Are you Smarter than the Average 5th Grader?

I just watched the first episode of this new game show. Hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, my husband and I were curious enough to give it a try. It was kinda fun, but also dissapointing. The first player didn't answer a single question by himself, and questions that were fairly easy, seemed quite a challenge to him. Yet he was a successful individual.

Makes you wonder how much we learned as a child was just a major waste of time that could have been spent elsewhere.

Goal Setting

I have recently been reminded by my somewhat absent-minded self how I used to get important things done. This may seem strange for some people, but I have a whole bunch of really cool dreams I would love to have come about in my life. The only draw back is doing the work to get them here. My dreams are precious to me, and I want them so much, the more that I read and learn and grow the greater they become. But, as we all know, our life is determined by the minutes we spend. If they are not spent well. . .nothing great will happen. Discipline is doing what you should do right this second vs. what you wanna do.

So how do I get off my lazy butt and go to work? I heard a saying once that if the dream was big enough, and you wanted it enough, you would do something about it. I believe this is true. . .so does that mean my dreams aren't big enough? No. I know they are plenty big. It is just taking that dream and making it real to me NOW that I have a hard time with. So long as it is in my future, I can look at it, admire it, and say "someday."

After doing this for awhile, I began to get sick of myself. I had a roommate who did that. Dreamed constantly, and in excruciating detail. That wasn't the problem. I loved her dreams, and I am thankful to her for showing me how. The part that frustrated me was that she never did anything to get them. I would watch door after door open to her, and she would ignore them and keep on dreaming. She had a book shelf full of books she dreamed of reading, and never cracked the bindings.

So in my search to actually begin doing something about my dreams, I have rediscovered Baby Steps. I use little things that I want as a reward for doing those small things that will bring me closer to my long term goals. I can only play my games after I have cleaned the house, and a couple other things that need to be done, and I only play while Danny is asleep. I have actually gotten things done! It is awesome!

Lately, Scott and I have been wanting a Wii, so we decided to use it as an incentive to get a somewhat larger goal accomplished. While in the long run, the goal will be so much more valuable, having the Wii as a reward definately gives a drive to do it NOW!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

I just love Chocolate Covered Strawberries. I was first introduced to this delicacy by BJ, my best friend's mom. She stopped in at Cummings while we were in the mall one day, and bought us all one. MMMM just thinking about it gives me joy.

Money is a little tight this month, and I was in charge of valentines day, so I went to the store and splurged a little on some lasagna (cheaper than going out.) I saw some fresh strawberries and had a brilliant idea. I had chocolate chips at home, I could just make my own!

I threw the chocolate chips into a pot, and proceeded to melt them down. The problem was that they didn't stay liquidy, it kinda got thick and unmanageable. I knew any strawberry I dipped in there would be smashed before it got covered in goodness. So I added some butter. Then, it seemed to need something else, so I added some sugar. Still too thick. Then I added some vanilla, which seemed to do the trick. The only problem was that the sugar wasn't melting like it was supposed to, so now I had granulated melted chocolate. I knew I should have used powdered sugar. After dipping the strawberries in this concoction, I stuck them in the fridge and hoped for the best.

My sister-in-law came by and dropped off a fudge cake for us, which was to die for. We ended up eating that for dessert and decided to save the strawberries for later. . . .

Yesterday as I was cleaning the house, I thought . . .maybe I should try a little one. It was so yummy that I grabbed a second. I kept thinking that I would only eat the little ones as the day went on. By the time Scott came home there were only 4 strawberries left. . . the big ones.

I don't feel as guilty as I usually would. . .mostly because strawberries are good for you, and chocolate has antioxidants. I just felt bad that there were so few left for my hunny.

Just a note about tax time.

The biggest frustration about having many different kinds of employment within a year, aside from fluctuations in your paycheck, is making sure you have gathered all of the W-2 forms from your various employers. We are only down to two more! Yeah!

Dirt!?!?

It is the middle of winter. There is snow everywhere. Our shoes only track in melting ice. Despite this, my son found dirt. Not only did he find it, he turned it into mud by putting it in his mouth. . . spreading it on his clothes, and wiping it on the floor. My back was only turned for a moment!

The dirt was on Scott's combat boots that he had taken Paintballing back last July! Give it up for my baby who can find the one thing I didn't think of to check on. Needless to say, I dropped everything, rinsed out his mouth, put him in a bath, and shoved the shoes in the sink.