I love you Abrielle! :D I guess I'd better get consistent about these blog posts before she goes ninja on my behind... That would hurt, she's pretty strong.

As requested, here are some previously-unseen-by-Abrielle pictures of Cody and I:


Cody and I making faces in the car (his parents were driving)


Cody riding an octopus while we played miniature golf with Tycee and Rich for Cody's birthday


Jane and I (she so got tackled!!)

This doesn't mean these are new, I'm cheating: these are all at least 6 months old. Camera skills are not in my blood. Hopefully one of my progeny will be adept with cameras and will dazzle the world with talent, but you will have to wait 20 years or more until that happens for good pictures to appear on this blog. I'm hopeless with cameras (plus it doesn't help that I only use my cell phone camera to take pictures.)

Anyway, I'll now wow you all with a picture of my latest sewing project:

'Tis an apron, yar! I had leftover fabric and I thought it was adorable, so I whipped up this little missy. I'm not satisfied with the topstitching around the neck ties, but my poor little machine really doesn't like going through 10 layers of fabric! Whose machine does? I would like to know. I'm thinking this apron would be good to keep for Jane or nieces that might come and make cookies, but I might end up giving it away. We'll see what happens.

Hopefully this will appease Abrielle for at least a week. Nobody else seems to mind, but maybe you're not leaving comments! Who knows?!

Have a great week, y'all, I'll post again sometime!

Two posts in two days!

*I'm so excited for So You Think You Can Dance tomorrow night! Hooray for talented, coordinated people that dance! I'll take SYTYCD over watching sports any day.

*Clean high thread-count sheets are blissful.

*Grocery shopping is mundane but we need some tomatoes, mmm...tomatoes.

*Thinking about Iron Man still gives me an adrenaline rush, even though I saw it two weeks ago.

*It's raining...again...I thought I lived in a desert.

*Sometimes I wish I had an intense job, but usually I'm happy I'm my own boss!

*Stupid Thyroid = disaster. Allow me to rant for two minutes. For about 5 years, my thyroid has been on hiatus. I had surgery when I was little which ended with me having about 10% less thyroid than I'm supposed to, and my thyroid keeps trying to balance out and fails, and the failure results in no "normal" hormone fluctuation.

Lately I've been getting some natural help from Cody's uncle that does zoning, it's heavenly. He's been helping my thyroid to be more productive in sending signals to my body. YIKES! It's like I'm in puberty again. I know it's probably better in the long run for me to have too much hormone than too little, but I'm outputting too much testosterone and not enough estrogen, and when I want to be happy, kind, and calm, too much testosterone is a disaster. Here's a lowdown of which hormone does what to your emotions and body:

-Testosterone makes you feel aggressive, it helps mental and physical energy, it helps your metabolism by maintaining your muscle mass and strength, and it increases libido. Women are much more sensitive to excess testosterone, and I have way more testosterone than I should.

-Estrogen is the softener. Hair, muscles, and moods are all smoothed and softened by this mahvelous hormone. Estrogen also has very important duties throughout the rest of the body, but the softening of moods is what I'm lacking. I'm hardly producing any estrogen, which stinks because I want the softness it provides!

Basically, I'm somewhat of a wreck just because my thyroid won't play. I have emotions that are completely unrelated to logical thought. Some days I'm angry for no reason, some days I'm sad and I don't know why...it stinks.

Thanks for letting me whine; that's the end of my rant. I'm going to go have some breakfast now.

You asked for it, Abrielle, here it is!

Lately Cody and I have been watching anime...avidly. I love it. There's something about being immersed in a different culture's subculture that makes me feel like I'm actually doing something educational instead of just watching another TV show. I know that's ridiculous reasoning for watching TV, but I've learned more about Japanese culture in the past few months than I ever knew before! Hooray Japanese people! Animes I've watched include:
Fullmetal Alchemist (10/10)

Fullmetal Alchemist is a heartwarming story of two brothers who are desperate to do anything to bring back the mother they loved from the dead. A horrible accident brings them great power and disfigurement, but along their travels they learn about what truly matters. The boys' views change and with each of their realizations, the plot thickens deliciously.

Bleach (9/10)

Ichigo Kurosaki has been able to see spirits all of his life...which he found a little disturbing but it didn't affect his everyday life until a Shinigami (Soul Reaper, direct translation God of Death) named Rukia transfers some of her powers to him and makes him capable of protecting more than just himself. Ichigo uses these powers to help save his friends and fight evil spirits.

Fruits Basket a.k.a. Furuba (7/10)

Imagine a family whose members change into animals of the Chinese zodiac if a member of the opposite sex hugs them...crazy, right? Nope. Entertainment! Tohru Honda moves in with some of the cursed Sohma family and changes things for the better, forever!

Death Note (9.5/10)

Death Note is a twisty-turvy intellectual anime about Light, a model student gaining the power to kill people by writing down their names in a notebook. He decides to use this almost untraceable method of murder to "better the world" by getting rid of "undesirables". As he methodically kills off criminals, his goals and ideals are hampered by the eccentric genius detective named simply L, whose intelligence and detective skills are only rivaled by Light himself.

I even tried an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! which I didn't care for overly much. The anime I've watched is mostly stuff packed with fighting and testosterone-filled pledges of "I will kill you!" or "I will protect you!" Basically, it's shonen, which means it's geared towards the adolescent male demographic in Japan. Fruits Basket is the one shojo (marketed towards adolescent girls) I've watched, and it's so very, very different from the shonen! So girly and cute, and everybody talks about their feelings non-stop. Shojo was a nice change, but I actually prefer the shonen!

Anyway, I'd better get going. Cody's coming home early so we can go and get zoned together...

Last week I was privileged enough to have my mum accompany me to the WC down in the UC at the Y...ha! Yeah, Cody's got me talkin' ghetto fly. Anyway, we scampered around to all sorts of different classes the first day, learning about things like conquering loneliness, loving the praise of God more than man, and learning to listen. Good times. By the end of the day we were both done. I was drowsy and grouchy and my mom fell asleep in the last class (shh, don't tell her I told you!). To avoid all the drowsy crazy grouchiness, we experimented the next day, going to a service center and crocheting around baby blankets while watching a talk piped in from the Marriott Center. The second day was so much more peaceful and calmer! We even played hooky for one of the classes and went and got some lunch. Hooky! Hooray! I also got a mint brownie out of the deal. That might have added to my satisfaction.

Next year if you female peeps want to come to the WC you can sleep at my house and eat of my food! I'll even drive you to and from. Consider this your invitation!