Only my Mother....

My mom wants to go somewhere else besides Disney EVERY year. And yet every year, she seems to love it. She gets pushed in a wheelchair to her ever whim and desire. Eats glorious food. Drinks yummy wine. Who could ask for more?

She didn't want to stand to wait for the bus at Downtown Disney, so she found a security cart to sit in. It was hilarious, we kept watching for someone to come out and yell, until a police car went by with its lights on. She high tailed it off that cart....


She refused to move from that spot until I went and bought a carmel apple...ODD DUCK.


Packhorse Mommy!


See? I told you she had fun at Disney!! Weeee!!!!

Disney Dedication to Christopher!

You would think that an 18 year old boy wouldn't be too excited to take his last high school spring break to Disney World with his family. I have proof this is not the case! Meet Christopher.


Going monkey waiting in line for Toy Story!


Leave it to Christopher, with a million things to shoot at, he still shoots at me.


Just look where Chris is poking. I think they might have an odd relationship.


Getting ready to trek the jungles of Disney's Epcot.


Why is it that boys get silly on vacation and never in front of people they know instead of complete strangers? Silly rabbits.


He was so excited to get his picture taken in front of the Lady and the Tramp, he can barely contain his excitement!

Grub and Guilt!

Yeah. I'm back. And I'm working on the raw thing. Work in progress. But after buying two baby watermelons, a canteloupe, big thing of grapes, 2 bags of apples, 2 bunches of bananas, few grapefruits, few oranges, one pear, 2 boxes of strawberries, a bag of plums, 4 boxes of mixed greens, tomatos, celery, a HUGE bag of baby carrots and red peppers on Saturday, its pretty much forced since we have zero other food in the house.

Sidenote: People think that its going to be super expensive to go all produce, its not via the miracle of bulk food at Sams Club. Plus, honestly, their produce is usually better than HyVee or Fareways anyway. ESPECIALLY the strawberries.


I refused to watch this show. For however many seasons so far. But when you put Steve-O, Holly Madison, Chelsea Hightower, Melissa from Bachelor, Shawn Johnson and Lacey Schwimmer all on the same hour of television. I get sucked in. I am ashamed.

M-I-C.....K-E-Y.....M-O-U-S-E!

Greetings from Florida! Land of the warm and tan!!!

I shall be home to the arctic on Saturday. Ugh. I hope to bring some sun and warmth with us!

I am also going raw as an experiment (aka not permanent yet) when I get home. So tell me your favorite veggies and fruits!

Best week of the year.

Empty fridge? What's that mean? DISNEY WORLD!!!!!

The only sad thing in the house is those grapefruit. And the kitties. They will miss us :(

But I'll be in the warmth of the Happiest Place on Earth!!!!!

I'm a whiner with a reason.

I wasn't ever planning on posting this blather, but today just made me want to scream and punch something. This seems better than bloody knuckles at the moment....but I'll make it quick.

Hitting high school, I was more than chubby. Entered college, discovered the gym, lost a lot of weight. Moved back to Iowa three years later, and went absolutely crazy with it. Tim was in grad school all night, so I had plenty of time to run and go to classes at the rec. Last summer I was at my prime, and for some reason, my body just stopped. I plateaued, which was fine by me, but now over the past 6 months or so, I started gaining again. I have kept my diet and exercise routine, and it is the most frustrating aggrivating thing in the entire world.

This is a vast majority of what I eat. Fruit. Lots of it. Plenty of carrots and broccoli too. Throw in some oatmeal and cereal and you have my favorites. I am trying to get more protein in, but not liking a lot of meat, its a lot of egg dishes for me. 1200 calories a day. And its not approximate, I measure everything. It seems crazy, but it helps a lot.

I run like crazy. 5 to 8 miles a day. 5 to 6 days a week. On an incline. Its impossible to run more than this, it takes FOREVER. Thank god for tivo. On top of that, I do yoga four days a week and an abs and core class twice a week.

So after trying some new routines and failing, I finally gave in and went to the doctor, too worried to avoid it anymore. I keep gaining and it drives me insane. I cant eat less, I cant work out more, and yeah, Im not as big as I was, but if it keeps going, where will it stop? I just cant afford a personal trainer right now in life, and frankly, what else are they going to tell me that I dont know? So in to the doctor!
I dont know what I was expecting, but it was not what he told me. He pretty much automatically assumed that I was lying about what I do and how i eat and told me that I should lift upper body weights and be more careful about what I eat. My mom was diagnosed with a thyroid issue recently, so to humor me, he had me pricked, but his attitude was ridiculous. No talk of vitamins or supplements or any possible problems with my body. It was straight to more exercise. Ridiculous. And then he said that I have come a long way since I was younger and should just be happy with that and be happy with my body. Excuse me? I am gaining weight here, its not like I am trying to become a supermodel, I just want to buy normal pants! I currently have to get pants two sizes two big for my waist because of my thighs. Its miserable.

Ugh. Sorry. Its a long term aggrivation for the past eight months. And I have completely hit a wall with nowhere to go. It's like, I might as well give up since nothing works. I know I wont. But still, GGRRRRRRRR. Help.

A few faves....

First off, 100th post. :)

My thoughts the past week or so have been consumed by the upcoming spring break. The Nordyke clan is heading down south for the traditional week of Disney excitement. The weather teased me for two days last week, peaking above 60, and has since gone back down to 30s. It just made the wait for Florida palm trees and necessary air conditioning that much more.

But I have been keeping busy with plenty of dvds at work. I know, I know, I have a cush job, but come on, who wouldn't want to be in my shoes on that one. Anyways. After How I Met Your Mother, I kept on the Jason Segel train towards Freaks and Geeks. Which has now coincided with Undeclared, staying on the Seth Rogan and Judd Apatow vibe.

This crazy train of tv on dvd has led me to a decision. All through film school, we were constantly asked our favorite films, directors, producers, yada yada yada. I never had answers, always making them up, mainly because I am such a teeter totter and my favorites were a constant rotation of what I'd seen recently.

I CAN ANSWER NOW. Well, sort of. I've got it narrowed down.

I know its pretty much all I've been watching recently, but Judd Apatow creates a show worth watching. Between the two, the cat is one hella cool creator. His background stories of his characters and their lives, mixed with the fact that he hires the actors, and then revolves his characters around the actors, makes for a show with chemistry beyond chemistry!


But, with this love, I must also vow allegiance to Joss Whedon. I mentioned it in a prior post, but the man does clever wit drama like a god. For examples, watch Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, or Dr. Horrible's Sing a long Blog. Prepare to love them and laugh hilariously at them. Enough said.




As for film, I am a Kevin Smith fan, but more of his personal work more than films, although a good dose of Clerks II can make me more chipper. But his book and dvds of his stand up are the better of his works. The dude has got clever humor oozing from his pores. Can't help it. I mean, thats what you get for sticking it in battery acid....



I must admit though, I am really looking forward to how Tucker Max does as a filmmaker. The kid wrote one ridiculously insane book, How to Serve Beer in Hell, and is now turning it into a movie. I've been following the blog, and think it might be quite the masterpiece....

Sorry if this post bored you. Just some random creative thoughts. Not even my own creativity, the witnessing of other's creative juice flowage.....

Medical Mayhem Mommy!

Isn't my mother adorable?

I sure think so. Most people do. It's hard not to. Unless she's yelling at you about where the mustard is despite the fact that you haven't been in the same state as said mustard in 4 months. Not that I'm bitter....

Anyways. The past decade has been rough on her outward being. First she shattered her arm in the winter of 04/05 and had complications with RSD for some time after that.

Then she had to top that injury and in the summer of 2007, while on a mission trip in the middle of nowhere Africa, she broke her leg in more places than I have digits. This included an almost 24 hour journey on bumpy Kenyan roads in the back of a van with a broken leg and dislocated ankle, 3 Kenyan hospitals, and 2 plan rides lasting 18 hours with just a makeshift splint.

The woman is invincible. Just not her physical self.

Three injury free years have gone by and apparently her body has gotten bored again and needs something else to go wrong. As she gets older, each little thing gets harder and stresses her out more. Because of the RSD medication, her memory is less than spectacular, and that takes a toll as well.

While she's still doing tests and getting her heart checked out, there isn't really anything that we know yet, but she's still beginning her freak out process.

So if you know her, don't mention it to her, but love on her a little bit extra when you see her. If you don't, know that she is awesome and have an extra thought for her.

She's a trooper.

Catch ya later cleavage!

Tonight is the final episode of Girls next Door. A show that proves not all blondes are catty and dumb and heartless. I love these girls and I will miss watching them and their escapades that we all wish we could have. But no one blames them for moving on to better and hotter boyfriends! At least I don't....I'm not a huge fan of old man robe-age.

But alas I still have my Hows Your News and Amazing Race on Sunday nights!!! :)