I have something to say.

I have a great need to put something new up, so here I go:

- Every time I have to buy dish soap, I decide to save a buck or two and get a cheap-o, generic brand. And every time, without fail, the soap stinks. Actually, it usually smells pretty good, but what I mean by stinking is that it only makes bubbles for about two minutes and then they all fade away, and it's just the same as swishing the dishes around in plain, old water. It's funny how a person can do a certain thing again and again and each time expect a different, better result. That's the definition of insanity, you know.

- By the time January is over, I will have managed to exercise 24 out of 31 days. That isn't quite as much as I thought I'd do when the month started, but still, it's alright. I go to the library constantly now, and I love to be able to get lots of different fitness DVDs without having to pay a red cent. Of course, I've mistakenly checked out a few hum-dingers, but I've also found some really, really good ones. The only bad thing about the library is that I can only keep the DVDs for a week at at time, but that just means I'm always doing something new. And variety is the spice of life, they say.

- Since my last birthday, I've noticed I've become quite concerned with whether or not I look "old." I don't think the way I feel (or behave, half the time) matches the the number that I am, but being young at heart obviously doesn't mean we are young on the outside, and so I think maybe I should start using wrinkle cream on my eyes.

Leavenworth 2003

We have no new pictures to share, so instead I will post pictures of our winter vacation to Leavenworth four years ago. We stayed in a really neat bed & breakfast for a week, which is only accessible by a snow cat during the winter months. We stayed in our own little cabin instead of in the main lodge, and since we were snow-bound for the duration of our stay, all of our meals (very large, very delicious meals) were provided. They even kept the mini-fridge in our cabin stocked with Sprite and Coke, for Pete's sake! We spent a lot of time sitting around in our cabin.... and we liked being lazy, so we smiled a lot. But we spent a lot of time outside, too...
blazing trails in our snowshoes,

and riding our snow-mobiles really fast (really fast for me, at least),
and making snowmen, among other activities. Actually, one of the super fun things they have at the lodge is a huuuuuuge, loooooong sledding hill, and so we soared along on inner tubes at break-neck speeds, but we don't have very many pictures of that, and besides, the ones we do have are all of me and they're very un-flattering, so I'll leave them out. Anyway, it was a very lovely vacation and maybe someday we'll go back, but if they do, I hope they don't serve duck again. Duck is not my favorite.

Sweet thought

"So treat your love like a firefly, like it only gets to shine for a little while... Put it in a mason jar with holes in the top and run like heck to show it off..."

-Miranda Lambert

Back to the drawing board

We went to the library today to pick up Richard Simmons' '80s Blast-Off, the exercise DVD I wrote about earlier this month. Jan Michael was skeptical of my enthusiastic anticipation, and just as he suspected, it's nothing to crow about. I only watched the first few minutes before deciding it's not the thing for me. "I told you so," said Jan Michael knowingly. "You win some, you lose some," I replied.

S.N.O.W

I hope I'm not boring everyone to tears with all of these snow pictures, but we hardly ever get this much, and it's so pretty and peaceful, and I get so excited, and I just have to share it. Also, I was reminded today that snow angels are just as much fun to make for a grown-up me as it was for a little girl me :)

The adventure continues

We decided around 10:30 last night that all of this snow (5 inches - Jan Michael measured with a ruler) was cause for a late-night run to Safeway. It's fun to celebrate this sort of thing with Doritoes and popsicles. But first we had to un-earth the car....
which took some effort. It wouldn't have taken as long as it did if not for my fun-loving husband, who thought an impromptu snowball fight was in order. We wondered coming back from the store if we'd be able to get up the little hill in front of our house (quite a few cars were parked at the bottom), and it did take three tries of backing up to get a decent running start, but we were victorious.
Our front yard this morning.... boo for the blue sky, which means all of this will probably melt away within the next day or so
And the back yard

Blizzard!

If you look closely, you will see a beaming Jan Michael out there in between all of those flakes. We took a lovely stroll around the neighborhood and already one snow plow is out, and one person was stuck at an intersection. Tomorrow maybe we will build a snowman and make snow angels! :)

New year, new project

This is the border that runs all along the wall just below the ceiling in our hall bathroom. Someone worked very hard to stencil all of those little hearts and leaves, but I must say, that sort of thing is not my cup of tea. I've wanted to be rid of them ever since we bought the house, but it has taken this long for me to stop daydreaming about it and actually get down to business. So this morning I forced myself to be productive, and a couple of hours later.....
No more stencils! Of course, what you see here is just a bunch of primer on the walls, and it will probably take another two weeks for me to finish, but it's part-way done just the same. Also, I'm making it sound like I've done this all by myself, but Jan Michael is the one who dismantled the toilet so I could paint behind it without doing all sorts of crazy contortions, and he took the mirror off the wall and helped me take apart the light fixture. And I have a feeling that he'll be the one to put everything back together again. Behind every painting wife is a helpful husband :)

Eye of the Tiger

I have just recently discovered the fun of checking out exercise DVDs through the library. Over the last couple of weeks (this is the time for New Year's resolutions, after all) I've checked out several Pilates DVDs (I am a big, big fan of Windsor Pilates), and have holds on lots of other different fitness things. I am eagerly awaiting the emails notifying me that my requested items have arrived at my local library and are ready to be picked up at my earliest convenience. But today. Today I have found what might be the most exciting exercise tape ever. I have placed a hold on Richard Simmons' 80's Blast Off, which is a bunch of dancing & jumping around to songs of the '80s, which is possibly the decade that produced the greatest music in the history of the world. It's hard to say when I'll get the DVD in my hot little hands, as about a million other people use this library system, but when I do, I'll give a full report.

Happy 2007!

Happy, happy New Year to one and all! Derek mentioned on their blog that he and Sara are an old married couple and stayed home instead of whooping it up last night, and they are in fine company as we did the very same thing. Probably the most exciting thing we can claim is changing some lightbulbs around 9:30 :) Anyhoo, cheers to everyone and very best wishes for the very best year ahead.