Month: January 2011

Whirlwind

Posted on by Zolligirl

I admit it, this blog has been kinda lame. I can’t help it!  The weekend kicked my booty and it is a BIG booty to kick. Here’s a visual recap:

Thursday the gang showed up and we went straight to an estate sale in Vinings. Yippee for me, I found the MoonPie a shirt from Justice, (modeled above) for a dollar. It still had the tag on it. I felt good about it despite the fact that the “estate sale” looked more like a “bankruptcy sale”. I’m sure the kid selling it had lots of others. This is America after all.

Thursday afternoon I took MP to horseback riding, and afterwards we cooked a big dinner and had birthday cake for MP and my brother, AmmoGuy.

Friday, I babysat the newest member of the family, Allison.

We used our time wisely. Instead of doing stupid baby crap, like changing diapers and heating bottles, we took pictures. I told her if she wanted to stop to let me know. Her endurance was amazing.

School was out at 2:20 so I picked up MP and a friend from school and we went for tea.

We now have to make all peanut butter sandwiches in the shape of a butterfly. Thanks Tea Shop! And as if THAT wasn’t good enough, we then went to –

SPARKLES. It’s the new Chuck E. Cheese. Just one more stop – Chick-fil-A, then home to bed. Someone please help me!

Saturday was more yard sales and tennis, and then I hit the bed at EIGHT.

Of course, I then got up at FOUR on Sunday because I now have the sleep schedule of an eighty year old. Then I skipped church.

Don’t judge me , we had home church. Home church is just like regular church without the tithing and awkward greetings.

THEN, the birthday party.

I won’t lie, Kittens, it almost killed me. The good news is that THIS weekend, I only have plans for Friday night, and SaturDAY, and Sunday night. The Saturday NIGHT plans are only tentative at this point.

Of course, Tuesday night is prayer, Wednesday is volunteering at MP’s school, and Thursday is bible study with the ladies.

Other than that, I’m TOTALLY free.

Extremes

Posted on by Zolligirl

When I was in college, I slept on a water bed. It WAS the eighties. The bed was heated, which was perfect because my dad had furnished me with the largest air conditioner available. I would turn the air on high, and the bed on high, then snuggle under the covers while my room froze. Literally, froze. I would wake up in the morning and the air conditioner would have frost over it. It was heavenly.  I may or may not have written a bad check to the Nashville Electric Company at one point. I blame my father for getting me the big A/C.

My current house does not have any water beds, but we do have temperature extremes. Most of the house is drafty and cold, but then my dad put in remote-controlled gas logs. MP and I might be slightly addicted to the remote. Which explains why the thermometer read 90 degrees in the living room yesterday. I may or may not have to write Scana Energy a bad check. I blame my father for getting me the gas logs.

See, I don’t blame my mother for EVERYTHING.

Whew.

Posted on by Zolligirl

Today  I changed sheets, mopped the floors, took a lint brush to my carpet and cleaned my toilet. You know you’re in trouble when cleaning your toilet is not the worst part of your day. It’s all in preparation for the Family Onslaught. Mom, Granny, The Aunt’s and Cousin Karen will be here before lunch so I wanted to make a spot for them. Hopefully, a CLEAN spot. And after all of my hard work I’m happy to report there is exactly one spot. Oh, wait, Gitzo just walked through it so never mind.

The highlight of my day was my trip shopping. And by “highlight” I mean, “soul crushing.”I picked up MP and we went to Publix. Oh, wait, you DON’T take my coupons? No biggie, I’ll just drive five miles to the OTHER Publix. But first, I’m going to stop at the bank and make a deposit. NOW, I’m going to Publix. Oh, wait, I left my card at the bank? Awesome, I’ll just run back and order a new one. NOW, I’m going to Publix. Oh, wait, they’re OUT of everything that I had a coupon for? No biggie. I’ll just go home and put my head in the over. Oh, wait, that is definitely NOT the clean spot. Gross.

My friend, Dan, commenting on a previous post, suggested I talk about bridge more. Do you know how much I love Dan? It almost makes up for the fact that he and his wife beat me like mashed potatoes at the last tournament. But it reminded that my day STARTED when someone called to invite me to play bridge this weekend. And I had to say NO.

It should have been my first clue. No good can come on a day that begins with no to bridge. You can take that to the bank! Just remember to get your card from the ATM.

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Posted on by Zolligirl

All right people, get on the scale! I don’t care if you dropped out last week, fell off the wagon, ate your weight in birthday cake, whatever – if I’m doing this, you can do this too.

A couple of years ago, when I started Weight Watchers the FIRST time, I did it because I had reached my all-time highest weight. Let’s say that number was 900. It was actually higher, but that’s a nice round number so we’ll go with it. Anyway, the number was so HIGH, I just had to start dieting. And after months of watching everything I ate, I lost weight. I was skinny all of about two months. Then I gained it all back, PLUS some. Look at me, breaking my previous weight record. Whoo Hoo.

But now, with three weeks of dieting, I’ve lost 5 pounds – meaning I am now officially BACK to 900 where I started. Yea, me. If I continue at this pace, it might actually begin to show in another six months.

This week, I tried Mantamy’s recipe – the pumpkin pudding which was YUMMY.   You can see her recipe in the comments from last Wednesday.

I also found some great things this week. I love Everything Bagels, and these are just 3 points!

I paired it with the Weight Watchers cream cheese for a yummy, 4 point breakfast.

Never mind my breath. AND I actually got in some exercise. We bought MP the Just Dance Wii game –

and it is FUN. How fun? Well, she’s been in bed for 2 hours and JD and I just finished our dance off . I’m not saying who won, but I WAS on a traveling Line Dance team in my youth.

Interestingly enough, I weighed 900 pounds back then too, but it was mainly in my belt buckle.

So, how did YOU do?

9 Year Old MoonPie

Posted on by Zolligirl

I can’t believe it’s been NINE years. It’s gone by so fast. Sigh. MP’s gifts are wrapped and waiting at the table, along with a balloon, and the traditional birthday doughnut. JD and I are going to school at lunch and taking the cupcakes. Nothing like giving naturally crazy 3rd graders their weight in sugar.

In honor of the MoonPie, I’ve made a list of 9 tidbits about her life.

Nine Truths about the birthday girl –

1. She has discovered Rugrats. It’s old school Rugrats, 24/7 around here. Angelica is still mean.

2. She sings Taylor Swift in the shower.

3. She has learned ALL about cars from her dad. The other day she point out a “rare merc”. That’s a rare Mercedes for those of you with a life.

4. She learned about depression in health class. She said she doesn’t have it.

5. She isn’t into boys, Justin Bieber or The Jonas Brothers yet. Thank you, LORD.

6. She IS into Star Wars. That’s how she told me she’ll decide on who to marry – Star Wars knowledge.

7. She knows the books of the Old Testament. She’s learning the New.

8. Her goal for 2011 is to try new foods. Last week she tried a corn dog.

9. I have the most beautiful, awesome child in the world. And I know it. Thank you AGAIN, Lord.

I could have done 10, but one involved burping, so I thought I’d pass.

Where was I?

Posted on by Zolligirl

I can’t remember. How is it possible that the weekend passes in a busy blur, but upon reflection, I can’t remember doing anything?

Oh yeah, Sparkles. Being at the skating rink brought back all kinds of memories of skate parties in Zollicoffer. I thought my friend Jan was the luckiest kid EVER because her dad owned the skating rink. Jan could skate backwards. And not that awkward, one leg wavering back and forth move, but FAST. Jan always got picked for the boy/girl skating. I only remember being asked once. Nothing like being twelve, skating with a boy, and falling down. MoonPie will be saved from this particular humiliation because she won’t be allowed to go to the skating rink when she’s twelve. Certainly not alone, anyway. What was my mother thinking?

Saturday morning I woke up exhausted because MP had crawled in our bed in the middle of the night, bringing the grand total to 2 adults, 2 dogs, and 1 kid who’s apparently dreaming of a future in kick-boxing. I rallied to meet my writer’s group, LOVE them, then came home and dove head first into the bed. My life might not look exciting to the untrained eye.

Or the trained eye.

But then on Sunday, I went to church, used a bunch of coupons at Publix, and watched Masterpiece Theatre on PBS.

I wonder why my blog isn’t more popular. Strange.

Birthday Intervention

Posted on by Zolligirl

TGIF! I’m trying to work up the proper amount of enthusiasm a weekend should inspire, but frankly, tomorrow begins a busy week for me. Work? Nah. Writing? Not so much. Cleaning? You’re obviously at the wrong blog. No, this is the Nine Year Old Birthday Bonanza Week.

MoonPie’s best-friend, Jemi, was born today, four days earlier than MP. So this afternoon we’ll be having a cake for both girls with their brownie troop, then off to Sparkles to celebrate Birthday One.

Did I mention that I went to Sparkles last week?

Tuesday is MP’s birthday so I’ll be taking cupcakes to school, then off to her favorite place for dinner – O’Charley’s. Since JEMI got to go to Sparkles on her birthday, I’m guessing we’ll have to go as well. Birthday Two usually follows the format of Birthday One.

Did I mention that I went to Sparkles last week?

Thursday, the ZolliWomen are coming – M, the crazy aunt’s, even Karen. We’ll have ANOTHER cake, some presents, lots of shopping. But I’m fairly certain we won’t be going to Sparkles. This is Birthday Late.

But wait, there’s more. Sunday is the actual party. Swimming and pizza with the friends. This is Birthday Both.

When I was a kid, I MIGHT get a cake, accompanied by poor singing and a knock-off Barbie. That was known as Birthday Broke.

Which is what I call Monday.

A Day In the Life

Posted on by Zolligirl

In case you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to go shopping with me .

You’ll have to forgive the shortness of the post because I’ve been overwhelmed with work, and by “work”, I mean flipping back and forth between American Idol and The Australian Open.

Can we all just admit that while we hated to see Simon Cowell hurt a contestants feelings, we really DO need him. JLo and Steven Tyler are too easily swayed by bad singers with good crying. Hey, I wonder if they’re coming to Atlanta. It could be my year!

I’m thinking a day in the life of Simon Cowell involves a lot fewer coupons than mine does.

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Posted on by Zolligirl

Welcome folks! Come on in, the scale awaits. Before we get on with this, I would really like to give one of YOU the chance to weigh in first. No? Okay, but I warn you, I really rocked it this week.

Drum-roll, please! I lost 2.5 pounds.

Whatever. I more than doubled what I lost last week and I didn’t have any bad meals. It wasn’t so much WHAT I ate, but how MUCH I ate. My problem is that I see those 29 points as mandatory. Would it kill me to stop at 27 one day? Do I really have to rustle around in the fridge until I find a 2 point snack just because I CAN?

My best day was when we remembered a huge box of shrimp in the freezer. 2 ounces of boiled shrimp are only 1 point, so I ate boiled shrimp all day. Whoo Hoo. I lost weight AND money.

Sorry Coach Houser, I didn’t manage to do any exercising because A) I hate exercise and B) I always take it as a license to eat more. But I’m thinking I might actually get off my tail and shake it for a minute or two this week.

I apologize to everyone for that visual.

So how did YOU do? A friend of mine told me she got discouraged this week and gave up. DON’T! If you have a bad day, just move on! Today is a fresh start. DO IT FOR YOU! Sorry, I was watching Biggest Loser and that Jillian is intense!

Anyway, this afternoon I had a craving for something sweet, so I made the oldest Weight Watchers recipe in history – the Pineapple Angel Food Cake.

Easiest. Recipe. Ever.

You get one box of Angel Food cake mix and a 20 oz. can of crushed pineapples.

Mix well. Pour into a greased cake pan.

Cook at 350 degrees until brown. This took me about 20 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip. My dollop might be a tad big. It might be twice as big as my piece of cake, but “dollop” is vague anyway, so why sweat it?

The point value per piece is 3. It’s really simple, but YUMMY. Seriously, JD has already eaten half of the pan. My friend Matt, who likes high-falutin baking recipes that take two days to make, LOVES this cake.

Make cake, feed half to your husband, shake your tail. That’s my wisdom for the day. Feel free to leave yours in the comments.

Stay Encouraged!