Busy, Busy, Busy!

So things have been extremely busy around here lately. Hubby's mom and dad recently moved into a new house (which is gorgeous, btw) and since they bought new appliances, offered to give us their old ones. Our stove still works, but not great, our dishwasher completely washes about half the time, and our fridge is huge, mustard yellow and was last made in 1968 (the thing's older than I am!) So needless to say, I'm EXTREMELY excited about the "new" appliances.

When we found out we were getting them, I told Hubby that the only thing that would make me happier was if we were getting rid of the nasty linoleum floor that was in there. Which then led to not liking the cabinets or the wall color. So, our kitchen is now in the process of being transformed from nasty white floor, light wood cabinets and sage green walls to new terracotta colored ceramic tile floor, bright blue walls and chocolate brown cabinets. I'll make sure to post before and after pictures.

Also, I've been swamped at work, have another freelance project I'm working on (my first international one!), have started The Firm videos, and we're getting ready for Disney - we leave in 16 days! I'll try to post some more before we leave, but if not, I promise there will be lots of pictures from our trip!

OMG! What a workout!

One of the girls on the board I'm on is very into The Firm workouts. So into them in fact that she is in the latest infomercial. She has gotten a lot of the girls on the board to try different videos, and every one of them has been very pleased with them. A few have even commented on how they really don't get bored with them, even though they normally don't make it more than a week or so with a workout video - and they have been doing them for 3+ months. Since I was given an Amazon gift certificate, I decided to order one of the workouts thinking that it definitely couldn't hurt.

It came in the mail on Friday, but today was the first chance I've had to put it in. I ordered The Firm Bootcamp: Maximum Calorie Burn. I stuck it in the dvd player, and like a dummy decided to try it in what I had on - jeans, a knit top and no shoes. No other workout I've ever used has been that bad, and I didn't think this one would either.

O.M.G.

This workout is BRUTAL! None of the moves are hard - actually they are all very easy. But this video hits the ground running! By the 5 minute mark I was sweating, by 12 minutes I was panting, and by 20 minutes I had to quit. Turns out it's a 52 minute video, so I have a ways to go before I can complete the entire thing at once. And omg do my abs hurt!! I'm going to be SO sore tomorrow. It claims you'll see results in 10 workouts, and I could definitely see how that could happen. I might have to measure myself tonight to see if there really is a difference in 10 workouts. My goal is to get all 10 in before we go to Disney (26 days), so The Firm and I will become great friends over the next 3.5 weeks. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

No More Nookie!!!

Not *that* kind of nookie, you dirty minded person, you. ;) Wee One calls her pacifier a nookie, and I think we’re finally rid of it. I realized today that it’s been over a week since she’s asked for it - which is great since she’s been without it for a month and a half. For at least a month after we took it away, she still asked for it daily. It started as multiple times a day, then just once or twice a day, then just when she was cranky or stalling bedtime (which was pretty much every night.) Finally we told her that nookies are for babies and she’s a big girl now. And since she’s a big girl, she gets to go eat with Cinderella. And babies don’t get to go eat with Cinderella. So from then on if she asked for it, we’d ask her if she was a baby. Her response was always “no, no, Momma. I a big girl and I go eat with Cinderella.” She still asked for it for over a week, but it hit me today that she’s no longer asking for it. Now if we can just convince her that Cinderella wants her to use the potty I think we’d have it made.

Did you know....

... That when we go to see Cinderella, we’re going to fly in a purple airplane?
... when you eat something, it doesn’t go into your tummy. NOOOO! It goes into your tongue!
... that everything tastes better with either applesauce or yogurt on it - even french fries and chicken nuggets?
... that the cubed turkey that comes in Lunchables packs is called “jelly bean turkey” (as opposed to sliced deli turkey)
... Wee One *is not* a princess - she is a GIRL!!!
... even though she’s not a princess, wearing a tinkerbell costume, Cinderella shoes and a Snow White crown is the height of fashion
... I’m not sure who is more excited about our upcoming trip to Disney - me or her!!

Turns out we only have 31 days to go! I can’t hardly stand it I’m so excited. I have a huge list of things still to do before we leave, and an even longer list of things to remember to pack, but I know it will be worth it. Now if it would only get here, I’d be fine! :D

Not unlucky at all!

I know that Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky, but thankfully for me, it wasn't unlucky at all! We managed to get the 4 wheeler sold (finally!) and I was able to go online and pay it off. I also won a hardback fiction book from the library's summer reading program, and Hubby received his bonus check that day, too.

Little things that make me happy...

There are lots of little things that have happened in the past few days that make me very happy.

Shoes! I found the coolest shoes online today. I don't have $102 to buy them, but oh how I want them! So pretty! The are from www.endless.com. This site has some of the coolest shoes I've ever seen. Not that I have any money, because I'm flat broke, but I still love looking and dreaming. I told hubby today that sites like this are the reason we don't have money - God knows that if we had money I'd own more pairs of shoes than I could wear in my lifetime.

Wee One's favorite book is Mouse Cookies and More: A Treasury and she insists on reading it all the time. Last night we started reading and it went like this:
Me: If you give a mouse a...
Wee One: COOKIE!
M: He'll probably ask for some...
W: MILK!
M: And if you give him some milk...
W: He ask pour a STRAW!
...and on and on through If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, If you give a Pig a Pancake, If you Give a Moose a Muffin and If you Take a Mouse to School. The funniest part is in If you Give a Mouse a Cookie when he wants to hang his drawing on your refrigerator, she screams out that he'll need "SCOTCH TAPE!!!" It's so sweet to listen to her "read" it with me.

I have a ton of work that I'm doing right now - all freelance stuff - and it's been so much fun. I actually love what I get to do, and lately have gotten some really great people to work with. And to top it off, I got an Amazon gift card from one of the people this week (thank you if you're reading! :D) How awesome is that? I get to do what I love, work with great people, and get cool gifts. I love my job.

And the best thing of all...
I've lost 9 POUNDS since Christmas! I'm SO excited. I had 22 that I needed to lose, so now I'm down to only needing to get rid of 13 more. And even better - around Christmas I bought this belt - it has 5 notches on it. When I bought it I barely got it to the second one. Now it's on the last, and my pants are still loose. I think it's almost time to go clothes shopping!

15 years today...

Today makes 15 years since my brother-in-law had his transplant. When he was 7 months old he had a liver transplant at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, and thankfully has been doing great since. He will have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life, and there are a long list of things he can't eat, but he's here, doing well, and is a typical 15 year old boy. I can't even imagine what my inlaws were going through while watching him in the hospital, and knowing that there might not be anything they could do to save him. Even though I didn't know them at the time, I'm extrememly grateful that he is doing well now, and adore having him as my brother-in-law. He annoys the crap out of me at times, but as long as he's here, I don't mind. :D

They are coming up here tonight to take him to Bass Pro Shop, and then on Friday we're going out to eat. And I'm going to do everything in my power to be there for both of them - because after all, 15 years ago we didn't think he'd be here.