Things I’m lovin’

Here are just a few things that I’m loving right now:

1.  Starbuck’s Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Yum!  Even better, we had to wait in the drive through for 5 minutes the other day and they gave us our order for free.

2.  Dexter

I had three people, in just one week, tell me that I needed to watch this show.  I did and loved it.  It’s a little messed up (serial killer that only kills bad people) but different, in a good way.  I’m waiting to get season 2 from the library.

3.  Fork and Screen movies

What could be better than eating dinner while watching a movie in big, comfy seats?  And the food isn’t that bad.  I did make the mistake of ordering the fish the first time we went and it was definitely more difficult to eat in the dark.  Eric took me to the Fork and Screen showing of Twilight two weeks ago.  The beginning was so, so bad BUT the end completely made up for it.  It had a little twist that I did not see coming.  It was much better than the book.

I want to see the Abraham Lincoln and James Bond movies next.

4.  Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

One of my FB friends recommended it as a good read.  At first, I was kind of put off by the fact that it’s about college students but quickly got over it.  She is also writing it from the guy’s point of view (this one was from the girl’s) and it’s coming out in April.

I also read 50 Shades of Gray and I’m not sure what all the fuss is about (maybe it gets better in book #2 and #3).  If she mentioned biting her lip or her inner goddess one more time, I was going to lose it.

Next, I really want to read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I’m still #121 on the wait list at the library.

My book club is reading The Life of Pi for our January read and I really hope it’s good.

I would LOVE some more book recommendations.  I need a new, good author/series.

5.  Groupon

I’ve already bought three Christmas gifts off of Groupon.

6.  Ebates

It kills me when I forget to go through Ebates when ordering on-line

7.  Luke and Kenny’s excitement for Christmas

Luke has been talking about Christmas since September.  Even though we’ve had to remind him a few times that Christmas is about Jesus’s birth, and not presents, it’s still really cute.  I am really going to miss it when they no longer believe in Santa.  I’m actually a little surprised that Kenny still does.

8.  Longview Lake’s Christmas in the Park display

This is the second year that we’ve gone to it.  The display is huge and they just really do a good job.  We took my parents along this year and we decided to make it an annual thing.

9.  Indoor soccer

I love soccer in general but I really love watching the boys play indoor soccer right now.  I love how fast paced it is.  Kenny’s games are just fun to watch because the kids are all starting to get to that stage where they are really good.  His footwork is getting so good and the kid can seriously get the ball away from anyone.  Luke is fun to watch because he likes to be the goalie.  Kenny and Luke are so different in that regard, and it really shows their personalities.  I feel like Kenny doesn’t like to be goalie because when he gets scored on, he takes it personally and feels bad.  When Luke gets scored on, it doesn’t bother him and he says he didn’t have any help (with a smile on his face).

10.  Eric’s schedule

I can’t believe I forgot this one at first.  Eric is now working Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00 like normal people do, with holidays off.  Unless a promotional process comes up, he’ll do this for the next four years.

Guess what’s coming to KC…

IKEA!

I can’t wait.  That, combined with the two Trader Joe’s that came to KC last year, makes me very, very happy.

Speaking of Trader Joe’s, here is a list of our favorite things there:

-  3 layer hummus – I could live on this

-  Pita chips to go with hummus dip – I buy the dark blue bag

-  Bananas – I think all bananas taste alike but Kenny swears theirs are the best

-  Pizza dough

-  Cheese crackers

-  Tomato and roasted red pepper soup

-  Frozen pizza – we love the margherita, BBQ chicken, pesto and spinach pizzas

-  …Next to Godliness multi-purpose cleaner

-  milk  - it’s pretty cheap

-  5 layer dip

-  great selection of different kinds of nuts

-  chocolate/peanut butter cups

-  peppermint JoJo’s – they are out around Christmas time

Did I forget anything?

 

2010

2010 = the year of the never ending winter. 

This is getting ridiculous.

H1N1 flu strain

Did you guys see that the H1N1 flu strain will be part of the normal flu vaccination in the fall?  If not, there’s an article on it here.

SM West Vikings

SMW alums – did you guys see the SNL LeBron James/Jason Sudeikis skit where he talks about playing basketball at West?  We were laughing so hard.  This Peyton Manning one was hilarious too.

Sudeikis, Paul Rudd and Jason Wiles were all West grads – and no, I didn’t know any of them (they were all older).

PNP

Go to this website to have Santa send your kids a message.

Mean eyes

This commercial makes me laugh.

Ditto

There is this house that we lovingly call the Griswold house.  Seriously, they have almost every inch of their house and yard covered with Christmas stuff.  We drove by it tonight and the house next door to it had us cracking up.  It had ‘ditto’ written in Christmas lights with an arrow pointing to the Griswold house. 

I will get a picture of it next time.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Hmmm…not a bad idea

Click on here:  11/29/2009

Posted using ShareThis

6/100

One of my friends had this on FB and I though it was interesting. 

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?Instructions: Copy this into your NOTES. Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read.

 

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen – X (one of my absolute favorites)
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien (I tried to read this but just couldn’t.  He kept going on and on and on about the scenery)
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte -
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling – X (I’m a total Harry Potter dork)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee -
6 The Bible (I’m reading this now but I’m not finished yet)
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte – X
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman -
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens -
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott – X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy -
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller -
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare -
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier – X
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien -
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger – X
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger -
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell -
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald – X
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy -
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams -
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky -
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck – X
29 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll -
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame -
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy -
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens -
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis – X
34 Emma – Jane Austen – X
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen -
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis – X (I’m reading this to Kenny right now after we went and saw the exhibition at Union Station)
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini -
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden -
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne - X
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell -
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown – X (love this one too)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez -
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving -
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery – X
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood -
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding -X
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan -
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel -
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons -
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen – X
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth -
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens -
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley – X

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night – Mark Haddon -
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez – X
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck -X
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov -
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt -
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold -
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas-
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac -
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy -
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding -X (once again, one of my very favorites)
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens -
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett – X
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante – X   (I love this book!)
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray -
80 Possession – AS Byatt -
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens -
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker – X
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert -
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry -
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White – X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom – X
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad -
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint -
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams -
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole -
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas -
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare – X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

I read a ton but apparently I don’t read the right books.  I’ve only read 26/100, although I think the Harry Potter series should count as 7 books instead of just one.  I guess I have some reading to do.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIL ERIC!

Does anyone actually fall for this?

Great news, Mr. Urge wants to give me his money.  Really, it’s not a scam or anything, because random people give me control of their money all the time.  (And yes, I am rolling my eyes as I type this.) 

Greetings,

My name is Mr vincent urge,I am a deteriorating and dying
man who had decided to donate what I have to the Charities. I am fifty
years old and was diagnosed for cancer about two years ago, immediately
after the death of my wife.I have been touched by God to donate from
what I have inherited from my late woman for the good work of God, rather
than allow his relatives to use my wife hard earned funds ungodly.
 
As I lay on my sick bed, I want you to help me in carrying out my last
wish on earth which will be very profitable to you. i want to WILL a
total sum of $5,600,000 (Five Million six Hundred Thousand Dollars) to you
which I want you to distribute part of it to any charity home for me.

Please for further information contact my Attorney
ASAP.(attorney_jefferyscott@live.co.uk )

Regards,
Mr Vincent urge.

If you need beach towels

I just got back from the mall and The Disney Store is having a sale on beach towels for kids.  They’re 50% off, which makes them $7.25 each.  I looked on-line and they have a similar deal but it’s buy one, get one free.  We walked away with four of them (Wall-E, Cars, Mickey Mouse and Nemo) since ours are all getting kind of ratty.

Yum

We’ve been living on these for the past few weeks.  Sam’s has had the best grapes and blueberries lately.

We’ve also been living on guacamole.  My brother, Mike, taught Eric how to make the best dip.  Yum.

One more place to waste time

My SIL Amanda told us about this website.  Great, another addicting website to waste my time on.

My Fitness Coach

I am absolutely loving this Wii game that my boys gave me for my birthday.  Honestly, I don’t know if you would even consider it a game.  It’s more like 6+ workout videos in one.  

You sign on and then you get to pick:

1.  Type of workout you want to do - core, cardio, upper body, lower body, flexiblity or yoga

2.  Length of workout

3.  Type of music you want to listen to (you unlock more options the more you do it)

4.  Equipment you own or want to use - weights, stability ball, heart monitor and/or step bench.  These are incorporated into most workouts.   

5.  Scenery (you unlock more options the more you do it)

The best part is that while you’re working out, the workout will stop periodically and ask you if it’s too hard, just right or not hard enough.  Then, the next time you do that workout, it will adjust to how you felt. 

When you’re done, it even tells you how many calories you should have burned.  I’m not sure how accurate it actually is but I figure it’s a good estimate. 

I have been doing it 4 times a week and I’m not bored at all.  It has turned into a little ritual for Kenny and I to do together.  Even Luke tries to get in on it.  We did yoga tonight and you should have seen him doing the downward dog.  Very funny.

I took this video of it so you could get a better idea of how it goes.  I know you can’t read what the screen says but you can hear what the trainer is saying.   

Cost:  $30 (FYI:   Toys R Us is having a sale where if you buy 1 Wii game ($29.99 or more), you get $20 off a 2nd one ($29.99 or more).  I don’t know how long the special will last but I know it’s still good today.

You do not need a Wii Fit to use.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY COUSIN JACKIE!

Movie quotes

Here’s something that’s going around on Facebook. 

Pick 15 of your favorite movies.  Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.  Post them here for everyone to guess.  Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.  NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search or other search functions.

Here we go….

————————————-

1.  C: Can we please just get out of here, this guy’s really creeping me out.
S: Who, robot man? He’s just trying to feed his robot family.
C: Hey, I really don’t like him.
S: Why, just because he’s doing this?
[starts acting like a robot making robot noises]
C: Seriously, don’t do that.
S: [in a robot voice] C, do not hate me.

EUROTRIP  (AMANDA GOT THIS RIGHT)

—————————————————–

2.  H: Now if you two don’t mind, I’m going to bed before either of you can come up with another clever idea to get us all killed – or worse, expelled.
R: She needs to sort out her priorities!

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (AMANDA GOT THIS RIGHT)

—————————————————-

3.  H: [talking about when kissing going 90 per cent then he goes 10] All right show me the magic.
A: OK.
[going to kiss H]
H: [after being kissed] What the hell?
A: Well, you said show me the magic
H: Yeah, but you go 90 then I go 10. You don’t go the whole hundred, you over-eager son of a… BLECH!

HITCH (AMANDA GOT THIS RIGHT)

———————————————-

4.  You once said you liked me just as I am and I just wanted to say likewise. I mean there are stupid things your mum buys you, tonight’s another… classic. You’re haughty, and you always say the wrong thing in every situation and I seriously believe that you should rethink the length of your sideburns. But, you’re a nice man and I like you. If you wanted to pop by some time that might be nice… more than nice.

BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY (JENNIFER GOT THIS RIGHT)

——————————————–

5.  LF: [Wiping spit from hid face] I’ve tried to be fair to you creatures, now my patience has reached it’s end! Tell me or I’ll…
G: NO! Not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!
LF: Alright then! Who’s hiding them?
G: Ok. I’ll tell you. Do you know… the muffin man?
LF: The muffin man?
G: The muffin man.
LF: Yes, I know the muffin man. W-who lives on Drewery Lane?
G: Well, she’s married to the muffin man.
LF: The muffin man?
G: THE MUFFIN MAN!
LF: She’s married to the muffin man…

SHREK (AMANDA GOT THIS ONE RIGHT)

————————————————-

6.   I can’t believe I gave my panties to a geek.

SIXTEEN CANDLES (ONCE AGAIN…AMANDA GOT THIS RIGHT)

————————————————–

7.  Charlotte Poughkeepsied in her pants.

SEX AND THE CITY (YET AGAIN…AMANDA GOT THIS RIGHT)

————————————————–

8.  D: So this is your opinion of me. Thank you for explaining so fully. Perhaps these offences might have be overlooked had not your pride been hurt by my honesty…
E: My pride?
D: …in admitting scruples about our relationship. Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your circumstances?
E: And those are the words of a gentleman. From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.
[they look at each other for a long time as though about to kiss]
D: Forgive me, madam, for taking up so much of your time.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (JENNIFER GOT THIS ONE RIGHT)

——————————————–

9.  D: You know what, mate? If you are so obsessed with B, why don’t you just marry her?
M: [turns away and starts to walk]
D: [pause] Cause then she’d definitely shag me.

BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY – THE EDGE OF REASON  (JENNIFER GOT THIS RIGHT)

———————————————-

10.  If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.

.

and

.

F: D, how do I look?
D: Like a beautiful blonde pineapple!

GREASE (MY MOM GOT THIS RIGHT)

———————————————

11.  I: How old are you?
E: Seventeen.
I: How long have you been seventeen?
E: …a while.

TWILIGHT (ERIC GOT THIS RIGHT)

————————————————-

12.  She’s gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen.

.

and

.

I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.

.

and

.

Lloyd Dobler: I’m gonna take Diane Court out again.
Corey Flood: Well, that’s unlikely.
Lloyd Dobler: Is the movies a good second date? You know, as a date?
Corey Flood: Well, you never had a first date.
Lloyd Dobler: Yes we did. I sat across from her at a mall. We ate together. We ate. That’s eating. Sharing an important physical event.
Corey Flood: That’s not even a scam.
Lloyd Dobler: What’s a scam?
Corey Flood: Going out as friends.
D.C.: No, it’s not. Scam is lusting.

SAY ANYTHING (NO ONE GOT THIS RIGHT)
————————————————–

13.  The holy grail ‘neath ancient Roslin waits. The blade and chalice guarding o’er her gates. Adorned in masters’ loving art, she lies. She rests at last beneath the starry skys.

THE DA VINCI CODE  (AMANDA GOT THIS RIGHT)

————————————————-

14.  Please tell me you speak English. I’m Detective Carter. Do you speaka any English? DO-YOU-UNDERSTAND-THE-WORDS-THAT-ARE-COMING-OUT-OF-MY-MOUTH?

RUSH HOUR (AMANDA GOT THIS RIGHT)

————————————————–

15.  Old Lady at Opera: Did you like the opera, dear?
V: It was so good, I almost peed my pants!
E: She said she liked it better than Pirates of Penzance.

PRETTY WOMAN (YOU GUESSED IT, AMANDA GOT THIS RIGHT)

Call my name

WFMW – Another free photo book

 

Sorry guys. 

It turns out the email I received was only for certain customers (although it would have been nice if it had said that).  I went around and around with Shutterfly to see if there was any way they would extend this offer to you guys.  And I basically got a big, fat no.  I tried. 

So my suggestion has now turned to….use Snapfish.

Seriously though, if you aren’t in a hurry to get your photo books you may want to wait and see if they send you the offer some time in the next few months.

For more helpful hints, head over to We Are THAT Family.

F.P. makes me sick

That man and his group are in town.  They’re protesting up at the high school where my kids will eventually go.  I guess there are a few reasons why they’re up there:  a) last year the students voted for a gay student to be their Homecoming King and  b) one of the elected student body positions (president, maybe?) is also gay.  Neither of which they like.  

I just have no respect for them.  Yes, you can have your views but why make a production out of it?  Why go out of your way to hurt someone?  F.P. and family, you make me sick.