What's Going On

I really feel out of touch blogwise. I was all set to enter a post last night and our broadband service went out at the house. I've got to give my son credit for handling it better than I thought he would - no I.M.ing, no myspace, etc. He said it was like living in the 80's. My poor daughter (5th grader) is continuing to have homework overload. I use to hear parents complain of their children having hours of work, staying up late. Never the case with my son. When he was in 5th grade, he went to soccer practice 3 times a week for a total time away each practice of 2 1/2 hours. Several times this month my daughter has missed her art class because of so much homework. We haven't had great (should I say any) success talking with the teacher. The situation appears to be grade-wide. My daughter is the type who has to have all her assignments complete. I've tried to get her to stop working after a certain time and I'd write a note. She wouldn't go for that.
Husband got stressed yesterday when the big ASU vs. Wofford game was moved up a day to be on ESPN. Now it's Halloween night same as my son's game. Son gave us "permission" to miss his game. I think a night game (we don't have that many) on Halloween without kids sounds like fun. Now if husband will give himself permission. ?? That's what's going on here.

Don't Want to Lose Your Lice

Don't Want to Lose Your Lice, originally uploaded by ASUJoan.

Sticker on a gas pump. Not much else to laugh about these days while filling your car up.

I feel the pain at the pump but even more so at the grocery store trying to feed a family of four. I live out in the suburbs so walking and biking are not an options. I find myself trying to consolidate car trips and not run out to do errands on a whim. Are you making any changes?

Spring Is For Prom

It is prom season. One thing you can count on is: no matter how good and cool you think you look, trust me your pictures will look dated in no time.
Sonia Sunshine is prom coordinator. Click here:

She asked for prom pictures. I am still searching for one of my date but so far the only thing I can find is one my mother had of my dad and me.

Not great quality. Way back in the dark ages before digital cameras, pc's, cell phones etc. I looked so young and sweet. Little did my parents know a bunch of us had rented out hotel rooms for a big party between dinner and the dance. The drinking age was 18 back then for beer and wine however I was still 17 as well as my boyfriend. We were tossing back daiquiris.

You are welcome to comment here on your prom stories. For a big time, click on Ms. Sunshine's "I'm going to prom" picture at the top to join us for a fun filled week of prom blogging style.

Spring is for Football

Not a lot for me to post about at the moment. It's spring. There is much pollen. We've gotten some rain which helps. Here is flower. I enjoy them now. Later they are all brown from the summer's heat.

I bought this 3 dvd set at the luncheon we attended last week. I get choked up watching it. Are you surprised? I didn't think spring and football went together but my son has already started spring practice. This year the new high school opened with just 9th and 10th graders and only had a JV team without a stadium. In the fall he will be on the inaugural varsity team in the new stadium. My daughter will be so thrilled with all this football coming up.

Putting It All Together

I wrote in this post about starting new habits. I've found if I concentrate on exercising, I eat too much (carb, bagels -yum!). After reading what Leo Babauta had to say about this in his wonderful blog Zen Habits, I realized I'm not a total loser. I was setting myself up for failure to attempt to establish 2 habits at the same time. I guess I'm deviating a little from what he was talking about. Exercise was a habit. My eating had gone from healthy to not so healthy. I had no regard for portion control. So for the past 2 weeks, I've put exercise on hold, waved off the guilt, and concentrated just on eating well. I think I've read you need 21 days to form a habit. I'm cutting this short and starting today I'm incorporating exercise back into my routine. It is not my intent to brag about all this. Blogging here and posting into my Buckeye Outdoors keeps me accountable. I've encountered problems with Buckeye being in my sidebar now that twitter is there too. I'm going to switch to a summary link I'll see if that works better.
Any new habits you are incorporating into your routine?

Feet Friday

Originally uploaded by ASUJoan

Trophies and The Waiting Game

Yesterday Husband and I went to a Yosef Club luncheon. The Yosef Club is the athletic boosters for Appalachian State Mountaineers. One of the speakers was football coach Jerry Moore. Here is the display of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 National Championship trophies along with basketball trophies:

It was a fun time. Very much worth missing work (like there was a choice!) and I enjoyed seeing old friends (some going back to high school) and new ones.
I posted on the twitter sidebar I was excused from jury duty. If you recall I had to pay my doctor $15 to write an excuse. Then it took 1 1/2 weeks of constant phone calls before I got the letter in my hot hands. After which I waited and wait to hear from the courts. When no letter arrived after 8 days, I called the jury clerk. She said "Oh yeah you are excused". I didn't bother to ask if they planned on notifying me. It really didn't matter.
I don't have a lot more to post about. Later.

The Weight of Guilt

I really don't like to go too long without putting pictures in my posts. I like visuals but my camera seems to be collecting dust lately. Gotta do something about that.
Today I'm going to rant about school and me. Last night my daughter had over 3 hours of homework. No exaggeration. I don't mean to brag but this child makes straight A's. Schoolwork comes easy to her. What about the children who are struggling? It was a ridiculous night. I went to bed guilt ridden. Husband was working late. I got mixed up on what time my son's football practice was over (yes, football in April!). We ended up waiting in the car for him too long. It screwed up what I was cooking. The three of us then grabbed a bite to eat which took forever. Too much time out took away from my daughter's homework. She ended up staying up very late and then finished it up this morning.
Guilt she had so much homework. Guilt I wasn't more organized.

To Dream or Not To Dream

Recently a blogger friend posted about dreams. I realized I haven't dreamed in a long time or at least I don't remember doing so. That made me a little sad. My sleep hasn't been great lately. My husband (who doesn't move or make a sound when he's sleeping) will tell you it's because I snore. I'm sure he's mistaken and dreaming that up himself. The last 2 nights I've taken a Lunesta. Each night I've dreamed. Unfortunately they have not been good dreams. The first night I was in a car about to go off a cliff. The second night I walked in on a burglar. Not quite the dreams I had in mind.
Do you have dreams? Care to share?

The Blind Need It Too

There is a non profit organization making porn accessible to the blind. (Don't worry the link will only take you to the article. Not the porn).

Good for them. My husband remarked that I was somewhat hearing impaired and wondered what could be done for me?

Habits - Hard to Break, Hard to Start

I love reading Leo Babauta's blog Zen Habits. His latest post is 13 Things to Avoid When Changing Habits. The first thing on the list is: "Taking on 2 or more habits at once". I have tried numerous times to rev up my exercise program while attempting to eat healthy. I don't learn from my mistakes because these goals alway caused failure. A few weeks ago I was really working out but eating crap. I felt I needed to prioritize: exercise or food. I picked the latter. I'm not trying to lose weight just eat better. For the first week I felt great. This second week, I continued to eat well but felt really tired. I'm thinking it may be due to lack of exercise. I'm going to continue prioritizing my diet one more week in hopes it will become a habit before concentrating on exercise. My Buckeye Outdoors Sports Workout Log is not on my sidebar currently. Besides being pretty empty, it was causing the blog page to take too long loading especially now that Twitter is on there, too. I'll continue to log workouts and may attempt to add it to the blog layout again.

Gone Fishing

One of our night time rituals is feeding the goldfish with Chloe's help. Don't fear. The lid is secured.

My daughter has been on a field trip (Beth - that's the reason I had to get up so early) to Williamsburg. It's felt weird. First I missed her. Then I enjoyed the down time. Now I look forward to her return tonight. I have another child but he's a teenager. He is gone almost 12 hours a day due to before and after school activities. He prefers minimal contact unless food is involved.

Tea Time!

Originally uploaded by ASUJoan

My Adagio Mintastic DiggNATION/Kevin Rose special blend has arrived.

See Me Roar (or at least yawn)

Originally uploaded by ASUJoan

Chloe, I know the feeling. I had to get up extra early today (4:55 a.m.) was very sleepy all day.

Thanks for Noticing

A few days ago I posted a picture of my new necklace.

I wore it 8 days straight. It goes with everything. On the 8th day (this sounds sorta Bible like) husband and I were in a store. The clerk complimented me on my necklace. Husband turned to me and said "when did you get that?" I informed him I had been wearing it 8 freakin' days. Looking on the bright side, at least he isn't some metrosexual critiquing my every fashion move.

Wordless Sunday - Nothing Else To Say

I've Seen the Light. It's Green.

I'm not granola but I try to eat healthy. For the most part we buy organic vegetables, fruit, and meats. I don't really care for fast food, eating too much meat, or a lot of processed junk. My weaknesses are beer, coffee, and large portions of my favorite foods at meal time. Speaking of coffee - there are times I feel my habit has gotten out of control. I will have a cup when I wake up, grab a nonfat latte on the way into work then there have been occasions when I will stop again on my way home. While watching the Internet show PopSiren on Revision 3, I heard them mention a sponsor Adagio Tea. Out of curiosity I went to their website. I had been drinking some green tea. I like it with a little sugar. It's an acquired taste the same as coffee and beer. I can see how people don't like it. I don't care for dark tea. I ordered a sampler pack of loose green tea and this gadget:


It's brewing here in the picture. When the bottom gets pressed down when set on a cup, the brewed tea drains into the cup. I am getting to a point. I've been doing this for a few weeks now. I can't say the taste wows me over but it is okay to good. I've noticed coffee is less appealing. I still want a cup first thing in the morning but not later on. Sipping on the tea several times a day has decreased my appetite. Our scale isn't the most accurate. I've lost 3 to 5 pounds. That's without exercising much. I was doing so well working out and then nothing. I put my Buckeye Outdoors workout log back on my sidebar as a motivator.

I'm Not Putting a Title on This Post

I believe my husband wants to be Matt Leinart and it doesn't have a lot to do with football. If Matt's not careful, this might happen. I apologize for such disgusting content today.

Sometimes I Get My Act Together

Originally uploaded by ASUJoan

... beef stew. It so makes my day to have dinner already made when I get home from work. I'll give you the impression I do this everyday!

Paying for an Excuse

A few weeks ago I got a jury summons which (as I posted previously on Twitter) I lost. I am all for being a good citizen. Jury duty is an inconvenience but I've gone in the past. Now it turns out I may be excused for medical reasons. I'm deaf in one ear. I have trouble in certain situations depending on the acoustics such as courtrooms. Again I don't mind serving. I just don't want to spend my day waiting around only to be told I shouldn't be there due to my disability - like what happened last time. I called my ear doctor's office. I was told the doctor would be glad to write me an excuse for $15! Something kinda feels sleazy about the whole deal like paying to make a speeding ticket go away. Well I went ahead and requested the letter. I will keep you updated.