Got To Let It Go

(Did anyone catch the old-school Amy Grant reference in my title? That's about all the creativity I can muster on a Monday morning.)

This coming Saturday is a day that I've been both greatly looking forward to AND dreading. It's annual family photo day. I'm looking forward to it (rain, stay away!) because it always turns into a super fun evening with our photographer and her family, and she always does an amazing job! I dread it because, as you can see from the photo in a previous post, I'm not anywhere near my ideal weight. I've even toyed with the idea of only having pictures of the kids done this year.

Each year I tell myself that I'm going to lose weight and each year I don't. I could tell you that it's because I'm busy with all of my volunteer organizations or that my back hurts so exercising is hard...really I could list any number of excuses. However, that's all that they would be, excuses. I need to find a way to exercise more and eat less. Calories in must be less than calories expended. It's math that even I'm capable of doing.

Please don't misunderstand my intent in blogging this; this isn't a sneaky way of soliciting a bunch of people to say, "Oh, you look fine!" My reason for posting this is so that I have some accountability. It's fully within my power to start making some positive changes, and I think that by posting here, I just might be able to succeed. Maybe.

I spent some time last night thinking about exactly what I plan on doing. It's not realistic for me to declare myself to be on a diet and promise to start consuming only 1,200 calories a day. I need to set realistic goals. Therefore, I have decided that beginning today, for one week I won't be having any dessert-ish items. Now, you might think, "No dessert for a week? That's it?" However, that's kind of a big deal for me. We have TONS of crap in the house. As I sit here typing, I'm actually looking at a partial roll of Oreos that I brought upstairs a few nights ago. There are many candy pumpkins in the candy jar, there are more Oreos in the cabinet and there is a donut left from Peterson's sitting on the counter. I'm not kidding, there's stuff everywhere.

So, for one week, I'm not going to have any of it. Creating new habits will take a while, but I have to start somewhere. I'm not giving up all sugar; I need my vanilla lattes in the morning. But cookies/candies/cakes...I'm giving them up for a week.

Eek. We'll see how this goes. I might be really cranky in a day or so!

Candy Eating 101

Today I would like to talk about what is, in my opinion, the proper way to eat Skittles.

I submit that Skittles should be separated by color,
and then each color should be eaten individually.

Last night our family had occasion to consume multiple snack-sized packages of Skittles and I watched over and over as both of the boys, along with Andy, would tear open the back and throw all of them into their mouth at the same time. This is wrong. Very wrong. It's not a problem that is exclusive to the snack packs, either. I've witnessed my kids reach their hands into the candy dish full of Skittles and grab a whole handful and without care or thought, eat all of them at once. Shameful.

If you eat them all at the same time, all you get to taste is a sugary blob. Sure, you might be able to detect trace flavors of something once resembling fruit, but unless you have an extremely discerning palate, you can't make out each flavor. You are truly missing out.

On the other hand, if you separate the colors and eat them individually, you can taste and enjoy each of the fruity flavors! Strawberry, Orange, Lemon, Green (yes, I just call it Green), and Grape. Perfect. One can choose one's own preferred order, mine is O, G, L, P, S. What matters is that each flavor gets it's due. Each is a tiny, juicy work of art in it's own right.

Does it surprise you that I have an order for something like this? It shouldn't. Heck, I even feel that there is a proper way to eat layer cake...but that is another blog entirely.

Just Another Day At The Office

We've all done it; we've all been miserable in some way, shape or form for our kids. Yesterday it was my turn.

John played (football) in Valley Center last night. Holy cow! It was awful! The temperature was in the mid 40's, and it poured when we got there so we were soaked to the bone. Thankfully, after a while the heavy rain stopped and it just showered off and on for the rest of the evening.

Andy snapped a picture of me during one of the breaks...I had four layers on and still couldn't get warm. It was hours before I could feel my toes. Seriously.

I've done many-a-thing for my kiddos; I'm sure you've done the same for yours. Games in bitterly cold weather, games in blistering heat, sitting up all night with a sick one, a midnight run to CVS to pick up supplies for that project that they forgot was due tomorrow...oh, and with the holidays coming, we're approaching another one - staying up late baking and cooking long after everyone else is in bed. It's all part of this crazy job called Motherhood.

And you know something? I wouldn't trade it for the world.

1998

Do you know what day it is?
It's Flashback Friday, of course!
I'm picking up where I left off last year, so today brings us to 1998.

Ha! This was fun. I left John watching TV while I went to take a shower. Somehow, he got his leg stuck in the sofa bed mechanism. I couldn't pull him out without pulling his leg off and Andy was in class at the time so I had to call 911. The nice firemen came, and as you can see, they had to lift up the couch and dislodge him from underneath. Lovely.

There was a 7-Eleven right down the street from our apartment.
We bought a lot of Slurpees.



Story time with Grandma!



Apparently we went to Chevy's.



John got a guitar for his second birthday...



...guess who spent the whole time playing with it?



Such cuteness!



This isn't the greatest picture of anyone, but it's the last photo that I have of my grandparents with the boys.



Uncle Dave is probably pointing out which animals are conservatives and which ones are liberals.



Someone is one year old!



Goodbye, Granddad. We'll miss you forever.



Bate's Nut Farm. Or Nate's Butt Farm. Either way.



Trick or Treat!



This is one of my all-time favorites. About an hour after we arrived at Disneyland, Matt started running a fever. Since we'd just spent a ton of money to get in, we decided to see if he could tough it out. He was pretty miserable and we were about to call it quits when he found this leaf. He picked it up, put his head on my shoulder, and immediately went to sleep. While he was pretty sick, we made it through the day. He never let go of the leaf. He held it all day long, including all the way home. The next morning, he started antibiotics since both of his ears were infected. Poor kid.

Realization

I've seen this bumper sticker many times; I'm sure you have too. It never really sits well with me. I'm always a little uneasy about it and something bristles inside when I see it, but I've never tried to articulate what it is that I'm feeling. I'm generally in favor of living peaceably with others, but for some reason this one bothers me.

I finally figured it out. Well...with a little help from another bumper sticker.

Yep.

Never Stop Learning

Today was just your run-of-the-mill Wednesday; nothing huge happened. I did manage to learn a few things though....

1. I can now tell the difference between a Black Widow egg sac and a Brown Widow egg sac. As I worked to regain control of the back yard, I encountered plenty of both. They were all destroyed, regardless of species, but I found it satisfying to know which I was vanquishing at any given moment.

2. If you ever find yourself in Philly during a time of prohibition, don't double cross the butcher. Trust me on this one.

3. I only like about every fourth song on the Pop Hits (Music Choice) station. I should probably stick to Retro Rock and the 80's.

Here's hoping for a more interesting day tomorrow. :-)

Words To Live By

Hello! Welcome!

Apparently, as evidenced by the post that you're reading, I've decided to take another stab at NaBloPoMo. In looking back at previous years' posts, I realized that I successfully do this in even numbered years. This being 2011, I shouldn't make any guarantees. However, if you have nothing else to do, and you don't mind hearing stories about my family most of the time, I invite you to join me each day as I diligently work to get something written.

On the off chance that you find yourself with me for the first time, I should probably introduce you to my immediate family; I promise that they'll be referred to often. Andy is my fabulous husband, John is my fifteen year old Junior, and Matthew is my fourteen year old Freshman. There. Now you know everyone.

Today I want to share some advice regarding Halloween. I know that there are 364 days until it rolls around again, but this was imparted to me yesterday and I want to pass it on before I forget.

As we were eating dinner last night, we were discussing that many of the kids who were trick-or-treating seemed too old to be knocking on doors and begging for free candy. John said that one of his teachers had shared his thoughts on that very subject during class that afternoon.

According to Mr. X., there are three questions for a boy to ask himself when trying to decide whether or not to go trick-or-treating:

1. Are you still waiting for your voice to change?

2. Are you unable to drive yourself to the store to buy candy?

3. Do girls have cooties?

If you answered "yes" to all three questions, then it is appropriate for you to dress up and go from door to door. If you answered "no" to even one of them, you're too old.

Brilliant.