Thanksgiving

It was just the 3 of us again for Thanksgiving. I cooked a turkey (my 2nd one ever), green bean casserole, marshmallow sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, crescent rolls and opened a can of jellied cranberry sauce. I bought a 10-lb turkey and thawed it in the fridge 2 days ahead of time, however it needed a little more thawing so I put it in the sink with cold water for an hour or two. Awhile after I filled the left side of the sink with water, I heard dripping and discovered that it was leaking. There was water all under the sink. I immediately drained the sink and filled the right side to put the turkey there. Then I took everything out from under the sink, soaked up all the water with an old towel and but a large bowl under the dripping pipe. It turns out it was dripping from right up under the sink where the grout or whatever holds in the silver drain part in. We don't need to get it fixed right away, as long as we don't fill that side with water. I left a little bowl under there to catch any little drips so I won't have another puddle to clean up.

Anyway, other than that water disaster, the cooking went well and I wasn't stressed about the timing of everything like I was last year. Craig and Alisa slept in past 9:30 AM and I got a lot done while they were sleeping. Alisa had a fever, which we think was from teething, though she was also getting over a cold. She only wanted to eat mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving and yesterday, but she enjoyed all the leftovers today.

Cuddling with Minga:

For days, I had been sneezing whenever I sat in my usual spot on the couch so we decided to pull everything out from behind the couch (photo boxes, folding chairs, tub of blankets, etc) and clean the area really well. During the cleaning, Alisa enjoyed sitting on her extra carseat (the one we use when we fly somewhere) that was in its backpack style carrying case. She wasn't sitting in it the proper way though, because it fell on its back as she climbed on it. (She insisted on wearing her purple Crocs in the house--she loves them!).


Alisa talking to her sheep named Baa Baa:

Carrying Baa Baa while wearing my sheep slippers:

It was so nice to have 2 days off from work, making it a 4-day weekend! I always plan to do major cleaning projects around the house on long weekends, and though I rarely get them done, I'm always so hopeful at the beginning of the weekend. Hey, at least this weekend, I cleaned behind the couch!

On Friday night, I hosted the Movie Club, which is a bi-monthly event with the moms group I help organize. I declared it a pajama night too, so everyone wore their pajamas. Unfortunately, it was raining, so some moms' slippers got wet walking down our driveway. Well, we all had a good time anyway and thoroughly enjoyed the snacks we all brought.

Making Progress

I have completed my 4 training sessions with my personal trainer. They were all challenging and left some part of me sort for 2-3 days. Some parts were so challenging that I could not do a simple bicep curl unless I took a quick break because my muscles were fatigued from the series of lifts she had me doing. I laughed when that happened because it was only 8 lbs and so unexpected. Another time that I laughed was when I had only 5 reps of a ab/core exercise left but I just could not sit up until I took a quick break. The worst exercise was the wall sit because it burned SO BAD! She had me sit/squat with a large exercise ball behind my back against the wall for 10 seconds and stand up for 5 seconds, then sit/squat for 20 seconds and stand up for 10 seconds, then sit/squat for 30 seconds and stand up for 15 seconds, then sit/squat for 20 seconds and stand up for 10 seconds, then sit/squat for 10 seconds and stand up for 5 seconds AND THEN REPEAT THE WHOLE THING 3 TIMES (with a different leg exercise in between each set)!!!

As soon as I got home after each training session, I wrote down everything I did so I could remember and do it again on my own. I now have 5 45-minute weight training routines I can do (includes the original circuit training session). My eating habits have improved each week. The 1st week, I ate an average of 134 calories per day above the 1500 limit. The 2nd week, I ate an average of 100 calories per day above the 1500 limit. The 3rd week, I ate an average of 96 calories per day UNDER the 1500 limit. The 4th week, I ate an average of 17 calories per day UNDER the 1500 limit (went to the fair and several events with food this week so that was good considering all the yummy temptations). I have lost the anticipated 1 lb per week since I've started. And that's with me only working out an average of 3 days per week. Hooray! I wanted to work out more than that but Alisa had a runny nose for 2 weeks so I couldn't drop her off in the kids' room (Craig was busy writing his dissertation and couldn't watch her) and things came up for work some days when I wanted to go when she was napping (when Craig could have watched her). Anyway, I'm very hopeful for this next month because I should be able to exercise more if I plan ahead better and go to bed earlier.

Under $2/gallon

I wasn't going to continue with gas price postings but I just had to do one more because gas is down to $1.97/gallon for regular unleaded! I don't remember seeing it for less than $2 in several years! I thought it was going to go back up again (as it always does) before it went below $2.

Giddyup N' Go Pony

I saw a commercial for this Little Tykes Giddyup N' Go Pony today and looked it up online to find out more about it. The video on the Amazon page (click the link above) made me so happy I laughed (you gotta watch it). What a great toy, especially for a horse lover! I wish Alisa was old enough to ride it now!

Lowest Yet

Gas is down to $2.05/gallon of regular unleaded. That is over 20 cents cheaper than it was when we moved here over 2 years ago!

The Price is Right

I was flipping channels on the little TV attached to the treadmills at the gym when I came across The Price is Right. I haven't seen that show in years (I used to watch it all the time)...well, except I did see the last episode hosted by Bob Barker back in 2007 because I heard it was his last show.

I always liked watching this game show the best because even as a highschooler, I could play along by guessing prices and such and I enjoyed the variety of games. Back then, I never bought groceries or TVs or anything and therefore didn't pay attention to the prices when I was shopping with my mom. However, the more I watched the show, the better I got at guessing the prices and that felt good. Also, I didn't find any part of the show to be annoying (as I do with all other gameshows) and I really liked Bob Barker.

I didn't know Drew Carrey is the new host until today. He was funny in the episode I saw while working out. Watching the show brought back warm fuzzies and I actually became VERY excited (like I wanted to jump up and down...but just kept jogging instead) when a guy won over $20,000 playing Plinko. I rarely saw anyone win that much playing that game. I love it when the prizes fit the contestant...this one guy was in band on tour and he won little travel trailer. Good times.

Weather Can Affect Election Results

I heard an interesting story on NPR Sunday about how the weather can affect a presidential election. Who would have thought?!


"A change in the weather really can change an election, according to Florida State University researcher Brad Gomez. Gomez tells host Andrea Seabrook about two presidential elections — in 1960 and 2000 — that might have turned out differently if the weather had shifted."

Click here to go to the NPR page where you can hear the audio clip (3 minutes 38 seconds).