Christmas Cheer on the Cheap

We've all heard of the Craigslist Killer, but have you heard of the more elusive (and very smug) Craigslist Cat?
Our good friends Rob and Tracy (who also happen to be Makenzie's godparents) gave us a little Christmas cheer in the form of a gingerbread house kit. It sat wrapped under our tree for less than a week and I thought it was going to kill the kids to leave it alone (hence our tree is pretty barren of gifts so I don't have to listen to the endless "how many more days until Christmas" and constant 'rearranging' of said gifts under the tree).
Sound Harley hosts free Santa pictures (on Santa's Red Harley) and Lance the Llama. The kids were more interested in watching how close the Llamas hind end was getting to the bike behind him, they found it highly entertaining.
"I'm a sexy beast"
This is probably the real Santa... I mean it's gotta be rough on a fella to live up in the Arctic year round.
We also took advantage of the Groupon deal of the day and saw the Alderwood mall Santa (possibly the best Santa around) on the cheap: $11 for our photos.
We got to the mall at 5:08. Santa went to dinner at 5:00. Of course he did. So I stood in line for the next 52 minutes while Mike supervised the kids running from the fountain to the Pokemon kiosk to Game Stop. In no time Santa was back from dinner and we had a prime spot in line (vs. the saps who still had another hour wait in line behind us).
Waiting. Waiting. And more waiting.

Tomcat Tree Trimming

I've been trying to post this blog entry for over a week, but I keep trying to use the new blogger interface with no success, so I've had to revert to the old interface (again) just so I could get this post posted!

Have I ever mentioned how awesome my fella is? Well here's a short list of some of what makes me fall in love with him every day:

The kids need to learn to tie their shoes. Makenzie's teacher said she only helps the Kindergartners tie their shoes until Christmas, after that they're on their own. So Mike made a practice shoe for them to hone their skills. And the kids loved it and practiced and practiced and guess what? They can tie their shoes now!

When my dad passed away, the fire department gave me his helmet. And for the past 10 years I always wondered why there was a big black triangle on the front of his helmet and mentioned to Mike how it would be nice to even just get a generic fire department patch to put on there since dads helmet is on display and the next thing I know, Michael had found out what truck my dad was assigned to at his station (that big black triangle is where you're supposed to put your truck#) and arranged with who knows how many people to get me that patch, for Truck 36. Best. Boyfriend. Ever.

As Michael hung Christmas lights, I employed our children and neices in yard clean-up (where we subsequently found out that someone had stolen Mike's backpack blower and weedeater, not cool). I promised the kids a trip to the candy store if they could fill the yard waste tote. I've never seen a more productive group of children in my entire life. Needless to say I dropped $25 at the candy store later that afternoon.

Our happy home :)

In the above picture you might notice that our star has fallen... It's the thrid time it's happened, so we've kind of just left it. Along with the clumpy arrangement of the ornament placement (I can't rearrange what 2 energetic girls so thoughtfully hung). But the star's placement is the sole work of... Pickles.

Here he is innocently admiring an ornament.

Here he is contemplating Natalie's baby ornament (maybe wondering where his "kitties first christmas" is).

"What?"

I thought this series of pictures looked familiar... This one is from last year when Pickles was just a little kitten.

Thankful

Our home fills with friends and family on the 4th Thursday of November. Wednesday evening was spent injecting turkeys with either a Cajun or Savory concoction (we still can't decide which one is best) and other various prep-cooking (pies, stuffing, dips, cranberry salad...)



Thursday morning was a flurry of welcoming people and only catching glimpses of Mike as he would come in with a turkey fresh from the fryer and then he'd be sent right back out with another turkey that had been prepped and was ready to go (our tally of turkeys fried at the end of the night: 9) and I couldn't seem to find my way out of the kitchen. It was nice to finally sit down and grab a bite (there is no such thing as "dinner time" with this style of Thanksgiving, you get hungry? You eat. Or if you're Mike, you nibble on each turkey that comes out of the fryer and have a few beers and find that you don't have room to actually eat a Thanksgiving dinner. But that's what leftovers are for, right?!) And every bit of the dinner was delicious. But we really nailed the turkeys this year. Flavor was amazing. Meat was tender and juicy. And we have loads leftover for sandwiches, pot pies, tetrazinni, quesedillas...


Mike helping his sister prep her bird.

My kids spent Thanksgiving with their dad, so I enlisted Boo's help in peeling potatoes (just like the army!)
This was pretty much all Mike saw all day. Just the way he liked it.
Yumaroo. Can't wait until next November!

One Year Later

One year ago today, I packed the last 14 years of my Bellingham life into a U-haul and caravaned down I-5 with Mike's family towards my future in E-town. It was scary and exciting, scary because I was literally pulling up roots for myself and my children (more scared about the change for my kidos) and exciting because I was absolutely certain that Michael was the true love of my life and I could not imagine another day without him in it.

Since paper is the traditional gift for the 1st anniversary, I decided to give myself a little present: removing the ivy wallpaper border in the kitchen. Next I think I'll tackle the one in the laundry room, but I think I'll wait until after our Thanksgiving. I helped out at the Port for their United Way Campaign and there was a mountain of leftover tomatoes and onions. So Mike volunteered to send them home with me and I sent back 3 giant batches of salsa and pico de gallo.
The theme for the United Way day was "Tailgate party". All the guys (and ladies) brought their pickups in and there were games (speed pitch, football toss, hoops) and of course a hot wings contest. Mike's best buddy Rob made some delicious wings (made with Ghost pepper, sounds scary) and even though the contest was rigged (the wife of one of the judges won) I thought Rob's were executed perfectly and had the right texture and sauce, and of course his display was top-notch (milk, homemade (mine) bleu cheese dressing, and rubber gloves!)
Mondays at Brady's school means soccer. It's so nice to see Brady actually enjoying an organized sport (after many seasons of watching him sulk in the middle of the field or court).
Have you ever seen someones doppelganger? I've never seen mine, but we did spot my van's doppelganger driving down I-5 the other day, it was complete with the roof rack and white sticker; however both the sticker and the bike mount were on the opposite side as my van. Maybe it was my bizzaro van.

Anatomy Lessons and other things...

My local YMCA is having a fitness challenge for the month of November called Thankfully fit. For every 8 classes you take, you are entered for a drawing on Thanksgiving day for things like: a month's free membership, a massage, personal training session, and goody bags. Since I'm a sucker for winning stuff, I've been diligent about taking at least one class a day.
Thursday is usually my "off" day at the gym since there isn't a class during the time I normally exercise. But there is "Cardio Kickboxing" at another time, and I've heard good things about it so I decided to give it a try.
I show up and say hi to the faces I recognize and they immediately ask me if I've gone potty yet. Um, excuse me? My friend explains that Gael makes us jump a lot in this class, and since I'm among those in the class that have given birth a time or two... well maybe I'd like to make sure I use the restroom. So I take their advice and Gael nods at me on my way out like she knows where I'm going and why.
Now... Gael is this tiny little Scottish maniac of muscle and accent. I like her. But she has the ability to grind any notion that you are fit into dust. She makes us groan and whimper in spin class. And when you think you're hanging on and doing well, she takes it up a notch and lets you know you're nowhere near you should/could be. In a good way of course. I mean who can be upset when a Scot is yelling at you to "POOSH!"
Anyway, back to the story. I flubbed and stumbled and made a general ass of myself in Cardio Kickboxing. I had to be told that I needed to be punching and kicking in the same spot since I am supposed to be kicking and punching a PERSON, and it doesn't quite have the same effect if I'm punching and kicking the air around them. And then when she had us putting 4 moves in succession? Fuhgetaboutit. I lost it. I made the class laugh. I made Gael laugh. I confessed that I have rhythm but no coordination, add in a good case of chronic-imbalance and I'm hopeless. Gael said I did surprisingly well for the first class and that I should have it down in a few weeks. I don't know if I can sustain that much humiliation for weeks on end. And on the way out, my friend said "after my first kickboxing class, I couldn't move my arms or back" I told her I did so poorly, that I didn't think muscle soreness was going to be a concern. Oooh boy was I wrong.
Waking up with sore muscles makes you suddenly remember all that you learned in anatomy class. "oh my god my Trapezius hurts", "whoa nelly, my Latissimus Dorsi is spasming" "holy crap, it hurts every time I contract my Biceps Brachii" and of course who can forget Michael (at the tender age of 16) in our body building class in high school shouting out the question "what about the Dongus Majorus?" Only to do laps or some form of PE teacher punishment for asking such things...

And no post is complete without pictures:

Miss Makenzie hanging out with me while we watch Brady's soccer practice... I think I said her name and caught this shot as she turned to me "Hmmm?"
Brady got to tag along with Michael and Uncle Larry to Norpoint Shooting Center (friends of Mike's own it). He got to shoot a 22, a M4, and an AR15. I think he floated 6 inches above the ground for the rest of the weekend.
His souvenir from the gun range. He couldn't wait to hang it up in his room. I'm a little bummed that it doesn't really match the decor in his room, but it makes him happy to have a shot-up terrorist hanging on his wall so what can a mom do?
While the boys were at the range, Natalie and I got some rare one-on-one time which was sweet. In this picture, she put on Mike's glasses and said "mom, get a shot of this and send it to Mike". She thought this would really zing him (they have a tendency to tease each other and I think she saw this as an opportunity to get him).

Halloween cookies and scary things...

I forgot to tell you what Pickles went as for Halloween:

A Cat Burglar!

Natalie's hair in the morning is a bit scary. She even had it washed, dryed, and brushed the night before. This is a 3 part process on how Natalie gets 'ceut'.
Crab curry, Crab rangoon, Crab salad, straight up crab...
My downfall: Sugar Cookies. They are the deveel.
All of them... gone.
Michael wrote a letter to Pillsbury for this atrocity. I made my sugar cookie dough and Michael scoffed at how I didn't make enough (I used 5 cups of flour!!) so I stopped at the store and picked up 2 tubes of sugar cookie dough WITH A PICTURE OF PERFECTLY DEFINED SNOWFLAKES iced on the tube.

My cat.

Pillsbury's cat.

My bat.

Pillsbury's bat.
We're getting coupons for more tubes of goo thanks to Michaels letter writing campaign.

Jack

The jack -o'lantern chuckled
Then winked his funny eye,
"I would rather be a pumpkin-face
Than be inside a pie!"


The girls helped gut their pumpkins and that was about the extent of their involvement in creating their jack o'lanterns (besides the occasional "is it supposed to look that way?" "are you sure you're doing it right?")
Brady on the other hand, felt that he is old enough to design and carve his pumpkin start to finish. And I have to say I'm quite impressed with his knive-wielding skills.



I always go for simple yet recognizeable, and this year I kind of missed the mark on the latter... I was going for Jack Skellington. I probably should have used a ghost pumpkin, but those white ones are a bitch to carve. Mike' pumpkin was a huge hit, cute and funny at the same time. He even got Tink and Pickles on there (Pickles, btw loves pumpkin. He went like catnip-crazy over it and gobbled it up!)
I had already sent the kids to bathe and wash the pumpkin guts off when I decided they should pose with their Jack O'lanterns... hence the drowned rat look on the girls...

Hard to admit

I found a quote that pretty much sums up why I love to do races:
The difference between a goal and a dream is a deadline. -Steve Smith
If I leave it up to me, I'll probably never find the time to do it. But if I have a date in the future that I need to be prepared for, I'll work towards it.

I was struggling with all the positive affirmations people were showering on me recently. Calling me inspirational 'n stuff. I don't get it. I mean I'm thrilled that people can look at me and say to themselves "if she can do it, I can do it" because I know it's possible for them too. And if seeing me and knowing my story helps them believe it to be true for them too, then fine, I'm an inspiration.

When we ran the Bellingham 1/2 marathon there was a man that was not "built like a runner" not unlike myself or Michael. Now Michael is athletically gifted and driven and has the ability to run a 2 hour 1/2 marathon. I, however, am not so gifted and every mile is a slow struggle for me. But it's OK, because I'm proud that I'm out there doing it, and I cross the same finish line as those who can run it in half the time. But this man was kind of "hanging" with us. Then he told Michael that he wouldn't be where he was if it wasn't for us. We were his inspiration. He was clinging to us as his own drive to finish, and finish stronger than he ever had before. We high fived each other and cheered each other to the finish line. And although it wasn't a PR for me (and poor Mike yo-yo'ed back and forth running ahead then coming back for me) we helped someone PR that day. And that's good enough for me.

Now... I also have been bad about running lately. I just lost my mojo. But I have been attending group exercise classes several times a week. And they're fun and I'm making friends or at least feeling like I'm a member of my new community. One of the classes is called 'Cycle-Yo!" and it's 30 minutes of spin class and 30 minutes of yoga. I am by far the heaviest member of all the classes, but it never really interfered with my workout until Friday. We were in a particular yoga pose (I usually do the basics only due to my lack of balance) but this position I found that I was flexible enough to try for a more advanced pose. Except I couldn't get my leg to stay in place to complete the pose... because my fat middle wouldn't let me bend any further. So every time I tried to bend more, my leg would squish out of position and the instructor would look at me with disappointment (because I know she is obsessed with form over whether or not one can do the most advanced pose) and so I had to tell her "I'm too fat to do the pose." Then I tried to not cry for the rest of class. Even Savasana sucked, and it's usually the whole reason I even do yoga.

So... I'm going to fix it. After the Halloween sugar cookies are gone :)

Pumpin Pickin

Woop, two posts in two days! I'm only 2 weeks behind on my blog now...

We went to The Farm at Swans Trail a couple of weeks ago and we had a blast! The weather was perfect, the hand-dipped corn dogs were delish, the duck races were hilarious, the corn maze was fun (and mildly educational), and our pumpkins are perfect.

The Washington state corn maze: we entered in Spokane and exited in Grey's Harbor.
Mike helped me scratch an item off my bucket list: We made out like teenagers (for the 2 seconds before the kids caught us) in a corn field. Us islanders didn't have dark corn mazes to roam and flirt in... we had "the clear cuts" and "maple point". I have yet to make out with Mike at either of those places either...
I believe we were on "I-90" heading East.
Brady in one of his finer big brother moments: helping his sisters up the hay rolls.
The Farm had a litter of barn kittens for the kids to hold and love. You'd think the girls had not ever had a kitten in their arms before (umm... Pickles???) the way they gushed over the sleeping kitties.

Brady sitting on his pumpkin throne...