The 8 Pound Challenge

I want to lose 8 lbs in 8 weeks.
Who's with me?

If you are serious and would like to join me and do a daily check-on by e-mail confession what you have eaten and how much you have moved, I'll show you mine (numbers) if you show me yours.

Together, we can do it! Even in DECEMBER!!!!!!

Scissors, Tears and If Looks could Kill

So, after much "warming up to the idea", today was "H" day... time for Adam (10) to get a hair cut. I have no idea why I think I can do this myself, but I had it in my head that I would take a stab at it and if it was a total disaster we could go to FirstChoice and get it "fixed".

We had the big conversation about cutting the back off (it was long enough to be in a ponytail with almost 3 inches dangling. It was aweful.

He decided he wanted it cut shorter in the back and longer over one eye... very "skateboard-esc".... I thought I could pull that off. I mentioned my plan to Cheryl today and she said "just cut it like yours... short in the back, long in the front--hahaha"

And that, my friends, is exactly what happened. I gave my son a woman's hair cut. My haircut, to be more specific. No wonder I had so much confidence in my ability to cut his hair. I'd seen my hairdresser cut my hair the same way for years!

He was a little upset that I'd cut so much off the back(even though he agreed to it before the first snip) There were a few tears. There was a certain glare.

I had to keep doing double takes of him for a few hours afterwards because I thought I was looking at myself (before I started growing my hair out). He's got these wavy spots exactly where I do... it's wierd. Depending on how i look at him it's either as close as he's going to get to a very cool skater cut, or it's mini-me. (or, Maybe, I'm so cool I have skater hair?????)

Update:
He just walked in the room.
"How's the hair?" I asked
"Awesome!"
"Really??????????"
"Yeah, it was way too long before"
"I'm really glad you like it now buddy"
he leaves, and I do a big "Whew!"

We'll see how it looks tomorrow... and if he gets teased for having a girl's haircut... funny how that could be a possibility after getting about 4 inches cut off.


PS. The before picture was taken a month ago (I forgot to take one before the cut).... it was much longer
PSS. Brodie was also planning for a little trim. After witnessing Adam's fate, he gracefully declined my offer.

Chocolate Cake Confessions

I really want a piece.
There is a half a cake in the fridge.
I am not hungry.
I just want some.


Everyone else is sleeping, I am playing Settlers of Catan online and all I can think about it having a piece and a glass of milk.

Will I or won't I?

More fun than a pants-off dance-off

That's my new favorite saying. Who knows if I will ever find an occasion to speak it.


On a completely unrelated note...
I LOVE MY CROCK POT

Now that I am a modern woman trying to have it all, cooking dinner requires a bit more planning and short-cuts. Enter, the crock pot. (I even treated myself to a brand new, larger, stainless steel one.)

A few super simple recipies...

CHICKEN ROSA...
Skinless chicken (bone in or boneless thighs, breast pieces, whatever)
R is for Russian Salad dressing (about 1 small bottle)
O S is for Onion Soup Mix (About 1/2 an envelope)
A is for Apricot Jam (about 1/3 cup)
(all measurements are general and too taste.. you can't screw this up)

Dump it all in the crockpot for a bunch of hours, you can add chopped cilantro at the end if you like it, a bit of grated orange peel is good too... serve with rice & corn... it's like a sweet & sour sauce.


Honey Garlic Pork
Take one frozen (or not) pork tenderloin
Pour one jar of No Name Honey Garlic sauce (from Extra foods, often $1.78)
cook all day on low.
Voila

Salsa Chicken (Kelli had a post that reminded me of this)
Skinless chicken (bone in or boneless thighs, breast pieces, whatever)
Put chicken in Crock pot
Pour enough salsa over to cover
cook all day
about 1 hour before you want to eat, throw in a bunch of cubed cream cheese.. .mix it occasionally and you end up with this creamy salsa sauce.

There you go... I'd love any other simple ideas your family enjoys!!

happy dinner tonight! I think it's Tuna Melts over here... feel free to pop over!

Good Company

FACT: I love having company over.

I love that because I've friends over 3 times this week, my house has stayed clean all week. But you know what, that's just a bonus.

I hope that people feel relaxed when they come to my house... that they feel like & know how special they are to me because I'm ready and happy to have them. I want them to come in and put their feet up and enjoy themselves.

I'm not aiming for "impressive" in what I serve (usually do one of two stand-by's... greek chicken which takes literally 60 seconds to prepare the marinade the day before and then you just bake it as is, or else Taco salad -- super simple and tasty...)

I just want people to sit back and relax in a comfortable spot, flickering candle light, with some simple but good food and feel cozy and cared for. That's what hospitality is to me...

so suck it, Martha!

p.s. If I ever invite you over, please inform me if you have an aversion to greek chicken or taco salad :-)

It occurred to me the other day...

as I was taking the "Made in China" sticker off the stuff I bought for the Operation Christmas Child boxes...

What if the child who gets my giftbox opens it and pulls out a toy and says, "wait a minute! I made this!"

Question: Will the underpriviledged children who work in factories that produce products for the dollar store be punished by the factory owners who think they have stolen from the factory when infact they have received it from North Americans trying to brighten their day?

Hello Again!

After a lengthy hiatus from blogging, I am BACK BABY!
Where have I been all these weeks?

I had the awesome priviledge and humbling honor of speaking at Willow Park Church's Women's Retreat at Gardom Lake Camp last weekend. There were 110 women, all of them beautiful and amazing. I have done a fair bit of public speaking but never a retreat before (so that meant 4 x 30 minute talks in one weekend). The preparation was a HUGE challenge for me and it was really time consuming so that has been my focus for the last while. When people ask, "So how did it go" it's really hard for me to know how to answer. All I can go on is the response and feedback from the women who were there and they were incredibly affirming... so, I guess it went well :-)

The women at WPC are a great group.. I really appreciated the time to hang out with them. I know a few and met a few more this weekend, as well as met up with some old friends who I had not seen for a long time.

Now that that is out of the way, I am faced with a few other "To Do's" that have been neglected over the last month or so...
1) my house... like some detailed cleaning.
2) my house... as in, the fact that my basement is nearing the end of being finished and I have to make decisions on things like Carpet (yesterday) Paint (today) Trim (tomorrow) Tile (Yesterday) Doorknobs, cabinets, furniture, lighting, towel bars, blah, blah ,blah....
3) my house... as in painting that basement. I went down there yesterday to help my dad who was cutting in the priming. I rolled primer for an hour or two and mentioned that I didn't mind painting, I jsut wasn't very good at it. My dad then inspected my work and politely offered to finish up (as he gently took the roller out of my hands and tried to fix what i had done) Poor guy hates painting, but his desire for a job-well-done seems to override that. So, I think I might be off painting duty... pays to not do things well in some situations :-)
4) SunRidge for Women Dinner tomorrow night... we have 25 girls who are going house to house for several courses of dinner... I'm hosting the salad stop... really looking forward to that but have a little work to do there yet
5) FoodBank Dinner... every December our church puts on a nice dinner for the patrons of the westbank foodbank... this is our 4th year I think. WE also do gift bags for every child and every adult. Some friends and I are responsible for putting the adult gift bags together so that all needs to get finished this weekend. These friends are coming for dinner on Sunday and then we'll pack the bags after that. The bags have things like good quality coffe, chocolates, Christmas napkins, beautiful handmade Christmas ornaments, and a Tim Hortons gift certificate. The generous people at SunRidge have been donating all the items and our job is just to pack them up pretty! If you ever need a good place to buy funky giftbags or boxes... Interior Retail Supply on Kirschner is excellent.
6) Memories & More... we have 3 special days coming up in the next 4 weeks so I have a little coordinating yet to do there as well. I love special events days... and I think we've got some pretty great stuff lined up, thanks to the uber talented staff at M & M!
7) Christmas Details... (ok, now this is just becoming an on-line to-do list for myself!) We need to figure out if we're heading to Spokane between Christmas and new years or not... Joel's Grandma is turning 100 in January but we won't be able to go for her party so we might head down over the holiday with Joel's Brother from Edmonton who are contemplating the same visit. Neither of our families will be able to go at the end of January when everyone else is going for her party because....
8) Vacation stuff!! We are heading to LA and then MEXICO to meet up with Patti & Nathan and Brad & Carmen (brothers & cousins) for a little vacation! Our kids have no idea about any of it!! I have booked almost everything.. .just need to figure out the car rental situation and the park tickets and then it's all done!

SO, if you've been wondering where I"ve been or where I'm going... there you have it!!

Loooking foward to keeping in better touch with you guys again!
love,
Dawn