Cuteness at Halloween!

My girls were adorable this Halloween. Despite Anneliese's reluctance to wear a costume, she tolerated the red cape and carried a basket--pseudo Red Riding Hood. And Sophia was the cutest pirate to ever sail the Seven Seas! (watch out, Anne Bonney!)

Back in Action

After a long sabbatical (for lack of a better word) I am back. Long lazy summer, very little picture taking, no scrapping other than a May crop with Andi. Getting my act together and scrap space cleaned up--Larisa and I have a 14 hour Halloween crop coming up. Sad to say, I just need to re-arrange my yet unpacked scrap totes.

And I am back on the weight loss bandwagon. July 11 I went back to Weight Watchers and decided that I need to buckle down and do it. Not only had I gained back the 60 pounds I had previously lost, it brought along a few of its friends--around 45 to be exact. I have lost 20 pounds so far and want to drop another 75 to get to goal. Any weight loss after that is icing on the fat-free cake, you know?

I finally figured out what prompted the regain to a certain extent. Back when I was single in college (the dark ages known as the mid 90's) I got down to my high school weight. I was 5'11" in high school. At 6'1" I was way too thin (although I didn't believe it--I thought I looked great). I played the numbers game--look, my high school weight, and a size 12 for the first time EVER. Well, marriage and 2 kids later by c-section, and my goal was 25 pounds higher than my high school weight, per my doctor. When I lost weight and got to goal, I was in a size 14, loose 16. I was sure I could do better. Ummm, no. I had been pregnant twice with 2 ten pounders, and gained a LOT of weight with both.

Then, life happened--three deaths in the family--two unexpected, one not--and then 2 diagnoses of my girls. Plus, my mental health crisis and diagnosis. Hello comfort food. Forget chicken on a green salad at a restaurant--bring on the chicken fried steak. Hi brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Full fat cheese--it tastes so much better than low fat, and why measure? And we will not begin to talk about the Girl Scout cookies.

So, I have been doing WW again for 2 months. Feeling good. Not wanting to eat sweet sugary or fatty crap anymore. Walking again and liking it. Not snacking just cause I can.

So, one day at a time on this journey. A slip is not a fall off the wagon. I can do it. Life is good.

Scrapping inertia

Well, I am feeling lethargic about scrapping these days. I went to an all day crop last month, and had fun, but only did 3 2 page LOS all day. It was a weird day--Larisa went to the crop too, but had to leave at 3:00pm to fly back to WI because her uncle was dying. Saw old friends, and one a grand prize, the Crop In Style PS3. I have so wanted one for a long time, but it was out of my price range. Besides, it is obscene the number of Scrap Totes I currently possess.

Anyway, I have some cool new papers (both from the crop and otherwise) and need to just dig in. I have a poop-load of photos, and that is part of the problem, I think. I planned a whole load of projects for the crop, so I think I will try one at a time to get them started.

I guess it is all 1 day at a time.

Old friends reconnect

The other day, I decided to do a people search on MySpace. I have an account I created a year ago that I never use--I created it to read an acquaintance's blog. So, I decided to try to find some oild friends, namely Reid. I had received both Christmas and birthday cards and had yet to get in touch.

Well, what do you know? My old friend was there, and we some things remain the same. Time has changed our bodies and circumstances, but friendship remains the same.

As I like to say, Life Is Good.

Happy Birthday to me!

Next week, the big 4-2. Sigh. But this next year is off to a great start. One of my best buds came for the weekend--after a day of bookstore hopping in Ann Arbor and a fab lunch at Smokehouse Blues Memphis BBQ, I am pooped. We also did a movie last night--National Treasure Book of Secrets. Way fun!

On the 8th, another best bud and I are going to an all day crop. Way cool. I think the best gift anyone can get me anymore is some grown-up chick time. It is great to be someone besides "mom" for a few days.

Definitely my daughter!

Let me preface this post by saying that this year I created an Amazon.com wish list for people to see I might like for Christmas. Mostly fun frivolous books or DVDs I probably wouldn't pick up for myself. One of these items is The McCartney Years, a 3 disk collection of performances and music videos spanning the almost 40 years of Paul McCartney's solo career. I have always been a fan, but the last five-6 years (since his wife Linda died) have not produced any new music I thought was worth listening to. That is, until the 2007 Starbucks release Memory Almost Full. Awesome disk--very Wings-like, and it renewed my McCartney interest. Hence my desire for the McCartney Years.

Well, the last week I put disk 1 into my DVD player and began checking it out. Sophia was in the room, and was interested. The first 5-6 videos were very basic--photos and home movies of Paul and Linda and their young family. Sophia began asking who various people were, then went back to playing. When a video for "Mamunia" (a song off 1973's Band on the Run) began, though, she got interested. Merely a rough cartoon, something about it attracted her.

Then, the other night I was watching McCartney live at the Olympia on A&E. Sophia, who was playing her computer game with her back to the TV, asked what I was watching. I told her a singer in concert. "Oh, the 'Mamunia' singer?" I told her yes. After I told Dave about this later, he laughed but wasn't aware of Sophie's new found McCartney love until I put the disk in for Sophia Sunday. She sat to watch "Mamunia" and when Dave saw the big grin on her face he was amazed. Then I went to turn it off, and she asked to watch more of my music. So, we watched the whole DVD.

Very cute to see. I started my McCartney fan-dom at age 12, so she has me beat by a few years. But, at least her first rock n roll music love is not the Sex Pistols, right?

Best Artichoke Spinach dip ever!!!

OK, I hate Mayo (and miracle whip). It's a fact. Nothing grosser than mayo, for me, except HOT mayo. So, I did a search on Recipezaar (where you can search recipes excluding ingredients) and found a hot spinach dip that looked awesome. So, I made it last night, adding some sauteed onion and garlic to the recipe as written. It was divine.

Olive Garden Hot Artichoke Spinach dip
(click link for reviews)

2 8 oz packages light cream cheese, softened
1 8 oz bag grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz sour cream
2 small cand artichoke hearts, chopped fine
1 10 oz box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 tbls olive oil
1 tbls marjoram (I omitted this)
cayenne to taste
garlic salt to taste
( I added 1 tbsp chopped garlic and 1/4 cup onion)

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Combine with all ingredients except cayenne and garlic salt. Once well combined, season to taste with garlic salt and cayenne. REcipe says to put under a broiler, but I put it in a small crockpot till it was hot.

YUMMMY!

Tell me why?

OK, I have a whining, griping, angry post here. Sophia will be 6 soon, is 54 pounds and about 4'3." Also, long waisted. I noticed her Old Navy jeans (size 6) were pretty much sitting at bikini level and getting snug, so I took a look online to see if there were any denim sales. There were. Plus, they now carry a regular rise jean, "the Girlfriend," and a low rise, "the Darling." So, we hop over to Old Navy (45 miles away) to get her 3 pair of the regular rise. There is a huge display along the back of the store with both jean types labeled--probably 30+ feet of denim. Not a single pair of regular rise jeans, other than 3 or 4 slim sized pairs. After a 15 minute hunt for a sales person, I find one who tells me all the jeans they have are on the sales floor. I told her (snidely, I was mad) that maybe Old Navy ought to re-think their purchasing strategy, because if all the jeans left are low rise, then maybe mothers don't want their pre-pubescent daughters showing everything to the world. She blinked obliviously.

I am planning on writing a letter to Old Navy, because it will make me feel better.

And I finally found Sophia some modest, regular rise jeans--Old Glory jeans at Walmart. Stretch jean, adjustable waist tabs, boot cut--$9.84. And they FIT her. Amen.

Another interesting Christmas

Well, we have definitely hit winter. The beginning of December, Anneliese had bronchitis and I had tonsillitis. Fast forward--mid month, Anneliese gets a cold, and we both get the flu. Then, the weekend before Christmas, Sophia runs a fever we can't get below 100.5 even with drugs. Anneliese breaks out in spots. I am getting paranoid--last Christmas day we were all in the ER with strp throat. So, I call the pediatrician Monday (Christmas Eve) morning, tell him about Anneliese's spots, following her flu and low fever, and he tells me rubeola, and she'll be fine. OK. I call back that afternoon, after we realize Sophie's fever is steady. He tells me that she is probably getting the same thing, just give her tylenol.

So, we go to mom's Christmas Eve night, and after meal and gifts, Sophie is exhausted and ready to go home. We wait a while to visit, then leave. She comes home and goes straight to bed. I have a restless night, and seem to be getting a sore throat. I wake up, take liquid Tylenol for my throat and we do Santa gifts. After opening most of her gifts (Sophie was SO not excited--very lethargic) I start feeling nauseous, and proceed to get sick in the bathroom. I sleep 8 or 9 hours all day, and can't stay awake. I run a high fever the same as Sophia. Sophia, meanwhile, is getting a red rash all over her chest and back.

So, the next morning we go to see the doctor. My doctor is on vacation, so I am planning to go to Express Care. After looking at her, Dr. H says he suspects Scarlet Fever, as she appears to have strep, the rash and the fever. After her strep test is positive, he gives us both antibiotics. He did a mandatory peek in my throat to justify the scrip, and wrote mine out. I had told him about my doctor being on vacation, so I was grateful.

Today, we are all healthy again. No temps, no sore throats, and pretty much no problems except a little cabin fever. Let's hope for a healthier new year!