13 Staples in my Kitchen

Here's a list of 13 things that you can always find in my kitchen.

1. Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
2. Pampered Chef Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle
3. Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning Mix
4. olive oil
5. brown sugar
6. onion
7. bread
8. milk
9. cheese
10. peanut butter
11. jelly
12. ham
13. honey mustard

13 Favorite Pampered Chef® Products

I'm always needing an idea for the Thursday Thirteen. For a while, I thought it would be easier since T13 had started using themes each week, but that only lasted for about 3 weeks. I'm still wondering what happened with that...

A few weeks ago, I came across another T13 post about favorite kitchen gadgets, including some products from Pampered Chef®. I've got tons of Pampered Chef® products that I absolutely love - so much so that I became a consultant! - so I figured that would be a great T13 post. Now I just have to narrow them down to 13...

1. stoneware

2. Executive Cookware (nonstick!)

3. Cookware Protectors

4. bamboo spatula (and spoons)

5. Garlic Press

6. Food Chopper

7. Easy Read Measure Cups

8. Stainless Mixing Bowls

9. Classic and Small Batter Bowls

10. Egg Slicer Plus

11. Smooth-Edge Can Opener

12. Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer

13. Santoku Knife

I could go on and on! There are so many other products - and spices and seasonings - that I love. Maybe I'll have a part 2 next week...

13 Favorite Ethnic Foods

So what happened to the Thursday Thirteen themes? I was sort of counting on that to give me an idea. Instead I had to dig deep into the recesses of my brain to come up with a topic. Thankfully last weekend wasn't so far away, and all the ethnic food we ate over the course of three days (Vietnamese and Italian on Thursday, Mexican and Texas-style BBQ on Friday, and Japanese on Saturday) is still fresh in my mind. Here are 13 of my favorite ethnic foods, in no particular order.

1. Coconut Curry Chicken (Vietnamese)
2. Lemongrass Beef (Vietnamese)
3. Chicken Enchiladas with a cheesy sour cream sauce (Mexican/Tex-Mex)
4. Spicy Beef Soft Tacos (Mexican/Tex-Mex)
5. Lasagna (Italian)
6. Steak and shrimp with fried rice and stir-fried vegetables (Japanese)
7. Chicken Souvlaki (Greek)
8. Tiropita (Greek)
9. Mandarin Chicken (Chinese)
10. Kung Pao Beef (Chinese)
11. Sesame Chicken (Chinese)
12. Hummus and Pitas (Mediterranean)
13. Jerk Chicken (Caribbean)

No, sushi isn't on the list. The one time I had it, it made me sick. I know that had more to do with the place I ate it than with sushi in general, but I wasn't wild about the texture of the rice, either. You can have mine.

I'm always in the mood to try a new kind of food, and there are several things I haven't tried yet: Thai, Indian, Korean, etc. Do you have any recommendations?

13 C's

This week's theme for the Thursday Thirteen is the alphabet. The challenge is to choose one letter of the alphabet and describe yourself using 13 words that begin with that letter. I have a feeling I'm going to have to use a thesaurus...

1. Christian

2. creative

3. crafty (as in crochet, not cunning)

4. caring

5. coordinated (not necessarily physically)

6. content

7. curly-haired

8. careful

9. courteous

10. conservative

11. conventional

12. clever

13. competitive

13 Places I've Visited

This is the first official "themed" Thursday Thirteen, which I like because so many times I can't come up with a topic. Other times I can come up with a topic, but not 13 things about it.

So to welcome the travel season - or at least the planning phase of it - here are 13 places I've visited (in no particular order).

1. Gatlinburg, TN
This is my absolute favorite place. I love the coolness of the Smoky Mountains, the strenuous mountain hikes, the roar of the waterfall at the end of the trail. I learned to ice skate at Ober Gatlinburg, and now I wish I had attempted the luge. I was too chicken last time I was there - over 10 years ago! It was Thanksgiving then, and things were beautiful! Snow had just fallen in the mountains as we were getting into them. The town was twinkling with Christmas lights. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Ruby Tuesday because Ogle's Family Buffet was closed.

I first went there with my grandparents when I was a "tween" and another time or two as a teenager. I went with my parents and sisters when I was a freshman in college. Billy and I made a few trips out there after we were married. I'd love to go again, though I'm sure it has changed quite a bit.

2. Chattanooga, TN
Chattanooga is another place I love! When my grandparents took me the first time, I remember going to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Billy and I explored the trains and shops once when we were there.

Probably my two favorite things to do there are touring Ruby Falls and seeing Rock City, as many old barn roofs in the state encourage you to do.

3. Santa Fe, NM
This was our last big vacation together, 10 years ago this summer. It was also my first time out west. The drive through west TX was extremely boring, but Santa Fe was really pretty. I loved all the adobe construction. One of my favorite things was seeing and learning about the Miraculous Staircase at the Loretto Chapel.

We toured the Puye Cliff Dwellings and the Bandelier National Monument and went out to the San Ildefonso Pueblo to look at Maria Martinez' pottery. One afternoon we headed out to Los Alamos and visited the Bradbury Science Museum.

4. Carlsbad, NM
After leaving Santa Fe, we headed south to Carlsbad. Along the way, we came to a place where we could travel through Roswell or Alamogordo. Since neither Billy nor I are huge alien conspiracy fans, we opted to travel on to the White Sands National Monument. That was a really interesting stop, and the sand was beautiful, though blinding.

The drive into Carlsbad was long, but scenic. Not at all like I envisioned southeastern NM. Carlsbad Caverns were wonderful! I've always loved caves, and this one didn't disappoint. My favorite part, though, was watching the bat flight at sunset. I was amazed at how many bats live in the cave and fly out every night. I didn't think the last ones would ever get out! After a while, it looked like a column of smoke spiraling into the darkening sky.

5. Houston, TX
Billy and I took a long weekend trip here once. I remember the traffic was horrific! The two highlights were touring the USS Texas battleship and NASA's Johnson Space Center. They had various Apollo 13 movie memorabilia on display when we were there.

6. Destin, FL
It's been ages since I was here last! I guess maybe it was with my high school youth group? I went a few times as a teen with my parents and sisters, and maybe once with my grandparents. It's a typical beach town, from what I can remember. Condos and hotels, along with private residences and a few seafood restaurants, line the beaches. Across the highway, there are endless other restaurants, hotels, and tourist shops.

I remember one year when we drove into town, there was a shark-fishing tournament going on. There was a hammerhead shark hanging from a crane, but I don't know if it was real or just a tourist gimmick. I mainly remember being really intrigued by it; I've found sharks extremely interesting ever since I was a little girl.

I remember another time when I went there with my parents... We were driving into Fort Walton Beach, just minutes away from our "destin"ation, when Daddy got pulled over by the police. My sisters and I were immediately alert, watching and wondering what in the world was going on. The officer said he was speeding, but Daddy insisted he was driving with the flow of traffic. He was so mad about getting that ticket! He swore up and down (and probably still does) that it was only because he had an out-of-state license plate. According to the ticket, he was supposed to appear in court on whatever date, after we would've been back home. He said they'd be glad to get his money however it got there, so he mailed it instead. I don't think he's been back since... (Have you, Daddy?)

I'm not much of a beach person anymore. I used to love getting a tan. (Now I prefer to be pale all year long - not interested in skin cancer, thank you.) I also used to like to body surf. (After my last beach experience in Destin, I got stung across the back by a jellyfish. Two consecutive years when I went to the beach at South Padre Island in TX on mission trips, there was too much drama with rip tides and a life-saving human chain, a stingray, and a shark. I stayed out of the water on those trips and haven't been to the beach since.)

7. Orlando, FL
This is another place I've been to several times. On one trip there with my grandparents, my cousin Eric and I grumbled about it raining every day in the "Sunshine State". Still, we had fun at Walt Disney World, Sea World (where we ran into some friends!), and NASA's Kennedy Space Center. We also toured an alligator farm.

Several years later, Epcot opened and I got to go there with my parents and sisters. I don't remember going to the space center that year...

8. Washington, D.C.
I think this may have been one of the first trips my grandparents took me on. I must have been about 7 years old. I remember going up in the Washington Monument, walking along the reflection pool, walking around the Lincoln Memorial, seeing the Capitol and The White House, and touring the Smithsonian Institute.

9. Hot Springs, AR
I can't count the number of times I've been here. My grandparents took me several times, and Billy and I went there on our honeymoon. (We stayed at DeGray Lake.) You can read about our most recent Hot Springs trip here.

10. Eureka Springs, AR/Branson, MO
I went here with grandparents, with my church youth group, and with Billy (though we skipped out on Branson). I always loved looking for The Christ of the Ozarks from wherever I happened to be. The Passion Play was really good; I went twice, I think. I always loved walking around the curvy, hilly streets of Eureka Springs and seeing all the Victorian-style homes. I always imagined what it would be like to live in one. Silver Dollar City in Branson was always a highlight.

When Billy and I were in Eureka Springs, we found a great little Italian restaurant (whose name escapes me) where we ate fresh roasted garlic on hot, buttered bread. It was scrumptious! I got the waiter to tell me how to cook the garlic. Since then, I've only made it once. I need to do that again!

11. Mobile, AL
I mostly stopped here with my grandparents as we were passing through on our way to FL. I always loved going on the tours of the U.S.S. Alabama (battleship) and the U.S.S. Drum (submarine). I remember it was always fun riding through a tunnel near Mobile Bay on our way there.

12. Galveston, TX
This was probably the first real vacation I actually remember. I was 5 or 6 years old. My parents had an old white VW van, complete with kitchenette and fold-down table. I recall sitting at the "kitchen table", coloring away in my coloring book, while Daddy drove us to the beach. I can't remember if my cousin Marsha went with us or not, but I seem to recall her being with us. We camped on the beach, our tent pitched next to the van, I think. I definitely remember two things from that trip: getting the worst sunburn of my life, and seeing a dead baby shark washed up on the beach. That was my first encounter with a shark. I wanted to touch it to see what it felt like, but the little area around it was taped off. And so began my childhood infatuation with sharks.

13. Atlanta, GA
Yet another place I've visited many times. Stone Mountain was always my favorite place to go. I loved touring the antebellum homes and going up the mountain. I remember being so afraid the first time I went up in the cable car. I was afraid of heights. (I used to be afraid of mountains, afraid that I would somehow drop right off. I was always relieved beyond words when we would get back on "the ground" again. Now the mountains are my favorite place to be.)

One year we all went there with Daddy for a week-long class he had to take for work. We spent the day at the hotel, shooting pool in the game room or swimming. When he'd get back in the afternoon, we'd strike out somewhere. One of my favorite restaurants there was Lettuce Souprise You - a monster buffet of salad, soup, and bakery items. That's where I had my first chocolate chip muffin. Yum!

There are so many other places I've been, but I've taken up enough space for now... :o)

Which of these places have you been to? Where else have you been?

13 Things that Make Me Feel Like a Kid Again

It's been a while since I participated in Thursday Thirteen. Now that I'm starting to get back into some sort of normalcy - even if it will only last for a month - I'm trying to catch up on all my blogging. Yeah, I know. I need to add to my recipe blog, too. I will.

So on to 13 things that make me feel like a kid again:

1. blowing bubbles
This is one of my favorite things to do! We have quite a stash of bubble soap under the kitchen cabinet. Maybe I'll blow some more one day next week.

2. riding a carousel
I like to do this whenever we go to the zoo, which I was planning on doing today until rain crept into the forecast. I promised the boys we'd go on the first sunny day next week.

3. making a clover chain
I did this when I was at my parents' house nearly two weeks ago! I made a necklace with it, which really impressed Caleb, so I put it around his neck. I also found a four leaf clover!

4. playing in the sprinkler
I haven't done this in a while. It's high time! Actually there's a sprinkler park in Rockwall (yes, Jason Castro's hometown) that a lot of my friends go to in the spring and summer. I need to take the boys there and play in the water with them.

5. flying a kite
I had a blast doing this yesterday afternoon. I only quit because Jacob wanted me to push him in the swings. I could've kept flying forever.

6. swinging
I usually do this when we go to the park, as long as there aren't many other kids wanting on. I like to swing high and just keep going and going and going. But usually I have to stop and push Jacob a while. I'm trying to teach him to pump his legs, but he'd rather I push.

7. riding a bike
Can't say that I've done this lately, but I think I'm getting a bike for Mother's Day this year. Now that Caleb has a nice bike (which he got for his birthday last month), he loves to ride. Billy bought a bike right before Easter so he can keep up with Caleb. Once Jacob learns to ride, we'll all get to go together.

8. watching cartoons
I'm not much of a fan of the cartoons these days, but when Tom & Jerry or the old Looney Tunes or something from back in my day comes on, it's fun to sit and watch. And laugh. They're still funny.

9. jumping rope
Last school year, when we were part of a homeschool co-op with some other seminary friends, the older girls would jump rope during their P.E. time. They were so good, I didn't want to embarrass myself by joining in, so I just held the rope. They could double-dutch and everything. I probably should've just jumped in there and given it a shot. I need to find a jump rope...

10. blowing dandelions
It's always fun to do, just not in your own yard. You can't imagine the dandelions we've had pop up this spring! It's the wind, not me!

11. popping bubble wrap
Don't you just love to do this?!? The big ones are loud, but the little ones are much more fun. I like to pop them one at a time, then twist them to pop all the left overs when I'm done.

12. coloring
The boys don't like to color much, so we don't have many coloring books around. We do have tons of crayons, though! Maybe I should just do it all freehand.

13. playing hide and seek
The boys love to play this game. You run out of hiding places after a while, but the same old places can be fun if you change things up a bit. When I'm hiding, I always get goosebumps!

Do you remember the childhood game "Colored Eggs"? My sisters were playing it with the boys when we were there and they had the best time. I had completely forgotten about that game! I remember playing it at church a lot. I loved it. Thanks for the memories!

13 Possibilities for the "Oceanic Six"

The mention of the "Oceanic Six" in last week's episode of Lost got me wondering: Who are they? And why are there only six?

1. Hurley is one of the six. He said so when the police captured him after the car chase. "Don't you know who I am? I'm one of the Oceanic Six! I'm one of the Oceanic Six."

2. Jack is, too. He talked about still signing autographs every now and then.

3. Kate? I don't think so because she was a fugitive. Wouldn't she have been arrested? She might have been given amnesty, but she killed her stepfather and was an accomplice in a bank robbery.

4. Sawyer? He's a con, so he probably wouldn't want the publicity.

5 & 6. Sun and Jin? They're expecting a baby and, knowing the likelihood of Sun's death if she stays on the island, they probably want desperately to get off. But they wouldn't want the fame of being survivors since they were trying to escaper Sun's Korean mobster father. Since Oceanic 815 was an international flight and had people of all nationalities on board, the news of survivors would have been world-wide.

7. Claire? She has every reason to want to get off the island with baby Aaron. I'd say she's a definite possibility. I wouldn't consider Aaron one of the six because he's an infant and was born on the island. Technically he was aboard the plane, but he wasn't listed on the manifest.

8. Sayid? He was on a mission to find someone when the plane crashed. I don't think he's got anything to lose by staying on the island and everything to gain by getting off it.

9. Locke? Definitely not. He's got some connection to the island, and he's not paralyzed there. Leaving would probably mean he would lose his mobility again.

10 & 11. Rose and Bernard? Like Locke (even though she doesn't like Locke), she feels the island has healed her. She's stated, quite emphatically, that she's not leaving the island. And Bernard isn't going to leave his wife behind.

12 & 13. Michael and Walt? They supposedly left the island in a boat, but who's to trust Ben and the Others? I don't think they'll show up again, though. The time elapsed on the island has only been a few months, while the episodes have been filmed over the last few years. The actor who played Walt would've grown too much for his character to stay consistent. (Thus the "taller ghost Walt" that Locke saw when he was in the pit of death.)

Bonus: 14. Vincent? He's lovable and has nothing to hide, except maybe an occasional bone. :o)

Desmond, Juliet, Danielle, Alex, Carl, and Ben don't qualify since they weren't on the Oceanic flight.

My picks for the "Oceanic Six": Hurley, Jack, Claire, Sayid, and, I guess, Sun, and Jin.

13 Book Series

Hey, look! I finally added a Thursday Thirteen banner!

This week's list, a look at 13 book series that I've read or am reading.

1. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I loved reading these books when I was a little girl. Mama came across them a while back, but I opted not to get them. I don't have shelf space for them, and I don't really think it's something the boys would get into.

2. The Sunfire Romance series
Big during the 80s, these were clean romance novels set in different historical periods. I remember I couldn't wait for my allowance and a trip to the bookstore to pick up the newest book. I had several of them, but not nearly all. I wonder what happened to them...

3. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Billy introduced me to Lonesome Dove after we were married. He had read it in an honors English class in college that a friend had talked me out of taking. I devoured it - then found the sequel and the prequels and read all of them.

Dead Man's Walk tells how it all began. I couldn't put it down!

Comanche Moon, which just aired as a mini-series on CBS, was second. It was really good, too, but it took two tries before I could read the whole book. I came upon a very disturbing, graphic description of violence and had to put the book down for a year or so, then started over with it. The second time wasn't so bad since I knew what was coming.

The final book in the series, Streets of Laredo just wasn't as good for me. I read it and I liked it, but with some of the characters that I had come to "know and love" gone, it was difficult.

(I know, I let myself get too wrapped up in the characters I'm reading about sometimes, but isn't that the fun of reading a book?)

4. The Monk series by Lee Goldberg
Yes, that's Monk of the TV series. I found the first two books one day while browsing in a bookstore. I couldn't help but pick it up to read and before I knew it, I was laughing out loud in the aisle. I have the first three on my bookshelf. It's a series that I had to have; besides, I don't think the library carries them. The fourth book came out a while back, but I'm holding out for the less expensive paperback - which I just realized was released this month! Plus, they all need to be alike. I can't have 3 paperbacks and 1 hardback of the same series... :o)

5. The Mitford series by Jan Karon
These were good, but I got burned out after a while. I think a few more have come out since the biggest part of the series ended, but I haven't really been interested in reading them.

6. The Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury
This is an excellent series! I first learned of it through a daily online book club I'm a part of. I thought it was a good read, so I forwarded that week's excerpts to my sister Lindsay. She started reading the series and got me hooked. I started giving them to my mother-in-law for birthdays, Christmases, etc., and she's hooked. My mom read them all this year and passed them on to my Aunt Sue, who also got hooked. You'll fall in love with the Baxter family as you laugh and cry with them through 5 books.

7. The First Born series by Karen Kingsbury
Another excellent series which follows the families in the Redemption series but from a different point of view. I don't want to go into much detail or I'd spoil the first series for you. This series also has 5 books.

8. The Sunrise series by Karen Kingsbury
This continues to follow the Baxters and the other families introduced in the Redemption and First Born series. There are 4 books in this series, but I think only 2 are out. Maybe 3.

9. Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries
These are really fun mysteries to read. I can breeze through one in just a few days. I've read up to K or L, and Grafton has only written through S or T. I hope to get back into these this summer.

10. The Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross
Mama introduced these books to me. The title character is hilarious! If you've ever watched the movie Steel Magnolias, think of Miss Julia as 80% Ouiser (Shirley McClain's character) and 20% Clairee (Olympia Dukakis' character). I've got book 3 in my basket by my rocking chair, but I'm not going to let myself read it until I've finished the book I'm currently reading for my self-study program (that I will finish by April 11!).

11. Dave Pelzer's autobiographical series
Finally, some non-fiction on the list. Pelzer writes about his life as an abused child in A Child Called "It". In Lost Boy, he chronicles his experiences in the maze of the foster care system. Finally in A Man Named Dave, find out how he overcame his past to become a light of hope, "commended by several U.S. presidents and international agencies" (from an editorial review on Amazon.com)

12. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
I first read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I found it while wandering through the library at my grandmother's church one weekday while she worked. I don't remember how old I was or why I was there, but she let me in there and I spent quite a while lost in Narnia. I had pretty much forgotten about it until a few years ago. Billy bought me the complete Narnia series in one huge paperback book as a Christmas gift.

I read and loved The Magician's Nephew, which I had never heard of before. It tells how the wardrobe in the subsequent books came to be magical. I reread The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe after the movie was released. It was every bit as good as I had remembered.

I followed that shortly with The Horse and His Boy. I love the title, but the book was really hard to get through. For some reason, I just can't make myself skip any part of a book. Skim, yes; skip, no. So when I finally decided I needed to get through it, I plugged away again, skimming here, reading there. I read a chapter a day, and as I got toward the end, things picked up a bit.

I haven't started Prince Caspian yet, but I've heard it's much better than The Horse and His Boy. I'd like to read it before the movie comes out later this year.

I don't know which books follow Prince Caspian, but it looks to be quite a few. The book I have is a really thick one.

13. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
A friend's daughter described these books to me a few years ago. One day as I was wandering through our public library (I seem to wander a lot in libraries, don't I?), I found them. My curiosity was piqued, so I checked out the first book and read through it fairly quickly. They're okay, not my favorite series by any means, but it looked like something Caleb would enjoy so I thought it'd be good to know what's there.

He saw the movie at Billy's parents' house a few months ago and loved it, and when I told him about the books, he got really excited about reading them. He's almost finished with the third book now; I've only read the first two.

Bonus: 14. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
I know this is technically not a series, but rather one book in 3 parts. I haven't actually started reading it yet, either. I did read The Hobbit a few years ago. I really enjoyed it and had intended to go from there right into The Lord of the Rings, but I ended up needing a break from Tolkien. It was a tiring book. This year I'd like to at least start The Fellowship of the Ring. I think having seen the movies multiple times will help me get through them. I've heard it's got lots of detailed descriptions, which tend to lose me after a while. I think I may be doing some skimming in this series.

There's one series missing from my list (because I haven't read it and don't own it) that people either love or hate: Harry Potter. I haven't read them, but I'd like to, mostly just to see what all the fuss is about. I've read arguments on both sides of the issue, but I need to read them for myself to make up my own mind about them. Maybe this summer...

Caleb has also gotten into the book series thing:

1. Right now he's reading through Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He's actually one book ahead of me.

2. The Magic Tree House (time travel, history, geography, science)

3. Geronimo Stilton (adventures of a mouse reporter)

4. Flat Stanley (adventures of a young boy)

5. The Magic Schoolbus chapter books (science)

6. Junie B. Jones (adventures of a kindergartner, then a first grader)

7. Ramona

8. Henry Huggins

13 Things I'm Doing to Lose Weight

Let me tell you, coming up with 13 things for any sort of list is a challenge. Either I come up with way more than I need, or as is more often the case, I come up with only 7 or 8 things and have to rack my brain to complete the list. Today's list falls in the latter category. Read on to see just how many things I can think of that I'm doing to lose weight.

1. Watching calories. Notice I said watching calories, not counting them. Counting seems really impossible to do unless you eat out all the time and can find calorie counts online or you eat from a box and can find the numbers on the back. It's too hard to keep track of all the calories in all the ingredients in a recipe, then figure how much of each would be in a serving.

Something I noticed yesterday: a side salad from Wendy's has 35 calories. Add a regular (not low-fat or fat free) dressing to that and the numbers go up dramatically. My favorite is honey mustard dressing, which adds 250 calories! I often get an order of chicken nuggets to cut up and mix in with my salad. Well, that adds another 230 calories! By the time I've finished my "healthy" lunch and am feeling good about making better choices, I've just consumed 515 calories that I don't need. (Calorie counts found at The Daily Plate. HT: one of Cindy's readers who posted a comment.)

2. Walking a 20-minute mile at the gym each week. By the time I'm finished with my entire workout, I've actually walked a mile and a half, but the first thing I do when I get there is walk a 20-minute (or under!) mile. (Yesterday I did a mile in 18.5 minutes, and I was feeling it all the way. Thankfully I had recharged my iPod, so I had some great upbeat tunes to keep me at my pace.) After my big walk, I do a little upper body circuit training (more to come on that) and walk an additional .5-.6 miles between and after sets.

3. Circuit training at the gym each week. I read somewhere recently that to lose weight effectively, you need to focus on your whole body, not just the problem areas. I also read that strength training not only helps with weight loss but with reshaping the body. When I was working with weight equipment during my last long stretch of going to the gym regularly, I could really tell a difference.

Unfortunately, I've only been focusing on my upper body in my circuit training. I have a bad knee and too many squats or leg extensions put me in a bind. Still I don't need to exclude my lower body. I figure my walking pace does some good, but I need a little more. Yesterday at the library I checked out a couple of books on exercising: Ten-Minute Tone-Ups for Dummies and Strength Training for Women. I'm hoping to get some guidance on developing an effective lower body workout from them.

I know I've mentioned that I like to play racquetball, and that puts a lot of strain on the knees. In fact, that's how I injured mine in the first place. When I know I'm going to be doing something that stresses that joint, I wear my knee brace, but it's just not something I want to have to wear all the time.

4. Doing crunches a few mornings a week. I need to do better in this area. First I need to be more committed to doing them, to get into a routine and stick with it rather than just doing them when I feel like it or when I have a little extra time in the mornings. I also need to do more than just crunches. There are plenty of other exercises I can do at home and not have to rely on going to the gym.

5. Drinking more water. I never drink coffee or alcohol, and I rarely drink juice or soft drinks, so I don't have to worry about all the calories that come along with them. My morning drink of choice is 1% milk (100 calories per 8 ounces), or maybe a cup of hot chocolate if I'm feeling chilled to the bone. The rest of the time, I drink water. Still I don't drink enough of it. I usually don't have my first glass of it until lunch, which isn't good. I need to drink at least 2 glasses before lunch, 1 with it, 2 in the afternoon, 1 with supper, and 2 sometime before I go to bed. That makes the 8 recommended. Now I just need to do it. I figure I'd be better at it if I had a visual reminder, a chart to mark off or something. Maybe tally marks on my wall calendar...

6. Consuming only water between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. I've done this for a long time, though I occasionally slip up - usually when we're out of town. But I've come to realize that when I do slip up, I can just as easily start over with it. It's not an all-or-nothing deal.

7. Snacking smarter. It's almost like the boys watch the clock. Rather their bodies are like clocks. They'll ask, "Is it snack time yet?" and I'll see that it's 10:30-ish - snack time. I get them something, and I have a little something for myself. Afternoon snacks used to be at 4:00, when Jacob got up from his nap, but since he's no longer doing that (a blessing and a curse!), they snack sometime between 3:00 and 3:30. I get them something, and I have a little something for myself again. I've noticed that when they're out of town, I don't snack nearly as much. I get busy doing other things, not watching the clock to make sure they get their snack on time and don't throw off the next meal.

I know I need to have a little something to ward of the hunger so I'm not absolutely starving by the time I do eat my next meal. I just need to pay attention to what I do have. I need to choose low-fat yogurt or string cheese or a handful of nuts instead of chips or cookies or Little Debbies.

8. Cooking healthier. I've been doing this for quite a while. I try to stay away from a lot of pre-packaged foods, though we do indulge in chili-cheese corn dogs every once in a while... I usually make my own pizzas, crust included, instead of eating frozen ones. When we have chicken pot pie, it's homemade. Well, not the crust... But I do my best to stay away from all those additives and preservatives that our bodies don't need. I also try to cut the fat out of a lot of things by using low-fat or fat-free ingredients when I can. I cut the fat from meats by trimming them before I cook them, and I cut excess fat from my ground beef, when I use it, by running it under very hot water after it's cooked.

9. Eating smaller portions. This is my biggie! I love food in general, and if it's something I really like, I want more of it. I need to learn to be satisfied with one portion. One thing that would make smaller portions easier, if I'd just do it, would be to pay more attention to my menu plan for the week. If I'm cooking something that I really enjoy eating on a particular day, I should eat less at other meals so I can afford to have a little more later.

I shouldn't have too much trouble eating smaller portions at lunch. Most days we eat lunch at home, and it's usually a sandwich. I get tired of eating them every day, and it's getting to the point where I don't eat a whole one anymore because of that. I should just start making myself half a sandwich and filling in the rest with carrot sticks or apple slices.

10. Moving more. This isn't quite the same thing as exercising. When I talk about moving more, I mean getting off my bottom and doing things. I've cleaned out my closet. I've straightened the boys' room and closet. Their play room is next on my list, and that'll be quite an undertaking. I still have a few boxes stashed here and there that I need to go through as well. I've started making the boys' beds each morning, and that's quite an undertaking. Making Caleb's top bunk is a workout in itself! Whenever I change his sheets, I end up working up quite a sweat!

11. Allowing myself to have small treats. I'm not depriving myself of the sweets I love. If I did, I know I'd get so crazy for some that I'd binge. If I have two Hershey's Mint Truffle Kisses or a small handful of M&Ms a day, that's okay. I just need to be sure I don't go overboard.

Okay, that's all I can come up with so far. I have gotten a few recommendations, though:

12. Wearing a pedometer. How would that work with just staying in the house all day? I don't think I'd get enough walking done to account for much. Besides, my steps in the house wouldn't be the same as steps when I actually walk. I'll have to check into that.

13. Having dressing on the side instead of on top of my salad. I used to do this some, but I think I quit because it was just easier to have it on top. Still, it would be a good thing to get back to doing. When I eat salad at Wendy's, I could just squeeze some dressing into a ketchup cup and dip into that. That way I could still have my honey mustard dressing. Or I could order a low-fat or fat-free dressing and pour on top.

I'll continue on with this as I find time today. For now, it's time to get our school day going. Hopefully I can think of 3 more things I'm doing to lose weight so I can complete my Thursday Thirteen. Oh, and if you do come back to this post to finish reading it, you may want to skim the part you've already read for some edits. I've found a place or two that I'll be revising and/or adding to...

10 Best Games

Today's Ten on Tuesday list is the 10 Best Games - video, board, card, etc. Since I've already made a list of 13 computer games, I'll stick with board and card games today.

1. Apples to Apples - I love this game! I've played it with anywhere from 3 to 9 people and it's always a blast!

2. Nerts - Billy doesn't like this card game, so I have to play it with my parents and my sisters. It's like a speed version of group solitaire.

3. Balderdash- This is a hoot! You come up with crazy definitions or explanations for random initials, people, movies, etc. Always lots of laughs, but you need to have a lot of imagination!

4. Scrabble - Classic.

5. Scattergories - Another classic. Bible Scattergories is fun too, but quite a bit harder. Especially when playing against a seminary student... :o)

6. Phase 10 (and Phase 10 Dice) - I love playing this with Caleb now. He loves games as much as I do. This was his first "big person" game to learn. Once I've been playing the dice game for a while, though, it's hard to switch gears to the cards again.

7. Whoonu - Caleb got this Cranium game last Christmas and we've really enjoyed playing it. You select a card from the four in your hand that you think the "Whoozit" likes best. When all players have submitted their choices, the Whoozit ranks them from least to most favorite. You get points based on your ranking.

8. Trivial Pursuit - So many versions - and I like most of them! My head is full of random facts, so trivia games are perfect for me... I was just thinking the other day how Billy and I need to watch all the LOTR movies, then play our LOTR Trivial Pursuit. Maybe that'll be something good for our New Year's Day party...

9. Mancala - This is a great strategy game for two people. Travis and Wendy taught us to play at a game night our small group had about 6 or 7 years ago.

10. Scopa - (Italian for "sweep") Glenn and Amy taught Billy how to play this card game at that same game night. Scopa cards are hard to come by, but we finally found some. I think we got them on eBay.

Since I'm on a roll, I'll go ahead and add a few more. Then I can count it as my Thursday Thirteen, too.
Bonus:

11. Pocket Farkel - Mr. Ginger and PoMonkey gave us this for Christmas one year. It's a tiny dice game housed in a film canister. It's not like Yahtzee, and there's some strategy involved. It's addicting! I bet Caleb would like this game...

12. Rush Hour - Caleb got this game for his birthday a few years ago. You place little plastic cars on a grid, then move them up and down or back and forth to get a particular car out of the traffic jam. It's a great logic game, but can sometimes be frustrating.

13. Cranium - I can't forget this one! It's not my favorite, but I do like to play. It's been a while. Maybe that will be a good one for New Year's Day...

There are so many more that I didn't include (Imaginiff, Scene It?, Loaded Questions, Rook, Planet Hollywood, etc.), but I need to stop now. What are some of your favorite games?

13 Pictures from the Dallas Arboretum

I don't know what happened to make this so tiny! It was bigger when I first posted it. Click "View all images" to actually see them.

Now it's back to normal. Go figure...

Tiny again. I can't figure this out! Okay, if the slide show is showing up really small on your screen, click "View all images" to see what's actually there. If it's big enough to see, you've hit the jackpot!

First off, I want to apologize for the music. Try as I might, I couldn't get it off my slide show. If you like it, great; if you don't, just mute your speakers. Maybe I'll figure all that out before I put together another slide show. Well, I figured out how to get the music off!

I took the boys to the arboretum last month so they could visit the pumpkin patch, the hay bale maze, and The Amazing Chocolate Tree (which turned out not to be so amazing after all). After wandering around for an hour and a half, we finally found the chocolate tree exhibit. We passed it up in our excitement to get to the pumpkin patch and hay bale maze, which were right next to it. I guess I was looking for a huge tree. It ended up being a series of exhibits showing the process of making chocolate, from the pollination by tiny insects to the roasting, grinding, and melting of the beans to the final product. At one stop there were 5 different items to sniff and identify: cocoa beans, coffee beans, vanilla pods, cinnamon sticks, and peppercorns. That was my favorite part. We were all looking forward to the end, where everyone was supposed to get a free sample of Dove chocolate. Not happening. There was nothing. The boys were greatly disappointed. I wish they wouldn't advertise that as part of the exhibit if they aren't going to do it.

The boys forgot all about not getting their chocolate sample, though, when we happened upon the Texas Pioneer Adventure. They thought it was the best part of the day. They got to go inside a Native American teepee and see (and touch) the animal skins hanging inside. They got to climb inside a covered wagon. They were also able to go into 3 pioneer cabins and see what kind of furniture and toys people had way back when. Thankfully that's a permanent exhibit.

In the 4+ years we've lived here, I can't believe I never made it out there until then! I did try to go once by myself in the summer, but the day I had planned to go ended up being rainy so I changed my plans.

We're definitely going to make more trips out there. I'm thinking of getting a membership so we can go whenever we want, and so we can take our families there when they come visit.

I'm eager to see how they'll have it looking for Christmas. Maybe we'll go out again in early December.

13 Characters on Lost

Thank you, Cindy. I'm loving this show! Billy and I have watched the first 16 episodes of season 1 over the course of the last week and a half. I'll be getting discs 5, 6, & 7 from the library tomorrow, so we'll be watching the last eight episodes of season 1 and perusing the bonus features disc over the next week or so.

For this week's Thursday Thirteen, I'm blogging about 13 characters from Lost. (Lost fans, keep in mind that I'm a newbie and don't fully understand all the characters and their relationships just yet. I'm just basing this on what I've seen so far. And please don't spoil any of the plotlines for me. Thanks!)

1. Jack - A surgeon in the real world, Jack is now the general practitioner and the leader of the survivors of the plane crash.

2. Kate - She's a criminal who's trying to turn over a new leaf on the island. She and Jack are friends, but he doesn't completely trust her, with good reason. She's shown some surprising skill in tracking and outdoor survival.

3. Charlie - He's a bass player for a defunct band and a drug addict who's managed to kick his habit while on the island. He's sweet and loyal, but has a poor image of himself.

4. Locke - Formerly paralyzed from the waist down from an accident 4 years earlier, he now walks and runs freely on the island. When Jack said something about the island having mystical qualities, he answered, "More than you know." He mentioned having been a scout as a boy, but he knows much more about the ways of the wild than a scout would. It's almost like he was in the CIA or something at one point. I like him, but sometimes the things he does weirds me out.

5. Sawyer - He's a jerk and a con-artist with a smart mouth and a southern drawl. Still, you can't help but like him. I keep waiting for him to do the right thing, but he just never quite crosses that line.

6. Sayid - An Iraqi who served in the Republican Guard during Desert Storm, he's guarded but friendly with the rest of the survivors. He's very intelligent and conscientious. The writers and the actor have done a great job portraying Sayid as a person and not a threat or a terrorist.

7. Claire - Alone and very pregnant, she was on her way to the US to meet a couple who would adopt her baby. She quickly finds a friend in Charlie. After being attacked and abducted by Ethan, she manages to escape and eventually rejoins the other survivors. She steps up to be bait so the group can capture Ethan and find out how he came to be on the island since he wasn't a passenger on the airplane. With all the stresses she's been enduring, how can she not have had that baby yet?!?

8. Hurley - I love Hurley! He's lovable and funny, and he really cares about the welfare of the people he's stranded with. From building a golf course so the survivors can have some fun to encouraging Sayid to talk with Charlie about killing Ethan, his heart comes through. And he's always got something funny to say.

9. Sun - A seemingly brow-beaten and controlled wife, this daughter of a Korean mobster can secretly speak English. Michael is the first one to find out, then Kate, but she asks them to keep it secret.

10. Jin - Sun's husband and her father's "associate", he is very controlling. He doesn't know Sun can speak English, but seems to be suspicious of her relationship with the other survivors. He's had some violent altercations, particularly with Michael, but there have been some kind moments, too.

11. Shannon - She's spoiled and selfish and will use anyone to get what she wants. She also has a poor self-image and thinks she's useless. At times I almost want to like her, then she does or says something to make me loathe her again. At least she's trying to help Sayid discover some things about the island by translating French from a distress call and from some island maps Sayid found.

12. Boone - Shannon's older step-brother, he's come to her rescue many times but also resents her. Through the use of a hallucinogenic paste he made in the jungle, Locke helps Boone comes to terms with his feelings for Shannon and seemingly frees him from her grip.

13. Michael - Separated from his infant son, he must now raise 10-year-old Walt, who never knew Michael was his father. He feels pressured to set a good example for his son and to protect him - all while living in a strange place with other survivors of the plane crash. He's not ready to take anyone's advice on how to raise his son, but he's not sure what to do with him, either.

13 1/2. Walt - His mother just died and he's been reunited with the father he hasn't known since he was a baby. Other people have noticed there's something "different" about him, but I'm not sure just what they're referring to yet.

Bonus: Rose - She was seated across the aisle from Jack and he tried to reassure her when the flight first got turbulent. She survived the crash, but has no idea where her husband is. (He was in the tail section of the plane when it broke off before the crash.) She's a believer and prayed with Charlie when he lost Claire and was nearly killed by Ethan. She's wise and soft-spoken, but firm. I really wish she were a more visible character.

Do you watch Lost? Who are your favorite characters and why?