The Engelbrecht Family

Weight Check Wednesday: Full Disclosure

2012-01-26T11:29:00.000+10:00

So. Tomorrow is my first time going back to an actual Weight Watchers meeting, and I'm so excited I probably won't be able to sleep tonight. I just love it. I'm just so excited! Anyway. The point is, I'm going back to actual meetings, and Daisy June turns one on Sunday. Don't get me started, I'm not in the mood to talk about that right now. Back to the point, if any of ya'll have been lucky enough to see me lately, you probably noticed that even though I've reached (practically) that magical twelve month mark, those last fifteen pounds didn't just melt away overnight. Weird.

So here's the skinny. Ha. Pun? Is that a pun? I have to admit that I don't one hundred percent understand what a pun is. Like a play on words? Like, saying 'here's the skinny' before I talk about how fat I am? Not sure. Anyway, the skinny. Robin once led me to believe that I shouldn't mention numbers, but come on. I'm not invisible, and I live on (yet another) tropical island, so I'm forced into far-too-skimpy clothes, far too often. It's not a big secret that I'm an overeater!!

Anyway, so here's the skinny. I was just over two hundred pounds when I delivered Daisy June, despite being placed on a diet and exercise regime by my (very kind and understanding and seriously not as evil as everyone who didn't know her thought when she did it) OB. I'd gained over forty pounds by my twenty week check up, and she was worried that I'd have a great big fat baby from diabetes who would need an IV for a dextrose drip and that I'd be so fat that they'd have to staple me instead of suture it, and Lord KNOWS I didn't want that (I have a staple thing, go figure) and also, she was just not an idiot. Any non-idiot can tell you that you shouldn't gain forty pounds in twenty weeks. Duh, it's like a famous quote.

So in those second twenty weeks, with her guidance, I did Weight Watchers and I walked until the very last week, when I went crazy and couldn't leave my bedroom for fear of strangling my children or my husband or both. I only gained an additional ten pounds (she wanted me to lose five, I wanted to gain another fifty, so I think ten was a great way to meet in the middle.) I was also over two hundred for Scott, and just under for Warren. And with Ava, I was one sixty two. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO POUNDS!!! I'm not one to lose an obscene amount of weight in the delivery room, and I took it pretty easy for a few weeks after I delivered. You know, fourth c-section and all. I ate when I was hungry, and I didn't exert myself AT ALL. But I didn't go hog wild either.

So at the six week mark, I joined WW online and stepped on a scale for the first time. It was mid-March and I was 189. I walked, ate right, you know the drill. The weight came off slowly but surely, half a pound or a pound at a time. I felt good, I looked like a woman who just had her fourth kid in five years, life was pretty boring.

Then Nick ended up being gone for five months. Right about his fourth month out, I lost my mind. I still worked out, but I stopped eating right, and when he got back, I stopped working out too. And ate REALLY bad.

The week he came back (Sept 17-ish) I was 168. Twenty one pounds in six months is fine, whatever, but I wanted it to be more because I wasn't a regular fat person, I'd just had a baby!! That should count!! It was faster with Warren and I wanted it to be even faster than that with Daisy June.

So I half assed my way through fall (I was reading Game of Thrones, so I didn't want to work out!!) and when I packed out my scale in mid December, I was 166.5. Pound and a half in three months equals NOT GOOD!!!

Then we moved, and you know how that is. No house, no pots and pans, no schedules, nothing. Lots of McD's, lots of Moe's (WE HAVE A MOES!!!) lots of Papa Johns (WE HAVE A PAPA JOHNS!!!) and NO exercise. At all.

HOWEVER. I got on the scale today, and I'm 166!!! I'll take that half pound and run with it!! HOORAY FOR ME!!!

But now it's back to the grind. I can't get Warren into preschool (and I can't justify the obscene cost of preschool around here anyway even if he DID get in) so the only time I can work out is at five. Ugh. I'm POSITIVE you've noticed I'm not a morning person. BUT, I feel better mentally (not physically, gross) when I'm exercising regularly, and since I'm not going to be pregnant or hormonal again, I figured this is it. It's time to get this under control. OF COURSE, I am not against anti depressants, but for me, if I can ward this off with diet and exercise, I want to try to keep it at that. We'll reevaluate with I move to Washington and don't see the sun for three hundred and sixty days a year, hmmkay?

So thus far this week (uh, it's only Wednesday, you say? To which I will respond IT'S ALREADY WEDNESDAY!!!) I have gotten up at five and worked out. It was that simple. I need to bump bedtime back from eleven (oh, but I just LOVE to stay up till eleven!! It's the PERFECT bedtime!!!) I did my elliptical once and the 30 Day Shred twice. I missed my elliptical. I couldn't use it when I was pregnant because the up and down motion of my knees knocked my belly and the whole motion just jostled too much and hurt) and then after she was born, she slept in my room, so I couldn't use it then either, but not it's in the garage and Nick taught me how to do stream to me on his iPad so I can watch ANYTHING you can pull up on the computer in the iPad (!!! If you need to learn how to do this, I will forward him any of your comments. It's life altering, to say the least) and I just sort of chug along watching movies or Toddlers in Tiaras and life is just grand.

Not so much with the 30 Day Shred. It got a thousand times harder since the last time I did it. In October. Go figure.

Anyway. Is anyone still reading? Remember when I said I was one sixty two when I delivered Daisy June? You might have noticed that that is four pounds LESS than I weigh now. Isn't that disgusting?!?! Gross.

My WW goal is one forty five. But since it's forty three dollars a month, I will probably stop the meetings at one fifty. That's what I was when we moved to Guam, right at the one year mark after Warren. I wanted to lose more, but I felt good and looked sorta awesome if I do say so myself. So one fifty is sixteen pounds away. I figure pound a week, sixteen weeks. Four months. Beginning of June. So that's my goal, less than one fifty before my mama comes out to visit.

And now that ya'll know my dark secret numbers, you can keep me accountable.

In other news, I'm watching the Drew Peterson thing on Lifetime with Rob Lowe and the girl from Big Bang (who is doing a FANTASTIC job, by the by) and seriously, if I didn't KNOW it was Rob Lowe, I would never EVER have guessed it!! Not in a million years!! He's all creepy and old and just looks NOTHING like Rob Lowe!!! Isn't makeup amazing? Why can't I figure out how to use it to cover this ridiculous acne and make my face look skinny?!?! I mean, hello!! It can turn Rob Lowe into that weirdo, but it can't even out my skin tone? Ugh.

Bullets

2012-01-24T09:25:00.000+10:00

I've got a big post with updates and pics and the whole shebang, but right now I'm sitting outside while Dub races the (free and handed down to us four years ago) Jeep up and down the road, so I just thought I'd pull some pics off my phone and share some bullets with you. I know you're devastated not to get the whole shebang, but good things come to those who wait!!

-I can tolerate a disasterous, disorganized, child infested house. As long as my kitchen and pantry are ship shape. Someone mentioned to me the other day that they were surprised I was organized in the pantry, and I get it. I'm a wreck, I usually don't even have on a clean shirt. But my pantry...it's just not good. It messes with my mind if it's a wreck. Same with the kitchen, I can't function if there's shit all over the counters. I don't care if my cabinets and drawers are bursting at the seams with piles and piles shoved in there, as long as it's not on the counter. Or in the pantry.

Anyway. So that was the first thing I tacked. This tiny house has an AMAZING kitchen, with two pantries!! So I have one for snacks and diapers and art supplies and laundry, and then my cooking pantry. Don't get me started on the odds and ends one, I'm trying to pretend it doesn't exist right now because...it's a wreck.

My before, but I'd already obviously done a little work in there.

I got a lamintor (I've been wanting one FOREVER!!) and printed off some AMAZINGLY CUTE labels from Better Homes and Gardens, then glued those suckers to all my tupperware type pieces.

As an aside, I have WAAAAY too many clear plastic tubs. Big ones, little ones, medium ones... never in a million years would twenty different households be able to utilize all of my tubs. Not gonna happen.

But I can't bear to part with a single piece.

And my after. Still needs some work, and things are a little out of whack because Scott got his own breakfast, but you know me, gotta keep it real. We have to store our office supplies in there because there's not any room in this teeny tiny house for a proper desk, but whatever. It's just a year, maybe three. I've learned I can survive anything for just a year or three, you know?

Let's see, what else....oh yeah!

-Have ya'll tried these?

Now, I'm sure you remember that I JUST NOW started eating seafood. And I don't LOVE it, but I can tolerate some grilled or broiled tilapia. And I've made tuna every now and then because as far as WW goes, you get a LOT of bang for your buck. I also subscribe to Hungry Girl, and she was raving about these pouches a few weeks ago, so when I saw them at the commissary (I love Hawaii for that reason alone- the commissary. When you need something, you go to the commissary...and they have it!! IT'S AMAZING!!!) I picked up a few flavors. So far, that's the only one I've tried, and it's FANTASTICAL. I threw two ounces on top of one of those bag salads and it was yummy yummy. No fishy taste at all. Although if I'm going to be totally honest, I did pour on some ranch. Not an obscene amount, and it would have been just as good with some spritzer dressing from wishbone, but I was in a ranch mood. And I 'worked out' this morning, so I felt like I deserved it. YUM.

-Also at the commissary? This little gem. I can't wait to dive in. We LOVE American made Mexican here at casa de Engelbrecht. LOVE. Love love love. Not sure how many more times I'm going to say it. I'm already ready (already) to try the first two recipes, one for shrimp and one for pulled pork style chicken. I'll keep you posted. You lucky dog.

Yes, I bite my nails. And I never make a New Year's Resolution to stop biting my nails, because I LIKE to bite them. Duh, that's why I do it. It's not a nervous habit or a twitch or anything, I just like to bite my nails. So does everyone else who bites theirs, they just won't admit it to you. But I'm not ashamed. I like to bite my nails. If that bothers you, you can bite ME :)

-When I went to grab my purse (Daisy if off the bottle AND off formula, so I don't need a diaper bag anymore!!!) I got a fun little surprise.

Sup Woody?!?!

-How Normal Rockwell is my life getting? The BEST part of moving here to Hawaii is that ALL (two) of my Guam friends moved with us!! One of them lives RIGHT down the road, so we invited ourselves over this weekend when both our stupid husbands had to stupid work on a stupid Saturday.

Ride faster, they just let the prisoners out of the Brig for yard time!!

-It's almost impossible to take a picture of your own ear. But I muddled thru, so I could show you how talented my baby sister is. She made me these and another pair, and I think I can rope her into making me a few necklaces too. It's a crappy picture, but aren't they TOTALLY my style?!?!

-Lastly, Nick and I started watching Homeland last night. We don't ever splurge for the movie channels (hence watching Peurto Rican Game of Thrones on youtube) but we got a year of showtime free with our cable here, so we decided to see what all the hype was about.

The reason there's so much hype about Homeland is simple: it's fricking GOOD. Intense. And hello, Angela Chase. What could be better? The only problem is that the guy is (OF COURSE) from Band of Brothers and Nick is all worked up because he was such a good guy in Band of Brothers, he doesn't want to even consider that he might be a terrorist. DO NOT GIVE ME ANY SPOILERS. I WILL CUT YOUR FACE.

Also, if anyone else splurges for HBO, I'll give you five dollars if I can come watch Game of Thrones when it starts back up. And another five if you tell me when it starts back up.

Prayers

2012-01-13T17:38:00.001+10:00

Y'all, as usual, I need you to get me on your prayer lists. I"m not quite to the point where I'm asking random strangers at the commissary to pray for me, but I'm getting there.

Without getting into too much detail, Ava is (and therefor I am) having a hard time adjusting to life in Hawaii. She doesn't understand what 'nerves' are and I don't think she has ANY idea that the excruciating pain she's experiencing in her belly is due to the fact that she's sad and upset and misses her home...so I need you to pray for her. And me. Please pray that she realizes that THIS is our home now, that all of her belongings are here, and her friends came too. Her mama is here for her, and her daddy will be here in a very short while (although, to a six year old, even 'tomorrow' is too long to have to wait for your daddy), her brothers love her and her sister absolutely adores her...her new teacher seems to love her almost as much as her old one, there's so much fun stuff to do here...

So yeah. Prayers. We went from trying to take life hour by hour to taking life minute by minute. Obviously, I have to handle it until it's over so it seems stupid to say...but I'll say it: I don't know how much longer I can handle this. My heart is literally going to break. I always rolled my eyes when mamas said that about their babies, that the baby's pain was more painful for the mama than the baby...but I get it now. I truly do. Please, just pray that she feels BETTER. I don't know what she NEEDS to feel better, but whatever it is...pray that she gets it. Please. I'm BEGGING you. This is quickly approaching epic proportions here.

Menu Plan Monday

2012-01-10T11:17:00.000+10:00

Well, so far, today has been half suck and half totally AWESOMESAUCE.

Sucky? I spent ninety minutes and four hundred dollars at the commissary. Awesome? When I was leaving, the preschool we signed up for back in September, the one who told me Scott was first on the list but that they didn't think anyone was leaving any time soon, called and said he can start as soon as I finish the paperwork!!!

Sucky? We were pretty late to Ava's first day and I found out that when I pick her up in the afternoons, she can't just head for the carpool line. I have to unload everyone and walk in and get her. After I find a parking spot. Awesome? I think I might be able to work it out with my friend Laura to take her kids and she'll take care of pickups!!!

Sucky? Those groceries are all over the table and counters. I don't feel like putting them away. Awesome? Uh, I'm blogging instead of putting away groceries.

Sigh. Anyway. I plan on going thru at least a few pictures tonight, so hopefully my next post won't be so...picture-less.

Here's my menu for the week. It's time to try and start feeling a little more settled here. Apparently, that means we need to stop living at the Panda Express. We'll see how long that lasts.

Monday: taco cups. I'll post the link if they're any good. In other news, I'll be making this with leftover taco soup. Doesn't that seem economical? You're supposed to brown meat and taco seasoning and beans and all that...but I'm using taco soup. I am!

Tuesday: chicken lo mein. Trying to wean ourselves off Panda Express. I have a feeling that home made lo mein is NOT going to cut it as methadone.

Wednesday: breakfast

Thursday: beef and broccoli. And noodles I guess, since my damn rice cooker is in my express shipment.

Friday: we're either meeting Jen at Chuck E Cheese, or ordering Papa John's. Or driving thru the Panda Express. WHATEVER.

Saturday: fish and tortellini. Because we can't have rice.

Sunday: grilled chicken leg quarters. And not rice.

What's on your menu this week?

Random Tidbits

2012-01-09T11:44:00.000+10:00

Ahhh, I have internet. And it's just as fabulous as I remembered. So let's dive right in, it's been a while, no?

1. I am addicted to this netti pot type squeeze bottle that I got. You know how those people get addicted to Afrin nose spray? Well, I can now see why. I got sick pretty much the second I stepped off the plane. Horrible cold and cough and this intense, unbearable pressure in my sinuses and ears. I used to be a sudafed addict, but out of nowhere, when I was pregnant with Warren, I think, I developed this horrible sensitivity to it. It makes me all jumpy and my heart race and I want to claw my skin off and then crawl out of it...not good. So I got this sinucleanse squeeze bottle where you literally squirt warm water and salt up one nostril and lean over so it drains out the other.

It's FABULOUS. I'm finally getting better (AT LAST!!! Eleven days for a cold, doesn't that seem sort of long?!?!) but I can't stop using it!!! I just want my sinuses to be totally clear. At all times. So. That's that.

2. Daisy June is off the bottle. I know it's not as dramatic as those women who breastfeed, but it's dramatic for me. I will never again hold one of my children close and watch her eyes drift shut while she nurses on a little plastic nipple. And the worst part is, I don't even know when it ended. I just realized one night in the hotel that we'd been putting her down without a bottle, and a few days later I threw them all out. And a few days after THAT, I remembered that she's my LAST baby and I'm supposed to savor these precious moments. THEN I got internet and watched Law and Order for six hours. Win some, lose some.

3. I haven't decided yet about Hawaii. I don't hate it, but I don't LOVE it like I thought I would. It's just sort of so-so. It's a city, so it's dirty, and crowded. It's allegedly a tropical island, but other than when I'm at my house (on another island, IN the island, which weirds me out) I never see the water. We saw two beaches when Nick was here, but they were hard to get to. When I'm driving around, I never think to myself "Hey Self, you're on a tropical island!" The palm trees are few and far between. The people are fast and...in a hurry. Things are expensive. There's no openings in any preschool on this side of the island for Scott.

Now, do what you want, but I don't exactly need comments about how 'you just have to go to so and so and then you'll feel like it's a tropical island' or 'the beaches at xyz are fantastic.' I KNOW these things. I know that if I travel to the North Shore, I'll see all the gorgeous scenes from Lost. I know that in Kaneohe, there's fantastic beaches. But I live HERE. In Honolulu. On an island with a LOT of industrial crapola going on. And a brig across the street. Literally. I can see guys in jail playing basketball AS I TYPE THIS.

I naturally have HUGE amounts of well placed buyer's remorse (renter's remorse?) about taking this house. We should have went to Kaneohe or Kailua.

And as far as the fact that now we're able to go to Target and the Gap and all that jazz? It's nice. But I got used to ordering everything online in Guam so it wasn't that bad. And with Scott and Warren not in preschool, it's not like I can really go to the mall anyway.

4. In a surprising turn of events, I miss Guam. I ache for Tender Shepherd, and Gab Gab. That's it, but that's enough. I feel empty inside whenever I think of either one. I am not being dramatic. I really do ache.

5. I saw Mission Impossible. It was fantastic. I am not ready to lift the I Hate Tom Cruise stance, but we might be getting closer. He played his role very low key (well, as low key as you can get while also scaling tall buildings with magnet gloves and all that) and did a lot of stepping back to let the other cast members (JEREMY RENNER!!! JEREMY RENNER!!) shine. I was very impressed. Makes me want to watch Rain Man.

6. Have ya'll been keeping up with PW's All Time Best Movie thingie she's got going on? It might break your heart. I swear to God, if Titanic wins, I might stop following her. I mean, I know it's not her fault, but I don't want to follow the same woman that people who think Titanic is the Best Movie of All Time follow. Those people are yucky and I don't want to be like them. I can't remember what Rain Man lost out to, but I bet it was equally as unjust. People are such morons.

7. Does anyone have any tips for changing the sheets on bunk beds? We bunked the boys' beds (because this house is so fucking small that we LITERALLY can't keep them unbunked) and it took me about nine and a half hours to change the top sheet today. It was not fun.

8. After the bombardment of semi-negative things I said about Hawaii, it warms my heart to know that when I go to the commissary tomorrow, they'll have the stuff I need. And multiple choices of each thing. I almost cried the first time I went. Okay, you got me. I did cry. Tears of joy.

9. Another plus? The chapel is apparently pretty big and active. I'm starting a Bible study (hopefully) Wednesday morning and they have childcare!!! There's a novel idea (sike!! you like that Holly?)!! I will NEVER understand why churches do Bible studies without child care. Have I mentioned that people are morons? Anyway, from what I can tell, I'll be able to do a Priscilla Shrirer study. I feel bad cheating on Beth Moore, but A) It's not my fault if there's not a Beth Moore offered and B) Priscilla Shrier is the next best thing. AND Beth Moore like endorses her or something. Anyway. Hopefully I can make a few friends and get out of this funk.

10. Nick might be here sometime in the next few weeks. I usually have at least a vague idea of when he's coming, but this time, nada. I don't know if it's that it's up in the air, or if it's that I wasn't listening when we talked about it, or if it's that I just can't remember. Here's hoping he can get a ride from the pier to the house in case I never figure it out.

11. I have nine hundred and seventy five pictures to get off my camera.

12. Milk here is seven dollars a gallon.

13. I NEED a preschool for Scott. It's not a want. It's a NEED. Ava can explain the difference if you're foggy.

14. I also NEED my van and my crockpot and my roomba.

15. But mostly, I NEED a preschool for Scott.

Engelbrecht out.

iPhone Photo Dump

2011-12-27T13:50:00.000+10:00

And these are all the pics off my phone.

These first two are of one of our last nights in Guam, at CPK.

At the Guam NEX for the last time. I think I'm getting sentimental over here!!

At the airport at four fifteen in the MORNING.

Daisy June sleeping with Kristy, who just HAPPENED to be on our flight. Destiny? I think so!!

Daisy's first time in a Target!!

The train at the Dole Plantation.

The front of our house. Yes, it's big. It really is. I wasn't complaining earlier!!! It's just...sorta tight downstairs. I mean, as wide as it is and as big as it looks...that's a two car garage. That takes up a LOT of real estate on the first floor!! But I'm not complaining, I SWEAR!! I love it, I really do.

The kitchen, which I'm not even trying to sneak in complaints about. It's practically perfect in every way. Minus the electric stove. But it's got TWO pantries!!!

On Christmas, we went to Waikiki for lunch. The food was AMAZING and the views were to DIE for. We WILL be going back. Frequently.

And this morning, I went to Target for some day-after-Christmas sales. I was NOT prepared for this!! Needless to say, everything was gone by the time I made it in, but that's okay, I had already got everything I needed at the Home Depot. Where I was the ONLY shopper. We got a new tree, new wreaths, and lots of fun decorations. I mainly just wanted to walk around Target with no kids and look at the stationary section and the books.

All right. See you when we get internet. In five to ten business days.

Christmas Day (A Week Early, But Posted a Week Late)

2011-12-27T13:38:00.000+10:00

Here's the pics from our Christmas. I can't think of anything to say. Between the time difference and the fact that we're all sleeping on the floors (which means playing until ten and eleven at night, despite numerous whoopings) I can't get my bearings. Not having internet is NOT making things better.

Junebug was NOT interested in Christmas morning. At all.

Ornaments, yes. Presents? Not so much.

Warren just wanted to tear paper. He slowed down long enough to make out with his Woody doll, but that's about it.

I finally forced her to unwrap a present. I needed a picture for her scrapbook!!!

Ava got a makeup kit. It's a kit for aspiring drag queens. Obviously.

The next day, we got Daisy June all fancied up for church.

They took it off about five minutes later. Apparently she threw a hissy about the tulle at the bottom. Is that what it's called, tulle? No idea.

These are from the boys' Christmas program at school No, I don't remember when it was. It was in Guam, that's as close as I can get right now.

This is what Warren did. For his entire show.

Except for this one nano second that I managed to catch. I'm so awesome.

Scott, on the other hand, is a total natural. He was the story teller, and he said all his lines without a pause. Granted, his teacher was saying them all first, but still!! No stage fright AT ALL.

This kid was NOT impressed.

They had a Santa. Daisy June was a little worried.

And this random shot is...a random shot. All these new Christmas toys, and she's playing with a toy that I got when I was pregnant with Ava seven years ago.

That's all I got, folks.

We're Here!!

2011-12-27T13:14:00.000+10:00

All right. I'm doing these three posts all at the same time at the McDonalds, so who knows what order they're going to post in. This one apparently had the least photos, so it came up first.

We're here! Obviously. The flight was a non event, same as the ones to Guam. Except for me, same as the ones to Guam. After a few hours, I got all itchy and couldn't catch my breath, but I got up and walked around and got over it. It was long, and boring since there wasn't a tv in every seat, but whatever, it was a free flight off that rock, and I'll take what I can get.

Did you know that I never set foot off Guam the entire time we were there? True story.

Anyway. We got to the hotel, I had yet another breakdown, and the next day, we headed to the housing office. Our plan was to get out of there asap so we could go look at these five rental properties we'd lined up. The housing office had been telling us for months that there was NO housing, the wait lists were all six to twelve months, blah blah blah.

Well. We got there and she immediately showed us two houses in one of the two neighborhoods that we wanted!!! One was a three bedroom and one was a four. Naturally, the three bedroom was nicer, and bigger, with a better layout. But with only three bedrooms. So we took the four, spent that night in the hotel, then moved in on Friday to sleep on sleeping bags and air mattresses.

Yes. I hate staying in hotels THAT much.

Our stuff gets delivered tomorrow!!! No idea how we're going to fit it all in (the living room/dining room is TINY!! And it's two stories, so NO IDEA where I'm supposed to put my EFX. Or the piano...but I'm not complaining, I swear!! Just a little nervous) but whatevs, I'm just excited that Nick will still be here. Trying to keep up with three guys running in with nine thousand boxes and finding them on the paperwork and checking them all off while directing the guys where you want the stuff- that wasn't as fun as it sounds in Guam.

So, finding a house, and having Nick be here for delivery. Those were my requests. Done and done. Praise the Lord.

So, here's the pictures. So far, we haven't done too much. No one else had Christmas early, so everyone's been busy with holiday crap, and we've been busy trying to find our way to the store for toilet paper. Hopefully we can do a few fun things before Nick leaves next Sunday, but if not, we'll just do it when he gets back at the end of January. Either way.

First up. We live on an island. ON an island. Does that make sense? Not to me either. But it is what it is, I guess. I swore up and down after living in Norfolk that I would NEVER live across a bridge or tunnel again, but I was so shocked that they offered us a house, I didn't even think twice. These are some shots as we were leaving our island for the rest of the island. It's weird, I know.

We headed for the Dole Plantation on Christmas Eve. No, I don't know where that is or anything about it. I was still a little overwhelmed at that point. But it was a really pretty drive.

These are my boys, on the Dole train. Yes, that's the little one with the bigger one in a headlock. So it goes.

Apparently Ava saw something very exciting on the ride. Sorry it's blurry. I still can't figure out my lens. I never know what it's going to focus on.

Train riding is very serious business for some folks.

We ate lunch. We had pineapples with a side of pineapples, and pineapples for dessert. I'm not kidding even a little bit.

Then, we headed for the North Shore. As in, where they filmed Lost. We googled it, and thought we had it, but in the end, we couldn't find ANY of the scenes they used. But it was still GORGEOUS.

We found a beach (not THE beach, but still) and stopped to feel the ICY water. ICY!!!

Nick wanted me to take a picture of this car for Grandpa Kenny. Not sure why. So, if you're reading this Kenny, here it is. Enjoy.

This is a girl blowing up an inflatable surfboard. Yes, you heard correctly. Weird.

So there you go. Our first three days on Hawaii. I'm still overwhelmed. I keep having panic attacks. I don't like the traffic, and there's too many people. But I'm sure once I calm down, I'll love it. It's got to be better than Guam, right?

Christmas Eve

2011-12-16T20:53:00.000+10:00

No, you have not been caught in one of my worst nightmares: a flaw in the space time continuum. It's only Dec 16th. But for Team Engelbrecht, it was Christmas Eve. And naturally, tomorrow will be Christmas Day, and I'll have about ninety thousand more pictures to edit and post. And I'll spend the afternoon on the computer editing them, and snapping at anyone who dares to interrupt me, and shoving cookies in my mouth. Then I'll spend tomorrow night crying with Nick about what a horrible mother I am and how I ruined Christmas by snapping at my kids and eating cookies until I ralphed right on the middle of the living room floor.

But that's tomorrow.

This was tonight.

Tonight was nice.

I simply canNOT get the hang of my new lens. SUCH a bummer.

Now for the collages. Yes, I did at least TRY to cut down on how many pics you'd have to scroll thru. Just not very hard.

Here is Dub, busting a move. He lip sings AND dances. It. Is. AWESOME.

Look at these hineys!!! I just have a thing for an adorable hiney, I really do.

These two are what I like to think of as The Scott-the-Serial-Killer Series.

And The Warren-the-Santa-Rita-Strangler Series.

And then, my favorite shots of the night.

And if you're one of the precious few who hasn't heard me ranting and raving over the last few weeks and you're curious as to why we did this so early, it's because we're leaving for Hawaii next Thursday and I wanted the kids to have a nice, traditional Christmas Morning type scenario before the chaos of moving halfway around the world for the second time in less than two years set in. AND because the memory of Nick and my very first Christmas as man and wife is still seared into my brain: London, freezing cold, crappy hotel, no tree, uncomfortable bed, WRETCHED homesickness...it was BRUTAL ladies. Absolutely brutal. And I will NEVER put myself thru that again. So as far as we are concerned, tomorrow IS Christmas.

So merry Christmas darlins.

Drugs not Hugs

2011-12-08T22:19:00.000+10:00

The world famous author, Robin Wiley O'Bryant, got me thinking last night about hugs. Yes, hugs. Now, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and please, if you've tried to hug me in the past, this post is not my revenge. I just DON'T like to be hugged. At. All. I'm not autistic or any of those other sensory processing disorders, but I do not like to be touched. I don't mind a light fingertip graze, like on my (clothed) shoulder, to get my attention, but I do NOT like a full on embrace, especially the kind people always give you when they say goodbye.

I snuggle my children to death. I 'wore' all of my babies, especially Warren. None of them are sitting in bed banging their heads against the wall due to lack of nurturing physical contact, I swear. I hug my mama, and frequently, when we're in the same hemisphere. And obviously Nick and I can't keep our hands off each other. I mean, we HAVE had four kids in less than six years, har har.

But if we all go out to dinner, even my CLOSE friends, and we're saying goodbye and heading to our cars...I don't want a hug. I just don't. I don't know why, and I'm one hundred percent sorry that I can't share this with you, but it's just not comfortable for me.

There are, of COURSE, exceptions to the rule. The first one that comes BLAZING to my mind is when we first got off the plane here, after twenty seven hours of travel time, twenty three of them actually spent ON a plane. I'd been talking to Mindy for months via email, and she basically held my hand and walked me thru the entire Moving-to-Guam charade. So when I saw here waiting over by baggage claim, I basically tackled her in a bear hug and started sobbing.

I also would typically hug patients that I was close to, or their family members. And even if I couldn't stomach a hug, I was ALWAYS willing to hold a hand. Always. I remember an eighteen weeker we had when I did my stint in L&D and I all but crawled into bed with that woman. We literally held each other for what must have been at least half an hour. Which is big for me.

So there, it's out. I just felt like I needed to confess. I had this friend in VA who was a serious hugger, and I know I probably hurt her feelings beyond repair every time I would dodge her arms, but I never sacked up and just told her it was uncomfortable for me. And I really regret that, because I really think that might have been easier on her. Maybe not, who knows.

I have self diagnosed myself with sever social anxiety disorder. I'm positive I've told ya'll that before on this here bliggity blog. It sucks, but it is what it is. One of the worst parts of this quirk is pizza. In VA, when I wanted a pizza, I could get online and order it, pay for it, and include a tip. So when the guy rang the bell, I could just snatch it from him, avoiding all contact, and slam the door in his face. Big surprise? You can't order pizza online in Guam. You basically cannot do ANYTHING online in Guam. AND no one texts, so you have to actually TALK to people.

The latest tragedy? I'm trying to get the boys into a preschool in Hawaii. I can't TALK to people, so I have to email, multiple times, beg them to email me back, wait and wait, finally get the email, forward it to Nick, and beg him to call. No, not really, I don't have to beg. He knows how hard it is for me. He really is amazing. I think he worries that I'm going to pass these quirks on to the kids, but so far he hasn't said anything about it.

Anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest. With the holidays, the Huggers are out in full force, and even people who don't typically Over Hug seem to want to get in on that action, so please, if you see me and try to hug a greeting, don't be too offended if I cringe away. No one here wears long sleeves, and I sure as hell don't, so it'd be skin to skin hugs and I just can't do it.

That is all.

Except for this. It's my current Favorite Christmas Song of the Year. Even though I'm pretty sure it's from 1994.

Now, I love O Holy Night as much as the next gal. But this song...this song...there's just something about it. I think it's the choir. I've never been in a church big enough to have a choir like this, except Nikki's church, and her choir was amazing, but it didn't have this sound. To get the full effect, you've got to listen to the whole thing, so you hear when she and the choir finally sing together.

You're welcome.

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-07T16:59:00.000+10:00

More photo dumping. I have nothing to say. We decorated our tree. Hard to excite that up. It sucked because when I had my packout, I remembered to keep the tree set aside, but I forgot EVERYTHING else. So we have no decorations, no stockings, no nothing. I bought a box of red and gold balls at the store and cried the whole way home. None of the seventeen Baby's First Christmas ornaments we have for Ava. None of the old ones my mom gave me from childhood. Nada. It was almost as depressing as the Christmas we spent in London. But not as depressing as the one we spent in a BOQ room in Portsmouth while I did my 'summer' cruise over winter break. It'll take a lot to top that one.

The end.

Weight Check Wednesday/Photo Dump

2011-12-07T16:28:00.000+10:00

After doing absolutely nothing but watching season three of Glee on fox.com and editing nineteen thousand pictures for the last three days, I can no longer form a coherent thought. I can also not process teh steps needed to put these pictures into group collages, so whatever. Here they are. All of them.

And also, I'm down a pound. Which puts me nine pounds away from the Lose-Ten-Pounds-Before-Hawaii goal I set for myself. Four months ago. But let's not focus on that, let's focus on the down-a-pound part, shall we?

On to the pics. I think most of these are from Thanksgiving, which we spent at our friend Laura's house.

Watch that bow. Watch how it stays in her hair for our ENTIRE Thanksgiving. Then ask me how I did it.

This is Laura's sweet daughter, Ava's best friend. Not sure if she wants me to talk about her, so no names.

This is a popular expression right about nowadays.

This is my two year old, having his first drink.

I don't think he liked it.

I love that they're both in that stage where they will play NEXT to each other till the cows come home, but they won't actually PLAY together. Remember that from nursing school? Parallel playIt's one of the seven things I remember. Another one of the seven was actually on my NCLEX, how's that for lucky? It's this: if a postpartum woman saturates a pad in an hour or less, there's something wrong. Sixty grand for that little nugget ladies and gentlemen!! #haveImentionedlatelyhowgratefulIamthattheNavypaidmytuition?

Junebug is currently obsessed with grabbing any sort of softish cloth material that she can get her hands on and shoving as much as she can into her mouth, then cackling with laughter. It is VERY strange. We have this old fleece throw on the couch and when she even catches a glimpse of that thing out of the corner of her eye, she goes NUTSO. It's like a cat, with that catnip stuff. It's really weird.

Check it out, this actually happened. We're always doing "Who's fill-in-the-blank?" in our family, and then whoever is, raises his or her hand. So we said "Who's hungry?" or "Who's ready to eat?" or some such thing, and Daisy June actually raised her hand!!!! True story, swear to God.

Look at her poor eyes. She's the last one, it's official. All four Engelbrechts are allergic to cats and dogs.

Right before her turkey coma. She ate more than Nick.

Not sure why he's so happy, but I'll take whatever I can get.

So there you have it. The first of the nineteen thousand pictures. More to come, hold your breath.

Wednesday/Walking Dead Check Wednesday

2011-11-30T17:10:00.000+10:00

Stayed the same.

But first, did y'all watching Walking Dead this week?!?!? Oh. My. Word. If you didn't watch it yet but you plan to, SPOILER ALERT! I knew Sophia was in that barn!!! Sort of. This is the argument that I've been having with myself out loud in front of Nick for the last few weeks. Poor Nick.

Me: That girl is dead. Dead, or she's a walker.

Other Me: No way. No writer would kill off a kid. They just don't do that. Unless it's cancer or something like that. And even then, it's so rare.

Me: Uh, hello?! These writers are in to SK. And SK has NO qualms about killing kids. Remember Cujo? In the book, that kid bites it.

Other Me: But still. If she's in that barn, why is that old dude letting them risk their lives by going to look for her?

Me: Maybe he doesn't know it's her.

Other Me: Good point. But still. That's pretty risky for the writers to try.

Me: Well, if it was real life, she'd be dead. No way she could have survived a day, let alone all these weeks. And why the hell didn't wait for Rick where he left her?!?! She's so stupid!

Other Me: Well, tv isn't real. So maybe she's alive.

Ugh. So I can't actually say I called it. And I'm sorry, but just how does Lori think she KNOWS that baby is Rick's? And why are they turning Shane into a bad guy? I mean, I guess you need a Bad Guy, and I'd rather it be Shane than Daryl (AKA Sawyer 2011) but still. He started out being a good guy in a bad situation, but now he's just a douche. I wish they'd found a way to turn Lori into the bad guy and kept Rick and Shane together. Lori sucks.

And I'm calling it now, when they leave that farm, Maggie's going with them. Maybe that tall skinny blonde guy too. And I'm not completely UNconvinced that Shane isn't just going to blow the old guy's head off and say "Hey, guess what, this is MY farm now." But that would be pretty boring for the episodes AFTER that one, you know?

Anyway. Stayed the same. What can you say about that? I'm bummed I didn't lose, but I'm so excited I didn't gain, considering what I ate for Thanksgiving Weekend. The worst part of this whole plauto (can't get this right to save my life, anyone know how to spell it) I seem to be on- I buy myself a Killers cd every time I lose five. So like, 180, 175, 170, and then 165. But I hit 170 on August 24th and I'm STILL not to 165. So that's sort of a harsh reality check right there.

But what can I do, besides keep plugging along?

And then, to end this random assortment of a blog, here's some music for you.

You're welcome.

Marvo (Marbo?) Cave

2011-11-29T15:57:00.001+10:00

I still can't think of anything profound to say. I'm rereading Bag of Bones, the SK book about a writer...with writer's block. Think it's contagious? Can you catch writer's block from a book? Can you consider it writer's block when you can't think of anything to say on your blog, which no one reads?

I do have ONE thing to say. GTA jacked up their scheduling AGAIN so I didn't tape The Walking Dead last night!!!! I'M SO PISSED!!! And we still haven't figured out a way to deal with the appletv to work with our tv-from-1994, so I can't even buy it on itunes to watch!!! My only hope is to watch it on this laptop. Ugh. I used to love this laptop, and seriously, I still love it as a computer or whatever, but I MISS my 27inch screen. I NEED my 27 inch screen. This little fifteen incher is NOT cutting it. AT ALL.

We're down to twenty two days, fourteen hours, and twenty minutes. I. AM. FREAKING. OUT. I guess I didn't really freak out last time (when we were moving out here) because, well, we were on vacay in Disney World the two weeks before, and really, who can freak out in the Most Magical Place on Earth? Not this chica. I was nervous about the flights (nervous- is that the understatement of the year or what? I was panicked to a level of non-functional-ability) but they were such a nonevent that I'm not sweating it at ALL this time around. Nick is going to sit in the middle section with all three bigs, and me and Daisy June are going to sit on the side. I'm sure at one point or another we'll have to mix things up, but honestly, after surviving twenty four hours of flight time with nary a single tear (minus my own), this little seven hour puddle jump is just not that big a deal. You know?

Wanna know what IS a big deal? I haven't mentioned this because it freaks me out, it LITERALLY makes my skin CRAWL. Here it is. I guess Hawaii is on the other side of some sort of date line. You know how we are fifteen ish hours ahead of y'all? Well, Hawaii is twenty hours BEHIND us. So. We are leaving Guam at zero six on Thursday morning.

And we will land in Hawaii at about five o'clock on Wednesday night.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT PEOPLE.

It's not natural. It's WEIRD!!! I don't even like to think about it, so I'm not. Remember the flight out here, how I had such a hard time dealing with the fact that we chased the sun the entire twenty four hours? Like, the sun didn't go down for an ENTIRE twenty four hours? Remember how much that freaked me out?

THIS IS A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE.

I have to stop.

Anyway. Still no house, but Ava is in school and Scott's on a wait list. We probably won't be able to afford to send Warren until next year, but I'm pretty set on that front. What I really need is my stuff, and a place to put it. So, get to praying y'all.

Anyway anyway. Last weekend, we hiked down to Marvo Cave. I had high hopes, but I am a moron. I think that our Quest To Do Things We Never Did on Guam is over. We'll be spending our final weekends at Gab Gab, the only place on this rock that I truly love, with all my heart and sole. Makes sense to me.

After driving around lost for ninety minutes, we finally found it, and started the short trek down to the pool. Scott had already lost his mind, Warren had been crying nonstop, and I forgot my damn Ergo for the baby. Ugh, ugh, and double ugh. So Nick took the kids down one at a time and then I stumbled down after them.

The water was absolutely FREEZING. Ava jumped right in and had a total blast the entire time we stayed, but I didn't get any good shots of her. Naturally.

Scott spent seven-eighths of our time down there sitting on the side, watching Ava and Nick play. It's hard to describe without seeing it, but basically, it's an underwater freshwater pool, in a cave, with lots of rocks and tunnels, and someone poured cement for a sort of platfrom to wait on, maybe for people who put on scuba stuff?

Warren didn't love it like Ava, but he was at least willing to splash around with Nick and take a few pics. Mostly, he stood on the platform next to me and threw rocks and sticks into the water. He's a lot like Forest, my darling little Dub.

Scott FINALLY went in, took a picture, and came right back out.

Daisy June basically just does whatever we make her do. She's like a life-sized doll. And yes, she's wearing a jammie top and her diaper. Again.

Against my shrieks of terror, Nick took Ava and Warren exploring on the cliff thingies.

Then we had to leave because Scott had to poop. Sigh.

All right. Gotta go play words with friends.

More Pics for the Families

2011-11-28T13:17:00.000+10:00

Soccer season is FINALLY over (have I mentioned that a time or two?) and these are the pics from their little jamboree shindig where they got their medals. BTW, who decided medals were the new trophies? I'm sure it's a lot cheaper, but our medals didn't last the weekend. And we got them on Saturday afternoon, so...anyway. I was just really looking forward to two tiny trophies.

Look at that smile!!! Almost made the entire three months long season worth it.
Almost.

Here's just a few other shots from that long long LONG day.

And then here's a snapshot of the Thanksgiving programs at each of the schools.

This was Warren's first program and he did FANTASTIC!! I guess watching Ava's and Scott's almost-monthly programs for the last two years paid off. He didn't even hesitate, just walked out there and started his song!! I was front and center and scared he'd start freaking out when he saw me, but he just smiled and waved and went on about his business!!

Add caption

And Ava had one too, the next week.

See all those dang kids up there? Guess what you'd have to pay me to be a kindergarten teacher? There's not enough money IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Shudder.

But it was cute. MUCH cuter than the boys' but don't tell anyone I said that.

All right. Maybe one day I'll have an actual post, but I wouldn't hold my breath. It just hit me that we're moving halfway across the world for the second time in twenty one months in just a hair over three weeks, so I'm sort of freaking out. Again.

Cookie Pics (For the Families)

2011-11-27T21:57:00.001+10:00

Uh, what the hell is wrong with my blogger? Why does it look so awful? Someone, anyone, please help me!!!Anyway. This is just pics of the kids making cookies. It's for my mama. The rest of y'all go on about your business. Except for anyone who can fix this, YOU leave a comment with specific instructions. I'll give you fifty bucks. I don't get it!!! It looks AWFUL, and, even worse, the upload thing is the OLD OLD way, where you just pick one at a time!!! HELP ME!!!

And of course, you know we gave Junebug a cookie :)

So that's my pics. Seriously, someone fix this. I can't handle it.

Southern Tour

2011-11-22T16:12:00.000+10:00

Weekend before last, when it dawned on me that we have about a month left, we piled in the van and took what will in all likelihood be our LAST tour around the gorgeous southern tip of the island. Now, you've seen ALL these pics before, I'm sure. The only difference is that the kids are slightly older. You've been warned: I took (actually, Nick took) four hundred and sixteen pictures that afternoon. I think I ended up with twenty one in the "post these" folder, but I'm not making any promises.

My fave location. I call it the Jurassic Park spot. It doesn't actually look like Jurassic Park, but one time, right when we pulled in, the Jurassic Park song came on. So that's why.

No one else wants me to take pictures anymore. Ava, however, loves it.

From there, we headed over to Big Jon and Bessie. Where the kids tricked me into letting them help him wash her. GROSS!

That's not me, it's this fat lady we hired to take care of the baby that day. Focus on the water, that's the point of this shot.

This is me. Me and that fatty dressed alike that day.

I refuse to believe that there is a cuter baby on the planet.

The view from up there. Wish I knew the name of this little bay-thingie.

He's the weps.

Shots like this make me think that lens might have been worth it. They are few and far between.

My heart just stopped.

This is somewhere that I took this same shot (sort of) when Daisy June was first born. It's my plan to get that ole photo out and set them up for a side by side. We shall see.

And our last stop, our FAVORITE stop, the Inarajan Pools. Spelled incorrectly, have no doubt.

He's about the chuck that rock. Scott trained him well in the Art of Becoming The Destroyer.

Wouldn't this be SUPER cute if Ava was facing forward? It would look like they're playing Ring Around the Rosie!!

I read, and Daisy June stayed in her stroller while they bigs played. We're so boring. She doesn't seem to mind.

That is a TON of white space in the picture that I cannot get rid of!

Bright Copper Kettles

2011-11-22T14:28:00.000+10:00

Because Blue Eyed Bride once posted about her favorite things (I recently read her blog. The entire blog. Start to finish. I was pretty bored. And the iPad makes things like that REALLY easy) and I want to be JUST like her, I decided I'd do it to. Prepare to be blown away.

-Up until about four months ago, I would have spent PAGES raving about proactive. I've been using it since my senior year in high school, and it kept me CRYSTAL clear. I LOVE(D) IT!!! It was just perfect. Absolute perfection. For years, I would use it and use it and use it, then try to wean myself off of it, only to be sucked back in a few weeks later, after I got some new breakouts.

But alas. All of a sudden, out of the middle of nowhere, it just stopped working. I've been getting TONS of the big ones, the big guns, those huge, under the skin, cystic type zits. The worst. The WORST. So even though I hated to do it, I recently started trying some different systems on the market. So far, nothing to write home about.

But I still believe in proactive. And if I wasn't covered in acne, I would recommend it to everyone I met. Sigh.

-My vitamix. Ohhh, my vitamix. How I scorned everyone who had one, laughing and saying "That girl is so stupid, she spent that much money on a BLENDER? Moron." Then I got one, and joined the cult. It's more than a blender. It's a lifestyle.

Too much? Yeah, I thought so. But seriously, it's pretty awesome. Although not having quite the desired effect on my weight loss escapades (I blame my discovery of creamer) the vitamix is still my current most beloved possession. Hands down. I drink a coffee and cabbage and protein shake smoothie EVERY single morning, and I usually drink a greek yogurt and fruit and veggie smoothie every afternoon. It's fast, it's efficient, and it cleans itself. Seriously. And it can liquefy a carrot, without adding any additional liquid. Just stick it in, and turn it on. And how many times have you needed a liquefied carrot? Sans additional liquid? Seriously.

-Due to the aforementioned acne problems (lifelong, I might add) I have to wear foundation. I can't be one of those gorgeous-with-just-lip-gloss-and-mascara girls. And truthfully, I'm not even sure if the foundation helps. I just feel better wearing it. Less discolored and scarred.

I use this. It's all right. I don't often gaze at my reflection lovingly thruout the day, so I can't even tell you if it's really long lasting or full coverage or anything like that. Not really helpful, I know. But it goes on smooth, I'm pretty sure it lasts a while, and it makes my skin look good, at least while I'm doing it. Good enough for me. I want the Bobbi Brown one, but I haven't found a Bobbi Brown counter on Guam yet. Weird, I know.

-Olay. Ugh. I can't think of anything more annoying than that awful commercial, where the lady is going on and on about Olay beating the seven hundred dollar cream. She's so annoying!!! But unfortunately, she's also totally right. This cream is AH-MAY-ZING. Just perfect. Hydrates, absorbs quickly, makes my skin feel great in the morning...works for me. I don't really have any wrinkles, so I'm not sure if it does all that bidnazz, but as a night cream, it's aces. Just aces.

-Old Navy yoga pants. How on earth did I survive so long without these? The world may never know. Robin, from the bottom of my heart: THANKYOU. If it weren't (wasn't?) for you, I'd still be wandering around in the dark, unaware of this stretchy little miracle.

I have a confession. These have become my fancy pants. In fact, that day has (LONG since) come and gone. It hit me like a stack of bricks one day, and I'm not gonna lie, it was a serious blow. I mean, I actually changed out of a pair of ratty Old Navy pajama pants and INTO my yoga pants to 'fancy it up' and go run some errands. Shouldn't I have put on jeans, or even khakis? You know? But then I shrugged it off and just accepted it. This is my life now. Livin it up in the yoga pants.

My only complaint is the sizes. I'm between a large and an extra large. My waist is still suffering from a seven months pregnant belly, but apparently, as huge as my ass it, it doesn't correspond to a seven months pregnant non-pregnant belly. So the larges are too tight, and the extra larges sag in the rear zone. Lose lose. So I ordered a bunch of both sizes and wear whichever ones are on top of the pile. Win win. And an extra win for getting a shopping fix :)

-My contacts. Again with the drama, but seriously. I've been wearing glasses since I was eight, and contacts since I was maybe thirteen? And I started wearing dailies a few years ago, and it changed my life. I wear my glasses about half the time, and contacts the other half (duh) and they're just PERFECT. Wear them all day, then toss them. Best part? I can lay in bed, watching tv, and not have my glasses digging into the sides of my face OR having to get up and put my contacts away before I fall asleep!!! HOORAY FOR FIRST WORLD VICTORIES!!

-The next one was a tie.

That's our rice cooker, and our crockpot. Yes, the original crockpot, tiny and without an electric display timer thingie. It's the best.

I crockpot it about twice a week, and make rice or oatmeal probably three or four. Now, recently I had to google if I could make an instant rice packet in my rice cooker (because I am a total moron) and I stumbled across this article bashing rice cookers. It was like "The Twenty Biggest Wastes of Money for the Kitchen" or something like that. And the loser made a pretty valid point that you can make rice in a pot. But whatevs. You can't ACTUALLY reach a simmer on a stovetop, either gas OR electric. You just CANNOT get that low. So, I can't recommend that you spend the money on one, since it technically doesn't do anything you can't do on the stove, but if you're having me over for dinner, don't be offended if I don't eat your scorched and dry rice that you made on the stovetop. I'm gonna go home and make fluffy, perfect rice. It's nothing personal.

-My roomba. You push a button, take the kids to school, and your kitchen is swept by the time you get home. What else do you need?

-My brookstone noise machines. We have three, one in each room. I won't get all preachy, but if you have a child, and a bed, and you don't have a noise machine, you are a moron. Too harsh? Get over it. And get a noise machine. There's a brookstone in Hawaii, and the DAY we get there, I'm going to get a new one. We've had ours since Ava was born (six years ago) and it's finally starting to make a little clicking noise that leads me to believe it's on its last legs. I'm going for the upgrade, the big one, but each kids' room will be getting a new one of the exact same one we've always had. Why mess with perfection?

-Drysol. Do I really need to get into the nitty gritty? I live on the equator, I'm hormonal, and I'm thirty four pounds overweight. So I need drysol. Bonus? You can buy it (probably illegally) on the internet without a prescription!

So there's a few of my favorite things. (Did you get my title reference?!?!) What are some of YOUR favorite things? Because I'm always looking for the next miracle product!!!

Ritidian Beach (spell check?)

2011-11-20T16:43:00.001+10:00

Since we only have thirty one days left on Guam, we're trying to do the four things we've wanted to do since we got here but haven't had the chance to tackle yet. And now that soccer is FINALLY over (was that the longest three months of anyone else's life?) we have our weekends back! So this Saturday, we headed up to Ritidian Beach, up on the north side of the island. Northeast? Northwest? Northnorth? Your guess is as good as mine.

When THIS is the view driving down, you KNOW it's gotta be good, you know?

And then, you know how I feel about the whole jungle-leading-right-up-to-the-water thang. LOVE IT. So when we parked and walked through a little jungle right out to the sand...I was in heaven.

Notice the absence of Warren? He's ALREADY crying and hanging on my legs.

So I shoved him away to be in the picture. Tough love. That's how I roll.

Four feet from the jungle? Check. Three feet from water? Check. Maybe all this time I've spent thinking I hate Guam, I really loved it?

First, we played in the sand. It was 82 degrees, and there was a slight, warm breeze. In Guam, that is FREEZING. So we had to warm up for a little while.

MAN! I love those thunder thights!!!

Daisy June's big brothers were sweet enough to let her sit near them while they played. They're well-mannered like that.

Then, she discovered the wonder of BEACH TOYS. Which actually isn't the disaster you might think, because alls Scott wants to do at the beach is dig a hole. So he doesn't care who's playing with the toys.

Daisy. That's not a good look for you.

After we finally got our temps up, we headed for the water. And by "we" I mean "everyone but me." That water was COLD! Probably like 79 degrees!!

Uh, what is he doing?

Then Ava and Daddy went exploring for a bit. Warren was going to go, but he needed to come back and cry instead. Scott just wanted to dig his hole.

All right, don't call CPS. I grabbed my camera when I saw that Daisy was going to make her way down to the water's edge. I was NOT disappointed. The top picture, she's JUST made it to the wet sand, from when the waves make it to shore. Then, on the bottom picture, she figures out just HOW all that sand got wet :)

I. Was. Rolling. I did scoop her up first and make sure she was okay. She was fine. She didn't even cry!

About ten minutes after we got there, this is what Warren did. I guess I can't complain, at least he understands that when he's tired, he needs to go to sleep. So he does.

He slept for about two hours. We were there for about two and a half.

All right. Now, I'm not trying to be offensive here, but come on, you know how you can see a first time mom at the beach? Like, you can spot her from a mile off? She's got the pack and play, two coolers, a mini fridge and a generator to keep her pumped breast milk cold? She's got four quilts, all laid out so the baby doesn't get sandy, but she never manages to put him down anyway? She brings everything they've got in their fridge that morning, plus a first aid kit that contains everything a paramedic would stock in his ambulance? Just in case? She's got the prortable swing, and four changes of 9000UPF long sleeved, long pants bathing suits? Plus seven different hats?

And then, you've got the lady with her fourth kid. She takes the kid's jammie pants off, doesn't bother with a swim diaper, sprays some sunscreen in the kid's general direction, takes pics as the kid eats sand, lets the kid feed herself a probably-not-very-sanitized bottle, then lays her on her cover-up for a siesta because her three year old brother stole her paci and her stroller for his own nap?

Yeah.

I'm ETERNALLY grateful that Nick wasn't a typical first time parent. Because even with Ava, I was NOT like that. Not that there's ANYTHING wrong with those people, they just REALLY love their babies and want them to be safe, but COME ON! I just never felt that way, even about Ava, and I'm SO grateful. Did I already say that?

Anyway. That was our Saturday morning. So awesome. The beach was gorgeous, the water was breathtaking, it was semi-deep, and there were outrageous waves. Scott had a BLAST, and despite this last picture, so did Ava.

Junebug

2011-11-18T20:00:00.000+10:00

I have nothing to say, because I spent the last eight days doing absolutely nothing except reading the new Stephen King. It. Was. Amazing. Different than the kind of SK that I usually prefer, but still just perfect. I just love him. If I never get a chance to meet him...it ain't goan be purty. At all.

Now I'm rereading Bag of Bones because I remember VERY little about it, but they're making it a movie on A&E. Speaking of A&E, does anyone watch the Walking Dead on AMC?!?!? Now THAT is amazing!! LOVE IT! If you watch it, what the heck do you think that old man is doing with all those walkers locked in the barn?!? Nick thinks he can't bear to kill them, or that he's experimenting on them to find a cure. At first, I thought maybe he was feeding them people, like those crazies fed a sacrifice to Babcock in the Passage? But Nick said that wouldn't work because the walkers don't seem to have any sort of thinking going on. So now I'm going with his answer instead. Either way, how on earth did he corral ALL those nasty guys in that barn?!?!

And whoa, can you believe what Shane did to that big dude Otis? I mean, I can sorta see it, he was willing to do whatever it took to save that crazy Karl, but COME ON!!! He could have at least shot him in the head before the walkers started eating his innards!!! I mean, DANG!!!!!

And if Daryl had died last week, I would have been PISSED. I love that dude, he's like the New Sawyer.

Anyway, if you don't watch it, start. Even though I've spoiled any surprises for you.

Oh, and also? I called Lori being pregnant AS SOON as Rick found her last season. You can ask Nick, he'll totally verify. I SAID IT FIRST!!! I should WRITE for these shows people!!

Anyway. Here's a little sumpin to get your mind off of zombies eatin people's innards.

My fave? Bottom right. I've never seen her make that face before.

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-11-16T09:41:00.001+10:00

Down three pounds. What. The. Hell. So, I work my booty off, exercising and staying on point TO THE TEE for two weeks, and I stay the same one week and gain the next, but this week- THIS WEEK- I'm down three?!?! This week, I ate Wendy's for lunch on Saturday (and not a salad, a single and a large fries!!!) and Pizza Hut for dinner. Then on Sunday, we went to Jeff's Pirate Cove and GORGED myself, literally gorged myself, on every single thing I could get my hands on. THEN I came home and had leftover pizza for dinner!!!

And now I'm down three. What exactly is supposed to be the takeaway lesson from this? I mean, do you have any idea how hard it's going to be to choke down a spinach and greek yogurt smoothie for lunch today, knowing that I lost three pounds after eating fast food ALL WEEKEND?!?! Ugh.

I even moved the scale all around onto different tiles, to make sure it wasn't unleveled or something. It came up three down every single time. I JUST DON'T GET IT.

I mean, don't get me wrong, of course I'm excited, but it's just weird!!! And it's demotivating. Not sure if it's just me, or if maybe some other gals out there trying to lose will understand, but it really IS demotivating. Even though it's ME, it still sucks when a GOOD thing happens to a BAD person, you know what I mean? The girl who binges all weekend is NOT supposed to lose three pounds. Especially when then girl who worked her ass off for two weeks gained. The fact that both girls are me...that just makes it quirky enough to be my reality.

Ugh.

You Can't Win

2011-11-10T13:04:00.000+10:00

So. How big a cliche is it that I drive around in my minivan, taking my kids to soccer, listening to Kelly Clarkson? The only thing that would make it worse would be if I was drinking a sugar free Red Bull or one of those Starbucks drinks with the funny lid that's sort of like a bottle nipple. Does it lend me any cred that I also have a lot of Eminem and Pink Floyd on my iPod? Or does that just make me even MORE of a tool?

I can't help it, I like Kelly Clarkson. I like songs that I can sing to. I mean, I worship Adele as much as the next gal, but sometimes I like my music to pep me up, not make me want to stick my head in the oven, you know?

I feel naked. I can't believe I just admitted that I like Kelly Clarkson.

I just can't fight it anymore. Trying to be cool in junior high and high school was EXHAUSTING, now that I'm pushing thirty (I just threw up typing that) it's just inconceivable for me to try and keep up.

INCONCEIVABLE!

Name that movie. And give me fourteen points because I spelled it right on the first try.

Back to trying to be cool, when I was in the eighth grade (right before I met my soul mate Angle A) I once threw out two of my FAVORITE cds (Crossroads by Bon Jovi and August and Everything After by the Counting Crows- I'll NEVER forget this) because I heard my best friend's sister making fun of them.

Now tell me, in that situation, who's the tool? Those cds cost me a small fortune, and I just tossed them, for fear of someone cool discovering that I had them. Nevermind the simple fact that no one was ever in my room, riffling through my cd collection...ugh. I hate my past self so much sometimes.

Anyway. All this to say, there's this song on the new Kelly Clarkson cd (I should call it an album, since it's not a physical cd anymore. Do they make cds? I don't even know. I remember last year, when the new Taylor Swift album came out right before Ava's bday, I took her to the NEX to buy it. And they didn't have it. Because they don't have ANYTHING. So I can't judge by that whether or not people still manufacture cds. If they do, they don't ship them here.)

Where was I? Oh yeah, the song. Let me just go copy and paste the lyrics. It's like the ballad for motherhood these days. While I am incredibly fortunate to have a small circle of female friends who do not feel the need to compete with everyone about EVERYTHING, I see and feel this song EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Hang on. Daisy June is being super cute and I need to google how to take a pic of her with the laptop so I can show you.

She stopped being cute before I figured it out, so you'll just have to take my word for it. SUPER cute.

Here's the lyrics.

If you go, they'll say your following
If you don't, then your too good for them
If you smile, you must be ignorant
If you don't, whats your problem
If your down, so ungratefull
And if your happy, why so selfish?
You cant win no you cant win no

The one who doesn't quit fit in
Underdresses under your skin
Oh a walking disaster
Everytime you try to fly you end up fallin
Out of line
Oh you can't
You can't win no

If your thin, call it a walkin disease
If your not, there all screamin obbease
If your straight, why aren't you married yet?
If your gay, why aren't you waving a flag?
If its wrong, you'll never hit
If its right, you'll always miss
You cant win no you can't win no

The one who doesn't quit fit in
Underdressed, under your skin
Oh a walking disaster
Everytime you try to fly you end up fallin
Out of line
Oh you can't
You can't win no

And you try you try so hard
But I swear it on your heart
And you play you play the game
But you pay you pay for it
You can't win no you cant win no
If you speak, you'll only piss them off
If you don't, your another robot
If you stop, they'll just say you quit
If you don't, you might lose your sh..
You can't win no you cant win no
You can't win no

The one who doesn't quit fit in
Underdressed, under your skin
Oh a walking disaster
Everytime you try to fly you end up fallin
Out of line
Oh you cant
You can't win no

I can't win

I especially like the one about the smile. If you smile, you're a loser, if you DON'T smile, you're a bitch. Is it just Guam? I know it's not, because I read a TON of blogs. This competition is EVERYWHERE. And it's stupid.

Anyway. Those are my deep thoughts of the day. And that's how Sue....sees it. Engelbrecht out.

I had to type ENGELBRECHT three times before I got it right. Oy.

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-11-09T11:40:00.000+10:00

First of all, I'm having a miserable day, and I just sat down in my boonie chair to type this up on my babyMac, and I turned on the tv and guess what's on!?!? Live Free or Die Hard!!! I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! That's gotta mean something. Bruce Willis? Love. Justin Long? Double love. That sexy guy from Justified? DOUBLE double love. Ridiculous plot that mixes extreme action and nerdy computer broohaha? I'm there. I JUST LOVE THIS MOVIE.

So even though I feel like my life is falling apart around me, and Daisy June is screaming her head off in the next room, and we don't have air conditioning, and Scott ran Warren over with his bike this morning and Warren hit his head so hard that I'm afraid he won't wake up if he takes a nap this afternoon- I'm gonna take Live Free or Die Hard as a sign that things are going to start looking up. And then, since Nick has duty today, I think I might just skip all the housework (like it matters, if I clean it all today, I'll have to clean it all again tomorrow, so why not just wait till tomorrow?) feed the kids cereal for dinner, and watch a marathon of all the first Die Hards. Especially the one with Professor Snape. Yippie Keye Yeye Yay, Mother---

Anyway. Weight Check Wednesday.

I've hit some sort of brick wall here. I stayed the same this week, but if you noticed, I didn't post LAST week. That's because I gained a pound, and I was so ashamed and ANGRY, that I just couldn't sit down and get the words out. How's that for accountability? This week, I understand, because I ate a sh*t ton of Halloween candy and Taco Bell and just basically whatever I felt like eating, but the two weeks before that, I worked my ass off and stayed the same one week and gained the next. It's not fair.

At first, I was just going to quit. I mean, this is America. There are TONS of fat people walking around, just living their lives, being fat. It's obviously not the end of the world, you know? I could just BE like this, for the rest of my life. You know?

That lasted about three days. I look and feel so gross- I can't possibly live the rest of my life like this. There's just no way. I hate the way my back fat feels when I lounge on the couch, and I hate the way my spare tire looks when the wind blows my shirt back and it presses against my belly. AND I still want my tummy-tuck slash boob job slash lipo, and I've got to lose at LEAST another ten pounds to get any sort of results from that.

So I guess it's back to the grind. Honestly, though, I don't know what else I can do. I've been drinking my water. I've been eating TONS of fruits and veggies, literally, TONS. I was working out. I was eating lean protein. I was DOING everything right, and I felt great, but still, the back fat and the spare tire are NO smaller than when I was done with my six weeks' recovery after Daisy June. I'm still in the same clothes I was wearing back in March.

Which brings me to working out. As soon as the thingie gets here to hook my apple tv back into the tv, I can start back on my 30 Day Shred, I HOPE. I'm NOT pregnant, I swear, but I'm having some SERIOUS back problems. With Scott, Warren, and Daisy June, as soon as I got pregnant (well, about two months in) I had this exact problem. My hips get all clicky and sore, and it just grates on and on until the entire left side of my lower back, butt, and upper thigh is just EXCRUCIATING. It hurts to lay, it hurts to sit, and it hurts to stand still. It's BRUTAL. I know you think I'm just being me (ie DRAMATIC) but I'm not- it REALLY hurts. But I don't want to waste the money on a chiropractor when I'm not pregnant!!! Does that sound stupid? It just pisses me off that tricare won't pay for that. Why don't they have a chiropractor at the hospital? I mean, I know a lot of people think they're quacks and they're not real doctors or whatever- but I don't care. If a hobo on the beach knew how to pop my back, I'd pay him twenty bucks to do it. I don't care where they got their degree or went to school or anything like that- I need someone to push in that secret place on my hips and pop my back and everything will be perfect.

All that to say, I'm not sure I'll be able to do any of the exercises on the Shred if I don't get my back fixed. Any advice? Anyone besides Meryl have any suggestions? Why are my hips all loosey goosey clicky? I am one HUNDRED percent not pregnant, so what else could it be?

Ugh.

In other news, Justin Long just had the part where he makes the OnStar lady start the car. I love that part!!

Ohh, in OTHER other news, I finished Game of Thrones. SPOILER ALERT!!! ROBIN STOP READING!!!

I loved it. As a whole, I thought it was fantastic. HOWEVER, I think he could have ended it after book three. He could have just changed things up, and then stopped it. Although, there's no way he could have done anything about the Wall in just three books, so maybe not. Book four wasn't that good, and book five....let's just say, if I'd been reading from the start, in 1996, and I'd had to wait six years between books four and five...I would have been PISSED. It was just so long, and SO boring!!! Book one is probably my favorite, but I also really like two and three. Unfortunately, I read them all smashed together, so I'm not sure anymore what happened in what book, but my favorite parts were when Arya was on the road with Gendry and Hot Pie. So whatever book that was happening in, that was my fave.

ROBIN, SERIOUSLY, STOP READING.

And if you know anything about the books, you've probably heard people say 'oh, everyone dies.' And you probably thought to yourself oh, they're just being dramatic, surely EVERYONE doesn't die, no one would kill the main characters, that would be like killing Bruce Willis in the middle of the first Die Hard movie.

Well, they were NOT being dramatic. EVERYONE dies. ROBIN STOP READING.

My FAVORITE character died near the end of book five. Well, one of my three faves. And it comes out of NOWHERE. I know everyone who watches the show on HBO was all outraged when Ned died and they were all 'OMG, that came out of NOWHERE!' but really, it didn't. He's in prison, he's sentenced to death, you think they're going to change their mind, then they don't, and he gets his head lopped off. So, not TOTALLY a surprise. But this one? THIS one?!?! Even as I was reading it, I was like 'well, what does that mean?' Like 'then the character died' didn't register in my brain.

It was weird.

Read Game of Thrones. You'll thank me later. Yes, it's just shy of five thousand pages. Yes, it took me from mid July until Sunday to get through it all. But it was TOTALLY worth it!!!

AND, I finished it JUST as the new Stephen King came out. I'm only about thirty three (okay, exactly, not about) pages in, but so far, it feels a lot like Bag of Bones and Lisey's Story. Sort of a bummer, since I'm a bigger fan of the huge ensembles, like It, The Stand, and Under the Dome, but still, if Stephen King wrote a book about a guy eating a ham sandwhich, I would tear that sh*t up and LOVE every word of it.

BTW, Lisey's Story? Did anyone read that? SCARED ME TO DEATH. When they're flying past that thing that's infinitely big? NIGHTMARES. I just have this irrational fear of infinity, I guess. He did it in It too, the Turtle is infinite. That's why I hate space, I'm scared of getting stuck out there in infinity.

Anyway. I guess you should read 11/22/63 first, since it's shorter, and then Under the Dome and The Stand, if you haven't read those, then the Hunger Games, so you can be ahead of the movie, THEN start Game of Thrones. Let me know when you're done with all that, then I'll have another list ready.

Random Tidbits

2011-11-04T10:41:00.000+10:00

I started this post in my head to talk about the stab-myself-in-the-eye-with-a-pencil afternoon I had yesterday, but it seems to have carried on into today, so let's start with this morning, shall we?

-I had to go to the bank because I'm the new treasurer for our wives group and I had to deposit some money. Now, bear in mind that I graduated high school in 2000. I did have a checking account for about six months when I first got to college, but even then, I barely ever used it. We were at the dawn of this new internet age, and since I was young and smart (back then, I really was smart, I swear it) I jumped on the band wagon, got my debit card and online access, and shoved my checkbook in a drawer somewhere. I don't carry cash EVER, unless I need a sitter, then I get some on the way home. Cash is stupid, it's 2011 and I can't believe they haven't done away with it yet. All this to say, I haven't set foot in a bank in YEARS. I'm pretty sure we even bought our house online. I bank with USAA, who really knows their stuff- they don't even HAVE any brick and mortar banks. Because brick and mortar banks are STUPID.

Anyway, the bank. Here on Guam, our wives club uses Navy Fed. NAVY Fed, did you catch that? As in, they should have some inkling of military life, perhaps? Well, don't be fooled. The bank doesn't open until nine. Nine am. A military bank, for military men (and women) who have to be at duty section turnover by like six thirty, most of them even earlier. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?! Nine o'clock. I'm NOT kidding.

-So I left the bank (it was eight, which I thought was reasonable. I assumed the bank opened at seven, actually) to go to the Fleet and Family center. For you non Navy readers, that's the fantastic organization that, among many other things, will loan you pots and pans and plates and a toaster and a high chair when you have to pack out all your worldly possessions and live on a deserted island for two months without your shit.

Now, there's another organization called the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, who also do tons of great stuff. I happen to go there a lot because they have a Goodwill box for outgrown toys and clothes, so I know exactly where it is. And even though I guess in my head I must have understood that the Relief Society and the Fleet and Family center were two DIFFERENT things, I didn't really get it. I had NO IDEA where the Fleet and Family center was. I drove the the Relief Society and just sort of sat in my car staring at the sign, waiting for it to change into Fleet and Family.

It never did.

I couldn't even call Laura (my go-to for all the help I ever need in Guam, thanks Laura!!!) because my phone is busted, but more on that later. I just sort of drove around for twenty minutes until I found a sign, and then I went and took care of my bidnaz, then went to the bank for an hour to deposit that cash (CASH people?!?! Seriously?)

-So now let's get back to yesterday. I don't know how many of you have ever moved with professional movers, but, as fantastic as it is, it's not all roses. Yes, they do EVERYTHING for you, and yes, in the military, it's totally free. BUT you have to sit there while they do it. You can't lift a finger to help, but you HAVE to be there. You can't leave. You just have to sit on the couch reading Game of Thrones while these poor boys work their asses off around you, wrapping up all your picture frames and dumping your ratty-ass undies in a box.

And if you have too many kids so you're poor and can't afford a hotel, you have to LIVE in your house for the three days they take to pack you out. You have to put all the crap that you've set aside (towels, clothes, toys, your vitamix, and so on) in one central location, make a DO NOT PACK sign, then live in that one tiny location for three days straight. It's not as easy as it sounds, trust me. You have to keep your nasty boys from climbing all over the boxes, from tearing the brown paper off the furniture that they've wrapped, and from sticking the screwdrivers that they leave laying around into a light socket.

I'm grateful that the Navy pays movers, and I'm even more grateful that my movers were (and always have been, all four times so far) AH-MAY-ZING. But it fried my nerves. It did, and I think that if anyone tells you that it's easy breezy beautiful to hang around during a pack out, you should slap her in the face and call that bitch a LIAR. Because she's LYING to you!!

-So my nerves are fried, and Daisy is screaming her head off. Daisy June NEVER cries, so when she does, it is REALLY hard for me to handle. Actually, it's starting to seem like just about ANYTHING is hard for me to handle, right?!? Anyway, she was screaming and wiggling around, and she got her hands on my phone. My blackberry. My cracked, tattered, face-broken-off blackberry. The blackberry that Scott steals to take pictures with, that's been left out in the rain, that's been dropped literally fourteen thousand times. She grabbed it, and in slow-mo, raised it to her mouth. One little string of drool leaked down into the insides (since there's not a faceplate type cover anymore) and that was all she wrote. I got the white screen of death and haven't been able to use it ever since.

I keep hearing it ping, telling me that I've got an email or a text. And I can't get to them! I feel like they're my little babies, calling to me from beyond the grave.

I am a blackberry ADDICT. I text my bestie Angela back in the states ALL. DAY. LONG. Literally, all day, every day, we carry on running conversations whenever either one of us has time to sit down for a sec and shoot a text off.

I talk to my hot-babe-online bestie Holly thru Facebook multiple times a day too, then Facebook shoots me an email to tell me she wrote back, then my blackberry dings to tell me I got an email.

Not anymore.

I feel like I'm living in the stone ages. In addition to not knowing how to fill in a deposit slip, I also barely remember how to use the computer internet to check my email. And since we're leaving in fifty seven days, thirteen hours, and thirty eight minutes, I can't exactly justify spending money on a new phone that I won't be able to use in Hawaii.

Also? I cracked the face of my watch a few weeks ago and it's dead. So, along with walking around out of touch with cyber-reality, I'm also walking around with no idea what time it is. If you thought I was late before, just wait.

-I have ONE pair of pants that fit AND are not yoga pants. ONE!!! It's been resolved, but when I started this post in my head, I was under the impression that I'd forgotten to set them aside and the movers packed them up and drove away with them yesterday. I cried. LITERALLY, I cried for these stupid pants. Because it's not like I can go buy a new pair. See, even though we live in Guam, where the high is 88 and the low is 78 YEAR ROUND, never a change EVER, our NEX changes clothes with the seasons just like everywhere else. So right now, if you go to the NEX for some clothes, you'll find coats, snow pants, long sleeve flannel shirts, and absolutely NO weather appropriate clothing. Not a stitch. I understand that the store can only stock what the manufacturer puts out (you can't even get summer clothes online FROM the manufacture <carter's, for an example> during the 'winter'. It's VERY weird.) it still really pisses me off.

What else do I want to bitch about this morning? Hmmm....

Oh! Got one!

-Do y'all watch Glee? I do, but since I only really watch for the music and I think the show itself is stupid, I just wait until the last season is on DVD and I watch them all at once. So I'm halfway thru season two right now. ANYWAY, I only download the songs I like, and I downloaded Don't Cry for me Argentina because it was pretty good. Only problem is, even though they sort of sing it together in the show, you can only buy either Rachel singing it alone, or Kurt singing it alone. I opted for Kurt. BIG MISTAKE. He has a beautiful voice, don't get me wrong, but it's very soft, and VERY high pitched, so I can't crank it up and shout along with him while I'm driving around. And I refuse to pay the dollar twenty nine to buy Rachel singing it, because the producers should have put them BOTH singing it together online. Greedy ass bitches, I'll be keeping my dollar twenty nine thank you very much.

My favorite Glee song is still Alone by Kristin Chenowith. Did you see that one? FAN FRICKING TASTIC. I heart her. I also really like the Dreamed a Dream song with Rachel and Elfaba, and of COURSE I love Teenage Dream with Blaine. Does anyone know if the Warblers are ACTUALLY singing a cappella? Because that would make me love it even more. In fact, it might bump Alone out of top place.

Oh wait, I forgot about Kurt singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Shit. If Alone is going to be number one, Hold Your Hand is two. That means Teenage Dream is in THIRD?!?! That sucks. I hate having to rank things in my head. It's so hard!! Like picking your favorite kid (Warren).

Which gives me another rabbit to chase. I hate the Beatles, which I'm sure is no surprise to any of you. I don't know a lot of the history, but to me, they just seem like such a bunch of peppy happy phonies. Like, the original Backstreet Boys. The pre-Justin Beiber. I'm a Stones fan, and I get so sick of hearing people say that the Beatles are responsible for every good thing ever to happen in music in the history of the world. I think that's a little dramatic. Surely, if they hadn't done it (whatever "it" is) someone else would have. Probably U2.

Anyway, point being, I hate the Beatles, and I don't like many of their own songs, but it seems like every SINGLE time someone remakes one of their songs, I LOVE it. So maybe they really were fantastic music and song writers? And I just hate their voices and the things they stand for? Who knows. When Kurt sang I Wanna Hold Your Hand, I cried. Granted, it was a pretty gut wrenching episode, but that song, done by him, with the percussion (you KNOW how I feel about some percussion!) is just phenomenal. There was also this weird movie called Across the Universe and they redid a ton of Beatles songs, and I love almost all of them. Especially Across the Universe. If that's what it's called. It's the one that goes "Nothing's gonna change my world..." It's good. Jim Sturges, he's gonna be big, you heard it here first.

-I think that's about it for now. I have to go get all of our stuff out of the playroom and try to turn this hollow shell back into a home. And I have to get ready for Ava's birthday party tomorrow. One more thing- I keep trying to invite non-boat people to our little parties, and none of them ever come. If you are a non-boat person that I invited to my party and you said no, you suck. And you're stupid, because our parties are a TON of fun!!! So there.

-If you chose to leave a comment...I'll never know, because I'm sitting over here with my chisel and stone and can't check my email. And I won't know what time it is once I close my laptop. Ugh.

Halloween

2011-11-01T17:01:00.000+10:00

Well, it's my last day with my beloved Mac Mac. In case you're wondering, the Mac is the laptop, and the Mac Mac, or Real Mac, is the desktop. That way I can tell my babies apart. I was so starry eyed and in love when I decided I needed a Mac Mac, I didn't read the fine print on our Express Shipment notes. It says right there in black and white, no monitors over nineteen inches. And what did I do? I went out and bought the twenty seven inch. Which I love more than my own children, don't get me wrong, but I'm a little pissed that we spent all that money and now it's going to sit in a box on a ship for three months.

My sweet sweetie- he knows how heartbreaking this separation is going to be, so he offered to take the Mac Mac with him when he rides to Hawaii on the boat. Sucker won't fit down the hatch. How fricking BIG is my Mac Mac?!?!?!

It's big.

Anyway. My Mac (the laptop, keep up ladies!) is just as good, just without a screen big enough to do life sized edits of Daisy June, so I'll still LITERALLY be able to be just as computer addicted as ever. But still, it's sad to see it go, I'm not going to lie. All of it, not just my beloved Mac Mac. I thought I was all gung ho and ready to leave, but I gotta say...it's a little tougher than I thought it would be. Gab Gab...how can I leave Gab Gab? I haven't figured out a way to put into words how BREATHTAKINGLY AMAZING Gab Gab beach is. Trust me, I've tried. From the ease of parking, to the grass, to the gorgeous trees, to the shallow water, to the lack of surf, to the indescribable sunsets...I just can't express my love of that beach. I can't. And I know Hawaii is going to be AH-MAY-ZING, but c'mon. There's nothing like Gab Gab in the entire world. It's truly got a special place in my heart.

And it doesn't help that all this stuff, MY STUFF, that they're wrapping in brown paper is going to be GONE until January tenth, you know? That's a LONG time to go without my stuff. All our other moves were normal, Auburn to Charleston, Auburn to Virginia, Virginia to Connecticut...and then for Connecticut to Guam, I said goodbye to all my worldly goods and moved in with my mom and got to use all HER worldly goods for three months. Not so much this time around.

What the hell? This is a post of Halloween pictures. What am I talking about?!?!

Okay, here we go. Here I go, here I go, here I go again, girls what's my weakness? MEN! Name that song. Anyway. My weakness is apparently the Cutest Kids on the Planet!! I never in a million years dreamed that I would think kids in halloween costumes were cute. Ever. My, how the mighty have fallen.

That up there was on the way to school. The boys had their costume party on the same day as Ava. Pretty damn convenient if you ask me.

Daisy...I'll just let this picture speak for itself. And no, I did NOT make her wear it. I took the pictures, then changed her and she went to the costume party dressed up as a regular little baby.

Here's Scott's class. Plus Warren. In an AWESOME change of events, the school opened ALL four classrooms so I could keep an eye on all my kids at once. Where was THAT idea when I had three different kids in three different classrooms?

Note all the Buzzes and all the...transformer things. Bumble Bee? Optimus Prime? I have no idea.

Here's Scott raising his hand. That's a special kid. I mean, SPECIAL.

Also SPECIAL? Daisy. Eating the wrapper from some candy. That she found on the floor.

Action Shots.

And then we have actual Halloween Night. Hold your AAAAWWWWEEEEEs till the end please.

We were The Family With the Theme for Their Costumes. Hey Past Jenn, hold onto your butt, you have NO IDEA what's about to happen.

And what is UP with this face?!?! That's NOT going to work for me. At ALL.

And for the actual Trick or Treating. Yes, Mom, I did go. I was just messin with you.

I only took about six pictures. I wasn't in the mood. And it was raining.

But how effing cute are his little BOOTIES!?!?!?!?!

Also, how cute is his face here? He found this Super Why doll and became OBSESSED. It was eerie. And super cute :)

Happy Halloween. Such a stupid holiday.

Family Photo Fun

2011-10-28T14:30:00.000+10:00

If you're my friend on facebook (and you really should be) you've seen at least the thumbnails of this, but trust me, this is WAY better. And way way more pictures :)

We had the same BRILLIANT photographer, Ivy, and she did and even MORE brilliant time this time around! If you know my kids (and really, you should) you can imagine how hard it would be to take a picture of them. Any of them. Alone. So try and imagine taking pictures of them TOGETHER. No thankyou. I'll leave that to the professionals.

Once again, I tried to weed it down. I was working with one hundred and seventeen AMAZING shots. That's the best part, she doesn't just get a few good ones, she gets ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN USABLE PHOTOGRAPHS. Can YOUR photographer do that? If she says she can, she's probably lying. CALL IVY.

Anyway. I crammed most of them into my collages. Family, if you're looking for pictures in the mail...ain't gonna happen. I'm getting ready for my packout over here yo! I will be sending each of you a copy of the disc, you are going to have to drive yourselves to the walmart and print these suckers out your own selves. Sorry yo.

We had these done at Tarague Beach, up at Andersen. We started in the grassy area that will FOREVER remind me of going to a lake in Michigan. Have I ever BEEN to a lake in Michigan? I don't actually think so. But this must be what I imagine it's like. I'm so stupid.

Guess who is SMILING? And does NOT look like a serial killer?!?!??

I know most of you have babies. I am truly sorry that your babies are not this cute.

Although her attitude makes me cringe, her superficial beauty still takes my breath away.

No, the grass is not THAT green. It's Ivy guys!!! I'm not exaggerating when I tell you she's BRILLIANT!!!

Well HELLO there!

Then we moved down to the beach. We don't go beachin at this beach because it's full of rocks and the surf is pretty rough. But that makes for some great pics. Even when we all have dumb looks on our faces.

Oh. My. Word. I forgot to tell you. I had Daisy June in some jeggings. JEGGINGS!!!! We had to PAINT them on!! She is SO fat. It was LITERALLY the cutest thing in the ENTIRE WORLD, I almost died right then and there.

That would be the Taylor Swift Heart. We get that in our pictures a LOT.

Hey there Handsome.

Girl LOVES her Daddy.

The Original Three Engelbrechts.

As Good as it Gets- with four kids five and under...

Scott spent a lot of time telling Ms. Ivy how much he loved her.

Warren spent a lot of time making stupid faces.

These were our family shots. I had the middle one framed. I know it's unconventional and not one single person is looking at the camera, but I REALLY feel like it sums us up. THAT'S what Team Engelbrecht is all about, you know? Although I really do love Scott's expression in the top, and Ava's body language in the bottom.

Could this picture BE more perfect?

Could this picture better say "Hey, it's me, Scott!"?

Could this picture be the only one I had left of Warren to fit in here?

She took a LOT of pictures of me and Nick. I didn't want her to, but she insisted. I'm way fatter than I thought, and I don't really like any of them. It's hard to sit in the wet sand and relax while your kids are playing on the rocks near the Endless Pacific Ocean. But I do like this one.

And she also wanted to do some Santa Hat Shots. It wasn't really my thing, but she seemed pretty excited, and I thought it would be cute. It was! Again, it's not really my style, but I guess when you have kids, you have to stop being such a bitch and just be tacky every once in a while, right? Ugh.

I'll give you this, if Daisy was our first, I would have probably used these for our Christmas card.

And fine, I WILL be using this one. I mean, come ON!!! She's so fricking cute!!!

And there you have it. Four and a half hours of my life spent on the computer. You're welcome.

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-10-26T07:15:00.000+10:00

Up half a pound. I'm devastated. I actually cried this morning when I got on that scale. No, of course this isn't my first gain. But I worked my ass off this week!!! I tracked EVERY SINGLE BITE that I put in my mouth. I worked out EVERY DAY except Saturday. I ate a cup of cabbage for breakfast every day people!!! CABBAGE!!!

Please, don't leave me comments like "Hang in there, muscle weighs more than fat, smiley face parenthesis!!" Or "Maybe you need to eat MORE so your body doesn't think you're starving, smiley face parenthesis!" I know y'all love me, and are trying to make me feel better, but those comments are LITERALLY like a knife to the gut. I don't know why. I've been doing this for SO LONG, I know all the tricks. I know what fatties tell themselves to try and make themselves feel better. I know weight loss takes time and it's a lifestyle, not a diet, and more than ANYTHING, I know that I just shouldn't have gained seventy pounds with each pregnancy.

But knowing all that? Doesn't make me feel that much better. I'm sort of thinking that maybe this is my new normal. Some people are just fat, right? They just walk around, being fat, living their lives. Maybe that's me now. A fatty. Maybe I should just give in and accept it?

My goal of 158 by Hawaii (how do you like THAT, Past Jenn?!?! Ever dreamed a weight loss GOAL would be one fifty eight!?!?! YOU SUCK!!! STOP EATING SNICKERS!!!) is all but impossible now. It's eleven pounds, and I'm leaving in about eight weeks. So that'd be a pound and a half a week, no gains. And we've got Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we're having Prime Rib for both. So that's TWO mini goals, both easily attainable and reachable, that I will not have made.

This isn't fair. Being a grownup sucks. I can't even wallow on the couch in self pity because my stupid kids don't care, they want all this annoying crap like FOOD and HELP WITH THE POTTY and CLEAN DISHES and DRY CLOTHES. Ugh.

Flashback Friday

2011-10-21T10:13:00.000+10:00

And it's ACTUALLY Friday!! That's rare for me.

Anyway. Let's flash WAAAAAAAAAAAY back, shall we?

I don't even know what to say. Except check out how skinny my arm is!!! I'm not sure what look I was going for. Maybe 'woman who is trying to work up the courage to have a sex change operation'?

Wordless Wednesday (on Thursday)

2011-10-20T09:56:00.001+10:00

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-10-19T12:13:00.000+10:00

Down one point five. That puts me at exactly one half pound fatter than I was when Nick got home. Five weeks ago. Ugh. But he's gone again, so maybe I can get back on track. Don't get me wrong, I love that dude, but it's just so easy to be driving around in the minivan, pimping it out, holding hands and being all in love, and say "Ooooh, let's run through Wendy's and get a large frosty, and then let's go across the street to the McDonalds for fries to dip in it." Twice a day.

So yeah. Back on track. Ya'll know how much I love my strawberry slash spinach slash protein drink smoothie? Well, we got a vitamix, and now I can add even more veggies! For instance, in the mornings, in my quest to become a coffee drinker, I have two cups of coffee, a chocolate protein shake, and, wait for it, a cup of green cabbage. Wanna barf yet? I'm telling you, that vitamix all but liquifies the cabbage, and I think cabbage is tasteless, so alls adding a cup does is make the drink a little thicker. It's a little weird, I know, but it's a three point breakfast, that takes ALL morning to drink, and keeps me full. Seriously.

And I've also FINALLY got back into that place where I get high from working out, and I feel like crap when I don't, so that's an added bonus.

In other news, I'm finally watching season two of Glee, and while I think it sort of sucks, I really like Blain. Remember Blain from Pretty in Pink? And Ducky says "That's not a name, that's an appliance." What appliance is a Blain? Got me. Anyway. Watching Glee has given me this uncontrollable urge (nervous tick) to end all my ranting montages with "And that's how Sue...sees it." It's quite obnoxious actually.

Crockpot Burritoes

2011-10-18T11:21:00.000+10:00

Again, I'm sure I've posted this recipe. Sorry. But this week, they're giving away a crockpot!!! Now, I LOVE my basic, no bells, no whistles crockpot. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I had the two hundred dollar all clad, I had the hundred fifty dollar kitchen aid, I had a who knows how much cuisenhart...all either went back to the store, or to the curb. The kitchen aid? I took it back to the store THREE TIMES before I called it quits. The ceramic part kept cracking!!! And no, it wasn't because I was going from burning hot to ice cold.

As long as we're off topic, I'm posting this from the macbook. Nick put a new...uh, something or another on it...operating system? Anyway. It's autocorrecting my typing, like the iPad does. See that? It turned my little p into a BIG P. HATING THAT. Anyone know how to turn that off?

Anyway. So here's my recipe for this entry, crockpot burritos. Mmmm. PS It just autocorrected burritos. That just annoys me. I want it to tell me it's wrong, and let me worry about fixing it. Cybernet anyone? Ha, it can't figure out what to do about that. Ironic much? And also, the scrolling is backwards. Does that make sense? It probably won't, unless you use a macbook. I need help ya'll!

CROCK POT BURRITOS
1 lb beef roast (I usually use a chuck, because PW says chuck is best. And I usually have more than a pound, because who sells a pound of roast?)
1 envelope taco seasoning
2 cans refried beans
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
Flour tortilla
Fixins of choice (lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa, black olives)

Mix first 5 ingredients in a greased crock pot. Cover and cook on low 6-10 hours. Place in flour tortillas with your choice of toppings;roll up, and enjoy :)

So there you go. I got it online somewhere, tweaked it to my needs, and now I'm using it to try and win free stuff. Oh, also, I usually cook the meat and taco seasoning and water and tomato sauce for about four hours, then add the beans for the last three or four. I have no idea why, that's just how I roll.

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by West Bend.

Pinnable Me

2011-10-17T17:02:00.000+10:00

So. Regular bloggers use pinterst (and their blogs) to find the inspiration to sew those hideous pilowcase dresses, to make a headboard out of soggy cardboard boxes they find at the dumpster, and to use tree sticks to frame inspiring quotes. Then they brag out it on their blogs and everyone comments about how ADORABLE and CHARMING and SWEET and CLASSIC they are.

Who's got two thumbs and uses pinterest to make fun of people and feel even more bitter and superior than usual? THIS GIRL.

Here's what MY pinterest boards look like. MOM- please don't read these, there's LOTS of swear words. I would NEVER swear, but I can't help but be exposed to this stuff. It's because you didn't homeschool me.

There's not very much Game of Thrones stuff that's funny and sarcastic (yet) but they're working on it. Here's what I've got so far. And obviously, if you haven't read them, you won't get it.

MY FAVORITE LINE from the first book. Not really, but it's top fifty, easy. In the show it was different, but in the book, her brother gives her a little sword, and asks if she knows anything about how to use it and she says yeah. Stick 'em with the pointy end. Then later, everyone's trying to lop her head off, and she STICKS 'EM WITH THE POINTY END. She is a TOTAL badass!!!! READ THE BOOKS JUST FOR HER!!!

And here, GOT meets Office Space. Um, are we in heaven?

Then here's just a few that regularly put a smile on my face.

Let's throw in a little Auburn pride, so you don't think I'm a total bitch.

I LOVE THIS. Think how much better life would be if that loser had just HIT HER with that car. Sigh.

And, as ALWAYS...

You're welcome.

Creamy One Pot Pasta

2011-10-16T14:03:00.001+10:00

I'm POSITIVE I've posted this recipe before, but I can't find it, and I need to have a link so I can post to My Baking Addiction and try to win a free pot. Because I got my (BELOVED) le creuset when we were a little family of four, with two babies who weren't eating. So now I need a grow up sized one. And free is the best deal I can find online, so here goes.

Creamy One Pot Pasta

4 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 jar (7 oz) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, undrained
3 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth (5 1/4 cups)
1 lb uncooked penne pasta
1 head broccoli (2 cups small florets)
2 medium carrots, peeled
4 oz reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese and snipped fresh basil (optional)

Thinly slice garlic. Place garlic and 1 tbsp oil from sun-dried tomatoes into an 8qt stockpot.

Cook garlic over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until garlic is golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat; add broth. Return to burner; increase heat to high.

Cover and bring to a boil. Stir in pasta; cover and simmer vigorously 8-10 minutes or until pasta is almost cooked but still firm, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cut broccoli into small florets; Cut carrots in half lengthwise; thinly slice crosswise on a bias.

Drain sun-dried tomatoes; pat dry with a paper towel. Slice tomatoes into thin strips. Toss carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes into pot.

Cut cream cheese into cubes, toss in pot.

Stir until cream cheese is melted and fully incorporated. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook an additional 2-4 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Serve immediately.

If desired, top with grated fresh Parmesan cheese and snipped fresh basil.

Yield: 6 servings

So that's the real recipe, but I ALWAYS slice up one of those hilshire farms turkey sausage things and let that heat up way back when you add the broth. You can also throw in whatever veggies you have on hand that you need to use up. It sounds simple, and a lot of times simple equals yucky, but it really is FABULOUS. We eat this eat least once a month.

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Exchange sponsored by Le Creuset.

Come join the fun at My Baking Addiction and Good Life Eats Holiday Recipe Exchange sponsored by Le Creuset.

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-10-12T15:54:00.000+10:00

Up a pound. I'm going to just pretend it's some sort of fluke. Maybe the scale needs to be balanced? Sure, it's digital, but you never know, right? Because I feel good. Like, GOOD. I mean, yes, I overate a little this week. By which I mean, we keep a dish of M&Ms for when Warren uses the potty and I ate all of them, repeatedly. And I didn't track more than two or three bites. BUT I drank a TON of water and I worked out every other day. So, seriously, I feel pretty good.

Now I'm torn. I feel good, but I didn't stick to the plan. I feel good, but I didn't lose, and my pants are getting tighter. Guess I can't go by feeling alone? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's great to feel good. In WW, they call that a Non Scale Victory. BUT, I don't think you can claim a Non Scale Victory if you ate four bags of M&Ms, two bags of chips, and countless peanut butter balls. Sigh. Who knows.

Anyway, this makes my Ten Pounds Before I Leave This Godforsaken Island Forever On December Twenty Second goal twelve pounds now. Ugh.

In other news, I'm still going with the 30 Day Shred. I think (KNOW) that you're supposed to do it ever day for 30 days straight (duh) but that just ain't happening. At all. But I've been doing it every other, and I did day seven yesterday. Now, Jillian is sort of a bully, and the workout is (for me) VERY VERY HARD. Like, about to have a heart attack hard. BUT, at one point, she sort of laughs and says 'Now, those of you on day five or six or seven, you're noticing a change in your endurance, right?' And normally, I start crying and gasping for breath, but yesterday, it was actually a little easier!!! No joke. Maybe one day I can try to get up to level two? Not holding my breath for that one.

Anyway. Up a pound. I considered not checking in with ya'll, but since I don't go to meetings, this is basically the only way I can get any accountability. So there you have it.

Daisy June

2011-10-11T17:36:00.001+10:00

I have nothing fun or witty to say. Life is trudging along one hellaslow second at a time. Same thing, every day. Needless to say, I cannot WAIT to go to Hawaii, just for something a little different!!!

So, in leu of cleverness, I'm just gonna fill this post up with pictures of Daisy June. Otherwise known as The Absolute Cutest Baby Around.

I mean, really? I DARE you to find a cuter baby. Double dare you.

Except here. I thought maybe putting it in black and white would distract from that stupid look on her face, but it didn't. Then, I considered not posting it, since she looks so stupid. But who are we kidding, looking stupid is ALMOST as cute as looking...cute.

Here, she appears to be on my stove. Not sure that's the safest place for babies to hang out...but I've been in charge while three other kids made it to preschoolerhood, so I'm sure she's fine.

Then there's this. A little backstory, if you please. She can crawl for realsies, and she's just figured out how to go from crawling to sitting on her butt, with both legs out in front. Took a LONG time to get that second leg out from under herself. So now, naturally, she's going from her butt to her knees, and she's trying to pull up. Sort of. So we've got this cabinet in our island, and instead of a crappy regular shelf, it's a pull out. FANTASTIC. It's full of her bottles and other tupperware, so if I'm in the kitchen, I'll open the doors and let her play with the tupperware and spare nipples. Teeheehee.

Anyway, today, she managed to get on her knees and pull that drawer out. So it just plowed her over!!! I heard her shrieking, so I grabbed my camera and shot away.

Then when I finally rescued her, I realized that not only had she knocked herself over, her legs were bent!!! So she was laying on her calves, folded back onto her thighs. While her mama laughed and took pictures.

Whatareyagonnado, right?

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-10-05T16:45:00.000+10:00

Down another half pound. Whoopadeedo.

I'm also in a crappy mood. The power was off when I got up, and it just threw a wrench in my whole day. I HATE that something as stupid as a power outage can ruin my day, but it is what it is. I also hate that I live in a place that loses power so often. I know every single person on the planet thinks I'm loony tunes, but I just HATE living in this base housing!!! I HATE IT!!! If I hear one more person say "But that house is so BIG!" while giving me a dirty look, I'm going to punch her in her face. YES, IT'S BIG. AND BIGGER IS BETTER, I GET IT. But for me, and it's obviously JUST ME, size doesn't matter. A normal layout, designed by someone with half a brain (perhaps someone who's used a dishwasher before? Is that too much to ask? Someone who's tried to store things in a twenty nine foot long, nineteen foot deep closet? Someone who owns a vacuum cleaner, perhaps?) is WAY more important than empty square footage.

Wanna know why ELSE I'm in a crappy mood? Because I'm HUNGRY. Nick lost three pounds (just like I knew he would) and he usually had about ten points left over. Every. Single. Day. IT'S NOT FAIR!!! Twenty nine points is just not enough!!! This is why I should stop getting off track, because getting back on SUCKS ASS. This whole week will suck, if I do it right, but if I DON'T do it right, I'm just prolonging the suckfest. Eventually, I have to give up crapfood. And when I do, I will be grumpy. For days and days, until it's out of my system. Then I will feel amazing, for weeks. Until I hit the drive thru and go on a binge and have to start all over.

I hate it. I HATE IT.

Also, just to keep up the bitch fest, I can't find my box of baby baby toys. I packed away all the really little baby baby ones, and now I can't remember where they are. At Bible study, she had this vtech ball, the one that rolls itself all over and makes obnoxious noises? I have the same one, and I want it, and I can't find it. Also, I can't find the laptop mouse, so I used the one from the mac mac (yes, I like to use double words to stress my points. The mac mac is the big computer, the desktop. A baby baby toy is obviously one that's REALLY for babies. Duh.) and now I can't get it to pair back with the mac mac. And I can't like go into the folder to tell it to search for a mouse, because...I don't have a mouse. Ugh.

So. If you're still reading...let me think...I'm sure I can come up with something not-bitchfesty. Oh! Warren is potty trained!!! Ya'll know how I feel about potty training, I'm sure. If you don't, I'll sum it up for you. Potty training is a waste of time. YOU cannot train your kid. Only your kid can do that. Same with eating. But don't get me started, I'm not in the mood for hate mail. ANYWAY, I don't potty train. Nick encourages them to use the toilet, I reward them if they do, and when they stop having accidents, I let them stop wearing diapers. I am NOT cleaning pee off the floor. I am NOT picking turds up off the floor. That is just NOT something I am willing to do.

Long story short, Warren finally figured it out, and now I officially only have ONE child in diapers!!! This is going to save me so much money, I better get online and buy some new clothes to celebrate.

PS Someone made fun of me for loving the gap. WHATEVER. If it were up to me, and I could afford it, I would wear khaki capris and either a white button down or a black v neck teeshirt EVERY SINGLE DAY. Well, I suppose I could, now that I think about it. It can't cost much more to buy all khaki capris instead of throwing some denim into the mix...and shirts pretty much all cost the same...it could be like my uniform. My thing. I could be The Girl in the Khaki Capris and Black V Neck Teeshirt.

I think I might be onto something here...

There. Guess it ain't all bad, huh?

Flashback Friday

2011-10-04T15:30:00.000+10:00

On a Tuesday afternoon no less.

So, here's ONE of my daughters....

And here is the other. Can you guess which is which?

I have spent the last eight months saying that Daisy June looks JUST LIKE Scott. I am a moron. Most of you already knew this though.

And this? This tongue out thing that she does that drives me BONKERS?

Apparently this one did it too. (Sorry it's grainy. 2006 was a LONG time ago as far as Engelbrecht computers and scanners and knowledge goes.)

For those of you as unsure as the woman who BIRTHED these girls, this is Ava. The first baby.

It would appear that over the last six years, I have retained absolutely no memories whatsoever. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. For years, we (my family) have spent many fun hours teasing my mother, who remembers absolutely NOTHING about her past.

It's obviously genetic.

In related news, I just spent about twenty minutes using the bandaid tool on PSE to try and edit off a smudge of dirty on Daisy June's cheek. I had to stamp out the carrots up her nose from dinner for the above shots, so I figured I'd get the dirt too. But it wasn't dirt. Well, it was dirt, but it was on the SCREEN, not on the baby. How's that for my sixty thousand dollar college education? Man the Navy got their money's worth with this one.

In unrelated news, do ya'll know who the Novogratz are?

I first discovered them on Bravo (my favorite channel) when they were on Nine By Design and now they've got a new (new to me) show on HGTV (yet more proof that I am, in fact, turning into my mother) called something or another. They've got seven kids. IF I end up pregnant again (I won't, but if by some curse/miracle a superbaby makes it thru the knots they tied my tubes in) I WILL be naming my next child Five. Boy or girl, I don't care. I'm not normally one for trendy-because-they're-so-stupid names, but Five? That is just a GREAT name. I'm still pissed that Nick didn't let me name Ava Apple (don't you think she'd be the PERFECT Apple?!?!) so I WILL put my foot down this time.

Anyway, the Novogratz. Novogratzes? Good luck figuring that one out. The Novogratz family, there. The husband and wife are designers, and while their taste is not really my style, I just can NOT get enough of them!!! They're quirky without being annoying (come on, you KNOW you get annoyed by those people who go out of their way to be 'quirky' and 'cool' and 'eclectic' and 'unique' and 'contemporary' and I could seriously go on all afternoon about this...) they seem genuinely happy (in this 'quirky' and 'unique' modern world, how often are you presented with a traditional family who seem to love each other?) and I just LOVE (okay, am OBSESSED with) the way the redesign spaces. I have decided that I NEVER want to live in a big city (I can't even breathe thinking about being that close to so many people- I can feel people bumping my arms as I'm typing this, jostling me out of the way, breathing on the back of my neck, taking up all the air in the room!!!), I wish I could get one of those city apartments with those city views and have them come decorate it for me. Surely, if I paid them, they would do it to my tastes? That's another thing I like about them, they don't seem to want to force their style on people. Granted, most of the show, they're designing for people who have their same tastes...but I get the impression (after two years of stalking them online) that they wouldn't laugh at me if I told them I wanted a farmhouse style. Know what I mean? Like, they would be fine with that.

Anyway.

In preparation for the move, I have been purging like a madwoman. And by that, I mean I filled up a trashbag with clothes that don't fit me and took it to the Goodwill. But then today, I went to Gap (online, don't get all excited) and bought more stuff that I threw out. How is that helpful? Yes, all the new clothes will fit (hopefully) but still, that's not the point!!! The point is to get rid of stuff!!! They say you're supposed to get rid of ten percent of your sh*t before you move, right? I don't see that happening. I did get rid of some curtains that I had in college. Lord help me if there's an online sale on curtains somewhere this week...

Ahh, the move. Can you believe I am finally getting off this rock? I bought a new bottle of vitamins yesterday and guess what? I will be OFF this island BEFORE the bottle is empty!!!! Isn't that incredible? Yes, I will be going to yet another island where they have to ship everything in, but still! It's only an eight hour flight to the REAL mainland!!! Instead of twenty!!! So don't kill my buzz. I know it won't be the same as home, but c'mon, it's GOT to be better than Guam. It's just gotta be.

It looks like the command is going to be helpful and we might get to leave on December 22!!! I am BEYOND excited about this prospect. This means, instead of leaving on the 26th (and getting to Hawaii on the 25th, don't get me started on how weird that is) and having to deal with housing, find a place out in town, find a long term hotel, buy a new car, and remember how to drive above forty five mph in seven days, we'll (hopefully) have eleven or twelve. I know we're supposed to be modern women who can do it all without our Navy husbands, and I could, if I had to (I did it here, for the most part) but it'll just be so much easier to sit silently and let Nick do it. People just like him so much better.

Speaking of housing, I have decided to STOP with the panic attacks. They're either going to give us a house, or they're not. I'm willing to wait one month. ONE. Four weeks. If they can't get me in in four weeks, I'll find something out in town. I will NOT spend the next ninety days pouring over online ads for nine million rentals. Because they're gone within a week, so it's not going to do me any good. Deep breaths. Although I WILL probably get back online and look at a few at the beginning of December. Just in case.

And Nick is going to be taking over finding a school for Ava. Because THAT is an even bigger panic attack.

And in the final bullet of news for the day, I started watching Raising Hope on Fox this season. I LOVE IT. So I went to Netflix yesterday to get season one sent out here so I can catch up and guess what?!?! They have it online!!! Now, I was SO excited when Netflix started streaming here. SO EXCITED. For three days. Then I realized that the only stuff they stream is sucky stuff. No new movies, no new shows, just crap. And Dora and Gabba Gabba, which is sort of awesome, but still. So cue the tentative re-excitement, because I'm so stoked!! Now, tomorrow, instead of shopping for three hours, I can watch all twenty two ish episodes of Raising Hope on netflix!!! HOORAY for ways to avoid housework and child rearing!!!

Beach Pics

2011-10-01T22:16:00.002+10:00

We went to the beach today! Nick has to go back to work for realsies Monday, so we wanted to hit the last of the fun stuff before that damn boat sucks the life out of him some more. We (he) rented a kayak on the way, and he somehow ended up having ALL three big kids in there.

Until Scott jumped out. He was the one without a lifejacket. But before you call child services, don't forget the water at Gab Gab is about nineteen inches deep.

Scott did not enjoy the kayak as much as you'd think. Nick took the big bigs out one at a time later, and he said Scott was getting freaked out and saying "We're too far from the land!" Such a cautious kid, until you hand him something electronic. Then he's willing to go at it with a fork. Sigh.

This is what my little Junebug was doing while the big kids were having fun with their Daddy.

Check out these rolls...

I mean, can you BELIEVE those things?!?! It's like on Cinderella when that fat little mouse Gus Gus puts his shirt on, and then it rolls up over his belly. Like me when I was pregnant. What a fatty.

Then she crawled to the edge of the blanket and began eating dirt, grass, and pine needles. Double sigh.

Then Nick took her in the water so I could read. Triple sigh. Still trudging through book four of Game of Thrones. Don't be turned off the series, it's still BEST BOOK EVER, but it's just that I've been reading for three thousand pages straight and I'm getting a little overwhelmed. So, still read them. But maybe take a break. Read one, read something else, read two, read something else, and so on and so forth.

What was I talking about? Oh, Daisy in the water.

Then Scott wanted his picture taken. He's sort of obsessed. It's not that he really wants his picture taken, he just wants to see himself on the screen when it's done. Which I guess is the same thing, I don't know.

Now, this shot below? Kind of a stupid look for Daisy, but the actual PICTURE? That's what I thought it was going to be like when I got this new lens. I thought ALL my shots would come out like this. Apparently a new lens isn't the same thing as learning how to be a professional photographer. Who knew? It's like when I lost all my Scott weight and I was so excited to buy a pair of Seven jeans and I went to the MacArthur mall and tried on a bunch of them and they all fit horribly and sucked. They were NOT magical. It was a hard day.

And here's one more random picture.

I'm so glad I finally got another girl. Honestly, I know you're supposed to say "I don't care if it's a boy or a girl as long as it's healthy" but ya'll know THIS blogger NEVER said that. I wanted a girl EVERY SINGLE TIME. And honestly, if Daisy hadn't been a girl, I would have tried at least once more, maybe even twice. I'm sorry, but whatever, it is what it is. And now I finally have my girlS and I couldn't be happier. Seriously. I might have tried three or four more times.

Thank God Daisy was a girl.

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-09-28T21:20:00.000+10:00

Up another half pound. I woke up early this morning, worked out, and had all these intentions of finally getting back on track. Then I went out to eat with Nick, California Pizza Kitchen. My second favorite restaurant ever, next to Chili's :) I had- hey, I was writing out that I ate thirty nine points and I just realized it was only TWENTY nine! Which, yeah, sure, is my entire daily allotment, but it's WAY better than THIRTY nine for ONE MEAL!!! Man, I'm so happy. Anyway. Then after that lunch, since I blew it anyway, I grabbed a jumbo bag of cheetos (eleven points) and went to the movies. My last movie for stand down :( But seriously, five movies in less than two weeks, for a woman with four kids under the age of six? Top that suckers. Suckas.

Anyway. That brought my grand total to fifty three points today. That's a LOT. And my workout? I get two for that. Two?!?! Why even bother.

Crap. I had a piece of cake at Bible study. Now I have to add that ten points back in. Thanks a lot Melda!!

Random Updates

2011-09-26T10:05:00.000+10:00

I guess I knew that having a ton of kids would mean that I had a big family, but I don’t think I really understood what that would entail. And, since they’re all still five and under, I’m sure I still don’t fully grasp it. But today, it sort of hit me. When I made sandwiches for lunches (just three, not even four, since <obviously> Daisy June doesn’t need a sandwich) and it took half the loaf…when I went to wash towels (I wash all the towels, burp cloths, and dishrags on Tuesdays, I’m such a nerd) and I could just BARELY fit everything into two load in our GIANT commercial sized machines…when I opened a new gallon of milk yesterday at breakfast, and threw away the same gallon today after breakfast…it’s just weird. I’m probably going to have to go back to work just so we can buy food.

In other news, I finally got my Warren and Daisy June tattoos. I did my Ava and Scott (on my foot, I'm sure you've seen more than enough of those two) a few weeks after Scott was born, but after I had Warren, I figured why bother, until I was done. I'm not one of those high-on-the-pain-from-a-tattoo loony tunes. They hurt. And the ones on my foot REALLY really hurt, so I was in no hurry to do that again. But, since she's eight months old and there is no physical way for me to have another baby, I decided to just bite the bullet and get it over with.

We found a really nice shop, if anyone out here is looking for a tattoo place. Well, nice in that they were nice to me, not nice as in a NICE place. It was next door to an adult video store, I'm pretty sure there were human trafficking slaves on the porch, and I think I got hepatitis from sitting on the couch in the waiting area. But like I said, they were all super nice. I'm not sure if any of you have been in a lot of tattoo shops (I refuse to use the word parlor in ANY situations, let alone in a tattoo situation) but they are usually not anxious to cater to the needs of the average soccer mom. And I know I tend to look a little more...uptight...than even most soccer moms. I'm sure when I walked in, they were like, crap, is this lady going to try and get us to buy Girl Scout cookies or something? But once Nick told them I wanted another tattoo too, they were super friendly and helpful and just NICE. You know how I'm a sucker for people who are nice.

Anyway. This is what I went with. It's Hebrew, and it says (fingers crossed) 'my son' up close to my wrist, looking at it from my point of view, and 'my daughter' underneath it. Which is exactly what I have in kanji on my foot for Ava and Scott. AND I've had that one verified, so nanny nanny boo boo.

And Nick added the final footprint to his calf. Maybe I'll snap a pic of it tomorrow. He's back at work today. I had to get up before nine thirty, it was really weird.

Speaking of Nick, he finally agreed to do Weight Watchers with me. It's nice, because it's always easier to eat a banana when your husband isn't sitting next to you on the couch eating an entire box of Whoppers, but it sucks because he gets ninety four thousand points, and he'll still lose four and five pounds a week. I'm assuming that I'll be gaining this week (since I still haven't stopped eating since Nick got home TWO WEEKS AGO) but hopefully I'll get back into some sort of normalcy this week. I'm hoping to gain tomorrow, stay the same for next week, then get back into losing at least a pound a week. My ten-pounds-before-Hawaii is now eleven pounds (suck) and I've got thirteen weeks, so I pretty much have absolutely no wiggle room for gaining. Suck suck suck.

I have decided that soccer was a huge mistake. HUGE. The Tuesday and Thursday practices aren't THAT inconvenient, but these Saturday games are BRUTAL. All caps. They're only thirty minutes, but it seems like they always start late (and of course, we get there on time) and it's so far away ('so far away' on Guam means twenty five minutes) and it just sucks the ENTIRE Saturday dry. Last week the game was at two (TWO!!! HELLO NAP TIME!!) and this weeks it's going to be at two forty five!!! That's even worse! AND, when all is said and done, the season will have lasted THREE MONTHS. That's a long time to go with no Saturdays.

It doesn't help that this is basically all Scott does at the games. Either this, or sits with me in the sun.

Even when the rest of the team is chasing the ball.

Hey, whatcha'll doing?

Then again, look at this smile!

And the coach felt sorry for me, and let him throw the ball in or whatever.

I am having a TERRIBLE time figuring out how to use my new lens. I think google may have mislead me when telling me that it was the BEST LENS AVAILABLE.

Ava is a LOT more interested. It's always hard for me to remember that she's an entire YEAR older than him, so of course, things are different.

But she gets distracted a lot too. Oy.

Last update: Nick jacked up the computer and all my actions are gone from pse. AND I can't get a handle on using my new lens, so I'm sorry the pictures suck. Good thing no one pays me to take pictures.

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-09-21T16:15:00.000+10:00

Up one pound. That silence you hear is the blogworld not being even a tiny bit surprised. Since Nick has come home (!!!!! I still can't believe he's really here!!!!!) I have eaten everything in sight and the only exercise I've gotten has been...mmm hmm. So. Up a pound. It's not the end of the world, but it still sucks. Not getting me any closer to ten pounds by the time we get to Hawaii. In one hundred and three days. My clock is off because it's looking like we can't reasonably fly out until the 30th now, instead of the 28th. Apparently the world isn't interested in calling off Christmas while I get out of this hell hole.

"And call off Christmas!"

Twenty points if you can name that movie :)

I think a few of my friends out here are a little surprised at how LITTLE I have done this last week. I've been saying for the entire five months that as soon as Nick gets home, I'm done. I am off the clock. I told them I wouldn't be lifting a single finger, except for the slim chance that the baby needed ME. Not needed something, but needed ME specifically. You know how the littles can be sometimes, where just their mama will do. But I guess people just thought I was being funny or exaggerating or joking or something.

Idiots. I LITERALLY have not done a single thing since Thursday afternoon. Not a one. I do a little housework, because honestly, without kids hanging on me, I don't mind rinsing up some dishes or picking up some clutter. And I'm still doing laundry because that's the ONE thing that Nick truly does not want to do. But other than that? I haven't been out of bed before nine, or given a bath (except for Daisy June) or wiped a butt. I haven't changed a diaper, grabbed a spanking spoon, brushed a tooth, or put in a pony tail. I haven't dropped off or picked up from the bus or daycare.

So what have I been doing? Going to the movies and reading Game of Thrones. That's it. I saw Contagion (AWESOME) and Warrior (honestly, if you can believe it <you won't> it was one of the top ten movies of all time. Maybe even top five, but def top seven) and I still want to squeeze in Drive and The Debt. And that Taylor Lautner movie (don't tell anyone) and the Lion King in 3D. I'm on book four, A Feast for Crows, but I'm losing some serious steam. It's getting me down that I can't flip ahead and see if Arya and Jon are alive. I know it shouldn't matter, but after three thousand pages (and nearly everyone dying) I'm just a little wary. I don't mind if they die (yes I do) but I just want to be prepared, if they do. I can handle everyone else getting his head lopped off, but not Arya. And not Jon. And maybe not Bran, but that wouldn't rock my world like Arya.

So that's basically it. No pictures, because I haven't taken any. No updates on the kids because I don't know what they're doing. I totally was NOT kidding when I said I was off the clock while he's on leave. Idiots.

My Boyfriend's Back

2011-09-16T15:07:00.000+10:00

First up, I have an announcement. I am editing these pictures and typing this post on my (insert the announcer dude from the Price is Right) BRAND NEW TWENTY SEVEN INCH iMAC!!!

You thought I was going to announce that I was pregnant. Don't lie, you know you did. You're so stupid. What do you think, I got pregnant last night and magically already found out? It doesn't work like that!! Also, we are one hundred percent finished with adding to Team Engelbrecht.

So, this computer. I don't think I really realized just how big twenty seven inches was until about four minutes ago when I opened a picture of Daisy June and it was actually BIGGER than Real Life Daisy June. It is THAT big. It takes twenty minutes to move the mouse cursor from the top of the screen to the bottom.

BUT, now that I'm finished with that, here's the ACTUAL post. Nick is home!!! Obviously.

They were supposed to pull in on Saturday (tomorrow, for anyone who gets confused about the day/time difference out here.) I had the supplies I need to make his favorite cake. I had outfits in mind for the kids (since we won first hug!!!) and I had craft crapola for them to make him a sign. I was going to shower on Saturday morning, and shave my legs, change the sheets, pick up my (our) bedroom, just all that bidnazz that you'd do if your husband was coming home after five months at sea.

I got the call at two thirty on Thursday afternoon. They're here. They're getting off at four. Call everyone, and I'll see you there.

Seriously?!?! So, no shower, no cake, no cute signs, no fun outfits. We just loaded up the van and raced to the pier. Does Nick look like he minded? :)

Hello, remember me, from five months ago?

So there wasn't a big party on the pier, with water and a tent and the anticipation and all that. It was NOT missed. The only thing I was a little bummed about was that we won first hug. The wives club (the FRG, since we are politically correct now) raffles off tickets for First Hug and First Kiss, and if you win, your Daddy or husband (the Kiss is for wives) gets to be the first and second dude off the boat after the bossman and everyone gets to watch you run up and, uh, greet each other. SOO, we all figured that it wasn't going to happen since there was very little fanfare, but either the bossman or his lovely wife fixed it so that we could still do it. HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

I was going to put these in a collage since they're all the same, but when I did that, it shrunk them down and it broke my heart and made me cry, so deal with it.

Ava saw him first. I hate to admit it, but I have a hard time figuring out who is who out there, because they're all dressed exactly the same. And I'm a terrible wife.

Little Short Leg Warren finally caught up...

And in the midst off all this emotional reunion crapola, I find it hilarious that Laura caught a shot of his shoe falling. My new lens is FAST.

Then, even though we didn't win First Kiss, we snuck a quick kiss. Don't tell on us.

I did NOT dress the boys alike on purpose. Honestly!!!

In case anyone is wondering what it looks like when the boat pulls in (mainly, my dad) here it is. I have to admit that it wasn't until Nick had been on the Scranton for a year or two that I even knew what those things look like.

I guess it's pretty common for them all to be standing on top of the boat like that. Here's hoping they're tied up to something. Nick is on top of the sail (the dorsal-fin sticking way up there) on the far left with the red harness. I did not know this at the time, he told me when I uploaded the pics. They really do all look alike out there, and they're pretty far away for someone with my eyesight. In other news, I wish that fricking yellow frame thingie had NOT been in my way, or that I had noticed it at the time and stepped over two feet. Idiot.

After the first hug, first kiss crapola, everyone else came out and the kids ran to play in the giant dumpster and Nick got to get his hands on that fat little monkey we call Daisy June.

(On my giant new computer, we haven't magically pulled everything from the laptop over, so I don't have any of my actions for pse. But let me tell you, once I do, this pic of Daisy June is going to BLOW YOUR MIND.)

Unfortunately, I don't think there's an action in the world that will make me look like a normal person. That sucks.

I'll end with this shot. Ironically, I think that, as far as composition and all that, this is the best shot of the day. And Ava took it, at my hip, while my camera was hanging down and I wasn't paying her any attention. AND she was trying to take a shot of the boat behind him. Whatareyagonnado, right?

So that's our story. Two days early, five months TO THE DAY since they left, the guys are back. We are a real family, at least for a little while. I have no idea what's going to happen with the schedule (they came in early to do some work) and right now, I don't really care. We're going to make the most of whatever time we have together and deal with tomorrow tomorrow.

And ps, if anyone on the boat is reading this, I took a TON of pictures of everyone hugging and kissing and playing with their kids. Not pervy pictures, some of them are really cute. So if you want them, let me know.

2011-09-15T21:39:00.000+10:00

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-09-14T13:48:00.001+10:00

Stayed the same. That's three weeks in a row! It sucks, but it's not like I'm all 'oh, I'm hitting a plateau, what should I do, wahh wahh wahh!' because I KNOW what the problem is. I work out zero days a week and I eat like a fifteen year old boy. Minus the milk. So duh, of course I'm not losing. In fact, I have no idea why I'm not gaining two and three pounds a week. I'm not being at all sarcastic when I say my eating habits are awful. I haven't tracked a single bite in the three weeks (makes that twenty bucks a month SUPER worth it!) and if I see something I want, I eat it. Cookies, chips, fast food, down the hatch. Rice, bread, peanut butter, bakers chocolate, bring it on.

The worst thing I did this week? It's disgusting to even remember. The kids got me all worked up (shocking) so I was crying and missing Nick and hating Guam. Nothing new there. So I went in the pantry to eat a bunch of cookies. Nothing new there either. BUT...I closed the door. Not because I was ashamed (kids are dumb, they don't know this is a shameful thing I'm doing) but because I don't want the kids to see that we have cookies and take them.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!?!

I think it's pretty obvious that I've gone from having a weight problem to having an emotional issue.

PS This weather isn't helping. Neither is the fact that I've given up all hope of the next (useless, unnecessary, pointless) underway being cancelled. So basically, Nick was gone for five months, will be home for two weeks (or less) and will then be leaving again for another month (to do absolutely nothing.) So, in addition to missing the last five months (when they were actually doing a JOB, so even though it was HARD, it was what I signed up for and I'm proud of the work he's doing) he's also going to miss all the soccer games (with is a whole nother post) all this school business with Ava, my pack out, shipping the van, everything. So yeah, I ate a box of cookies with the door closed. You're lucky I didn't eat you.

A Day in the Life

2011-09-10T06:22:00.002+10:00

Since I love Blue Eyed Bride and want to be JUST LIKE HER (because she is FABULOUS, and I ditched that weirdo KH to spend all my time adoring her instead) I decided to do a Day in the Life post.

First, a few disclaimers.

Number one. I do not play with my kids. Believe it or not, Nick and I put a little thought into this decision. When I was still pregnant with Ava (six long years ago!!!) we thought about it, thought about it, thought about it, and not playing was what we came up with. We have LOTS of brains, Nick and I. Big ole warehouse, full of peas. We knew that we wanted four kids (even way back then) and we knew we wanted them RIGHT NOW. Nick, with his big old Man Brain, probably didn’t understand quite what that meant, but I did. I knew that I would spend the next six years either imprisoned in the recliner feeding an infant (I mean, they need bottles pretty much until they hit one, you know?) or imprisoned on the couch fighting the pregnancy induced exhaustion. So that wouldn’t leave much time to get down on the floor and play.

Plus, that crap is BORING. I knew a woman (who will remain nameless, even though she knows who she is) who CONSTANTLY provided her infant daughter with her undivided attention. And guess what? When that infant grew into a toddler, she wanted her mama’s undivided attention. Same with when she turned into a preschooler, then a grade schooler. NO THANKYOU.

And please, playing with a BABY? Gimme a break. “We worked on his developmental milestons.” Now, of course, if there’s sumpin wrong with your baby and she needs that extra PT/OT intervention, that’s TOTALLY different. But as for me and my house, I put those suckers on the floor, toss a block and a crinkly chewy toy at them, and go on about my day.

Number two. I am a nap Nazi. Do you capitalize Nazi? I think so. I would rather let my house get down to no toilet paper and we’re eating lint from the dryer before I ditch my beloved nap schedule to run to the store. Now, believe it or not, I’m a pretty good planner (thanks Dad!) despite how mess I am, so it never actually comes down to that. I have a pretty substantial stockpile. I’m confident we could hole up in this brick bunker and nap for three weeks straight before I had to leave for some provisions.

Third, I have two different Daily Routines. On Mon, Wed, and Fri, I leave the boys at preschool till two. They nap there (they PRETEND to nap there) then come home and stay up till bedtime. On Tue and Thur, I pick them up at twelve and bring them home to nap here. So this post is a Day in the Life on a Thursday, so it’s a little different than it would be on another day. And the weekends…suck. When Nick is gone, the weekends just SUCK, there’s no way around that.

All right, anyone still there? Here we go.

0530 I get up at the butt crack of dawn. I can’t believe it either. I have to be up before the kids, or else it just throws a wrench in my ENTIRE day. I have no idea why, it just does. It makes me FURIOUS if they’re up before me. Mainly because they break into the pantry and get out a bunch of junk food and stuff their faces. If Nick were here, I would NOT get up at five thirty, are you KIDDING me? Because he gets up at like four (because he’s a wacko) so he could beat their butts when they tried to sneak in there. Anyway, I usually unload the dishwasher, make bottles, finish lunchboxes, start a load of laundry, and then get on facebook if no one is still up.

0600-0730 Do NOT ask me how our morning routine could possibly take ninety minutes. It just does. I get every cereal or oatmeal or frozen waffles, cups of milk, all that crap, then I climb into my prison (I HATE that recliner!!!) and feed Daisy June a bottle. Please, do not remind me that one day soon I will have to feed her a bowl of oatmeal too. Please. I can’t even bear thinking about it. Then I have to get Warren dressed, yell at the bigs until they get dressed, brush their teeth (I have to admit, I do not ALWAYS make sure they brush their teeth. I know, I know…) and do Ava’s hair. I also try to make myself either a spinach smoothie or some microwave sausage, to tide me over until lunch. I’m not a breakfast eater, but I don’t like to be starving by lunch. I also get dressed (‘dressed’ meaning yoga pants and a tee shirt to cover my hiney) and put on some mascara and concealer. I’ve pretty much given up on ever being able to do my hair again. Sigh.

0730-0830 We all head down the street to walk Ava to the bus stop at seven thirty, then trudge back to the van to head to preschool. Takes twenty minutes to get there, then I usually spend at least ten minutes kissing and talking and letting Scott show me the same piece of paper or crayon that he showed me yesterday. Then twenty minutes to get back. Except for my cleaning lady comes on Thursdays and I basically have to stay away until twelve thirty or so, so I head over to Asan beach to walk for thirty minutes.

0900-1200 After I get all nasty walking, I pack up poor Daisy and head to the commissary. Now, on any day but Thursday, I would go straight from preschool to the house and have her in her crib for her first nap by nine at the LATEST, then work out at home, either on my elliptical, or with a strength-training video. Thursdays is the ONLY day I tame the Nap Nazi. It usually takes me an hour in the commissary (I’m a VERY slow shopper. I like to take my time. I have a lot of time, so who cares?) then I head over to the NEX. (Guam sucks. If I have to be out of the house all morning, I basically have two options, the commissary or the NEX. I hate it here. I want to go to Target!! I want to be able to run NORMAL errands!!!) I save ALL my gotta-gets for Thursdays, so if my list is long, I’ll transfer all my cold goods to my thirty one insulated bag thingie and pray that nothing spoils while I’m in there. If I have time, after the NEX I’ll run by the house and throw the bag in the garage fridge, but a lot of times I just go straight to the school and hope the AC helps out a little.

1230-1400 After we get home, I feed the boys (even though they JUST ate at school!) and then they can play until about one fifteen. THEY can play. I do NOT play with them. I will read to them, I will get crayons and papers down, I will HELP them with anything they need. But I do NOT play with them. I try to feed Daisy June a jar of baby food during this time, get her dressed if she’s still in her jammies (which she always is) and then let her play around on the floor.

I only interact with her when she makes eye contact. Does that make me sound so terrible? I just need her to be able to entertain herself! If she looks for me, and makes it a point to look AT me, I coo and bable and do all that loving crapola. She is NOT being neglected!!! Then the boys get to watch a thirty minute show while I feed her a bottle and put her down, then I put them down too.

1400-1600 Nap time is catch up for me. I get a shower, start dinner, play on the computer, watch tv, pick up (some days) email Nick- anything I can squeeze in there. It’s a little different now because I get Ava off the bus at three, and I want to spend time with her since it’s rare to have just me and her time, but whatever. I do what I can, I guess. I used to scrapbook during naptime, but I haven't opened my scrapping supplies since long before Daisy June was born.

1630-1715 The boys get up slowly, we eat a little bit of the dinner, then get ready for soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They’re usually pretty cranky after naps, but perk up after they eat and start playing. Scott is DELIGHTED every day when he gets up and Ava is back, so they usually spend most of this time in Ava’s room playing with stickers. They think they’re doing it in secret, that I don’t know about it, but come on. I’m the mama, I know everything. Luckily for them, I don’t care, so they can play to their hearts’s content. I have to wake Daisy June up around five and get her loaded up, then we head to Big Navy for soccer practice. The bigs practice while Warren plays on the playground and I feed Daisy June and either read or chat with some of the other moms there.

1830-2000 After soccer, we race home, eat another dinner, then hurry up and shower off, get our jammies on, and read books. Again, not sure HOW this takes ninety minutes, but it definitely does. Every single time. Well, it takes fifteen minutes just to get home, so that’s part of it.

2000 I give Daisy June a bath, feed her her last bottle, and get her in bed. If everyone is not in bed between eight and eight thirty, I will cease to function. It’s a very strange, but very real, phenomenon.

Then watch tv while I fold laundry and clean during commercials. I have ALWAYS done it this way, and it drives Nick CRAZY. He would rather just clean all at once, then sit down and watch tv and fast forward through the commercials. First of all, I can no longer sit still for an hour straight. I just can’t do it. Second of all, cleaning for fifteen minutes straight SUCKS, but cleaning for three minutes at a time, five times during a show, is NOT a big deal. I mean, in one commercial break, I can get the dishwasher loaded and started. In another one, I can pack lunches. In the next one, I can clear the island. (Side note, that island is the bane of my existence. It is ALWAYS full of crap. Always. I hate it, hate it, hate it. Sometimes, I’ll just push every single thing on it into a trash bag and throw it all out. Ugh.) Then I put away the kids’ laundry, stack mine in the glider in my room, and get tomorrow’s load ready.

If Nick is home, we’ll usually watch TV or a movie until around ten, but since he’s never here, I usually only watch until nine or so, then get in bed and read. I love love love to read in bed. Who knows. It’s just something I love to do. I usually try to stay up till eleven, unless I’m just exhausted. For some reason, when I go to sleep at ten, I’m usually dragging the next day. It’s weird.

Then I get up and start all over. It’s like Groundhog Day!!!

So, now it’s your turn! Do a Day in YOUR Life post, then leave the link it a comment so I can see what you’re up to. I don’t know why I find all these posts so fascinating. I guess there’s an inner voyer in me (but not a gross one!!!) and I just LOVE to get a little glimpse into my favorite bloggers’ lives. Seriously, every time I come across one, I just eat it up. So get going!!!

First Day of Kindergarten!!! (and Weight Check Wednesday)

2011-09-07T13:41:00.000+10:00

Stayed the same. Ugh. On to the good stuff!!

I barely slept at all, and I got up at five. FIVE. Even though I'd already packed everyone's lunch, the house was as picked up as it ever gets, and I certainly wasn't planning a workout. Five o'clock. In the morning. Leaving me two hours and forty one minutes to fill.

So naturally, by the time we finally got out the door, we were running late. Of COURSE we were. I knew it was humid (it's Guam) so I stuck my camera in the garage to try and let the lens fog up and then clear. WEEEELLLL, apparently the garage is not as humid as the actual outside, because even twenty minutes later, my lens was still foggy!!! And, I might add, I am still waiting for my 50mm lens I ordered FIVE WEEKS ago from Ritz camera and paid forty dollars for express shipment. There was no other option. So, do me a favor and boycott Ritz with me ladies!!!

But there she is, getting ready for kindergarten. So so so so so sweet. The uniform at McCool is khaki shorts, pants, or skirts, and either a navy blue or white polo shirt. Well, Engelbrechts don't wear white, so this is what Ava will be wearing for the next four months. I wished with all my heart that my school had used uniforms when I was in it, and I still to this day think it's absurd that ALL public schools don't enforce a uniform policy. Does that make me sound like a communist? I don't care. I think it just makes good sense. It's also a moot point (you know, like a cow's opinion) because we do plan on using private schools whenever we can, and I certainly will not PAY for my kids to go to a school without a strict uniform policy, so I guess I don't care what public schools do. So there.

You never saw a boy want to go to school so bad in your entire life, I guarantee it. I cannot think of a time in the last four and a half years (Scott's entire life for those of you with my sort of math skillz) that Ava and Scott have NOT been together. They went to the same babysitter when I was active duty, they went to the same preschools in VA and CT, and they went together to Tender Shepherd. They take their swim classes together, they're in the same Sunday school class, and they're on the same soccer team. I think they think they're twins. They practically ARE, but I think this will be good for Ava.

Scott? Not so much.

She finally got sick of me taking pictures. At this time, I had only taken seventy four. That's NOT that many!!

The bus stop is two doors down. In the direct sunlight (or rain) with narry a palm tree in sight for shade. There are about five little sheltered bus stops in the neighborhood, but as far as I know, the bus doesn't stop at any of them. Yet another reason to admire Guam's stellar way of doing business. "Sure, we're the Navy! We LOVE to spend money, put it on my tab!!! Don't bother covering that playground, just build a new one RIGHT NEXT to it, and cover that one instead!!! HAHAHAHA!!!" Your tax dollars ladies and gentlemen. Get those letters going to your congressmen!!!

But first look at all these big kids. Right on my street! I have NEVER seen a single child playing outside up on my part of the neighborhood. Does every single one of these kids pictured here spend all his or her time inside playing video games? Is that what it's really like nowadays? That's horrifying.

And then the bus showed up.

And THEN it drove away, with my baby inside of it!!! I felt like a giant monster had come over and eaten my baby and then ran away. It made me literally sick to my stomach!!!

So I ran to the van, raced to the base, kidnapped my friend Libby (thanks Libby!!!) to sit in the car with the rest of the kids, and hauled ass into Ava's classroom.

By the way, this is the hall leading to her room. See all these big kids walking around?!?!? What the hell?!?!?! Get those kids away from my baby!!!

So I burst into her class, with all the other moms. At first she didn't see me. Then, when she did see me, she was all 'Oh, hey Ma, wassup?' Like it was NO BIG DEAL. That was the worst part, I felt like I'd been punched right in the nuts. You know, if I had them.

She let me snap a few more pictures, then didn't notice when I said goodbye and left. See how her frog on her cubby just says Ava? That's because she's the only Ava in her class!!! I guess Ava didn't get super duper popular until she was about two, so we might be safe. After spending my entire life as Jennifer Z, to set me apart from the five other Jennifers in every single classroom, I put a LOT of consideration into naming her. Ava was number 54 on the social security's popularity list for 2004, when I was looking for her name in mid 2005. By 2010, I think it was either three or four. Makes me want to BARF!!!

On a different tangent, see how she's sitting across from someone named Evan? (I feel like I should block his last name, but I don't want to, so just don't look at it.) Well, back before I had kids, when I was stupid, I thought it would be fun to have boy-girl twins, and I wanted to name them Ava and Evan. Wouldn't that have been cute?!?!

What? So cute it makes you want to barf? Well who asked you?

Anyway. That's our story. Our first day of kindergarten. Now I need to work on getting her into a school in Hawaii, apparently it's a little bit of a struggle. And then we can take more picture in January and pretend we're doing the whole thing over again!!!

Weirdness

2011-09-05T17:32:00.000+10:00

Ya'll. You are not going to BELIEVE the thoughts that ran thru my head today. I barely believe them, and it was MY head they were floating thru!! Brace yourself. So. I was driving down our little hill today, and from our neighborhood, you can see the harbor, waaaay out on the horizon. It's far, but it IS breathtaking, I will give that to the Crappiest Base Housing Neighborhood in the History of Ever. The water here is nothing short of stunning, there's no other way to describe it.

So, I'm driving down my hill, looking out at that endless water, heading to the beach, which is less than five minutes away and, quite frankly, the best beach on the entire planet, and, completely out of the blue, something in my little head says "Huh. I'm really gonna miss this."

Slam on the brakes. Deep cleansing breaths. SAY WHAT?!?!

Then I thought it again!!! "Seriously, don't you think? I'm going to actually miss this. We're TOTALLY surrounded by this BREATHTAKING water, you know? I mean, hello! You decided at nine forty five that you wanted to go to the beach, and you'll be sitting in a lawn chair with your four kids by ten after ten. Who else on this entire planet can say that?"

Get out of my head you freaking traitor!! We hate it here!!!

"We don't hate it HERE. We hate your husband's lame ass job on the Worst Boat in the History of Ever. What's so bad about Guam?"

Are you kidding? What's NOT so bad about Guam?!?!

"Well, the beach, for starters. The sunsets. The endless summer. The great friends. The beach. The endless summers. The Best Preschool in the History of Ever. The beach. The weather. The endless tan. The beach. The fact that you NEVER once had to worry about it dropping below seventy five."

Shut up, I hate you. Leave me alone.

"Seriously. You're about to move to Hawaii, do you know if there are any beaches nearby? Can you park nine feet from the water? Is the water ALL shallow, and perfectly clear?"

It's Hawaii!!! Don't you watch tv? It's gorgeous there!!!

"I'm just saying. You've got a good thing going here. Don't be so quick to turn your back on this and tell everyone how much you hated it here."

Huh. I guess you're right.

"Of course I'm right. I'm you. And you're ALWAYS right."

That's a good point, Present Jenn. You're so clever.

So there you have it. To my complete and total surprise, I realized that I don't hate it here. And, in The Worse Boat in the History of Ever's SLIGHT defense, we weren't as stupid as I make us out to be sometimes. I mean, duh, we knew being a department head on a fast attack was going to suck balls, we weren't born yesterday. We just didn't think that they'd tell us they were going out for six weeks and then keep them out for five months. I'm just looking for a little honesty, you know? Don't lie to a woman, just tell her the truth!! I would have MUCH preferred to hear "Yes, we'll be keeping them out for an entire deployment. And we'll keep them dark for most of that, so don't expect any email." Then I would have adjusted my plans accordingly and gone about my day.

BUT, that's not the point. I'm not trying to rag on the boat anymore, I'm just telling ya'll that the weirdest thing happened to me today. So there you go.

PS We stayed at the beach for five hours. All five of us are burnt, and exhausted, and giddy, and salty and sandy even though we've all had two showers. I just love Gab Gab Beach!!!

Friday Photo Dump (but on Saturday)

2011-09-03T10:10:00.000+10:00

Let me start this post by saying that while the boys were on the computer facetiming with Nick a few minutes ago, they took my sd card out of the little slot, took it outside, and stuck it down the storm drain. I have NO way of getting it back, and there's a picture on there that somehow got botched in pse and now it's formatted wrong or something and I can't open it anywhere and fix it. So, I'm out a hundred dollar sd card (we got a super awesome one when I got my first new camera) and I hate my kids.

When I say that I am done with this underway (deployment, I don't care what you say) I am deadly serious. If this next one (less than TWO WEEKS after they get home from being gone FIVE MONTHS!!) does not get cancelled or delayed, I'm going to burn someone's house down. Not sure who yet, but I'll figure it out, trust me.

In other news, I hate my new camera. I should have splurged on the D90 because I'm just going to end up buying it later anyway, then I'll be out the money for this pos D5000 anyway. I can't get it to focus EVER and I think it just takes crappy pictures in general. Stupid bubbles!!! AND I ordered an AWESOME lens on August 4th. I paid forty dollars for express 'international' shipping (using a priority mail flat rate box to ship to Guam is the SAME PRICE as shipping to your next door neighbor people!!) and I am STILL WAITING. The company refunded twenty dollars of those shipping fees. So, for twenty dollars, I'm still waiting, twenty nine days later (it shipped on Aug 5th!) when for eleven dollars, I could have had it in seven days priority. I cannot STAND it when companies claim to ship here, then fuck everything up!!! Just say you're an asshole and you don't ship to Guam and go on about your business. I mean, don't you LEARN things in business school?!?! I don't get it!!!

I am SO frustrated. I hate the weekends in general, and this is a three day weekend, and Ava's done with preschool so she's been hanging out with me since Wednesday, and Scott didn't put SHOES on before school yesterday, so he couldn't even stay. I feel like I'm in an episode of Seinfeld or something!!! Except it's not funny!!

And Nick is in port so he can call, but I'm so pissed about this next underway (that is COMPLETELY not his fault!!) that every time I see him or talk to him on the phone, I either start yelling or crying. It's awful!! I've done nothing but eat Nilla Wafers and cheezeits for the past four days, it's horrifying. I honestly don't know if I can take another (fill in the blank with how much longer I have, which isn't THAT long, but feels IMPOSSIBLE.)

So, that's my story. I hate everyone and everything. I'm about five minutes away from shipping Scott off to one of those military training schools. He used to be my favorite, but today, I can barely stand to look at him, I am THAT pissed about the camera card. Not to mention Ava starts school on Wednesday and I can't take a single picture without the card, but I can't go to the store with my kids to get a new one!!! AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

Here's the pictures.

The other day at the beach with Laura and her kiddos...

I hate this camera.

Laura caught a huge crab. Gross!!

Scott, before he became The Child Who Was Shunned. Don't let that smile fool you, Scott SUCKS!!

Is he exercising? Your guess is as good as mine...

He sucks too, I'm sure it was his idea to put the card in the drain...

She's the only sweet one.

Have I mentioned how much I hate this camera? What the hell is it trying to focus on?!?!

What could have been a sweet, amazing shot...ruined by the Crappiest Camera on the Block.

Along with everything and everyone, I hate laundry. I do laundry every. Single. Day. I used to do it once a week, when I had my big machine, and before Daisy. Now, I do it every day. You'd think there'd be less per load, doing it every day, but there's not. There's this much, every single day. Plus sheets, towels, and blankets.

Here is a perfect example of why I hate this camera. Everything is washed out, grainy, and unfocused. Every single thing. I hate it!!

I can only use actions to make it sepia ish so often people!!! I can't have an entire album full of sepia ish photos!!

Daisy June met Daisy June the other day. She LOVES her!! She thinks she's GORGEOUS. She spends hours, literally HOURS, looking at herself in the mirror. Hours.

So that's my story. Welcome to the suckiest weekend in the history of ever. I'm either going to go sob in the shower, or scream at the boys and beat their butts. Haven't decided yet.

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-08-31T07:05:00.000+10:00

Down a pound. Don't ask me how. I have no idea what it is that I do all day, but I whatever it is, it's not 'work out' and I literally cannot find time to do it! The only time I could squeeze it in is after the kids go to bed at eight, and one night I did that and then I couldn't sleep until after one. So that's not really a viable option. And please don't you dare suggest I get up earlier and do it in the mornings. I'm already getting up at five thirty!! Maybe once Nick gets home and can take care of the Morning Nightmare, but until then, I need every second of sleep I can steal.

The awesome news is that, according to my progress reports, I haven't gained since June 29th. I've stayed the same on three separate occasions (gag me) but I haven't actually gained in two months! So that's sort of cool. And, with this pound, I met my fifteen pound mini goal. That I set for myself to meet by August 3rd when the boat was supposed to get back, but WHATEVER, right?

My new mini goal is ten more pounds before I get on that plane to Hawaii. I was going to say another fifteen, but with yet ANOTHER underway in there, plus Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think ten is a little more manageable. You know? That will put me at thirty pounds. Thirty one actually, with thirteen left to goal. Ugh. BUT that will also put me closer to Daisy's birthday, and I don't know about ya'll, but there seems to be the tiniest bit of magic going on as they approach that twelve month mark, the weight seems to melt off a little easier for those few weeks. So I think it's semi manageable. Although I will say that since I delivered Scott, I've never lost those last five pounds, you know?

Anyway. That's my update. One down this week, twenty one down total, and I lost that fifteen I wanted to lose while they were gone. Can I help it if they stayed gone too long? That's not the same as cheating!!

In other news, I don't really understand how I can be TWENTY ONE pounds lighter (bear in mind that my two year old weighs only twenty FOUR pounds!!!) and still be holding my breath to zip up my jeans. Do my ears look skinnier? Is my head more slender? Where EXACTLY were those twenty one pounds hanging out? Ugh.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-08-29T08:38:00.000+10:00

Well, last week wasn't good eatin at the Engelbrecht house. We ordered a pizza twice, had leftover pizza twice, had cereal twice, and ate McDonalds once. Not good. I had a menu planned, I just didn't feel like cooking. Ever. Which was weird, because I usually enjoy cooking. It had a lot to do with the fact that my kids were climbing the walls for some reason, and like an idiot, I snapped that 'if you do that one more time, you're not watching TV for FIVE DAYS!!!' And then they did it again. So I had no choice but to follow through. Gag me. Why don't I threaten 'if you do that one more time I'm going to lock you in my room with endless hours of mind numbing Noggin so that I can lay on the couch and read in peace!!" That's my new plan.

So. The countdown is on. I can't say when, but we should have a daddy in less than a month!! For a few weeks anyway. BUT I'm trying not to focus on the fact that it's going to only be a few short weeks and focus instead on the fact that at least he'll be here for a little while. I just wish they could figure out a way for the subs to have phones and internet so we could skype every other day like everyone else in the military. I mean, sure, that would totally negate the whole 'ohh, let's be a big secret so no one knows where we are' and all that, but still. Wouldn't it be fun to talk to Nick every once in a while? Or at the VERY least, get an email more than once every ten days? I'm just saying.

Sometime next week, we'll make our paper chain for when Nick is coming home. I have to wait because I don't think the kids can handle TOO many paper links, but I want them to have something to look forward to. I did it when my mama was coming and they seemed to really like it.

So, I just have to keep my head above water for the next few weeks. Certainly I can do that. I mean, it's already been four months, what's a few more weeks?

Don't answer that.

So here's my plan. Gotta take it one day at a time. Pick up the house, brush the kids' teeth. Drive them to school. Work out. Pick up. Go get them. Pick up. Make dinner. Pick up. Bathe them. Yuck. Put them in bed. Pick up. Read. Go to bed. Repeat. So maybe that's taking it one hour a time. Even better.

Monday: fish and rice

Tuesday: meatballs. Scott's request. Don't let that fool you, it's not like I'm rolling out homemade meatballs and marinara from scratch. I buy a bag of frozen turkey meatballs, stick them in the crockpot, cover them with two jars of Newman's Own, and go on about my day. The kids can't get enough, and I like it because, duh, it's the easiest meal on the entire planet. Sometimes we don't even make noodles! But we will on Tuesday because they have soccer and they'll want a second dinner when we get home.

Wednesday: rotisserie chicken. And probably more rice.

Thursday: leftovers (Read: McDonalds after soccer.)

Friday: rice balls. Anyone want the recipe? It sounds gross (balls?) but they're very good. Rice, ground beef or turkey, sauce...very good.

Saturday: something from the freezer, probably either PW chicken spaghetti or PW chicken pot pie. I have an entire freezer full of PW.

Sunday: unsure. I used try to do crockpots on Sundays because of Bible study, but we don't have it, so I might try something else. Who knows. From here, Sunday seems like an eternity away.

So, I'm sure you've noticed everyone around the internet telling you to watch Soul Surfer because it's SO GOOD. Well, I just want to put my two cents in. First, I cannot STAND it when people say 'two sense.' Does that even MAKE sense? It's CENTS!!! Second: WATCH SOUL SURFER. IT IS SO GOOD. And if you're sitting there and you start to think 'no way could she surf like that with one arm' try and stop yourself because the actual Bethany is the stunt surfer for the actress playing her in the movie.

Yes, you heard that correctly.

In other news, we will not be frequenting the beach when we get to Hawaii in one hundred and twenty one days. That girl was just laying around on her board chatting with her bestie and a shark swam up and bit her arm right off. Seriously. No thankyou.

Also, if you have not started reading Game of Thrones, I don't think we can be friends anymore. Robin talked me into it, and I've read sixteen hundred pages in the last three weeks. Umm, that's a LOT of pages, even for me. I can't even put my finger on what it is that is so amazing about these books. I just LOVE them. I read all day on Saturday. I'm not exaggerating. I read. All. Day. Long. And last night, I just couldn't put it down, so I stayed up past two. ME!!! I finished the second one and read the first few pages of number three. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm done with number five, because apparently it took him six years between five and six. That seems a little excessive. Then again, what to I know, right?

I dont' love this cover because to me, that is NOT Ned Stark. Ned Stark is WAY hotter. And more awesome. At least until they lopped his head off.

So, if you are interested, I'll try to tell you what it's about. It's about this pretend country, and all these people who want to be king. Except that's not what it's about. It's about the Stark family, and how awesome they are, and how everyone else is totally badass or evil. It's about a nine year old girl who's taking people's heads off (sort of) left and right because she wants to get home and she's willing to do whatever it takes to get there. It's about a fourteen year old girl who wants to win back her honor (and her family's claim to the throne) and she's almost as badass as the nine year old. Who's brother is one of the kings the fourteen year old will have to kill, by the way. And then, my favorite parts, it's about all these strange things that are happening on the other side of the Wall they built to separate their pretend country from The End of the Earth. It's sort of creepy since he's only fourteen or fifteen nowadays, but I'm pretty sure Jon Snow is my soul mate. Aside from Nick and Professor Snape of course. When I'm reading, I just pretend he's older.

That's not very helpful, I know. It's just really hard to explain. And I can't even tell you to grab the book and read a few pages and you'll be hooked because in the beginning, it's VERY intimidating. We're talking DOZENS of major characters, unknown geography that's central to the plot, confusing words and made up animals (at least, I think so, what the heck is a capon? Is that a real thing?) and some unsavory rapes and brutal sex scenes. But. Once you get into the thick of it, you won't be able to put it down. Like I said, sixteen HUNDRED pages. In three weeks. Yes, it is THAT good.

In fact, I need to go read a few hundred pages right now.

Yada Yada Prayers

2011-08-27T14:23:00.000+10:00

I have seventeen things on my to-do list today. Which might not be a lot for normal people, but it's a WAY lot for this gal. And I'm not in the mood to do ANYTHING. The girl from two doors down is over, so all my bigs are entertained, and the baby is sleeping off her five am wakeup, so I have free time. And I don't want to spend it 'unloading dishwasher' or 'putting away clothes' or 'clearing counter.' So I grabbed my pen and squeezed 'put up blog post' way at the top of the list. Ha! Take that, ambition! I outsmarted myself. Now I can sit on the computer wasting time AND check something off my list!!! I'm so clever it's scary.

This totally craptastic weather can't keep us away from the beach. Take that Guam!

Unfortunately, now that I'm here, I can't think of anything clever and witty to say. Sorry guys. Oh, I do want to say (this was actually part of the post that I had to delete for fear of hate crimes being committed on me for speaking my mind about the state of things...) that I REALLY big super appreciate all the prayers. So I'll try to think of what I said earlier...

I'm sure that ya'll remember when I asked for prayers. It was right after we found out that this was going to be extended to a five month underway, but before we found out that after they finally get back from the five month underway, they're going to turn back around and go back out for another month, bringing the grand total to six and a half months before they're back for good. How many times can YOU put the word 'back' in one sentence?

When I learned this, I asked ya'll to pray for me. Then I asked my mama's Sunday school class to pray for me. Then I asked my pastor and his wife to pray for me, and then I said heck, why not get the entire team involved and I filled in the form on the bulletin at church for the prayer team to pray for me. Then I asked strangers I met at the commissary to pray for me. I could go on and on and on. And on.

And apparently, every single one of you did it. How do I know this? Well, I'll tell you.

When the guys were gone for five short weeks last November, I sort of had a breakdown. Like, seriously. I considered walking in to mental health and asking them if they could get DCS involved to take my kids while I tried to find some sort of inpatient care. I don't know what my problem was, but I wasn't handling ANYTHING very well. Like, unable to perform activities of daily living. For you non nurses, that's things like EAT BREAKFAST and BRUSH TEETH and COMB HAIR. They're the basic things you have to be able to get through, to be a member of this society. So when I say it was bad, I'm not having a pity party or trying to make you giggle. IT WAS BAD.

And this time, they've been gone for four months already. And I'm TOTALLY FINE. Yes, I'm overwhelmed. Yes, I cry almost every day. My house is a wreck, we eat either cereal or pizza most nights of the week. We watch WAY too much tv. Two of my four kids are actually crying and carrying on like a bunch of fools at this very minute. But I feel...at peace. I really, truly do. There is not a doubt in my mind that I will survive this. I am calm (on the inside) and just...at peace. I don't know how else to describe it.

And it's the kind of peace where you just KNOW it's from God. There's just no other explanation. So thankyou. From the bottom of my heart. I would be on the fifth floor (in fact, I would have been there a long time ago!) if it wasn't for all ya'll. BUT DON'T STOP!!! I have a hundred and twenty three days left on this rock (but who's counting) and then an eight hour flight with those stinky kids to get to another remote island without my mama for at least a year. So keep 'em coming ya'll!!

This is the baby that Nick left.

And this is the big girl he's coming home to. Except she'll be even bigger because we've got more than another month left.

Yes, he did see her for three days at the end of April and three days at the end of May. THOSE DAYS DON'T COUNT. He still had to work. If anything, those days made everything that much harder. I can't speak for other Boat Wives, but I, for one, would rather they slept on the boat when they're in port for anything less than three weeks. I'm just saying. It confuses the kids and makes it THAT much harder when they leave again.

I guess she actually sort of looks the same. Those pictures are deceiving. She is COMPLETELY different. I mean, hello, she's SITTING UP in that picture. She 'talks,' she eats solids, she rolls over, she army crawls...she's a totally different person nowadays. PRAISE THE LORD. I don't think it will come as a shock if I tell ya'll that I am not the Number One Fan of the helpless baby stages. In fact, it's safe to say that I HATE the helpless baby stages. Give me an eight month old and I am GOOD TO GO.

Hello. I have a personality. I don't just suck the life out of your soul while giving you absolutely nothing in return, like one of those sucky two month olds.

We're having the tiniest snaggle in our schedule here lately. Daisy June still has the sweetest disposition on the entire planet, and she could care not one iota less when her schedule is disrupted. It's me who freaks out. She's slightly more cranky than normal if she skips a nap, but it's nothing to write home about. Me, on the other hand? I am a total wreck. With everyone else, I've used that 2-3-4 schedule and it's been practically flawless. Wake up, play for two hours, sleep. Wake up, play for three hours, sleep. Wake up, play for four, sleep through the night. But with taking the kids to preschool, that middle three hours of play gets stretched to between four and five, giving us a LATE afternoon nap (usually three to five or four to six) and then she does NOT want to go to bed when I'm ready for bed. Which is sort of a bummer. BUT we're pushing through. I still hardly ever leave the house, so her morning nap usually goes off without a hitch. I have to get groceries on Thursdays, and if I need regular Wal Mart stuff, I try to do that on Monday mornings, after her nap and before I get the bigs.

Now that I type it all out, it sounds perfect. So what's the snaggle? I don't really know, but there's something that's not right, trust me. It doesn't help that she fights her naps now. JUST LIKE WARREN. And I went off the deep end when Warren did it! I'm trying to keep calm and carry on. Or, as Pinterest says, keep calm and carry a wand. Or, keep calm and marry Ron. I could go on and on. And on. So I stick her in bed and she screams for a while, then what? Do I count from when I put her in there, or when she finally fell asleep? If I count from when she fell asleep, sometimes that will make for a three hours PLUS nap. If I count from when I put her in there, sometimes she'll only actually get forty five minutes of sleep. It sucks! I guess the only solution is going to come when she finally stops the fight, right? If she's still crying herself to sleep by the end of next week, I'm going to have to find a new plan. Gag.

Update: I put the big kids down (doesn't that sound like I took them to the vet and had them euthanized? I did not do that. I put them in bed for naps) and was rocking Junebug and she was flipping over and clawing my shirt and acting a fool, so I stuck her in bed. Twenty minutes ago. And haven't heard a peep from her. Today puts us at five days of crying it out during naps, so I'm going to count it as a tentative victory. Five days seems like a lot for me though...

So, guess who can army crawl all the way into the playroom (or kitchen, or bathroom, or any bedroom...) and get whatever toy she wants, then bring it back to the rug and gum it till it's a wet sloppy mess? I'll give you a hint.

It's this girl. And the boys HATE picking up a train and discovering that it's soaking wet. It REALLY grosses them out. Hopefully the take home lesson from this will be PUT AWAY YOUR TOYS. I have a feeling they won't get it though.

In other news, I went to the kindergarten peek in the other day, met Ava's teacher and got to show her her classroom. It was AWFUL. I cried. And cried and cried and cried. It wasn't AS bad as I thought it would be. There's still lots of toys, and a mat for circle time. She'll be at a table, not a desk. Her teacher seemed all right, but my friend had her last year and the teacher told her her kid needed to be on meds. If she tells me that about Ava, I'll cut her face. You mark my words.

Now I'm wading through the guilt of The Bus Ride. I want (NEED) Ava to ride the bus. I don't want to deal with that carpool line, and I don't want to have to either drop the boys off at the butt crack of dawn, then hurry back down to drop off Ava, or drop her off first and then get the boys to school after classtime has started- I want them to get to play on the playground for a while before they get stuck in their chairs all morning. So, I want her to ride on the very first day, or else I'm afraid that she'll never want to ride. She's VERY excited, and even though I warned her, she says she won't be upset that a lot of other mamas will be in the classrooms with their kids on that first day.

How can I NOT be there on the first day? If Nick were here, I'd stick her on the bus, then race down to the school and still meet her in the classroom. But he's not, so I'm stuck with the boys and the baby, and there's just no way for me to go into the classroom even if I decided NOT to put her on the bus. I'm scared to death that someone is going to tell her she's dumb, or ugly, or mean, or too skinny, or too fat, or any one of a million bajillion insults. Or tell her that she needs to watch shows that I'll NEVER let her watch. Or teach her swear words, even though she sort of already knows them all.

She's my baby. And I've been babying her, so she's actually quite immature, and sweet and innocent. And I don't want some raggedy, sassy, skimpily dressed future star of 16 and Pregnant to make her feel like that's not okay. You know?

Great. Now I'm sick to my stomach about it. I better close this out and go order my homeschool supplies.

Keep praying. Please and thankyou.

PS Fifty bonus points to anyone who gets my title reference!

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-08-24T10:28:00.000+10:00

Down one point five! Hooray! I sort of thought I'd be down a full two, but whatever. I am also claiming a Non Scale Victory because when I put on some pants the other day, I could button them up without wanting to kill myself, so double hooray! I'm still not able to get into the Biggest Clothes I Thought I'd Ever Have to Buy from after I had Warren, but whatevs, I'm getting there. Inch by painful inch.

If you're wondering why I haven't been blogging lately, it's because I am SUPER pissed about that stupid godforsaken boat, and I'm afraid once I get going, I'll say something that will get either me or Nick in trouble. Not legal trouble, I would NEVER say something that would put the guys in danger, but personal life trouble. After twenty nine years of voicing my opinions to anyone and everyone and having to pay the (unfair and completely inappropriate) consequences, I've decided (at long last) to just keep my opinions to myself and just nod my head an smile like a good little sheep when important people are around.

But. If you are interested in my rants, leave a comment, maybe I'll write up a private post for Super Awesome Gals of Blogworld.

Weight Check Wednesday

2011-08-17T10:11:00.000+10:00

Down half a pound. This is REALLY starting to piss me off!!! I have over twenty five pounds left to lose!! Well, twenty five point five, but 'over twenty five' sounds more dramatic. And you know how I love drama. I wanted two pounds a week. When I saw that probably wasn't going to happen, I made peace with a pound a week, figuring by Daisy's first birthday, I would have done it. But half a pound?!?!?! That'll be ANOTHER year, meaning she'll be eighteen months!!! That's not fair!!! Those stupid bags of Halloween candy I ate last year should have had some sort of disclaimer on them. Warning: If you eat this bag, plus four more, it will take you eighteen months to lose the weight. And then, as Angela pointed out (thanks a lot loser) it's not like once I FINALLY reach goal, anything awesome and magical will happen. I'll still have to eat properly and exercise, or else I'll just pack on the pounds again.

And ladies? A world where I can't eat oreos and cold pizza for lunch isn't really a world I want to live in. You know?

All that being said, I didn't track more than three bites this week. I did drink a lot of water, and I guess I can thank that little fact for the barely-there loss I did experience. Wed and Thur were great, I worked out and tracked, even though I wasn't eating that well. Then I got sick, and just sort of laid around all weekend and Mon and Tues. Not a great way to lose I guess. But it's a new day, and a new week, and I'm going to track every single morsel that crosses my lips.

Ooh, want to see something? At first, I was too ashamed of my ultimate nerdiness to show this, but then I figured, hey, I'm not the one who invented it, so there is at LEAST one other person out there as nerdy as me. And if there's one, maybe there's a few more. And so I decided to share. This is a water checklist. Because I am OBSESSED with checklists. I make checklists for EVERYTHING. I just LOVE to check things off. Take out the trash. Empty the dishwasher. Shave legs. I'm addicted. That feeling you get, when you cross something off? I think it gets me high.

Ready?

If you want to be nerdy (and healthy!!) with me, follow this link. I scaled it down in PSE and printed four to a page, so I could have an entire month on one sheet. But they're pretty little that way.

I have also downloaded the Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. Which brings me to a question for any fit people out there. Usually, back in the day, when I would 'lift' I would be sore the next day. Like, unable to sit on the toilet without someone to help lower me down, unable to raise my arms to wash my hair, that sort of thing. But that rarely happens anymore!!! I 'lift' to the point of exhaustion, I literally CANNOT preform another rep, but after a few hours, I'm sort of fine. So, does that still count? Am I still toning my muscles? When all this fat finally melts away, will I unveil nice long, lean muscles? Because if not...I might be throwing in the towel. Fat people can be happy too.

Menu Plan Monday (And A Recipe)

2011-08-15T19:17:00.000+10:00

First the recipe. Now, this was FABULOUS. I would never post a recipe that was nasty, or totally sucked. Trust me. Here it is right quick.

CROCK POT BURRITOS

From: http://tried-and-truecookingwithheidi.blogspot.com/2009/09/crock-pot-burritos.html

Ingredients:

-1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained

-1 envelope taco seasoning

-2 cans refried beans

-1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce

-3/4 cup water

-Flour tortilla

-toppings of choice (lettuce, cheese, sour cream,

salsa, black olives)

Directions:

Mix first 5 ingredients in a greased crock pot. Cover and cook on low 6-10 hours. Place in flour tortillas with your choice of toppings; roll up, and enjoy.

Now. I started with half of a chuck roast. I can never find the butcher here, so I just buy straight off the shelves, and they're always like six pounds. So I cut them in half and eat one and freeze the other. So I had about two and a half pounds of chuck roast and I stuck that in the crockpot with the tomato sauce and taco packet and water. I think I could have put the beans in right then too, but I wanted to make sure I could shred the meat, so I waited. I cooked it on low for about six hours, then shredded all that beefy goodness and added the beans. The kids ate theirs plain, I had lettuce and sour cream, and LOTS of franks. It's a little bland and could use some oomph, but my kids are sissies and won't eat ANYTHING remotely spicy, so we'll be sticking to the original recipe here.

I can't vouch for how it tastes with ground beef. When I get Mexican, I like to order it with shredded beef ALWAYS, so I didn't even want to try it with ground beef instead. BORING. But this version, with shredded beef? Well, it was so good that I needed more for lunch today, and since Scott ate the entire pack of tortillas, I heated it up and just ate the filling straight out of the bowl. Mmmmm.

And for our very simple, unimaginative menu this week (Mama's tired) here you go.

Monday: fish and rice. I'm 'cooking' this as we speak. Frozen tilapia filets in the broiler, basic white rice in the rice cooker, broccoli steaming on the stove. This meal took me all of five minutes to 'cook.'

Tuesday: rotisserie chicken and rice, either leftover from tonight or I'll throw some more in the cooker. Have I written an ode to my rice cooker yet? I should. If you don't already have one, GET ONE.

Wednesday: leftover (cereal, or maybe if there's any chicken leftover, but I doubt they'll eat it if there is. They're such snobs.)

Thursday: breakfast (I'm doing these super cute hashbrown egg nests thingies, I was supposed to do them last week but something came up...)

Friday: five spice pork kabobs. I WILL be back to post this recipe, we made it when my mom was here and it was FANTASTIC. And some more rice. Sigh. I'm going to be fat forever with all these carbs.

Saturday: lemon chicken

Sunday: I froze some taco soup last time I made it, so I'll reheat that in the crockpot for after Bible study.

What are ya'll eating this week? If you need some inspiration, head on over here for tons of FREE ideas!