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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Blogular Motivation

I am having some trouble blogging on my own. As much as I tell myself I want to write, and sometimes I do write, with a pen, when I'm grumpy and need to complain. Those complaints - are trivial, stupid even, and I just need to write them down to get them out. So I don't turn them into grudges or fights that are so very unnecessary. So..to blog...and to bolster NOT building grudges...I think I need motivation. Reading Oh Dawn... this morning, she's taken on this Joy Dare thing. I find myself copying her a lot lately.  I hope that's ok. It sounded interesting, and I think I might give this a try. Finding 1000 joys in 2012. Here is January's instructions. Next post: Joy Dare days 1-10 :) What? I gotta catch up!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The New Year Recap: 2011

Apparently this is a thing bloggers do regularly. Like Sundry and a bunch of others. I do nothing regularly which is obvious given my last post and timeline of all my posts.  I am inconsistent. So whatever, here.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Well, I checked my toddler into the hospital for dehydration and witnessed her IV placement. Never before and never again.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't generally believe in resolutions. It's just something that I end up failing at every year, over and over, which is no way to live every year. I can fail at shit all by myself, I don't need a list. So...since I had none, I didn't fail at them, right? Yes! Truthfully early in the year 2011 I was tired of my fat self and decided to do something about it. I've been running since Jan 2011 and still going at it. So if you MUST insist on a real answer for this one...fine. I did that.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Sort of. My sister had a baby boy. We should be close, but we're not because I don't approve of some of the choices she made and I don't know how to pretend that I do. So. Hello impasse.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
I don't think so.

5. What countries did you visit?
None. I did fantasize about all kinds of foreign vacations though. Does that count?

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
More cash? Who doesn't want more cash? Besides that baby in the Capital One commercials. Better control of my time, so I can properly support my children in their education and also still have lots of fun.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Monday, February 28. We put our dog to sleep that day. Worst day ever.
Friday, March 4. Same week as above, checked toddler into hospital for dehydration.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I don't think there is one. Registering the toddler for preschool and then getting her there on time, that's big. Also figuring out that she's playing me when I drop her off and adjusting the routine so she's a much happier preschooler now.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not realizing my toddler was dehydrated. After so many days of vomit and poop..I should have known better. You can cut me some slack because I put down the dog and bought a car that same week..but I don't deserve it. No parent should be that distracted. Huge parenting fail.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not outside of the regular thanks-to-the-stupid-children illnesses. What is it about preschool that makes parents bring the snot covered kids anyway?

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Well. I LOVE this new cabinet the husband bought me for Christmas. Since its OUR money...it counts, right?
Also, most of the time, I'm glad we bought these guys too.
I also bought sort of a lot of clothes that I love this year too. A ruffly cardigan that I wear over a black tank OR a sequin tank. I bought Jeggings and Leggings if you can believe that and I love them all.  I think probably I am more in love with the fact that I look good in them. See above for former fat self reference.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Edward Jones apparently. And the mortgage. We have a 15 year, and we'll pay it off in about 5 years, so even though the payment is high, we'll be done really soon. If the economy would pick up..that'd be excellent. I'd worry less about making that.

13. What did you get really excited about?
The kid going to preschool. These two hours twice a week, by myself, to work and focus. Awesome.

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Adele's Rolling in the Deep. I heard it first when one of the contestants on The Voice sang it and had to look it up. Also really like Price Tag by Jessie J. At the same time, Kidz Bop ruins all these songs, so 2011 reminds me of that also.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

-happier or sadder?  probably the same. hard to pin down just one for a whole year
-thinner or fatter?  definitely thinner and I will keep it that way, hello salad for lunch.
-richer or poorer? I think probably the same, or richer depending on how you look at it.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Playing games with the kids, or playing outside with the kids. We were outside a lot and both girls love riding their bikes now, so perhaps this spring we'll get to do more of that. Maybe more times out with the husband as well.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Hollered at my kids. Lost my shit when I just couldn't take it anymore.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
With my in-laws, which was awesome. We each took vacation days which ended up in all of us having eleven - yes 11 - days off in a row. It was excellent.

19. What was your favorite TV program?
I think Grey's Anatomy...but Rizzoli & Isles, The Closer and Covert Affairs are very close seconds...

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
I loved the Hunger Games series and I signed up for GoodReads so I can get some good recommendations. We also rediscovered the local library this year, which has been awesome.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

Toby Keith "Red Solo Cup"
Anything Lady Antebellum
Adele "Rolling in the Deep"
still love Kelly Clarkson
The Band Perry

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
Date Night.
Crazy, Stupid, Love (Spoiler: I did NOT figure out that Emma Stone was Steve Carrell's daughter in the movie until it hit me in the face)
Twilight: Breaking Dawn (shut up)

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 35 and I don't remember what I did. We didn't do anything super special.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Winning the lottery? Being satisfied is up to each of us I think..so I don't think I like this question.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Trendy. Although this is sort of a stupid question.

26. What kept you sane?
Books and my DVR. And during the summer, the in-laws when they came to take the children camping.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Pay attention. Nothing is more important than the health of your children. Just pay attention.

Happy new year everyone.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Path of Resistance

Of course we know the saying '...path of least resistance...'  and what it means. Sometimes it's ok to take a difficult path and other times its much much easier to take the path of least resistance. Sometimes the path you take is a reflection of parts of you.  How about a reflection of my parenting skills... I find myself doing this sometimes, with my children, in shopping areas. You know, when I KNOW they're going to want the candy/cookie/stuffed animal we're bound to pass  and the path of least resistance becomes some long roundabout way through the store to avoid that item. It's ridiculous. One would think I could have a little more control of the beggars. I hope it's not just happening to me.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

That's how they get ya!

How am I supposed to decide what sheets of photos to keep and buy from my youngest's first school pictures ever? How could I decide to return any of them? I will, of course, because i'm cheap frugal. But clearly, this is how they GET ya, with the cuteness and sweetness and oooo a class photo. Curses!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Thankfulness

So I suck at blogging. There, I said it. I really really want to write all kinds of things. Blogs and novels and stories and diary entries, and letters to people that I love and to people that piss me off. But apparently I suck at all of those things. So... Oh, dawn... made a list of what she's thankful for, and I think maybe I should try that. An attempt to pull myself out of this weird funk I'm in.

So...things I'm currently thankful for....let's see...

1. My kids - they are really at the perfect ages. The oldest (9) is so smart and independent and fun and cautious and thoughtful and sensitive. Third grade has really helped her blossom. She's got great friends and everyone loves her, she's doing very well in school and LOVES school, which is excellent. The youngest (4) is also super smart, inquisitive, and imaginative. She loves preschool and is learning all kinds of things. She asks me questions the oldest never did, so she's giving me a clue about what a pistol she'll be in a few years. Then I guess I'll be grateful her sister is the cautious one.

2. Preschool - Thank GOD for Noah's Ark Preschool. She is learning so much, and socializing so well and it's such a nice break for me to focus on work for a couple hours. I'm really looking forward to next year when she'll be older and goes for three days a week instead of two (and in the afternoon so I don't have to rush around in the morning with two kids).

3. My Job - All jobs have drawbacks, but I love the work and I love most of the people and I'm grateful to have the flexibility to work from home and be with my children as necessary and still use my brain every day.

4. My family - Whatever our dysfunction, I love them. All of them.

5. Books - I live vicariously through books. In a related vein I'm super thankful for my Kindle and the local Library. I cannot imagine not wanting to read like I do, and I'm hopeful that my girls develop that love of reading as well. The oldest is well on her way.

6. Video Games - I love xbox live and the ability it gives me to mindlessly shoot people or things and get out some aggression without injury. Right now, Gears of War3 is my current addiction. I love it so much, it's probably unhealthy.

7. Financial planning - I'm grateful for our EdwardJones guy. For his advice and expertise in planning for retirement and helping us to grow our money to serve us best when we're ready to retire. He's also a really nice guy with kids of his own, so he's reliable and trustworthy, which is sort of hard to find right now.

8. My faith - as shaky as it is sometimes, my faith keeps me from running away screaming. I am a true believer. A Christian, follower of Christ. As much as I want to go to church, and don't, I still know He is always with me and hears me, whatever I need. And I rely on that regularly.

These are in no particular order - only in the order they occurred to me. I wouldn't want to indicate that anything was more valueable to me than my family or faith, but the order of importance changes daily.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Ok forget it.

I'm really screwing up this NaBloPoMo thing. Apparently I don't consider weekends as part of the month or challenge, so I just randomly skip the days. This weekend was sort of busy I guess, with the oldest turning 9. NINE! And the in-laws came up to visit and see her and we just generally had some things going on. Good things, trips to the library, movies, McDonalds, because a birthday isn't complete without MickeyDs.

Honestly, my brain just can't hold enough information or content to keep the household running AND blog every day. I guess I'm a reader, not a blogger.  Sigh. I guess no blogging fortune for me. Maybe I can write slower..and turn something I ramble into a book. A girl can dream.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Huh. It's the 5th.

Well, I thought I could at least post something inane every day. Apparently I can't even do that. Oh well. I'll keep trying.

We celebrated the oldest's 9th birthday today. NINE. She's so big and smart and wonderful. I love pretty much every age after 6 months.

Also finally beat gears of war level 50 last night with my brothers and husband. That was pretty awesome, even if we were up until 2am.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Parenting lists

Apparently parenting is mostly about making lists.

Get up kid #1, feed breakfast, etc...send off to school
Take dogs out in the middle of above.
Get kid #2 up, dressed and talk her through breakfast for the love of...
Drive kid to preschool.
Work.
Pickup kid from preschool.
Work.
Feed kid #2 and self lunch.
Work.
Work.
Get kid #1 off bus.
Get snacks and TV for kids.
Work.
Work.
Work extra to make up for preschool stuff.
Kid homework.
Kid awana prep.
Dinner.
Take kid to awana.
Target trip to get necessary groceries, birthday prep stuff, Christmas stuff.
Feed self.
Pick up kid from awana.
Get both kids up to bed, tuck in.
Shhhh just go to sleep.
No really, go to sleep.
Ahhh thank you.
Play gears, yay.
Sleep.

Repeat as needed.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

NaBloPoMo yes?

NaBloPoMo means.. national blog posting month. So, blogging every day of this month, November.  I don't know if I can do it, but I'm going to try. In fact, I think I'll even just post 'Hello' if I can't come up with something genius and witty. Like this one. Hey, I'm working here and tonight I'm busy, so back off.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Olive Bungalow Giveaway

I'm just a little bit grateful that not very many people pay attention to what I write here. Olive Bungalow is having a giveaway and I get an extra entry by blogging about it. However, I don't want to decrease my chances of winnning...so...shhhhhh! :)  Check out the giveaway here!

Monday, October 24, 2011

The Muddy Monster

I ran in the Muddy Monster 5k run this weekend. It was a beautiful day. I am always sooooo surprised by how difficult it is to run outside. This was on grass and some gravelly trails, but mostly grass, it was really difficult. In some spots the path was sort of narrow so my speed was slowed and runners really had to watch the path for ruts and sticks, etc. So my time was much slower this time - 33 minutes and 18 seconds I think. I walked quite a few times also, which I tend to do apparently. I have a real problem motivating myself to keep running. What I need is a way to watch some TV show while I run these things...then maybe I could keep up a decent pace while distracted by mindless entertainment. Oh well, it was a fun run and a great weekend.

The race has a facebook page...alot of fun costumes and some really fun pepole to race with.


These two won first place. Very nice, excellent costume, and he was giving away candy. Love that they were so into the whole thing.

Friday, October 14, 2011

The winning combo

So I finally realized last night why I run. Why I haven't quit, like I've quit so many other exercise plans. I don't love to run, honestly, anyone that says they do, I think is lying at least a little bit. I love how I feel afterwards, I love how it feels to finish a race that other people are in..and to finish ahead of a lot of people feels great. But the running part, it's generally awful. But..I figured out why I do it anyway. It's something I've finally figured out that I can do for myself. I keep myself on task, I'm not a slacker about it, I hate it when I let anything get in the way of my regular treadmill time. Also, let me be clear - I'm not running a 5k every night. My treadmill has programs that let me burn X calories in X time and I typically choose the 400 cal/40min program which involves plenty of walking. I run a little faster during the fast parts and according to the treadmill I burn around 450cals. I also watch tv on the iPad while I'm doing it - I'd quit for sure without that. Anyway...that's the thing. I do it because I want to, it's sort of my "thing" and I don't want to stop doing it. Also, it works. My legs and behind have never looked so good.

I'm running in the MuddyMonster next weekend and I think I'm going to dress up. Maybe a bumblebee...from what I've heard about the facebook photos..I could have a shot at a costume prize if I make just a little effort. It doesn't start until 10 which I love and it's all trails and grass, which is soooo much better than road running.

The other part of this combo is yoga or pilates or piyo or some sort of core exercise. I actually WANT to get out my Tracy Anderson post pregnancy DVD and see if i can do more of it now. I've been taking a piyo class at a local gym and so far I really think its working. It's slow progress, but I believe it works. So I think I'll take at least one more session of the class and then I'll have to decide if its still worth the hassle of going to class, or if I can find a suitable pilates/yoga/something DVD to do the same thing. I think actual yoga or pilates poses are key though, so i'm hesitant to give it up. We'll see how it works out.

Random note. I love RunKeeper I know Dooce mentioned it on her blog recently, which I thought was pretty cool, but I was also like HEY I USED IT FIRST. It's a really nice program, and it works on my windows phone and so i have my music, runkeeper and phone all in one, which is awesome. It tracks your gps location and pace and elevation as you run, then it maps it all out for you online, which you can then share with others. It's just cool.

Okbye.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Remind me

Maybe if i blog about it, i'll remember to do it.

MOVE FFXI CHARACTER TO TOWN AND SUSPEND ACCOUNT AGAIN.

As much as I want to play it, the game is just too large and I can't possibly catch up right now. The cost just isn't worth it. Maybe when both girls are teenagers and can't stand to hang out with me anymore, maybe then i'll have time to play again.

Plus I really need to focus on getting to and winning a level 50 Horde on Gears3 with my hubs and brothers. That game turned out to be much more addicting and much less frightening than I thought. Fun stuff.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Smart Kids or Maybe Not

So from what I've read in a few places, here, for example, kids brains do not fully develop until they're nearly 20 years old. Thank God for that.

So..here's some background. I get my oldest dressed in the morning for school. Usually I wake her up, pick out her clothes and help her get dressed. Sometimes I leave the drawers in her dresser open so that closing them doesn't wake the other kid. So a couple weeks ago, I left the two bottom drawers open, so I don't wake the other kid and we can just get moving. Remember that, I left 'em open.

So, she comes home from school that afternoon, wanting to play her Nintendo DSi, great. I say, I put it upstairs, in your room, on the floor, in front of your dresser. So she goes upstairs to grab it. About five minutes later she comes down, Mom, I can't find it. What? I know it's there, I put it there myself yesterday AND I saw it this morning. So I go up, to help her look. I walk into her room and I almost dropped a F bomb. She's standing there, with the bottom drawers of her dresser STILL OPEN. She's actually walking AROUND the open drawers "looking" for the DSi. I said ... Are you [in my brain #$#%@#!] kidding me? Did you LOOK WHERE I SAID?! She looks at me. Then sticks out a foot, and pushes a drawer closed. Voila! There is it, RIGHT WHERE I SAID.

My mind was seriously blown. How can you look in a place you cannot see? Without  MOVING the things that block your view. She was walking around the open drawers. It still blows my mind now.

Thank GOD their brains are still developing.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011