Shoot me!

OK, next time I want to buy more clothes someone better shoot me. In an effort to get organized amd simplify my life before the next semester I had a small to do list:

 

arrange books on the wonderful bookshelves my husband built me

go through clothes and organize/roganized drawers

clean out my closet

go through and organize and purge papers

organize Christmas decor

 

I got the first one done, although it was quite the task.  I love books! I am stuck on the second and third ones because I have way too many clothes of various sizes and not enough places to put them all. UGH, I frustrate myself! I hesitate to throw anything away because I might wear the stuff again- I plan on wearing them again. Plus I must admit I am a hoarder at heart. I never knew I had so many damn clothes. So I have clothes all over the house and piles of laundry and it is News Year Eve, haha.

The time has come...

So, the time has come to say goodbye... LOL not really but I do have to make a decision about what I want to do with this blog. I know I want to keep blogging but I am just not sure where yet. I have to decide by tomorrow because I cannot add anymore new stuff after then.

 

 I have been playing around with Wordpress and I can't say I like it. It seems too complicated and I don't really like the backgrounds/layouts. I worked with Blogger for my English class blog last semester and I like that one a little better but still not as much as MSN Spaces. Plus I have no idea how to transfer this blog over to there. I know I can do it on Wordpress. I will have to make my final decision and move tomorrow. Good thing I have low key New Years Eve planned, ha. My husband always thinks about going out but then declares it amatuer night and says it is not safe to be out. I don't really care either way. Most years, this one included, I am content to stay home with just my hubby, or with family and friends.

Holiday Nights

My husband and I went to Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village down in Dearborn, Michigan. It is one of my favorite places ever. I haven't been in a couple of years so I was so happy to go Monday night even if it was after Christmas. It was a lovely evening. I feel ill equipped to do it justice. All I can say is that it will transport you back in time, and gives a taste of the old customs, which is fabulous; the sights, sounds and smells - it is a romantic and sentimental excursion. I really need to make  a resolution to go to both Greenfield Village and Crossroads Village (another historical village closer to wear I live) before Christmas every year. I enjoy it tremendously and makes me realize the true spirit of Christmas.

 

 

Cooking was going on in most of the houses....

Sugar cookies:

 

 

Winter Wedding:

 

Making chocolate for hot chocolate, the only way you could get your chocolate in the old days:

 

Roasting mutton:

 

Roasting chicken in a fancy 'new' contraption:

Happy Holidays

I had a very Merry Christmas, too merry in fact. Now I am wore out. School kicked my ass then hurrying to get ready for Christmas really did me in. I didn't even get to put up my Christmas decorations. I did get my tree decorated... on Christmas Eve. Yikes! That was cutting it close. Thank goodness my husband wrapped all the presents, besides his of course.

 

My Christmas celebrations started the week before Christmas with my husband's work Christmas party. It was just dinner and awards at White Horse Tavern in the big, bad city of Flint.  We had fun but unfortunately we couldn't go out and party it up with his co-workers because I still had studying to do.  The next day my husband, stepson and I (as well as my parents, sister in law and nephews) went down to my old hometown of Romulus (near Detroit) for my family Christmas. All my Dad's siblings and their families get together and have a good time. I love my family; I don't get to see them that often. I love talking with them and I think one of my New Year's Resolutions will be to make an effort to see my extended family more often. On the way back home I drove two of my nephews through the big airport. They were excited to see all the planes.

 

Christmas eve my husband and I had my parents over for dinner. It was nice to cook dinner for my mom for a change. I made roast - it turned out OK, a little over cooked (that is how I like it, ha) but I didn't hear any complaints. My husband really liked it, but he is easier to please than my parents. After dinner we played Wii bowling and had lots of fun. It was a nice evening.

 

Christmas Day was jam packed with activity. We struggled to wake up so we could open gifts before we had to take my stepson back to his mom's. We didn't get up too early though - it is not like when my stepson was a little kid and would wake us up at 6 or 7am. In a way I miss those days but in a way not so much. I was up too damn late the night before; I always am. Plus we gave my stepson one of his gifts early (a video game he really wanted) so he could enjoy it, not just unwrap it and forget about it 'til next time he is with us. So it took the edge off his excitement.

 

We went to my parent's house to open gifts and have brunch. My brother, sister-in-law and their 3 boys live there so it was a madhouse. We arrived just as my nephews came out (or were let out of) their room to see all their presents under the tree.  I love watching those stinkerbutts open their gifts but it is exhausting - you don't know which way to look because there is so much going on. So cute though, especially when my littlest nephew, who is 3, alternates between giving you gifts to open (he even tried to give away one of his presents!) and demanding more for himself to open. Once they tear off all the wrapping paper they need help getting all the stuff out of the packaging and put together. Fighting over toys breaks out soon after.

 

We had a late brunch at my mom's - yummy biscuits and gravy. I just wanted to eat that all day but we had to hurry home to get ready for my husband's family party. We were having a Mexican Christmas - all Mexican food (well it was more Mexican-American or the American version of) because everyone was sick of traditional Christmas fare. I had to whip up some enchiladas, beans and rice for the party. I wasn't too sure about the whole Mexican food thing but it turned out well, and there was a lot of food. My enchiladas, rice and beans went fast! We also had tacos and fajitas plus a whole lot of appetizers and desserts. Everyone was busting a gut and couldn't move after dinner. Feliz Navidad!

 

All in all it was a weird Christmas - everyone seemed low key for Christmas this year (except for my littlest nephews and perhaps my youngest niece). It seemed like all the adults were wore out. Too busy I guess. I know I am ready for some quiet time, some time just to chill out and be lazy. Maybe I'll get that on my short break between semesters. I hope.

 

My Christmas fun isn't over yet though. My husband got me (our family) a membership to Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village (Dearborn, Michigan) and luckily their "Holiday Nights" celebration is going on for a few more days after Christmas, so we are going tomorrow. I love it!  I want to make that a Christmas tradition every year but I seldom have the time to go before the holiday. I would also like to check out Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad Christmas Celebration (Flint, Michigan), another place I love, but I feel I am almost celebrated out!

Celebrating a marriage ...

     http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Celebrating a marriage created from infidelity? Right or wrong? I would have to agree with the people that say it is wrong. I love what the psychologists have to say about marriage and people's attitudes. Very interesting story and discussion.

Much Love for Blogging

Here is a classmate's blog:

 

Worries of one college student

 

http://shnason.blogspot.com/

 

I love what she says about blogging:

 

 

"I think it's nice to just have it to put your thoughts out there, even if you don't have a lot of people reading it. It keeps you writing, which is important for writers."

 

"But it's a good resource for anyone who likes to write or would like to share ideas with other people. It's a little piece of someone, and I like to see personalities and passions come out of people that you wouldn't necessarily know by just looking at them. People have truly magnificent ideas in their heads but a lot of times they're too timid to share them. Blogging is an opportunity for people to say something that they would normally keep inside of them."

 

"I don't like to see all of my thoughts disappear, even if they don't mean anything to anyone else, so I like that I can keep them safe on here, that they won't disappear in my head."

 

http://shnason.blogspot.com/2010/12/this-is-it-well-for-class.html

 

I couldn't agree more.

>

Well that blows!

 
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Makes me so mad...

Wealth gap becomes chasm at Christmas

Luxury retailers see strong demand as lower-income shoppers hunker down

 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40593905/ns/business-stocks_and_economy

 

So what is all this fuss about the wealthy not getting tax cuts? It is obvious they have the money to pay more taxes. Nobody wants to pay more but if you got it why be so damn greedy? Just reminds me of the old adage, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

 

I don't believe tax cuts stimulate the economy or create jobs overall as this article is a small testament to. Makes me so mad!! Damn Republicans want to help their rich buddies along and screw the rest of the country.

 

Ice House

 
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I love the Great Lakes!!

Last Day of Classes

Last day of classes but not the end of the semester yet. Still have exams, papers due and my internship to finish up. UGH! Luckily I only have one exam but I do have a lot of writing to do before I am done. So that is all I have been concentrating on is homework. Not too exciting. I am ready for some relaxation and fun!

 

I played (with UM-Flint Wind Symphony) for winter graduation yesterday. It was fun but I am glad it is over. It kind of sucks graduating in the winter - there was a big snow storm yesterday and the arena was not as full as graduations past. Of course the graduates and their families that showed up were excited.

 

I liked the student speaker, Myron Mann (I was in a class with him - you go Myron!); his message was 'give back to Flint and don't just attend school in Flint but talk bad about it to people. Don't take from the community but not give anything back but disrespect. I like that message. I have overheard quite a few people from outlying communities put down Flint while they are going to school here. Not to mention xenophobes in rural areas who put the city down. They don't know anything about the good things in Flint but speak poorly of it when they are too afraid to find out about the city on or too forgetful of all it has to offer or all the benefits they get from it. I will concede that there are parts of Flint that are dangerous but all places in the U.S. have those areas including rural areas. Lets just say every place has its dangers that range from closed minded attitudes to rampant drug use to barricaded gunmen to bar fights/shootings to murder.

 

In fact I used to work in a rural community where a lot of people who live there think a little too highly of themselves and less of the rest of the world, especially the 'big bad city'. Little do they know is that their kids are partiers and drug users (actually I think they know it is just that hypocrisy reigns supreme in that community). I am not talking about marijauna but hard drugs, like coke. I know this because I used to hear all about the partying from my co-workers, who seemed to be innocent high schoolers but were really big time partiers. Just goes to show you that places are not always what they seem and shite happens everywhere.

 

That is my lesson for the day.

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/12/um-flint_graduate_encourages_s.html

My kind of Christmas...

 
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The haps...

Last week was busy, and I was stressed out because I am trying to do too much so of course I can't write as much. I spent some time on my weight loss blog - that at least is going well. There was some family drama. Nothing horrible (I can't elaborate here now) but it was emotional for me to say the least.

 

The week-end was ho hum, pretty relaxing actually. My husband and I spent some quality time together though we didn't get much done around the house. He did get our Christmas tree up so I can decorate this week-end. He pointed out to me that we have 19 big tubs of Christmas stuff. Ha. O Joy! My husband surprised me by saying he is actually in the mood for Christmas this year. I can't believe it.  I hope it is a good one. I don't care about gifts, I just want it to be hassle free and spend time doing fun stuff with family and friends.

 

I didn't get hardly any school work done at all this week-end. I basically fooled around. Shame on me!! So that means this week, including my birthday is going to be super stressful and filled with school work. I just hope and pray I can get everything done that I have to. Whew, only this week to get through and class our over. Yay!

 

One bright spot today - I had fun in band class. We played some student composed music. Most were arrangements of songs but there was one very good original piece (Solace) that was composed by a tuba player. I was impressed. There was also a Lady Gaga medley which would be good for a marching band. We are also getting ready to play for graduation. Call me a nerd but I love playing for graduation. Plus we are going to get paid this year too.

 

 

So what are you looking for?

So what are you looking for? For this: I told you so! LOL - except I didn't, not in so many words but I knew how it would play out. Oh well, you live you learn. I can't write about that now, it is too complicated but I may have something I'm working on soon. Stay tuned...

 

So what are you looking for? Better yet lets talk about what I'm looking for. I want happiness for me and my husband and stepson. I want honesty from people. I want genuine relationships. I want peace. I want what's best for my family without someone elses dumb BS getting in the way. I don't think that is too much to ask.

 

 

 

 

Some Great Slideshows

I love looking at these before and after slideshows of people's weight loss:

http://fitbie.msn.com/slideshow/amazing-weight-loss-success

This next slideshow is cool - it is about bizarre side effects of working out:

 

http://fitbie.msn.com/fitness-tips/tips/10-bizarre-side-effects-exercise/tip/0

I have experienced some of them but not the 'coregasm' unfortunately, haha. Last night I was wondering if regular exercise makes you poop more but it didn't make the list.

Bad Sexxx

An English author won an award for writing bad sex scenes in his novel. I got a laugh out of reading the scenes, which are very bad.

 

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978745710

 

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/entertainment/article_212335573.shtml

What's on my mind?

What's on my mind? Kids and how they learn about morals and ethics. The learn from watching and listening to the adults in their lives. If adults model good behavior, positive behavior kids pick up on that and will follow. The same is true for the opposite - if adults in their lives model bad behavior, kids will pick up on that and think it is acceptable to behave that way also. I find that scary, especially when I think about some of the parenting I have seen and heard about lately. I ask myself, what good parent, what truly good person would want to teach their kids bad behavior, bad morals, and bad ethics? some parents just aren't aware of what they are doing but some are and just don't care - they are putting their own desires first with no regard for what is right in general and certainly without regard for their children. That is scary indeed and that is the problem with society today. I guess morals and ethics just aren't important anymore or are totally lost on some people.

 

About modeling behavior:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/05/27/modeling-behavior-for-children-has-long-lasting-effects/14139.html

 

http://www.slate.com/id/2209882/

 

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-moral-behavior-are-you-modeling-for-your-children.html

 

About teaching kids ethics:

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Teaching_Child_Ethics/

 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/173529-how-to-teach-children-morals-ethics/

 

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/teaching-ethics-to-your-children.html

 

 

 

I'm on a roll ...

I'm on a roll getttng rid of my rolls. Well a small roll. I didn't go to the gym this week at all. That is very bad. Same excuses as always - too many other things to do (Homework!) and not enough time and energy. I have been getting on the Wii though so that is good. I have done Just Dance 2 three days in a row now. Wahoo! I can't say enough how much I love that game. It is super fun.

I also did Wii Fit the last two days. Yesterday I was down 2.2 pounds from the last time I was on two weeks ago. Today I was down even further - it said I lost a little over a pound since yesterday. Now those are results I like to see! I know that is unrealistic but hey, maybe all the dancing and sweating is the way to go. Or maybe I unloaded all the Thanksgiving dinner I took in on Thursday. EWWWWW, sorry TMI.

Not Right!!

Are they sure this guy isn't from Poland?? LOL

 

Man Walls Himself Into Cellar

A 64-year-old German man accidentally walled himself into his own basement and only managed to escape by drilling his way through to his neighbors' basement. The incident occurred in the town of Gumperda.

 

http://specials.msn.com/A-List/Lifestyle/man-walls-self-in.aspx?cp-documentid=26515174

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/8160038/German-DIY-enthusiast-walls-himself-into-own-cellar.html

I Feel Like Singing!!

Tonight I decided to put my Ipod on while I write. Bad idea. The first two songs were old favorites and now I just want to forget writing and sing my heart out. I haven’t done that in a while – I don’t sing like I used to; I don’t listen to music as much as I used to. I think that is a byproduct of depression. I am starting to come out of it and hopefully gaining more energy so now I can allow music back in my life. I just can’t sing and let in all out tonight because I have a lot of writing to do and my husband and stepson are home – I can’t belt out all my favorite love songs for fear of embarrassing myself. I would probably scare the crap out of them too, ha.

I wonder how many calories singing burns? I looked it up - sitting and singing for an hour burns about 157 calories. Standing and singing for the same time burns around 367. Awesome! I will have to remember that. I usually stand and sit while I am singing and my ‘concerts’ usually last at least an hour.  I could add singing at least once a week to my exercise/activity regimen.

Activity Calculator:

http://health.discovery.com/centers/cholesterol/activity/activity.html

I sometimes think that if I sang every time I got a really bad food craving, I might not eat, I might forget about the craving. I have never really tried it because (my will power isn’t strong enough) I am weak when it comes to food. I want to eat! Well there is always my lack of energy problem, and food gives me a short term high. Singing usually tires me out. I would still like to do some research on this concept - can a person be successful at replacing food cravings with a hobby or activity? Interesting… I wonder if there are any studies out there on that – something I will have to investigate.

Just Dance!

Yay! So I got on the Wii today and I have lost 2.2 pounds since the last time I was on two weeks ago. Of course my BMI is down a slight bit also. That is awesome considering all the food I ate yesterday. I did a few balance exercises on the Wii fit and then I couldn’t wait to try out Just Dance 2 again. First I decided to try the other new game I bought – Gold’s Gym Dance Fitness.

I popped that one in and set up my profile and did a little bit. I didn’t like it very much – it is too hard and goes too fast. You really have to be coordinated to work out to that. Plus I wanted to see what music was on it but I couldn’t figure out if I could pick my songs or if I had to work my way (earn it) through. I had to give up. I think I will put that one away for when I get a little more coordinated.

Then I put in my Just Dance 2. I was thinking that I would just do one song and then stop but I ended up having so much fun with it I did about 4 songs. That kicked my butt again but I like it. I just don’t know what is so fun about that game but it is fantastic. If I only have enough time to work out to that every day I will lose weight in no time. Most of the time I don’t even move my legs – the whole not coordinated thing prevents me. With practice I hope to get better.

It is so weird that I like that dancing game. I was never much of a dancer or at least not one for choreographed dance. When I was a kid all the girls I knew always wanted to pretend like they were dancers (that was back in the early 80’s and Solid Gold was a big thing, haha – look it up young’ins!)or cheerleaders and that never interested me that much. I am surprised I love Just Dance 2 so much. It might be because it is more fun than just regular exercise or aerobics and the dances aren’t all the same – more variety. Anyway I am happy I bought that game.