Playdates, Homework and Exercise

The highlight of my weekend was successfully dropping my three and a half year old daughter off at her friends house for a playdate. When I picked her up, she didn't want to leave as she only gets to see this friend every two weeks. And now that I think about it, I forgot to schedule the next playdate. I'll have to send her mom a facebook message and set it up.

Speaking of setting it up, when they began being called 'playdates' is beyond me. We didn't make dates to play with our friends when I was a kid. We just showed up, knocked on the door and asked if so-and-so could come out and play. Our parents were just glad we weren't in the house and we knew that when it started to get dark, or our friends were called in for dinner, it was time to go home. And sometimes we called home and said we were eating dinner two blocks away and we would be home afterward.

After we picked my daughter up from her playdate, we tried to get my son to finish up the homework he had leftover from last week. He's got a cold though. With a congested head, cough, sore throat and wheezing because of his asthma. He gets sicker than most kids when he gets a cold because he just can't breathe. This does not help him get his homework done. Every few minutes he's hacking and getting up to toss a tissue. So, we struggle, but we get some of it done and fix some that was not done right. Poor kid has a head full of snot and just can't think.

Exercise is what had to come next. I have been working out every day for the past few days and it feels really good. I've got to continue the momentum or I'll lose it. So, I don my tennis shoes, my exercise pants, my t-shirt and get to working out. Today I chose a dance video I streamed from Netflix via my Wii. Super cool and if you haven't tried it, you really must give it a shot!

I've been watching what I'm eating and exercising every day for only a few days, but I have GOT to get rid of these last few pounds I've been hanging onto for a couple years now. I plateaued quite a while ago and I just have to grab a parachute, sprint toward the cliff and go for it!

So, here goes nothing. A comfortable weight for me is about 15 pounds lighter than I am now. It's not a lot, but it's the end of a very long road as I've already lost 80 pounds. So, by the time I'm done, I will have lost almost 100. Whew, that sure sounds like a lot, but it took me almost 2 years to lose the 80. And I've been hanging onto the last 15 for the past two years.

And now for the drum roll. I have signed myself up for something totally crazy. It is called Warrior Dash and I will be competing with a bunch of other totally nutty people (some are friends that I convinced to do it with me). We will all get t-shirts, viking helmets, and a free beer upon completion of the course. You'll have to check it out. It's just totally insane. And I am totally excited! Something to light a fire under my ass and get me in shape by July. Exactly the kind of motivation I need! I'm locked into participating now, so I have to get fit or I'll make even more of a fool of myself than I would otherwise. You'll see what I mean when you read the description.

As a matter of fact, I think I'll have to dedicate another blog post just to the Warrior Dash. I'll put that on my list for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment. It's nice to know if people are out there!

Jess

Missing Teenager!

****UPDATE 1/21/11**** Janelle has been found and is home safe!

***Updated to add that there is now a Facebook page with more information***

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Missing-Janelle-Marie-Luzier/165702270142788

This photo is of my friends 14 year old daughter.

She has been missing since the morning of 01/19/11 from Roseburg, Oregon.

Her name is Janelle Luzier. She is 5'5" has blonde hair, hazel eyes, weighs about 115 lbs.

She was last seen wearing a maroon skirt, with her black wool pea coat (seen in the photo) and black ballerina type shoes.

Anyone who sees her please contact her mom, Tiera @ 541-672-8901 or the Roseburg police 541-492-6760.

She is 14 years old, a freshman in high school and was reportedly last seen at the mall at about 1:30 in the afternoon on Thursday 1/19.

Her mother has not seen her since she left for

school Thursday morning.

Feel free to pass along!

Resolutions Revisited

And now here we are again a year after I wrote of my resolutions for 2010. What were those resolutions? Well, I won't make you search through my blog all the way back to January of 2010. I will make it easy on you instead and just post them here for you to read.

1. Keep up with my writing
2. Continue exercising to make my final weight goal
3. Get back into art - painting, sketching, photography, etc
4. Be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind

Let's visit them in a linear fashion by addressing number one first, shall we!

I haven't kept up with my writing to the degree I hoped I would, but I did do a little more writing than I did in 2009. First of all, I began journaling again - a private journal that is. Something I did none of in '09. I did not, however post more to my blog in '10 (29 posts) than I did in '09 (30 posts). Maybe this year I will beat that out of the water. We shall see at the end of the year if I've been able to increase my blog writing. I have indeed increased my writing on facebook since this year I opened a facebook page for my Zazzle store.

As for resolution number two, I did exercise in twenty-ten. I did not keep up with it as much as I should have, but I did start running; only to stop two months after starting. Sigh. So, I have started back up with walking again for this year. I did not make it to my weight goal. I still have about fifteen pounds to go but hey, last year at this time, I had twenty pounds to go. Yea me! I lost a whole five pounds in twelve months! Now I'm rolling my eyes at myself. I do have an exercise t-shirt that I wear while exercising that I got from my Zazzle store. I bought the orange one. I think I'd like to get a ringer one next time. This year, I will certainly be doing more exercise. I have signed up to do an event called the Warrior Dash. Now I have to exercise so I don't look like a total fool while I'm competing!

Resolution number three was to do more art. This one I can definitely say I have accomplished. Not only have I begun drawing a lot more, but I've started learning how to use PhotoShop and a couple of other graphic programs as well. And I have been playing my flute, learning to read music again, helping my ten year old son learn to play the piano and even learning some piano myself. You can teach an old dog new tricks! I have been taking more photographs, and even started painting. I will keep pushing to do more art, but now I don't quite feel the same pressure.

My fourth resolution was "Be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind". I did have a bit of a bump this year in my peace of mind but I reached out to my friends, family and community and feel that I have been able to ultimately accomplish this resolution. The love of my life has been such a support to me. Without her by my side, it would have been harder for me to keep my peace of mind.

Something else that contributed to my peace of mind was falling head over heels in love with Steph, buying a camping trailer with her, heading off to the Caribbean where I asked her to marry me and hearing her say "Yes." We have now been together for fifteen months and I have to say it has been the happiest fifteen months of my entire life. I can't wait until the day we get to stand in front of our friends and family on our wedding day.

One thing I did not add to my resolution list was to travel more. I accomplished this one without resolving to do so. I just knew I would. Steph and I had already planned a week long trip through California and Nevada by the time I had written my resolution list last year. By the time we got back, we were planning our next trip which was a week long cruise in the Caribbean in the end of October and beginning of November. Before we went on our cruise, we took a weekend trip to Eastern Washington for a concert where we began talking about buying a trailer together. The next month, we had the trailer and went on a couple of camping trips with it. The month after that, we went on a white water rafting trip and then it was time for our cruise. All of these trips were fabulous and we are now talking about another trip soon. This one will just be a little three day extended weekend but we are both very excited about it as it will encompass our favorite ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror and we still sometimes yell out "Tower, tower, tower!!!" just to remind each other that we can't wait to go back. And I'll have to get this Tower of Terror shirt just to wear on the ride!

See you next year - and we'll see if I've finally got to my goal weight. I better, I'm getting married!

Jessica In Seattle

"

Simple Minds

I think of myself as an intelligent person but there are certainly times when I know I have a simple mind.

For instance, while reading all the little things my friends have "liked" on facebook and laughing so hard tears come to my eyes.

I also like reading things that just make perfect sense....and sometime I laugh at those and sometimes I shake my head because they are so incredibly obvious. I still like them because logical things make me feel complete! That, and I can relate to many of them!

Here is a list of some of my personal favorites:

1. Dear teacher, I talk no matter where I am. Moving my seat will not help. (I was that child. Wait, I am still that child)
2. Texting someone to tell them you are outside their house instead of knocking. (Yes, I have done this)
3. I want a person who comes into my life by accident, but stays on purpose. (I've been lucky enough to have this.)
4. Brunette: "Look, it's a dead bird!" Blonde looks up into the sky: "Where? (I'm a redhead)
5. I don't care how many friends we have in common...if I don't know you, I'm not adding you! (unless you are a Zazzler)
6. BESTFRIENDS: They know how weird you are and they still choose to be seen with you in public. (I love mine)
7. If you need a drug test to get a job, you should need a drug test to get welfare!
8. Don't make a girl fall for you if you have no intention of catching her. (I caught mine. Or she caught me...not sure which)
9. Just because you can fit in a bikini does not mean you should wear one. (guilty as charged)
10. The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have. (hooray, I'm happy)
11. If you are talking behind my back, you are in a good position to kiss my ass. (pucker up)
12. If you don't treat her right, don't be upset when someone else does. (which is why I do my best to treat her right)
13. Sometimes your knight in shining armour is just an idiot in tin foil.
14. How come Mario can smash through bricks, but dies when he touches a turtle!!??
15. I will carry 20 grocery bags so I don't have to make a second trip. (yes, I do this)
16. You are such a good cook, even the smoke alarm is cheering you on! (oh, to be able to say this never happened to me)
17. Teenager: "Mom I'm going out." Mom: "With friends?" Teenager: "No, Mom, with Pikachu!"
18. Your skinny jeans have no desire to be your stretchy jeans!
19. I wish I could Google anything. I'd Google "Where is my iPod" and it would say "Under the couch". (if only)
20. Any fool can paint a picture, but it takes a wise man to be able to sell it. (Zazzle anyone)

Some of them made you laugh, didn't they! I know; they made me laugh too, and for various reasons...again, some because I could relate to them and some because they were just funny to imagine. Now if only I had a whole selection of funny quotes on in my Zazzle store. Well, since I don't, you are welcome to peruse the funny quotes that do exist on Zazzle HERE!

Happy browsing and don't forget to laugh!

All In A Name

I have a rather unique middle name. Especially for someone of my gender. And, I rather like my middle name as it matches my roots (Irish/Scot) and my enjoyment of being different than everyone else in some way. Even if it's a small way...I still get to be one in a million. Or, possibly more than that. Which is quite different from my first name wherein I am one of probably several billion.

Shaw. That's it. Nope, it's not my surname; it is my middle name. I actually went by my middle name for about two years as a teen, but only to a select group of friends. And one friend knew me by both Jessi and Shaw so she called me Shawsi, but she was the only one to ever call me that to this day. No matter how unique that one is, I don't want that nickname to make a comeback. Funny thing is I can't for the life of me recall her name now. Hmm. Now I feel just a twinge of guilt.

Anyway, I periodically check to see if my middle name has hit the charts yet and as of yet, it still has not. As a surname, sure; but not as a first name for either a girl or a boy...but especially not for a girl. As a matter of fact, several websites will tell you that Shaw has never once appeared on the list of top 1,000 names in the US.

Footloose. There has to be maaaaybe 25 people on the planet who haven't seen Footloose (purely judged by the six degrees of Kevin Bacon) and they all live in a remote village deep in the Amazon (for those of you who slept through Geography, this is the jungle not the dot com).

I'll bet you that I am the only person you know who would get this little bit of trivia correct (before the publishing of this article, anyway). The question: "What is the name of Ariel's father in Footloose?" The answer: "Shaw. Or rather, Reverend Shaw Moore if you want to get totally technical." The only character I've ever known who's first name was Shaw. Go ahead. Google it. Try to prove me wrong.

Hey, if you can, I'll be happy to hear it!

And if you are named Shaw, I'll be happy to hear that as well.

Until next time,

JessicaInSeattle