On another blog I read, the girl posted a clip of Red Skelton reciting and explaining the pledge.

I noticed at one point he left out the “under God” part. I looked it up and found this site…The Pledge.

The original pledge written in 1892 went like this…

I pledge allegiance to my Flag,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

The “under God” part was added only 54 years ago by Eisenhower. Huh. Who knew? Not me.

This is pretty good. I  guess we did ok.

Thanks to Dooce.

1. For me:Don’t let anyone borrow my car.

2. For all of us: Let’s all be sure when we spill coffee with milk in someones car that we tell the person who owns the car it happened so they don’t wait a week to smell it and then spend two days trying to remove the smell.

As I scrubbed the carpet for the third time (Jared did it twice yesterday), I began to wonder if my 7th grade boys were watching me on candid camera, only minus the funny part.

Argh.

Here they are. Look at them and weep. Joy is the only way I can describe my feelings when I see that I can fight gravity.

A little late in the day, but hey…I have a job and then some.

Eat Better: Choices
A healthy lifestyle is made up of lots of small choices. Below, we offer a few ideas — ways that you can improve your eating habits by choosing to do things just slightly differently.

If you normally………………………………………………..then try this instead!
use whole or 2% milk ………………………………………use fat free milk
drink soda………………………………………………………..drink diet soda or 100% juice
eat dessert……………………………………………………….eat fruit for dessert
have second helpings………………………………………..put the food away as soon as you serve
eat big portions…………………………………………………eat off a smaller plate
eat a lot of white bread or pasta………………………..go for a variety of whole-grain foods
use butter…………………………………………………………try oils low in saturated fats
eat fast food on the road……………………………………pack fruits and vegetables for car rides
eat red meat……………………………………………………..Prepare lean cuts of beef, pork, turkey or fish
snack on chips and junk food……………………………..keep fruits and veggies in the fridge instead
skip breakfast……………………………………………………try eating a healthy breakfast each day
fry your food……………………………………………………..grill or roast your food instead
eat out a lot……………………………………………………….plan ahead and shop-eat healthy at home

This is all stuff you’ve probably heard, but it never hurts to refresh.

By the way, don’t let yourself go too long without eating something. When you get too hungry is when the evil fat looks so good!

Sunday January 15th at the Bangs’ house at 2:30 pm. Bring snacks if you want, but we won’t be doing lunch. Eat before you come.

Poker for interested parties after the weigh in.

We are investing in a new scale so we will provide the scale. Please bring cash for your $20 entry fee.

I painted today. I’m so tired and sore I could cry. We need to eat but I can’t move. Jared left for a meeting. Help! Someone bring us food! I have to say though, the hallway looks so good. I didn’t realize how gross it was until I started painting it. Ahhh, accomplishment. It numbs the ache a little.

I was sick of being at home, so I came up with a plan. I took the recycling in, planning to use it for lunch but it was only $10…duh. So I’ll just give the coupon to our family project. Anyway, then I told the kids we could go to the BK in Fillmore with a big playground that they always ask about whenever we’ve driven by. So we spent about an hour at BK where the kids had a blast and then on the way back we stopped at a new furniture store I heard about with pretty good prices. On the way to drop my mom off (she came along to give me adult company) Riley (5) says, “We never do anything fun.” I wanted to scream. What the heck am I doing wrong?

I am admitedly not a cook. I don’t really enjoy it. It takes a lot of work, a lot of clean up and a lot of money if you want to make something good. But the crappy part is that there are no guarantees. You can follow a recipe word for word and make something that is as far from the projected outcome as can be. I was tring to be a holiday mom. I started with something easy…Rice Krispy Squares. No problem. Then I jumped into something more difficult. I had to cook the sugar into a candy like substance. I had a candy thermometer. I found out later it didn’t work. The first batch was coming along, then suddenly it reeked and was smoking. I chose to ignore the smoke. Maybe it is supposed to do that. After mixing it with the eggs. Not so much. After soaking the burned candy goop off of my pans and bowls, I was not daunted. I would begin again. Somewhere after “soft ball” on the theremometer, I realized it was not working. I grabbed what I think is actually a meat thermometer, and put in my mixture…It shot past the other by about 80 degrees. I panicked. Should I cook it a little longer? Should I stop. I decided to err on the side of caution. At least it wouldn’t be burnt. Well, it didn’t get hard. Should I throw it away? NO! I now am putting chocolate on the top and will attempt to flip it when it gets solid. I have created a new form of chocolate peanut butter candy. Taste remains to be tested. Ah well, on to the packaged sugar cookies. I can’t screw those up. Can I? By the way, I did manage to make some smashing “Daquiri Balls”. No actual cooking involved.

Today I went on a field trip with Christian. The best part for me was the 45 minutes I had before the field trip to run an errand and get coffee while everyone went to school. Now, mind you, I am enjoying teaching but I must say it was a sweet 45 minutes of remembrance of last year when things were not as they are now. I do miss those morning tennis lessons immensely. Oh, that reminds me, I must go register for my tennis class at VC. Ta ta.