I can't believe it......I did it!

You won't believe what I did tonight. I exercised! I'm talking, really, truly, honest-to-goodness, sweaty exercise! See, I need to lose, oh, 5 pounds. Or so..........

So began my I'm-going-to-start-exercising-again decree. So two weeks ago, I did a small, 20 minute video. No sweat.

Then, an entire week later, I did another small, 20 minute video. No sweat either.

Hmmmm. Not looking too good. I've GOT to figure out how to start. To make this a habit.

So last week, maybe Thursday, I pulled out an old, old tape. Yes, I have exercise videos on TAPE! It was an ab video with five approx. 10 minute segments. I did one and a half of them. Wow! I can still do it! This isn't so bad! I'll start with abs and work up to cardio......

The next morning......ow, ow, ow. Let's just say, those exercises are nothing if not EFFECTIVE!

So I skipped exercising for 3 days.

I have a multitude of excuses. I don't have space to list them all. But tonight, I had no excuse. And for some reason, I WANTED to exercise. I mean, REALLY. So I pulled out Christi Taylor's Hi-Lo Heaven. It was made in 2001, I think. (And it's on a VHS tape.)

I started the tape. Ah, yes. I remember liking this one. Christi Taylor's videos have intense, crazy choreography. That's what makes them so much fun! They are hard to learn, but once you learn them, they are very fun to do.

AND I COULD STILL DO IT!!!!!!

I made it all the way through the first 25 minute section. You can cool down after that or go on to another 25 minute section. (You have to be crazy to attempt that, but some people do....) :) It was like riding a bicycle. I remembered the steps! They were still fun.

Now I feel great! I hope I can exercise tomorrow. My main enemy is time. But I want to see some results, and I KNOW this is the best way for that to happen.

Yay, me!

The office

Finally! After nearly 2 years of living here, we have an office!

With a borrowed Sam's card and a little bit of elfin magic (we brought it home in the Honda), we have a nice bookshelf. It is 6 feet tall and has drawers on the bottom so we can hide all our junk.....









Ah, the Master at Work. Wow!

(new desk from Sam's as well......)

Odds & Ends

I couldn't decide what to post about tonight. So I thought I'd post about everything.

I took the girls to the doctor today. Beta needed an update on her asthma treatment. I told the doctor she has had no symptoms whatsoever. He said it was ok to stop the Pulmicort and see what happens. He listened to her lungs and said they were perfectly clear!

Alpha went because she has a short frenulum. There is a more specific term for it, but I can't remember it right now. The frenulum is the piece of membrane that connects your tongue to the bottom of your mouth. In short, (haha!) she's slightly tongue-tied. Her dentist noticed it, as well as her speech therapist. The solution is to have it clipped so that she can speak better. It's not as bad as it sounds. I hope. The doctor started to explain and I told him there was no need to get too detailed. He said it heals quickly.

I took Mark's advice (Holly's husband) and created a new character in World of Warcraft. I've got a Mage who's up to Level 7, and a Priest who's up to Level 6. I shied away from priests at first because I was afraid they'd be somewhat sacrilegious. However, they have the powers to heal people. In fact, one quest I'm about to go on has you going to find an injured "person" (computer player) and heal him. I told Jim that someone needed to create a Christian version of this game. Then I can be the priest and kill 'em with kindness! (kind of an inside joke)

My right big toe is aching. I have no idea why. I thought it was because it needed to "pop", but I've done that and it still hurts.

Jim is having a "Guys Night Out" right in our very own office! He's been on a raid with his guild for the past 3 1/2 hours. They've only got 3 big guys to kill, out of an original 13. Maybe he'll make it to bed before midnight tonight.

I saw part of a reality show tonight and it bugged me. Well, it also amused me. It's called "The Baby Borrowers". They have 5 teenage couples who move into these people's houses and take care of their babies for a couple of days. Then next week, it's toddlers. Then middle schoolers. Then teenagers. Now how teenagers are supposed to "take care of " teenagers is beyond me. Anyway, they showed excerpts of last week's show where they took care of the babies for the first time. I was amused and appalled. What parent in their right mind would let two silly teenagers take care of their infant? These babies were little. Not newborns, but none of them looked more than 6 months old. So of course, the baby won't stop crying, won't sleep, the "parents" argue, cuss, storm out, etc. etc. One couple had the mom step back in and yell at the poor girl for doing everything wrong. I didn't see what she did, but I actually felt sorry for her. Imagine someone behind a hidden camera watching you take care of a baby for the first time. No thank you!

But that's why I blog and play World of Warcraft. And also why the girls and I went to the playground. How I miss the good ole Cosby show days.

We FINALLY bought furniture for our office! I'll post pictures in a few days once we get time to actually fill the shelves. (raids and blogging, you know.....)

And that's about it. Hope everyone's week is going well. I wish it was another 3 day weekend. Oh, well. Two days will have to suffice.

Boom! Swoosh! Sparkle!

Happy (belated) 4th of July! We all went down to mom's house this weekend and had a grand ole time! Our weekend included a trip to Build-a-Bear, (grrrrrrr....., marketing!) lunch at a new Mexico Chiquito, and a fireworks show viewed from Dickey Stephens ball park in North Little Rock.

The fireworks part was my favorite. In years past, we would all go down to the NLR side of the river. You would pick your spot of levee and sit down. Then you would be bored and beg for snow cones for the next 2 hours waiting on the fireworks to start. The people on the Little Rock side would be treated to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra while waiting on it to get dark. Then the orchestra would play in time with the fireworks. (or vice versa) Meanwhile, on our side, it was quiet except for BOOM! SWOOSH! CRACKLE! etc.

Well, this year, we got to hear some of the music because it was piped over to NLR! How cool is that! And we didn't have to sit on the ground. We got to sit in the stands. And the kids got to play in a kiddie area.

And I got on TV!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I committed fraud since the TV station that interviewed me was not the one Matt & Robin work for. Of course, THEIR TV station was nowhere to be seen! (Sorry, guys!) So, at the risk of embarassing myself further, with the extra 10 pounds (I'm SURE the camera added that......) and my hick-like voice, here is the link to me on TV! Once you get there, the video I'm in is "Pops on the River".

Enjoy! (and if you're laughing at me, please don't tell me!)

Almost.......there............

Congrats to me! I have now officially worked 2000 hours towards my CPA license.

Big whoop.

I called the state board today to request a license application. They informed me that people in my situation must show that we have taken 120 hours of CPE (continuing professional education, continuing ed, etc.) OR take the exam again.

Let me explain. I'll try to be brief.

When I found out I had passed the November 2002 CPA exam, I called the state board and asked how long it was good for. I was a stay-at-home mom at the moment and didn't want to go to work yet. The lady I spoke with said it was basically good forever. Your 1 year of experience (full time, or 2000 hours) had to be within the past 3 years. But the exam was good forever.

Fast forward to Nov. 2006. I find out that the law changed on me. Now, anyone passing the exam AFTER August 2005 must apply for their license within 3 years or end up with a void license. Void license means you must take and pass the CPA exam AGAIN.

Well, seeing as how August 2005 was already 3 years after I passed the exam, I don't believe I ever really had a chance to satisfy that requirement once I found out about it. I am not "grandfathered in". The board has decided that people like me can either take 120 hours CPE or take the exam again.

It was.........a bummer.

I wasn't totally surprised. I knew I had "special circumstances" and was only slightly hoping for a miracle. (Why, yes, Mrs. Kane, don't even bother applying! We'll send your certificate right out!)

And taking 120 hours will be more expensive than hard. My boss told me once that if I ever attend a CPE course and come back saying it was fun, I will be highly suspect.

I'm waiting on a call from someone higher up at the board, but I really don't expect it to change anything.

So, pray that I keep my sanity and find some cheap CPE. I'm still very very close to having a license. And to look on the bright side, at least they offer the CPE option. Otherwise I'd be studying for the CPA exam for a SECOND time! Also, I don't have to wait 36 months to complete the CPE. I can get it as fast as I can. My only drawback is money and time off at work. (Most classes are 8 hours)

I'm sure I'll get there one day. I just hope my grandkids aren't out of college before it happens. (Ok! Ok! I'm kidding!)

If you can't beat him, join him.

omg! What have I done? I never thought this would happen in a MILLION years!

I joined.......World of Warcraft.

After a free trial a couple of months ago, Jim went out and bought me a prepaid game card. The only problem is that the prepaid game card is only valid on an already paid-for account! So we had to agree for the Borg, uh, Blizzard Entertainment, to charge us $19.99 for one month! ARGH!

BUT.........

You won't believe what happened after that.

Jim ACTUALLY talked with me! A lot! More than he has spoken with me in months! Ok, ok, maybe not that much. But, he started talking. Excitedly! All about the game, of course, but at least he was speaking with me!

So, is this the answer? I've tried not to be subtle. I've said "You don't speak to me any more." "I get lonely when you're on the computer." "Maybe tomorrow I'LL take the night off!" (that's when I was mad b/c he wasn't helping me with the girls....)

Does this mean I have to become a WoW (World of Warcraft) junkie now to see my husband? I have to sheepishly admit that the game is somewhat intriguing. I'm a Night Elf Rogue. My name is Moonlalei. (Moon-la-lee) I'm really proud of the name. I came up with it all by myself. I thought it sounded kind of Warcraft-ish. A cross between old world and fantasy.

Well, I guess I did what the old saying said to do. If you can't beat them, join them!

Wordless Wednesday

I saw this idea on another blog I read. But I can't remember which one. So here 'tis! Just a picture!

Oh, wait. I'm not supposed to be talking, am I?










Jim's going to get me for this....