I Don't Drink....Wine....

So for some reason I have stopped drinking.  As of January 1st. No, it's not a resolution or anything, nor is there any point to it.  I just stopped.  Drinking.  And I am no better or worse for it.  Maybe my brain cells will start to grow back.

I have also cut down on the caffeine---less coffee and chocolate.  You read that right.  Less chocolate.  I let myself have a few tiny bites a day and that seems to do the trick. 

I have been wondering what the heck happened to winter.  Not that I am complaining, but it seems a little odd to me that it has snowed maybe twice this entire winter and we haven't had any snow stay on the ground for more than a day or so.  Really prevents fun stuff like sledding.  But, as my son says, that he would like a winter where there was plenty of snow but it would be 75 degrees and sunny at the same time.  Now that would be strange!

Your Phone Tastes Bitter

I sat in a room with 4 other adults, and I was the only one not playing on an iPhone.  They were all playing their "Hanging with Friends" game.  I was silent.  I just watched them.  Is this the end of socializing as we know it?  Or is this just a new kind of socialization?  Are you out of the "clique" if you don't own an iPhone?

When I was a kid, I used to go to my friends houses after school to play or have them at my house.  My boys play with their iTouch's at home.  There is something wrong with that.

Handheld electronic devices have their place...but they need to be limited.  I hear that some people are doing a new game at restaurants called the "Phone Stack" where everyone puts their cell phones in a pile on the table, and the first person to pick up their phone and use it has to pay the entire table's bill.  I think this is a great idea.  It is very annoying to me when people are looking down, playing with their Smartphones, when they are out to dinner with me.  I understand exceptions, like when a spouse or sitter calls.  But playing an online game?  Really?

I find that the longer I go without having a Smartphone, the more bitter towards them I get.  My boss asked me about how to send a picture from an iPhone yesterday and I quipped "I don't know, I don't have one".

Apparently I am of two minds here:  I hate it when others are using their Smartphone, but am jealous at the same time.  Would I be the same as them, constantly updating my FB status, playing games and apps all the live long day?  I guess I won't know until I get one.  

Until then, I'll just eat lemons.

The Bet

My boys are like most kids their ages (9 and 11 years): they love t.v. and video games.  I am pretty easy-going about the screen time.  As long as their homework is done, I generally don't regulate how much they have.  So, with that in mind, came their bet.

Last Saturday afternoon they made a bet with each other that they could each go without using any electronics the longest, and the person who broke it first had to pay the other person $5. Now, $5 may not seem a lot to most adults, but it is a lot to these kids.  So, I figured that the bet would be lost the next day, because it was a Sunday and they'd be home bored.  But I was wrong.  They managed to drive me and their Dad crazy instead ("entertain us, entertain us").  After the umpteenth "I'm bored" I sent my older son to empty the dryer, my younger son to empty the dishwasher, and then saw that this bet could work to my advantage.  Of course, I didn't tell them this. 

Honestly, I didn't figure the bet would go more than 2 days.  But it is still on, almost 5 days later!  I am in disbelief!  At this point, one child indicated that it wasn't even about the money anymore, it was about the "bragging rights" the winner would have.  Yeah, that old sibling rivalry strikes again!

It makes me wonder how long I could go without any screen time (work excluded, of course).  I am not sure I could live without being able to stalk follow my friends on Facebook.

UPDATE:  The next morning one son woke with a fever & sore throat.  Which means he stays home all day.  Which means, nothing to do.  I told him that he can watch t.v. and that won't count towards the bet.  I mean, one of the perks of being sick & staying home from school is the watching t.v. part, right?  I am a good mom still, right?  Back me up here, people!  lol

New Post/New Year

I suck.  There, I said it.  But I am vowing to improve myself this year.  Be a better person, get healthier, all that crap.  Maybe even be less snarky *gasp*!

I understand that getting enough sleep is an important part of being healthy.  So, with that in mind, I will get 12-15 hours of sleep a day, minimum.  I will also eat healthier, starting with my new obsession, broccoli salad (broccoli slaw).  I will eat at least 1/2 a bag a day...I am sure that all the broccoli and carrot vitamins offset the calories in the dressing, right?

And as for exercise, I do a lot of things around the office, like put together chairs and file folders which can be considered light exercise.   I also carry heavy laundry baskets up and down stairs several times a week, which is like weight training.

I am also trying to reduce the stress in my life.  I try to see a sneak preview movie once a week, which means I get away from the kids in the evening.  I am also planning on getting one of those expensive "noise cancelling" headphones to wear around the house so I don't hear the whining and screaming by various members of my family.

So, what are you doing to improve yourself this year?

Real Steel!!!

I was able to go to a sneak preview of the new Hugh Jackman film, Real Steel, last night.  I went with the whole family since my boys, 9 & 11, both wanted to see it anyways.  Frankly I had no idea what it was rated.  I found out this morning that it is rated PG-13 for some violence (duh, it's a movie about robot boxing), intense action (duh again) and some language (which my children have already heard from me).  But I am glad I didn't worry about the rating since I found nothing offensive.

This movie has it all.  Drama, action, special effects, good acting, a hot actor (who said that?) and was partly shot right here in Detroit.  It was fun recognizing many of the scenes and where they were shot.  I cried during the movie, I cheered and clapped during the movie, and drooled a little too.

I felt the storyline was original.  It was not something I had seen before.  I really WANT to see robot boxing in real life now.  During the beginning of the movie I asked hubby if the robots on the screen were real or computerized?  I honestly could not tell.  He said it was animatronics which I later confirmed. 

It is interesting that in a movie about robots you can find a lot of heart too.  And that is all I can say about that.  My entire family loved the movie.  And I would be surprised if you didn't.

Random Thoughts

• People are so stupid.  Facebook has said time and time again that it won't charge to use its site.  Get with the spam people....
• The rain reflects my mood completely.  Dreary, cold and wet.  Well, maybe not wet.
• Where do all the paperclips that I use in my office go?  I go through a box a month!  
• And speaking of the office, I drink water out of a red plastic cup.  I always leave the cup on my desk at the end of the day to be used again tomorrow (conservation, y' know...).  But when I come in the next morning, my cup is gone.  Why would someone throw out my cup?  
• Why is it that I only see Post Office trucks in my subdivision, and never on a main road?  How do they get to my street?  Fly in?  Really...when was the last time you stopped at a red light next to a mailman?
• It never ceases to amaze me what crap people post on their Facebook wall.  For all to see?  Hello, there is this handy dandy thing called Cut and Paste, and what you post spreads to 100x people!
• I am no longer posting "Happy Birthday" wishes on FB friends walls.  Sorry folks.  Wait for the card to come in the mail instead.
• There is a certain satisfaction when you find out that someone had blatantly lied to you.  And they don't know that you know.  A smugness, if you will.  Happened to me recently, and now I know how this person really is.  It is illuminating.
• Now that I am a lurker on Facebook, it really shows me how meaningless it is.  Although for some reason, I can't stop writing about it...

Fall T.V. Review

Two and A Half Men?  Didn't watch it with Sheen, not gonna watch it with Kutcher.

The Office:  Jumped the shark, and when Michael Scott left, the show was over.  Quit while you are ahead people.

The Simpsons:  More of the same.  The show has been on now for, what, 25 years?

I was watching some random comedy (Up All Night?) and there was actually a laugh track!  I couldn't believe my ears!  I mean really?  Canned laughter?  I thought that went out in the 80's?  I turned it off instantly.

I tried watching "Ringer".  Can you say too much music/not enough script?  Boooring!

I don't watch Modern Family because I just don't think it's funny. And yes, I have watched it before.

Charlies Angels?  Yeah, let's make a remake of a t.v. show that was made into movies and then back into a t.v. show.  Not interested.  I bet it will be canceled before Thanksgiving.

Fringe:  I caught 10 minutes of the season premier and decided that it had jumped the shark.  Just way too out there and way too uninteresting. 

Glee may be the only show besides Family Guy that I watch this year.  And Glee had better not jump the shark or I am gonna break the t.v.

The Playboy Club:  I might have watched this had it been on HBO.  But you know you aren't gonna see any T & A on network t.v., so what's the point of watching it?  Oh yeah, for the stories!

I watched the first hour of Terra Nova and then went to bed (because I was tired), but luckily I DVR'd it.  It is a little Jurassic Park, Lost and Land of the Lost mixed into one Sci Fi batter of gooeyness.  I hope it keeps up the good writing and maybe I'll continue watching it.

And what about those awesome reality shows like Survivor and Dancing With The Stars? Did you know that those shows are scripted?  You didn't?  I feel sorry for you.

My goal this year?  To stop watching t.v. altogether.  It just makes me feel stupider than I am.

What do you watch?  Why?