Megan Joy? Oy!

Elizabeth is sincerely addicted to "American Idol". Good thing or bad thing? I play my Responsible Mother card, and we only sit down to watch after our daily requirement of reading and tidying up. Truth be told, I look forward to watching with her, shouting at the TV and all. She gets VERY animated!

And boy, did she get animated after last night's episode. I think Megan Joy is absolutely beautiful, but can she sing? OK, sort of. But she looks SO uncomfortable on stage that it makes ME uncomfortable. Sorta like watching a car wreck. Had the same feeling about Anoop (Joel even covered his eyes during his "Beat It" performance), but that was mostly because you can envision no one but The Gloved One himself singing that song. Megan Joy's "Rockin' Robin" took me back to junior high school...I was just as awkward in everyday life as she was singing that song. If only I were that much of a looker when I was 12...maybe I wouldn't have been picked on for being such a square peg?

It's freezing cold here again today...the sun says its spring, makes you think you can run outside in your flip-flops. But think again. It's 17 degrees right now. That's bitter, even for March. I do see flocks of plump robins pecking at the ground, so spring WILL arrive here soon. I just know it.

I started knitting again! YAY! I know a certain couple (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) with a little bun in the oven (SSSHHHH! It's still a not-very-closely-guarded secret!), and I knew I'd better get on the sticks now because it will probably take me nine months to finish. All I can say is that Little Bun will have a cozy off-white cotton blanket to come home in. As soon as you find out whether Little Bun will be pink or blue, I'll get cracking on some booties and caps and sweaters. I promise they won't be dorky, even though you know how much I like my dorky vintage patterns!

I have this thing, though, that I never set off knitting without at least one major goof. Last night, I cast on 212 stitches for this blanket. I took the time to mark off the stitches in increments of 10 so I knew for sure that I'd have the required amount for the rest of the pattern (although I have been known to sneak an increase or decrease in that first row of knitting...nobody knows but me, but it does bother the heck out of me, so I try to avoid doing that). I happily knit along, oh, about 190 stitches until I realized I was knitting with the tail end of the yarn, not the end coming from the ball of yarn. And I didn't have enough of the tail left to finish those last 22 stitches.

ARGH!

I didn't want to lose my cast-on, so I "un-knit" all of those stitches, getting me back to Square Two instead of all the way back to Square One.

At the very least, I can now say I've had my one allowable major goof for this project. No more mistakes imminent.

I hope.

Tomorrow is the big day! I'm going to don a two-piece and be photographed for my "before" picture. I do have to say I was rather happy I could still fit into my two-piece...I haven't worn it since our honeymoon nearly 12 years ago. I still wouldn't feel good about wearing it to the pool, though. There are ALOT of mothers there who somehow ROCK their two-pieces.

All I can believe is that their kids must be adopted.

Although I do know of some mothers who've gone the surgical route to make their tummies spring back into shape.

But that's way too vain for me. And I'd rather suffer through ten weeks of body bootcamp anyway.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? I just need a serious kick in the behind to jump start some regular physical activity. Joel has been quite the role model over the past few years, getting up five days a week at 4:30 in the morning to head to the gym and lift weights (he loves) or run on the treadmill (he hates). I could get away with doing nothing at all...I've been blessed with "lazy genes" that don't require cholesterol management or the like. Joel DESPISES that, but I realize that even with these genes I'm going to run out of luck as I get older. I'd better start preparing. Ladies in my family live way beyond the average lifespan, and I'd plan on walking into my 100's. Heck, maybe even RUNNING into my 100's, if I get disciplined.

Let's face it: I can only count laundry basket runs up and down the stairs so many times as "exercise". Even I don't believe that anymore.

And no "before" picture for you until I have the "after" picture.