We're so famous, we're infamous!

Does anyone remember that movie, The Three Amigos? About three movie stars, who were summoned to Mexico to battle a real life bad guy? He was referred to as "Infamous" so the dolts thought the was so famous as to be "infamous"?

No? Just me? Oh well.

Anyway, my publisher wrote a set of scathing editorials that published yesterday about our state's Attorney General. He basically calls for the AG to resign, because of the damage done to the state's insurance industry in the wake of his malicious comments.

In case you didn't know, people in South Mississippi are suing their insurance companies because of Hurricane Katrina-related damage. That includes Senator Trent Lott, who lost one of his houses. I think the main question is over whether the damage was caused by wind or water. And I also believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that the insurance companies are simply trying to uphold the contracts the homeowners agreed to in the first place.

Oh, and make a profit, naturally.

So, Mr. Hood, the AG, called all insurance companies "Robber Barons" and is encouraging the citizens to revolt against them. State Farm announced that after last week, they would write no new homeowners policies in this state - no matter where in the state you reside.

My boss is concerned that because State Farm is basically pulling out of the homeowners insurance industry in Mississippi, there will be less competition and prices will rise for everyone.

He also says that he doesn't blame the company for pulling out, given the attitude of the AG.

So, somehow, through the magic of the Internet, the editorial has gotten statewide coverage.

Our phones have been ringing off the hook. Our website has been overrun with hits. We're getting calls from PR firms, wanting permission to use the editorials in their work for the insurance industry.

We're the subject of talk radio shows.

I spent yesterday playing phone tag with the state's Insurance Commissioner, who was wanting to give me his two cents worth. He finally just emailed me today.

I guess it's catching people off guard that the only paper in the state with this viewpoint is a small weekly.

My boss said that he doesn't think he's the only one thinking like this, just the only one "obnoxious enough" (his words, not mine!) to say so in public.

He's thrilled. Naturally.

We have to walk a fine line around here - how do we stir up enough controversy to sell papers, but yet not enough to get ourselves sued? Thankfully, the AG is a public official, and he would have to meet a higher standard of proof - that we knowingly printed something untrue or damaging - before he could sue. And, as my boss says, "When you're an elected official, you have to put up with a certain amount of crap."

(This is the same man that, when our web hosting company had problems last month, ripped the check for their payment in half before he signed it, and sent it in with a note saying "This is your half payment for the half-a**** service you provided." Their comptroller called, and offered to give him January's service for free.)

So, much like the villan on Three Amigos, our little newspaper is becoming somewhat infamous.

Next, we'll be doing a song and dance number.

My little buttercup, has the sweetest smile…

What's wrong with kids these days?

I just don't know what's up with kids these days.

(Cue old fogey picture, complete with me bent over a cane holding my backside. Whippersnappers!)

It all started this morning. One of the ladies in the office asked me to judge an essay contest for her civic group. The participants were local high school students. The theme was "Why I Want to Make a Difference."

Now, I realize that I have a college degree that taught me a good deal about writing. And that I write for a living and for my hobby. But these essays - they were really, really badly done.

Does no one teach kids to write anymore? When I was in high school, my English teacher had us enter every little essay contest which came down the pike, in addition to our regular class work. She wanted us to get as much practice in as possible.

These kids were all around 16 years old - they all had at least two years of high school under their belts. But their writing skills were seriously lacking.

My coworker had narrowed the field down to about six finalists, and I had to choose the top three.

Most of them didn't even follow the theme adequately.

I finally made my decision, but it was one of those "three least of six evils" situations.

What happens when they go to college, and they have to write papers in every class, not just English?

Then, I went to a local elementary school to cover a "Knowlege Bowl" competition. It was their first annual, in honor of Black History Month.

Personally, I'm sort of an expert of these types of competitions. Call me a nerd, but in high school, they were my "thing." Some people play sports, or march in the band. I punched a buzzer and answered questions.

Don't laugh - I won enough savings bonds to help pay for Anna Marie's birth.

Anyway, these kids had studied the questions in advance. There were like five or six people on each team. And still, they only answered about 25% of the questions.

The "buzzers" were sticks with bells on them. That made it difficult for the judges to tell who rang theirs first. Then the crowd would put in their opinion about who had buzzed in first, and it was mass confusion.

Even after the principal and the district superintendent told the crowd to quiet down, they kept going. They laughed at the teams who missed questions. One smarty pants jingled his keys when it was time to answer a questions, somewhat throwing off the judges.

There are many parents in this school's district who either send their kids to private school or out and out lie about their address to get into another zone.

After today, part of me says I can't blame them. If this is how the elementary kids act, what must it be like at the high school?

But part of me says that if all the decent students leave, and all that are left are the troublemakers and those who can't afford the private school, what good does that do?

The poor principal was getting really, really irate. And to top it off, some one had also called a photographer from the Memphis newspaper (50 miles away, which is trying DESPERATELY to get a foothold down here) and he saw the whole thing. I'm sure he was called in because ususally only the the awful things that happen in our county get that kind of coverage, but I'm not so sure these kids gave him a better opinion.

Sheesh. Kids these days.

Now get off my grass and run along home before I call your parents!

Heroes on the half shell

Man, am I ever getting old.

Anna Marie just called me here at work.

"Mom?"

"Yes."

"I need to ask you something."

"Ok, what is it?"

"What do the Teenage Minga Turtles do?"

(Note: "minga" is her version of "ninja." She's been corrected, since her mother is the Queen of All Correcting, but she still says "minja".)

"Well, they fight bad guys."

"And what else?"

"Um, they live in the sewer, with their leader who is a rat, and fight a bad guy named Shredder."

"And what else"

(Hello! Is that not enough for children these days, the noble job of crime fighting? Do they have to turn rainbow colors or something? Sheesh.)

"They do karate. Are you wanting to watch the Ninja Turtles?"

"What channel do they come on?"

Of course, I have no idea what channel they come on. I also have no idea where she's seen them, except I think she mentioned the other day that her friend Dayton had one of their movies.

Do you know the last time I thought about the TMNT? That would be about 17 years ago, when I was 13 and I babysat the little boy across the street every day after school. He and my brothers were big Turtles fans. I think they had some Nintendo games and everything.

I guess they're just the latest in a long list of toys brought back so that parents like me will be nostalgic and buy them for our kids - Cabbage Patch Kids, Care Bears, My Little Pony, a pimped-out version of Strawberry Shortcake, and now the Ninja Turtles.

First leggings and tunics, and now toys.

When will it stop? Next thing you know, they'll be bringing back the Garbage Pail Kids, or the Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High books.

Ugh.

Official Thursday Weigh In

Let's just get this over with, shall we?

I gained another pound this week, taking me up to 168.

I'll confess, there were a couple of days this week where I didn't keep track like I should've. And I didn't exercise like I should have either.

And I had Chinese food last night. And bread at lunch.

And there are a million, billion other reasons why I gained a pound.

But there it is.

And hopefully, next week, it won't be.

Hooray for Build a Bear!

Gah - I can't believe I just typed that title.

I wish I had a picture of Anna Marie at Build a Bear, but I left my camera at home! And yes, I have a camera phone, but it gave me an error message about too many applications open or something. Huh?

Anyway.

I never would've guessed how much fun my little one had at that store. I even had a good time.

I'm taking her back soon to make a lamb for Easter.

So, if you ever have a chance to go to one of those parties, or to just take a kid to Build a Bear, I highly recommend it.

Here's how it went down:

All the kids sat in a circle with their "party hostess" and got a name tag. (Funny, but the "hostess" kept calling Anna Marie "Anna Nicole." Too much E News, huh?)

Then they tell how they know the birthday kid. And under the plan we had, they got to choose a bear - either a "chocolate" or a "vanilla."

Anna Marie took the chocolate bear. She's my kid, alright.

Then, they got their flat bears and took them over to the stuffing station, where they took turns pushing the foot pedal as the hostess stuffed the bears.

Those Build a Bear folks, they're friggin' geniuses. They devised a game for the kids who weren't stuffing to play - hot potato, except with a little satin heart. That way, the kids were occupied while someone else was stuffing their bear, and it was an arbitrary way to decide who went next.

Speaking of the hearts, each kid got two - one for the birthday boy, and one for their bear. They each put a heart into Aaron's bear, after wishing on it and such.

Then, before they stuffed their bears, they put their hearts in.

Anna Marie's wish - "That I would be with my bear FOREVER!"

Aww.

I always wondered how the bears were sealed in the back, but they've thought of that too. The bears are pre-sewn, and the hostess pulls it tight and ties a knot. I'm thinking that part taks LOTS of practice.

When the bears are stuffed, the child tells the hostess what the bear's name will be. True to form, Anna Marie named hers "Power Ranger Bear."

The bear then got a T-shirt. Instead of a pretty pink one, you guessed it, we ended up with one with flames that said "All Star." She said Power Ranger Bear was a boy's name, so she would have a boy bear. And although the pink Supergirl shirt looked tempting, no self-respecting Power Ranger Bear would be caught stuffed in one.

Flames it was, then.

After each bear was issued a Cub Condo (a cardboard box - the bears are apparently bums) and a birth certificate, we went across the road to McDonald's for the rest of the party.

It wasn't an "official" McDonald's party, so we just grabbed tables and took over half the restaurant.

I'm enjoying that some of my cousins have kids not too much younger than Anna Marie, and it gives us another excuse to get together. Especially since Anna Marie's other cousins live 500 miles away.

And I finally got to see Ameila, the baby sister of the birthday boy and daughter of my cousin Cheree.

Oh my gosh - I don't know how my aunt Esther, the youngest of the 10 Coleys, ended up with more grandkids that look like that side of the family per capita than any of her other siblings. I guess the rest of us cousins just married people with stronger gene pools or something.

But! My camera phone was working at McDonald's, and I got a picture!



Just look at those cheeks!

And I think she's going to have the Coley blue eyes!

(Pardon me for the baby excitement, will you?)

So, to sum up: Build a Bear was fun. We're going back - maybe not the "99 times" that Anna Marie wants, but at least once more to make the lamb. Even Jason is on board with this one.

And Amelia is cute! And I finally got to see her!

Saturday was a good day.

I'm it.

I've been tagged by Corina. She said I had to name five weird things about myself, and then pick two others to tag.

I answered a post like this one a long time ago on this blog. Funny story about that - I was new to blogging, and had just "met" Valerie, and she tagged me, but I didn't know it was "me" she was tagging. I thought it might be some other Melissa, because no one ever picks me for anything.

I was wrong. She picked me!

Valerie's great.

Anyway, here are my five things. I may have posted them before, but some of you weren't here then.

1. I'm a pretty bad insomniac, and while I lay awake at night waiting for my brain to slow down long enough so I can sleep, I write letters in my head. Although, now that I have this blog, I also write blog posts in my head. The letters part sometimes serves as a therapy for me to get out frustrations, but sometimes it just makes me more agitated.

2. I HATE washing my hair. Actually, I hate drying my hair. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy being clean as much as the next person. But the time it takes me to dry my hair seems like a waste of 10 minutes. Silly, I know.

3. Although I wouldn't consider myself a fidgety person, I am constantly moving my fingers. Like last night, as I was trying to get to sleep, I realized I was playing a song in my head and moving my fingers in time to the music. My fidgety fingers drive Jason up the wall!

4. Being the nosy person I am, the internet is a boon to me. I can read newspapers from all across the country, even if I have no connection to the place. I just like reading what is going on in other places.

5. I can't whistle. I think this leaves the category of "weird" and heads straight into "sad." Other people act like it's the most natural thing on earth, but I just don't get it.

Ok, so those are my five things. I now tag Sheila and Suzie Q. I only had to tag two, but if you'd like to be next, feel free to tag yourself!

Official Thursday Weigh In

I gained half a pound this week. I'm going to blame it on "hosting" my "friend" this week.

Not on the fact that I've been so under the weather that I haven't exercised, say, at all.

Fluid. That's how I got back up to 167 pounds this week.

Anna Marie's Valentine's Day crisis

You didn't know a five-year-old could have a crisis centered around a semi-silly holiday, did you?

Yesterday, about 9:30, the babysitter called me.

"I hate to bother you," she said, "but I can't get Anna Marie to stop crying. She and Dayton were coloring, and I left the room for a minute to change a load of laundry, and when I came back, she was crying and he was hugging her."

I tried, twice during that call, to console her over the phone. All I got in return was crying.

The third time, I told her that there would be a special story teller at the library, and that maybe Ms. Kim could take the two of them. She seemed satisfied with that.

I went on about my day. Amanda came over to my house for lunch, and when she said she was going to the store, I asked her to pick up a small box of chocolates for Anna Marie. She did - complete with Winnie the Pooh on front. They were waiting for her on her bed.

When I picked her up that afternoon, she was in pretty good spirits. They'd come to the library, and gotten a book on puppets. When they got home, Ms. Kim sewed them up a couple, and let them decorate them. She'd even made a few Valentines for people.

In the van, I asked her what Dayton had done to get her so upset. Apparently, she had wanted to make Ms. Kim (his mom) a Valentine, and he said people could only get one Valentine each. And she was getting one from him.

We had a little talk about his having to share his mommy, and all was well. Or so I thought.

Just before bed, we were in my room playing Chutes and Ladders, and then she wanted to make my mom a Valentine. One that apparently involved Batman, because my job was to cut out his cape, and I wasn't doing it correctly! Then, I messed up his head - too small.

I had just ruined what was to be known later as "The Best Valentine Ever."

I spent the next hour consoling her. She never wanted to see me again. But then she wanted a bedtime story. I told her that was difficult since she didn't want to see me. She solved that problem by laying in her bed with her back to me.

Eventually, she turned around. But her evening did not.

Just when I thought I had her settled down, she came back into the living room.

"No one made me a Valentine!"

Now, nevermind that I had made a way for her to have not just chocolate, but chocolate with peanut butter in the middle. No one else had showed her any Valentine's lovin'!

She declared it the worst Valentine's Day ever!

Jason hurredly made her one on the computer.

I called mom, and instructed everyone at her house to get out their glue and glitter and construction paper, because my baby needed some Valentines.

She suggested that I tell her we could have a Valentine's do-over.

Anna Marie seemed to like that idea, that we could celebrate today.

I know it seems like we were "coddling" her last night, but seriously, we were at our wit's end.

How do you make a five-year-old understand that all that hype? About one day? Is not that important.

That we express our love to each other every day.

Please, moms of teens, tell me that this is NOT what they act like when they're 13 and no one asks them to the dance!

On the other hand, if this is her worst Valentine's Day ever, I guess things can only get better from here.

Not another sappy Valentine's Day post

But look what Jason brought to me at work yesterday!

He said he didn't think he'd have time to do anything today, and he wanted to be sure he remembered.

I made the mistake of leaving them in my office overnight, which gets pretty stuffy because it's closed up, so they opened.

He later confessed that he had called to have some delivered, but then realized the ridiculous amount of a handling fee (something like $15!) added on to the cost of the flowers and decided to cut out the middle man.

(He also confessed that instead of calling a local florist down here, he called 1-800-FLOWERS, so that could've been part of the problem.)

This was after he had been up since the wee hours and had worked all day at the auction.

He thought about me.

I was touched.

I can count on one hand the number of times I've gotten flowers from him in the nearly 12 years we've been a couple.

Then, he sent me an email to my work email address in the wee hours of this morning, before getting up to go to the auction again.

What a sweetie.

I feel pretty bad, because I haven't gotten him anything. I know what he'd like - an other installment of Are You Being Served? on DVD - but I didn't get it ordered in time. I was sort of hoping that I could get one at Suncoast this weekend (we're going to the mall for a birthday party at Build a Bear) but then I find out, there aren't any more Suncoast stores in Memphis! What is up with that?

So I'll have to eat crow, and order it late.

I, on the other hand, have asked only for a small table on which to place my scrapbooking stuff in our home office.

I am a simple girl.

So, to all of you out there - I hope you have a sweet day, and that you have someone special to share it with.

Or if you don't, that you'll avail yourself of some of those "anti-Valentine's Day" cards that have just come out.

Feeling (somewhat) better.

Thanks for all the well-wishes and advice. I went home at lunch, took some medicine, and the next thing I knew, it was 4 p.m.

I felt about a bazillion times better.

Today, I'm still a little achy in the head. I've taken some ibuprofen, along with my sudafed and chlor-trimeton. If I make it to the store today, I shall likely take Valerie up on her advice and get some Advil cold and sinus.

Which, thanks to the meth monkeys, is behind the counter, adding another layer of trouble to its acquisition.

(By the way, our Walmart stocks the pregnancy tests there too. Seems they were prime targets for shoplifters. Go figure.)

This day is dragging on, in all of its dreariness and headaches and falling temperatures outside.

I'm just biding my time until lunch, when I can get more meds!

Meet my new best friend.

Jason and Anna Marie went out to dinner with my parents last night, and I stayed home.

Because I'm sick.

It's hard to believe that something as simple as allergies can make a person feel this icky.

I'm not running a fever, or having the chills. No body aches to speak of, other than the sinus headache that's lingering despite my best efforts.

Just allergies.

I've sniffled and sneezed my way through the weekend.

Oh, back to the medicine.

Last night after my two red heads got home, I mentioned to Jason that I wish I had something stronger that a mix of Benadryl and Sudafed to get me through the night. He mentioned that mom was headed to Wal Mart after they ate, and that I should ask her to pick me up something.

For those of you who haven't figured it out by now, Nyquil has turned its back on us.

It's no longer the "nighttime sinffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine."

(And believe it or not, I've actually recited that jingle to myself in the store to figure out if I had enough symptoms to qualify to buy this stuff.)

It no longer has a decongestant!

What good is being knocked out, when you can't breathe?

So, I asked her to bring me something on the order of an antihistamine/decongestant. And she brought me Alka Seltzer Cough and Cold.

Clearly, I'm being overmedicated, but I don't care.

It knocked me out. Problem is, I can only take it at night. So today, I'm back to mixing my own allergy relief cocktail. This time it's Chlor-Trimeton ('cause it's non-drowsey) and Sudafed.

It's been an hour, and I don't feel any better. But I have a plan.

I'm going to try to go home after lunch and see more of my New Best Friend.

Jason and Anna Marie will be gone to Memphis. I will have the house to myself.

Well, except for the turtle, who is (we hope) hibernating, and the fish, which have become, shall we say, prolific in the past few months.

And while I'm on the subject of this medicine, riddle me this: why does a company develop a medicine designed to make you sleep, and then make it wear off in four to six hours? Why not make it last eight hours?

It's just a thought.

Anyway, I'd better get to work around here, so my boss will be more likely to let me go home at lunch.

AAAACHOOO!

Official Thursday Weigh-In

Wohoo!

I "released" two more pounds this week.

I'm down to 166.5.

Do you know what that means? Do you?

That means I'm down 70.5 pounds - less than 30 pounds left to go!

And I'll say it again:

Wohoo!

My silly aristocratic title

I happened upon this nonsense at another blog yesterday - not even sure which one.

Anyway, if I were an aristocrat, which I'm not, but if I were, this is what my title would be:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Grand Duchess Melissa the Insubstantial of Chalmondley Chumleyton Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Insubstantial? Really, I was just starting to get my self esteem back on track, when I read that unfortunate phrase.

Let me give you a little backstory on that situation.

When we lived in South Carolina, I enjoyed planning things. Things at church, and things at home. But no one ever showed up at my "things."

I started to sell Premier Jewelry, and no one showed up at my first show! Not one! I lay on my bed and cried, while my sponsor tried to console me and my husband ate the bounteous banquet we'd prepared.

It really wasn't fair, because I'd gone to the other parties hosted by the other ladies at the church.

Then, I had a Tupperware party. I was accosted by an odd-looking woman at a kiosk in the mall. I said yes.

My mom and sister were at my house, and at first, they were the only ones to show up. Then Jason got on the phone with his mom, and she "remembered" and came, and brought several other family members.

Nobody from the church showed up, again. Keep in mind, I'd moved out there to marry Jason, and besides my in-laws, the church folk were the only ones I knew.

(With the means to buy Tupperware, that is. I worked in a soup kitchen, and needless to say, I figured those folks didn't have the ability to purchase storage solutions.)

So, I came out of the whole period feeling like I was a failure at planning things, that no one liked me, that I was flawed in some socially important way.

Then I moved back home.

The first indication that I was OK was Anna Marie's fifth birthday party. I'm still in awe at how well that went off. Mind you, I had some help, but still. It was such a success, I lay awake just the other night worrying how I'd top it this year.

I felt good after that one.

Then I held my Premier show this past Saturday. Know what? It was great. People came. Like, nearly everyone I'd invited. Like, people drove from an hour away to come to my house.

We had tons of food. And yes, people credited Jason, the caterer, but I didn't tell them (and neither did he) that he didn't do much work. I got some maple cupcakes from Amanda, and some of Aunt Debi's "pink fluffy stuff" (which she said is called "funeral salad" - think I'll stick with "pink fluffy stuff"). We also had some cookies Jason had found a recipe for online (vanilla wafers with Cool Whip and sliced strawberries on top), a vegetable tray, cocktail franks, and salsa and chips. Oh, and a tray of strawberries and grapes. And my world famous chicken salad. And those little pinwheel things you get from Sam's and just unthaw. And a relish tray.

I think that was it.

Oh, no, wait. I forgot the gingersnaps from World Market. The poor Premier lady told people that if they wanted to book a show, they should not feel under pressure to have the kind of spread we did!

Anyway, we had fun. People enjoyed coming to my house! They ate my food! No one keeled over!

Anna Marie shared her stuff with my cousins' kids!

Jason holed himself up in our room with the TV and his laptop!

And I came to realize - those failures I had in South Carolina? They weren't my fault.

I don't normally like to play the "blame game." But really, just a simple change of venue, and suddenly, we're Party Central.

When I told Amanda this the next day, she said, "I thought you knew those people were crappy."

It has taken me over four years to realize that although I loved the people out there, they were just too self-involved. That's why we couldn't get them to do anything in the church (except attend potlucks) - they always had better things to do.

That's why when I was struggling with depression after I gave birth, no one reached out to me. I was trying to nurse, and the ladies knew that. I was having trouble, and they knew that too. Some were experienced in that area, and not one offered to come over and help me. Not one reached out to me. I was crying out for help from them, and they turned a deaf ear.

So let this be a lession, ladies - pay attention to those around you! Whether they're blatantly asking for help or not, they may need it. Be sensitive. Be attuned to the needs of others.

We need each other - whether it's for Tupperware parties or lactaction advice. We need each other.

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G-B-E-E

Can you guess what I did last night?

I went to our local spelling bee.

I didn't get to see the whole thing, because I spent the first hour of it at the central office of the county school system, waiting for them to come out of executive session so I could go in.

They'd been in there since 6:00.

When 8:00 rolled around, I figured I'd better skip across town to the middle school auditorium, and see some kids spell some words.

After watching Akeelah and the Bee, I was a little disappointed at the caliber of words being given to those kids.

"Statute"? "Appetite"? "Crocuses"?

What ever happened to "Prestidigitation?"

At least some of the kids did ask for the language of origin. That was a new one. Must've been inspired by the movie.

Those kids were so pitifully nervous. One, who ended up getting third place, was so nervous he'd sigh heavily and clutch his heart when it came his turn.

And some of the words that tripped these kids up - I mean, they were like something out of a Hollywood script.

The mayor's son? Couldn't spell "Persuade."

The little white girl who couldn't spell "Ghetto."

The kid who spelled "Ceramics" as "Serramix," even after being given a definition and a sentence.

In the end, first place was garnered not by a product of the public school system, but by a homeschooled student. I'm pretty sure she won last year too, or at least placed, because I remember taking her picture.

All in all, I'm not sure it's fair to put the really young kids in with the really older kids. After all, one way to become a good speller is to read good material, and not many of the younger kids have had the opportunity to do that yet.

Now, the first (and I think second) place finishers will advance to the Mid-South bee in Memphis. After that, it's Washington.

I wonder if the third place kid is some kind of stand-in, like should one of the others not be able to perform his or her duties, Mr. Third Place will step in. That was the really nervous, sighing, chest-clutching kid. He was crying at the end, and I haven't looked at my pictures yet, but I'll be he's pretty red-eyed in them.

And the word that got him? "Crocuses." He spelled it with a "k".

We have snow!

I know you're thinking the same thing we think when the weatherman tells us snow is coming.

Yeah, right.

But this time it happened - an honest-to-goodness snow!

The last two years, we've gotten what has consisted mainly of ice and sleet, masquerading as snow. But not this year. White stuff! Snowflakes! Flurries and such!

I couldn't resist waking Anna Marie up early to show her what had become of our front yard while she slept.

Jason took her out, and they had a snowball fight:



She said that he always hit her with his. I figure that any she got on him were his letting her.

Then, they stopped and made an itty-bitty snowman:



Jason was so good to take pictures and email them to me at work.

Of course, the sun came out, and everything is pretty much gone now. But she's still holding out hope for a repeat!

Will I ever get her to believe it just doesn't happen here?

Official Thursday Weigh-In

Ok, here goes.

I didn't "release" any weight this week.

That being said, I didn't gain any either. I stayed the same, at 168.5.

Not that I'm complaining - especially with the off-kilter week I've had. I played hooky for crying out loud, people! I'm living on the edge.

Now, how are y'all doing on your post-New-Years-weight-loss-resolution-thingies?

Hmm?