first catch

:: first we caught it ::

:: and then we ate it ::

And by "we" I don't mean the kids.

When we went apple picking we stopped at another little kitschy place to go fishing.  There was a petting zoo and trout ponds and they promised that even the novice fisherman will catch their first fish.  Sounded fun.  Sounded very "boy."  Sounded like something we needed to do.

And it was fun...for the kids.  For the parents it was a racket!  We walked up to the area where the trout ponds were located and the guy working the gate smiled at us and began to give us the fishing instructions.  Who knew there were so many instructions to...fish.

"You have to pay $5 a piece to enter the petting zoo and the trout pond area (and there's a quick 20 bucks) but you can come and go all day (how many pigs and goats can you pet?) and the fishing is free except it is not catch-and-release, so you have to buy whatever you catch and the average fish runs you about $10."

Geez! When the hell did taking your boys fishing get so damn expensive?

The trout ponds were stocked!  (And by pond, I mean a cement pond much like on the Beverly Hillbillies.)  They hand you a bamboo pole with nothing but a line and hook (all very Huck Finn) and a little bit of fish food.

The Cheese stuck his pole in the water and within seconds--and I literally mean seconds--he had caught his first fish.  (And there's another 10 bucks).  Then it was the Monkey's turn and again it was a quick catch.  (Which brought the fish total to 20 bucks).  I was happy to see that the boys were going to have success, but the Golfer and I looked at each other like, "This is going to cost us a damn fortune."

Within 15 minutes we had caught 8 fish.  Fortunately for us, 3 of them got away.  Thank goodness because how much trout can a family of four eat when two of the four don't eat fish?  However, we still had caught 50 bucks worth of fish; 50 bucks worth of fish that was going to have to make an 1 and half hour drive home.  Fun!  (Smiling with sarcasm.)

So 20 minutes and $70 into our fishing adventure, it was time to quit.  And lucky for us, the boys were satisfied with their catch.  But suddenly it all became worth it when it was time for the boys to watch the fish get cleaned.



That, of course, was their favorite part.  $70 worth of fish gut fun.

list 7.

12 reasons I hate political ads

1.  they are mean.  when was the last time you saw a "happy/friendly" political ad?  yeah, never.

2.  they never really say anything.  it's just a lot of blah, blah, don't for that guy, vote for me, blah, blah nonsense.

3.  all they do is talk about how bad the other guy is.

4.  the closer it gets to november, the more they're on.

5.  they are on so much, my 8-year-old said tonight, "Mom, I have to vote "NO" on Prop 23 cuz I don't wanna die."

6.  what the hell are these ads teaching my kids?

7.  did I mention that I think they're mean?

8.  they don't make me want to go vote.

9.  they make me hate politics.

10.  they make me hate politicians.

11.  i don't like to hate anything.

12.  but apparently all of our politicians hate each other. and I'm not even sure how much they like our country.

Since the beginning of the school year, I've asked the Monkey the same question, "How awesome was Kindergarten today?"

And every day he's given me the same answer, "I didn't get Dandy Dog today."

And I always say, "I guess you need to try harder to have dandy behavior at school."

You see, Dandy Dog is a special stuffed dog that travels home with kids who have had dandy behavior that day at school.  Dandy Dog travels to your home in his own suitcase, complete with a journal to write about all of the adventures that Dandy Dog has at your house while he's there.  And in Kindergarten it's a big damn deal.

Mrs. Fujino, one of the Monkey's wonderful teachers said that he was shaking he was so excited to finally get Dandy Dog.  I would have given anything to have seen that.

Here is Dandy Dog (on the right) meeting Woof Woof (on the left.)

Watching a little after school television.

Riding down the street on a Big Wheel.  Dandy's going to have lots to talk about when he goes back to school.

Oh what love we have for Dandy Dog.

I told the Monkey as we packed up Dandy to go back to school, "You need to keep having dandy behavior so Dandy Dog can come back and see us again."

To which he replied, "No, I'm good."

A lesson learned.

So the running isn't cutting it any more.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still running.  But losing weight via running only works when you don't reward yourself with a bowl of chocolate ice cream after you finish.

It's funny how that works, isn't it?

I'm kidding.  I don't really do that.  Well...not really.  Okay, I sort of do that.  Which made me realize that I needed more exercise in addition to my running.  So I'm back working with a trainer.  A different trainer this time.  A male trainer.  A trainer that isn't going to let me quit.  And that is such a good thing.

Last week during our workout he brought up a great point.  He talked about how many calories you burn in a typical 45 minute work out and how we sabotage ourselves with the things that we eat.  And you know, I'd never really thought much about it before.  I had the mindset of, hey I worked out really hard so that affords me to put whatever the hell I want in my mouth for the rest of the day.

But the reality is that with the workout that my trainer is putting me through, I probably burn about 500-600 calories in 45 minutes.  And that could quickly be ruined with one Grande Latte at Starbucks after I'm finished!  Which totally explains why spring of '09 I worked out harder than I ever have in my entire life for 6 months and only lost 12 pounds.  I wasn't being honest about what I was eating.  Working out that hard made me hungry, so I rewarded myself by eating whatever I wanted because hey, I was working out harder than I had every before and I deserved it!

Herein lies my Aha Moment--weight loss isn't about working out; it's about eating.  Is working out an important/necessary/required component?  Absolutely.  But let's face it.  I am not on the Biggest Loser.  I don't have time to spend 8 hours a day in the gym.  I have got to start paying attention about what I am putting into my mouth or all of this hard work will be for nothing!

The crazy thing is that I'm loving it--the working out with my trainer.  He is kicking my butt and I'm begging for more!  As a matter of fact, yesterday I willingly got up at 6 AM (the key word being willingly) to go and do an hour of cardio.  6 AM people!  Willingly got out of my cozy bed to go sweat in a gym!

Yes, it's quite clear that I have lost my mind.  Now if I would only lose some weight to go along with that...

Once again...there's too much fruit in the house.

:: apple picking, october 2010 ::

Take a load off.

:: the getty, september 2010 ::

Brothers.

:: five years ago ::

:: yesterday ::

Other than the Monkey having a little more hair and the Big Cheese wearing glasses, it's nice to see that not much has changed. (Except that they argue and fight and laugh whenever the other one uses the word "fart."  Other than those things...)

Decking Spooky Halls

Before and after football games this weekend I decorated for Halloween.

Tired of black and orange, I went with the cute decorations from Target that were black and green.  And the glittery black pumpkins were a must.

Still needing something spooky to complete the look, the boys and I made these cool spiders out of Styrofoam balls and pipe cleaners from the dollar store. 

I've always wanted to have a Halloween party for the boys.  My mom always had one for me.  The neighborhood kids all dressed up, eating hot dogs in our garage, the iconic moment when the dads grab their Solo cups filled with scotch and soda to take the kids Trick-or-Treating (hence the bottle of poison on the table.)  So my dining room table currently sits partially decorated, waiting for candy apples and finger foods.

 But the spider nest bowl is my favorite.  It adds that cute and creepy factor that all Halloween decorating requires.

Now if I can just talk my boys out of wanting a large inflatable spider for the front yard...