Valentine’s Day was fantastic. Mark made fettuccine Alfredo with spinach noodles and scallops, Becca slept through dinner so we could eat alone. A short while later, we opened a bottle of wine (Chocolate Lab, a local variety), and sliced up some strawberries and cheese. I picked up some Strawberry Chardonnay cheese earlier in the day. Yum.

We enjoyed some wine, played with Becca, and then watched Joe Black. I watched most of it alone, because Mark thought it was depressing. Finally, we put Becca to bed, and I fell asleep. Mark watched a little more TV, then he went to bed too.

At 6:00, we were awoken by a beeping noise. It would go off every ten seconds or so. Mark wandered out to see what it was. Our CO2 detector was going off, but by the time I got out of bed, it had stopped.

We stood there a moment, and nothing happened. Mark checked the stove, and then we headed back into the bedroom. I hopped on the computer to see what could be going on. If it was actually CO2, it wouldn’t stop beeping, right?

It started again, and then stopped. And then started again. We bundled up Becca (who had still been sleeping), called the fire department, and went outside to wait. Two firetrucks pulled up outside a short while later, minus the lights and sirens. I was starting to worry about our neighbors. Should we have woken them? What if there was a leak upstairs, and everyone else was dead? My imagination was getting away from me. It was really early, and I was tired.

The firemen went into the apartment, and then called us in. The detector had stopped going off, and there was no CO2. They waited a minute, and then two of them left. The third was starting to head out, too, when it started beeping again. So, back we went to the kitchen. Still no CO2.

All of that excitement for a faulty CO2 detector.

Three or four weeks ago, we finally made that magical trip to Wally-World. We wandered through the clothing section, and back to the children’s area. I had a list in my hands with a half dozen necessities on it, a very excited toddler in the cart, and a husband who was tagging along for the ride.

We had scouted out the chair we wanted a week before. It was pink, and could be used as an insert for the regular toilet, or as a chair on its own. I pointed to it, and Becca let out an excited squeal. “Potty!”We also picked up some Pull-Ups and a step stool to make it easier to reach the sink. Then we navigated over to the party supplies. Two packages of Mickey Mouse stickers for decorations.

We got home, and Becca and I immediately ran into the bathroom to set everything up. Mark took care of the last of the groceries, and then he joined us. We all sat down and started applying stickers. Now decorated, the potty was ready for it’s maiden voyage. Off came the diaper, and Becca sat down. We sang, we played games and we waited. After a few minutes, she had her first success. I don’t know who was more excited– her or us. We called all of the grandparents, and a few of the aunts. Our adventures in potty training had officially begun.

Fast forward a few weeks. Becca does very well with BMs. She very rarely misses one, partially because poopy=two hearts on the reward chart and a small piece of chocolate.

She does still have a lot of wet pull-ups, though. I think we’re picking up some “big girl panties” this weekend, to try to speed that part of the process along. She doesn’t make much of an effort to get to the potty on time, and we’ve been going through a ton of pull-ups and diapers (still used at nights). We’ll also get one of the purse-sized portable potty seats, so we can start training away from home, too. I’ll be getting a bigger bag, to hold everything while we’re out and about.

The only thing I’m concerned about is choosing to train away from home too soon. I’ll probably give it a week or two after we start with the actual panties, just so she can really get used to it. I’m okay with this taking a while, as long as we get there eventually. Becca’s doing really, really well with all of it, so I don’t think it will take too much longer. She’s very excited about no more diapers, and more than ready to do the work to give them up.

Not Actually Me

One of my resolutions this year is to get into shape. That means making changes. Big changes.

The first big change was to (more or less) give up soda. A cup here or there is fine. Ginger ale in moderation, also fine. But Mark and I were both enjoying our bubbly, caffeinated beverages way too much. I haven’t had any soda at all since just over a week ago, which, granted, isn’t that long of a time, but it’s a good start.

I’ve also cut back on sugar. That is going to be the hardest part of this weight loss plan, at least at first. I haven’t had any chocolate or other candy since Thursday or Friday. Again, not much of a streak yet, but I’m getting there.

I’m drinking a lot more water, actually getting the 8-10 recommended glasses a day. I’m trying to eat more vegetables. The steamer from Dad II (Mark’s dad) and the food processor from my dad and step-mom are fantastic, and are helping with that goal. It’s nice to only have to peel carrots, then slice them in the processor and pop them into the steamer. Perfect carrots in 20 minutes, with almost no work on my part.

We have the exercise on demand channel, which lets me sort through almost 100 different exercise videos at any time and choose which ever looks the most interesting. I do a lot of dance videos. I can’t dance, at all. But it’s more entertaining than the half hour of crunches and jumping jacks.

We also have a treadmill now. Sunday afternoon, I checked my email and saw a message from Freecycle. Someone had a couple of treadmills they wanted to get rid of. It had been 10 minutes since the email went out. No way were they still available. Buy, I emailed anyhow, thinking that maybe someone wouldn’t show up, and I could be one of the next in line.

A few minutes later, I got a response. I was the first person to reply. Could I pick it up that afternoon? So, I called my dad to see if he could help, and we drove the half mile to the woman’s home. It’s big, it’s heavy, and it’s mine. It’s programmable, and has an incline. Becca loves it, but we’re trying to convince her to stay off of it. I can only use it while she’s sleeping. She tries to climb on behind me, or set things on there to watch them fall off the back. I finally managed a few minutes on there yesterday; just enough to realize how horribly out of shape I really am. I want to add a couple minutes to the program I’m currently using each day, until I can do it easily. I’m doing one that’s about half running, broken up into 3-4 minute sections. I’d like to work up to running the whole time.

I’m hoping to follow through with this, and actually lose the extra pounds I’ve put on since becoming a mom. My goal is to be where I want to be by the beginning of June.  While I’m definitely not aiming for a bikini summer, it would be nice to have an excuse to get some new summer clothes.

I was able to pick out most of my own gifts this Christmas, so I looked around for a bit, and finally settled on an Amazon Kindle. The Kindle is an ebook reader that also allows you to play games, surf the internet, and listen to music. It does more, too, but I really just wanted it for the books.

I bought the Kindle 2, got it delivered two days later, and then spent most of the evening trying to pry into the box in a way that would make it look like I wasn’t trying to pry into the box. No such luck. Mark wrapped it the next day, and it sat in our laundry room for a couple nights before Christmas.

Shortly after the Kindle shipped, I got an email from Amazon. I could start loading it up with books while it was still being shipped. I headed over to Amazon, and started looking around.

I bought the Kindle for the free books. Amazon always has a couple dozen free books available for Kindle users, and they almost all looked interesting. By the time I opened the box Christmas morning, I had 12 free books on there. It’s been just over a week, and I now have 30, not counting the older classic (public domain) which are free all the time.

With 30 free books, at an average of $10 a piece if I were to actually buy paper copies, the Kindle has already paid for itself. In a week. Which is way more than I expected. The screen is really easy to read, and I like being able to increase the font size for late-night reading sessions, once my eyes have started to get tired from staring at my computer screen all day.

I’m not giving up regular books; far from it. I’ve added a half dozen books to my (already full) shelves in the past week or so, with Christmas. But if I run out of reading material, and just need something quick and cheap, I will definitely purchase a new Kindle title. I read 4-5 books a week, and having such a wide selection of new books is thrilling. I love my Kindle.

Happy New Year, everyone. It’s the time of year again for resolutions. One of my biggies right now? Get back to blogging. This place is a madhouse, but there is always a lot of inspiration for posts. I just have to drag my butt over here and actually write them.

Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated our third anniversary. We had the genius idea to be married on New Year’s Eve, 2006. Michigan (where we got married) cold and rainy, and the hotel room that night (with kids running up and down the halls screaming, and drunks doing the same) was not conducive to what most people do on their honeymoons. So we ordered pizza, watched (I believe) Seinfeld, and discussed the miracle of Dick Clark still being alive (we thought he was dead. Seriousl. Mark is still convinced that he’s a zombie.), and then cuddled up and went to bed. We were tired. And Mark had an oozing ex-blister on the back of his heel from wearing dress shoes that were too small. The tux company made a lot of mistakes. No one’s shoes fit correctly.

Yesterday, we celebrated by eating pizza, watching Seinfeld, and being amazed (again) that Dick Clark is still alive. He’s hosted 37 New Years parties at this point. And we both try very hard to not laugh when he meesses up the count, or counts out of sync with the actual counter.

Okay, I try. Mark falls out of his chair. He’s such a sensitive person, no?

We also had a bottle of wine, courtesy of Dad II (Mark’s Dad, who is also a Mark). It was really good. I usually go for the directly fruity wines (cranberry, apple, blueberry, ect). This was different, but still really, really good. We each had a small glass, and even Mark enjoyed it.

Over the past week, I made several resolutions. I’m going to list a few, to help keep me on track… I’ll try to keep updating with my progress.

1. Get back to 160 lbs. 150 would be better, but I’m starting small. This is actually several resolutions, because I’m also giving up cheap chocolate (sorry, Hershey. We’ve been friends for a while, but it’s time to let you go), cutting way back on soda, and exercising 30 minutes, 3 times a week.

2. Do more writing. I have two creative writing workbooks I will be working out of daily, I will be blogging regularly, and I will be finishing two novels. I also want to write a couple work-related ebooks.

3. Improve financial stability. I want to put aside money each month for Christmas, to avoid being broke in the few weeks following the holidays. I want at least $1000 in the savings account, and a $1000 buffer in the checking account. No more paycheck to paycheck. We’re also putting aside money each month for a very nice pot and pan set before the holidays next year. I’d like to put $100 a month aside for this, ideally.

Those are the biggies. I also want to bring Mark and Becca down to NYC with me for a few days this year (Mark’s never been. Which kills me. I’ve been several times, and I love it down there), and get a few articles into print.

I happened to look at the lists (I have a separate one for professional goals) and realized that now I actually have to do all this stuff. Crap.

What are your goals for the new year?