So We Got Our Snow Day

Two years in a row we get our first snow day of the season in March.  To be fair, if school had been in session in October we'd have had at least one snow day then but it was Fall Break and the kids were already out.  But seriously, blizzards in October and March?!  Colorado is weird with its weather blending Rocky Mountains.

Today is going to be fun.  Miriam and I made biscuits from scratch for breakfast.  We also scrambled some eggs and added cheese and turkey bacon to make our own breakfast sandwiches.  Yum!  Lunch will be leftover pasta and veggie bake from last night.  And for dinner tonight -- it's Taco Extravaganza!  I'm going to make more salsa, simmer chicken and good stuff in the crock pot and top everything with tomato, avocado, lettuce and cheese.

The Number is screaming at me right now but I'm telling it to chill out.  I had one biscuit (153 calories, because I was curious) with one slice of bacon and tiny servings of cheese and eggs.  And it filled me up so much that I won't need any snacks this morning.  Plus I might have a salad at lunch instead of the pasta stuff.  Tacos will be okay -- they're chicken, the tortillas are multi-grain, there is no sour cream and I'm not venturing out to get any, I'll have a reasonable amount of cheese and some black beans.  It'll be great.  So, chill out Number voices.  I've got it under control here.

The kids have decided to spend all day in their pajamas, which is fine by me.  The boys are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Miriam is going through her school memory box.  She keeps bringing me cute pictures and stuff she did in pre-school and kindergarten.  She's amazed by some of the things she's done.  I heard talk of some sort of treasure hunt game that the kids invented last night.  I think they're going to continue that today.  I'm not sure what it entails but they love it.  Later we'll put on snow pants and go outside to dig the car out and throw snow at each other.  If you're lucky I'll get some snowy photos.  I'm going to get ahead on laundry, pack my bag for this weekend and maybe paint my nails.  OPI is calling to me.

I heart snow days.

Overheard

Do not go in there!  Someone just cut massive amounts of cheese!

Random Rambling

1. I cut my finger on a piece of chicken. Yes, I said chicken, not chicken bone.
2. It's snowing.  Hard. I really want a snow day.  Hard.
3. Paul and I are going to the Spring Wine Festival in Palisade this weekend.  We're staying at the cutest little bed and breakfast I've ever seen.  I'm excited.  I just hope we don't have to make small talk with the owners.
4. I'm on my second full week of no calorie counting. Last week I was lazy and ate mostly what I wanted.  I gained 3 lbs back. This week I'm being stricter and hoping to see a loss on Monday.  If there's still not a loss I'll go back to the counting.
5. I took the kids to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  It's way cute.
6. Häagen-Dazs 5 ingredient coffee ice cream might be the best thing I have ever tasted.
7. Google 'shark with people teeth.' Just do it.  I promise you won't regret it.
8. I saw a bumper sticker today that said, "Die hard fan of having a roof over my head."  I giggled for several blocks. 
9. I've discovered a phenomenal recipe for salsa. It's so good and so easy, you'll cry.
10. I have decided I like cilantro in small doses.
11. When I re-formatted my blog I lost the instant edit link in the layout and I'm very frustrated that I can't find it.

Google Voice Message 4

Hello to see of. Later is. Hey Leanne, Noon, and, but I'm writing. Hey. Jessie here. Lou Hey Bro, bye hello. I don't know, Hello Hi saying that he's you can, alright, it's, Hi, Hello yeah, Hi Yeah who. Hello something. Okay bye. Hey. Okay bye. Say hello i yeah 4, Hello, Yes, hello it. Yeah, but hey, believe it. We are going on. Hello bye bye electricity by do it. Yeah x Hey C, but yeah.

This was another pocket dial, from the ex-husband this time. He was in church. Singing. In Spanish. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bye. Yeah.

Google Voice Message 3

Okay Hello Larry, If he wants me. He doesn't know that you have a Yahoo.

You know what this message really was? Someone butt dialing and not knowing it. They didn't say a single word. It was just a bunch of static and fabric moving against the phone. Yeah, not kidding in the least. I really could not make this up if I tried.

PSA 3

If your cuticles require the application of super glue before going to bed, be sure the glue is dry before removing your contact lenses.  If the glue is still wet you may get a blob of it on the edge of your contact lens requiring you to open your last spare lens the following morning.

New Apartment

This is our living room upon entering the front door. That fireplace? So weird. I assumed we'd have a gas fireplace because that is mostly what people have around here, especially in apartments. But no. It's electric. Weird, huh? You flip a little switch and it lights up and blows out heat but there are no actual flames.

Another view of the living room. I'm desperate for summer so I can get some plants (even if they're fake! Ssshhh!) and put up my little patio lights and sit outside with the warm air and some wine and some music ... aahhhh. I love summer in Colorado.

The front door.  Not much to say about that.  Behind that built-in bookshelf is the kitchen, for a reference point.

This is the view from the front door and built-in bookshelf.  Miriam loves her Wizard 101 account.  I'm not entirely sure how that works.  She has fire wizards and earth wizards and she banishes evil spirits or something.  I think.

The dining area as seen from the computer desk.  My tablecloth is wrinkly.  Don't look directly at it, please.

The kitchen.  Yes, that is a beach towel rolled up and stuck at the bottom of the laundry door.  That little closet has an outside wall and no heating vent.  It's flipping cold in there and the towel makes a huge difference in the temperature of the kitchen floor in the mornings.  Please excuse the clutter all over the fridge.  It holds our life, basically.

This is our mondo boring hallway.  It's between the fireplace and the computer desk.  I need to figure out what I can put here to make it less boring and still uncluttered.  I'm still thinking about that.  Suggestions are welcome.  To the right is the world's tiniest closet.  It holds approximately 2 1/2 coats and maybe a pair of gloves. Past that is the door to Miriam's room and then the door to the boys' room, which you cannot see from this vantage point.  The door you can see is the kids' bathroom and my bedroom is to the left.

My girl's room.  She loves it, in case you were wondering.  Any where the boys aren't is a good place, in her opinion.

Her stuff.  That wall needs something.  Their dad is sending a disc of photos from his last visit up here.  I plan to print several and make a collage for her to hang on this wall, above the shelves.  That will take a bit.  I forgot to take a picture of the wall to the right.  It's just her closet.

Boy room.  I'm not sure I like their beds turned this way.  There are about 3 feet on the other side of the beds.  It does make changing sheets on bunkbeds much, much easier but it chops up their floor space.  So far, they like it because they can hide from each other on either side of the bed and shoot Nerf guns.  The jury is still out on that one.

A wall with more toys than they really need.

Another wall with lots of toys.  That collage is from a weekend trip with their dad about 4 years ago.  The Chinese lanterns are in kind of an odd place.  Still not sure about those, either.

Kids' bathroom.  The framed painting above the toilet was created by Samuel in art class.  It has red fish stenciled on it, some green seaweed and gold pebbles.  It matches their bathroom perfectly and he's so proud to have it there.

My room.  I'm most displeased with my room.  Next to the hallway, it's the most boring part of our place.  And I kind of think that makes it worse because hallways kind of get a pass when it comes to boringness.  I almost didn't post pictures of it because it's so boring.  But I figured some reference would be good because if anybody has ideas, I'd love to hear them.  Also, when I spruce it up, I'll post After shots.  By the way, those are boy legs.  They are watching Star Wars.  And while we're talking about it -- television in my room?  Not so sure about that.  There are pros and cons.  I have yet to decide which carries more weight.

The Most Boring Wall ever.  Don't you feel special to be experiencing this?  I have matching lampshades but I haven't expended the energy to change out the brown one to another red one.  I'm in more of a blue phase these days.  I really love my bedding.  It's brown and accented with kind of a dusky blue so I want to move in that direction.

My bathroom.  I really love my bathroom.  The closet is to the left and it's pretty awesome.  I have tons of space in there.

So there you have it.  Our new place.  I like it so much better than the old place for a lot of reasons.  Its only drawback is being on the third floor and even that really isn't that much of a drawback.

I Forgot All About These

Back in the summer when I visited the kids in Albuquerque we walked from our hotel to the zoo. We passed a park that had been renovated by the people in the neighborhood. There were a couple of huge concrete pillars tiled with wishes and memories written by the people who live in the neighborhood.  They made me smile so I took some photos. And then I forgot about them until tonight when I came across them while browsing other photos.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire ... and all that Jazz

T tagged me (again) and I was lazy and forgetful and didn't do anything about it.  I just remembered this afternoon that I was supposed to do this when I saw the entry that someone else made when T tagged her.  Ha!  How's that for the opposite of lying?  It's the absolute truth.  No kidding.  Whatever.

So here's the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you.
 Thanks evah so much, m'lady!
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
Done!
3. Link to the person who nominated you
Um. Can't.  T is like that.  Deal with it, folks!
4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one truth.
Easy, right?  Uh, nope.  I'm kinda skeered to do this, actually.
5. Nominate seven "Creative Writers" who might also have fun telling outrageous lies.
Don't know that many.  In fact, considering that I have, like, 2 blogging friends and both of them have already done this, I probably won't tag anyone.  Go ahead and make me.  See if I care.
6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
See el numero cinco.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you tagged them.
Otra vez, mira al numero cinco.

Alrighty then, now that the technical info is done with, let's move on to the lying part. I'm so bad at this. First of all, I hate lying; I'm not good at it. Second of all, I'm not that creative. So don't laugh hysterically when I say something lame like, "I have seriously disgusting toe jam." Promise? Pinky promise? Kthxbai. (Btw, that toe jam thing -- totally a lie! I swear.)

Just kidding. I'm not going any where -- I still have to lie to you guys 6 times. Blerg. Here we go, for reals this time.

1. I scrub the bathtubs in our house every time someone showers.
2. I spent 11 months in juvenile detention when I was 15.
3. I wish I'd never left Texas.
4. I think online dating is stupid.
5. I lurves me some haggis.
6. I want to have another baby, eventually.
7. I have moved 25 times.  So far.

There you have it.  Six untruths and one truth.  It's up to you to decide which is which.  Well, not really.  Your choices one way or the other don't change the truth. Or something like that.  I'm sleepy and going to bed.  See ya!

The Number, Part 7

Oof.  I'm unmotivated and here's why:

1. I'm not going to win the Biggest Loser Challenge amongst my online friends.  There's a chick there, P, who is incredibly disciplined.  Plus, she is just better at this than I am.
2. I'm not so sure I want to run the 10K in May.  There's a registration fee involved and I'm kinda thinking that maybe it's not worth it.  I mean, why should I pay someone else to let me run 10K?  Maybe I'll do some shorter (free) 3Ks and 5Ks
3. I'm tired of counting calories.  I stopped counting last weekend because I figured I'd learned how to eat well enough that I could.  But then I gained over the weekend.  :sigh:  I still want to lose at least as much weight as I've already lost so I need to keep up the counting.  But I'm tired.
4. I want french fries.

But I have to keep going.  I deserve this.  I deserve to feel good about myself, to be fit, to be confident, to wear the clothes I love.  And I know I can do this.  It's never been a matter of can. It's a matter of discipline.  And right now I'm feeling rather undisciplined.  I need to snap out of the funk.

Dinner Conversation

Tonight we talked about segregation.  Last night we talked about The Birds and The Bees.  I don't know how this stuff happens -- it just does.  And since I'm not one to pass up Teachable Moments and Life Lessons (I hate those phrases but what else do you call them?) I go with it.  Anyway, tonight it was segregation and Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. and unfairness and anger and sadness.

Samuel was especially moved -- I don't know what's with him today, he's very in tune with his sympathetic side this evening.  He realized during the course of this conversation that life 40 years ago was extremely different from today.  His eyes welled up with tears and he said, "If my best friend Evan and I lived back then we couldn't be friends and play together!  He has brown skin!  That would make me so sad!"

I was so touched.  The innocence and the naivete ... Little do my children know that 40 years ago they very likely wouldn't have been born.  If they had they'd be living a very different life than the one they have.  We all would.  I am so grateful for progress and fairness and for those that fought so hard for all that we have today.  And I am so happy that my children are learning fairness and equality now; it's instinctual.

el-oh-el (& How Sweet is My Boy?)

Be sure to check out bored, unhelpful dog in the background around 0:20.  And please, I beg you, laugh so hard you snort; it would make me feel better about myself.



When we finished this, Samuel wasn't hysterical like Solomon, Miriam and myself.  I asked him what was wrong and he said, "If that was my puppy that couldn't turn over again, I'd help him."  And then about 5 minutes later after the other 3 of us watched it twice more and laughed ourselves silly, Samuel said, "If that was my poor puppy, I wouldn't make a video of him like that."  How sweet and sensitive is that?

Because Miriam Can't Be Left Out

Me: Miriam, what would you like to talk about today?
Miriam:  Presleigh.
Me: Who is Presleigh?
Miriam: My best friend.  She's my bestest bestest bestest friend in the whole world.
Me:  Wow, that's a lot of 'bestests.'  Why is she your best friend?
Miriam: Because we were friends since second grade and um, she's nice to me.
Me: What kind of things do you have in common?
Miriam: We're both girls and we both like to read and that's it.
Me: That's it?  That's all you have to say about your bestest bestest bestest friend in  the whole world?
Miriam: No, that's just all that we have in common.
Me: I see.  Is there anything else you want to say about Presleigh?
Miriam: Um, she's in my math class and my reading class and we're in the highest reading class for our grade.
Me: What kinds of things do you and Presleigh talk about or play on the playground?
Miriam:  Um, we play on the slides and the bridge and the monkey bars and we play with Anneya, Diddy, Lily, Krystal, Jackson, Tysen, Madison, Cindy, Caitlin, Anna, Tony, Jasmine, Kobe and that's it.
Me: Are Jackson, Tysen, Kobe and Tony any of your boyfriends?
Miriam: NO!!!!!!
Me:  Oh.  Do you have a crush on anyone at school?
Miriam: NO!!!!!!
Me: How about your friends?
Miriam: Yes! Diddy likes Jackson, Lily likes Jackson, Jasmine likes Kobe and that's it.
Me: So you don't like anyone?
Miriam:  No.
Me: Is there anything else you want to say?
Miriam:  No, I think that's it.  Bye, peeps!

Chess Tournament Again

I'm pretty sure I blogged about Solomon's chess tournament last year.  I know I at least mentioned it in passing.  Well it's that time of year again.  The tournament is sponsored by the public school district and something called the Interscholastic League so I'm spending the day in a high school cafeteria, waiting around on standings and pairings and playing practice rounds with Solomon in between actual rounds.  There's a lot of sitting around and doing nothing.  So Solomon and I are going to conduct an interview.

Me: So how did your first round go?
Solomon: My first round was very short. I really didn't even get close to beating my opponent. I learned about a move called en passant. It happens when two pawns are right next to each other. One pawn can move forward diagonally and take the opponent's pawn. This can only happen if your pawn has not attacked another piece yet in the game.
Me: Wow, so even if you don't win a game you can still learn something to help you in a future game, right?
Solomon: Yes.
Me: What about your second round?
Solomon: This one was very close.  I almost won with only my king and five pawns.  My king was in check every 3 moves but each time I found a way out of it.
Me: So what ended up trapping you?
Solomon: One of my opponent's pawns was at my king's side and she replaced it with a queen. I moved away and then one of her rooks moved in until the rook pushed my king into a trap with the queen.  Then I looked at my options and realized there was no way out.
Me: What is your strategy for the third round?
Solomon: Well, I guess I will start off with a knight because they're confusing.  And then whatever their move is, I'll bring out my second knight.  Then I shall take all the pieces I can.  Actually, I'm just imagining this.
Me: Okay, then.  We'll take a short break now to regroup and prepare for the third round.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Me: When we last reported here you were about to enter the third round. How about telling our readers what happened during that round?
Solomon:  Yeah.  Third round.  Isn't that the one I won?  Yes, yes, it is.  Fortunately and unfortunately, I won and it was the only time I won.
Me: But winning the third round was fun, right?
Solomon: Sorta. Yeah.  Who doesn't like winning?
Me: What about the fourth round?
Solomon: I lost.
Me: Do you want to say anything else about the fourth round?
Solomon: Um ... I was one of the last in there.  But I still lost.
Me: Bummer.  How about the fifth round?
Solomon: I was black on the very last game.  We were set up with a clock.  The white cheated because they kept pressing the clock so it would go on my turn when it was his turn, wasting my time.  Literally.
Me: Did you talk to a judge about that?
Solomon: No.
Me: Why?
Solomon: Because the judge had just told me to keep going when they set up the clock.  It was extremely close until he took my bishop because all he had was his king and queen.  And both of them can go in any direction so I couldn't attack or he would attack me back.
Me: That sounds like a really tough game.  What did you learn during this chess tournament?
Solomon: If someone's cheating, go ahead and tell the judge about it.

Tournament Miscellaneous

Chess tournament today for Solomon.  I'll be posting an interview with Solomon tomorrow.  Until then, random observations from today ...

The high school guest network blocks Facebook.  I don't like that.  I need to know what everyone in my life, no matter how insignificant they are, is up to today.  Rightthisminute. Just kidding.  Well, about the needing to know what everyone is up to.  Not kidding about being bugged that Facebook is blocked.

I saw a kid crying about how he was coerced into conceding.  There was a misunderstanding and when a judge talked to the two kids, the other one talked over him and he couldn't explain himself.  Of course, I only heard one side but I feel bad for the side I heard.  I think it was his third loss in a row.

My laptop is freakishly hot today.  I don't know why.

My iPod is my lifeline in situations like this.  It keeps me from appearing to be rudely disinterested in the people around me and instead makes me look politely disinterested in the people around me.  It also gives me a legitimate way to stop further conversation between myself and the guy at the next table.  I don't enjoy making small talk with total strangers and I especially don't like it when there's the potential for All Day Long Small Talk.  No, thank you.

I'm sitting at just the right angle to fully highlight all the smudges, fingerprints and other various detritus that has accumulated on my laptop since the last time I cleaned.  I have nothing with which to clean my laptop and it's bugging me.

I really hope Solomon does at least as well as he did last year.  He won 2 and lost 3 last year.  So far, he's lost 2, is on his third and has 2 more after that.  I'd love it if he won 3 this year so that he feels more accomplished.

This morning when I dropped off Samuel and Miriam with Jenn and Caleb (so they don't also have to spend all day in this boring cafeteria), Caleb said to Solomon that he should sit down across from his opponents and say very calmly, "I'm going to crush you."  Solomon laughed and practiced it on the car ride here.  When we got around other people I told him he had to stop saying that because someone might hear him.  So then he started smiling hugely and muttering softly, "I'm going to crush you, smash you and annihilate you."  This kid cracks me up.

The environment here is nice.  All the parents seem really invested in their kids.  I've not heard one harsh word today.  Everyone is polite.  A few kids have pouted or cried about losing a game here and there but they've all been met with calm, rational parents that talked it over with them and then everyone moved on.  I tend to think smart, cerebral occupations like chess might bring out the best in people.  Or maybe chess brings smart, rational people out of the woodwork.

Again, I'm completely impressed with my boy's attitude.  He's confident without being cocky and positive without being unrealistic.  He's gracious when he wins and when he loses.  He's such a great kid and I love sharing this with him.

By this point, Solomon has lost 3 games and won 1.  He's currently on his last one and it should be done any minute now.  They started this round a long time ago.  I'm unbelievably nervous.

Happy Coincidences

I forgot to write about this when it happened two weeks ago.  I was home from work and Paul had jury duty.  When he got out of the courthouse we met for lunch at Bombay Bowl.  As we got our food and found a place to sit, Paul said, "Hey!  There's Blake!"  Blake is one of our friends, whom we met because he works with Caleb.  I looked and not only was Blake there, but also three other friends.  We got tables near each other and chatted a bit while we ate.  And then Caleb showed up.  At that point it had been a couple of weeks since I'd seen Jennifer or Caleb so it was nice to catch up unexpectedly like that.

It makes me really happy when these kinds of things happen.  My sense of contentment and community are reinforced by running into people I like when I least expect it.

The Number, Part 6

The Number is down by 15. I love that sentence. FIFTEEN POUNDS! :happy dance:

Some observations regarding The Number:

1. I found another pair of jeans that fit.
2. My belt has to be cinched another hole smaller.
3. I finally worked up the courage to dig through all the clothes that haven't fit me in a long time.  I divided them into piles: one is stuff I should be able to wear in another month to 6 weeks and the other is stuff I should be able to wear this summer.
4. When I hit the 15 pound mark, my motivation kind of tapered off for a bit and it scared me because I have a long way to go. I need to lose at least another 15 and would be happier with 20. My motivation is back now because of the cute and fun summer clothes pile.
   
5. I can't keep my cell phone in the back pocket of my jeans any more.  It pokes my bones and hurts. That didn't used to happen.
6. It's becoming much easier to look at junk food as Treat Food rather than Regular Food.
7. I hit a plateau a couple of weeks ago. A friend directed me to a site that instructed me to cycle calorie intake daily and trick my metabolism into working more efficiently.  I was skeptical but the proof is on my butt now, or not on my butt, as the case may be.

So that's how The Number looks these days -- pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

Voice of Reason

Last weekend in the middle of the move, Paul got us sushi and other yummy stuff from Tokyo Joe's.  I heart Tokyo Joe's. And Garbanzo. And Bombay Bowl. And Qdoba.  But that's another story entirely.  Back to Tokyo Joe's.  They had these gigantolicious cookies by the register just so kids can beg their parents for them and eat half their body weight in sugar and chocolate and other deliciousness.  Also so adults like Paul and myself can look at them and drool at the stuff we can't eat while we're establishing better eating habits.  So Paul got 2 of them, thinking that his son and my 3 kids could split them up; he and I were not part of the splitting up plan.  Good thinking, right?

Well, when we got back with all the food, all 4 kids were dying for a hunk of the chocolate chip one which left the poor, unloved oatmeal raisin one with no takers.  So Paul caved and ate the oatmeal raisin cookie for breakfast on Sunday.  Ha!  Suckah!  I held fast and had oatmeal and an apple.

Before he busted into the cookie though, Paul showed me the label.  It looks something like this.  Actually, it looks exactly like this.  Duh.  And they're not kidding when they say, "BIG. HUGE. LARGE. YUMMY."  This thing is almost the size of my face.  I'm taking Paul's word for it that it was yummy.

And here is what's printed in small type at the bottom:

Disclaimer: THIS IS A BIG-ASS COOKIE ... It contains sugar & lots of it.  Not intended for daily use.  We highly recommend that you share it, possibly with your training partner on the way to the gym. It's a Reward ... Savor it!

Above that is a list of ingredients in the cookie. Guess what? They're all actual pantry items you could purchase at any grocery store. There are no weird, lab-developed chemicals that actually should not be consumed by humans, no food dyes, nothing strange. Just real, whole ingredients. Amazing.

This is why I heart Tokyo Joe's and other fast food places like them. They prepare actual, real, fresh food. No modified food starches, no plasticized fries or rubbery cheese. Food that would actually rot if left out for a while.  And they are very clear about what is a treat and what is actually good for you. That, my friends, is a very good thing.  I hope Tokyo Joe's and places like them can help change how people look at fast food.  I know we'll never be rid of McDonald's and Burger King (and truthfully, I don't really want to be -- sometimes a double cheeseburger and fries can really hit the spot) but I'd like to see them become much less prevalent.