Stay outta the water, shark bait!

I have a healthy respect for sharks. The ocean is theirs as far as I am concerned. I am happy to let them have it. Truthfully I am not a fan of any body of water that is not in my shower. I am all about terra firma. If you hear I drowned in a lake/pond/ocean/etc., or was eaten by a shark/alligator/croc, then suspect foul play. I love nature and living by the woods but I am not going hiking. If my house is right up next to said forrest then I won't be surprised when a bear or mountain lion eats me. Since I obviously am of the mind that the only thing guaranteed with animals is that they will follow their instinct you can bet I try to stay out of sight, out of mind. This brings me to a boy named Shannon Ainslie.


Don't know if you have heard of him but he was attacked while surfing by not one but two great white sharks. There have been to more near misses with great whites since that attack. That is four, count hem, four times a great white has tried to dine on him. Does he still surf? Heck yeah! He is a very christian fellow and I admire his faith in God to protect but dancing with trains is never smart. This is not exactly Daniel in the lions den when a christian is being persecuted and thrown to certain death with God's divine intervention to save him. I want to know why this kid is so tasty. Each of the three different attacks was in different locations. Scientist think he might have a higher electromagnetic field than the rest of us. Or it could be that he pees like six times each time he surfs giving the sharks a healthy whiff of dinner.

If I was this kid's Mom I think I would move him to somewhere safer, like Ohio.

23

I missed my BFF's birthday!
So that I am not banished to bad friend purgatory for all eternity I am going to dedicate this post to the greatest lil buddy in the world. Mine!
Here is my attempt at redemption. I present to you...

23 reasons why Sassy is the best friend ever in honor of her 23rd birthday!

1. Never tells me, "Wow that was TMI. No more over sharing please."

2. We laugh so hard we pee on ourselves. (there is that TMI I am famous for)

3. When we can't see or speak to each other we have the DTs

4. Spare dollar bills are hoarded for extra gas money to go out and play together.

5. She listens to me talk about crap she is not interested in.

6. She watches all the chick flicks I detest and tells me about them so I will know what all the other women are talking about.

7. Is the first person I call with great news and is always happy for me.

8. We can be happy when the other is doing great on their diet, even if our respected selves are not. (Does that sentence make sense?)

9. She loves my kids like they were family.

10. Her kids are very special to me too.

11. Our Mom's are just alike.

12. I predicted the first time I met her that she would marry her husband (J's friend)within 6 months. I way overshot!

13. We were pregnant for the first time together. It was so much more fun with her.

14. Loves to do nothing with me. i.e. Walk the mall, sit on the couch and watch TV, sit on the phone and watch TV. Ha! Our hubby's really don't get that one.

15. Comes to events at my house even though with all my pets she has an asthma attack on the way home. (I have a spare inhaler!)

16. Is the only person I would spend a week cleaning my house in advance for so that the pet dander is reduced to minuscule proportions.

17. Bakes awesome goodies and shares!

18. Explains sports to me since J is not any better at it than me.

19. Buys hallmark cards for me for no reason other than "it reminded me of you."

20. Understands J's weird sense of humor and fires right back at him.

21. Thinks I am funny. Which is good cause other wise I would probably annoy her.

22. Is never too busy when I need her.

23. She doesn't chastise belated birthday wishes from people who should know better than to forget!

will sell buffy for gas money

How sad is it that in the current economy I am selling off unwanted items just for gas money? With the price of everything on the rise except paychecks the average American is going to some extreme measures to make ends meet. To some people that might mean the dreaded public transportation. For me it is parting with all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. *gulp*. I am a huge buffyphile so this painful. Don't feel sorry for me yet though. Little Brother is giving me his set that he purchased less that 6 months ago. J & I have sold XBOX games, toys, Halloween costumes, books galore, and random electronics on both EBay and Amazon. We needed the space anyways. We like to hoard stuff.

Who is excited for the new television season to start? I am so ready. There are a few new shows I plan to check out. True Blood, Do Not Disturb, The Cleveland Show, Dollhouse, Fringe, Primeval. We will see what is any good and what stinks. Kind of sad they cancelled Moonlight but the season ended in a way that gave closure so I can deal with it.

on a side note...
I am four pounds away from my first weight loss goal! Woo hoo! I have been working my bum off and it is paying off.

Toddler vs. Pilate's

Pilate's kick butt. My butt that is. It was fun and not really all that difficult. I think I was expecting some crazy yoga type positions that make you feel like a pretzel. I stuck Lorelei in her papasan chair and did the routine in front of her. She thinks Mommy is silly. Rory thinks I am on the floor solely for his entertainment. Anytime I had to rely on balance to keep me upright he would knock me over. Such a sweet boy I have there. I have belly dance class tonight from 6-7. Yay free time! How I have missed thee. Both the kiddos are napping right now so I am trying to catch up on housework, lunch, etc before J gets home from work. I know when I get home tonight I am going to want to take a shower and crash but that probably won't happen. Rory will need pj's and a story, Lorelei needs a bath, bottle, and pj's. The work of a mommy never ends.

Looks like we are planning a trip to the big TX in august. I haven't had real Mexican food in over a year. I need me some La Finca. Oh and I HAVE TO go to Shoguns of course. Can't visit with out those places. Might stop in at Bodacious BBQ. Been a while since I had good southern BBQ as well. Hungry now, must go find my lunch.

Breathe easy?

Does not matter how much you spray, Monday always comes back.

We had a really good weekend. John had all of last week of so we just lazed around together. We watched some movies, caught up on anything that has been sitting in DVR limbo. Today life goes back to normal as it always has to. Rory has speech and I am proud to say that I do not think we will be needing it after his next evaluation in November. He is a little motor mouth these day. We all know where he gets that from. *grin*

J has to go to another pulmonologist before the USAF is going to accept the asthma diagnosis. This will be a third opinion. The issue I think they are having is that he only has problem when he is active. At rest he actually has an above average oxygen intake. Go figure. I don't get how he never had any issues with asthma growing up and then like 2 years ago bam! His little brother has always had asthma so I guess he had to be predisposed to it. Gonna have to watch the kiddos since my Mom has asthma also. My BFF Sassy's oldest was born with it like his mommy and it is so sad to watch. They both have such a hard time when an attack hits. Makes me thankful for oxygen. You've heard the phrase that something is as "easy as breathing". Well Sassy & her son, J, and Little Brother beg to differ.

SO...Once the asthma is finally accepted by the military J will see the medical board who is most likely going to give him the boot. We plan to look here for jobs first. Anheiser Busch is close & J knows a lot of people that work there but since they just got bought out by InBev who knows what the hiring is going to be like. Thankfully St. Louis and the surrounding areas are prime for job hunting. I think J wants to get a Government Contract on base. That would be an easy transition. It is all in God's hands so I am just going to have to wait and see what he has planned for us.

I think I have dawdled long enough. Time to get back to the cursed Monday to do list.

As close to the beach as I am getting.

Mom and I have been on the south beach diet for almost a week now. We are in phase one which is the limited part when it comes to what you can eat. Not very restricting just no bread or flour products of any type. No fruits, potatoes, cereal, etc. I have lost 6 pounds in four days. Not going to hear any complaints out of me. Bread beware! J so loves to tempt me too. Today it was with soapapillas dripping in honey. Oh I almost bailed off the speeding wagon for that one. Sweets are such a vice for me. What I like about this diet is that it is not a diet in the traditional sense. I don't do the miracle whatever, drop the weight and have to start all over in a few months.
South beach is all about learning how to eat smart and creating a new lifestyle for yourself.

Enough of that. Has anyone else noticed that it is freaking hot?! I live in the Midwest, it supposed to be cooler than Texas here. If I did not know better I would say I was back home in the lone star state. I always hated that saying. The Lone Star State. Makes it sound like we are sad because we only have one star all by itself. The truth is we are just so big the other stars wouldn't fit. And we like it that way.

Motto's and slogans are strange that way. The goldfish crackers kind of worry me with their motto. "Goldfish-The snack that smiles back"
Isn't food having a personality the reason people go vegetarian? Somebody wasn't thinking too clearly on that one.

J and I are going on a date tonight to the movies to see Hell Boy 2: The Golden Army. Yay kid less for a whole two hours! Supposedly we are under a severe weather warning but it is bright and sunny outside. Scratch that, the wind just kicked up. Too Bad!! I am going out with my hubby and no kids come hell or high winds.

Cream of Wheaty Joy!

When I was a kid I loved brown sugar instant cream of wheat. It is really hard to find. I haven't seen it in years upon decades. Last night I went grocery shopping and there it was on the top shelf of the cereal aisle. My week was made. I had to stop myself from putting more than two boxes in the cart. Will power is tough.

Speaking of will power, my weight loss efforts are going great. Had a glitch when the family came to visit. I was cooking so much good southern food while playing good hostess that I tacked back on two extra pounds. If you have ever watched Paula Deen cook you know what I mean about good southern food. If I lived anywhere near her I think I would resemble little Violet Beauregard after she became the giant blueberry. (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reference for any of you that are completely lost by that statement)I know only two pounds isn't a lot to gripe about but when you have about 50 to go it means a lot! Been keeping at the belly dancing and start my new class on the 16Th. Also started using pilates to tone up.

Today I had grand plans but kinked my lower back so no can do now. I have lordosis so these episodes happen from time to time. Everything has to be put on hold so I can have some hope of walking upright again. So I am off to the recliner for some one on one time with the remote control.

Here is a definition of the condition:
Lordosis (commonly referred to as swayback, saddle back, or hyper-lordosis) is a medical term used to describe an inward curvature of a portion of the vertebral column.[1] Two segments of the vertebral column, namely cervical and lumbar, are normally lordotic, that is, they are set in a curve that has its convexity anteriorly (the front) and concavity posteriorly (behind), in the context of human anatomy. When referring to the anatomy of other mammals, the direction of the curve is termed ventral. Curvature in the opposite direction, that is, apex posteriorly (humans) or dorsally (mammals) is termed kyphosis. Some animals (notably horses) have naturally concave, lordotic backs.