Blog closed

I'm done writing here. The desire is gone. I simply don't have the time and energy for it anymore. This blog has mostly turned into another family blog anyway. I will continue to blog periodically on our family page. If I know you and your interested about following me on our family blog or Facebook, contact me via e-mail.

I've come to the conclusion that we all have more alike than not and I just can't get myself in a twist anymore about every darn thing politically that bugs me. It takes time and energy to write and I'd rather spend that time with my family, hanging out at home, outdoors and on my hobbies.

Going Home

I put nearly 500 miles on the rental car. East coast trip solo with Harley. Despite my concerns that he'd drive me nuts, it has been a wonderful trip. The leg to Fredricksburg, Virginia we ate in the car while I drove to save time. Only issue we had was hitting rush hour and spending an extra hour driving to get there. Everywhere I go there is heavy traffic and in PA., construction.

I'm from the east coast, but I always forget how green and gorgeous it is.

Harley has enjoyed the car, he has sat talking with me and singing to the radio. He skipped playing his games almost entirely while we drove to watch the scenery. He is anxious to return. We bonded in the car when I expected us to fight.

Family doted on him and he has loved it. I toyed with driving my car out in June. I thought it would be too much, but part of me thinks it would have been better. We could have taken our time and gone cross country.

Saw cousins I haven't seen since 1993. Country rides, sweet tea and homemade sweets. Nothing Harley loves more than sweets. He thinks is the perfect trip so life is grand.

This afternoon is Steeler training camp. I can think of nothing cooler to be doing.

What makes a home?

I've been pondering this question for about a week. We have been living in our new home for just over a year and for both Lynn and I, the place still does not feel like home. My thinking is that it is mostly because the place it about twice the size as the last one. We have had quite a few unexpected issues and more than a few projects that we did not plan on doing.

I spent most of last week ripping out most of the plants in the flower bed off the porch. Why? Simply because it was overgrown, had too many green plants and it was not filled with flowers. It was not our style. Every time that I saw the flower bed, I was reminded that I wouldn't have planted anything that was in the flower bed except for the aspens. It bugged me so much that nearly everything is gone.

It is not a homey home. I think for my part, it feels that way because there are too many rooms. In the old house, we lived in the living room and on the patio. The home was open and this one is not as open. There was no finished basement, no separate dining room, no library and no extra rooms to hang out in at the last home.

The funny thing is now that we have this big house, I sort of miss the old one. It was less maintenance, a smaller mortgage and easier to live with. In this home, I find myself constantly thinking that I should be cleaning. Having so many bathrooms is driving me crazy. Smaller in many ways seems better now that we are living larger.

Yeah, I know. I could hire a maid. But, that doesn't work for me. I was one of those people that cleaned up the night before the maid came over at the old home. I removed sentimental things from our shelves worrying that something could get broke. It was stressful and the cleaning never justified the price. The house was not much cleaner than when I cleaned, so I dropped the service.

I live with a messier home. I've been dropping hints to the guys to help out more and do better. I even threatened to go on strike and stop cleaning, doing laundry, etc. The funny thing is that I could not live like that. I doubt that they would even notice the difference. What bugs me the most is that someone is constantly peeing on the toilet seat downstairs. I yell and complain and yet, I am the one that ends up cleaning it up. Harley can't do simple daily chores without me nagging him about whether he completed them. I'm sure that if a reward was up for grabs, he would have no problem remembering.

What I have discovered the most is that I love my front porch. Most of the time, it is quite and peaceful. I can sit, read, do nothing and/or just hang out listening to the birds. I have found myself in the past week literally doing much of nothing and have been hanging out on the porch often. The funny thing is that the Cotton, our dog is just as anxious to go out as me, but she won't sit still enough. She can't get into the yard and has such little room to roam, yet she is included and that seems to be enough for her.

Landscaping Project...Back Yard Redo

Before pictures of our back yard.

Before pictures of our back yard.

After pictures of our landscaping project.

After pictures of our landscaping project.


After pictures of our landscaping project.

Gorgeous day here, sunny and warm. No wind or threat of storms as of yet. Which is saying something as it has rained/stormed like 8-9 days in a row until yesterday. We had dark clouds over our house most of last night. Nice enough for Harley and I to sit on the deck, but not nice enough to sit in the Hot Tub. We have been using the Hot Tub for several weeks and had started to take for granted sitting in it almost daily.

Harley is still a bit freaked out about weather despite his not being home when we had a tornado in our area a few weeks back. It did not help that it went right by a friend's house and was a tad too close to our house. I forwarded tornado pictures to Lynn while the two of them were visiting family in Michigan. He promptly showed Harley the pictures and it sent the kid over the edge. Any suggestion of bad weather since his return home, he was sitting right next to his mother with constant chatter and concern about our house and our safety.

We had our back yard completely redone a few weeks ago. The job was supposed to take 3 days. It ended up taking nearly a week and a half. I'm not as patient as I thought I was and wanted to strangle our contractors before they finished. Cleanup and lack of information about drove me nuts. Not to mention that I had a crazy dog that refused to do her business in the front yard and could not understand why she could not go per usual in the back yard.

Happy with the finished project and will be happier once things start to fill in and grow out. Like most things we have had issues. Extra sprinkler heads, things not working and missing back ordered parts for the gas fire pit. We haven't even fired that baby up yet. Our fire pit glass is sitting inside just waiting for the finished parts to arrive. Harley is already dreaming of roasting marsh mellows on a regular basis in the back yard.

Japanese design, low maintenance. The hard part about this house is going to be the lack of trees. Since we have city and mountain views, we are going to limit trees to keep our views and deal with less privacy. The mandated split rail fence per our homeowner's association has taken much getting used too. I miss my 6 foot privacy fence and screening out the neighbors better.

Not this year Hockeytown

I love hockey, but I haven't been following it much over the past year or two. Doesn't help that my team, the Colorado Avalanche haven't been in top form. I watched games here and there. Last Saturday's game was miserable and I questioned why I didn't find something better to do since I was rooting for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings wiped the floor with them.

Being from Johnstown, PA., and living in Colorado, there is no way that I could ever root for Detroit despite marrying into a family from Michigan. Not that my hubby cares either way. He is so not into sports much at all.

Tonight, was a different story. The Penguins were fast, aggressive and Detroit looked tired and out of sorts for most of the game. What a game. The youngsters did what the media thought they could not do--win in Detroit and take game 7. There is nothing like game 7s in sports, both teams can win and winner takes all.

At times like these, the media looks stupid. Winner takes all and it is one game and at this level, either team can win. Just stupid reporting. What a year for the city of Pittsburgh. They win the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup.

The ironic thing is that this picture was forwarded from one of my sisters this morning and even I thought it was funny. I think it's even funnier now that the Penguins won.

Lesson needed

Harley lost a school textbook in his dropped Spanish Class from earlier this year. The replacement cost is $65.00. I assumed the book would be found somewhere in the building and returned. This has not happened. I am more than a bit steamed at Harley and the school.

I found out the book was still lost when I noticed a balance online a few days ago when checking his grades and assignments. This morning, I received an automatic email telling me the balance is due. No personal touches at this school. I guess a phone call would be asking too much with him being in middle school.

I've been scouring the internet trying to find a more reasonable replacement. Used books are everywhere, but time is pressing and I need to see the dang thing in person to ensure it would be acceptable and not all scribbled or missing pages. I will give up after I check my local used bookstore in my neighborhood.

I do not feel it is worth my time as I doubt that I could find an appropriate replacement by the last day of school.

I will double-check his locker after school and pay the damn bill.

All that remains is to think of a way to make this painful for him so that he learns a lesson and never looses something like this again. Simply taking the money from his bank account would be too easy, as there is no lesson or pain involved as Harley has no idea how much money he has in his savings account or his college fund.

Men aren't like women

Lynn, my hubby lives a hectic life. Work is very busy and somewhat crazy regularly. He's walking daily, and running and biking a few times a week. He took over cooking all of our meals as he needs to know what's in everything since he's counting calories.

All of us are walking, hiking and eating better. The hubby took on all the planning and making of our meals. I cook now when he's out of town. In this area, he is very organized.

Just don't ask him where his cell phone is, keys, wallet or his sunglasses on a regular basis. On certain days, I'm astonished that he made it out the door. He routinely has taken my cell vs. his, forgotten his wallet and other important things. Granted, we both have Iphones now. This one is now easier to do.

I received an e-mail this morning telling me that he took my advice. He took his sunglasses to work to walk with. He walks daily at lunch and I'm trying to get him to cover up and avoid sunburns. Problem was that he grabbed the wrong pair. Instead of grabbing his expensive, prescription sunglasses--he has our son's Pokeman sunglasses. He let me know just in case I was looking for them later for Harley as on most days after school, we walk too.

I laughed. I just don't where to begin. He was never like this when when were dating. I don't know what happens to men after they marry. Suddenly, they are forgetful and can't seem to remember where things go and race out the door forgetting things they need.

Craving meat

I had gum surgery on Tuesday afternoon. I was told that I couldn't talk or laugh following my surgery for the rest of the day. That was terrible as I spend most of my days alone, so talking after my guys get home is a given. I resorted to scribbling notes during dinner. I think Lynn somewhat enjoyed my silence and not having to talk all evening.

I spent my evening icing my face every 20 minutes. I gave up at 9:00 pm and stayed up late watching the Denver Nuggets game and hoping that I'd be able to sleep. Surprisingly, sleeping is easy despite my not being allowed to wear my retainers. With everything going on in my mouth, I was worried that I was going to grind in my sleep or pop myself in the mouth breaking open my stitches.

Other than constantly thinking and wishing for real food, I've been fine. Pain was minimal after the first day. How I will feel once I start eating solid foods again is another story.

I'm existing on applesauce, oatmeal, ice cream and soup. Harley and I raided the M&Ms yesterday after he walked home from school. Eating some chocolate was nice. Sleeping seems the easiest out, as least while I'm sleeping I'm not hounded by my thoughts of wanting a burger or something more filling than chicken noodle soup.

Tomorrow, I'm throwing caution to the wind and getting some real food. Pain or no pain, I need something filling to eat.

Nothing

I got nothing. It seems like such a chore to post something and it has been this way for some time. It doesn't seem all that important to me.

My life resolves around walking, volunteering, working, keeping the house together and family life. I do not seem to have the time nor the energy for posting.

My posts will be few and far between, if I keep this going at all.

What finally clicked for me was noticing how often that I used to post from year to year. I used to have much to say and lately, I do not.

More snow for Denver?

We are under blizzard conditions. Expecting a whopper tonight and tomorrow. Last I heard, we were expecting a foot of snow.

If we were in the mountains or on the east coast, I'd gladly say bring it on. Not so here in the Denver Metro Area. Just a few inches of snow can cripple the city. More than that, I literally stay home as it is never worth going out for, as accidents are everywhere, plows are rarely seen and the roads quickly get awful.

They aren't into keeping ahead of storms here and once they hit, they don't quickly catch up. It is quite frustrating and even more annoying to see your city on the national news like your city received freaking several feet of snow, when in fact, we usually get so little and yet--here is our city displayed crippled for usually a few inches of snow for the whole world to see.

In Syracuse, New York storms rarely put a dent into your day, your commute or anything. You just went about your business like normal because the roads were constantly treated and rarely was there a problem getting around. We lived in Syracuse for four years before moving here.

One of the great things about Syracuse was how they responded to storms. Don't get me wrong, we liked Syracuse, but the high taxes and very long winters had us looking early on for a better place to live.

Most of the time, I feel we got the better end of the stick moving here. That is, until it snows. Tonight, I am hoping for no snow as I want to get out and about this weekend outside walking and hiking. A blizzard would toss out such plans.

Life is good for our family

Life is really good right now. Walking and eating better has made a big improvement in our lives. Lynn has been cooking new recipes for us on a weekly basis and I love the change. We are trimming down and toning up. I hit a 10 pound weight loss this morning and was thrilled. So thrilled that I might go try on bikini's this week. I never wear bikini's. I can't even remember the last time that I wore one and Lynn has never seen me in one ever.

The Bowflex arrived last week and is still in many boxes in our basement waiting to be unpacked and put together. Time for such things remains slim as we are side-tracked with walking, eating and watching movies. This is the mainstay of our weekends, relaxing and family time is the priority. Lynn is hoping this will be something that he can get Harley interested in and something that they will do together.

We haven't skied this season and I doubt that we will. Our priority hasn't been skiing and Harley isn't too keen on the idea, so we haven't gone. It doesn't help that even though he can ski, he's quite apprehensive about it.

The Natasha Richardson ski accident and unfortunate death this week did not help as Harley had lots of questions. My telling him that it was a freak and rare accident did not ease his mind. I feel for her family as this was such a shocking and sudden death. It reminds us all that life is precious and sometimes, cut very short. It matters not whether we are poor, middle class or rich--we all feel the same pain in death and loosing our loved one's is hard. My hope is that the press leaves them alone to grieve and gives them time to cope with their loss.

Harley has always worn a helmet and will continue to do so as his disability dictates protecting his head with sports. Given his nervousness, I will buy a helmet for myself to ski with. I feel a helmet is your only chance if someone massively runs you over or lands on you. It makes sense, when I bike I always wear a helmet and I feel I should take the same care when skiing.

We'll be in Scottsdale, Arizona for a few days over Spring Break at a Spa. The pool was the big draw for Harley. The weather and the opportunity for Lynn and I too relax was the key for us. If we have time, we hope to get a massage.

The weather here lately has been simply gorgeous for the most part. Sunny and unusually warm.

Fitness for February

I had a very busy month. I was sick from a nasty cold for just over a week that put a kink on my walking and just about everything else. I didn't walk, do laundry or much or anything for just over a week. I napped every afternoon and felt like someone had run me over.   I had no energy, felt terrible and I'm so grateful that is over.

Despite that, I still managed to walk 51.5 miles in February. I worked a few days and only managed two Yoga classes this month. I came to the conclusion that walking can do much for me, but long-term, I feel that I need to run on occasion, weight lift regularly or keep changing up my routines. Otherwise, I feel I won't be as fit and trim as I'm aiming for.

I'm convinced that unless I walk 3-4 times a day, walking alone just isn't going to be enough to give me the results that I'm looking for. I could be wrong. Time will tell. I've dropped 9 pounds to date.

Harley and Lynn are doing much better in the weight loss department. Lynn's at 20 and counting. Harley has lost I believe 10 pounds. Lynn's trying out new recipes more and we're eating better. Though, I'm not so sure that Harley would agree. He's not much for trying foods that he doesn't recognize and he continues to want only our staples on the table.

For the most part, I quit counting calories. I found it frustrating to see the percentages every day of how much fat, protein and carbs that I was eating on a daily basis. When you eat at home, it is fairly simple to track and control. But, eating out is always hit and miss in deciding what is safe on the menu that isn't going to kill your workout of the day. I'm learning, but I realized that my being a slave to what I eat is going to drive me crazy and it just didn't work well for me.

The weather last week set records and was gorgeous.  Mostly low 70s. I walked more than a few days in sweats and t-shirts.   Today is cold and we may get snow.   I'm hoping that we don't as I want to go on a long hike tomorrow and freezing isn't part of the plan.   That is how I got sick last month, walking in the cold.

  

Walking

Walking is taking over my life and I like the change of pace. Walking forces me to get off my behind and out of the house. It has shaken up my routines and to date, I've lost 5 pounds. I am discovering that I like walking much more than I thought I would.

Last week, I walked 24.25 miles. Most of the time, I walk twice a day. I walk either in the morning or early afternoon. Harley and I walk together after school. My long walk is earlier in the day and my walk with him is a bonus walk. Brisk walking.

The nicest thing out of this is that Harley doesn't always want to walk. I occasionally get some private time with the hubby while we are walking and sometimes, a meal together to boot. We go on longer hikes every weekend when time and weather permit. Our goal for 2009 is to visit every Colorado State Park. We've hit 3, so far.

Counting calories, weighing food and estimating what I just consumed at restaurants remains a big pain. The only plus is that many restaurants have nutritional information of their menus online. This makes for quicker data inputting.

The only drawback to all of this is that I am no longer in the dark about what I consume. This is good, bad and frustrating. What surprises me everyday is the fat percentages of what my family eats on a routine basis. Short of eating everything with nothing on it and no flavor, I don't know how to easily cut loads of fat. We are routinely avoiding some of our favorites places to avoid an overload on our daily calorie count. Our favorite Mexican restaurant hasn't seen us in awhile.

Salad dressing continues to astonish me. This routinely kills an otherwise good lunch out at restaurants.

Harley, who despised walking early on and routinely tries to avoid walking at all has already lost 8 pounds. Where the weight went from, I have no idea. I haven't noticed a difference in either Harley or the hubby despite the weight that they both have dropped. Lynn is the bomb, he has lost 18 pounds to date.

I came to the conclusion that I cannot walk, Cotton (our dog) longer than 15 minutes. Every time I take her for a twenty minute walk, she has leg problems for days. She is predisposed to leg issues (genetic) and had one of her legs operated on as a puppy. I'm beginning to think that she needs to be on joint medication and walking is never going to be a big part of her life. I should take her back to the vet, but that would means mounds of x-rays and testing that he won't feel are needed given that she's currently not limping or suffering. This means very little to no walking which stinks as she loves to walk.

Sweet, but so ugly

The Pittsburgh Steelers did it and made history. They won their sixth Super Bowl, but I was practically standing on my head watching how they played the final few minutes of the game. The Arizona Cardinals nearly pulled off a massive upset and have much to be proud of, but I doubt that matters to them at the moment. Losing is never easy especially when your so close to having it all.

Instead, Steeler Nation celebrates a sixth Super Bowl.

1974 (IX), 1975 (X), 1978 (XIII), 1979 (XIV), 2005 (XL), 2008 (XLIII)

Counting calories stinks

I have been walking a great deal and going to my Yoga Class once a week. I've refrained from lifting much since I bruised my tailbone. Decided it was better to ease back into things since I wasn't 100% when I resumed working out.

A few days ago, I decided to try and input everything that I ate into a software program that my hubby faithfully uses. Let me tell you, this is a big pain in the ass. If what you ate or drank is not in the program, you can go on a search and find mission and sometimes, you just have to pick whatever is the closest item to what you had as this can be time-consuming. The worst part is trying to remember and recreate what you ate a day or two later. Do I remember? No, not really. Given up on that part. If I don't input what I ate that day, I don't even bother. Inputting a meal or two does not really help. You need all 3 meals to show just where your calories are going and to what end. It graphs calories, fat, fiber and everything. Very black and white.

What I discovered is that I do not eat as many vegetables as I thought I did. Salads are often worse than eating a Cheeseburger and making a better choice while your in a restaurant is a very hairy thing.

My White Chocolate Mocha Coffee is mostly a thing of the past. I about has a meltdown this week when I discovered how many calories were involved in those drinks and worse, how much fat. Drinking lots of water and trying to drink and (somewhat enjoy) tea more often.

Yesterday, I was feeling pretty good. I ran on the treadmill not once, but twice and walked around the neighborhood with Harley. This afternoon, I walked around the neighborhood solo and my legs were sore.

I need to monitor my diet better and plan better just to make this easier on myself. I now realize why Lynn weighs his food and is so precise about counting calories. It appears obvious that my downfall is lunch. If I'm on the go, I grab something. Often, I thought I was making a good choice, but the software showed me how wrong I was.

Am I enjoying this part of the process? Not in the least. Will I learn, you betcha.

This is important because I realize that I have been taking my health and my waistline for granted. By working out when my guys were at work and school--I was not setting a good example. Harley rarely saw his mother working out. Now, he does. Does he care? Probably not. Lynn and I are making the effort and working on bringing Harley on board.

The plus is that walking with Harley is dedicated talking time. At first, I found it annoying as he talks non-stop. I am getting used to it and allowing him to talk about whatever is in his head at the moment. The funny thing is that if I were to ask him about certain things at home, he forgets. On walks, he just runs on about everything involved in his day and it passes the time easier. Otherwise, he would constantly be asking me just how far we were walking.

My new favorite thing is instant oatmeal. 160 calories. I will probably be sick of it within a few weeks, but for now it has become my standby for breakfast. Replacing yogurt which I routinely get sick of.

Walking is the easiest thing to do and I feel will become the staple of my workouts. All I need is sneakers and layers. It has been lovely getting to know my neighborhood better and being out in fresh air. I realize just how little I am outside during certain times of the year before walking.

Thinking my new motto should be, get and keep moving.

Economy

Never have I been so concerned about the economy. It is spiraling in a way that I've never seen before. Companies are laying people off in masses, freezing and/or forcing salary cuts like I never noticed before. Despite the fact that I know for certain that we are good financially even if Lynn were to loose his job, I worry.

I added a Time Magazine link titled Housing Prices Keep Dropping. And They're Not Done Yet the link can be found by clicking on my blog title Economy. The news continues to be horrible.

You realize just how much people have to loose and how concerned far too many are about this time of great uncertainty. Far too many have so little to fall back on and loosing everything can come quickly.

I keep an eye on our portfolio and watch our 401Ks like never before. Though, I quit watching last week as it just adds to my stress despite time being on our side.

Cutbacks are everywhere and the pain seems far from over. Many people are cutting back and the ripple effect is hitting far too many companies.

Your home might be worth half of what it was. That is fine as long as you don't need to move, sell or need it appraised. Time is not always on everyone's side. Retirees have the most to loose and time is against them from regaining their losses.

It occurred to me a few days ago that we should be using this trying and uncertain time to teach our boy some financial lessons. The recommended six month cushion seems useless in times like these as I feel a two year cushion might not save everyone who finds themselves laid off now.

I don't want to scare our son, but I feel it is important that we teach him to manage during the high and low times as you can never predict what the economy is going to do and how long you might have to survive should you loose your job.

Living below your means and being frugal is suddenly popular. It all makes good financial sense. Painful lessons will be learned and perhaps our country will learn to save more as a result. Not a bad thing, but these are frightening times for too many.

Like everyone else, I have grave concerns about all this government bailout money to companies that screwed up. They made bad decisions and their management teams are still in charge, but now they have our money. Our national debt is beyond f------ unreal and I fear that this is just the beginning.

What to do? I have no clue. Will all this money make things better, I doubt it, but I feel they had to do something to try and turn the tide. Time will tell whether it made any difference and whether these companies were worth such a leap.

Responsibility

I went off this weekend. Tired of talking to my boy about things that he should have learned were important by now to avoid drama in our home.

Clean your sink, your room, take a shower, brush your teeth, whatever. He is 13. I have been working hard to make him responsible and independent. Neither are working out that well. I've threatened to make him walk to and from school everyday regardless of the weather and/or whether I am available to carpool him or not.

Why? Because he is slow in the mornings and is rarely ready despite my pressuring him by the time we need to leave to get him dropped off with room to spare. He gets up in plenty of time and I'm supervising him, but still it is a constant battle to get him out the door.

The big one is that I'm debating locking up his game room until he straightens out. The problem is that the only time he gets to play with any regularity is on the weekends as most nights involve gobs of homework and studying.

Tonight is a rare exception. He has a quiz tomorrow, but has aced the test quiz several times already. I relented and gave him an hour of game time simply to give myself some space before I cooked dinner. Otherwise, he would be underfoot bugging me non-stop about dinner and questions about what privileges he has.

I think the biggest problem is that our childhoods could not be more different from his. I grew up with a young, widowed mother who had 4 girls. Life was never easy and responsibilities were a given. I feel it made me more responsible and I had a better head on my shoulders as a result and learning what work was came early.

Harley does not understand work, money or responsibility in any shape or form despite our efforts to teach him otherwise. He thinks that things just happen and it scares the hell out of me. He thinks $100.00 makes someone rich despite in-depth conversations explaining otherwise.

Lynn and I both grew up in homes where there wasn't a great deal of money. Eating out was a rare treat. Harley finds it astonishing that neither of us grew up in homes with video games. Harley does not understand any of this. He thinks that everyone should have had video games. We are a comfortable family of 3. We eat out often and don't really want for anything. At times, I feel this has been a bad thing as Harley is not learning the same lessons that we learned.

Granted, it is not Harley's fault that his family lives a more comfortable life, but it makes me wonder what he will have learned by the time that he is an adult. Lynn had to struggle and worked his way through college often existing on macaroni and cheese and cheap beer. I feel his struggles greatly contributed to the man that he is today and pushed him. I wonder where will our son get his inspiration from and what we will have to do to teach him some of these lessons.

Given the economic upheaval, we have been more talkative about the economy and the job market explaining that thousands have lost their homes and layoffs are happening more and more everyday. He is just clueless.

Another ass posting...mind your tailbone

Harley finishes sledding for the day
Harley and I tried out the expensive inner tube on January 6th. Being the good Mom, I decided to take a spin first to test it out (luckily) from only halfway down the hill. The inner tube tore down the hill and I promptly smacked my tailbone hard on the first run at the bottom of our hill. It was quite a jolt. I send Harley down and he does the same thing. We quickly wise up and lift our asses before we hit the bottom for the rest of the hour while sledding.

I come inside after our outing and my tailbone is still quite sore. Lynn goes to walk and I go with him. Not the smartest thing to do with a sore tailbone. That evening and the entire next day, I'm gingerly getting around. Sitting is a problem and bending is an even bigger problem. I think what the hell did I do and who knew that your tailbone was so sensitive?

It was a long week and one that I never want to repeat. By Friday, I was still sore. I don't feel any smarter. I am still pissed that I cost myself nearly a full week of working out and a great deal of discomfort. By Friday afternoon, I was finally back to my walks around my neighborhood and working out again.

Lesson learned: Mind your tailbone and don't hit your ass sledding. How do I feel, just stupid. If your interested in one of these, here is a link. Sonic Snow Tube from L.L. Bean

Simply Historic

My day will be happily spent watching the swearing in of Barack Obama's today as the 44th President of the United States. I seriously considered keeping Harley home today to watch. I pondered it for awhile and I realized that there was no way that I was going to get him to sit with me all day and watch. There are too many other things that he'd rather be doing. So, off to school he goes. He told me that his Social Studies teacher will cover the inauguration in class today. Hopefully, he will pick up a thing or two before he comes home.

Despite the mounting problems that our country faces and the uncertain economy and financial crisis, I feel hopeful that the tide is changing. Our country has faced and tackled major problems before and I feel we will do this again. I am going to enjoy today.

My feelings for President Bush haven't changed, but today isn't about him.

I feel Obama's win was all about turning the page and moving in another direction. It all starts today.

2008 movie list

Below is a list of 58 movies that we watched in 2008 via Netflix. Watching movies at home has become one of our favorite things to do. Had we not moved last year, we likely would have added another 20-40 movies to this list.

I cheated and stole the hubby's ratings from our Netflix list. The wife is too lazy to take the time to rate movies.

I find it ironic that when the Lynn wanted to join Netflix, I told him I thought it was a bad idea. I thought that we'd never watch enough movies. It has been fabulous and I love the convenience of it all. I do nothing, Lynn is always putting movies in to the Queue. Most of the time, we watch good movies. Even the occasional duck that I wouldn't have chose has been usually been thought provoking and interesting enough to leave me scratching my head and pondering what I just watched.

Rarely do we watch a dog of a movie. Highlander: The Source was the exception to that rule. We complained throughout the whole movie at just how awful it was. The most surprising movie of the year for me was Outsourced. I was prepared to hate it and I loved it.

The biggest find this year was Lynn's discovery of Hayao Miyazaki, a director of animated films. His movies are magical, extremely creative and we love them.

Hayao Miyazaki Link

My personal favorites from the year are red.

1) 10,000 B.C. ***
2) 2 Days in Paris ***
3) 300 ****
4) A Streetcar Named Desire ***
5) Aeon Flux ***
6) Atonement ****
7) Black Book ****
8) Casablanca ****
9) Castle in the Sky *****
10) Chasing Amy ***
11) Chocolat ****
12) East of Eden***
13) Eragon ***
14) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind *****
15) Evita **
16) Grave of the Fireflies *** (Warning: very hard to watch. Animated film on war, bloody and very sad).
17) Hellboy ***
18) Hellboy II: The Golden Army***
19) Highlander: The Source *
20) Howl's Moving Castle *****
21) In the Valley of Elah ****
22) Jumper ***
23) Juno *****
24) Kiki's Delivery Service *****
25) Lions for Lambs**
26) Logan's Run ***
27) Meet the Robinsons ***
28) Merry Christmas ***
29) My Neighbor Totoro *****
30) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind *****
31) Nim's Island ****
32) No Country for Old Men ***
33) Outsourced****
34) Pan's Labyrinth****
35) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End *****
36) Porco Rosso ****
37) Princess Mononoke *****
38) Ratatouille ***
39) Rendition ***
40) Shooter ***
41) Spartacus *****
42) Spirited Away *****
43) Swimming Pool ****
44) The Cat Returns ***
45) The Darjeeling Limited ****
46) The Forbidden Kingdom ***
47) The Island****
48) The Kingdom ***
49) The Kite Runner ****
50) The Royal Tenenbaums ***
51) The Station Agent ****
52) The Wind That Shakes the Barley ****
53) Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion ****
54) Time Bandits ***
55) Total Recall ****
56) Volver ****
57) Waking Ned Devine *****
58) Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit ***