Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic

Happy Saturday! What a long day.

Superman had to work on his video shoot today and was out of the house before 6am. The morning after our huge snow storm.

Speaking of huge, I would not be surprised at all if the kids don't go back to school until Tuesday or Wednesday. At the rate the snow plows are going we might not leave the house until next weekend. Rate of snow plows = zero. Do we even have snow plows in Tennessee? I saw someone on Twitter say they saw one but I've never seen one here.

Now, keep in mind we have about 3 inches. In Indiana the kids would've gone to school yesterday and would go back Monday. I used to laugh at how the South shuts down but I have since turned into one of those Southerners, because snow + ice + hills + limited snow plows + people who have lived here all along and have never driven in it = I'm not going out and getting killed.

So with that in mind, I worried tremendously about Superman each time I knew he was driving. But today went great for him and he's so tired, but ready to finish it tomorrow.

As for me, well, the kids and I did a whole lotta nothin' today!

From January 30, 2010

How was your day?

Healthy Friday

I've become extremely fed up with EA Sports Active. I've actually skipped so many days now that the other day when I got back on it asked if I wanted to start over since I wouldn't complete my 30 day challenge in 30 days. Um, no. I'm going to continue on, but only to say that I've finished it because I honestly cannot wait for it to be over with.

I'm really surprised at how much I don't like this game. I remember when it first came out and seeing people rave over it. I still see that and honestly, I don't get it. If you enjoy this workout, please tell me why. I'll leave that subject alone now because I believe Superman wants to guest blog when he's done with his 30 days and do a review.

What I am loving though, is Daisy Fuentes Pilates for Wii! I have problems with my feet. Like ever since I did temp work last fall and wore heels every day that I wasn't used to, I've felt like my foot is fractured or something! I can walk just fine, I can do everything normal, but if I were to stand on my toes with more weight on the little toes it feels like that side of my foot will crumble, like it can't support me. Not sure what's going on. That's my right foot. In my left foot, I developed Plantar Fasciitis spring 2008 after a unintentional long walk.

Funny story. We'd only lived here maybe 6 weeks and had started walking around our neighborhood. The addition we lived in that first 6 months was still being developed so we'd always walk back where the roads weren't paved yet and they were still taking trees down. So one evening we walked all the way back and spotted a main road. We thought "Hey! We'll just hit that road and walk back home on that!" thinking it was the road our addition was on. Well, we totally got turned around and thank goodness Superman had GPS on his phone because that was not the road we thought it was! We ended up having to walk about 2 miles to get back home.

Anyway, I had my flip flops on during that long walk. I love my flip flops. We weren't planning on walking that much or I would've worn something different. That night my left heel started hurting really bad and I've had problems ever since whenever I do too much on my feet. I love walking (and can't wait till it warms up so we can start our nightly after dinner walks again!) but I don't look forward to the fiery pain that shoots through my heel and the stiff ligament in the mornings after the walking.

All that to say that I'm loving Daisy Fuentes Pilates because it feels like a workout but I'm not straining my feet to do it. The only thing I don't like about that game is the computerized version of her. Who knew computerized cleavage could looks so, um, freaky. I also found the yoga DVDs and pilates DVD case (I still think it's hilarious that there was no DVD in it) that Sara sent me months ago to borrow. I'm gonna check them out finally so I can get them sent back soon!

I still haven't weighed myself. I don't want to know right now. I mentioned last week that I've been getting some compliments from Superman and that's all I need right now! I got dressed one morning this week, looked in the mirror and even said "Dang!" to myself. Things are changing, that's what matters.

This week's recipe is from Kelly at Kelly's Korner. Actually it's from her recipe blog. It's the Chicken Breast Supreme.

What you need:
4 chicken breasts
4-8 strips of bacon
16 oz sour cream
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of sliced mushrooms
1 jar of dried beef (this is found near tuna or spam)

Wrap the bacon around the chicken and put in pan. Mix up all the other ingredients. Tear up the dried beef into small pieces (this is what gives the meal the real flavor).

Pour mixture over chicken and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. I'm not sure about calories but I would imagine it wasn't too bad. And I only use turkey bacon so that has to help some.

We were pleasantly surprised! I know Superman is not a fan of chicken, but it's healthier and usually easier to work with since there are so many recipes out there. I'm always afraid the chicken will taste too much like...uh...chicken and he'll hate it. But the bacon and dried beef added so much flavor! It was really good!

So, they canceled school today. Actually they canceled before supper last night.

(rabbit trail: I usually spell cancelled with 2 Ls but have seen it with only 1. Did you know dictionary.com shows both spellings correct? And now after looking at it so much, neither one looks right.)

Anyway, we're supposed to get hit with snow big time today. Big time here is a trace so of course school was cancelled canceled closed today with the potential for 4 inches. One thing I've learned living here though, is that it just doesn't happen. So I'll believe it when I see it. But if we do get anything good I'm sure you'll be hearing about it!

Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic tomorrow. Can't wait to party!

Peace out Ganstas.

Thursday Thirteen - Edition B

Courtesy of Izzy 'N Emmy. Inspired by Kimber.

1. Blanket - I have 2 in the works; knitting one and sewing one. Yes, Superman is allowing me to knit again finally! I don't blame him for the knitting ban though after all the stress of the Christmas hoodies. It was a much needed break, but it feels so good to be back at it!

2. Blue - the knitted blanket

3. Boo - what one says to scare someone. Also, what I'm saying about our "winter weather watch" after spending a couple weeks close to 60 degrees. Because we all know they'll close school tonight and we'll probably get a dusting again.

4. Bad - my mood this week

5. Butter - it makes everything better

6. Bible - yes that's the book for me

7. Booger - found one wiped on the recliner. The suspect has been notified of our awareness. The punishment should be fun trying to get that thing off.

8. Bo - used to be my favorite Duke boy. Check it, weren't the late 70's/early 80's awesome?


9. Body - not getting back on the scale, but got dressed the other morning and said "Dang" out loud. Starting to see some changes!

10. Buddy - the friend we had to put down March 2007. Been missing him lately and not sure why.

11. Banana - Let me hear you say, this (expletive) is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

12. Black - my favorite color for clothes. More than half of what I own is black.

13. Bored - with one of my exercises. I'll talk more about it tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday

Thanks to McDonalds and Steak 'N Shake for my pretty array of Coke glasses!

What are your strengths?

Superman had to be in a seminar yesterday with the people from Strengths Finder. Obviously this is a big help in the workplace, learning how to work best with others, what your strengths are at work and so on.

So he brought his stuff home and started analyzing me. I have to admit I usually find this stuff kinda boring. Sorry Honey. But it ended up being really interesting! And after learning more about myself, it's totally okay that I got a little bored. It's just how I'm wired.

I don't know if you know much about it. But Superman is:

1. Relator - People who are especially talented in this theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.
2. Restorative - These people are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it.
3. Learner - These people have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
4. Individualization - are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.
5. Achiever - have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

This is what makes him such a great manager! Why he can work a full day, come home and do a few more hours of freelance work and only sleep 4-5 hours a night. Why, one of these days, he would love to go back for his masters degree. And why he can make a huge to-do list and bust through it, no problem.

We found out I am:

1. Significance - want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.
2. Belief - have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.
3. Harmony - look for consensus. They don't enjoy conflict; rather, they seek areas of agreement.
4. Competition - measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.
5. Adaptability - prefer to "go with the flow". They tend to be "now" people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

To be honest, I drive Superman nuts sometimes. He is such a leader and I'm such a follower. He's a self-starter and I really need a push sometimes. Okay, most of the time.

It actually was amazing to sit and talk about this last night. It explains why, even though I'm a homemaker and cleaning the house is my "job", I become discouraged and unmotivated when it goes unnoticed. That's my significance talking. If my to-do list has more than 2 things on it I crumble. Forget making a to-do list for the week because I adapt to what's going on right now, I won't know about tomorrow until tomorrow. It explains why, if I don't agree 100% with him on something would rather keep the harmony than argue about it, unless it is a strong belief of mine. That's what makes me stubborn. I love a competitive game, as long as everyone's having fun and there's my harmony again. And I'm not even close to being the learner that Superman is, which explains my occasional boredom with long conversations.

I found it amazing that after being married over 13 years, we are still learning about each other. And this may be the biggest revelation yet. Obviously there has to be some give and take, these might be our strengths but if we don't work together we'd clash. And the harmony in me doesn't want that!

I would recommend doing this with your spouse/significant other. I also think it kind of goes along with the 5 Love Languages book, which is a must read if you're married. Or even if you're not, it doesn't hurt to know what kind of person you are before finding your mate!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I'm not so glad it's Monday again already. Don't you just love how fast the weekends go? I know I do.

I'm not possibly contemplating a couple days to start taking off from blogging. 6 days a week, every week is not hard to keep up with sometimes.

I'm not sitting here trying my hardest to remember last week and nothing is coming to mind! So I guess that does it this time.

Happy Not Me Monday!

P.S. I'm NOT so extremely excited to be the first link on MckMama's blog today for the first time ever! And I'm also not extremely embarrassed that the day this finally happens, my post is the dumbest Not Me ever!

Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic

What a great Saturday! But I'm kinda tired and ready to watch a movie with my Superman so I'm gonna be quick.

We made it to the chiro today for the first time in a month! It felt great!

Superman left for a meeting when we got back home. He doesn't typically work on weekends, besides answering emails, but he has something big in the works. He had a meeting today and will be gone most of next weekend. Not gone, gone. Just gone like he's at work. I really, really, really wish I could spill the beans about what he's working on but I can't yet. Not fully anyway. I can say that he has written a music video and is directing it next weekend! I'll tell more when I can.

So the kids and I played outside for a bit while he was gone and took naps when he came home. Well, I doubt the kids napped but I know I did. Or tried. It wasn't the best nap and I woke up super groggy.

We've been watching what we eat and decided tonight we just needed to have some family fun. So we went to Steak N Shake for supper tonight! Yum. We splurged on shakes for the ride home and I don't want to know how many calories were in my Snickers shake but it was all so worth it! And it was just fun. I hummed/mouthed/sang to Wilson Phillips while we were there, which led to me announcing my love of Wilson Phillips and asking Superman if I could get a big tattoo of Wilson Phillips covering my entire back. He said no. Ha! I hope you know I just kidding. Although I do still love to rock out when I hear them.

Anyway, lots of laughs today and it was just a great day!

From January 23, 2010

Did you have as much fun today as I did?

Healthy Friday

Week 3 and I weigh more now than when I started. I'm doing all the right things.

Things are different this time.

About 3 or 4 years ago, Superman and I both lost about 20 lbs. We were eating all the right things while depriving ourselves of everything yummy. We were exercising a lot. Like, it's all we thought about. Hours and hours of walking plus whatever DVD we could get our hands on. We both lost 20 lbs like nothing.

Things are different this time.

Things changed and we either couldn't keep up with all the exercise or skipping 1 day turned into skipping weeks and we both gained it all back plus an extra 10 lbs or so.

Week 3 and I weigh more now than when I started. I'm doing all the right things.

"If there's one skill that could further your fight to shed pounds, it's patience. People want instant gratification - to lose 20 lbs in 6 weeks. But even if you achieve your goal, that happiness leaves as quickly as it comes because you can't sustain the measures you took to get there, measures that probably made you miserable anyway. Everyone wants instant results, but permanent weight loss calls for a long-term commitment and a change in mind-set." Fitness magazine, Feb 2010.

So, it's week 3. I weigh more now than when I started. But I'm not trying to get into a bikini this summer. I want to be healthy for life.

"As most people are aware when we first start any new exercise the muscles involved adapt over the first few weeks by becoming stronger, a strength increase often leads to a gain in muscle mass. It’s possible to gain 2-3 pounds of lean weight within a few weeks without noticing any change in musculature because the layer of excess fat will cover small overall muscle gains. These new gains in lean mass can also mask any loss in body fat, especially if you’re only losing fat at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week. It’s also possible that initial muscle gains could overtake any fat loss and the dieter sees scales actually go up!" www.weightlossforall.com.

So we're taking it slow. My ticker now means nothing. No more weighing in. What used to motivate me by seeing the lbs melt away is now discouraging. Especially when we're both seeing little changes in our bodies already. And the little compliments I've been getting from Superman are so much better than seeing a number drop on a scale!

I'll still keep you updated. But my mind-set has changed. I'm in this for life change and not bathing suit season. And that's a very important change this week!

Ready for a double dose of food this week? These recipes are from Betty Crocker. It's the Slow Cooker Beef-Tortellini Soup and the Parmesan-Black Pepper Breadsticks.

What you need (soup):
1 lb beef stew meat
1 large onion, chopped (3/4 cup)
1 large carrot, chopped (3/4 cup)
1 medium stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (10 1/2 oz each) condensed beef consommé
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
2 cups frozen cheese-filled tortellini
1 cup frozen cut green beans

In 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, add beef, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, sugar, tomatoes and beef consommé in order listed.

Cover; cook on Low heat setting 8 to 9 hours.

About 25 minutes before serving, stir in basil, frozen tortellini and green beans. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook about 25 minutes or until beans are tender.

320 Calories. Source.

What you need (breadsticks):
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
5 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/4 oz)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
Additional cracked black pepper, if desired

Heat oven to 450°F. Lightly grease large cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray. In medium bowl, stir together Bisquick mix, water, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 2 tablespoons of the cheese until soft dough forms.

Sprinkle work surface with Bisquick mix. Place dough on surface; roll to coat. With rolling pin, roll into 10x8-inch rectangle. Brush with butter. Sprinkle with remaining 3 tablespoons cheese; press in gently. Cut crosswise into 12 strips. Gently twist each strip. Place 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with additional pepper.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light golden brown. Serve warm.

110 Calories each. Source.

Oh.My.Sweet.Heaven. I'll admit, I was worried. I believe that was my first time ever making homemade soup. And I've been known to pick a side that either doesn't go well with the main dish or it completely overpowers it. But I did awesome this week! The breadsticks were absolutely delish alone, but when you dipped them in the soup? I want to marry them. *Swoon* It was all so good! We actually ate the leftovers the very next night and we will be having this again!

Plans for a support team at school for Princess have been put on hold. That's a good thing! I added on Tuesday that she got a 100 on her quiz that day. The next day she took 4 reading tests (AR tests for those who know what that is) and got 100 on all of them! It made me feel really good to get an email from her teacher saying "I don't know what you're doing at home, but keep it up!" Princess had a small meltdown after that and didn't want to study her 5's for her multiplication quiz yesterday. We studied, but she just wasn't into it. She failed that one yesterday and had to do the write off last night, but she did much better with that. And with the teacher's cooperation, I cut her off at 9pm with 7 sets complete instead of 10. Not bad! But the teacher is going to keep me updated over the next few weeks to see if we need to pursue testing for dyslexia or if the extra help from us at home is all she needed. I'm starting to think she may have inherited her mom's laziness gene.

SCPM tomorrow. Be there or be square.

Welcome back Friday. I'm so glad you're here.

Thursday Thirteen - Edition A

Courtesy of Izzy 'N Emmy. Inspired by Kimber.

1. Ache - my tooth lately. Actually my crown and 1 different tooth. I have a crown on the bottom right that I think might be loose and I believe I might have a cavity in the tooth directly above it. So the right side of my mouth has been kind of ouchy. I plan to go soon (if I can work up courage; I'm deathly afraid of the dentist), but we recently got dental insurance and Superman is in the middle of replacing damaged veneers(?) with crowns. A whopping $889 WITH insurance. I think I can ache a little bit longer.

2. Apples - Yum. I like them but don't eat enough. Why is that?

3. Amy - Princess' (Princess's?) teacher's name. Who I now receive tons of emails from letting me know how well Princess is suddenly doing! We are postponing any meetings and/or testing for a few weeks to see if she can keep this up!

4. Apostrophe - See above. I'm obviously confused.

5. Active - what I've been. Although EA Sports Active is really ticking me off.

6. Absent - being ticked off has made me absent from Active for a few days.

7. Art - Princess is talented in art. She drew a picture of a wolf one night that we swore she traced, but she doesn't have a picture anything like that to trace! She is also currently taking an after school art class with clay.

8. Airplane - don't like. The few times I've flown have not been relaxing.

9. A. A. Milne - Creator of one of my favorite characters of all time.

10. Abdomen - wish mine wasn't so chubby.

11. Acting - Peanut was home from school sick yesterday. Or she's a great actress.

12. ABBA - I decided against putting the rockin' awesome 70's group on my list, but now that "Dancing Queen" is stuck in my head I just had to add them.

13. - That's me!

Wordless Wednesday

This is how we find Princess quite a bit late at night. Trying to read in bed after another evening of 4-6 hours of homework.

The D word - *updated*

Not the bad D word! Although I've felt like saying it recently with the possibility of the other D word I'm talking about.

I've mentioned before that Princess is suddenly having a hard time in school. It seems to have come out of nowhere. Her latest report card was good, still A's and a couple B's, but I have a feeling the next one will be different.

In that first link above, I mentioned that she failed a math test and had to re-write each problem 10 times each. It took her until midnight. I was furious with the teacher for making her do that and stay up so late.

Of course I took my daughter's side, what mom wouldn't? Until last week. That's when Princess was up until at least 11pm, at least 3 school nights. She failed 3 more math tests, therefore causing her to do 3 write-offs (each problem, 10 times each).

It wasn't just the write-offs. She had her weekly reading test and it took at least an hour (if not longer) to read one story. That's not all either. She had to practice reading another short couple of paragraphs for another test. A test that, in December, said she's reading 54 words per minute when she should be reading 110 words per minute.

We couldn't understand why she suddenly hit this wall. Failing everything that has to do with reading and math and why it was taking her so long to do the work. It was time for some research and we believe we may have hit the nail on the head with our first suspicion.

Dyslexia.

I always assumed it simply meant seeing letters reversed and "reading backwards". That's so not true. Listed below are some common signs of Dyslexia. And they fit Princess perfectly.

• Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.
• Labelled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or "behavior problem."
• Isn't "behind enough" or "bad enough" to be helped in the school setting.
• High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written.
• Feels dumb; has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies; easily frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing.
• Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering.
• Seems to "Zone out" or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time.
• Difficulty sustaining attention; seems "hyper" or "daydreamer."
• Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.
• Reads and rereads with little comprehension.
• Spells phonetically and inconsistently.
• Has extended hearing; hears things not said or apparent to others; easily distracted by sounds.
• Has difficulty telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time.
• Computing math shows dependence on finger counting and other tricks; knows answers, but can't do it on paper.
• Can count, but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money.
• Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems
• Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.
• Can be class clown, trouble-maker, or too quiet.
• Can be an extra deep or light sleeper; bed wetting beyond appropriate age.
• Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress, or poor health.
• makes it very difficult to memorize random facts (like multiplication tables)

I also saw something that said that kids with Dyslexia usually hit their wall in 3rd or 4th grade when their little secrets they used to get by no longer work.

It's harder than you can imagine to see your daughter struggling so much. To see her hit another wall after about 4 hours of homework and just cry. I've contacted her teacher to let her know what we think is going on, and copied the reading specialist at school that already helps Princess. I guess I'm secretly hoping that her teacher lets her skip the write-offs when she fails both quizzes on her 4's multiplication this week. Can you tell I don't have much hope? I'm not giving up on her, it's because we studied 3's into the ground last week and she still failed.

We're also waiting to hear back from the school psychologist. I read that not many schools offer free testing because they don't consider Dyslexia a major learning disability. But they haven't seen my daughter work well past the hours at night when a 9 year old should be in bed. We also heard, though, that we're lucky we're still in public school because they will test for free. So we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Princess has her first quiz on 4's today. Say a little prayer?

Teachers, parents, anyone Dyslexic out there... does it sound like we are heading down the right path? Tips? Suggestions?

I just want things to be normal again. Or maybe normal for the first time.

*Just received an email back from the school psychologist. He agrees we need to establish a support team at school with the counselor, her teacher and myself to start figuring out what's going on. I emailed her teacher to see if I needed to call the school or if this would be handled in house and got an immediate reply that she will take care of everything. In addition to that, she also wrote "She made a 100 on today's 4's quiz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And I'm now crying.*

Come & listen to my story 'bout a moose named Trimmings

This here's a little story about our friend, Trimmings the moose and his travels.

He needed a little help from his friends to get back home.

"Thanks Princess!", said Trimmings.

And he set off on his long journey home. Princess cheered "Go Trimmings go!"

Now don't be a showoff, Trimmings.

That's how you have accidents.... oops!

"Oh Trimmings, you crazy moose.", said Little Dude.

Trimmings felt like roadkill after that crash!

Don't look at me that way, Trimmings. I'm just repeating what you said!

So Trimmings dusted himself off and started on his way again.

He had to climb a mountain,

and wanted to see the beautiful view so he climbed a tree too.

He went a little high and when he got nervous he fell out!

Oh no! Hey, watch those power lines, Trimmings!

Splat!

Trimmings, you killed a bird when you fell! How gross!

Oh yuck, Trimmings. You accidentally killed it, don't pose with it, it's not a trophy.

Trimmings felt brave after his big bird kill and decided to climb another tree.

When he got back down, he suddenly realized he was very close to home!

Climb, Trimmings, climb!

You made it!

Welcome home Trimmings!

Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic

Happy Saturday!

I'm gonna be short and sweet because 1) I did jack squat today so there's not much to say and 2) I need to watch the Ravens beat the Colts right now. I hate the Colts. I may be Hoosier by birth but that doesn't mean I have to be a Colts fan!

Anyway, we slept in yet again this morning. We haven't been to the chiro since December 23rd. That's probably not good since we're still supposed to go twice a week. I don't know what the deal is lately. I had my alarm set for 7:00 this morning and didn't hear a thing until Superman woke me at 9:00 asking if we were going to the chiro. You see, they're only open from 9:00 - 9:50 on Saturdays. So that answer was no.

We did a whole lot of nothing today. Which felt great! Peanut and Little Dude did the dishes and straightened up for me while I swept the floors and dusted while Princess went on a lunch date with Superman. Princess needed that! She's having a rough time in school right now and sometimes there's nothing like a trip to McDonalds with Daddy to make you happy!

Since then, it's been nothing but football!

From January 16, 2010

How was your day?