FAT TUESDAY

Just so you know I will almost do anything for beads. NOT! (whoa flash back). I have never celebrated Mardi Gras because I have always thought of it as an "adult" party. I never understood how a day of confession led to a carnival of debauchery but I guess you got to have something to confess before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. But this year I have decided to jump on the band wagon and have a bit of my own sharpified party.

I was looking for ideas on what to do that would be kid friendly and I came across this. So feel free to donn a mask and join me in my virtual party. I have also come across a recipe that you can use to make beads for your own beaded necklace.

What ever you decide to do today have fun. Tomorrow is the beginning of Lent (if I understand correctly). I'm not catholic but It would be interesting to me to see if I could give up a vice for 40 days. I don't know what I will give up yet but I think pop should be at the top of my list. Wow that sounded a little "eat drink and be merryish".

It shouldn't Be This Hard

I have finally reached the point where I look forward to working out. I no longer detest going to the gym or pulling out my pilates DVD. Hooray for Me! To bad the fates are against me today. Fog, snow, cold, child, and a lost DVD remote have made it next to impossible. I guess I could march around my tiny tiny livingroom for 20 min, but I'm afraid I will collapse from the dizziness because it is that tiny. Boo hoo for me. Well at least I want to do it; that's some progress even if my clothes don't know it.

I won't be weighing in today because I haven't a scale at home. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll do it tomorrow.

TTFN

Because We Are A Church of Inclusion

I know I've stated it before but my boys are funny. When they listen their father and I, which can be rare, they really listen. Today I noticed that a family who hasn't been to church for a while was there. I asked D and E if hey could help their friend K find his way to Primary (Sunday school). The next thing I saw D and E were gathering everybody that looked like they were their age. "Come on guys lets go to primary. Follow me I know the way." It was so funny to see the little posse head to primary. All of them made it and with out any adult guidance (I followed from a distance). Not bad for two kids that are distracted by...Oh look something shiny.

Can I Get A WOOT?

This last week something that I have been meaning to do for a while and a goal of my sons' got completed.

I have a rather large pantry, some might be envious and I truly love it. The pantry is definitely one of the reasons why I am staying where I am for a while. Although I love my pantry, like all pantries , it needed to be cleaned out. People it took 3 days of scrubbing, purgingand organizing and it is finished. Now I need to put my kitchen back together.
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This past week my sons have achieved a goal. Last May their friends got gameboys. They too wanted gameboys. I refuse to buy my sons something for almost $100.00 to be thrown around their room and stepped on. After all they are only 6 and 4. They know I am a mom open to negotiation so we agreed they would have to earn the money. That meant they needed to find a job that they could do to earn money. They collected bottles. It took until just last week plus some Ralph money for them to achieve their goals. We went to a pawn shop in Calgary and my sister in law went to one in Lethbridge. They both have gameboys and they only spent $60.00 each. They had enough money to get two games and we picked up the last game yesterday. They stayed pretty focused. Thank goodness for the Ralph money though. That put them over the top. They were starting to get discouraged, who wouldn't May to February is a long time especially when you are 6 and 4 I have to say I'm really please with them.

Whats a WOOT anyway?

Psycology for Beginners

the Questioner Test finished!

you chose CY - your Enneagram type is SIX. "I am affectionate and skeptical" Questioners are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative. How to Get Along with Me Be direct and clear. Listen to me carefully. Don't judge me for my anxiety. Work things through with me. Reassure me that everything is OK between us. Laugh and make jokes with me. Gently push me toward new experiences. Try not to overreact to my overreacting. What I Like About Being a Six being committed and faithful to family and friends being responsible and hardworking being compassionate toward others having intellect and wit being a nonconformist confronting danger bravely being direct and assertive What's Hard About Being a Six the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations Sixes as Children Often are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent Sixes as Parents are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence worry more than most that their children will get hurt sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele The Enneagram Made Easy Discover the 9 Types of People HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages You are not completely happy with the result?! You chose CY Would you rather have chosen: AY (EIGHT) BY (FOUR) CX (TWO) CZ (ONE)

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 0% on ABC You scored higher than 53% on XYZ

Link: The Quick and Painless ENNEAGRAM Test written by felk on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Oh Please.

I think I 've done too many of these.

Your Celebrity Style Twin is Jessica Simpson

Flirty, feminine, and fun.

Who's Your Celebrity Style Twin?

You Are Trinity

"Touch me and that hand will never touch anything again."

What Superheroine Are You?

Weekly Weigh In #2

I feel like I should preface this by all the excuses I can think of, but the fact remains I didn't do well this week. Just like anyone who has tried to change themselves you have ups and downs. The fact that I haven't seen the inside of a gym since I last weighed myself (I don't have a scale at home) may have something to with my lack of progress. I have however done two sessions of my pilates so its not all bad. Here are the numbers:

Start: 158
Week 1: 156
Week 2: 157.9
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Net -0.1 lbs

Like Beauty shop momma I'm back at the beginning. I am resolved to do better this week. I too had too many cinnamon buns. My mom made them I couldn't turn them down.

Mommy Wars

Today I was watching Regis and Kelly while giving myself a good pedicaure. Trust me I needed it, my heels were like velcroe on my yoga mat. Anyway I saw aomething that upset me a bit ok maybe a lot, a lot more then it probably should. Good Morning America is going to delve into the dark world of the Mommy Wars, like we need more help judging one another. The were saying things like "Is it really true that Stay A Home Moms are wrecking it for those who want to have careers?"

Pardon Me but I thought the womens movement was about choice and giving each other that opportunity. Just be cause I have been freed from my domestic slavery doesn't mean I have to go out and work. Isn't that a slavery of another kind if you don't have the choice to stay home?

I haven't seen the article so maybe I'm just making a big deal about nothing. I just wish we could leave the moats in our neighbours eyes alone and worry about our own beams. Fueling the fire isn't going to make things better.

That being said I have smoother heels and lialic toenails now and Jenthemom won't be gossed out the next time she sees me.

Family Day

Isn't it nice that we celebrate families. I think they created this holiday for the same reason they have reading week in university. For what ever reason family day was created I for one have enjoyed this bit of a break and am looking forward to today. Instead of rushing to get ready for school we are currently sitting in our PJs and playing Nintendo with the neighbour boy, This won't last for a long time but its still fun. Later we will get dressed and go visit my sister at my parents house. After that I don't have much planned but I would like to take in some free skating at the Olympic oval. I guess we'll just play it by ear. Have a Great Family day or Presidents Day. Read ya when I get back.

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Edited- Well we never made it skating, the visit with my sister took up more time than I thought. We did go out for dinner. The boys got a free dessert. Things like that happen to them all the time. Our money pit turned out not to be as bad as we first thought, thank goodness. So we are not as far off schedual as I thought we would be and we still have to buy a new freezer but thats for another time. Hope your weekend was great.

The Money Pit

You know when your like working on paying of some debt, and like something comes up that takes a lot of money. Money you like had plans for and stuff. That like sucks ok.

It So Cold It Makes The Head Spin

Thursday and Friday are teachers convention so I have both kids home. Monday is Family day so D has an extended weekend. I had planned to go out or have friends over but its so cold. Yesterday with the windchill it was -40 C(F). Yes an interesting bit of trivia for you but -40 is the same in both units. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed because I wanted to do so much but I consider this a blessing as well. I can't imagine trying to find rides for D and trying to get him to school. That would suck. So instead, today we are having a dance party. D just made his first attempts to do some head spins. He gets a quarter of the way around before his legs come down. Cool. I better go because my solo is coming up. TTFN

I'm Gonna Dress You Up In My Love or What Was I Thinking? Oh Yah... SEX

My husband and I are not ones to make a big deal about Valentine's Day, because our anniversary is a month away. Actually tis my husband. It took me 4 years and a threat to buy my own flowers. The next day I got 2 roses from the gas station; one from D and one from him. In his defense his family doesn't make a big deal about "secondary holidays" or birthdays for that matter. Combine that with someone who counts down till the next reason to celebrate, you are bound to not have your expectations met. It takes some learning and communication and some time. I think we have now struck the right balance. Anyway... back to my story.

My first idea to mark the occasion was to send my husband down a iced over water fall while laying on a small sled (aka the luge, the ultimate in tobogganing). Truly, I thought he would like it. Unfortunately the timing was horrible so that idea fell through. It fell through the night before go figure. So what was I going to do to celebrate this day of lovers? Sex should make up for it and its cheap or so I thought.

I went to my drawer and found my sad collection of lingerie. I decided that just wouldn't do so I showered, shaved, makeuped, self tanned, did my hair and packed up my four year old son and took him to the mall to find something that would be appropriate.

I went from store to store looking at things I could add to a "shag bag" and possible "out fits". I stayed away from the adult stores because I am a bit of a prude (which makes me wonder why I am typing this). I found out it had been a while since I had shopped for lingerie and my body is just not the same as it was when we were first married and no amount of self tanner is ever going to make it better.

Last year I was bra fitted and found out I'm a 34 long which means I'm in the land of limbo. Average stores do not carry the cup size required when I bundle my load and plus store don't carry my band size. I need a specialty store and by specialty store I mean expensive. Its at least $100 dollars more for an extra 2 - 3 inches of fabric. This fabric was weave by the fairies themselves at least that is what I tell myself to justify spending $125 on one bra. That is why I thought if I go to an average store and buy extra large for something that isn't going to stay on long, I'll get it for cheap.

Strike two. I won't scare you with the details, but I will tell you there is a sales lady that gets too personal and my 4 year old son is going to need therapy because I read somewhere that cognitive memories begin at age 3. At least he thought they were swimming suits but when he realizes what was happening I'm going to be blamed for him going to jail and living life in the fast lane. Then I'm going to need therapy. All I can say is what was I thinking? I walked out of the store without a purchase and we had a candlelight dinner with the boys and early bed because my husband has to get up at 4:00am to get to work by 5:00am. I wish I had remembered that I would have focused on making a great dessert like sex in a pan at least the pan would have been happy. Despite all of this I did have a good Valentine's Day. I think I'll just not worry so much about it and put more effort into our anniversary.

Appeal Anamnesis #11

Appeal

I was having a hard time deciding what form of appeal to use. On one had I could list all of the things that appeal to me and write about one of those. I find chocolate, a clean house, intimacy with my husband, my red bike and trips to Waterton appealing. On the other hand I could write about times that I have had to appeal to higher authority. The latter has not occurred very often because I was a "good girl". I do however remember a time I made a supplication to a superior.

I was 19 and moving out on my own. I wanted to break free, to cut the apron strings, so to speak. In my zeal I forgot to plan. I knew everything would work out. IÂ’m an adult. I can make it on my own (with my roommate). One thing that is required when one moves out is money. I did not have a job, and no damage deposit. Neither did my roommate. Looking back now I wonder how the property manager approved us but he did.

To get enough money for the damage deposit I had to sell my clothes to my parents. I was a bit of a "clothes horse" and I think they thought that I would back down if I had to sell my clothes. I was determined and the transaction was complete. I am sure my mother cried that night. I was her oldest and I was leaving.

I began my job search I had two weeks to find a job before rent was due. I applied for a telemarketing job and was denied. I was told that if I called in a week there might be something for me. The job paid ten dollars an hour, to me that felt like millions. I continued my job search but I really wanted to be paid lots of money. I said a prayer and asked my maker to please help me get this job. I phoned and got an answering machine. I hung up and got some paper and prepared the massage that I would leave. I figured it was ok because telemarketers have scripts they have to follow.

I got the job. I went two days and only made one sale. I was not doing well by their standards. I was not having fun either; in fact I hated that job. I knew I wasn't going to quit but I needed too. I got up and went to the bathroom and made a second appeal to my Heavenly Father. I told him that he was right and that I did not belong in this job. I also said I was not going to quit because I had begged for this job. To put it plainly I asked God to fire me.

I returned to my desk and was about to sit down when I was summand to the bosses "office" and told I wasn't what they were looking for. What a sweet release.
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For some reason with these topics come songs in my head. With this one came "You CanÂ’t Always Get What You Want" and with Remedy came "Bad Medicine".

Weigh in week #1

156.0 lbs.

Goal: lose 10 lbs
Achievement: 2 lbs
_____________________
Yet to go: 8 lbs

This Just In...

According to a recent pole, women don't Want chocolate or flowers for valentines day. 52% want sex. This may be good news for those men who have a tight budget, and I stress the may, because that means there is 48% who want something else. What is it you want for valentines day?

Just wondering if there is a pole out there saying what men want for valentines day. I don't think a cluster diamond heart pendant will do it for my man but unfortunately that's all the commercials are advertising.

Chocohalics Anonymous

Last night was our chocolate dipping class for enrichment. I gotta say it's alot more messy than I had imagined. Thank goodnes people wash their hands. I think the two best parts of the evening was when the little grey haired ladies were talking about going into a liquior store in mexico to get their flavorings. The second best part was watching our librarian, the Bishops mum, lick her hands clean.

Eany Mememy

I thought I had escaped this one but apparently I needed to vaccinated against this idea virus. I'm doing this under duress so don't think I'm just going to answer any old meme that comes along.

Four Jobs I Have Had:

Instead of telling you 4 jobs that I have had I think I will tell 4 jobs that I applied for and in some way or another it didn't work out.

1. McDonalds - as some of you know I applied to this job on 3 different occasions. Once when I was 14, again when I was 16 and finally when I was 18. On all occasions I was never hired. Some have tried to comfort me by telling me I was over qualified. Thank you for your concern but I think I'm fine now. In case of relapse I think I should start a support group. If there is anyone out there who has been rejected by McDonalds, please let me know. I may need to call you some time. "sniff"

2. Chucky Cheese- A place where a kid can be a kid or so the slogan goes. I was hired by them and got my uniform, but got a "better offer" from someone else so I quit before my first shift.

3. Ginger Beef Peking House- I was hired as a hostess. I worked one shift and thought I did pretty well. Unfortunately I didn't speak or write Chinese. The cooks all wanted their phone orders written in Chinese. So I was let go. At least that is the story I was given. I just have one question do I look like I can speak Chinese? If that was a criteria don't you think that you would have put that in the ad?

4. Suzy Shier- Yes I was one of those girls. Hey What's Suzy Wearing? Anyway this is where I learned that if management valued me then I worked really hard. If management didn't treat me well I was less motivated. This is the job that I performed my best and my worst. At the top of my game I would be on the national list for sales and at my worst I was let go over the phone.

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:

1. The Princess Bride
2. Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth)
3. Nothing to Lose
4. Anything Star Wars (mostly because I have to watch it over and over again)

Four Places I Have Lived:

1. Provo Utah- conceived and Born there

2. Edmonton Alberta- Where I did most of my growing up. Despite what others think I liked living there even though now my neighbourhood is the hood.

3. Calgary Alberta- Where I have spent most of my married life

4. Lethbridge Alberta- Where my second child was conceived and born.

Four TV shows I Love:

1 How I Met Your Mother
2. Yes Dear
3. Tool Time (sad when that one left thank goodness for syndication)
4. As for Dramas It’s a tie between Medium and House

Four TV Shows I Detest:

1. The Family Guy-The pop culture jokes are funny but not enough to make me watch the raunchy show.

2. Fear Factor- Should be called gross factor

3. Commander and Chief- I don't care if they’re trying to groom the American public for Hilary to become President. I'm just plain “politicized” out by celebrities.

4. The O.C or any other "teen drama".

Four Books I Would Recommend:

1. Harry Potter- any in the series but I would start in at the beginning; it just makes sense.
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
3. The Lord of the Rings- make sure you got some time to read that series it may take a while.
4. Lloyd Alexander Books- I can't seem to think of a name right now.

As you can tell I am an "immature" reader. That is ok because I still get the story and fewer adults content.

Four Places I Have Vacationed:

1. Waterton National Peace Park- My Family used to go there every year. Not so much now. It's not well known for the shopping, but if you like mountains and hikes with less commerciality than Banff, then this is the place for you.

2. Kimberly Idaho- My mother grew up there and we used to go visit once every five years. Unfortunately I don't know my mother’s family that well.

3. Preston Idaho- There seems to be a theme here, but my husband's father grew up in Preston so we have reunions there. Surprisingly enough my mom and my father- in- law grew up 2 hours away from one another.

4. Interstate 15, highway 89 to Arizona. Took pics on route 66 and stayed in Mesa. Our “honey moon” was a lot of driving and storms in the canyons.

Just so you know I have never been on a plane. I would really like to go somewhere that you can’t get to by car.

Four of My Favorite Dishes:

1. Steak Dinner at the Keg

2. Dinner at Basils in Marda Loop- I can't remember what I had but I know it was good food, crowded, but good food. Make a reservation.

3. Spinage and Feta Stuffed Chicken with steamed asparagus and wild rice
4. Subway- The best place to get sub sandwiches. One of the only things I could keep down when I was pregnant.

Four Sites I Visit Daily

1. www.alysonslife.blogspot.com -because the blogs I read are linked to my site.
2. Weather
3. Yahoo.ca – my email
4. Hotmail.com –my enrichment email


Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:

1. In Hawaii- you can't get there by car
2. Massage- I have never had one professionally but I think I would like one.
3. My Very Own House- I am tired of renting in a place that is too small for me.
4. Shopping- I think I have an addiction. At least I'm not always spending money.

Four Bloggers I'm Tagging

I don't think I'm going to pass this on because it took too much time for me to answer. Sorry the chain stops with me.

Chocolate

I made this new song up hope you like it.

"Chocolate, chocolate chocolate, all I want is chocolate chocolate chocolate. "

Keep repeating it over and over to any tune you like. I don't know if there is something wrong with me but I want chocolate and its not even hormonaly based.

"Chocolate, chocolate chocolate, all I want is chocolate chocolate chocolate."
"Chocolate, chocolate chocolate, all I want is chocolate chocolate chocolate."

I'm The Apprentice

I don't worship the ground she walks on. I'm just using her and that's a good thing

I Didn't See My Shadow, But The Sun Wasn't Up Either

Happy Groundhog day everyone. Balzac Billy, the closest thing we have to a groundhog, has just stuck his head out and he didn't see his shadow. According to legend that means less than 6 weeks of winter. Excuse me if I take the position of a skeptic but this is Canada. I'm going to curl up in a cozy blanket and watch my movie.