Affirmations of Myself...And A Contest for YOU!

Yes, you, my readers! I have a contest for you. I have 5 Songs that contain lines that I find to be Affirmations of Myself; either the Me I am , or the Me I Hope To Become in my next life.
If you are the 1st Person that can name all the Songs and their Artist, I'll Gift You a song from ITunes. Even if you don't know me, feel free to play. I'm good for it, I swear! Deadline is Monday AM, when I get up and check the blog. Could be 7 AM, could be 9 AM. That's part of the excitement.

This will be fun!

Affirmation #1
"Well, I woke up one morning, flossed my teeth and decided: Damn! I'm fierce! "

Affirmation #2
"If I shake your hand and look you in the eye, you can bet your ass it'll be the truth."

Affirmation #3
"I feel no shame, I'm proud of where I came from..."

Affirmation #4
"Why am I so soft in the middle; the rest of my life is so hard..."

Affirmation #5
"Startin' today I'm someone I'd be proud to know."


HINT: I heart Country.



While we're talking Affirmations of Self, I have some advice for people out there. Just because you make note of a certain flaw you possess, it doesn't give you free reign to act upon that flaw. For example, just because I know that I have an issue with being late doesn't mean I don't make it a point to TRY DESPERATELY to show up on time for things. And, when I am late, I do not say "Hey, that's just who I am, I'm always late."

It's kinda like when kids think that saying "Excuse Me" gives them permission to interrupt you. I know, I know, they're only little and they (for the most part) know not what they do. But there are a few who abuse the idea.

Having faults is human. Having faults is a reason you act a certain way, not an excuse for it. When you are self-aware enough to know what your faults are, you should work to overcome them. Don't announce them and hone them as a skill, please.

Cim-isms Pt. II

I have another Cim-ism that came to mind today.

It is James' nap time, and I am playing some Poker. And knitting too. I really want to get the shrug done so I can wear it. I am almost done with the back. About 10 more rows, then onto the front, which will be about 4-6 different pieces. I made the pattern myself, so we'll see how it goes. It doesn't involve any knitting in the round, and this may cause a problem for the neck-line. We'll see.

Anyhow, the shrug is not part of the Cim-ism. The Poker, however, is. I know I shouldn't be playing Limit Hold 'Em, especially at the $.05/$.10 Tables. I know it's a suckers game, because people just call you all the way to the River, and it seems I never get to be in the Late Position, with a chance to raise and scare the suckers out. I've lost $1.50 at the table today, all with about 2-3 winning hands that I got porked out of cause someone called me to the River, because I was in early position and could only bet, not raise. The first was Trip Aces. Until the 4th Club came on the turn and some STUPID GUY was calling me all the way down and I lost. F*ckin' Guyyyyy. (Can I say that here?) The second time was my beautiful pair of Pocket Nines. Which turned into a Full House on the Turn. Again, I'm in Early Position, betting my heart away trying to get the win. And the River flops a....10....Some Jackass called me all the way to the River and caught the 10. Another F*ckin' Guyyyy.

So, to all you F*ckin Guyyyy's out there, I have one thing to say:

F*ck you, Julie!!

And that is your Cim-ism for the day.

It's one that makes me smile. Reminds me of those days in my youth that involved lots of parties and hanging out and saying stupid things. This saying in particular started as a response you gave someone when they denied you something. Like another drink. Then it evolved into something you could say anytime someone pissed you off, like the guys at the Poker Table who stole my wins. Originally, though, Julie was a bartender that cut off my cousin's 1st Husband and Friends at a bar. When she told them no, they replied "F*ck you, Julie!" In that drunk, sort of goofy way, I imagine. Nothing hostile. That's why it's funny.

Oh! Wait! I have another one to add!! My little story reminded me. I suppose it's another, less offensive form of the above statement. One that came from the same group of people, much in the same manner. Something to say when you're at a loss for words when something goes awry.

Bahhhhhhhh!

Not as exciting or random as the first, I know. But still gets me smiling when I hear it. Ahhh, those were the days...Pig Roasts and Drunken Slip & Slide and Friends on all fours Barking and Panting like Dogs. Yup. Good Times.

Randomonity

I have a lot of little things to say.

First, I have two new favorite foods.

1. Gnocchi
2. Capreze Salad

OMG, Gnocchi is so very yummy. It's like taking the dough from a Pierogi and Rolling it into a little ball. The other night, I boiled it up, sauteed some broccoli with garlic and EVOO (Big Ups to Rachel Raaaayyyyyy), and tossed the Gnocchi in the pan to mix it all together and blend for a bit. Even James liked it.

With Capreze Salad, I like to make it with Grape Tomatoes and a dash of Balsamic Vinegar as well. And tonight, I varied it a little by slicing the tomatoes and using it as a topping with sliced mozzarella, melted over some toasted Italian Bread. (This variation is thanks to Giada De Laurentiis, of Everyday Italian fame...I heart Food Network) I think I could eat those Mini Mozzarella Balls by the tub full. I think next time I get them, I'll just marinate them with some EVOO, Garlic, and Spices and EAT THEM ALL!

Oh, and one last thing. I knew this day/time would come, but it still is killing me. James is now at the Stage where he refuses to go to sleep at night. I start his routine, with the Ba-ba, the Flouride and Toothbrushing, changing into his PJ's, you know the whole thing. Then he gets in bed and AS SOON as we do Prayer Bunny, he starts whaling and stands up and screams and cries and won't stop. Each night this week (since Sunday Night) it has been about 15 minutes of crying before he crashes. Then, at around 2, he wakes up and won't go to sleep again for an hour. Up until tonight, we've been bringing him in our bed, but I think starting tonight I'll get him a Baba, change his diaper and put him back in bed, and see what happens. I know, you're going to tell me that I have to stick to my guns, and let him cry it out, but it is hard, because he has never done this before, he's been sleeping through the night since he was a baby, barring being ill or teething, and so this has us going crazy!!!

Oh, and it doesn't help that since he is up for an hour in the middle of the night, he now gets up at 9. Which means I get up at 9, and that's not good! Too much of the day is gone when you get up at 9. I can't believe I have to start setting an alarm...

Ooops! Almost Forgot!

I am batting 0-for-a-100 when it comes to the MIlitary Rules lately. Today I made another naive mistake. I'll tell you , being this un-supposing (a real word???) can get a girl in a lot of trouble! Thank Goodness I didn't reall yget in trouble today, or else I wouldn't even be blogging right now. The Government would be seizing my computer and deleting my posts for fear they are some secret code to conquer the world.

Here's the story.

My husband's boat is about to be submerged in the water. So for the weekend or so, it's just hanging out on the pier. A submarine, completely above the surface of the water, full length and all. I went down to the waterfornt to catch a glimpse. I took some pictures, thinking it would be cool to post them on here. And as I am pulling out of the parking lot, I notice the sign on the General Dynamics buidling that reads "Government Property No Photographing Violators will be punished to the full extent of the law for espionage"

*GULP* DELETE DELETE DELETE!

So, no there will be no pics of the submarine on my blog. Oh!! But speaking of pics, I do have a pic of my new table. I'll email it to you if you wanna see it. Just leave me a comment.

Cim-isms

Ok, there are two sayings that I'd like to pass along to everyone for your pleasure and ponder. The first, I can't take credit for, but it was too funny not to repeat. You gotta hand it to those script writers. They have to be pretty ingenious to come up with this stuff. Do you watch Sopranos? Don't ask, of course I do. Not that I can say I understand most of it; those guys all look the same to me, I can never tell who's whacking who(m?). Anyways, so in last weeks episode, Tony's on the phone trying to locate one of his guys. Some road crew guy picks up the phone 'cause it was on the side of the road. He and Tony get into it and the guy starts threatening Tony. So Tony calls him a "Telephone Tough Guy."

Heh. Now that's funny. And it's something you can use. Well, maybe not, but still funny.


Now, the next one, I take full credit for. Straight from my head to your eyes. Actually, I once said it to an Old Friend of mine who recently got back in touch with me. She and I were discussing the whole weight loss struggle. We're actually the exact same size! I wish she lived closer, it's be fun to share clothes with someone!!!

Anyhow! So during our conversation, she says to me "There's one thing you told me once that I've never forgotten, and I tell it to everyone I know."

It's this: If your thighs don't rub together, you're too skinny.

No offense if you are that skinny. Alls I'm sayin' is, if you're not, and you've got a little friction goin' on, don't be ashamed!! You don't need to lose THAT much weight.

So there you have it. Or them. My Cim-isms for the day. Hope you can use them!

Let's Talk Catholic

Today I had an experience that epitomizes what most would consider the "Good Ol' Catholic Guilt".

Let me preface by saying that it also, on the other hand, makes me feel like I am a moralistic person, for the most part (I say that because no one is perfect, and if you read this frequently, you know I don't always have the most pure, kind thoughts.) I don't intentionally go out of my way to do something that is sneaky or wrong. It just so happens, though, that this time my Blonde Polish Naivete put me in an awkward situation.

Here we go.

Today was the day my mom and I went to Ikea and then to the Base, because it was on the way home and I had errands to run. So, first I bought my ticket to Six Flags, and picked up some info for Disney. Which, BTW, is MUY MUY TRES EXPENSIVO. Yikes! Then, after the MWR, we went into the Commissary. And here's where the Catholic Guilt comes into play. I needed milk, sugar, cereal bars, you know, regular middle-of-the-week-pick-ups. And my mom saw a few things she wanted too. Like Kleenex, water, steaks & chips. Jus things she meant to get and thought it would be easy to grab there. No biggie, right? Well, wrong! In my naivete, it never occurred to me that bringing someone to the Grocery Store on the Base and letting them buy items with you is against the rules. I mean, now that I know that, it makes sense. But, boy was my face red when the lady was all like "Can I see your ID" (and she said it soooo nasty too, like she knew what was happening) to my mom and my mom was all like, "I'm with her." And the lady was like "I can't let you pay for that without a Military Card." So we had to put our bill together, and then my mom asked if I could give the lady cash for her stuff and pay on my card for my stuff. To which the lady bit back by saying "I can't tell you that. I VALUE my job." Whoa!! Now, I know now that what I did was wrong, but c'mon! Could you honestly not tell that it was an honest mistake??? Was there really a reason for her to be so mean about it? Probably so, I mean, I'm sure that there are oogads of people who do it every day and know it's wrong but sneak it anyways. But, really, what if my mom lived with me, or was up visiting (it IS vacation week) and she was just trying to be nice and buy stuff for me?


It sure did fire up the guilt though. And that, IMO, is the hardest part about being Catholic. The guilt you feel for doing the wrong thing, even when you didn't realize it was wrong...

Sorry, Commissary Lady. I hope you still have your job.

Call Me Ice Cube...

...Because today was a good day. I feel like I had a productive day today. I answered a lot of email. I re-designed my Blog, and worked on my other pages. Have you checked them out? There's one for Baby James, one for Knitting, and one for Other Crafts (which pretty much means scrapbooking).

Speaking of Scrapbooking, as you know today was Scrapbooking Wednesday. I had planned on tearing through some pages in my album, as they are all arranged and ready, but I came across a stumbling block. My plant which I have been keeping in the middle of my table leaked ALL OVER my new page. So, all the work I had done to set it up for gluing was ruined. The paper got soaked and was sticking to the table, so that all I could do was tear it off in little pieces. My pics got wet and bled onto the half of the layout that was already done. And to top it all off, the flowers are dying anyways! I've spent all this time watering them (apparently too much) and they died anyway!

Maybe when James goes to bed, I'll try to do some re-thinking of the layout, see what I can salvage with my extra pieces of paper.

Ok, who am I kidding? I'll probably end up playing Poker. Although I am going to try desperately not to. I am having a hard time of it. I haven't quite figured out if it is me (which I am assuming it must be) or this site. Not that I think that the site is fixed. More like maybe the players are different, and the set up really affects my play. Or, perhaps its that this site ISN'T fixed, and Bodog was... But whatever the reason, I can't seem to win back that first $40 that I lost. I keep winning some and losing it, winning some and losing it. Kind of like it's the antithesis to my weight loss. Huh. Don't worry, though, the $40 that I lost wasn't really mine; it was Bonus money for joining the site. Maybe that's the reason I lost it so fast. I'll tell you, my money on Bodog never went this quick!

Oh! Before I forget, here's some Quick Links to the other parts of my Blog:

Baby James
http://oursweetbabyjames.blogspot.com/

Knitting Journal
http://cimysknitting.blogspot.com/

Other Crafts
http://cimyscreations.blogspot.com/

Hark! I Think Hell Haveth Froze Over!

I can't believe I am doing this! I am blogging before I start playing Online Poker!

I wish I had something profound to say today, but that's not the case. I thought that maybe I'd make this one a simple description of my plans for the week, so that you can get a feeling for the life I lead...

Let's start with yesterday. It was Monday. I like to take things easy on Monday, because usually the weekends are Cuh-razy!!! This weekend in particular, being Easter and all. So, Monday started with 2 cups of coffee and ended with 2 glasses of wine. Nothing in between but some cleaning and baking, two things I find very therapeutic.

And today was Tuesday. Today I started another cup of coffee (Ok, I won't repeat that for every day. You get the idea, right???) I did some laundry, and putted around until my Big Day Out began. I went shopping with a friend at a neat little place called Buckland Hills. All the cutest stores are there...JJill, Ann Taylor Loft, Eddie Bauer. You know, all those places that drive me crazy with cute clothes and colossal prices. But they are like a train wreck. You just can't look away...I did manage to get 2 shirts and a pair of sunglasses. I should put pics of my new clothes on here. I am so proud of them! They are the first new shirts that I have that I bought, rather than by getting them through donation from someone else. AND, they are clothes that should fit even when I lose another, oh, 10-15 lbs. I was a good girl today!!! Part of our trip included dinner at a burrito restaurant. I ordered one without cheese and sour cream, and I only ate half! Yay me!

Tomorrow is Scrapbooking Wednesday. I will work on my Wedding Scrapbook while James is asleep for his nap. The last of the pics are already arranged. Just have to mount and embellish, then go back and journal through the book. Maybe another 2-3 weeks and I'll be done. Then, I think I'll move onto scrapbooking James' First Year. My goal is to get up-to-date on James by the time we go to Disney in July. It may mean I'll be having a Scrapbooking Thursday as well...

And speaking of Thursday, that's the day I take Mommy Dearest to Ikea with me. She's never been, and I have been given permission to go for the purpose of decorating our newly-renovated bathroom. After Ikea, I'll take Mom to the Base to go shopping at the Commissary and see if MWR is open so that we can check prices for Disney if it is.

Friday is Coffee Day. Although it won't be at its usual place, I think it will be nice to have it at the park. James will love the open space to run around. Maybe during nap time after the Park, I'll start the Post-Renovation cleaning. I've kept up on the daily cleaning rituals, but haven't done the major dusting that needs to be done. I hate dusting. Probably because it was my chore growing up.

And who knows about the weekend. It will probably include a trip to the 'Rents house to help my brother with his schoolwork.


For those of you who wondered what a SAHM does all week, now you know.

And now, I am off to make some money to fund any further shopping trips I may plan...

Oops! I Did It Again...

I promised myself I was not going to be negative about the "Ohana", and yet as I read back on my previous posting, there I was complaining. I'll have to add a new Mantra to my list. That brings my total to two at the moment:

"Skinny people don't eat."

"I will not complain."

You can probably guess how well my Mantras work. I've been at the same dang weight for oh, 5 weeks now. I ain't scared. I'll tell you how much. 220 pounds. I started the Family Fatty Challenge with a "BAM!". I lost 7 pounds. Then another 2, but every time I lose it, it comes back. I'm hoping that some new things I've been trying will help. Like exercising and drinking waaaaayyyyy to much water, and going off the pill. Won't get into that too much. Don't want all you people squirming in your seats. (All 5 of you...) Here's my thought: If I exercise, and even only lose another say 10 pounds, I'll probably still look as good as if I had lost the weight and not exercised, right??????

On an up-note, Charmed was on last night. Yay! It's my must favorite show in the world!

Speaking of yesterday, Easter was nice. Baby James got his most favoritest toy EVER from the Easter Bunny. He got a Magna Doodle. The kid can't put it down. When we came downstairs this morning, he didn't even ask for a Ba-ba OR Blues Clues. He made a bee-line for that Magna Doodle and never made another peep. For those of you who know James, you might realize what a World-Stopping event it was.

Well, I fear that the Magna-Freak will be up soon. And I've wasted his nap time playing stupid Poker and surfing online. I switched to Paradise Poker. Not too happy with it, but I am stuck here at least until June, when I get to deposit my next $50. Paradise had the best ratings on the Review Sites that I checked, but they are lacking in a lot of things that I got used to on Bodog, like multi-table play, a Personal Stats Board, and various graphics issues. Maybe next I'll try Party Poker. I will have to sign up and play for fun $ first, see how I like the set-up.

Yep, I can hear mumurs upstairs now...gotta scoot!


P.S. Thanks, sista, for the words of encouragement on my last post. Hey! You should come visit me in "Paradise". No slots to suck your money away, just good ol' fashioned Poker!

Time Flies When...

...All you do is play on Bodog. Or, at least it seems that way. I know that it's not necessarily just that. I've been putting in a lot of time with the Hawaii FSG. (Now officially named "The Hawaii Ohana".) I am really enjoying being a part of something that is important, not only to me, but to others as well. The "Ohana" (for short) will become more and more vital to people's well-being as the guys on the boat begin to take trips out to sea and such. I really want to make use of the "Ohana" by organizing trips and functions for everyone, plus providing "Mommy's Night Out's" for all of us stuck at home while the guys are away.

That's on the one hand. On the other hand, I can't help but get that awful feeling I always get around new people. That paranoid "Am I really right for this?", "Do these people really like me?" feeling. I keep stressing over each detail, each conversation, wondering if I said the right thing, wondering what they meant when they said whatever they said...Kinda like when you're in High School and you analyze each and every word your little crush says to you. I did that. A lot. And it never meant anything, really. None of those guys ever liked me. EVER. Yet, as I look back on my life, I realize that I overlooked many boys who probably did like me. And I wish now that I hadn't been so obsessive about the one or two I focused on. I could have had such a different experience. I could have been WAY more happy. But I digress, as usual. Or maybe not. Maybe that's the thing. Maybe once again I am obsessing about the people I wish would like me instead of realizing there are people that DO like me. And maybe I shouldn't worry about the things I think I did wrong, and focus on the things I know I did right. Then I won't feel like I am getting over my head, into a situation where I feel like no one really wants me to be, and I wouldn't feel so under-appreciated. That's another thing. I look around at everyone praising this person and that person for their talents or efforts or ideas and I think Hey- when is someone going to say "Amy is doing an awesome job! She's really heading things up well." I worked pretty darn hard keeping things organized and getting things together for the Kick-Off Brunch. Has anyone thanked me yet, as they did for another certain person when we had our Fund-Raiser? No, they haven't. Not once at the party, or once since, even though it was 4 days ago. The night of the Fund-Raiser, people were already sending out emails Thanking the person in charge for organizing it.

Something deep down inside tells me to step down if I feel this much stress over something so small. Then another part of me screams "DON'T BE A QUITTER!!!" So which one do I listen to???