Hubbard, Lake Hazel and Columbia all intersect with Meridian Road.  Columbia got a traffic light after a few serious accidents.  When Zach started driving it was sort of our "rule" that if you have to turn left off Hubbard or Lake Hazel you need to drive to one of the streets with a traffic light.  A while back Zach came home to tell us his buddy was out driving with his mom and got hit turning left onto Meridian Road.  He also commented that He guessed my freakishness over the whole thing was warranted.  Seriously you need to have proof that I know what I am talking about??

We picked up 3 blackberry plants tonight, the old gentleman that we go them from said I should have blackberries next summer.  We shall see, I am still waiting for Raspberries from the plants I put in 2 years ago.  Also still waiting for my peony bushes to bloom with more than 1 flower...



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Vacation--Colorado or Bust-- 2011

When you saying "Driving Family Vacations" people cringe and I have to admit I cringe.  16 hours in the car with my 16, 13, 12 and 8 year old-doesn't  sound fun.  I do always prepare for the worst--someone is GOING to puke it happens every time the 6 of us go on a road trip, thankfully we have moved passed the part of the trip where someone has a blowout diapers!!.  Our first stop on the first day was a Walmart, as I see my oldest son approaching me looking very pale with bloodshot eyes he says "Can you get the dramimine and tylenol please?  You bet!! and then dosed them all just for grins.  I already had wipes, paper towels and a bucket just in case.  So far no puke, well  in the car anyway, there was a small incident at the hotel but it was small and contained!!.... It has been decided that the 13 year old does not ride well, he gets to be downright irritating..I think the answer is bungy cords and duck tape..our answer to him, for every question, was 6..6 miles, 6 minutes, 6 days, 6 hours.  Z says by the end of this trip they are going to be curled up in the fetal position terrified of the number 6. 

Humor from various days on the road.

As seen on the rear window of the SUV we passed on the hiway somewhere in Idaho...
"Dear Dave Tell ur girlfriend ur wife and kids say hi, I cleaned out the bank ur broke. Nicki and kids"

Road signs seen on hiway somewhere along the way:
"Drowsy drivers cause crashes"
"Drowsy drivers next mile"
"Drowsy drivers pull over if necessary"
   Who spent time identifying these Drowsy Drivers and if the drivers are drowsy would they really even see these signs??

At a truckstop somewhere in Wyoming the handicapped man who thanked me "for raising my daughter right" apparently she waited and held the door open for him and he was grateful.

Question from the younger teen child "Do they have urinals in the ladies bathroom?"  Are you seriously asking me that question?  Fast forward to check in at the hotel.  Family bathroom as I am walking in, I see the urinal-yup you guessed I backed out and rechecked the sign on the door--so I guess in some cases the answer to that question is "Depends".

Listening to Nick tell a story in the car, he ends with "and so on and  so forth.." 

My biggest traveling wish "Can we please just get in the car without fighting over who needs to move where and just sit down, if you are in first you are in the back"  Someday I am going to drive off and leave them all arguing in the parking lot on who should get in first.

Integrity, Intiative, Good Judgment....oh my...

My parents taught me to do the right thing even when nobody was looking, they taught me to use my best judgment, if it doesn’t feel right, there is a pretty good chance it’s not, take initiative and be the change you want to see in the world.    Maybe they didn’t use those exact words and phrases, but the point was still the same.  I look at my kids and think are these the same values I am instilling into them?  I asked my teenage son the other night “Okay so here is the deal, I have a job interview at the company I am working temporarily for, it is jeans day and I already work there so can I just wear the jeans?” and he looked at me without hesitation said “But mom it is still a job interview.”  Since he is a teenager my expectation, or maybe it was my hope, that he would say “yeah it’s okay to wear the jeans.”  So needless to say today I dressed in my Integrity, Initiative and good judgment interview outfit.  The outfit showed my integrity because he was right “it was the right thing to do”, it showed my good judgment because “it was the appropriate thing to do” and my initiative because “it was a responsible thing to do.”  I am not sure how the interview went,   but I will say that with all the other employees in Jeans and casual work attire, I absolutely stood out.  What better way to boost your self esteem before an interview than to have a large group of people all dressed in jeans tell you how great look.    Back in early November my 2^nd son found 12.00 on the floor at the middle school, I did not realize this and put some money on the buffet.  Ben saw it and said “hey is that the money I found at school?”  apparently it was about the same amount.  He explained what had happened and that he turned the money in to the secretary at the school.  I expressed to him how proud I was of him and he said “yeah well I only turned it in because someone saw me find it”  “Really, Ben that would make me so sad to think you would not do the right thing” “I am just kidding” and he wandered off.  Now, was he really kidding, I can’t be sure but I am really glad that someone was watching because maybe next time nobody will be watching and he will still do the right thing, of course the fact that  a few weeks later they gave him the money didn’t hurt things either.  A little positive reinforcement goes a long way.

I have Never.....

**I never made it back to the break room today to check on my black hole theory.  Okay so that is not entirely true, I did go in there to get a desperately needed Diet Coke, but I forgot to look at the tables, or maybe it was all the tables were filled with people eating their lunch.
**I have never been told I smell before today--well Amelia tells me all the time that my perfume stinks and it hurts her nose, but she is 11 and she has REALLY stinky soccer feet! --I guess I should be grateful "you smell" was  a reference to my perfume and not my inability to make it to the shower or hold my gas, now that would have been a really humiliating conversation!! --Of course those of you who know me well, know I don't offend easily and I have that incredibly dry warped sense of humor-so of course I giggled to myself all afternoon.  Every time someone said something I would think to myself "well at least you don't smell" and giggle a little more.
**I have never run away from home, but some days I think it might be a fun adventure.
**I have never beaten my kids, but they beat me down fairly regularly.
**I have never used a cuss word, and if you believe that I have some "Ocean Front Property in Arizona" I would like to talk to you about.
**I have never not for one second in almost 16 years wondered where my children get " it" from! I know exactly where they got "it" from!! and if you know my kids at all, I don't even have to put a definition of "it" on here!

Misc

     Stupid must be tattooed in invisible ink on my forehead, it can be the only explanation.  I would say as parents our follow through has been about 90%, so 90% of the time the consequence we set forth is GOING to happen!  You would think that after 15.75 years of life that when we lay out the consequence the little light bulb would go off and the thought would be "Ah crap they mean it, I better get my act together" but oh no, some lessons, must be taught and re-taught, 15 and 3  not much difference if you want my opinion!!
    The weight loss journey continues, I am pretty pleased with the fact that I have maintained my weight since our final weigh in in December.  Believe me I know what I have eaten and so this really is an amazing fete.
    As most companies do, we have a break room complete with microwave, sink, tables, vending machines and a giant black hole.  I haven't quite figured it all out, but I have been taking baked goodies in and leaving them on the tables in the break room.  I return later in the day and the goodies are gone!  I don't ever see anyone eating anything, it is just gone.  I am testing my theory again tomorrow.
   Eye Doc for son 2 on Tuesday, bet this is the year he gets an extra set of eyes.  Orthodontist on Wednesday, Cast off on Wednesday, Soccer Practices, Soccer games...a stop by the store for clairol.. thank goodness for the driving teen! I think!

Food and Birthday's...

It is Friday!  Why does Friday think it can arrive with an open invitation to not eat healthy???  I don't get it ...all week I have done well, without much of a struggle...then here comes Friday...It wasn't too bad all day, I was chasing myself around in circles all day long so that left little time to chase junk food.  I am sitting here now with 3 liter bottles of water next to me thinking that if I drink them all I might actually manage to stay out of the chips and dip...Only made it to Curves twice this week, maybe I will try to go tomorrow morning, but I am thinking that I might actually sleep in. I still haven't braved the scales this week, but I did try on my 2 favorite black dresses and they both fit so now I just have to decide which one to wear to the company party tomorrow night...such decisions..I was just hoping that one of them would fit....I am also hoping that even though I am a temporary employee that I will be eligible to win some of the awesome prizes they are going to be giving away--not that I am that lucky!

Today is also Son2's birthday he is officially 13, even though he has been acting like a teenager for a year now.  His request is Chinese food and internet on Sunday (which is usually not allowed).  Today he went to Wahooz to take advantage of his free birthday coupon, had donuts delivered by my incredibly AWESOME neighbor to his 4th block class!  Krispy Kreme and teenagers...Paradise....Today is also Grandma's 70th birthday, she has been receiving items in the mail all week.  Very fun!  I am going to get a cake and have it brought to BINGO on Saturday night, so she can share with all her BINGO buddies!

Just another Day!

Totally cool new Tech toy to test out for the IT department. I think the husband brought it home tonight...I can't wait!!
I was really busy today, I have decided the best diet plan is WORK outside the home, not around food.  Unbelievable chocolate cake for Rachel's birthday didn't even have a piece so proud of my will power--  We did the file cabinet shuffle this afternoon and now are officially ready for 2011...Inventorying (for lack of a better word) the 2009 files for offsite storage...something like 30 boxes..wait let me get on my virtual file cabinet soap box!!
When I got home this afternoon, okay more like evening I sat down to log my food and realized I had barely eaten anything today.  I wasn't starving or even really hungry feeling all day so I guess I thought I had eaten...it must have been the fiber one cereal mixed with the fiber one yogurt...So healthy eating and food logging has been good today.  Did not make it to curves, decided I needed a day off, but I did do a walk around the outside of the building in the crisp winter temperatures....all in all I will mark this down as an incredibly successful day!!