses

30. FAVOURITE FOOD? lately its anytime that I didn't have to cook. But I really like deep dish pizza.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Harry Potter at the drive-in

33. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? brown

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

35. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs.

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? n/a

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? n/a

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? desperately awaiting the arrival of my Harry Potter book. Where are you UPS?

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? hate Mouse Pads.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? What else? It was Friday night. WHAT NOT TO WEAR. Love you Stacy and Clinton.

42. FAVOURITE SOUND? right now, its all the cute words Ben is saying. Last night, he told Sam "I sawwwry."

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones.

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? India

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Not really. I'm OK good at a lot of stuff, but not wonderful at anything.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Charleston, South Carolina

47. WHAT SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU LIKE? I'd be happy to be functional with less sleep.

Harry Potter

I just checked Amazon and tracked by package. My book is the area and scheduled to be delivered tomorrow morning. I can't wait. I'll be useless this weekend because every moment will be about reading or doing whatever I have to so that I can get back to reading.

Sam, Ben, and I saw The Order of the Phoenix last Friday at the drive-in. I had planned out how Ben would fall asleep on the way and how Sam and I would enjoy the movie. Ben did fall asleep but Sam and I were being too loud while waiting for the movie to start and we woke him up. He was a handful throughout the entire movie.

I did enjoy the movie. Quite a few parts were above Sam's head and it doesn't seem that I've scarred him for life by taking him to a PG-13 flick. He's not mentioned the movie once. In fact, he asked several times during the movie when it would be over. Not so much a Harry Potter fan.

We're thinking about going back to the Drive-in tonight to see Ratatouille.

Aquarium Picture

One last thing before I actually start to work -

We went to the Georgia Aquarium a few weeks ago. I have tons of pictures and a few that I wanted to share, but I have this one handy and can't resist putting it up now. My totally cool son ;-)

Speaking of M&Ms....

I made this a while back, but didn't post it. This is my Work M&M. I don't have a non-Work M&M, but I don't usually wear heels around the house.

The M&M Store

Last time I was in Vegas, I passed this really cool M&M store but it was late and the store was closed. So Ed went to Vegas this past weekend and I asked him to go to this store and get me something. I adore M&Ms and I wanted something from this store. He asked what, but I had no idea what was in this store so I didn't know what I wanted. I asked him to go and call when he got there. So Saturday night, he went and he called. He said he found a really cool shirt and asked what size I wanted. I said Medium and he said they only had Small and Large. Fearful of the Small, I said Large. Fast forward to his return. Said Large is a CHILD's Large. I can get it on but I look like a hoochie momma with Peanut M&Ms right across her best feature. Don't know if I'll ever wear in public, but I did get something from that store ;-)

Ha!

On the way to work today, I passed a really hot guy running with his dog. The dog was a standard white poodle with a really stylish (not) poodle cut. You know the fluffy head, tail and paws. The dog wasn't galloping like most dogs do while running. It was kind of prancing. I had to look twice to be sure I had in fact seen a hot guy with a girly dog.

Hot Dude – lose the dog. It does nothing for your hotness.

Let me give you a tip

Don't make a chocolate cake and put the utensils and bowls directly in the dishwasher without rinsing them first. It turned the water brown and everything looks dirty. I'm rewashing for the third time to get the dirty film off all the dishes. I read in the Earth Day stuff not to rinse dishes if your dishwasher could handle the it. My dishwasher if fairly new and about mid-range in terms of quality so I figured it could take it. Guess what? It can't handle chocolate cake batter.

Guess I Need to Spice Things Up Around Here.

Waiting stinks

I hate hate hate to wait. I need to know now so just call and tell me already!
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Oh No He Didn't - Part 2

I'm totally grossed out by my kid constantly messing with his barely loose tooth so Ed stepped in. Did he just tell Sam to stop? Oh No He Didn't. He told Sam that he'd give him $5 to stop. WTH? Are we trying to start a bidding war with the Tooth Fairy? Oh wait, we are the Tooth Fairy. WTH Ed!?!?!?

Oh No He Didn't

Last Thursday, Sam lost a tooth. In the absense of cash, I ran to the ATM late night. Smallest amount you can get is $10 and I had no shoes so I couldn't get change. Oh yes, I gave the brat $10 from the Tooth Fairy.

Fast forward to today, he comes to me with a spool of thread and asks if we can pull out some of his other teeth that are starting to get loose. Oh yes, he wants to ho his teeth to the Fairy for video game money. Ed says that he'll be giving blood for cash before he's 10.

Damn that I forgot to bring shoes on my cash run. Now my kid is selling his body parts.

A New Love

Smashbox Cosmetics.

I've converted from Clinique to Mac and now from Mac to Smashbox. Love them. I can't believe I spent almost $50 on foundation, but it was worth it. I got a few other things but not a complete makeover. Ed would die if I dropped $300 in one day for makeup.

Home with sick child

and up a lot last night with him. Sam has a fever and a headache. No other symptoms and happy as a clam on Tylenol. Hoping this break soon because a headache and fever are miserable for him.

This is one of the bad things about being parttime. I'm only there a few hours a week so missing a day is really hard. I'm trying to work but Benjamin has other plans for me, like "go ot-side."

Yummy

While trying to watch what I eat in hopes of losing/not gaining more weight, I've been researching snack and dessert recipes because these are the hardest things for me to give up.

I found an idea today that I'm trying right now - Diet Coke cake. It says to use a chocolate cake mix and a can of Diet Coke, but you can use any type of diet drink/cake mix combo. I'm doing a strawberry mix with Sprite Zero right now. The batter is yummy. I'm just waiting for the cupcakes to bake. Each cupcake has 90 calories and only 1.5 grams of fat. I could put some fat free whipped topping on them with a fresh strawberry, but this time I just put some sprinkles on them to make them a bit more festive. Stand by for the final taste results.

Taste Results - They are a hit!

1. Could only eat one. Still sweet even if diet, but that's a good thing. Don't know if I could eat it frosted. Maybe Diet Sprite would be better than Sprite Zero. Will have to try the diet next time.

2. Didn't have cupcake papers and really needed them. They stuck to the greased pan so I only have 3 whole in tact cupcakes.

3. Directions say to cook 18-22 minutes. Could probably go 24-25 to get a nicer texture. They were really moist at 20 minutes. Not raw, but still really moist and a tad sticky. Might not get any better, but next time I'll cook a little longer.

4. Would be really nice with a tart fresh strawberry on top. Will try that next time for sure.

Picture of my handsome boy.

Gift to Myself ;-)

In honor of the new movie, I just ordered this for myself.

I'm really more of a cross between Miranda and Charlotte, but I'm a Carrie wannabe.

Ewwww.

I just saw a teen at the gas station with a ring of hickies around his neck. All the way around his neck. Like a necklace. Gag.

I'm bummed

A couple of weeks ago I ordered tickets for Sam to go to the Fox Theater to see the movie The Robinsons. He's never been to the Fox and I love the Fox.

Yesterday ed mentioned that he'd take him and he was so excited to go with Ed. So no me.
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Something to ponder

A cheese burger happy meal is 30 cents more than a hamburger happy meal, but a cheese burger is 10 cents more than a hamburger.

What's up with that Ronald?
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Watch Live Earth

HERE

And now he is

Being stingy with his shake.
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My husband is a putz.

He is giving me a hard time in the steak and shake drive thru so I'm getting revenge by telling the whole internet that he is a putz.
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My Horoscope

Aquarius

July 7, 2007

It may seem like neither side of the bed is the right side to wake up on, dear Aquarius. The only solution you may be able to come up with today is to just go back to bed. Focus on your heart, because it is trying to tell you that it needs some attention. Emotions may be running quite high, so be extra careful of how you treat yourself and others.

I have it in writing that I should just go back to bed!

How to make a reusable shopping bag -

out of the grocery store plastic bags. Check it out.

Cool huh?

I may not sleep tonight!

Sex in the City Movie!!

Oh Carrie how I've missed you.

Live Earth - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Working on my contributions for tomorrow. I'm going to Home Depot later to pick up 5 engery saving lightbulbs, I'm calling to get recycling service (the service our neighborhood uses doesn't offer it), and I turned down our hot water heater.

I switched to washing clothes in cold water a few weeks ago and so far so good. I also try to never wash without a full load. That's not a difficult thing to do around here with this crowd.

I went around the house and turned off the stuff we weren't using like DVD players, DirecTV receivers, printers, rechargers, stereos, etc. Things that aren't being used, but get left on. This will require some ongoing effort on my part because we're bad about leaving stuff on. Did you know that laptop, game, and cell phone chargers left plugged in use energy? I didn't know that, but now I do and I won't leave them plugged in when not in use.

Our biggest waste is the shower. We're bad, bad, bad. This is our family challenge. I'm going to check into a water saving shower head today and possibily a timer to keep us in check. This will cause great resistance from my family I'm sure, but I turned down the hot water heater to 120 so they may be forced to shorten their showers.

There is a video clip here about paper taming - reducing the unwanted mail that comes to your house. This website lets you opt out of credit card offers. This website helps you to opt out of marketing offers.

I also read what you can do to be Earth conscience at work. I'm bad about using disposable cups and spoons so I'm going to take a spoon and cup to work to use and wash. I set up a profile for my computer at work to conserve ink a few months ago, but honestly I haven't been using it enough. I'll try to be more diligent about it.

Gas prices have conditioned me to combine trips, stay home, and buy a gas saving car but we can all use work conserving gas right? I stole this from the MSN site -

Driving Best Practices -

Driving technique has a lot to do with your fuel economy. Avoid sudden starts and stops and go the speed limit.Not only does speeding and herky-jerky driving kill your MPG, it's dangerous. And even if no one gets hurt in a fender bender, how green is it to get a new bumper or have your car re-painted? As a general rule of thumb, keep your engine speeds between 1,200 — 3,000 RPMs, and up-shift between 2,000 — 2500 RPMs. Also, drive wise and minimize unnecessary miles by doing errands in one trip, getting good directions, and calling ahead.

Freaking Tooth Fairy

Unexpectedly, a tooth fell out today. Some sort of accident with the stylus from the Nintendo DS around 5. Fast forward 4 hours and I just realized that I have no cash. I guess I'm off to the ATM in a few minutes, but I'm watching the final episode of the Biggest Loser season III on the Style network. I'm not a loyal fan or anything, but there is nothing on TV so I got sucked in about 4 hours ago because they are showing episodes back to back. Now I've got to see who won before I fulfill my Tooth Fairy obligations. Mother of the Year? No, but I'm not the Biggest Loser either ;-)

4th of July

Wanna know what we did to celebrate?

Nothing. Zip. Nada. And it was Heaven.

But I'm still not into working today. Go figure.

Look What I Found!

Got to stop crusing YouTube and get back to work.

Hot Dog

Ben loves this song. I don't know if he's seen the show, but I showed him this clip and he says "HOUSE, HOUSE" to play it again.

Enjoy!

Mother Earth

So Ed and I have been over the price of gas forever. We talked and talked about getting a third car for my commute with the hope of cutting down on our gas expenses. Saturday, he headed over to the Toyota dealer and bought me an 07 Corolla. Its a five speed, very basic (think Air and CD and nothing else - not even power windows - gasp) and gets a whopping 41 mpg.

So I drove it to work today and I felt so Earth friendly in my compact gas saving machine. Not at all like the gas monger I was commuting with last week. The Pilot gets 17 MPG on a good day. Me, all alone, in my 8 passenger car that used $10-15 in gas a day. The guilt was overwhelming. My Corolla is so totally chic. I feel like I need a World Peace bumper sticker. Me and Brad Pitt in our gas saving Toyota's. We are so hip.

I'm thinking about getting a personalized license tag. Something like "SAVNGAS" or "41MPG". I want everyone to wish they were saving as much gas money as me.

I'm in love with my basic car with no options that is so gas conscience. But I've got my loaded out gasaholic SUV parked in the garage when I need a bit of luxury. Maybe I'm not as Mother Earth as I think I am ;-).

Apparently you can create a blog post from Word

So I'm testing it.

Will this bring more entries? Only time will tell.