Random Thought Thursday

Following in her stiletto steps, I'm stealing Random Tuesday Thoughts from Mom in High Heels. (And many others, I'm guessing.) Only, I'm going to do mine on Thursday's since Random Thought Thursday flows off the tongue a bit better. (Hey, I'm all about alliteration!)

So here it goes...

1. Kids today rarely use email. Texting, facebooking, and IM'ing are much more prevalent. This is just an observation, not a complaint. I constantly have to remind my students to check their email every 24 hours. I wonder if email will someday be as rare as a phone call? I do love the concept of IMing but sadly, no one I know really uses it.

(I can't believe I just used the term "kids, today...". Yeah, I'm getting old.)

2. Someone asked me why I wasn't on Twitter. I don't really have an answer. I probably should be but it just seems like another way to suck the time out of my day. I can barely keep up facebooking and blogging...

3. Divorce sucks. I understand (sorta) why people get divorces yet I'm always shocked when I hear about it happening. It makes me sad.

4. Why is the toilet in fourth stall in the work bathroom taller than the other five? And why are there only two rolls of toilet paper compared to the four rolls that are in other stalls?

5. Nicklas expresses so much emotion on his face. He should really go into drama. I think he'd make a great actor. His grade will be putting on the Wizard of Oz for an end of the school year celebration. He wants to try out for the part of the Scarecrow because he "doesn't have a brain" and it means Nicklas can "act all crazy". I really hope he gets the part.

6. I've hit a wall with the Get Fit Challenge. I've done well and lost about 20 lbs but I'm in a slump that I'm desperately trying to get out off.

7. I'm still not used to seeing Stringer Bell on The Office. I don't think I ever will be.

8. I should probably stop drinking diet soda (see #6). And I definitely need to drink more water.

9. I wonder how our exchange student, Mia, pronounces her name? Is it Mee-ah or My-ah? She arrives in August. I am super excited.

(Mia or Mia's mom, if you're reading this, let me know!)

10. Seeger has the best smell to him. It's addicting. Sometimes when I'm sitting in my office at work, I can almost smell him and it always brings a smile to my face. How long will that smell on him last before he turns into a stinky boy?

Get Fit update

The Get Fit Challenge is going well. Our initial goal was to lose 10% of our body weight. The Polack hit that last week. Me? Well, I'mthisclose. Only 0.6 lbs. to go! Most importantly, we're eating healthy and we're much more active than we've previously been. We're both getting lots of positive comments from family and friends (which is nice but a bit awkward) but for us, it's about being healthy and being good role models for our kids. Hopefully, we'll keep it up.

We can make this work

The Get Fit Challenge is going well. Mike and I have been following Weight Watchers for three weeks now and we've lost weight at every weigh in. Yay, us! We've also meeting our goal of doing a cardio workout at least three times a week. It's tough to do. We'd like to work out together but with a 4 and 8 year old, our options are limited.



Luckily, Mike had a great idea. We've started taking the boys to his school at night after dinner. Nicklas works on his homework and Seeger watches movies on the projection screen. Then Mike and I do labs around the second floor, stopping to check in on them every lap. The boys enjoy it and we like spending the time with each other while working up a sweat.

(Of course Seeger is watching a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD!)

Mmmmm.... donuts....

So the other day, Mike, the boys, and I went to visit our new puppy. We are eagerly anticipating February 10 - the day we bring home Freddie. (Like the name? I picked it out. It was between that and Artie and although we decided to go with Artie, for some reason, I would say Freddie every time I talked about him. Thus, Artie wasn't meant to be.) The boys loved playing with him and it was nice to meet the breeder face-to-face before actually shelling out the dough. You can tell she really loves her dogs and cares where they end up.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. (I know, I know - how is that possible? I ALWAYS take photo's and I even had my camera with me. But for some reason, it never occurred to me.)

It was a two hour drive there and another two hour drive back, mostly on back roads and through small towns. On the way home, we stopped at a Subway/Dairy Queen/gas station for lunch. I HATE eating fast food from gas stations. In fact, I rarely do it. But with the Get Fit Challenge and lack of choices, Mike and I felt Subway was the best option.

After finishing his food, Nicklas asked if he could go to the bathroom. Of course, the only restroom is the gas station one - super gross, I'm sure. After a few minutes, he hadn't returned so I went to check on him. This is what I saw....

He'd gotten side-tracked by the donut display on his way to pee. He was just staring at those silly donuts, oblivious to everything else.

Weekend update

It was a busy weekend, starting Friday evening with a funeral (sad) but afterward, Mike and I got to hang out with my cousin and his wife and play some board games (happy!). Saturday was spent doing all the shopping, cleaning, and laundry we've been putting off. Oh and we got Guitar Hero World Tour for our Wii. Yay!!!

Today was the open house for my father-in-law. In December, he retired from his 40 year career as a sports writer at the Lafayette Journal & Courier. That's right - he worked there for FORTY years. Amazing. I can't stay in a job for more than 4 years, much less 40. It was great to see so many people come to acknowledge and support him, including our city mayor, a state senator, and state representative. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

I haven't mentioned on this blog yet but Mike and I have created a Get Fit Challenge. We're working together to get healthy and lose weight. We've done some weight loss challenges in the past that had a competitive focus to them but instead of working against each other, this time we're working together. We have specific goals and rewards for meeting those goals. We've only been doing the Challenge for a week now but it's going well. We went on three walking dates this week, followed the Weight Watchers diet, and all together, we lost 14.2 pounds. (Yes, you read that correctly - isn't it amazing?!) I'm guessing most of this was water weight and I'm sure next week won't be quite as successful. But if we can stay at about 2 lbs each per week, we'll be happy.