Extreme Yummification!

I did a big naughty not too long ago (I just seem to be full of confessions on this blog of late, lol). I popped into a McDonald's and caved in and scored a Mocha Frappacino. It has been said to be all the rage and I just had to see what the all the fuss was about. I have to tell you, it was absolutely delish! I even enjoyed the accompanying brain freeze (not really but the drink was WAY awesome).

Okay, so I wanted a "Mormonized" version of the same drink. I happened into a health food store in Idaho Falls while I was waiting for Megs and Bri to get their groceries at the Winco across the street. The woman in there was beyond accomodating. When I told her what I wanted, she said, "Well, let me call my daughter. She works at the Starbucks just down the street." Her daughter delivered the recipe and the two of us went to work modifying the recipe to fit my needs. I have to say that this has become my new favorite indulgence (since I'm on such a restricted diet that any treat is welcome).

Here's what we do:

In the blender (my Vitamix works wonders) I put the following:

Ice
1 extremely heaping spoon of organic cocoa powder
3 extremely heaping spoons of Pero or Cafix
1-2 dropper fulls of flavored Stevia (I like chocolate, peppermint or vanilla creme so far)
1/2 teaspoon of guar gum (holds it together, I guess)
Rice milk (or today it was coconut water and rice milk)

I blend this up until it's smooth (I hate ice chunks) and I have to tell you, I'm a happy camper!

Zinger!

Here's a good one that really shouldn't EVER be put in the Weltz history books. However, I'm just bold enough to write this one down anyway . . .

This morning while I was tacking up my horse to ride at the ranch along with my other ranch homies, I was chatting back and forth with my trainer. She was asking me about Brian and why I had to make a trip up to Idaho last week. I explained about his housing sitch and such and then made mention that we were kind of waiting to see what shakes out about his mission before we decide what the next step in his future was.

At that point one of my other fellow riders, Julie, popped up out of the blue and exclaimed, "Jody, are you a Mormon?"

I replied, "Um . . . yeah . . ."

My trainer then stated, "Well, Jody isn't just your mainstream Mormon. She's a bit rough around the edges."

Julie then came back with, "I am SHOCKED! I just am SHOCKED!!"

Holy crumb! I knew I slipped up every now and then but really? I mean, yeah, I let off a few words here and there when my ride isn't going the best but really? And, I WILL say that it IS the ranch and the talk there is rough at best anyway but really?

So then, my ride is going along. At one point I make a comment about how Black Horse is being a wee bit naughty. Julie then says . . . (drum roll, please, for the grand finale!) . . . "He just found out he has a Mormon on his back and really doesn't know what to do with that information!"

Bahahaha!! Good one!!!

Well, I did come away from that experience today a bit humbled. Also, I think I only let off one bad word when I totally biffed a course I was riding so that IS an improvement. Let me just say this . . . I'm a work in progress and I have quite a ways to go before I'm good to go!

One Pooped Pup

Today was my first day back to my life. It's been like three weeks since I've done my life and, I have to say it kind of felt good to be back in control. Of course, that was until tonight. I'm sitting here at my desk just too dang tired to get up and go to bed. Go figure.

I watched Ava today and she was happy to see me. She ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug EVER! I guess it's right what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder.

Also, Jacob is out of school this week because it's his spring break (yeah, none of my children have the same spring break this year. Go figure). Jacob kind of tried to be helpful with Ava but actually they just argued like siblings. Lol

I hopped on my sister's horse this afternoon and got to use my new Aussie saddle for the first time. LOVED the sadde. The horse was a lazy boy and I had to nudge him along the whole time. It was good to be back in the saddle (literally) again, though. I missed riding.

Tomorrow brings a ride on my awesome Black Horse whom I have missed terribly since I've been away. Really looking forward to that.

Right now, I'm going to walk that long walk over there to my sink and brush my teeth, wash my face and settle down in my bed and watch my Aussie show that I love. I'm ready to call it a day. So, the accomplishment is going to be for me to lift myself out of this chair right about now! Lol.

Good night.

Country Mouse

I grew up in the country setting. I lived a lot of my adult life in the city world but 14 years ago Skip and I decided to move to where we are now - out in the hills on 26 acres. I love love LOVE it there!

Well, as I have mentioned before, Skip's job has taken him to LA. He lives in a really nice apartment all by himself (jealousy inserted here). I get to go down and visit him once a month for the weekend. This is my weekend here (I'm only blogging cuz my hot man is getting himself ready for the day and I tend to be able to manage that chore a whole lot faster than he). Last night as I was laying in bed I was thinking about what is it that makes me want to be such a country mouse . . .

- Noise - here (in LA) the noise is people sitting on their deck outside drinking a talking loudly, planes flying over head and cars moving to and fro. At home the noise is the occasionally coyote in the distant hills, my horses snorting as they are eating their grass and my neighbor's wolves howling intermittedly - all sounds that I love.
- People - here there are people pushing and rushing everywhere. At home I seldom see any of my neighbors. The only peeps I really interact with are my family unless I go to town (which is WAY too much for my liking).
- Landscape - yesterday as my plane was circling over LA to land I was looking at the landscape (or lack thereof). I couldn't help but think that 200 years ago I bet this terrain was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Now, it's just a wall of houses, asphalt and concrete sprinkled with the occasional golf course. At home, right now the hills are beautiful green and lush. Of course, in about a month they will be golden brown and there will be a whole new vibe there.
- Stress. Here (even though I'm not in my element and there is no stress for me, per say) there is a lot of stressful energy. I can feel it everywhere I go. People pushing and shoving and in a hurry. At home . . . well, uh . . . . yea there is hella stress but it is my own individual stress that I'm feeling - not necessarily other's.

So my conclusion? I'm jealous of the fact that Skip gets to live alone and that nobody and I mean NOBODY messes with his stuff. I haven't been alone in 26 years and I crave it something fierce. However, I would like to live alone up in the hills on my ranch if I had my drothers. This country mouse likes to be away from others and have the option to venture out on my own terms to interact with all the other mouses.

She's my BEST friend!

Can I just tell you about my best friend? Oh, I know I've gushed about her before but I'm pretty amped up right now. Nancy is my bestest friend in the whole wide world. I can say that cuz my other bestest friend isn't in this world any more. She went home about 10 years ago and I miss her terribly but she still visits me from time to time. I don't really care if someone is creeped out that I just wrote that. It's true, though. As a matter of fact she visited me about two weeks ago. She appears in my dreams. I know it's a visit because the whole experience makes perfect sense, is in order as in real life (cuz you know how dreams are all scattered) and I remember all the details long enough to write them down in my journal. Her visit this last time was special to me because she came to express concern and love to and for ME. She has always come to ask for my help with her family in the past but this time it was about me.

Anyway, as I've written before, I'm up here in Rexburg helping my boy move out of his school approved housing and into a regular apartment since he won't be, ahem, going to school any more. So, while I was driving up here, my bestie called me to see what's up. When she heard that I left abruptly and she didn't know about it (cuz we tell each other EVERYTHING) she was bummed because she said she would have ridden up with me so that we could have fun together. I half heartedly said, "well, why don't I ask Skip if he can use a free ticket and fly you into Salt Lake and you can ride home with me. I know it sounds crazy but it would be hella fun!" She went for it!

I called Skip and groveled and he caved. I'm picking up my bud tomorrow morning so we can laugh, drink highly caffeinated beverages and pick up on guys (that last part is a joke between us because the only "guys" on the road are truckers and we would never do something really crazy like that - we just joke about it). Anyway, I'm more excited than I could be.

It just helps ease the pain of having to leave my babies. Bri and I had an insanely emotional good-bye tonight and then Megs and I were just as bad. I know that tonight when I say bye to the princess I'm gonna fall apart again (see, I'm already getting teared up - I'm such a whimp).

Boom Boom and Shut UP!!

Two funny things (well, actually a LOT of funny things) happened on our vacation that I want to write about . . .

1. Brandilyn and I decided to rent cruiser bikes one last time to ride up and down the beach while the other ding dongs that we are related to decided to frolick in the waves of the sub zero temperature water (sorry, I like my water a bit on the warm side). Before we got going, I indicated that I needed to use the restroom so we rode our bikes to one of those public restrooms by the beach. Of course, there was a line that snaked out a bit because it was the women's room and that's just the way us women roll.

I was waiting and waiting and waiting behind this really cool looking woman with tattoos. When I got within earshot of the restroom I could hear what appeared to be a woman sitting in a stall just yaking away on her cell phone. This was a three hole restroom and the other two stalls were turning over just as fast as they could. I said to tattoo woman, "is she really just sitting in there gabbing on the phone while we are all waiting?" Tattoo (COOL tattoo) woman said to me, "yeah, she must be doing the boom boom in there, I guess."

Wait . . . . the 'boom boom'? I don't think I've ever heard of it called THAT before. I wanted to bust up laughing (because I find bodily function humor hilarious!) but I didn't. Tattoo hottie was next up in line and she had the stall next to boom boom and she yelled (of course boom boom was too busy gabbing to even have a hint of acknowledging her), "Hey, girlfriend in the handicap! Get off the phone and wrap it up in there. There's quite a few of us girls that need to relieve ourselves!"

Of course, when I left boom boom was still talking. Tattoo woman high fived me and said, "have a great day, girl" and I had a good chuckle.

2. Our family went into a yogurt shop for a treat on our last night of vacation. I got to chatting with another woman in line as we were serving up our yogurt and, for whatever reason, I spilled the story about how Robbie got into a fight with his girlfriend, dumped her and left her with our family while he drove home (8 hours away). I said, "it's a good thing we love his girlfriend, I guess." She turned to me and with all the seriousness she could muster said, "Shut UP! Are you kidding me? What a jerk!"

I found the whole exchange quite amusing. Yeah, my boy is a JERK! I'm so not kidding.

Vacation was fabulous and I'm so grateful that there were a lot of wonderful family moments blended with the random drama. I'll post more when I have time.

Sucky See Girl

Next to Disneyland, See's has always been - to me, at least - the happiest place on earth. I mean, you walk in there with a hankerin and you walk out savoring heaven. Right? Well, that was my expectation yesterday . . .

I've been doing this diet and since the crash on Tuesday I've just not been on board. Still haven't gotten my medicine so I've just been kind of doing it. Well, actually I've been doing it pretty much most of the day and then fall apart somewhat in the evenings. Not ideal but it'll have to do for now until my medicine arrives and this vacation is pretty much written in the Jodelina History Book.

Okay, so us girls are out shopping because that's what we do. Brandilyn, Meg, Dani, Courtney and I. We were having a fabulous girl's day out while the guys (minus Robbie who stayed at the condo to pout) were out golfing. We happened upon See's Candy and Brandilyn said that she had an unquenchable urge to eat some English Toffee. In those doors we went. We were all savoring the delicious aroma of chocolate that assaults you the moment you walk into those stores and examining all of our options. I told all my girls that I would treat them to a treat.

We all walked up to the glass case in the front of the store and were all excitedly pointing out which pieces of candy we intended to indulge in. There was another customer up in the front of the store with the employee by the cash register and we barely noticed her since we were so preoccupied with ogling at all the tempestuous treats. Abruptly, the store employee walked over to us from behind the counter and said, "Would you please get behind the sign over there and wait so that my "customer" can look at the candy?"

Woah! Wait, what did she just say to us? Like did she really just indicate that we weren't customers? I turned to the girls and said, "I don't know about you guys, but I find that insanely offensive. I'm not thinking I need to spend my money here and I certainly don't think I need See's Candy right now." The girls agreed and we promptly walked out of the store.

As for me now? Yeah, I'm still craving that piece (or two or three) of chocolate that I didn't score on yesterday. However, I'm hoping we made a point and my bum is happy not to have to carry the extra load for the next 10 years. So I guess that would be considered a win/win.

Eff It Day

As i may or may not have mentioned before (probably not because I just really don't want or need criticism from people who don't walk in my shoes), I have been doing the hcg diet. It's pretty radical and it's definitely the most difficult and restrictive diet I have ever done in my life. I have pretty much tried everything since I was 14 years old to control my weight. I've always had issues with feeling like I'm overweight (most of the time I so wasn't overweight but . . . whatever) and all the dieting and restriction I have imposed upon myself for most of my life has resulted in completely messing up my metabolism. Enough of that.

So enter the hcg diet. It's a 500 calorie a day diet but you take the hcg hormone and it really does help control the hunger. Oh, you still want and crave every possible morsel under the sun but the hunger is kept at bay. The hormone evidently programs your body to feed off of the blubber (abnormal fat) instead of depending on whatever crud you're shoving in your mouth. So far it's been fairly successful for me. Oh, I haven't lost nearly the amount of weight most people do and I don't get why but I've been moving somewhat in the right direction.

That is until last night. I'm on vacation in San Diego and have run out of hcg. My doctor assured me that it would arrive on Monday and here it is Wednesday and it just hasn't gotten here. Yesterday we took a road trip and finally by about 4:00 in the afternoon I couldn't take it anymore. I said, "EFF THIS! I'm eating whatever I want!!" And eat I did. I was like the hungry caterpillar. I gave the twins each a couple of cookies and I was grabbing their cookies like a mad animal snagging bites. I dove into some chips and then we went out to dinner with Skip and I ate a fat salad and then went out for frozen yogurt WITH candy toppings. Yes, I was an absolute hoglet. I enjoyed every freaking second of my craziness too.

What's funny is that when I declared it "Eff It Day" the whole car started laughing (Meg, Brian, the twins and I) and we all started just eating and laughing about how funny the whole sitch was. I mean, here I've been Miss Golden hcg Dieter for 23 days and now I'm out of medicine and I'm just going nuts! It's was hilarious!

Today? Yeah, well Miss Piggy is paying for her crimes. I'm up two pounds and there are no tears associated with this increase. I had a good time and I just simply don't regret a moment of my fun. I'm back on the wagon and I'll see this craziness to the bitter end (17 more days).

Obsessions

I have a serious personality flaw (well, who doesn't, right?). When I get my mind fixated on something, I'm full throttle ahead on whatever idea I have in my mind. I actually think this is more of a curse than a blessing because then I burn out and the "passion" becomes something that I 'used' to be into. I don't think I'm alone in this, though. I'm pretty sure I have good company and lots of it.

Lately, I've become obsessed with getting Scrabble on my ipad so that I can play with the computer like Brandilyn has on her Kindle. I saw it, I want it and and I want it NOW! How funny is that? Well, I just can't have it and that's that. It sucks that that's the reality of the situation. However, I've somehow stumbled upon some Scrabble program that I'm playing with two different random people. It's kind of fun but takes like days to finish a game because you have to wait for each person to log on and take their turn. I'm losing but I'm still enjoying the ride. Now, if I can only get my scrabble game that I have right here in a box to play with me without having other peeps around that would be just he grooviest thing EVER!

So, what does this say about me? Well, I'm a loner maybe. If that was so, they why do I have all of these kids? Hmmm, maybe this could be yet another obsession of mine. Collecting children? Lol. Well, this vacation is giving me quite an eyeful of this blessing or curse that I have. I have enjoyed being with my children more than I could say. However, I have raised darlings with very strong personalities (and I'm not saying that is a bad thing - no, quite the opposite) and watching them interact this week has been interesting at best. It has been quite a balancing act. In my older age, I have mellowed quite a bit and am more able to sit back and watch the show instead of being a referee or feeling like I had to be in the middle of all the conflict. As for Skip? Well, he left and I think he was happy to do so. He went back up to his apartment in LA to go back to work.

Other obsessions I have would be exercise (although this one has stuck for over 30 years), drinking water, constantly finding the perfect balance of diet to keep my weight under control (it's an ongoing obsession because I never seem to find it), yoga and, of course, my darling horses. These ones have been hanging on for quite awhile and I actually enjoy them still.

So, I think I'll go back to obsessing about my Scrabble game now . . .

Miss It

You know how it goes. You don't really miss something till you have to do without it for a bit. Then you realize how wonderful it was to have it. I take so much for granted. I really do. Here's a few things that I currently miss and didn't really appreciate their presence in my existence until I lost them:

* Money. I'm not saying I have NO money because that simply isn't true. I'm just saying that I'm like the majority of Americans right now who lost a lot during this economic challenge and is now having to tighten the belt like I haven't had to since I was single and struggling from paycheck to paycheck. Oh financial comfort, how I miss thee

* Being thin. I know this sounds funny but it's so true. I (like most women my age) have gained a bucket load of weight in my last few years and now I must say that all of those years of making fun of myself and calling myself "fat" was not only extremely self destructive but simply not true. I would give a lot to be that weight again. However, I am now working with my doctor on a diet that has me cruising back in that direction at a really sweet clip.

* Time. Wow, this is a biggie. When those weeks drone by that I just come home in the middle of the day and piddle away at my chores I find myself getting restless for something more. Something that would allow me to get out and be with people and laugh and feed off their energy. Well, this week has been anything but mundane. I have gone busted bullets like heck! Today, I have a few errands to run this morning and then I'm home the rest of the day to prepare for our vacation and get caught up. I find my whole body just going, "Ahhhh!" Yes, I do appreciate time. I need to be satisfied with where I am and what I do.

There are a lot of other things. Like when I broke my ankle I must say that I never really appreciated the use of my feet. I still can't do all that I did but I'm so grateful for what I do have. It's a shame that we can't stop and really have gratitude for all that we have. There is so dang much that we just don't notice that we have.

So today, I'm gong to embrace this day (sure wish the sun were out, though, lol) and make the most of it. I have a lot of ground to still cover but I'm going to be grateful that I have a car to do it in, gas in the car and the health to make it to where I have to be. Right?

Enchanted Trailer

It seems that lately the challenge has been getting my sister's horse, Cowboy, loaded in the trailer. I decided that my beloved Ellie was just too witchy for drill practice. Oh, I still plan on using the little vixen for performances because she comes alive and wants everyone to notice that she is the princess of the show! Lol. She really does "turn on" when there is an audience and an energy. Anyway, back to Cowboy. So, he's five years old, very green broke and has been pretty much sitting in the pasture for the last couple of years. Between my broken ankle (now all healed) and various other elements that define my life, I just haven't gotten around to working with the guy.

If Cowboy were a human he would definitely be a "stoner". He just has that silly glazed over look about him. I have to laugh when I see him because he's so doofy that it just fits.

So, I kind of had a hunch that loading him "might" be a challenge so I enlisted the aid of my trusty assistants (the twins). Yeah, what the flip was I thinking? This has become quite a project for the three of us. It does, however, have a very happy ending with a castle, a prince and a magical life.

The first time I approached the trailer Cowboy (dum-de-dum-de-dum) kind of walked up like no big deal. In my head I was "YES! YES! YES!" But, alas, it was not to be. As soon as we got to the place to step up he was like, "Woah, Nellie! I don't freaking think so!" and he threw a hissy fit. A MASSIVE hissy fit. Rearing and pulling back and all kinds of crazy tantrum like behavior. After a few more attempts we decided to try other tactics. We had ropes pulled around bars for leverage and all kinds of stuff going on (because in he was going to go and there wasn't much to discuss about that issue).

Finally I had Jacob go up in the front section where Horse #1 would go (safely behind the barrier that separates the horses, fyi) and try tempting him with food (works for most stoners, I hear). I was on the halter pulling him in and Courtney was behind him with her "props" (a lunging whip and a poop fork) for reinforcement. After a lot of coaxing and flailing (on his part) he reluctantly leaped into the trailer. I yelled, "Court, get the door! Quick!"

She closed the door and I hooked up the horse and yelled for her to open the door to let me out. Whew! We made it. I turned to Courtney and said, "Good job, girl! That was awesome! We got that boy in! Now, let's get going before I'm late for drill practice."

Courtney (in her funny Courtney humor) says, "Um, that's great, Mom, except for one small thing."

"What?"

"Jacob is still in the trailer with Cowboy."

Holy crap! Right then Jacob squeals, "Hahaha. Mom! Did you really forget me? I can just ride in here. I don't mind." (Yeah, I bet you don't you little stinker!)

So, we slowly had to open the door and sneak Jacob out around and under that horse that still hadn't figured what the flip had just happened to him. It all ended well.

It's been three days since that series of unfortunate events. We have loaded Cowboy in the trailer every day since and have endured an enormous struggle each time (some of it actually very scary). I finally enlisted the advice of my trainer and she gave us some hints that worked great. I reinforced the situation by stopping at the feed store and buying some yum-yum candy treats.

Yesterday, he finally loaded six times without incident. After we were through and I had ridden him I took off his halter and proceeded to do some barn chores before we headed in to prepare our dinner. When all was finished, I looked around and inquired as to where the horse was. I noticed that Courtney had left the back door of the trailer open so went to close it. You'll never guess what, or I should say who I found standing in the trailer all by himself.

You go it . . . Mr. Stoner (the prince) himself cleaning up the tiny morsels that were left behind by our great adventure (inside the castle). And we all lived happily ever after The End.