New York Trip 2009

OK, I want to make sure I remember everything because this was such a good trip...I had a complete and total blast, and the kids did too!

We got in NY late Friday night and rode around a bit looking at lights in the city...we checked in the hotel, which was much nicer than last year (had 2 beds so we weren't smushed up like Swiss Family Robinson all packed in one bed and a SPECTACULAR view of Manhattan), and quickly fell asleep. We woke up early and decided to hit the Museum of Natural History first. Since we only got through 2 floors last year, we dedicated a whole day to it this year...the place is just massive! We started in the basement level, which is where we entered off the subway, and worked our way up. We got there a little after nine, and we stayed there until almost 2 o'clock! The kids were AWESOME...I didn't think they would last that long, but they all loved it. We snuck into a little theater showing a short film about mammals (narrated by Meryl Streep, no less), and all took a little 15 min snoozer so we could continue on...that was on the second floor out of five.

As we were leaving the Museum on the Central Park side, a man was walking ahead of us smoking a cigarette and I saw what I thought was a cigarette ash flutter through the air towards us. I even said aloud to Logan, "Hey, I wish that were a snowflake," to which Logan replied, "Look up! It IS snowing!" It wasn't bitter cold like last year, so we sat on a bench in Central Park and ate hot dogs from a street cart in this beautiful, lazy snow and it was perfect. The kids were being so good, and it was just so pretty. Then we hailed a cab to take us to FAO Schwartz, but he didn't speak English very well. We tried "toys", "toystore", and, since we were both under the impression that store was in or near Times Square, "Times Square toystore?". He nodded, "Aahhh, yes, Tim Sqwaaar!" And so we paid the guy fifteen bucks to take us to the Toys R Us in Times Square, which was INSANITY!

The people were shoulder to shoulder and I really feared for the kids at points. Since we promised them we would get them something and yet toys were out of the question in that crushing crowd, we ducked into the Candy Land shop instead and got sweets for everyone and go out of there! I ended up half-carrying Grayson and Callie after a particularly huge, rude, sweaty man almost crushed them in the crowd and I nearly got into a fight with him. It's a store FOR children, for God's sake, and yet everywhere I looked, parents were carrying even large, older kids because it wasn't safe for them to walk!

I digress.

We burst out from Toys R Us into the center of Times Square in a magical snowfall. The kids looked up and held their hands up, and Logan and I looked around for a Starbucks to refill our tanks. We found one a short block later and I stood in line while Logan entertained the kids by the window, which I noticed he's getting very good at. The kids balanced on the foot rail with their hands above them on the thin counter, and Logan let them roam within a safe perimeter away from the door and other customers. I ordered a couple of white mochas and, while waiting, saw one of the grossest displays of inconsiderate rudeness yet....four obviously wealthy young women ordered hot chocolates and when presented with their drinks, sipped them, crinkled their fake noses and botoxed lips and said, "Oh...my...God...I think, hahaha, I think I meant to order a mocha!! Oh, my God, that's toooo funny! Can I, yeah, actually, can I get a mocha instead?" So about ten people were crammed in the receiving line at this tiny Starbucks with more coming in to order by the second and these airheads were laughing snottily and comparing obviously real Hermes and Cartiers. No doubt they were laughing at all us shmucks sporting our Old Navy fleece scarves and hats, but I laughed to myself knowing full well a polar fleece is much warmer than some silk/cashmere blend scarf thing that only serves to advertise wealth...and during a recession!

Finally we got our drinks and headed out, but by then the snow was picking up and was now gusting and flying in heavily. We gave it a moment of discussion and decided to go on to the hotel and take a nap while the snow blew and come back later that night to see the tree at Rockafeller. When we woke from our little nap, however, the snow was blowing sideways outside our hotel window and we could barely see across the street, much less the Manhattan skyline.

*Interesting side note: at this time, I took the opportunity to Google the name of the movie studio across the street from the hotel, which ended up being where they filmed the Sopranos, Sex & the City, The Devil Wears Prada, and many other movies, shows, and commercials! So neat!

We hunkered down that night, ordered a pizza and endured the seemingly endless torture of young kids trapped in a hotel room. Grayson and I went on a couple of walks of the lobby to pass some time, and we tried to find something decent on TV in a hotel that only supplied Cartoon Network in the line of anything animated. Finally the kids fell asleep and Logan and I worried about being trapped in New York.

I woke early...my internal alarm goes off around 5:30, so I turned the news on quietly. Apparently this storm had dropped over a foot, almost 2, of fine powder snow...no ice, no slush, just powder. So it was fairly easy for the plows to clear the road and get everything back running. By the time we left the hotel around 10:30, we had no problem getting transportation. After a quick train ride in, we began our venture at the Statue of Liberty. Now, I had called ahead from the room and was assured that they were open and were running ferries. So we trek a few blocks, dragging poor John in the stroller through inches of soft snow, and find that they are, indeed, not running ferries. Mom (me) was angry. But Logan, always the optimist and always hungry, raised my spirits and insisted we find a little place to eat and warm up. So we found a little place called Spin Cafe right off Wall St and had some fantastic pasta, a big dish of warm stuff with potatoes and all kinds of good stuff, which filled our bellies and warmed our spirits for the day. We ventured out with fresh vigor and hiked a few blocks down Wall St until we found Ground Zero, another spot on our hit list. We signed up for the tour and took the kids though the museum, but they are still too young to grasp what's going on. I got a little frustrated because they kept running amuck in this solemn place and Logan wasn't stopping them much, but he pointed out that if he tried to control them, then they would turn into screaming messes, and he was right. So we took a little walk around the surrounding neighborhood until our tour started, and then the tour took about an hour and a half, most of it inside at the World Financial Center.

We had a family pow-wow after the tour, and the kids and I really wanted to go to Chinatown. After consulting a security guard at the WFN who said it was only "about eight blocks away", we set out on foot, confident we could hoof it. Over twenty-five blocks later, we were feeling lost and confused, so we stopped again and asked someone. They said to stop going North and take a right and head East and we would find it, and sure enough...we walked a few blocks, turned a corner, and faced a dead duck hanging in a window.

We walked through Chinatown, Callie haggled herself into a cute set of silk kimono pajamas, and we resisted every purveyor of stolen goods on Canal St! Finally, we popped into this tiny restaurant with deep golden fried ducks hanging by their poor necks in the front window and had some wonderful roast duck lo mein, fried rice, chicken, tea...all kinds of wonderful! Callie even tried to use chopsticks, but I caught her simply stabbing pieces of chicken on the end of the stick and eating it kabob-style. The waiter sat down with us and helped us feed the kids and everything! The lady behind the register kept smiling and staring at John until she couldn't resist any longer, came out from behind the counter wiping her hands on her apron, rubbed his head and finally crouched to hold him. The kids were in awe of these people who look so different and talked this fast, confusing language, and the shopkeeper and his wife were in awe of our funny, confident kids who didn't mind to show off for a stranger or two. The kids were grinning and putting it on.

We headed back out into the snow and took the crosstown train to Herald Square....you guessed it....Santa Clause at Macy's! The kids were just about to wiggle out of their pants with excitement! Macy's had an incredible setup... intead of just waiting through one long, horrific line full of kids, you waited on a twisted path through the North Pole. It was beautiful, magical, and I found myself even being caught up in the moment! By the time you get to see the big man himself, you are so mystified and excited it's hard to take it! John couldn't take it.... as soon as he saw Santa, he backed into an elf, then sat down and cried. Callie went first and told him she wanted a princess Barbie, and then Grayson went and very seriously discussed with him how good he was and how he wanted a Hot Wheels something or other. Santa was sweet and jovial and took pictures with the kids...and then it was over! It was a wonderful experience, and one the kids are still talking about!

It was going on 8:00, but we had promised Grayson he could see the Rockafeller Tree at night so he could see it all lit up, so we walked the ten or eleven blocks over, came around a corner, and it rose up from between two buildings like a mirage. Callie didn't see it at first, so we pointe dit out and then laughed till our sides hurt when her mouth literally dropped open and she stared at that tree with those lights glistening in her eyes....I don't think so long as I live will I forget that face. Pure childhood wonder.

We ALL passed out when we got home after walking the entire south end of Manhattan in a foot of snow, but it was that kind of good tired...sore muscles that say you really did something today.

I awoke first, again, and got up quietly to shower and start packing. I had an idea, but I didn't want to get the kids' hopes up. So I whispered to Logan when he woke up, and he nodded and started helping me pack. We got everything in the car, checked out, and started driving..but towards Manhattan instead of away. We parked in this garage next to Battery Park and ran to check if the ferries were running, and they were! We got to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty, which was fiercely cold but the kids were over the top with excitement. We ate a bite there on Liberty Island and then walked around Ms Liberty herself, snapping photos and trying to keep Grayson from getting arrested by security for repeatedly trying to run up to the base of the building.

The ferry back was even colder, but we discovered John's funny face when you asked him to "show me your teeth", and he got another Grandma in this sweet older Brazilian lady sitting next to us who couldn't speak two words of English but had that knack of clucking to babies and chucking them under their chins until they giggle down to a perfection. We got back, ran to the car, paid an outrageous FIFTY DOLLARS for the priviledge of parking for two hours and eighteen minutes, then got on the Turnpike and outta there!

The GPS took us down 95 on the way home, so we took a tiny detour through the city in Washington....we drove by the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, the Mall, White House...all that, and got home around midnight. Logan drove the whole way, poor thing, and still had to get up and go to work today.

This was one of the best family trips I can think of. Logan and I fought before we left, so maybe that got all the tension out before leaving. He was great during the trip and we had such a good time....as usual, I can't wait to go back next year and see perhaps Midtown and up into the Cloisters and some on the northern end of Manhattan!

Continuing on Diet

One thing I have noticed about this diet is if you skip a meal you will be super tired, so it's a bit difficult with my schedule. Usually eating a protein bar or some nuts will get my energy back up for a bit but not long-term, so I am thinking about adding my diet/energy pills to the mix to keep up my energy.

Other than that, I like the food ok...getting used to it, but also gearing up for the holidays next week and the whole Thanksgiving grub...hmmm, it will be hard!

Best P90X Diet Meal Yet

OK so the pP90X Meal Plan just redeemed itself, totally. The chicken salad was delish, although very heavy on dressing based on the recipe and a 6 oz piece of chicken as called for. I scooped off some of the dressing and it was still a bit thick, but it tasted yummy so I didn't particularly care too much. The soup..ok, well I cheated...it called for vegetable soup, but I had a container of Pacific Foods Organic Creamy Butternut Squash that was about to expire, so I examined the ingredients and it was made without oils, as called for in the P90X plan....so I went for it. It is ab.so.lutely delicious. If you can find it near you, get it. Notes of nutmeg make it a little sweet, which was unexpected and fantastic.

Altogether, a perfect meal for a getting-chilly fall day: soup and salad, can't beat it. I'm gonna kick back and pull out a book I've been meaning to get to for a while and enjoy myafternoon with no classes.

Today's Meal Plan

OK, so this morning I was supposed to have a smoothie (protein shake) for breakfast, so that was good but I ended up hungry not too long later. For lunch, we had shrimp stirfry, which I liked...a lot. I could eat that more often. Tonight I am supposed to have lean turkey breast with gravy and green beans, but since I have class until 7, I don't know if I will have that kind of energy when I get home. We'll see.

I just had my afternoon snack, which was a protein bar and Gatorade....the protein bars I got are made by Snickers, so they are actually very yummy. Chocolate and nuts...who can go wrong?

Now if my kids will only get in line, I'll be happy. My fuse is getting shorter and shorter because they are starting to gang up on these little schemes...exciting.

Dinner

OK, whooooah. I was VERY disappointed with the dinner plan. First of all, it took me over an hour to prepare a meal just for myself, so I had to juggle making 3 intricate dishes for myself and also dinner for three kids. It was NOT fun, and I will NOT be doing it every day...no way. Way too many pots, pans, and dishes to clean.

And then the recipes....unless I was doing them way off base, which I do not think I am considering I bought exactly the right ingredients, carefully measured and cooked....and they weren't very good. The Roasted Red Pepper Soup, which I was SO looking forward to because I'd had one in a restaurant previously that was divine, was not so good. Tasted like warmed-up V8 juice. I think much less celery and tomato could go into the recipe to make it taste more red-peppery. The lemon-dill sauce came out way too tart and did not thicken up right.

The dinner was supposed to consist of red pepper soup, salmon, lemon-dill sauce, asparagus, and rice. I was so exhausted I didn't even get to the salmon! So I put the lemon-dill sauce on the asparagus and that was decent. The rice was the best part of the meal...LOL.

Maybe this meal plan works because you don't eat your whole meal because it doesn't taste too great. Maybe I am just so accustomed to eating the fats and salts and all that it will take some time to get adjusted to the taste of all the vegetables.

Hope tomorrow's meal plan goes better, otherwise I will cheat big time, more for convenience than anything.

Lunch time...

OK, so I spent all morning straightening and making the run to WalMart for a few things I ordered online that finally arrived @ the store. So I didn't get my morning snack, which is probably why my salad for lunch wasn't quite filling. I'm also a bigger fan of iceberg than romaine, so I am going to do a little further research to see if I can substitute. The salad did have extra-lean, low sodium ham cubes, which is yummy, so I liked it alright. I get another snack in a couple of hours, so I think I will make it.

Until then, I have much work to do in this house, so we'll see how I'm doing later this evening.

New Diet...again

So after being more and more frustrated with my weight and size (which has been steadily growing over the past three years), I decided to do something about it. At the time of this revelation, I wasn't sure quite what. I went on Weight Watchers last year....I could never make it to the meetings and it was very difficult to even figure out the "points" for the foods I made for my family every day. With little motivation, I quit that. I took some diet pills for a while, but all they did was give me incredible energy (which is why I still occasionally take them), but...alas....no weight loss.

Now, in my defense, the past five years have been dedicated to making a family...so I have carried three children and had three deliveries....not too conducive to losing weight. Also, I am not mordibly obese....I currently weigh just under 170 pounds. While my friends (and my doctor) assure me this is NOT morbidly obese for my height, I feel atrocious. I have never, ever been this big in my life. I am lingering between a size 10 and a size 12, meaning the size 10's are uncomfortably snug and the size 12's somewhat hang, especially around the rear area. Not cool. I've also been feeling yucky lately, getting sick more than I have in past years, getting stupid headaches and doing less and less outdoor activity with my kids. Obviously, this has all got to change...I'm only 27!

So, the same day I set my mind to making a change, I saw not one, not two, but three infomercials for P90X. Being an avid disbeliever in infomercial nonsense, I Googled the reviews,and they weren't all bad. In fact, I had a hard time finding a bad one! I mean, you have to do it to get results...it's not a piece of machinery or a pill or medicine....it's just a fitness and nutrition program. So, in a moment of weakness, I ordered it.

It came quicker than expected, just about four days. I actually set it aside for the first couple of days, because I had just perfected a lemon meringue pie recipe and wanted to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I also was scared to begin what I knew would be a big change to our family's diet.

I finally got the nerve to open the box, and what I saw first was not the pack of DVD's but a quite hefty nutrition guide. I was impressed and sat down and thumbed through it. I made a shopping list based off the ingredients in the recipes.

**I must add, this was a big change to our normal diet....instead of the 2 produce bins at the bottome of the fridge holding a bag of salad, some extra butter sticks, and some Coke cans, they were both packed with fresh produce, as well as the ENTIRE bottom shelf of my fridge. The shopping list actually had NO BUTTER on it. There were a variety of oils and other cooking liquids like cooking wines, sherry, and vinegars. If you are used to making a lot of casseroles and Crock Pot meals with Velveeta, starches, etc....this will be a BIG CHANGE for you, cause it sure was for me! I also want to add that some of the ingredients took some intensive research...I just couldn't find them in any grocery store around us, even the "gourmet" or specialty stores (like arrowroot...where do I get that stuff??). I had to research a suitable alternative to still fulfill the recipes.**

Day One has just begun...it's a Sunday, and I got all the ingredients yesterday and was eager to begin. The breakfast in my meal plan calls for a Mushroom Omelette, a serving of cottage cheese, and fresh strawberries. Well I am already tweaking. I had no fresh strawberries (I guess it's the season) so I subbed an orange, and I LOATHE cottage cheese, so I substituted with a serving of lite yogurt. Word to the wise, eat the citrus fruit FIRST. I ate the omelette, which didn't just have mushrooms, it also had green onion and roma tomatoes...it was pretty tasty, although VERY different than what I'm used to...and then I ate the yogurt. So eating a citrus fruit after something so sweet as the yogurt made the orange taste bitter, and I usually LOVE oranges. So, I definitely didn't like that. And I'm used to washing my breakfast all down with a hot cup of coffee, and having ice water seemed sooooo strange. But I am full, which was more than I expected.

The kids actually ate a version of my breakfast, too. I had to have egg whites only for my omelette, so the yolks had to go somewhere, so I scrambled them up for the kids. They also had orange slices and GoGurt instead of my lite yogurt. They all loved it, but it wasn't that different at all from what I usually give them. Maybe I should have just been paying attention to what my children were eating all this time because none of them are overweight!

We'll see how it goes....I'll keep track of it here. I plan on doing the workouts just after lunch because that's when the kids will be napping so I will have enough free time to work out and shower without the kids all underfoot (literally).

My goal is to get back down to 125 pounds, which is five pounds above my average weight my senior year of high school. I would like to be able to fit into a size 6 again, although I will definitely be happy with a comfortable 8. But most of all, I want to be in shape and no more of this jiggly belly.

Wish me luck!

Wishing there were more hours in the day

I just wish I had a few more hours...I would be able to spend some more time playing with my kids rather than cleaning up after them, or doing their laundry, or cooking for them...but such is life.

I also wish I had a few more friends around here. It's hard with Logan gone because I don't get much adult interaction; I mean, at school I do, but that's only sitting and listening to a professor for an hour or so and then we disperse....not like college kids have much in common with a 27 yr old mother of three anyway. So yeah, just wishing for a few minor tweaks in my life but no one can have perfection :)

Going to take some of the existing hours I actually have to do some HW.......

Navy wifedom...

Yeah, so it doesn't get better with time...every time he has to go out to sea, it flat out sucks. I mean, a part of it is that I have to do everything by myself....the laundry, the cleaning, the dishes, the kids, the cars, the pets, the bills....everything....I mean, Jami definitely helps me out, but more than that, I don't have someone to come home to and tell my problems to. I don't have someone to sit with me and watch Criminal minds and tell me how cheesy my FBI/cop shows are. I don't have someone to tell me my dinner is yummy or that he loves me, and that stinks. To everyone who thinks the military doesn't sacrifice, or that their families don't sacrifice, you should walk a day in our shoes. Logan and I laugh at that show Wife Swap when they have to be apart for 2 little weeks and they are crying and about to lose their minds being apart from their spouse for that long....and it's only 2 weeks. Try eight months... been there, done that...with a newborn. I'm just hoping with Grayson's birthday party and getting ready for Thanksgiving that it will go by fast.

Anyway...it's such a Martin Sexton/ Johnny Cash type of day. Grey...overcast...chilly, perfect for curling up with a spiked mulled cider and reading some Plath or Poe, all gloom and doom in their delicious poetic words. Mmmm, to have one day with a babysitter who has the kids at her house and I have some good book, some warm drinks, and an appointment at the salon.....aaaahhhhh....a girl can dream (and use excessive ellipsis...ten bucks to anyone who counts them...I know I have a problem).

Halloween Night.

Last night was so fun, and there were so many things I wish I could just freeze in time so I could remember them forever. Callie thought she was a princess with her hair curled and dressed up in her Little Red Riding Hood costume. She was scared of some of the people wearing black robes or scary costumes on their front porches but went to every house. Grayson was so excited and so proud of his Optimus Prime costume...he took it very seriously and really thought he was Optimus Prime for the night! He was hilarious talking to every kid we passed, and he has eaten most of his bucket of candy already! John took the night, though....last year he wasn't old enough to walk, so this was his first year walking it. He is absolutely f.e.ar.l.e.s.s. He wasn't scared of any costume, any noise or scary decoration; no fog machine or jackolantern could sway him once he discovered he said those three magic words (which sounded like "Dwick Dwee" when he said it) and scored candy in his bag. Between houses, he would hold his bag open and look down into, sometimes so into it he veered off into the grass beside the pavement. He was absolutely fascinated with this event.....walking from house to house getting candy from strangers! He loved it, and all three kids passed out as soon as we got home, still in their costumes.....there is nothing cuter on earth.
So all in all, great Halloween with great friends and great kids! It' going to be hard next year without Janet, Troy, and Christian.

GI Bill nonsense

So I finally had enough and wrote a scathing email to an editor on the staff of the Virginian Pilot. Here's the scoop:

I rely on the MGI Bill that I received after serving four years in the US Navy. I am a full-time student at Old Dominion University in my senior year of English/Pre-Law. I have not received my MGI Bill benefits for three months now. Our budget has been pinched tighter and tighter...now finally, the US Treasury, authorized by the VA, has begun issuing emergency checks of up to $3000 to veterans. Too little, too late, I say.

So The Virginian Pilot wrote a little article, in which they said "tax payer dollars" were going to this, as if the veterans themselves were not tax-paying citizens when they were active duty, earning this benefit. Let's just say I expressed my discontent in this email.

Anyway, now that's off my chest, I'm still waiting for my check...I requested it a week ago and am still waiting anxiously so we can get some of these creditors off our backs, at least temporarily. Who knows when I'll get another GI Bill payment, however....this is only a stop-gap measure by the VA when what they need to do is hire more workers at their VA education offices and light the fire under their butts to process those claims expediciously (in other words, to do their damn jobs).

It's getting really, really hard to remain patient. We are so broke we are squeezing water from rocks at this point. We ration gas, so we haven't been to church in a while because it takes a quarter tank to get there and back. Logan goes to work every day, and I go to school most days, but if my tank is dry, I don't go to school. All of my professors have attendance policies but have been extraordinarily understanding thus far. We live about half an hour from my school, which really takes some gas, especially because it's downtown and the stop-n-go really sucks the gas. We both try to fit trips to the store into the route to work or school so we don't waste gas making a separate trip, but of course we forget things and then have to make a separate trip.

Things we have learned:
-our kids like Hamburger Helper.
-Our kids do not like beans, and are pretty much over rice.
-Our two youngest go through way too many diapers, but we can save on wipes by using a washcloth that gets soaked in hot bleach water between uses.
-Bleach is cheap...might not smell as nice as other household cleaners, but does the job well for pennies and kills H1N1 dead in its tracks.
-Chocolate chip cookies are cheaper when homemade, but get eaten twice as fast :).
-Wal-Mart brand frozen broccoli is insanely cheap but is gone from the freezer case by about noon...gotta get there early.
-Farm Fresh has the cheapest milk, still, but that's about all they have cheap.
-The Market downtown puts their display meat on drastic clearance at the far right end of the meat display case...we're talking 3-4 marinated pork chops or steaks for $2, 4 lbs lean ground beef for $1.50. Not a thing wrong with them, but they have to change their display cases every day, so yesterday's stuff goes on clearance.
-Homemade Halloween costumes are way more fun. So is spending an afternoon with the family, playing football in the backyard...for free.
-PBS rocks.
-Casseroles are cheap, easy, and feed the whole family from one dish.
-We have gotten more spontaneous "I love you"s from spending one-on-one time with our children, rather than buying them toys or taking them to Chuck E Cheese or Jumpin Monkey and letting them go wild.

I'll be glad to get the check for my GI Bill, but I'm also glad to have learned a few of the things I have learned.....but seriously....gimme my money.

So much to do....so much to say

Anyone who can reference the song lyric in my title gets extra credit.


Anyhoo, Logan and I are doing the big clean out this weekend. I'm looking at several law schools that fit what I want to do and some happen to be in New York. Not New York state, like upstate, Buffalo...I'm talking downtown, subways, beatin the street in the concrete jungle. I'm stoked. BUT we have to de-clutter our lives BIG time. I'm also applying in NC, SC, VA, GA, etc...lots of places. Either way, there is a move in the imminent future.

The kids each have a toy box, then we have a vertical Ikea toy storage unit...all packed and overflowing with the plastic atrocities our kids call toys nowadays. It's too much, too too much STUFF. So we've convinced the kids that we will keep their ten favorite toys and all the rest will go to charity by way of the local Ronald McDonald house. Same with their clothes: we're downsizing their little diva wardrobes to some necessities and staples, like jeans and cords, that will wear wellf or a long time.

Don't feel sorry for my kids...Logan and I are doing it too. I've already gone through my clothes and got ready of anything I haven't worn in six months (seasonal exceptions) or is one of those sizes I keep "hoping" I'll get back into. I figure if I ever do get back in that size, I'll go buy myself new clothes as a reward for shedding the weight. So I am down to 1/2 of the closet bar of hanging clothes and 2 drawers of clothes and 1 drawer of underthings and PJ's. Logan has got to let goooo of those size 34 khakis, but he's holding strong. But then again, men usually can lose weight fairly easily and he may actually get back into those pants.

We're also trying to get rid of our bigger stuff, the garage full of extra dishes, clothes, boxes, nick nacks, furniture, and the more space-consuming junk that is no longer of use to us.

So wish us luck as we get started this weekend on the big purge of all of our junk, the byproducts of our materialistic life that will hopefully lead to a less hoarding lifestyle and make us think before we buy the next "I want" item.

Other than that, getting geared up for the holidays...alone. Logan's leaving in a week and a half and won't be home until the day before Thanksgiving...if we're lucky. Then he gets to be home for about a month until he leaves for his third deployment in four years. Hooah, go Navy, right. So I will be doing all the prepwork for the holidays alone, which is mildly irritating, but, as a good Navy wife, I'm getting used to it.

So wish me luck as we set out on this weekend and get everything done so I can do the last stretch of my undergrad at a breakneck speed and get my butt into a decent law school so I can get on with my life, already!

Finally I can get back to blogging

I finally feel like everything has settled down enough so I can get back into my daily routine, one item of which is writing. So you readers get to be my guinea pigs as I start to try my daily writing routine and see how you like it. Sometimes it may not be interesting, and sometimes I'll just be writing about my kids and nothing else, but at least I'll be writing something.

OK, so since my last appearance in January, my ex-husband passed away, I [finally] got back custody of my son and we are [finally] one cohesive family unit. Logan came home from deployment, and I started my Fall semester at ODU and took the LSAT for law school. I made a pretty decent score and now I'm looking at law schools, and I won't saw where for fear of retribution. The fact is, one law school in SC is probably not feasible for me to get into and the other is crazy expensive. If it works out, good. If it doesn't, it doesn't...so sue me.

I can't wait to be done with my undergrad and on to bigger and better things. Since some of the classes I am taking this year were unfilled freshmen level prerequisites, I feel like I'm spinning my wheels a little, and the sad part is...I'm making the worst grades in those classes! Because I don't like them! How stupid is that? I'm trying to buckle down but it's hard with three kids, their school schedule, my husband's crazy military work schedule, and trying to maintain the household...it's totally cuckoo for cocoa puffs in my house, 24/7.

On a side bar, what's the deal with college students wearing black? Black jackets, black jeans, black shoes, black scarves, black glasses...we get it already....our campus is starting to look like some retro-sad beatnik invasion of coffeehouse geeks circa 1993.

Back to what I was saying, hopefully I will find that magic mastery of organization and scheduling which will allow me to finish my undergrad with flying colors and get into some of the law schools I am DYING to go to (hello... CUNY!). It would be sad if I didn't get into a good law school because of laundry, seriously. I've been thinking of cutting the kids' wardrobes down to 14 shirts and 14 pants each, that all "go" together, so I can do laundry once a week and they will always have clean, matching clothes. Thoughts?

Gotta run to class. I screwed up on the syllabus and did next week's assignment for today, so at least I'm ahead (albeit unintentionally)...as Forrest Gump says, one less thing.

Finally...an update...

I know, it's been forever since I wrote!! I've been so busy I can barely eat & sleep, much less blog. I'll make it a point to keep up, though...

well, I got accepted into the PreLaw program at Old Dominion University...that explains why I've been so busy. I'll be graduating in four semesters (including this one) and moving on to law school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City [hopefully]. So I'm trying to make top-notch grades (gotta get in Golden Key this May!) and still make time to spoil my little angels....I make time, it just means much less sleep for me. I end up feeding John dinner on my lap instead of high chair, reading them books with both of them in my lap, and on the floor playing with them to make up for the time I miss while I'm in class. Then I have to do my homework late at night while they sleep, but it's all worth it.

I'm also a writer for the school newspaper at ODU, the Mace & Crown. I also got accepted into Delta Sigma Lambda, a sorority for returning women! So far I'm having a blast at ODU and making tons of new friends and learning a lot!

OK, so I got a comment asking for another recipe. Well, thanks to having John and indulging over the holidays, I've been forced {by my hips and thighs) to join Weight Watchers and the YMCA. So my recipes are all healthy now! I still try to mix it up and make delicious, cheap recipes that are also healthy! Here's one I call "Fake Apple Pie":

In individual ramikans, dice a whole apple into each container.
Sprinkle with 1 tsp of brown sugar.
Bake in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes, until apples are soft.
Remove and let cool for a few minutes, then top each with 2 Tblsp of Fat-Free Vanilla flavored yogurt. Enjoy!
*For added texture, like a Dutch Apple treat, add granola, or even wheat germ, to top for the crunch factor and additional nutrition!

And another that I just love, and for Weight Watchers followers, it's only 5 pts per serving. It's Honey Dijon Chicken...

4 chicken tenderloins
approx 1 Tblsp mustard
approx 1 Tblsp honey
1/2 stem fresh rosemary
1 tsp basil pesto
1/2 cup skim milk

In pan, spray with Pam and warm mustard, rosemary, and basil pesto. Spread mix on bottom of pan evenly.
Lay chicken on mix and cook evenly on both sides (don't worry, mustard mix will stick to chicken when you flip it).
After chicken is cooked thoroughly, remove it from pan and set aside.
SLOWLY add milk to pan, stirring or whisking constantly and let it simmer to thicken into a creamy sauce.
Add 1 Tblsp honey, continue stirring for another couple of minutes until sauce is nice and thick.
Pour sauce over chicken and serve with rice, mashed potatoes, or, for zero points, green beans or broccoli.


So there's another recipe, and that one's not expensive either! Enjoy with that Fake Apple Pie and you'll be LOVING your diet!

Check back often... I'll make a point to keep writing! John is almost walking, and Callie is definitely getting into everything, but I will blog about it!