Why A Frog Cake?

I became fascinated with the concept of "eating a frog" after excerpts from Brian Tracy's book were used in a training session at my office. I shared my enthusiasm with Donna. (I also shot her in the head with one of the ribbiting froggy slingshots that were used during that training. Sometimes, I wonder why she likes me. HA!)

Today, thanks to Donna, I literally got to eat a frog. ;-)

For those of you who are interested:



There just isn’t enough time for everything on our “To Do” list- and there never will be. Successful people don’t try to do everything. They learn to focus on the most important tasks and make sure they get done.

There’s an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s probably the worst thing you’ll do all day. Using “eat that frog” as a metaphor for tackling the most challenging task of your day- the one you are most likely to procrastinate on, but also probably the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life. "Eat That Frog" shows you how to zero in on these critical tasks and organize your day. You’ll not only get more done faster, but get the right things done.

In his trademark high-energy style, acclaimed speaker and best-selling author Brian Tracy cut to the core of what is vital to effective personal time management: decision, discipline, and determination. He details twenty-one practical and doable steps that will help you stop procrastinating and get more of the important tasks done- today!

Source: http://www.briantracy.com

Balloons and Flowers and Froggy Cake, Oh My!

I turned 37 today.

Everyone at work was really nice to me, but especially my friend Donna. She went totally overboard - buying me balloons, flowers, a cake, a really nice insulated coffee mug, as well as taking me out to lunch. She's so sweet! My other friend from work, Darla, gave me a cute new purse.





I requested no gifts from my family, given that we just dropped so much cash on our vacation, but I did let them take me to my favorite restaurant for dinner tonight. It was a perfect way to end my day. :-)

I <3 Smoothie King

Pineapple Surf: pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, vanilla protein blend, vanilla, turbinado and honey.

YUM.

Sadness

What do you mean I have to set an alarm instead of waking up when I feel like it in the morning? What do you mean I have to go to work all day tomorrow instead of relaxing, reading, napping and generally doing what I please?

I have a serious case of the post-vacation Sunday night blues, which is much worse than ordinary Sunday night blues.

I want to cry. :-(

Our Last Day Of Vacation

We were supposed to leave yesterday, but we just didn't want to do it. We did have to be out of our condo, though, so we packed up our stuff in Gulf Shores and moved a few miles down the road to the Hilton in Orange Beach. It felt good to do something so impulsive and pseudo-irresponsible. ;-)

I'm so glad we did it too. What a day we had!


Mark cracked me up when he climbed this pirate ship.


See?


We did this when we were here last year, so we had to do it again. We switched characters, though. ;-)


Jin is the queen of the cheesy self-portrait!


I mean, seriously: WHY would we leave this place any earlier than absolutely necessary?


It's so relaxing...


We went out for one last dinner at a yummy Italian place.


And after dinner we did this. Oh yes, we ARE those people!


Then we tried to go in the hot tub, but they were both broken. Sadness. :-(


So we went to the bar instead, which always starts out innocently enough...


...but then quickly degenerates. LOL

What a day.

Playing With Tigers

I have always loved tigers and often wished I could get close to one. Yesterday, we spent thirty minutes with eight week old tiger brothers named Bengal and Salon. Our tiger encounter was by far one of my favorite things I've done in life. :-)


The tigers just came in from playing outside right before we got there, so they were sleepy.


REALLY sleepy.


Jinna and Jin decided to join them.


Soon, they woke up and became playful.


They loved to crawl on us and chew on our hands. Would you look at the size of those claws???


They're still teething, so it didn't really hurt.


Salon was very interested in peering through the glass at Mark.


Bengal was my favorite. :-)

Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo

I don't even like birds, but this one was my favorite part of the zoo. Listen closely as the keeper starts singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and the bird finishes it.


Jinna got to hold a seven month old capuchin monkey.
The tigers were SO beautiful. And huge.


I loved watching this tiger pace around his enclosure. He was the size of a small horse!


As I said: beautiful. And huge.
The lions weren't bad either.


This was the biggest alligator I've ever seen - eleven feet and a thousand pounds!
This picture may seem sweet, but literally right before I took it, Mark said to the sweet little deer, "You're cute now, but in five or six years... Mmm! Venison."

BIG EXCITING NEWS: Jin, Jinna and I have an appointment tomorrow for an encounter with tiger cubs! Thirty minutes to play with baby tigers!!! =D

Finding Flipper / Don't Eat At Lulu's

Dolphins!


We had more dolphin sightings on this cruise than on any of the others I've done over the years.


Jordan didn't go on the dolphin cruise because he gets motion sickness easily, so he doesn't like boats.
The girls.


Not every moment is a Kodak moment for me.


Or Mark.


Or Jinna.


We went to a place called Lulu's for dinner, which is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister. It's a fun, vibrant atmosphere, but unfortunately the food was a disappointment. I got a grilled fish and blackened shrimp combo that was totally bland. I was very surprised by that, given that Lucy Buffet has a cookbook and her own line of seasonings and sauces. I expected the food to be savory. Oh well. We had a good time anyway.


This band was playing at the restaurant. Their music was Bayou/Cajun style.
Judging by the "somebody shoot me" pose, I'd say Jinna and Jin were not impressed. LOL

Life Isn't Always A Beach, Even When You're At The Beach

Monday morning started off with a trip to the local walk-in clinic because Jinna woke up with a terrible earache.
She felt better later that night.


Jin and Jordan took a long walk Tuesday morning which is still the most Jordan has been outside since we've been here. Jin bribed him with food. LOL


Today, Jinna woke up with severe ear pain, worse than before, despite being on oral antibiotics and using antibiotic ear drops four times per day. She was bawling and my heart ached for her. A couple of pain pills and several warm, moist compresses later, she fell asleep. My poor baby. :-(


While Jinna slept, Jordan played WoW.
Mark surfed.


And Jin read.


Jinna felt better when she woke up, so we all decided to take our books and hit the beach.


We didn't know we were posing.
Us. <3


The Gulf was angry that day. That's Jin on the left and Mark on the right.

Just Beachy

That's right. She's cool.
Cocktail hour!


Jordan likes to swim at night to eliminate all possibility of getting sunburned.
Not a bad way to end the day...

Gulf Shores, Take Two

While Mark was deployed last year, I came here with Jin and the kids. It was nice, but this time Mark is with me, which just makes everything sweeter. <3

Twenty-Six Months

Jordan got his braces off yesterday. I insisted on taking pictures, plus I gave him a jukebox gift bag full of sugarless gum that played "Celebration" when you pushed its button. He was so happy that none of that upset him. LOL

Ripe Bananas

Blech!

The only reason it was partially palatable is that I drowned it in my Yoplait Light Very Cherry yogurt.

Scarred

Mark is currently on AT. I wasn't happy about him leaving again so soon on the heels of a deployment, but I didn't know how much it was really bothering me until I took him to the airport.

As we approached the terminal, I had an unexpected and surprising surge of anxiety. My heart was racing, my stomach was churning and I was close to tears. I kept telling myself that he'll only be gone a couple of weeks, but logic could not override the panic I felt about my husband leaving again. I smiled bravely as I left Mark at the curb with a kiss and a hug, then cried all the way home.

I never used to be that way, but deployment changes everything. Mark's different, I'm different, our marriage is different, our family is different... and I hate the Navy a little bit for that.

My Work Is Done Here

I was sitting in the family room tonight playing a word game with Jordan and Jinna when one of the cats crawled onto my chest and started licking my cheek.

Jordan: Cat, she's married! Don't you get it? MARRIED!!!
Me: Yeah, but it's been fifteen years. Your dad doesn't lick my face anymore.

Jordan left the room.

Jinna covered her head with a blanket.

LOL!