Blogging's Good For Your Health

I don't need any justification, but if I did, here it is...

Stop looking here...click on the link...it's orange...it's above this sentence.

14.6 pounds

There are 14.6 fewer pounds of me in the world today. At Weight Watchers, every time you reach a 5 pound mark, you get a sticker to put on your bookmark. These tiny little stickers are what motivate me to order chili and Minute Maid Light Lemonade instead of a single cheeseburger, fries and large Dr. Pepper when I take my kids to Wendy's and stare longingly at their kids' meals.

When I weighed in this morning, I was wearing a hoodie because somebody forgot to tell the weather in KC that spring has arrived. The lady who weighed me in asked if I wanted to take off my sweatshirt since it probably weighs a pound or more. Unfortunately I didn't have a shirt underneath so I declined. That's actually a good thing since the delayed gratification of having to wait until next week for another sticker will help keep me on the straight and narrow for the next 7 days.

Focus Group = Dinner Out Tonight!

I discovered focus groups years ago when I signed up with a company called Fieldwork Phoenix. Since that time, I have earned money by giving my opinion about BBQ sauce, participating in a mock jury and other stuff I can't remember. Jacob even earned a video and $50 for watching a Rubbadubbers cartoon and giving his opinion about it when he was 3 or 4 years old. It was pretty horrible, by the way.

When I moved to KC, somebody told me that I should sign up with Hallmark to participate in their studies since the corporate headquarters is located here. I did and sure enough, I got picked for a focus group and made an easy $80 today for just two hours of my time. This was the most lucrative and also the funnest (is that a real word?) focus group I've done so far. I can't tell you what we talked about because I've been sworn to secrecy and if I told you, I'd have to kill you.

I got tagged by Wende to tell "Our Love Story", but before I do, I need to find the cord to my scanner so I can insert pix from the dating phase (definitely pre-digital). Check back and hopefully I'll get to it this weekend.

Easter

These pictures are actually from the day before Easter. I didn't do such a great job with the camera today. It was a great Easter, right down to dinner with entertainment provided by Adam. The Easter Bunny brought CDs for the boys; Kidz Bop 13 for Jacob and Alvin & the Chipmunks for Adam. While we waited to start dinner, Adam announced that he "had to get something" and ran upstairs to return with his CD player. He plugged it in right next to the table and popped in Alvin & the Chipmunks, for our listening enjoyment. I think the Christmas songs were my favorite.

Spring Break, Part Two

*Because I have a brother, I always have a friend.

*I borrowed this great line from the Uppercase Living Idea Catalog. Curious? If so, click HERE, then choose Customer Corner Login and register using Brandi's Demonstrator ID: 750516 and Registration Token: Smith

Guitar Heroes

Jacob woke up at 2am this morning and was so excited about the Easter Bunny coming that he couldn't go back to sleep until 6am. This would explain why I am so sleepy and this post is so short. Wichita was relaxing and fun. We played Guitar Hero, LEGO Star Wars, bounced on a trampoline, played outside in the sunshine, hung out with great friends, saw penguins at the zoo, ate pizza and went rollerskating.

By the way, Brandi, when your little K-man is feeling better, could you send me some pix of the roller boys?

Brandi, Tim, Kadyn & Kamden

The "How You Live" song track isn't working again so I'm giving a shout out to my Dad by putting his favorite song back in the #1 position. Enjoy the tunes Dad!

The boys and I are driving to Wichita this morning to visit the Smiths for a couple of days. We're hoping to go to the zoo because Wichita has one of the best. Brandi and I met about 11 years ago when Willie and I lived in Wichita. We worked together at Koch Industries with some really great people in the Recruiting department. I have such fond memories of this time of my life. We worked some long hours, but we always managed to have a good time. Brandi, remember throwing Skittles over the top of the cubes and hitting Jim Mason on the head while he was talking on the phone? Peter Heyer (need I say more, other than just mentioning his name)?!! Going to Tanner's after work and sneaking the shot glasses out in our purses? The Safety Dance? Deciding where to go for lunch every day was an adventure we looked forward to?

I am so blessed to have a BFF like Brandi. She is kind, loyal, supportive, generous and very fun to hang out with. Back in the old days, neither one of us had kids, but now we both have two boys. Kadyn, (almost 8) & Kamden (almost 3) are now my boys' BFFs. Not to be forgotten is Tim, Brandi's husband. Tim is the icing on the cake to this friendship. You know how sometimes you have friends you adore, but you could pretty much take or leave the spouse? Well, that is not the case with Tim. He is one of the funniest, nicest guys I've ever met. He's also a great Dad who loves playing with his kids and what's not to love about that?

Spring Break, Part One

These are my boys with the girls from next door. They went swimming with us on Saturday. Anybody foresee trouble in our future with these cuties living so close by?!!

Yesterday we went to Dave & Buster's, but I forgot my camera. We also did a little shopping at one of my favorite stores, Gap Outlet. Afterward, Willie asked the boys if they wanted to get ice cream or coffee. Adam chose coffee. At least we ordered decaf...