1-29-10 - Only In North Idaho Do They Have Parades In Winter

So for this evening we were going to the 1st Annual Priest River Bear Naked Winterfest where my friend entered his business, NBR Home Services, in the parade. I feel kind of sorry for the organizers of this event because it spanned two days and originally had a bunch of activities centered around snow. Like snow golfing, snow sculptures etc. We'll low and behold we are having a totally mild winter and there wasn't any snow to really speak of anywhere to be found.

In the afternoon we went over to NBR Home Services headquarters so the kids could help get stuff ready and help wash the truck etc. We'll most of them ended up driving around the NBR Hauler all afternoon.

 Maddie and Dakota helped Scott a bit with the lights (not sure if it was actual help but Scott was patient with them and allowed them to contribute.)

 

Tucker, the dog found a new buddy in Maddie since she was willing to throw the ball non-stop for him.

 

Of course all new ventures hit technical glitches on the first run. There were two this day:
1. a dirty truck and a half frozen hose...

 

At this water pressure rate it's going to take forever to get the job done.

2. The fact that aluminum and magnets don't work together. 

(Time for tape)

  

(Riley Dog checking out the work)

 

 They worked nicely on the truck though...

Jerry brought over a hose that wasn't half frozen. 

All the teenagers that had been previously hanging around made a hasty retreat for unknown far away places to avoid anything involving cold water and 30 degree weather. I have to add hand washing a vehicle in the middle of winter to be another one of those "only in North Idaho" events by the way...

Jerry and Scott tackled the truck washing job.

 

  

  

I printed out a flyer to go with the Press Release that was going out the next morning so that the community was really the ones to hear officially about NBR Home Services community service project to help 12 homeowners for free this year. (I'll be making a post about this by itself within the next day or so.)

Once the truck, trailer & flyers were done we headed to town and stopped at Burger Express to eat. Unfortunately, I left the camera in my vehicle so no dinner photos but I have witnesses we all ate within 5 feet of one another so this day counts :-)

Here's the photo of the truck and trailer lit up with Christmas lights. It wasn't done up as much as other entries but not bad for only finding out about the parade a week before then scrambling to just be there for the PR effect.

(Dakota helped Scott get it all plugged in)

 

(At least the inverter worked like it should)

 

There were actually a lot more people there than we even expected. I'm a chick so we have a hard time gauging distances or numbers of a crowd but there were a bunch of people around fire pits drinking the most nasty micro-brew I've ever had the displeasure of tasting. I still think I have the taste of it lingering.. yuck. 

 

You know only in North Idaho does anyone even consider having an event, including a parade, in winter. They ended up scrambling to adjust the event for LACK of snow. Most cities would be figuring out how to cancel because of bad weather. You just have to love it here!
~Jamie

1-28-10 - Dinner & a Photo Session

Earlier this day I called Jeannie and Earl to please come over and take some photos for me for my one year anniversary of my weight loss journey. I made a post here for anyone who hasn't read it yet: A Year Ago Today I...

Grandma Jeannie generously volunteered to throw together dinner so I could totally focus on not looking like a complete dork in the photos and she quickly had dinner on the table where we sat down to eat. Yeah, Grandma to the rescue again because this day in all honesty probably would have ended up in the "needs to be made up" category.

It only took two shots to get something workable this time. Papa Earl always has this "I have no idea what the hell she's doing and why" look on his face but at least he humors me.

One Year Ago Today I...

Weighed 92.5 pounds more and…

Couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without being winded…

Couldn’t bend over to tie my shoes without strategic propping involved…

Couldn’t imagine that life would be any different than it already was…

Today I…

Weight less than I did when I was 14 years old and…

Can walk long distances without trouble….

Can bend over to pick something up without feeling like I might fall over….

Can see great promise in the future things to come my way and already have a life that is totally different from before…

I would like to express my extreme appreciation and gratitude to:

JoAnne and Ray for making it happen and for their love & friendship…

Sylvia, Nadia-Tess and JoAnne, for being so willing to drop everything and without any notice come with me and make sure I was ok… Also, for still loving me after having to experience my wackiness, before & right after my surgery.

Bibi for her friendship and taking such good care of me in the days that followed the surgery…

The biggest thing I learned in the past year is although the ability to love and be loved is not a manifestation of losing weight, since it is really there all the time, it sure makes it easier to love others and feel worthy of being loved in return, when you feel better about yourself.

(2012 update - Here's a more current photo of me after a Tummy Tuck in October 2010.. This one was taken last summer.)

~Jamie

1-27-10- Imitating the Spaghetti Factory

Ok so I love the Spaghetti Factory's Creamy Pesto Salad Dressing... Tonight for dinner I made a sort-of version for pasta using a jar of alfredo sauce & some pesto and mixed it up.

Dumped it over the spaghetti noodles & threw some garlic cheese bread in the oven and it was all done in about 20 minutes. Yeah, because tonight I'm just wiped out for some reason.

Maddie set the table, Hunter & Boyce returned from Hunter's girlfriends house just in the nick of time and we sat down to eat.

Again, for some reason between my camera messing up and children taking turns on who's gonna look dorky, we had trouble in the photo area...

There's a Reason They Call It Sin Cake

Ok here's the recipe for Jessica's Sin Cake I made on Sunday and wrote about in this post: Even Better When I Don't Have to Cook Twice In One Day 

Sin Cake

Crust:
Take 2 sticks of butter (softened), 1 1/2 cups flour, & 1 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds). Mix together until all blended and press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake the crust for 15-30 minutes until light brown at around 350 degrees.

2nd Layer:
1- 9oz container of cool whip, 1-8oz pkg of cream cheese (softened), 1 cup powdered sugar. Mix together and spread over cooled crust.

3rd Layer:
3pkgs of Butterscotch Instant Pudding, 4 cups cold milk. Mix together for 3 to 4 minutes making sure you mix well. Pour on top of the 2nd Cream Cheese layer & spread out.

Top with either another layer of cool whip or I topped with a layer of real Whipped Cream since I don't care for cool whip all by itself.

Refrigerate for one hour or so.

*Warning... I served normal pieces about how large one would when serving a cake. No one could finish all of their piece (except Hunter) because although it is very good it is also very rich... In the future I would serve half the amount you normally would serve. People can always have seconds if they want more.

If you make this please leave a comment of how it turned out for you and what you thought of it.

1-26-10 - Is There Anything Better Than Memory Foam?

Today I actually was on top of getting dinner cooked and on the table. I had a chicken thawed out in the fridge that needed to be eaten so I popped that into the oven and we had Roast Chicken & Broccoli.

Boyce, the rented neighbor child, set the table. We are still working with him to put the forks on the left side where they belong but he was the only one to step up to the plate (so to speak) and get it done so he gets points for that.

One of these days I'll get all the children at the table to look good in the photo at one time. For now they are taking turns of who looks the best in each frame.

I'm now planted on my bed with my laptop... I'm in heaven to tell you honestly. I sat at my table all day working today so to be horizontal on my memory foam feels so good.

Is there really anything better than memory foam in the world? I have my doubts...

~Jamie

1-24-10-Part 2- Even Better When I Don't Have to Cook Twice In One Day

The kids and I went to a friends house for Dinner. Had Salad, Spaghetti & a really good sauce that was nummy.... Oh and garlic bread...


I made something called Sin Cake that my friend Jessica gave me to make for dessert. It was really good also. Very rich but good. (Anything that has 2 sticks of butter to 1 1/2 cups flour for the crust should tell you something right there.) I didn't take photos while making it but I'll post up the recipe she gave me.... Did I mention that it is REALLY good?


Anyway, the kids all sat at the table and there wasn't room for my friend and I so we sat not far away. I'm still counting this as a Make-up meal because we were all in the same room.


The photo is pending because it needs to be emailed to me. I took it with my friends camera.


It was a fun evening...


(edited 1-26-10 to add the photos)

Eric's slowly getting the hang of submitting to my photos.... got the other 4 trained already... it only took Megan one weekend :-)

1-24-10-Part 1- I Love It When I Don't Have To Cook

This morning Hunter cooked breakfast of Pancakes & Eggs. I wish I would have been able to record the sounds coming out of my kitchen for all of you but alas I didn't. I wasn't totally sure I wanted to even eat it but overall it turned out ok. Actually it's probably a good thing I didn't record it because I would have had to use the BEEP editor way too much. The pancakes were sticking on him and he was all frustrated. (It was funny to listen to though... )

His Papa John would have been proud because Hunter can make a pancake be about as black as his.... My dad's motto is "When it's smokin' its cookin'... When it's black it's done." All my friends remember my dad's pancakes with a can of corn added... they are legendary (not quite sure it's in a good way).

I also realized that I need to teach him how to use seasonings when cooking but that will come over time.

Madeleine set the table, I got off the phone, took the picture and then we ate (No Miss Molly did not eat at the table with us.. Hunter just wanted her in the picture).

1-23-10 Not According To The Plan But Still A Good Day

So you may remember that as I went to bed last night I had great intentions of waking up early and making breakfast to get a Make-up meal in. We'll that was just a nice thought because it didn't happen. By the time I lounged around etc today I finally got dressed around 2pm.

I left shortly thereafter and met a friend of mine to go to a movie. We saw "The Book of Eli" and spent some time talking afterward. I had a very nice time... I can only describe the afternoon as comfortable for lack of a better word.

Tonights dinner was just Maddie, Dakota & Myself because Hunter went to a movie with Skye & Boyce. We had a pizza. I'm hoping to be able to sleep better tonight so I can possibly get in breakfast tomorrow but I'm not going to promise at this point.

1-22-10 - A Miss Sort Of...

I stopped working today around 5pm and I only had two kids home again, Hunter went skiing with a Church group.

Maddie and Dakota were both asleep and I was going to follow them but decided that going to bed so early would be a bad idea. I wanted to go see a movie so I headed south to Sandpoint.

I got there to the theatre and got just this overwhelming feeling that I did NOT want to go to a movie myself so I didn't go. I tried to put other plans in place that didn't work out so I just ended up taking a really long drive down south and back home.

For those of you that know me driving and listening to music tends to be one way that I unwind and just think so it's not a bad thing. I'm much more relaxed right now and feel like I might actually be able to sleep some tonight.

Today's dinner is a miss but only because both kids were so asleep I just didn't want to wake them up. I'm going to try to do a couple make up meals over the weekend. If I sleep good tonight I have plans to cook breakfast tomorrow for my three kids and the one rented neighbor child that is presently snoring on my couch.
~Jamie

1-21-10 Early Preparation Leads to Success

Around 4pm I all of a sudden realized I was absolutely starving so I went down into my deep freezer and found some ground beef & some veggie pasta mix stuff from Schwans.

I started dinner cooking early and when Maddie & Dakota, plus two rented neighbor children got here after school they quickly set the table and we sat down to eat (Hunter was at wrestling practice.)

This will be a short boring post tonight because I'm not really in the mood tonight to be funny or anything.

1-20-10 - Score!!!

So I only had 2 out of the 3 kids home tonight. Hunter went over to Skye's house to study for finals.

I was in such a state of shock that he's actually caring about his grades (finally) and had what felt like a very long day at work that I didn't want to really eat anything. I decided that I wanted just a cup of soup so the two remaining children went to Chick n Chop for dinner.

I had this Mexican Corn Chowder which was good; Tasted like a taco. Dakota had grilled cheese and Maddie had a Mushroom Swiss Burger. It was worth it, I'm not even sure what food is here at the house and need to make a plan for the rest of the week but I didn't feel like grocery shopping tonight at all.

Right now I just want to find Motrin and lie down horizontal.

~Jamie

1-19-10- Almost but not Quite There

Today was close. Hunter got home from school and started to mix up a few Salad mixes I had in the fridge. The other two got home and I was trying to finish up working. Dakota played his famous disappearing act instead of getting his stuff off my table and by the time I got done working Madeleine had already fallen asleep downstairs.

Hunter was soon to follow so instead of eating the last of the Mac N Cheese everyone ate in shifts tonight when they were awake. I think everyone was tired from a fun weekend.

Anyway,this gets put into the needs to be made up section.

Here's some photos of the go-karts that Hunter, his Uncle & another friend raced this weekend. Dakota was a crew chief working on the karts.