7 Quick Takes Friday - 1/30/09

1. My heart melts when Sofia says "You Get What You Get and You Don't Get Upset"

2. Tonight, the boys were making a rucus while I was attempting to read Alice in Wonderland to Sofia. I told her to go in and tell them to pipe down. Next thing I know, I hear William wailing at full volume. "Did you hit William?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "I wanted him to listen."

"You don't hit William!" I said.

"Well, I hit David too, " she argued.

3. I am feeling slightly less zen about the job situation. I am beginning to think we need to look at Plan B. I think that if we rent the other house and keep Steve as the day care provider, we might be able to make it on my salary. It would be tight and Steve might have to work at night or something (he is a musician, after all), but attainable.

4. The boys were borderline delightful when I came home tonight. No tantrums, no clinging, no crying and hysterics. Just smiles and laughter and playing. This of course validates my desire to have them home with either Steve or I full time. (Steve watched them today)

5. The house is clean in preparation for our dinner party tomorrow night and it feels so good. It probably won't stay this way much past 10 a.m., but for right now, it is spotless. I did splurge on the cleaning lady today, after over a month's hiatus. There was no way I'd have time or ability to do it myself.

6. Sofia seems very envious of many of her classmates who have newborn siblings. I do wonder what life would have been like had Steve not had a vasectomy and if that decision was a bit too hasty. I can't even believe I am saying that.

7. I lost another 1.6 lbs this week on Weight Watchers! I had a few slip ups, thanks go these being in the house, so was just happy I didn't gain! 6 lbs down, 60 to go!!

Treasures For the Taking

The aforementioned baby gate. It is now a primary climbing device. As you can see on William's face, he takes the whole concept quite seriously.


The dollhouse Sofia brought for Christmas. The boys are digging it. You may notice that my boys still use binkies. That is something we need to work on, one of these days, when I am feeling strong and invincible. Not sure when that might be, but it's on my t0-do list.




On my quest to reign in spending, I was able to use a Visa gift card today at the supermarket (more on that later) and use a free sandwich coupon I had for lunch. I am also hitting the thrift stores now regularly, since finding some great treasures last week.

Sofia's room is coming together. I still haven't bought her a big girl bed, but considering she still fits in this one, her room is small and cash is tight, we probably won't until we have to.


I found this chair out by the dumpster at my office. It's an Osh Kosh kid's chair that someone left. It had many stains on it, but I brought it home, fumigated as best I could and threw a fitted bed sheet over it. I was psyched as I've been looking for one of these for a long time and one of this quality would probably cost $50. Free is good! Thank you, universe, for putting it out there for me to find.

I found these little chests at the thrift store for $5 each and fell in love with them.





And Sofia with her "butt butt" Mango. Good times.

Mommy & Sofia Date

So I took Sofia to her first movie, ever, yesterday. A bona fide movie buff myself, I'm sort of surprised that it's taken me this long to introduce my little girl to the fabulousity of movies on the big screen. I felt she was a bit too young at 3 and then there hasn't been anything I felt compelled to spend $$ on since. As it was, the "bargain" price for me was $8 and a child's ticket was $7.50. At the risk of making myself sound like I should qualify for the senior's discount, I remember when a movie ticket was $1.50. I really do. I remember it being a big deal when it hit $5.00. That is hard to believe.

Sofia did surprisingly well. She got a bit fidgety towards the end, but seemed to enjoy the movie. We saw "Hotel for Dogs" and I'd like to go on record that Emma Roberts is adorable and will no doubt be the new teen queen.

About 20 minutes into previews, Sofia did turn to me and say "Mommy? WHEN DOES THE DOGGIE MOVIE START???"

I got her a Sprite (she's had soda maybe 2-3 times in her life) and she wasn't drinking it. Finally, towards the end, she drank it and said "Mommy? I don't like Diet Coke."

I said "It's not diet coke, it's Sprite."

She said "Mommy, I don't like champagne."

WTF? CHAMPAGNE? lol She has never seen champagne, tasted champagne or even been around anyone drinking it, so I'm baffled on that one. Going to have to get to the bottom of this one.

Holy Hannah!

So I'm feeling all proud of myself for getting out and walking at least half of the week. We live down the street from the blufftop coastside trail in our city and the weather has been cooperating, so it's been a win win. Sofia has even accepted that I am going on an exercise walk without her, as long as I leave her Beethoven movie playing while I'm gone (Steve is usually lollygagging in bed during this time.)

So, this morning, I'm having a great walk and cut through the bluff to get to the coastside trail. A few weeks ago, some friends and I saw a snake on the trail which scared the bejeezus out of one of them, but didn't phase me much. I'm deathly afraid of snails, but snakes, notsomuch.

In the distance, I see a wheat colored cat. Now, I'm near sighted, so I sensed that it looked a little big for a cat, but not too big. It looked like it didn't quite know where to go, then disappeared into the brush. I remember thinking "Geez, it's a good thing we don't have to worry about mountain lions out here..." and quickened my step as I cut through the bluff. I did get a weird feeling, but shook it off.

And then, a friend sent me this...the street in question is a few blocks from ME:

MY CITY HERE – A possible mountain lion sighting was reported Wednesday afternoon near the Coastside Trail in My City, police said.

Police were notified of the sighting at the west end of XYAZ Street around 12:30 p.m. and called in the California Department of Fish and Game.

A search was conducted but the mountain lion was not located, police said.

Fish and Game officials urge anyone confronted by a mountain lion to face the animal, make noise and try to appear larger. They also advise throwing objects at the animal and fighting back in the event of an attack.

Mountain lions are most active at dawn, dusk and at night. However, Fish and Game officials point out that the animals are “solitary and elusive” creatures and tend to avoid humans.

***

Of course, all I'm thinking about is how this is going to affect my new workout regimen...

Prep & Vinaigrette

So, I'm trying my bestestest to get my act together for my dinner party on Saturday.

I ordered an entree (Chicken marsala and pasta), bread and salad from Macaroni Grill. They even deliver. Sweet.

Am I embaressed that I'm not preparing the meal? Mmmm...sort of, but not really. Honestly, if there was ever a time to play the 3 kids card, this is it.

I just returned from Trader Joe's where I bought some appetizery stuff and dessert, wine and beverages. (Again, a gift card. From Christmas. Came in handy)

I'm making this Flavor Craver shrimp dip that is *to die for* but can't buy the shrimp (fresh) until Friday.

I'm thinking this is coming together, thank goodness. That said, is it wrong that I'm secretly hoping one of the couples' flakes? (don't answer that) The mom is a heavy hitter with Genenetech, regularly travels to Singapore and I haven't heard back from her for a while to confirm that she's coming. She may be in Singapore for all I know. I love her to death, but am seriously wondering how I'm going to handle all these people and manage the kids. Steve tends to lean towards being useless in these situations (prefering to socialize - it's his gift) as much as he promises to be in "charge" of the kids.

Ah, well. There will be 6 kids total (including mine) and 6 adults, so I'm sure chaos will ensue no matter how much planning I put into it.

I'd like to share my current favorite obsession from Trader Joe's. Their fat free soy sesame vinaigrette. It's 1 pt per serving (2TBL) and trust me on this one, DELISH. I am extremely particular about my salad dressing (especially fat free) and you would never now this was fat free unless someone told you. It has that great combo of tangy and sweet that goes so well with most chicken salads. (I've gone out to lunch twice this week and brought a bottle in my purse - You know mommy's on Weight Watchers when she is carrying salad dressing in her purse)

It's also great for marinades. It is always out of stock, so that's usually a good sign. Today, I bought three. :)

Here is a photo. It's currently found in the vegetable area, but used to be next to their tuna (which is also the bomb, by the way) so who knows where they'll move it next.

Way Back When-sday - Hallmark Moment

I took this photo when Sofia was approximately 12 months old. It is probably my favorite Sofia/Daddy photo out of thousands I have taken. I think it captures the moment so beautifully, that is, if you squint and don't catch my husband's near bitten to the quick fingernails!! I had the photo made into a card and gave it to my husband on Father's Day. I just never tire of looking at it....

This is Where The Magic Happens

Krissy from Two Are Better Than One has invited us to show where we blog.

I don't have a desk at home, so this is where the magic happens, right in the middle of my mom-base - the refrigerator, microwave, oven, crock pot and of course, handy Costco baby wipes. I just got a wireless mouse and keyboard ('cause you know I'm rolling in it right now - actually had a gift card) that has made my life ever so much easier.




I stand while posting, reading, googling, etc. as 99.9% of the time, my online activities are between cleaning, cooking or mediating the mayhem.

The other half of my time is spent at work and this is my desk there. I don't typically blog from work, although I am today. I have a fairly large cube at work and it's usually a mess. My work is paper-full and there are typically post-its and stacks of paper everywhere. My co-worker may have described me as Pigpen once or twice, but I could just be making that up.




Not sure if you can make out my trusty purell bottle, but it's something I can't live without. Judging from how often we get sick, I'm not sure it's working that well for me. Still, I like the smell of it. (Some of you may remember, I am fond of weird carcinogenic smells, like chlorine & gasoline, so this makes perfect sense)

The Rules

So yeah. Not to get all Supernanny on you, but we've instituted some new rules and posted them for all to see. It makes perfect sense. In my single days, I was a "rules" girl and now, a mom of three and feeling the need for some semblance of law and order in my household, I've returned to "the rules."

In order for them to be effective, I have to apply these rules to everyone, including the boys. Consequence for breaking a rule is a time out. (I don't really believe in time outs under 2, but if the boys actions are really egregious, they will get a calm down time in their crib equal to one minute, just to show Sofia that I mean business and these rules are not to be broken.)

I'll have to get back to you on how they're working out.

I particularly like the "if it's on the floor, it gets thrown away" rule. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!!

Inmates and Baby Gates

So, it's been a long weekend. The inmates are running the asylum and I'm perilously close to calling and volunteering for Supernanny.

Yesterday afternoon, when I *thought* Sofia was napping, she was rifling through some old bags of mine and found herself a stash of orange flavored bubble gum. The best part is that she sauntered nonchalantly out of her room, huge wad of gum in her mouth and reeking of navel oranges - as if smelling like a Starburst was a perfectly natural state of being and completely undetectable.

The saga continued this afternoon as I came into her room to find her with another wad of gum in her hand. She had somehow stashed a secret supply of gum when I'd removed the offensive gum on Saturday. Aside from the fact that she had MORE gum, I was mostly concerned at her sneakiness.

Yesterday, Sofia referred to Steve and I as "You two." Yes, she did. My 3 year old daughter.

William did finally figure out how to catapult himself out of his crib. He did it right in front of me and landed hard on his backside. He seemed quite upset and shocked by the whole thing, so I'm not sure that he'll be doing it again soon. Time will tell.

I installed a baby gate to separate the kitchen and family room from the bedrooms. The new rule is no food or drink beyond the gate and no playing with the gate. Of course, everyone is obsessed with the gate - mostly opening and closing it. They cry and whine while on either side of the gate, let you open it for them and then insist on closing it again, crying and whining, etc. continuing the cycle. At this point, I feel like taking the gate and driving the minivan over it.

But tomorrow is Monday and time to start anew.

Hi - My name is Melissa and I'm a LOST-ATIC

Just so you know.

From the summer I spent poring over Season 1 DVD's while on maternity leave with Sofia, I have had a love affair with this show. It re-ignited my interest in scripted drama. It made me think and I was excited to tune in week after week. I remember the first few months post partum with the twins, being sick as a dog and going to bed at 8 p.m. only to wake 15 times during the night, watching the latest episode through bleery, profoundly exhausted eyes while simultaneously diapering and feeding the twins (not to mention attempting to avoid a nervous breakdown. ) You know I am a fanatic when I am framing my recent life's milestones around what Season of Lost I was watching at the time.

Tonight, I'm rewatching Lost because a) watching Lost is one of my top 5 favorite things to do and b) there were 2 hours of complex happenings that really necessitate e a second and third watching to fully digest.

So, ok. The producers are leading us to believe that yes, there is time travel involved. They have spent the better part of the past few years implying there was no time travel, alternate universe mumbo jumbo, dream, etc. causing the wacky island happenings only to present us now with the current time travel storyline.

I know this because for almost 4 years now, I've been a member of a hard core Lost message board. Some of the members have spent hours, weeks, hell, YEARS coming up with full fledged theses on different aspects of the show. It's fascinating to read, but almost makes it impossible for the show to live up to. There are some major Mensa member Lostatics out there spouting some mind blowing theories.

Some hefty discussions are out there: QH/Homoplasmates & Z2 QUANTUM NUMBERS, Homer’s constant meta-conflict theory: Athena versus Poseidon,Theory of infinite regression related to Lost, Time, and art, explaining the "?" and The Four Toed Synthesis Meta Theory just to name a few. My personal favorite? Time Loop Theory.

Maybe I've spent too much time reading all of this stuff online, catapulting my expectations to a level that no mere mortal could ever deliver on. I mean, bottom line, this stuff is fun to read (well, maybe fun isn't the right word) but the average viewer will never understand theories this deep. The answers have to be presented to them in an accesible way and accessible these.are.not.

(For anyone who has some interest or experience in quantum physics, there is a great thread with screen caps of Daniel Farraday's notebook and chalkboard writings. )

Some of the Lostatics expaneded their discussion by starting their own website for the critical study of Lost called Lost Studies. This blog is not for the faint of heart. Example? One of the topics - "Lost: Poststructural Metanarrative or Postmodern Bildungsroman looks particularly wieldy. Uhhhh? Gesundheit?

Just some light reading, really, for a mom of three with lots of free time on her hands.

I marvel and bow down to the level of analytical thinking that goes into these topics. Just reading them makes my brain hurt.

Honestly, I love this show. I love the way it looks. I love the music. I love the jokes. I love having something to look forward to on Wednesday nights. I love the swooshy noise when we are going to a flashback (or is it a flash forward?) I love that it weaves themes from philosophy, art, literature & science into the narrative, but sometimes, every once in a while, I kind of feel like they are messing with me. That I'm pulled in 15 different directions and they don't really know where they are going with all of this and I'll have hung on for 5 years only to be profoundly disappointed.

The time travel stuff is intruiging to me, but I'm definitely in a wait and see mode. I half expect to see Doc Brown pop out of the jungle with his flux capacitor and start offering rides back to the mainland in his Delorean. Time will tell if they take this to a satisfactory, yet accessible conclusion.

Yes, I said time will tell. Pun intended.

7 Quick Takes Friday - 1/23/2009

1. Today was my first weigh on Weight Watchers. I lost 4.6 lbs! Woo hoo! It's a start. I have a long way to go, but it's a start.

2. Over the past 3 days, it's taken every bit of free time and leftover mental capacity to polish my resume and create cover letters for 3 jobs. MY goal was to send out 3 resumes this week and I did accomplish that lofty goal. My boss now knows what my plan is and has been unbelievably supportive. Not to get all overly zen or anything, but I feel like I am just following the current and letting it lead me where I need to be.

3. I ran into a mom-friend at Sofia's preschool this week. Her daughter is in Sofia's class and she just gave birth. I've seen her husband around a few times and he's always (as only a man could) assured me that things are going quite well. When mom-friend saw me, she started waving her hands from the twins to Sofia and back to the twins and saying "Wow, just. Wow." For a second, I had no idea what she was saying. She went on to tell me what a miserable time she was having and I thought she was going to burst into tears. She said she wasn't sure how I had done it and I assured her, I wasn't quite sure myself. I now feel I would like to do something to help her. Not sure what yet, but something.

4. I feel like I am living in the paleolithic era in my house. My boys lack of communication skills is reaching a critical stage. They are tantruming more and more, throwing food, acting out with each other, etc. I realize a lot of this is 2 year old boy behavior, but I'm beginning to think I have 2 rabble rousers on my hand. I am not naive enough to think I've seen the worst of it - in fact, I'm sure it will get much worse before it gets better - but for those of you out there who have Irish Triplets, Irish Quads, Sextuplets, etc. please throw me a bone. Tell me they are displaying normal twin boy behavior. Tell me it will get easier. Lie to me if necessary.

6. At today's WW weigh in, there was a mom in line hehind me trying to juggle her 18 month old and 2 month old (she told me she also has a 3 yr old in school.) She looked a little frazzled as all the octagenarians were ogling her kids. Then, one of them said something along the lines of "Oh, this part isn't the hard part, that's yet to come" or something equally as ignorant.

I bit my lip for a second and then piped in. "Honestly, I think it depends on the spacing of the children. I know people say the teenage years are hard, but having 2 or 3 babies at once is no walk in the park either."

I don't think they knew how to respond, but I didn't care. I needed to get that off my chest.

7. My goal for the weekend is to make some sort of menu plan for next week. We are having 2 couples over for dinner on Saturday night (next) and I'm mildly freaking out over it. Both of the moms are big mucky mucks in their jobs with their husbands playing the role of SAHD. They're warm and down to earth, but still very intimidating to little old me. I'm beginning to think I was insane to try and pull this off. Why do I torture myself? I am fairly certain that I'm going to have the dinner catered (Pasta Pomodoro or Macaroni Grill) as there is a minute chance that I'll have the time or aptitude to prepare a dinner the way it should be. If I was a better person, I'd be online looking for money saving recipes and ways to save money. But I don't wanna.

It's What They Do

This is what the boys do when big Sis is gone. Wear her shoes and play with her toys, in their own, special, 2 year old boy-rabble-rouser way.

When the cat's away, the mice will play...

It's What They DO

What The Hoo Ha?

Ok, I wasn't going to say anything, but in the last 2 days I have:

- Received an email offering me a special deal if I join AARP.

- Received a "Special Invitation" (What? Really? Me? Wait a minute!!) card from Sears Hearing Aid Department, inviting me for a free exam, touting Miracle Ear - A Major Breakthrough in hearing Technology.

The logical sequence of events would be for me to next receive an offer for female viagra.

I also receive lots of emails from the Brain Tumor Society, but I don't usually freak out about that. (It's what you get for Doctor Googling)

I'm not sure what list I'm on or how I landed on it, but I am not liking it one.single.bit!

Have they not heard that 40 is the new 30?

Way Back When-sday - First Night Out

This was our first night out to dinner after having Sofia. She was approximately 10 weeks old. Good god, she was an easy baby. Just a delight. This was one of the happiest times of my life. I miss this house, these times, my hair and even that shirt. *sigh*

Later, Ass-lan

This morning, Sofia told me that she doesn't like to yell because it makes her breath hurt. She also told me she would like her own computer to play "bee-bee-dees" on. One thing is for sure, I am never wondering what she is thinking, needing, etc. She makes all her desires very clear. It's her gift. ;)

So, yeah. A friend of mine brought us a near life sized stuffed lion, a la, Chronicles of Narnia as a gift to the kids. They attempted to give this to Sofia at Christmas, but Sofia was adamant that she didn't want the stuffed lion coming home with us. At the time, I was secretly thrilled as the last thing I need in my 1100 sq ft house is a life sized stuffed lion.

Surprisingly, when they brought it over the other day (and after the brothers started climbing it, pulverizing it and destroying it in general) Sofia loved the lion, wanted to keep it and it was hers, only hers and NO ONE else's.

You can see said lion in the background of this photo.



I worked a long day yesterday. Almost 10 hours. When I got home, I was tired. I was cranky. I was not a happy camper when I saw the loads of laundry laying unwashed in the garage. My husband was home, the kids were in daycare, there were NO excuses. So, I blew up. I then proceeded to take a shower, letting him put the kids to bed, thinking it would be an escape. Not so.

Mid shower, I hear one of the children wailing. I closed my eyes, let the water run over my face while trying to guess which child was crying. Ah, the tone was a but shrill and went up a bit at the end of the cry, so *ding ding ding*, it had to be David. He kept crying...and crying...and crying. Why was my husband not attending to him? I hurried through my shower and as I was getting dressed, my husband knocked on the bathroom door and said "David threw up."

"Okkaaaaaay," I replied, but made no effort to hurry out of the bathroom. In fact, I stood there for a few minutes so he could handle the situation himself. When I did come out, the stench hit my nose as soon as I came into the room. My husband had a look of utter disgust on his face as he passed by me with vomit soaked paper towels. He attempted to rub them into the carpet and vomit, creating little vomit soaked bits of paper towels burrowed into the fibers. I immediately got some water and a terry cloth towel, stripped the bed, wiped it down with lysol wipes and generally fumigated. (Note to self: May need to reconsider the SAHD option)

The best part? The lion was sitting directly below David's crib and broke the fall of most of the vomit a la the ring cakes in the classic Curb Your Enthusiasm Nanny From Hell episode featuring Sherri Oteri. (Note to self: What ever happened to Sherri Oteri? She was hilarious! Seriously? Will Ferrell? You need to throw this girl some work!)

Bye Bye, Aslan! You are histoire!

A Beautiful Day

A good friend of mine is in active labor right now.

Another friend over at I Am The Mama gave birth today.

What a wonderful day to be born. :)

Hope

I am feeling very hopeful. I'm scared, because I think we as a nation have only begun to scratch the surface of the abysmal economic problems we are looking at. That's not likely to change in the next 24 hrs, so I'm choosing to look forward and live in this most exciting and historic moment in our lifetime.

I got into it with a friend of mine who came over today. I don't typically debate friends on political issues (my husband yes, friends, no) but she was being kind of a hard ass about her views, so I really had no choice.

I never knew she was a conservative!! One of the benefits of being married to a conservative is having a finely tuned argument, polished and ready to go at the drop of a hat. In the end, she said I was picking on her, merely because I as calling her on some misinformation she was spouting. Don't get me wrong, I'm more moderate than progressive, but part of me was enjoying playing devil's advocate because I felt she was spewing a bunch of stuff that was blatantly untrue and very sure of herself. My husband was just laughing to himself. I don't think he's used to having someone in his corner.

But enough of all of that. I love this picture of William...

Park Fluff

Random fluff from a recent park visit

Sofia guiding her brother



Freedom! Squee!



David being cute and happy



William being not happy



Ma!! Let me out!!!!!!



Sofia using her new skates (thrift store purchase) and thinking she is a bad ass



I have started calling Sofia SpiderGirl as she never ceases to amaze me with her mad climbing skills









Photos of the gogurt incident

I know better than to give little ones gogurt, really I do, but they always see big sis eating it and I thought it would be ok to bring to the park. Notsomuch. It was dripped on the ground, then stepped in, all over their clothes and faces. Never again.







Sofia showing me her displeasure at leaving the park



What's wrong with this picture? That is a Christmas decoration hanging and a pumpkin hiding in the bushes

Old Friends

Sofia and I went to visit my friends in San Francisco yesterday. This is my former best friend, maid of honor (and I hers), her husband and their 3 mo old baby. I say former because the 2 of us got engaged at the same time (along with a 3rd friend) and it literally became a females-gone-crazy situation a la "Bride Wars." It's a really long story (albeit kind of a good one) so I'll spare you the details for another day, but I swore that after the wedding we would never be close again.

It's been 5 years and we see each other rarely. I occasionally feel bad about this, but then I remember all the shenanigans she pulled. As she has just had given birth to her first child, I've started to feel traces of guilt for distancing myself from her and dare I say, pangs of missing her.

Just driving through her the neighborhood in Noe Valley, I was flooded with memories of many evenings spent at a local bar there 10-12 years ago. What use to be called "The Rover" - a working class, Irish pub with plumbers, electricians and city workers glued to its bar stools is now called "Bliss Bar" and serves martinis and girlie drinks. The neighborhood was just starting to gentrify 10 years ago, it is now complete in its transformation. Upscale shops, boutiques, restaurants and businesses line the streets. It is a yippy (yuppie hippy) paradise.

But I digress.

It was really nice to catch up. I'm not sure if my newfound warm and fuzzies are due to the fact that she's "one of the club" now or if I'm just starved for some girl time, but it was actually quite nice to catch up and soak in some new baby goodness.

Being a typical 3.75 yr old and gregarious by nature, my daughter has no concept of censoring what she says at any given moment. I know you all have been there. My friends live in a studio apartment in a trendy, high rent area. Sofia's first question upon sitting on the couch was "Where are the rest of the rooms, mommy?"

"Where does the baby sleep?" "Where's the baby's room?" "Where's the baby's toys?" continued the line of questioning.

We ended up eating dinner there and when we were done, my daughter asked what they had for dessert. Then, she wanted a snack. By the time we left, she had managed to finagle an apple, Hershey's kisses, a fig bar and a bunch of honey roasted peanuts from my unsuspecting friends.

I am pretty sure they thought her constant snack seeking was cute, but I do believe "Bottomless pit" was used at one point.

Note to self: Need to work on manners with S. and bring more snacks when going for visits.

Betty Crocker Me Not

Ok, you know you are not much with the cooking when you take your daughter to visit a friend and upon seeing the friend's rack of pots and pans hanging from her wall, your daughter exclaims, "MOMMY? What are those?"

Esta Blog

Oh my god, another award!! This is kind of fun...

The award states

The award states "This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

My awards are as follows (assuming you can't give the award to the one who gave it to you, otherwise, Gina, I'd totally have you on my list)*:

Breed 'em and Weep

BagMomma

The Journey - Raising 4 Kids Under 4

Everyday Snapshots

Chicken and Cheese

Twinfatuation

And I'll Raise You 5

The More, The Messier

*To those of you who don't do awards, or have possibly already done this award or similar, please just take this as my way of saying I appreciate your writing.

PSA - Toddlers and Gogurt do NOT mix

My New Favorite Things

This should be called Silent Saturday. It is the above item that is going to get me through my first week on Weight Watchers. This awesome zero point soup!! It's actually more like 1 point when you calculate it, but heck, if WW calls it zero, I'll go with that. When one starts out on WW, they typically encourage you to make the zero point soup from their recipe. I have done that in the past and kept a big pot of it nearby so I don't starve. Honestly, the first week is rough. Always. I am not used to being hungry. But you get past it and then you're not hungry anymore. It's pretty much like going through withdrawals.

Anyhoo - they now have this awesome Progresso soup, so you don't have to sit and slave over a pot of soup all day. I don't have time for that, so this is a godsend. Just pop it in the micro and there it is. It's actually not that bad, either. Oh and they sell it by the case at Costco, so even better!

Second favorite thing? The Weight Watchers breakfast sandwiches. I prefer the candian bacon one. It's a great way for me to start the morning, although I don't always want to spend 4 points. Still, it keeps you full much longer than yogurt or cereal, in my opinion.



My 3rd favorite thing? Fiber One Bars. They are awesome and only 2 points!! Much better and larger than Kudos or the WW bars (which are higher in points!)

So, exciting news. My friend Gina at Namaste By Day just gave me my first award. Woo hoo! This award asks me to share some random, honest things about myself, so here goes...

(I have done this sort of thing before and for those of you who are on Facebook with me, you probably have seen my recent "16 things about me" note, so this will be repetitive.)

1. I love the History Channel, Frontline, Meet the Press, This Week with G.S. and Nova. I also love all of the VH1/MTV and E Channel Reality shows; Rock of Love, The Hills, and Celebrity Rehab. What.....a dichotomy.

2. I can forge pretty much anyone's signature. This came in very handy in high school, let me tell you. I regularly forge my boss' signature (with her blessing) and can change my writing style to match my mood. I read somewhere that people who change handwriting often are unbalanced. Now it all makes sense.

3. I was raised by a true blue (or pink as the case may be - *rimshot please*) beatnik/hippie dad who used to teach art and also received a National Endowment for the Arts grant in the 70's. To say my upbringing was offbeat would be an understatement. Dad rolled with Ferlinghetti in North Beach and made lots of interesting artwork growing up. He had girlfriends that were practically teenagers. There was always a sweet, funny smell in his house but I will give him credit, he never did it in front of us until we were adults.

4. My name was supposed to be Atman. My brother's name is Brahman, which is a really big deal in Hindu world. Hippy. Dad. Get the picture?

5. On my 3rd birthday, my brother and I were taken away from my mother. I saw her a handful of times after that and then never saw her again after age 6.

6. I won first prize in a college literary magazine short story contest in 1989. The story focused on #5.

7. In 1989, I lost 80 lbs on my own, through diet and exercise. I kept it off for 15 years, then lost 40 lbs on WW before my 2003 wedding. Since I started trying to conceive in 2003, having miscarriages, babies and more babies, it's been an uphill struggle with my weight. 4 pregnancies in 3 years will do wonders to a girl's figure. I do not recognize myself when I look in the mirror anymore. Working out used to be such an integral part of my life but unfortunately, doesn't really fit into my current lifestyle. That is my main goal for this year, to get back to a realistic, comfortable place with my weight and as a result, a much healthier lifestyle.