Happy In(ter)dependence Day

Cat woke up this morning and said "Happy Fourth of July!" I told her it was also called Independence Day and we talked a little about what that means. Later on when she was talking about the holiday with my parents she said "it is also called Interdependence Day." We all laughed and thought how cute it was that she got confused on the name, I still love it when the kids do that.

So much talk about how these global problems need global solutions. Maybe while we are all celebrating this patriotic holiday we should also think about how times have changed. We can now work with other countries in true partnerships. We can be a leader in bringing ideas to the table. I am so sick of America being seen as the bully that comes in and says "do what we tell you and everything will be okay." I kind of like the idea of Interdependence Day.

Then I got this in my email, and it put it all into perspective:

"Heather --

This weekend, our family will join millions of others in celebrating America. We will enjoy the glow of fireworks, the taste of barbeque, and the company of good friends. As we all celebrate this weekend, let's also remember the remarkable story that led to this day.

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, our nation was born when a courageous group of patriots pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the proposition that all of us were created equal.

Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty -- a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union. And in every generation, another courageous group of patriots has taken us one step closer to fully realizing the dream our founders enshrined on that great day.

Today, all Americans have a hard-fought birthright to a freedom which enables each of us, no matter our views or background, to help set our nation's course. America's greatness has always depended on her citizens embracing that freedom -- and fulfilling the duty that comes with it.

As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph -- that pride -- belongs to all of us.

So today is a day to reflect on our independence, and the sacrifice of our troops standing in harm's way to preserve and protect it. It is a day to celebrate all that America is. And today is a time to aspire toward all we can still become.

With very best wishes,

President Barack Obama

July 4th, 2009

What's Up?

July - Garden in full swing

June - Pre-K graduation

May - Start of the garden

April - Flower Girls

March - Out exploring

February - Visit from the tooth fairy

January - Happy New Year

Things to be excited about

• President Obama, I still am having a hard time believing it really happened. But it did!
• Having a job, and being told over and over again that I don't need to worry about losing it, priceless.
• Watching the kids get excited about school. I am a big beleiver in public schools, I think you get what you put into it. Our whole family loves Cat's school, and next year Aly will be in Kindergarten there too.
• A new sewing machine! I am selling my old machine to help purchase a new one. I consider it an investment, my husband tells me it is just a new toy.
• Snow tomorrow. I love snow, sure it slows the city down, but it is so beautiful and isn't that why we live in a neighborhood where we can walk everywhere? Too bad it is only supposed to last for a little while.
• Losing weight, just under 18 pounds now. My goal is for 25 and I am almost there.
• Having my parents close by, I never realized how much I missed them living up in Seattle until they moved down here.
  
• Writing on the blog, even if it is just to come up with a silly list.

Crazy Things

Okay, today we got just crazy weather. In Portland we got close to an inch of rain along with the wind that makes the rain come at you sideways and renders umbrellas completely useless. It seemed to hit especially hard when I had to take the kids to school this morning. I made a run for it the block to school, dragging the kids behind.

When Cat got out of the car she was complaining that her raincoat was not working well. I turned around and saw that it was not zipped and her hood was down. I pointed out these items to her and she said it worked much better once she fixed the problems. I swear my kid is not an idiot just a 6-year old girls who sometimes loses her mind. When do kids pick up on common sense? Soon right? Please tell me it is soon.

The other crazy thing is that when I was dropping off Aly at her school there were two cars in the parking lot that looked as if another car hit them and then drove off. They were rammed together. Her school sits right below a main road in town. A drunk driver ran off the road, went through the chainlink fence, and came crashing down on another car that then rammed into the other two. It was insane, and I will never park on that side of the parking lot even for a quick drop off.

This weather makes the crazy drivers come out. Hydroplaning all over the place, driving on your ass and speeding past you creating a wave of water that crashes over your car. I hate driving in this weather, would rather get wet walking in the rain. Supposedly we will have a dry spell over the next few days. Hopefully the crazy stuff will stop for a little while.

Pre-K how I love the ...

let me count the ways. Aly's new school finally opened this month. It was under construction for so long and the opening was postponed for two months. But it finally opened and she is in love with her new teachers and new friends.

She had been spending the days with my mom and dad, and although they are a lot of fun, she had been craving time with kids her own age. Not to mention getting back into learning. My parents miss spending all of that time with her but since they live down here now they get to see the kids a lot more than they used to.

Anyway, Pre-K has been great so far, and they have openings available. If you want the info just send me an email.

A little annoyance

This morning on the radio that played a commercial for Washington Mutual, saying what a great bank it is now that it is part of JP Morgan Chase. But the things that bugged the heck out of me is that they kept calling the bank WaMu. Whose idiotic idea was it to change the name from Washington Mutual to WaMu?

Is it just me? I like a little respectability in my bank. Thinking of changing. I know in this day and age should we really change a bank because of a stupid name? I say yes, but where to go? Do you go the local bank route, or maybe a credit union? Part of me just doesn't want to have to set up all of my automatic payments again. It is just a little annoyance in my life.

Stinky Bear

Aly has this bear, its name is Stinky. He was a free bear that she got at the Festival of Trees last year. They have a teddy bear hospital there and the kids that go get free teddy bears. I am sure this one was probably made in China, sad to say I didn't even check. Bad mommy, bad, bad mommy.

Anyway, this bear is stinky because she sucks on him at night. I know disgusting. But she is so attached to Stinky and even with washings he still stinks. Do you take something away when she is so attached? I just can't, so Stinky goes where Aly goes, and life goes on. I just know sooner or later Stinky is probably going to fall apart and I am sure Aly will move on to something new. But right now he is her love, and you can't say no to that, even if he is really stinky.

Love Black Apple

Which one should I get?
Perfect for Aly's room
This one is perfect for Cat's room, she love the Loch Ness monster.

Losing

Okay, I am coming out of the closet so to speak, or at least cleaning out my closet. For awhile now I have been wanting to lose some weight. When the opportunity to join a group at work arose I jumped at the chance. We meet once a week and everyone weighs in, can you guess what it is? Yep, you guessed it Weight Watchers.

I kept it under wraps for the first week or so, because usually when I tell people I want to lose some weight they tell me I look fine. But for me it is about wanting to be in a healthy range for my height and build. I want to have more energy, patience, and just generally feel better. I don't talk about losing weight with the girls, with them it is all about eating good foods and exercising to keep your body working.

So it has been four weeks now and I am down 10.6 lbs. so far and I feel great. My clothes are fitting better, no more muffin top in my favorite jeans, and I donated some of the "too big" clothes to charity. I would fully endorse WW if you follow the program. A lot of it is writing down what you eat, and moderating your portions. Halloween was a real bitch, but I got through it without my normal candy gorgefest. I have about 20 more lbs. to drop but things are looking good as long as I can get through the holidays. I should be at my target right after the new year. Hey if it worked for Jenny McCarthy it can work for me.

The hardest part has been working in an actual exercise plan. It has been so long since I exercised on a regular basis. I am a walker, would much rather walk than drive, and that has kept me kind of in shape for awhile but I need to take it up a notch. So to help me out with that goal I purchased a new toy. It just arrived this week and I will be testing it out this weekend, bu hopefully it will become my exercise partner.

Guns

Today Cat was showing me some things she got at her after school care program. They made little bags and got some toys to put in them and bring home. Well one of them was a little orange gun. I was shocked. I know it is a toy and obviously not real, but come on giving that out at school?

I guess I just never understood playing with toy guns, pretending to hurt one another. Cat promised that she wouldn't point it at anyone and only pretend with her animals. When I asked why she would want to pretend that she couldn't answer. She just saw a toy and nothing more. I guess I should be happy that she is so innocent and can't grasp the concept of someone hurting someone else. But it bothered me none the less. Tomorrow we will be calling the afterschool care and finding out their side of things. Let's see what they say.

Still Happy

I am still happy, just a feel of optimism about our country that I haven't felt in a long time. It will be a long road but a great ride.

The New First Family

I am crying tears of joy. Just so happy and proud of our country. It is definitely a glass half full moment right now.

Keeping Fingers Crossed

The latest and greatest

Halloween Memories

Halloween is just a memory now, but it was another successful costume wearing, trick-or-treating, candy eating, pumpkin carving night. Now maybe next year we can move beyond Disney Princess costumes.

The candy fairy paid the girls a visit. The candy fairy is the tooth fairy's cousin, in case you didn't know. The girls got to pick out their favorite candy and the rest was put into a special bag for the candy fairy. They each woke up to two dollars underneath their pillows. The amazing thing is that S and I didn't even eat all of the extra, okay we ate some but not much. Well not much as compared to last year when I remember feeling ill due to the candy crash we experienced.

Facebook

I am a bit new to Facebook. Signed up earlier in the year but never really fooled around with it until recently. Now all of a sudden my entire high school class has found me. But the best part of all is that my closest friend from high school just signed up tonight and sent me an email. We lost touch shortly after college and I tried googling her a few times but I never had any luck. I am sort of in shock, I didn't even know what to write to her besides "how are you?"

Sometimes the internet still amazes me.

Almost

I can't wait for Tuesday! Almost election day, and hopefully no hanging chads, or close counts, but with a new President. Let it be Barack Obama, please, please, please! I am sending my prayers out to the universe that the polls are correct. I went into such a funk the day after the last presidential election when W was given four more years, and now look where we are. I need to have hope for the future, and I don't think that is possible if we have a President McCain.

Plus, the best thing about the end of the election will be no more political ads, they are driving me insane. I want to see Hallmark and Kodak commercials, give me an infomercial anyday over another negative ad, just disgusting.

So, only a few days to go! Let them go by fast and without any new developments.