Stop, Diego, Stop!

Although the VEry SOUND of DOra's anNOYing VOICE MAkes me CRINGE (that's how she talks, in case you don't know), and the theme song from "Go, Diego Go!" gets stuck in my head and replays itself ad nauseum every night from 4-5am, I have to credit those two adorable characters (note the sarcasm) for a major increase in my 2 1/2 year old daughter's vocabulary and knowledge of obscure animals.

Tonight at dinner, while eating her pterodon-shaped chicken dinosaur, Daphne said, "Look, Mommy! A harpie eagle!" A WHAT? Who the heck knows what a harpie eagle is? Evidently she does. And a few days ago, Daphne was walking around the house going, "Where's the kinkaju?" (I'm not sure how to spell that. I should ask Daphne.) It started about a month ago when Daphne surprised both of us by suddenly counting to 5 in Spanish. It sounded like this: "Uno, doe, bless, gado, CINCO!" We weren't sure what she was saying until it came to the crecendo of "cinco!" at the end. And then we promptly passed out, we were so impressed. But we didn't know where she had learned it. Then we finally put dos and dos together when she also started saying "GRAcias!" and "SI!" on a regular basis. And then we started noting the grande number of things that she has learned from Dora and Diego: puma, pygmy marmoset, jaguar (she formerly called all large cats either a tiger or a lion before Diego came along and set her straight), humpback whale, chinchilla, "Say click!," the concept that sticky tape fixes everything (which will no doubt lead to disaster later in her life), "Salta!" (which I think is Spanish for "more salt, please."), "Swiper, no swiping!", maned wolf, ayuda me, mariposa, spectacle bear, and a myriad of other random rain forest animals that I have no idea how to pronounce, but she does.

So don't ever think that all TV does is melt your kids' brains. Evidentally it also helps them learn how to rescue endangered animals using magical backpacks that turn into hang gliders if you say "Activa te!" The useful knowledge our kids will now have access to cannot be weighed, not even aginst the heavy price we parents must pay for such an education, namely losing our minds every time the show comes on. (Now excuse me while I go blow my brains out to drown out the theme song to "Go, Diego Go!" that is playing in my head after writing this blog.)

Thank Goodness for Reality TV!!!

Am I the only one who has found TV so freaking boring lately? Man, those dang writers are killing me! I haven't watched a new TV episode in weeks and weeks. Months??? If it weren't for reality TV I would have shot mysef by now. (I know, I know. I could try reading a book or doing a craft or something. Whatever. Shut up.) Back to reality TV....Kelly and I enjoyed watching Beauty and the Geek. Always very entertaining. And I loved Dancing With the Stars this fall. But that's over now. Then last week I got myself nicely hooked on The Biggest Loser. I thought I might be able to get some good diet and exercise tips from it for my own biggest loser competition and was quickly sucked into the drama of it all. (Oh, and there are no diet or exercise tips to be found on the show. But there's some good old-fashioned back stabbing to keep you entertained.) And now there is the ever-popular American Idol to keep us from going crazy. Aside from that, though, we are back to reruns of The Office and episodes of House Hunters. I'm not complaining--I do like House Hunters and even reruns of the Office make me laugh. But I'd just like a real, funny (or good) TV show to watch that I haven't seen before.

ENTER "LOST." Like a ray of light, tomorrow begins the new season (or partial season) of Lost. To tell you the truth, I was just about ready to quit watching Lost at the end of last season because the constant questions and lack of ever having resolutions was starting to get on my nerves. But at this point I'll take what I can get. Actual actors doing actual acting with actual scripts? Halleluia! (Right now we're watching the Pop Up Video version of last season's finale. Not to shabby. Plus, it's been like a year since this show was on so I definitely need a refresher).

Maybe I should have titled this blog, "Thank Goodness for Lost."

President Hinkley has died

Our dear prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley has died at age 97. Reports are not very detailed yet, but what we've been told is that he died due to old age essentially. It came suddenly to most of us who only heard the news after he was dead, but he died with his family around him, so obviously there was some warning that he was not doing well, and they gathered to be with him.

I can remember President Kimball being made the president of the church although I don't have memories of David O McKay before him. I also remember vividly when President Kimball died and president Benson was made the new prophet. I also remember him dying and President Hunter becoming the new prophet. But most of the time I remember, it was sweet President Hinckley at the head of our church. I met him twice--once in San Diego at my stake singles conference and once in Salt Lake when he attended my singles ward along with President Faust. I was in the ward choir who sang at that event and sat only a few seats away from President Hinckley. I always admired him for his strength, his humor, his humility, his candor, and most of all for his ambition in spreading the church and in getting temples established so widely on the earth.

I have always loved President Monson and will be thrilled to have him as the new prophet, but no one will be able to replace the amazing effect that President Hinckley had on the earth. He was an amazing leader of our church.

Modge Podge

Today is little tidbits of info:

• I had a depressing day today thanks to my 0 loss weigh-in. So if you remember, I had that bad weigh-in last week. Only -.6 lbs after dieting so strictly and exercising 3 times. So then i was mad and pigged out on the weekend. When I weighed myself on Monday, I had lost .8 lbs! So I figured I just needed to ease off on the strictness of my point counting and use some flex points. So I used them all (most of them during my weekend pig-out, so I was actually really good the rest of the week). But when I weighed-in today, I had gained that weight all back! Exactly the same weigh-in as the week before. Grrrr! I was so mad. And depressed because that meant my theory was not holding water and I now had no idea what to do to kick my body into gear: eat more? Eat less? Exercise more? Exercise less? Do more muscle building or more cardio? Well, I"m over my depression now and was very good all day. But I still have no idea what to do. I guess I'll just persevere and see what happens over the long haul.
• I got called (well, not yet officially) to be on the Enrichment committee. I'm in charge of "Special Events" or quarterly activities. I spent 1 1/2 hours with my superior today, Sherilyn, and we planned a bunch of fun activities and ways to try to activate the sisters and try to get everyone involved in the activities. I look forward to some fun stuff actually going on. We're going to do a game night, a cooking night, a scrapbook night, a book club, a lunch date for the older ladies, a moms group, a Home Improvement group, an out-to-dinner group, and in the summer we'll have some outdoor groups like camping and gardening.
• Big K found partner for his Cutterpillar. He has great connections and is willing to finance all the prototypes and tooling fees. he will, of course, want a big cut. But even if we only get $8 per cutter, if they buy a large quantity that will be better than $100 for zero cutters (which is what we have right now). We'll keep you posted.

Ok, I need to go online and find a low-fat dessert idea. I need a treat. I have some points left and I'm Jonesing for something sweet. Later, dudes.

Sweet Suds has a face!

My fantastic husband is to thank for this beautiful logo. But "What is Sweet Suds?" some of you ask. Let me explain: I have been making soaps for about 4 years now. I got into it after my sister Jennie introduced me to it. I do the melt-and-pour kind, so it's super easy. It is one of the few creative hobbies out there that I actually enjoy. I'm too pragmatic to spend time on crafts that don't have a practical use. So making soaps is the perfect hobby for me. The one problem is that you can only give away so much soap. The day will come when my friends and relatives start saying, "Make me something else for Christmas this year." But with so many new scents to sample, new molds to try, and new styles of soap to create, I just don"t see myself becoming bored with soap-making before my friends are sick of soap. So when my pal Crystal suggested that I might sell some of my soaps at her new New Age shop, The Crystal Ray, I thought that might be a good idea. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I might be able to sell my soaps through other boutiques and even online at sites like Ebay and Etsy.com. But if I was going to do that, I'd need a catchy name for my soap business and a really cute logo for the tags. Enter my brilliant designer husband. (Hmmm...that sounds like I picked him up from a runway in Milan or Paris. You know what I mean, though, right?). As always, Kelly whipped up something absolutely perfect for the occasion in just a few short hours. I love my new logo! Don't you? Now to get some great pictures done for the online stores, make a website, start wrapping up the soaps I have for the Crystal Ray, and get making more soap!!! That's the best part. I can't wait! And what if no one buys my soap? I'm sure my husband will not want to hear me say this but, I DON'T CARE! It's an excuse to make more soaps, and that's all I need. (But I should mention that if my soaps don't sell, you'll all be getting soap for Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, Flag Day, Canada Day, and your birthdays for the next ten years. Hope you like soap!)

27 Dresses -- Movie Review

Today's blog entry will be in the form of a movie review. I'm going to add a page of movie, product, and restaurant reviews to my 1895house website, but it's still under construction, so I'll do this one here.

1st off, I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars. Or maybe 7 out of 10. It was cute. And better than I thought it would be, honestly. The plot is not terribly original, it's true. It's sort of like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" meets "In Her Shoes." But you like this movie anyway because, let's face it, not that many romantic comedies have completely original plots these days. But there is more than the plot to like about this movie. Let me give you a run-down of the story line: The heroine is a cute, sweet, fun girl who loves to be a bridesmaid (and does a good job of it) for all her friends. She works for a young, handsome boss who she has a secret crush on. Enter the hot, slutty younger sister. Of course, the boss falls for the sister (who is also pretending to be this granola, tree-hugger she totally isn't). Meanwhile, a cynical young (handsome) writer who covers Weddings for the New York Review decides to do a story on the heroine after catching her being a bridesmaid at two weddings on the same night. Eventually the boss proposes to the hot little sister, the writer gets hired to cover the wedding, the heroine slowly lets the writer into her life, and although he is falling for her, he still writes the story about her. And just as the heroine and writer are really hitting it off, the story of the forever bridesmaid hits the front page of the section. I won't ruin the ending for you just in case you haven't guessed it yet. But I can at least say that there are a few twists and turns in the plot that are just enough to keep it from getting predictable, So what makes this movie worthy of 4 out of 5 (or 7 out of 10) stars? 1) Great acting. The lead characters are all really good, especially Katherine Heigl. The slutty little sister played by Malin Akerman has some annoying mannerisms like tilting her head and squinting her eyes a lot, but she plays a good crush-stealing sister. 2) the dialogue is actually fairly original. One of my biggest pet peeves in movies is where the characters say things no one ever says or where you know the next line that's coming during every conversation. But this screen-play actually managed to avoid most of that trite dialogue. 3) the main character is pretty endearing. I can relate to her a lot. I bet she's a ESFJ too. 4) this is a total chick thing to say, but I really like the clothes in this movie! That is rarely a factor I consider, but they struck me as being really cute. So that boosts the movie up about 1/4 star.

To sum up: Good acting, cute, funny, feel-good, pretty clean, lots of good looking people, not so original plot, but you get over it because everything else about the movie is so likeable. And you could take your mom to see it. But don't try to take your husband. Oh sure, he would love it just like you did, but he would whine like a little baby about going, just to preserve his sense of manliness. Better wait until it comes out on video to watch it with him. Then he can always claim that he didn't have a choice because it's what you were watching. And be sure to have a few Kleenex on hand for him. I guarantee he'll use them.

The Chopping Block

Well, I chopped my hair! I have had basically the same haircut for about 6 years. Maybe longer. It gets slightly shorter and slightly longer, but that's about the only change. So when I went to the salon on Saturday and she asked, "How do you want it cut?" I opted for a change. I had seen Victoria Beckham on Ellen a few weeks back and loved her A-line bob. So that's what I told my beautician. She did a great job. I love it! It did turn out a titch shorter than I had pictured it (or perhaps just not as A-line), but I still like it. And I don't always have to put my hair up now to get it out of my face because this haircut pretty much stays out of my face already. Win-win! Daphne did look at me a little strangely when I walked in the door. She just kept looking and looking like, "Something's not right, but I don't now what it is." Now she's adjusted though. I have to say, though, that I'm surprised how few people said anything to me about it at church. To me it's a drastically different haircut, one I haven't had in years. So I thought everyone would comment on it. But some of my good friends talked to me and didn't say a word. I guess it's always more dramatic a change for you than for everyone else.

Other news: Well, after my horrible 1/2 lb weight loss on Friday, I decided to take it easy on the diet over the weekend. I didn't go butt crazy or anything, but I did eat quite a few things I would never have eaten before the weigh-in, including a whole cup of peanut M&M's (at least 8 points), two cheesy breadsticks (probably 10 points), creme brulee (8 points), 1/4 of a chocolate cookie sandwich, and, get this, a Carl's Jr. Grilled Chicken Burrito,which I thought would be a pretty harmless thing but which I later discovered was a whopping 24 POINTS! I only ate 3/4 of it, though, so 18 points. Man! I felt horrible for letting go so much over the weekend. I had intended to let up on the strictness of my points watching a little, but maybe not that much. So this morning when I weighed myself I was hoping to not have gained more than 1 1/2 lbs. and guess what....I LOST 1 LB!!! It totally blew my mind. But I guess it proves my theory true--that my body thought I was starving. But once it realized that calories were coming in again, it let go of that weight. So now I just have to ride that weight-loss wave all week by keeping more closely to my points. Not Nazi-crazy like last week, but no more little binges like this weekend. So far so good today. Only 4.5 points for breakfast and 4 points for lunch. 2 points for a mid-morning snack. I'm right on target.

Final news: Beck is getting 3 teeth! His two top molars are coming through and the top tooth next to his front two is coming in. Poor guy. I think he must be in pain because he has been waking up at 7am for the last few days instead of 8-8:30am. It's killing me! But I'm hoping it will pass as soon as those teeth get through. It's funny, Beck already has 7 teeth at 13 months old. Daphne didn't have a single tooth until 16 months old!

Freaking stupid body!

I had a very frustrating weigh-in today. After pretty much starving myself all week AND working out three times, I ended up losing, drumroll please... a whopping 0.6 lbs. After all that? Yes. And I was in 23rd place out of 25 people in the Biggest Loser competition I'm in. Also, Kelly lost another 4 lbs (yeah, Kelly! Boo, me.) Well, the whole thing threw me into a tailspin and I decided to have a little pity party, myself as the guest of honor. So I ate pancakes with butter and syrup for breakfast. At lunch I was still mad, so I ate two servings of my diet quesadilla instead of one (aren't I such a rebel). And now I'm drinking a REAL Coke (ahh, heaven). But there is method to my madness. See, I think I really WAS starving myself. I think I lowered my caloric intake by so much (I wasn't even meeting my alloted Weight Watchers points some days and wasn't using hardly any of my weekly flex points) and burned so many calories by starting an aggressive exercise program that it literally switched my body into a starvation mode where it began to hoard every calorie as fat for the lean times ahead. SO.....I'm going to back off on the exercise this week--maybe only yoga and no aerobic exercise--and definitely meet my daily points and probably go over (using my flex points). That way my body will calm down a bit and not think I'm going anorexic anymore. If that works, I'll slowly start bringing in more exercise. I can't say I'm sad about the prospect of eating more--I was so hungry this last week! But this BETTER work! I may not be much of a shoe-in for winning the whole contest but I at least want to hit my own personal goal of 120 lbs. Wish me luck!

(Mmmmmm....those pancakes sure were good. I need to get pissed about my weight more often!)

Ode to Wii

I have my friend Tiburon to thank for my new obsession: the Wii game station. We (Kelly and I) played it at her house the other day with her and her husband. It was SO fun! We did bowling, golf, and this insane game called Raging Rabbids (pictured above). I can't remember the last time I liked video gaming so much. Not only is it semi-active (you actually have to get up and move to play it), but at least from the games we played I am super pleased with the fact that the games are FUN games (remember that? When video games were fun?) and not just murder-fantasy games or sports games. We have an xbox and I never play it. With the exception of Dance Dance revolution, I don't like any of the games for it. We own many and have rented more, but there's just nothing I dig. I like the old-school games like Super Mario Brothers and Klax. So these Wii games seem right up my ally. Now the problem: We don't own a Wii! Kelly wants to wait until they "crack" it before he buys one, but I'm ready to start saving up now. I'm jonesing! Tib, you might be seeing a lot more of me soon. If I start dropping by unannounced, don't be surprised. Hey, I'll bring treats! (Well, if you consider caramel rice cakes treats).

Angel Child

I am happy to announce that Daphne has finally outgrown her terrible twos (knock on wood)! After about a year of willfulness, whining, tantrums, stubbornness, and uncontrollable crying, she has turned into a sweet, charming, loving little girl, the one I remember from before she turned 18 months old. She now eats most of what she's given (or at least doesn't burst into tears at every meal), says "Thank you, Mommy" and "You welcome, Mommy" excessively, plants random kisses and unsolicited hugs on us, and goes to bed without a meltdown over which book to read and how she wants her blanket laid over her. Learning to talk better probably has something to do with it--less frustration. And the rest of it, I'm guessing, is hormonal. I'm so glad. It really was trying my patience to be around her. Now things will be peaceful and calm in our house......for another few months until Beck turns 18 months, I'm guessing. Oh well!

Other updates on the kids are that Beck is getting his first molar. I had thought he had escaped the Thompson weird tooth gene, but I guess not. The Thompson weird tooth gene first manifested itself when Daphne got her first tooth...at age 16 months! Then she proceeded to get her upper teeth first. First the middle one and then the one to the side of it, not the middle two. Next the two lower middle teeth grew in. Then SIX months went by before the other upper middle tooth grew in. She had the strangest smile for a while! Anyway, I thought Beck 's teeth would grow in normally when his first two teeth--lower and middle--showed up at the young age of 8 months old. And then when his two upper middle teeth were next, I was pretty sure he'd have a normal dental history. But no, after 5 months with no new teeth, now he is getting a molar. It's so bizarre! It's also causing him a bit of discomfort, poor thing.

No walking updates for Beck. He isn't even slightly inclined to walk. He will take a few steps if you hold both of his hands, but if you only hold one or if you try to get him to walk to you, he just sits down. He even got a super-fun walking toy for his birthday, but he won't take a single step with it. Crazy kid! He does love to crawl, though, and on Saturday demonstrated his crawling skills by crawling all the way up our steep stairs to the second floor! I guess it's time to get out the baby gate. It's hard to believe my little tiny newborn from last year is this adorable, chubby, busy, curious, super mobile almost-toddler. Time does fly.

Butt kicking

So today I got my butt royally kicked by my new

Cardio Pump class at the gym. It's actually hard for me to type this because I'm so weak. I might have Kelly take over the typing for me. Every muscle in my body was used in ways they haven't been used since I was six years old on the jungle gym. One HOUR of step aerobics, crunches, weight lifting, push ups, resistance bands, exercise balls, free weights, more crunches, more cardio, and more of everything else until I almost threw up my Frosted Mini Wheats. But I'm glad I did it. It took care of pretty much all my exercise needs at once. Now if I continue my Power Yoga twice a week and do the Cardio Pump once a week, the reality of meeeting my weight goal and maybe even my butt goal (see previous posts) might actually occur.

Oh, and I lost 5 lbs this week! That was a nice surprise. In my biggest loser competition, I'm still only in 7th place out of 25, but it's better than nothing. Kelly lost 5 lbs too. We're doing really well. And to celebrate we're going out for dinner tonight. Don't get too worried, we're going to Appleby's where they have a WeightWatchers menu. Whoop-dee-doo! Do we know how to party or what?

If you don't live in Utah, here's what you're missing.

We have had a very snowy December and January. November was depressingly gray and brown. No snow. The ski resorts had to open late and make fake snow for quite a while. But then in December it got very cold. Colder than I can remember it being here (with highs in the teens a few days). And it began to snow, finally. And since then it has snowed once or twice a week. It even was so cold a few weeks ago that the same snow stayed on the ground for a couple of weeks. That hardly ever happens here where it's quite warm for a winter location and very sunny.

I love the snow. I hate the cold, but if it's cold I want it to be snowy. It's so quiet and peaceful and still. I love it when the flakes are big and fat and heavy and fall slowly in zigzag patterns. I love it when the trees are heavy with fresh snow and even the littlest branches are holding an inch or two on them. I even love driving in the snow. It gets your adrenaline going and you are hyper alert. It's like a mini rush. It's my version of bungee jumping, I guess.

The kids (well, Daphne) really like the snow too. I bought them snow suits this year, and the first big snow I got them bundled up to go out and make a snowman. Beck just sat there, unable to move from the thickness of his coat and snow pants. Eventually he fell over and couldn't get up. It was kind of funny. Daphne set right to work on the snowman. Ever since, she's called snow "snowman" as in "Look Mommy! Snowman outside!"

Nice butt!

This is a picture of what my body will look like in 3 months, in case you're wondering.

I am proud to say on day 2 of my Biggest Loser competition/diet that it is not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm hungry, don't get me wrong. And if I wasn't dieting, I'd be eating some big, luscious dessert covered in caramel and hot fudge right now or having a huge, icy cold Coke. But I'm eating carrots instead and I'm not dying. Hungry, but not dying. I guess I was just ready for this and my determination to eat right (and win the $625!) is carrying me through. Now I need to add exercise to this equation. The good news with that is that I earn back points by exercising (on the Weight Watchers flex plan). The bad news is that exercising is going to make me even more hungry.

I'm also happy to say that my awesome husband has joined a men's version of the Biggest Loser competition with his buddies from work. That means he's up for the low-fat, low-cal meals I'll be making, has thrown out all his cupcakes, and will be even MORE supportive of my diet and exercise goals. He even got up early today to work out. Man, we are going to have two HOT rockin bods at the end of this! (See picture above).

Bring It On!

Tomorrow begins the Biggest Loser 3 competition. I'm not talking about the one on TV. No, my friend Tiburon started a local version for our friends and friends of theirs last spring. We all put in $20. It went for 3 months, the person who won the biggest % of weight won the pot. Although I gave Tib a run for her money and was in 2nd place until the last weigh-in, she still kept ahead of me and won. But I felt great, having lost 18 lbs. I skipped out on the Biggest Loser 2 because after losing 18 lbs and weighing less than I had for 5 years, I just didn't have the motivation to keep going. But now I've gained back quite a few of those 18 lbs, so I'm ready for round 3. This time the ante was $25 and with a bunch more people participating, the pot looks like it's up around $600! That would be a sweet pot to win. And even if I don't' win (I've got a lot more competition this time and people are really motivated after the holiday eating extravaganza), I still will be happy to just lose some of this weight, tone my body, and start eating healthier again.

So, starting tomorrow, I'm back on Weight Watchers. I also have my work-out schedule tentatively laid out: Monday morning is a step aerobics class at the gym, Tuesday night is power yoga, Wednesday is no gym (maybe I'll do some Dance Dance Revolution at home if I'm in the mood), Thursday night is power yoga again, and Friday morning is power pump (a combination of step and weights). That one might kick my butt too much, so maybe I'll switch that day to just doing weights. At any rate, Kelly is being super supportive and is going to put the kids to bed the nights that I have power yoga. And if I can get my butt out of bed on time and get the kids ready for my morning classes, I should be able to get a good work-out routine going.

I'm really excited about this. It's going to be tough. I've been eating badly for at least a month--daily Cokes, dessert whenever I feel like it, even occasional fast food--but I feel so ready. I don't like when I don't take care of my body. And even at my lowest weight after Biggest Loser 1, I still needed toning. So I want to work hard and get back into shape. I'm really scared about the caffeine and sugar cravings I'm going to have. And I'm really afraid that the work-outs will kill me or that I'll be miserable doing them and dread going. But the $600 dangling in front of me like a carrot (OK, like a Coke) helps. And Kelly's support helps. And my "before" pictures of myself in a bikini REALLY help. So...wish me luck! And please, don't offer me any sweets for 3 more months!

And maybe if you're really lucky, I'll post my before and after pictures at the end.

The First Time

So I have been debating about whether or not to create a blog. It seems like a natural way to keep people connected with me and my family. But I do feel some opposition to it: 1) I SO hate to follow trends. 2) I hate the word "blog" to begin with. 3) Maybe no one will even care about reading my blog. 3) Most importantly, Who knows if I will even have anything to say? So this whole blog thing will probably be experimental.