All dolled up...

I like to look cute most of the time, granted there are plenty of times I am slummin' it. But there are two times that I like to look cute which for most people is an afterthought. When do you think that is? Sleeping and at the Gym. I had a friend say about a shirt she didn't really like..."Oh, I can wear that to the gym or sleep in it." Oh no...not this girl. I love buying cute gym clothes and lately I am completely obsessed with cute PJs. So, what are your fashion rules for these places?

Affirmative Action

I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking about searching for a coach for a local sports team and the Rooney Rule. Evidently each team must interview a minority coach before making a selection. It got me thinking about Affirmative Action and this rule. I think that the thinking behind both of these were to help minorities get the recognition that they need. The problem is that I don't think that is how they are used. It seems that this is just to satisfy a requirement so that they can make the hire, or let the student in that they want. Being a white female, I have never been on the other end of this rule or decision. I would think though, that I wouldn't want to be there just to satisfy a requirement. I would want them to put on colorless classes and look at my skills and merit and hire me or admit me to the school because of that. I wouldn't want to be a "have to" I want to be a "want to!"

90 day Challenge

I have signed up to do a 90 day Challenge with a group of 6 other ladies! We are now halfway through it and it has been really interesting. I thought it would help me get the remaining couple of pounds off and firm up my mid section, but it has been so much more! I have only lost about 3 pounds in 45 days, but I can tell I am definitely firming up! Not only that, but it has been about more than just fitness, it has been mental, spiritual and emotional. I have gotten better about making and sticking to my to-do list. I have started thinking in terms of goals, both short term and long term. I have started focusing on my top 5 priorities and seeing how my agenda stacks up against those priorities. It has also opened up new opportunities and new friendships for me! Once it is all said and done, I will let you know the final results! I am looking for a negative split (better the second half than the first), so here is to staying focused!

Weird Food Issues

So BG has so kindly pointed out that I have some really weird food issues. He will eat practically anything, but I have some very weird rules. Here are the ones that I have come up with for now, I am sure there are more:

1. I refuse to eat food from a gas station unless it is prepackaged such as Cheetos. I do not eat anything in the little rolling roasters, I will not eat their sandwiches, etc. I will not even eat in a restaurant in a gas station. My rule is that if you can get to the connected restaurant only by going out of the gas station and entering into another door, then it is safe, if not...no go! This drives BG nuts, then again he likes Allsup's Burritos. BG has even gone so far as to take me to the stand alone restaurant of a chain that is normally connected to gas stations, because it is so good, but he knows that I won't try it if it is connected.

2. I don't really like meat in the morning. I am not a huge bacon fan, the thought of chicken in the morning pretty much grosses me out. I have heard that the Chick-fil-a breakfast sandwich is really good, but I just can't bring myself to try it. The only meat that I am sort of okay with is breakfast sausage. This is of course a carnal sin to my husband who has a love affair with pork, especially bacon!

3. I have a new theory about fried food....if you have to fry a food to make it edible, it is not food. The first food added to this theory group is catfish. Catfish is not edible unless it is fried, therefore it is not a food and I refuse to eat catfish, it totally grosses me out!

talk about gas station food, meat in the am

At Least He Won't Laugh at me When I Cry

BG is once again hunting this past weekend. Actually, the weekend after Thanksgiving is an extended hunt. I realized on Saturday that I had a Blockbuster gift card that I have had for about a year! I decided that the kids would love to go pick a couple new movies to watch, so off we went. While we were there, we had a little issue with SD taking something that we didn't pay for...but that is another story. Since my gift card was for $10, we were able to get 5 movies! The kids got 2 that were only 99 cents, a Hello Kitty Movie and a Curious George movie. We also got a Christmas movie, to kick off the season. I decided since BG was gone, I would rent some chic flicks, so I got Love Happens and Letters to Juliet.

After the kids had gone to bed, I curled up in my bed with my glass of wine and popped in Love Happens. I really like romantic comedies and it was the perfect scenario, wine, sappy movie and my electric blanket. Of course, it was sappy and it made me cry (this is something that has become more prevalent since having kids). I sat there thinking...the best thing about watching a movie like this without BG is that he can't make fun of me crying. I actually started boo-hooing, not just a couple of tears filling up in my eyes. I am glad that I could cry in peace without having to hide it from him :) Of course, it could have been the wine making it worse, either way, it is a cute movie!

People Say the Darndest Things

A couple of weeks ago at church, I was picking up Linus from his Sunday School class.  I had on a loose fitting dress and the lady in his class asked me if I was pregnant.  I tried to not be too offended, but do I really look pregnant?  Of course it made me a lot more focused on my eating habits and workout routine for the rest of the week!  The funny thing is that I have had the opposite happen as well.  I was super pregnant with Linus, like T-1 month or so, I was at a neighborhood get together and the lady I was talking to was asking if I had kids and kind of looking at my stomach.  I was like "Hello, there is no doubting that there is something extra in my body right now" but she was of the age that you didn't ask people about that unless they told you!  Funny how different things are now.

That same day at church, I was walking back to the sanctuary when I overheard two ladies at our coffee bar.  One of them I believe was pregnant and the other was asking her how it was going because she looked really tired.  Why do people think that is an okay thing to say to someone, kind of like telling someone that they look as if they don't feel well.  If they are tired or don't feel well, they really don't need to be reminded of the fact that they are not doing a good job hiding it!

I ball...do you?

One thing I love about summer is the amount of fresh fruit that is around.  One of our favorite summer fruits is watermelon.  Linus could probably eat an entire watermelon by himself and still want more!  I hadn't ever thought much of it until someone commented on it one time, but I guess I prepare my watermelon a little different than everyone else.  You see, I ball my watermelon.  Not just for parties or to make it fancy, but that is what I do every time we have one.  I guess that most people just cut it up into chunks or triangles, but not me.  I love having it in little bite sizes and easy to pick up and eat.  My kids love it too, it makes it so much easier for them to eat.  And really, it doesn't take much time at all.  I don't even know how to cut up a watermelon, so I am sure that would take me more time to do.  I have even started teaching SD how to do it, and she LOVES to help!  I am not sure if that is what my mom always did or not, but I think that a melon baller is a necessity in my kitchen!

Mr. Sandman

As a small child, I had a recurring nightmare.  It happened so often or I guess was so vivid, that I still remember it in detail to this day, and it has probably been 20 years since I dreamed it.  My nightmare was about being kidnapped, I was terrified of it.  In my dream, the kidnappers had painted the inside of a moving van to look like my bedroom and one of them had dressed up like my mom and brought me breakfast.  I am not sure where I even came up with any of these details, but they were very vivid in my dream.  I think that some people dream more than others and some are more vivid and more easily remembered. 

I think that SD has inherited my dreaming abilities.  She woke up this morning, EARLY (around 5) and said that she had a dream about a lizard.  I tucked her back into bed and we talked about it a little bit.  She said, "I don't like to dream."  I can totally understand her fears, it is awful waking up from a dream that seems so real and the thought of falling back asleep only to jump right back into that dream is awful.  But then there are those awesome dreams, that leave a smile on your face, or make you laugh.  I tried to explain to her that sometimes dreams are fun and exciting, and to think about things that you want to dream about (for her this would include Fancy Nancy, dress up and princess stuff!) 

So...what is your dream life like?

Luck be a Lady

In the past I would not have considered myself lucky! I never win drawings or prizes, etc. I have a friend Melissa who is always the lucky winner so to speak. She is one of my scrapbooking budies and anytime she goes to a crop or there is any sort of drawing she wins. Last year at our retreat they did a drawing and my friend Becca said, just give it to Melissa, she will win anyway...sure enough, they drew Melissa's name!

Well, look out Melissa, I think I might be taking your place! Melissa isn't going to our retreat this year, so it is lookin good for me!

You see, I have never really won until this past month. I attend a local Mom's group and they have a drawing each meeting. In March, it was a book about praying scripture for your children, and my name was called for the first prize! Then, just this past weekend, I attended a local open house for a scrapbook store and got a kit valued at over $40!!! I guess I can't say that I don't win things anymore!

Guess I should go play the lottery!

Tuesdays with Mommy!

Tuesdays are by far my favorite day! Right now I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that Tuesday is the day that I am privileged to work from home (have I mentioned that I love my job!) I love being able to work and be a mom, gives me the best of both worlds I think, even if it is hard to juggle! But that isn't the only reason that I love them.

I was talking to my MIL once and she told me that Tuesday was her favorite day as well and when I asked why, she told me "Because Monday was over!" There is a lot of truth in that, Mondays are just crazy for me. People are trying to get things crossed off their to-do list, which usually means lots of interruptions for me. Not only that, but you are adjusting from weekend mode back into weekday mode, which can be really hard, waking up to the alarm again, rushing in the morning to get dressed and get out the door.

The other big reason that I love Tuesdays is because that is when I change my sheets. I know this may make me sound crazy, but I love the way clean sheets feel. I love slipping into bed and they are all nice and cool and crisp! I also clean my floors on Tuesdays and once again, I LOVE clean floors. I love not worrying about if the bottom of my kids feet look like Walmart-feet or HEB feet! Or if it is safe to eat what just fell on the floor :0 (don't say you don't do it, I know you do!)

So, what is your favorite day?

Perceived Privacy

One place that pretty much everyone thinks they have privacy is in their car. Which is funny because you are driving on a road with millions of other cars and unless your windows are tinted mob style, then people can see what you are doing! There are two things that people do in their car under the guise that they are alone...pick their nose and toot!

I am not going to lie, I have been guilty of both, who hasn't...but really, you are not alone. Have you ever been picking your nose and realized, duh, I am leaving my work, someone I know is going to see me.

On the tooting side, of course no one is going to see you do that, unless you have some green haze forming around you, but I do have a funny story about that. It is not my own, but it is funny none the less.

I think I have this story right...

A friend of mine was going on a date and her date came to pick her up. Evidently he had tooted before going to the door and it was still hanging around when he put her in the car. She didn't say anything, but when he got in the car, he had to claim it, there was just no getting around it! Thankfully, it didn't deter their relationship and they have been happily married for years now with two beautiful kids!

Funny story!

Seasonal Kids Flatware

So, I had a blog idea for everyday last week ready to go, but my follow-thru really needs some attention. Hopefully I will get to those blogs, because I think they are worthy of writing about. Anyway, today's topic is totally on a whim!

I had to go to Target today, I know don't feel too sorry for me, to pick up a birthday present. Of course, I came home with way more than a birthday present (side note, they have the cutest little girl dresses for $8 and seeing that is pretty much all SD will wear, I got a couple). The thing that sucks me in every time is the dollar aisle. They have the cutest stuff and you think, it is only a dollar, why not? My problem is that it is never just one item. Take today for example...in the dollar aisle we got, heart ice cube trays, valentines slippers for SD, and a set of silverware for each kid. They also had matching plates and bowls, but our storage for those items is limited right now, so until some of the ones we have no longer are functional, we are stuck!

The thing that I love the most is their dinnerware! They always have seasonal fork/spoon sets, divided plates (an obsession I don't have time to go into now) and bowls. The silverware is actually pretty well made, but really at a dollar who cares. The plates, although they say not to put in dishwasher, survive very well in the dishwasher and microwave for quite a long time. They do start to warp after a while, but again, they were a dollar! And the little bowls are the perfect size for the kids breakfast.

Pilot Personalities

Thankfully my commute to work is pretty much a non-event. I am blessed to live on one side of the airport and work on the other. The best part is that I don't have to get on a highway or even really deal with traffic when I go to work, because I am able to flip through the airport. In doing this every day now for 2+ years, I have made some observations. I get to see lots of planes take off and land, and it never loses its amazement. One thing that I have noticed is that there are two groups of pilots. One that halls it into the airport almost screeching to a dead stop when they land on the runway. The other slows down before they even start their descent and is more like the tortoise. I have a theory that the slower pilots are those that are older and more cautious. The younger, still have something to prove pilots are the ones that try and beat their previous time. But this is just a theory since I can't actually see the pilot from the road. It would be interesting to study though!

Marriage Talk

I read an article today that talked about sex in your marriage. I think this is something that is so true. While I don't agree with everything that they wrote in there, as I was telling my sister the other day, I think sex is very important in a marriage. I think when it changes, one way or the other, it is usually a sign of something else. But, those are just my personal thoughts, that I am posting for all to see on the internet! Nice!

Facebook Friends

I like Facebook, other than the fact that it is a total time waste and somewhat voyeuristic. But what are the rules regarding friends? I have a couple hundred friends I think, most of which I personally know or knew for an extended period of time. Others are more like acquaintances. Two such incidents are former significant others of my siblings. So, what do I do about that? Leave them as friends? I didn't break up with them after all, and I actually really liked both of them and would have no problems carrying on a conversation now with either one of them. Part of me just thinks it is weird! Any thoughts?

Ben-Gay

BG does a lot of work around the house on the weekends. It typically involves getting on the roof or in the attic for some reason. Last weekend, he ran some extra telephone lines (a new skill he can add to his home improvement resume) which meant a lot of crawling around in tight attic spaces. These tasks always seem to make him sore, he is getting old you know. So at the end of the day, he has quite the ritual....shower, advil, and using ben-gay or icy-hot.

The smell of this stuff brings back such memories for me. The only time I used that stuff was in High School when I was on the dance team. Every summer we would go to dance camp, where we would dance and stretch and perform 10 hours a day, it seemed like, for a week straight. After the first day, we were always so sore, because we had been able to relax for a good part of the summer and our muscles were just not used to that much work! The smell of Ben-Gay would fill the halls as we all tried to help our fatigued muscles recover.

Isn't' it funny how smells bring back memories? What are some smells that evoke memories for you?

Refuse

It has been a while since I have blogged and it is most definitely not due to lack of content! I have been planning this blog for a long time, and I am just now sitting down to write it. The ironic part, I disobeyed my own rule, today of all days!

On Tuesdays I work from home so that I can take SD to preschool and be a more involved mom (have I told you how much I love my job, company, etc). The thing is that I refuse to be "that mom" that doesn't get dressed because she doesn't have anywhere to go. I never wanted to be the mom dropping my kids off for school with yesterday's make-up on, hair in a ponytail and wearing my husband's sweat pants. I just didn't want to do it. In the past, there would be days that I worked from home, and I never changed out of my workout clothes until late in the afternoon. I found that I just work so much better when I follow my same schedule as any normal work day. So, when SD started school, I actually changed my schedule. She has to be at school by 8:30, which means we have to be out the door around 8:15. I thought this would make a good time to start getting to work earlier, so I adjusted my sick little detailed schedule to accommodate this welcomed change. I have done pretty well for the most part, until today!!!

You see, I was out late last night (bad/good choice on my part) and was tired this morning. I didn't have time to go run (bad choice) and cooked my kids breakfast (rare but good choice), so instead of being totally rushed to take SD to school, I just threw on my cute "Stay at home Mom" velour sweatsuit and took her to school. Sad thing is, I doubt I will get "dressed" before this afternoon! I guess I have a good reason (read: excuse), I have a date with BG tonight (great choice on his part!) and so I will look nice, just for him!

So, what rules that you make do you also break?

Back on Track

After my half marathon last weekend, my daily schedule went to pot! Follow up a half-marathon with a late night on Monday, and it doesn't turn out well for the rest of the week. Then, for the icing on the cake, my mom was in town. All of those distractions were wonderful and enjoyable, but being the Type A girl that I am, I was glad to get back on schedule.

Last week, I barely worked out. I didn't stay on top of my cleaning. I ate way too much junk. I stayed up too late. I slept in too much.

So, this week is all about getting back on track.

Monday started out a little rough, but I had the best plans. I packed my gym bag for yoga and got up only a little late. Unfortunately I had taken Friday off from work and decided that working through lunch was the best choice, so yoga didn't happen. I even cleaned the kitchen and windexed (my Monday chores) so that started the week off on a good foot. I was exhausted from the week so I went to bed early, which set Tuesday up nicely!

Tuesday, I was on! I got up early, before my alarm went off. I got my run in and it felt great! Then I did all of my Tuesday chores and went to bed at a decent hour. Mind you, the sweets consumption was at an all time high, stupid candy corn, they get me every time!

Wednesday, I actually dragged my butt out of bed to get to the gym by 5:45 and I so didn't want too! Unfortunately, I worked late, so it looks like tonight's chores will just have to wait until tomorrow, because I am one tired girl!

Car Trips

We just recently went on vacation to the beach in Port Aransas. The car trip was broken up by a night stay at my parent's house in San Antonio. The great thing about car trips is that it gives me a chance to catch up on my magazines. I don't "take" (as my MIL says) too many magazines, but I also don't have that much free time that I dedicate to reading them, so they tend to stack up quickly. I have two scrapbooking magazines and a parenting magazine that I get each month. I usually devour the scrapbook magazines if I can, but the parenting one usually gets put in a pile. I can fortunately read in the car and it doesn't make me sick, so the car is a great place to catch up on my reading, since it doesn't require a whole lot of equipment or stuff, and it is safe to do in the car.

The thing with my magazines, is that I don't just read them. I pull stuff out with intent to file and use it at some later time. The problem is my lack of follow-thru. I don't often refer to them for the great ideas. It is not intentional, I just forget about it. I have notebooks full of ideas, for crafts to make, gardening ideas and I won't even tell you the amount of recipes that I need to put into our recipe software. The only magazines that I have actually used after the fact is my scrapbook ideas, but even then, I have only used a couple.

Maybe my goal over the Christmas Holidays should be to clean out all that stuff! Or, I guess I could make it a resolution next year to actually take advantage of some of that stuff!

Night Cap

Last weekend, BG and I had to meet up to switch cars, well, actually to transfer the kids, it was just easier to switch cars than move the kids. Anyway, the best place to meet was at a gas station, one that happened to have a liqour store attached to it. So, while he was waiting for me, BG perused the aisles, he used to work at one in college and I think he really enjoyed it! He came out with a handle of Jim Beam Black, mainly because he had seen a bunch of recipes recently that called for whiskey.

***DISCLAIMER: I am a Christian, and I drink. I don't think drinking is bad or a sin, I think taking it to excess is the problem. I think taking anything to excess is a problem and I think it is bad if you are causing another person to stumble.***

Now, I am not a big drinker, but when I do drink, it is usually red wine. BG is a beer drinker for the most part, but he also likes red wine. Usually the time line on drinking (for girls anyway) is wine coolers, beer, wine, hard liquor. I started the other way, with hard liquor, beer was the last thing I got to! If we have a bottle of wine, we might have a glass with dinner, but really don't keep much on hand. We do have a TON of liquor from BG's bachelor party that we have NOT touched in the almost 8 years that we have been married!

So fast forward to now, we have a handle of whiskey of which maybe 1 cup might be used in recipes over the next month or so. So, we decided to make a night cap with some diet coke. Usually, caffeine of any type keeps me wired for hours! But I guess the combination of diet coke and whiskey cancel each other out. I slept like a rock that night and so did BG! So, we had another last night, it might be a new tradition!