Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Robin laid an egg...

Pretty comical!  Merry Christmas everyone!

Joy To The World

This has to bring a slight smile to your face.... it did mine!  Merry Christmas!

iPad handicap

Okay, so my family has gotten my mother's feet wet by getting her set up with being the proud new owner of the iPad.  She is going to be 72 in January... way to go mom!  So proud of you, that you made the big step to try out technology!

She spent a few days with us and I went over a few things with her,  one of which was email use.  I think she had the concept down pretty good by the time she left for home.  One of the reasons she got this iPad is because it has voice recognition (Seri) and it can do all of her typing for her by her speaking to it. 

I thought I would email her a short message and a picture of my daughter Jenna in her halloween costume, so she had something to read and see when she turned on the iPad once she arrived home.  

This is what I wrote to my mom (her name is Janice).... 

Hi Mom, 

I hated to see you go today and I wish I would of had more time to spend with you while you were up here!  I thought I would send you a picture of what Jenna was for Halloween since you did not get to see it yet.  Gotta run for now but wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you and love you very much!   

 This is what she replied with.... 

Hi Kim this is Monica I like the picture the photographs I don't think this is recording goodbye this is mother again I am not Monica I am Janice I hope you're doing fine I I just think I just come home runs Cordeterra I Cabrolet

I just about peed my pants from laughing so hard!  Thanks mom for the good laugh :)

With that, I am going to leave you with a little short funny video about the iPad and the older generation...

"fun and laughs at awackydo.tv"

Ditto on neighbor's Christmas lights

This was so funny that I just have to do a re-post to kick off the holiday season!  Ditto for me too!

The true meaning of life

okay, so this little phrase does have a bit of truth to it.... LOL

Twinkies out and Marijuana in

Lately, these just crack me up!  Got to post..... sorry if it is overkill.

A new perspective on forgiveness

Oh my, I think that this little phrase has hit the nail on the head!

Happiness is...

This is something, that I wish would visit more frequently...

An "ah ha" moment

I love this thought...

Color to black and white...

Here is a cute little story about Jenna…

We were at the Octoberfest celebration in downtown Appleton and Jenna wanted to get a carmel apple.  So I purchased one for her, and my sister Shelly suggested that since she brought along the picnic blanket, we could walk down to the end of the block and sit on the grass in front of the Lawrence University park, and take a break from walking.  Once we got there and got situated on the blanket, I was taking in all the incredible fall colors on the trees and watching the huge amounts of people walking by up and down the street.  It was a crisp, bright and sunny fall day.  Along the street, next to the park, there are old historic buildings with lots of character and detail.  Across the street is the Houdini museum, so my mind started to wander with thoughts of his time era and what the scenery would look like with people from that time period or even of an earlier time period, with horse and buggy.  I tried to paint a picture of it with my sister and Jenna,  discussing how everything would pretty much be the same for buildings but there would maybe be women in long heavy dresses, maybe most of the men with hats, maybe horse and buggies traveling by etc, etc.  I said to both of them, try to picture yourself sitting in that period of time and seeing all of these people in that attire with these buildings surrounding us.  Jenna pipes up in her authoritative voice and says "yeah, but mom, you're forgetting to add that it would ALL be in black and white."    Priceless, Shelly and I rolled around laughing our butts off with that remark.

Cheerful sunflower floral wreath

Good guy... jerk?

This cracks me up as well...

Thief in the house

For some reason, this cracks me up... 

Conjoined Twins "Abby and Brittany"

My daughter certainly keeps a smile on my face.  I stumbled onto this article on Yahoo and read it to Jenna. I was discussing with Jenna how challenging this would be to live a lifestyle like this and asked her if she could imagine the challenges. She made me bust a gut with her reply..... she said "Well mom, it's a good thing they are sisters!"  I said "I agree!"

Conjoined Twins "Abby & Brittany"

Doily Wreath

This is a fun summer project to get you prepped for the holidays or to simply use as an accent for the perfect decor!  I can envision this with red, white and blue accents for the July fouth celebration as well. They emulate a firework display with the lights!  A beautiful  white paper doily wreath highlighted with holiday lights.  It has the holiday appeal of snowflakes, fireworks or soft elegance!



What you will need:
24-inch wreath form
30-inch wreath form
24-gauge wire
Scissors
White spray paint
20-foot strand of white holiday lights in a white theme strand
Paper bouquet holders (try ten 8.8-inch ones, twenty 6.4-inch ones, twenty 4.8-inch ones, and fifty 3.2-inch ones

Directions:

Step 1
Working on a covered surface, lay a 24-inch wreath form inside a 30-inch one. Attach them with 24-gauge wire at 6 to 8 evenly spaced points.

Step 2
In a ventilated area, coat combined wreath form with white spray paint. Let dry.

Step 3
Wrap wreath in zig zag form with a 20-foot strand of white holiday lights (test lights beforehand), leaving the plug end unwrapped (as much as is needed to plug in).

Step 4
With scissors, widen the center-hole slits slightly in paper bouquet holders (we used 10 8.8-inch ones, 20 6.4-inch ones, 20 4.8-inch ones, and 50 3.2-inch ones). Poke a finger through center hole of each bouquet holder (from front to back) to create openings large enough to accommodate a light bulb.

Step 5

Beginning with largest ones, place bouquet holders evenly around wreath, slipping a light through each hole so that bulb bases, not bulbs, rest against paper. (From time to time, hang wreath, and step back to ensure that the arrangement is balanced and attractive.)

Step 6
Add remaining bouquet holders in descending size order. Use smallest bouquet holders to cover centers of larger ones and to fill in any gaps. Hang near an outlet. Unplug when unattended.

hCG diet - day 9

Well, I've hit that brick wall and have now been on a plateau for two days.  I have not been over eating but on the same hand was not doing any bicycling or swimming as I was the days prior so maybe the lack of those two things is the reason.  Plus I did have those veggies sautéd in oil a couple days ago along with the chicken on the bone and 3 small candies which could of been the reason to start the plateau.  I can't blame the hCG as I have not been following their agenda for food to eat 100% plus I had the chicken on the bone along with the veggies sautéd in oil.  That could of been my fall-out right there.  But I've done the extreme low calorie diets in the past and know that practically starving myself is not the answer either, as that just screws up my system.  


I think my next game plan is to continue the hCG pills for one more week and then if I see no results for getting past this plateau, then I am going to go off of the capsules and start the stabilization phase.  I'm just pleased that I have lost about eight pounds so far.  Today my plan is to go for a bike ride and then do some swimming.   We will see if that makes a difference.  I wanted to start lifting weights on about day eleven or twelve.  I did not want to do it at the start of the diet, as I wanted to see what this hCG did without weight lifting.... sort of as a test market.   So, now that I have hit the plateau, I think I will start the weight lifting today or tomorrow.  


Here is a little history about hCG that I found in my reading... British physician Dr. Simeons discovered back in the 1930s, the idea that daily hCG hormone injections might assist people in losing weight. At the time, doctors had discovered and reported success treating children with Frohlich's syndrome (which is a condition marked by obesity and slow development of the reproductive organs) by giving them injections of gonadotropin derived from pregnant women's urine.  I did read from Dr. Simeons that he decided to experiment with giving the gonadotropin (it would later come to be called HCG) to people who were obese but did not have Frohlich's syndrome. When he did so, his patients' appetites diminished and the circumference of their hips and waists decreased -- even though they did not lose weight.


One thing that I have to say is that according to the hype, hCG is suppose to help diminish the woozy and weak feeling that people get on a low calorie diet.  I would have to say that I have not been feeling woozy or weak during these past seven days.  I am drinking a lot of water during this diet.  It could be that I have not been feeling that weak or woozy because I have been eating for lunch and dinner a lot of yellow, orange and red peppers plus the broccoli to fill me up.   As soon as I wake up, I try to take two capsules and then lay in bed for awhile, or if I forget then I take it once I get up and moving.  I'll have some coffee (with Truvia in it since I am only allowed a tablespoon which I save the dairy for my veggie/fruit smoothie at night) but I try to leave at least 20-30 minutes after the capsules before I eat anything.  I am feeling thinner than before my vacation (which I am only a couple pounds lighter from that weight at that time).  In fact, it could be all in my head but I do feel that my upper arms feel "thinner" along with my belly area unlike prior when I was that same weight.  So perhaps the hCG is allowing the fat burning to come off of areas that make a difference?    Who the heck knows, it is all assumptions.  


I mentioned a veggie/fruit smoothie earlier.  I have that after dinner if I feel hungry.  Which I make with a "Organic Power Greens Super Mix."  This mix is made by Earthbound Farm and consists of spinach, red and green chard and baby kale.  I take about a 1/2 cup of water and blend with a big handful of these power greens.  Once they are to the consistency of juice, I then add about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of crushed ice to the blender, 1 tablespoon of milk or plain yogurt (which is what I saved from the morning allotment referring to what the hCG activator says I could of added to my coffee earlier in the day), 3 frozen strawberries and a splash of plain unsweetened applesauce.  I also add some Truvia to taste.  This is like a dessert for me as well.  The hCG activator says to use Sccharin or Stevia.  I like Stevia but can't always get my hands on it so I substitue Truvia instead.  It is a natural zero calorie sweetener.  


Well, anyway, I am looking to try this one more week along with the stabilization period and see what my results will be then.  

Middle Age Wisdom

I got a kick out of this!

hCG diet - day 7

Well, I am tickled to report that I lost another pound and a half this morning!  Whoot, whoot!  But, I was bad today because for dinner my family had my potatoes, carrots and onion sautéd in grape seed oil...  so I took the carrots and onions and skipped the potato for my portion of veggies.  I also had some squash.   I'm sure the veggies sautéd in oil will come back to bite me in the butt.   Also, I had chicken on the bone instead of a simple boneless breast.  I have not been calorie counting to the tee but have been eating a lot of veggies.  I was also naughty as my daughter bought some bulk candies and I had two now-and-laters along with a toffee for desert. I'm sure this part of falling off of the wagon will be the nail in the coffin.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Make Lemonade!

hCG diet - day 6

Okay, well, I hate to jinx a good thing, but I think that I am totally digging this new diet that I am on.  I am into my sixth day of the 44 day cycle.  Two of those six days were the "gorge days" and the other four days were of the actual 500 calorie intake days.  I am happy to report that I have already lost 6 and a half pounds in those four days.    I feel great and the weight is pretty much falling off. I am excited about that but on the same hand leery of a sudden plateau.  I don't know if I have ever felt so good about loosing weight.  Hopefully this will be the start of a new way of life for me, and not some yo yo feel good for the moment thing as I have experienced before, where the weight I lost then magically appears days after my loss. 

Even if it is a placebo that they are selling me, it feels effortless and the weight seems to be going down on the scale (so far!).   I am really excited about it and want to share more details as my days progress.   My weight has been creeping up the scale for the past 10-15 years.  I'd try loosing weight in the past and then slowly I would gain even more back than what I was trying to loose.  It seems when you get over the age of thirty-five, that the weight just starts to go wacky even when you look at food.  


I was pretty desperate to loose weight and about three or four years ago, I read the Kevin Trudeau book that talked about the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) which was all good but on the other hand pretty damn silly since I could not find anyone to do the hCG injections.  So a couple weeks ago, I stumbled upon these hCG pills that were for sale in the nutrition store and I was sceptical since they were not an injection but in the form of a pill.  I thought, "well, I guess it is worth a try and it is cheaper."  I did some searching on the net and there seemed to be some satisfied customers with good results. I tried to pick forums that were review type forums and not some place trying to sell the capsules or a variation of.


I took some before photos of myself, but quite honestly, I've gained so much weight that I am embarrassed to even post them. In my mind, I look disgusting with all of the weight I put on.   We'll see, maybe I will find the courage to post them later....


For now, I am going to post this picture I took tonight of the awesome plate of food I had for dinner.  Yeah, I am so bad at following directions.  The diet does not call for brocoli or peppers, but I put them in anyway as I figured they were above ground growing and low in calories.  It was very filling and satisfying.  The orange, red and yellow peppers have a wonderful flavor and are filling.  If I am going to do this for 44 days, then I have to have a little sanity.  


For this dish, I sautéd the veggies (onions, broccoli with red, yellow and orange peppers in water and added some no salt seasoning.  No salt varieties are a must have in this diet as you need to flavor up the food since fat or butter is a no, no!    You are restricted from not using any form of fat for cooking in this 500 calorie diet.  So I use a teflon pan and about a half of inch of water.  You have to keep an eye on it so it does not evaporate and burn.  I use a pan lid to keep the moisture in when I think I need a moment to step away to prep something else.  Once the veggies started to look a bit tender, I  then put the shrimp to one side of the pan and sprinkled a little ginger and onion-garlic powder on the shrimp.  I cooked until the pink disappeared in the shrimp.  Don't over cook or the shrimp will get hard and rubbery.  

Influence others positively by being a teacher, coach, counselor, or mentor.

hCG - day 3

Okay, so I have finished my two days of loading yesterday.  It says that you can eat as much as you want throughout these two days, they call them "gorge days."  I really don't feel like I gorged, but must of ate enough calories because when I got on the scale this morning, I magically plunked on another two pounds above and beyond from after my vacation.  Argh, this is the most weight that I have ever been in my whole entire life!  It was depressing to even look at the scale.  This max weight is seven pounds higher then the weight I was at after I gave birth to my daughter (which was about eight years ago).  Will this craziness ever end????  Very sad face here....


Hopefully in a week I will have a better attitude and will be able to say bub-bye "rolls of fat' forever!  I am looking forward to this hCG plan as once you have finished the low calorie diet, it then gets you to a transition period that they call stabilization.  I think that is really what most of my diet routines have been missing.  Because typically I go off my diet and my body has a hay day with the sudden introduction of food that it was missing.  Perhaps if I stabilized my time after dieting I could transition on my own as well without hCG.  But I have read the book that talks about the three different levels of fat and I have a feeling that if I did the stabilization on my own that the wrong fat would be taken during the 500 calorie days and then the stabilization may still try to bounce back to to fill that void?  Who the the heck knows!    

Laughing similar to a tranquilizer

but with no side effects!

Laughing is a tranquilizer with no side effects!

The Little Free Library

This is a warm and fuzzy idea... "Little Free Library."  If it does not put a smile on your face, there is a good chance that it will put a smile on someone elses face.  They are adorable little book boxes housing a home until the next visitor comes along to take and read.  What a great way to build a sense of community and a love of reading!  

The Little Free Library is basically an easy and fun way to share books with neighbors. Take a book, leave a book. It’s that simple. You can even leave a little note too if you want to. And there’s no rule about age categories.  Do you have some books cluttering the house? Drop them in "The Little Free Library" box for the next visitor to enjoy.  Your visitor will possibly have tons of fun discovering books that you once enjoyed.  These little libraries are popping up everywhere and if your luck is good, there may be one near you!  If not, why not start one of your own?  Little Free Library sells mini libraries or will show you how to build one of your very own!  Better yet, you can add your own personal touch if you feel inspired.  This great little idea is bound to be a page turner.

credit: littlefreelibrary.org

Happiness is not perfected until it is shared.

hCG - Loading for two days

Okay, I am at the starting gate and ready to take of on this adventure of hCG two days of loading.    I amazingly did not gain a ton of weight on my trip.  I think it was in the ball park of 3-5 pounds gained.  Which I would say is pretty typical for weight gain while on vacation eating out a lot.  Pretty much up to where my heaviest weight was before the Dr. Oz diet.  I decided to take some "before" pictures of myself.  I have yet to get the guts to publish them.  I feel so self concious of my weight.  We will see, maybe just maybe, when this is all said and done, I may publish.  I am not going to commit though at this point.  

hCG Activator

My weight has gotten so out of control that I am kicking around doing the hCG capsule form  and diet.  The diets that I have been dabbling in, have of course not worked.  I am a little hesitant of these hCG capsules, as it is kind of new on the market and I am not a big fan of putting foreign stuff in my body but I have read articles and books about hCG and think the theory kind of makes sense.  I am working up my courage to at least try the capsules.  There has been mixed reviews that are saying that the capsules are not as effective as the injections.  And then more comments of well, heck, if you were to do a 500 cal a day diet, you would loose weight with or with out the pills.  Part of me wants to disagree with that comment just for the fact that I have experienced the fad diets and deffinately have pretty much done the low calories and have been miserable because I am constantly hungry or it seems that my body says "hey, you are starving me, so I am going to buck you every which way to conserve so you don't loose pounds."  Typically it ends up that I end up getting sick or something stupid in the end and when I finally go back to eating normal, my body is like "FOOD....NEED FOOD TO SURVIVE" and then the pounds I lost just magically appear right back and then eventually go even higher from where I started.  It's been a fighting battle, I tell you.


This is kind of off the subject of hCG but earlier this year I watched a movie/video on youtube that was called "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead."  If you have not seen it, I recomend watching it.  It is inspirational and changed the way I approach getting "greens" in my system.   I like a good salad every now and then but I don't care for them every day.  So juicing has become a great way for me to incorporate this need into my way of eating.  Of course, I watched the video and thought the gentleman was strictly doing leafy greens, veggies and some fruits to combat his health issues.  He must of been sneaking a few beans, nuts or lentils into his diet, because I just don't know how one can survive as many days as he did without them.  Never the less, I tried juicing for about 5 days.  I made it through and lost probably about 6 pounds but deep done felt like my body was screeming for a large steak or some kind of protien.  


Then just recently before I went on vacation, I tried the Dr. OZ's approved 7 day crash diet.  I think I did it for 7 days and lost  I maybe five pounds.  But once I got back to eating normal, the weight snuck right back on again.   


So, I have it up to here (picture me throwing my hands and arms above my head!).... and now I am looking at this bottle of hCG capsules.

I'm going on vacation soon to New Orleans, so I figured since I won't have a scale to weigh myself and with the plethora of food that is available, that will be my excuse to begin the "Pre-Diet Phase" prior to starting the diet.  It says to resist from dieting prior and eat as normally as possible until full, regardless of weight that is gained in the process. This helps the normal fat reserves to become reasonbly stocked.  Reason being that you won't be able to subsist comfortably on the 500 calories a day unless the normal fat reserves are well stocked. This process will be easy for me to do on vacation as I would have done that anyway!  I'll keep you posted.  

Somebody That I Used to Know

I've got a new fav "summer song".... yeah, no "Pumped Up Kicks" or bullet lyrics this year.  Gotta like those songs with the special lyrics, the ones you can kind of relate to.....this song theme seems to be about a relationship gone wrong which is something that I can relate to.  This first video is pretty cool, creative and different....right up my alley. The second video is simply interesting and entertaining.  There seems to be two different versions, and I am not too sure who the original artist is.  Gotye, maybe, or Kimbra? Walk Off The Earth?  But here you go, enjoy...
SIDE NOTE:
OMG, I stumbled onto this parody of the song ..... you've got to watch the first two though before you watch the parody in the third video or you won't understand it! It is hilarious!  I laughed so hard, my eyes were watering!
SIDE NOTE #2:
Anyone familiar with Fred from the youtube channel?  The guy in the first video reminds me of him!  No?

The Dick Clark and Mayan Connection

You can suffocate a thought by expressing it in too many words.

Talking Dog Tease

This has to be one of the most creative and funny videos I've ever seen :)

Screaming funny eggs

Dog Thoughts

A funny talking dog!

Let the rain sing you a melody...

I've got 50% British blood so this is an artful expression of my British humor, rubber ducky and all.  


"April showers bring May flowers"

Not enough hours in a day

I was conversing with my mother about time and my daughter Jenna was listening in. Mom was amazed with how she is retired and still feels like she never has enough time in a day. I agreed with her that I felt the same way and I'm not even retired. I empathized stating, "one would think that you would have more time when your retired." Jenna, who is a plethera of young minded info, pipes up "geez, there is already 24 hours in a day....don't you think that is plenty?" Ah ha, from a child perspective... YES!  When you are a kid, time seems to move very slowly... which is a good thing!  I do so miss those days.

Time is money...

Lemon Yellow Floral Arrangement

My favorite color... so fun!

Wooden bucket floral arrangement

Springtime boots

Have you thought about anything wonderful today?

St Patrick's Day Greeting

Click on the rainbow image to activate the animation in the greeting card...

 

email this to a friend by clicking on the envelope below!

Walking the dog

This made me chuckle....had to post!  

Adventure is not outside, it is within.

Bora Bora take me away...

Ok, so I am in dream land tonight for bucket places to visit.  One of these days... Bora Bora!

Bucket List

Not that anyone cares what my bucket list is..... just 'sayin, but this is on my bucket list.  Has anyone been here?  If yes, is it worth the trip?  This beautiful destination is Cinque Terre-Italy.

Accounting equals headache

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Hey, what can I say....I have a headache.  I just read a chapter in my accounting text book and feel like I just read some foreign language that I don't understand!

I used to be indecisive.  Now I'm not sure.

Password Brain Freeze

Geez..... these passwords for online accounts, how does one keep it all straight?  Asking tricky pre-arranged questions for the magic key in order to enter.  I set one of my accounts up and this is an account that I rarely use so the magic answer to the question to prove I am the owner is not something I am always thinking about.  For the most part, I am 40-something and seriously....I forget sometimes!  The question was "what is your favorite candy?"   OMG, I have such a sweet tooth that I have a ton of favorite candies and I don't remember what I put down prior!  What kind of question is that?  My mind was swirling with all of my favorite candies!  I ran done the list in my mind and thought of my selections.... picking two, thinking they would be the winner.  First attempt was Midnight Milky Way or Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and nope, they did not work! I decided I'd better stop before I got booted off and locked out.  I logged off for a moment and pretended that I was sitting smack dab in the middle of the candy aisle at Walgreens trying to think about more of my favorite candies... Butterfinger, Almond Joy and York Peppernint Pattie, Junior Mints... geez, they are killing me!  All this sweet candy talk has really gotten my sweet tooth running on high gear!  I re-logged on trying to pre guess if I had submitted any of those selections as more started pouring in my mind...Now & Laters, Sweet Tart Candy Canes, Heath Bar, Milk Duds, Malted Milk Balls, Laffy Taffy or Jolly Ranchers!  I could not figure out what on earth my stupid special answer to the damn question was and finally I switched aisles in my mind at Walgreens to the boxed and bulk candies and the the bell went of ....ding ding....I got the right one! They are round and oh so yummy!  I can't tell you because then you would know my secret password answer!

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.