Love of Fall

I LOVE Fall. I really, really, really do. Especially since I'm old enough that I don't have to go to SCHOOL anymore! Seriously there are days when I think, "work sucks, but at least it's not SCHOOL" and than I laugh in an evil and demented manner.

But Fall I love. I love the chill in the air, I love hot chocolate (the real kind by Godiva made with milk and shaved chocolate), I love candy apples and the smell in the air. I love sweaters and boots and pretty leather jackets, and I love Halloween and Thanksgiving and generally just about everything. Some of my FAVORITE things about fall are as follows:

1. Flannel sheets on the bed along with our super warm down blanket
2. The mentioned hot chocolate made with shaved chocolate and milk
3. Sweaters, sweaters, and more sweaters. I have so many sweaters its ridiculous, and its yet another reason I need to lose weight because I have TONS and I'm not about to start replacing them.
4. Naps. Naps on the sofa curled up under a lovely blanket... and while I do NOT have the chance to actually TAKE naps anymore, I fondly remember lovely naps. I remember lounging on the sofa under a soft blanket with my pillow, stretching out and napping a Saturday afternoon away for hours at a time. God I LOVE naps.. love them, and miss them.

So what does everyone think of Fall? Like? Hate???

Disenchantment with Charities

I give to very few charities. Very few. In fact, the only ones I give to normally are the following:

• The Ocean Conservancy (http://www.oceanconservancy.org/)
• Fund for Animals (http://www.fundforanimals.org/)
• sometimes to Performing Animal Welfare Society (http://www.pawsweb.org/)
• and a charity for native Americans that I refuse to name because I am disgusted by them

I am angry because I recently found out that the charity I had been giving to, supposedly to help native Americans on reservations, keeps almost 80% of the donations and distributes it in salaries. Less than 20% goes to the actual people in need and this pisses me off big time. Now here's where I am WAY too trusting. I've been giving to this organization for YEARS. YEARS! I give every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and from time to time give for different fundraisers. Recently I had donated $50 to give packages of baby things to moms on the reservations. Supposedly the mom would get diapers, blankets, a baby tub and some toys. Now I realize that it's primarily a scam and I am soooooo ticked off. I wasted that money and the people I had wanted to help got very little. I don't know why stuff like this surprises me, I guess I'm just too trusting, but I did a little more research and found a place where they actually HELP the people on reservations.

http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/

This place lists several donation events you can participate in and two of the ones I'm thinking of helping with are the following:
http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/projects/Urgent_Supplies_for_Three_Preschool_Classes_at_Wolf_Creek_Elementary_School.shtml

and

http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/projects/Turkey_Fundraiser_Donation_Drive.shtml

According to the different places I've researched this group actually gives ALL the purchased donations to the schools/churches and community, and they rarely ask for cash donations. I like the idea of picking out items from a list and sending them, and I'm thinking I'll pick up some diapers the next time I'm out and about and send them off. Diapers are PRICEY... very pricey.

Anyway, this holiday season I'm thinking I'm going to concentrate more on things like this rather than getting more STUFF for me. Because let's face it.. I don't really NEED more stuff. Well, Nathan always needs more stuff.. but I don't! ;-) Of course if Jeff is reading this I can always use a gift card to say... Macy's!!! Or perhaps for a pedicure!!! Hey.. I'm only human after all! ;-)

Does anyone else have any favorite charities they give to?

Size

I am a size 16. Check that, I am a WOMAN'S size 16. That means that I can't wear a size 16 pants unless I am in the WOMAN'S department. Now there is nothing wrong with being a size 16, nothing at all. But I'm not exactly thrilled to be here. So I'm going to be starting a work out routine. I won't join a gym because I don't know when I'd actually GO to the gym... so it's time to break out the exercise DVD's. And I have a LOT of exercise DVD's. I get suckered into buying them in a fit of good intentions.. work out for a week and then something happens and months go by while they collect dust. I read somewhere that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit so my new challenge is starting tomorrow to do ONE exercise DVD. Even if it's only for 15 minutes.. I have to do it. It's going to be hard because... well, I'm lazy. And right now I have the world's best excuse for lazy. I'm exhausted and have a 4 month old baby at home. My "down time" is precious. But since I don't have an infinite supply of money, and most of my clothing is NOT a size 16, I need to lose some weight. So looking forward to dusting off my DVD's and if I'm so inclined maybe I'll even post a little review of them so you can all see if the routine is actually doing something.

Wish me luck, I don't do well with "Challenges" (in case you didn't notice from the failed "no take out" attempts I've made), so I need lots of good wishes sent my way!

Inability to Accessorize

I love jewelry. I love "statement necklaces" - you know, necklaces with large stones and interesting gems and textures, and I love broaches and bracelets and scarves. I however, have NO idea how to accessorize. AT ALL. This was hammered home this past weekend when I attended a "Lia Sophie Jewelry Party" and I found myself drooling over all sorts of gorgeous necklaces and matching earrings. One by one I tried on all the beautiful pieces, and one by one I discarded them. Those gorgeous "statement necklaces"? Did not work on me at all. They looked odd to me, and I just knew I wouldn't be able to carry them off. Now I have a few necklaces in my jewelry collection already, and I wear them on occasion (my favorite one right now states Nathan's birth date, weight, inches on it and I got it from Jeff). And I have a few pieces of faux gemstones from my Grandmother's collection. Now my Grandmother.. that woman could accessorize. She had scarves and pins and rings and necklaces and all sorts of sparkly and dazzling things. My sister and I would sit and play with her jewelry for hours when we visited (And her jewelry took up two drawers in a dresser... TWO DRAWERS). That ability to "dress up" or "dress down" an outfit is lost to me. I have no idea just what looks best on me.. and how to pair a normal sweater with just the right broach to make it "pop".

I mean, on a normal day my jewelry is my wedding bands, maybe my Nathan bracelet or necklace, and a pair of earrings. IF I'M LUCKY!! Sometimes it's just my wedding bands and everything else goes bye bye...

So does anyone have any hints for the accessory challenged such as myself? I saw so many beautiful necklaces I would have loved to purchase but I just know they would sit in my jewelry box untouched and unloved....

Updated

Does it count if JEFF bought take out? Technically I was not the one to give and get the chicken Parmesan subs for dinner... it was Jeff. Am I still in the game?? Or did we once again fail miserably????

Food intake to Date

I know.. you are all DYING to know how I'm doing on this self-imposed challenge. Well, it's Wednesday and I have not done take out yet. I DID however get lunch out today when the Doctor at my work took me and the other admin girls out to brunch at the local chinese restaurant. It was yummy and didn't cost me a penny. Score!!! And for dinner tonight? That would be Raisin Bran and milk. Hey! It was quick and easy and required no thought. oh, and it didn't cost anything.

Let's see if I can keep this up for the rest of the week!

Future/Destiny

Jeff has been watching this show called "Flash Forward" where the whole world passes out at the same time and has visions of the future. It got me thinking - if I had a chance to look into the future, would I? I think knowing the future can be scary... too scary. Like, if you see something bad would you bring about that very same bad thing as you try to prevent it? Or do you bring about that bad thing because you think the future is a done deal and you can't prevent it? I think the whole fortune-telling/know your future scenario is never a good thing. Unless of course we're talking about knowing the next pick for the Mega Millions, than I'd LOVE to know the future. I'd be ALL ABOUT knowing the future.

So what do you all think? If you COULD know the future, would you take that opportunity to see it?

Oh, and a quick update. Day two after making my "no eating out post" and I'm hanging in there! It means I had cereal last night for dinner, and Stouffer's chicken Parmesan for dinner tonight. Tomorrow night, I don't know what we're having, but hopefully it won't be take out!!!

Rough Mommy/Wife Night

Oh it's been a rough, rough Mommy/Wife weekend. Jeff had to work most of the weekend and I was home all day with Nathan. Now, I don't MIND being home all day with Nathan, but Nathan is still sick. So he's not sleeping well. And by not sleeping well I mean getting up about every 4 hours and having a very difficult time going to bed. Lots of crying means lots of running upstairs for snuggles and kisses to calm him down before I put him back in bed and then have to repeat the process again and again. He wakes up SOOOOO upset and screams his little head off. I know part of it is he is overly tired from not sleeping well, he's all stuffy and sick, and he just wants comfort. But oh my oh my is it exhausting. Exhausting!!!!

I also felt so bad that I'm not entertaining him enough - that I don't keep him as occupied as they do at daycare, so I tried really hard to do things like singing and playing with toys and I even tossed in some "tummy time". One thing we did he REALLY liked was he pretended to stand. I held him under his arms and let his feet rest on me as he pretended to "stand". He LOVED that and just laughed and laughed. That was definitely fun, but oofah he was soooo cranky for most of the time. Jeff would come home from an exhausting day at work and I'd be passed out on the sofa with Nathan on the bouncy seat in front of me.

I wish I had something funny to add but oh my it was a hard weekend. Jeff wanted to go grocery shopping today and I just couldn't. I was too tired. Instead we came home and took turns with Nathan until he finally passed out around 8pm. And may I add that Jeff wasn't far behind.. he's sleeping next to me on the sofa right now as I type this! Here's hoping that this up-coming week is better!

Pretend Shopping at Macy's.Com

One of my favorite things to do is "pretend shop". That's when I go to a site such as Macy's and fill the cart with all sorts of goodies just to see how much everything would cost. Last night I pretend shopped for various "wants/needs" like black flats, black pants, a dress, and two tops from Macy's. Grand total was just under $500. Not bad, right?? The store is having this huge online Columbus Day sale and once again I am grateful (well, kind of grateful) that I don't use credit cards because the temptation to buy all these items is really.... really GREAT. I want them NOW. And I've already semi-justified everything because they are practical and I am still too fat for my pre-pregnancy clothes. BUT.... I've held off. I haven't gone scrambling through credit card receipts to find my Amex card number... I haven't tried to tell Jeff that we should raid our daycare fund so I can get clothes... instead I have moved on.

This whole getting out of debt thing is HARD!

So I'm going back to one of my ideas, which is no take out. I've decided that I will not get take out from today until Friday. That's 7 days. I can do this. 7 days with no take out.... Even if it means I'm eating cereal for dinner every night, there will be no take out. I've failed at this task previously, so I'm really hoping I can follow through now. And who knows, maybe by Christmas time I'll have a spare $500 to go shopping!

Irritation Level

So I've lost 33 pounds and can still only fit into a teensy, tiny part of my pre-prgenancy wardrobe. Like maybe a few shirts, one dress... and one pair of fat jeans. I know... it took me 9 months to gain the weight, it will take time to take it off. I understand that and for the most part I'm fine with it. But I get VERY irritated by celebrities doing insane things to shed their baby weight in like a DAY.... it just annoys me. I have other things to worry about like WHEN WILL NATHAN GET OVER HIS COLD. Seriously people he has had this cold for almost 2 weeks and while he's getting better he still has SUCH a hard time sleeping so this is his favorite way to sleep right now:

Okay, who am I kidding... this is his favorite way to sleep ALL THE TIME! He loves this. And while it's lovely to have a snugly baby all curled up on you there are times I would like to do the following:

Pee

Sleep

Perhaps eat something

Stretch my legs

Pee

Anyway, I was further irritated by "The Kardashians". Yes, I am forever ashamed that I know who they are, but one of them, I think Kourtney?? Is pregnancy by her asshat of a boyfriend and he actually made a statement about how glad he is that the baby will know Kourtney while she is "young and hot" and not an "OLD HAG"!! A HAG???? Because I know when Nathan is screaming in the middle of the night the most important thing to him is HOW I LOOK. If I don't have my make up perfectly applied and my hair done he wants nothing to do with me. GAH!

Worst Movie Experiences

So 'Rotten Tomatoes" put out their hundred worst movies of the last decade list (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/worst_of_the_worst/2/)and I took a minute between walking around the house with Nathan on my shoulder to peruse the list and see if I'd happened to see any of the movies.

Here's the movies I've seen that have made the list:
The Fog #66 (made me want to hang myself, awful, awful, awful...)
BloodRayne #48 (so bad it was laughable and has the most awkward, cringe-worthy sex scene I have ever had the displeasure of viewing. You seriously want to scrub your brain with bleach after)
House of the Dead #42 (actually not that horrible if you realize it's a Grade B zombie movie with no real plot!)
Code Name: The Cleaner #37 (I think Jeff rented this and I half watched it while playing my Sims on my laptop - I don't remember much about it but it did have SOME funny moments)
The Covenant #31 (I saw this in the THEATRE and I believe it was my choice so I have no defense here but the movie was somewhat entertaining even if the teens did look like they were in their 30's!!!)
Battlefield Earth #27 (I saw this at someones house during a "bad movie night party")

Now that I've fessed up, who else feels like letting the world in on all the horrible, horrible movies that they've seen? I would like to add "Van Helsing" to the list btw.. that was such horrid, horrid crap... and with a HUGE special effects budget to boot!

Family

Well Nathan still has the sniffles so Jeff stayed home with him yesterday and I'm home with him today. Poor baby is all sniffly and congested, not as bad as he was a couple of days ago, but not good either. He's been sleeping a little more during the day, but we've been watching him to make sure he's still eating well and interesting in what's going on around him. Last night he slept all bundled up in his fleecy sleeper from about 7:30pm - 4am and around 10pm Jeff and I were getting ready for bed ourselves. Jeff was teasing me about my day off and what I would be doing and I told him it wasn't REALLY a day off. At least not a day off like I used to have. My day instead revolves around Nathan and keeping him happy and well fed and dry and entertained. Not like before him where I would perhaps lounge around and paint my nails and maybe watch a movie curled up on the sofa. For now, those days are gone. It's weird to contemplate in a way.

But then this morning I was reminded that though those days are gone bye bye, we have different days ahead. See, 4am Nathan was fed and changed but was coughing too much in his co-sleeper to sleep comfortably. So we did what we have only done once before. We brought him into bed with us where I propped him up next to me so my arm cradled him. Snug as bugs in a rug. And wouldn't you know he settled right down. No coughing, no fussing, just looked around at us and feel deep asleep. Although I should add that babies move a LOT when they sleep and I got whacked in the face and throat more than once over the next few hours, but still I can't complain!