Is it just me...?

or has anyone else ever weighed various articles of clothing before deciding what to wear for a weigh-in with their diet consultant? Every ounce counts, people, when you have to answer to 'the scale of truth'! And I am happy to report I lost 2.4 lbs over the last week aka Thanksgiving week! [patting myself on the back] Eight weeks down... way many more weeks to go...

my latest

"Four Calling Birds"

for 12 Days of Christmas ATC swap I'm hosting @ SIStv

I put a little twist on the traditional ; )

***

"Cornflake Girl"

for Linda's ATC the music blog

inspired by the song Cornflake Girl by Tori Amos

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful day. Hope you all did too.

Backyard Adventures - 2 of 2

camera phone picture of Evan in our tent

***

Still feeling adventurous from our morning forest exploration, Evan and I decided to put the tent up in the backyard just for fun. By evening Evan had hatched a plan for us to spend the night in the tent. The forecasted low temperature for the night was between 37 and 40 degrees. It would be a clear night with low humidity. No doubt about it... it was going to get cold. Evan was unfazed.

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At 8:45pm Evan and I were climbing into our outdoor sleeping quarters. With thermal PJs, wool socks, hats and gloves, sleeping bags, extra blankets, flashlights, cell phone and our brave and adventurous spirits, we were set.

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The cold last night wasn't the big issue for me. I was pretty warm and toasty in my mummy-style sleeping bag. It was all the people sounds... cars, trains, planes, sirens, heating units. (I am a light sleeper.) Kinda hard to get in the camping spirit when the pulse of the modern city is beating all the time. I didn't hear too many nature sounds. I guess it was too cold for the owls and armadillos and other woodland creatures. Even our dog Price was nice and cozy inside the house with Markas ; )

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About 1:30AM, Evan finally decided that he had had enough outdoor adventuring for one night. I honestly can't say I was disappointed when he finally announced he wanted to go inside. Not only was it ridiculously cold to be sleeping outside by choice, but everything was wet and seeping into our little bundled up world. We made a mad dash inside and settled into our beds. When we got up this morning and looked outside everything including our tent was coated with a thick layer of frost. I wonder if we had stayed outside all night if we wouldn't have been covered with a thick layer of frost too ; )

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Evan is already planning our next camp out. Here's hoping it will be after the Spring thaw! ; )

Backyard Adventures - 1 of a 2 part series ; )

a camera phone picture from inside our outdoor room

***

A few steps behind our back fence is a tract of land that Evan calls a forest. In the four years that we have lived in our house, we have never set foot in the forest. There is a small road on the other side of the forest. We have explored it on our bike rides. But what is found in between our backyard and that road has always been a mystery... until yesterday.

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Evan and I suited up and loaded our gear and began our adventure by crawling under the barbed wire fence. Almost every step required cutting back thorny underbrush and tangled vines. I was armed with a small branch clipper and Evan manned the hedge trimmers. It was slow going and there was no following a straight path. We wound around fallen trees, impassible vegetation and large holes in the ground which I suspect are home to small armies of armadillos. We blazed our own trail.

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Halfway into our trail blazing, I spotted a structure topped with vines and fallen leaves making a natural roof. It had four distinct corners giving it the appearance of an outdoor room. My first thought was of a man-made structure that had been taken over by the forest some time ago. But when we finally made our way to it, we discovered it was nature-made. A random occurrence where two tree branches reached out and touched and over time vines grew and tied the branches together creating a canopy. It was like a secret spot just waiting to be discovered.

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We hiked on for awhile. We could see what looked like a clearing ahead that might have been the road on the other side. But we never made it to the road. After about an hour of cutting our way, Evan decided we had gone far enough for our first trek into the forest. I didn't protest since the last leg of our hike appeared even more thick with gnarly overgrowth than what we had already conquered. So we carefully searched out our newly created path and made our return trip.

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We felt mightly accomplished after our adventure and the forest is now a little less mysterious.

Oh the guilt!

I am experiencing Santa guilt. When Evan was 3 or 4 I thought lying to him about the Santa thing was part of the parent gig and it was all in good fun. Now that he is older and asking me point blank if Santa is real... I can't help but think it is a lousy thing to pull on kids. When I have mentioned my Santa guilt issue with others, I usually get a 'oh it will be okay. it happens to everyone.' response of dismissal.

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Though I guess I wasn't too traumatized when I finally uncovered the veil of deceit as a child. I can't even tell you how or when I found out because I don't remember. It was most likely my pesky older brother who slammed me into harsh reality. Just my best theory, but I am not sure ; )

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I am dreading that moment when Evan realizes that the elaborate, multi-year scheme purposely perpetrated by his parents is all smoke and mirrors. I don't think I am going to get off the hook too easy. There will probably be a period of rebuilding the trust that crumbled to the ground in a heap of "Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas" and flying reindeer.

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Oh what a tangled Holiday web we weave...

161 and counting

Does it say more about me that I have read 161 books since Spring 2004 or that I actually know how many I have read? ; )

Not that 161 books is necessarily a lot of books. Plenty of people average 1, 2 or even 3 books a week. I go in spurts reading several books back to back then not reading anything for weeks. I keep a list of books I have read and those that I want to read (now 5 pages strong). It comes in handy especially when I am at a book store trying to remember 'what was the name of that author?'

Does anyone else know their book number? Or is it just me? ; )

3 little things - thankful edition

Inspired by the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and my '3 little things that make me happy' lists, I am listing 3 little things that I am thankful for this week.

1. kleenex with lotion for collecting snot and moisturizing all in one swoop (sheer brilliance if you ask me)

2. socks with arch support for being so darn comfy and helping my feet through walking and step aerobics (surely I'm not the only person concerned about saggy arches)

3. Trident Layers gum (strawberry + tangy citrus flavor) for taking the edge off of some of my sweet cravings (if only I could buy you by the case...)

just for fun ; )

Foghorn Leghorn rants

Apple for the teacher

Evan got in trouble at school today. Nothing big, but the teacher wrote a note in his journal which comes home with Evan every day. Basically Evan got wound up playing with several other boys and wasn't listening well. This is the first time this year that he had a note sent home about a bad choice at school. Evan and I talked about it. I sent him to his room for a few minutes while I called Markas and then Markas talked to Evan over the phone. Of course Evan found the entire ordeal extremely upsetting. I let him stay in his room a little longer and then called him out to talk a little more. I asked him what he thought he should do tomorrow. He said make better choices. I agreed. I told him he needs to apologize to his teacher for not listening. Evan agreed. Then he said "I know what I have to do... I have to bring an apple." I asked why. He shrugged and answered "I don't know, Mom, but that is what you do in these situations. That's just how it is."

I'm glad he is aware of first grade protocol 'cuz his momma evidently isn't in the know about these situations ; )

**Update**

After reading over my 'Oh Christmas Tree' post, I decided I was beyond ridiculous. Yesterday I marched (okay more like crept steadily) my happy ass up the ladder and eventually crawled into the attic... cell phone and utility light at the ready. I found the skirt for the Christmas tree then took a few moments to gather myself for the decent. I made one attempt that I abandoned before settling on my technique to extricate my now not so happy ass from the attic. It wasn't pretty. And if someone had been filming it I might be a reigning YouTube pseudo celebrity, but I made it and it gave my independent woman spirit a nice boost.

Happy Mail

Look what I got in the mail today!

These are ATCs made by Linda Phinney (California girl and artist extraordinaire) for me. I feel so special : ) We each made 5 cards and then swapped them. (There was also two pairs of 'happy socks' for me and a surprise for Evan in the box.) Thank you!

Your cards blew me away! They really are little pieces of art!

the secret society of sealed lips

(click to enlarge image)

***

book excerpt:

Somebody Else's Children by John Hubner & Jill Wolfson

"What sets juvenile justice apart from the rest of the legal system is that it is wrapped deep in a cocoon of confidentiality, and like everything about the system, the cocoon is purported to be in the best interests of children. But the system - and the public and often the children themselves - pay a heavy price for confidentiality.

Inside the system, confidentiality means that few people - the judge, perhaps an advocate - have access to the full and complete records of any family or child. Attorneys are prohibited from asking certain questions, and in turn they prohibit certain things from going into the record; social workers are barred from reading certain records; therapists are not permitted to share their insights with foster parents.

Outside the system, confidentiality has contributed to making juvenile court the least understood, least explored branch of the American legal system."

I say amen to that!

And confidentiality prevents me from sharing most of my trials, tribulations and triumphs as a CASA. It is as if I lead a double life just without the changing of clothes in the telephone booth or any cool powers like x-ray vision.

www.nationalcasa.org

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree: my tale of shame and too much glitter

Shameful is what it is.... just shameful! I bought a new Christmas tree and some decorations to avoid climbing in the attic to pull down our old tree. Oh, hang my head in shame. Yes our old artificial tree is pretty worn out. It was used when we got it. Yes I can't stand to put the old tree together and then string strand after strand of lights. Yes I have wanted a pre-lit tree with LED energy-saving lights for several years. But the cold hard truth is that Markas is gone and Evan and I decided to put up the Christmas tree and I am too chicken to go up in the attic. I have a horrible fear of heights which gets worse with age. I could make it up without a major panic attack, but I don't know that I would make it back down again. Which means I would be living in the attic until Markas gets home late Friday night. Evan would be forced to throw food up to me and hitch a ride to school every day next week. Certainly not a good situation. At least I am trying to get in the Holiday spirit. One year I never even put a Christmas tree up at all. We just had a pile o' presents to huddle around on Christmas morning... another shameful moment indeed.

So here is where the glitter comes in! Every stinkin' ornament at Wally-World was caked thick in cheap glitter. I sorted and sifted in search of glitter-free options, but they were few and far between. After putting the ornaments on our new tree, Evan and I looked like we belonged in a bad Mariah Carey video. I fear I will be cleaning up stray bits of glitter for the next eighteen months.

Shame and glitter infestation aside, Evan is excited about our new tree and I am glad that I already accomplished my second most dreaded chore of the season... packing the tree and trimmings up post-Christmas being the first. When did I become so bah humbug?

Explorers roasting over an open fire?

We got a recall notice in the mail today for Ole Blue, our trusty 2002 Ford Explorer. Ole Blue has served us well, but apparently has the ability to spontaneously combust at any moment! ; )

Ford cannot be confident that over many years in service (are they call Blue old?), a speed control deactivation switch installed on your vehicle will not leak brake fluid, posing the risk for fire. This condition may occur either when the vehicle is parked or when it is being operated.

But wait, here is the best part! (this just takes the cake)

Until you have the recall service performed, park your vehicle outdoors away from structures to prevent a potential fire from spreading.

For some reason this struck me as funny... really funny. Who gets paid the big bucks to write this stuff? Poor Blue was relegated to the driveway after we got the Acadia so luckily we are already complying with parking away from structures. Alas now I feel the need to look outside all the time to check for a bonfire coming from dear Ole Blue. [snicker giggle giggle laugh]

My Latest Time Wasting Obsession ; )

Attention:

Until further notice...

I am going into seclusion to focus all my time on taking care of Goose my SuperPoke! Pet. I thought everyone who was addicted to Facebook games were a little off in the mental department, but have since rescinded that belief as I have discovered and been drawn into the world of SPP.

LOL!
If you have not heard from me within 72 hours, please organize the appropriate intervention ; )

Thanks!

losing my balance

I hate it when I lose my balance! It throws me completely out of whack! I don't mean my inner ear balance. I mean my happy life balance. It is a delicate balance of keeping up with my day to day obligations and responsibilites while still honoring and spending time with my inner self... my creative self. I like my inner self a lot. I enjoy my time with her and when I don't spend enough time with her we get disconnected. I am thankful that I had a creative project already planned that in a way pushed me to stay creative during the past few hectic weeks. These are the ATCs I made for the 5 for 5 swap I am doing with my URL friend Linda aka Phinner.

"Destination Unkown"

This was the first of the five cards I made. It came to be around the same time I was planning my move to Vermont ; ) I cut up an actual state map with my current location to use as the background.

"All Original"

No intentional symbolism with the fish. Saw them in a magazine and just felt the need to use them.

"Seasons"

Inspired by one of my all time favorite songs, Landslide by Stevie Nicks. "Can I handle the seasons of my life?" Love the lyrics! I actually splashed bleach on the picture to get the splotchy look.

"Accessorize"

"The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize." Movie quote "Clairee Belcher" (Steel Magnolias)

And truthfully a lot of folks are 'ify' on the accessorizing... ; )

"My Way"
A question that I ponder quite often ; )

I owe you an apology, Blog.

Dear Blog,

I miss you. Sorry I haven't spent as much time with you lately as I should. I promise to do better... pinky swear.

Lots of love,

Danica

'Cuz That's How We Roll

2 witches, a clown, a Star Wars hero, and a blind Big 12 ref

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(click on image to enlarge)