Gone Campin'

I'm heading off to Camp Crop-A-Lot. We only got a fraction of the snow predicted -- somewhere around 4 inches instead of 10. My wonderful hubby took care of that so the only thing holding up my departure is me and my inability to get my "crop" together.

My checklist includes everything from a sleeping bag and pillow to caffiene and sugar (in the form of chocolate and licorice in my case). Oh yeah, and the scrapbooking supplies. I had to make a quick run into town to pick up a few things I was missing. Anything else comes up, I guess I'll buy it there.

I did manage to do a quick vacuum of the house so I could mitigate some of the guilt for taking off on a completely selfish weekend. And that did the trick! I'm heading out the door without a care in the world....

Catching Up

Just a couple updates from this week in the Austin world...

Student Driver: We went to a birthday party for our nephew Colin (the stockcar racer). He's 15 now. Soon he'll be old enough to drive! Isn't that something? Racing "real" cars for 3+ years now and finally he's getting close to being "street legal"? I bet his mother is concerned about his lead foot!

Sweet Nothings: And what's a birthday party without cake? Those who know me well know that -- neck and neck with my love for all things mint -- I have a weakness for cake with really, really good frosting. Birthday cake is the best. I'll take a corner piece, please. Or an edge one. The middle ones are hardly worth the effort (or guilt). So yes, that means I had cake AND a Shamrock Shake (hubby's Fat Tuesday treat for me) in the same week. I'm sure I'll burn off the calories cropping this weekend.

School Days: We finally heard some more school news for our senior. He had been on a waiting list for La Crosse but now has been accepted at 3 other state schools. That's a relief. Stepson #2 is still going to school regularly, thank God. He did have a bit of a setback this week when he injured his foot somehow in gym class. Nothing is broken, but now he's gotta wear a special boot of some sort. Not enough to keep him home, hopefully.

Baseball, Hotdogs and Candy Bars: We signed Carter up for baseball this week. Even after the Bad News Bears experience last summer, Jim has agreed to coach again. He knows now to eye up the pitching talent first. Should be interesting. Our first order of business was selling the box of candy bars for the league fundraiser. Thanks to my ingenious marketing campaign (ha, ha), I had 40 of the 50 sold in one day. I only bought one, honest.

Tooth Fairy: You'd think the Austins had stock in the Tooth Fairy business. Carter had his second visit from the winged wonder this week. "Now I've got hillbilly teeth!" he said. Nice. We both go for our 6-month checkup and cleaning today. At the rate we're going, our dentist will have a new SUV before long.

Perfect Game: I'd like to give a shout out to our friend Mike, who bowled a 300 this week! I've done that before, too, but it's taken me 3 games (combined) to get there! It's not often we have a brush with greatness, so we stopped by last night with a congratulatory 12-pack decorated with bowling stickers. Good job!

Stitch in Time: Not to ruin my reputation as an undomestic goddess, but I was actually domestic on demand this week. Of course, it was bedtime when Carter thought to show me a big tear in the jeans he planned to wear the next day. "Mom, can you knit these for me?" Well even I know you can't knit jeans. But I do have my little sewing kit and I was able to stitch the tear. I suppose I should mention that because I was sewing in dim light while watching the president's speech, I didn't do the best job. The stitching just about held up for a school day, but not quite. There, now my reputation is restored.

Winter Wonder-what-the-? Is it too late to change my mind about giving something up for Lent? I think I'd like to give up Winter if I can! On Wednesday, we got hit with freezing rain/sleet in central Wisconsin. Today's forecast: 6-10 inches of snow. I wish I was kidding. Looks like I'll have to snowblow myself out tomorrow morning before I head to scrap camp!

Pack Mule: I have been working in my "free time" this week to get my crop together. Oh wait, I really did mean crap that time. Lots of prep work goes into this weekend. I'm getting excited though and can't wait to get going. I have Friday off so hopefully, depending on the weather, I can hit the road by noon and give myself 3-4 extra hours of scrapping this year. I should have no excuses not to reach my goal of finishing my 2007 book and getting a good start on 2008. I know, it's 2009 already so it seems like I'll never really catch up. But then what would I do with all my time?

Give Up?

The Lenten season is officially upon us. I should probably make it clear that I was raised Lutheran so I didn't grow up with this routine of giving up something for 40 days and 40 nights. Though I will capitalize on any opportunity for a Friday night Fish Fry.

I actually jumped on the deprivation bandwagon a few years ago because everyone else was doing it. Seriously, I am not knocking this important ritual. I am just admitting at the outset that I do my best during Lent and feel God recognizes my effort. I have a spiritual connection with my Higher Power every day -- and I don't think that changes because I break down and have a Shamrock Shake on St. Patrick's Day. But that's just me. I'm not starting a religious controversy here.

So Carter asked me the other day if I was going to do the "swear board" again. "Remember last year when you had to pay for swear words and f-bombs?" Oh nice. This kid doesn't forget anything! I told him I probably wasn't going to do that this year because the anti-sailor talk has been an ongoing effort (I feel Jim rolling his eyes).

Carter announced that he is going to follow that pay-to-play tally-board format, though. "I am going to pay if I play my PS2 or Nintendo DS," he said. Wow. Giving up video games was his own idea and, trust me, that is a sacrifice. At first he said he was going to pay a dollar for playing PS2 and a dime for the DS, but now he's settled on a quarter each time for either. He hasn't decided what he is going to do with the money or, more importantly, where he's getting the money to pay for it (besides the Tooth Fairy). So I guess we'll hope his willpower and dedication are better than Mommy's.

I, on the other hand, grappled with my Lenten pledge. Frankly, with my current attempt to restrict myself from sweets, I've been in a state of deprivation all of 2009. So instead of taking something more away, I am going to add.

I am vowing to do 30 minutes of some cardio activity daily -- even if that has to be broken up over 3 10-minute walks during breaks some days. This will be my way to focus on healthy living and taking care of this beautiful body God gave me.

I suppose I could add that if I do break down and have a Shamrock Shake, I have to double my cardio time. Nah. I'll save that for next year...

Fluffy Tuesday

It's Fat Tuesday today so you know what that means. It's our last chance to fluff up for Lent, when our guilty consciences force us to give up all those devilish delights we hold near and dear to our hearts (and waistline).

Hubby reported the other day that McDonald's already has Shamrock Shakes (which, in my book, rate a straw above the Eggnog Shakes I covet). I looked at him with that face that says, "Don't tempt me... but if you show up at home with one, I'd drink it because I have no willpower." In response, because he can read that look, he says, "Why do you always have to be on a diet at this time of year?"

You're right. It would be heckuva lot easier if I just lost weight once and never let it find me. Trust me, no one would rather be in that position than me!

So I find myself thinking (again!) that maybe I don't have to give up everything, just watch what I eat and maybe mix up my exercising a bit to re-ignite (or just ignite) my metabolism. I do try to alternate strength and cardio but there are all kinds of options out there for both.

Have you heard about kettlebells yet? A kettlebell is a traditional Russian cast-iron weight looking somewhat like a cannonball with a handle. For some reason the kettlebell has become a popular exercise tool in the United States due largely to the efforts of some influential strength and flexibility coach. I haven't seen this trend hit central Wisconsin yet, but we're usually a bit behind the times. (Heck, there are still acid-washed jean sightings around here.)

There is another new exercise trend -- in the name of making anything work for cardio -- that has popped up here. Hula hoops! Seriously, how did they come up with this? Let's take a childhood toy that gave us pleasure and turn it into an adult instrument for torture! And idiots like me, who will try anything to justify a Shamrock Shake, are trying it!

And oh do I feel sore today. We threw in a few hoop songs into our Zumba class yesterday to see if we liked it -- or even had the skills necessary to do it, let alone like it.

You wouldn't think hooping is hard work, but I'm here to tell ya, the new hooping is not just standing around gyrating our hips. No. We have to move around, too. Keep that (weighted) hoop going while taking a few steps in any direction and ohmigosh, is that tough! It's akin to that old challenge of patting your head while rubbing your stomach. It takes way too much coordination to be successful. But I gave it a good effort. And boy did we sweat.

So yes, it does have the exertion level to qualify as cardio. And yes, it does have the calorie-burning quotient to erase guilt and justify something chilly and mint green.

Oh, don't look at me that way. It's Fat Tuesday! Today we eat, drink and be merry. For tomorrow we may diet.

Best Part of Waking Up...

Remember that Folger's commercial where "the best part of waking up is Folger's in your cup"? That couldn't be said any better. A good cup of coffee is far better than waking up to cat puke on the carpet one morning and then cat poop on the carpet the next. It's far better than waking up feeling like a truck ran you over in your sleep -- just because your body can't handle the strain of occasional snow-blowing (two days ago!).

Groan. This has all the makings of a Monday. Good thing I am armed with a cup of survival juice.

Supply Chain

It's been said "A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind." So when I look at my "craft room" -- a cross between a hurricane and a war zone -- I am put at ease knowing my mental health is completely intact.

I believe there are different levels of organization. And yes, I say that mostly to defend the conditions of the Scrap Cave (where I seek underground escape from reality to surround myself with the super-powers of creativity). Sure, I am ashamed that it looks like the remnants of Katrina. But I am a little smug that I can tell you where everything is located -- from a piece of paper with dragonflies to adhesive-backed buttons (which I actually needed today). So it's organized alright. Even if it's just an organized mess.

This came in handy today when Carter and I spent most of the afternoon working on a school project. He made these almost life-size cut-outs of a hobo and a spaceman that he will use to present a story he wrote. We cut holes where the faces should be so he can stick his face in there when he takes on that character. This was all his idea. Very cool. I was just a link in the supply chain.

We needed just the right papers, including a flannel "shirt" for the hobo and some holographic silver paper for the space dude, and of course, yarn for hair and the right adhesives to hold it all together.

Carter was in awe with my personalized craft store. "Wow, you have everything we could possibly need! It's like no matter what the project, my mom has the stuff!" He thanked me profusely and said it was a good thing I had everything "otherwise we'd have to be in the store 24/7 saying 'I need this... I need that... I need this...'"

Good point. Another reason I can't throw anything away. I'll just file it in my trusty organization system under "Someday."

On My List: Tooth Fairy, Mother Nature

I'm a little miffed at the Tooth Fairy, who apparently is playing favorites. Last week I suffered through a painful extraction and didn't get diddly. Carter lost a tooth last night (granted, it was a two-parter) and he woke this morning to find a presidential dollar under his pillow. Hmmm.

I figured it was probably going to be one of those days where things weren't going to make sense.

Since we got at least 4 inches of snow overnight (grrr), I had to get on the treadmill this morning since I couldn't walk on the roads that were just clear last weekend. A little later I followed the plow into town so I could sign Carter up for soccer. That seemed a little strange. Hope the snow is gone by the first game in April!

Carter and I then went grocery shopping so I could whip together some chili in the crockpot for supper. Now that made more sense than thinking of shin guards and grass stains.

When we got home, it was apparent we'd have to do some snow removal at some point today. Jim was at work so I was weighing whether I should wait until he got home for some help -- or get motivated, do it and surprise him. The other option, which I did consider thoroughly, was going downstairs to scrapbook awhile and then hope the snow melted by the time I was done. Since we don't have a bathroom in the basement, I was pretty sure I wouldn't last until April, so I opted to just blow the darn snow. At least Carter shoveled off the front deck and steps so I did have some help.

After that I did descend to the Scrap Cave for the day, coming up for air only to make my picks on ESPN.com and to get supper together. I now have my cropping packets together -- well the pictures anyway -- and next I'll have to find just the right papers and alphabets and stickers, etc. to go with each page layout. I'm gonna have to start tackling that tomorrow. I'm so tired right now I'm pretty sure my creative thoughts have already gone to bed. So has Carter and I'm not far behind.