it's over

yes, me & bejeweled, family feud(via facebook) are through! they did me wrong, in the way of infecting my poor computer with a nasty(and i mean nasty) virus. so, it's good bye forever to those two. we can no longer be friends. it's harsh, but i need my computer for a lot more important matters than that. it's so nice to be on-line again and thanks to our friend andrew for cleaning our girl up! it's good to be back.

summer...oh how we love thee

or try to anyway. everyone who knows me, knows that i DO NOT like the sun-don't want it on me at any time. i know-i AM samoan and my people are from the sun,right? whatever, i don't like it. i'd much prefer the winter, spring, anything but hot,blazing, make me sweat sun. so, tomorrow starts our first of many beach trips and i have to say...i'm excited! not because i like the sun...oh no, because i like listening to the ocean waves as i sit in my chair under the umbrella sipping a diet coke and snacking on my mango. oh yes...it's summertime at the patterson house and we're loving it.

nani & sila...hula dancers

here are the girls all dolled up ready to perform at the 'walk for a cure' cancer fundraiser this past spring. the girls have been dancing a little while now and LOVIN it.

kinda?

conversation at breakfast this morning.

mese:(speaking to his sisters and cousins) do you know what "sitting on top of the world" means?

kids:no.

mese: it means that your life is great!

me: so mese...are you "sitting on top of the world"?

mese:hmmm...kinda! (as he's stuffing his face with the pancakes-from scratch i just made him with fresh whipped cream & strawberries.)


unbelievable.

luxuries

this morning as we're finishing up breakfast and getting ready for church, i'm in my room and mason and kids are in the kitchen. mese wants some orange juice.

mese: dad, can i have some orange juice?
dad: what?
sila: mese! you can't have orange juice...you got to get a JOB!
mason: (chuckling to himself) that's right son. sila said it right. you want orange juice, you got to get a job!

our children have been taught(mostly by their father) that there are certain luxuries in life that until they are old enough to purchase themselves, they will not be free-loading off of us...i know, it sounds harsh. although i would like to point out that orange juice is a rare occasion in our house(this jug of juice we got from big mese), we do let the kids have a cup-but anything more-no. don't want them to get used to it:) and, looks like sila's getting the gist of what we're saying with the whole job thing too.

i heard it

i don't know about you, but i've always heard of people walking into a place, a store and seeing something that made them think 'i need that' or 'i want that' or 'i have to have it'. no such thing has ever happened to me until now. i think it was the nicely squared bold red box that caught my eye. or maybe it was the larger than life size cherries on the box. whatever it was, i had to have it! cherries & almonds in cereal? how could you go wrong with that combo? and let me tell you, every bite was filled with cherry & almond deliciousness:)

the end

may 4 was the end of our 12 week body-for-life program. here are some things i learned.

*12 weeks is a long time
*i really do like food(i already knew that but realized it again)
*even though i really like food, it's just food.
*water is always good
*exercise is my friend
*running isn't as bad as i thought it was
*i like the way i feel when i'm eating right & exercising

conclusion: it was a good 12 weeks. sure i made plenty of mistakes in the way of eating, but for the most part, it was good because i started something and finished it-something i hadn't done before with food & exercise. so, what's next? i keep working on eating better, exercising, and working hard. AND the biggest and best part of all this? i was able to get myself to where i could take up polynesian dancing again!!! that's such a big plus for me as i just absolutely LOVE it. thanks bill philips!