Baby Shower

Today I'm throwing my sister and brother in law a baby shower. Just wanted to let everyone know I haven't forgotten about the blog. I've just been busy with getting things ready! I have a few posts in mind though, so if I have time I'll post today. If not- it will have to be tomorrow!

Religion. Maybe this is too deep?

I don't often write about religion, mostly because I feel like there is not one true religion, and people should be free to practice what they want. I just try to do what I think I'm being called to do. To me the basics of any religion are based on the principle of "Be Nice." I'm sure not ALL religions work this way, but for the most part. I feel like just as people have acclimated to their climates over millions of years, religion has acclimated as well. So that the "Be Nice" principle holds true, but the basics of trying to do good for others, being a part of a community and realizing that the world isn't about just you still ring true no matter what religion you practice. (Okay- I realize that a lot of you have just stopped reading my blog forever now!) To me, the difference in religions should be accepted and not looked down upon, just like different races. See the good in what others are doing while not concentrating on the bad! To me that is what God is calling us to do in all aspects of our life.

So yesterday in Church we had the reading below. This reading has always been confusing to me. Not because of what it says. I get what it says and am in agreement. But what I don't get is that this is read right before you go up to get ashes on your forehead. That has always seemed contradictory of what we are doing. I know some of you will think "Oh Catholics" but that is not what I'm trying to point out. I do enjoy the traditions of our faith. It just makes me chuckle when we listen to this reading, but then go get ashes, which I'm pretty sure would make others realize that you are getting ready to fast and sacrifice for Lent. Either that, or they think you have gotten one big bruise on your forehead that magically goes away later in the day. I guess what I'm saying is that each religion doesn't follow the Bible exactly, as hard as they might try. If they did we wouldn't get postcards about how much better one Church is than another. Or hear about how bad "others" are during services. We wouldn't see 'Jesus fish' on business signs. We wouldn't really try to find ways to keep people from God. I just chuckle because it is mankind once again showing their faults and as Christ-like as we all try to be, even the best of us makes mistakes!

Matthew 6: 1-6; 16-18
1. Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2. Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
3. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4. so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5. "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
6. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
16. "And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
17. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18. that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Man- this was probably the deepest post I've ever made on here. What happened?

It's Ash Wednesday!

I've done some careful thinking about what to do for Lent this year! I usually think about this for at least a week and come up with about 5 things I could do, and then pick something from that list. I'm not sure what other people do for Lent, but I will usually pick something to give up, and then pick something to do that is positive.

This year for giving something up I have picked trying to make it on no fries. This one will probably be my biggest challenge I have undertaken. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but then again my fry obsession has gotten out of CONTROL!! Not only has the fry thing been there but in the past 6 months I have started to crave ranch dip. I am not a salad eater (refer to a few previous posts about this!), and I don't usually come upon a situation where I would have ranch. But a few months back I noticed that McDonald's had more than a few choices for chicken nuggets. (I apologize in advance if this is the first time you are learning this too. It will only lead to more consumption of sauces~) So I thought I'd give the ranch a try to see how the nuggets tasted with that. This of course lead to "Let me try that on fries!" Hmm- if it is good of fries, why not other things like the Southern Chicken Sandwich! How about...well, you get the idea. Why do I tell you all of this? Well, I told Mr. Magoo about my Lenten fry challenge, and he snidely said "I think ranch would be harder for you!" AHEM- excuse me? Did you just throw down a challenge? I honestly think he doesn't think I could do it. So Mr. Magoo- I'm here to tell you that starting today I will be on the Lenten Fry AND Ranch dip challenge!!! I'll keep you updated on my progress!

As for the something to do that is positive I'm still deciding on that. Any ideas?

So- goodbye my food friends!
I will see you in about 40 days.....

New Poll

I haven't posted a poll in a while, so here you go!

Future Leader!

Meet Jet! In Chicky Magoo 1's dance class one of the girls has a "future leader dog" that gets to come and watch each week. He is so adorable! I just crack up at the badge he wears. He is now 8 weeks old, and has been wearing it for 2 weeks. He is with a foster family learning how to be around daily activities for his first year, and will then go off to boot camp to learn how to work for the blind. This dog has such sweet eyes. So far nothing has really bothered him, but he does question their tap shoes. At least I think it is the shoes and not their ability!

Naked Eye? I think not!

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.

Last night I got a crazy idea that after the kids were settled in bed. As some of you know Chicky Magoo 1 is a space NUT! She has lots of books on space, can name planets and their moons, and knows a LOT more about the entire subject that most 7 year olds because she is SO into it! So after I put both little Chickies to bed it occurred to me that I had read earlier that day there was a comet that could be seen with the naked eye if you were in a dark place, and with binoculars if not. This comet is called Lulin and was discovered in 2007. It was making its way past Earth, and is heading out of the Solar System, so this would be the one and only time to see it if you wanted to. I decided to head outside first to see if I could see it, and then convince my still somewhat sick Mr. Magoo to get the telescope out to check it out. So off into the dark cold night I went! I realized that for once, when there was a night event like this that the sky was clear and you could see TONS of stars! PERFECT....so I thought.

Let me give you a little background on the 'telescope'. Chicky Magoo 1 has been interested in space since she was 2 years old. She has planets hanging above her in her room. One of her favorite nighttime reads is a book called Astronomy: The Definitive Guide To The Universe. It isn't unusual to hear her say something like "Did you know that Mars has two moons named Phobos and Deimos?" or "Look, there is Venus! Can you see it Mommy?" So when she was 6 we decided that this "phase" was going to last a while longer, and the telescope she had been asking for was appropraite. Knowing Mr. Magoo, I knew this telescope would be something more than a $20 one that you can see the moon with. Which I agree, if she is this into something, bring it on! We also saw this as an opportunity to give her a Daddy/daughter bonding experience. So, off to buy the telescope. After careful research he decided on the MEADE ETX Premier Edition with AutoStar-LNT. Okay- so even the title should have told me that there was no way in hell I was going to be able to figure this thing out!!! If more than one set of letters are clustered together I'm usually out. I can of course turn these double or triple clustered letter technologies on, but then I use them in a way that says "Why didn't you just get the cheap one?"

So- off we go last night! I "wake up" Chicky Magoo 1, who wasn't sleeping yet and pump her up. Yes her super sweet mother is getting her out of bed so that SHE can see a once in a lifetime cosmic event! Boy- I AM a great Mother!!! Mr. Magoo goes to work setting the telescope up. We have tried to put the telescope together a few other times. Once we couldn't figure it out, and it being 10pm decided the kids needed to get to bed. So no dice. The second time we loaded it up to take to Michigan to the Grandparents house, where we oops, forgot the lenses. Apparently the lenses DO make a difference in seeing through a telescope. Who knew? LOL!

This time we were determinded to get this thing right. We even READ the directions?!?! And who does THAT?!? The telescope was set and we headed out into the cold again to see if we could get this thing working and see the comet. As soon as we step out I say "It is by Saturn they said. I'm guessing that is Saturn." To which Chicky Magoo 1 says "Mommy- that's Venus. Saturn is probably over there." Apparently all of this studying has paid off for her! :)

We stood out there MUCH longer than I had anticipated! I'm sure our neighbors were wondering what was up because to them it looked like 3 people standing in a field with a flashlight in the dark of winter! This telescope is supposed to basically find things for you. You set it up, face it north and !voila! click a button and Saturn pops up! The directions said to do something with the fork leg. Um- okay if we could figure out what that meant I'm sure this would make perfect sense. I took a break or two from the cold during this exploring process. I know, I'm such a wimp when it comes to the cold!!! After about 30 minutes I heard some excitement and went to check it out. They had found Saturn and Venus. She was right and was SUPER excited to see the rings around Saturn! They also saw one of Saturn's moons, which she loved too. You would think with this big ole' thing we could find something that was supposed to be right next to it and visible to the naked eye, but we never did. :( Chicky Magoo 1 did tell me as I put her back to bed "Well Mommy at least we got to use the telescope finally! And I got to see two things!" At least she looks on the bright side! Mr. Magoo however spent another hour online trying to figure out what went wrong. I'm guessing our next outdoor adventure we will be more prepared.

The irony of the ENTIRE situation is that the telescopes tagline is: "Just because a star may be millions of years old, doesn't mean it should take you that long to find it."

Seriously.

Strange Birthday Happenings

This morning I was up at 5:30- yep, I said 5:30!!! Why you ask would someone wake up on their birthday on a weekend at this odd hour? Well, this was not my plan, but Mr. Magoo was up and coughing so I couldn't sleep. Oh well....

Poor boy- he has had the flu for a few days now! I'm pretty sure the Chickies brought it home from school, because pretty much everyone I know has had it in their family too. I'm just hoping that our family isn't on the list of people who get any more of this fun stuff! :P For those of you wondering, no, we did not get flu shots. I am not a big fan of shots in general, but the flu shot just seems odd to me. Maybe it is me that is strange? I'm open to any arguments you might have to make us get one, but I'm just leery of it.

After everyone woke up this morning, my birthday began...hmmm, well sort of. I did some laundry and cleaned some bathrooms. Oh how fun!! But those germs don't know it's my birthday, so I thought I'd better do that before anything. Mr. Magoo had a 102 fever, and rested. Then I loaded up Chicky Magoo 1 and we went to lunch to chat and then of course Target. Chicky Magoo 2 was asked if she wanted to come, but she looked at me and said "No, I'll stay here with Daddy." Hmm- well I guess if she knew she was going to be watching Snow White next to Daddy I can see why she wanted to stay. While we were at lunch, the drinks came, and my sweet sweet Chicky Magoo 1 held up her glass and said "Happy Birthday Mommy! Cheers!" I thought that was so sweet that she was trying to make it special for me.

When we got home Mr. Magoo was still running a fever and not feeling well, so the girls and I knew we were going to be going to dinner sans Daddy. Auntie and Uncle Magoo 1 said we could come over and hang out there if we wanted. So off to play Wii at their house. Little did I know that they got me The Price Is Right game for my birthday!!! Woo-hoo! Come on Down!!

I decided this year that if I was 34 I had the right to decide that we were eating cake BEFORE dinner! Yes- that's right! I ruined EVERYONE'S appetite! Mr. Magoo had picked up a cake for me yesterday even when he wasn't feeling well. He knows how much I love birthday cake...well butter cream icing to be exact! This cake had so much icing that even I couldn't eat it all, and that is saying a LOT!

After ruining appetites and waiting a while, we went to Stir Crazy for dinner with Auntie and Uncle Magoo 1. It was a good time! Chicky Magoo 1 and I enjoyed watching them cook our meals. Chicky Magoo 2 enjoyed trying to eat french fries with chopsticks. I guess this shows the progression of eating Asian food in our family. Start with chopsticks, add Asian food later....
It was very weird celebrating my birthday without Mr. Magoo! I hope he feels better tomorrow.

I got lots of phone calls today wishing me Happy Birthday! My Dad was even able to find a phone in El Chalten, Argentina to call me! He is down hiking the glaciers and having a good time! So this would be my first birthday phone call from South America, or as Chicky Magoo 1 says "He almost in Antarctica!" Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I did have a good day!

Frigid Digits

For 11 years now, Auntie and Uncle Magoo have held an annual Frigid Digits Party! It is an outdoor party in the cold! Yes- does this sound like me? Um- no! But they do have a fire pit, 2 kinds of home brew, a grill and of course there is my popular hangout.....INSIDE!

They had the usual crowd of about 50-100 people. I'm always amazed that you can get that many people to stand outside in the cold from noon til bedtime each year, but they must have more cold weather friends than we do.....then again, maybe it is just me being my usual baby self when it comes to the cold. :)

This year they incorporated a Keg Toss into the party. A frat brother of Mr. Magoo and Uncle Magoo 1 has been diagnosed with cancer of the spine. He and his wife are living in NY for a while to get treatment. So the Keg Toss was to help them out! You can read more about Jason HERE! Send prayers his way!!!

The keg toss had a Women's Division and a Men's Division. Not many know this, but our family has a history of winning such events! My cousin won a Keg Toss a few years back, so I had to try and keep the family legacy going in this sport!! Well Nate- I did us proud! Look at that toss!!! I threw the first keg, and I'm happy to say that I won the Women's Trophy! My distance held up for the rest of the day! Since it is a major award I will display it proudly at home. Maybe I'll have Mr. Magoo build a shelf and put some spot lights up so that it gets it proper placement!

Tree

It has been a while since I've posted any of my pictures. It is just a tree, but it caught my eye today.

Party

Today we went to an annual party at Auntie and Uncle Magoo 1's house! I'll post more about it later, but I have to say that one of the guys there looks like Uncle Eddie from Christmas vacation. If you know anything about our family, it is that quotes from this movie can be heard on any day of the year.

"Shitter was full!"

Roll 'Em!

Last night I went with Auntie Magoo 1 to her Bunco night. The theme this month was "baby shower" for her. They play differently than what I was used to, but their way is MUCH easier!!! All you have to do is roll 6's. So Auntie Magoo 1 explains the rules: You try to get 21 points. Roll 1 six=1 pt. 2 six's=5 pts. 3 six's=Big Bunco! So I say to the ladies at my table "So all we do is roll 6's?" They say "Yep" The head table calls out "Roll 'Em" and the game starts. They let me roll first. The picture to the side is what I rolled! THAT'S RIGHT! I rolled 6's on the first ROLL! GAME OVER! And the taunting begins... We all cheered and I then got to wear the big bunco prize until someone else got it during another round. This months big bunco prize was a blue baby bib. I had a pretty good night of rolling. My partner was a HOOT! At the end of the night they give out prizes for the most number of Big Buncos, the most wins, the biggest loser, and then a door prize. I won the Big Bunco prize because I had two of those that night! Boo-ya! Love this game! :) Auntie Magoo got the least wins prize, so we both came home happy!

Auntie Magoo 1 got some cute stuff for the baby shower! Neat socks, blankets, slippers, towels, magazines and such for the hospital. My favorite card of the evening has to be this one!

We are dog sitting for my parents this week! Having 3 dogs in the house has been a bit of an adventure. When they were eating their "breakfast" this morning, Mr. Magoo said "This is like a farm." I do have to say, it does feel like that. Trying to coordinate who has been out when and who is eating what has been a challenge. The funny thing is that their dog is the most well behaved out of the group. It is kind of like when your kids have a sleepover. The kid sleeping over is on their best behavior, but yours are going crazy?!?

We do laugh because we now have 3 black dogs in the house of varying size. Oreo and Elle are enjoying running around chasing each other. Gizmo is just happy that they aren't bothering her. This picture says it all! Two are paying attention, and The Giz is just looking away as if she wants no part of the entire thing. I did have some major help from Chicky Magoo 1&2 to get this photo!

small= Gizmo, 11+ years old
medium= Elle, 2 years old
large= Oreo, 7 months old

How Old Am I?

Today I had to go to the podiatrist to get my orthotics. Yes- orthotics. That is a word I used to reserve for older women who had terrible feet. Until my feet started hurting!!! OUCH! I went in a few weeks ago to get that all check out. I went in and he said he would try to see if these would work. We tried a sort of "practice" one first, which seemed to help a little bit, but not totally. Also- he told me I was wearing exactly the wrong shoes and the wrong size shoes. Okay- now we are on to something! I can see that shoes that don't fit MIGHT hurt your feet. ha ha!

So after a few tries at different things, and the threat of a giant needle with cortizol, I opted for the orthotics. For those of you who don't know, you get a casting of your foot so that they can send it in to the incredibly overpriced company that presses some material together so they can call that a "device". That "device" then looks just like the insert you can get along with your tennis shoes already. Only in my case, I take out the insert I buy with my shoe, and put my fancy inserts in and strut around with that one in. Oh- Dr. Scholls- you have nothing on me!!

When I got the castings the Dr. says "OH- well I can see why you have trouble! Look at these?" Now mind you, "these" are castings of my feet. So basically he is saying "Look at your crappy feet!" ha ha! So he shows me that in fact it is a miracle in itself that I ever learned balance in the first place, because I don't even use my whole foot to walk on. Not because I like to walk this way, but because I have such high arches that they just don't touch the ground. Mr. Magoo has always commented on my arches, but mostly when we are at the beach and my "footprint" is nothing more than a heal and ball of my foot. (sometimes I get a sliver on the side to attach the two) If I lean though, I can get the side of my foot to make a print too! It wasn't until Mr. Magoo brought this up that I even noticed this was abnormal! Nothing like family to bring you back down from your "fancy foot cloud"! :P

Anyway- I did get to try the orthotics out today and it did feel different. They are much like contacts, in that you can't just go off and wear them. I get an hour today, two tomorrow...you get the drift! But I'm not allowed to exercise in them for 2 weeks so I don't hurt my knees or back.

I Said WHAT?

Have you ever wondered what in the heck you are doing? I sit back a lot and think "Wow- never thought I'd be doing this?" I always picture being in heaven and awaiting my departure to Earth. Talking to God and him going over this list and saying "Now- I know you aren't going to remember this when you get there, but here is a list of what you have signed up for." Then me laughing hysterically because there is NO WAY I'm going to do those things on that list. My list would consist of things like: Reading the same book 10 times a day; Living away from my family; Cleaning bathrooms; Scooping poop; Eating a slobbery bit of food when I little hand "feeds" it to you (and enjoy that!); Driving forever just to see someone for a few hours; etc. You get the idea!

During the day I just have to chuckle to myself and think "Well God- you were right!" I'm sure that somewhere I agreed to this, but I just can't remember when or what I was thinking!

Whew! One Big Laundry Pile!!!

Today my Mom and I did some serious laundry! Now to most people "doing laundry" means that the laundry is piled SO high that you have no clean clothes in the house. To me, that means that the CLEAN clothes have now piled so high the kids and Mr. Magoo have no idea where that other sock went so they can match up a pair! I don't know what the deal is, but my issue is not actually doing the laundry at ALL! In fact, I do about a load a day so that I keep up with all of the clothes. When the clothes reach the clean state, that is when I sort of lose all sense of focus. You sure would think that after years and years of training I would be able to walk a pair of socks or a clean shirt from the laundry room right into the closet. After all- it isn't like it is up or down stairs. No, it is just down the hall. Sounds easy doesn't it?!?

The worst part of laundry for me is seeing white clothes in the dryer ready to be folded. To me this means that inside that dryer awaits an insurmountable challenge. Find all matches of the socks and put them away. For some reason this is harder than any Sudoku puzzle I've ever attempted. Why can't all of the white socks make it to the same load??? There is always a leftover sock that I keep in hopes of running into its mate somewhere along the line of the laundry.

My wonderful Mom came over and helped me get it all in order again. I know now that the washer and dryer are grey. I had no idea. It had been too long. :P
It is SO nice to have it all done and I can start fresh! THANKS MOM!!!! :)

Subway Lady

We were at Subway today and a lady came in to order while we were eating. I have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes. How do people live their lives in such a way that ordering Subway is something they think has to be done with flare?!? This lady starts talking loudly in a sort of fake sounding accent and saying extra things to the guy like "I HAVE to order these things! I'm buying it for my movers." and "My- they certainly don't like vegetables do they?" "Cheese? Well since they didn't specify let's just go with the 'regular' cheese. Who knows what they really want?" It made me want to say something to her. Does she think that movers are somehow a lower class than her? Or that people who don't order veggies are to be talked down to? Who knows? Of course, I didn't have the guts to say anything, but I did moan about what she was saying to Mr. Magoo at our table. Chicky Magoo 2 was with us, and she couldn't stop staring. She was quite a spectacle though! I just hope the movers she is taking this food back to can get through their day! Sheesh!

Are You Still Here?

Well- if you are still checking this blog after 8 months, kudos to you on your patience and persistence. I guess you figured that at some point I would probably be back to posting. I had thought about my blog a few times recently, and then sort of brushed it aside for Facebook for a while. I guess I liked the response on Facebook more than the blog. Blogging is like typing to "hear" yourself type sometimes. Often no on responds and you are left feeling like "is anyone reading this?" Anyway- it is therapeutic to me. So I'll try to get back into the groove again. Maybe I just ran out of things to say? Ha Ha Ha! Right- I know. (Insert peanut gallery comment here...)

We have recently gotten a new puppy. I have total mixed feeling about it, but then again, when is this not the case! Gizmo is okay with her. I don't really see BFF in their future, but you never know! If I see Gizmo buying 2 half heart necklaces and giving one half to Oreo, I'll let you know.

The kids are great! We haven't been in line this year to get the Guinness World Records for Most Time Spent In Time-Out, so that is a plus! I think they are growing up on me!! Either that or I am more oblivious! Either could be the case. :)

Well- here is hoping that you see another post in a few days. (but don't hold your breath)