A Welcome Distraction

Today was a physically active day...thank goodness, because it was a wonderful distraction from what is currently on my mind (See yesterday's post).

We had a 1 hour swimming lesson to make-up for the 2 that were canceled last week because the water was freezing (heater broken). Then I had lunch with two friends, and we did a little shopping. We were a baby brigade! Each of us with our little bundle in tow made for an extra workout.

When I got home, I put Nehemiah down for his nap and then grabbed my brand spankin' new birthday gift, the Wii Fit. I did some boxing and balance games, and I got my Wii Fit age down below my actual age for the first time ever! What an accomplishment--it usually makes me feel so old! ;)

Then Nehemiah woke up, but I was still in need of activity. Can you believe it? I know I hardly can myself. So I grabbed my recent Netflix delivery--Element: Ballet ConditioningAs an aside, I read a review of this particular workout in Parents magazine. I usually buy a workout, do it a few times and set it aside, so I thought, hmm...wouldn't it be great to try it before I buy it? How can I do that? NETFLIX--DUH! Well that was easy; how come I never thought of that before?! It is brilliant! I looked the workout up on Amazon, and there were many ballet options, so far I have tested one other, but this one blew it out of the water! It was phenomenal! I was all shaky and jiggly, but in a good sort of way, you know? And now I feel like I am slightly more graceful and fit.

It brought me back to the days when I was a little girl spinning and leaping around our living room to Tina the Ballerina on the record player. I LOVED that story, and as a result, ALWAYS wanted to be a ballerina.

Sadly I was never able to take lessons...I even tried to sign up for the class in college, but it didn't fit in my schedule of required classes--blast! However, this DVD made me feel like in a few months, I could actually be graceful and have some definition. I will be adding it to my wish list for sure!

Aaaaand, I did some looking for that old Tina the Ballerina LP, and if there are any of you out there who remember it and are curious, you can get it burned on CD or download it as MP3 files (possibly) by looking it up on The Kiddie Rekord King. There are also a ton of other beloved LPs available in such a format there.

Remember this one? Too fun!

Disappointed Fantasies

Back in August my brother sent out an invitation for Ben and I to join the family Fantasy Football league. I was all about it! I carefully chose my team, and in the beginning I was doing REALLY well. I mean, I was leading the league! BUT, then, my team went through a hard time; riddled with injuries, we limped along. And adding insult to injury, because I had done so well early on, my record kept me from picking up the players I wanted to replace my injured guys. Between that and Peyton Manning's mid season slump, my hopes for the total annihilation of my competitors were dashed. I went into the first round of the play-offs and was quickly and forcefully eliminated, by, get this, my 8 year old cousin--OUCH! Ah well, maybe next year I'll do better, and Ben is still in the hunt for the trophy, so I'll hitch my horse to his wagon and ride it out. ;)

I knew that with all of the snow the chances of getting out of the house today were slim. I decided it would be a good day to work on the invitations I'd promised to make for a friend's baby shower. I'm not sure why the number 15 stuck in my head, but it turned out, after a quick call to check the guest list, that nearly 30 are required, and soon-yikes! So today I spent a good deal of my time cutting out 120 hearts, 30 rainbows, umbrella tops and handles, and I'm getting ready to punch millions of little hearts to use for raindrops. I also formatted, printed, and trimmed the inside details, and the cardstock and ribbon embellishments. Who knew it was so much to do? I surely didn't, since this is really my first project on this scale, flying solo. I mean I did 50 baby announcements, but a dear friend helped out, and I accomplished that project over several weeks.

Shortly after Ben got home we got a call from our Auto Repair shop. We were worried that the necessary repairs on his Golf were going to be expensive enough that we ought to look into buying a used minivan. The total damage was less than $300 for now--Hallelujah! I know we are delaying the inevitable, but it is a nice reprieve.

The call meant that I had to face my fears and get out on the roads, and down with my bald tires! It is harrowing for me after my brawl earlier this year with an outbuilding that my car charged into after sliding out on our dirt road. Silly, Wendy--outbuildings are to park inside of not in the side of! We poked along at a whopping 30 miles an hour. I felt so bad for the people stuck behind me! I know what it is like to get stuck behind a slow poke on the winding--no passing zone--two lane roads around our house. It can make you 20 minutes late to wherever you are going-no joke! I wanted so badly to pull off to the side and let them pass, but I knew that if I did that, I'd get stuck and have to wait for Ben to come find me and the baby and haul us out of our mess. Not an option with a wailing baby--past his feeding time. :) So, I poked along sheepishly, and hoped that no one behind me would recognize me! ;)

When we got home, my frazzled nerves were greeted with a package! Yay! I LOVE packages--even when I am expecting them. This happened to be my recent order from our favorite cloth diapering website: www.punkinbutt.com They had a sale at the end of last month, and I stocked up on the next size of diapers and covers, and ordered some fun new things to try. I got 2 doublers--these things you stick in diapers at night to help them absorb more, 2 bamboo velour nursing pads to try out, a pair of babylegs that are stars and stripes to keep Nehemiah warm under his pants, and a Moby wrap. This Moby wrap gizmo is awesome! I got it because I wanted to have a good way to carry Nehemiah when we head on our marathon day of driving and flying to see my family for Christmas. There are a ton of different ways to wear it, and it adjusts to pretty much any size baby. The best part is that it goes over both of your shoulders to distribute the weight better. I put Nehemiah in it right away. We tried 2 different poses, and this thing is fabulous! Nehemiah was not fussy, and he did some bobbing and weaving, and it held well. I'm excited to use it. We went outside to the car to get my cell phone, and I wore Ben's coat zipped around us both. Pretty funny stuff.

Anyway, I should probably get back to finishing the cutting for those invitations. Maybe when they're done I'll give you a peek at my handiwork!

Bzzing!

My husband is completing his bachelor's degree online, and one night he was reading his marketing text when he came upon this Word of Mouth online company. He knows how much I LOVE to try new products, and what a blabber mouth I am when I am excited about something, so he got me the hook-up! I am officially a BzzAgent!

I received my first official Bzz campaign last week, and it was this awesome Sonicare toothbrush (see picture). It is called the Flexcare, and I have been using it for about a week and LOVE it! My teeth feel so much cleaner. I really noticed it the first time--it felt like I'd just stepped out of the dentist's office! It has a couple of different modes: a quick brush mode that times you for 1 minute, and then a complete mode that lasts for 3 glorious minutes of alternating brushing and gum massage. Yep, I said it, GUM MASSAGE! Who knew? There are a few other settings, like a sensitive one, in case you have sensitive teeth. But my favorite non-brushing extra is the UV Sanitizing Chamber. You can stick your brush head in and close the door to the little compartment, and it looks like your toothbrush head is being beamed up by Scotty to some magical cleaning land. The best part? All I had to do was push a button. :) I am not one who loves to clean.

There is a website that you can check out about the secret life of your toothbrush called www.germshappen.com I have to be honest--after talking to my aunt, who watched a Myth-Busters episode on such things, I have been a little afraid to look. Apparently it involved the fact that so many toothbrushes are stored in the open air of the bathroom, somewhere in the proximity of a flushing toilet...I'm sure your imagination can fill in the blanks!

Anyway--this BzzAgent thing has started out really great, I mean I can't complain about getting a $179 toothbrush for free! My next campaign is Listerine's Quick Dissolving Whitestrips. I'll have to report on that later though--I haven't started that one yet.

If you're interested in the BzzAgent thing, sign up at http://www.bzzagent.com it's free and fun!