I'm Not An Engineer

I'm not an engineer, but, I play one on the night before birthday parties. I get to make the cakes!

In the past, perhaps coincidentally, our children have chosen a cake from a source with instructions like Family Fun. Eric and I have spent many happy evenings doing these cakes together. It is something we enjoy and it saves us a nice bundle on the price of the cake. (Eric has his 'George Banks' moments and I'm not opposed to saving a buck!)

This year Everett picked one out of the book in the Target bakery (pictured below- but he wanted Lightning with Francesco and a 'winners circle' theme rather than a 'pit stop' theme with Guido). I snapped a pic with my phone. I showed Eric. He said 'No problem' (foreshadowing folks, foreshadowing). I gathered the supplies and on the appointed evening we tucked the kids in bed and met up in the kitchen for a fun cake creating evening.

This was pretty much the first time it occurred to us that we had a picture and no instructions. As we looked at the two 13x9 pans of cake we began to wonder HOW we were going to create a tall sloped grandstand from these. (Imagine us both with our heads tilted quizzically to the side). Eric had two years of architecture at Texas Tech and I waited for him to take charge-- cutting and stacking cake........silence. Eric now proclaimed "Yeah, I have NO idea how to do this".
Let's just say that in the end the ratio of cake to icing was....um....weighted heavily on the icing side. But, it all came together.

The important part is that it held together until after a certain small boy blew out the candles!. Everett was thrilled with his cake and that is all that matters, in the end.

As for Eric & I, we will be forcing steering our children in the direction of cakes with instructions (for goodness sake!) and I think we also might be ready for the Amazing Race!

Photo from here and here

The Disneyland Project 2012

I am about to go on vacation. I get to go visit my sister in Boston. I can't WAIT. I love my sister SO much and I also love being in Boston. This will be the first time one of my visits may involve snow. So, I may have to amend that to 'I love Boston in the Summer' afterwards!

When I get back I will have just 19 weeks until our Disneyland trip! I have decided to make a committment to Tracy Anderson's Metamorphasis during that time. The program I ordered is 18 weeks so I think that works out perfect.

DISNEYLAND PROJECT 2012

Time: I will commit to 1 hour 5 days a week. I will do the workouts Monday thru Friday. I was recently inspired by this quote by Brooke Burke in Fitness Magazine: "I don't think you need more than an hour to do cardio and full-body toning. I don't have three hours a day to devote to my body, but I do have an hour five days a week".

Muscular Structure: I already have several of her DVD's and I love the way they make my muscles feel when I do the workouts. The Metamorphasis DVD's are only 30 minutes. I chose the Glutecentric option (just in case you were curious I got it thru QVC and went through ebates for 2.5% cash back). I had already ruled out Abcentric and Omnicentric for myself. But, I admit I was quite confused about the two remaining choices. I finally happened upon a crazy little 'test' to help you determine: Stand facing a mirror and reach around behind you and 'lift' your butt with your hands. If your saddlebags disappear- you are glutecentric; if not- you are hipcentric. Clever eh? (Are you running to the bathroom to try it like I did??)

Cardio: For the other 30 minutes I plan to do alternating cardio routines. Some days (like a Zumba class) might take an hour. But, I'm allowing myself to quit after 30 minutes if I want to. I don't actually plan to use Tracy's dance cardio at all. I will do 'dancing like a crazy woman in my house to my ipod', some Zumba classes, some 'treadmill skipping' routines that are a variation on Tracy's (you can see me doing this at the YMCA), and walking outdoors with my pup.

Diet: I will be going back to what worked for me and that is Jorge Cruise and the Belly Fat Cure (this is a low sugar/low carb plan where you try not to exceed 15g sugar and 120g carbs per day). I will be logging everything I eat and tracking my weight and measurements in my Weight Watchers online account (possibly ignoring the WW points since Jorge and WW don't seem to get along!).

See you After Spring Break!!!

Big Love and a Big Question

When I first noticed Big Love I admit that my primary reason for picking it up was as guilty pleasure. I was intrigued. I have a love/hate relationship with Bill Paxton. He plays characters I don't really like. But, he infuses them with such passion that I am always getting caught up in them. The other thing it had going for it was that I have always liked Tom Cruise's wife from The Firm movie (I can NEVER remember her name) and I thought it was an interesting project for her to choose. I pretty much had no idea who the other two wives were played by (at the time) but as soon as I watched an episode or two I was hooked. Should have know Bill would suck me in :D 

What appealed to me, deep down, is that I have an obsession with odd behavior. Particularly behavior people feel they have to hide. I think I want to understand it. And I like to get it from the source-- I prefer a first person account. Eric turned to me at the end of an episode and with sincerity asked 'WHY do you want to watch this?' In an instant I knew I had heard this same question with the same deep level of sincere concern from my mother years ago. See, as a teen I used to read as many books on bulimia and anorexia as I could get my hands on. Again, first hand accounts. Much to the confusion of my mother. I think she thought I was actually doing research on how to do it and how to hide it! I wasn't!! But, I can totally see why she thought this and I can only imagine how her imagination must have been running away. 

So, while waiting for Big Love's Final Season to come to video, (I should mention here we don't have cable) I had a trial membership to Netflix (side note: LOVE Netflix instant streaming! LOVE it!) and my sister mentioned a show called Sister Wives to me. Now, HERE was a first person account. A TRUE version of Big Love. I didn't think that would ever happen except maybe on 20/20. WOW, I really can't believe they got them to agree to do this because, you know, it's illegal and they are on TV blatantly doing it. Crazy. 

So, to answer Eric's question: Firstly, to me bigamy is interesting to look at especially for the Christian. I mean it's all over the place in the Old Testament. I find it odd that we are SO opposed to it now like we can't imagine people would have EVER participated in it. It almost strikes me as if we are distancing ourselves from it. Like slavery, or Nazi Germany. I mean, granted that is WAY back compared to those events, but it's still a part of our history. It's in the BIBLE people.  

Secondly, it seems to me the marriage equivalent to Socialism. A beautiful theory that couldn't quite play out. It SHOULD work. It SHOULD be more efficient.The wife who wants to work can have children and go to her job knowing they are loved and cared for. The wife who wants to have alot of babies around her all the time can do just that. But, human emotions get in the way. For Socialism, it was greed and competitiveness. For bigamy, jealousy and self-doubt begin to creep in. 

I think it's interesting. I like to study it. I don't want to try it (so don't get any ideas Eric!). But, that's how my mind works. I like to play with ideas and then just move on. I truly believe that it's ok to look into something that may be dangerous or unhealthy. I am like a spelunker, tethering myself to the truth while I take my rope and venture into the unknown. But, I don't cut the rope and stay in the dark cave-- I follow my rope back out.  Not all who wander are lost. 

Let me know your thoughts. Do you watch these shows? Did you read about bulimia and anorexia as a kid and freak out your parents? Do you have deep social implication thoughts about what is supposed to be mindless escape tv? Or is that just me? :D 

Photo Credit here and here

Off the Map is Off

First week after the season ended and I'm already having withdrawl! This has become my favorite drama and I can't wait for next season. So if you are in the market for a quirky medical drama check it out! Looks like Hulu currently has all the episodes.

I had to make some DVR cuts and here is what got the ax: Glee (finally had it this week), Gray's Anatomy (the 3 way pregnancy was too much for me), and finally I took an ax to Desperate Houswives and Brothers&Sisters mid-winter when the story lines just got STUPID!

What shows have you given the DVR ax to? Any recommendations?

Photo from here

Change is good?

So, at first I didn't like it when they changed Masterpiece Theatre into Masterpiece Classic and Mystery. But, in the end I have enjoyed it. I also thought I would never like anything as much as Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth. But, there is a new contender: Downton Abbey. 

Now, this one isn't a self contained story. It's a series with seasons and episodes. But, having seen season 1, I really can't wait to see season 2. Till then I will just enjoy whatever they decide to show me on Masterpiece.

I am still holding out judgement on the new Upstairs/Downstairs. I am not fully intrigued yet. How bout you?

Photo from here

Good, no make that great, TV!

This week I caught up on ALL of season 4 (Yeah!) and am happily up to date on Season 5 thanks to my sister's b-day gift & Amazon TV Pass.

LOVE it! No cable bill. Just pay for the shows I love and get them as soon as they air on cable (well, the next day). What could be better? Have you tried Amazon TV Pass yet? What shows do you love?

Photo from here