this is so funny!

People, you must read this blog post. I laughed out loud!

http://www.dooce.com/2008/06/13/rite-passage

birthday wishes

Happy Birthday to you;
Happy Birthday to you;
Happy Birthday, dear Greg,
Happy Birthday to you!

Today is my brother Greg's birthday. He's 8 years older than me, so we haven't always been in each other's orbits, but I sure love him. I hope you have a good birthday, Greg, and I'll see you this weekend!

today's ramblings

Hey, everyone! First of all, be sure to take note of my new sidebar list - "foods i'm currently loving!" I figured that maybe it can give some of you ideas for new foods to try. Let me know if you are loving any of these foods, too!

On this humid, 80-degree+ day here in central MO, I decided to go to the indoor track in the fitness center on post for some nice, climate-controlled jogging. I got there, and it felt really warm - almost like a sauna. I thought that was odd and wondered if the AC wasn't working. But, I was there, so I figured I'd go ahead and stick to my plan. And I did! I jogged and walked for an hour, jogging more than half of the distance I covered. In fact, I ended up jogging almost 2.5 miles (not consecutively)! That makes me very proud, as I'm pretty new to this jogging thing, and it's really not that easy for me yet. I'm so pumped that I managed to do that much. I just alternated jogging and walking, and even mixed in a few sprints. Anywho, when I was finished, I was literally sweating more than I've ever sweated in my entire life. I was like a human waterfall. It was completely disgusting! I looked like I had just been in the pool. Imagine the sweatiest person you can, and then imagine that person twice as sweaty. :) I went to the front desk and asked what was up with the AC, and the guy told me that it was malfunctioning, and that the heat had actually been running! OMG. Imagine. I actually sat in the lobby and read the paper for awhile, because I didn't want to go out to my hot car without cooling off at least a little first.

You know, I've been getting a lot of compliments about my weight-loss recently, which is great. And it's gotten me thinking about what I'm really the most proud of, and I realized that it's not just losing the weight - it's actually that I've gotten so in shape. I mean, here I am, at 34, in the best shape I've ever been in at any age. There are plenty of women who are "thin" or "normal-sized," but they're not really fit, and they don't have much endurance or strength. You can be skinny but not able to jog or lift weights, or kickbox for an hour. It's sort of a revelation to me that my new smaller size is really secondary on the list of what I'm proud of. I just can't believe how buff I am! I know this sounds braggy, but I don't care. I'm just proud that I've really put in the work to tone my body and develop my muscles, and to become so much stronger. I've realized that my goal was never to just be skinny or small, but to be in great shape, and I can't believe that I've made that come true. I mean, don't get me wrong - I'm not in the greatest shape compared to some people, but for me, I am, and that's what counts. I'm just feeling very triumphant today. Maybe jogging in such heat took a toll on my brain and rendered me loopy! :)

thanks for sharing!

Today, I took Nick to story time at the library on post. It's a really nice story time, but I've just about decided to stop going, because Nick just won't sit still, be quiet, and actually pay attention to the stories. Today, he gave me even more justification to never show my face there again. In honor of Fathers' Day, the librarian was reading stories about Daddies, and was in the middle of a sweet book about all of the nice, loving things Daddies do for their children. During a quiet moment, Nick piped up completely out of the blue and said "When I'm a bad boy, my Daddy yells at me."

that's my boy!

So, today, we drove the hour to Osage Beach to take Nick to Miner Mike's, the faboo indoor funplex. They have an arcade where you buy tokens to play games; you get tickets from playing the games, which you can then redeem for prizes. "Prizes," in this case, is defined as "cheap, crappy, worthless trinkets." Out of all the choices, guess what my son chose for his prize: the sparkly, heart-shaped fairy wand complete with flashing jewels and marabou feather accents. Seriously. Furthermore, 4 hours later, said wand is now in about 5 pieces. Boys will be girls will be boys! :)

back online!

I have actually been offline against my will for the past couple of days. On Thursday afternoon, I discovered that I had no dial tone (we have dial-up Internet). With some over-the-phone guidance from the phone company, I determined that the problem was definitely not inside our house, so they put in a request to have a repair-peep come out. That peep did not come until 10:00 this morning (He couldn't possibly have come yesterday, due to the weather - more on that later.)! Mind you, with the dial-up Internet and the fact that I have a prepaid cell phone that costs 10 cents/minute, losing my land line for a couple of days was rather catastrophic for me. :) So, now that it's back, I have been making phone calls and catching up with emails, etc. I burned through way too many expensive cell phone minutes yesterday, but whatareyagonnado?

Yesterday turned out to be rather odd for other reasons, as well. First of all, I woke up and did my weekly weigh-in, and was shocked to see that I was down 4 lbs., taking my loss to an even 50! In the past, I have had times when I plateaued for a bit and then had a freakishly big loss, and I sometimes came back up a pound or two the next week. I mean, I can't really, truly have lost 4 lbs. in one week, surely. But, even if I'm back up a bit next Friday, I have high hopes that I've kissed the 160s goodbye for good. I also took my measurements and determined that I have now lost a combined total of over 3 feet! Wow. Most notably, I've lost 6-7" each off my bust, waist, and hips (I'm now a 39-32-39), and 5" off each thigh.

So, my day was off to a great start, and I got all ready and dressed to go to the gym. I was planning on calling my Rebecca-friend to see if we could go over and visit her after the gym, so I was looking forward to a lovely morning. I had my breakfast and went into Nick's room to get him up. When I walked in and turned on the light, I was greeted by the worst throw-up mess I've ever seen. Why did he not summon me when this happened, you ask? I wish I knew. He never does, even though we've told him time and again that he should. It's almost like he doesn't want to burden us. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that the clean-up was grueling. The sheet, I simply threw away. Nick was very upset and very gross, and I had to get him right into the tub. Needless to day, fitness class (or leaving the house at all) was not going to happen. He claimed that he wanted breakfast, but only ate about half of it. As the day progressed, he was stricken with a high fever and became very lethargic, just flopping on the couch and wanting to be held. Since he's normally rather hands-off, I secretly enjoyed getting to cuddle with him all day, but I felt terrible for the poor kid. The day was just so strange - I had no phone or Internet and was effectively cut off from the outside, and had a very sick kid on my hands, which is unusual in itself, as Nick virtually never gets sick. So, there we were, he and I, just flopping on the couch and watching Mary Poppins (As an aside, I just have to point out that this movie is pure genius, and nothing like it has been made since. I don't care how many times I watch it - I still marvel at its fabulosity every time.) Well, this was boring, but Nick was resting comfortably in my arms, at least, and I was enjoying our togetherness. Then, things got a bit more interesting, because some very dicey weather came our way, with tornado warnings and very scary rain and straight-line winds. So, I had to carry my poor child (who was just radiating heat at this point) down to the inhospitable unfinished basement and lay him on the cold, hard floor, while we waited out the worst of it. I felt so bad, because he had just nodded off on the couch, and then I had to disrupt him. But, within a minute or two of lying down on the basement floor, he was asleep again! That's how sick he was. I was finally able to carry him back upstairs, and I got his bed all made up and tucked him in for a long summer's nap. After his nap, his fever had gone down some, and he had a bit more pep. He still hardly ate anything all day, but at least he didn't throw up again.

Today, in his usual fashion, he's right as rain! This kid has an absolutely stellar immune system - I've never seen him sick for more than a day. He even said to me "I feel like I'm me again!" At another point, he also came up to me and said "So, how ya doin', m'pretty girl?" :) Yup - he's definitely back to his old self.

So, the upshot of this incredibly long post is that yesterday was just plain weird, and I'm thrilled to be back online and back in touch with the world! Tonight, we're going out to dinner, and I'm beside myself at the prospect of getting out of the house. (In case you haven't picked up on this, being at home all day is like torture for me - I have to get out of the house every day or I go crazy.)

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

well, color me crestfallen :(

I'm so disappointed! I signed up to take a Latin dance class which was to start this coming Sunday, and I was really excited about it. But today, I got a call to let me know that it's cancelled, because not enough people signed up for it. Gaahhh! I'm really bummed. They're supposed to be offering it again in the fall, though, so hopefully it will be a go then. I guess I'll just have to wait a bit longer to get my cha-cha-cha on. :)

sex and the city movie

Loved it! It had emotional moments, it had sexy moments, it had laugh-out-loud hilarious moments, and it had amazing fashions. It was very satisfying, in my opinion. An important note: even if you didn't watch the series on TV, you could still totally go to this movie and enjoy it. You don't need to have watched the show. So, go see it!

i'm a swinger

Last night, we drove the 20 miles to Rolla. We had dinner at Panera, and then we went to this amazing park there - the Lions Club Park. Locals, if you haven't been there, you need to GO! It's fabulous. There's tons of play equipment for the kids - everything you could dream of. Plus, there's a beautiful man-made (I'm assuming) lake with a fountain and bridges, and lots of trees and a nifty walking trail. Every time I go there, I just feel happy. Anywho, there is a big swing set very close to the bank of the lake, and you can swing whilst looking at the water and feeling a slight mist from the fountain. Nick turned his nose up at my idea of swinging, but I didn't care - I just hopped right on a swing and started pumping my legs. For a few moments, I did something that I rarely do - I simply got lost in the moment, savoring the feeling of swinging higher and higher, feeling the mist on my face, tilting my body back and gazing up at the clouds, and forgetting everything else. The world just fell away. It was awesome! I felt like a kid again, and I have decided that every adult should swing now and again. So, if you haven't swung lately, you need to become a swinger like me. :)

aaaarrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhh!

I have obviously plateaued again. I just want to be done with this, already! I need to get my eating firmly under control. Lately, it's been mostly under control, but not quite, and it's clearly the "not quite" that's causing my problem. :)

Beautiful, warm, sunny day here. We'll be taking Nick to the park later. Have a great weekend!

melancholy

Jutta is gone, so it's been a sad day for me. Last night's dinner went well, although the packers took way longer than anticipated to finish packing up their stuff, so they got here a lot later than we thought they would. As a result, they could only stay for about an hour and a half, much to my disappointment. But, they enjoyed the home-cooked meal and we had lots of good conversation, and took some photos and video. Jutta gave me the most wonderful gift - it's a figurine called "two alike", of two women standing back to back with their hands touching. It's so perfect, because we really are alike in so many ways! It's such a touching gift, and it's going to be wonderful to have a tangible object that will remind me of Jutta and our friendship every time I look at it. It was bittersweet to watch the boys play together for one last time - they had a crazy, raucous, great time, as usual! Little buddies. When the time came for them to leave and Jutta hugged me, I pretty much broke down and then cried for a while after they drove off. It was so very hard for me to say goodbye to her. But, I'll be OK. As my Dad always says: This, too, shall pass.

a fond farewell

This evening will be bittersweet, because we're having Jutta and her family over for dinner on their last night here. I can't believe that tomorrow, she'll be gone forever - I'm pretty sad about it, and I know that tonight will be difficult in a way. I hate goodbyes! And Jutta has been such a good, dear friend to me that saying goodbye to her will be particularly upsetting. I will miss her terribly, but I know that she'll be very happy to be back in Germany with her parents and other family.

Just in case anyone cares, tonight's menu will consist of:
- sweet & sour cranberry chicken
- citrus and baby spinach salad with feta, cashews, and a citrus vinaigrette
- warm wheat rolls with lemon-dill butter
- iced tea with sugar and fresh lemon wedges
- dark chocolate mousse with whipped cream and strawberries
A fruitylicious menu, to be sure! :)

Tomorrow will be a hard day for me, as it dawns on me that Jutta is really gone. I will sorely miss her as I take my walk tomorrow - it was always so much more fun with her by my side. I guess I'll just have to grin and bear it, and look forward to visiting her (maybe next summer)!

we are fa-mi-ly!

This is a picture of me and my cousin Jessica, taken yesterday during our visit to St. Louis. I had not seen her in about 4 years, and it was so wonderful to spend time with her again! We just took up as though we had been seeing each other every day, with much laughter and snorting. :) She is 6 years my junior, and had been living in NYC for the past several years. But, she just moved back to St. Louis and will be getting married on Halloween. We also got to meet her fiance, Brian, which was nice. It's funny how we both picked Brians! It will cause some confusion in the future, I'm sure. It was also great to see Aunt Karen and Uncle Jim (Jessica's parents - Jim is my mom's brother), and cousin John and his kids, Claire and Evan. Claire is just two months older than Nick, and the two of them had a blast playing together. Jim and Karen are quite the connoisseurs of yummy wine, and they plied me with a faboo dry red. I had a bit much, and ended up with a lovely buzz for a goodly portion of the afternoon, which made me even more fun to be around than usual. :)Those Klinglers are a hoot even when I'm sober, but when I'm a bit drunk, they're a barrel of monkeys! We all talked and laughed and shrieked and snorted, and by the time we left, I just felt so warm and fuzzy. I really love spending time with them. I'm so glad that Jessica's back and that I have the potential to see more of her now.

In funny Nick news, we ate watermelon there, which he kept calling "waterlemon." He also kept calling his cousin Evan "Heaven," which was hilarious. He would say things like "Where's Heaven?" or "I'm gonna go find Heaven". Also, at one point, he very matter-of-factly referred to his sandals as "mandals," which is what Tim and I call men's sandals. I didn't even realize that Nick had picked up on that! Little pitchers...

Today, we're just sticking around the house and planning to do such exciting chores as waxing the car, vacuuming, etc. Hope everyone's having a nice long weekend!

nick's latest verbal cuteness

Several weeks ago at the park, Nick found a pine cone, and kept calling it a "pineapple cone".

The other day at the park, Nick approached a boy about his age and said "Excuse me, young man - may I see your toy?"

A few days ago, I made my "famous" crunchy peppermint chocolate bark for Jutta, and Nick kept referring to it as "chocolate barf".

Just last night, Nick picked up his wooden snake and said "Mommy, this is my pet snake, Sherman." I said "Ooh! Does Sherman like to eat bugs and mice?" Nick said "No - he just eats woogers (what he calls boogers)." I said "Really? Does he crawl into your nose to get them?" Nick replied, rather enigmatically, "Not necessarily." :)

maybe it's like childbirth

So, this morning was the last MOPS meeting of the school year. As usual, I availed myself of the baked goodness, eating a muffin, a slice of sweetbread, some pudding, half of a sausage biscuit, and a couple bites of cinnamon roll. I know, I know. But it only gets worse. Because after that was the Army Band picnic, and I ate a hot dog, some potato salad, fruit (yay!), a chicken leg, more fruit, and three different desserts. Then, I sat there feeling disgusting, bloated, uncomfortable, and sore, and I thought "How many times does one have to do a behavior and then regret it before one will actually not do it again?" I mean, really! It kills me that no matter how many times I overeat and then feel bad, I don't seem to be able to control myself the next time I'm in a similar situation. The only thing I can figure is that it must be like childbirth - you know, the way women seem to "forget" how painful it is so that they're willing to go through it again. Having never gotten to transition and ending up with a C-Section, I wouldn't know personally, but I'm thinkin' there must be a certain amount of amnesia that occurs.

So, I'm feeling pretty down on myself right now, and tomorrow's weigh-in will probably not be a happy occasion. Sigh. :( I AM looking forward to yoga, though, and to the veritable treasure trove of TV tonight - the season finales of Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy, PLUS the 2-hour premiere of So You Think You Can Dance!

to amber and patty

Alas, there is no photo. But, I will make sure to get one the next time I wear the sundress. It is really cute, with a faboo pattern comprised of various shades of blue, green, and brown. You guys are so sweet and supportive! Amber, I have been thinking of you a lot lately, because I know your due date approacheth. How are you doing? I am a terrible person for not calling you, but I love you still. Patty, I was so glad to finally get a comment from you; your "silence" lately had me a bit concerned. Just busy? Ditto on the not calling but loving. :) I am such a lucky girl.

I must admit that I've rather been feeling sorry for myself lately, what with my Jutta-friend leaving next week and the summer stretching boringly out ahead of me. :( I've gotta get out of my funk and find some ways to fill the time and have fun. The last thing I want to do it sit around moping about Jutta, but I'm afraid that will happen at least for a little while.

Jutta and I went on an extensive walk today - I am really trying to grab every last moment that I can with her. It was great - the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we just walked and talked, in perfect harmony. For the final stretch, I left her behind while I jogged to her house, then waited for her on the porch steps. We went inside and talked even more, while enjoying baked goodness. It has occurred to me that her departure could be good for my waistline, if nothing else. :)

I'm in for the rest of the day, just TCB around the house and looking forward to watching Idol and Dancing with the Stars. We'll probably take Nick to the park when he wakes from his nap - can't waste this beautiful weather!

hold on to your hats

Those who know me well will be flabbergasted by this: I, Amy Jane, have purchased a sundress! I know. And I even wore it yesterday, along with my new peep-toe espadrille wedges. :) The winds, they are a-changin'.

a loverly day

Despite the gloom, rain, and chilly temperature, I've had a really nice day so far! I took Nick to his last day of preschool, and then went to meet Jutta. We had planned to go on a walk outdoors, but the weather forced us indoors to the walking track inside Davidson Fitness Center on post. We walked for an hour, and I even added some bursts of jogging and sprinting, totalling close to a mile. I was really proud of myself. I have NEVER been a jogger or runner, and used to avoid it like the plague. But lately, I've been finding myself actually willing to jog, and even enjoying it. Strange, I know. Perhaps I'm ill. :) We also had lots of great conversation during our walk, as usual.

After that, we went back to Jutta's house for the customary faboo German baked good and tea. Even though the woman is leaving the country forever in two weeks, she still had a baked good prepared! It's astounding. The time we spent together today only served to remind me just how much I will miss her friendship (and baked goods). We visited at her house for quite some time, and then I left to pick up Nick. I got myself a Southwestern salad at McD's on the way home (yum!). Now, Nick is napping, and I'm doing laundry, paying bills, and (obviously) blogging.

Tonight, I have Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy, and Brian will be home! This really is shaping up into a good day. Hope you're having the same...

to all my mommy friends

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY! To all the hardworking, loving, dedicated mommies I know, I wish you a lovely day full of whatever your hearts desire. You all deserve it!

3 ringy-dingys

In the past couple of days, I have had three very interesting/unusual phone calls! First of all, a woman I know called me and asked if I could tutor her teenage daughter in geometry. I was very flattered that she thought of me! I explained that while I understood and did very well in geometry and enjoyed it a lot, it was 20 years ago that I actually took the class. I said that if she was willing to take the risk that I wouldn't be able to help her daughter, they were more than welcome to come over. So, they're coming by tomorrow afternoon. Wish me luck!

Secondly, my Jillies-friend called me (we haven't actually talked yet - she just left me a message) and said she'd like to come visit for a couple of days next week! Yay! I literally haven't seen her in 5 or 6 years, so this will be quite a treat. This definitely makes my gloomy month of May a bit cheerier. It was such a delightful surprise to hear her voice!

Thirdly, I just had a long, juicy chat with my cousin Jessica tonight (she's 6 years my junior). She is originally from St. Louis, and there was a time when we were quite close, but she has lived in NYC for the past several years, so I hadn't seen her in a long time or even really talked to her. Well, she has just moved back to St. Louis, and it was so wonderful to talk to her and reconnect. I'm so excited about seeing her this summer, and am really looking forward to attending her wedding on Halloween. It's going to be great to just be back in each other's lives more.

So, the telephone has brought me some real joy the past couple of days. I wonder what it will bring next...