I'm so excited...

My mom's coming over for a visit!

Wanting to make the most of the holidays, she's coming over for a couple of weeks (or more - if I can talk my parents into it!) to hang out with us -

And help me get my act together. ;) I can't believe Christmas is FIFTEEN days away and I'm still not ready. Yikes!

So tomorrow, I'm going to take a half day off from work and me and the 3 y/o will meet my parents halfway (in Los Angeles). My dad's dropping her off and I'm picking her up.

Isn't my dad a sweetheart? :)

I can't wait!!!

Twilight the Movie Review

So now that I'm done overanalyzing and comparing the movie to the book, can I just say - how MUCH I loved this movie?!

***SPOILER ALERT***

There are SO many scenes that made me laugh out loud, scenes that let the moviegoer in on an "inside joke." Like the first time we see Edward in the cafeteria, and Jessica is giving Bella the scoop on the Cullens. When Jessica complained that no one at Forks High was apparently good enough for Edward, did you see that smile creep up on his face?!

Kristen Stewart did a wonderful job portraying Bella. I think my biggest complaint is actually the same as my first - I expected a much more feminine voice for Bella... but I soon got over that after watching so many video clips before the premiere.

And Peter Facinelli - ooh - the patriarch of the family is so much fun to oogle at - especially since he's closer to my age! No complaints here about Carlisle, whatsoever.

Charlie. OMG - my heart ached for him when Bella took off for Phoenix. When he was trying to talk her into staying, saying that he wasn't spending enough time with her and that he could change... oh! I think I'm getting choked up all over again... I'm definitely a new Billy Burke fan.

I'm still crackin' up about him pulling the curtains closed on Tyler, and that shotgun scene when he met Edward "officially." Even at the end, when Edward promised to take care of Bella as they headed out for prom - what'd he say?

"Uh-huh, I heard that before." :D

But you know who REALLY surprised me? Friggin' Victoria. Every time I saw Rachelle Lefevre in an inteview or at a photo shoot, I thought, "She is way too pretty and sweet to be Victoria. How the hell is she gonna pull off being a wickedly sinister vampire?"

Uh. Let me just shut the f*ck up. Rachelle - KILLED IT! Omigod - that first kick to Whalen on the boat... and when she stole the baseball from Laurent and said with that sly smile, "I'm the one with the wicked curve ball..."

*shakes head, smiling*

She was wicked cool - and I loved it. What did you think about the end when we see her watching Bella and Edward dancing in the moonlight?

VERY cool set up to get ready for New Moon. That and the animosity between Jacob and Edward at the end... all nicely done.

All the rest of the Cullens were awesome, too. I know some people hated Jackson Rathbone's portrayal of Jasper, but I liked it just fine - LOVED watching him getting ready to bat. I think my favorite scene of all is the baseball scene! Well, coupled with THE KISS, of course. ;)

I totally believed Nikki Reed as Rosalie, and Ashley Greene as Alice as well. Emmett? I absolutely adore Kellan Lutz - he cracks me up ALL the time, and I think he just has this fun, outgoing and self-confident personality. I can't wait to see more of him, even with the eye candy below. ;)

But... out of everyone, out of the entire cast... it was Robert Pattinson who stole the show. I could hardly take my eyes off of him; I barely even noticed Kristen smelling her hair that first day in Biology!

I'd heard that he put a LOT of work into this character, trying to portray Edward as best he could.... It was well worth it, coz he did an AMAZING job. That beautiful man is seriously - way too talented.

I've watched this movie on the big screen three times now:

1) Thursday at midnight
2) Friday night with the TwilightMOMS
3) Saturday afternoon with the boys

And while I thought I had my fill of Twilight come Sunday, it's only one day later and now I'm ready to watch it again. :D Which I will, because we're heading down to my parent's house for Thanksgiving, and will be going out with the girls - plus my mom, plus the boys - to go see Twilight - again - this Friday!!

Props out to the entire cast and crew of Twilight - can't wait for New Moon!! I just found out that the script from Rosenberg is already finished!!

Blog Peace!

Toni, Just Stop Screaming, has a wonderful campaign going on to promote blog peace. Aren't you tired of hearing so and so say this or that about so and so?

Too much drama for me. I try to stay far and away from stuff like that - so when I heard about this campaign - I just had to jump on it!

See what Toni has to say about it, and jump back to her site to grab the button and sign Mr Linky! :)

I was listening to Jen from Posh Point of View today on her show over at The Classy Closet and she said something that really stuck with me. She said "World peace, everybody"

When I heard that I thought what a phrase, of course most of us know that it's the 'beauty queen' phrase but when you think about it why not apply it to blog land and have "Blog Peace"

We all know how drama filled the world of blogging can be (and has been lately) and let me just tell you I personally am tired of it, it's a big blog world out there with lots of people to get to know and enjoy. Banning, backstabbing and cattiness need not be in the blog world.

If you are like me you use blogging as a means to escape your everyday "real" life for just a little bit. It's a place to be theraputic, have fun giveaways, share cool products you come across and just get to know other awesome people. You have the chance to just have a good time and give others a laugh or cry.

So why oh why do we need drama??

The answer is WE DON'T!!!!!!!

Please REPOST this on your blog to take a stand and have your voice heard:

Now come on all you blogging queens let's join together and let everyone know we won't stand for drama, we won't stand for blocking people from our sites, we won't stand for being immature, we won't stand for bashing other blogs...because we stand for BLOG PEACE!

We come here to have fun, to win stuff, to learn about others and thank God that someone else's child is not ours when we see him/her doing something naughty! It's a place to be yourself and share who you are with tons of people and brighten other peoples day.

Who's with me, who out there in bloggy land is tired of the blog bullies? Who out there is tired of the mean girls in the blog world?

~And I will be the first to admit I was a mean girl to one blogger in the past and I am so very sorry for what I did~

Who wants to stand up and say "We want blogging to be fun again", "We want blogging to be about friendships?", "We want to not have to ook over our shoulder and wonder if we are going to be blogged about".

Let's stand together today and say to everyone out there in blog land We Promote Blog Peace" and we want everyone to just get along.

Please repost, grab the "I Promote Blog Peace" button to wear with pride, and sign mister linky if you want to take a stand for Blog peace and link back to here. As well as let's all get out there and tweet that we promote blog peace too, spread the word. When you tweet just put #blogpeace (no spaces) in your tweet, that way if
anyone searches for blogpeace they will find all of us who support it!

Holy Crap - This One's Got Me Pegged

Found this fun little quiz from Rachel, Following in My Shoes, and Lori , The Charming Lamb:

What Your Height Says About You

You are a very vulnerable and spiritual person. Your emotions run deep. You have a philosophical and poetic soul. You think things through and are a bit of a skeptic. You tend to be very opinionated. You are a perfectionist with high standards. You prefer to work alone. You work hard, and you don't like interruptions. You are about as tall as the average Japanese woman.

What Does Your Height Say About You?

Alice Cullen is In The House

Okay, I may be reaching here, but it was still fun. :)

Remember me telling you about how I was experimenting with my hair? Not until after I flipped it out did I realize how similar it was to Alice's do.

And since everyone keeps telling me how much I'm like her, I can't help but dub this photo, "Alice Cullen, Filipina Style." lol - oh yeah, I was undecided, but now?

I am SO dressing up for the midnight showing. My 14 year old has talked me into it. :D

Emmett as Eye Candy

Okay. I'm turning into one of Emmett's rabid fans - lol. A fellow TwilightMOM sent this pic to me and I seriously couldn't help myself from sharing. ;)

Twilight Extravaganza

No doubt you've heard about this phenomenon called "Twilight." Our girl Toni, A Daily Dose of Toni, is hosting a Twilight Extravaganza starting this Friday. Head on over to join us for the countdown.

If you're looking for a fix while we wait for the eve of November 21st, here are a couple of my personal faves:

~Official Trailer in HD
~EIGHT minutes of Twilight from the Rome Film Festival
~Personal correspondence from Stephenie Meyer herself at Twilight Lexicon
~TwilightMOMS (and DADS!) forum for the fans that are NOT in their teens

Just TWO more weeks before the Cullens hit the big screen! :D

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #17

Whoa. Just got back from Vegas yesterday and I've been bombarded with work and budgets. But I wanted to get this post up quickly - seeing as I've been MIA for a while. I didn't even get a chance to post a BAM entry last Friday! :(

Bad news is that I gained a half pound over the last week, good news is - it could've been more - since I tend to give in to the munchies much more when I'm traveling.

Hope everyone had a great weekend - I know I had WAY too much fun, and it wasn't even my birthday. ;) Hubz turned the big 4-0. :D

Check out the girls:

This week our contest is sponsored by Christy! She is offering an Earth Theraputics Foot Care set for the prize for this week! If you'd like to sponser a prize, let me know! We are currently out of prizes!

The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Tammy!

Congrats to Christy for being this week's biggest loser of 3 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 GAIN
Tammy - 1.0 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - No Report
Grace - 1.1 LOSS
Leigh - 0.5 LOSS
Clara - 2.0 GAIN
Dette - 0.5 GAIN
Julie - 1.4 GAIN
Cheryl - No Report
Audrey - 0.8 LOSS
Christy - 3.0 LOSS
Tina - No Report
Danielle - 2.0 LOSS
Jessie - No Report
Steph - No Report
CYN - No Change

This week's total - 3.5 LOSS!

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #16

Here's me:

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 150.5
This Week's Weigh-In: 150.0
Variance: 0.5 LOSS
Overall Loss: 3.5
Pounds to go: 25.0


This week our contest is sponsored by Julie! She is offering a copy of the Biggest Loser Cookbook as a prize this week! If you'd like to sponser a prize, let me know! We are currently out of prizes!

The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Grace!

Congrats to Clara for being this week's biggest loser of 2 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 3.5 GAIN
Tammy - 0.5 GAIN
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1.0 LOSS
Grace - 0.2 LOSS
Leigh - 0.5 LOSS
Clara - 2.0 LOSS
Dette - 0.5 LOSS
Julie - 1.0 LOSS
Cheryl - No Change
Audrey - 0.8 GAIN
Christy - 0.6 GAIN
Tina - no report
Danielle - 1.0 LOSS
Jessie - No Change
Steph - no report
CYN - no report

This week's total - 0.8 LOSS!

Snow Flower & The Secret Fan

When we chose this book by Lisa See for one of our book club picks, I wasn't actually very excited. But the ancient secret code - "nu shu" - invented and used by Chinese women caught my interest. It reminded me of Anita Diamant's "The Red Tent." And I loved that book.

This novel takes place in 19th century China, and tells the story of two girls paired as "old sames" - an emotional match to last them throughout their lives. The two women speak of their footbinding experiences, arranged marriages, the joys and tragedies of motherhood... and more....

Until a huge misunderstanding threatens the very core of their friendship.

***

Not a thick book by any means, I expected to breeze through it. But I was mistaken... there were so many emotions to process... so many trials and tribulations... You can't read it too quickly because you find yourself asking yourself, "What would I have done?"

Definitely a recommended read.


Wanna play? Hop on over to Blog Catalog to join our group - you can even subscribe to group discussions so you don't miss anything. Watcha waiting for? Let us know what book or movie YOU would like to talk about!



Technorati Tags: entertainment, books, reading, movies, film, theater, reviews, bam_club

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #15

This lack of sleep is really getting to me.

Hubz has been out of town. Out of state, really. But he doesn't travel very much so when he's gone?

I can't sleep.

I stay up late, late, late - until I'm about to crash - and don't get to bed until about 2am. I already know I won't sleep thru the night, and I'm up and out of bed before 7am to get the kids off to school and start the WAHM routine, 3 year old in tow.

The problem is, I'd like to start exercising again, but I can't do it on no sleep. lol - I tried that before - it wasn't cute.

So... since Hubz will be coming home tomorrow (hurray!) - I'm hoping I can get back on track and hit the ellyptical. I hope!

Then I can get rid of the pound I gained over the last week. Did I tell you about an old friend (or foe?) who's been poppin' in lately, right around midnight? Yeah, it's the "Munchies."

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 149.5
This Week's Weigh-In: 150.5
Variance: 1.0 GAIN
Overall Loss: 3.0
Pounds to go: 25.5


Check out the rest of the gang:

This week our contest is sponsored by Clara who writes the Coming Back to Life! She is offering a hand made tote as a prize this week! Here is a picture! Oh it is SOOO cute and perfect for fall!

The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Julie!

Congrats to Grace for being this week's biggest loser of 3.2 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 2 LOSS
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - no report
Grace - 3.2 LOSS
Leigh - 2.5 GAIN
Clara - 2.5 GAIN
Dette - 1.0 GAIN
Julie - 0.6 LOSS
Cheryl - NO CHANGE
Audrey - no report
Christy - 2.4 LOSS
Tina - 1.4 GAIN
Danielle - NO CHANGE
Jessie - NO CHANGE
Steph - no report

And welcome back CYN who is reporting no change this week.

This week's total - 0.8 LOSS!

Your Friendship!

Got this one from one of my very good friends, Cathy:

We need friends for many reasons,
all throughout the season.
We need friends to comfort us
when we are sad,
and to have fun with us when we are glad.

We need friends to give us good advice,
We need someone we can count on,
and treat us nice.

We need friends to remember us
one we have passed
sharing memories that will always last.

Spread the poem of FRIENDSHIP:

1. Everyday Life 2. Words of Love 3. Sheng's Simple Thoughts 4. Me and My World 5. Real Expectation 6. Muthahood Crib 7. Yours Here!

I'd like to share this with some great friends:

• VeraBear
• Toni
• Melissa B.
• Jessie
• Mo

=)

The Dark Knight

Wow. Now I know what all the commotion was about.

I finally went to see "The Dark Knight" - and am still trippin' off the wicked performance Heath Ledger gave.

He stole the show. Straight up.

I will definitely be picking up the DVD when it comes out December 9th. I feel like there's so many more details I missed!

Wanna play? Hop on over to Blog Catalog to join our group - you can even subscribe to group discussions so you don't miss anything. Watcha waiting for? Let us know what book or movie YOU would like to talk about!

Technorati Tags: entertainment, books, reading, movies, film, theater, reviews, bam_club

6 Layers About Me

Got this one from In The Life Of..."Mně" - I haven't seen this one before!

::Start::
RULES:1. Add your blog/s to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs. It’s okey if you only post this questions in one blog as long as you answer them.2. Get back to Me {YEN} and I’ll add your blogs to the master’s list HERE! Note that you are not ALLOWED to change the link of the here.3. Copy from Start to End.4. Tag as many friends online you know. But you don’t need to be tag in order to join.

Copy this Participants List: Me and Mine Creative in Me For the LOVE of Food Little Peanut Pea in a Pod It’s Where the HEART Is Around the World SugarMagnolias I Am Mommy All About The Memories Enchanted Play Just My Scrap Whats Up Simply Me Kitchen Deelite A Mothers Horizon In Depth A Life in Bloom Because Life is a Blessing Digiscraptology Joys iN life Life is What we Make it Photo Blog Dancing in Midlife Tune Pinay Mommy Online Mommy Earns Money Online Blessings and Beyond Posh Post Reviews Flowersbythewayside MeMyselfAndJC In The Life Of...Mne Everything Has A Reason In My Kitchen Muthahood Crib

LAYER ONE:
– Name: Dette– Birth date: February– Birthplace: Southern Cali – Current Location: Central Cali – Eye Color:Brown– Hair Color: Black– Righty or Lefty: Righty

LAYER TWO:
– Your heritage: Filipino– The shoes you wore today: Flip Flops – Your weakness: Chocolate– Your fears: Not being there– Your perfect pizza: Supreme– Goal you’d like to achieve in life: Helping the young ones who can't help themselves

LAYER THREE:
– Your most overused phrase on AIM: LOL – Your first waking thoughts: It's still too early, damnit– Your best physical feature: The eyes have it – Your most missed memory: Being debt free - lol!

LAYER FOUR:
– Pepsi or Coke: Coca-Cola– McDonald’s or Burger King: McD's– Single or group dates: Single– Adidas or Nike: Both– Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Nestea Ice Tea– Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate!– Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee

LAYER FIVE
– A famous person, dead or alive, would you interview: Princess Di – Movie can you watch and say the lines along with the actors: Pride & Prejudice – Name two of your passions in life : My family and my spirituality journey – Least favorite time of day: Morning

LAYER SIX
– Use hairspray or gel: None– Your favorite meal: Surf & Turf – Color is the inside of your head when you close your eyes: Black– Listen to classical music: Hmnnn, sometimes– Ever said LOL in real life without thinking about it: No ::END::

Now I'm tagging:

• Irresistible Fascinations
• Carole's Thoughtful Spot
• All About Me
• Hip Mama Blog
• Janeth Vicy's Life Journey

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #14

I didn't gain... but I didn't lose either...

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 149.5
This Week's Weigh-In: 149.5
Variance: 0 CHANGE
Overall Loss: 4.0
Pounds to go: 24.5

Check out how the rest of the gang did:

Last week we contunued the contest where everyone who reported a LOSS had their name added to a drawing for a lot of 100 Mary Kay samples! The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Danielle!

This week our contest is sponsored by Ciara who writes the Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog! She is offering a hand made bracelet as a prize this week!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week (barely, but it's still a loss)! Congrats to Clara for being this week's biggest loser of 2.5 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 loss
Tammy - 1 gain
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1 loss
Grace - 2.2 gain
Leigh - 1 gain
Clara - 2.5 loss
Dette - no change
Julie - 1.4 gain
Cheryl - no report
Audrey - 2.4 loss
Christy - 3.2 gain
Tina - no report
Danielle - 2 loss
Jessie - no change
Steph - no report

This week's total - 0.1 LOSS!

Twilight | Obsessive Cullen Disorder

I thought about choosing one of our recent local book club picks... but how could I deny my obsession with Bella and Edward? This OCD - Obsessive Cullen Disorder - I have. ;)

I've even joined the Lex, the official fansite, and love reading about all the background information on the entire series, via personal correspondence from Stephenie Meyer herself!

Can I just tell you... that the Hubz has been SORELY aggravating me all week. All week!

But I told him all would be forgiven if he could just nail down premiere tickets for me. *wicked giggle*

I have scoured all over the internet to try and purchase premiere tickets - no such luck, of course. You have to know someone... to get an invitation.

Damnit.

lol - I did find out, thought, that new pics from the cast of Twilight will be in the October issue of the In Style magazine - look for it come September 26th. I can't WAIT until the movie hits the big screen November 21st. :D

Are you a fan of the series as well? Add your thoughts to our Twilight discussion and let us know which one of the books was your fave. Or anything else you'd like to share!

Wanna play? Hop on over to Blog Catalog to join our group - you can even subscribe to group discussions so you don't miss anything. Watcha waiting for? Let us know what book or movie YOU would like to talk about!


Technorati Tags: bam_club, books, movies, twilight, stephenie, meyer, vampires, werewolves

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #13

OMG. I won.

[Pause] I won, I won, I won!

*happy dance*

Before I celebrate (preferably with a date on the ellyptical instead of a cup of ice cream) - here are my numbers:

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 151.0
This Week's Weigh-In: 149.5
Variance: 1.5 loss
Overall Loss: 4.0
Pounds to go: 24.5

Check it out!!

We currently have a contest where everyone who reported a LOSS had their name added to a drawing for a lot of 100 Mary Kay samples! And since I currently don't have any other prizes, we will have the same contest this week. Just remember that maintaining doesn't count, sorry! Also, if you have a prize to donate that would be GREAT!! Just let me know!

The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Dette!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week! Congrats to Grace for being this week's biggest loser of 3.8 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 LOSS
Tammy - 0.5 GAIN
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - no report
Grace - 3.8 LOSS
Leigh - 0.5 LOSS
Clara - No Change
Dette - 1.5 LOSS
Julie - No Change
Cheryl - No Change
Audrey - No Change
Christy - 1.4 LOSS
Tina - 0.5 GAIN
Danielle - No Change
Jessie - 3 GAIN
Steph - no report

This week's total - 4.2 LOSS!

Congrats to Grace for the biggest loss this week ~ and special thanks to Leigh for organizing all of this!

Online Book and Movie Club

Except with a bit of a twist.

Do you enjoy reading? Watching movies?

Forget having an assigned book of the month, week, whateva. Read what you want to read. Watch what you want to watch.

Then tell us if you liked it!

I love chattin' with people about favorite books or movies (old and new), learning about new finds - and knowing what to stay away from (lol). If you're the same - then this club's for you!


HOW TO PLAY

• On Fridays, let us know about either a book you've read or a movie you've watched - the choice is all yours =)


• Include one of the buttons below, with a link back to MuthahoodCrib.com


• Each week at my BAM post, sign Mr. Linky and leave a comment with your book/movie selection


• Bounce on over to visit the other participants so we can all check out what's hot - and what's not!
  
  
• LAUNCH DATE: Friday, 9/19/08

Hit us up at Blog Catalog and join our group for some chit-chat. You can even subscribe for group discussions in a reader so you won't miss anything. As my son would say, "Easy Peasy." :)

You can join the Friday BAM Club on any day, at any time! Just send me an email at MuthahoodCrib [at] gmail [dot] com with your URL and I'll pop you onto the blogroll.

BAM CLUB BLOGROLL

Your Blog Here!

***

POST BUTTON

<a href="http://www.muthahoodcrib.com/2008/09/online-book-and-movie-club.html" target="_blank" title="Online Book and Movie Fan Club"><img alt="Online Book and Movie Fan Club" src="http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m407/mammadawg/BAM.jpg" /></a>

---

125X125 BUTTON



<a href="http://www.muthahoodcrib.com/2008/09/online-book-and-movie-club.html"><img title="Online Book and Movie Club at Muthahood Crib" alt="Online Book and Movie Club at Muthahood Crib" src="http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m407/mammadawg/BAM_125.jpg" border="0" /></a>

---

BLOGROLL CODE

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display.php?r=c5fd20f8acf075613217da7ff78de769"></script>

***

Technorati Tags: Online, Book, and, Movie, Fan, Club

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #12

Like a mini yo-yo, I am:

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 151.5
This Week's Weigh-In: 151.0
Variance: 0.5 loss
Overall Loss: 2.5
Pounds to go: 26.0

What I need to do is get my head outta these books and get my ass on the ellyptical - lol!

We had a great week - congrats to Ciara for winning the 1st contest!

Last week we announced a contest where everyone who reported a LOSS had their name added to a drawing for a lot of 100 Mary Kay samples! The motivation worked! Nearly everyone reported a loss this week. So we will have the same contest this week. Just remember that maintaining doesn't count, sorry!

The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and
this week's WINNER is Ciara!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week! Congrats to Cheryl for being this week's biggest loser of 4 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and
congratulate her!

Chris - 4 GAIN
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 0.4 LOSS
Grace - no report
Leigh - 2.0 LOSS
Clara - no report
Dette - 0.5 LOSS
Julie - 0.8 LOSS
Cheryl - 4 LOSS
Audrey - 0 CHANGE
Christy - 1.6 LOSS
Tina - 1.4 LOSS
Danielle - 1 LOSS
Jessie - no report

And please give a warm welcome to Steph who lost 2 pounds this last week!

This week's total - 10.7 LOSS!!

My Random Six

I am SO behind on my tags... I owe Clara Six Random Things... let's see what I can come up with:

1. I have a new addiction: The Twilight Saga from Stephenie Meyer
   
   Omigosh - I'm completely hooked. Read all 4 books in less than a week, and I've even gone back and re-read some of my favorite parts in Twilight and Breaking Dawn. I can't WAIT for the movie - you know where I'll be come November 21st!
   


2. Who are you calling a scaredy-cat? Me, that'd be ME!
   
   I used to LOVE watching scary movies. But now? I'm such a chicken-shit, I can't stand the images that come into my head at night, so no more horror movies for me. I wanted to see The Grudge, The Messengers and I can't remember what else. The images from Exorcism of Emily Rose are the worst!!
   


3. If you saw me shopping at Target, you'd call me a bitch.
   
   But only if I didn't look your way. If we made eye contact, I'd say hello with a smile. But unless I'm smiling or chatting away, I look like a meeeeeean bitch. Probably another reason why the guys were hesitant to approach me back in my clubbin' days - lol.
   
   
4. I gave up designer clothes and handbags instead of my DVD's.
   
   Wha-? lol - yep, Hubz sold his X5 to save money and drove around an '89 pick-up truck for almost 2 years. He asked if I'd stop buying movies every Tuesday to contribute, but I countered with no more designer stuff til' Christmas. Amazingly, I held past my goal, since I must have something defective with me and have never been much of a shopper anyway. :)
   
   
5. What does a chocoholic do when she's out of chocolate? She makes her own!
   
   It sorta just came to me - I had a contact in San Diego who I'd buy chocolate lollipops as giveaways during a birthday party or something. And I wanted to give a homemade gift to a friend for her birthday, so I up and went to Michael's to get started and now I have a whole CLOSET full of supplies. There's none to be found in this small city - I thought of opening a business, but... lol - no time. So now I do them for fun, and the boys have friends who ask when's the next time they'll bring goodies in to the classroom.
   


6. And if you'd like to meet new people in a new town, you can always start a book club!
   
   Omigosh - I was going out of my mind. Someone mentioned it to me once, and I thought, "Why not?" So I put up fliers and posted an ad at Craigslist. But I decided to do something different - and every month, we'd have both a book discussion AND a movie night. Voila! The Book and Movie (BAM) Fan Club was born. It'll be a year in November, and we're at almost 20 members.

For more on this, you can check out Seven Facts and my Unspectacular Quirks. And... if you haven't done any of these yet, I'd like to tag YOU!

In God We Trust: Yes or No?

You probably have already figured out that I don't do email forwards.

But this one... how could I not share?

Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. NBC is taking a poll on 'In God We Trust' to stay on our American currency.

Not sure how long the poll will be open for... I hope you take a moment to vote.

You know I did.

Where do you stand?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #11

Ugh. Taking vacation time does NOT help one get her butt into gear. Good news is I didn't gain any this week. Bad news is I didn't lose the 2 lbs. I gained last week.

In my 11th week, here are my measley numbers:

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 151.5
This Week's Weigh-In: 151.5
Variance: 0 change
Overall Loss: 2.0
Pounds to go: 26.5

Leigh's going to help us get motivated - check out what she had to say:

This week we are adding a contest! It seems we all need motivation after all. So, for everyone who reports a LOSS (maintaining doesn't count, sorry!) on the next weigh in will have their name put in a drawing for 100 assorted Mary Kay samples! So drink your water and count your calories. We can all do this!

And check it out! We had an over all loss! Congrats to Christy for being this week's biggest loser of 5 pounds!!

Chris - 3.2 LOSS
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 0.4 GAIN
Grace - 0.4 LOSS
Leigh - 0.5 GAIN
Clara - 0.5 GAIN
Dette - 0 CHANGE
Julie - 0.2 LOSS
Cheryl - 0 CHANGE
Audrey - 2 GAIN
Christy - 5 LOSS
Tina - 1 LOSS (from last week)
Danielle - 2 LOSS
Jessie - 0 CHANGE

This week's total - 9.0 LOSS!!

If you'd like to join us, check out HQ and drop a note to our organizer, Leigh. Good luck to all!!

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #10

Leigh's not kidding - another bad week. :(

I gained 2 pounds over the last week - but Leigh's gonna kick us into gear. Check it out:

Another gain week! Okay! Time to get our butts in gear. This gain/no change has
got to stop. I am just as guilty, I know! I gained more than anyone! So I was
trying to think about what we could do for some motivation around here.

Does anyone in the group have any graphic skills? I'd love to have some
awards to hand out as people reach goals. Also I would like to have a contest
each week so if you would like to put up any prizes or are willing to donate to
the cause let me know! I have quite a bit of Mary Kay discontinued items I'd
love to award as prizes. I was thinking maybe having each pound lost as one
entry for a drawing each week (2 entries per pound for Ciara on account of her
tyroid, if that is alright with everyone...I want this to be fair).

Send
me your thoughts and ideas!! Thanks!!

Chris - 2 GAIN
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 0
CHANGE
Grace - no report
yet
Leigh - 3.5 GAIN
Clara - 4 LOSS
Dette - 2 GAIN
Julie - 0.2 LOSS
Cheryl - 0 CHANGE
Audrey - 2 LOSS
Christy - 2 GAIN
Tina - no report yet
Danielle - 0 CHANGE
Jessie - 0 CHANGE

This week's
total - 2.3 GAIN!

How Competitive Are You?

This was fun (and quick!) - grabbed it from Faery Dancing:

You Are Fencing

You're competitive but not brutally so. You compete to make yourself better. You find having an opponent to be challenging and rewarding. You are fierce when you're in a competition, but you don't wish your rivals any real harm.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #9

Okay - so if I want to lose some weight, I seriously need to get motivated and start exercising again. It's been weeks, and if I want to lose more than 4 lbs in over 2 months, well, simply put - I need to get moving.

No change for me since last week, when I should've lost that extra pound I gained. Here are my stats:

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 149.5
This Week's Weigh-In: 149.5
Variance: 0 change
Overall Loss: 4.0
Pounds to go: 24.5

And here are the stats for the rest of the crew:

Chris - 1 GAIN
Tammy - 0 CHANGE
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1
GAIN
Grace - 0 CHANGE
Leigh - 0.5 GAIN
Clara - 1.5 LOSS
Dette - 0 CHANGE
Julie - 0.2 LOSS
Cheryl - 2 GAIN
Audrey - 1 GAIN
Christy - 1.2 LOSS
Tina - no report?
Danielle - 1 LOSS

Please
help us welcome Jessie to the group
with an inital report of 0 change!

This week's total - 1.6 GAIN!

:(

I Hope He Answers Soon

Hubz is away for a couple of days. Remember when we were looking at that job opportunity in Denver?

Well, it looks like the hotel's Owners wanted to meet with Hubz in person, so they flew him out to their office in New Mexico. Next on the agenda would be to visit the property in Denver, but Hubz still isn't convinced this would be the right move for us.

I'm confused myself.

Turns out, the new company? Way more advanced than the one he's working for now. They're smart, organized - they've got their shit together. Plus, there's room to grow here - so career growth is looking good.

The company Hubz is with now? Smaller, lots smaller, and we're at the biggest hotel they have in their portfolio. Except it's a problem hotel. Ugh. I can't even begin to describe the issues going on here. You realize, that hotels never close, right?

Twenty-four-friggin'-seven.

And this company does not always make the most sound business decisions...

But the family is doing well here, and the kids love it. With so little to do and no traffic to fight, we've actually grown a lot closer to each other as well. The pay is decent, and they check in with Hubz to make sure that he's alright, is the family alright...

The property in Denver is not fab. Not exciting at all. Hubz would have to start all over again, proving himself to this new company, and have to work his way up to the flagship hotel. The plus, though, is that he could actually learn some new things with this company - instead of constantly putting out fires in operational and union nightmares.

Imagine? He could actually BE a General Manager. Run a hotel instead of having to save it from crashing all the time.

I have to tell you - Hubz kicks ASS in hotel management. He has a great reputation and comes with strong references. But he keeps taking on these challenges - problem hotels or hotels going thru a renovation or even opening a hotel from the ground up.

He's developed a knack for being Mr. Fix-it - and when you think there's no hope left, in walks the Hubz and he'll get it turned around. It might take a year or two, but he'll get there thru blood, sweat and tears.

It'd be nice to see him in a job where he could simply run it.. and maximize the guest experience and revenue dollars. Wow. He might even be less grumpy. ;)

But...

You knew there'd be a "but."

But, he doesn't want to move to Denver, even if it only snows a little bit. Neither of us care for the hotel very much, and we'd be much further away from my family in San Diego. Plus, our eldest just started as a freshman in high school.

We'd hoped to keep him from the hassle of having to move during these temperamental years.

Ugh. What to do?!

We'll keep praying on it. In fact, I've been praying that the Lord will just let us know what it is He wants us to do and we'll follow.

He wants us to stay? Okay, we'll stay.

He wants us to move? Okay, we'll move.

I mean, that's exactly how we ended up here. All of His messages pointed us here. I know in my heart and soul that this is exactly where we're supposed to be, right here, right now.

But that was 2 years ago. I just don't know if this is where we're supposed to stay.

And the answer isn't clear yet, so I think I better just keep on prayin' - lol.




Technorati Tags: family, relocating, denver, career, decision

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #8

I seriously need to start exercising again:

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 148.5
This Week's Weigh-In: 149.5
Variance: 1.0 gain
Overall Loss: 4.0
Pounds to go: 24.5

Check out the girls - talk about kickin' BUTT!

Chris - no report
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - no
report
Grace - 1.4 LOSS
Leigh - 5.5 LOSS
Clara - 2 LOSS
Dette - 1 GAIN
Julie - 0 CHANGE
Cheryl - 4 LOSS
Cyn Blue - no report
Audrey - 0.6 LOSS
Christy - 7.2 LOSS
Tina - 0.5 GAIN

Please
welcome Danielle to the group
with her starting result of 0 Change!

This week's total - 20.2 LOSS!

Crazy Eights Encore

My girl RhoRho tagged me with this, so I thought we could do an encore of an old post from the former Dance of Moherhood:

Check out my Crazy Eights - yo!

1. When I attend a conference and finally meet someone in person (who only knows me by my name in email), they think they're gonna meet an 80-year old lady with her hair in a bun and glasses on the tip of her nose. Then - in walks me.
   
   
2. Hubby and I escape to Vegas 2-3 times a year - you'd hardly recognize me over there. Let's just say that hubby likes to shop for my Vegas digs. ;)
   
   
3. I exemplify: "It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."
   
   
4. I'm an organizational fREak. I love to get things organized but can't put my friggin' laundry away by the end of the week.
   
   
5. I'm addicted to movies. Screw TV (and those damn commercials) - I can only watch it if I TiVo it. I've got 500+ DVD's stashed and waiting to get systemized (lol) into my new discsox's.
   
   
6. I like to get stupid with the kids. Put my fat ass on roller blades for a race around the block, trying to teach myself to swim laps during their swimming lessons or get loud at the - well - anywhere. They should be embarassed.
   
   
7. I am a romantic FOOL. I used to dream of quiet evenings after family dinner, weekly dates with the hubz, or maybe even a surprise on my birthday. Then I woke the eff up.
   
   
8. But then again, we get our snookie on, like, 3-4 times a WEEK. It doesn't matter if it's already midnight. Someone please tell this mutha to stop complaining already?!

Spreading Creativity

Hmnnn... it must've started in grade school.

Creativity would creep up in on my school projects, the drama productions I'd perform in, during my speech and writing festivals...

But most recently, it'd entertain me when I started a line of Candipops, and now with trying - let me emphasize, trying, to make digital scrapbook pages.

lol - how did you get your start in creativity?

{start copying here}

{ created by Cathy, please don't delete the graphics or alter it }

1. Copy the graphics designed by Cathy and then tell us your story about how you came to start designing. It doesn't matter if it's "for your eyes only" or you are designing for somebody.


2. Come back here and leave your link where you posted the story. I will add your blogs to the master list. If you have more than 1 blog you need to post the tag to your other blogs as well.


3. Passed it to people you know who makes beautiful crafts.


4. Make sure that you come back here to get the updated list of bloggers who joined the tag.

This is a good way to increase our rankings on Technorati at the same time we
get to read great stories. So let's start spreading those creativity.

1. Anything and Everything in Between
2. Designs By Vhiel
3. Vhiel's Corner
4. Can of Thoughts
5. Digital Scrapbooking Creations
6. Me and My World
7. Muthahood Crib
8. You're next!

{end copying here}

Now I'm tagging some really cool scrapbookin' folks:







Technorati Tags: spreading, creativity, tag

Focus, girl. Focus!

I've got to focus, got to focus.

I thought I did alright this past weekend and got TONS of stuff done. Talk about productive!

We bought a new car for Hubz on Friday. lol - the pick up truck is about to DIE, and he's been so patient about driving this POS. So we bought a used Nissan Armada from CarMax (I LOVE CarMax - no BS whatsoever) since work is only 7 minutes away from home.

Plus - it'll be HUGE for some upcoming road trips. Whoohoo!!

Looked at getting a DVD entertainment installed, and since the only mofo's in town are trying to take me for a ride, we've decided they can keep their $1,500 quote to themselves and we'll install it on our own. (I hope!)

Cleaned out the boys' closets. Organized all the hand-me-downs from the attic and stored them in nice, neat clear plastic containers, waiting in each monster's closet.

Paid the bills, moved from a manual checkbook register to MSN Money (which I'm also in love with), and got the Armada added to our auto insurance. I think I love State Farm, too, coz I'm only paying $135/month for all 3 of our vehicles. Nice!

I finally copied all of our digital pics both to a portable hard drive, and online at our photo gallery for safekeeping. Though I now need to go through all of our OLD pics, which Kodak nicely put onto CD's for us when we ordered prints, and I need to transfer THOSE to both the hard drive and online. (sigh)

But I also changed our phone company from AT&T to Vonage, and at $25/month for unlimited long distance, that's a bargain from the $40/mo AT&T is charging. Not to mention, 2 free months.

Though I've never used voice-over-internet and am keeping my fingers crossed.

And this morning, I uploaded a new commenting system, Disqus, which I think I'll like quite nicely! I just can't get rid of the additional comment box at the bottom of the post - so if you have any ideas/suggestions - please let me know!!

So while I've been a bit busy on the home front, I need to get busy on the work front. I've gotten some stuff done, but not nearly as much as I should be getting done.

I'm actually thankful that school starts next week - having all the monsters in the house at once was killing my work productivity - lol. Never mind cabin fever!

So glad we escaped a couple times for Knott's Berry Farm and the camping trip on the lake. I've got to share some photos, still don't I? And we're planning a trip down to San Diego in a few weeks, since I wasn't able to find a decent campground near L.A. that had availability. But Dago will be fun - we'll get to see my parents and some friends - and just kick back for a little bit.

But for now... I must.... focus. ;)

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #7

I guess I'm just inching along :)

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 149.0
This Week's Weigh-In: 148.5
Variance: 0.5 loss
Overall Loss: 5.0
Pounds to go: 23.5


Check out the gang!

Chris - 3 GAIN
Tammy - 0 CHANGE
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1 LOSS
Grace - 0.4 LOSS
Leigh - 2.5 GAIN
Clara - 0 CHANGE
Dette - 0.5 LOSS
Julie - 1 LOSS
Cheryl - 0 CHANGE
Cyn Blue -0 CHANGE
Audrey - 5.2 LOSS
Christy - 3 LOSS
Tina - no report

This week's total - 5.6 LOSS!

First, Now and Last

Here's a tag from Vhiel:

FIRST

• First name: Dette
• First screen name: sky211
• First funeral: My mom's younger brother, in the Philippines
• First kiss: lol - let's not go there
• First love: at 15 - with a boy who STILL has my comic book collection

LAST

• Last beverage drank: H20
• Last food consumed: pinwheel sandwiches from Costco
• Last phone call: Rae
• Last time showered: last night
• Last CD played: Chris Tomlin (via iPod)
• Last website visited: Anything & Everything In Between

NOW

• Single or taken: Married, almost 10 years :)
• Gender: Female
• Birthday: February 11th
• Sign: Aquarius
• Shoe Size: 7
• Thinking about: trying to find a nice place in SoCal to go camping
  

Participants:

1.) Me and Mine
2.) Creative in Me
3.) Little Peanut
4.) For the LOVE of Food
5.) Pea in a Pod
6.) SugarMagnolias
7.) Blogsilog
8.) Captured Memories
9.) Cherry’s Comfort Zone
10.) Thinking Out Loud
11.) Wishing and Hoping
12.) Buzzy Me
13.) My Precious Niche
14.) Just Me.. Eds
15.) Eds Mommy Life
16.) Can of Thoughts
17.) Designs By Vhiel
18.) Vhiel's Corner
19.) Anything and Everything in Between
20.) Muthahood Crib
21.) YOU


Now I'm tagging: 52 Faces, Reflexes, Mad About Kids, Red Lotus Mama and Thoughts, Experiences & Reality

Technorati Tags: First_Now_and_Last, blog, tag

Taking It Off Together Tuesday #6

I am SO excited - we just got back from a camping trip (sorry for the late weigh-in, girls) and am happy to report:

0.5 lb loss

Whoohoo!! I still watched my portions, stayed light on the carbs, but had some snacks and definitely some chocolate (heaven!). Hubz even took us out for ice cream last night - can you say Jamocha Oreo???? Yum!!

After these last 2 weeks - I now know what works for me: Eating

As long as I have some thing to eat every couple of hours, my metabolism gets going. I have to have breakfast the minute I get up from bed, and since my body knows it's going to get some nutrition soon, it'll burn the fat instead of storing it.

So for me - it's healthy snacks, light meals - and a dinner with lots of protein and veggies. I once skipped the high protein dinner and had soup instead... - THAT was HELL. Not worth it.

Here are my numbers:

All Time High: 153.5
Last Week's Weigh-In: 149.5
This Week's Weigh-In: 149.0
Variance: 0.5 loss
Overall Loss: 4.5
Pounds to go: 24.0

Check out the rest of the gang!

Chris - 2.8 LOSS (-5.8 overall)
Tammy - 2 LOSS (-7 overall)
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 2 LOSS (-2 overall)
Grace - 1.6 LOSS (-51.6 overall)
Leigh - 4 LOSS (-31 overall)
Clara - 1 GAIN (-9.5 overall)
Dette - 0 (-4.5 overall)
Julie - 1 GAIN (-4.1 overall)
Cheryl - 2 GAIN (+2 overall)
Cyn Blue - no report
Audrey - 2.6 GAIN (-0.4 overall)
Christy - 0 (-11 overall)
Tina - 1 GAIN (0 overall)

Totals:
this week - 4.8 LOSS
over all - 124.4 LOSS