I love TV. I grew up watching a lot of TV; I'm a Sesame Street baby. I like having the TV on as "background" noise. I also like having the TV as a way to distract Maggie when she gets up early or I want to do something without her hanging on my leg. However, I know we watch too much TV. And in never ending quest to find ways to save money, we started talking about getting rid of DirecTV. Yesterday, we bit the bullet and suspended our account for 6 months. Now, this does not mean we are giving up TV. In fact, we have Netflix, so Maggie is currently watching Bugs Bunny through the Wii and Rocky is watching the football playoffs on the over the air channels. But I believe, I KNOW, this will change the way we watch TV. I'm hoping it means no more mindless channel surfing, looking for something good to watch. We can go to our Netflix and watch a National Geographic documentary or some trashy movie we may have otherwise watched on Comedy Central. Or maybe it will push us to turn it off, turn on the radio or other music and do a puzzle or play a game with Maggie. Not that we don't do that now, but sometimes, I can get distracted by what's on TV and pay attention to THAT (and so can Maggie). It will also mean going to the internet for "The Daily Show" or a Food Network show, but that's something easily done.
Now, this isn't going to suddenly transform our budget and make life oh so easy. It will add a bit of a cushion and we can always change our mind. The boxes and satellite aren't going anywhere, yet.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A Riesling Tasting
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Sunday, January 2, 2011
Officially Seven Months Old
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Saturday, January 1, 2011
Jessie at 7 months
I can't believe my baby will be 7 months old tomorrow. We had a playdate at the Kriegers the other day and she had fun playing with their Dancing Mickey Mouse. She showed off her crawling skills, and I screwed up a video of her scrawling after the Mickey. She is also trying hard to stand up and has been crawling to the stairs and looking up as if studying just how she'll get up them. She is babbling more and more and we are hearing lots of "Da-da"s. She is loving her veggies and adores bread. She will grab it off our plates and chow down. She's not a big fan of fruits, but I'm sure that will come.
She's a wonderful baby, charming everyone she meets. She's not the little snuggler her sister was (and still is), though she does love to snuggle with me at night, and I love it too.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
2010 In Review
1. What did you do in 2010 that you've never done before? We did our very own vegetable garden!
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make any resolutions last year, but Maggie did. As far as I know, she kept it! I'll most likely make some for 2011, but not sure what yet.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I did! Jessica Fae joined our family June 2.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No.
5. What places did you visit? We did not leave the state this year, but did have a weekend away in Bozeman MT before Jessie arrived.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? A Minnesota Vikings winning season. Seriously, 2010 was a pretty darn good year that didn't lack for much of anything.
7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory and why? Jessie's birth is probably the only actual date I'll be able to recall years from how.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Other than giving birth? Going to the family camp at Luccock park with a 3 month old! And being able to give Jessie mostly breastmilk for her first 7 months of life (so far). I think she's only had 1 bottle of formula at daycare.
9. What was your biggest failure? This is a weird one, but I think my biggest failure was not keeping Maggie home with me more often while I was on leave this summer. While I was pregnant, I had visions of keeping her home once a week, going on play dates to the zoo or the Lake, and we just didn't do that enough. I'm hoping to rectify that next summer by taking more days off for just us.
10. Did you suffer any illness or injury? No. We have all been healthy this year, other than Maggie's bout with Scarlet Fever
11. What was the best thing you bought? Technically, I didn't buy it because it was free, but I'm really digging my Droid phone.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Maggie, who has been such a great big sister! She took the hospital stay in stride and has not shown any jealousy towards Jessie.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Wiconi has decided that more things in our house belong outside. She will take any stuff animal outside to play. She will take dog dishes outside, dumping any leftover dog food on the floor as she goes. I don't know that this makes me depressed, but it is rather appalling.
14. Where did most of your money go? Where it always goes: taxes, the house, and daycare.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Our first backyard movie night. Rocky bought an inflatable movie screen and projector. We watched "The Towering Inferno", enjoyed a fire and some shooting stars.
16. What song will remind you of 2010? It's not well known, but as it was written by Maggie, I can't help but put this one here.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. happier or sadder? Happier. 2009 was a rough year. 2010 was really pretty good.
b. thinner or fatter? Thinner, though to be fair, I did give birth this year. I am still losing weight though and am fitting into clothes I never thought I would wear again!
c. richer or poorer? I think we are the same.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Scrapbooking -- I have a scrapbook for 2010 that I haven't even started. At least I have written in Jessie's babybook. And the blog will help me complete the scrapbook.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Watch TV. Though this time of year, I always feel like I watch too much TV. We are considering getting rid of DircTV. We have Netflix now (which ROCKS) and most of the TV we watch is on the local channels.
20. How did you spend Christmas in 2010? It was a blessed Christmas!
21. Did you fall in love in 2010? Of course, we all fell in love with little Jessie. And I fell a little bit more in love with my husband.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Really enjoying "Community" and "The Big Bang Theory"
23. What did you do for your birthday? Some girl friends from church took me to lunch at Guadalajara and Rocky and the girls took me to Outback for supper.
24. What was the best book your read? "Ain't Gonna Paint No More"
25. What did you want and get? Healthy pregnancy and baby. A white Christmas. A Droid. Family visits.
26. What did you want and not get? A family photo
27. What was your favorite film? We saw 3 movies on the big screen this year. Rocky & I went to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" which was well done, though VERY long. We all went to see "Iron Man" before Jessie was born. It was the only movie we saw at the drive in this year. Maggie & I also went to see "Toy Story 3" in 3-D. I don't think the 3-D really added anything to the story, only $20 to the Disney coffers.
28. Did you make some new friends? Not necessarily "new" friends, but our friendships with our church group really grew this past year.
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? That is really really hard to say. This really was a good year. I've been looking back through my posts for ideas of how to answer these questions, and I don't know that this year could have been more satisfying. I could have done without the hail storms and robbery. But we were still able to enjoy the fruits of our garden and we learned to keep the garage door shut. Even so, I don't know that without those things the year would have been Immeasurably more satisfying. Anything missing from this year .
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? Casual, comfortable.
31. What kept you sane? Wine.
32. What celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Usually this would probably be Brendan Fraser, but not sure I'd drop everything for him anymore.
33. What political issue stirred you the most? Healthcare Reform. On this issue, I am, apparently, a socialist.
34. Who do you miss? Nala.
35. What valuable life lesson did you learn? Trouble doesn't stick around. The best thing we can do with our lives is enjoy it and each other.
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make any resolutions last year, but Maggie did. As far as I know, she kept it! I'll most likely make some for 2011, but not sure what yet.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I did! Jessica Fae joined our family June 2.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No.
5. What places did you visit? We did not leave the state this year, but did have a weekend away in Bozeman MT before Jessie arrived.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? A Minnesota Vikings winning season. Seriously, 2010 was a pretty darn good year that didn't lack for much of anything.
7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory and why? Jessie's birth is probably the only actual date I'll be able to recall years from how.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Other than giving birth? Going to the family camp at Luccock park with a 3 month old! And being able to give Jessie mostly breastmilk for her first 7 months of life (so far). I think she's only had 1 bottle of formula at daycare.
9. What was your biggest failure? This is a weird one, but I think my biggest failure was not keeping Maggie home with me more often while I was on leave this summer. While I was pregnant, I had visions of keeping her home once a week, going on play dates to the zoo or the Lake, and we just didn't do that enough. I'm hoping to rectify that next summer by taking more days off for just us.
10. Did you suffer any illness or injury? No. We have all been healthy this year, other than Maggie's bout with Scarlet Fever
11. What was the best thing you bought? Technically, I didn't buy it because it was free, but I'm really digging my Droid phone.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Maggie, who has been such a great big sister! She took the hospital stay in stride and has not shown any jealousy towards Jessie.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Wiconi has decided that more things in our house belong outside. She will take any stuff animal outside to play. She will take dog dishes outside, dumping any leftover dog food on the floor as she goes. I don't know that this makes me depressed, but it is rather appalling.
14. Where did most of your money go? Where it always goes: taxes, the house, and daycare.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Our first backyard movie night. Rocky bought an inflatable movie screen and projector. We watched "The Towering Inferno", enjoyed a fire and some shooting stars.
16. What song will remind you of 2010? It's not well known, but as it was written by Maggie, I can't help but put this one here.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. happier or sadder? Happier. 2009 was a rough year. 2010 was really pretty good.
b. thinner or fatter? Thinner, though to be fair, I did give birth this year. I am still losing weight though and am fitting into clothes I never thought I would wear again!
c. richer or poorer? I think we are the same.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Scrapbooking -- I have a scrapbook for 2010 that I haven't even started. At least I have written in Jessie's babybook. And the blog will help me complete the scrapbook.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Watch TV. Though this time of year, I always feel like I watch too much TV. We are considering getting rid of DircTV. We have Netflix now (which ROCKS) and most of the TV we watch is on the local channels.
20. How did you spend Christmas in 2010? It was a blessed Christmas!
21. Did you fall in love in 2010? Of course, we all fell in love with little Jessie. And I fell a little bit more in love with my husband.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Really enjoying "Community" and "The Big Bang Theory"
23. What did you do for your birthday? Some girl friends from church took me to lunch at Guadalajara and Rocky and the girls took me to Outback for supper.
24. What was the best book your read? "Ain't Gonna Paint No More"
25. What did you want and get? Healthy pregnancy and baby. A white Christmas. A Droid. Family visits.
26. What did you want and not get? A family photo
27. What was your favorite film? We saw 3 movies on the big screen this year. Rocky & I went to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" which was well done, though VERY long. We all went to see "Iron Man" before Jessie was born. It was the only movie we saw at the drive in this year. Maggie & I also went to see "Toy Story 3" in 3-D. I don't think the 3-D really added anything to the story, only $20 to the Disney coffers.
28. Did you make some new friends? Not necessarily "new" friends, but our friendships with our church group really grew this past year.
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? That is really really hard to say. This really was a good year. I've been looking back through my posts for ideas of how to answer these questions, and I don't know that this year could have been more satisfying. I could have done without the hail storms and robbery. But we were still able to enjoy the fruits of our garden and we learned to keep the garage door shut. Even so, I don't know that without those things the year would have been Immeasurably more satisfying. Anything missing from this year .
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? Casual, comfortable.
31. What kept you sane? Wine.
32. What celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Usually this would probably be Brendan Fraser, but not sure I'd drop everything for him anymore.
33. What political issue stirred you the most? Healthcare Reform. On this issue, I am, apparently, a socialist.
34. Who do you miss? Nala.
35. What valuable life lesson did you learn? Trouble doesn't stick around. The best thing we can do with our lives is enjoy it and each other.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
A New Toy
Yesterday, Rocky texted me and asked if I would like a Droid phone. Um, let me think YES. He then told me about this awesome sale at Best Buy: a FREE Droid (or similar phone) if your contract was up or if you were eligible for a phone upgrade, which I was. So today I met Rocky at Best Buy -- left the girls at home with Mom and thanked myself for taking a few extra days off this holiday. Now I'm having fun checking out the features and downloading apps, which includes a Blogger app! This is Frickin sweet. Sale lasts until Saturday so get to Best Buy if you'ce wanted a Droid or other Smart phone, but have been putting it off. Sales don't get much better than FREE.
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