Black Belt Living

I'll Try....

I'm really bad at resolutions.  Let's be honest here, they last about as long as it takes me to write them down.  So instead, here are the things that I'm going to try to do in this coming year.  I have some firm goals and some nice ideas.  Hopefully I can make some progress on all of them.

• Lose weight ~ well who doesn't say this on the week after Christmas!  Wanna be down 40lbs. by May 22nd...I don't know if that's possible, but it's on the edge if I really get down to business
• Manage my time more effeciently
• Be much better at keeping in touch with friends far away
• Paint more for profit!
• Volunteer more
• Earn my black belt in taekwondo
• Learn to love folding laundry (ha!)
• start submitting more creative work for publication again
• improve my photography skills
• declutter my house!
• spend less, save more

The list is long and endless.  I figure if I at least write these things down for the world to see, maybe I'll actually make some progress on them.  I really want to, but sometimes I think I'm the laziest person on the face of the earth, yet I never have any spare time!  How does that happen?  I guess I'm the biggest time waster around. 

POTD!

Today's all about scrapping ~ the calendar is once again bumping up against the first of the month, so that means I got to get cranking on my design team work!  It's rainy today and we don't have much going on, so S and I decided that we're going to scrap all day.  That's a guilty pleasure indeed!

Speakign of scrapping, check THIS thread out.....I'm the POTD (that's the Pubster of the Day) on Two Peas in a Bucket.  It's probably the biggest of all of the online scrapbooking sites out there.  I don't post a whole lot anymore, but I stop by every day to see what's going on.  I probably wouldn't have even noticed if my buddy Torm hadn't given me the heads up!  Thanks to everybody who has bothered with the site problems today to check in and say hello.  It's really cool to be the POTD!

Okay, I'm off to play more rock (music), paper, scissors!  Have a great day!

Bored Games, Anybody?

Christmas is over but Christmas break is still going strong.  To fight off any signs of boredom, Shannon and I have been having fun doing silly things, like taking turns creaming each other in the game of Life and making the other go bankrupt in Monopoly.  I've never been much of a board game kind of person, but I have to admit that it's been a lot of fun playing.  We even blew off taekwondo classes on Monday night thanks to a rowdy family game of Monopoly. 

It was a Parker Brothers Christmas, that's for sure.  From various people, Shannon got Monopoly, Clue, Life, and Yahtzee.  I'm convinced that Yahtzee was invented by some clever Las Vegas casino executives to get kids hooked on dice games at an early age.  I remember LOVING Yahtzee as a kid and my dad saying that he was going to give me $20 and send me to Vegas since I always got lucky at rolling the dice.  Unfortunately, those days are long gone!

I'm so glad we're past the Candyland and Chutes and Ladders stage.  That was torture, this is really a lot of fun! 

Finally, for Scotty the Hottie who griped at me yesterday for my tardiness....sorry for the delay on the update.   Things have been kind of slow around here and as you know, this past Sunday's Bengals game wasn't worth commenting on.  Blah!   So here ya go, oh hot one!  I promise to update every day this week, just for your viewing pleasure :-)

Christmas Eve!

I love Chrismas Eve day ~ I think I like it even more than Chrismas day.  The preparations are pretty much done, I just have to set the Christmas table, thaw out the Christmas Turkey, and watch the Bengals! 

Christmas Eve always means lasagna and a big yummy salad, followed by dressing up for Midnight Mass, where we get to sing in the new church tonight. 

Merry Christmas Everybody!  I hope Santa is good to you tonight!

Unfair!

Why do people have to get sick right before Christmas?  I'm done shopping, wrapping, and baking, but I still have to clean my house and get ready to cook Christmas dinner.  I started feeling oogy on Wednesday and have been going down hill ever since.  Tonight's Christmas party is not looking promising.  Maybe Santa will bring me a box of Sudafed and a giant sized bottle of Nyquil! 

I hate this! 

I was reading Becky's blog the other day and she posted a question, Is There Anything Better Than....?  I thought it was thought provoking, so since I'm sitting here nursing a cold, I think I'll do my own list.

Is there anthing better than.....

• a good cup of coffee in the morning, already brewed when you get up
• living in the United States of America
• having all of your holiday tasks done over a day early
• knowing that somebody in the family is going to get a great huge surprise for Christmas!
• getting an assignment from a magazine editor
• taking that perfect photo
• medicine that clears your stuffy head
• the smell of bread baking
• the funny things that children say that crack you up
• London England!
• reconnecting with a long lost friend
• Christmas cards in your mailbox
• a day where you don't have a reason to get up early
• good friends who care

My list is huge, I could keep going and going.  What's on your list? 

Music of the Season

This year Shannon had a great idea for Christmas gifts.  I can post this here because the recipients aren't going to be reading (heck, for that matter, nobody is.  Yesterday I got three hits. That's lame...I'm truly talking to myself).  Anyhow, she's decided to compile a collection of her favorite Christmas carols and songs.  I've gathered all the songs and burned CDs for her, then created custom CD covers. 

Here are the front and back covers:

Music selections include:

• Christmas Canon - Trans Siberian Orchestra
• Silver and Gold - Vanessa Williams
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Harry Connick, Jr.
• Some Children See Him - Mark Friedman
• Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella - Mannheim Steamroller
• Mistletoe and Holly - Frank Sinatra
• Carol of the Bells - William Joseph
• Man with the Bag - Kay Starr
• Silent Night - Janet Yates Vogt
• Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
• The Friendly Beasts - Garth Brooks
• Ave Maria - Celine Dion
• Have a Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
• O Holy Night - Mark Friedman
• Merry Christmas Darling - The Carpenters
• Mary, Did You Know? - Clay Aiken
• Believe - Josh Groban
• Wonderful Counselor - Mark Friedman and Janet Yates Vogt

She's got good taste, it's a really good mix.  I've kept it cycling on my laptop with a nice cup of hot tea. 

And speaking of music, if you are into piano, you have to check out this guy, William Joseph.  He's a 27 year old piano virtuoso and his compositions just blow me away.  His album Within is constantly playing at my house.  He can play anything from classical to his own arrangement of Kashmir by Led Zepplin.  Check it out!  He's just amazing and he's easy to look at too!

Have a very musical day!

Monday Update

Well, it's nice to see that Typepad worked the kinks out and is back up and running correctly again (at least I think!).

It was a crazy weekend ~ we opened our new church yesterday which was really great.  It's been a really long process of fundraising, planning, building, etc. to get to this point.  I can't believe that it's finally here.  Our SJF choir has been rehearsing like crazy to get ready for yesterday's dedication Mass and this week's Christmas festivities.  So far, we managed to pull it off.

Here's to our Cincinnati Bengals ~ AFC North Division Champs!  We clinched our division yesterday so now we just have to work for that home field advantage and a bye in the first round of the playoffs.  We need to win more games and Denver needs to lose for that to happen. 

It's coooooold here today!  Right now it's around 6 degrees according to my desktop weather update.  I think it's a good day to relax, work on some creative projects, catch up on laundry, wrap some gifts, address some Christmas cards, and keep warm!  It might be a good fireplace day.

Oh, my thanks to Kelly Edge for the tip off to the Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine.  I was at Bath & Body Works on Thursday and picked up some (yes, I paid full price ~ $7.50 ~ thanks to your rave reviews) and now I'm addicted to that stuff.  How did I survive choir rehearsals without this yummy treat.  If  it goes on sale again, I'm buying all of my girlfriends some for Christmas!  Mmmmmmm!

What do you like to do on a really cold day?  Any suggestions for a good cold weather meal to make tonight?  I'm really in a cooking rut and could use some inspiration!  Give me some suggestions, friends!   

Have a great day, keep warm!  Go Bengals!

If Women Ruled the World

My friend Kelly sent me these today.  Given how hard I laughed, I felt they were blog-worthy.  The last one is my favorite.  Have a great day everybody!

If women ruled the world.......

Where Does the Time Go?

Whew!  I'm back!  My Girlfriends Christmas Tea Party was Monday.  The prep for that and the exhaustion on the flip side had me neglecting my poor blog for a few days.  But I'm back now with loads to chat about. 

First, I want to thank my friends for coming over for some holiday cheer on Monday.  I sure had a good time and I hope you did too.  You're all so special to me.  And for the Secret Santa who left that REALLY unbelievable housewarming gift on my table, you know, the thing that says NIKON on it....call me!  I don't know who you are, but I'm certain that my party isn't THAT great! 

Waving at Kelly out there.  Thanks for leaving the nice comments.  I'm here, I've just been TIRED!  My family has been sick and you know how it is during the holidays, but nobody is too sick or too tired to give a big Who Dey to our Cincinnati Bengals who won another one this past Sunday.  It was really ugly ~ a real nail biter.  One more win and we clinch the division.  The Bengals haven't been to the playoffs in 15 years.  It's way overdue!  I bought an orange and black Bengals Santa Hat last week, it's silly.  Need to post a photo of that one.

Starting tomorrow, I'll be in non stop choir rehearsals for the next ten days or so.  My church, St. John Fisher, has been building a new church for the past year.  The planning and fund raising has been going on for three years now.  This weekend is the big opening and dedication.  Needless to say, while we're all excited about the new space, it's tough on the choir to prepare for a huge event like this with Christmas just a week away, so it's rehearse, rehearse, rehearse for the next several days.

And finally, give a big cheer for our local winners, Alex, Nick, Meghan, and Tommy Linz who finished first and won the million dollar prize on The Amazing Race - Family Edition last night!  The Linz family lives VERY close to my house.  While I don't know them personally, I have friends who do.  The guys also went to my husband's alma mater , St. Xavier High School, which just grows young men with gobs of school spirit, so I really enjoyed the "Bomber" references that they would make on the show.  And a big cheer for the men of St. X, who also won the Ohio Division 1 state football championship a week ago for the first time.   

I was excited to see the Linz family win and stayed up WAY too late last night to watch it on my DVR after getting home late from TKD class.  The Linz sibs will be getting their million dollar check on CBS This Morning in a few minutes, so being the reality television geek that I am, I'm watching of course.

UPDATE.......I just got a request to post some pics of the latest lamp I did for Where The Heart Is.  This is the wedding lamp that I've been talking about.  I love how it turned out.

Grab a Shovel

The WHITE DEATH did indeed attack our fair city starting at rush hour yesterday.  We got about five to six inches here at my house.  As predicted, the lunatics were out in full force.  My friend Ginger told me that it took her three and a half hours to get home from work yesterday.  She left the office at 5 and barely got home in time to watch Survivor.  I tell you, everytime we get some white flakes, it's like a bad live version of the bad movie The Day After Tomorrow.  If only Dennis Quaid would come to my house and shovel for me.

Speaking of snow shoveling, am I the only female who does wields a shovel?  I like to shovel snow.  Growing up in Michigan, I had to do a lot more of it there than I've ever had to do here.  But I like it.  It's quiet, you get a good workout, it's pretty, and you have an excuse to make some cocoa when you finish.  For several years now, I head out to shovel with a smile on my face.  What I never see, however, is anybody else.  Nobody shovels here but us.  Teens around here can't be bothered.  I guess they dont' need cash like teens used to.  The men are all working.  Then there's the women.  I have said on many occasions that I live in Stepford, or perhaps just Wisteria Lane (a la Desperate Housewives) where the women don't ever work, don't ever sweat, probably never use the toilet, and never, EVER shovel snow or cut grass.  I do all of the above and have been labeled a freak more than once by the perpertually-manicured set.  Oh well, so be it.  I'm sure it won't be the last time.

It's really pretty out there.  Unfortunately for my daughter, we're the only school district that didn't close today (just like I predicted).  They had a one hour delay and there was no joy in Snowville this morning.  Instead of sledding and cocoa and cookie baking, it was the usual Friday spelling and geography test.   At least she got out of shoveling snow.

More Borgman poking fun at the snow......