I'll be posting these from time to time. They are basically things that are obviously known rules, but I have come to re-learn and confirm them through recent experience. Here is the inaugural one.
"You cannot lose weight whilst eating like crap. Even if you are working out."
FYI.
The Holiday Parade went something like this. Happy, happy, lots of kids running around, it's really fun to watch them, having a great time, really happy, fed, napped and clean dipey, cute outfit. Life is good, Holiday Parade a success.
Holiday Parade takes turn for the worse when dozens of really loud firetrucks, local and classic, one after the other scream by with their sirens and horns on at loudest possible decible, and at the slowest parade-speed possible, causing very distressed baby.
Parade really gets going with clown car, men on tiny motorcycles, marching bands, lots of beads and candy. Baby waves to all the people, gets some cool beads. Overwhelmed baby decides he's had enough, and wants nap to commence immediately.
Movie: The Holiday
Christie Rating: 3 and 1/2 Snowman-shaped Peeps
I forget sometimes how much I love going to the movies when I haven't been in a long time, despite the overpriced popcorn and diet coke ($10) and I always think I have to go more often. This time, I really do mean it. There are a few movies I want to see right now, and last night with pregnant friend in tow, we set out for the late late movie (10pm for me is late, I felt like a bad girl leaving the house at 9:30!). We saw the Holiday.
What caught me on this one? The great fail-safe cast: Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, and my favorite, Jack Black, whose random humor and ability to act stupid in public places cracks me up and really it makes me feel like he could be one of my friends. I even love his band "Tenacious D". The very long beginning of the movie goes through a barrage of tearful break-ups in setting up for Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet's characters to want to up and flee the country from their former loves and former selves, for a stress-free holiday. The pair meet up on a house-swap website, decide to swap houses for two-weeks and flee the very next day.
The rest is somewhat predictable, their adventures in strange places, yada yada yada, meeting strange new people for the next two weeks, and eventually finding themselves, and even finding love. Which is a really cute premise anyway, despite its predictability and I enjoyed the ride for the most part, except for, yes, the what I like to call "frolicking in the fields" scene.. which is a nearly nauseating, very long scene where Jude Law is chasing Cameron Diaz around an English tea garden, laughing and playing, all set to music. It is the epitome of corny and scenes like these always make me feel embarrassed, and I watch them through my fingers. On the other hand, maybe it was just PMS, but I actually did find myself tearing up twice in the movie: once when you found out why Jude Law was a "single" guy, and once when Cameron Diaz had her big character realization near the end of the film.
100 THINGS CHRISTIE
We're headed off to a holiday parade and I have to say, as a couple without kids, I would have liked to go to the holiday parade, but we would have woken up early and decided, eh, maybe next year. But with our little guy, we go to everything holiday, tree-lighting, parade, pictures, visit to santa, and it's so much fun because he gets such a kick out of everything even though he really has absolutely no idea what's going on or why his mom has dressed him in a stripey Christmas outfit with a matching stripey Santa hat. But that's what we're doing today, so I'll put up some pictures later on, after my extra-special 100th post, whoopie!!!
I cannot stifle my feelings on this anymore. And believe me, I'm as surprised as you that I'm this passionate about this. So much so, that I feel I cannot NOT blog about this. I will also preface this with, I apologize in advance if you're a Fergie fan, and I give you full license to stop reading this lest you put a hit out on me. Right now, my husband and I are doing what we very often do on Saturday morning. Poops is playing in his play dome banging his blocks together, we've got our coffees, we're unshowered and still in pajamas. We're talking back and forth about what to eat for breakfast but no one is getting up to do anything about it, and VH1 is on with its top 40 videos of '06. VH1 usually goes on after the Today show and the local news.
Now, I will tell you that I am a huge fan of the Black-Eyed Peas. "Pump It" is my first song on my workout list on my IPod. I also listened to it during labor. I go into an all-out flail when I hear this song and it embarrasses my husband. I also like Fergie in the Black Eyed Peas. I like her voice. BUT I CANNOT STAND FERGIE ALONE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT A LONDON BRIDGE IS AND I EQUALLY CAN'T STAND FERGALICIOUS. I don't know why I feel this passionate about this. Maybe it's because I am offended that this is crap music and crap music can become popular. Or not really music, just crap. Obviously, people like these songs because they are both in the Top 40. But everytime I see the videos, I stop what I'm doing, and stare at the TV in disbelief, then become nauseous. Yes, I should put my energy toward something worthwhile, and I do, usually. But I can't help myself. I can't stand the branch-out Fergie, and I cannot sit by idly anymore. There I've said it.
I just wrote on someone else's blog that some of my best posts happen when I start with a blank page and have absolutely nothing to write about. Today is not one of those days. It doesn't help that my mind is equally as blank as the page. I can write about how excited I am for VH1's Best Year Ever that's on tonight. Or how Heroes got nominated for a Golden Globe (sweet!). Anyone who hasn't seen that show should find the re-runs on the Sci-Fi channel and watch them and don't be afraid of "Sci-Fi" channel like I would if I heard someone say 'watch the re-runs on Sci-Fi' because when I think of Sci-Fi, I usually think of over-the-top trekkies. This show is not really Sci-Fi. I say this because when I told my friend she should watch the re-runs on Sci-Fi, she got all weird when I mentioned Sci-Fi channel, and then I realized I might have too if I were her.
Isn't it great when after a million years, people just happen to waltz back into your life again? I heard my name while I was in the meat section of the grocery store the other day and turned around and there was a friend of mine from college that I hadn't seen it, gosh it has to be 11 years. That makes me feel old. She happens to live in the same apartment complex as my Mother-In-Law, about 3 blocks from my house! And I was excited comboed with a little scared when I met up with her again because she was a great and very fun friend, but boy did we get into a lot of trouble back then, so it was like seeing all my skeletons at the same time, staring at me in the meat section of Publix! And I'm so much less reckless now (I'm someone's mom!) and it makes me remember all the crazy stuff we used to do. I know you're wondering what these things, but since blog posts could be admissable in court, I'll refrain from the details. I'm kidding, nothing illegal. It was wonderful that I was also unshowered after the gym, with mom hair and no makeup and I am a little plumper and certainly not wearing those little skimpy clothes I would have in my early 20's. But I'm excited about having run into her again because since moving back to Florida and having a baby, I haven't been super-sociable and a lot of my old friends have moved away, so I'm back at square one building friendships. We'll see what happens. Happy Friday! Off to the gym hoping to pull a nice sweaty workout out of a hat.
I'm headed for my 100th post would you believe! That seems fast, although I am pretty sure it's indicative of the amount of time I spend blogging as opposed to doing house-wiferly duties like laundry, floors, and watching soaps, I mean cooking. I don't watch soaps. I end up watching Steve Harvey on TBS. So I'm doing something special for my 100th post, as opposed to this post which I'm turning into a to-do list. Finish Christmas cards, watch "fat people", I mean "The Biggest Loser" which is turning out to be one of my favorite shows. I'm completely inspired! Each week they lose about 5-7 pounds, very often much more, and every time I groan with jealousy Evan has to remind me that they are at a camp with 24-hour a day surveillance, trainers and all their meals are prepared and they have meal plans, as opposed to the real world where we have cake. I like each of the final four, except Utah for some reason. Oh and I have to fold laundry.
Was surprisingly great. Closer to end of holiday shopping. Of course there was coffee and my list. But if you can possibly take a day off and get all your shopping done in one foul swoop during a weekday at 1 o'clock, the mall is the place to be. It was leaving the mall that turned out to be the interesting part. The swirly-eyed shopper zig-zagging through the parking lot wandering aimlessly with a fist-full of packages trying desperately to locate the car? Me. Oh, and on the way home? Got stuck behind a truck carrying Port-a-potties. Yes, this is what happens to me in life. An entire highway full of cars and I am stuck behind the stinky truck. And I don't just mean stinky. I mean, likely the nastiest, most overwhelming smell I have ever had the "privilege" of being a part of. Nothing could stop it from seeping into the car. And it went just slow or fast enough for me to not be able to pass it until we got just a mile away from the house, and I could stop the car in the driveway and breathe again. I take clean air for granted.
It's on. Until last Friday or so, the malls were still pretty much manageable during the week and even on the weekend. But now, you can see, it's on. The rush has begun and mall parking takes you either schlepping across the street or car-stalking wayward shoppers leaving the malls with swirlies in their eyes and wandering aimlessly in search of their cars, stumbling with fistfulls of packages. And you think you're close to getting a spot, when the shopper you're stalking all of a sudden zigzags through the cars and takes a right and heads down a completely different aisle where there is already another car ready to stalk for a spot. I see it all the time. But this year is different for me. I won't stalk. I will be perfectly content at whatever parking spot presents itself. And I am armed with a list, so I will not be venturing toward this crazy cluster of mad shoppers empty handed. And as of this writing, I am quite caffeinated. There are still 13 days, and I am about halfway done, and this is wonderful progress in my world. So I will breathe in deeply the holiday spirit and exhale sighs of relaxing wonderment and the gentle scent of a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks.
I am struggling to recover some of my motivation from the weekend. Our weekend actually started last Thursday and it was packed to the brim with birthdays and holidays. Husband had two work parties, one of them was Thursday night at a giant restaurant-slash-video arcade. It was catered and open bar and free games all night and I learned that I am not good at Golden Tee or that dancing game where you step on all the arrows. Husband, who is excellent at Golden Tee, is also not good on the dance game and we looked like 30-something idiots trying to reclaim our youth. And can I just say, the next time you walk by an arcade, check out the dancing game and see who's doing it. It's teenage... boys! NOT girls. I am miffed by this.
Friday was a delicious feast of fondue for my very pregnant friend's birthday. The dinner lasted about 4 hours. Salad, cheese, meat, and of course chocolate. But having 13 people at a fondue dinner isn't without its challenges. There are only 3 pots in the middle of the table for everyone to eat out of, so not only do you have to get 13 people to agree on 3 different cheeses and chocolates, you also get to become very intimate with them in the sharing of food, sauces and probably also germs, but hey, even if you don't know everyone at the table, you sure do after fondue. I would recommend this place for a first meeting of the in-laws, because there is no way that you won't get to know them, and get to know them well after a nice fondue dinner.
Saturday, the big office Christmas party. We had a blast. The food was delicious and it was open bar all night and lots of dancing. My favorite part was the people watching. Husband works for a big engineering firm, but you wouldn't believe the mix of people at the party. From your normal, conservative, engineer-types, to she-mullets, man-mullets, and caveman beards. My biggest laugh came when I was admiring the back of a 20-something woman's cute and very short dress, but realized after she turned around that she wasn't 20-something at all, she was very likely 60-something. She tricked me with the body, the dress and the hair!! It was very entertaining to say the least. Our long night of dancing ended with a trip to the McDonald's drive-thru.
Sunday, yum. A steak brinner or linner, or dunch, whatever you want to call having a nice big fat prime rib at 1 in the afternoon. It was mumsy's birthday, it is actually today, but we celebrated it yesterday with a feast of wine and steak at her favorite restaurant where we pondered the origin of the name of horseradish, and there were theories that maybe it once covered up the taste of horse in other countries. But that's not it. In fact, it's nothing spectacular at all, sadly. Horseradish.Org, yes it is a real website, has the answers, and just in case you were wondering yourself, see below*. Anyway, steak dinner=wonderful. I needed a nap afterward.
Oh, and guess what? My dad, mom, and husband were all born in December. Last monday was husband's birthday. Mom's today. Next week the Pops, and then we have Christmas. Which means for us, that December is one, big, fat, decoupage full of fun! It was more stressful when I was working, but this year, as long as I'm out and about with Poops and the Christmas carols blaring on the car radio, I can keep it all in a lovely cheery holiday perspective.
Well today I marched off to the gym first thing in the morning to try and rectify my terrible food behavior from our four-day ridicu-feast. But I am still just totally exhausted and I have to find it in me right now to: shower, go food shopping, do a little Christmas shopping, pick up Poops' Christmas pictures, make dinner, then do Christmas cards tonight. Where will I get the energy. I will start by putting on a nice big fat pot of coffee. Happy Monday!
*From Horseradish.org:
Q. How did horseradish get its name?
A. Horseradish is believed to have originated in Central Europe, the area also linked to the most widely held theory of how horseradish was named. In German, it’s called "meerrettich" (sea radish) because it grows by the sea. Many believe the English mispronounced the German word "meer" and began calling it "mareradish." Eventually it became known as horseradish. The word "horse" (as applied in "horseradish") is believed to denote large size and coarseness. "Radish" comes from the Latin radix meaning root.
This is "Fred". Husband's man-chair. Before we got married, Fred was my husband's only piece of furniture for a really long time. We named it Fred in our single days and referred it to as Husband's roommate. He even slept in it for months before he had a bed. And when we first moved in together, I thought Fred would have a short life in our household, or I guess I hoped he would, because I hate to say it, but Fred's not really what I would call a "looker". But man, is he comfortable and he has since grown on me. So Fred stays. Yes, I'm talking about Fred as if he is a person, because he has become a staple, and a symbol of all that is comfortable in our house. I have a nice rocker in the nursery, but Fred actually became my nursing chair for a while, which was convenient not so much for his comfort (even though that's a big plus), but he's so easy to clean, too, in the midst of various wet accidents. He coddled me through sleepless nights, he was there when I would schlep to the living room with Poops and watch half a movie during the 1 am feeding, and there again at 3 am, where I would watch the rest of it at the next feeding. And all the hours in between. Since I've stopped nursing, it's become our "bottle-feeding" chair. Now, Poops knows that's where the business of eating gets done and as soon as we sit down in it he looks at you and at the side table and back at you, as if to say, "Where the heck's my bottle!" Sometimes between feedings, there's still a bottle left on the side table next to Fred, and if you sit down with Poops, he gets angry that there's a bottle sitting there, and no one is giving it to him. Even if it's empty. So the bottle retires to what we call the "bottle graveyard". On the floor right next to Fred, until we remember to pick it up and take it into the kitchen. It's out of Poops' line of vision, and he forgets about it within seconds. Unfortunately, so do we. And we wind up with this:
The Bottle Graveyard
Been miserable with the flubugcrud or whatever the heck it is, and this year it's a real bugger. And it's gotten to everyone I know! It's almost gone, but not completely and it's almost been 2 weeks, so here's a little song for you. Because I have nothing better to do than sing songs about the flu. (To the tune of 12 days of Christmas).
Thirteen Things About Me As a Kid (I guess you can call it the Mis-Adventures of Poops' Mom)I got tagged with this Christmas Meme so I'll go ahead and post it here. Merry Christmas!!
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate. I was never much of an Egg Nog fan and I'm not sure why.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, for sure.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Last year was the first and only year I had a hankering for all white, but this year I had to add red. Otherwise, I've had multi forever.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? I will be this year.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually last minute. This year, we're up already! It's a Christmas miracle!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? The turkey and ham combo-platter with all the fixins.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Wearing my red pajamas with the feet. I love pajamas with feet!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I snuck a peek Christmas eve and saw my parents putting together my Barbie Dream House. When I opened it Christmas morning, it said "Love, Santa" and the jig was up.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We have the past couple Christmases because we're busting to give our gifts and we can't contain ourselves. Opening one of them turns into all of them!
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I do the lights, Husband does the ornaments and the star. Usually we watch It's a Wonderful Life while we put the tree up.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I Love it I Love it I Love it! (Leg kicking wildly in the air).
12. Can you ice skate? Not really. It's a little embarrassing to watch me do it.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My Barbie Dream House!
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Belting out Christmas carols and spending time with my family and trying to enjoy every single second of that Christmas "something" that's in the air as soon as Thanksgiving is over.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? The Christmas cookies I make with my mom and sister every year. Butter cookies with sprinkles. Yum! I can taste them already.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Baking cookies with my family. But I'm excited about all the new traditions we'll be making now that we have Poops to share the holidays with and that's going to be a blast!
17. What tops your tree? A blinky star.
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving Christmas gifts? Giving gifts. I love finding the perfect gift and I'm busting until Christmas to give it. I don't need anything for myself.
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey and Please Come Home for Christmas by the Eagles.
20. Candy Canes? For decoration usually. But I'll take the chocolate mint kind to eat!
21. Fave Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story. And yes, I catch at least a part of every single run of it when TNT does 24 hours of Christmas Story every year. Even when I was working.
Merry Christmas!!!!
OK now we're getting somewhere. I've gotten an entire mall crossed off my list as having nothing for anyone worth buying. This sounds pessimistic I realize, but really, it's progress!!! This is the earliest I've ever begun Christmas shopping. I have been known to still be shopping at 10 pm on Christmas Eve, only to go home and wrap presents until 3 in the morning, and of course, unwrap them all at 7am. I refuse to do that this year. I wish I could list off what I've gotten people because I am totally BUSTING! This is probably why I don't like to shop until last minute, come to think of it. Because I'm terrible at keeping secrets and I want to give everyone their presents!! It's killing me!!!! Anyway, I'll be heading to another mall this week in search of the perfect gifts. But I've been finding a great deal of success online this year, and have gotten two great gift ideas from FindGift.Com that I've ordered presents off of and I highly recommend it if you're looking for something. They really have some great ideas for unique gifts and the stuff I've found is really inexpensive! Good luck shopping. Anyone got any ideas for children's gifts? I got a zillion kids to buy for.
