Racetrack!!!!

First, thanks to all who took the time to call or email to see how I was. I didn't realize that I was having as rough a week as I have been having. LOL I've been sort of in a fever daze for a couple days of it....so really....it didn't phase me, but the gracious kindness of friends far and near did phase me - in a very good way. Thanks.

Today, I think that Mom is right. I think I'm allergic to the mold. It REALLY stinks! REALLY. Mike promises he will take his day off tomorrow, instead of going in to catch up on work.  He's going to fix the plumbing, and we are going to lug the carpet and furniture out of there.
We've been debating what to do with the floor underneath. We thought of painting a giant TWISTER on the ground. Jared suggested CHECKERS. I suggested a blackboard look with white random paintings, hopscotch etc. Mike suggested what I think will be the winning idea.
A RACETRACK! Their room is in a race track theme. The border is race cars, the curtains are black checked. The comforters are NASCAR. It will FIT, and they will enjoy it. We'll paint it some sort of solid color and then paint roads et al throughout the room. I think. Stay tuned.
I'm not an artist - but Mike seems to think I can do this....and we'll cover it with carpet in a year anyway. I love doing out-of-the-box things and Mike is a "white wall and beige carpet" type of guy - so this moldy carpet IS a chance to CREATE. LOL Of course, maybe we'll just paint the concrete a solid color and buy a carpet like this????

Stability?

I knew that I would not have time for a trip to the gym today. I had a PAC meeting. I had the House of Faith run, I had to get Jamin to work and Jared to CAP 30 min early, but I wanted to do something.
I opened the Stability Ball that Mike gave me for Christmas. Pumping this thing up was sure to be the hardest part of the work out! I popped in You Can do Abs (and upper body) and prepared to learn how to use the ball for a workout.


I was pretty sure that the ball was too small when Leslie said, "Your legs should be at a 90 degree angle as you sit on the ball". Huh? Mine were certainly NOT. I persevered. 35 minutes. That was good. Heather had asked me earlier in the week what I was doing for strength training. I hadn't been doing anything - I had been focusing on getting the aerobics into the routine FIRST, BUT today was the perfect day to work in some strength training.
I liked that this dvd explained exactly what to do. I liked that she gave variations to use. I liked that she used weights for a good upper body workout.
I did not like feeling like I was going to PUKE for all the "on your stomach on the ball" exercises. Will this get better?


Heather dropped by while the children were enjoying my ball. She says I need a bigger one. This will be good because it will give THEM something to workout on and ME something to workout on. ::snort:: Today Stacia kept rolling the ball while I was trying to do various contortions....and I FELL OFF THE BALL when I "rolled up" right over the top. I also smashed my face with the pump trying to pull it out and "slip in the valve".
I'm willing to try it again. I could TELL that it did intensify the workout. It did hurt my neck though.....and the puking thing was bad.... (but that could still be the cold or the mold).

You've Destroyed My Rep-u-tation!

Oy vey. In an attempt to save the wet carpet, Jared and I lifted the carpet up so that we could dry it out and the pad beneath. Zander came unglued. Tears. Wailing. "You've destroyed my reputation!" Evidently, it's a terrible thing for a young boy to have "ripped up carpet". ::snort::
Jared taped off part of the room to keep them from walking on it. Zander was determined to get through the barrier. There are no toys over there. There are no clothes over there. WHY does he so desperately need past the taped off area?????? He woke up this a.m. still determined to get past it. It's a boundary.
I asked him, "Zander, WHY do you need over there?"
His answer? "When I come up to a barrier I must bash through it."
It looks like we are going to have to remove the carpet in the room. We are NOT putting new carpet down in the young boys room a year before we sell the house. I'm not sure what I will do - but it will be creative. ::snort:: The smell of mold is wafting through the house.

Of Colds, Plumbing, Taxes and Such...

I've not been blogging because it is no fun when others can't read. AND I don't FEEL GOOD ::whine::. I've not been sleeping because I have a nasty cough - now my diaphram, tummy muscles ache, my head hurts when I cough, and it's gross. I may go buy cough syrup tonight because I need to sleep.

We are getting school done, and I am going to the gym (and disinfecting the machines when I'm done). I washed my fancy new cell phone - you know the Christmas Gift.

Wait until you hear about my day yesterday!

I woke up and discovered the freezer door had been ajar overnight. The NEW freezer - the BIG one. I lost a few things but most was frozen enough that I shut the door and shuffled off.

I was cooking breakfast when Zander informed me that someone had gone potty in he and Nolan's closet. After lecturing all on how silly that would be I went into their room and discovered that their closet was flooded...and it had seeped out in the room. Now we have no working plumbing in the kitchen.....still today the carpet is wet. It stinks. I can't get it dry or get under it well.

Mike has been at a 3 day exercise, and I hope to really see him tonight. Poor man - no kitchen plumbing, molding carpet, computer woes, AK PFD's to file, and NOW a TAX PROBLEM too. I'm working on the tax problem. It seems the form the base filed was rejected.

Mom's Night Out was Monday night, and I missed it. I was too sick to go anyway. Tuesday night was Bible Study - and we survived. Betsy, a local friend, said SHE had cleaned her cell phone also. That made me feel immeasurably better. Always nice to know you aren't the ONLY ONE!

Here are a few photos from yesterday:

Look how much it cost to fill the tank yesterday!


This is their closet - carpet removed - toy/movie closet - got one bucket of water from here.


See the water in the main room - 3 buckets of water sucked up


Stuff everwhere


Preparing Beans in the bathroom


I hate being sick. I want to go to bed. I'm going to go have lit/Bible/history discussions with my rhetoric level boys....then maybe sleep.
OH HEY - I DID buy some Amy's organic freezer meals and some paper plates - that's a bright side to the wet...I don't feel like cooking this week anyway. ::snort::
AND - my new/used cell phone is working! Now everyone just needs to call me so I can harvest their numbers....

Weekly Fitness Goals

Weekly Goal - 240 Minutes (40 minutes most days)
Total Weekly Mins - 345 mins
Annual Goal - 11,700 minutes (2900 by end of March)
Minutes to Date - 2,522

MONDAY - 70 minutes (43 minutes - elliptical machine; 27 recumbent bike)
Tuesday - 75 Minutes

Wednesday - 50 Minutes (45 min recumbent bike, 5 minutes elliptical)


Thursday - 70 Minutes (45 minutes elliptical; 25 minutes recumbent bike)

Friday - 65 Minutes (recumbent bike)

I'm most excited about this week's totals because it represents 5 days of workouts. Still not 6 days but certainly better than 4 days of long work outs. I'm going to try to bump my cardio workouts to 60 minutes (most days of the week) because even with all this working out my weight is simply not budging. I've also upped the intensity on the machines as my cardio health has increased.
I also realized this week that I'm starting to like working out. I enjoy the gym with Fox News, shows I've never watched, time to read on the bike....AND I discovered that I CAN sweat. ::snort::
I have to focus on the fact that all this working out HAS to be helping cholesterol and my heart - regardless of the scale. LOL Click here to hear from more of this week's participants; click the icon at the top of the post to join the challenge yourself.

Big Family Myths

September 13, 2006, I promised to do a weekly "Big Family Myth" post; then life got busy. I am still considering creating a graphic and hosting a weekly carnival (or is it meme)...but for tonight....I wanted to get all the Big Family Myths on one page. Truly, according to MY perspective, I sought to clarify what was myth and fact in a large family.

If you are wondering if you may be a large family, I suggest you check out my very own list of litmus tests: You know you're a large family when.... (the different colored text are clickable links).

An idea is born - an explanation of big family myths

Myth 1 & 2 - Your washing machine never stops running; Someone always needs a bath.

Myth 3 - Individual needs cannot possibly be met in a large family

Myth 4 - Those with large families don't know "what causes that"

Myth 5 - Laundry spewing from all corners myth - Part 1

And there you have it. I WAS going to past date this and post it in the sidebar. I will still post it in the side bar, but I'm going to date it for tonight. That gives YOU an opportunity to leave a topic in the comment section that you'd like me to tackle....are YOU wondering if something you've observed or heard is fact or myth? Are you a large family and been asked repeatedly to answer some question that you think I should deal with her? Leave your comments....

Terminal Cowlicks

Some of our boys have terminal cowlicks. One cannot get his hair to "lay down" regardless of how long we let it grow.
Zander has a spot that refused to lie down today. This is him after I told him, "Ah, don't worry, one day you won't have any hair and this won't seem like a problem!" ::Snort::