Easter Bunny, Pilates, and Tofu

Well, the love of my life is back home and things couldn't be better. Of course, he is leaving again in a few weeks. I think if I make sure the laundry is done before he's gone, things will be at least a bit smoother around here. But I am totally going to miss him.

We have had so much fun since he's been back, even though we haven't even really done anything.We did go to this Easter thing the unit put on. The kids took pictures with the Easter Bunny, and Brian helped Bella with her egg "hunt"

There was lots of food, which we ate at a table right on the beach. Bella and her Okinawa BFF Lorelei played in the sand and the bounce house together. Fun day.

Speaking of food, Brian and I have decided to do the vegetarian thing. I did it while he was doing Atkin's, and the hardest part for me was not being able to eat the hot wings he was chowing on right next to me. I love me some hot wings. But if he's not going to be eating meat while I am strictly eating veggies, I think I can deal (especially considering the fact that we made Sunday cheat and eat meat day). We started last night with Taco Bell for dinner: bean burritos and a double decker taco with no meat (and Crotchie, every time I say "no meat" I think of that Indian couple at Togo's. Then I think of that guy trying to figure out how to spell Tyeshia).

We are trying to get healthy and lose some weight. I'm already down to my pre-baby size, but I'm most comfortable about 8-10lbs lighter than I am now. I have no idea how much he is trying to lose. I got in 2 whole hours of exercise yesterday. I did my Denise Austin boot camp dvd, followed by her Hit the Spot Pilates for my hips, buns, and thighs.

Then when I was all finished Brian came home from work and wanted to work out with me. So we did the whole boot camp dvd again. I am quite surprised that I am still able to walk today considering most of that workout involves squatting and lunging. But I have every intention of getting in another workout today. I am positive I will have the nicest thighs and buns in about a month.

I have to go grocery shopping soon. I hate grocery shopping. But our fridge is empty, and we need more food to accommodate our new lifestyle. Tofu and frozen veggie patties, here I come!

Sleepless in Okinawa (although I really wanted to name this: "When it Raneys, it Pours"....ha)

I have had the worst week of my life (so far at least). As I sit here at 4am, feeding a sick and fussy baby after yet another dose of baby tylenol, and adding another set of wet sheets from Bella's bed to my ever growing laundry pile, all I can do is laugh. Really I just want to curl up in the fetal position and cry myself to sleep , but I guess that isn't an option here. So I have to laugh, because life can be just so ridiculous at the absolute worst time. And it really is hysterical how that all works out.

Leo is going on his third night of a high fever. I am running low on baby tylenol, and energy. I called the advice nurse (because who wants to drive all the way to the ER and wait there all night alone with 2 kids and have them tell me there is nothing they can do but give him more tylenol). They said he is possibly just fighting off a virus, and to only bring him in if he has diarrhea or won't eat. He seems to be doing fine, except at night when I'm ready for bed.

And of course, because life likes to throw a ton of lemons at you at once in the hopes that at least a few smack you right in the head, Bella has decided she isn't potty trained anymore. Or at least just not at night. These past few days she has wet the bed every night. I'm starting to think she is doing it on purpose because this time, after I changed her clothes, she said "sleep in mommy's bed?" and ran to my room. What could I do? I have no more clean sheets to put on her bed. I should just make her sleep in her pee as punishment, but that is just gross.

I have just until the end of this week left until Brian comes home. I am so thankful his deployments are only a few weeks or months at a time. I don't know if I can laugh at myself for much longer than that. But, like I have said before, I would rather take a million more nights like this than a lifetime without my babies. They are worth every sleepless night and every load of laundry. I wouldn't trade this for anything.

all aboard the coupon train

I think I do coupons all wrong. I'm part of a coupon train with some friends, and after my first shopping trip I decided I am horrible at using them. I saved a total of around $17, which would have been great, except for the fact that I never buy any of the stuff I used a coupon for. For example, I saved $1 on two boxes of granola bars. They both cost close to $3. So for the $1 I saved, I spent about $5 that I normally wouldn't have. I saved 75 cents on a $5 box of frozen pizza. I never buy frozen pizza either. I save so much more money when I don't use coupons!

There were also things that I do buy, but using the coupon for them didn't necessarily save me any money. For example, I needed peanut butter. The brand of peanut butter that the coupon was for was more expensive than the brands I usually buy. And the peanut butter is awful, so I feel like it was an even bigger waste.

I think I might give up on coupons :(

Do you know what today is?

Today is our 4 year anniversary. Which means that all day long I will have this song stuck in my head:



I am so madly in love with my husband, and our babies, and just my life in general. I'm pretty lucky.

pants on the ground

Cloudy with a chance of...Raney! (or: I have way too much time on my hands)

So, I definitely did change my url. Now it's jackiraneydays.blogspot.com. I made an awesome new header (which I am quite proud of!), and thought I'd make a cheesy url to go with it. Tell all your friends.

Lefou, I'm afraid I've been thinking

I should probably rename my URL "jackieverynowandthen.blogspot.com" I don't think I will ever be a daily blogger.

Well, I am a single mom for the next week and a half or so. You know what that means...

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner! (on paper plates!)

I so miss my other half whenever he leaves. But, let's face it: he's only gone for a short time, not in any real immediate threat of danger, and I absolutely love it when I can get away with not using dishes I have to wash. I had planned on using this time to test healthy recipes he might like, but for at least this weekend I decided to just take it easy.

7pm is now family movie time. After dinner, I put Leo to sleep and Bella and I get ready for bed. Then cuddle with popcorn and a Disney movie. Last night was Lilo and Stitch. There has been a request for Sleeping Beauty tonight, but we'll see if she changes her mind after her nap.

I'm sort of on a facebook hiatus. Sort of. I'm still stopping by, but I'm definitely giving Farmville a break. It's my one horrible addiction. I thought of just blocking it, you know, quit cold turkey. But, well come on now. I've put an awful lot of work into that fake farm of mine and I'd hate to just let it go. But I do need a new hobby or two.

Tomorrow I'm venturing off base in search of fabric and cheap frames. I've got a ton of project ideas that could keep me busy without clicking a mouse for farm coins and xp, not to mention help with my March resolution. And my walls are in desperate need of art. We have our family photos framed and hung up, but they are from before Leo so I plan on replacing them (our living room is like a shrine to Bella, and I think that's a bit unfair).

Still unsure of paint at this time. A question to my readers (the few of you there are): If you were living in a home for three whole years and had the option to paint the walls, would you do it, keeping in mind that you would eventually have to paint the walls back to their original color? Right-Now-Me wants to go for it, but I can just hear Future-Me griping about the decision since she will probably already have a lot on her plate at that time.

And if I ignore Future-Me, what colors should I go for? Neutrals...a shade of beige or yellow maybe? Should I just do an accent wall to make it easier on her, but in a bold color like red to make it pretty for Right-Now-Me?

Then there is the room-sharing decision. Bella has her own room right now, while Leo sleeps in his pack-n-play by my bed. We have a 3 bedroom home. Bella's room is HUGE. I'm pretty sure it is bigger than the master suite. She has two closets (right now I use one for her clothes and one for her toys). There is more than enough room for two kids.

Our third bedroom is basically just storage right now. No matter what, the closet in that room is just going to be for storage because there isn't enough storage space in the rest of the house. But the plans are either to make that room Leo's so the kids can have their own spaces (I shared a room for almost my whole entire life and never wanted my kids to have to share at any moment in theirs. At least not until they leave for college and have to room with someone, or get married, or any other situation I have very little to do with), or the kids will share a room and we will make the third bedroom a hobby/guest room. I've got a lot to think about.

Right now I'm off to think about whether we should have cereal or quesadillas for dinner. Oh, and uh...I just found out they turned 10 Things I Hate About You into a tv series. Yea....

"I re-DO"

I always wanted to be a wife and a mom. When I was younger, I had my invisible husband "David" and our 20 stuffed animal children. But "David" and I never had a wedding. He was just my husband, and I was his wife, and we had our gigantic family, and everything was perfect.

Most little girls play in their best dresses and toilet paper veils as they dream of their big day.

I'm sure I donned a toilet paper veil or two back in the day, but I never imagined what song I'd dance to, what flowers I'd hold as I walked down the isle, or what my dress looked like. All I cared about was "David" (who of course bore an awfully similar resemblance to Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and the kids.

I think it's the upcoming anniversary with my real husband that has me contemplating weddings now, and how badly I want a redo. Like, sometimes I think we should just get a divorce so we could get remarried and do it our way (or, my way since I don't think he cares either way). Joking of course. But I don't want to wait for a vowel renewal in like 20 years. Would 5 be too early?

In true lame-kid fashion, I wear my tiara and veil around the house sometimes when Brian is at work (my wedding dress is in California, or you bet your bottom I'd prance around in that too). Another reason to add to my list of why having a daughter is awesome: I can use "dress-up time" as an excuse to do this.


Next week will be four years since I married my real life husband, Brian (I let "David" down gently. No seriously, I did. I used "David" as a symbol of my youth, and I said goodbye to it and him on my wedding day as I was putting my mascara on. I told you, I'm a lame kid). Our original plan was to get married in Reno. We had plans of a "real" wedding for later on, but if that had never happened, we still would have been happy. It was my mom that wanted the real wedding right away, and I figured it was the least I could do for her. And so I planned a wedding in two weeks, with invitations being sent out via myspace bulletin. Yeah...

It was a nice little wedding. I was late, and there was no back entrance, so I had to run past the already seated crowd in my pajama pants and veil as my sister and mom tried to shield me using my garment bag as a barrier. My best friend wasn't there to stand in as a bridesmaid, and his wasn't there to be best man. We had a Justice of the Peace (my mom works with judges and he was an old friend, and the only person I could get on such short notice) instead of a minister, so it took me longer to run to the dressing room than it did to actually get married. And our reception was catered by Brian's family, and held at the clubhouse and pool of my mom's apartment complex. Yeeah...

I had a big poofy princess dress that I absolutely loved, and Jaimie did my hair extensions so I could wear it down in big spiral curls like I had wanted then. But if I could do it over now, I would opt for a pretty updo and a simple but elegant dress with lace detail.

My bridesmaids would include my sister Tara, and Jaimie (who were in my real wedding), and also Coralyn and Jessica Knieriem (who should have been in my wedding). Although I hadn't really ever dreamed of my wedding day, I always thought Jessica would have been a bridesmaid. But for whatever reason I didn't ask her, and that still bothers me to this day.The wedding and reception would have taken place at the Granite Bay Golf Club like I had originally planned.


An orchestra would play a rendition of our song (Brand New Colony by The Postal Service), which would make it suitable for our first dance (because really Brand New Colony as The Postal Service does it doesn't make it very easy to dance to).

We would have had gallery quality photographs that we could display on the walls of our home(s), and perfect memories of a perfect day.

Aah...a girl can dream. Or maybe I should become a wedding planner. At least I got one part of that day right.

I couldn't have asked for a better groom =)