Now that's love

I was lamenting the fact that despite all my working out and weight loss, I'm not dropping clothing sizes as quickly as I would hope.

Mike replied, as only a husband or a very, very good girlfriend should be allowed, "I think you're not considering how tight your clothes were before."

Ha! I think there was a compliment, or at least the attempt at a compliment, in there somewhere. It's a good thing I've known him for 20 years -- long enough to know he was coming from a place of love.

Otherwise, it might have been an occasion for a Valentine's Day massacre.

Recipe for a successful sleepover

7 giggly girls

1 school dance
4 large pizzas
5 2-liters of soda
2 1/2 gallons of ice cream
1 can Redi Whip
Assorted sundae toppings
1 box of feminine hygiene supplies
1 package of Starburst
1 box of Swedish Fish
1 bag of Skittles
12 envelopes of Fun Dip
1 funny movie
7 hours of sleep
3 dozen chocolate chip pancakes
1 gallon O.J.
0 cell phones

Lessons learned:

1. Girls eat A LOT!
   
2. Hosting seven 13-year-olds is easier than hosting seven 8-year-olds. They don't need or want a lot of directed activity. Just a space to hang out, access to lots of food (see #1) and the knowledge that the parental units are there and aware.
3. Kids will give up their cell phones. We required that they turn the phones in after they returned from the dance. They grumbled a little bit, but handed them over. And do you know what? They had a great time being together -- no one being distracted by this text message or "OMG! Do you know what so-and-so just said." This morning over pancakes a couple of girls picked up their phones and several others said, "NO! No cell phones!"
4. Plan for the unexpected. I had to make a feminine hygiene run at 9:30pm. I asked Mike if he wanted to go, but he declined. Of course when the girls saw that I was going to the store, that's when they put in the orders for Starburst, Swedish Fish and Skittles.
   
5. Sleep is possible at a sleepover. The girls actually put themselves to bed at 1am after the movie was over. I went downstairs to make sure everyone had enough blankets and pillows, said good night and that was it. Everyone went to sleep. (I think -- I can just imagine all those girls laughing, thinking "We really pulled one over on Annie's mom!")
   
6. While I wouldn't want to re-live it, being 13 can be fun. Giggling, whispering, being silly. At some point, they gave each other nicknames. Annie's is "Doughnut" -- because everyone loves doughnuts!
   

All in all it was a great night. And if any of you sleepover girlies are reading this, thanks for being such fun guests and great kids!

It was so nice...

of the school to hold a dance on the occasion of Annie's 13th birthday!

Ok, so Annie's birthday isn't until tomorrow (February 13). And maybe the school didn't plan the dance in honor of the occasion. But it did work out nicely that we could have a sleepover where the main activity is the dance.

Most of the girls came over before the dance to get ready.

How many 13 year old girls can you fit into one bathroom? (Answer: 6)


A little fuel for dancing the night away.


All set!

Speaking of nice, it was so nice...of Annie to share her birthday with her little brother -- not just tonight, but 7 years ago when he also arrived on February 13. Six years and 39 minutes after his big sister.

Make room for Robbie!


Playing the meddlesome little brother role quite well.

I'm hoping to have him asleep in bed before the girls get home. I figure to Annie that might be the best birthday present ever. Other than getting a little brother, that is.

Random Acts of Kindness

February 15 - 21 is Random Acts of Kindness Week. On my work blog, we're encouraging folks to bestow some kindness on a senior citizen. (Check it out here.)

I am so lucky, however, to have very punctual friends who have heaped kindness on me today. Perhaps that makes them pre-punctual? At any rate, I wanted to share the two very sweet things these ladies did for me because both things really made me feel loved.

First, my neighbor Cathy came by with her daughter to deliver my Girl Scout cookies (for my conversation with my trainer about THAT, click here). While she was visiting -- ok, waiting for me to find where I'd put my purse! -- Cathy told me that she's been reading my blog. Woohoo! While that would have been kindness enough, there's more.

Cathy mentioned that in reading some of the things I've written about our struggles with Robbie, it reminded her of her own sister who raised a son with autism at a time when autism was not as well-known or understood as it is know. Cathy's sister Julie wrote a book about her experience. And while Robbie's diagnosis is not autism, Cathy thought I would be able to relate to some of her sister's experiences and might get something out of the book, so she brought me my own copy. It's that sweet? (The book is Just Be His Mommy by Julie Conner.)

The second kindness that was shown to me today was by my friend Ellen, who also lives in my neighborhood. If you think I'm becoming a gym rat, you should talk to Ellen who has lost 40 pounds since October and who takes a spin class almost every day. I dropped by Ellen's house to pick up a circle punch to make Lego birthday party invitations for Robbie. She'd asked me previously if I would be interested in some of the clothes that she can no longer wear. When I said yes, I assumed we were talking a couple pairs of pants and tops. Ellen greeted me with two very large, very full bags of clothes! "Keep what you like, give the rest to Goodwill," she said.

To paraphrase Blanch DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire, "I have always relied on the kindness of neighbors."

Thanks Cathy and Ellen. You ladies are awesome. I definitely plan to pay your kindness forward next week during Random Acts of Kindness Week!

Wordless Wednesday: Go Drag, I mean, Red for Women

To learn why these Jiffy Lube mechanics are decked out in red dresses, click here.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here.

Biggest Loser: Olympic style

After two weeks of not seeing any or all of the Biggest Loser, I made sure to stake my claim in the family room with plenty of time before the show started.

And start it did -- with a big announcement -- that the contestants would be going to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado. Of course the fact that NBC is the television home of the 2010 Winter Olympics probably had a lot to with that.

Once on the ground at the Training Center, the really big announcement was made -- that the teams would be separated, the contestants would be playing as individuals, and two people would be going home. One would fall below the red line and go home immediately. Two others would fall below the yellow line and a vote would determine which of the two would leave the ranch.

To kick off the week, they lit the torch at the Training Center, with each contestant having an opportunity to carry it for part of the trek. The contestants were moved and feeling very patriotic. I couldn't get there. I kept feeling like it was all for show, too orchestrated. But I know if I'd been there, part of that, I would be teary-eyed and heart-swelled, too.

Ok, the autographed USA pillowcases got me. That was cool.

Oh my gosh...EVERY week with the Extra Sugar Free Gum. Enough already! Although, I'll admit to keeping some in my drawer at work for after lunch when I feel the need for something sweet.

The contestants were introduced to two Olympic athletes who set up obstacle courses for them to go through. The ladies were paired with gold medal skier Julia Someone and the men with Olympic aerialist Speedy Petersen.

Koli from the gray team was struggling with whether or not he deserved to still be on the ranch. He kept telling himself that John, who was voted off last week, should be there instead. Bob, of course, slid in with a pep talk and set him straight.

J.R. Celski, short track speed skating athlete set up the Pop Challenge. He told the story of how he sliced his leg open with his skates on the last day of the Olympic trials. He said, "No matter what situation you are in, you gotta get back up."

Considering that I've been a bit (ok, a lot) cardio challenged this week, those were words I really needed to hear.

Pop Challenge was a slide board challenge. Each contestant had to slide side to side for 500 touches. My 10 year old has declared that he wants a slide board for his birthday. Sure, I'll just ring up the Olympic Training Center and see if they have an extra one lying around.

Turns out the slide board is not as easy as it looks and in the beginning several people fell repeatedly. In the end, Sam won the "gold" prize; Melissa the "silver" prize; and Sunshine (aptly of the yellow team) took the bronze. In addition to Olympic-style medals, the winners each won something else, though what that was wouldn't be revealed until later.

After the Pop Challenge, the contestants went to Garden of the Gods (beautiful!) for another challenge -- the Biggest Loser biathalon. Run around the field, take a shot with a laser gun at another contestant's target. They get 5 hits and they are out. Before the biathalon got underway, the rewards for winning the Pop Challenge were revealed.

Sunshine, the bronze winner, got to choose one person's target to shoot at before the competition began. Melissa got to choose two and Sam got to choose three. They basically ended up negating themselves by dividing up the shots among the three of themselves instead of choosing another challenger.

One the challenge was underway, everyone lined up against Lance, most likely because they knew he is a hunter and a very good shot. What was interesting was that the final three were probably three of the most out of shape, O'Neal, Darryl and Ashley. It ended up in a literal shoot-out between O'Neal (yellow) and Darryl (black). I was pulling for O'Neal because he and Sunshine just got back to the ranch -- and he did it, just in the nick of time!

Then it was back to California. First stop, 24 Hour Fitness (nice plug) for a bootcamp class, which it turns out was just a precursor to the real last chance workout.

Weigh in

O'Neal (immunity) - PW: 333 CW: 325 = -8 (2.40%)
Michael - PW: 443 CW: 432 = -11 (2.48%)
Stephanie - PW: 225 CW: 221 = -4 (1.78%)
Sunshine - PW: 245 CW: 239 = -6 (2.45%)
Koli - PW: 335 CW: 326 = -9 (2.69%)
Andrea - PW: 262 CW: 255 = -7 (2.47%)
Darrell - PW: 343 CW: 338 = -5 (1.46%)
Sam - PW: 310 CW: 298 = -12 (3.87%)
Sherry - PW: 180 CW: 177 = -3 (1.67%)
Ashley - PW: 317 CW: 311 = -6 (1.89%)
Daris - PW: 283 CW: 274 = -9 (3.18%)
Cheryl - PW: 194 CW: 191 = -3 (1.55%)
Miggy - PW: 206 CW: 199 = -7 (3.40%)
Lance - PW: 314 CW: 305 = -9 (2.87%)
Melissa - PW: 198 CW: 199 = +1 -- AUTOMATIC ELIMINATION

I can't figure Melissa out. Is her body really that unpredictable? Could this be game play? An attempt to secure the $100,000 at-home prize? Or did she just miss her kids enough that she wanted to go home to see them? I have to believe that this was just the rotten luck of the scale. I have a feeling that she's going to be looking amazing at the weigh in. During the Biggest Loser transformation moment, they showed that she's down to 175 pounds.

But there is still an elimination to be done. But there won't be any voting, Allison springs on them. Instead, it's a head to head challenge and the loser will go home. The challenge has each competitor in a squat, holding an Olympic torch on his/her head. Cheryl looked cool where as Darrell really appeared to be struggling because his knees were hurting.

And the winner is...AAAACCCCKK! To be continued! That was really annoying and sneaky! It's not just one week we have to wait -- it's TWO thanks to the Olympic games (which I didn't realize until Michelle at Bargains Rock reminded me.)

So who do you think will win the challenge and get to stay on the ranch? And what's your take on Melissa?

Lunch time guilt

One of the blogs I've recently started to follow, Cop Mama, hosted "Mama Guilt Monday" yesterday. I'm a little late to the party, but as soon as I saw the topic, I was immediately transported to last Thursday when I was covering Charlie's classroom so his teacher could enjoy the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon for Catholic Schools week.

Overall, the experience was enjoyable, as evidenced by my Facebook updates (courtesy of my trusty iPhone):

Covering the 4th grade class for the teacher luncheon. Too bad I didn't think to bring my coat in for recess duty. Brrrrrrr!

I've been informed by the 4th graders that I am "cold" because I threatened to pop the balloon one kid was playing with when she should be reading.

Self-selected reading time and my kid is looking at a Scooby Doo "where's waldo" book. Technically not reading, but I'm letting it slide b/c I'm totally playing favorites.

Revolution on my hands b/c word is out that the other classes are watching movies and having fun while this class is doing journal writing.

What I didn't put out on Facebook was what happened in the lunch room. Sixty some 4th graders, all sitting around with lunches big enough to feed a third world country. (No hot lunches that day so the cafeteria staff could go to the luncheon, too.) Then there was my Charlie, sitting at his table with his Target bag lunch sack and a lonely peanut butter sandwich and carton of chocolate milk.

"Charlie, where are the apple and the carrots that were with your lunch?" I had made the lunch ahead of time, putting it loose in the refrigerator, so all he had to do was put it in a lunch box or bag and take it to school.

"Well, I ate the apple for a snack and I didn't get any carrots."

Can you say sinking, I'm-just-a-terrible-mother guilt? This is my kid who is always complaining about being hungry. Sure, his menu of acceptable items is limited and he only eats what I term "crappy" meats -- chicken nuggets, hot dogs, hamburgers. And if he chose not to take the carrots I had bagged up for him, that wasn't my fault.

But still, in the face of all those kids with potato chips and lunchables and cookies and applesauce, my kid with his measly PB & honey sandwich made me want to cry.

I felt guilty because I hadn't thought to pack him a separate snack (they are allowed to bring one daily) so he didn't have to pilfer the apple from his lunch. I felt guilty because I didn't just put the elements of the lunch in a sack or lunch box so he would be sure to at least have all 3 things I'd planned for him to eat at lunch. I felt guilty that we didn't have a lot to pack at home because money is tight, which led me to think that maybe money wouldn't be so tight if I made wiser choices about how to spend the money we do have. It was basically one big spiral of guilt.

So what did I do with it? Well, after wallowing in the guilt for a few minutes, I walked around the lunch room. I noticed one kid with an overflowing lunch box at Charlie's table who was basically playing with his food. So I said, "Hey, if you're not going to eat some of that, can you share it with Charlie because all he has is a peanut butter sandwich."

I know you're thinking, "Oh no you didn't!" And I'm telling you "yes, I did!" Shameless, I know, but as I saw a wrapped package of string cheese make it's way across the table to my kid, I felt a little less guilty.