Secret to Women

This evening, my brother sent me a text.  He found a girl that he really likes.  He asked me to give him tips.  He told me that she often says he is sweet, so I am guessing that she likes him.  Under these circumstances, I think that women are pretty easy to sucker in.  ☺

My advice is that girls love lots of little sentimental gestures like flowers, love notes, flirtatious texts, etc.  I also told him that he should call her darling or sweetie.  Basically, I think girls will put up with a lot if they are romanced in the little ways by a guy they like.  If she doesn't have to put up with much, then he is even better off giving her that kind of attention. 

Is there anything I forgot to tell him? What other things make nice girls go gaga (... & I don't mean Lady Gaga)?

 

Don’t Drink, Don’t Smoke, What Do You Do?

I must admit that at this point in my life, the concept of dating is difficult for me. Not because I am attached to my ex or anything, but because I don’t feel that I very much to offer. I don’t even have anything interesting currently going on in my life to share. Let’s face it:

1. I live with my mom & step-dad

2. I work part time from home (very little money and no exciting “how was your day?” stories to share)

3. I have two small children, which makes finding time to date difficult and adds a much bigger commitment for any guy interested in a long term relationship

4. No time for current hobbies or other activities (non-kid oriented) to add an element of excitement to my life for discussions

A normal day for me consists of waking up between 6:30 and 7:00 am. I get the kids breakfast and check e-mails. Sometimes I have a little work that I have to do. We go to the YMCA from 10 am to noon, where I work out with other moms and lots of senior citizens. We get back around 12:30 and have lunch. Jordan takes a nap around 1, while Lexi does crafts and I take a shower and then work. That lasts until about 4pm. I work on making dinner or cleaning up the house until my mom and step-dad get home from work. We eat dinner and do a few things before I put the kids in bed between 7:30 and 8 pm. After they are asleep, I stay up working for about 3 hours.

See….all work and no play make Stephanie a dull girl and certainly not a fun date.  Quite depressing!

Happy St Pat's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  We don't have anything amazing planned, but will be festive in little ways like dressing up.  Plus, we had green french toast for breakfast and will probably go to watch the Irish dancers that are coming to my mom's work (retirement home) this afternoon.   

Workout Successsssss

This week, I decided to kick my workouts up a notch. I have many reasons including the fact that swimsuit season is fast approaching and I would like to enjoy my time on the beach this year. For the last two days, I have been spending an hour and a half working out at the gym. I now realize that working out is so effective because it makes your body so sore that you have no desire to head to the kitchen for a cookie. I guess my kids will have to figure out how to prepare their own meals and snacks. They will certainly starve if they wait for me to hobble all the way over there.

Let Down

Some times coming home from a vacation feels so good. Other times, it is not fun to go back to reality. The kids and I had a great time in Utah. It was fun being around friends, catching up with people I hadn't seen in too long, having my kids play with other great kids, and just enjoying a change of scenery. Plus, I had so many more people that I wanted to catch up with, but didn't get a chance to.

Being back hasn't been exactly great. It didn't help that I came back to a big work deadline.

I especially miss my friend, Annette, whom I stayed it. I realize that I feel a little lonely here in California. It was amazing spending time with a best friend. I had someone cool to talk to every day.

Also, I actually met a nice guy while I was there. We went on 4 great dates and hit it off. I enjoyed being excited about a guy. A good looking nice guy is a rare thing, but I know how long distance relationships go. It is hard enough to have a regular relationship for single parents.

We are back now and getting into our normal routine. I have decided that it is time to really hit a few of my new year’s resolutions. I am back to loving the gym and eating healthy. I guess I can already check off the going on a date or two.

Favorite Mountain

My favorite mountain of all time is located in Utah.  It is Mount Timpanogos.  At first glance, it may seem like an ordinary mountain, but it really is different.  First, there is a dead Indian Princess across the top (see diagram below).  I grew up hearing two different legends both ending in her death.  One was that she sacrificed herself to save her tribe. The other one had to do with being so sad that the love of her life was killed.  It is a fun story and makes the mountain easy to identify, but that isn't the only great thing about the mountain. 

The second thing I love is the Cave, which is a national park.  The formations throughout the cave are so interesting and the hike to it is great for all ages.  Seeing the mountain again has definitely been one of the highlights of this trip.  Perhaps, I'll have to come back in the summer so I can take the kids on the hike. 

Stuck in Utah

Friday night, I was driving back from a friend's house (who lives about 2 hours north) to the place where I am staying here in Utah when my car suddenly started beeping and warning me that it was overheating and that I should shut the engine off.  I managed to pull over to a gas station and pop open the hood.  There was definitely smoke or steam coming out of the engine and the plastic tank where the coolant/anti-freeze goes was empty.  Fortunately, I had lots of offers for help (one good thing about Utah).  I dragged the kids into the gas station and bought anti-freeze.  A few guys helped pour it in and one told me that I should be good to go. 

I set off again and didn't get very far before it happened again.  I pulled off to the side of the freeway to let it cool off and started making calls for help/advice.  Fortunately, a friend offered to come help even though I was about an hour south and it was freezing cold.  He found me on the side of the freeway.  He looked under the hood and the tank was empty again!   He filled it up and helped me get to the next gas station with multiple stops because of more overheating warnings.  Once there, he opened up the radiator and saw that it was completely dry.  He put anti-freeze directly into it.  He told me that it should take care of it.  Then, he said goodbye and to call him if I have ANY more problems.  I was able to drive all the way back to where we are staying without more overheating warnings thanks to him.  One good thing about Utah is the nice people.   I am sure he had better things to do on a Friday night than freeze his butt off with me.  

Anyway, the check engine light is still on so I do not want to head back to California until whatever else is going on with the vehicle is fixed.  Can you imagine being stuck in Death Valley with two little kids?  My car is being towed up to the Saturn Dealer in Salt Lake today.  Who knows when I'll get to go home?  Once again, I am very thankful my friend and her family here that have made me feel so welcome without any signs of being sick of our LONG vacation.  I was sure they'd want to kick us out by now.          

Haircut

When I first saw my friend that I am staying with in Utah, I loved her hair.  The more I was around her, the more I liked it.  She offered to cut my hair like it.  I know I am a little old to be letting a friend cut my hair, but she has always been great at hair.  Plus, her mom is/was a beautician.  So...now my hair has layers and a bit of life in it.

Freeeeeezing

We're in Utah and it is COLD!  (...For us anyway)  The highs are in the mid 30s and the lows in the 20s.  I think over a decade in warm climates has comletely ruined me for cold weather.  Plus, I have learned that winter gear and carseats don't mix at all.  Last night, I was thinking about how nice it will be to get back to California.  On the other hand, we are having a lot of fun and there is so much more that I want to do.  I haven't even started seeing all the people I wanted to catch up with.  I need to start packing our schedule.  That or stay a few more weeks...  nope just too cold.   

Cold Blast

Tomorrow, I am taking the kids on a road trip. They have been asking to see snow for a while. There are a few places around here where it snows occasionally, but I decided to take them to a place where there is lots of snow …Utah.

I haven’t been there since 1998.  That was just for a weekend wedding. Actually, I haven’t spent any time there since I graduated in 1996. I still have quite a few friends and family members there.  Lastely, I have been chatting with a few of them on facebook and one asked me to come.  The offer was extra tempting since I am only about a 10 hour drive now.

It is going to be weird to see how much it has changed and how much all of my old friends have changed.  I think one of the strangest things will be seeing that most of my friends are parents to teenagers.  A lot of them got married young and had kids right away. 

Well, we are setting off to have fun in the cold.  I realized this past weekend that Southern California is NOT the place to buy winter gear.  We went to several places and felt lucky to get the kids coats and mittens.  I will have to shop for boots up there.  It should be interesting.