Disney Cruise Report

We're back from our very first cruise...and it was a Disney Cruise!  If you know us, you know we are completely obsessed with Disney so this cruise was a perfect fit! It was a three night cruise to the Bahamas and we had a ton of fun! If you read my last post, you know that we had high expectations and some fears.  Here's how those played out: (Items in italics are from our last post)

Things we are looking forward to:
* 24 hour FREE room service-Mickey ice cream pops at two o'clock in the morning, anyone?
We did order from room service, but we didn't get Mickey pops.  We had macaroni & cheese, cookies & milk and popcorn. Odd combination, I know! But it was what we wanted at the time.  Still fantastic.

* Castaway Cay-Disney's private island in the Bahamas is a place you can only get to from a Disney cruise ship. It's supposed to be super-cool and it will be decorated for Christmas!

We loved Castaway Cay! It was beautiful, well maintained and the weather was gorgeous! We had so much fun hanging out at the beach, eating barbecue and riding water tricycles. We couldn't have asked for a better day! Who knew that we could be beach people?

* Movies-There is a movie theater on the ship that plays Disney movies all day: everything from things just released on dvd to first run movies. For us, since we don't have a lot of money for movies, this is a huge treat!
This is funny...we actually didn't get to go to the movie theater.  The one movie we really wanted to see was "Tangled" but they could only show it at midnight on the last evening of our cruise.  By that point we were exhausted and just couldn't do it.  Maybe next time, we'll be on the ship for longer and we'll get to see some movies.

* Magazines-This really doesn't have anything to do with Disney, but Celina has been hoarding magazines for the trip and I can't wait to read The Sexiest Man Alive People!
I got to read my Sexiest Man Alive People.  Ryan Reynolds made me very happy. In fact, we watched "The Proposal" on the plane ride home in celebration of Ryan.  Happy day!

(This next one wasn't on my list, but it should have been.)
*Fireworks at Sea-Disney is the only cruise line that can do fireworks at sea. I can't wait to see how they pull it off!
As part of the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party, there are fireworks above the boat.  They were amazing to see and they were set to the most random song..."Holding Out For A Hero" from Footloose.  Priceless! 

* Our co-cruisers-Some of our favorite people are going on this cruise, too. I think we'll have a great time hanging out, playing, and of course eating!

We had so much fun with the Flints, Browns, Tubbs and Eads! We ate with different folks every night and morning, got to play on the beach and at the pool with the group, and had many group meetings in the hallway outside our rooms. I know we traveled with adults too, but here are some of our favorite pictures of "our kids".

And now for the things we were nervous about:

* Being on a boat-need I say more?

I have to admit it was very scary to stand on our veranda and see this, but we knew that we were always within hours of land.  It was amazing to go on the veranda every morning, afternoon and evening and see how the ocean around us changed all the time.  It was beautiful! Note: The first night at sea was pretty rough and it took a while for us to get the hang of walking while the ship was rocking. Never a dull moment!

* Being bored-Jodie calls it "relaxing". I call it lack of planned activities. But I'm sure there will be more than enough to do when we get on the boat.

I should have never worried about this! Disney never lets me down when it comes to entertainment! In fact, there was so much to do, we already know what we want to do on our next cruise!

* Getting home-We have a six hour wait in the Orlando airport before our flight and a two hour layover in Atlanta on the way. Fun!

Celina calls us the luckiest travelers around.  When we got to the airport at about 9 am, we got on a stand-by list for a 12 o'clock flight.  We heard that there were 26 people on the standby list but amazingly, we were the last two people to get on the flight.  When we arrived in Atlanta, we found out we were already on a stand-by list for a flight that was boarding.  There were plenty of seats on the plane, so we ended up getting right on the flight and got home around 4 o'clock...3 hours before we were scheduled to leave Orlando and 8 hours before we were scheduled to come home.  Talk about lucky!

So, we're back and we are now officially cruisers! We had a fantastic time and we'll definitely be trying it again as soon as we can.  A big thanks to everyone who was a part of our trip and made it a definite once-in-a-lifetime experience!

We're Going on a Cruise!

Note: This mini-blog was written on Sunday morning.  Due to technical difficulties, we couldn't post it until today.  We'll post our reactions to our cruise in the next couple of days.

We are leaving for a three night Disney cruise this morning! At present, we are at the airport waiting for our flight to Orlando. As you can guess, we are so excited and thought we'd share several things we are looking forward to:

* 24 hour FREE room service-Mickey ice cream pops at two o'clock in the morning, anyone?
* Castaway Cay-Disney's private island in the Bahamas is a place you can only get to from a Disney cruise ship. It's supposed to be super-cool and it will be decorated for Christmas!
* Movies-There is a movie theater on the ship that plays Disney movies all day: everything from things just released on dvd to first run movies. For us, since we don't have a lot of money for movies, this is a huge treat!
* Magazines-This really doesn't have anything to do with Disney, but Celina has been hoarding magazines for the trip and I can't wait to read The Sexiest Man Alive People!
* Our co-cruisers-Some of our favorite people are going on this cruise, too. I think we'll have a great time hanging out, playing, and of course eating!

Of course, there are also things I am nervous about:
* Being on a boat-need I say more?
* Being bored-Jodie calls it "relaxing". I call it lack of planned activities. But I'm sure there will be more than enough to do when we get on the boat.
* Getting home-We have a six hour wait in the Orlando airport before our flight and a two hour layover in Atlanta on the way. Fun!

So, we'll be on our way soon...I'm sure there will be a full report when we return!

Bon Voyage to us!

Bad Timing

***Note to rare blog reader: Please read any words in italics in your best Papi voice. It will make your reading experience more enjoyable.

This story starts with a conversation with my dad last week. . .
-Celina, did you hear about that cruise ship.
-No, what happened? (Side note: I should have known to play along and yes I know I must have been living under a rock. If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here.)
-These people on a cruise got stranded and they had no electricity and had to eat spam.

This is a typical way to get news from Papi, a few strong details with lots of vagueness. Good example. . . That poor Dallas girl from the Disney channel. It's so sad that she hurts herself.  Name that news story. But anyway. . .

The cruise story would have gone away pretty quickly except Snae and I are going to embark on our first cruise on Sunday. It's a three night cruise which includes stops to the Bahamas and Disney's island, Castaway Cay. We will be on the beautiful ship, The Wonder, staying in a room with a private veranda. I cannot wait.

There are lots of differences between that cruise and our cruise. That was a Carnival Cruise, we're going on a Disney Cruise. As is a motto in our family:  Disney knows how to do things right.  They were on a 7 day cruise. Ours is only a three day cruise. As Snae likes to say, we will never be far from land.

But the fear in Papi lives on. Here are some conversations from last night.
-Does your room have a window?
-Yes, it has a balcony with a large sliding window door.
-Good because some of those people last week had to dress in the dark. You don't want to have to get dressed in the dark.

- Our cruise book says to pack a flashlight. Can we borrow one?
-Yes, you will need a flashlight if there is no electricity. 
There was than a demonstration on how to work the flashlight and to make sure it worked properly.

-We have to turn our phone on flight mode, so we won't have international charges.
-You can't call while you're gone?
-No, it will cost too much.
-Can you get a phone card so you can call?
-It's only three days, so it should be fine.
-Okay.
-We'll call right before we load and when we get off.
-Okay.

We have traveled multiple times on our own with much less planning. This trip will be with 22 other people we know and obviously we will be able to find food, which is one of our major trip downfalls. But there is no debating that we will be in the ocean and that people have died on cruise ships. I saw it on a Lifetime movie. Can be very dangerous. So I think it just makes the fear more intense for Papi.

Is it ideal for us that a major traumatic cruise news story to occur so close to our first cruise? Of course not. But if nothing else, it will be a good adventure. It's just an example of bad timing. We'll see Papi a couple more time before we leave, and I'm sure he'll have more words of wisdom.

Wish us luck!

It was nice to almost meet you Mr. President

For the majority of my life, I kept a secret from the people around me. I was obsessed with presidents. I had the pencils, placemats, rulers, bookmarks, books and all sorts of things. As a child I loved to learn about the White House and I especially loved the "dishes." For the majority of my life, I thought this wasn't cool so I pretty much kept it to my family and myself.

The thing I've learned is that when you grow up, you quit caring so much. So here is what I have to say: I AM AN OBSESSIVE FAN ABOUT PRESIDENTS. In our apartment there are 5 different pictures of framed presidents (Jackson, Truman, Bush-41). On a side note there is only one of NSYNC (Rolling Stone 2000).

My favorite president is Truman and my favorite first lady is Bush (Barbara, of course, though I have nothing against Laura). I have a goal to make it to all presidential libraries and graves. I'm fascinated by this group of forty three men who have shaped our country.

So all this to say, it's a dream to meet or even see a president in real life. I saw a senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison in passing at the State Fair and Rick Perry at a State Fair ceremony. It's time to meet a president. And today was almost the day.

Yesterday I got an email that said President Bush (W-43) was signing his new book this morning in Dallas. It was tricky because I was working 10-4 and the signing was at 9. I thought if I could time it right, I could make it all flow. The next rough part is that I've been fighting a cold for over a week and am requiring more sleep than usual to function. (Thank goodness for the time change!) So I decided that I could be at the store by 7. It was the best I could do.

This is when things start going bad. I didn't have time to wash my hair and couldn't figure out a subtly patriotic outfit to wear. But I head out anyway and when I got to the Borders, it was out of control. There were tons of people, no parking, and people dangerously crossing the busy streets. My coworker's friend was 50th in line and she got in line at 7:30 yesterday evening, just to show how crazy the people were.

I assessed the situation from my car and realized a couple of things. All the people in line were not going to meet the president. His schedule would not allow it and I was so tired that it wasn't worth the chance today. So I turned around and  laughed about the situation. It just wasn't my day to meet a president. I made the right choice, 2500 people were there and 1300 got to have their book signed, and that was 500 more than he was contractually obligated to sign.

And tonight I admitted that of the four Bushes (George, Barbara, G.W. and Laura), that GW is definitely ranked fourth although who was one was never picked. And I decided that when I did meet a president, I would have clean hair and be subtly patriotic.

We're BAAAAACK!

For the three or so people who follow our blog (Thank you, we love you guys!), we just wanted to let you know that we're coming back! We'll be posting soon and more often...you'll be sick of us before you know it!

Talk to you soon!

Fearless

So I have always had a special bond with music. Through every stage of my life, there is a song or a set of songs that communicate my life at that point. The start of a song will take me back to a moment in an instant, a moment of pain, happiness, confusion, isolation, fear, etc.

So right now I have a mantra and it's one word, "fearless." Lucky for me, it's also a title of a Taylor Swift song. Let me explain. . .

A couple of weeks ago, I was eating one of my favorite meals--Spaghettio's, don't judge. And I promptly got sick at my parent's house. I'll spare the special details. And it was scary. This has been my comfort food for a long time. And it's cheap. I'm not ready to lose it. Last week I just went ahead and ate it, I didn't get sick but I did burn my tongue. Not nearly as traumatic. Fearless.

For a little bit now, my sister and I have been sharing our apartment with a rodent family, it seems. It was not a good situation and at it's worst, involved me crying in my bathroom while a maintenance man was in the main living area. It has been 10 days since I've seen, heard or seen evidence of a furry friend. And quite honestly I think the problem is most likely over. But there's a lingering fear. We could have moved and it would have been the emotional decision but we stayed because when it came down to it, the timing wasn't right. It's hard sometimes to walk in the dark in the apartment and we're still easing into eating at home. We're working on being fearless.

I am reminded that I am in between careers by the many caring people in my life who ask daily how my job search is going. Here are the facts. . . I know without a shadow of a doubt, that I belong in the classroom. I know that I'll be a great teacher. But last week, I was at a job fair with 5000 people. The district in which I have the most connections hired 1 out of every 250 people who applied last year. But I have to believe that something good will happen. I have to keep dreaming of my own classroom which can be any grade between Pre-K and 8th grade. That's a lot of dreams! And I must admit that it's a conscience decision throughout the day to be fearless..

So right now, it's not exactly easy. . . but here's the idea of fearless.
I will be fearless and eat my Spaghettio's even after a rough experience.
I will be fearless and live bravely in my apartment and claim the space as the land for the Vascoozie sisters.
I will be fearless and have hope that against all odds, I will get a job and one of those dreams will become a reality.
Fearless.

FYI-This concept has no bearing on animal heads, people in costumes, dinosaurs, snakes, artificial hair, and anything else that is not important in the grand scheme of things. And I am quite aware that the Taylor Swift song has nothing to do with my life, but it's fun and it contains my mantra so it's all good.

More Than a Statistic

"Every 4 minutes a person is diagnosed with a blood cancer."

You hear things like that all the time. It's an easy thing to understand.

Until you really think about it. . .every 4 minutes a person receives devastating news . . .every 4 minutes family members are scared for their loved one's future. . .every 4 minutes life changes.

On March 26, 2008, we experienced what "every 4 minutes" felt like. I will never forget sitting at the stop light at Edmonds and 3040. My sister received the phone call with the voice saying "They think Jordan has Leukemia."

In that minute, my life changed. And I'm not a parent or even a relative. I am simply Jordan's fan.

I delight in her intelligence, her wit, her outlook in life and her cuteness doesn't hurt either. This was how I felt long before March 26, 2008.

In two years, I have been so impressed by Jordan. And I'm still a big fan. My plan is to continue to be a Jordan fan for a very long time. Because when you're only 5, there's still a lot more cheering to do. . .first days of school, losing teeth, dance recitals, school plays, solos, 100s on spelling tests, graduations . . . so much more cheering.

My heart breaks when I consider "every 4 minutes." Because I remember what that phone call felt like. And to be honest "every 4 minutes" is too much. The feeling is still so real two years later, I can not imagine not being involved in the Leukemia and Lymphoma society in some capacity. This disease must stop.

There's another part of that statistic. . .and I hate this part. . . "every 10 minutes someone loses their battle."

I'm grateful that I can tell you that I have no story of a personal experience. But "every 10 minutes" must be so much more painful than "every 4 minutes." My heart breaks for any family, friend, or fan that know firsthand how that half of the statistic feels.

In July, Jordan finishes her treatment and I must admit that there's fear involved with that. Life will continue and I don't want to forget the desperation that began 2 years ago. Because even though my "every 4 minutes" happened approximately 1,051,200 minutes ago, statistically there's a chance that someone else's journey has just begun.

Random Pics I

I've been trying really hard to take pictures of our more day-to-day going-ons...just trying to capture the moments that comprise our lives.  Here's round one--it's not highly exciting but it is our lives.

We ate at Kincaid's last weekend in Fort Worth with Aubrey.  Kincaid's has good old-fashioned greasy burgers and fries.  Not something we eat every day or that we should eat every day, but it's really, really good stuff.  Let's be thankful we don't have a Kincaid's near us! Mental note: next time share an order of fries...one order is big enough!

We ate dinner last week with some of our favorite kids at Chik-fil-a.  (It seems like we eat alot, doesn't it?) It was a crazy evening, but the best part was probably watching Jadyn dig into her dish of Ice Dream. She loved it! 

As we were driving home from practice last week, we saw that there was a Chocolate Festival in downtown Grapevine. After paying a admission fee, we could choose 10 booths from which to get a chocolate goodie.  It was hard to choose but we got some amazing treats! My personal favorite was a flourless, lavender-infused chocolate cake with a mousse type-thing on top. Yummy!

Celina saw this restaurant in Arlington the other day. It was a bit whole-in-the-wall-ish, but Papi thought we should check it out.  Why? Because Papi has called me Danielita my whole life and very rarely do you see anything even remotely resembling my name on anything...let alone a restaurant. We ended up eating there and had a pretty decent batch of fajitas.  Go Danielita's!

Yes, that is people with microphones with Britney Spears. Team in Training practice last week was rock 'n roll themed in honor of the 1st Rock 'n' Roll Dallas Marathon. Pictured is our amazing Coach Sue and super Mentor Ken. Apparently no one can resist taking a picture with a Britney cut-out!

So, there you go...a slice of life! Enjoy warm with a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream.

American Idol Top 12

The first week on the big stage! Despite the gruesome theme of "Rolling Stones," I was way excited! But then I was bummed. . .

My sister/roommate/fellow Idol enthusiast was in Orlando during this week for work. She normally has this event during the last week of the semi-finals which is traumatic because normally someone goes home that Snae likes. But being gone the first week on the big stage, was a nightmare.

My lone comfort was that I got to watch the Tuesday night episode with my friends, Leslie and Bryan which was a pleasant surprise. See that day, they were supposed to be moving back overseas but it looks like they will be here through the remainder of the AI season (or until their baby is born. . .whichever way you view it.)

Many surprises through the night. . . 
1. The song "Wild Horses". . .see I know that song from the movie, "Camp." I even own the soundtrack. But I had no idea that it was a Rolling Stone song. I learn something new every week.
2. Lacey was a PK. Which resulted me in saying, "She doesn't sound like a church singer, she sounds like a bar singer."
3. Snae's fav, Lee, didn't suck. See her fav always goes home when she's gone. I was so happy when I thought he did good. But his dumb jock face when he's not singing has got to go. At least pretend you have a brain.

My favs: Lee, Casey, and Crystal
Contestants that I can't stand: Siobhan and Aaron
I voted for Tim. I'm so obsessed with him. He wasn't good and if he was my friend I would have adamantly said no to a regae version of a Rolling Stones song. BAD IDEA! Let me think how to say this. . .I really like Tim and I think he's adorable. . .but not like I want to make out with him. Comprende?

Snae and I texted to each other from contestant 6 on. . .then came Wednesday night. I watched it with mom and grandma in Wichita Falls. The first results show I've watched without the DVR. Torture! Lee got through (sigh of relief) and then TIM WAS IN THE BOTTOM THREE.

This lead to my head slamming into my grandma's couch. I was hoping for Paige over Lacey to go but I'm happy she made it to the Top 12. One more week and Tim is on the tour. :)

Snae comes back this evening and her expectation was that this blog be written by her return. I'm going to let her introduce the game.

I remember. . .

. . .being at the State Fair and knowing so clearly that I wanted to be a teacher.
. . .telling my boss that I was giving my nine month notice and just wanting to be in a classroom. My sister made me my personalized teacher sign and I hung it in my cubicle. I helped fill in for many pregnant women's maternity leave during that time.
. . . going through the terror that was Region XI's alternative certification program. Not sleeping. . .running around. . .that long, long online class. It was a nightmare.
. . .passing my Social Studies 4-8 test. Being on the phone with Snae and being so surprised that it said "Pass" that Snae couldn't tell what had happened. Surprise rarely happens when you're a habitual planner.
. . .being a "stupid girl" and getting distracted. There goes a school year. No regrets.
. . .the confusion. I had no idea what my next step would be. The teaching idea seemed far off. Mom and dad sat in my living room and asked me to give it a try. I said yes feeling so unsure.
. . .starting student teaching. Before school duty. . .after school choir. . .observations. . .learning so much. . .loving 100 6th graders. . .don't forget the failures too. . .all necessary. I learned that I was born to be a teacher. . .at least until I can work for National Parks at Harry Truman's house. :)
. . . last day student teaching . . .after a brief meeting with the principal, and a scribble of "CVasquez", I was recommended for certification. Survival
. . . taking another test. New test strategy, whenever I start feeling completely distracted, I sing "That's Just the Way We Roll." until I'm ready to focus. By the way, "Pass!"
. . .subbing and being scared that loving teaching was a fluke reserved for 6th graders at a particular school. After being so sure of older kids, I exclusively taught Kindergarten and First Grade the first three weeks. Loved all the different experiences. Now when people ask what I want to teach, I smile and say only God can choose.
. . .on a fluke of checking online, I saw my certificate. Mom and dad in the living room and Snae in Florida. Papi said "We finally jumped through all the hoops."
. . .calling Snae in Florida and telling her the celebration was yet to come. Signing up to take my EC-6 test. Let's open the door for all those fun grades.

The future dreams. . .
. . .passing the EC-6 test.
. . .signing a teaching contract.
. . .not sleeping before the first day of school.
. . .not sleeping the first year.

To be continued. . .

American Idol Top12 Thoughts

Can you believe that we're already to the American Idol Top 12?! Well, for those of you who are keeping score (like us) of the nine people that Celina and I had in common on our list, eight made it to the Top 12.  Only Haeley Vaughn didn't make it (not really sad about that, but it does ruin our almost perfect nine-we-have-in-common record). Of the other four people who made it to the Top 12, only one was on one of our diverging lists. Unfortunately (for me) that one person, Katie Stevens was on Celina's list.  So, I lost the first round of the American Idol Game. The three people that made the Top 12 who neither of us expected were: Aaron Kelly (the child), Paige Miles (always forget she's there) and Siobhan Magnus (Who knew?).

Looking forward to seeing how all these unique (and not-so-unique) voices take on the Rolling Stones next week.  I'm going out of town so I'll have to rely on Celina's expertise in telling me who did well. I am concerned for Lee Dewyze, though. You see every time I go out of town during American Idol, someone I like goes home.  I like him the most right now, so I'm afraid he's going home. But surely the resident rock guy can sing the Stones, right?  I hope so.

American Idol Top 20

Tonight four people left Idol, but only two were important...the two on our lists. First, Michelle Delamor went home. She was one of the last two people on my personal list. (Who thought it was a good idea to let her sing CREED?!)  I have only one person left on my list.  All my hopes to win this contest lie in Todrick Hall.  It's not looking good.  Is it bad to even consider voting for Todrick just because he's the last one on my list?  That's something to think about...

The second person who went home was little Haeley Vaughn. Honestly, we didn't really like her, but from her first week, we thought she would make the top 12. Who knew she could butcher Miley Cyrus the way she did? We're not really sad about losing Haeley, especially since she was on both our lists!

As for the boys who were eliminated, neither one made either of our lists, so we weren't expecting much out of them anyway. Is that bad to say?

Daniela's Final Score after second elimination: 9 out of 12 still on my list. (VOTE FOR TODRICK!)
Celina's Final Score after second elimination 10 out of 12 still on her list.

American Idol Top 24

Well, it's American Idol time again and it's time for our yearly contest..."Who Can Predict The Top Twelve?" Please keep in mind that this is not who we personally like, but who we think America likes based on the first week's performances.  We're putting our predictions out in the internet universe so that there will be no question of either our brilliance or stupidity, depending on how it all turns out.

So here goes! Here are the contestants on both of our lists:
Crystal Bowersox

Tim Urban

Lacey Brown

Casey James

Michael Lynche

 

Haeley Vaughn

 

Lee Dewyze

 

Andrew Garcia

 

 Didi Benami

 

 Here's where we diverge...

Daniela's Picks

Janell Wheeler

Todrick Hall

 

 Michelle Delamor

 

Celina's Picks

Lilly Scott

Katie Stevens

 

 Joe Munoz

 

Post Idol Comments:

Daniela--I lost one this week with Janell Wheeler.  I'm a little sad...oh well...at least all my boys are still in it. 

Final Score after first elimination: 11 out of 12 still on my list. 

Celina is more sad than I am because Joe Munoz went home this week.  He was on her list not because she thought he could win, but because she loved him. I'm sorry, Celina! 

Final Score after first elimination: 11 out of 12 still on Celina's list.

I've Got a Conundrum

A conundrum is defined as "a paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma" or more simply "anything that puzzles".  I looked it up to make sure...and yep, I've got one.  We're gong on a cruise in November and I thought that sometime on the cruise I might want to wear a swimsuit. This means I need to lose weight.  And it's not just because of the swimsuit, my Wii Fit doesn't say nice things about my weight, either.

My general theory when it comes to weight loss is to start by cutting out the really bad stuff and get more active.  That means no more McDonald's for breakfast, at least 30 minutes on the Wii Fit every night and only one Dr Pepper a day for starters. But I also wanted to do more, so I've been looking for other ways to eat healthier. But here's where the conundrum comes in.  During my research, I've come across a few ideas that I buy, but they're not jiving with each other.  Here's what I mean:

I could cut out processed foods.  I grew up on things like Velveeta and I realize now that I'd rather spend my calories on food that is...well, purer.  I love foods that have less than four ingredients.  We've got a beautiful mozzarella in the fridge that is simply made from pasteurized milk, vinegar, salt and enzymes. I like that.  I also have personal issues with unnatural food colors and less processed foods usually aren't filled with artificial colors.  Yippee! But having very few ingredients and no artificial colors doesn't mean a food is good for you.  It can still be high in fat, sugar and salt. What's a girl to do?

I could only eat organic foods.  I see the value in organic foods, I like the lack of chemicals and the sustainable way in which their grown, but just because a food is organic doesn't mean it's healthier. It still has the same amounts of fat, sugar and calories. So, even if I eat organic foods, doesn't necessarily mean I'll get skinnier. I enjoyed this article on the Mayo Clinic website about organic foods.

I could cut out sugar and other white foods from my diet.  My first problem with this is I hate artificial sweeteners.  I'll drink water before I drink diet soda and I'm still not convinced that artificial sweeteners won't be shown to be a problem in a few years.  I could be wrong and if I am, you can rub it in later. I can do whole grain breads and brown rice but don't ask me to eat sugar free foods.  I will look for foods without corn syrup and watch the sugar count on what I eat, but if my choice is sugar or something fake, sugar will always win.

I could cut down on the meat in my diet and eat more veggies and fruit.  I'm doing pretty good on the fruit...I like fruit.  I'm not fond of vegetables, so finding ways to get them in my diet has been a challenge.  We've recently discovered that we like Gardenburgers and Morning Star "Chicken" Patties.  Both are meatless versions of food we enjoy and they help with our quest for more veggies.  But my problem is...do you realize how much processing goes in to make a bunch of vegetables (don't tell me which ones, or else I'll never be able to eat them again) look and taste like a breaded chicken patty? They definitely do NOT go in the four ingredient category!

That's not everything, but that's the highlights. So, I'm sure everyone has a thought about food...can anyone help me out with my conundrum? I'm open to opinions, but I can't promise that I'll follow all suggestions. :)

My new adventure!

I am a creature of habit.

This actually is an understatement. I have a loving family that does their best to protect his quirk of mine. But here are the facts.

For the last three years, I have had the same thing for breakfast on work days. Slim Fast drinks and the flavor has to be "Creamy Milk Chocolate." Right now we're in the middle of this horrible recall and I can't buy them. It has been drama. I eat the same thing for lunch every day. But I try to mix it up every three months or so. One time I made it a year on the same thing.

My current lunch is a pb&j sandwich on a wheat english muffin, a low salt rice cake, almonds, and a banana. Today I forgot my banana and it was kind of drama. My ideal life would be to have a rotating dinner plan. (Ex: Monday-Noodles, Tuesday-Ranch Chicken, Wednesday- Fake Chicken Patty sandwiches. . .) I would even allow for it to be changed every month.

I really like a  plan. It's my favorite thing in the world. My idea of spontaneity is to plan something and then throw the idea on my friends at the last moment. This makes everyone happy as long as they all go with my carefully planed idea.

All this to say that it's a miracle that I'm functioning at this point. Because I have a new temporary (hopefully) career. I'm a substitute. Let me tell you why this is a problem. Even on my best day when I know far in advance my assignment this what I walk into every day.

1. What am I doing today?
2. What will my students be like?
3. What time will I eat?
4. Will I be able to go to the bathroom? (You laugh and the teachers who read this will understand)
5. Will the other teachers be helpful?

Imagine every day is like a first day of work. Some days I don't know until the morning where I'm going and what I'm teaching. This is my nightmare.

But everyone says you sub and it gives you great experience and it might help me get a job. But so far it's been okay and at least we get some good laughs at my expense. I have so many funny stories that I hope to share.

I think it helps that I have my stability in my lunch at least. I just wish the Slim Fast would come back!

Just another day with Tru J

I drive a 2005 black cherry Scion TC. His name is Truman James and he is my first car and in the world of cars, he's in the top percentile of cuteness. Except for one thing. . .his tires.

Apparently my car has tires like a race car. I blew out two tires in March 2007. This was very traumatic as I am not very car savvy. I remember going into my work place and crying, "There's something wrong with my car." It took about 5 seconds and being 50 yards away for every male in my office to explain to me what a flat tire looked like and that I had two. In the middle of this, my cell phone quit working. I can't make this up.

When I went to the tire place and gave him what tires I needed, they man looked at me and asked shockingly, "What do you drive?" That's when I realized that the car that sang Kelly Clarkson when he met me, really was going to be trouble for me.

From that day on, my car has been a nightmare for tires. In all, other than the original incident, I've only been stranded with him one time. But I'm the queen of finding nails. It is also impossible to figure out if they're flat because they're so narrow. Papi is so known at the tire place that when he actually goes in his own car, they ask him about the purple car. (BLACK CHERRY PEOPLE!)

On Friday, my sister asked me to pick up lunch for her coworkers. As I was driving, I felt the tell tale alignment issue that is my signal for a possible flat and dreaded parking. As mentioned, my tires are so narrow, it's hard for me to tell when it's flat. But today it was painfully obvious. Tru really outdid himself. The hubcap was sticking out and the tire was wedged underneath the car. These nice guys from Utah came in behind me to check in. And with 50/50 hindsight. . .20/20. . .you know what I mean, I should have taken them up on it.

There was lots of drama and tears that afternoon. It ended up with me in frigid temperatures with a guy changing my tire to Tru's very, very ugly donut. He actually stayed at Taco Bell until Snae got off work. And what was the first thing out of the tire changer's mouth? "I would never buy a car with these tires. They are a nightmare." Well thank you sir.

I kept his card. I'm sure I'll need his services again.

Yesterday, Tru went to visist Papi in Bedford to go to his beloved tire place. There was nothing wrong with my tire. It just came off the rim. $7 and a new valve stem and we were good to go.

Just another day with Tru J.

Why We're Saying No to Wal Mart

A few months ago, we learned about an Iphone app that scanned barcodes and told you where you could find the lowest price for that item. It started us thinking about shopping and if the lowest price was the most important. Are we bottom line people? Is that the most important thing to us?

The answer we came up with is no. I've never been a fan of Wal Mart. They're slogan is "Save money. Live Better." The heart of their business is if you save money than you live better. But are they going to make sure that I'm satisfied? Are they going to get to know me as a customer? Are they even going to ask me if I need help finding something? Honestly, no. I'm just going to save money. And yes, I might be a little needy but I'm okay with that.

Both Snae and I have worked in a retail environment that demanded customer service and I have to admit that we both have an eye for it. We're pretty regular at our local Tom Thumb (I know many of you grocery store savvy people are cringing because it's known to be a little more pricey. That's not the point.) Several months ago, I was sick. I picked up my sick kit: Double Noodle Soup, Saltines, Sprite, and orange juice. The woman who checked me out asked me if I was sick. I said yes. Later that week, I walked in the door and that same woman asked how I was feeling. That's customer service and quite honestly we would like to help keep that woman employed.

Is our plan for everyone?  Definitely not!  There are towns like Plainview and Stamford, where if you don't go to Wal Mart, your life would be much harder.

Will we always be on a Wal Mart soapbox? No, that would be boring!

Will we fail this year and walk into the store? Probably, that's why we included the countdown on our blog.

So we're trying an experiment in 2010. Let's see how it goes!