We are home

Hello Interpeeps!

We have made it back from our visit to the wonderful world of Disney!
It was good, hot, fun, chaotic, tiring, exciting, and most of all, full of food.

Now we are home and faced with unpacking, laundry, fatigue, more laundry, a lack of groceries, and most of all, the intense need to catch up on the interworld.
Is it even possible?
To catch up on a week's worth of Facebook updates, blogs, and pointless inter-drivel?
I don't know, but I will give it my best shot.

And now, for the update you have all been waiting for:
The answer is 2.

Originally it was 2.5, but I made myself some strong coffee and allowed it to do it's cleansing work.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's probably best to leave it that way. For those of you who do know what I'm talking about, I'm sorry if that was TMI.

I will not be giving a day by day recap of our week.
Mostly because my short-term memory is such that I likely would not remember what happened on what day.
But I shall regale you with stories of our favorite moments as the days go by.

For now, I just wanted to check in and say hello.

I came to a realization this morning as we started to settle back in here at home:

My life?
It must be pretty good.
Because despite the fact that we just left the "Happiest Place on Earth," I'm not sad.
It feels pretty good to get back to my own little place, with my sweet little family, with some fun memories.





Note: Lest you think that I decided to fix my hair that way on purpose-- it was HUMID and HOT.
No making fun of me!

Okay, okay. You can make fun of me a little.

Soup Nazi

This post has nothing to do with gazpacho or the getsapo.
 But I couldn't think of a post title, and for some reason that old Seinfeld episode popped into my head.

I'm so weird.

I'm also procrastinating. I should be packing.

I'll miss you when I'm gone inter-peeps. Disney resorts don't have wi-fi.
Can you believe that?
They make Mickey Mouse come to life, but they can't get you internet?

Well, we could pay for a wired connection.
But we wont.
Besides, it will be much more vacation-y to be web free for a week, don't you think?

So if anything important happens, you'll have to call Disney world and ask to be connected to me. I'll be in the funnel-cake place in Magic Kingdom for most of the trip, so try me there first.

Or you can call my cell.
Either one. 

And now I'm going to go pack.


I shall leave you with the obligatory video-post-for-the-grandparents.

Alex learned her first verse for Awanas, and she wanted to show everyone. And since everyone (who's anyone) reads my blog... ;)

Not to be outdone, Derek wanted to sing the song from his class...

Worry not. I am aware of Derek's butt-crack hair part. We'll be headed to the barber later today.


That is all.
Goodbye forever (or for a week).

Fat (Day After) Tuesday

So it appears as though I might have missed Fat Tuesday yesterday.
But never fear! I can be fat any day of the week!
It's a special gift of mine.

And now, for an actual report:

Erin N. Schore of Maryland Michigan Texas Idaho North Carolina, has reached her goal weight.

Yippee skippy!
For the first time I have managed to drop some poundage without being hungry, and for that, I salute you ColorFUEL.

Recently I've been adapting the system a little more to "normal" life-- sometimes I don't make one of their meal recipes, but I keep in mind the main principles while I make a meal our whole family can enjoy.
Then other times, I'll make one of the recipes just for me and Josh, while I feed our children balled up pancake innards.
Flexibility is a beautiful thing.

I do love the ColorFUEL snack options, and I keep the ingredients on hand so I can always grab something quick when needed. Among my favorites are eating half of a cantaloupe filled with cottage cheese and topped with (roasted, unsalted) sunflower seeds.
It's mighty yummy.
Too yummy.
Alex keeps stealing bites.

Or my new nightly ritual of eating plain greek yogurt with granola mixed in and drizzled with agave nectar (or honey). It's quite satisfying, and if you catch me on a good day, I'll even tell you that it's almost as good as ice cream.

Of course, I'd be lying.
But I don't have the post-ice cream regrets that I used to have. Like the "oh crud, did I just eat a half gallon of ice cream in two days?" regret.

Not that that's ever happened to me.

Anyway, I'm at my goal weight, but now I want more.
My greediness extends past my ice cream servings.

I'm happy with the number on the scale, but maybe just 2 more pounds.
2 would be great.

And there you have the Fat (Day After) Tuesday update.

A no good very bad...

Blogger.
Sorry.

Most of my internet time lately has been devoted to the over-zealous planning of our upcoming trip.
Once we return I will no doubt be back to boring you with the mind numbing minutia of our days.

For example:

My mad pancake-making skills are still in effect.

Usually I just peel off the burnt side and put that side touching the plate so no one knows. Unfortunately I burnt both sides this time.
I know, I know.

So I peeled off both outer sides, which left me with a pile of pancake innards. I then rolled them up into little balls and enticed the children with the "cool pancake balls!"

I need some help.
Professional would be best.

In other news, we bought a new printer.
We have hated our old printer for many moons.

We would try to print in black and white, but it wouldn't let us because we were low on yellow.
Well, who needs yellow to print in black and white?
Our printer.
But we never print in color, so how can we be low on yellow?
Oh, because we never print in color and the printer head gets clogged.
Then it needs to be cleaned.
Which uses all the yellow on a test page.
Then we replace the yellow.
And want to print in black and white.
But then it says we are low on magenta.
Arrgh.

So we bought a monochrome laser printer. Monochrome-- only black and white. No more yellow, cyan, or magenta.
Laser-- no more cleaning printer heads.
I like it.
And it's wireless, so I feel as though I've moved up in the world by being able to print from a laptop across the house.

Would all of you who have already been living in this century stop making fun of me?


Isn't it funny how once you get something new that you really needed, you wonder how you ever lived without it?

Like the DVR.

And the microwave.
We spent our first year of marriage sans microwave.

I don't know why.
We didn't feel it to be a necessary expenditure.

(We were frugal cheap.)

Next:

We've been 'ballin.
You know.
Foot'ballin.

It's that time again, and I love it.

Except when I have to watch Michigan play a close game and almost have a heart attack or two.
I take my football a little too seriously, methinks.

Also--
The temperature is cooling off a bit. Most days don't quite reach the 90's, and the pool water is actually a little too cold for swimming. We still attempt it though.
Well, Josh and the kids attempt it while I read a book on the pool deck.

Meanwhile, Alex continues to enjoy school.
Except for the part where they expect her to do work.

"Mommy. We have to practice writing our names at school. Do you know that my name is the very longest in the whole class? She makes me write Alexandra. Every time!"

She's very jealous of a little girl named An.


Josh has gone twice to her school to eat lunch with her. She loves it! Alex has a sweet daddy :)


Derek.
Hands in the pants is still going strong.
Also, he reports that he wants to do nothing while we're at Disney World.
He just wants to ride a train.
And he definitely, under no circumstances, wants to meet any characters. 


I will do a Fat Tuesday update tomorrow, and then I will continue planning my trip through the Disney Parks, one funnel cake at a time.

Anyone want to take a guess as to my weight differential between pre- and post-trip?
I know I don't.

Life is Good.

Busy, but good.

Now that fall is around the corner and school has begun, our days are starting to become more patterned and predicatable.
I kind of like it.

Other than the whole school bus comes at 7:13am thing.
That I could do without.
But then we have a bit of time to hang around the house before Derek and I head out to the gym. He pumps some iron while I play in the kids area.
Oh, wait.

Then we run errands or head home for lunch and naptime, and play until it's time to go pick up Alex from school.

She has dance class one afternoon a week, and both kids have started going to Awanas at a local church on Wednesday nights.
Last time, Josh was home from work during Awanas and we went out to dinner.
Alone.
Ahhhhhh.

We're hoping for a repeat of that tonight if he's off work in time.

Derek is going to a Mother's Day Out program one morning a week, so I can run errands on my own.
Again, Ahhhhhhhh.

So life is just swimming along, and we are feeling blessed.

Oh. And hold the presses.
THIS JUST IN:
My kid is completely potty trained. EXCLAMATION POINT.

We've only made it through half of the original box of pull-ups I bought, and he's now in big boy undies full-time. I still put him in a diaper at night, although most mornings he wakes up dry.

Can I just get a little hallelujah?
I mean, this is such a difference from the experience we had with Alex, and I am so delighted.

No more diapers! No more swimmies! No more pull-ups!
I could totally write a song about it.

But I wont.
Consider it a favor to you.

In other news of the happy, we leave soon for our trip to the Mouse's House.

Do you know what manner of Disney World geek I am?
Allow me to tell you:
I'm a geek. A nerd. A groupie.

Call me what you will, but when I go to Disney World, I have a plan.
Actually, I have 4 plans. One for each park.
And my plans list the order we will tour as well as the best snack and meal locations.

When you reach a particular ride that has two lines, I know which one to get in that increases your odds of getting on that ride faster.
Best way to use Fastpasses? Yep, I know 'em.
Height restrictions? Check.
Want to know the best "secret locations" for a parade? Well, don't ask me cause I don't like no stinkin' parades. They get in the way of my ride plans.
But I can tell you everything else.

So I have been plugging away on the disney travel forums, lurking and watching while geeks of a higher level than I discuss which resorts have the highest-ply toilet paper.

I wish I were joking.

But I will have my fun. Mark my words.
And no children will be permitted to become ill and make me deviate from my plans.

Ahem, Derek.

So there you have it. Life is Good in the Schore house.
We are thankful, and hope Life is Good in your house too!

Labor Day

Hope yours has been fun as well!

Random Thoughts: Hurricane Edition

1) It's go-time folks.
Earl is headed this way, and I for one am planning a hurricane party.

Okay, not really.
I don't like hostessing.

But I did fill my gas tank, buy some extra water, and a few more non-perishable food items. There I go being a rule-follower again.

We're about 90 miles west of the "purple zone." Things shouldn't be too crazy here-- probably just some strong winds and rain.
However, as a precaution all of the jets at the base are being sent away to a safer location.

"Leave the women and children behind, get those planes outta here!" 


I guess I am not the precious asset I once thought I was.


Luckily for us, Josh has an upcoming briefing that conflicted with the "hurrevac" so he gets to stay home. Yea!
But seriously Earl, you're ruining a lot of folks' Labor Day weekend plans, so if you could just take a right turn and skidaddle on back from whence you came, it would be appreciated.

2) I took a spin class this morning. It was extreme.
Like the purple zone.
You know you're getting a good workout when you contemplate whether or not you may lose your breakfast 30 minutes into the class.

Yep. Nothing like a good workout.
I didn't vomit.

3) In news of the finally, I got my hairs cut.
One of the things I like the least about moving frequently is trying to find a new hairdresser. 
This girl was okay, but she's no Chelsea if you know what I mean.

And most of you don't.

4) Alex is loving school. I dragged out of bed this morning to get her up, and she was already coming to get me. Complete with princess slippers and fairy wings.
Her energy knows no bounds.

Mine knows several.

Here are pictures from days 2 and 3.

Then I decided that it was getting to be a little much, and put the camera down.

Step away from the camera, Erin.
Step away.

And the school is supposed to be getting a fifth kindergarten class soon, since all of the classes were over the state limit with the number of students. So that's good news that soon the classroom will be a little less crowded.
We (Josh) spoke with the assistant principle in hopes of keeping Alex with her current teacher. She seemed receptive and hopefully that will pan out.
I know that no parent wants their kid to be moved after getting settled, but Alex has had to deal with so much transition lately so we thought we would do our best to see that she gets stability whenever possible.
5 years old and 4 different homes is kind of a lot.
Oh, and she still hasn't recovered from us bringing her home a sibling.

I'm starting to doubt she ever will.

One day in the future she will be on a therapist's couch relaying that everything in her life was just perfect, until Derek came along.

5) College Football.
Enough said.

caveat: If Earl interrupts my ability to watch college football this weekend, then he and I are going to have a little heart to heart.

But really, I just hope that the storm doesn't cost anyone their lives and doesn't do too much damage.
Stay safe coastal peeps!

6) That picture on the sidebar of me in a winter coat has been making me hot all summer. Soon I shall do something about it.

The end.