Best of Summer 2009

So as my summer begins its, much to quick, descent to my life being over I am reflecting on how amazing it has been while it lasted! As you can see by my previous entry San Diego was definitely the highlight of the summer; however, I can't underestimate the days filled with absolute nothing! My number one goal this summer was to be useless. Like one big relaxing vacation at a Spa minus the facials, massages and pedicures and plus the energetic, sassy and bored kids.

Some of my favorite useless moments of Summer 2009:

1. Reading, reading, reading! I haven't read much since last summer when I finished up the Twilight series. Although, those books were written for high school girls they were the most captivating books I had read for awhile and it was difficult to find anything else that held my attention. My favorite books are typically historical fiction (i.e. The Red Tent, The Other Boleyn Girl, Memoirs of a Geisha and Pillars of the Earth to name a few) but I haven't come across any lately that are worth my time. My father-in- law, Dan, introduced me to Harlan Coben (suspense novelist) and although my life is not enriched by these books I can't stop reading them! I have read three of them in the last month! They are definitely page turners and although some of the books struggled with a well correlated ending they are still entertaining!

Presently, I am reading the sequel to Pillars of the Earth, the World Without End. So far it is pretty good but just a warning to those interested, the book definitely has rated R content so I should probably not be recommending (or reading) it! However, the story takes place in the Medieval times and they didn't know any better! Hopefully you will agree that the offensive material can be overlooked...???

2. Cricut, Cricut, Cricut! For my birthday I was able to get a Cricut Expression. This is the best invention ever! If you are a school teacher or scrapper you have probably used the lovely die cut machines with the blocks where you press down the handle and it cuts the paper one shape at a time. . . Well, the Cricut cuts the paper electronically with just the push of a button! Cutting shapes and letters onto paper or vinyl isn't even the coolest part. By Googling Cricut ideas I have discovered on other blogs it also cuts fabric and you can make these cool stencils using freezer paper and then use the stencils to make cute custom shirts. (I will attach information on these tips and techniques or show you myself at a later date!). I have learned so much cool stuff that I have yet to finish one project before I start another (hence useless moment #2). Fortunately, my "bat cave" as Trent calls my craft room, is right next to the playroom, so my overly dependent kids will play for hours so long as I am nearby and I can just craft away! Plus when they have friends over I get to eavesdrop on all of their conversations because they think I am too busy to be paying attention!

The only problem I have with the Cricut is I have to do stuff for other people (mom) because I told them all the cool things it does. So my only non-useless moments all summer have been spent cranking out crazy projects for my mom to take to girls camp (more on that later).

3. Swimming, swimming, swimming! I have never had a swimming pool before and since I am not much of a swimmer anyway I haven't ever cared. But now that I have children I know that having a swimming pool is the best thing ever! Thanks to great swim teachers (and living at the beach in Hawaii) my kids are awesome swimmers and they love it! So whenever they start whining about how bored they are and how they have no friends (thanks to the Cardon's being in Del Mar for 3 1/2 weeks) they are easily swayed when I let them go swimming. And this actually helps me reach my goal of absolute uselessness because I have no intention of getting in the pool myself and since I have to be out there to supervise I have another opportunity to sit around and read (while I watch them of course!).

4. Grey's, Grey's, Grey's! I have been listening to people talk about Grey's Anatomy for the last 5 seasons and I have felt very left out! So I decided to take action. Since summer began, I have rented the series, one disc at a time, starting with season 1. My first impression was, what is all the hype??? But I can't stop watching it! I am now on season 4 and like all those that came before me, I am hooked. I have wasted more time on this show this summer than probably anything else so this should have been useless summer moment #1!

5. Food, food, food! What else goes hand in hand with laziness then getting fat! Not that I can blame all of my latest weight gain on this summer (I was already at a steady incline since moving back to AZ last summer) but this summer has definitely added the last 5 okay 10 pounds! The ironic part is I actually started the summer on Weight Watchers and lost 6 pounds, than Mission Beach happened and a pound of peanut M&M's later and I am right back up where I started plus some...OHHHHH the frustration of being a yo-yo dieter. I have long come to realize that of all of the problems a person can have in their life being chubby is probably one of the better ones. After all I still have a really hot husband who thinks I'm not so bad, we have amazing healthy children and a roof over our heads. Plus the eating part that makes me fat is really fun. All in all, a lot of the memories and useless moments of this summer included food! I will always remember that our family went through 8 (1 lb) bags of peanut M&Ms in a week! But as the summer comes to an end hopefully so will my binge eating (or at least I will try my very best :)!