First off, who is tramadol and why does he keep trying to post comments on my blog?  Seriously, every comment I get is a huge list of links for tramadol and phentermine.  Please, does this work?  I mean, COME ON.  Find a legitimate way to advertise, people.

Okay, now on to the real blog post.  Happy 2008!  We did nothing for New Year’s Eve this year.  Well, we packed up 2/3 of our house and put it into storage.  Yes, manual labor for New Year’s.  But, it’s a giant step toward putting our house on the market.  Our plan is to get the house ready, sell it, and move into an apartment until we can find our dream house.  Specifically, a one story house that is smaller than the enormous monster we have now.  I swear half the house is not used.  What a waste.

So, that leads to resolution #1.  Yes, I always make resolutions.  Later, I’ll have to post about how I did with 2007’s resolutions.  But, ahem, here we go:

New Year’s Resolutions for 2008

1.  Sell our house, and move into our dream house.

2.  Make and sell crochet/knit patterns (at least 5).  (I have 2 made that I just need to type up and list on etsy!)

3.  Make most of my Christmas gifts for this year, and start now!

4.  Start eating more healthfully and naturally.  (this is my sneaky way of also saying Lose Weight)

5.  Continue working out and getting in shape.  Try to get to the gym at least 3 times a week.

I’m sure I’ll think of more later, but that’s it for now.  I was reviewing my resolutions from 2006.  Ha!  One of them is to find my passion in life.  How much time did I have on my hands?  I don’t think I’ve once wondered what my passion in life is since I had Nate.  Either I don’t have time to wonder anymore (or energy) or, and this is more likely, Nate IS my passion in life.  It still amazes me how much I love being a mother.  Even when Nate is at his most toddlerish (i.e. being a big ol’ pain in the patootie), I love being with him.  Speaking of toddler behavior, he has started throwing tantrums.  He cries, and then bends over and slaps the floor with his hands.  Then, he signs that slapping the floor with his hands hurt.  And then he does it all over again.  Nate is also learning how to wrap me around his little fingers.  He charms his way into getting more milk.  He grins at me and does the sign for milk.  It’s almost like he’s flirting with me, and it gets me every time.  He is going to be trouble.

I finally picked up my knitting needles again.  I think I needed a break from digital scrapbooking and all that crochet I did before and for Christmas.  I decided to knit up a cozy for the digital camera that Michael gave me for Christmas.  He gave me this cute pink camera to carry around in my purse so I can always be ready to take pictures of Nate.  I use it constantly.  I don’t know why it’s different than the camera we already have.  Maybe it’s because it’s pink.  So, I had to knit up a cozy for the camera to protect it in the jungle that is my purse.  I think it turned out pretty cute.

I used Lily Sugar and Cream 100% Cotton Yarn in a Turquoise, Purple and White colorway. I knit this baby up on Size 8 needles (5mm). The dimensions were 8 inches wide by 5 inches high. I knit the fabric and then folded it in half and stitched the bottom and side together.

The pattern is simple. I cast on 40 stitches. Then, a simple rib stitch: knit 1, purl 1 across, every row until you reach 5 inches high. Bind off and stitch together. Sew in ends. Then, I cut three piece of yarn, and braided them together. I put both ends through the cozy and, voila, a tie. Easy easy easy. It could have been a little smaller and tighter. So, if you want a tighter, more form fitting cozy, you can reduce the measurements by 1/2 inch, maybe even 3/4 inch. Oh, and Happy New Year!

So, I finally come and moderate my comments, right?  I have 39 spam comments.  Thirty-nine!!  Why do these people think this is a good idea?  I know I rarely read other people’s comments, and I certainly pay no attention to spam comments in other people’s blogs.  Does this actually work?  I guess it must bring some readers in or else they wouldn’t keep doing it.  My favorite right now are the ones with gigantic lists of links for drugs and porn.  I get lots of those.  I guess I should say that I am their favorite, eh?

Okay, enough spam.  Time for POOP!  Nate almost pooped on the potty today!!!  He was sitting on the floor and took off his diaper, and pee’d on the floor.  So, I get up to get some wipes to clean it up.  He starts to squat and I ask him if he needs to poop on the potty.  Squeals of delight ensue, and he runs for the bathroom.  I sit him on the potty.  He plays.  Babbles.  Plays.  Alright, I think to myself, he is not going to poop.  But he looks really cute, and if I get a picture of this, I can use it to torture him when he’s older.  Good plan, right?  So, I go to get the camera.  And when I get back, three seconds later, he’s standing, and there’s poop on the floor!!!  If I had been a little more patient, Nate would have pooped on the potty!!!  The naked child streaks past me, squealing, and runs to the foyer - where he poops some more!  I get wipes and clean the floor and him.  Nate runs into the other room to play and, yes, more poop!  Where does it all come from?  So, an exciting morning for us, here at the asylum. 

We’ve got to go get ready for the Children’s Halloween Parade at my husband’s workplace.  The kids get to dress up in their costumes and walk around the room.  Nate is a dragon this year.  I can’t wait to see him in his costume.  But, right now, he’s at the top of the stairs screaming.  Gotta run! 

this blue and pink design.  I’m going to have to switch up some colors for fall.  I am so ready for fall.  I thought I smelled it in the air last week but I was just imagining it.  I know this because the next day it was 100 degrees outside.  Sigh.

We have a full weekend.  Nate has a birthday party to attend today.  A swimming party!  And tomorrow, we are going to a friend’s house to play poker.  Michael is going to make his amazing cheese and meat dip that I’m sure clogs your arteries immediately upon touching your tongue.  But, oh my, is it yummy!

Speaking of fattening stuff, I seem to be stuck at 20 lbs. lost.  I have lost my motivation somewhere.  Have you seen it?  I have been losing and regaining these last 2-3 lbs. and am getting frustrated.  I can’t stick to my “healthy eating plan” for more than a day, if even a day.  I feel yucky, too, because I’ve gotten used to eating healthy and now I’m eating quite a bit of junk.  I want to feel good.  I want to feel good.  I want to feel good.

And, speaking of junk…I’m reading Fast Food Nation.  I’m not a big fan of non-fiction, but this book in completely interesting.  I’m so going to have to check out Nate’s school (when he’s old enough to go) to see if they have any contracts with fast food or soda companies.  Homeschooling is sort of looking better every day, LOL.

We are home from vacation!  We had a great time.  Michael and I are going to the dentist today, yuck.  I haven’t been in almost three years!  I used to go every six months.  I am dreading it.  Anyhoo, I will write about vacay in a bit and post some pictures.  And then scrapbook them!

Okay, it’s been over a week now.  I am ready for the cold to finish up and leave me alone!  Although, I have to say that I greatly appreciate the sultry, hoarse voice I’ve been sporting for the last few days.  Sexy! LOL.  Nate, thankfully, seems to mostly be feeling better.  I think.  It’s hard to tell with him sometimes.  He woke up at 6am this morning.  I went to bed at 2am.  Ah, four hours of sleep.  I’m rarin’ to go, LOL.  I am determined to work out today, though.  I didn’t do any cardio last week - I did have two personal training sessions, though.  I had to cancel the one I had on Friday.  I felt so fatigued that I didn’t think I would make it through. 

Nate is getting cuter every day.  He has started spinning.  He will spin until he’s dizzy and almost falling down, or even to the point of falling down.  It’s hysterical.  He is listening very well, too.  I will ask him to leave something alone or put that back and he will usually do it.  Although, then he will start messing with the something again or take the something back out.  But, he does listen, LOL.  He is really good about handing me things when I ask - things he is usually not supposed to have.  Nate has also started trying to walk up and down the stairs rather than crawl.  This makes me REALLY nervous.  He is also trying to climb things, and he’s almost got it.  My favorite new behavior, though, is that he will “talk” on the phone.  I can hand him the phone and the caller will say something, Nate will listen, and then he will babble something back to the caller.  It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! 

Nate and I have been sick for a week now, sigh.  This is a weird cold.  Mostly, I have a sore throat/itchy throat and major fatigue.  I am only now getting the icky symptoms - after 5 days.  Weird.  Nate actually seems to be feeling a lot better, thank goodness.  I am finding it difficult to sleep, though.  I wake up after a few hours, coughing, and then can’t get back to sleep.  Nate and I got up before 6am today.

This weekend, Michael and I are going to prepare for a garage sale next weekend.  One more step toward getting the house ready to sell - and maybe get a little more cash for our vacation.  We are excited to be going to the beach and to have most of my family be able to come visit us while we are there.  We finally get to meet my cousin’s baby (she’s almost one!).  I’m very excited!!

Nate is growing up so fast.  Everyone will be so surprised when they see him.  Some of my relatives have never met him, but those that have, all saw him before he was 1 year old.  He’ll be 18 months when we go on vacation, a real toddler.  There’s a big difference between that little baby and the little boy he is now.  He just brought me some goldfish crackers he found in his diaper bag so he could have a snack.  He just thrust his empyt sippy cup at me, too.  He wants more milk but we have reduced his milk drinking to one cup in the morning and one before bed.  I guess I should go make him some breakfast.

Wow, it’s been forever since I’ve blogged!  It’s been a rough couple of months.  Back problems, two colds and food poisoning and a teething toddler.  The fun never stops at our house! 

We have recently decided to turn off the television.  Michael and I find ourselves zoning out at night watching nothing in particular.  So, unless there is something specific on that we want to see, like Heroes, the tv stays off.  I am also not turning it on during the day.  Nate was getting way too interested in watching commercials, of all things.  And, tv has been officially linked to causing ADD and ADHD in children.  So, the tv is off.  We are also not going to watch videos on the computer anymore.  Nate LOVES watching music videos on the computer - Sugarland is his favorite.  But, it worries me, so no more. 

It seems that we are making big changes in the family this year.  I’ve given up drinking diet coke, a serious addiction for me.  Michael and I quit drinking alcohol on a regular basis.  We will still have the occasional glass of wine, but very rarely.  I think I’ve had alcohol maybe three or four times this year.  I don’t really miss it.  I’ve joined the gym and have a personal trainer.  I’ve seen a physical therapist for my back and discussed the effect a pregnancy would have on my back.  I’ve joined Weight Watchers again and lost almost 20 lbs. already.  Now, it’s time to make some new resolutions, since I’m actually doing well on my original ones!

Okay - here goes:

1.  Stop watching tv.  We have discussed canceling our cable service and even getting rid of our tvs.  We are nothing if not extreme, LOL.

2.  Patience, patience, patience. 

3.  Go to bed at 10pm.  This is a hard one since Nate goes to bed between 8:30-9:30pm.  No “me” time.  But, if I get a good night’s sleep, I can skip napping while he naps and have “me” time then. 

4.  Get the house clean and keep it that way.  We want to sell our two story house and find a smaller, one story house.  So, the house has to be neat so it can be shown and sold.  This is probably my hardest resolution.

Hmmm, well, I thought this would be a good idea, but I can’t really think of anything else.  I can’t make a resolution to craft/make stuff because I just don’t have the time with the munchkin running around the house. 

As I said, we are getting the house ready to be sold.  Michael and I cleaned out the guest room and it’s almost “staged.”  Next is the craft room and then the game room - and then all those rooms we actually use.  I don’t know how I’m going to have the house stay ready to be shown to potential buyers with Nate as messy as he is - not to mention me and Michael, who are slobs. 

Anyhoo, I will try to post more frequently, blah blah blah.   

Jessica Sprague, of Sprague Lab, put out a challenge to list the top ten things that are making us happy right now, us being the totally rabid fans of her blog.  So, here goes:

1.  Weight Watchers is totally making me happy today, and yesterday, and the day before that.  I am so tired of being overly voluptuous!  WW is helping me become under-voluptuous. 

2.  A holiday for my husband is making me happy because Nate and I actually get to see him!  Woo hoo!  He’s been working a lot of hours the past two weeks and we’ve both been missing him bunches. 

3.  Nate, as always, is bringing on the happy because he is just so darn cute.  Michael and I were playing Starcraft today and then we realized that it was way too quiet.  Nate had pushed the chairs out from in front of the stairs and was halfway up!  He was incredibly proud of himself, standing there, smiling from ear to ear.  Or, he was just really happy to see us, because, you see, he’s mastered the going up of stairs, but not the coming down of stairs - and he was stuck!  Michael and I rescued him, after many pictures.  Nate was also huggy huggy kissy kissy today, which always makes me happy.

4.  I’m happy because my friend, D, had a baby on Thursday night!  A little girl - and everyone is well and happy.  Hooray!  Baby goodness!

5.  This cute bear, Amigurumi Bear Unicorn Sprite by Amigurumi Kingdom, on flickr.  She also sells on etsy, here.

6.  I am loving this afghan by Alicia Paulson.  The colors make me happy!

7.  And, also having to do with Alicia Paulson, the Granny-Along.  I just finished a blanket for my friend, D (see above), and my hands are still recovering.  But when they are in shape again, I am so joining this!

8.  These little felt animals are making me happy: here.  Those tiny, perfectly even stitches astound me.  And they are so cute!!

9.  Sales!  There are all sorts of good scrapbooking sales this weekend!  And I actually have a little bit of money to spend!!  I won’t go crazy, I won’t go crazy, I won’t go crazy!  Okay, I probably will.  I should probably scrap instead of shop, but what fun is that?

10.  And last, but not least, we have a new mattress!  Our old mattress had seen better days.  We had two huge dips and a giant hump in the middle.  So uncomfortable!  So, last weekend, we went out and spent hours trying new mattresses and found one we both liked.  We took the bed frame down last night and just put the box springs and mattress on the floor.  On the bed frame, I needed a step stool to get into bed.  The top of the mattress hit me about chest high.  It’s SOOOO comfortable.  And no more creaking or moving since it’s on the floor!  Hooray!

Okay, so I’ve stuck to two of my goals for 2007 so far.  I haven’t had alcohol or diet coke since December.  I think, unfortunately, that I’ve replaced diet coke with diet dr. pepper.  Water, even soda water with lime, gets old and I need some variety.  However, eventually, I want to cut out any diet drinks - mostly because of the artificial sweeteners.

So, on to goal #3 (and maybe #4).  I joined Weight Watchers Online on Sunday.  I’ve been doing well so far.  We had hamburgers for dinner tonight with some homemade pasta salad, that was surprisingly tasty.  I’ve also been walking.  Sunday, Michael, Nate and I went to the park and took pictures in the bluebonnets - and walked about 45 minutes in the process.  And today, Nate and I took a nice 30 minute walk around the neighborhood.  It was hot and I got all sweaty - oh, wait, I’m southern.  Correction.  It was hot and I began to glisten.  Hee!  Nate got all red cheeked, too, and all he did was sit in the stroller!  Lazy child, LOL.

Here is one of the pictures from the park - in a recent scrapbook layout.  Michael and Nate walking together in the bluebonnets - oh, so sweet.  I might have to enlarge this one and put it on the wall.  The picture, not the layout.

Credits Here.

And this is another one of my recent favorites, Blue Boy:

Credits Here.

And, last but not least, Get Out of the Cabinet!

Credits Here.

I got out of my funk last posting by cleaning the bedroom.  I knew it would work.  I just had to get off my patootie.  I am glad I did.