A day late

Happy Belated Birthday Cindy! I did sing to you on your voicemail yesterday, but I wanted to post a Happy Birthday post to you. Cindy turned 24 yesterday, I can't believe how old we are all getting. When we were kids all of my friends thought that she was a grown up trapped in a kids body. Now we think she is a kid trapped in a grown ups body. LOL

I love you Cindy and I hope you had a wonderful Birthday!

When it rains it pours!

As many of you know Todd lost his decent paying job and so I am now desperately looking for work. I finally got an interview on Friday, but on Thursday (last week) I bent over to pick up a toy and threw my back out. I had to scream for Todd to come help me. He basically had to carry me to bed. I went to the interview on Friday, on some pretty heavy medication, needless to say I did not hear back.
I have been in the most excruciating pain I have ever had. This is worse than broken tailbones, surgeries or even childbirth. It hurts to lay down it hurts to sit, hurts to stand and hurts to walk. It was finally letting up last Monday, then I reached for a diet coke, and again had to scream for Todd to help straighten me up and get me into bed.
So I have been trying to nurse my back back into working order, and trying to find work. Freaking out about how I am going to find work let alone work with my back this way, and how is my back going to get better if I can't see a doctor because I don't have money to pay for that let alone any of our other bills!

Anyone wanna buy a boat?

Apple Heaven

Don't these look scrumpsious?!


Todd made the best apple pie!


Jamie dried some apples in her fancy food dehydrator.


I dried 3 times as many apples in Russ's homemade food dehydrator.

Then I made some yummy Apple Jelly. Here's how:

First wash the apples


Then cut them in quarters


Juice them (Russ has a juicer so I just used his, if you don't have a juicer then put the quarters in a large pot, add ten cups water and cook them. Once cooked strain the juice through cheesecloth. I used Sure Jell pectin so I needed 7 cups of juice)
I put the apple quarters in the juicer, filled it halfway then sprinkled on some apple pie spice filled it the rest of the way and sprinkled on some more spices. I thought this would give an extra yummy to the jelly.



I didn't take pictures of the next step because I had to do it quickly and according to the directions "exact."
I sent Todd to the store for the pectin and asked him to get the no sugar one, needless to say he got the one that you have to use sugar. But hey, he found the pectin. So whatever type of pectin you get just follow the directions exactly as they say.

Here is the finished product.




Note* If you don't have a generous uncle with an apple orchard I think it would be more cost effective to make the jelly out of apple juice you buy at the store.

A is for Apple

Last year Michael and Todd went with Grandma and Grandpa out to Karls apple orchard to pick apples. He grows the most delicious gala and fuji apples I have ever had! I thought that would be fun for us to do again this year so we got permission from Karl, who so kindly let us come and pick some apples. Thanks Karl


We tried to teach them to twist then pull to preserve the twigg for next years crop.


They weren't really interested in picking apples, but they loved running up and down the row of trees!


Look at all the apples we got! On the way home we thought of all the things we would make with them.

Cousins

Michael absolutely loves having his cousin Genesee here with us! They have had so much fun together. Here are some pictures of the fun things they have been up to.

Michael and Genesee somehow got Grandpa to jump on the tramp with them, or as Michael would say "Grandpa fump."


Every year the neighbors sell discount pumpkins in their driveway. So we walked over and bought some pumpkins to carve. Michael loves their dog Bandit.

They love playing together in the backyard. Todd rigged up a wagon to the back of Michaels truck so that he could pull her instead of run over her.

This is my favorite, laying on my bed, watching a movie, settling down for the night.

Thankful Thursday. . . a little early

I am having a really rough day so I am making a thankful list a couple days early in hopes that I will feel better about life.

1. I am thankful for our health
2. I am thankful for vacuum cleaners
3. I am thankful for comfortable clothes
4. I am thankful for DVD players and DVDs like Finding Nemo
5. I am thankful for indoor plumbing

Wow that took me 20 minutes to come up with that list!

Economic Crisis. . . Who is at fault?

Wow am I ticked off right now! I just finished watching the VP debate and then started thinking about the "economic crisis." The GREED of the wealthy is so aggravating!

As lower middle class Americans, my husband and I have struggled with our credit for as long as we have been married. Due to periods of unemployment we were unable to pay some medical bills and cell phone bills, which then went to collections. Thus accruing more fines and debt and delinquencies reporting to our credit reports. I must also add that money mismanagement in early adulthood also aided in lowering our credit scores to below 600.

We have experienced first hand how having poor credit leaves you prey to predatory lenders. When you have poor credit the only auto loans you can get are at extremely high interest rates. The only credit cards you can get have large fees and high interest rates attached to them. Now days many employers look at your credit reports before hiring you.

When trying to fix your credit score the only advice you can find is pay your bills on time and pay off your collections. How does one do this if they can't find a job because they have poor credit?

Like most Americans it has been our dream to have our own home. To pay a mortgage on a property that would be ours rather than pay rent to a wealthy landlord. Two years ago we looked for a mortgage through Countrywide. We received one offer from a bank with incredibly ridiculous terms, high interest, and balloon payments. Thank God that my husband talked with his boss about this and she advised against this. We were thinking of going through with it because we really wanted a house of our own, a yard for our son to play in, and a garden to grow vegetables.

In the debate tonight the question was asked in regards to the economic crisis "Who do you think was at fault? . . . Was it the greedy lenders? Was it the risky home-buyers who shouldn't have been buying a home in the first place? And what should you be doing about it?"

HMMMM!!! let me think about that. The risky home-buyers who shouldn't have been buying a home in the first place! OH PLEASE! It was the greed of the filthy rich!!!

OH that urks me! Extremely greedy lenders took advantage of people with poor credit. They probably used the term "less than perfect credit" to lure them in. These "risky home-buyers" wanted to live the American Dream. A bank was willing to lend to them. Sure there was a balloon payment or it was an interest only payment plan. (WHO THE HELL CAME UP WITH THAT?) Of course they went for it. Mortgage brokers were probably telling them that this was their chance. They could agree to these terms now and in a little while they could refinance to a conventional fixed rate, or they probably pumped them up on how they could make money on this, in a year they could sell that house for tens of thousands more than they were getting it for that day.

So the greed of the lenders, the greed of the sales people, and the failure to regulate lending practices lead to this crisis!

And now they hope to pass a $700 billion bailout bill. Since government is considering stepping in and it will be my tax dollars that go to pay for this I demand that they consider helping the "risky home-buyer" get out of the grasp of the predatory greedy lenders, by getting them out of interest only loans, or crazy balloon payments, and into conventional loans.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I can't believe a week has come and gone already. I am especially filled with gratitude today.

1. I am thankful for my mom and Russ and the support that they have given us. My mom is an extremely caring person who worries about her kids non-stop and would do anything to help us.

2. I am thankful to live in this great country! Even though it has its problems it is still the "Land of Opportunity"

3. I am thankful that Todd did well at his interview and was offered the position at Coinstar.

4. I am thankful for hard times because they really make me appreciate the good times.

5. I am thankful for Karl's apple orchard. His Organic Fuji apples are so delicious!

While I was on the phone with my dad

The other day I called my dad and just as the phone was ringing Michael picked up the other phone and started talking. I couldn't hear my dad and he couldn't hear me over Michaels blabbering. Finally he quieted down and let us talk. Just as I was about to get off the phone I found out why he was suddenly quiet. He walked out of Sara's room looking like this.




The kid loves lotion! For some reason he thinks it is conditioner.

WISHFUL WEDNESDAY

I have a dream board or vision board and on it I have a lot of long term dreams or goals. I look at it everyday and go over what my dreams are. I started the dream board in January and since then about half of them have happened.

I thought it would be fun to do a Wishful Wednesday to focus me on some short term goals and to let you all know what some of my dreams are.

My three wishes this week are. . .

1. I wish that Todd does well at his interview with CoinStar and that he gets hired right away.

2. I wish that ESD123 will call and tell me that they want to hire me to be a Prevention/Intervention Specialist.

3. I wish Michael would easily go to sleep at naptime and bedtime.

Poopy in the potty!!!!

So Michael has been going "pee pee in the potty" for a few weeks now. He has yet to poop in the potty, fortunately for me it is usually right after nap that he goes (since he wears a pull-up to bed and nap) Lately he has gotten creative in finding excuses as to why it should not be his bedtime. He has often used that he needs a drink or has to go pee pee. How did he learn this already?! He is only 2! But because I really want to encourage this whole potty training thing I let him get up and go potty. Half the time he doesn't do anything but sit there and flush the toilet.

Tonight as I was tucking him in he farted and immediately his eyes lit up he smiled and said "poop potty" I took him to the bathroom where he sat. I was so sure he was actually going to poop.
Turns out it was just his newest way of delaying bedtime.

-777 Thank God it wasn't -666

For the past couple of weeks I have been glued to the tv flipping channels from MSNBC to CNBC to CNN. This last weekend most of America was sitting on the edge of their seats to see what would happen with the "bailout bill" House Republicans and House Democrats were assuring us that the bill would pass. Many folks on "main street" upset about this. Them Monday the bill was rejected. Stocks plunged!

There was a sense of fear and panic. Then today something interesting happened the Dow gained 485 points. All kinds of speculation as to why such a rebound. I heard many reporters saying it is because there is still hope that a bailout will happen when the house reconvenes on Thursday.

My personal opinion, and I say this somewhat jokingly, is that there was such a rebound today because the number of points the Dow fell 777. Isn't that Heavens number? I can only imagine what would have happened today had the Dow fell 666 points!

Watch out Chris you have some RC driver competition!

Michael loves to do whatever daddy is doing, lately Todd has been into his RC cars. Here is a little clip of Michael in action.

Thankful Thursday

I decided that I am going to start doing a "Thankful Thursday" spot. Every Thursday I will list 5 things I am thankful for. Here goes;

1. The listening ears of good friends
2. Uplifting music (thanks Cindy)
3. People that come and go throughout life
4. Blogs (I have learned so much about people through the things they blog)
5. The ability to make a difference in my world

Insane in the Membrain

"Most of the economists agree that the problems we are witnessing today developed over a long period of time,'' Bush said, citing an influx of money into American banks that enabled Americans to get easy credit - some getting home loans, some new business loans. "Unfortunately, there were also some negative consequences,'' he said, citing "easy credit'' that led to "excesses'' and "bad mortgage decisions... Many borrowers took out larger mortgages than they could afford.
"Eventually the number of new houses exceeded the number of people willing to buy them... Borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages... were stuck with homes worth less than expected, along with mortgages they could not afford... These defaults had effects well beyond the housing market.''

I have heard that insanity can be defined as doing the same thing again and again expecting different results.

I find it insane that President Bush recognizes that the economic crisis we are facing was caused by the fact that credit was extended to people with far less than perfect credit histories on properties that were valued at far greater amounts than they should have been. And now he proposed that the United States Government do the same thing.
The national debt is at $9,794,167,845,969.82, seems to me that creditors need to put a halt on this consumers credit.

I miss Grandma Woffinden

Yesterday was the longest saddest Sunday I have had in a very long time. The day just seemed to drag on and on. When it was finally 6pm all I could think of is how I wished I was at Grandma Woffindens house.Every Sunday all of her kids and grandkids would come to her house and she would always have hot rolls or some tasty treat that she made and we would play games and visit.

She was truly an amazing woman. She had so much love to give. I was a step-granddaughter, but she never made me feel like I was anything less than her own granddaughter. I learned so many things from her, quilting, crocheting, baking, I really wish that I would have learned how to make her bread. It was so yummy! She had a baking day once or twice a month. She would get up extremely early and start the bread dough. Then spend the rest of the morning baking loaves of bread and tons of rolls. She would freeze some for herself and then she always gave our family some bread. It was the absolute best bread, especially toasted then topped with some strawberry jam!

In the summertime she would sit out on the drive in her lawn swing watching her little tv and crocheting. Her hands were never idle. A neighbor lady would come and sit with her and the two of them would brag about their grandsons. It was so funny because Grandma would tell me what Elaine had said about her grandson and Grandma would tell me how much better Aaron was. LOL Aaron was the apple of her eye. It was so cute how proud she was of him.

I am so grateful to that woman. She really helped me through the roughest time of my life. I love her and miss her terribly.

The Dow Jones up 400+ today

So, I have never paid much attention to the stock market or the economy in general. When I heard talk about foreclosures being at record highs I just thought it was a good opportunity for real estate investors. Then Monday September 15, 2008 happened. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, Merril Lynch sold to Bank of America and AIG was on its way out. I was actually in a state of panic, reading reports and blogs and trying to find out everything that I could about what was happening. In my mind I pictured another great depression and saw us growing food in the front yard and wearing worn out boots. I was really hoping AIG would be able to pull $85 billion out of the air. I am so glad the government stepped in.
Then Wednesday the Dow fell another 450 points, I was actually watching the stock market channel most of the day, and tears streamed down my cheek when I saw it drop below 10600 not that we have any money in the stock market. But as you may know neither Todd nor myself are currently employed and if the economy falls, I don't see us being able to find work.
President Clinton was on the stock market channel and gave an excellent explanation as to why the government needed to "bailout" AIG.
Today the Dow gained 400 point and I felt a huge sense of relief. Though who knows what will happen, homes are still going into foreclosure.
So family. . . what is our plan? I want to make sure that if we experience the "grapes of wrath" that we lean on each other.

What am I getting so worried about? I need to just calm down and take it "one day at a time"

Gratitude

So I was talking with Cindy today and she reminded me about gratitude. I decided I would make a small list of what I am grateful for.

Of course first on my list is my wonderful husband and beautiful child
I am grateful for my family. . . extended
I am grateful that I have shelter and a comfortable bed to sleep in
I am grateful that I have food to feed my son
I am grateful for the hot shower that I get everyday, we had our hot water heater go out for a couple days this past winter and it was pure hell
I am grateful for the abilities I have
I am grateful for Michaels smiles, and giggles and his dance moves
Today I am very grateful that I am not a CEO of a large bank


Denis Waitley:

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

Some video of the RC's

This is the first attempt to add video to our blog. So, as in Chris' blog, I chose to use the RC video that we had made at the Bleazard Family Reunion.
Noelle recorded this one....



Chris recorded this one....

This was taken after nap. . . I just didn't get it posted that day like I said I would. OOPS

A year ago.....

Look at this kid! This was taken a year ago when we went to the waterplay park at Kennewick Library. I cannot believe how much he has grown! I put this up because Cindy called today to ask how to add a picture to her blog and I needed to add one in order to walk her through it but all I have on the computer is old pics. So later I will go out and get the camera and take a picture of Michael when he wakes up from his nap and then you all can see how he has grown.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I don't have any photos to share, but I wanted to wish my dad a very Happy Birthday!

Wow! Has it really been that long?

Whoah! Five months already! Lets see. . . here are my excuses. . . I have been busy with school, and mothering, and looking for a job, trying to loose weight, trying to get organized. Yeah, lame excuses, I know. Well, Todd, Michael and I were in Utah at the end of March, my mom and Russ were there too. When they go to Utah they usually have a night where all of their kids and grandkids come to their hotel, eat go swimming play games and hang out. Anyways on this particular night I promised Susan (Chris's very talented wife) (check out the link to her blog) I would update my blog at least once a month. So here goes. . .

As I was laying in bed trying to ignore the incredibly loud snore coming from my husband I started thinking about all of these things I could blog about, but since those were thoughts of a sleep deprived woman, I am going to narrow it down.

As many of you know. . . not that I wanted anyone to know (because of the expectations that I thought all of you would have and the judgements that I thought you would place on me for not meeting those expectations) In September of 2007 I had Lapband Surgery and, since you know, I thought I would go ahead and update you all on my success and my struggles. I am hoping that there will be great success and few struggles.

When I went in for surgery I weighed 299, one pound more than I weighed just before Michael was born. Right after he was born I weighed in at 275. I thought with breast feeding and dieting I was going to really loose weight. HA! Anyhow, after surgery when I went for my first follow up I had lost 11 pounds. I couldn't beleive it! It had only been 3 or 4 weeks, I had felt like I hadn't had to work at it at all! I was so happy I cried. With lapband for the first week I could eat only liquids then move on to puree and no more than half a cup. Before the surgery I didn't think this was possible to eat half a cup and feel full. It was amazing. After about a month and a half I was able to eat regular foods, minus a few things that get caught and make me vomit or choke.

At 3 months I was cleared to really start working out, not just walking anymore. At that time I had signed up for classes at CBC and was taking fitness lab. I worked out 4 times a week for an hour. One day this girl tells me she had been working out for a week and had lost 8 pounds. WOW that got me excited thinking I had this advantage and was going to loose at least 8 pounds. AT this time my weight loss to date was 32 pounds. After two weeks of working out I stood on the scale, excited about the number I was about to see. . . 272. . . What the $#&@! I had gained 4 pounds! I was so angry the next week I worked out only doing cardio.

Muscle weighs more than fat. . . right?

I got over my anger and I thought I had figured out the work out schedule that would work for me. An hour of just cardio one day and the next and half hour on the circuit followed by a half hour of cardio. My goal was to get down to 250 by the end of the quarter. That didn't work out. I am sitting at 262. Since I am not in school this quarter and because Todd wants to loose 40 pounds before the reunion, we joined the court club. I have started doing Club Max (circuit) and H2O Cardio.

Before surgery they do a lot of "prep work" they have presentations and classes that you have to go to. At these classes they said that typical results are to loose 50-75% of the excess weight in 2 years. That the first 2 years have the best results. So I would guess that I am right on track. This isn't an easy weight loss solution. But it is working. . . slowly but surely.

Because of this 2 years being most important to concentrate on loosing the weight they recommend not getting pregnant. So in case anyone wonders when Todd and I will be trying to have a baby that will be in September of 2009. Which if we are lucking right off the bat we'll have another June baby and Michael will be almost 4.

Well there is a blog, I am still a woman of my word. lol I will update you on my success as it continues.

Oh, best thing so far my knees don't hurt anymore and I can walk up the stairs like a normal person. Hoping to be able to walk down them normally soon.