Twinkle Toes

It was my turn to choose our date night activity. I decided for a change we should go get a pedicure together. The asian ladies using a knife, took about an inch of callouse off of Jake's feet. In the end, I chose french manicure and Jake let the ladies choose for him. They could not stop laughing, even as we were leaving.

I'm not really a fan of my big, wide feet. But if I'm going to post his, I should at least be willing to post mine as well.

A Very Merry Un-Birthday

Because my bday is in Dec., I have empathy for my children who are also all winter babies and I give them an option for a summer bday party. Caleb's bday this year was Aug. 18th. (A date pulled out of the air.) It gave us a chance to use our yard instead of trying to entertain 10-six year old boys in my not that big of a house. He was so excited for it this year and doing it in the summer allows some space between the excitement of Christmas and a bday party.

I made him a special cake that was supposed to look like a dirt mound covered in creepy crawly things. I got the idea online. I also got some good ideas for games online, but the boys only had the attention span for one and then they wanted to swing and climb, which was a lot easier for me. I kept coming in and out of the house with pizza, soda, cake, ice cream, napkins. I was glad Jake was there to run things because I was just a gopher.

Our present to him was a new bike, which he needed desperately because his old one was way too small and had a bent front wheel and missing spokes. I gave it to him by way of a scavenger hunt which the kids really enjoyed. And of course, the traditional pinata filled with more candy than it should be.

Overall the party was a great experience. The down side is that now Caleb is a little confused about exactly how old he is, but no system is perfect.

Latest trip to Cali

My husband says that all I ever want to do is go to California. I have to admit it calls to me and I have no real vacation experience; so, I don't long for other places. This trip was all planned because of my 20 yr high school reunion; so it had to be a CA trip.

We started by visiting Lisa in Huntington Beach. She was very gracious and let us eat all of her beloved ice cream. Coming from her, that is true love. Thank you again, Lisa. Next we went to Lovely downtown, Bakersfield. The first night it was 107 degrees when we arrived. We had pizza with my fam and as we exited it was still 107. We stayed at the four points by sheraton and they had a great pool. It wasn't heated but it felt like it was. We went swimming the first night and Jake complained that he couldn't cool off. I love night swimming. He was just happy that we could crank it down it 65 in the hotel room.

The next day we took advantage of the fact that my sisters wanted to watch our kids and we went to the movies alone. We saw the latest Harry Potter, which we both loved. Jake could not get over the fact that the theatre was so very empty. It was a brand new, stadium seating theatre called the Mayan. We arrived five minutes before the show and it was a new movie. There was no line at all and they were offering free popcorn, which we didn't want. We only ever get popcorn to occupy our kids who easily get bored at movies. I tried to explain to Jake that people just really don't go to the movies in Bako. Personally, I would rather go swimming or boating instead as well.

That night we went River Rafting with my sister's, their men, an uncle, a cousin and her friends. It was pretty scarey while rafting, but after I couldn't remember why I was scared. It was beautiful at night and great fun.

The next day, saturday, was my reunion. I couldn't find my camera; so, I have no pictures. Hopefully someone will post there's soon so I can see them. It was fun to see people. Almost everybody that showed up is also on facebook, so I felt like I could tell them about themselves rather than ask them any questions.

We went swimming everyday, while there. The kids of course loved staying in the hotel and I just love to go away every chance I get. The kids got to spend a lot of time with cousins they never see. And I got to see two of my father's siblings that I never see. Everything went as planned, so it was a very good vacation. Next time, I'll have to think of somewhere to go other than California.

Quick "10 Minute Trainer" update

Jake and I have been following the 10-day program for 2 days so far and the results have been great. We both lost 3 lbs the first day and he lost another 3 and I lost 2 the second day. At this rate we really will cut quite a bit in 10 days, maybe as much as 20 lbs. The meals are light, but the recipes are pretty good and you're eating constantly. I follow the program down to the minute and measure the food with a food scale. So far I've done three videos a day and Jake just works out and plays tennis at school. I know that it isn't suppose to be healthy to lose weight this fast but that's probably why it specifically says not to do this for more than 10 days. I trust Tony to not put out any program that is not healthy and that won't improve fitness.

Anti-Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Self Diagnosis

Body Dysmorphic Disorder or BBD is most often found in person's suffering from anorexia. They look in the mirror and regardless of their actual appearance, they see someone who is overweight and they continue to work to lose it. I believe that I am suffering from something opposite of that. Despite what I wrote it my last post, the truth is that I think I look really good when I look in the mirror and so I have to remind myself that it can't possibly be true. How is it possible that I am the weight and size of someone who would not look good but on me it just works. If you've ever seen the movie Shallow Hal, there is a seen where Gwyneth Paltrow takes off her little clothes and throws them accross the room and all of a sudden they are huge. Well I must have been affected by Tony Robbins because my large clothes look the perfect size once they are on me. I'm glad that I like me so much but I have to remind myself of the truth so that I can remember to work toward actual improvement.

In addition to Tony Robbins, I am also a big fan of Tony Horton (P90X); so I bought another of his programs called The 10 minute Trainer. The workouts are only 10 min but you can do multiple in a day, so I plan to always do 2 or 3. I'm excited that this program is more designed for women than P90x and for weight loss. P90x is so muscle building that I didn't lose any weight, I'm excited to see some slimming results. The program even contains a 10 day quick cut weight program which promises to cut one pant size in 10 days. I happen to have 10 days left until my high school reunion, so I'm putting it to the test. I'm actually only two pants sizes bigger than when I was in high school; so one size down would be great and two would be fantastic. So I have high hopes for this program. I even got my husband to do it with me. Normally he wouldn't do anything that was at all girly, but since I did P90X with him and since he wouldn't mind cutting some weight too. Next time we start P90X, we'll be more able to do push-ups and pull-ups when we have less body weight to push and pull.

Fatty Bubelatty

Many of you know that I have struggles with weight ever since I started having children. My whole life, I never knew what it was like to need to watch what I eat or worry that things won't fit. Now I know that I should be grateful and feel very blessed for that history because it is an awful feeling. The pregnancy years were tough and pretty hard on my self esteem. It's like I was a totally different person for those eight years than the person I was for the first 30 years of my life. If you didn't see me during those years ( the "Large Marge" years), let me assure you that I am not one of those people who exagerate this kind of thing. Let's just say that I was big enough that my husband's grandpa said to my face that I was "almost big enough to pull a plow." And I had my first cousin say, "there she blows," and when I tried to ignore him, he made sure that I knew that he was saying I was as big as a whale. (Am I the only one with relatives who have no tact?) Luckily my husband never even hinted at such a thing. He says he likes women to not be too skinny, so that they don't have a womenly figure. Perhaps he's a really good liar or perhaps the fact that I wanted and needed to believe it helped a lot.

Now it's time to enter a new stage and I have high hopes for a good future. But I do realize that keeping in shape will be a big part of the rest of my life. I have a lot of determination, and right after the last baby, I dieted big time and got down to my goal weight in 10 months. I also got into the size of jeans I wanted, but I was so flabby and untoned that I wasn't as pleased as I planned. I went off the diet for the holidays and was suprised at how quickly one can gain the weight back. Then I began the world of P90X. I am still a believer, but I think it is better designed for someone who has no life and no house full of sickies. My husband and I have vowed to conquer the program but I hate doing things half way, so we're going to wait until Sept to start, because our lives are a little more simple at that time. Right now I'm just eating healthy and going to the gym, because it fits pretty easily into my day in the summer time.

My goal now, is to hit a weight and pants size that I can comfortably say out loud and still be muscular and tone. My opinion is that fat is better than flabby, so that is my current state. I am so determined that I have decided that I will never again by an article of clothes with a number on the tag that I don't like. I will simply buy two moo moo's that can cover my nakedness until the clothes that I allow myself to buy will fit. I recently went on a big shopping trip with my mother in law and sister in law's using this rule. I purchased a lot of shirts and no pants. I think I look pretty good from the waste up and from the knees down, but my bum and thighs are holding up the progress and it's me vs. them from here on out.

Vegas Vacation

Jake went bear hunting for five days this last weekend. And rather than waiting around here, we decided to go away ourselves. We visited my mom in Las Vegas at her time share condo. It's about half-way between CA and UT, so it makes it easier to see each other if we meet in the middle.

The kids were thrilled about the pool and we went swimming practically the whole time. I tried to site-see a little, but they weren't too interested, so it was minimal. We went to Circus Circus and rode a couple of rides at the adventure dome. We all got a healthy dose of sun, and then some. It was good for the kids to see my parents, that happens only a few times a year.

Jake shot a six foot tall bear and he is having it made into a rug with a head, which is the standard practice I guess. He gave the meat to his brother and brother in-law, who love wild game meat more than most people. I will post a picture of the bear when it's back from the taxidermist. Right now it just looks like a black garbage bag in our chest freezer.

25 Random things about me.

This is a list that I originally made and posted on facebook. I decided to post it here as well.

1. There are six kids in my family. My closest siblings are four years older and six years younger than me.

2. All of my cousins are Mexican but none of them speak Spanish. All of my aunts and uncles speak it fluently.

3. When I was a child I used to have a reoccurring dream that I could fly by running, jumping and then holding my legs like I was doing a cannonball.

4. I’m taller than my father and my brother.

5. I loved to be on sports teams in high school, but I didn’t really like the pressure of playing in the games. I only liked practicing and learning to play better.

6. When I was 19, I won a VW Mini Bus from a radio station at the Kern County Fair. It got about 10mpg and couldn’t go faster than 35 on the freeway when going uphill. I drove it for about 6 yrs. It was hot pink and white.

7. I can juggle three balls pretty well.

8. I wore braces for five years, from the time I was16 until I was 21.

9. In my early teens I worked as a food demonstrator. Sometimes I demonstrated Tweenkies at gas stations dressed in a “Tweenkie the kid” costume outside in the Bakersfield heat.

10. On my mission I had 16 companions, only two of them for more than one month.

11. I sold pest control every summer for six years and earned enough to cover all of my college expenses. I’ve worked for five different companies and sold in six different states.

12. I was bitten by a dog at 19 and by a black widow spider at 32. The dog bite hardly hurt at all, but the black widow bite gave me the worst pain I’ve ever experienced.

13. I was single until I was 29 and many of my close friends are much younger than me. My husband is the youngest of my close friends.

14. Although my husband is very handsome, I wasn’t really interested in him when I first met him because he dressed like a cowboy. Who knew we would be married 3 months later.

15. Every time I was pregnant (which was five times) I would gain about 50 pounds. I would work very hard to lose it, so I decided that I was like Princess Fiona. I’m very glad that I’m done getting pregnant.

16. I never owned a car with a working AC until after my daughter was born. I was 31 yrs old. I never owned a brand new car until last year.

17. One time on the 60 freeway on my way to LAX my hood flew up just like on Tommy Boy. It smashed my windshield and shattered my sunroof all over me. Luckily there was no AC and my window was down; so, I stuck my head out the window and pulled over calmly.

18. I currently own at least one cow and I plan to get some chickens and bees.

19. I’ve never been outside of the continental U.S. (yes that includes Mexico and Canada.)

20. I like the idea of pets and pictures of pets, but I really don’t enjoy animals in real life.

21. I like to earn certificates and licenses. I am certified to teach high school, sell real estate, sell pest control, teach snowboarding, perform CPR, and carry a gun.

22. I own my own pistol and I’m a pretty good shot. It’s a Kimber 1911 9mm.

23. I have very thick hair. My hairdresser thins it with a razor, but I still lose so much around the house that I have to remove it from the vacuum wheel with scissors every couple uses.

24. I have four adorable children. I’m positive that they all would have very different names than the ones they’ve been given if my husband had no say in it.

25. Someday I want to go to Culinary School and become a gourmet cook.

Gateway Drug

I've heard people talk about gateway drugs in the movies, but I never gave it much thought. To really understand I believe you have to struggle to avoid drugs. Well I think I truly understand now that I have my own.

It's name -- Hot Cocoa. First you think, it's not really chocolate. Not the kind with saturated fat anyway. It's just a flavored sugary drink, no worse for you than gatorade or maybe even juice.

Next you consider Chocolate pudding, it's just chocolate flavored as well. It's like really thick cocoa is all. All your adding is maybe a little corn starch or something. It can't be much worse.

Next thing you know, your eating chocolate ice cream. After all it's very similar to the pudding maybe just add a little cream. Cream isn't that bad. It's like milk, so it's actually kind of good for you.

Finally you realize that you've completely lost control. Hello, my name is Tami and I'm a chocoholic. It's been one day since my last indulgence.

....and to the republic for which it stands.

Here is the answer to my previous question. Our government is becoming an Oligarchy because we could not hold on to our precious gift of a republic. Watch this short, educational video for further explanation. I found it very interesting and accurate.

http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/

Can you say "Secret Combinations?"

Why are we socialists?

I haven't updated in awhile and thus far I have avoided writing anything political because I get very passionate about it and I feel unsure about how it comes accrossed in writing. But I have little else on my mind these days and I might as well record my thoughts and feelings here.

This is the greatest country in the world! The conditions in which it was discovered, defended, and designed are all so miraculous and divinely inspired. Our forefathers have given us a great gift and it is slowly dissolving before our eyes. Even though many people don't seem to notice.

People can say that socialism doesn't work, but now we can actually see why first hand. Businesses aren't being allowed to fail. America is great because the great ones rise to the top and the incompetent fall by the wayside. Without the natural consequences of failing there is no incentive to work smarter, to be creative, to make sacrifices. When companies like AIG pay themselves big bonuses (which is actually their pay agreement when they hired on). I don't call it greed. None of us sacrifice unless we have to. Why would we? It is human nature to do what we have to when we have to and not before. With the bail-out they didn't have to. This bail-out idea allows poorly run companies to continue to run poorly and that is the failure of a socialist society.

In this media driven day politicians don't have the guts to be Capitalists even though it is the only system that takes into account human nature. It appears too heartless to let losers lose, but there is simply no incentive to work hard when you can't lose. Who would study hard for a test if it wasn't going to be graded at all? No one. AIG paid themselves as if they were successful. And if they had succeeded no one would care what they paid themselves and it would be no one's business. That is the true american way and the american dream.

As Glenn Beck put it in his nine principle that american's can unite behind, "I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results." In america if you work hard you can win and if you don't you can lose. If you take away people's ability to lose you will also take away the ability to win and that is the gift that we may be losing. If the goverment gains the power to decide who can lose and who can win this will no longer be "the land of the free and the home of the brave." We'll just be another country of sad, lazy socialists and no one will be risking their lives to move here anymore.

Theme Park Mania

The traveling Atkin family went on tour of the theme parks of southern California. It was a wonderful escape from the cold and snow. We started out in San Diego. It was wonderfully warm. Shorts and Flip Flop weather. I had to hit target after the first day to buy sandals for the family.

Monday we hit LegoLand. I didn't realize that they really made everything out of legos. The best part was that the park was fairly empty. The most challenging part was that they required that there be one adult for every child on the rides. I hadn't realized before that we were so outnumbered. It was some of my childrens' first experience with rides and roller coasters. They loved it. Caleb was pushing my tolerance levels. He didn't want to go on anything so we had to force him. Afterwards he always said it was the best thing ever. He never seemed to catch on that maybe new things were good.

Tuesday we went to Sea World. My sister came down to go with us and she helped out a lot. I hadn't seen her in over a year so it was great to get to see her and it was the first time she had seen our youngest, Lucy. She brought her new boyfriend, whom I hadn't met. He was very nice and it's always good to be able to put a face with a name. Lily loved the Buluga whales and Polar bears the most. I think she could have watched them forever. Jake made sure that we sat in the soaker seats for the Shamu and Dolphin shows. By the second Shamu show I knew to sit up high but Caleb, Lydia, and Jake were in the front rows. They were entirely drenched by the end and the day was over. It wasn't hot enough to be that wet, so that affected my kids memory of how much they enjoyed Sea World.

At the very end we decided to let the kids play in the climbing area. We discovered this is a bad idea at a theme park, because you lose site of them. By the time I discoved Lily was missing a park worker was walking her back to us. She had gotten in line for a ride by herself. When they asked her where her parents were she said "I don't know." When they asked her what her name was she said, "Pink Princess." Luckily when they asked her where her parents were last she said "by the slides." And they were able to find us. Luckily once again the park was pretty empty.

Wednesday we went to the Wild Animal Park for the first half of the day and a beach called La Jolla Cove for the second half. We rode the merry go round and went on a tour bus. We also had birds eat nector out of our hands and fed ducks. Their favorite part was the petting zoo. The kids loved being so close to the deer. My favorite part was the Baby Rhino's. They might be the cutest baby animal I've ever seen. We had lunch at the beach and played on the shore. We could see tiny crabs, sea urchins, and lots of rocks, caves, and shells.

Thursday my mom was in town and she kept Lucy while we went to Disneyland. Lisa met us there and hung out for the first couple of hours. We hit the bugs life rides and attended the playhouse disney show. Then JoDee took Lily to the small kids rides and Jake and I took Lydia and Caleb on all but two of the rides at California Adventure Park. We first rode the Tower of Terror and Lydia, who is usually are bravest, was pretty affected by that one. She eventually got over it. At Disneyland we took them on Space Mt., which was their favorite, the Matterhorn, splash mt., and Pirates of the Carribean. The park was very empty. A five minute wait or less for every ride.

Friday we went to Universal Studios. It poured down rain, which damped everyone's spirits. We saw a few 3D shows and we rode the tour bus. Caleb couldn't quite grasp that the ride was a setup. He was very worried when the bridge starting falling, but when we passed the Bates Motel and Norman Bates pulled out a long knife and kept following the bus, he thought he was after us and he looked for him the rest of the day.

Saturday we went back to Disneyland. We got in an hour before the park opened, but that hour went quickly. We rode the new Nemo ride and got in line to see Tinkerbell. Once again it rained quite a bit. We saw the princesses (Cinderella, Belle, and Jasmin), we hit toon town and poohs corner. By 3pm the place was packed with people. Most of the lines were an hour long, so we left.

We really made the most of every minute of this vacation. Jake's view is that he came back more tired than when he left. I think it was a great time and great memories for the kids. Even though we came back to a flooded neighborhood. (JoDee's drive lane is such a glacial river that it actually bent brackets of our engine driving to her house and we had to tow it to the mechanics.) And now I am suffering from a pretty bad cold that I think is due to the extreme weather change. But I still think it was worth it. I certainly wouldn't mind going back right now.