Top Ten Life Stories

Mama Kat recently posted her top ten life stories and I just have to copy. I love a good story and these always seem to come up in conversation at the dinner table.

1. The time I practiced driving on the ranch with my dad and sister. It ended with my sister crying hysterically and begging to be let out because "she's going to kill us all!" (My sister's exact words.)

2. I made my sister cry one day and didn't want to get in trouble for it. To distract her, I tried to fart, knowing that would be hilarious to her. Instead, I pooped in my pants, something she found equally hilarious. I was nine, past the acceptable poop in the pants age.

3. I was driving with my mom and momentarily forgot I was driving her automatic truck. I made to switch gears, thinking I was in my stick shift and slammed on the emergency brake. The car came to an immediate halt and my mom screeched, "what are you doing??" She later told me she thought I was having a seizure.

4. Matt and I were practicing dance moves in my room when I was nineteen. He wanted to show me an advanced move where on three I would jump and he would catch me. He said, "one..." and I jumped, belly flopping on the floor.

5. While waiting for our wedding to start, a lady flashed her boobs to our guests. She was on a motor boat and the ceremony faced a lake. I would have punched her in the throat if given the chance but now I'm able to laugh about it.

6. When I was 20, my manager was able to convince me that the movie "Ray" revealed that Ray Charles was actually not blind at all. He told me that Ray was faking the entire time. I responded by saying, "That makes total sense! Who would let a blind man shave his own face?" I then regaled him with a story I saw on 20/20 where Ray Charles was shaving. I remember thinking someone was crazy for letting a blind man put a razor to his face.

I'm gullible.

7. I was sixteen working at Footlocker. A woman came up to me holding a child's shoe and asked, "are these for boys or girls?" I responded, "Oh, they're bisexual." So much for studying that ACT vocab.

8. A bee stung me between my two front teeth in high school after it crawled into my can of Dr. Pepper.

9. I got pecked in the forehead by an ostrich at a drive through zoo. It hurt. I still don't like birds to this day.

10. We were in Sears shopping for appliances after dinner at a Mexican restaurant one night. I discovered the treadmills and starting trying each one out. My stomach didn't like this and I puked all over the neighboring treadmill.

Wimpy

Oh the things we have been up to! I wish I could blog til my heart's content, but tonight, I'm feeling a little wimpy. You know the feeling; nauseous, heavy head, achy, feverish, stomach issues. Ew.

My little baby has been a perfect angel the past three days; he went on his first weekend adventure to his Nana and Poppy's house. (More on that later.) He has been teething like mad and finally a little pearly white has started to pop through his top gums. Poor guy; he is gnawing on everything, drooling like Cujo, nursing weird and fussing, fussing, fussing.

Example of the gnawing:


But I will have stories soon; stories that explain this:


And this:


There will be a blog post explaining this:


Not to mention this:


And this (yes, I have a thing for those chubby little legs.)



And on a final note, this baby decided a week and a half ago that swaddling was no longer his thing. He ditched the Miracle Blanket and never looked back.

There is nothing cuter than a baby in footie pajamas. Yes, I have stories. New sounds! A real, out loud laugh! Trying oh so hard to sit up!

But for now, I'm going to nibble crackers, sip 7up, melt into our new couch and maybe have hubs rub my feet.

News

School News: Hello, it's been awhile, I know, but between work, running and general upkeep of a life, time just seems to go by. All is well on the homefront, we are both just doing a countdown to April 28, the day of math TAKS, the state test. Both of our principals have poured the coal on us to get the scores way up. For my husband this is extremely stressful because the scores will determine whether or not his school stays open. He can do it, I know he can because he is a very good teacher. So dedicated. The math scores for my school will pretty much determine whether or not our school keeps its recognized status. It's possible I might not be blogging quite as much until April 28 passes. Until then, we'll keep our noses to the grindstone.

Good news: Husbandly and I will be spending a month in Colorado this summer, from June 18-July 17. For two weeks we'll be working at a precollegiate camp for high school kids who want a preview of college life. The other two weeks we'll rewind, reconnect with friends and hang out with Mama J and Daddy Mac. I am so looking forward to being back on CU campus. I miss that place.

Other news: we're getting ready to move. It looks like we'll be renting a few more months, then buying. We just want to make sure we love the part of the city we decide to move to, as it will be where we start our family. Today we're going to look at a cute townhome on the southside of town. It's kind of in the country in a new development. The only downfall is that it's a ways away from Matt's school. So, we'll see. All in all, we're just really excited to get out of the area we're in now. We are not fans of the north side of SATX.

Running news: I have had awesome runs this week. I am getting in really good shape and I can tell in the way my body is starting to change. I haven't gotten on the scale at all because I don't want numbers to discourage me from my ultimate goal. But, my body is looking a lot better and what's weird is that my stomach is getting a lot more defined. My leg muscles are naturally a lot more defined and they seem longer for some reason. Next week I'm going to start really pumping my runs up to six and seven miles daily. My long runs are going to start getting moved up to ten miles. Also, my dad bought me an awesome water belt complete with a pouch for keys, phone and Ipod. I am so excited to try it out. I hate when I get thirsty while I'm running and have nothing to drink. Husbandly thinks it's dorky, but really, the dorky thing is getting a few miles away from your house with nothing to hydrate with. So really, he's the dork. :) Also, one week until my first 5k race! Woo hoo.

Family news: my dad came into town this weekend and we had a really good time. We played Wii and he was pretty good. What's funny is when I play Wii tennis I always hop around the room swinging my arms like I'm really playing tennis, and that's exactly what he does. Ha. I know where I get it from. We just relaxed too and watched movies. Of course, the movie we watched last night I fell asleep on the floor. I can never stay up for movies.

Music news: It's weird, but I am obsessed with the singer Lady Gaga. I think she's hilarious with those getups she puts on and I really like to run to her music. She's just so different than what's been put out lately, so I dig her. I am also still loving of course, Ms. Taylor Swift. I can't stand Miley Cyrus nor Britney Spears (although I do pity her a tiny bit). As a teacher, I tend to like the teeny bopper stars that make good role models for my students, and Taylor Swift is someone I feel good about when it comes to the little girls in my room. Not so much the other two, and as far as Lady Gaga goes, well, I like her and really don't think my kids are going to hear too much from her on the Disney channel or Nickelodeon, so it's okay.

There you go. My boring, boring news. I hope to put something more exciting up next time, but I will end it with a picture:

My wonderful husband and I on top of the Hancock Observatory in Chicago. It was so cold that I had to buy gloves and I kept them on the majority of the trip and when I needed to take the picture, I took it off with my mouth and promply forgot it was in my mouth.

Spring Break!

We have had a fabulous spring break here in the cold midwest. Even though it might be cold outside, we have received so much warmth from our family, which has made the trip so awesome.

Chicago. I loved the city and had a great time. I am even more thankful that I got to experience it with my husband and his parents. We all had so much fun. I would say my favorite part of Chicago was the people watching and the eating. We never had a bad meal. I was taken aback at the amount of black worn by Chicagoans and the hurry that they always seemed to be in. I also loved watching the taping of "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me", a favorite NPR show of ours. It was hilarious. If you listen on Saturday you might be able to hear us laughing.

Ashley and Andre. If you want to meet two standup people, I will introduce you to these two. They are my brother and sister in-law and are both so fun to be around. We have watched them grow up into these really cool people who never cease to amaze us every time we see them. It has been so great to see them, they are two of my favorite people in the world.

Eating. I haven't been eating like a runner this week, I can say that much. But I have had some delicious food. Delicious. We ate at this precious place called "The Bongo Room" one morning for breakfast that was so cute. I had an omelette with spinach and chicken. I drank a TON of coffee which was awesome. We ate at Harry Caray's, the famous Cubs announcer's restaurant. I had a chicken vesuvio sandwich, also very good. I drank coffee there too. I have been splurging a lot this week, but it was a vacation and I know I will get back on the wagon once I get home. It was ALL worth it too.

Weather. Before we left for the midwest it was 80 in SATX and I thought, "I will welcome some nice, cold weather." Well, cold weather is just what I got. I would say the weather in Chi town bordered on bitter. Forget running outside. Forget about it. I didn't bring my cold weather running gear and I wasn't about to run without it. Too cold.

Running. I was able to run three times indoors at the YMCA here in Ankeny. I ran three and a half miles the first time and had to stop due to severe calf/shin pain. However, the second time I was able to complete four miles and it felt really good. No pain and I didn't even get tired throughout. Today I ran another four miles and it was a little tiring. I think it was because I skipped three days running and my eating wasn't that great. I got through the four miles though and that was good. I can really tell I'm getting better at running long distances, in my head and in my body. My heart is really good at beating, my lungs are really good at inflating and my legs just keep on kicking. When we get home I'll be ready for longer distances and more speed work.

Basketball. One of my favorite parts of this trip is that every time we have gone to the gym, MGK and I have played basketball afterward. It has been a lot of fun spending time with him like that, chatting and shooting around. I also have to say that shooting with him made me remember how much I enjoyed playing basketball. Mostly though, it was fun to play basketball with my husband. When we buy our house, a hoop will be going in on the driveway for sure.

That's all for now. I hope all of you have had an equally fabulous week, even if you didn't spend it jetsetting around the midwest.

Such as...

Today's post will be a little collection of things I've been saving up.

For starters, the running is going well. Yesterday I rested and the day before I got in a full four miles in under 45 minutes. Yay, my speed is increasing. Today I ran as well but I was at my mom's house and only got a mile in because I really just wanted to hang out with her. (I don't think the little voice got to me, I just don't see my mom that often.)

Secondly, spring break (eyes up here, Michael) is next week and tomorrow MGK and I are heading to Iowa to see his family. I am SO excited. From there we're all going to Chicago, so it's going to be a lot of fun. I totally dislike flying but I'm just going to suck it up and do it because it's spring break and we need to get out of town for a bit.

Next, how great is that Taylor Swift? I just love her CD and have it on constantly in the car. She's precious and very fun to listen to whilst running.

Also, today is "My Husband Rocks" Friday, so I must brag on my wonderful husband for a bit. MGK rocks because he leaves me little notes. We found out a couple of months ago that our front door is magnetic, so we stuck a magnet up there and leave each other notes in the morning. He writes sweet things, funny things, reminders, encouragement and puts it on the door for me to find in the mornings. He's just the greatest.

Lastly, for any of you reading out there: my husband and I need a team to run in the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay in Corpus Christi on May 16. There are 6 people on a team and you only have to run 4.4 miles. If you are interested, let us know...it will be a lot of fun.

There you have it. All the news that's fit to print.

Hilarious

I can't help but post this. Below you will find a little boy fighting the effects of dental surgury anesthetic. He's so adorable. My husband was outraged when he saw this: "why isn't anyone back there comforting that child? He doesn't know what's happening!" Aw, he's going to be such a good dad. I'll be the mean one up front with the camera telling him not to touch his mouth. My favorite part is when he says, "Is this real life?"

Mongoose and Mii

When you get a Wii, you get to create a personalized avatar, called a Mii. That's the first thing I did when we got the system started up, I created my Mii. Her name is Mongoose. Now, the reason I named her Mongoose is because when I was working at OTB all those years, I was called Mongoose by a few other servers. Here's why: one time I caught a tray with chips and drinks that was for sure going to fall to the ground, but with my mongoose like reflexes I caught the tray in time and all was saved. One of my other fellow servers said, "you have cat-like reflexes!" I thought that over for awhile and that just wasn't good enough. I thought back to my childhood days of Rudyard Kipling and "Rikki Tikki Tavi," the classic tale of a boy in India who is saved from cobras by an adorable mongoose (who actually are really ugly in real life). Kipling will be read in my household when I have children, but I digress. Anyway, I said, "no, not catlike reflexes, mongoose like reflexes. They're kind of like cats but they can kill cobras." Everyone thought that was funny and it stuck. Ah, to be a server again (not that I would ever want to, actually). Now, this was about three years ago, and who's to say I still have those tray catching reflexes, but long story short, my Mii is named Mongoose.
I also got to choose Mongoose's outfit, hairdo, and facial components. She always wears purple, and her hair has got a sassy little side pony tail, something I wore a lot at the age of 7. She sports oversized sunglasses, just like me, and she has a mole on her cheek (a beauty mark, really). Now, I created Mongoose and she was so cute and then I had to step onto the Wii so we could get her weight. Something horrible happened after that: she grew sideways right before my very eyes and got a sad face going while the Wii said to me, "that's overweight." But, everyday she's been getting a little smaller, same as me. So we'll see how that goes.
One thing I don't like about her is when she does some of the balance games. For example, there's a game where you have to balance your Mii in a bubble and keep her from hitting the walls and keep her from getting stung by bees. I have all of this all under control, as I make very tiny, balanced movements on the fit board to keep her from popping her bubble. But Mongoose has a skittish side that I don't have: she starts acting a fool and panicking every time I even think about getting close to the edge. I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!! She just hasn't developed that level of trust yet, I guess. But what I don't understand is that when a bee comes and gets ready to pop her bubble, she acts like she has no idea what's going on, and this is when I start to panic because I know what the bee is about to do. He's about to pop that bubble and all will be lost. Oh well. We still manage to have fun together. One game I can sympathize with her is the tightrope balance game. Every time I even get a little off balance she starts flapping her arms and drops of sweat are running off of her. I can understand that, the building is high and I can't even see the ground. Maybe that's why she doesn't trust me yet, because she's fallen a lot. I'm not very good at the tightrope game.
So, Mongoose and I are having a good time. She needs to loosen up a little, and I need to improve my balance. We'll see how things go.

Things I'm Good At

We got a Wii for Christmas. We knew it was coming, Daddy Mac is no good at keeping secrets so Mama J thought it would be best just to tell us what was coming. MGK and I made all sorts of plans for it; mine chiefly being that we get a Wii Fit. They arrived Friday, Wii in hand, and we went out to purchase our Fit. We got home with the Fit and I was just aching to try it. We get it set up and plugged in, and I begin to work on it. The first thing it does is create a profile for you and determine your strengths and weaknesses. It also determines your Wii Fit Age. It combines your age, weight and BMI, as well as the scores to the balance tests to decide how old you really are. I don't think it means to insult you, in fact I think its intentions are pure, but, it offends. My Wii age is...33. Yikes. I'm a lass of a mere 26 years. Something's got to be done. Also, it gives you your strengths, like what you're good at, physically. I am good at breathing and standing. I am not good at standing still, and my posture favors the right, slightly. When you step on the fit, for those of you that have it, don't you find it a little annoying that it shudders? The little noise it makes, that "whoaaa" sound, like it might snap in two at any moment.
We have not started out on the best of terms, but things will improve, I know it will. It needs to quit shuddering when I step on it, and I need to stand still better. I will also defeat every single one of those balance games. My personal favorite is the girl in the bubble. She's supposed to be Mii, but I would never act like that if I were trapped in a bubble and about to drown. She panics way too easily. So, she's Mii, but not in all aspects. I'll write more about her later.
Wii wish you could come over and play Wii with us. It's a lot of fun, and who would have thought that all the sports I'm terrible at (bowling, golf and tennis), I'm really good at in Wii land?
It's a Christmas miracle.