movin' on....

I've moved!

you can find me HERE

I am still working on it and making changes, but it is up and running!

THESE......

Really crack me up.
They come in an assortment of options:
- Action Packed
- Agility (do you really see DeSean Jackson wearing these?)
- Metabolize
- Biathlon
- Sleek Fit (ummm this shoe is pretty much the antonym of sleek)
- Jump Start
- Fitness Junkie (really????)
- This particular pair is "Optimize."

And the one that really kills me: Motivation

I don't know about you, but these shoes would kill just about any motivation I had mustered up to begin with. You would have to do some serious motivation to get me to be seen in public in these.

I am waiting for SNL to do a skit on these.

Part 1 – Cleaning and Organization

So, with the New Year comes resolutions.
I am not good at keeping resolutions.
So normally I skip this whole process.
However, this year is different. Why? Because I find myself in a place where I NEED to make a change.
Or else we will disappear under the piles and piles of laundry and dishes and dust bunnies and tossed-aside-pistachio-shells, NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN!
Ok, so maybe it’s not that bad. But it’s still bad.

So that is where this post comes in. It is Part 1 of 4 on organization and reclaiming the chaos that has become my life :)
And so begins what I’m learning about cleaning and organization. Notice I used the present tense: LEARNING. This is an ongoing process :)

So, why do I need I need a cleaning schedule? Because between both of us working full time, friends, family, church, busy weekends, and, of course, spending invaluable time watching endless hours of Psych, there is often little to no time for cleaning or pickup. At least, not BLOCKS of time that I can devote to it. Not to mention I’ve barely cooked or cleaned AT ALL for the past 2 months :) I’m not kidding. (Mike has been a super hero - cleaning and cooking for me!) And finally, because I want to be able, when we're out with friends, to say "hey, why don't you come back to our house for a while and we can hang out?!" without feeling like I've just invited them back to Oscar the Grouch's trash can habitat.
:)

So it’s time for a change. It’s time to do just a little something every day, so my cleaning list doesn’t grow so big that it can then chase me down and eat me for dinner. And since I’m only 4 days away from my second trimester (woohoo!) I am regaining strength and courage to make this change.

So, I devised this: my cleaning schedule:
SCHEDULE

I have realized that a 2-week cleaning schedule is more than sufficient, and it gives me more time to get stuff done, so I don’t feel so rushed and overwhelmed.
As you can see, there are basics for every day. Dishes, 1 load of laundry (that’s doable, right?!), and sorting the mail. Plus just one chore per day. And I’ve purposefully left one of the Thursdays free because of Community Group. And Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays so I have time to relax and enjoy my family :)

Now, for this to work, organization is key for me. I’m very much like my father (although not as extreme. I am convinced that Dad would live in an Excel spreadsheet if it was possible) and I need a schedule and a plan. But I think most important in making this plan successful is having a place for everything. It becomes much more of a hassle to pick up and clean as I go, if there is no PLACE to PUT the items being picked up as I go :)

Here is an example: Laundry.

For clean clothes, they will often end up in piles if I don’t have a clean closet or dresser.
For messy clothes, they will often not get done if I don’t have enough drying room.
So Mike and I went to Ikea on Saturday to find some tools to fix this problem. (oh how I *love* Ikea)
1) We got stackable drawers for all my tee shirts. They are organized by long sleeve, short sleeve, embellished, basic, etc. It’s beautiful and neat.
2) We got him a much larger dresser so there is room to put his clean folded laundry.
3) We found this amazing hanger. It holds 5 pairs of pants. Without overrunning our closets. It actually gives you MORE room!



4) We got this new drying rack:

We hang probably half of our clothes, and one thing that keeps me from doing laundry is I run out of space to hang our wet clothes. This should fix that. See? Organization is key.

So, this here is my resolution to try to just do one thing each day. I have now posted this on the world-wide-web, so if I fail, I fail publicly.
Please feel free to ask me how this is going. Or to just stop in one day to make sure my house doesn't look like the trash can ate it. Or to share any helpful tips you’ve found. I need all the help I can get!!

Next up: Planning/Google Calendar, Sunday Prep for the week. How I make sure I actually DO what I've set out to do :)

Christmas 09

This year was a wonderful Christmas! For starters, we had snow on the ground, which almost never happens. Nevermind it rained Christmas night and washed it all away. Don't ruin my glee.
The Wednesday before Christmas we traveled out to Harrisburg to see Mike's grandparents. Here are the kids out in the snow. And in the background, if you look closely, you can see the neighbor's dog looking longingly at the play day wishing he could come join in on the fun.

On Christmas Eve day, there arose a game of Speed Circuit.
what is Speed Circuit you ask?
I would still like to know.
If you can't figure out what that means, it's code for "I don't get this game so I think I'll just watch and take pictures while you all knock your socks off" :)
Here we have Gary and Aaron strategizing. My spell-check says that's not a word....but I think it is. And that what the following pictures capture: strategizing.






And here is Meg hiding on the floor next to me with the Onion Pretzels. She is one smart cookie.


More strategizing.....





Meg and Mike trying to solve word puzzles. Hence their puzzled looks.



Grandma McNeill and Cyndi



Dad and daughters!



On Christmas Eve night we went over my parents for a late dinner and some exchanging of gifts. Here is their lovely tree. Now, this is in the living room, and this window faces the front yard. The perfect place for passer-bys to view such a pretty tree. Wouldn't you know, in all the 15 years they/we've been in that house, this is the first year someone had the brilliant idea to put it in front of the window. It's been in the corner, in the foyer, in the family room. Never in the window. Why did this never occur to us?????? And my parents are moving soon. This was probably the first and last Christmas for the brilliant idea :)


Ba!


Andrew tying the strings on his bomber hat in a bow. Even though no one does that.





And here is Donut Haven...

And the incredible creme-crumb-cake that is a Sharp tradition.



Christmas morning we went over the Smiths and spent the day with them.




They got Wii Fit!!!


Dan got some sort of nerf gun. And as you can see, Sean is in trouble.....


The beautiful Bow Queen :)



We played Speed Scrabble. And Meg and I tied to beat Mike and Tom. As you can see, Mike is distressed and being silly with his awesome sheepskin bomber hat.


It was a glorious Christmas. So thankful to God for such amazing families.
Next Christmas......we shall have a new addition to the Smith Family!!! Can't wait to meet him or her :)

Christmas Traditions: Holiday Foods

So, I was inspired by Traci's post about favorite Christmas movies.
And I've got my own list of favorites. Favorite Christmas-season foods. Note I said "Christmas-season" because some of these items can be found all year round, but are particularly good/in season during the holidays.

- Pistachios
- Clementines and Oranges
- Grapefruit & Fresh Grapefruit Juice (Trader Joe's!)
- Eggnog
- Wassail
- Creme Crumb Cake (from a family bakery at The Farmer's Market - it's to die for) We have it every Christmas morning.
- Christmas Blend Coffee
- Mimosas on Christmas morning (which, sadly, I will not be having this year)


What are some of your favorites?

Why Merging Never Works

So, I've given this some considerable thought (pretty much every morning at 8:45 for the past year and a half), and I've decided I know why merging never works smoothly.
Firstly, let me just say that I understand it is a necessary evil. Without it, we'd end up with highways the size of Canada.
And I also understand that those lovely members of the Signage Industry have attempted to ease our pain as much as possible. Generally they give you 1,000 ft notice. Or, if they're feeling particularly generous, they may even give you an entire mile. Either way, I appreciate that they are trying to be considerate of our merging woes.
However, they have overlooked one crucial fact:
People are selfish and always in a hurry. Especially at 8:45 in the morning.
And of those selfish and hurried people, there are then two categories. They are as follows.

Type 1 - these are the I-Don't-Care-About-That-Sign-I-Just-Want-To-Keep-Moving-And-Get-To-The-Front-Of-The-Line people. These people are instant-gratification seekers and short-sighted. They lose sight of the big picture; they have tunnel vision, if you will. We'll call them Five-Year-Olds.

Type 2 - these are the I-See-The-Sign-Therefore-I'm-Going-To-Get-Over-Now-So-I'm-In-A-Lane-When-The-Other-One-Expires people. These people are sensible and long-term-minded and can see the grand scheme of things. We'll call them Sensiblites.

So, there you have it. The two types of people and their merging mindsets. And at first there is no problem. But as you get closer and closer to the infamous merge, two things happen. Firstly, the Five-Year-Olds finally decide it's time to get over. Secondly, the Sensiblites revolt. See, I failed to mention above that Sensiblites are also self-righteous and carry with them the "snooze-you-lose" attitude. And so the efficacy of the system gets thrown out the window as the Sensiblite becomes bent on nothing else but punishing Five-Year-Old for his stupidity. Because as soon as Five-Year-Old tries to get in Sensiblite's lane, Sensiblite has a conniption the size of Mount Vesuvius and starts screaming at the rolled up window, "OH! You want to get over NOW, huh? Listen, buddy, I've been in this lane for the last mile and a half, going slower yet remaining committed because I know this is the lane to be, all the while the likes of you are whizzing past me and trying to cut in front of the OTHER sensible people in front of me who have ALSO waited their turn! If you had just paid attention to the sign and gotten over in the mile the sign gave you, NONE OF THIS TRAFFIC WOULD BE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!"
Sensiblite then proceeds to tail the fellow Sensiblite in front of her so that Five-Year-Old has no chance of getting in whatsoever. It's like the Pearly White Gates - there are no shortcuts or butting ahead of someone. Guess you shoulda been more big-picture-oriented and waited in line!

And there is some sort of vindictive, incredibly satisfying feeling that comes from shoving Five-Year-Old off the road into oblivion.

Maybe next time Five-Year-Old will reconsider his ways and deem it a GOOD IDEA to convert and become a Sensiblite. And yell all kinds of nasty things at other thick-headed Fire-Year-Old's.

And that, my friends, is why merging will never win itself a Nobel Peace Prize. Well....on second thought.....maybe that's not true after all. Apparently anyone can win one of those.

Which type are you?

And no, I don't need anger management, thank you very much ;)

I'm learning.....

So, I am in the middle of a learning process.
Learning things I thought I knew.
There is a chance I may be revising my stance on High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).
I’m currently reading this article from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition : Straight Talk About High-Fructose Corn Syrup: What it is and what it ain't

This does not mean that I am going to just start buying products with HFCS – I think there’s still some research that needs to be done. Plus, I have not finished the article, so I am reserving final judgment for a while longer. This does mean, however, that I am going to let the scientific facts speak for themselves. What I like about this is that it’s a scholarly journal, not media hype, which may prove to be the source of a lot of the confusion over this issue.

I'll let ya know what I think! In the meantime, let me know your thoughts! But please have a scientific reason to support your argument either way. These are the kind of facts we need to reach clarity on this controversy :)

Thanks for putting up with my nerd post :)

The End.