No rest for the weary

Well I've been sick for two weeks now. What started as sinuses, became Bronchitis that left me with laryngitis from coughing so hard. Have you ever heard of someone loosing there voice because of coughing? I have not been able to talk since Sunday. Saturday night I had a coughing spell so bad I couldn't breath. I was about to wake hubby to take me to the hospital, I was panicking. Not being able to catch your breath is the scariest feeling. And after Brittany Murphy died while getting over a cold, I'm totally paranoid. So, after remembering a LOST episode, where Shannon was having an asthma attack and Jack calmed her down, telling her it was in her head because she was scared, I calmed myself down telling myself I'm not going to die, I'm just panicking because I can't catch my breath. Then after some deep prayer, I ask the Lord to please heal my lungs. Please let me breath again. Then Sunday morning I woke up to realize I had lost my voice. I have never lost my voice. I take this as a sign that God wants me to take things easy. To realize that my kids can hear me without me yelling. To depend more on my husband. To find the patience that I always pray for. And to put myself back on the to-do list.

And speaking of to-do, I haven't officially started my diet, but because of my illness, I've lost a few pounds. Once, I'm completely healed it's bye-bye fat pants, hello skinny jeans!

I am going to pee my pants...

Seriously. In just a few short hours the moment I have been waiting for will be upon us....LOST season 6. I.can.not.wait. My heart is racing. My adrenaline is pumping. I can't sit still. I heart this show. I'm obsessed with this show. I love to discuss theories with other LOST fans. And I'm such a freak about the show that I came to realize awhile back, that if you are not equally obsessed with LOST, like I am, I can not discuss it with you.

Some co-workers and I have had LOST viewing parties for a few years now. They are so much fun. Our other co-workers know when we are discussing LOST and the entire back room will empty out. A few have joked about "crashing" one of our parties. We don't find that funny in the least bit. We take our LOST parties quite seriously. We have strict rules, which must be obeyed. Or else you will be banished. The rules happened naturally, an unspoken agreement, that later on was voiced for fellow co-workers who attempted to watch with us.

Here are just a few of our "rules"

• There is ABSOLUTELY no talking during the show. All questions or comments, must wait until the next commercial break.
• If the show has started and you are late arriving, you must wait until the next commercial break to enter the house.
• If you have never seen one episode, do not think for a moment you will be allowed to watch the show with us. Go to Blockbuster, or netflix the previous season's and catch up. I/We do not have time to explain 5 seasons to catch you up for 1 episode.

We have some other "rules" we throw out there every so often, but these are the major ones. We are having our LOST season premiere party tonight. I will take pictures of our food-a major reason to have a LOST party. And some of the other highlights of our night!

LOST begins in 4 hours.....

2 weeks...

Have you ever noticed, everything seems to have a two week result time. Some cereals claim, that if you substitute there cereal, for two meals a day, you can loose 6 lbs in 2 weeks. You can have whiter teeth in 14 days! There are 2 week cleanse and detox drink shots. And in 6 workouts (3 times a week for 2 weeks) you can see results with that workout video.

In two weeks/14 days, it will be Valentines Day. A day filled with romance and chocolate and romance and flowers and romance and balloons and romance. Well, maybe not as much romance since the kiddies, but we do find time for it. So, in time for Valentines Day, I'm going to replace 2 meals with that cereal, cleanse and detox, whiten my teeth and see results in only 6 workouts!

I think it will be a good jump start to my ultimate weight loss goal. That deadline is going to be the Friday kicking off Memorial Day weekend. So, stay tuned and check back often. I'm going to post a "before" pic this Friday when I do my weigh-in. I'm going to try and keep this as humbly real as possible, so beware. On your mark, get set, let the transformation begin...

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Sunday, we celebrated my dad's birthday. He braved the icy streets to come have an early dinner at our house. I made Steak tenderloin with cheesy, garlic mashed potatoes, shrimp cocktail, side salad and dinner rolls. I started to take pictures of dinner, as I was cooking it, but I only got to the mashed potatoes then forgot. I did, how ever take pictures of the yummy birthday cake cookies with homemade icing, I made!



You heard me right, birthday cake COOKIES.



The reason I decided to make these instead of a birthday cake, was that I had no more icing. And since it had just snowed so, I was not going anywhere. These cookies though, are so yummy and they are super easy to make; just take any cake mix box, add the required amount of eggs and oil - omit the water, stir and drop teaspoon size onto baking sheet. Bake approx. 8 min or so. Mmm...





I ended up making homemade icing. I thought I would give it a try and it turned out pretty freakin' good, if I do say so for myself. Hubby asked if I had more! To make the icing I took cream cheese and 1/2 stick butter (softened) and 1/2 t. vanilla extract mix it until it was smooth, then gradually added powdered sugar. I would add a 1/2 cup pwd. sugar at a time stirring until it was a nice consistency. I put it into a plastic bag, cut off the tip and piped it onto the cooled cookies.




My little man had the idea to put cherries on top. Cherries happen to be a favorite of my dads, so that was no problem. And I added some chocolate chips because you just can't have enough chocolate!

You know you want one...

The Birthday Dad!

My dad is a great man. Not too many men would have done what he has. He has made many sacrifices in his life for me and for his family. My dad joined the military when he was 18 years old. When he was 20 he went on his first deployment to the Philippines. There he met my mom and me. I was 2 years old. He fell in love with my mom and within another 2 years we were living in the United States. My dad at such a young age got married and had an instant family. He never had children of his own, but he has always loved me as his own. Rheumatoid arthritis left him unable to continue his career in the Navy. And last year he lost his best friend/his dad, my papalan. Life hasn't always dealt him the best hands and there have been times where he questioned his purpose. After, my parents got divorced, my dad was reborn and was baptized in the baptist church. I was so proud of him.

Today, just before I wrote this post, I found this book called; Birthday Wishes For You, while cleaning up the kids toys. This is for my dad.

God has chosen this day especially for you!

In His infinite timing and wisdom, He chose this day to bring you into this world and to make you a part of His plan. He created you with special talents designed for His purpose. He has blessed you with the desire to fulfill His purpose and the ability to succeed in His plan. Setting you free, He designed your path for life. Celebrate your life by honoring the days you've had and have to come! For this coming year and the years to follow, may everything that you've dreamed of come true!

Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you!

p.s. In case you were wondering why I didn't have any icing, in these parts we like to sometimes eat frosting straight from the container. I know, it's kinda gross, but it.is.so.good.