Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Waiting on April!


The official sign up is going on over at the A-Z Challenge page !!

I'm only signing up 2 blogs this year, instead of all 3.  #277 & 278!   I always sign up my Maple Grove Cemetery blog for the Countdown to Halloween and the 13 Days of Creepmas but I'm going to let it relax this April.  I'm so afraid I'm going to run out of ideas!

I'm going to stick with my theme of health / weight loss for this blog and over at Tales from the Love Shaque is going to be some randomness & a bit of Michigan-love.

I'll also be sure to continue my regular posts, in addition to my A-Z posts.

Guess I better get busy!  I have a spreadsheet that I've been filling out for the last couple months, keeping track of topic ideas.  Now I need to get the draft posts pre-scheduled and topics written.

Bring it on!!

Can't wait for April !!


The official sign up is going on over at the A-Z Challenge page !!

I'm only signing up 2 blogs this year, instead of all 3.  #277 & 278!   I always sign up my Maple Grove Cemetery blog for the Countdown to Halloween and the 13 Days of Creepmas but I'm going to let it relax this April.  I'm afraid I'll run out of ideas!

I'm going to stick with my theme of randomness & a bit of Michigan-love for this blog and over at ......Slow & Steady is going to be health / weight loss related as usual.

Guess I better get busy!  I have a spreadsheet that I've been filling out for the last couple months, keeping track of topic ideas.  Now I need to get the draft posts pre-scheduled and topics written.

Bring it on!!


Saturday, January 25, 2014

So done.


I am so done with winter.  Yes, this is another "winter - whine" post that are flooding blogs & Facebook feeds.  We've already had 5 school days cancelled and judging by the "DTX Weather Story" - we're in for a few more!  I am so glad that Angel is old enough to stay home alone.

Yay.

Anyhooooo, I was able to go out and get the drifted snow cleared off the driveway this afternoon without turning into an ice cube.  In fact, I worked up a sweat!   That's what I get for not clearing snow right away & driving on it.  My arms are now dead.

I'm all by my lonesome right now.  Randy is up north doing radio stuff for the Sno-Drift and Miss Angela is over at a friend's house for the night.  I haven't been sleeping well lately, so I think I'll dink around here on the 'puter for a while, then grab a glass of wine or 2 and see if there's anything on TV that may interest me. It was so quiet in my bedroom last night that I heard one of the cats snoring.  I have a white noise app on my phone, I think I'll use it!

Let me see.  I have seen photos of 6 of Miss Angela's 9 dance costumes. Apparently they have decided on the ballet costume, but not for the tap or hiphop lines yet.  I'm glad that the teachers are her studio find cute costumes, because I used to cringe at some of the hideous things my niece used to have to wear.  FUGLY, I tell you!!

So there's an interesting twist in her small group jazz - there had been 5 girls in the class.  One had to drop out, for whatever personal reasons. So Gabby, the teacher, didn't want them to compete against groups of up to 9 dancers, so she auditioned the younger girls and chose 2 that had the most promise.  As soon as that was announced, we all knew little Gianna would be picked, since she's really good.  I've never really paid much attention to Hannah, since she was never in any small groups before. But she must be good, too!

I've learned to NOT go to the gym, and then right to a Weight Watcher meeting.  Apparently pumped muscles weigh more than relaxed ones.  My 1.5 lb gain proved that, and my leader agreed.  Boooo.

So not much else is going on.  I haven't seen much of Randy lately - last thursday (the 16th, someone at this work decided they needed an experienced programmer to go babysit an inventory is LIttle Rock and they chose him to fly out Friday!  He got home Monday night.  Then Wednesday he went up north and will be home tomorrow night.

Apparently pizza is on the dinner menu tomorrow, since Angel has gift certificates for free crazy bread from Little Sleazers. She got them from school for passing all her classes last semester - so far no summer school -YAY!!!!

Alrighty, now that I've rambled and made no sense - I'm going to get that bottle of wine and park my butt on the couch for a while.

Later!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Friend Makin' Monday - Quick & Easy

Happy Monday!  Maybe I'm finally getting used to going to the gym, since my body doesn't seem to hurt or ache much today!  Yay!  Zumba was better this week.  Since I saw the steps last week, I caught on quicker this time.  As I go along, maybe I'll actually become graceful?  AHAHAHAHAHA yeah right.

On to FMM,


If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section over yonder at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Quick and Easy Questions

1. What time did you go to bed last night? As much as I'd like to turn in earlier, it ended up being about 11.  The hubby got sent to a job out of state Friday (he was told Thursday afternoon he was going - yay) so the animals have all been weird.  Friday night, 3 times the dog would start woofing and run to the back door.  Last night, one of the cats was causing trouble, trying to get into the upper cabinets in the kitchen and doing her usual wander thru the house, meowing.  Oh, and she got up on the bathroom counter 1/2 hour before my alarm went off this morning and knocked over the cup, making tons of noise.

2. What is the last thing that made you smile? Well, I'm at work so options are limited.  But a co-worker showed me a pic of her son feeding a baby white tiger, which was absolutely adorable.  I had to laugh when she told me how hard it was to stay back and let the kids do the hands-on stuff and not shove her way in and demand a turn.

3. What is the last movie you watched? In it's entirety?  Damn if I know.  I did watch part of some British dance movie that Miss Angela had on this weekend.  We've come to the conclusion that dance movies are basically the same.  There's either the rebel who has to settle down and ends up winning the scholarship or competition, or the ballerina who falls in love with a street dancer and somehow gets involved in that, blah blah blah.

4. What did you have for breakfast today?  Oatmeal with some greek yogurt & protein powder mixed in. I need the extra staying power!

5. Would you rather mop all of your floors or do laundry? If I actually had a place where I could fold the clothes immediately out of the dryer, I wouldn't mind it so much.  But I have to haul it out & dump it on the couch & 9 times out of 10 it stays there.  I think I smothered the laundry fairy.  So I'd have to vote for doing the floors.

6. Do you drink coffee? occasionally.  But when I do, I make it so it barely resembles coffee. On the plus side, I go to Tim Horton's and get it with a flavor shot, milk & Splenda and is only 1 Point!

7. Will you watch the Superbowl?  We watch it for the commercials.

8. How often do you shop for groceries? Once a week or so.  I hate it.

9. What kind of workout will you do today?  I'll do about 13 minutes on the elliptical, 3 sets of 10 reps on each of the circuit machines & 20 minutes on the treadmill.  I'll do that today & Wednesday, then do Zumba on Saturday.

10. Do you use a fitness tracker? I have Weight Watchers Activelink.  I like that before I'd only track activity points if I actually went out walking or doing something.  Wearing it clipped to my bra (it's an option!!) counts what I do all day.

Have a great week!

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Monster Jam, Detroit

OK, I'm a bit late, since this took place back on the 11th.  I was rather disappointed, since my 2 favorite trucks were not there.  Blue Thunder hasn't been there the last couple shows & this is the first time Avenger hasn't played.  Boo.

There is another show in March, but we probably won't go to that one. 

As usual, lots of pics!  I took 250+, so I am posting a still from racing & an action shot or two from freestyle. 

 
 Woohooo!

I always try to get us seats on what would be the "home" side of the Ford Field.  This time we were on the "away" side.  We were in the 2nd deck, row 6, right in the middle of the arena. Nice seats, but my knees were up against the seat in front of me.  I'd hate to see really tall people try to sit in them. 
  One of Angel's friends was there across from us.  They found each other using flashing lights & text messages. 
Before the carnage. 

 Northern Nightmare.  
I'd have to say my 2nd favorite truck out of this field. 
He ended up with a flat tire in freestyle. 

Iron Outlaw

 Mohawk Warrior (the driver and his helmet also had a mohawk)
He ended up losing a tire off the rim during the racing & freestyle.  

 D-Molisher.  This was sponsored by a local radio station. 

 Raminator

 Maximum Destruction "Max-D"
This was the first time I'd seen someone other than owner Tom Meentz drive this truck, and it was obvious in the racing.   But he won the freestyle, so I can forgive him. 
He lost the hood of the truck partway thru freestlye. 

Zombie has to be my favorite in this group.  
The arms are new. And entertaining!


During intermission between the racing & freestyle - they had FMX riders out doing tricks on their dirt bikes.    I missed what happened, but one of the guys fell while jumping over the bus in the middle of the arena & had to be taken out by paramedics.  I saw him lifting his head still in the helmet & waving so that was good. 


 Iron Man.  
He beat Gravedigger by a bumper in the racing & Angel was ticked! 
He didn't go far in freestyle.  Ended up on his lid. 

 Crushstation
What a save!!


 Monster
He didn't last too long in freestyle, for obvious reasons.
He ended upside down, too.  

El Toro Loco - with one of 2 female drivers.
She came in 3rd in freestyle!

 Monster Mutt Dalmatian - with the other female driver.

 Mopar Muscle

This was a sweeeet tow truck bringing that RV out. 
Very shiny & lots of blinky lights.

 Aftershock
He didn't do well last year, either.  One hard landing & he broke. 

 Gravedigger - Miss Angela's favorite
He didn't go far in freestyle - he broke something under the truck.  Disappointing. 

 Krazy Train
He's got a new look this year, but wasn't running well.  Sounded like he couldn't get it into higher gears. 

Bad News Travels Fast
Him & Bounty Hunter didn't do any racing.  They came out for freestyle only.  
No idea why.  

Bounty Hunter
He ended upside down. 

Some of the after carnage.....



Granted it wasn't as nice out as last year (sunshine & hoodies!) but we got there early and parked in a lot right outside ford Field and also practically at the entrance to the expressway.  So we came out & were on the way home in no time!  Worth the $40 in that chaos.