How the Wii Exercise Program Is Going

In a word... I guess.... Average.

Of the 20 days of August, so far I've done my exercise on the Wii Fit 10 days out of the 20. Not great. Not awful. Just average.

My excuses. Yes, I have them and it's my blog, so I'll list all ten of them.

1. I couldn't get motivated to start the first day, so I did floor exercises.

2. My thighs were too sore after trying the strength training thigh exercise for the first time.

3. The cat was sleeping next to the balance board. You've heard the old adage, "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", we'll it's the same for cats. I thought it best not to disturb him.

4. The batteries died in the balance board and it took me two days to go buy new ones.

5. See Above.

6. My Mom was visiting & it was suppose to rain in the afternoon, so we went shopping in the morning (instead of exercising) and it didn't rain in the afternoon, so I didn't exercise. You can never depend on the weather. Lesson learned.

7. I couldn't wake up even after three cups of coffee.

8. I had to finish a book and get it sent out via Book swap.com; there was no time to exercise that morning. It was a deadline I had committed to.

9. Hot Coupon World was way to much fun one morning and I used all my time on the computer, no time to exercise.

10. No electricity. Well that's a lie, but I figure no one will read clear to number ten anyway.


There are ten more days left to go. I'm challenging myself to exercise each and every day of the ten remaining days.

I'm going to bed now to rest up for the morning. Wish me luck!

*Update Blogging Award Passed On

Part II of the blogging award is to pass it on to 10 people. Here is my list:


Small Things With Great Love


Autism In A Word


Meandering Through No Longer



Mountain Top Memories


The Sharp Scissors Lady


Down to Earth


Kelly's Korner


Pioneer Woman

Subjects of interest included in these blogs are: photography, adoption, recipes, couponing,christian living, life with a new baby, living with autism and more.

A Blogging Award Just for ME & (9 other people)

Christy over at I'm Especially Fond of You! gave me this AWARD.





I have to admit that when I first saw it on her blog, I thought it said Honest Crap. Well sometimes it is on my blog and a few others I've read, but Christy's blog is pretty down to earth; I'm sure you'll be blessed if you check it out. She's an amazing Mom to four little kids. Her blog is named after the statement mentioned in the book "The Shack", which is a novel of one man’s encounter with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and how he was healed and transformed as a result of it. The phrase “I am especially fond of you” is a phrase God uses several times throughout the book describing His love for all of his children. Christy says that that description of how much God loves his children was a wonderful reminder for her during such a difficult time in their lives when their little one Emma was diagnosed with Batten's disease. Click on the "I'm Especially Fond of you" link above to meet Emma, Christy and the rest of the family.

Thanks Christy for thinking of me.


I have to say 10 things about myself and then pass this award on to 10 other people.


1) To say that I love children is an understatement. They are a huge pick-me-up each and every time I am with them. I don't care if they are fussy, dirty or sleeping; I just love being with them.

2) I'm seriously addicted to popcorn, it is my comfort food. When I'm cremated I want my loved ones to throw in some popcorn, so I can go out with big bang or at least lots of little ones.

3) I'm an avid reader on all things autism. I pray answers will come soon for all those in need of them. Please God so many families are suffering. And continue to use me to help those in need for as long as I am able.

4) I find that the older I get the more I enjoy a good laugh, maybe because I find there is less to laugh about.

5) I love photography. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Just once in my life I'd like to take a picture that would leave people speechless. My favorite things to photograph are children and nature.

6) Things that annoy me: Litter, people that drive & talk on their cell phones, people that that repeat the word "hello" on the phone if there is a slight pause in conversation. Ugh! That one kills me. People who talk trashy in public!

7) My favorite things to do: Visiting my kids & grandkids, blogging, couponing, photography, eating out, reading, hugging my husband, playing with my dog, making crafts.

8) This is embarrassing and weird. I talk to myself, but only if there's someone to listen to me. If I'm all alone I don't ...so does that really count? I'm so confused.

9) I come from a long line of hunters, fishers, trappers & gardeners. I don't hunt, fish or trap, but I do love to garden; both flowers & veggies. I have to admit that the heat gets to me though, so I've cut way back compared to what I used to plant and maintain.

10) In my younger days: I cloth diapered and breast fed my four girls and made my own baby food. I had an organic garden, canned and froze my own veggies, hung clothes on the line and cooked from scratch. Those were the good old days! Boy times have changed!

The second half of this will be in a separate post. I will choose 10 people that deserve this "Honest Scrap Award" and pass it onto them.

The Price Book

There are several ways to save on your grocery budget -

1) The Planner - This is the shopper that menu plans for the week, then sits down and makes a list of ingredients needed, then shops for those things only, to help them stay on a budget.

2) The Flier Shopper - This is the shopper that buys what is on sale in the flier and plans their meals around those items they have purchased.

3) The Stockpile Shopper - This is the shopper that collects a stockpile while the items are at their lowest possible price.

What kind of shopper are you?

I started 20 years or so ago being a planner, then I became a flier shopper several years ago. Last year I became a stockpile shopper, but I haven't been totally effective because I didn't have a price book.

What's a price book you say? I'm glad you asked. Mine is a mini binder with note cards in it arranged alphabetically. On each card I wrote down an item I buy regularly; there is a place to write the price, the amount (oz./size) and price per item. So yesterday I went to Meijer and started writing down this information for items I buy on a regular basis. When I find it on sale - I will write down when I bought it, how much I paid, and the price per item. This way I will know when to stock up; when it hits the rock bottom price. For example....General Foods International Coffee is regularly $2.99 for a 4.4 oz can, which is .68 cents per oz. Yesterday it was on sale for 1.98, so it was only .45 cents per oz. I had a coupon for $1.00 off two cans, so I really only had to pay .33 cents per oz. That's my new rock bottom price, so when it hits .33 cents per/can I should buy at least 6 cans to last me until it goes down to the price again. Groceries usually follow a 12 week cylce, so you will know roughly when it will go on a major sale again.

Can you see how a price book can help you get more for your money at the grocery store? Why pay full price? Yes, initially it takes some work to track the prices, but once you have them, you'll be reaping the benefits with very little effort at all.

I also went to Costco yesterday, but that's another post. So little time, so much to save!

IKEA

I took a picture of this wall arrangement I saw at an IKEA we visited in North Carolina. Did I ever tell you how much I love Black & White photographs? Sorry, unless your a new reader I'm sure you know by now... I want to make an arrangement like this on my wall by my bookshelves. Hence I recently tried to order some matching frames from Kodak and guess what? They didn't have matching black frames in 8 X 10's and 5 X 7's. I was so frustrated, I had convinced myself that surely it was just me that couldn't find them on their online site, so I called for assistance. Can you believe it? Not a single matching black frame in different sizes, it's not like I'm try to match exotic woods or anything like that. I guess I'll try again in a couple weeks. I already have several of my pictures chosen (that I have photographed myself)....I'm so excited.

This picture was also taken at IKEA. Oh! to be rich. I would love to have these flowers on the walls of my bedroom or at least to have them in a room for when my granddaughters come to visit. Isn't it adorable?

Flower Pics

Queen Anne's Lace - I've always loved this wild flower, even as a little girl.
I love this photo best in black & white.



Balloon flowers ready to pop open.



Balloon flowers are also known as Chinese Bellflower or Platycodon Grandiflorus.
They come in blue, pink & white. These would be considered blue.


Torch lilies, slightly past their prime for taking photos of them; the bottoms have already turned grayish/brown.


A Munchkin in my flower bed, amongst the torch lilies, bea balm, coreopsis and Day Lilies. If that had been one of my own kids way back when I'm sure they would have been in BIG trouble. A grand child can do no harm.

What will they think of next?

Apparently this product has been out for awhile, but today was the first time I'd ever run across it. I found the article in my new ALL YOU magazine. Band-Aid friction block is used to prevent nasty blisters from developing where straps or shoes rub and irritate your skin.



Ashley had a connection to make on her way back to Mexico and due to a flight delay (because of weather issues), she ran through the airport and ended up with some blisters on her feet. She made her connection, which had also been delayed, but apparently she could have also avoided the blisters had she applied some of this ingenious product on her feet. What will they think of next?