19 Things I Like About You

1- You buy me Monsters. By the case.

2- You love to shop as much as I do. Except when we are bra and underpants shopping with your mom, then you get a TEENSY WEENSY bit impatient with the process.

3- You get genuinely excited about helping/watching/teaching your kids.

4- You are brimming with enthusiasm most of the time, almost to the point of driving me crazy sometimes..... (See #1)

5- you make me laugh. There are at least 2 weddings where you had me laughing so hard I couldn't get control of myself, including the one where the pastor looked like Mr Magoo. I think I snorted out loud. Several times.

6- You clean things. At least you clean things more often than I do.

7- You are a good cook, which is good since I am so not.

8- you know how to have fun, and how to get me involved since I sometimes don't.

9- Tech support. It's good to have an IT guy around, even if you give the heavy sigh when I am not doing things fast enough.

10- you dream big. And expensive.

11- You invent cool new phrases like "Git R Dun."

12- You understand my shoe fetish. A girl can never have enough.

13- You made an actual training plan. Not that you follow it mind you but you finally HAVE one.

14- You put up with explaining everything in football to me over and over again. And you always help me keep track of Lucas on the field.

15- Did I mention you buy me Monsters?? Big cans??

16- You put up with my grouchy mornings and crabbiness, without really pointing out what a rag I am being.

17- You are a great dad. and uncle.

18- You have great taste in women.

19- You are good to your mother and your family.

Love you MDot-i-mus. Here's to celebrating next year's anniversary toeing the line at IMMoo!

Words to Live By: Fortitudine Vincimus

I have been reading a few new blogs for a few weeks now. One of them belongs to Myles and each time I open his page I see his motto and think to myself how motivational it is to have a vision defining where you are going and where you have been. The phrase I read each time I open his site is "Fortitudine Vincimus- Through Endurance we conquer."
I am awed at the powerfulness of the written word and enjoy finding a meaningful turn of phrase. I am also a compulsive fact-checker, so today I set out to verify the translation of the phrase and possibly seek out some others that would be personally motivational in defining my own efforts. I stumbled upon a site that had lots of Latin phrases translated and as I read through them, I found myself creating a few lists I thought I would share with you all. My first list is a serious one, the others just made me laugh.....

Jenny’s Top Ten Mottos to Live by:
10. Audaces fortuna iuvat - Fortune favors the bold. (Virgil)
9. Experientia docet - Experience is the best teacher
8. Luctor et emergo - I struggle but I'll survive
7. Palmam qui meruit ferat - Let him who has earned it bear the reward
6. Pari passu - With equal pace - moving together
5. Per angusta in augusta - Through difficulties to great things
4. Poli, poli, di umbuendo - Slowly, Slowly we will get there
3. Res firma mitescere nescit - A firm resolve does not know how to weaken
2. Vincit qui se vincit - He conquers who conquers himself
1. Vitanda est improba siren desidia - One must avoid that wicked temptress, Laziness. (Horace)


Jenny’s Top Ten Conversational Latin Phrases:
10. In dentibus anticis frustrum magnum spiniciae habes - You have a big piece of spinach in your front teeth (for my sister the hygeinist)
9. Non plaudite. Modo pecuniam jacite - Don't applaud. Just throw money
8. Vir prudens non contra ventum mingit - A wise man does not urinate against the wind
7. Me oportet propter praeceptum te nocere - I'm going to have to hurt you on principle
6. Machina improba! Vel mihi ede potum vel mihi redde nummos meos! - You infernal machine! Give me a beverage or give me my money back!
5. Estne tibi forte magna feles fulva et planissima? - Do you by chance happen to own a large, yellowish, very flat cat?
4. Cum homine de cane debeo congredi - Excuse me. I've got to see a man about a dog (I always thought it was about a horse, but whatever........)
3. Cave canem, te necet lingendo - Beware of the dog, he may lick you to death (Accurate description of my dogs)
2. Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem - In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags
1. Braccae tuae aperiuntur - Your fly is open (unfortunately, I need to use this phrase at my house WAY too much!)


Jenny's Top Ten Latin Quotes:
10. Certe, toto, sentio nos in kansate non iam adesse - You know, Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore
9. Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum europe vincendarum - Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe
8. Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus - Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries
7. Pone ubi sol non lucet! - Put it where the sun don't shine!
6. Solum potestis prohibere ignes silvarum - Only you are can prevent forest fires
5. Stercus accidit - Shit happens
4. Vescere bracis meis - Eat my shorts
3. Ascendo tuum - Up yours
2. Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre? - Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just happy to see me?
1. Luke sum ipse patrem te - Luke, I am your father. -Star Wars (for my son Lucas, who hates this phrase)

Valentine's Day Top Ten List

This is the 18th Valetine's Day Mike and I have celebrated, making this a good opportunity to reflect on why I like the guy, although Mike has already beaten me to the punch this year.
I am a big fan of Letterman's Top ten lists, so here goes with mine:

Top Ten Reasons To Like Mike
10- He makes me laugh every day. Well, almost every day, some days he goes snowmobiling.
9- He loves to shop. If I express the slightest amount of interest, he starts in with "Get it," "Buy it," "I love it - get it," "if you want it get it," and so on until the item lands in my cart.
8- He notices when I have a new haircut. Usually. Or at least he fakes it really well.
7- He always remembers my birthday without a reminder. And the prsents have gotten WAY better. (His first holiday gift to me was maternity underwear........ so we had a lot of room to grow from there LOL)
6- He loves his boys and is always proud of them, he is a very attentive dad. (Unless he's snowmobiling.) Seriously, he never misses a game, a program, a conference, or any other event and he is the loudest cheerleader there.
5- He likes to clean the house with me. We are still working on getting his laundry put away, but no one is perfect.
4- He makes me breakfast on Sunday mornings. Used to be omelettes, hash browns, and bagels in the chubby days, now it's Southwest Egg Beaters and dry Flaxseed toast. Still good and I don't have to cook it. Yeah, Mike.
3- He tells me I am beautiful every day, no matter what I look like. What girl wouldn't love that??
2- He always drives, pumps gas, and fixes my stuff. I never have to figure out where the oil goes, how to put something together, or how to make my damn computer quit acting up. He just does it, sometimes without asking.
1- He pushes me to do the best that I can and be the best that I can be, and supports me every inch of the way.
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Happy Valentines Day M-Dot - I heart you!
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(What? you expected me to say something dirty nasty?? Come on folks, my MOM and DAD read my blog from Costa Rica!)