Resetting...

As you all know, I am a HUGE fan of The Reset Girl. I first started following her when I was participating in her monthly online event Listers Gotta List. Then I began watching her you tube videos and she inspired me to begin exploring and playing with planners and planner ideas. In January, I went to the Iowa Planners Meet Up and I got to meet her and was OVER THE MOON excited!

 While sharing my enthusiasm for The Resset Girl, someone asked me what the "reset" meant. Well, I know Cori had shared bits and pieces about how she had been resetting her life and it's never to late to reset you life, but never the full story...until now. Cori recently put up a periscope/You Tube video explaining how she became the Rest Girl and how she reset her life.

If you need a little inspiration or a little push, even a little "been there and understand" than this is the video for you. It's over an hour, but well worth the time, more than once!

Remember, it's never too late to reset your life in some manner. 

Wise words.

Two Chips and a Bottle of Wine...

This is HILARIOUS!

I was laughing that I had tears!!

                   

Hope you have a fun weekend, but you may not want to drink a bottle of wine and then tell jokes!! (But if you do, record it!!)

For Today...

Every once in awhile this magic happens to me!

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Those frozen cookies, candy and ice cream are all good until...

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 Surprise! Surprise!

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Nothing make me want something more than ever 

than if I hear these two words:

Have a happy day!!

Just a Little Dramamine...

Sam will soon be 14, which means he will be hitting the life milestone of receiving his driver's permit.

So, I thought we should get him behind the will to practice his driving skills. He and I headed out to the local area college parking lots, on a Sunday afternoon, for him to do a bit of driving.

As you can see, he was excited!

Overall, he didn't do too bad. He is use to driving our little "yard" Ranger around our place, so he had some of the basics down. It's just that a car drives much "easier" than the Ranger. He quickly learned that he did not need to press the accelerator down very hard to get the car to go and he did not to jam on the brakes to stop. He also learned that power steering is a blessing in the car which the ranger does not have. 

Once we got those "basics" learned about the car. We drove around the parking lots for about 20 minutes at a speed of about 10 MPH max. 

As you can see, he is all business.

It's exciting to see him go onto his next adventure in life! The only thing I need to remember is to take a little Dramamine before driving with him. The jack rabbit stops and starts did a little number on my stomach. But over all, Safety Sam is on his way to be a great driver...in empty parking lots...on a Sunday afternoon.

Like Father Like Son

Jack got himself a snack. A PLATEFUL of Doritos. 

DUDE!! REALLY!!

As you can see, he just gave a little grin.

That night we were playing cards with friends. I looked over and Jason had gotten himself a little snack! "Are you kidding me?"  I said. He had no idea why I took the picture until I showed him the one of Jack from earlier in the day.

Then Jason giggled and said, "That's my boy!"

Everything Everything

Last week I read the young adult book:

 Everything Everything 

by Nicola Youn

 

From Good Reads:

Madeline Whittier is allergic to the outside world. So allergic, in fact, that she has never left the house in all of her seventeen years. She is content enough—until a boy with eyes the color of the Atlantic Ocean moves in next door. Their complicated romance begins over IM and grows through a wunderkammer of vignettes, illustrations, charts, and more.  Everything, Everything is about the thrill and heartbreak that happens when we break out of our shell to do crazy, sometimes death-defying things for love.

This was a good story, but it reminded me a lot of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, which I probably liked a bit more due to not reading a book like this before. Madeline is very sick and cannot go outside her house (which is why the book grabbed my attention). Anyone coming in has to go through a decontamination process. Her mom is a doctor and Maddy also has a nurse that stay with her during the day, Carla, who was my favorite character.   A new family moves into the house next door and soon Maddy comes to know the blue eyed boy, Olly, who she knows she will fall in love with and also knows that it will be a disaster. The book takes them on a roller coaster ride of getting to know each other and also includes a good twist and a good theme: you don't know if you don't try.

A Quote or Two for You!

 

AMEN!!

Have a fun day!

A Chewbacca Box

We tackled Jack's Valentine's box this week and I must say, this boy knows what he wants! He had a vision of a Chewbacca Valentine box and so what can we parents do, but help fulfill his calling. We headed to the craft store and he knew exactly what materials he needed: brown fur, wiggle eyes, black and white felt. Put it all together and you get a Chewbacca Box!

He "chews" the valentines and the back actually opens so Jack can check out all his love notes. We love him and his big "scary" eyes!! He seems as if he may be on the verge of a laugh instead of a hearty growl!  I also have fur ALL over EVERYTHING in my craft room! "It's like Moose is back," Jack Said!

 Unfortunately, Jack isn't' so excited about the Valentine's Day Party, I mean Friendship Party this year. Our school district is not allowing kids to include candy on their Valentines. What is Valentine's without candy? And I never really heard why they cannot include the candy. Jack is extremely bummed because he LOVED the candy part of Valentine's Day! It was suggested to include trinkets on the Valentine's instead. So, we actually found Valentine's that included erasers and Jack is also taping a mechanical pencil to the back. I don't know about you, but I would much rather have candy instead of a pencil! Guess I will just have to add to my stash! :)

 

Unfortunately, I had a little accident while hot gluing an eye to Chewie. I added a load of hot glue, which would then melt the fur, and that was kind of fun for Jack to watch. I then  placed the eye on the gob of glue and pushed down. Well, the glue came out behind the eye and went straight on my finger. OUCH!! I really didn't know what to do, so I blew on it...Looking back, I should have wiped it off on the table. I knew I was in trouble because it stayed hot and burning. I worried if I pulled the glue off, then it would pull off my skin and then I would be down for the count. So, I iced it and the glue froze on my finger. I couldn't get myslef to pull it off, but I could work it off slowly and carefully...with my teeth. Yes, I "chewied" off the glue. Gross. But it worked. There was a heck of blister under it all. I put aloe vera on it, wrapped it and it felt much better in the morning. 

 

About 10 years ago, I had a paper trimmer accident and actually chopped off the side of the same index finger. I never got back the feeling on that one side. Luckily, most of the blister is on that side of my finger and so it feels mostly numb unless I hit it just right...like when I am typing!

Wishing  you all a Happy Valentine's Day this weekend!!

 

#TBT

#TBT

(throw back Thursday!)

Oh My!

We were going through pictures and I came across this one of Jason and I as high school seniors!!

Jason and I did not start to date until we were seniors in college, but were friends in high school. We would actually go on double dates together, because I dated his good friend and he dated my good friend! I had the biggest crush on Jason, it must have been the way he feathered that hair!! And who knew, but he had a crush on me, too! Neither of us knew this information until years after we started dating. Just goes to show ya, you just never know!!

 

Johnny Anonymous

Last week, I read another quick read. 
I am into SO into quick reads at this time!

NFL Confidential

by Johnny Anonymous

From Barnes an Nobel:
A current pro player takes fans on a pseudonymous trip through one of the most infamous years of football—the very long, sometimes funny, often controversial 2013-2014 season—sharing raucous, behind-the-scenes, on-the-field, and in-the-locker-room truth about life in the National Football League.
“Well, to hell with being safe. I’m going to be honest.”
Johnny Anonymous' life goal was to be nothing greater or less than the Best NFL Back-Up of All Time™. For two years, he was content earning hundreds of thousands of dollars to stand on the sidelines doing absolutely nothing. But early in his third year, a starting lineman is injured, and he suddenly finds himself on the field.
For most players, this moment is a dream come true. But not so for our author, one of the incredibly rare birds in football who reach the highest echelons, but who actually hate America’s favorite game. That’s right. Johnny Anonymous hates football. He hates what it does to his body, his brain, his life. Luckily, he can see the humor in his own situation, but also in the machinations of the NFL.
Part truth-telling narrative, part whip-smart commentary that only a true insider could bring, part hilarious, NFL Confidential gives football fans a look at a world most would give anything to see, and gives non-fans a wild ride through the strange, and sometimes disturbing customs and realities of football today. Here is a truly unaffiliated look at the nation’s biggest, most lucrative pastime over the course of one of its most transformative seasons.
From hard-to-stomach diets, showdowns in the weight room, shenanigans in the locker room, the looming dread of being cut from the team, the racial issues that still exist in modern-day football, the rock-star lifestyle that players find themselves able to afford and sometimes enjoy a little too much, the notion of being lauded in a league plagued by controversy and the sharp contrast between the love/hate of the game and the reality of the job, Johnny reveals a never-before-seen side of the NFL.

First, I like football. I like to watch football, but like the background stories of the game and players even more, so that is why I picked up this book. 

As I was reading, I kept thinking how the author is anonymous and can basically say anything with no accountability. So, honestly, I took everything with a grain of salt. In the book the author spoke on how many players were smoking pot due to the league not drug testing the players during the season. He also shared how he would take three Toradols before the game so he (and many other players) could not feel the excruciating pain. And then after the game, when they can't even take off their jerseys due to being in such incredible pain, they wait for the pain to return, which is living hell. So, pot helps relieve the pain.  

Then the other day I was watching Real Sports on HBO (click here to watch the trailer) and they had a piece on how football players smoke pot to help with the severe pain in their bodies. It helps with the pain and is NOT addictive like the prescribed pain killers the league okays! I guess anonymous was telling the truth!

There are many other points that the author shares and gives a little insight to the egos of the coaches as well as how untouchable the starters are and how everyone who is not a starter can be easily replaced at a moments notice. 

I enjoyed the book and can't believe how it is a game of egos and the players aren't people, but viewed as pure commodities and entertainment. Not much else.

Super Bowl Commercials

The Super Bowl is over and we have picked our favorite commercials of last night! I am going to share our top three in no particular order!

(I have included the link to youtube due to the fact that blogger will not, for some very unknown reason, allow their video up-loader, actually upload videos! UGH!!)

The Super Bowl Babies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KqekigARfE

 

Doritos Ultrasound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko7GuDOv4BM

  

 Puppy Monkey Baby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nlfaqBGBsc

 

I know. This commercial is so weird and creepy and that is exactly why the boys LOVED it!  All night, they kept saying, "puppy monkey baby" about everything! There was a TV commercial about a group of people that were going to face the most catastrophic event yet...Sam shouts, "The PUPPY MONKEY BABY!"

So what were some of your favorite commercial that appeared between the game and the car commercials?? 

If you want to see more Super Bowl commercials click this link!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/super-bowl-commercials-2016_us_56b50d6ce4b04f9b57d99fa1#gallery/56b11b12e4b04f9b57d7a07b/0 

A Man Called Ove

Just finished the book A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman.

 

I picked up this book due to the great reviews I had read about it. When I first started, I did not like this man, Ove. He is grumpy, set in his ways and over all a real curmudgeon and nasty old man. I really did not like him. I would stop reading this book for about a week and then go back to it, because it HAD to be good, right? I had to force myslef to read it, because I soooo did not like how Ove treated people! Then, the more I read, the more I could not put the book down! As the story developed, I fell in love with Ove, his story of his beloved wife and by the end of the book I was in tears. I highly recommend this book and would give it 4-5 stars.  I love Ove and I know you will too.

From Barnes and Nobel:

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” 

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendships, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

Fredrik Backman’s novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” (Booklist, starred review).

 

"Quote" for the Day...

 

I have always enjoyed Emily McDowell's blog and her shop. I have followed her for sometime, including on Instagram.  If you would like to see more of Emily McDowell, head on over to her web-site!