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Category Archives: Facebook
This sums up my feelings on the election entirely.
I debated writing anything and just letting this pass but I feel like I have to say something, even it’s just for me.
Where to start?
I don’t do politics. I don’t understand most of it (never have, never had any desire to—and still don’t LOL) so consequently never talk about it. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I hate it, but I lean strongly that direction. I know the general climate of what’s going on—things just happen and life goes on. Status quo. That said, I do try to vote in major elections, but I don’t think I’ve voted in every presidential election that I’ve been able to.
So this last election has been a real eye-opener. Without going into detail (because, remember, I don’t do politics and hate talking about it even more), I will just say that this past election has been an unbelievable disappointment for me and most of my friends. And, truthfully, it’s been an even bigger shock to learn who has voted opposite me. It shouldn’t matter because it’s never mattered…but it’s different this time. You have to admit that.
I feel like my safe little world is turning upside down and inside out and being destroyed piece by piece and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Everywhere you turn every minute of the day there’s something disheartening happening. I have read more political news in the past month than I have my entire life. I am not an activist by any stretch of the imagination, but I have been a bit more politically vocal by posting (or reposting) news articles on Facebook. I was invited to the Women’s March but that’s just not my thing—you all know how much I hate crowds and people and going into DC (though I honestly have had a few regrets).
I try to remember that the people I know who did vote for him are intelligent people who thought he could achieve some type of good. And while we haven’t seen any of that yet, there is still a slight chance of it happening. Truth be told, I am not terribly hopeful after the first nightmarish week, but there is a sliver there. And this post I ran across on Facebook pretty much sums up everything I’m feeling.
As seen originally on Facebook.
So my fingers are crossed we don’t crash.
To good to wait until Throwback Thursday.
Cue major travel anxiety
I’m always a little anxious about flying—not the actual flying but the timing of things and getting through security and getting to the right place, etc. So I just really looked at my flight info so I could find my gate on the map (yes I’m that person) and I find out that I’m leaving from (apparently) THE MOST FUCKED UP GATE IN THE KNOWN WORLD: DCA 35X. Google it. Or read some of these FourSquare comments:
Down an escalator at which point there’s no room to sit and then hopefully you hear your announcement for your plane and then you are SHUTTLED out to one of the many commuter planes where hopefully there’s no weather happening because you’ll be outside.
Seriously?
My Facebook friends tried to assure me I’d be okay (though they admitted it was confusing) and I kept my fingers crossed and told myself I was an intelligent 43yo and I could surely manage an airport gate. 🙂
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. 🙂
P.S. I’m flying to Michigan because my dad is having an aortic valve replacement. It’s nothing we’re seriously worried about (it was planned and not an emergency procedure) but it is surgery so I want/need to be there.
Learning about Veteran’s Day
From the school’s Facebook page:
Halley 2nd Graders are buzzing this morning, thanks to some very special visitors at school today. Our students are learning about Veterans Day, and today, several Hornet staff and family members shared their experiences with us about what it means to serve in the military. We learned so much, and we are looking forward to commemorating all of our nation’s currently serving military and veterans in our ceremony tomorrow! Thank you, Ms. Demers, for these pictures!
Can you find Owen?
How about now? 🙂
My new pretty.
I don’t often buy things that show up in my Facebook feed, but I’m a sucker for Michigan-themed items…and I needed a new bracelet. Get it from Stone Armory.
The live Facebook Q&A with Naturally Slim!
So the Live Facebook event was actually going to take place at the combined offices of Holmes Murphy and ACAP Health, both new partners of Naturally Slim. I was VERY anxious about the event, but Marcia assured me I would do just fine. I was put a little more at ease when she told me it would only be about 20 minutes long—I had thought it would be an hour or something! Phew!
We got there early and Marcia showed me around the offices and introduced to many, many people…most of whom were all like “Oh, wow! I know you! You’re Jennifer Hudson! I recognize you!” It was VERY surreal. They were just as excited to meet me as I was to meet them! The offices were super fun and trendy, with named meeting rooms like the Vineyard (with a wall of bookcases and wine racks) and the Bead Room, which is where we ended up filming—yes, a “room” in the middle of the office space with floor-to-ceiling hanging beads encircling four chairs and a table!
Getting ready to start!
Our view during the event:
And then we were off and running…
Live Q&A with Marcia Upson, President of Naturally Slim
[iOS users, if Safari isn’t showing the Facebook video below, try Chrome]
And suddenly it was over! What?! Already?! Wow that went fast! I had a lot of fun and the time just flew by—I probably could have answered questions for an hour! Of course watching the video later I noticed things I didn’t like (like my roll of belly fat and a few strange looks I made) but overall I think I did pretty well!
And then on the way out, I got to meet Todd (Todd Whitthorne, President, ACAP Health—he’s in quite a few of the program videos)!! And just like Marcia, he was just the same as in the videos, too. And boy was he tall (I’m 5’9″ and you see how he towers over me)! 🙂
What a memorable way to spend my 43rd birthday!!
What’s a birthday celebration without a burnt cake, sloppy joes on the ceiling, and a toddler tantrum/early bedtime?
For a special treat, I decided to make a Tres Leches cake for Tom’s cake—I’d never made one before but it didn’t seem too hard and it was a Pioneer Woman recipe so you know it’s fairly easy and should be delicious. I’m talking from scratch here, people. Like whipping egg whites and making my own whipped cream. I set the cake timer for the minimum stated time…and it was obviously too long and the edges were burnt. GRRR. I always set the timer for 10 minutes EARLIER than the minimum just in case but not today. I trimmed them off and hoped for the best.
One of Tom’s favorite meals is sloppy joes so that was an easy dinner as well—and they were delicious. After dinner I got out the cake and poor Tom lit his own candle. 🙂
And then I excitedly tried the cake and MEH—it was nothing special. I think the cake was just too dry from being overcooked and I had only put the suggested two cups of liquid into the cake when I should have tried for more because of it being overcooked. Oh well. Tom liked it and the kids loved it but now I want to make it again and try for better!
So then we were clearing off the table and loading the dishwasher…when suddenly Tom trips and I see something flying through the air. WHAT THE…?! Turns out, it was sloppy joes. Yes, sloppy joe meat was all over the place. Tom’s flip flop caught on the edge of the gel floor mat and he tripped. The dishwasher door was fully open so he was violently trying not to fall into that so while trying to catch himself, he slammed his hand down on the kitchen island/stove…RIGHT on the spoon that was still in the sloppy joes on the stove…which sent sloppy joes catapulting across the kitchen and then, as Owen noticed minutes later…on the ceiling as well! Keep in mind we have like 10′ ceilings in the kitchen.
Maggie cleaned up all the chunks off the floor and I wiped up after her while Tom got out the ladder and wiped down the ceiling. Then it was a matter of looking around and discovering all the tomato sauce speckles all over the place…on the cake, on the stove, on the refrigerator, on the wall… Hoo boy. I’m sure we’ll be discovering them for days to come.
Of course, I posted about it on Facebook…and I love our friends:
So we got that cleaned up and then it was time for the kids to Skype with Uncle Rob (which had been temporarily postponed to clean up the mess). Well, Owen asked if they could put on their Halloween costumes to show Uncle Rob. GRRR. A simple request, right? Except they’d both been asking me ALL DAMN DAY to wear their costumes and I had already told them at least four times that I’d let them wear them before Halloween…just not today. So of course I was annoyed but agreed. Well, Katie had taken hers off like a kid does so it was completely inside out. She knows how to fix it, but she didn’t want to. I was still busy in the kitchen so was talking her through it—but it wasn’t good enough for her. She actually had it about 95% of the way fixed when she started stomping her feet at me. That’s never the answer, so she got a warning that she would be going to bed if she continued. She continued. So she got taken up to bed and she was a HOT MESS. (She really needed an early night—she hadn’t caught up from the late night when we had friends over for dinner plus being at the pool for three hours…)
So…HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOM! Burnt and dry cake, a kitchen mess, and a tantrumy toddler. What better way to celebrate, right? :heart:
NatSlim shared my update again!
Sorry for the little glitch in the screen cap–it’s too much work to do it manually on my phone and I’m not sure why the app messes it up like that.
He won’t fit in the water table anymore so I can’t easily do a recreation!
I loved the Facebook comments:
Today marks 7,884,000 minutes, 131,400 hours, or 5,475 days.
Otherwise known as 15 years! FIFTEEN YEARS. It’s gone by in a flash and I can’t wait for more!
My very first Facebook post.
If you remember back then, it posted your name followed by “is” so this should read Jennifer Hudson is
Nope, doesn’t surprise me. 🙂
This popped up in my feed again today.
It’s now up to 1100+ likes!
Owen became a pirate today!
Owen went to a pirate-themed birthday party today—the same family that had the knight-themed party last year! He had SOOOOO much fun! He told us every single thing they did…which we actually confirmed when the mom posted all the pictures on Facebook! (These are all her pictures.)
Getting the “boat” set up—the kids had to stay on the boat (not fall off) while they moved it around. Passing the test earned a treat!
The birthday boy’s older brothers helping out—reading the Pirate Oath (below):
They used a Pirate Name Generator to assign names to all the boys—Owen was Lazy Jack Keys!
Getting ready to hunt for treasure!
A real treasure map!
Walking the plank!
Popping “canon ball” balloons (they sounded like firing canons)!
They were hitting the skull heads for treasure bags!
Searching for bags of gold!
Feeding [plastic] rats to the alligator! (The mom had her arm inside the mouth and would grab the rats or toss them back out. You had to stay until he “ate” your rat!)
X marks the spot!
They found the treasure and everyone got to divvy up the spoils—jewels, necklaces, and coins!
Some of his haul, which he promptly put in his own treasure box when he got home! (He also got a pirate bandana and two bombs which he’s in love with!)
Xander, the birthday boy!
And…Patchwork Pizza is born!
We really need a name for the pizza where we use miscellaneous leftovers from the fridge. I like garbage pizza but that doesn’t really have a good connotation. It’s not technically leftover pizza so I don’t like leftovers pizza. Kitchen sink pizza isn’t much better than garbage and doesn’t roll off the tongue. (I actually recall having a very similar conversation a few years ago and can’t remember what was decided.)
So I posted on Facebook asking for suggestions…and boy did people come through!!
So Patchwork Pizza it is! 🙂
FYI tonight’s toppings were:
- Kids: butter/garlic salt, homemade mac and cheese, fresh mozzarella, and Italian blend shredded cheese
- Adult: homemade bacon-y 1000 Island, leftover grilled hamburger, chopped green onions and bacon, and fresh mozzarella
I’m blown away by 847 likes!
Not only did Naturally Slim post my recent photo and weight loss update on Instagram, I just discovered they posted it simultaneously on Facebook as well…and it currently has 847 likes! I’m just blown away!
Owen saw a cow at school!
Owen came home telling us they saw a cow in a truck at school today! We did get a few more details, but I’ll let the Facebook photos (that were posted this evening) tell the story instead. 🙂
We had a great morning at Halley when Sally the Jersey cow and the Mobile Dairy Classroom visited Halley to teach us a little bit about our food sources. The students were very excited to learn more about raising cows and even got to see a milking demonstration, provided by Instructor Amanda Griffith! The students asked great questions and learned a lot together! 🙂
Can you find Owen in these last two photos? Hint: he’s wearing his green MSU hoodie. 🙂
My Naturally Slim testimonials are online!
I just got word that my produced videos were uploaded to Naturally Slim’s YouTube account…
Thanks for sharing your story and being our first testimonial in our Organic Success Stories series. We wanted raw, unscripted success stories and you gave us just that.
And linked on their Facebook page…
They’ve chopped my 10-minute video down into four snippets, which will play in a playlist one after the other here:
And since I really did grow to like my original, full-length, unedited testimonial submission…it is now public on YouTube as well:
Look at me getting all Pinteresty.
A friend shared a video on Facebook showing how to make a no-sew bag from a T-shirt. I normally bookmark these types of things with grand plans to do them but then never actually go back and do them. Amiright? But since I happen to have an abundance of T-shirts and 10 minutes to spare, I decided to make me a bag. 🙂 I actually think no-sew was the key term for me.
I used a really big tee (3X) and consequently had a really big bag:
Unfortunately I don’t think it came out looking quite as cute as I had hoped. (It will still work, of course, but just doesn’t look as cute.) It’s also hard to find a tee without graphics on the front/back that will most likely get cut into and ruined. I thought this one was low enough down but it looks funny. Again, it will work…it’s just not exactly right. So I’d suggest plain tees.
It was also very confusing when tying the second layer together—it was hard to tell which strips were supposed to be tied. Maybe it was because it was all black or maybe it was just my old eyes. Or maybe it would have been easier if I had cut the strips longer. (Yes, probably that one.) But it was a valiant first effort and only took maybe 10 minutes so I’ll likely try again.
The video originally posted was in Japanese and didn’t give full instructions so I searched YouTube and found this one which is a bit better.
Bingo Night
Katie was frustrated that I wouldn’t let her play and stamp the bingo sheets…so I gave her the pizza box. Which kept her busy for a whole 10 minutes.
Pics the principal took (the lights were off so we could see the overhead projector…which made for not-great pics):
We thought Owen won the last game but one of his stamp marks was a little overzealous so he was one short. 🙁
100th Day of School
My first-ever attempt at making Owen 100 years old for his 100th day of school:
Oops! Forgot the glasses!
Typical Owen. 🙂
And of course little sister had to grab the glasses. 🙂
Pictures from the school’s Facebook page:
Crazy Hair Day
He was super excited for this day. He remembered we had the colored gel—and exactly what colors we have!
I’m not sure where he got this pose, but it was the very first thing he did. 🙂
Green on one side…
Orange on the other…
And pics from the school’s Facebook page:
Same hat and same kid: 2010 & 2016
The old pic popped up on Tom’s “On this day” Facebook timeline and I knew I had to do a side-by-side with a recent pic!
Cats can be dumb.
Why lay there? Why not get IN the bed?
As usual, my Facebook friends had great responses.
Q&A with the kids
A friend posted this on Facebook and I did it with the kids: Without ANY prompting ask your kids these questions. It’s a great way to see what they think. (I asked them separately but they were in the same room at the same time.)
Owen, 6
Katie, 3
1. What is something I always say to you?
Owen: I love you.
Katie: Be polite.
2. What makes me happy?
Owen: Being nice.
Katie: Being polite.
3. What makes me sad?
Owen: Not being polite.
Katie: Not being polite.
4. How do I make you laugh?
Owen: Telling jokes.
Katie: Like this <cackles>. Donuts.
5. What was I like as a child?
Owen: Reading.
Katie: Playing dinner.
6. How old am I?
Owen: 42
Katie: I don’t know.
7. How tall am I?
Owen: 4.5 inches.
Katie: I don’t know. You’re big.
8. What is my favorite thing to do?
Owen: Going to the beach.
Katie: Play games with me.
9. What do I do when you’re not around?
Owen: Watch Ellen Degeneres.
Katie: I don’t know.
10. What am I really good at?
Owen: Reading.
Katie: Putting the tv on.
11. What am I not very good at?
Owen: Playing video games.
Katie: Making dinner.
12. What do I do for a job?
Owen: You don’t have any jobs.
Katie: Something amazing.
13. What is my favorite food?
Owen: Pizza.
Katie: Chicken dog. I mean pizza.
14. What do you enjoy doing with me?
Owen: Playing board games.
Katie: I don’t know.
My 15 minutes of fame?!
Do you recognize anyone on Naturally Slim’s Facebook page? 🙂
A week or so ago I Tweeted my current results (81# lost after 26 weeks) and today they Liked it, retweeted it, and messaged me to ask if they could use it on their other social media accounts as inspiration for others. Of course I said YES! A little while later, it appeared on their Facebook page!
Of course, I’m completely embarrassed that my bedroom is such a hot mess in the Before photos…but I’m hoping that the After photos take people’s eye’s away. 🙂
Veteran’s Day Part 2
The school posted a slew of pictures on Facebook from the assembly today and I snagged these:
I knew from some of the faces it was Owen’s class but it took me a minute to find…his head. 🙂
Two of the three marines in the audience (they played each branches song while the appropriate members stood up).
And lookie here. 🙂
Throwback Thursday + Brothers
We found LOTS of good pictures while cleaning out Marsha’s apartment. I posted a few of the best ones. The Facebook comments were all basically “WOW! That’s Owen!” 🙂
School pics from 1981-1983. Always in blue. Always matching. 🙂
Kind of blue and still matching. #unearthedtreasures #theboyshateme (Rob commented that they probably even had the same underwear.)
#MomLife
Hallelujah and amen.
Taking 1st grade math…to Facebook.
As briefly mentioned in the last post about Owen’s homework, Tom and I were both somewhat baffled by the supposed answers for his pattern homework.
I actually had to ask Tom about the first incorrect one because I read it (and answered it!) the same way Owen did! 🙂 But, the teacher was right—there should have been one number on each line (he did the same thing with the third line—put too many numbers on the lines, even though he had the right numbers!). But Tom and I still weren’t sure about the wrong triangle and why it should be a square. So I took the question to Facebook. My question was answered, but you can see the types of discussion it brought about. Egads. All this over first grade math homework. Can you imagine what it will be like going forward?!?!?
Here was the worksheet.
And here’s the Facebook discussion!
