jos·i·ol·ogy

Have you ever heard of Flat Stanley? Well, I’m participating in one through a messageboard I’m on and he came today! Just in time for the 5k race tomorrow!

We already had plans to go to dinner and then get our taxes done so we went ahead and brought him with us since he was here.

First was dinner, Chinese food:

Marisa was pretending like he was her date:

Madelyn (10) fed him an eggroll:

and here was his fortune!

Then we went to H&R Block and did our taxes…We tried, but for some reason our agent wouldn’t let us claim him as a dependent

I’m so thrilled he’s here! and WOW the book looks awesome!!! I love all the little souvenirs and journal pages that came with him. This is sooooo cool. Madelyn made him some good running clothes for tomorrow’s 5k. She’s also made him a bed with blankets and all in her room. We are going to have SOOOOO much fun with him!

Well, yesterday didn’t quite go as planned. Christina and I had planned to go to Zumba class at the gym yesterday morning at 8:30. She called Friday night to cancel, so I had a hard time finding the motivation to go by myself. I didn’t. We did, however, go work on the float…in the FREEZING RAIN. It was frigid. My hands were like ice because I didn’t have gloves. The girls were helping to begin with, but the longer we were there, the colder it got and we just had them go sit in the car with the heat on.

I was supposed to meet with Lynne afterwards to go walking (over the bridge!) but her plans didn’t quite work out the way she’d hoped, so we decided to reschedule. By the time we got home from the float the last thing I wanted to do was go back in that weather to walk, so I decided to go buy the Biggest Loser game for the Wii. HUGE mistake. What a waste of money! For starters, I was really wanting the Biggest Loser Strength Training Kit because it has the 4 lb dumbbells, jumprope, resistance band, etc all compatible with the Wii for 34.99. On the box, it says “Compatible with the following games: Biggest Loser, EA Active, Wii Fit”. So, I figured we’d get the Biggest Loser game since it would probably be a better match. $79 later we get it home and turned on and it was NOT what I was looking for AT ALL. For starters, there’s NO interaction at all with ANY of the items that came in the strength training kit. NONE. Yeah, you can jump with the jump rope, but there’s no part of the game or anything that will monitor your jumps, reps or anything. So, they’re useless! I mean, really! So, I tried giving the actual game a try and no, no, no, just no. My opinion is that it’s a glorified workout video. I could have bought a workout video for $20 if that’s what I wanted! The interaction was just non existent and the graphics were HORRENDOUS. I thought I was back in the Nintendo 64 days! So, I’m going to return it…I was thinking of getting the EA Active because it’s around $30 vs the Wii Fit being $100, but I’ve read a lot of bad reviews about its glitchiness. I guess you get what you pay for so we will probably just invest in the Wii Fit Plus afterall.

Well, we’re headed back out to work on the float again today. At least it’s not raining today. Still cold, but the rain and wind are what killed me yesterday.

As you know, one of my goals this year is to plan/organize a family reunion. I have no idea how many relatives might can show up, but I’m hoping for the best! I created an event tonight on Facebook which can be viewed once logged in. I’m real excited about the possibility of meeting family members I’ve never met before and seeing ones I haven’t seen in years! For the last couple of years I have been tracing my ancestry and working on my family tree. So, the notion of having everyone all together in one place just fascinates me and I really hope many can come.

In other news, I’ve worked real hard this week on all my goals, particularly those related to my weight loss. (You can read more about that on my weight loss blog though.)

Tomorrow I plan on getting up early enough to get a good workout in the gym and then we are all going to help work on the float tomorrow afternoon. Madelyn is on the Bayshore Cloggers team and every year they make a float because they dance in all the local parades (and some not-so-local). We’ve missed a few weeks of helping with the float so we’ve vowed to go both days this weekend. After the float I’ve got plans to meet with Lynne to walk. We’re talking about walking over the bridge which excites me!

Darren pleasantly surprised me with breakfast in bed this morning before work. I’m so grateful too, because if not for that I might still be in bed sleeping! I really, really didn’t want to get up and go to work this morning. Having the last four days off was just so splendid, like a mini-vacation. But alas, it’s back to reality today…and yes, I do have a case of the Mondays.

I loaded my new gym bag up with all my goodies (dumbbells, resistance bands, sneakers) and brought it to work with me today. I’d like to get in the routine of doing something on my lunch hour, whether it be doing the resistance bands, or just walking the stairs back and forth. Anything is better than nothing and if I want to win that fitness challenge I joined, I’d better really get my butt in gear. I’m also going to the gym tonight since I didn’t go this morning before work. I’m all fired up today, can you tell?

In other news, Marisa seems to have gotten a cold. She was so pitiful last night between her sniffles, sneezing, and hoarse voice, but she got up and went to school this morning. I hope she starts to feel better soon.

I’m gonna start doing research on gardening over the next couple of weeks. It’s something I’ve never done (never even had an interest in until now), but I’ve vowed to start one this year. I really hope I can do it because how cool would it be to just walk out back and pick some cucumbers when you need them? Or strawberries?

Well, I’d better go for now,

Our year in pictures. Click on each picture to see full size.

January:

Picture from Marisa's school bus accident on Jan. 13th - one of the scariest days of my life!

This is the dump truck that hit my daughter's school bus.

February:

The rotten economy had us looking for cheaper rent and we found the perfect place in February.. Here we are taking a load to our new home.

Darren's mom and sisters came to visit us in February. We had a great time!

We threw Darren an impromptu surprise birthday party at the Outback when his family was down to visit. He turned 40 this year!

March:

We went to the state fair in March. Here we are on the carousel!

Marisa took up the clarinet last year and joined her school's band. We didn't get many good pictures but, here is one from her first performance.

April:

My nephew Brad came down from NC to live with my mom. Here he is with my girls on the first night he was here.

Here are going to our first baseball game! Ft Myers Miracle won!

The girls and Brad after decorating eggs for Easter!

May:

2009 was the year I decided to learn how to coupon...I remember getting all of this for like $6 during a double coupon event at Kmart.

Marisa had her first boyfriend this year, Matt. Here they are at another band performance. They're no longer 'together' but they are still good friends.

June:

We love these bumper boats at the Shell Factory here in Ft. Myers. We always have so much fun when we go.

Feeding the fish and turtles at the Shell Factory. My girls love doing this.

July (a busy month!):

We hosted our first Fourth of July barbecue this year! I must say, the beans I made were DELICIOUS as was the flag cake!

We took our first real vacation this year. Here the girls are enjoying the hotel pool!

Here we are at Arabian Nights in Orlando. If you haven't been, you should. It was awesome!

While on vacation we went to M&M World in Orlando! Mmmm! M&Ms were EVERYWHERE!

We stopped at the world's largest McDonalds and there was a woman there doing caricatures. Here she is in the process of drawing Madelyn!

Here's the artist drawing a caricature of Marisa (at the world's largest McDonalds!)

We went to see the space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral. Here are the girls placing their hands in Neil Armstrong's handprints. Unfortunately, the launch was cancelled at the last minute so we didn't get to see it.

August:

Marisa with her best friend at the skating rink.

We really enjoyed having my mother in law here for the summer with us. Here's Madelyn loving on grandma at the ice cream shop.

September:

My father and his mother came into town so I had the opportunity to see them. I hadn't seen her since I was a toddler, so this was a mini family reunion.

2009 was the year I really branched out in my cake decorating. This was Madelyn's spongebob cake that I made. Everyone loved it!

This was my first stacked cake ever. Marisa's Twilight cake. She loved it and everyone else did too! I had fun making it.

Marisa and her friends at her 13th birhday party at Chuck E Cheese.

October:

My sister participated in a rocking chair contest to win a car. She rocked that chair for over 50 hours!

The girls right before we went on the haunted walk at Caloosa Nature Center!

My little devil and pop star! The girls getting ready to go trick or treating on Halloween.

November:

Madelyn joined the Bayshore Cloggers this year. Here is one of the many performances we attended.

I participated in my first 5k, the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. I hope to do many more!

The girls (and Darren) putting ornaments on the tree after Thanksgiving dinner.

Darren and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Due to finances and my new commitment to eat healthier we decided not to go to Olive Garden as we have in past years and instead made a great dinner at home. We drank out of our wedding glasses and hung a homemade 'Olive Garden' sign in our dining room. It was awesome!

December:

Marisa with Santa at the Holiday House (Burrough's Home).

Madelyn with Santa at the Holiday House (Burroughs Home)

Madelyn during her school's Christmas program. She even sang a solo!

This is one of the many pictures I took of the girls with the hopes of getting a good one to put in Christmas cards. I got so many good shots that I made collages.

Our family on Christmas Eve

And finally, I’ll share two images to show the progress I’ve made in my effort to lose weight.

Me on September 28, 2009:

and here’s me on November 30, 2009:

2009 was the year I proved to myself just how capable and strong I can be. I’ve lost 28 pounds so far and am looking forward to losing more in 2010. Here’s to a much healthier future!

Until tomorrow…

Today is New Year’s Eve and as such it’s only fitting for me to list some of the things I’d like to accomplish in the year to come.

• Lose 93 more pounds.
• Walk 500 miles (logging it here)
• Finish the C25K program
• Start riding my bike
• Not drink ANY soda
• Participate in (12) 5k races for the year (hopefully running at least one)
• Start a garden
• Sign up for karate (or another martial art if karate not available)
• Stay within my budget every month (using YNAB)
• Organize family reunion
• Read the entire Bible using this plan.

2009 was a trying year, so I’m excited for everything the new year will bring.

Until tomorrow…