Wordless Wednesday: When Dad's gone

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Finally figured it out

Mickey asked me yesterday: "Mamma, what does blah, blah, blah mean?"

I told him "...it's what people say when they don't know what else to say..."

Better known as your mother's blog.

Fourth and final night. Thank goodness.

Pete has been on a golf trip for the past four days and arrives home tomorrow. At 11:43 a.m. I was supposed to have used my alone time at night on the computer to write six blog posts and queue them up for the next six days.

But that did not quite happen.

I spent the time on the computer all right...but not quite productively. So much for Lenten resolutions.

Fact is, I spent a lot of time wishing he were here with me. I was so distracted with thoughts of him I couldn't concentrate on anything productive but for the minimum laundry and meal preparation duties. And fingerpainting...letting the boys fingerpaint. That was a feat in itself.

When he's away, which is rarely four nights in a row, sure I wish I had a hand with the boys. Bedtime, bathtime, mealtime...they're all on me all the time. There's no one else here to help me answer them, pour more milk, clean up after them, etc.

And there's no one here to share in their cute sayings and sweet gestures, which do happen from time to time.

Thing is, when he's gone I always think: why would any woman CHOOSE to be a single mother. I don't know anyone personally who's done this, but plenty of Hollywood-ers have taken the plunge into parenthood sans partner (let alone husband). They get as much positive press as traditional Hollywood births, maybe even more. As if to say, "who needs a man..."

Well I'll tell you who: I do. I need someone to share in the workload. The decision-making about what's best for our kids. The physical demands of parenting. The joy. And the frustrations. The emotional load I could never bear by myself. And I'm not ashamed to admit it.

(I understand there's divorce. That's different. That's not CHOOSING single motherhood.)

I guess absence makes every heart grow fonder. That, and more grateful...grateful Pete's on this parenting road with me, sharing all the bumps and detours, and whhhheeees as we coast. Whenever that is...

Foot Stool

My pledge to Mickey and Alex

Dear Sons,

I promise to never dress you in anything, nor style your hair in any fashion, that will cause your portrait to end up on the Sexy People blog. Unless I already have, and for that dear kids, I'm sorry.

Love, Mom

(Thanks to If You Give a Mom a Moment... who fired the warning shot.)

She did it! She did it!

Ya'll remember my friend Mary at Owlhaven? Well, right now in her hot little hand is her book. No, I mean HER book. As in, she's the one who wrote it! A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family is finished and awaiting its flight off the shelves.

Now I'd have probably posted about Mary's book nonetheless, but it just so happens she's having a little contest at her place to give away a few copies. Woo-hoo!

I also know what you're thinking: what the heck do I want with a book about raising ten kids?

First of all, tell me that my life with two kids won't seem just a little less...shall we say...stressed, if I employ some of her techniques for wrangling ten. If she can maintain her humor and sanity and still look good in the process, surely there are a few lessons to be learned by us moms of few.

Second, coming from a family of 11 myself, I think it could be an interesting perspective to think about what my mom went through raising us...and appreciate her even more than I already do.

So if you'd like to win your own copy of Mary's book, head over there now!

Destined to be the longest list in the world

Tonight Alex threw up his dinner. At dinner. At a restaurant. On the table and his plate and the front of his shirt and my wedding ring (love it when those things happen when Pete's out of town).

And as I worked through the six-inch stack of napkins the waitress brought me, the thought occurred to me that when I gazed at my ring with gaze-y eyes on my wedding day, I didn't also picture myself digging...pieces...out of it.

Add that to the growing list of things I didn't foresee when I signed up for parenthood.

Lenten resolution: keep it real

What, I'm supposed to let you know when I'm taking a blogging break?

Consider yourself warned.

A week or so late.

In case you didn't know, last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday...the beginning of Lent. Lent, for us Catholics, is the time of year when we're supposed to give something up. Something that is not healthy for us in one way or another. Then we're supposed to channel that time or money or effort to something positive, like an extra church service or prayer or time with a neglected husband.

I chose the latter.

And my "not healthy" choice (that, friends, was tough to discern):

Night time at the computer.

Hence, my unplanned blog break.

I have since reconsidered my Lenten commitment.

I believe I will choose something less not-healthy to give up. Something less painful. The Lord would not want me to be pained, would He?

So I'm choosing Diet Coke.

HA! Had ya goin!

Nah, I'm still cutting back on computer time, just not so much that I have to stop blogging altogether. Six weeks of that and God would not like the person I'd become. The whole point is to develop the Lenten commitment into something permanently positive...not destroy a part of the person!

The reality of it all? I'm going to have to get more effective with the time I'm online instead of the aimless surfing that goes on forever with nothing to show for it (good-bye Facebook).

And the staring at a blank post. That'll have to stop, too. Maybe sometime I'll develop some sort of posting schedule; I wonder if that'll help me develop quality content, too.

Worth a try...

Someday, boys...someday

Today was the boys' first day back in the swing of gymnastics since last summer. Alex is old enough now to be in the same class as Mickey, so instead of me trying to entertain him in a small space for 40 minutes while Mickey bee-bops around a roomy gym, he now gets to run around with his brother and they both get to crazify the instructor.

We arrived at the community center a full 20 minutes early...don't know why, we just did. I had it mapped in my head, though, I'd hit the vending machine and ration them cheese crackers until time for their class.

Seems that wasn't necessary after all. Since, when we walked into the community center, we heard bouncing balls and shouting.

The basketball gym was being used.

By ten 10-year-olds.

BOY ten-year-olds.

(Ten kids that looked just like their sports-lovin', basketball-playin' cousin. Who they believe hung the moon.)

Alex positioned himself at the door to their practicing and didn't move, even when I tried to coax him out with crackers.

So I gave up trying and corralled both of them all the way into the gym where empty bleachers greeted us. Without taking their eyes off the two coaches and ten players on the court, both boys sat down and continued studying the action for 20 solid minutes.

To them, I imagine it was like watching their cousin times 10...and they all had their OWN basketball. And someone to teach them how to use it. They must have thought it was heaven on earth...

Hmmm, hope those ten-year-olds don't mind an audience; they're about to get one for the next six weeks.

"How can I get me some o' that?"

The girls at 5 Minutes for Mom are at it again, this time with a photography twist...ya'll knew I'd have to get in on that! They're challenging us to shoot photos from unexpected angles to to add interest and variety. I like my little point-and-shoot digital camera for this very thing, since it has a flip-out screen that also twists so I can raise or lower my camera and still see what I'm shooting.

This feature allowed me to get this shot of Alex eyeballing his cousins' birthday cake last summer (that I did not make, or it would have squirrely writing all over it). Maybe the composition of it isn't stellar, but it captures that moment when I wasn't sure if he was going to swipe one finger across the icing or just sit and contemplate his next step.

(He ended up contemplating, not swiping. For once.)


For more cool photos, check 'em out at:

Well isn't that special...

Did you ever stop to think about how often you give yourself permission to indulge at mealtimes?

I did. It was scary.

Get the details over at 918moms.com.

Puh-leeze, cry me a river...

I know Mickey got a lot of attention at his birthday party, but seriously, did we deserve this from Alex?

The birthday goodies

Woo-hoo! I survived another Home Team birthday without purchasing a store-bought birthday cake. Although I came really close this time since I have not been feeling too domestic or creative or even much like opening up a can o' frosting.

But I did. And then some.

First, I've been talking about Bakerella's famous cake concoctions to so many people that I finally decided to take action...and came up with these little treats for Mickey's class at school on his birthday:

They don't look much like the perfect examples you'll see at Bakerella, but the concept is the same. I used vanilla cake and vanilla frosting and chocolate with sprinkles on the outside. Next time I'll be a little lighter on the sprinkles...some of them were so top heavy they were toppling out of the glasses.

But they made a lovely bouquet, which I'm sure all those five-year-olds stopped to view in wonderment before moving in for their take.


Really they were very easy to make...just a little time consuming, hence the boys stayed in their pajamas until noon on Monday. Come to think of it, so did I.


Then I set about to make a cake for our family party that night. Creativity? Zero. But the cake tasted good (which is an understatement: we are still forking the luscious leftovers tonight). And everything looks to be spelled correctly so I called it good. (This is the part where you forget you saw his real name...do I need to keep reminding you of that?)



I know my boys won't stay little forever, and soon they'll catch on to the fact that birthday cakes can indeed come from Merritt's Bakery with intricate scenes of their favorite Marvel comics hero or their name written on it...straight.

But until then, let this be our secret. And let me continue letting them think their mom's a pastry chef. In training. Very early stages of training.

What Five looks like

Good morning, Mickey! I promise flash photography in the morning will only happen on your birthday. For the most part.

Thank you for being the sweet boy you are.

Happy Birthday.

Kids should have a Pain Transfer button to their moms

The other day I'm driving down Big Four Lane Highway on the way home from school with the boys.

Beautiful day.

Seemed like a great idea to crack the boys' back windows a couple of inches for some fresh air. So I did, and carefully remembered to hit the child-lock button so they wouldn't play the usual up/down, up/down, up/down with the electric window switches. That gets annoying.

Then I realized it wasn't such a great idea to have the window open...windier than I expected.

So I click the child-lock button. Raise up their windows. Click the child-lock button again.

UNCONTROLLABLE SCREAMING from Mickey.

Four of his fingers were caught in the window.

I frantically tried to click the child-lock button and get the window down while exiting Big Four Lane Highway and crossing two lanes of traffic to turn right to park in a handicap parking spot.

I felt very handicapped at the moment.

Finally some combination of my banging on the window buttons worked and the window released his fingers. After we got parked and I made sure nothing was bleeding or detached, I unbuckled him from his seat and held him until we both felt better.

Then I took him to the park where he did this for a looooonnng time.

And I watched him with that look of glee on his face as he played.

And I tried to imagine I hadn't just heard "Mommy, what are you doing?!!??!!" only five minutes before.

And really wished he would forget he'd been the one screaming it.

New kid on the blog

I'd like ya'll to meet a new blog I've been reading...really for only a short time. I was captivated by Suburban Matron's writing style in this post about foil. That's right, foil. I nearly laughed out loud at the thought of my world being rocked...by foil. But indeed it was.

I haven't caught up with her archives, but her posts of late are every bit as entertaining and well written as the one on...foil.

So I'm adding her to my lil' list at the right...so your world can be rocked, too.

Enjoy!

Learn, Love, Link at 5 Minutes for Mom

Ya'll know I'm always up for a contest, and this one has to be one of the most unique I've seen. My friends at 5 Minutes for Mom are encouraging their readers to share the link love with their mom-run sites. In return, lowly bloggers like me get a chance to win cool prizes.

So I perused the (seemingly endless) list of members on their site and found these gems:

QT Sunglasses is full of designer-inspired shades without the designer price, nice for those of us who "misplace" theirs often. They also have kids' styles: I think Mickey would love these (although they look just a little like a prop in Boogie Nights).

OnTray is a specially-designed tray that clips on to your shopping cart. It can hold snacks, coupons, a calulator, etc. I love the idea...although my boys are nearly too big to sit in the front of the cart, I can really see using this to hold the coupons I plan to use during that trip and as a writing surface for my list. May be a gadget I'm buying!

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom for more links to featured mom sites.

Fees, schmees!

Have you ever been annoyed at the fees and surcharges that are added to event ticket prices? Get the skinny on why these fees are charged in my post today at 918moms.com.

WFMW: (Almost) new dining chairs for cheap

You can use fabric made for outdoor furniture for covering your dining chairs. It's highly durable and likes to hide out on clearance racks at upholstery stores. With this fabric, a staple gun, scissors, a measuring tape, and a screwdriver, you can easily give your dining chairs a new look for not a lotta dollas.

Now for the details. I was lucky. Extremely lucky. My mom friends and I had a garage sale last year (that's right: eight months ago) and during our pre- snatch-up-the-junk-before-the-sale-opens sale I snatched up a long length of outdoor furniture fabric for two dollars. I have, however, been thinking about this project for months and have perused a couple of upholstery stores. I saw a lot of possibilities for just a few dollars a yard (I planned to buy about four yards).

Then I happened upon this fabric at my garage sale and figured I wouldn't find a better deal on a neutral fabric. So this week I decided to finally release it from my crowded closet and either cover my six dining chairs like I intended or send it to the trash.

So rather than waste my (Pete's) hard-earned two dollars, I set about to put it to some use. Here we go, in pictures:

The "before" situation. Painful isn't it?

Don't be intimidated by your chair's array of bolts and screws. Search around for four screws only that attach the cushion to the chair. Or get Pete to come to your house and do it like he did for me.

This type of fabric cuts so easily. Allow plenty of overage around the cushion so you have plenty to pull and tug tightly. (FYI, this fabric measured 25 inches across.)

If you don't have one of these bad boys, you can buy one for about $13. I bought my staple gun about ten years ago...when I covered some other dining room chairs, come to think of it.

Pull the fabric tightly and EVENLY around one side. DO NOT try to curve it around the corners. Just do the sides for now. Trust me. Get your Bad Boy stapler and push it down on the edge of the fabric with all your might. Pull the trigger. Oooohhh, yeah!

Keep going around the sides, again don't worry about the corners. Pull the fabric as tightly as you can before stapling it to make sure it's nice and smooth on the other side. Also, don't worry about the number of staples you use...no one except the dog will ever see the underside of your chair, and he's not judging.

Now for the corners. Gather up all the fabric in the corner, making sure to pull it as tightly as possible and taking care to smooth any gaps.

Pull the gathered fabric toward the middle of the seat as hard as you possibly can. Puuuullll! Haaarrrdd! Then get out your gun, aim, and fire. A lot of times.

It's not pretty, but it gets the job done. Add reinforcement staples where you think they're needed...one is not enough, for sure.

There ya go... a nice tight corner.

Four of them.

After its extreme makeover, the cushion fits back on the chair without any problems. With the screws, of course.

I also added two coats of fabric protector because something, some day, far away from now I hope...could be spilled on it.

And here's the fabric I had leftover, apparently a perfect hiding place for two little boys.

For more great Works for Me Wednesday tips, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Grown up kids in New York City

(And no, there's no statute of limitation on posting a recap of a trip. Especially a freaking awesome trip like the one I took to New York City in January.)

So my two sisters and my two nieces toured the streets of New York City for three whirlwind days. I get home and I'm flipping through hundreds of pics and I realized: I was a kid for three days. As in...child. As in...the fact that I didn't have to bring children was one reason this trip was so Freaking Awesome. So this was a little confusing to me.

And yet while we were there we couldn't stay out of the very places my kids would have loved. Enjoy!

The wall of M&Ms: Alex's favorite food in the world.

Toys R Us.

Ice skating at Rockefeller Center...my childhood dream. More on that in a future post!

The only thing that could warm us up after skating.

My niece fulfilling her candy fantasy at FAO Schwarz.

This dude was constructed entirely out of jelly beans, which apparently live forever.

The Magnolia Bakery...better known as the place where sweet chocolate clouds are made.

I guess we did do one thing decidedly NOT kid-friendly. "Chicago" isn't exactly a fairy tale...

The language of choosing a school

For the past several months Pete and I have been discerning where to send Mickey for kindergarten next year.

We live within one minute of the public school Mickey would attend. Nearly walking distance...if there were no streets involved. Pete went to public schools his whole life and he turned out fine (mostly).

Then there's the option of sending him (and ultimately Alex) to a private school. There are three or four very reputable Catholic schools within ten minutes of our house...any of which would provide a solid elementary education with the bonus of Catholic education. I went to a Catholic elementary school and I turned out just fine (mostly). Part of me feels like my kids deserve a Catholic education: after all, I've been Catholic all my life and we're very active in our current church. I even got them an extra parishioner when Pete converted! But alas, no one at the Vatican keeps score...so we'd still have to pay what amounts to an SUV payment each month. For one child.

And there's a third option: a public school with a language immersion program. True to the name, students are completely immersed in a learning language (you choose either Spanish or French) from Day One. All their core subjects are taught in the learning language. They learn to speak it and write it and understand it.

The kicker?

They don't focus on learning grammar, the ENGLISH kind, until mid-second grade.

The other kicker?

Pete and I don't speak Spanish. Or French. So helping with homework would be, shall we say, IMPOSSIBLE.

Still another kicker?

The school would like us to commit to sending our child there for six years, in order for him to get the entire benefit of the program.

That's a lot of kickers.

And it's the choice we're making for Mickey.

Okay, well, I should say it's the choice we're attempting to make. There's an application process...they open the school up to kindergartners from all over the district. I heard about 300 kids apply for roughly 160 spots.

Despite these seemingly unorthodox practices, Pete and I are convinced this type of school is worth the effort. We've spoken to several families and former students, and even teachers of former students, and their experiences seem to be nothing but positive. Some of the kids have gone on to learn third languages; at the very least they excel when they get to middle school and high school.

We've completed our application and we'll find out in March or April if Mickey is accepted. It's hard to imagine him coming home able to speak a different language than us...but I know if he goes through this program he'll be developing learning skills he'll use throughout his education.

So now the waiting begins, and if he isn't accepted we'll send him to the public school down the street. And I'm sure he'll turn out fine.

Period.

We all have our weaknesses

Everyone's got a weekly feature of some sort on their blogs. Except me. I'm starting "Wish I Had One of These" Tuesdays.

Behold, the first entry:

I believe choirs are singing...

Hop on over to 918moms.com for an update about Alex's bathroom issues. And knock some wood on your way over...

Things I realized I don't understand

Tomorrow we'll be out of school again for the ice storm (which was really ice, then a lot of sleet, then a nice layer of snow). The main roads in our city are clear, but the neighborhoods are still snow-packed so the clumsy school buses can't maneuver them. The boys' school, however, isn't really a school. It's a church with a Mother's Day Out program. Which brings me to my first wrinkled brow of the week:

Why should schools (or daycare providers or Mother's Day Out facilities) who don't operate bus routes close when the main roads are cuh-leeer?!

(Now here's where this post goes awry...prepare yourself.)

Why is this...thing...considered ham?


Why did everyone in my family eat it except for me?


Why do I bother to put clothes on my boys when we stay home?



Actually, there's nothing in this pic I don't understand...

Works for Me: put Post-It's in their place

This Works for Me Wednesday tip may seem trivial, but it has saved me some frustration and time.

To keep from fumbling through your junk or desk drawer for a pad of Post-It's, just remove the backing of the pad and stick the pad to the inside of the drawer. They're always within easy reach, and you don't have to waste time slogging through this:

(No comments about why I need three rolls of two-sided tape.)

For more great tips, visit Shannon at Works for Me Wednesday.

Pitter patter of little sleet

The freezing rain and ice from yesterday is now covered with a thick layer of sleet, and more sleet is rapping against my bedroom window as I write this. I'm hoping it'll keep coming so the boys will have a skating rink in the front yard like we did a couple of years ago. Pete loaded up Mickey in a plastic swimming pool and launched him across the yard like a hockey puck. Good times...

The good news is that our city is pretty much in the clear as far as power outages. I heard something about 100 households being without power and I'm rather surprised we're not one of them, given the mass of wires and crooked poles that still remain in our backyard from last year. I suppose there's a method to that madness.

Now on to Pajama Day at our house!

Ice: the silent killer

Sorry for that title; couldn't resist. I've been home most of the day and I couldn't see a drop of anything falling for hours, and yet the very fine mist was forming ice on the ground, trees...and on power lines. No where near a power outage yet but I got my "D" batteries last night just in case.

They have already canceled school for tomorrow; the boys will be disappointed for sure since it was supposed to be Pajama Day. Why in the heck couldn't this happen on Purple Day?! I believe I will tell them we'll have Pajama Day here at home. Maybe I'll even have craft time and story time, too. And nap time if I'm lucky.

Don't call me boring, folks

When it's midnight on Saturday and you have the computer to yourself, what better way to be entertained than to compare weather forecasts of the three TV stations in town.

Just so you don't have to bother yourself by visiting them all, I'll give it to you in a nutshell.

I C E (and freezing rain)

Now, how likely it is to happen is what the meteorologists (or lowly "forecasters" if you don't have the degree) disagree on:

TV station 1: 20, 80, 80
TV station 2: 90, 90, 60
TV station 3: 50, 70, 70

Translation: The above numbers are the percentages for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week, respectively.

Further translation: No one knows what's going to happy on Monday. School is cancelled on Tuesday. Start making a grocery list to replace refrigerator items on Wednesday.

Wow...sometimes my raucous Saturday nights surprise even me.

The art of potty training. Or not.

I posted today at 918moms.com about Alex's progress with potty training. Come on over...who wouldn't want to read all those details!

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins

Brooklyn

Takin' a breather here in Brooklyn at my niece's apartment...a roomy affair of about 1000 square feet. Roomy until you consider she has three roommates. Nonetheless, it's cozy and has sofas so Brit is my favorite niece right now.

What we're really doing is watching the movie Chicago, after having seen the real thing on Broadway last night. The real Broadway. Not like the one street you probably have in your hometown, unless that hometown happens to be in New York City.

I promise to write more details when I get home and get caught up on hugs and kisses from my three boys. Until then, suffice it to say I'm having an incredible time with two sisters and two nieces...and ten million or so New Yorkers.

Dork in New York

Last night as I was packing for NYC, I told Pete I might need to go buy a new SD card to hold more pics on my camera. It was late and I didn't want to go out just for that since it was so friggin' cold outside.

So the thought occurred to me to call my niece to ask her if there's someplace I can buy one when I get there.

In New York City.

Then I remembered they might have stores in the biggest city in the nation.

WW: when dad takes him for a haircut

You may remember I had quite a lot of angst about cutting Alex's hair, but I knew it needed a trim.

Apparently Pete and I have different ideas about what that means.

Before:



After:



It's growing on me. Slowly.

Thu-thu-thirrtttyyy-th-th-three

My teeth are already chattering. Next week I'm going to visit my niece who lives in New York City. The HIGH temp during the entire visit is 33. And that doesn't happen until the afternoon of the day we leave. Can you think of a more ideal time to vacation northward among skyscrapers than January?

In spite of that dismal forecast, I can't wait to get there! My sweet husband arranged the whole trip as a Christmas gift. I'm sure he thought it was slightly extravagant money-wise, but little does he know the bigger sacrifice is him going solo with the boys for three nights and four days. I don't think NYC has a souvenir in the whole city to match that effort...

I hope I'll be able to blog the experience while I'm there and maybe even post some pics. If I can move my frozen fingers.

10 things you shouldn't say to an OU Sooner fan today

It's a dismal day for the Home Team. Or shall I say, one very passionate Oklahoma Sooners fan who lives with us. And the sun is not out today either...Pete might say out of respect.

Anyway, in case you live or work with an OU fan, you might want to avoid a few statements like those below. At least until the sting wears off. Like next year or so. Or never.

1. (actually overheard as we watched the game with friends last night) "Now you know what it's like to be an OSU fan."

2. "So how many bowl games does that make that Coach Stoops has lost?"

3. "Maybe you can find another team to root for."

4. "Don't worry, they'll get 'em next year."

5. "Well, you think Texas should have been in the BCS Championship after all?"

6. "They may have lost but at least they got a free trip to the beach."

7. (After predicting the score would be 34-24 with OU winning) "Hey! I got Florida's score right!"

8. "Aren't you glad you didn't have any bets on that game..."

9. "Maybe next year they'll be a little more careful about who they choose as the Heisman Trophy winner."

...and finally, please don't say...

10. "...they're still the Big 12 champions and nothing can change that."

Feel free to add to the list in the comments...

Brace yourself before reading an ingredient statement

Ya'll, this is scary. The donuts that were bought (by another member of this household thankyouverymuch) the other day have three grams of sugar LESS than the high-fiber, low-fat oatmeal bars I've been eating in my quest to not each so much junk.

And on those so-called healthy bars, the second item in the ingredient statement is high-fructose corn syrup.

And high-fructose corn syrup made the list of Dr. Oz's five food ingredients to avoid. Nice.

I guess they have to get flavor from something with all that fiber and no fat in it.

And not to ruin anyone's lunch, but if you want to continue enjoying hot dogs, cut the nutrition label off the package and throw it away. Or you could accidentally see that 110 of the 130 calories in each dog is fat. And that the ingredient statement begins with "...mechanically separated..."

I suppose it's all about moderation. But truly, I'm finding that the bigger the claim on the package, the more you need to turn it over and read the true story in the ingredient statement.

(And maybe you can have donuts guilt-free!)

It's January, time to think about summer

Ahhh, I believe I'll read this post a few hundred times this month...

The rambling post

Yee-haw, everybody! It's 2009...how many of you have committed to a New Year's resolution? How many have thought about it? How many have thought about not thinking about it?

That last one would be me.

Why would I want to let a resolution get in the way of what I want to do? See, if I say "this is my resolution," then I will fail with more certainty than the OSU Cowboys needing another Kleenex.

But if I just look at it as: the holidays are over, now I can concentrate on all those things I want to do and now I have time to do them since the rest of winter is so boring.

There, that oughta do it.

Or, I can just keep on keepin' on. After all, life in 2008 was actually kinda good for the Home Team. I'm still chasing those fitness goals, however, and that will probably never change. Maybe I'll meet them, maybe not (in that case I'll just change them!).

Right now, I'm just happy we're getting ready to resume our usual schedules with school and what-not.

At least until mid-January when I get to go HERE to visit my niece!

See, told ya this post was a rambler...