Here, let me give you a hand...

For those of you who are still wading through my blog trying to find the winners of the Blankie Blogiversary Giveaway, here's a few hints:

August 2008
October 2007
April 2008
January 2009
July 2008
March 2009
June 2007

I'm not going to give it away completely, because I still want you to work for it and help you feel like you really earned this prize. So far, I can only offer congratulations to Savannah and T who actually did find their names, and congrats to Kaylynn for finding Pancake's winning announcement for her, but will someone help me wake Pancake up so she can claim her prize? Otherwise, Kaylynn, it's all yours!

Meanwhile, there's still four more waiting to be found.... so good hunting, and let me know when you've found them! And if you four STILL CAN'T FIND YOUR NAME, then I shall hold your hand and tell you where it is. Or better yet, I'll just hunt down your addresses myself and send them to you, and then won't that be a pleasant surprise after all the frustration of trying to find your name in the first place?

Good luck!

Drum roll, please.....

And now....

For the moment you've all been waiting for....

After adding up the 215 comments, and typing up all those little slips of paper with all your names for each of your entries, we have the results.

But I'm not going to tell you who they are just yet!

Oh, no, you still have some work to do. I've decided that the best way to highlight my two years of blogging and almost 200 posts is to send you all on a little treasure hunt. Hidden somewhere in the past 191 posts are the pictures of the winning entries. I'll give you a hint: they're hidden at the end of a post, so if you want to scan down from post to post and look at the end, you'll see a little blurb that I've added to seven different posts, announcing the winners. As soon as you find out who you are, email me with your address (or the address of the person you would like me to ship these blankies to), and your color preference (is there anybody out there who likes orange?).

By the way, thanks T, for your sweet comment -- "I don't do ugly" -- I'm going to have to make a t-shirt out of that!

I'll give you a day or two to try and find the winners -- and if you don't find your name, at least you got to read through all of my posts and got to know me a little better! Which means there are no losers at the Quack Shack -- everybody's a winner!

Oh, oh, oh, and lest I forget the GRAND PRIZE
(which I won't make you hunt for, because I know a few people who might wet their pants in the process):

The winner of the LadyBug Pastoral Repast Ground Covering is .....someone who evidentally crossed their fingers to some purpose!

Stephanie of Diapers and Divinity!

She totally deserves this blanket. Stephanie has her hands full with three busy kids, a busy house, a busy blog, and she has nerves of steel. She operated on a frog recently, people! Seriously, Stephanie is one of the most spiritually in-tune people I've ever known, and she always manages to find a little spirituality in those every day moments. I love her General Authority Book Club, and even though I haven't been faithfully reading each selected talk as I should, I still love stopping by her blog to fill my daily cup, as it were.

Thanks, Stephanie, for all your positive comments! You're an amazing woman, and I'm so glad to have you on my blogroll!

Okay, so today I cheated a little bit....
I haven't exercised YET, but I have a date
to go walking to the library this afternoon
with a friend of mine. It's a one-hour walk
round-trip , so that should count for something!

Time to get well and GIVE AWAY SOME BLANKIES!

It's good to be back in the land of the speaking. I have been sick as a dog for the past week, without a voice to sing with, let alone talk -- you know how hard it is for me to function if I can't sing? Well, let me tell you -- IT'S REALLY HARD. Even my kids noticed, and although they laughed at my froggy croaking all week (and all my feeble attempts to join in with the radio), I know they really missed my morning and evening serenades. Thankfully, today I actually felt good enough to get up, cook breakfast, send the kids off to school, and even WORK OUT ON THE ELLIPTICAL! And you know what that means...

I finally get to blog!

I've missed stopping by here every day, and I've had dozens of things pop into my head over the past week, but thanks to my intensely drowsy-ing (is there a better word for that?) medication, the blog topics popped right out of my head nearly as soon as they popped in. So it's good to be back among the land of the blogging, as well.

And just in time, too, since TOMORROW is the big day. I know you've all been dying to see who's going to get those beautiful blankies, and I've got some calculating to do to see how many comments you've all made in the past month, but before I do, let me just say that I really appreciate all the comments everyone has made over the past two years. I had no idea when I started this little online thingy how addicting it would become, or how therapeutic, or how fun to connect with old friends as well as "meet" people from all over the country and the world! So, thanks, everybody! Today's your last chance to leave comments for tomorrow's big Giveaway, so go to town and fill up my dashboard! (Let me know what your color preference is, too, by the way -- and I've got two yellow blankies left that look pretty much the same, so that makes seven -- and keep your fingers crossed for the LadyBug Beauty! Even though Krystal will probably hunt you down for it, you might get lucky!)



Oh, and here's a little P.S. --Just to shake things up a bit, in today's comment I'd also like to hear about your childhood blankie. I know you had one -- everybody had a blankie in their early years, right? Tell me what it looked like -- and for a bonus entry, post a picture of it on your own blog so I can take a look at it. I'm trying to scope out ideas for future blankies, and you never know when inspiration is going to strike!

1/2 hour Elliptical Training

I HATE FATE

Well, that's a strong word. But isn't just my luck that when I'm trying to blog responsibly, I start falling apart? Because now it's not just my knee (which has turned into a quarter sized little bruise, and nothing more), but now I have no voice, no lung capacity for breathing longer than five seconds without erupting into a barking cough, and I'm hacking up... all kinds of stuff that I won't describe for the benefit of those with sensitive ears. It's pretty gross, trust me.

But I'm fighting it.... I really am! I still got down on the floor this morning and did fifteen minutes of stretching and this fun little routine you do with a bouncy ball and a four year old, and then I collapsed and went back to bed for two hours! (Thanks, Roy!) I am convinced that Satan is trying to take me down mentally by using my body against me, making me think that I'm too out of shape to start getting into shape, but I won't let him win. Nasty little devil.

No applause, just send Kleenex.

FIFTEEN MINUTES.... stretching, etc.

Three steps forward, one step back

Disclaimer: The reason of my lack of posting these past three days has not been due to my lack of exercising.

On the contrary, I have been honest and true to my word, and I finally feel like I'm establishing a great habit. But wouldn't you know, I tried to renew my video from the library and there were EIGHT OTHER PEOPLE waiting for it. Since none of those people were me, or any near relative, that means I might have to wait a whole TWO MONTHS before I get my video back. Boo hoo! So I may have to actually break down and buy the darn thing. It's only $17.99 on amazon, for goodness' sake. But I almost have the whole tape memorized, and I could probably do it on my own, but I won't have the lovely Sedona, Arizona background to look at while I sweat and huff and puff and blow my weight down...

And then, to make matters worse, I injured myself yesterday. No, it was not by exercising (miraculously enough!). I was attacked by a vicious organ. As in musical instrument. It jumped out and smashed into my kneecap. My right knee cap. The only healthy kneecap I had left.

Let me explain: I am the ward chorister for sacrament meeting in our ward, and I have been doing this gig for over a year now, and not once have I ever injured myself in the line of duty. Yesterday, however, right after the opening song, I turned to step down into my seat, and wouldn't you know it, I knocked my knee right into the corner edge of that blasted organ. The sharp edge part right there. I sat down kind of stunned, and it hurt like the dickens, but I was a good sport and limped through the rest of the meetings yesterday and got home and iced it. Owie, ow, ow, ow!

I know, I know, it's not the organ's fault. I have always had a weak center of gravity, and I seem to have an affinity for injuring myself in the most obscure ways. Luckily, today the knee cap is okay, and I hardly even have a bruise...yet. We'll see if that lasts.

But on the Good News Front.....

PROM SEASON IS OFFICIALLY

OOOOVVVVVEEEEEERRRRRR!!!!!

Sheesh, what a mess it's been around here for the last six weeks! Ripped out zippers, shorn hems, and shrug jackets have been draped all over the house, not to mention the zillions of little threads my husband has been patiently vacuuming up after me. (Actually, most of them stayed in the shop, but since I am the Original Human Lint Roller, many of those nasty little goobers get dragged in anyway).

This last weekend was the pinacle of the season. Our stake puts on an Alternate Prom, where everyone who wants to get all gussied up can come and boogie with or without a date. Most kids just come in huge groups anyway, but it was a wonderful event and Sara had a great time.

In the meantime, we're down to 9 days until the blogiversary and I'm short three posts for 200, so I may be doubling up over the next few days just to catch up, so be on the lookout for all those extra chances to sign up and win a quilt!

SATURDAY'S EXERCISE: 2 HOUR WORK OUT WITH EMMA AT THE STAKE ACTIVITY DAYS' ACTIVITY
I'm counting Saturday's workout for today's blog post, since all I did today was: I WOKE UP AND ACTUALLY WALKED TO THE MAILBOX!
But the day is young, and who knows, we may actually go to the park this afternoon!

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck....

..if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

This is my kind of critical thinking.
I can handle questions like this, and the silly answers that emanate from them.

This question, however, threw me for a loop.

"What plan would you propose to ensure that every human on the planet would receive their recommended daily allowance of protein?"

Um..... oh, wait.... I know this one..... no, just give me a second....

Oh, but wait....there's more!
Part two of that question:

"What human traits would you have to change to make your plan possible?"

Are you kidding me? What kind of question is that?

Oh. High School Honors Science Class homework questions. Of course.

Seriously, I don't remember anything from any science class I ever took in my life.** I even had to take Physical Science twice at BYU, and barely scraped by with a D+ to pass. I have long since come to accept the fact that the left side of my brain was deformed in childhood or something, because I don't really do a whole lot of math, either, or any kind of thinking that requires deep, concentrated thought. But as I seem to have learned how to function using solely my right brain in life, I'll leave all these kinds of questions to the left-brainers to solve.

Okay, I know that's a cop-out. Especially when my genius, brilliant daughter comes to me and asks for help with her homework. To which I have to respond on a daily basis, "I have no idea. Go ask your dad."

So she does. And Roy launches into a thirty minute political discussion about how this question is obviously the result of a left-wing government trying to brain wash our children into thinking something-something about economics and blah-blah-blah about international law.

Seriously, my brain turned off about two minutes into the discussion. I had no idea what he was talking about.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??

I have to admit, I live in this little bubble that encompases entertaining my four year old, managing a household, maintaining a home business, making sure clothes fit people, preparing a lesson for ten five-year-olds every Saturday night, and sharing my innermost thoughts with the world (at least, 24 of you) here on my blog. And that's about it. (And when I put it that way, that sounds really pathetic...and almost depressing.)

Sometimes I wish I could be more interested in current events, or world news, or politics or anything, just so I could hold my own in an intelligent conversation with other adults.

But in the meantime, I know everything there is to know about My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake. Go ahead. Ask me anything. I KNOW IT ALL.....

**Actually, I remember one thing: Sophomore Biology Class. We had to memorize the Animal Classification order, and my friend (who's now a high school biology teacher) and I came up with this little saying:

"Keep People Completely Off Free Grass Samples."

Which is code for:
"Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species".

I've never forgotten that, and I never will. Next year, I'll be able to help Sara with this ONE thing for homework!

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
ONE HOUR WORKOUT TAPE!!
Yeeaaaahhhh.....talk about sore! I borrowed this DVD from the library, and I don't think I'm ever going to return it. I'm just gonna' keep on renewing it, week after week, until somebody figures out that they're never going to get it back, and they'll charge my account $17.99 and a set of Ginsu knives. I felt so good (in a painful kind of way) when I was done this morning, that I threw out half a plate of cinnamon rolls, without so much as single lick of that yummy, crystallized vanilla glaze. Sshhh! Don't tell Roy!

My Evil Plan Is Working!!!

How's this for an incentive? I've lost FIVE POUNDS over the weekend! Blog Grounding works, people!!! And that's including a whopping Mother's Day breakfast (which Sophie ate most of), and two plates of Ghirardelli Carmel Turtle Brownies (of which I only ate two 1 inch square pieces -- honest!). And I just checked my dashboard and realized I've got fifteen days until my blogiversary and 14 posts to go until #200, so at this rate...well, you do the math.

This truly was a marvelous weekend. Baby "A" made her appearance just two hours after I arrived to stay with her big sisters and brothers. Talk about your quick delivery! The hospital has these MARVELOUS birthing bathtubs that I got to soak in for two hours before Sophie was born, and I had told my friend about them, and she was so excited about relieving the pain of labor in a hot tub, but when she arrived at the hospital she was already at a NINE and didn't even feel it! That baby was READY!! It was such a delight to go to the hospital the next morning and get to hold that 8 lb 6 oz miracle and cuddle her and snuggle her and then hand her back to her mommy with the serene knowledge that I could still get a full night's sleep tonight! (I'm not going to crack any jokes about being baby hungry, which I'm NOT, for fear that I might tempt fate...)

Then later that day, we went to a baptism of a friend of Emma's, whose birthday is the same day as Emma, but for whatever reason, was not able to be baptized a year and a half ago when Emma was baptized. She's waited a very long time, and her baptism was wonderful. It was a very sweet experience to be able to be a part of that for her, and

And, as if that wasn't enough, Saturday was also the wedding day of a young woman who was my very first Beehive when I was the YW president nine years ago! She and her eternal companion were married in the Logan Temple and even though we didn't get to be there, I still sent her all my happy vibes and I can't wait to see her and her new hubby this summer when she comes "home" for a visit.

AND... to top that all off, an older sister in our ward who joined the church within a year ago went to the temple for herself Saturday afternoon.

It was a red-letter day for the Medford Third Ward, let me tell you. Hope your Mother's Day was equally wonderful!

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
1/2 HOUR TAPE
AND 15 MINUTE POWER WALK AROUND THE BLOCK CHASING A FOUR YEAR OLD

EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm getting in a second workout tonight, marching up and down a flight of stairs as I put three little tots back and forth to bed, wearing them down as they anxiously await the arrival of their LITTLE SISTER!! My very dear friend (and visiting teaching companion) is in the hospital, ready and waiting to bring her fourth child into this world, and I get the awesome responsibility of hangin' out with the big sisters and big brother-to-be, plus I get to be the one to spread the word as soon as the blessed event occurs!!


I love this job. It wasn't that many years ago that I had to make an emergency call to another dear friend to watch my three kids so I could bring my fourth child into the world, and now that the roles are reversed a little bit, it's SO EXCITING to be in this position, knowing that a baby is about to make it's appearance without any pain and anguish on my part (even though I feel a smidge of guilt that my friend gets to do that part). And tomorrow, I will get to hold a brand new infant and cuddle it and snuggle it and then give it back to it's mother and still get a good night's sleep.

I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER WAY TO CELEBRATE MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND!!!!!!

CAN YOU??!!

TONIGHT'S WORKOUT:
45 MINUTES OF STAIR STEPPING

You're hired

You already have a job, you say?

Tough. You're hired anyway. Especially since these two seem to be committed to their current employment, and don't foresee a relocation to Southern Oregon in the near future.

You, lucky readers, are now going to be my personal trainers. Aren't you thrilled? (Don't you wish you could actually get a paycheck for it, though?)

So, here's the deal .... my NEW New Year's Resolution (you all remember how I feel about those, right?) is going to be all about getting into shape. Yeah, yeah, old news, I know, but this time, I have a better incentive.

YOU.

It was my husband's idea. When I complained yesterday about my growing waist size (and get this, I NEVER complain about my weight gain to him. Ever. It's like the elephant in the room-- no pun intended--but it's there, and we both know we both need to get into shape), HE said, "Well, maybe, if you didn't spend so much time blogging, you might have time to work out!"

What? What???!!!! Wait a second... I think you may have something there, dear...

Because, honestly, I know I spend too much time on this here little computer. He wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know. Still, it's my sanity and my release from life's little realities some times, and everyone needs a break. But there must be moderation in all things, right? And when I think of all the time I sit here like a potato when I could be burning calories, I say to myself, why can't I do both?

So, from now on, I am grounding myself from the computer. Every day, I can't blog until I get my exercising done. And because I need validation and incentives like little sticker charts as accountability, I'm going to record my progress right here on my blog. So, if for the next six weeks, if you see a blog post without that little BLURB at the bottom, would you please send me a cyber slap? Or at least, cheer me on -- I need all the incentive I can get!

And just for my own information, what do you all do to stay in shape?

TODAY'S EXERCISE:
1/2 HOUR WORKOUT TAPE

Time to CRANK it up a little

The subject of the day is
MUSIC.

It is one of those things in life I simply cannot function without.

Like air.

I turn it on first thing in the morning, before I make breakfast, before I'm even awake, and then I can start my day. And it stays on all day long. And I listen to everything. We have a very eclectic collection on our itunes, as well as all the Pandora stations we love, and the wide and varying cds we have collected over twenty years or so.

But I realized something yesterday.... I admit that my strongest addiction is Broadway musicals, and I listen to them more than anything else, but lately I've been obsessed with one song in particular, thanks to a blogging friend who introduced me to it A WHOLE MONTH AGO and now I can't listen to anything else!!!

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH ME??!!!

Absoloooootely nothing!

There are worse things I could listen to....

But it also occurred to me that I've got a whole music mood thing going on. Actually, it occurred to my husband. He has a whole theory about me and my music - when he comes home from work and I've got the show tunes blaring, it means I had a good day. If it's Celtic Women or Josh Groban or any other easy listening stuff, then I've had a stressful day and it's entirely likely that I'm suffering from a headache. OR, if it's something really obscure, like They Might Be Giants or ABBA or something from our varied Kid's collection, chances are pretty high that Sue had a better than good day, and she's feelin' pretty loopy.

(And if it's Miley Cyrus, then it's a pretty good indication that the kids have wrapped me up in duct tape and hidden me in the crawl space.)

But, when all is said and done, there is one musical that I always turn to whenever I'm feeling sad or melancholy or even a little hormonal that always touches me to the point of tears. A year ago or so, a friend of mine told me about the Broadway Musical version of "The Secret Garden" which she had seen back in high school in the early 90's. I had heard about it, but never had seen it and didn't recognize the music from it or anything. She loaned me a copy of her CD, and I almost didn't return it! The story was familiar, and it was easy to see how the songs fit the story because of the narrative that runs through the music, but let me tell you, I was hooked! The music is so hauntingly beautiful.... and I can just imagine the stage set and what the costumes would look like... and I checked amazon.com and ebay and all those websites that have everything for sale, but nobody ever made a film version of the musical.

And I was sad.

Until today!
Would you believe, I finally found a clip on youtube? Why didn't I go there first?

So here's a glimpse of my new favorite musical. I hope you enjoy it.

And hey, I just saw my essay on Mormon Mommy Blogs! You may recognize it as a condensed form of a previous post, but go check it out anyway!

The secret to happiness

Some of you may have had a blank post show up from me on your blogroll this morning.

Don't ask me what happened to it.

I have no idea.

In fact, I don't even know what it was supposed to say. 'Cause I didn't write it, and I don't know who did. Has Sophie been watching me a little too closely, maybe?

Hmmm.....

But I will say, that with my 200th post and 2nd blogiversary coming up, there is a certain pressure to write something, and at the risk of just babbling on the keyboard, I do have something to say.

******************************

Today, I am just happy. Which is funny, seeing as how I woke up this morning with a nasty sinus headache that was on the verge of becoming a migraine (I LOVE allergy season, don't you?). But, thanks to my doting husband and a small handful of pharmaceutical treats and a lovely hot water bottle and another two hours of sleep, I am feeling like a new person. Don't you love the fact that we were born in this day and age of modern conveniences? I am such a wimp -- I have a very low tolerance for pain, so I'm SOOOO grateful for little things like acetaminophen and ibuprofen and all kinds of 'phens' that occasionally help me function on a normal level.

So why am I so happy?

Well... no reason, really, and yet there's lots of reasons. We had a great day in church yesterday, even though I spent most of it wrestling with wiggly Sunbeams and CTR5s -- I seriously came home from church all sweaty and gross! But it really started with testimony meeting, which was wonderful, and even that started with my Friday night date to the temple with Roy.

I love going to the temple. There's a feeling you get there that you just don't get anywhere else on the planet. And lately, with the frequency of our visits due to the increased genealogical activities of our girls, we bring that feeling home with us and we have been generally happier than we've ever been!

So today, as I face the mountain of Monday laundry that we've ignored all weekend, I'm going to crank up some really happy music -- right now, it's "Celtic Women; A New Journey", because I can sing along with that while Sophie does her version of Irish clog dancing and still get something done -- and I hope that you all have an equally productive, happy day!


Oh, and P.S. -- does anybody have a really good "taquito" recipe? And any tips on cooking tortillas in such a way that they don't just soak up the oil and stay all soggy and stuff? I'm just getting ready for tomorrow... we've got enchiladas on the menu, but I've got a hankering for some really good, authentic taquitos!

Living Vicariously through my Genius Children

I have a child prodigy on my hands.

A few years ago, Anne (and Sara) took piano lessons when she was 1st grade for a few months, but she didn't learn much beyond "Hot Cross Buns" and very basic piano theory. Our piano teacher at the time moved and we never seemed to find the means or another teacher so they could continue.

Did that stop Anne? Heck no. A few months ago, she up and decided she was going to teach herself.

She picked up her old primer books and whipped through those in an afternoon, and the next thing I know, she's playing hymns. With BOTH HANDS. Sharps and flats and everything.


I have so many mixed feelings about this. First of all, it has helped Anne so tremendously as her very own personal therapy. We've had this electric piano for a few years, and it just sits there collecting dust (except for the occasional Classical Concerts we play from the prerecorded songs), but now Anne can create music of her own that just warms my heart. It's so sweet to wake up in the morning to hear her practicing -- and while I'm cooking dinner -- and when she's supposed to be cleaning the bathrooms-- oh, wait, I'm not supposed to say that. Still, she loves that piano so much that I don't have to fight for computer time with her anymore!


HOWEVER....

I'm also insanely jealous.

I, too, took piano lessons when I was a child. At first, when I was really young, I shared a teacher with my older sister, who (in my eyes) was a Concert Pianist....and still is. She can play anything, and it makes me sick and I'm immensely proud that she has this amazing talent.

Honestly, I never had that much motivation to practice because: A) I was a tomboy and would much rather have been outside playing the dirt, and B) she was always on the piano! I never got the chance to practice!!

So each time I went to my lesson, I would come home with sore knuckles because my teacher would smack her pencil down on my hand every time I made a mistake. I think she even broke the skin once....

In any case, now I have a mental block. I did try to take lessons again when I was a little bit older (after my sister went to college), and I actually had a great teacher and a really good experience with her, but unfortunately it didn't last long before she moved away. I guess I just felt like Fate was telling me I would never play the piano well enough to get a calling in Primary.

I'm grateful that my daughter has picked up on this talent...if, for no other reason, to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming piano proficient! I know it's not too late, and I could still learn if I would just put my mind to it, but my instrument is the sewing machine and I can play a pretty good symphony on that instead!

(AND I can do a pretty mean rope twist for a hair-do! Doesn't Anne's hair look super cute?! Not to mention her adorable dimples?)