Hey there! We aren't blogging here anymore. I'm at my new blawg here, come by for a visit.

Sister Sassy isn't really blogging anymore. Mostly because she wrote an entire gosh darned book for real!  I'm planning to give a copy away next week. I'll also include a link to her BOOK!

THERE IS NO TITLE TO FULLY DESCRIBE HOW FASCINATING THIS POST IS

Blog post is a \e-run, Yeah I'm with you folks   who wants to keep watching the the same episode ofRoss and Rachel break up?  Clearly, they were on a break.  Of sorts. haHaving gone through all that just to say:   The followinis a post I wrote a couple years ago but sister tSassy and I and I decided it's time to relaunch the old blawg and this is our way of doing it. Lazy,though it may be. I ass I assure you there  will be plenty of new posts on here to bring you up-to-date on my recovery from that bastard (pardon my coarse language) stroke I had and sister Sassy's new family members and the book she recently published!  You could say would been a hare bit busy uphere in the great North. My intention after catching yall upon the excitement of our lives is to go back toWhat I've always loved to write aboutried:  Tori Spelling movies, Hallmark movies, parenting and some Jesus  I'll also throw in some posts  abouts my passion for running It's a fairly new obsession, which makes a couple of my friends roll their eyes CLEANout of their heads at meThey are full of love for me but they hate the whole running thing while sitting cozy on the couch  One final note, my stroke left me one-handed, so i 'm dictating to Siri  Any mistakes are her fault.  She is my sworn enemy .  

ORIGINALPOST FROM2009:
I think I might be having a PANIC attack. Or I am just all nerved up because I am so angry at a bunch of fifth grade girls who think it's OK to pick on a kindergartner. My kindergartner to be exact.

Logan was at the bus stop and I was sitting at the end of our driveway waiting for him to be picked up so I could head to work. I was drinking my coffee and picking at my nail polish when I looked up and saw Logan kicking all the girls. Kicking them.

I was horrified and started shouting at him to stop. Then the bus came and I drove to work wondering how I had managed to raise a bully when I'm just a big old wimp myself.

When I picked Logan up later that day he told me the girls were calling him names and he didn't like it. It made sense to his 5 1/2 year old brain that the way to shut. them. up. was to kick them in the shins. And while it worked, I had to explain to him that I don't think kicking girls is cool. Even if they're obnoxious fifth graders who think it's OK to pick on a small child.

I want Logan to always defend himself, but I put an end to the kicking. I told him that if they start saying mean things again to just get in their faces and tell them to knock it off. Tell them they can't call him names. I also told him that girls can sometimes suck.

I certainly don't think all girls are mean. I was one of the nice ones. I hated watching the mean girls make fun of people, and whisper in front of others, and laugh when someone made a mistake. Why do they act that way? A friend of mine has a theory that mean girls have mean moms.

I told Logan I was going to wait with him at the bus stop the next morning. He begged me to not do that. He wanted to handle the situation all on his own. He didn't want his mama fighting his battle.

When he walked up to the bus stop the next day I was ready. If those girls did one single thing that seemed out of line, I was going to have a little chat with them. But they didn't do anything. As a matter of fact they were very nice and all the kids talked and laughed while they waited for the bus.

That night when I was putting Logan to bed I asked him about it. He said,
"I asked God to make them be nice. And he did."

Hmph. Alrighty then. Why hadn't I thought of that?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK. And in completely and totally unrelated -but-oh-so-freaking-happy news, Jenny Garth has signed on to reprise her role as Kelly Taylor on the new 90210.

Dude. I don't care if this makes you think less of me. This is some of the best news I have heard in a long time. Shut up.




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I'm back in Da Housee!

Hey y'all sister combat honeybunch is back in the house sorry for my long absence I had a stroke last summer and unable to blog and a long long time since I will have the use of one hand now, I'll be dictating this via Siiiri who is often a crack ho and messes things up so this turns into gibberish it's her fault. 

Way yes I did have a stupid stroke  for just a few days after running a half marathon after my stroke to relieve pressure from my brain I hadtwocraniotomy's Answwhich is just a fancy wayof  sayingbrain surgeries (soI'm pretty darn smart now) the doctorsto remove part of my scalp and thryplaced in my stomach to keep it alive which was the weirdest thing in the world because I could feel it through my belly       Anyway,I spent the entire summer in the hospital and following that withsix weeks at a nursing homecoming now  I'm now a pro at using a bedpans  now not something i ever wanted to learn about that was awful is a horrible experience 

I had to relearn how to walk and how to talk I know some like a computer with a mouthful of marbles I'm getting therapy followed that for those things I wentfrom being told I may never walk again to  up igwtting around in a wheelchair to know walking with   just using a straight cane.   
When I was in the hospital I don't know if this is while I was in A coma ,orjust lying in the bed but the words from a humnfrom the church of my childhood were stick in my head on auto-repeat   gaveme such comfort the songis based on believe Psalm 121 To theHi Ills I left my my eyes ahh from whence cmesmy help allmy  helpcomes from the Lord,never slumbers never sleeps    this gave me such comfort tell me that the Lord is not Sleeping on The job. 

All of this to say is that this time was from was probably seven or eight years old the church of my youth so if your parents are-wondering if the faith seeds you planting inyour kids Are taking 
rootI can tell you yes they are continue to fertilize and the plant that growlove it and talk to it

As most of you know I've always been a very independent motivated ambitious career focused person no I suspect most of my days as a sharded in my home watching Steve Harvey of all things I need a 
purpose y'all I want my life back so badly I need to be The wife and mom I used to be

Tom the bomb has been amazing through all this while he's still works full-time during the day and spends the evening taking care of me and and our son if I hadveto go to bathroom throughout the night he has to get up and help me which really does a lot in the romance department. 

My prayer is that the Lord restores me soon so I can be the mom that I need to be first Logan sake and the once I need to be for tom'ssake. 

Spent a lot of my time in the nursing home Prinkey my friends which is so much such a mature thing for me to do and once I returned I would print them and videotape it and post it on YouTube which I'm sure they loved. It was lots of fun y'all you do what you got to do when you're a shut-in to enjoy your day. Don't judge me Turn that this awful experience it's going be used to God's glory at some point I will be healed and I'll be able to minister to minister to others and help them along their journey of hardship

Butterfly Effect?

If you could go back in time and change something, would you?  Would you go back and try to make things different...better?  II wonder if I would I go back and save a boy who was 13 when I last saw him.  And would I be saving him for him, or for me?  Maybe both.  I have always felt like I failed him, I wanted to save him, protect him and yet I was only 18, I didn't know what to do or how to help.  So I left and I didn't look back, because looking back was too hard, too troubling and too hopeless.  Its hard looking at the things you know you can't change, watching helplessly as someone you care about makes mistakes or is used and abused. 

 

I have to remind myself I was only 18.  I was only 18.  But i knew.  I knew better.  I knew that growing up in that house could easily destroy him like it did his brothers.  Or the very least crush his spirit and kill his ambition.  And now, 15 years later this boy hurts and has tried to take his own life.  I guess I can't call him boy, he is no longer that bright eyed 13 year old I knew.  But I can't help wondering, could I have saved him from it all?  And if I had, would it have made his life better, or worse?  Would it have completely changed the path I was on in my life.  

 

Thats the hard part, there is never a way of knowing what could have been.  Mulling it over is an exercise in futility.   You just have to faith that all things happen as they should.

 

Photo Challenge

I was tagged by Helena for this, I thought it sounded fun. This is what you do and this is who I'm tagging.

1. Open the fourth photo folder of your computer.
2. Choose the fourth photo in that folder and publish it in your blog.
3. Explain the photo.
4. Challenge four bloggers to do the same.

I will challenge Ashlee, Kspin, Saint Seester and Jen-have fun!


This is Kiki around 2 1/2 (wow, the same age Boogs is now)-unfortunately its a fairly boring shot, but he is sitting in our entryway wearing a sweater with a polar bear and his boots. I'm guessing he was putting them on thinking he'd go outside, not sure. You can see our carpet is actually clean and white in this shot. This was taken the first winter after we moved back to Northern Michigan from Chicago. We are now in our third, and coldest winter since being back. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else puts up!

Its too bad the picture to pick wasn't the third, because Boogs breaking into the box of Smirnoff is a much funnier shot!



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Pledge Not To Consume Month

This month my wonderful Church is challenging us to pledge not to consume for the entire month of February.  Here is what they have to say about the whole thing...

 

THE AVERAGE AMERICAN SPENDS LESS THAN ONE HOUR A WEEK IN RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL TIME AND MORE THAN FIVE HOURS A WEEK SHOPPING.
As we reflect on faith and economy this year, we want to explore how we can move beyond the economy of money and live out of an economy of faith. February is our designated 'Pledge Not To Consume Month' (it is the shortest month).

 

The two simple guidelines are as follows:

 

1.) Don't buy anything new except food/toiletries for the month - just the absolute essentials (gas, mortgage, bills, etc.).

 

2.) If you really 'need' something, is there a way you can you borrow, barter, or even buy it used?

 

Feel free to 'customize' your month experience: Can you refrain from eating out for a month? Can you skip the dopio mocha-foo-foo drink? What about iTunes? Books? Shoes? 

 

Is there something you will 'need' to buy in February (Valentine's Day reminder) that you might be able to buy now, ahead of time?

 

Make sure to visit our Facebook page to groan, offer support or flame the church for this insanely stupid idea. Share your stories, ideas, experiences, feelings with each other.

 

 

How many times have you went to Target to get some deodorant and come out with a $5 movie, a new pair of shoes and some pop tarts?  I know I have!  Its so easy to buy and less easy to save.

 

So the Sassys are attempting to do this, however we already consumed a meal out which technically is breaking one of the suggestions.  I think Jim and I will have to come up with a plan of just sharing our weekday lunch date in my office, he'll have to deal with that (he hates eating at my office).  So does anyone else want to jump on this band wagon with me?  I'd like to figure out how much money we save at the end of this month with not going out and not buying random junk and share it here.  God knows I already have too much random junk, I don't need more.

 

I think it would also be a good time for the Sassys to downsize a bit and simplify.  It would seem these two go hand in hand.

 

I'll probably pop in here periodically to update on how we're doing with this and see if anyone else has decided to join in the spending free month.  But until then, happy February!!

So...Yeah...

I guess someone likes us so we were just informed we were in the running for the best mommy blogger award at this site So go vote. A coffee cup and link love depend upon it.

Aside from that, I got very angry today at a driver. And because Sister Big told me we need to blog more, I'm going to rant for a second.

First, yes, I admit I was on my phone. But I was driving slowly through a parking lot. I had just driven up a row and had begun turning left. While I was turning left a guy in the next row over turned very quickly right and drives quickly toward me.

I think for a moment and figure-hey, if I stop and wait for him I'm going to be blocking him and traffic and force him to pass me on his left, in the lane that goes in front of the store. So I continue my turn. However, car continues to drive quickly at me, going very fast and with no intention of stopping. He does stop as I complete my turn, and yes I was driving slowing. When its snowy in Northern MI I drive very slow-even in a parking lot. But I wasn't crawling. Just not speeding around.

So I look him like "Uhh! What the heck are you doing??" and he mocks me, he pretends to be a ditzy girl on a phone. I was sooo mad! I wanted to scream "Buddy, my talking on the cell has nothing to do with you tearing around a parking lot! Clearly I shouldn't be on the phone, but dude, its no reason to sherk responsibilty for being an A-HOLE. I would have gone after him but his passenger was an old lady and I had this thing about old poeople. So just stewed about it.

And had I not been on the phone, I would have done the same thing. I had the right of way since he was not there when I turned.

Jerk.

And there is your blog for 2009. Enjoy lol :)

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New Music I LOVE!

I mostly do these posts because Sister Big says she likes them and it points her to new music. These songs are all music discoveries from listening to the Pandora Music Network online.

Most of these songs listed here were found while listening to a station I created from the Twilight soundtrack.

First, my new favorite. Iron & Wine. They did the song played during the slow dance between Bella and Edward. The movie has a slightly more pop version than the one that appears on their album. Both are good and I haven't heard a song by this group that I haven't loved!

Flightless Bird:


This is my other favorite by them: Freedom Hangs like Heaven



Now I take you to Great Lake Swimmers. I really love this band, their soothing vocals and music just make me feel peaceful. This is called I Saw You in the Wild, its my second favorite song by them because I couldn't find my favorite song on youtube (I Could be Nothing)


And now The Frames. I found the song by Glen and Marketta on my Twilight Station and realized he is the same guy from the movie and soundtrack Once. I'm going to post two songs here, one from each.

First, by the Frames. I really dig this song. They are a band from Dublin and they play a great live show according to my BFF who went to see them this fall. I also have their album Setlist (borrowed and imported thanks to my local library) and I can tell they are a great live band.


Then the best song from Once, Falling Slowly. So beautiful and haunting and I believe it won an Oscar.


and finally Sufjan Stevens, whom I introduced on my last music post. He sings very mellow soothing songs and if you listen to the lyrics, many of them are about God and Jesus. This one is In the Devil's Territory and I swear I recognize it from a movie. Can anyone tell me which one? I thought perhaps it was on the Juno Soundtrack but I guess not...









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Shut Up Kennen!

I’m not what you would call a true football fan. I like to sit on the couch and read a good book while I listen to my husband explain the game to our son as they watch it on tv. Logan likes to ask his daddy never-ending questions and Tom has the patience of a saint. So, it works out pretty well.

When Brett Favre retired, my six year old son was very disappointed and had to call his Aunt Dianna to commiserate. Apparently she does follow the game and was able to grasp the importance of that phone call. I just dialed her number and went about my business of baking brownies or painting my nails. Or watching Project Runway reruns on Bravo.

Anyway, when Logan learned that Brett signed to play with the Jets, he declared war on him and the entire team. He now despises them with a passion that I didn’t realize was possible in his sweet little soul.

The last couple of days at work, I have been surrounded by football talk. It began when we were discussing the sadness of our home team: the Detroit Lions. They are a sad lot.

It then progressed to a knock-down, drag-out debate about who is the better player: Brett Favre or Tom Brady. I voted for Brett because he is cute. And because Tom Brady cheated on his baby mama. Those are really all the reasons that I need.

But the annoying guy I work with (that would be Kennen) (who only has one good eye and probably isn’t the best judge) disagrees with me and my friend and basically believes most people will as well. So I am asking you to set the record straight.

Who do you like better? Brett Favre or Tom Brady. Thank you
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Zombie Boogs

First of all- Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

Secondly, just thought I'd share that Boogs has been suspended from daycare because of his craving for human flesh. He has become a biter. My nephew says he has the T-virus and be careful, and indeed a Toddler Zombie Apocalypse would be the worst kind.

But I think he is free of the T-virus and is just using the biting as an outlet for his crabbiness since his dad has been kidnapped by Santa Clause and been forced to make toys 6 days a week. And what I mean, is he is a slave to retail so he hasn't been home and I have been extra crabby and tired.

Since Boogs got the boot, we had to find alternate daycare. Enters Uncle Tom, who happened to be available the week before and after Christmas. So now Boogs goes to Uncle Tom's every day. I thought this was a short term fix, allowing Boogs a little one on one attention that would calm his craving for human flesh. But I'm afraid it will backfire.

Now, when ever I talk to Boogs about going back to school his answer is always, "No, Uncle Tom's house." He likes going to Uncle Tom's so much I'm afraid he'll be like the homeless person committing minor infractions to be thrown into the big house for 3 meals and a bed. Only he'll bite some poor kid and Uncle Tom won't be available and then who knows what I'll do.

So that's what's up with the Sassy Family. Hope all is well with you-enjoy the holidays and your family!

Oh, and if you haven't visited Amazon.com for free holiday music downloads, do it now. There are a lot of really fun and cool bands on there.
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Well I feel like a Dilweed

When I was talking about Twilight I made the comment that Jacob was a fresh faced kid who had been recruited off the rez.  I SWEAR I heard that, like, on NPR or something.  I probably should have done my research though. 

 

Apparently Taylor was the same boy from Sharkboy and Lava Girl and has been acting for years.  Didn't live on a reservation but may have been chosen during the casting call for Native Actors last January.  I don't know.  Anyway, wanted to put that out there so people didn't think I was a total moron.

You Know Its Bad When...

You find the soundtrack commentary of a movie more riveting than the movie itself. I had the misfortune of watching Queen of the Damned... something I saw when it first came out, but forgot that it was pretty bad so rented it again (calm down, I only spent .50).

The movie may have been fine if it had done a decent job of following Ann Rice's story, but it didn't. You could tell it didn't when the guy from Linkin Park tried very hard to say something nice about the movie but could only come up with "In the movie Lestat is a Rock Star and that's what it was like in the book..." Yep, that's about it.

The thing I hated most was that they had Marius as his maker and got the Marius character all wrong. And they made Jessie a big dork as well as having Lestat make Jessie, and I think it was Mael who did it after she nearly died at the concert. But I'm fuzzy on that one, its been years since I've read it but I think it may have been my favorite in the Vampire Chronicles.

But, seriously, it had a great soundtrack. The dude from Korn did it and because he couldn't sing because of some contractual issues, he had his musical peer group do it for him. And Aaliya sure did have a wicked cool walk as Akasha, the Queen. Here's a clip, but be warned --near the end she rips the heart of the vampire out and eats it. ...But not in a scary way... lol




Books into movies are seldom as good as the original thing. Another book into movie I thought sucked bad was Golden Compass. Just plain bad, they changed things with no discernible motivation for doing so and they ended the movie just before the book's climax. Weird. If you've read the book, don't waste your time on the movie.

Now, one movie that I thought was better than the book was Practical Magic. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Its about sisters, love, overcoming the past and kicking evil ass! The soundtrack was excellent as well, see below for a great Stevie Nicks/Sheryl Crow song. But the book...forgettable. I remember finishing reading it after I saw the movie and thinking how much better the movie was. There are scenes that still give me chills, a gazillions times of watching later.

And why am I ranting about movies right now? Because Boogs is nearly asleep on the couch after having puked twice, I'm sitting in the dark when I need to be working on Christmas gifts for this weekend and I have to go potty really bad but am afraid the moment I do will happen to coincide with the third bout of puking. So I'm trying to distract myself. Hopefully I didn't distract you from anything good.

Enjoy Stevie Nicks!



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Helping a Sister Out

I'm not the cookiest of sisters. I know how to do basics, but my kitchen is sorely lacking in kitchen type equipment and I've not had very many occassions to make any special or big meals. But since Jim now has the job with hours from hell, we now find ourselves alone on the holidays with me as the sole cook.

So I find myself with a Turkey, and no real clue how to actually cook it. I mean, I have a general idea, but I really want it to taste good. Winging it may not do the trick. Plus my $3 pan just confuses me.

Bewildered and looking for a consistant turkey cooking how to's on the net, I logged into Facebook and declared my ineptness. And guess who came to the rescue? Jen! She kindly offered me a phone call and a quick "how to" session to get me cooking with confidence. Thanks Jen!

She also emailed me a recipe for gravy, which I know will be uber helpful and very tasty. Jim loves his gravy!

This year I'm trying something i saw on Biggest Loser this week. It was Rocco's recipe, who I'm guessing is a Food Network guy, but not sure.

Healthy Version - Heba

2 tsp Olive oil
3 cups celery, chopped
8 ounces figs, approx. 20 figs
3 cups onions, chopped
2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons marjoram
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sage
3 teaspoons black pepper
1 lb. Jennie-O Turkey italian sausage, browned (remove from casings)
1 lb. Ezekial Whole Grain bread crumbs cubes for stuffing
2 Eggs
16 ounces low sodium chicken broth

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Sauté celery and onions in olive oil, add browned sausage and all the seasonings. Simmer three minutes.

3. Put bread cubes in a large bowl. Add the beaten egg and egg whites. Stir in sautéed vegetables, parsley and figs. Add enough of the chicken broth to moisten. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Transfer stuffing to prepared baking dish. Cover baking dish with foil.

5. Bake stuffing 25 minutes.

6. Remove foil; turn oven up to 375 and bake stuffing until top begins to brown, about 10 minutes longer.

So, good luck to all the turkey makers out there, and stop by Jen's blog to read about her 24 pounder ;) Thanks Jen!

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Twilight!

This weekend the husband and I traveled down to Ft. Wayne to get our broke down car, then back to MI to spend some time with my family. Sister Redd and Sister Big had a nice little get together organized, Sister Aquanetta came over and we had a little early Christmas. It was great fun!

After we left the party and put the exhausted over stimulated kiddos to bed we headed out to watch the much anticipated Twilight. We both read the series and LOVED it. LOOOOVED it!

I had pretty low expectations for the movie. I mean, Cedric Diggory is Edward Cullen? Come on. And Rosalie looked ALL wrong. Not to mention that Jasper looked like something out of a weird Johnny Dep movie (I don't know which one). Besides, in the one trailer I saw I felt like Bella's acting was not so great and...so I wasn't expecting much. Add that to the little Facebook review from my Cousin-in-law that she was disappointed.

Maybe that low expectation was why I loved it so much! Like LOOOOOVED it! I loved the books but I was all about Team Jacob. I just had a hard time getting Bella and Edward's relationship. It seemed so... intangible to me. I understood and felt more compelled by her relationship with Jacob (through most of the books).

But for some reason in the movie I could see the draw, the chemistry and pull they had toward each other much more than the book. Not that I lack imagination, just I think they did a good job with the directing/acting I guess.

I thought Jacob was great. He had only a small part, but I found his acting fresh and real. Of course he's a boy plucked right off the rez, since there aren't many young native actors out there, so he couldn't be anything but fresh. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him in New Moon, which they have already bought the rights for and are getting ready for production.

The Cullens looked...fine. They all looked like they were originally dark haired, dark skinned people wearing too much white face paint and bad blond wigs. And, whats up with Jasper's hair? Seriously. Besides Jasper doesn't utter a word in the movie...unless I missed it completely. Of course he may not utter a word in the first book anyway now that I think about it. It has been a few months since I read that one.

Alice was totally cute and I think I found Emmet the hottest of all the vamps...except for James, who I found pretty hot. But evil.

Anyway, I really loved the movie.

Oh! Just remembered which Johnny Dep movie! Jasper looks like the blond twin of Edward Scissorhands. Don't you think?


Uncanny!
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Apparently I Cannot Be Trusted

I cannot blog about all the crazy things I can't be trusted about. Just that through my infinity thoughtlessness, I accidentally spill secrets.

For instance, person number 1, we'll call him Martin, tells me that he has gotten a moonlighting job at the local Dunkin Donuts making donuts. He doesn't want anyone to know because he's embarrassed that he has to stoop to such a place as Dunking donuts. I say, "no biggie, I won't say anything" and go on my merry way.

Weeks pass and I'm walking past Dunkin Donuts with my friends Louise, we're chit chatting about how we love their ooey gooey special chocolate donut and wondering how many Weight Watcher points it would be. I exclaim in a moment of short sighted brilliance that Martin can tell us!

Louise looks oddly at me and asks, "why would Martin know?".

My eyes widen and suck in my breath sharply, realizing I just told Louise that Martin is making donuts on the graveyard shift. I swear Louise to secrecy, even though she thinks donut making is a perfectly respectable side job, or main job even.

Then, to make it worse, Martin has this big meeting, Martin is uber nervous about it, pacing hallways and mumbling to himself- nervous. While Martin is at his meeting Louise walks in and asks if I know how it went. Just then I get a text from Martin.

"Lets See!' I say reading the text aloud.

"It didn't go well. I'm really upset. Feel like I'm having a panic attack. I'm heading to the hospital. Please keep this between us-"... I look up at Louise wide eyed...

"...Oops" I stutter.

Louise looks at me and shakes her head. Again, I find myself swearing her to secrecy. How do I get myself into things like this?

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You're Kidding Me, Right?!!

That is what I shrieked when I weighed in and they told me I was down nearly a pound. I was loud, shrill and am sure I didn't sound pretty at all. I probably made an ugly face too. My co-worker that went with me chuckled, the lady who was weighing me offered to change it to reflect a gain if I wanted, but I declined. I was happy.

Its silly how little I know about what I'm eating when I don't follow the rules. I just guess and do my best but am always anxiety ridden when I go to step on. If I would just follow the plan I'd be golden.

And now, because I lost a certain amount, I lost another food point. This means I have less room to cheat and fall off the wagon...no wiggle room if I find myself passed out against the wall covered in turkey and gravy next week.

Therefore I must workout. I need to get my butt out of bed so I can run and earn myself more food. Run to eat. Maybe I should get a carrot to hang in front of my face. Funny, huh?

But I feel good about the loss, and I know I feel better when I run so I just need to do it. Running makes me feel like Rainbow Bright on crack. Obnoxiously happy.

And, you know what? I am finally within 5-9 lbs of weighing less than or equal to my JimmyEatWorld. I say less than or equal to because I'm not sure how much Jim weighs anymore. He better not have lost weight because I'm telling you, when I weigh less than Jim I am throwing a serious party. It'll be the I Weigh Less than Jim party! It may be the first time in our history that I weigh less than him, except for maybe when I first met him, but he was skinnier then than now, so maybe not.

Now, before I go I have something less fluffy on my mind. How many of us hate our bodies? And how many of us have daughters? And how many of us degrade our bodies in front of our daughters? I don't, because I don't have daughters, but I also don't do it in front of my sons. I don't want them to think its ok.

I just heard on NPR today that 53% of 4th grade girls say they hate their bodies. With all the messages around them saying they don't look good enough, their mothers shouldn't add to that, even if they are only degrading their own body. Mothers are their role model, they set the stage.

While I was stranded in Ft. Wayne I had quite a bit of time to read the book The Uglies by Scott Westerfield. Its about an America of the future where you have massive plastic surgery to make you "Pretty" and perfect. People eat what ever they want and don't think about being fat because they know when they turn 16 they'll be pretty. Afterwards there are pills to purge the calories they eat.

When the girls in the book find an old fashion magazine from our time (300 years prior, I think-they call our period "the Rusties") they see a very skinny girl who looks almost like a "Pretty" but too skinny. They determine that she must have the disease they learned about in school where people don't eat because they thought they were fat. They were horrified at the picture and proof of this disease because they couldn't imagine that such a thing ever existed. They thought their teacher made it up to make the Rusties seem more crazy and sad.

But how wonderful would it be if we could be horrified at the thought of eating disorders existing. Nice huh?

Now don't get me wrong. The land of the Pretties is not all great, it has its sinister side too. Like what happens when one girl decides she doesn't want to turn pretty. You'll have to read to find out what happens when she goes against the grain.

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Crash, Tumble...Groan...Ugh...

Thats me after I fell of the horse, or wagon, or broke down Aveo fondly known as "the orange car". Fell off hard onto a ground cushioned with cookies, donuts and mashed potatoes.

These last few weeks have been pretty bad eating and exercising wise. I like to blame things on other things. Sprinkle it around so I can have some excuse other than the fact that I suck.

so here are the many excuses I've been rehearsing for my next weigh in:

1. Election party. I was so excited that I just ate cookies and chips all night long! Its one time in 4 years, how do you expect me not to eat cookies and chips?

2. Weekend away with my BFF! I had to eat out, I tried to choose smartly, but every outing with her since we were 14 has included large quantities of candy. And I mean large. And together we find ourselves hiding the goodies so we don't keep eating ourselves sick. The only thing is that she's skinny and pregnant and can get away with it. I can't. GRRRRR!

3. The last day of my weekend away began with Orange Car falling apart. Seriously, I don't know what any of this means but this is what happened. Tensioner broke off, spun the broken serpentine belt into the timing which went all wacky and blew the valves in the engine. Apparently there was no cover on the timing. The mechanic guy said he's never seen anything like that before. So I was stranded at Firestone all day Monday eating Dove chocolate, reading Uglies and feeling pretty sorry for myself. Good news is that even though we are 1000 miles over warranty, the guy was able to get it covered. Phew.

4. No groceries in the house because I spent all my money trying to fix a car that is still sitting in Ft. Wayne. That leaves a lot of full fat, not good for you things like hot dogs and noodles.

5. I'm too damn lazy to get my ass out of bed to run, when my tired running ass is running beside my warm cozy bed with my husband in it-its just too much. Bed, treadmill, bed, treadmill....bed....This morning I did choose treadmill though. Go me. (eye roll)

But really, its because I didn't plan and I can't make excuses. I just need to do it, and stop being stupid and exercise some self control. We did get some groceries last night and that makes me happy, I had salad for lunch...and some really yummy chocolate cookie bar I didn't mean to eat. And hopefully I won't fall further off the wagon when I feed the homeless their nighttime snack of Root Beer floats tonight. ...Must not partake...

Oh well, at least I ran this morning.

Head Games with Sassy

If you read this post, then you know that I worry about keeping the kidlets busy during the long Northern Michigan winter. Not a ton to do in our little town in the winter, aside from winter sports, and because I live in a shoe box I've been worried about our social structure degrading into crazed cabin fevered cannibals.

So I've been trying to come up with projects and I decided to do one that is dear to my heart. Heads. Remember how I love to do head? Why not do heads with the boys? ! Light bulb!

I gathered what pathetic magazines I had, which turned out to be a stack of Inc magazines and a hodgepodge of Parents/Parenting/Baby Talk and other mama freebies. Not the greatest for finding good bodies.

My best friend and I have done heads since high school, and from years of doing heads I've discovered you find the best bodies in entertainment/Fashion magazines and such. If you want some great heads to use I like Newsweek and Time for that, lots of politicians and world leaders. I still remember one of ours from the early 90's that had George Bush Sr. presenting a shy sweet Bill Clinton with a flower. One of my favorites.

Today Boogs and Kiki were inducted into the illustrious Sassy past time of Heads and they rose to the occasion. They had fun, I had fun and we created something fun. I used their heads and and the heads of my best friend's two boys. We used what ever bodies I could find in my sad magazine stack. Where were Honey Bunches old People Magazines when I needed them?

Next time we do Heads we'll have Logan over and use his head to create some fun scenes. See below for their big fun.



So far today, Sassy Family: 1 Cannibals: 0

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Halloween Morning Musings

I know I was going to pick a winner for the music and feelings contest, and I still promise too, but I need to just wait until after Halloween and things calm down.

Halloween isn't something I grew up celebrating, because of the cult you know. During school parties you'd find us sitting outside the office coloring something. It was the devils holiday so we would turn our lights off and refuse the persistent trick or treater candy. . And Every now and then we'd get tp'ed. But oh well, right?

Personally, I could care less about the candy or the going door to door. That didn't really appeal to me either way. But more than anything what I wanted to do was dress up. I wanted to be someone else for a night, to pretend and look glamorous or exotic. But no. By the time we exited our cult I was too old to try to get away with dressing up unless I was lucky enough to be invited to a party.

But I'm not letting that stop me this year. I don't care, I'm dressing up. I was going to wear an old boring renaissance dress but in the middle of the night I decided that I'm going to go as a Hogwarts Witch. I have a cape that I have safety pinned the Hogwarts School Banner to, I have witchy shoes, I have Hogwarts socks (Slytherin and Griffindor, I hoping to find a matching pair but if I only find one of each then I'll just be a confused Hogwarts witch). I even have a broom and Scabbers the Rat.

The boys are being Batman and Robin and Jim is going as a super foxy Vampire. Yum! Sorry if that just made you throw up in your mouth.

I also just got my hair cut for the first time in a year. The last time I got it cut was during the infamous hair show that left Sister HB fuming. I stuck around and got a great do with awesome color, but I didn't keep it up.

So yesterday I went in and had the girl there do whatever she felt like. I really dig this chick, I would totally make her be friends with me! She lives kind of far away or I would try to trick her into coming over one day. Not that I have to force all my friends into an unwilling friendship, I just find people sometimes don't have the time to make new friends...sigh...

So here's my hair and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


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