32 Years 23 Hours 35 Minutes and counting....

The house is finally quiet. We've had a flurry of activity from the time the alarm clock went off this morning. Peanut spent a good chunk of the day with Grandma. I spent the day attending my dear friend's son's 1st Communion. I've attended Catholic weddings, but this was my first 1st Communion. I always find the Catholic ceremonies beautiful and interesting.

It is my birthday for a few minutes more. It's been a good day. The big (adult) celebration is next weekend. Tonight was spent with family and Peanut. She picked out my tiny birthday cake and we sang "Happy Birthday" with a tea light burning on top. It was the perfect way to end my birth day. I wouldn't have traded those two giggly minutes for the fanciest party.

I mentioned in my last post that I bought myself a D60. Below if one of my very favorit shots that I've taken in the last 10 days. There are a few others I may share later that really made me stop and say, "I took that." I had photography classes in college and I have a Pentax K1000 here somewhere, but it fell to the wayside when adult life took over. I've missed it for years and it's like and old friend has come back into my life.

**I think this photo truly captures Peanut. Dirty fingers, tosseled hair, a Giselle bandaid and a million watt smile**

The best gift I received this year was one I gave myself. I set a goal on January 1st of losing 50 lbs by my 32nd birthday. That's today. While I didn't make 50, I did hit 42 this morning. I've worked hard for it and I am most proud of that this year. I bought a pair of stretch denim capris March 1st. They were very stretched in the dressing room. I bought them anyway. I wore them for the first time this afternoon and they'll soon be too big to wear without being taken in. I was shocked by that! I just tried them on to see how much more I needed to lose before I could wear them comfortably. All the hard work is definitely paying off. My next goal is 70 lbs gone by Labor Day. I think I'll get there. I just need to remember that it needs to be about me for a little while or I won't be around to worry about anyone else.

FOs and BPs

I've tried repeatedly over the last 6 weeks to update the blog. Each time, blogger just wasn't having it. Sorry about that.

Some of the ladies at my office have started a knitting circle. Some of us are working on socks for CIC. I finished mine in record time over the weekend.

I finished a couple of teeny tiny hats. These will potentially go to my boss's new twins. Keep your fingers crossed they'll be too small for them once they're born. Their mom's been on serious bedrest for a month now and they're not due until June.

This the EZ sweater from The Knitting Almanac. So far so good. It's in KnitPicks Cotlin. Love it. Ordered 6 more skeins for the other babies I know coming soon.

And I'm trying to expand my horizons. I'm giving Maze from Sensational Knitted Socks a go. They'll also go to CIC.

Notice anything different about these photos? They're crisp, clear and have great color? Yeah, this is where the BP comes in..Birthday Present. My birthday is in 10 days or so. I've been admiring a certain camera from afar for several months now. I've done my homework and saved the money...and I bought it today. Riza might like her Canon, but I've always been loyal to Nikon. Well, with the exception of the Pentax in college but that doesn't count. A D60 now resides with us. I feel as if it needs a name. These two photos make it worth every penny.

Boxing Wally

Here's a video of Peanut boxing:

And here's the latest addition to our family, Wally-Penelope.

He's a 4 year old stray we rescued. Someone at some point really loved him a lot. He's the most friendly and loving cat I've ever come across. Peanut loves him. I don't know if she loves him because he's her pet or because he's someone she can boss around.

In other news...I'm halfway to my goal to lose 50 lbs by my birthday! I'm about 2 weeks ahead of schedule with my 10 lbs per month goal.

Wii Bowling

Here's the video of Peanut bowling:

Still here...

I've had a heck of a time getting in to post to the blog. I really don't care for the Google aspect of blogger now. It's so much more difficult just to get logged in, it seems.

We're still here and still insanely busy. Peanut's practicing writing her name in anticipation of Kindergarten in the Fall. She attended a Valentine's Daddy/Daughter dance with her dad last week and here's the before & after photos....

I've done a little bit of knitting recently. I'm still slugging away on Peanut's Haiku sweater. It's like the ever growing bumpy, hot pink blob. Last weekend, I whipped up Penny for a friend who got a Maltese puppy for Valentine's day. It's so freakin' cute! I have yet to get a photo of it, but will soon.

I joined Weight Watchers at work 3 weeks ago. This fits in very well with my motto for 2008, Be healthier. I'm down 22 lbs for the year. I can attribute some of the success to the Wii I recently stood in line for at Toys R Us. I gotta say, that was quite the study in human nature right there. Whether I'd gottent he Wii or not, it was totally worth watching people forget they are adults and that a gaming system is not the most important thing in the world. "Grace & Dignity" were not words most of them were familiar with. My favorite was a dad that showed up at 10:10 that morning to find a line up of people with the vouchers in the store. He then took it upon himself to scream at the very cordial Toys R Us employee about how unfair it was that they were out of them already. All of this was done in front of his 9 year old son. Way to go dude, that teaches your child an excellent lesson right there. Peanut was staying with my Aunt & Uncle for the night or I wouldn't have bothered to go at all. But anyway, we are enjoying nightly games of boxing and bowling. Main point here that we're getting off the couch and doing something rather than watching tv. She's actually getting pretty good at the bowling. I have video that I will try to post over the weekend. I love the fact that I was able to download the original Super Mario Brothers for $5. Ah, some things you never forget.

Dancing Queen

No idea where she gets the dance moves from, but she definitely makes it work. The outfit was a Christmas gift and right now, a bride is just as good as a Princess in Peanut's book.

Distracting You With Cuteness

I'm plugging along on holiday gifts. I'm feeling really good about where I am. Peanut's teachers are each getting a pair of Fetching gloves. Her lone male teacher may receive a hat or a more manly pair of fingerless gloves. Jury's still out on that one. Peanut has made many requests that her baby receive some sort of knit clothing soon as well. Well, "requests" wouldn't exactly describe how she's asking...demands is more like it. Each time she sees me knitting, she'll stop me to ask if that's for her or her baby? Because in her mind, there are only these two options.

We put our cool new tree up. She loved it. I let her put on whatever she wanted and did not move anything. We have large gaping holes and other branches that hold five ornaments each. She loves it and it's her tree, too.

My friend, Jennifer was given a grocery bag full of dress up stuff. She passed it along to Peanut. Here she is in her Princess Costume glory complete with accessories.

This is her "cha cha" outfit. That's a flapper dress with hat..and a pink holster and bunched up skirt to compliment the ensemble.

We visited Santa at her school...

There were no tears...no deep frowns...I think we've turned the corner on our Santa fears. I caught her hugging his leg as he was trying to leave. Her liking him and understanding his role in our Christmas celebration means that he's also become a major bargaining tool. The look on her face was priceless when I let it slip I had his phone number and could call him if he needed an update on whether she's been naughty or nice.

Let's say she had a "naughty" day on Wednesday when she and her buddy TP'd the girls bathroom at school. I know those huge rolls of TP are tempting...and it's something I would have loved to have done at 4...it was hard not to smile when her teacher told me.