Absolutely no excuse!

OK, so I am completely awful at the whole "blogging" thing but like weight loss, I'm determined to get to it this year! :-) So, since it looks like I haven't updated this site since October of last year, I guess there is a lot to fill everyone (what, 2 people?) in on.  Side note - not sure I even posted about this in June but I started a new job supporting an old boss.  Still working from home, nice pay raise, and now just 1 boss as opposed to 4!  It's working out great...so on to the rest of the year:

October:
* The boys continued their fall lacrosse season which kept us busy every day of the week with the exception of Wednesdays.
* Young Phil (at 6'2" we can't really call him little anymore) got the rest of his components for his state of the art gaming computer for his birthday.  He's in heaven now!
* Daddy Phil got the beginnings of his own computer for his birthday since he can't be shown up by his son :)

* Mom came into town (well state) to do some retirement home shopping in Augusta, GA so I took a couple days off to go check them out with her.  We found a great home and she actually put an offer on it but when dad went to see it a couple weeks later he found some pretty significant issues so they recinded the offer.  Instead, they chose a homesite in the same neighborhood and are building their dream home.  I'm so happy for them and so excited that they'll be close in a couple months!

* Halloween was absolutely awesome.  We built an actual Dot Room in our garage, framed it out and everything.  I think we ended up using 100 yards of black fabric (just for the ceiling), probably 3x that much of black pastic for the walls, etc. and 16 cans of neon colored spray paint but it came out amazing.  I also bought a full black costume and painted dots on it, hid in a corner of the room so I blended in with the wall and scared everyone who came in.  It also helped that there was heavy metal music blarring when they walked in so the kids were completely disoriented (which made them even more scared when I jumped out).  It's too bad the concept doesn't show well when you try to take pictures of it.

November:

* Jeff tried out and made the Sr. Select team for his lacrosse program.  He's very excited to have Coach Mark as his coach this season.  Mark was Phil's coach until this year when Phil moved up to the HS.

* Phil played in a HS tournament with upper classman from several different schools on his team.  The uniforms were really funky but Phil liked them and the team came in 2nd overall in their division.  Not too shabby for never even meeting his teammates before the tournament, much less having a single practice with them!  (Seriously, some of these kids drove themselves to the tournament and most had full beards for No Shave November).  It was so bizarre!


HS tournament team - we called the guy with his arms outstretched "Jesus"...say no more

* Thanksgiving was wonderful.  Theresa and Kinsley were here to visit and it was so nice having them around.  We ate great food (including 2 rum cakes) and did some Black Friday shopping.  We had talked about going out like all those crazy fools at midnight for the shopping spree but that's as far as we got - talking.  Honestly, I prefer sleep and there wasn't anything this year that I just HAD to have, ya know?

December:

* Both boys played in another weekend lacrosse tournament in early December.  It was SOOO cold that weekend and I ended up getting pretty sick afterwards.  The boys did great though and it's always fun to watch them play.

* Kate came to visit the weekend of 12/16.  It was the first time she's actually been to the house and we've lived here almost 5 years!  It was so nice having her here and Phil seemed to enjoy her company too.  I hope she comes back soon!
* I had a lot of time off throughout the holidays (12 days not counting weekends) so I was able to make 6 baskets of baked goods for friends and family members. I love doing that and everyone seemed to like them.
* Heather and Liam became the proud parents of Benjamin Bryan Nisenfeld on December 22nd.  He was born at 3:34pm, 6 lbs/15 oz, and 19.5 inches long.  CONGRATS!
* Mom and Dad came in for Christmas on the 23rd.  It was really nice to hear that mom feels at home when she visits (she actually said that as soon as they got settled that night).  They spoiled us with all their sweet treats, the crab cakes, and the filet minon.  OMG was it good though!  After Christmas mom and dad flew down to New Orleans for a few days and came back on Friday, 12/30.  They stayed one more night then started the treck back home. 
* New Years Eve was spent with friends that were hosting a party.  I actually stayed up past midnight!  I'm so proud :-)

Here are some great pics of Christmas as well as a Fundraiser we just did with one of our Lacrosse Sponsors!  Phil is in the blue jacket.

So on to 2012...

* So far this month I have started becoming a Couponing Freak (with Phil's help) :-). We watch that show Extreme Couponing and while I can't quite figure out how they get their totals down to 0, we are saving quite a bit. Example: Yesterday I went to the store and spent $22.96 but saved $23.67! We are buying 3 Sunday papers on Saturday (they usually come out a day early) and we check the current week's ad again as well as the upcoming sales. We only buy sale items - a lot of stores have buy 1/get 1 or 10/$10. Those are the coupons you should use when you see sales like that! Also, don't buy what your family does not use. Just b/c Metamucil is on sales doesn't mean you should buy it!
* Phil and I have started the New Year right. We're really focusing on getting back to taking care of our bodies, inside and out. We're eating more healthy, exercising more, and becoming more active. We had become such couch potatoes and it was disgusting. I received an Amazon gift card for Christmas and ordered an exercise ball for me and a pair of tennis shoes for each of us. No excuses now!

OK so I think that pretty much covers the big ticket items. If there is more I'll be sure to add it in...for now, Happy Birthday Jammi!