The Answer is Right in Front of Me

Yes, the answer is right in front of me. In this very blog. Last night I went back and read the previous 2 entries. And right there, in order none the less, was my answer. My twenties were a golden moment. I can't stay there forever or I will ruin it. I will trudge forward and look back on my twenties and be proud of all that I have accomplished. I can only imagine what the 30s have in store for me. More children? Who knows. More wisdom? Yes! I was smarter yesterday for sure. Let me share a math problem with you....



Given: log (base 8) 10 = P, log (base 8) 12 = Q, and log (base 8) 11 = R
Find: log (base 8) 5/256.



Sounds greek doesn't it? But I solved it yesterday and I'm positive that I would not have been able to solve such a problem in my twenties. Then again, I never tried the problem in my twenties either, but that's not the point. Anyway the answer to this problem is P - 3.



My feelings have not changed overnight. I am still mourning the loss of my twenties. And no funeral would be complete without flowers:

A friend at work gave these to me and the card of course said something along the lines of happy birthday, but for this post we are going to pretent the card read, "Sorry about the loss of your twenties. I know that the two of you were close."

Goodbye Twenties! It was great while it lasted. I will always remember you!

20-Something

I have thought about not posting this as I don't want the 'happy birthday' comments or people telling me that I'm not old, blah, blah, blah...but I do feel the need to get something off of my chest. I usually like to write things down and then return later to determine if that's how I really feel. I'm not going to do it this time. I am going to be risky and post before I've had a chance to come to my senses.

Today is the last day that I will be in my twenties.....EVER. I will never be twenty-something after today. Tomorrow I begin the thirty-somethings...and yes, I'll admit it....I'm upset. I didn't think I would be, but when I came home from work today there was a card waiting for me in the mail. HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY! I started crying.

I know, I know, I KNOW:

It's only a number.

You are as young as you feel.

With age comes wisdom.

And the million other saying I can't think of right now.


There is nothing wrong with being in my thirties...I just liked being in my twenties. I graduated college in my twenties, I bought my first house in my twenties, I got my career in my twenties, I got married in my twenties, I had children in my twenties. These are all HUGE things. Why would anyone want to leave their twenties?

Golden Moments

Did you ever hear that saying about golden moments? I don't remember exactly how it goes but it's along the line of people get upset because they let golden moments slip by, but some moments are golden because we let them slip by.

I understand now. I love the fireman's banquet. I haven't been to one in about 8 years, back when I was 21 and it was so much fun. I actually won the limbo one year. Yup, but I can only be that flexible when I've ingested alcohol. It has been bothering me that I haven't been to one in almost a decade and I'm married to a fireman for Pete's sake. So, this year he broke down and bought tickets for us.

I bought a new dress, we found a baby-sitter for Jared, and we were off. Yippee!!

After the meal the DJ turned up the music and yelling to the person 2 feet from you was necessary. Now, you would think that a bunch of drunk fireman would result in a lot of fun. I suppose it could, but it mostly involves them standing in a circle around a keg of beer laughing about old times - not dancing and making fools of themselves. Except for one, but that's a story for another time.

So, as my husband and I are sitting at the table we yell this conversation back and forth:

Me - DAN!

Dan - WHAT?

Me - WE CAN DO THIS AT HOME AND HEAR EACH OTHER!

Dan - YOU'RE RIGHT!

Me - IT'S STARTING TO GET LATE TOO!

Dan - I KNOW. IT'S ALMOST 10:00!

Me - PLUS WE COULD GO HOME AND PLAY SORRY!

Dan - OKAY! LET'S GO!


I want to comment on a few things....yes 10:00 is late for us. I am usually asleep at 9:00 if not earlier and you always have to wake up early when there is a toddler in the house. Sorry? I love that game. Nothing makes me happier than to send one of my husband's pieces back home. *evil laugh* hahahahahaha.

My husband and I leave the fire hall, get into the truck, and look at the clock. HAHAHA it's not even 9:00. They never changed the clocks at the hall. How old does this sound? We left because the music was too loud and it was getting late at 9:00.

I learned my lesson...not that the banquet was terrible, it just wasn't golden this time. Had I let it go (and listened to my husband) the banquet would have always been a golden moment for me.

Every Monday Matters #2 (EMM)

As you know, this past week's challenge was to turn off the TV. Well, my schedule wasn't interrupted too much. I rarely watch TV and when I do, I like to watch the food network or home and garden. But, I do enjoy a good episode of Spongebob with Jared.

I was able to get my husband to participate some of the evenings. We played trains with Jared, or if he'd let us we played Sorry.

I also tried to work on the things that I wanted to improve on from the first week of EMM. I slightly improved my exercise percentage. There's nothing I can do about work right now other than increase my retirement contributions (I will do that today!). I did socialize with friends more. I did notice that my percentage of housework is low...and you are all going to be jealous of this one...



My husband is a huge help around the house. I don't know if help is the right word. It's more like I help him. This man is not afraid of laundry, or dirty dishes, or scrubbing toilets, or vacuums, or even cooking. I love this man. Did you ever see that book Porn for Women? If not you need to google that and take a look....that sums up my husband.

Oh, and let's not forget this week's challenge for Every Monday Matters:
Have AMBER alerts sent to you. I will do my homework and see what that takes and I will let you know.

Meatball Soup

Here is another one of my husband's favorites. And so easy to make...throw it all into a pot and heat it up. How much easier can it get? I usually have all the ingredients on hand too, so that's a plus.

1 cup uncooked pasta (shells are nice)
32 frozen italian meatballs (if you are wondering, yes, I do count them out)
2 cans of chicken broth (14.5 oz each)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 bag of frozen soup vegetables
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 jar spaghetti sauce

Put everything in a pot and boil until noodles are done!

What have I done?

I am totally stealing this idea from Learning to be a Wife. Feel free to steal it from me. Below is a list of things and I have bolded the ones that I have completed. Then you can copy the list from me and paste it into your blog and bold the ones you have done. Here we go...

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn't care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theatre
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class (if Billy Blanks counts)
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on a television news program as an "expert"
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark8
8. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (I'm in the process)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Ah...Life with a 3-year-old

You've heard of the terrible twos? Well, every mother that I've talked to had a worse time with the terrible threes that the twos. My family included.

Every morning I wake up at 5:30 and leave for work at 6:30. My husband wakes up around 7:00 and leaves with Jared around 8:00. I don't help to get Jared ready as no one else is willing to wake up when I do to receive my help. Anyway, yesterday Dan was attempting to get Jared ready for the day, but Jared would have no part of it. I've only had the pleasure to get Jared ready in the morning a few times, and I know that when he resists you the whole time, it really sets the tone for the day. It sucks!
At dinner yesterday I decided to go over the morning routine with Jared. Just to have him verbally go through our expectations.

Me - Jared, what is the first thing that you do when you wake up in the morning?

Jared - I pee potty.

Me - Good. Now, what do you do right after you pee potty?

Jared - I give Daddy a hard time. (With a serious look on his face).

Me - Noooo.... you get dressed.

Jared - Oh, I get dressed. That's right.

Me - What do you do after you get dressed?

Jared - I sit in time out. (With a serious look on him face).

Me - Noooo...you brush your teeth.

Jared - Oh, I brush my teeth. That's right.


Can you believe this child?




The other day Jared was not listening (again :-/) and Dan called him over and pointed to spot right in front of him. Jared looks over and says......

What......is.........the PROBLEM.

I lost it. I think my husband's head exploded.

Socks!

Here is a photo of the scarf (yes, that's a scarf) that I was working on. But, I ran out of yarn. So, I went back to the store and it's all sold out, I keep checking...it never comes back. I check online, it's not there. Sigh. I only had one more row to go to finish this little project and could not find the right yarn. So, I improvised and used yellow to finish. You can see it pretty clearly in this picture.

My mom being my mom went out and bought yard for me that she believed was the correct color. It wasn't, but that's how awesome my mom is.
So, I asked her "What should I make for you from this yarn?"
"Socks!"





I went to my favorite knitting website. Lion Brand Yarn. And found a pattern for a pair like this. Although my colors are much nicer.

Here is my progress so far. I have never made a pair of socks before. My mom will love that she is getting my first pair of socks ever!

Every Monday Matters #1

Did you ever hear of Every Monday Matters? No? Well, check it out here. The book picks Monday because it is usually the worse day of the week. It is for me anyway. But, it jumped out of bed this morning on time so that I could write this entry.

Here's the idea:

Do something every Monday to make the world, your world, a better place. The book starts the first Monday off making your world a better place. The first week's challenge is to determine what matter most to you and then find time to make it happen.

Steps:

1) Write a list of what matters most to you.

2) Write down your list of weekly activities and determine what activities are required and which ones are a complete waste of time.

3) Rearrange your schedule.

What matters most to me:

1) My Family

2) My Health

3) My Job

4) My Finances

5) My hobbies (reading, knitting, sewing, scrapbooking,and of course blogging)

So, for almost one week I kept track of all the activities that I did and determined the percentage of time that I am involved in said activities.

Sleep - 36% (I sleep a lot)

Work - 32% This percent would normally be higher, but we had an early dismissal and a two hour delay last week.

Family - 21%

Hobbies - 4%

Housework - 3%

Part time job - 3%

Exercise - 1%

These results were a rude awakening. Do I really only exercise 1% of the time? Really? Okay, I see a need for change there. Also, it bothers me that I spend more time at my job than I do with my family. Why is that? Which is more important? My job is important to me, but not more important than my family. I noticed that socializing with friends isn't even on the list.

The challenge for week #2 is to turn off the TV. Or if you are unable to do this watch educational programs such as the history channel, or the food network, maybe I should watch FitTV. The book suggests making a list of things that you could do instead of watching TV. I will let you know the results of my week without TV in one week.

Beer & Bean Burritos

Yummy!! This is a great meal for a few reasons.

1- It contains beer. This is a favorite of mine especially when I was pregnant. The one thing I use to crave when pregnant was beer. Oh, the smell would do me in and I would have to cook with it then.

2- It's vegetarian. So, when I cook this for people (if I ever cook it for people) I don't have to worry if their vegetarian.

3- My husband loves it. One of the best feeling I get is when my husband complements my cooking. When we first started dating I didn't even know how to make macaroni and cheese from a box. Seriously, I know there are directions but I couldn't believe that a tablespoon of milk was even necessary.

Here's the recipe:

Gather these items:
Tortilla Shells - I like the cheddar jalapeno ones.
1 can of black beans
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of corn
red pepper flakes
1 bottle of beer (corona works well, but any one will do)

Drain and rinse your beans and put into a skillet with a little bit of beer. Mash the beans with a fork. Do this for about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, corn, red pepper flakes, and a little less than half of a bottle of beer. Drink the rest of the beer, unless you are pregnant.
Increase heat to boiling for about 10-15 minutes. You want to let this boil until the mixture is not so watery, you want it to have a paste-like texture.
Spoon onto tortilla shells and wrap like a burrito.

Now, what do you do if there are leftovers? Well, eat them with tortilla chips the next day. I would have taken a picture of this recipe for you but it was all gone before I could find the camera. Enjoy!

Trick OR Treat

As you know my son was the Incredible Hulk this year for Trick or Treat. For the past two years we've been having this certain problem with him. He doesn't seem to get the hang of going for candy. For those of you who know that children hate to leave anywhere, that is my son to a tee. If he's at home he doesn't want to leave. When it's time to go back home, he doesn't want to do that either. If his skin would turn green and be able to tear off his shirt just by flexing his muscles, I'm sure he would. He is certainly incredible.

You can imagine our frustration last year when trying to take him trick-or-treating and everytime we went to a house he cried that he didn't want to go to the next. I don't know how thing work where you live but in my town, we go trick-or-treating for 2 hours. Jared did not catch on to the idea that he was getting candy until about an hour and a half into it. ARGH! That was last year. This year he caught on after one house. Sort of.

The first house was my mother-in-laws, Nana. Jared cried that he did not want to leave Nana's house. We even told him the truth, 'If we leave, we'll give you candy!' That's not a bribe, is it? The poor child, even though we're going through town getting candy, he still insisted that he wanted to go back to Nana's for her candy.

Maybe next year :-/

Blanket Huts

My colleague, Mary, and I dubbed yesterday the Best Day Ever!! Out of the blue we received an early dismissal from school. I took advantage of this extra time and immediately called my husband...


I met my husband for lunch at our favorite little pizza shop. I miss having lunch with my husband during the school year. During the summer he comes home for lunch practically everyday, unless he's working out of town. Yesterday was certainly a treat for me.



After lunch I picked up my son up from my mother-in-law's house. For all you wondering why we didn't take Jared to lunch with us, it's because he already ate. Anyway, I picked him up and we went home to make this...








That, my friends, in my living room. We made a blanket hut...we pulled in all of the dining room chairs, I found every blanket in the house and we (meaning me) made this hut. Yes, that is his head poking out of the top to watch TV. I actually fell asleep while in said hut and woke up to a little boy's giggle...you know, the giggle where they think they are getting away with something. My eyes popped open and there through the blankets I can see that Jared is about to walk on top of the hut! No one was hurt in the making or use of this hut. Everyone is fine.

I love when I am gifted a few extra hours with my family. Yes, I love a good snow day to sleep in and not have to go to work, but mostly I love to be with them.

Self-Defense

A group of women at my school pulled together to take a self-defense class. Very interesting. Some of the things were a little scary when you think about it. One thing the instructor kept saying was, "And this is the thing that will change your life." Meaning when a person approaches you in an unfriendly manner. Then I started looking around the room and wondered, why aren't ALL of the women here. Come on, it's $50 for the knowledge to save your life. Why would you not be there? I know that you all can't be there, so I will try to teach you what I can.

How to get out of a one arm hold:
If someone is holding your wrist with the opposite hand, for instance they are holding your right wrist with their left hand. Twist your wrist to the right and you will be free. I know you don't believe me, I did not believe my instructor either. But then I tried it with my partner and I was able to break away from her. Then I thought that maybe it was because she is a woman. So, I came home and tried it with my husband and I broke free from him. Yes, my husband!! My husband is no wimp.
This also works if they are holding your left wrist with their right hand. In this case you will need to twist your hand to the left. Always twist it out.

If you are being held with two hand (your one wrist is being held by both of their hands): Interlace your fingers together and pull back as hard as you can (don't hit yourself in the face). You would also do this if they are holding your wrist with the same hand and you can't twist away.

Your homework assignment:
Try both of these with a partner, preferably someone stronger, and see if you can get out of it. Let me know the results.

This is my Dad...

This is my Dad. In this picture he is wearing his new hat. Wish you had one don't you? Growing up I thought that my dad was the funniest man in the world. I use to argue with my friends about whose dad was funnier. My dad is quick to laugh and make a joke. He taught me what a great sense of humor is.


Now, I am unable to write all the funny stories about my dad as they would make a book. I will give you two high school stories.

The wig story:
One day when my dad was in high school he decided that he was going to wear a wig to class. He put the wig on before the teacher can into the room. Now, this wig had long hair and of course made my dad look like a girl. He sat at his desk looking down so the 'hair' would hide his face. When the teacher came into the room she asked the 'new girl' to introduce herself. My dad started laughing silently and of course it looked like the new girl was crying. The teacher came over to the desk and told her that it was okay, she should introduce herself to the class. I'm not sure what happened when my dad finally took the wig off, but I can only imagine what the teacher's thoughts were.

Graduation:
My dad was in danger of not graduating high school. He was called into the principal's office during the spring of his senior year and was informed that if he missed any more days of school we would not graduate. My grandfather passed away when my dad was 16, and my grandmother always told her boys (5 boys that is) that it was their dad's wish that all of them graduate high school. Well, my dad being my dad skipped the next three days. I suppose they decided to graduate him anyway as he was the youngest of the 5 brothers and they would not have to deal with him anymore. Can you believe that he now works in that very school? Who would have thought?