Thursday Thunks

1. Do you like waffles? Yes

2. Name 3 things that is within your reach right now, excluding anything to do with your computer/laptop. My hot tea, a picture of my daughter and a container of gum

3. Do you hang laundry out on a line outside? No, it isn't allowed in my neighborhood.

4. Loss of vision, ability to speak or hearing - which do you choose? (you have to choose one....) I guess loss of vision since my vision is so bad already.

5. On a scale from 1 - 10, how are your computer skills? 8

6. Do you volunteer or donate to anything around the holidays? We donate. I don't really have time to volunteer, heck I'm trying to find time to clean my house.

7. If a person receives a DUI while in government office, should he lose his/her position? Yes, if they aren't responsible they should not be there. I would wait until they were found guilty of DUI though. I do feel it's important to stick with the whole innocent until proven guilty deal in situations like that.

8. Do you take vitamins? When I remember

9. Do you wear fingernail polish? Sometimes, but not that often. Although I do have a lot of fingernail polish.

10. If every flower in the world only grew into one color, which color would you want? Purple. I love purple.

Thursday Thunks

1. Today is the biggest day in your chosen career. You have THE job interview. Everything must be spot on. As you are getting dressed, you realize Oops!, you forgot to do laundry. You have NO clean underwear. What do you do? Go commando, wear yesterday's dirty undies, wear them inside out, buy new ones on the way to the interview or just say screw it and go back to bed? Go commando.

2. If you took a fully cooked turkey and a ripe watermelon and dropped them from 50 ft up, which would make a bigger splat and mess? I would think the watermelon

3. An ex lover, friend, or spouse is in a serious accident, they have lost their current memory and think you 2 are still together. S/he keeps calling for you from their hospital bed. The family calls begging you to come visit until s/he regains current memory. Do you go? I highly doubt it. These is a reason they are an ex.

4. You have the opportunity to meet your favorite famous person. You have heard the person isn't nice in real life. Do you go ahead and meet them or choose to keep your fantasy of them real to you? Why or Why not? I say keep the fantasy real. I don't deal well with nasty people so if I met them it would probably end badly. It's best to just avoid situations like that if at all possible.

5. Do you like lemons? Do you use them to clean with or just as a food source? I'm not very big on lemons. Lemonade iced tea is about the extent of my lemon usage.

6. If chosen to be in a horror/suspense movie, would you do it? If so, would you be willing to be the first person killed in the movie? I always thought it would be cool to play a dead body on one of those shows like CSI. So yeah, I would be willing to be the first person killed in the movie.

7. It's raining. It's cold. You cannot leave the house. How do you spend the day? Curl up in front of the fireplace with a good book.

To see more answers to these crazy questions, head over to Thursday Thunks

Wednesday Weirdness

1. What are you thankful for this year? My family, both my husband and I having jobs,

2. Since some of our participants are not in the US, what do you think about Thanksgiving? I'm in the US and I love Thanksgiving. I think it's a great start to the holiday season.

3. What is your favorite part of the holiday/ your least favorite. Spending time with family.

4. Mashed Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes? Mashed potatoes, definitely.

5. Do you own eating pants? Describe. Sorry, no.

6. What is your favorite thing to do with the Thanksgiving leftovers? Eat them. Ok, turkey sandwiches are good. By the time we're done with the turkey I'm sure we'll be sick of it though.

7. Who are you most looking forward to seeing? Least? I would like to plead the 5th on this questions. I don't know which of my familiy members will read this and I don't want to start any drama.

8. Do you go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving? I did for several years, but I'm not sure if I will this year or not. Now that I have a baby it takes a lot more to motivate me to get out there and shop on Black Friday.

To see other answers to these questions, head over to Wednesday Weirdness.

Thuirsday Thunks

1. Do you like potatoes? Yes What kind? Baked, french fries, mashed potatoes
Edited to add - Knish. How could I have forgotten knish? Talk about yummy potato goodness.

2. If you were dressed up in a fish costume and you went underwater and a shark saw you, what would you do? If I'm underwater in a fish costume I'm probably already drowning because I am a horrible swimmer. Plus I wouldn't even see the shark because I don't open my eyes when I'm underwater. So I guess I would be completely oblivious until the shark came up and bit me.

3. Does Jello make you happy? I'm told that when I was a child jello made me hyper so it was forbidden. Now it cane make me smile depending on how its prepared. Jello shooters anyone?

4. If you could have any animal, exotic, extinct or other type, what would it be? A Monkey. Come on, you know it would be cool to have your own monkey. (Sorry I forgot to answer this one earlier)

5. Would you fill up a pool with pudding and jump in? That would be a waste of good pudding.

6. When you are feeling icky with the sickness feeling, what is your first choice for feel-better medicine? Hot tea

7. Do you count with your fingers or in your head when it comes to mathematical equations? Usually in my head, but I have been known to tap my fingers to help count on occasion.

8. Do you have any key chains on your keyring? Yes How many? 3 Actual key chains and 13 of those plastic store cards What kind? a plastic scooby, a metal scooby locket type and a brookstone purple led light

9. What do you dunk your french fries in? Heinz ketchup or nothing

10. When I say "Moo I'm a duck" do you think of a cow or a duck? Cow

11. If you had the chance, would you go to the very bottom of the ocean? No, I think I'd have a panic attack being under that much water. It would be interesting to see video of it though.

12. Would you rather be spiderman or batman? Spidergirl. Climbing walls would be so cool.

13. Would you rather be in a hurricane or a tornado? A tornado would be more interesting if I knew it wouldn't kill me

13 is bad luck... last question by me (Berleen)

14. Do you like pumpkin pie? It's ok Do you cheat and buy a premade one or do you make it from scratch? Last time I made it using canned pumpkin (not completely from scratch, but not premade either) Heck, do you even make pumpkin pie at all? Once

To see more responses to these crazy questions, head over to Thursday Thunks.

Wednesday Weirdness

1.) Have you ever taken your clothes off for money? No, can't say that I have.

2.) Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning Person

3.) Do you take any kind of medication daily or regularly? No. If so, what? I try to take a daily vitamin but forget to take it more often then not.

4.) Do you ever have naughty thoughts about any of your friends significant others? Nope

5.) What are your favorite comfort foods?

6.) Would you rather direct a porn or star in one? If I had to choose one it would be direct. I don't think my naked body needs to be filmed.

7.) Have you ever seen a "donkey show"? No, I hadn't even hear of them until I read this. Would you ever be interested in seeing one? No, that's a little too out there for me.

8.) On a scale of 1 to 10, how gullible of a person would you say you are? A 3 maybe. (I'm assuming 1 is the least gullible).

To check out more responses to these questions, check out Wednesday Weirdness.

Teaser Tuesday - For A Few Demons More

For Teaser Tuesday I am taking my excerpt from For A Few Demons More By Kim Harrison. These lines are from page 208.

"So he had gotten me hot and bothered. It wasn't hard to do when you know what buttons to push, and my demon bite was huge button, easy to hit and hard to miss."

For more Teaser Tuesday excerpts, head over to Should Be Reading.

Thanksgiving Journal Prompts

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just over a week away. To help celebrate I thought I would post some Thanksgiving related prompts.

• What family traditions are you looking forward to this Thanksgiving?
• What family traditions are you hoping to avoid this Thanksgiving?
• Are there any special family recipes that you use for Thanksgiving?
• Where is your family celebrating Thanksgiving?
• Who will be at your Thanksgiving feast this year? Are there any new additions? Anyone missing?
• What activities does your family participate in while they're waiting for dinner?
• Do you use the good china or the paper stuff?
• Who prepares the meal? Did you make any culinary contributions to the meal?
• Write out the menu and who prepared what.
• What was your favorite dish? Least favorite?
• Where does everyone sit for dinner?
• Were there any interesting conversations during dinner?
• Write about dessert.
• Who cleans up the mess?
• What activities did your family participate in after dinner?
• What was your favorite memory of this Thanksgiving?
• Compare the Thanksgivings of your childhood to the Thanksgivings of your adult life.
• What was different about Thanksgiving this year?

If you want to prepare yourself for Thanksgiving, you could always write out 100 Things You Are Thankful For. It's not as easy as you might think to come up with 100 different things.

Photo courtesy of MorgueFile

Thursday Thunks

1. Have you ever pooped in the woods? No, can't say that I have.

2. You are starving. You have not had anything to eat for days. In front of you is poison ivy, a live hissing cockroach, and a rotten stinky piece of some sort of mystery meat to eat. Which would you pick and why? The poison ivy. Hissing cockroaches are just nasty and the smell of stinky meat would make me sick. Thank goodness I'm not allergic to poison ivy.

3. Bottled or Tap water? Bottled usually, sometimes tap. It's more of a convenience factor.

4. Your dream job, what would it be and why? I'm not really sure and I've been trying to figure that out. My thoughts on that have changed over the years, but I do know I would much rather work for myself. Working for someone else has its benefits, but I don't feel like I'm cut out to do this forever.

5. Do you have any snow globes? Yes, Two of the PartyLite Christmas globes.

6. Do you like your bed? Yes If not, what kind of bed do you want? I really like my bed. My father made it for me from a design book I found a few years ago.

To check out other responses to these questions, head over to Thursday Thunks.

Wednesday Weirdness

1.) When was your last visit to an emergency room? Earlier this year, towards the end of winter. What happened? My daughter had a high fever.

2.) Who do you look more like: Mom, dad or another relative? My mom

3.) What sounds annoy you? Squeaky brakes, knuckle cracking, whiny people.

4.) What are three movies could you(or have you) watch(ed) over and over and still love? I really don't watch movies over and over. Heck, I don't have time to watch movies once anymore.

5.) Do you ever wish you were someone else? Nope. I don't see the point in wasting time on things like that. It's not going to happen so why make yourself miserable?

6.) What do you think of when you think of Paris? Crazy fashion

7.) What'​ s the last sport​ing event​ you watch​ed?​ I can't even remember. I'm really not into sports so I don't watch them as a rule.

8.) What do you think about sexual Role Playing? I think it's pretty cool.

To check out other answers to these questions, head over to Wednesday Weirdness.

Wordless Wednesday

For more Wordless Wednesday, head over to 5 Minutes For Mom.

Teaser Tuesday - Swallowing Darkness

This is the first time I'm actually participating in Teaser
Tuesday hosted by Should Be
Reading. Head over and check out the other posts to get an idea of what
other bloggers are reading.

My Teaser Tuesday comes from Swallowing
Darkness by Laurell K Hamilton this week. These sentences are from page
294.

"A shower of rose petals blew across us, like pink snow. I felt the man
shudder underneath my hands, and there was more pain, more blood, and another
nail fell into his half-open hand."

Thankful Thursday

This week is my first week trying out my new Thankful Thursday method. Every night before I go to bed, I write down 5 things I am thankful for that day. I try to keep it relevant to that day's events. It wouldn't be a very good exercise if I wrote the same things over and over again. So, here are the things I have been thankful for this week:

Thursday, October 30, 2008

1. The free razor I received in the mail today.
2. My older dog's ear is looking a lot better. Hopefully the staph infection is clearing up.
3. My husband cooking dinner for me.
4. NPR - My main source of news anymore.
5. Gas prices are dropping.

Friday, October 31, 2008

1. My daughter's first Halloween
2. Time with my family. They came over for family game night and to celebrate my brother's birthday, but we didn't get around to playing any games.
3. Getting off work 45 minutes early
4. Seeing all the kids in their Halloween costumes. I love seeing how everyone dresses up every year.
5. The deals I found on Halloween candy. Yeah for sales, coupons and rebates.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

1. Getting my errands run.
2. Getting more Christmas shopping done.
3. My husband only needed 4 stitches in his hand. I'm very thankful that the injury wasn't worse. People (like my father) have been known to cut fingers off with those razor knives.
4. Finding the Glade flameless candles free after coupon at the grocery store. I love these.
5. Free magazine subscriptions. We always have reading material around here now.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

1. The wood on our bay window has now all been replaced and the job was completed without any new injuries.
2. Getting my kitchen and pantry cleaned up.
3. Seeing the joy on my daughter's face when she crawls around after our dogs.
4. My digital camera. I love being able to take pictures of my daughter for my blog and to share with family and friends.
5. All the beautiful fall leaves adding color to nature. Fall is my second favorite season.

Monday, November 3, 2008

1. My husband picking our daughter up from daycare so that I was able to get home 45 minutes earlier then usual.
2. Reaching 100 posts on both of my blogs.
3. My elephant journal. It's just so much fun to write in.
4. Time to walk my dogs at night. They love it and the exercise is good for me.
5. Our stockpile of food and such. It helps us save money.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

1. The election is finally over.
2. Finding out Super Fresh has triple coupons this week.
3. Time to work on my blogs and get some posts scheduled
4. Being able to leave work an hour early to go vote.
5. The can of coup that was in my desk at work. Without it I wouldn't have had lunch today.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

1. Time with my daughter. She is such a sweetie. She brings joy to my life in ways I had never imagined possible.
2. Contentment. I don't know exactly why, but lately I find that I am content with my life in ways that surprise me. I think I will have to post more on this later.
3. Flex spending accounts at my husband's job. They save us tax money. Yeah!
4. The tour of Raven's Stadium I got to take today. It was so much fun and I loved seeing the different areas of the stadium.
5. My datebook. Without it I would be lost.

Thursday Thunks

The election is over... what do you think? I think I'm glad that's it over. The whole campaigning process just went on for way too long in my opinion.
Tell us about a snowman. I remember once when I was a child my brother and I went out to make a snowman. While we were working on it my mother came out and started on a snowwoman. I remember using a scarf as her top. Yup - that's a weird thing to remember.
What brand of ketchup do you buy? Heinz - it's the only real ketchup.
Do you use a cookbook? Sometimes as a guide. I seem to be unable to follow a recipe exactly. I love getting ideas for new dished from cookbooks, but what I make usually winds up being a pretty modified version of the original recipe.
Do you blow-dry your hair or let it air dry? Air dry. I don't even own a hair dryer.
When was the last time you were sick? About 2 weeks ago. My daughter brought home another cold from daycare. Ah, the joys of daycare.
What is the strangest letter of the alphabet? Q
Who was the last person you bought a present for? My brother What was it? Anti-Monkey Butt powder, Adidas Body Wash and an Express gift card Will you buy me one? Sorry, no.
Why are we ending at 9 questions? Because you wanted to keep it in the single digits.

To check out other people's answers to these questions, head over to Thursday Thunks.

Wordless Wednesday

Yes, she loves food that much.

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, head over to 5 Minutes For Mom.

Wednesday Weirdness

1. If you were in a situation where it was either starve to death or resort to cannibalism, would you resort to cannibalism to stay alive or let yourself starve? I belive I would starve. The whole idea of eating another person just completely grosses me out.

2. Do you know all of the words to the National Anthem and The Pledge of Allegiance? The first verse of the National Anthem and all the Pledge of Allegiance

3. Do you consider yourself a leader or a follower? Leader

4. What is your most favorite holiday? Christmas Why? Since I had my daughter I enjoy Christmas so much more. I look forward to experiencing all the excitement of Santa and the anticipation. I loved Christmas as a child and I hope that she feels the same way.

5. In what ways, if any, are you superstitious? I don't really consider myself superstitious, but I do believe in destiny and following your instincts.

6. If you had to pick a creature from the Mythical Creatures Guide to be your pet, which would you choose and why? The Sprite because of the fact that they are playful and can be obnoxious. It reminds me of someone I know.

To check out more answers to these crazy questions, head over to Wednesday Weirdness.

Talk About Tuesday - Halloween

This year was my daughter's first Halloween. So of course we had to dress her up in one of the adorable baby costumes. She was Daisy duck this year. The head of the costume was a bit top heavy for her so it didn't stay on long. In fact, this is the only decent shot I have of her with the head on. She did look adorable crawling around in her costume. She even did her first trick or treating visiting with a few of the neighbors we are friends with. It was a lot of fun for us.

Here she is in the blinky Halloween shirt I won on Coupon Cravings giveaway. Once again I had a hard time getting her to hold still long enough to get a good shot. She is so active she wants to get into everything.

We had a great Halloween. We gave out lots of candy and had fun watching our girl crawl around in her costume.

How was your Halloween? Do you have any pictures to share? Head over to The Lazy Organizer for links to see more Halloween pictures.

Journaling Inspiration

Where do you find inspiration for your journaling? I tend to find mine all over the place. You never really know what is going to catch my attention. Here are some places where I have found interesting topics to journal about:

• Newspapers / Magazines
• Television
• Conversations with Friends & Family
• Drama of people I know
• Overheard snippets of conversation when you're out in public
• Blogs
• Books
• Family stories
• Photos
• Emails

What inspires you? Leave me a comment letting me know where you find your inspiration. Is there a topic you would like to know more about?

Thankful Thursday

For next week's Thankful Thursday I plan on doing something a little different. Starting tonight I want to take a few minutes every night to write down 5 things I am thankful for that day. I would like for it to be something specific that relates to that particular day. Then, on Thursday morning I will post all of my thankful lists for the week. I strive to see the good in every day and I think that changing this exercise around like this will help me with that.

Here is my list of things that I am thankful for this week:

1. That we saw the nail in my tire and got it fixed before it left me and my daughter on the side of the road with a flat tire.
2. Having time to cuddle with my daughter in the mornings before I have to get ready for work.
3. My blog. I love being able to share things with whoever wants to read them.
4. The rebate checks I got in the mail this week. I love being able to buy stuff we can use and get my money back too.
5. My daughter feeding herself. It may be messy, but it allows me to eat at least some of my food before it gets cold.
6. Finally getting laundry put away. We had 5 baskets of clean laundry that needed to be put away. This week I finally got to that. I had actually forgotten just how crammed my closet is when all the clothes are away. I think it's time to go through them and donate some.
7. The cool blinky Halloween t-shirts I won from Coupon Cravings blog giveaway.
8. Dinner out Tuesday night. We used a gift certificate so we were able to eat out cheaply. The food was good and it was nice to not have to cook and clean up.
9. Noticing that the jars of fruit I bought for my daughter were a product of China before I opened them. I was able to return them to the store and get my money back. I'm just not comfortable giving my daughter food from China right now.
10. Halloween pictures of my daughter. This is her first Halloween so I had to get plenty of pictures of her in her costume. I'll try not to go too nuts with the camera Halloween night.
11. Free music from Starbucks. I love finding new artists that I enjoy. It's especially good when you can find them for free.

What are you thankful for this week?

Thursday Thunks

Welcome to this week's edition of Thursday Thunks. To check out other player's answers to these questions, click here.

Would you let your children go Trick or Treating at Michael Jackson's house? No way. I know they have that whole reasonable doubt thing going for them legally, but my daughter's safety is not something I am willing to take a chance on.

Did you eat paste and/or glue as a child? Not that I remember. I did always love the smell of paste though.

Look at the wall to your right, what is on it? A window. On the window sill is a poor jasmine plant that I keep forgetting to water. I really shouldn't be allowed to care for houseplants. It always ends badly.

Do you put butter and/or salt on your popcorn? Butter AND salt. I don't eat much popcorn though because I hate the way all the kernel shells get caught in your teeth. Drives me nuts.

What does your favorite coffee cup look like?

What was your favorite Halloween costume? Right now I'm having a hard time remembering my Halloween costumes. I guess the main one I'm remembering right now is when I was Daphne from Scooby Doo a few years ago. (You can probably guess from that answer and the mug above that I Scooby a wee bit)

Toilet Paper - hard, soft, extra soft? Soft. If it's too soft it just doesn't seem to be as effective and if it's hard well, it's just too hard.

Have you ever rescued/taken in a stray animal? I had a kitten that we found at work. She was with me for about 2 years. After she had kittens and I gave them away, she ran away. About a month ago we came and there was a puppy sitting around outside our house. He didn't have any tags or a collar. He started following me so I picked him up and carried him in to our house (much to the dismay of my husband and 2 dogs, but to the delight of my daughter). It was getting ready to storm and I couldn't just leave him out there. My husband did find his owners and he is back with his family. We do occasionally see him around the neighborhood.

Name 3 things you want your kids to learn before they grow up. (if you don't have kids, feel free to skip this one or add your own twist to the question) 1 - How to save money, 2 - How to be happy with yourself, 3 - How to be content with what you have (avoiding the whole keeping up with the Jones' thing)

Pick one of the Thursday Thunk players and say something about them. So far this week no one has posted a response. I'm scheduling this to post in the wee hours of the morning Thursday. So I will have to come back and edit this to provide an answer to this one.

Edit to Add: Kimber's house sounds like I expect my house to be in a few years.

Wednesday Weirdness

1.) As an adult, do you do anything for Halloween or is it jut another day? We always give out candy. I love seeing what all the kids dress up as every year. This year is also my daughter's first Halloween so I'm excited about that.

2.) Do you ever dress up for Halloween? What will be your costume this year? I dressed up for Halloween for many years, but last year and again this year, no costume.

3.) Have you started Christmas shopping yet? Of course When do you usually begin? I'm on the lookout for good gifts all year long. For me it's just easier that way.

4.) Do you look people in the eye when talking? Usually Does it bother you when people don't make eye contact during conversation? Depends on the situation. If they're driving I'd much rather they look at the road. If they're trying to sell me something then I expect them to look me in the eyes.

5.) What excuse do you usually use when you want to take a day off work for no real reason? With my job you don't need an excuse, you can just say you aren't coming in today.

6.) How often, on average, do you find yourself thinking about sex per day? Depends, most days I don't think about it at all and other days I think about it a lot.

7.) What company makes your favorite brand of shoes? Aerosole What makes them your favorite? They're comfortable and still look good without emptying my wallet.

8.) Do you ever save alcohol bottles once they are empty? No

9.) Do you enjoy musicals? Not particularly, but I don't hate them either.

To check out other responses to these questions, head over to Wednesday Weirdness.

Wordless Wednesday

Both dogs were given a bone in the morning. The other dog ate her's right away. He didn't want to eat his, but he didn't want to let the other dog have it either. So he carried it around with him all day. At bedtime I finally took it away from him because I didn't want them fighting over it during the night.

Family Feud Email Questions

I got this in my email earlier this week and figured I would share my answers here. These could be cute journal prompts. Get some responses from your friends and family and that might even get you writing.

LET'S PLAY FAMILY FEUD!!! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE MY ANSWERS!!!!!!
Forward to your friends and don't forget to send it back to me.
Remember, you can't use the same answer as the person who sent it to you.

1. Name something you use in the shower? Soap
2. Name something a football player wears under his uniform? Pads
3. Name something people hate to find on their windshield? Parking Ticket
4. Name something a man might buy before a date? Dental Floss
5. What is another word for blemish? Zit
6. Something you cook in the microwave? Veggies
7. Name a piece of furniture people need help moving? Sofa
8. Name a reason a younger man might like an older woman? Lots of $$
9. Name something a dog does that embarrasses its owner? Diarrhea on the neighbors sidewalk while they’re watching (yup, one of my dogs has done this to me)
10. Name a kind of test you cannot study for? DNA Test
11. Name something a boy scout gets a badge for? Camping
12. Name a phrase with the word home in it? Home is where the heart is
13. Name a sport where players lose teeth: Hockey
14. Name something a teacher can do to ruin a student's day? Go crazy with the red pen
15. What is a way you can tell someone has been crying? Snotty nose
16. Name a bird you wouldn't want to eat? Pigeon
17. Name something a person wears even if it has a hole in it. T-shirt
18. Name something that gets smaller the more you use it? Bank account

If you post anwers to these questions, please provide a link to them in the comments. You could even answer them in the comments if you like. Have fun!

Friday Meme Prompts

Today I was looking around for a good Friday Meme to participate in. I came across Friday Feast. I love the site, but unfortunately it hasn't been updated since July. Still, there are some great prompts on there if you're looking for some.

The Friday Feast site did lead me to Food For Thought Friday which looks interesting. I think I will try responding to some of her questions later today.

Thursday Thunks

What vegetable would you serve with a plate of fried grasshoppers? Well, I immediately take out all the green veggies because that would be too much green on the plate. Maybe corn. It would have to be something good because I wouldn't be eating the fried grasshoppers, just the veggies.

If you realize your house is on fire while you are using the bathroom, do you wipe or just run for the door? If it's #1, just run for the door (pull your pants up please), #2 I'd wipe, cuz well yuck!

Why is there a light in the fridge but not in the freezer? My freezer does have a light. Not that you can tell with all the food I have stuffed in there. My new dryer has a light too which I think is cool.

When thinking about yourself, what color do you see yourself as? Purple. Yup, I'm weird.

Why are people able to have unprotected sex with someone, but afraid to tell them if they have an STD? Yeah - If you can't trust them enough to tell them you have an STD then you really shouldn't be sleeping with them.

To see other answers to these crazy questions, check out this week's Thursday Thunks.

Wordless Wednesday

My daughter loves our dogs, but the dogs just aren't as fond of her attention.

To see more Wordless Wednesday posts, check out Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes For Mom.

Talk About Tuesday - Food and Exercise Journal

Since my daughter will soon be a year old, I am starting to really work on losing the baby weight. I have managed to avoid the issue up until now because I have been nursing. To help me track my progress I have started keeping a food and exercise journal. I picked a cute small journal with lined pages, but any journal or notebook would do. I have seen books made specifically for recording your food and exercise, but I wanted something that I could customize for myself.

On the first page of the notebook I keep a record of my weights. I weight myself every Monday morning and record the weight here. This way it is very easy to see my progress from week to week. On the last page of the book I have my fee and reward schedule. All of the in between pages are for my daily records.

Each day gets its own page and on it I record the times and descriptions whenever I eat something. It doesn’t matter how small. Even if I only ate 2 cheese curls, it needs to be recorded in the book. I even record my vitamins in here. I also keep records of the exercise I do. This includes walking the dogs, time on the treadmill and so forth. I know a lot of people wouldn’t consider walking the dogs exercise, but I power walk and the dogs enjoy going with me. For my exercise I record the time, duration and a description of what I did. At the very bottom of each page is my total for my rewards and/or fees for the day. This makes it easy for me to total them up at the end of the week for the payout.

The fee and reward schedule is something that I came up with to help motivate myself. I setup dollar amounts for achieving different goals. There are also charges for when I do certain things or don’t reach those goals. For example, I have to pay a fee if I hit the candy dish at work. There is always lots of good candy around my office and it is a weakness for me. If I can go all day without munching on the candy at the office I get a reward. At the end of the week I total up the rewards and fees. The fees are deducted from my reward money. The reward money gets transferred to a special savings account I have and the fees get transferred to my daughter’s savings account. I’m saving up my reward money so that when I reach my goal I can buy something nice for myself. Right now I’m thinking about a new ring, but that could change.

Do you have any tips and tricks that have helped you lose weight? I’m open for suggestions.

Also, check out The Lazy Organizer to see what other people are talking about.

Sunday Scribblings - My Style

My style really isn’t something that I have thought a lot about much lately. I think that as a mom it is all too easy to fall into that trap. I’m lucky in that I have a husband who encourages me to leave our daughter with him and spend some time on myself. Of course when I get that time where I don’t have to worry about her I typically start working on all the other things that need to be done and don’t spend the time on myself. I’m working on improving that, but it is hard to balance everything when you’re a parent.

When my daughter was first born I was happy to get a shower so style certainly didn’t play into my days. I wound up falling into what I would call the “mom style” of low maintenance everything. Now that my daughter is getting a little older I’m working on getting back my personal style. I’ve grown tired of having my makeup and jewelry sitting neglected on the vanity table. I miss dressing nicely and having my makeup done. I’ve come to realize that to be a good mom I have to be happy and take care of me too. It isn’t all about my daughter and her needs.

Now that I’ve started taking the time for me I am a much happier person. It’s not that I was unhappy before, but I wasn’t as happy as I could be. My style is still evolving and my life is definitely work in progress, but I feel like I’m getting there.

What about you, what’s your style? Ro read other responses to this prompt, check out Sunday Scribblings.

Monday Musings

For this week's Monday Musings we are talking about an article on reading found here on NPR.

One statistic in this article really bothers me. That is the 9 books a year being an avid reader. I remember hearing a statistic similar to this a few years ago and it bothered me then too. No one that I know would consider someone that reads 9 books a year an avid reader. Personally, I read at least 50 books a year. My grandmother reads well over 100 a year. And my mother, who will admit that she doesn't read much anymore because of time constraints, still reads more then 9 books a year. Where are they finding these "avid" readers?

As for Ian McEwan's quote:

"When women stop reading, the novel will be dead."

I just don't believe that. If women stopped reading, it would definitely put a hurting on the novel market, but there would still be a market out there. Granted, my husband may only read one novel a year, but I have known men who were what I would consider avid readers. This means that they read at least 40 books a year. For whatever reasons, men in general may not read a lot of novels, but they do read them.

To check out the full post for this Monday Musing and see the other responses, head over to Should Be Reading.

New Journals

This weekend I stopped at the Barnes and Noble in the Power Plant at the Inner Harbor. That was the first time I've been that particular Barnes and Noble and I enjoyed it. They had a pretty nice selection of blank journals so of course I had to browse through them. I wound up buying the two above. I just loved them and my current journal is just about complete. Now I just need to figure out which one I'm going to use first.

Thursday Thunks

What was your favorite toy as a child?
I had a lot of Barbies and clothes for them. I loved creating stories for them and dressing them up in all their cool clothes.

If money was no object, but you could only buy ONE thing, what would you buy your spouse/significant other?
I would buy him a brand new car. His is 7 years old now and while it works just fine I know he would love to have a brand new one.

What about your children?
For my daughter, I would fully fund her college account.

Now, if you only had $10 to buy one thing, what would it be?
I'd buy lunch so I don't have to eat leftovers again.

What's on your refrigerator?
Various magnets, pictures of family and friends, a timer, and a shopping list

What's on top of it?
Baby cereal, a container of spatulas, spoons etc, a cookie jar, 2 coffee mugs and a bunch of dust. I think I need to clean up there.

Go look in it. Whats in there that would gross the rest of us out?
I just cleaned the fridge out Monday so it's pretty safe in there.

Whats your favorite type of potato?
French fries

Do you have an address book?
Yes

Do you write in it or do you just stick return addresses/envelopes in it?
I actually write in it.

Look up. Do you like your ceiling?
I'm not at home right now and the ceiling where I'm at is pretty scary.

For more responses to these questions, check out Thursday Thunks

The Witch's Trinity

The Literate Housewife is having a giveaway (well, three actually) for copies of The Witch's Trinity By Erika Mailman. This looks like a really interesting book and I know I would love to read it. If I don't win I think I'll have to see if the library has a copy.

Musing Monday

Here is this week's Monday Musings question:

Could you narrow down your reading to a favorite genre and author? Why, or why not?

My reading is all over the place. In fact, I usually don't even read just one book at a time. Right now I'm in the middle of reading a romance book, a sci-fi book and a non-fiction book. I would feel like I was stuck in a rut if I had to stick with just one genre or worse yet, just one author. What I'm reading at any particular time is more dependent on the mood I'm in at that time. There are times when you're just in the mood for a fluffy romance novel and there are times when you're more up for the suspense novel. To me, the different genres serve different purposes and I need them all to feel fulfilled as a reader.

What about you? To check out other responses and/or post your own, head over to Should Be Reading

If I Had to Live In a Different Time in History

My post for Sunday Scribblings #132
If I had to live at a different time in history

I am the type of person who loves to read a good historical romance. I particularly like the ones set during the renaissance where you had the lords and ladies and all of the romanticism that goes with it. It would be so much fun to go back to those times and see how people really lived. Yet I really don’t think that I would want to live there. I love my modern conveniences (electric, running water and so forth) way too much to give them up. Hey, I don’t even like to go camping. Do you really think I would survive having to live in a time like that? I also don’t think that a woman as independent and opinionated as myself would go over well in that time. Really, I’m good with the time I live in now.

What about you? Is there another place in time where you would like to live? Check out Sunday Scribblings to see more responses to this prompt.

Freaky Friday - Perfection

Writing Promt From A Creative Journal Freaky Friday #131. Here is a summary of the prompt:

Write as if you are perfection. Try to let perfection speak what is really on its mind about your writing or art. Explore the idea and listen to what perfection would have you do. If you like create a dialogue with perfection. Ask questions. Why aren’t you living up to perfections standards? What does perfection expect of you? Is perfection being reasonable?

I liked this prompt because I do struggle with perfectionism. Not as in I am perfect, but as in I expect everything to be perfect. Since I became a mom I have gotten a little better at letting things not be perfect. It's hard when you're trying to be a great wife and mother and balance that with all of your other responsibilities. Every time I think I'm getting the balance worked out, something happens to throw it all off again. I'm definitely a work in progress.

I plan to explore this topic and follow this prompt in my paper journal. My hope is that it will help me accept that perfectionism is not something that is going to be a part of my life right now. I think that by accepting this I will be able to enjoy my life much more and be a better wife and mother too.

Friday Five

There use to be a meme called Friday Five. When the original author of that meme stopped posting questions, a group of fans started posting their Friday Five on Live Journal. These questions make great journal prompts. To check out the current Friday Five, click here. You can also see the list where memebers have suggested questions for future Friday Fives here.

Check them out. There are pages of questions out there, so you just might find something that inspires you.

That's My Answer

Today I came across the site That's My Answer. They ask questions every day and you can answer along. I think this is a great way to start a journal entry. I was checking out some of the questions and the topics vary so you should be able to find something to get you started writing.

Today I decided to answer this question:

Yesterday I had my furnace repaired — the circuit board needed to be replaced – I also had it tuned up. $512.78 later, I have heat. Needless to say, until this past Sunday the expense was completely unexpected. What was the last expense that took you by surprise?

Here's my answer:
About $1000 for my husband’s car in January. We took it in for brakes and wound up having to have some other stuff taken care of too. It was crazy timing too because I was 5 1/2 weeks in to my unpaid maternity leave. Yikes.

I could go on and on from this point. Tonight I will try to expand on this in my paper journal. Take some time to head over there to check it out and see what questions work for you.

Thankful Thursday

To help remind myself that there are always good things going on in life, I want to start keeping a Thankful Thursday log. On Thursdays I will post a list of at least five things I am thankful for that week.

I am thankful that:
* My daughter is happy and healthy and that she slept through the night last night in her own bed.
* I was able to cook a nice meal for my family last night and we all sat down together to eat it.
* I was finally able to update my coupon box this week
* For the game I won that came in the mail this week
* For my husband doing the dishes last night and giving me a chance to work on my stuff

So what are you thankful for this week? Head over to Grace Alone to see what other people are thankful for this week.

Forbidden

As I crawl closer to the forbidden spot I know that mommy is going to yell at me. So I glance over my shoulder at her. She sees me and gives me "the look." Apparently mommy doesn't realize just how much like her I am. I keep crawling and pull myself up. What is that on the wall with the metal around it. Every time I start poking it with my fingers mommy yells "No!" Doesn't she realize that I just need to explore and discover the world around me. Why does there have to be forbidden places? I don't have the words yet to ask mommy this, but once I do I will ask her. Once I learn to say the word 'why' mommy will be sorry.

This post is for last week's Sunday Scribbling. This is my first time participating, but I have been following along for awhile now. If you get a chance, check out all the other Forbidden postings. If you're really feeling adventurous you could try posting too.

Mr. Ellie Pooh

This weekend I stopped in a store that I hadn't been in for awhile and found some paper distributed by Mr. Ellie Pooh. This paper is made from recycled elephant pooh. They had journals, notebooks, stationary sets, and note paper. I purchased a heart shaped box of note paper for $10.

The paper is a nice thick paper like good handmade paper. There is no smell to it and it comes in decorative colors. I also like that you can purchase refills for the paper box for only $3. This paper also is a way they are trying to turn the elephants of Sri Lanka into an asset. You can click here to read more about the plight of the elephants in Sri Lanka. So, for a reasonable price you can have a quality paper and help save the elephants. Personally, I plan to buy some more of this paper when I get low in the box I have now. I may even give some as gifts.

Finding the Time

Journaling has been a very important part of my life since college. My journal is where I go to work things out. I've been known to joke that it's my brain on paper. For years I have written in my journal almost every day. Sometimes I would even write several times in one day. My journal went almost everywhere with me and I could often be seen writing in it whenever I had a few minutes down time. All of that changed once I had my daughter. The first few weeks I was so sleep deprived that I sacrificed my journal time for some much needed sleep. After a few weeks of that and all the new responsibilities a new baby brings; I was suddenly out of the habit of regularly journaling.

It has now been almost seven months since I had my daughter. The mental clutter has been building during that time. Now I've reached a point where that buildup is causing my stress level to increase and stupid little things that I can normally shrug off are bothering me. So this weekend I am going to take the time to do some serious journaling. Either my husband or my mother will watch my daughter and I will find somewhere quiet that I can be alone to journal. Right now I am really looking forward to that time away from everything where I can be alone with my thoughts. It has been way too long since I took time like that.

I do plan on building regular journaling time back into my schedule now. It is something that I need to function at my best. Taking the time to take care of myself helps me to be a better wife, mother and person in general. So it is in the best interest of everyone that I make sure to take the time to take care of myself. Sometimes it is hard to remember that. There is so much that needs to be done on a daily basis and it is often easiest to sacrifice the things that appear to only benefit ourselves. I'm finally coming to realize that having a happy mommy is in the best interest of my daughter too. Would she rather spend all day with a cranky mother or have slightly less time with a happy mommy?

What benefits have you noticed in your life from journaling? Do you notice a difference if you miss a lot of time?

Journal Kit

I came across a post on Michelle Ward's blog about creating a journal kit. This is a tote, box, etc that has all of your favorite journaling tools in it ready to go. The idea is to make it easy for you to pick up and journal anywhere. I love the idea and plan to create my own journal kit. I already had a bag of favorite pens that I kept with my journal, this will just expand on that. Check out the links on the left side of her blog for crusade number 17. These are pictures of the journal kits others created in response to her challenge. Why not try creating your own journaling kit?

Time to Write

Lately I seem to be having a hard time finding the time to write. The combination of a new baby and working full time pretty much fills up my schedule. Before my daughter arrived, I was able to write every day. Now I'm lucky to write twice a week and I'm feeling it. It drives me nuts that I'm not able to write every day anymore. There are so many things going on that I want to write about, but I never seem to get around to them. I definitely need to start getting writing back into my schedule. I know from past experience that if I don't make it a priority, it will never get done.

Does anyone have any of their own tips for finding time to write that they would like to share? I would especially love to hear from other working moms.

Anniversary Journals

When my husband and I got married we used a journal as our guestbook. The first page has one of our wedding invitations attached and the next few pages contain signatures and messages from wedding guests. After the wedding there were still lots of pages left in the journal so I decided to use it as an anniversary journal. Every year on our anniversary we write a nice letter to each other in it. It's a way for us to record our relationship and let each other know how much we love them. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day and forget to let your spouse know how much you appreciate them. So every year I look forward to writing this letter to my husband and reading what he writes for me.

How do you let your significant other know how much you appreciate them? Do you have a way to record the love in your relationship?

Journal For Your Child

I have a journal that I keep just for my daughter. I do this instead of a the typical baby book that so many mothers keep. For me, the journal is so much nicer because I am able to write letters to her and tell her about all the things going on in her life. I want her to have something that shows her how much she is loved.

While I was pregnant I pasted in copies of the pictures from my ultrasounds and one of the invitations to the baby shower. After she ws born I added a copy of her birth announcement. Now I like to add pictures of her. It's amazing how much she has changed in the few weeks that she has been with us. She is growing up so very fast.

Unlike my regular journal, I don't write in her journal every day. Instead I just write when something important happens or when I have something I want to say to her. As the years go on I plan to write an entry every year on her birthday at the very least.

What ways do you record the special moments in your child's life?