7 NOT Quick Takes...And Some Other Stuff

Joining Jen and the QT Crew for seven never not always llooonnnnggggg takes. And doing so with the happiest of happy hearts because it is a lovely little day of the week commonly and lovingly referred to as FRIDAY! And I am not sure why I am so happy, happy, happy it is FRIDAY when I had a weekend in the middle of this lovely week but I am! And that, my dear friends brings me to my first of many takes!

1. We have been buried alive in this freaking winter abomination that has dumped eleventybillion inches of snow on top of an already white dusted ground leaving us with conditions untravelable by van, 2 wheel drive truck, and car alike. The only vehicles moving for days past our house were road graders, tractors, and a neighbor's Bobcat. All of which, I am eternally grateful for and pledge my undying love to because they were finally able to dig us out of the end of the world whiteout. On the upside, we were able to clean the house (because it is so much more fun for the littles to trash a clean house than a dirty one), catch up on the laundry, watch all episodes of Duck Dynasty (again), and play eleventybillion levels of Bubble Witch Saga and Candy Crush on my phone. Argh!

View from my office window

My roof. And no comments from the Peanut Gallery about the Christmas lights, please.

2. Speaking of Duck Dynasty. My family has an obsession with these guys. They are absolutely hilarious. And while we were snowed in the season premier aired. I died. Died. One of my favorite episodes ever is the one where Si eats raccoon poop instead of a berry because he has not been to the ophthalmologist in 10 years. That may not appeal to everyone but when you live in our neck of the woods, these guys are just like your neighbors. WARNING: If you are a member of PETA you may want to refrain from watching. Everyone else...knock yourself out! These guys are awesome! And they end every episode with the family gathered around the table, praying! And there's nary a swear word in the show...ever. You don't see that every day! Especially not on prime time cable television.

3. Man, these takes get longer and longer every single week!

4. I have been trying to lose weight. It's hard. Not the hardest but pretty hard. I am an eater. It's what I do. And in some ways it defines me. I'm bored, I eat. I'm watching TV, I eat. I'm at work, I eat. It's more of a habit than anything and that's what makes it so hard. I wrote this post two Fridays ago. I revealed my weight and I am very proud to say that knowing you know how much I weigh has motivated the heck out of me. I am down 6.5 lbs. That makes me feel great but not as great as being down another 30. Which is my ultimate goal. We will see how well it all goes but I do feel tons better already without the constant sugar barrage and the 5 glasses of soda a day. Now, if the constantly growly feeling in my stomach would subside and I could stop running to pee 48 times a day, I'd be golden! Oh and if I could suddenly learn to "LOVE" exercise like all the people in the world who claim this is possible. Liars. 

5. Alayna has become the can stacking champ of the world. And also the tooting champ of the world. Both of which make her 18 year old brother very proud. As seen in this video. Sorry for the nudity. She has a tendancy to show her tummy when excited. I'm not worried. Maybe she will never hear of a little thing called Mardi Gras.

6. I don't know if the Snowmageddon forced hibernation or this weird tic my right eye has suddenly developed is causing me to be completely without anything at all interesting to say but it is taking me like 47 hours to compose these allegedly "quick" takes.

7. The hubs and I had a not quite heated but definitely passionate debate about the recently departed leader of our church last night. My Google reader was chock full of good-bye posts dedicated to Pope Benny yesterday. It was all very sad and touching to hear what he meant to others in our church. It was a shared grief. My husband is more of a "God is in charge of the church and will provide us with what we need. If the Pope is unable to fulfill his duties he is right to abdicate." kinda guy. Not that I disagree. He is totally right but I have an emotional reaction. Sadness. Ultimately, the Pope is of our church, he is not the church itself. We will survive. But this post did bring a little tear to my eye.

And that, my friends is the end. Hallelujah! Happy almost days that start with "S" and make everyone smile to you and yours. We are going to spend a little time playing in the white stuff this weekend before the next round hits again Monday. Oh the joys of Misery Missouri weather!