1 - The number of times we ate at Ted's Cafe. We love this place. I entered 1000 cal. on MyFitnessPal and called it good. They serve a warm creamy queso dip, fresh, thick tortillas, chips & salsa to your table within a couple minutes of you sitting down. That queso dip is calling my naaame...
2 - The number of times I called my friend Shawn for emergency knitting help. I have now conquered the purl stitch and knitting in the round. I may finish my hat before the next century.
3 - The number of stores we shopped at on Black Friday. I usually have a rule that this day is a NOshopping day. but... when you run out of diapers, even a moral stance has to give way. So, in the late, late afternoon in the hopes of avoiding crowds, we dropped by Target to pick up some diapers, we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get my MIL a nice trashcan for the kitchen because paper bags on the floor were not cutting it, and I got these babies (see below) because it was so beyond time to replace them, and there was a New Balance store not far away, AND, well, it was Black Friday, no? I got them for 10% off!
3.5 - The number of hours we spent at Jasmine Moran Children's Museum. This was our second visit, and we really love this place. There was lots of new stuff to see and do. My favorite was the air tubes that you could watch large pompoms or scarves travel through.. Here are a few pics of the kids...
4 - The number of times we visited Braum's for ice cream and food. If you don't live in the KS/OK/TX region you may not know what this place is, but their ice cream is* magical*. This was definitely the week to not think about calories. I need to stop writing about food.
5 - The number of items we carried into the hotel the night we left. (We split the drive over two days on the way out, because we couldn't leave until early evening). Dean was quick to remind me of this fact several times over the span of our visit - and related this fact to anybody who was willing to listen. There is some history behind this, because this has been a HUGE point of contention between us since the get-go. I was always of the frame of mind that each child had their own packed duffle bag of clothes/toiletries/books and so forth. Every time we stayed at a hotel, in went everybody's individual bag. That meant 4 duffle bags, 2 suitcases, 3-4 bags of electronics and paperwork that couldn't be left in the car, the little cooler and food bin (especially if it was a summer road trip), baby stuff (at various times over the course of the years), individual blankets and pillows for the kids and so forth. We usually filled an entire luggage cart from top to bottom. Dean was in the frame of mind that we should pack one 'hotel' bag. Into this bag would go an outfit for each person for the next day, and any diapers/toiletries we would need. I always said 'no', because invariably somebody would mess up their clothes at breakfast, we would run short on diapers, or forget something. This year I relented. I finally felt that the kids were old enough that we didn't need to factor in 'what-if'. So, when we rolled into Hays, KS at 12:35 a.m., we carried in one duffle bag, 2 electronics backpacks (don't want to leave it in the car overnight), 1 paperwork bag and my purse. Dean has won the argument, hands down. Now I just have to live with his gloating for the rest of my life.
6 - The number of Christmas placemats my SIL Joyce made for our family. LOVE THEM!
6 - The average number of hours it takes to drive through Kansas via I-70 - I-35. I like Kansas for the simple reason that it is good for prolonged conversations, listening to podcasts of Wait, Wait and This American Life, and knitting. Well - attempts at knitting.
6.5 - The number of miles I ran! :) Two runs - the first was mind-blowingly awesome. The second one hurt a little bit in the feet, and I felt a bit sore and stiff everywhere else. (I ran Monday and Wednesday). My shoes are sooo old, and the lining of the heel cup in one has completely rubbed away and I've patched it with duct tape more times than I can count since July, and I need to tape my heel so that I don't get a blister, and I forgot to pack tape, and there you go. Time for new shoes. (See #3)
8 - The number of snack bags I made for the car trip. We haven't been on a road trip since last Christmas, so since the littles are a year older, things get easier. The morning of the day we left, I made the snack bags - two per kid, one for the way there, one for the way back. Each bag had some vanilla wafers, pretzels, cheese crackers, wheat thins, starbursts, M&M's, Mike n' Ike's, Jolly Ranchers and fruit snacks. It worked like a charm - no repeatedly asking for food, and they were told, once it's gone, it's gone. Every bad had some left. Many, many thanks to my friend Amanda, for the idea. :) oh - and only one bag got dumped out - in the garage, at home, as we were unpacking.
$27.50 - The price of two adult movie tickets to see Catching Fire. Absolutely worth it. The movie was just as I imagined things in my head - especially the arena. On a side note, I had to bunch up some torn napkin and put it in my ears because the volume level was deafening. From the moment the first preview began, I was covering my ears. It is just me? Am I getting too old and sensitive? Jeez! TURN IT DOWN! Other than that, the movie was great.
30 - the number of family members that ate a large meal together on Thanksgiving. It was a very good day - nothing felt rushed, the food turned out perfectly (every family brought something) and my children did not act like buffoons or break anything, so that is always a plus. I made a spicy cranberry sauce appetizer (you eat it with cream cheese and crackers), a hot spinach and artichoke dip on toasted baguettes appetizer, 6 dozen rolls, hot cider, and helped with a few other things here and there. I came armed with my recipes and trusty bread machine.
91 - The number of tickets we earned by playing skeeball, plastic 10-pin bowling and rifle shooting when we took the kids to GattiTown for pizza and fun. The kids took their first-ever ride on Go Karts (the entire place is indoors). Rylan got to drive herself, I rode with Colin, and Owen rode with Dean. The kids spent their tickets on a plastic ball for Owen, a paper fan for Rylan, and a plastic kazoo for Colin. Nothing lasted longer than a couple of hours - except for the heartburn.
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