PROMPTuesday - Pieces of Me

So today's PROMPTuesday is basically all about crap in my purse. Deb said it much more eloquently:
So, this week, let’s look in our purses and billfolds, poppets. Pull something out. Tell a story about that something. Where did it come from? Why do you carry it? What does it mean to you, if anything? (And just so you know, tampons (unsullied) totally count.)
Also, for the record, you can make something up about the item in your purse or wallet. In, fact, we encourage avoidance of reality here at PROMPTuesday.

Most days I carry around this big orange beast bag. My friend gave it to me for my birthday. It's an excellent bag. I can pack a lot of crap in that bag. I mean A LOT. But none of it is worth anything. I carry nothing of major substance aside from my wallet and cell phone.
I guess the only thing that helps in a pinch is my ziploc bag of crayons, markers and paper. This helps ease any dinner time outing tension. Now this may make me sound like the uber prepared mother who has everything in her gigantic bag on outings with her kids. No this is really not the case. I put it in there once and now just keep it in there and add to it by taking the crayons and/or papers offered when we go places to eat. It's a miss match of all kinds of crap now. And needs to be cleaned out as much as my purse does.
So maybe my purse is my collection bag. It's like a portalable pocket where I collect all manner of things along the everyday journey of life. I might start putting rocks in there, or maybe some tadpoles from a creek. Wait, I don't even know if there are creeks in Arizona. I don't want a canal tadpole, no telling what kind of freak that thing would be. Maybe I'll also put food in there, to store up when I am out and about and need a fix of something. Never know when you might be stuck and need a full four course meal.
Maybe after I did that, I would have a much more interesting post.

A Lovely Weekend

We had a lovely weekend. I got a haircut and color and a brow wax on Saturday afternoon. It was nice and I love my hair, it feels and I think looks a lot better. I'll be updating my pic soon. I also had to chuckle when I asked the stylist "Exactly how many different products did you use on my hair?" and her reply was "hang on let me count....we used six" SIX different types of product. Holy Crap, considering most days I use one. I could have spent about the same amount on product as I did on my actual cut and color and wax! I did find most of them online so I ordered at a discount.
Then we had a yummo dinner at a place called Oregano's. It was finished with a "pizza cookie" which we all enjoyed, especially the kids.
Sunday when the kids woke up they came and layed around in our bed for a bit. I love having us all in the bed together. I don't know why I just enjoy it so. Little Man sat there and stared at me while I was snoozing (according to Leo) and would smile and touch my face. It's nice to be loved like that. He's so sweet!!

Sweet Girl and I went and had a pedicure. She did a great job sitting there letting them work on her toes. She was so excited about her new paint and little flower she had. She asked me later when she was putting socks on if it would take off the paint. Funny.
Later in the afternoon we went to the zoo, it was a couple hours before it closed so we rode the train and saw the Wallaby's and some other animals we hadn't seen before. It was cooler and breezy. It was pretty fun.

And then we came home to get ready for bed and begin yet another work week. Only a few more weeks until my parents arrive!!! YAY!! We're counting down the days.

Ahhhhh...Sigh I'ts Friday

And time for Fill-In's! Yay!

1. "In a hole in the ground there lived a groundhog named Phil, he wondered a lot why people relied on him to predict the weather."

2. "I didn't lose any weight this week, but that ain't no matter."

3. "After dark the rain began to fall again, and I was lulled to sleep by the soft pounding sound on the roof."

4. "Finally I'm free from the hold of the Spanish galleon."

5. "There was a hand in the darkness, and my nerves were getting the better of me until I saw who it was."

6. "Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, so you really should work on your situational awareness skills."

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to doing another Heritage Makers booth at a consignment sale, tomorrow my plans include the consignment sale again and and a hair cut and Sunday, I want to relax and enjoy some good family time!

Best Thing I've Heard In A While

My sweet Little Man loves his momma so. And he is just so sweet and loving and so very giving. Sometimes he's a little on the insistent side especially when he's trying to push food on you. But anyway, last night Little Man was in the bathroom with me after a shower and he was trying to put lotion on my leg. Nice gesture except it was my facial moisturizer and thank goodness he didn't know how to work the bottle. He got a little bit though and rubbed it on my calf. He then looks up at me and says. "You look pretty mommy"
Oh it was great. I loved hearing him say it just because he is so sweet.

This does however pose a dilemma for me, as the other day he was looking at my hair and told me it was pretty and was putting it behind my shoulder for me. I asked him if I should cut it, and he told me "NO, NO it's pretty now". But maybe he said no because he doesn't like to get his hair cut? I hope so, I don't need him freaking out because I've cut my hair!

Working Out For Oreos

I usually work out every day in the morning and then go to the gym in the afternoon as well for 3 days. I enjoy working out to Turbo Jam DVD but every once in a while I feel the need for something different.
So yesterday's workout was picked from Exercise TV On Demand. I picked a Biggest Loser cardio workout. It was a pretty good one as well.
And you know how they have those pop up ads that come into the corners of the shows these days? Well they did that on the workout, except it wasn't something like Powerade Zero or something like that, it was for OREOS! Actually it was for Oreo Cakesters...WHAT THE HELL?
Here I am sweating my ass off trying to remove the oreos from my thighs and you're showing me an ad for them?
Did that seriously just come up? And the answer is yes, yes it did.

PROMPTuesday - It's Lovely

It's Tuesday again (you needed to be reminded didn't you?) and that means it's a PROMPT post. Check out San Diego Momma for more reading pleasure.

Here's the deal for this week:

Please write a post about love: When you knew you were in love. How you stay in love. What those about to get married should know about love. What qualities you hope to find in someone when you fall in love, and/or so on. You can even go the route of “Best love/marriage advice you ever got or gave.” Or perhaps you want to write about your wedding day or engagement. If you’re not married or in a relationship, how will you know when you’ve found “the one?”

OK, well Leo and I will celebrate lucky year 13 this year. It's been a fun ride and I wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else. He's been good to me and has helped me in more ways then I can ever imagine. He's a great Father and that is so incredibly sexy. He is successful and has good ideas. OK now let me get to the point, since this isn't a post about how great Leo is even though I just shared some of how great he is.

So how did we make it 13 years? We talk. We talk everything through. Sometimes it's not fun to talk about everything but it's the only way we knew we were on the same page.
Sometimes we don't make daily small talk which is OK too.
And we're honest. We at least I am, and I'm going to bet Leo is too because really he's a shitty liar. Or a really good one and has had me fooled for the past 13 years.
We bicker, I think bickering is good it gets stuff out (stuff you'll need to talk about later) without some crazy yelling fight.

Now I think my post is not making sense. So here are my three advice points then I'll stop talking:

1. Talk. Talk all the damn time about every damn thing. This is the only way you're going to KNOW each other.

2. Encourage each other to be the best person they can be, to do their best at work, to take a new step in life or work or whatever.

3. Have a lot of fun. Go out to reconnect and have fun.

Garage Sale Success

We had a pretty successful garage sale and got rid of all the stuff we needed to. The remaining unpurchased items were taken to Goodwill after the sale ended. It is nice to be free of that stuff.
And we'll probably make another trip to the GW as we sift through the stuff we decided needed to be kept.

I think it stressed Little Man out a bit that people were leaving with some of his toys. He was like the eyes of the sale, and would alert us when someone left with a toy or other item. It was kind of funny. But I did feel bad that he looked sad as some of his stuff left.

We also did some rearranging of the laundry room by taking down some upper cabinets to move them to the garage in order to move the second fridge inside. It doesn't like to be in a garage when it's about 125 degrees in there in the summer (on a good day). It's a big energy suck out there, so it's being moved. It's a good thing, means easier access to beer. Or in my case fish. I eat a lot of fish on my weight loss journey. You can't beat the grams of protein for the calorie count!

And now it's Monday again. I really would like to get to the point where all my days were Saturdays and Sundays.

What A Week!

I am glad it's Friday. I am so over this week. Work has sucked ass. I have been tired and PMS is a bitch.
I don't think I am as crabby as I have been for the past few months, which is good. But I have been plagued with being extremely emotional and so tired. I could start crying at any moment and that is not like me.
Hopefully my workout today will be good.
And tomorrow we're having a garage sale. We are getting rid of alot of stuff. Watching Clean House has motivated me to get rid of the stuff we don't need. Hopefully we make a few dollars as well!

Tired Thursday

I have a total lack of energy today.
I would love to curl up and go back to bed for a few more hours of sleep.
I am trying to convince myself to do a quick workout. It's really not working.
I guess I will suck it up and go do it. Damnit.

***Update***
I did the damn workout. And yes I do feel better.

No More Toddler Cothes Here

It was a very sad day yesterday when I was out getting a couple things at Target, I thought I would get a few new things for the kids. Well I had to move to the 'Girls' section for Sweet Girl. No more T clothes here, she's in a Girls XS. I guess this just makes me sad. She is really growing up. She's going to 5 for pete's sake. 5!!!

It's time to create a new book for her. She loves to look at the 1st year book I created using Heritage Makers so I will create a new one for her to enjoy.
I also need to create Little Man's too. I'm sure you have a story or trip or family member you would like to remember forever. Or maybe you have an assload of digital prints. You really should do something with them. And I can help you! Sure we may be slightly more expensive than say Shutterfly or Snapfish, but our quality and options puts the smack down on them. And you get ME to help you if you need it! Try calling Shutterfly or Snapfish at midnight for help!

Ok, well I have gone off on a tangent again, what was supposed to be about Sweet Girl growing up turned into a plug for my home based kick ass business. But really they are totally connected. In an effort to REMEMBER her and these times, the books are a great way to document that. The purpose of preserving memories and stories of her growing up is important. Don't you think? You should email me or check out www.OurFamilyTales.com and you create your own books or calendars or cards or whatever. It's easy and fun. You don't have to be a scrapbooker, you don't have to be creative (hello there are over 850 templates to pick from!), you just have to have pictures and memories!

PROMPTuesday #47

So today is Tuesday and I'm taking the Prompt route today. Again go see San Diego Momma for more info and read her comments of the post to get to some other really great posts for this prompt. There are A LOT of talented people around!

Here's the deal for this week: Use in a story/poem: a skein of red yarn, a comb and a bottle of water.

(internal voice...I hope this doesn't suck...)

The Red Yarn Club was just getting started, as it does every other Tuesday night. Usually late but today for some reason everyone has arrived on time. I am surprised because usually at least one of these women is running late as she finishes up her tasks at home that allow her an evening of fun, talk and of course knitting. We are a group of strong women, thus the name of Red Yarn Club. Red is a strong color and we are strong women so we thought it appropriate to give this name to our group. The group is a melting pot of women who are in all phases of life. Some show up after a day of hard work at the office, working at home with the kids, and some show up like they just rolled out of bed and didn't even bother to run a comb through her hair. And it's all OK. We are strong not judgemental.
We gather in our knitting circle and settle into nice conversation. The chairs are comfy and roomy and allow us to spread out all our goods. The good thing about this conversation is, it's easy to come in and out of it. We all know way too much about each other. More then we probably should. Someone gets up and passes out bottles of water, sometimes it's beer, wine or pop. Depends on whose turn it is to bring the beverage, and today it's water. I certainly don't mind it. The room is kind of warm tonight and the cool bottle is refreshing in my hands.
I am working on my project when the gal next to me, Lou, starts to cry. Lou is in the middle of personal crisis and often uses the knitting time as an escape from her everyday struggle. She is young and very pretty. It's unfortunate she is dealing with such drama in her life.
I set my items down and comfort her.

The Ostrich Festival

Well we have a good Sunday full of fun at the Ostrich Festival. A fun Chandler tradition that includes basically a midway and other fun events, including an Ostrich race. We only barely saw one Ostrich race because we are short people and we arrived late to the race location.

The kids had a ball on all the midway rides. They rode many things and had a good time eating crap food and an assload of kettle corn. I was good and ate my apples and almonds I brought with me. We rode the Ferris wheel which was fine when we got going but I was not very comfortable while we were loading and the car was rocking. I was on the verge of freaking out and my toes were so clenched, then we started moving and it was better. We also rode the "haunted" house. I put it in quotes because it was more of loud house. Not so scary but loud and annoying. It was also very hot and I am sporting a nicely sexy farmers tan. Yay It's nice.

We were all pretty waxed when we got home. Sun, heat and walking around for 4 hours will do that to you. But overall it was fun and I am glad we went.

If you want to see more about the ostrich festival, click here.

Swarmed...

Because all things weird and freakish happen to us, it should come as not surprise to you that we were swarmed by bees inside and out of the garage. Yes fun times. And even more fun is that most bees in AZ are africanized.

So we come home from our economy boosting shopping trip (the result I'm typing this on my new laptop...woohoo!!! But I digress, more on that later I'm sure.) and pull into the garage. I hear an abnormally loud buzzing sound and I'm trying to figure out what it is. I go to the door and realize there are things flying about, the garage ceiling is high so it's difficult to see exactly what they are. I question Leo what he thinks and he doesn't look at anything but just tells me they are probably moths.

Moths? Yeah OK....That is the I think you have issues with noises answer and I am not really paying attention to you right now answer.

Then he sees them and he's like well those are bees. I freak out a bit and basically throw the kids to the door of the house and tell them to get in. Because there are ALOT of them.

We get all the stuff in and then try to determine WHY and WHERE they may have come from to join our lovely home. We had a garage door opener on our 3rd door (and before you get all like wow you have three garages, it's fairly common here in AZ to have a 3 car garage, it's almost like having grass in your yard in TN...so not a big deal trust me)and the garage door was open for a while. I don't really think this is where they came from but I have no other logical answer to offer. It is decided, however, that Leo is going to the store for spray.

He exits the garage and I go and turn off the light in hopes they go outside. He comes back in and requests my presence out in front of the garage. And there are MORE. MORE of them all over our garage lights AND more on the ground dead. Very odd. Now it's even weirder.
I advise that I think that if he gets spray he's going to really PISS them off. So in we come to our new trusty laptop and good ol'internet for information. But what do you search on? I searched on 'bees dropping dead' and apparently there is a colony collapse disorder that can cause this. I am well educated on the the dying and death of bees now.

We find a bee man who actually calls Leo back at 10:00 PM even though he didn't leave a message. We are set for professional bee killing for Sunday morning...Relief.
Although I swear when I got up to go the bathroom at midnight or so I heard a loud buzzing and I thought OMG they are in the attic...

Leo gets up Sunday morning to go investigate the bees. And he runs into the neighbor. It's the neighbors house that was the origin of our swarm and they were dying because he already sprayed them. So by the morning the bees were pretty much all dead and on the driveway.

So I am thankful that it wasn't weirder than that. Because you know we like to roll with the weird stuff.

Friday Beautiful Friday

Yes it's Friday! It's a great day.

1. When I look to the left, I see Leo lying on the couch reading a book.

2. The living room is the room that has the best view in my home.

3. Let it work without error or trouble.

4. These days everything is getting done dirt cheap!

5. Protecting our freedoms is a responsibility that all qualified citizens must share.

6. If you have any weight loss secrets feel free to share them with me.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to actually this afternoon I am looking forward to a spring training game with Leo, tomorrow my plans include going to the Ostrich Festival and Sunday, I want to hit the gym and enjoy the fantastic weather!

Little Man's Future Profession?

We always thought Little Man might end up playing football. He was a stocky little baby and if you used his initals you can spell out Great LineBacker...But now I'm not convinced. While he still likes to watch football on TV, he might be going down a different road. Let me set the scenario for you. I was in the bathroom sitting on the toilet.
I was followed in here by Little Man. And here's what happened:

LM: Mommy, what are you doing?
Me: Going to the bathroom
He's now trying to get close to me to get to the side of the toilet.

LM: Let me see.
Me: Ah, I'm just going pee
LM: Open your legs mommy, open your legs I want to see.
At this point he proceeds to attempt to open my legs.

Me: Ah Little Man, I'm finished going potty and am going to get up now.
Now he moves to the basket that houses the toilet paper and pantyliners. He pulls out a panty liner and basically INSISTS that I use it. He takes the backing off and hands it to me.

LM: Here mommy.
ME: No I don't need one.
LM: YES YOU NEED ONE. (he's very insistent now...)
LM: Here mommy.
ME: What am I supposed to do with this?
LM: Put it on your butt.

So there you go. Wondering what I think his career path is going to be? He's going to be a gynecologist.
Because this situation has happened more than once...

It's Wednesday!

I am happy it's Wednesday. Why? I'm really not sure, other than we are that much closer to Friday!

I don't have anything exciting to share today though. I can't even come up with any randomness to share.

I'm going to the gym shortly to hopefully keep on with the removal or really reshaping of my ass...I'll be happy when this journey is over. Although I guess the journey of being healthy and fit is never over so I guess I should say I'll be happy when it gets easier. Losing weight is hard and while I think I am a fairly strong woman in other areas of my life. My and the food, well we battle and it usually wins. Until now, now I'm winning again and I'm reminding myself daily of what my goal is and how the getting there is really only short term. So I should be able to suck anything up short term. I had a talk with my trainer and she made some good points, I eat bad foot as a rebellion factor. And she's right. Boy is she right. So I'll be rebelling only on certain days which will help me I think. Because I'm tired of battling and I'm tired of losing (the battle not the weight...).
I hoped on the scale this morning and saw a number I was happy with. Now I just have to keep on, and really from this point forward as long as the number is smaller than the last weigh in I'll be happy.

OK, well I ended up with a post after all...

PROMTuesday #46- I've Been Humbled

I had this on my resolutions list to do the PROMPTuesday’s over at San Diego Momma. So today I’m going to. And if you haven’t checked her out, you really need to. She is funny and open and her posts always either hit something in me or make me laugh. Thus the reason I go back every day.

So today’s PROMPT is about being humble. Here’s the deal: Write a story about when you last were humbled, felt humbled by the presence of something/someone in your life, or lay prostrate at the feet of the universe and said “I don’t know what the hell I am doing. I will now relinquish control and let you take over.”

So I can tell you exactly the last time I felt humbled. It was Sunday when I was interviewing Sweet Girl for her answers about me. Her answer to this question: If Mom became famous what would it be for? Her answer: For Being Happy.
It stung a little actually, because I’ve struggled so much over the last year with the move and just adjusting to live in Arizona. I have been selfish in my feelings of wanting to go back to Tennessee. Selfish because I’ve been focusing on the wrong things and how I’ve not really been happy. Then it hit me exactly how much impact I have on her outlook and view of the world and happiness. Now this may be obvious to others out there, and yes I did know it as well but sometimes when life gets busy and kids are being kids and sometimes misbehaving it’s easy to forget. And I admit it I forgot it. And in her moment of pure innocence she made me remember. There is nothing more important in life than being happy. Being happy with what you have, accepting the things that are not going to change right now and really just being happy to be alive. So I have been humbled and reminded that there is something bigger than me. And now I feel I’ve been issued a challenge, a challenge to be happy and enjoy the life I have. Will it make me famous? You bet it will, I’ll be famous because Sweet Girl and Little Man will grow up and be happy too, and love life and I’ll know I had a big hand in that.

A New Experience

So we did it, we went to church yesterday. We went to one of the ones I had been checking out. A friend of ours went last weekend and really liked it. So we decided it was time and we went.
However, it wasn't without struggle (what is!), as we almost didn't make it because we couldn't get the garage door to close. Finally Leo unhooked it from the crappy opener and just closed it.

We dropped the kids off in their kid rooms (Little Man was not happy about this) and headed off to the auditorium. I have never been to a contemporary service so upon entering it felt almost like a concert. It was totally strange and I was initially really uncomfortable and turned off. But as the service went on I enjoyed it and am glad I went. I would like to go back. The kids did have a good time as well. So overall it was a good experience. I think it will take some getting used to with the band and stuff but I think I'll like it there.

And there was no lightening strikes so I must still be in good graces...

All About Me According To Sweet Girl

Today I "interviewed" Sweet Girl to have her answer the following questions about me. Her answers are underneath the questions.. I hope you enjoy it, because I did...


1. What is something mom always says to you?
I Love You

2. What makes mom happy?
Giving me a hug

3. What makes mom sad?
When I don't play with you

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
You be funny

5. What was your mom like as a child?
playing a lot

6. How old is your mom?
Nine

7. How tall is your mom?
Big

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
work (OMG this is so bad, but at least she thinks I enjoy it, which I don't. I would rather be with her most days.)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
be alone

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
For being happy

11. What is your mom really good at?
hopscotch

12. What is your mom not very good at?
putting clothes on (See even she recognizes I have no style. Will someone please nominate me for a makeover show??? Please Please Please??)

13. What does your mom do for her job?
working with the computer

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
vegetables (jeez if this were true, I wouldn't be struggling to lose 25 lbs...)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Saying I love you

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Spongebob

17. What do you and your mom do together?
play hopscotch

18. How are you and your mom alike?
we both like to play barbies

19. How are you and your mom different?
we have different skin

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
b/c she gives me a kiss

22. Where is moms "favorite place to go?
to work (again with the work...sad sad sad!!!)

Crap TV

Lately in my free time both during and after work hours (don't tell anyone about the during part please...). I have fully enjoyed crap TV. Such shows as Running in Heels and other various shows that exist on the Style Network. And last night I had an all time low of crap TV as I watched this show called Little Miss Perfect. It's a reality show of little girls, like 4 and 5, going to beauty pageants. Wow is all I have to say. It was so bad I just couldn't turn it off. Then to boot they even had this pageant mom commercial about how they are doing their girls a favor and blah blah and how much you can't say they don't love their kids. Whatever people. I don't even wear fake eyelashes so I can't imagine putting them on Sweet Girl. And I think those girls had on more makeup than I wear in a WEEK.

Anyway, let's see since watching my crap TV, I realize my house is exceptionally clean even when it's messy. Nothing like the show Clean House to make you feel good about your own mess because more than likely it is nothing like these people. Although I would like to have their designer come fix up my house and see the yummy go-to guy working around here too. And even the garage sale/ organizer chick would be great to have around. She's hilarious.

And I have no style, at least according to the Style network. Maybe I'll make some changes and find something besides t-shirts and jeans to make up my wardrobe after I lose another few pounds. I am planning a new hair cut and color at the end of the month, hopefully it corresponds with a 10 pound weight loss as well.

And while I don't consider A Haunting crap TV, because come on the Discovery Channel wouldn't show crap TV, right? I am beginning to think there might be some paranormal things going on in our house. I am considering a sage cleansing...

OK, well back to the crap TV and work...

Busy Busy Busy

This is one busy week for me. Wow. I have a lot going on and due to my exceptional time management (start laughing now) I am beyond stressed.
I am putting clothes in a consignment sale.
I am working a Heritage Makers booth at the same consignment sale.

So I have to get all the clothes tagged and hung up. And as I am going through them I am feeling sad that I am getting rid of them. They are all so cute and tiny. And cute. Yeah OK I already said cute.

I also have to create all my packets for the sale for Heritage Makers. I am so excited to be working this booth. I hope it has great exposure and I get a lot of contacts.


And on top of all that, I also have a lot going on at work. It's busy and I have a project that needs to be tested. I gotta tell you I enjoy doing my own thing more.

And I've been working my butt off working out and stuff. Good things. All good things. Just a lot of them all at once.

Warning: End Of The World Is Probably Coming...

Yes you should be nervous. I know I am. And trust me this post has nothing to do with what you're probably thinking. I just like to confuse you.

The reason for my thinking the world is coming to an end soon, is I'm going on a week of being happy. And not just faking it happy, I mean I am genuinely feeling happy.
I think it's all the endorphins being released during all my exercising.
Either way it works.
I think I'll start working out more and get the double benefits - happiness and weight loss.

And I am hoping that it's long term and the world is really not coming to an end..

Here's to happiness!