Who Needs Cable???

A few days ago we did the deed I've been threatening to do......

We turned off the cable!

I know.  I am addicted to TV so how could I do this?  Because we still have the Internet, baby! 

So because of this, we can watch (most of) our prime time shows online.  And we got this little thing I like to call......

Netflix!

Oh, it's a beautiful thing.  We've got movies at our fingertips.  Seasons of television shows at the command of our remote.  And it really helps that we can stream all of these things directly from our PS-3 to our TV.  I've come to learn two significant things.

1)  There are lots of movies that are labeled "Romantic Comedies" that are all about infidelity.  Personally, I find cheating to be NOT romantic and NOT comedic.  And there are a lot of movies that use it as their premise.  Sad.  Sad, sad, sad.  I just don't get it.  I don't identify with the storylines and they don't make me laugh.  You'd think it would be funny to see Meg Ryan duct tape her husband to the toilet until he realized he really loves her and not his girlfriend.  Sounds funny, but the movie sucked.  Sad!

2)  I love crime stories.  I read Nancy Drew religiously growing up.  My favorite crime shows to watch on TV consisted of Blue Bloods, CSI: Miami, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, NCIS and Law and Order: SVU.  But very few of these shows can be streamed from Netflix.  So, we've begun to branch out and watch new things.  I've discovered the show Psych.

It's been around for about four seasons now, and it's great.  I'm not sure how I missed it before.  It's got kooky characters and silly jokes, but I'm really loving it.  The cases are fairly easy to figure out, but they're written to be.  It's really a great show and I highly recommend watching it from the first season.  Granted, we're only up to the second episode of the second season, but it's been a good one.

So, so far I'm okay with our decision to get rid of the cable.  We've had to make some trades.  Psych for Criminal Minds and The Backyardigans for Curious George.  But Millie seems okay with the new discovery of Tasha, Tyrone, Uniqua, Pablo, and Austin.  In fact, she will bring me the remote after an episode has ended so I can get a new one to start for her.  She's cute.

Bingo Night's Top Ten List

Tonight the kids and I attended the school Bingo Night.  It was good and fun for many reasons.

So here is tonight's Top Ten List.....

Top Ten Reasons Bingo Night Was Fun

10.  We ordered yearbooks.  I don't know exactly when yearbooks became the norm for elementary schools, but I think it's pretty genius.  Not only do we get to see pictures of events from throughout the year, but I don't have to buy class photos (that only cost $5 less than the yearbook) because the yearbook will keep the photo in a bound book for us.  One less picture I have to put into storage and feel guilty for not scrapping.

9.  We contributed to the PTO and Student Council funds.  Both benefit our kids and if I can't leave Millie behind to volunteer in the classroom or events like this one, at least we can do our part to participate in other ways.

8.  Millie got to play with other little kids.  There were several kids around Millie's age that were all running around in the same somewhat contained area.  Luckily, it was right next to our table so I could let her go and not have to hold her on my lap against her will.  She had fun and I was glad to see her happy.  One little kid (about 6 months younger than Millie) fell down and Millie went to him, bent down and asked him, "You 'kay?"  So cute.

7.  Pizza dinner.  And no dishes.  This one might actually need to be higher up on the list.  No dishes is a happy-dance situation.

6.  We prepaid for our dinner (to get the better value) and were supposed to get a mere 6 bingo cards.  But we didn't.  We got 18 instead.  That's right.  We got to play lots of bingo for one low price.

5.  We got there early enough to get a decent parking spot, minimal waiting in line for our pizza and drinks, and a good table at which to sit.  I love beating the crowds. 

4.  Abby was very disappointed when she didn't win any of the bingo games tonight.  A friend of hers was on a lucky, lucky streak and shared one of the three or four prizes that he and his dad won.  I thought it was so very nice of him to share with Abby.

3.  Matt's prize.  The last game was a game of blackout where we used all of our remaining cards -- we were running out of time and had only been able to play one card at a time.  I promised Matt that if I won on any of my cards (I was playing 7 of them) I'd let him pick the prize.  He had his eye on this little pop up play tent with Lightning McQueen on it.  And guess what.  One of my seven cards was, indeed, a winner.  And my little boy got to pick the prize he had been eyeing since the beginning of the party.

2.  Indian Radio Days.  One of the plays I did at ASC was about Native American issues.  It was a bunch of sketches that supposedly played on the radio.  I played several different characters, each with a different flare.  The one from Minnesota had a wonderful accent (a good movie to see for a reference is New In Town with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr.).  And all throughout the play different actors took their turn playing bingo and speaking to the audience about different Native American issues.  I chose the issue of a newly opened Native American museum.  I was afraid it might be boring, but my character was based on the Saturday Night Live character "Drunk Girl."  Yes, my character slurred her speech, repeated herself with the phrase, "Do you want to know what?", fell off her stool in her drunken stupor, and dotted her arm with the bingo marker.  Classy.  But I cannot play bingo without missing her just a little bit.

1.  Emma.  My favorite part about tonight was watching Emma in action.  Emma didn't win the election for Student Body President, but she was appointed as the Sergeant at Arms for Student Council.  At the first council meeting Emma suggested they have a bake sale.  So part of the activity tonight was the Student Council's Bake Sale.  Emma was ecstatic and took her responsibilities very seriously.  Or as seriously as a 4th-grade-girl can.  She did great.  The sale was a success.  I'm very proud of her.

Side Effects May Include......

I have been sick lately.  I don't really know how it happened.  It's been so long since I've been knocked down like this.  It's as if my whole body has been sucking energy from wherever it can get it.  And unfortunately, my brain has experienced the most suckage.

Sometimes, when I write, I try to write something along the lines of clever.  Something I hope might make people chuckle.  And a couple days ago I thought I had come up with a hilarious idea about psychology and a cold.  All I'll say is it had something to do with the term psychosomatic, Freud's model of the psyche (id, ego, superego), and Pavlov's dogs. 

Seriously, I was laughing at myself for being so incredibly clever.

However, now that the fog in my head has begun to clear, I can now tell you how glad I am that I did not actually write what I thought was so clever.  If I had, I would have deserved this:



I really hope I'm back to 100% soon!

The Homework Nazi

Homework at our house has been gradually dragging out more and more everyday.

Yesterday it took Matt 3 hours to do a single math worksheet and a sheet he used to write 15 spelling words three times each.  That was way too long, in my opinion.

So Josh and I talked it over and decided that snack time must be significantly reduced since the kids have somehow managed to turn it into an hour long ritual.  And now it's time to pull my inner-TV-addicted self for inspiration.



You may now refer to me as the Homework Nazi.  I'm not sure how many times today I yelled, "No fun for you!!"  But homework is now being down as a group around the kitchen table with me consistently watching over everyone.  It was quicker today by at least an hour. 

So, add another title to my resume.

Cacti and Rocks

My BIL invited the kids and me to go out for a little hike and picnic today.  We went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which is just up the mountain from us.  It's a pretty cool place.  It has plant life from all across the world: native AZ, South Africa, Australia, Asia, etc. 

As we made our way around one of the loops through the park, I found it difficult not to notice the many, many different kinds of cacti growing along the trail.  Especially since I was trying to herd the two 2-year-olds away from the cacti.

I grew up surrounded by big shade trees: oak, aspen, and even pecan.  I love crunching through the leaves in the fall (as long as I'm not the one responsible to rake them).  I love watching rolling fields of green anything -- hay, corn, wheat.  Springtime along Ute Pass, near Pikes Peak, is incredibly green and one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

And so it surprised me how much I respected and enjoyed the mystery of the cacti today.

Photo by Jabon Eagar



These plants, though not the usual leafy green foliage I generally enjoy, are growing completely out of the rock.  There's no nutrient-rich soil.  There's no thirst-quenching rain. 

But these flora are survivors.  They grow and, somehow, thrive for years.  Like, generations. 

There are two ways to see this:

1)  The cacti live and survive in such harsh and foreboding circumstances because they are fierce.  They do what it takes to protect themselves, including growing spiny and prickly needles.  They are hard.  They have to be to survive.  They are not everyone's ideal landscape because not everyone thinks they are beautiful.

Or

2)  They may not be the prettiest things to see, but their existence is miraculous.  Popping up in the middle of rocks and sand and flourishing is nothing short of admirable.  They've fought to be there and they want to live.  No amount of trials and tribulations will stop them.  They rally their spirits with the chorus of Survivor by Destiny's Child. 

I like Option 2.  It's a lot more likable and identifiable.

Here are some other shots from our day:



Millie and her cousin Ashton.  He came to help her catch up with the group.




There was a stage in the picnic area.  Stage = heck of a good time!




Bumps on the log.... Emma, Matt, Brett, Abby, Cody




The girls were Rock Models.  As Rock Models, they show off rocks.  I told them they rock.

Millie Marie

I found this old post and realized it never published.  I think I couldn't get the video to upload.  Maybe I don't know.  But the pictures are cute, so I thought I'd share.

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I need to clear some space off my memory card in preparation for Halloween and the Trunk or Treat at church tomorrow evening.

Here are some candids of our Millie Marie.

I know they are bad shots.  You have no idea how hard it is to get this girl to hold still!

Millie wore a cute little piggie to church last Sunday.  She actually pulled the bow off before we got out the door and into the van, but the piggie itself stayed until about 20 minutes after the meetings.  Amazing.

And if you need a live action of this little girl, just watch this.  She's pretty calm in this because she's sleepy.  At the zoo last week I asked her if she wanted to sit back in her stroller since she had been walking a lot.  She would hold her hand out to the stroller, nearly double in half as she yelled to me, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!"

And never mind that it's cut off at the end.  My memory card ran out of space.  Such is life, right?

Larynx vs Larnyx

This morning I stopped by the kids' school to watch the school Spelling Bee.  Emma was a contender.  If Abby hadn't been sick, she would've been too, but she had to stay home.

Anyway, I got there and poor Emma, who struggles with spelling in the first place, was given the word

Preferable

She asked for the word in a sentence and proceeded to spell.  Unfortunately, the bell dinged for her and she had to sit in the audience because she didn't get it right.

Ah, the memories!!

I was in the school Spelling Bee in 5th grade.  I won our class spelling bee and when the top few of us reported for the school's bee, one boy in my class came up to me and told me that HE was going to kick my behind when HE won.  Since he was a big jerk, I silently rooted against him.  Hey, not only was I 11, but he was always mean to me (one of the kids that called me names because of my birthmark).  I tried not to smirk when he misspelled one of his words.  (I still smirk at the memory.)

I spelled a few words right but then I got the word "Larynx".  The presenter said the word and I repeated it.  She said to me, "No.  Larynx."  I repeated it again and again she told me that I pronounced it incorrectly.  So then I tried to pronounce it larnyx.  Again, I was told I said it wrong.  What the heck?  I was pretty sure I knew how to spell it, but all this argument was confusing me.

Needless to say, I spelled the stupid word wrong.  Every so often I have the tendency to drawl words.  Maybe I did it that day and that's why the lady was convinced that I was saying the word wrong.  But seriously!  How many ways are there to say it???

So, my hopes of winning the school Spelling Bee were crushed.  And so were Emma's.  I did find it funny, however, when she smirked when she told me that Landon (the "smartest" boy in her class) got third place instead of first. 

Like mother, like daughter.

Running the Extra Mile

I've had a rough few days.  So to find some humor in my frustrations is a good sign, I think.  Maybe I'm not as stressed out today, which is a good thing.

I began running again last week.  It was good to do.  I've run with Millie a few times and by myself a few times.  I love how good I feel afterward.  In fact, I've been feeling so good afterward that I went for more of a challenge today.

I've been running two miles over the last week and a half.  But it hasn't been quite enough to really push me.  Plus, I don't have music on my mp-3 that coordinates with a 23 minute run.  It's all on there from the end of my Couch to 5k program and set up for 35 to 45 minute runs.  Problem is, my favorite songs are the last songs on my playlists and I keep missing them because I finish my run before I reach that point in my playlist.

Today I thought I'd challenge myself with running 3 miles and playing my 5k playlist.  I knew my favorite song would be the last song I'd hear while running and then some of my other favorite songs as I walked the remainder of the way home.

I was nearly done with my running and the song before my favorite came on.  I was so excited because it's been so long since I've run to my favorite song.  The last chord played and I prepared myself to straighten my shoulders as my favorite gave me that last bit of umph I needed to finish my 3 miles....... Silence.

I haven't charged my mp-3 player since before Thanksgiving.  And it died. 

I still haven't run to my favorite song.  Despite my literal extra mile, I didn't get to hear my song. 

My mp-3 player is currently charging.