If only it were that simple

This weekend we took a trip to the Wisconsin Dells for what we deemed "Ian's Birthday Surprise Weekend". He would have been totally content to just be at Great Wolf Lodge by himself riding the slides, but when Matthew, his best friend from Sun Prairie joined us, I thought he was going to go through the ceiling.

So, after a few hours riding the slides and jumping in the wave pool, we all returned to our room where we feasted on pizza and birthday cake. Then, Ian and Matthew began feverishly playing their Gameboys side by side. But then they decided that it was better to just "share" one gameboy and take turns passing it back and forth. At one point, Matthew told Ian, "we'll take turns and we'll be best friends forever." It was such a sweet moment between the two boys.

Of course, it got me to thinking who my friends were when I was in 2nd grade and I could only think of a few and of those, I only know through the grapevine that one went on to pose in Playboy magazine (obviously, our paths went in different directions a good while back). Keeping up friendships is hard work. Making new friends as adults seems even harder. I guess it should be a lesson learned to hang onto those friendships as tightly as you can.

Fat lady bathing suits have come a long way

Alas, the time has come when I must begin in earnest to find a bathing suit that will actually look decent on my body type. I love when Oprah (or some other show) will have these fashion shows about finding the perfect suit for your body type, but they never seem to show the perfect fit for the "average height, white-as-a-ghost, big-boobed, flappy underarm, cottage cheese turkey thighed" woman. So, I guess for now I will continue to just pick and choose from the rack and pray I don't pass out from fright when I try them on.

Anyhow, we are headed to the Dells this weekend for Ian's birthday. Now given my past experiences at water parks, I know that I am being overly critical of myself. I think I might actually try an experiment this time around and take pictures of people for a "What Not To Wear" layout. A good friend of mine once told me that her greatest nightmare was being a "butt" on the evening news (you know, the stories about obesity - they never show faces, just butts of people holding triple scoop ice cream cones in their hands?). I guess I am just trying my best not to be the person that everyone is secretly snickering at.

Trying to find a swimsuit in the middle of a Wisconsin winter is often like trying to find Waldo in one of those Where's Waldo books, but since we are only a few short months from spring break, stores are starting to bring them out of hibernation. I really like the fact that the plus-sized bathing suits are no longer the obligatory big floral patterns with the larger than life skirt. In fact, there are now shorts, skirts, "tankinis" and any number of endless combinations to choose from. What's better is that they are in SOLID colors! If I could just find the courage to try one on!

I guess in the end though, it's not really about what I look like (because I'm not going to be the one in the pictures), but rather the fun that we are going to have with our kids - and they're not going to care one bit about my cottage cheese thighs!

H*** has truly frozen over!

As a Bears fan, I've always lived in the past, remembering the glory days of the '85 Bears and the Superbowl Shuffle. It's hard to believe than you can cling to 20+ year old memories because the team has been an utter disappointment for the most part since then. When I went to college in Indiana, I became a Colts fan as well. To quote Duke Tomatoe, "Lord, Help Our Colts!" has been a mantra. When they were finally so pathetic that they were able to have the number one overall draft pick and chose Peyton Manning, a faint glimmer of hope arose.

Alas, season after season, I've watched as both of my teams had such promise (the Colts much more so than da Bears) and then choke when it came to the playoffs. My husband would ask me who I would root for if they ever played in the Superbowl and I just laughed! I seriously believed it would be a cold day in h*** before that would ever happen.

Well, it must be awfully frosty down there! Bears vs. Colts in the Superbowl - somebody pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming!

Back from the dead

So, I thought I would make life easy on myself on Thursday and fix a meal in the crock pot. It sure did smell yummy in the house all day and it tasted great - at the time.

Fast forward about 5 hours after dinner. You know it is bad when you and your husband are like ships passing in the night on the way to, well, you know.

I'm slowly beginning to feel more like myself again, but I don't think that recipe is going in my "keeper" file.

Enumerating my quirkiness

Anyone who really knows me can tell you that aside from my husband and my kids, my true passion is scrapbooking. I don't think a day goes by where I don't think about it in one way, shape or form. I'be been "scrapbooking" as it is know in today's day and age since Ian was born almost 8 years ago, but I also used one of those old red scrapbooks when I was in elementary school. In fact, it's still in my possession (and a good example of why you want to use ONLY archival quality materials for a scrapbook).

For the past 8 years, my scrapbooks have consisted mainly of pictures of my kids. Since I am the one behind the camera, you will find very few pictures of me on my layouts. So, this year, with the encouragement of others, I am finally creating a "Book of Me". Each week, there is an "assigned" topic to help get you started. The first two weeks, were a good way to get me "into" working on this new type of layout for me. However, this week I was thrown for a loop by the topic - 10 Reasons I Should Love Myself. When I read that, I couldn't think of one, let alone ten - talk about depressing!

So, last night, I just started brainstorming and I realized that I am a pretty quirky person and it is those quirks that make me who I am. So, without further ado, here are the 10 REASONS TO LOVE MY {QUIRKY} SELF:

10. I have a photographic memory when it comes to trivia yet I can't remember where I put my keys 5 minutes ago.
9. I can watch Sixteen Candles and still laugh just as hard as the first time I saw it.
8. I can suck Jello from a spoon in the blink of an eye to the delight of my children.
7. My husband married me knowing full well that I was a little cracked.
6. I am the only person I know who has an irrational fear of kidney beans.
5. No matter how hard I try not to, I always say "up" after I hiccup.
4. I refused to eat Chinese food for the first 18 years of my life and now I could eat it every day.
3. I possess almost 6 feet of paper but I'll never have that perfect match for the project I'm working on.
2. My college degree is in French and Political Science but I prefer to spend my days singing Veggie Tales songs and watching Sesame Street.
1. God loves me despite my imperfections.

Jack is Back!!!!!

Ok, so my favortie show of recent years FINALLY premiered tonight - 24. I admit that when the show first came on I may have watched only because I longed for the Keifer Sutherland of The Lost Boys days, but I was soon hooked. This man makes MacGuyver look like an amateur! I mean, tonight the guy just steps off the slow boat to China after a 2-year stint in a Chinese prison camp, is transferred into the awaiting hands of a terrorist intent on killing him, gets tortured and stabbed and yet still manages to drive across LA to save the only link to peace, escape as said house is being bombed and push a suicide bomber from a moving subway car - all in the first two hours of what will become his busy day! Oh, did I mention he also hotwired a car that conveniently had a cell phone with GPS waiting for him to use?

I know these shows more than stretch the limits of "reality" but I still continue to watch them as any addict would. All I know is that I would seriously need a nap after those two hours!

Where in the heck is Lake Okeechobee?

Why do I ask? Why do I care? Well, I didn't ask, but apparently it mattered so much to Ian that he stormed into our room at 6 a.m. on Saturday to inform Rich and I that, indeed, Lake Okeechobee is located in Florida. Having imparted his new-found knowledge upon us, he ran out of the room and on to more important issues - such as defeating the latest enemy on one of his gamecube games. Still, even though he woke us up a full hour and a half before Kyra got up, it's one of those little moments I'll always remember even though the little piece of triva is probably already deeply buried in his busy 7 year old mind!

Welcome to my blog

As I go through the course of my day, I always seem to have little random thoughts that run through my mind. What better place to put those random thoughts than in a blog? I don't know how regularly I will post, but I will try to keep it up.