Books of 2009

This past year, I read a lot. I decided to see if I could list everything I've read and see what the total was and where I stacked up amongst the national average.. I couldn't find any recent stats on this but did find that in 2007, one quarter of adults in the United States were reported to have read no books at all in the past year.

So, in no particular order..

The Twilight Series (at least twice)
Stephanie Meyer

• Twilight
• New Moon
• Eclipse
• Breaking Dawn

** I also read all of the movie companions and such, that's another 3 0r 4

The Sookie Stackhouse Series
Charlaine Harris

• Dead until Dark
• Living Dead in Dallas
• Club Dead
• Dead to the World
• Dead as a Doornail
• Definitely Dead
• All Together Dead

My Sisters Keeper
Jodi Picoult

Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater

Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins

Harry Potter -- Haven't finished this series and skipped ahead to know how in ended.
JK Rowling

• Sorcerers Stone
• Chamber of Secrets
• Prisoner of Azkaban
• Deathly Hallows

The 5 People you meet in Heaven
Mitch Albom

The Blue Blood Series
Melissa De La Cruz

• Blue Bloods
• Masquerade
• Revelations
• The Van Alen Legacy

9 Dragons
Michael Connelly

The Audacity of Hope
Barack Obama

The Mortal Instruments Series
Cassandra Clare

• City of Bones
• City of Ashes
• City of Glass

The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins

A Wolf at the Table
Augusten Burroughs

Rachel's Holiday
Marian Keyes

That's all I can remember, I'm sure there a couple of more, but I would say this is definitely the bulk of it. Funny, I thought once I wrote it all down the list would be longer.

I've decided to make 2010, The Year of the Classics. I cheated my way through highschool with Cliffs Notes and never finished college, so I thought I would give some of these old books another shot. It won't be all I read, mind you, but I will work my way through the list... however painful it might be. It's a shame to say that I've never actually read Romeo and Juliet.

First up, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Happy Reading in 2010!!

Wordless Wednesday! Me Snuggie.

How to Extract a Baby with a Tool Kit.

For Christmas, Santa brought the Munchkin a tool kit. Complete with drill, "screwdryer," wrench, saw, pretty much everything you can think of that would be in a normal tool kit.

I really thought I would get a kick out of watching her walk around a la Handy Manny, looking for repairs that needed to be made, but leave it to her to put the tool kit to new uses.

She came in the day after Christmas with her tool kit and asked me to lay down on the sofa, she told me she was the nurse and the Dr would be in to see me in a minute. She proceeded to tell me that she was going to get the baby out of my belly..... with the saw. Then she pulled out the "screwdryer" and said it wouldn't really hurt.

I tried to protest, but my resistance was futile. She told me to hold still while she pulled out the drill (aka glue gun) and glued me back together. She even used the level to make sure I was straight. She's nothing if not thorough.

Did you know having a baby was that "simple?"

A saw, screwdriver, drill/glue gun, level and Bam! You have a baby. Kind of sounds like something from a horror movie don't you think?

Close But No Cigar.

I was really hoping to hit 140 last week going into the Christmas festivities.. I was close, but I didn't quite make it. So this week I'm posting 2 in one and I have to say I was more than terrified to step on the scale this morning after the frivolous way I stuffed my face for 4 straight days and drank last night while out for a kidless double date... It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

So, here we are.

Week 7
Starting Weight - 141

Week 8
Starting Weight - 143 (boo! hiss!)

Got to get busy, the birthday trip is set and although I know I won't reach my original goal by my Birthday next week, I'm hoping I'll be there by January 13.

Pillow Talk.

Last night after watching a movie Husband and I headed off to bed. Although very tired from a long day, I felt the need to just flip channels and see what I could fall asleep to. I settled on Conan O Brian. All was quiet, then I had a moment of panic because I was unsure of the date..

Me: What's today?
Husband: The 21st, why?
Me: Oh good, well I have to respond to that "Super Secret Email" by the 23rd or it's null and void. (and no it has nothing to do with a pyramid scheme, details coming soon)
Husband: Oh... What are you waiting for?
Me: All parties to work out the minor details.
Husband: Oh...

::: Silence :::

Me: Does that lead singers eyes look crossed to you?
Husband: ::: silence:::
Me: I should really take a vitamin C, I think I'm getting sick
Husband: I can't really see his eyes.
Husband: Oh yeah his eyes are crossed...

::: Silence :::

Husband: ::: Snore :::

Zexsy, No?

Tigers Wood.

I don't know about you, but I am completely over this scandalous "News" story. Everywhere you turn, Tiger this, Tiger that. I happened to see on a tabloid at the grocery store that even Jessica Simpson was itching to "hit the greens" with Tiger, so to speak.

Who the hell cares? Are we as Americans truly surprised that Tiger Woods can't keep his putter in his pants? More than 50% of all marriages end in divorce. There are statistics all over the board for the actual number of men or women that cheat on their spouse, but with a divorce rate so high, why is everyone so shocked.

Was he some type of Golden Child that I wasn't aware of? The Chosen One from the Fidelity gods?

I just don't get it. A friend said that it seems that it's the sheer number of women. So what? Hookers are coming out of their brothels and lining up around the block to say that they have had "relations" with Tiger, and we believe all of them? And, if people are outraged or appalled because it's 11 different women, I've got news for you, 1, 11 or 111, it's wrong.

I've even heard Dr Drew weighing in on whether or not he's a sex addict. Seriously? A. Sex. Addict? He's a human man. For the love of all that is holy...

Dear Tiger,

You eff'd up man... You're losing your kids, your wife and your sponsors. The PGA will never be the same.

The End.

See how easy that was?

Time Flies When You're Losing Weight

I'm not really sure where last week went, I obviously dropped the ball on the weight loss post, in fact I'm not even sure I weighed last week at all, which seems odd since I'm kind of a scale-a -holic.

I usually weigh several times a week and always before I get in the shower in the morning. Not sure why, maybe because I'm subconsciously obsessed with weight or maybe it's habit since the scale sits right outside the shower door... either way, if I weighed last week I have no recollection, and that made me a little terrified to step on the scale this morning.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was down a pound from week 4. I know I'm not pulling great numbers, but the way I look at, it's a loss. It's closer to my goal and quite honestly I don't deserve it.

I haven't worked out regularly, and I eat like shit. The only saving grace now is I don't really eat a lot, sometimes I don't eat at all. Not on purpose, I just get busy, I never thought I would be that person who said, I'm too busy to eat. It's not like I don't think about it, or start to get something for myself, but it seems that I get distracted and the next thing I know it's 2:00 in the afternoon and all I've had is a giant coke. It's not so bad really, my body seems to be adjusting to the starvation quite nicely, and I rather like drinking my calories and not having to give up my non-diet soda in order to lose weight.

This week, I'm trying to get to the gym or work out 3 times... The kids are all sickly so I may have to settle for running the neighborhood, but I'll get something in. I'm pushing for 140 this week. That would be so nice right before Christmas week... Come on 140!!!

Week 6
Starting Weight - 142.5

The Tale of Two Trees.

So. It's Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year, blah blah and all that jazz. My Christmas tree? Looks like ass.

It's the first year that the Munchkin could truly participate in the decorating, she understood it, and she loved it, flat out enjoyed getting her (and her sisters) ornament boxes out and going through each one and carefully choosing which branch to put them on. One branch. All the ornaments on one branch.

The old me would have been over correcting her choices by gently suggesting she spread them out a little, and by gently suggesting I mean completely re-doing the whole tree after she went to bed. The new me? Not so much. My standards have changed and this year I really just don't care.

I knew the twins were going to be a challenge but I also thought after a couple of days they would be bored and move on... Wrong. They are just as enamored over a week later as they were the first time they came down the stairs and saw all the glitz and glamour.

A friend (let's call her Turtle) made what I thought was a great suggestion, put up a little tree, that one can be for the girls and the big one is Mommy's tree, no touching. I gave them their own little corner, a basket full of kid friendly ornaments and it lasted all of about 12 minutes. They pushed the basket around, brought the ornaments over to the big tree and tried to decorate it, they took the ornaments off of the big tree and tried to decorate their tree or would put them in their ornament basket. Needless to say it didn't go according to plan.

Now I have 2 trees that look like ass. Well, one that looks like ass and one that is completely naked and shoved in the corner.

When you come to my house, please don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining... You can skip the niceties about the beauty of my decorations, no hard feelings. I'll get back to my incredibly high standards and lovely decorations one day.

Not Just a Mommy Blog.

As most of you know some friends and I started a blog almost 2 years ago called BirminghamMommy.com.

We wanted to bring information together for area Moms and have it all wrapped up in one click. Mommies could come to our site and get everything they need. Kid friendly restaurants, local events, basically the who's and what's about town.

Almost 2 years later, we've all gone through our 2nd pregnancies, have put our oldest's in school and finally have some time to devote to growing this little project, and man is it growing! We decided to restructure things a bit and give ourselves an early Christmas present. A head to toe makeover!

With an incredible amount of unique visitors hitting our page monthly and advertisers now, we are so proud of our little "blog" that could.

Take a second to check out our site, it's unique and nothing like anything else in Birmingham. We've taken blogging to a different level and feel that it's going to benefit us and our readers immensely. Let me know what you think. We are so proud of ourselves we just can't help but brag a little..... Ok, a lot!

You can follow us on Twitter @birminghammommy or fan us on Facebook. We would love to have you!

*** It could take up to 24 hours for everyone to see the new site. Mine worked by refreshing the page when the old site loaded first.

Wordless Wednesday! Hardy Har!

** compliments of Loralee's LooneyTunes - thank you!

For the Love of Etsy.

I recently started an Etsy shop. I have lots of ideas for making stuff out of things that would normally land in the trash or recycle bin, just my little contribution to earth and helping reduce my carbon footprint.

Last night, I decided to get to work on my next project - I've been collecting the cans I need for a while and wanted to give them one last scrub down and make sure they were shiny for perspective buyers. In the process of cleaning these bad boys up, I nearly sliced my finger off. No joke.

I was running cold water over it, while I told the husband what I did, he came over and told me to apply pressure and get it out of the water, the only problem is that I'm incredibly squeamish. The thought of having to apply pressure and touching it and the blood and the everything was making me want to pass out. Again, No joke.

I grabbed a wad of paper towels and started applying pressure while my head was becoming oddly light. I was really thinking a trip to the ER for stitches was on the agenda, but the bleeding finally stopped. Husband took a look while I was hanging my head over the arm of the sofa in a state of dizzy confusion... "Luckily" he said, it looks like it cut at an angle and not straight down, so it's not as deep as it could have been...Go me.

Some antiseptic spray, neosporin and 2 Hello Kitty band aids later, it seems to have finally stopped re-opening, causing further light headedness and more states of dizzy confusion.

Needless to say this project is on hold until I can figure out how to package an "upcycled" finger along with the purchase.

Snow!

Granted, it was only on the trees and car, but I dare you to tell a 4 year old she can't have fun with a few snow flakes!

Even Steven.

I actually managed to make it through Thanksgiving without gaining a single pound, and yes, I enjoyed myself, I just didn't over do it like normal. There was need to whip out the maternity pants for this years Thanksgivingpalooza.

My goal for this week was 3 workouts. It's doable.

I'm beginning to notice that when I feel overwhelmed with life "stuff" I tend to put working out on the back burner. This week, I feel like the walls of my house are closing in on me. Laundry has piled up - to wash and to fold. Grocery list a mile long. Jewelry orders to fill from Etsy. Kids to bathe, Facebook to read, Perez Hilton to catch up on.... I get overwhelmed and adding "work out" to the list just about puts me over the edge.

Husband and I have designated this weekend "Reclaim our house" weekend. He's hanging my curtains, and doing some other little Honey Do's, I'm purging kids toys, decorating for Christmas and hopefully making it to the gym for some renewed energy.

Week 4
Starting Weight 143.5