Yay

I just signed another wedding for this year. That's pretty cool, seeing as how my computer crashed and I unexpectedly had to go out and buy a new one. As it is, why buy a new one if it's not a good one, so needless to say, a little extra money right now is a good thing.
Speaking of extra money... how about a big HOO-RAH for G W Bush et al!!! The first good thing he's done for the country *IMO* since the second he took the oath. I'll be expecting my $1800 "American rebate" check to be accompanied by a $100 gas card... or a few stocks of his oil company will do. I feel like I've been raped at the pump, and I have a car that costs me exactly $0 in gas/year. I can't imagine how other people feel, or even how they do it at this point.
In other news. The kids are good. We haven't done anything cool to report lately. I think we're going to try to go to the city in the middle with Amy this Thursday to check out the museum. That should proove interesting. I'm sure if we make it we'll have fun. I'll try to get it documented with pictures.
I just wanted to check in... Brian will probably be home for his lunch break in a few minutes, so I'm gonna keep it simple.

40 Lashes

Since I don't have any really "good" news to report about my weight this Friday, I'll talk about my condition. By the way, I didn't lose any pounds this week. I was static. Which is fine, given I had fajitas and about a pound of chips at Don Pablos this week.
Anyway.
As I was applying my makeup one morning, I noticed a strange thing on my upper eyelid, right near where my eyelashes connect. I thought maybe it was just a dried crusty, but no. It was there the next day too. I made Brian look at it, and he thought it was a pimple. Who on the planet gets a pimple on their eyelid but me. I told him he needed to get it because it was driving me nuts. I'll be the first to tell you, if you've never experienced and eyelash pimple, that is NOT a very sensitive spot. I tell you this because after I let my husband pick, pull, and poke at my eye for what seemed like eternity, it was only AFTER he got the thing that I realized he also removed any and all eyelashes that were in that vicinity.
I look like some kind of mutant, missing about 1/4 of my eyelashes, right in the middle of my upper eyelid.
He got it though, which I suppose is the important thing. When I finally told him, "just do it!" he grabbed the thing with tweezers and it felt like he'd pull my eyelid right off my head. Surprisingly, it really didn't hurt, really! I almost wish it had... maybe I'd have some eyelashes left...

I'm Officially a Total Geek

Today, as the "Geek Squad" at Best Buy was installing my new graphics card in my new computer, I had the opportunity to peruse through the store. I only recently learned what "bluetooth" meant, realizing that this wasn't a poor oral hygiene issue.
Be it said, I have repeatedly made fun of those folks who walk around Wal-Mart and other public venues with a huge, blue, blinking space ship in their ear. Not only that, but usually, they are talking (and it only becomes evident they are talking on the phone when you see the spaceship). I'm really unsettled with the thought that I was even looking at these things.
Then when the girl at Best Buy raved about how much easier they make your life, I decided to take the plunge and buy one. At home, I figured it out in about 4 minutes flat, and had it up and running. I felt like a genius. I was doing dishes, giving Jade a bath, and cleaning the house, all while making my necessary evening phone calls.
I haven't used it in the car yet. Mind you, I can multitask and drive. It comes with my job. But it seems either a) I don't hear the phone ringing because the music is too loud, b) I don't hear the phone ringing because the police radio is too loud, c) I don't hear the phone ringing because the music and police radios are too loud, or d) I actually hear the phone ringing but can't figure out which pocket it's in without creating a major traffic hazard.
Now, it all doesn't matter. Because I'm officially a total geek. I felt so cool... I programmed all my phone voice commands, so now I don't even have to look at the phone to call all my favorite people.
I dunno... I may have to start promoting these things...

Geez.

Yeah. My life has been silly for the past few days. Really. I tried to upgrade my computer (desktop) to a better video card to support 2 monitors and subsequently crashed the entire operating system. :(
I really don't think it had anything really to do, though, with the card... I truly think it was just coincidence because it was a Windows system .exe file that came up "missing or corrupt." I don't have the patience to reload the whole thing with XP and go through all the updates/etc so I'm just going to go buy a new one. I am really thinking hard about a Mac. I've just never used one, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to spend that much on a computer I wasn't planning on buying. I'm sure I'll end up with another PC that I'll be replacing in a few years. I have to say though, our discount basement eMachine that just bit it was probably the most reliable computer we've ever had. Until now. Anyway.
I didn't even do my weigh in this week. If anyone still cares, I lost another pound which puts me within 9 pounds of my goal. I told myself at the beginning that if I could get down to 135-140 and stay there, I'd be happy. This week I was 144, so I guess I'm almost there. That's a good thing.
Brian and I went to Don Pablos this Sunday and I got fajitas. If you don't know me, I guess you don't know how much I love Don Pablos fajitas, and I haven't had them since I started this diet. They were soooo good. I think the only thing that makes them bad for you is the tortilla you wrap all the stuff up in. Oh yeah, and the basket of chips before the meal... oops.
I'm off tomorrow, so I guess I'll go computer shopping and then computer setting up all day. Sorry this post was so lame. The photography thing has actually been occupying a lot of my time. I've got one paid wedding, two potential but promising ones lined up, and 4 families needing to order prints, all within the last month or so. Good, but I can already tell I need a dry erase board or something to help me keep track of whats what. Oh well. I have a few more things to catch up on before I cash out. I had a jury trial today in Winamac (a different time zone) which meant I had to LEAVE the house before 5:30 - boo hiss. Just verfied to me that I am definitely NOT a morning person. At all. I've been screwed up all day, not to mention I got the funk that the kids had all week...
Hopefully I'll regain ground tomorrow....

WFMW: How to Paint Straight Lines

Today's WFMW tip comes from many, many hours of trial and error (and subsequent drywall repair). This is a tip I wish someone had told me BEFORE I tried to paint my kitchen navy and sunflower, with the navy and sunflower colors blending in a mash of varying thickness stripes. Believe me, I saw it online, and it looked really cute. In reality, it was not so cute. Not to mention a complete flop that damn near RUINED the wall in our kitchen, among other things, to include my sanity.

Nonetheless, I still like stripes. I have them still in both of my kids' rooms. Just not like the ones from the kitchen. These stripes are roughly the same color and are of uniform width. I not only have vertical stripes, I also have a horizontal stripe, separating 1/3 of the upper part of the wall from the lower 2/3.

Where the pink matches the brown is actually the corner of the room. That said. When taping to paint, I learned that if you paint the light brown, tape over it where you want your colors to divide, and then paint the dark brown, the dark brown will "run" under the tape and produce a very not straight line. If you've ever tried this you know exactly what I mean. This is how to prevent this phenomenon, and get a laser crisp line.

Paint the lower 2/3 of the wall light brown and let it dry. Keep the light brown handy, you will need it again... place painters tape at the height you want the dark brown to start. USE A LASER LINE TO KEEP YOUR TAPE STRAIGHT!!! DON'T EVEN TRY TO MEASURE/TAPE/MEASURE/TAPE...IT WILL NOT BE STRAIGHT!!! Paint over your top tape line with the LIGHT BROWN. This will "seal" the tape, and prevent the dark brown from seeping under the tape. Let this dry. Now paint over what you just painted at the tape line with the dark brown and remove the tape BEFORE IT DRIES and admire your chisel straight line.

Hope this saves you some headaches!!!

Be sure to check out my other WFMW posts:

How not to get a ticket...

Easy last minute meal...

Easy way to cut kids food...
Take a better group picture...
Taking better pictures...
How to keep holiday gift giving under control...
The best hair tie ever...
Keeping your linens organized in one easy step...
Turning lunch bags into diaper bags (are those raisins you're having?)...

Visit Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer for other great tips and ideas!!!

How Cute Is Ugly?

Since I've come to the sad realization that being a Denver Bronco's fan really isn't going to be really exciting for me on Superbowl Sunday, I'm jumping ship for the remainder of the year to root for Green Bay.

Since my friends the Belins are HUGE Green Bay Packer fans, their allegiance to their green and gold has inspired me to make a top ten list;

You know you are a HUGE Green Bay Packers fan when:

1. You devote an entire level of your home to the Packers - right down to the carpet.

2. You are nervous to drive your vehicle through Chicago, because it's painted green with "Packers" in bright yellow on every body panel

3. You feel bad that you haven't put your 2 year old grandson on the season ticket waiting list yet.

4. You have a 6' tall Brett Favre bobble head in your home.

5. You don't mind sitting in the stands during this just to see them play.

6. Green and yellow doesn't make you think of your grandfather's John Deere.

7. It's a tough decision getting dressed every Sunday... the Favre or Driver jersey?
8. And then you have to decide which cheese to wear on your head.

9. You put more miles on your vehicle going from home to Green Bay than you do the rest of the year combined.

10. You name your bull dog "Packer" and get these published on ESPN.com and on the front page of the Green Bay newspaper!!!!

Congratulations, Kay! He's adorable. And as much as it goes against everything Rocky Mountain blue and orange...

GO PACK!!!

The Promised Update

I promised you an update, so here it is. I feel bad that I haven't posted anything interesting for at least a few weeks. I haven't even participated in WFMW, which is pretty bad, even in my book. We had some major renovation of our upstairs kids room situation. For Christmas, the family gave $ to help buy a new bedroom set, and my mom got Jade a new comforter set. We moved her into Vincent's old bedroom set, and got him a new queen set from Ashley. Yeah, I know, what 5 year old needs a queen set?

That's what I thought, but here's why we did it that way... I don't want to buy furniture again for him (hopefully this will last him till he leaves) and I figured a twin bed would probably be too small for a 17 year old boy. The full set is still pretty short, seeing as how Brian is 6' and Vincent is already up to mid-ribcage on me. Not to mention, the whole package with matresses was CHEAPER in queen than in full because of a $200 off a queen matress set coupon from Ashley. So there. That's why he got a queen size bed.

I ordered this bedding for him, which is the queen/adult version of the stuff Jade got. I just haven't gotten his in yet. We also painted Jade's room in a pink version of Vincent's room with the same browns in both. It looks pretty cute, as the rooms kind of mirror eachother when you walk upstairs. Oh yeah, the yellow and the checkerboard is gone, too.

Here are the results... not great pictures, but I didn't want to get out my whole flash set up just for this...

The rooms look a lot cuter in person than they do in these pictures for some reason. So that's what we've been doing today.

In other news. I had to sign another copyright release at Wal Mart today when I was picking up some portrait samples I had printed of Brian. Valpo PD hired me to do their police ID shots, and I was taking a few test shots of Brian at home (to show the backdrop). I also played with putting a bar with the officers' name at the bottom of the picture. Which do you like better? The gold or blueish bar? Be sure to vote, too!!! ----> Never mind the unshaven face... it was just for testing the setup of my lights and stuff (thanks for playing along, hon).

Anyway. I better go see what's going on upstairs and get Vincent in bed. Aww. His first night in his new bed... yeah... we'll see how it goes!

Weigh In Friday/Saturday

It's Saturday, but I actually did weigh in on Friday. I lost another 2 pounds, taking me down to 144. Yay! I actually look better, and really feel lighter, too. I have a ton of stuff to do today, so I'm keeping my post short. I have some free time (allegedly) tonight, so I'll catch up then. Check back. We have some new things happening (with pics!!!).

Weigh In Friday

Well, it's once again Weigh in Friday and I have good news to report. I'm down to 146... I actually lost 4 lbs. this week. This is significant because this week included exactly one (1) Christmas party at a BUFFET and one (1) New Years party. I watched my p's and q's all the other days, and apparently my body decided I wasn't giving up. I was kinda stuck around 149-150 for the past month, so maybe I'm back to losing now. We'll see.

In other news, I did some family portraits for some friends of mine... they have the most adorable kids in the world (well besides mine, and whoever's reading this, yours, too). You know what I mean. But they are photogenic and mostly cooperative. Here are a few of my favorites...

Remember... anyone who wants cute pictures like these of their kids.... I'm portable!! If you haven't already, be sure to check out the link to my website on the right side of the blog.

Finally She Got Some Christmas Pictures Up!!!

Alas, the much anticipated Christmas post. I think only now, January 2nd, I am organized enough to actually sit down and dedicate some time to my blog. It's pretty bad when you only have back to back Friday posts, and that was only because the weigh in post is easy... Here are some cute pics of our Christmas, in order...

Jade sprinking her "reindeer food" aka: cookie topping sprinkles

Vincent and Jade celebrating their new pajamas

Uh, not really sure about this one...

Cookies for Santa...

The standard opening presents picture...

And the cute suits...

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

Weigh in Friday

Yes, I do still exist, I've just been enjoying a little free time with the family, and since Brian is off, my regular "computer hours" are now "sitting on the couch and eating hours."
Today is alas Weigh in Friday. Before I post my results, I'll remind my trusty readers that the average American gains 1-5 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years.
Today I weighed in at 150, which is one pound MORE than last week. Hooray for me, a weight GAIN. But I can't say I didn't expect it...
After months of being seemingly deprived of all that's good (well, almost) I figured I'd give myself a little treat over the holidays (read: the past week). I didn't completely gorge myself like I usually would except for Christmas day but I did indulge in a few cocktails that brought me over my 20 point daily limit. Add Christmas breakfast and dinner, and everything in between (Santa's chocolate chip cookies were pretty damn good - it must be the 2 sticks of butter...) and I'd say I didn't follow the rules so much this week.
The results, while a clear step back, weren't completely devastating. I've been back on track after Tuesday, and don't see any more major eating events in the near future...
Stay tuned.

Weigh in Friday

Despite the fact that I ate like total poo this past week (to include one Christmas party with free booze and a 2 day trip to Lafayette), I somehow managed to lose another pound, putting me officially under the 150 mark. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised (but pleasantly) as I stepped onto the scale at home and saw the results. I was pretty sure that 1/2 pound cheeseburger, fries, spicy mayo, several "cocktails", loaded nachos, mozerella sticks, and the Triple X (Tri-Chi as it's known to the locals) Breakfast Special in the morning would've done me in. Guess not.

It felt great to eat like shit. Does that make sense? I guess I haven't really indulged in whatever I wanted since roughly October, so it felt good to put the points bracelet in the drawer and go out and enjoy myself. I suppose as long as I don't do it on a regular basis, or even a semi-regular basis, it's ok. Plus it quenched my craving for a big, fat, juicy cheeseburger for a while.
All right... now I'm hungry...

All I Want For Christmas...

Is my two front teeth (and someone to pay my Discover bill). This post serves a dual purpose. I got to test out my new studio lights, and I got a good pic of Vincent sans teeth. I thought it was so cute that he lost both of his front teeth for Christmas.

The only way I could convince him I needed him to pose (again) was to take a picture of him with his dozer. Actually, I shouldn't post this, because I only had really half of my lighting available (I'm waiting for a stand for a reflector for the right side) which is why the right side of his face is so heavily shadowed.... is that TMI? Just trust me :)

Oh well, it's still cute, and I had to put something on so my trusty readers didn't wonder where the hell I've been...

Tonight I need to finish up some Christmas stuff, and get started on my wrapping. Well, at least thinking/planning my wrapping. Ugh. This is the part of Christmas I hate...

Dog Gone (Almost)

I really like our border collie. He's G-R-E-A-T with the kids, and has never shown even a hint of aggression. The only problem is that he loves me too much. Any time I leave (a lot of the times anyway) he tears shit up. Whether he's inside or outside, in the garage, whatever. Something pays the price for me leaving him. Separation anxiety? At it's worst.
Aside from that, Brian often sleeps during the day. If the dog is in a crate, he howls and yips until Brian wants to kill him. If I leave him out, he runs up and down the fenceline to the point he has actually created muddy trenches in the paths he runs through the yard (which is a whole acre big, mind you). He is incessant about chasing cars, trucks, UPS men, when ever one even drives down the road (behind the fence of course, he just goes up and down the fence line, over and over and over and over and over and over...)
If we tie him up, he paces and/or barks the whole time. I know he is a herder, but it is really ridiculous. He gets so much exercise he looks like a greyhound, and is nothing but muscle.
We are just getting sick of destruction. Whether its the yard or something in the house.
We don't know what to do. When we're home, he's fine. He'll lay down and usually mind his own business (when he can see us). Let him out for more than 2 nanoseconds, and he's a muddy mess from running the trenches. So then it's into the garage to dry off, and if we leave him there too long, something gets chewed up. We've tried bones, toys, everything. He even steals food (bread, namely) off the counters and eats it the second we leave.
Yeah, I see the obvious solution, don't leave stuff out, but I don't want to have to pack up the house each time I want to leave. He even stole a chicken breast I was thawing in the sink one time.
Ug. Patience is wearing thin, but I hate to get rid of such a good "kid dog." Any suggestions?
Check out my poll on the right...
What kind of dog was your "best dog"?

Weigh In Friday

Ok, so this week wasn't nearly as successful as the past few. I decreased my points to 20/day, which isn't very much. I kept track of my points well, at least I think I did, and my grand weight loss total was an impressive ZERO pounds. Nil. Nada. Nothing. Zilch.
I think I've hit that "plateau" which, naturally, is right at a major hurdle that I have really never overcome for more than a few days. I can't remember the last time when I was one-fourty something, and it wasn't related to water gain/loss.
I kinda expected this though. I knew at some point the pounds/week would taper off, and I guess now is the time.
Hopefully, next week will be better, but as Christmas carry-ins, parties, and gatherings are starting, it's going to be a rough couple of weeks for me.