New Moon

Funny to write about New Moon when we just finished up with our Full Moon. But what can I say, another Stephenie Meyer book completed. I think I liked this one better than Twilight. I wonder what will happen in Book 3, Eclipse. I guess I'll start it right now to find out. These books just suck you right in....pun intended. "Lifetime Fitness, what's that?" Fortunately the dog sleeps most of the day :)

Twilight

So, I decided to get onto the teen bandwagon and read Twilight. My friend Kathy provided me with books 1-3 back in December. I finally finished up with a slew of books that I had picked up from the library...or actually came due on the Hold List at the library, so it was time to pick up the first book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

Well, less than 24 hours later (including sleeping time), I finished the first book, all 498 pages of it. Although I thought it was a bit slow to start, for some reason...could have been the "vampire glamor" effect...I just couldn't put it down. I started it last night during the normal "bedtime reading time" and before I knew it, it was 11:30 and I needed to go to sleep. Then I started reading it again this morning, ended up blowing everything off today just so I could read it.

If you haven't read it, I recommend it. I kept the Oxford dictionary close by as Stephenie used some unique words in the book...and although I could decipher the meanings accordingly in the context, I'm trying to teach the kids not be afraid to look up the words that are unknown...and I really wanted to make sure I had the true meaning of the words that she was using.

Now, I have to see if it's too late to see the movie...or if I have to wait until DVD. Now, it's time to move onto "New Moon".

New Year Resolutions

Well, another year has gone by...how well did you do with your 2008 resolutions. Here are the results of my 2008 resolutions:
(1) Read 50 Books: I have 56 listed in my log, I know there are probably a few more books out there I read that I forgot to add to my list.
(2) Life at the Gym: Outside of summer & vacations, I managed to work up to 5 days a week, with a minimum of 3 days a week.
(3) Blog Twice a Week: Well that didn't go so well...I'm just not a slave to my computer, so I'm just not on it that much, but I do look at it as a success as I have kept it up versus letting it drop.
(4) Get & Stay Organized: Always a continuous process and always underway. Did a lot of "Clean Sweeping" this year, of course now I wonder "what did I do with...." I'm sure it was part of the toss pile.
(5) Make My Family #1: Well, I did a lot more things with school, attended all the sports events that I could, help with homework, and spent more time with my husband...is that always a good thing? I'd give myself a 8 out of 10 for sense of accomplishment.

Now, onto my 2009 New Year Resolutions. I've really had to think about this one and some of the items continue from last year....needing to make sure I keep the commitment.

(1) Complete Album Projects: Get current in my kids albums & stay current. Tackle other album projects like my kids first year's album, Richard's auto album, and start on historical albums. I'd like to target completing 240 pages in my albums. This is actually less than I ended up completing in 2008, but the projects require more research.

(2) Continue Reading: I will target 60 books this year...an average of 5 per month. This may be tight at some times, but I think it's still reachable.

(3) Start a daily journal: I know I have the blog, but that's for sharing. When I was in Lexington in November, I discovered the importance of writing just a simple daily journal that can be reviewed by future descendants.

(4) Continue a minimum of 3 days at the gym.

(5) Finish the remaining house projects: Haven't been able to turn back to the items that need finishing yet, so I will make a plan of action to get those items completed.

So, have you set yours yet?

That's a Snowball?

So, we finally get a wee bit of snowfall during the day while the kids are at school. Big, heavy flakes dropped from the sky. When it was over, we received MAYBE 1" of snow. With that in mind, tell me how my kids created these snowballs?

Weekend in Lexington

So, I just finished up my bi-annual weekend in Lexington cropping away and preserving my memories in the kids' albums. The nice along weekend usually begins on Thursday mid-day. Unfortunately, I had to attend a meeting, so I didn't end up leaving town until around 4ish...so I arrived in time for wine & appetizers. I think all "get-a-way" weekends should begin this way. I quickly unloaded my stuff, claimed my favorite bed (as we all typically sleep in the same arrangements), tossed my supplies at my spot realizing I left all my paper & memorability at home, then headed over to the kitchen to have a drink of whatever was being poured. After a couple of quick calls, my paper tote was going to arrive via Yvonne the next day. So I settled into my chair, keeping my glass & others full as Kathy & Joanne made artichoke dip & stuffed mushrooms. Needless to say, we didn't need to heat any more appetizers...new plan...save those for Sunday lunch. So after about 2 hours, a couple bottles of wine, and many mushrooms later, it was time to head back to the cropping area to see what I can do on my albums. Kathy graciously offered the use of her paper until mine arrived. So, I went to work.

When packing up on Sunday, I determined over the course of the weekend, we put together a plan for Emily (my daughter--no she wasn't there) for her organization, received the cure-all for teenage acne, determined it was okay to drink wine at lunch time if we didn't have a Bloody Mary at the beginning of the day, got Kathy's iPod working so were could listen to more than the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber, Johnny Mathis, Journey, Barry Manilow, & the soundtrack from Bridget Jones #2...after we got it working, Kathy received the download tutorial to add more songs via iTunes & cds, we proceeded to skip the other songs as we had listened to them 6 times, except for Barry...there is never a such thing as too much Barry. Other things from the weekend, I found out what song will be played at Joanne's funeral, that keeping a daily journal is a "MUST DO" for the interest for future generations, and NEVER download Photo Shop 7 from the internet as you have no instructions to follow and the online tutorials require subscription maintenance fees.....No, I am not the one using Photo Shop...I use Creative Memories digital photo line of products....but it was interesting seeing a "teeth whiting" enhancer and a "blue skies" enhancer tool...the question was "how do you use them?"

So in the end, after many bottles of wine, several Bloody Marys, and a Long Island Ice Tea or was it two, I cruised along utilizing 1 roll of Photo tape, 3 rolls of Tape Runner and completing all of 2007 in Andrew's book, and made it to Halloween 2007 for Emily, completing a total of 63 pages altogether...a new page completion record for me. Boy, I love those Power Palette as well as those late nights staying up until 2:00 a.m. I wonder if that is why I've needed mini-naps this week...hummm.

Now I return my attention to my digital album of Scotland (already on page 31) and then I'll start prepping for my next retreat in January where I hope to complete as much of 2008 as possible.

A Leafy Type of Day

So, here is what happens when the weather is nice, the breeze tumbles down a bunch of the leaves from your tree, and you have a little artist in the family.

Just a bummer for Richard who is on leaf duty....maybe a big wind will come tonight and blow it all into the neighbors....humm hope my neighbor isn't reading this :)

Halloween

So, imagine if you will, Halloween night...trick or treating hours between 6-8 pm for our town and we head out when it's still daylight for the first hour of trick or treating. On top of this when I walked out the door at 6 pm, the thermometer read 68 degrees. First Halloween in a LONG time that I wasn't bundled up wearing gloves.

This year the bobsy twins (Emily & Emma) decide to be Mimes. So for the past couple months, Emma's mom and I had been working to complete their outfits. We were very successful with finding needed attire...of course all at various stores. They didn't win the prize at school this year, but they had the best Mime costumes compared to others. Come to find out, there were 7 other girls dressed up as Mimes. I thought that was highly unusual until I asked them if they mentioned what they were going to be....of course they were telling people...hence the reason why there were 7 others.


Andrew got his wish this year and was the Evil Jester. The headpiece was still a bit big but with some cardboard and extra tying around the neck :), he was ready to go. Of course with the temperature being warmer than usual, the mask and headpiece were off before we made it to the 10th house. I told him next year, no masks....I have been carrying them for the past few years. I think he really wanted the Jester stick that went with the costume.



Of course the third member of the family, Cubbie, couldn't be left out. We took him T & Ting with us, which that isn't going to happen next year, and he had to have his own little costume too. So being the little piggy that he is, he was a Pig...and we called him Babe. He pleasantly marked his territory all over the neighborhood, who knew a 9 pound dog had that much liquid in him.