So it's a lazy Sunday and I find myself contemplating lots of life changing decisions.....to fold or not to fold the laundry....make lunch or order pizza??? Not the biggest of decisions but there you have it. Sometimes the most stress in our lives comes from the most unimportant things. The Vikings are playing the Miami Dophins as I type. Does it matter if one team wins over the other? NO, however, if you have money on the game, are a football fanatic fan of one team over the other, or if you have one of the players on your fanatasy football team, you will disagree with me. In the big scheme of things however, it's still just a game. The dishes will still need to be done and the laundry will not fold itself regardless of how the game ends. So why not funnel our energy and efforts into more productive activities? Why am I typing to no one but myself when I could be getting work done, going for a jog, or reading a book to my 4 year old?
Every year there are millions of people who make new year's resolutions and try to stick to them for as long as possible. I'm going to start a new goal right now. If I could keep a running log or daily diary of my activities and choices, perhaps I would be able to make the changes I need to to be healthier, more organized and happier with my life and for my family. This will be my facebook experiment. Maybe someone will start following my blog and maybe this could help other people as well. We will see and keep you posted....
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
School Daze!
So the summer just FLEW by and now the boys are back in school. I can still recall when my oldest went into 3rd grade and I was soooo happy that we were done with the horrid 2nd grade teacher. Now he's entering the High School years and his little brother is now a 3rd grader! UGH! Where is the time going? At what point in life do we go from being a child and carefree, measuring the time in seasons and fun activities to a 35 year old other of 3 wishing she had more time? When we were kids we knew summer and swimming and biking were right around the corner only to look forward to jumping in leaves and sledding down snowbanks. Time was not a factor unless it was getting too dark to play outside and that meant dinner and bedtime only to awake the next day for school, after school cartoons and so on. Somewhere during the teenage years we started to panic about time, school ending, what do we do with our lives. Then it was basking in the freedom of being an adult, making our own choices and unfortunately taking responsibility for ourselves. The twenties were a time of great changes, challenges and I believe just too much life and experiences to really be bothered with time flying by. Some of us got married, started our own families and further bogged down the clock with playdates, PTA and extra laundry. Others focused on careers and climbing the ladder and establishing themselves in business. The few lucky ones were able to do both, or not so lucky depending on the demands of time and your perception of quality of life.
I have always been very happy to be a wife and a mother. I have always worked and even started my own business, but not in hopes of becoming rich, or famous or even to fill time. I did it to be master of my own time and schedule. I was already a slave to my husband's and children's schedules so I wanted to be able to make money to pay bills and still be available for school plays, teacher conferences, and dentist appointments. I wanted my children to have a good life with a few luxuries, but mostly with a mother they could count on to be there for them. I have driven them to school the first day of school for every year and school they've gone to. I have taken them to all their dental and doctor appointments and brought them to their football practices, attended games, orchestra concerts and school carnivals. I don't always enjoy everything I have to do, but when the kids do, it makes me happy. The only regrets I've ever had were for the passing of time and wishing I'd had more and done more. It's really moronic when I also wish I'd had more time to relax and do less. This seems to be the curse of all men and women as they grow older. We can become melancholy over our children attending school, wishing we were back there again when all we wanted when we WERE there was for time to fly and for it to be over. Life is such a long and strange journey. How funny that the beginning of another school year can trigger such reflection and contemplations of life.
I have always been very happy to be a wife and a mother. I have always worked and even started my own business, but not in hopes of becoming rich, or famous or even to fill time. I did it to be master of my own time and schedule. I was already a slave to my husband's and children's schedules so I wanted to be able to make money to pay bills and still be available for school plays, teacher conferences, and dentist appointments. I wanted my children to have a good life with a few luxuries, but mostly with a mother they could count on to be there for them. I have driven them to school the first day of school for every year and school they've gone to. I have taken them to all their dental and doctor appointments and brought them to their football practices, attended games, orchestra concerts and school carnivals. I don't always enjoy everything I have to do, but when the kids do, it makes me happy. The only regrets I've ever had were for the passing of time and wishing I'd had more and done more. It's really moronic when I also wish I'd had more time to relax and do less. This seems to be the curse of all men and women as they grow older. We can become melancholy over our children attending school, wishing we were back there again when all we wanted when we WERE there was for time to fly and for it to be over. Life is such a long and strange journey. How funny that the beginning of another school year can trigger such reflection and contemplations of life.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Frustrating Age Tests
So my life isn't amusing enough, I decided to take an "Age" test. This is basically a long questionaire that you fill out about your health, diet, habits, enviroment, etc. and it is supposed to tell you what specifically in your life makes you older. My calendar age is 34.4 and apparently my "real" age is 41!!! Now Im not a big drinker, partier, etc and I am very active, but don't work out as often as I should, so I knew this was coming. But SERIOUSLY! People, I still have a problem with being 30, so this is only adding to my stress level which of course will only up the imaginary "real" age....and the vicious circle continues. Next week I think I will take a "Dream Funeral Quiz" and see how that turns out...NOT! LOL
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
I fear no Evil!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil....for I am a mother and have survived natural childbirth....3 TIMES!!! LOL
Where's my "Calgon" moment?
For all of you mothers, you know what I mean.
I now that we are often referred to as "harried" and yes, we will nag the hell out of any small thing as long as it bugs us and we want it addressed. But really, what do you expect when you you seem to forget we are "superwoman"? We spend our days chasing kids, getting them up and dressed and fed and off to school, running errands, finding lost bills, picking up things that have never really been put away, washing and folding clothes that have not been worn but somehow find their way back into the dirty laundry, discovering dishes under the bed, (or couch) that once contained...????? who knows, and sooooooo much more. Many of us do this for multiple children, some while holding down a job...or two, and some without husbands or partners that pitch in and help carry the load. So I ask you, when our lives are so hectic and patience tested...when and where and HOW do we get our "calgon" moments?
For some of us that moment is just 10 minutes of peace and quiet huddled on the closet floor hoping no one finds you until you've found your sanity that somehow got lost along with the baby's favorite blanket earlier that day. I can't remember when I have ever been able to enjoy a long hot soak that washes away the days worries and relaxes tense muscles and basically restores the spirit. Partly because my bathtub is WAY too small for such ventures and filled with children's bath toys, and partly because the youngest boy refuses to use the bathroom downstairs and therefore the upstairs must remain open for the kids as well. Now I do admit, I have a hot tub and this has proved very relaxing. However it comes with the price of increased electric bills, chemical balancing, (1 accidental chemical burn on 75% of the body) and regular maintenance that dampens the thrill. It is more often than not always used with friends or family members so this is not a guaranteed "Calgon" moment finder either. So where else do we turn?
I am an avid reader, which I find very relaxing. I LOVE to get lost in the stories of intrigue, paranormal activities and futuristic worlds. This outlet too comes with backlash. The excessive need to finish the story and inability to put good books down has led me to many a sleepless night. So engrossed have I been that only the squealing of the 6am alarm as pulled me out of it enough to realize I read all night and forgot to sleep. (Damn Vampires!!!) Let us not forget the entrapment factor of multiple books in a story line which can lead to added frustrations when you complete the first book only to realize you must now wait 10 months for the next book to be released! Oh cruel publishers!!! Why must you torment us so?!
So I turn to other hobbies to get my mind off first the kids, the job, the housework, and now waiting for the next 38 books that have various release dates from several different favorite authors. SCRAPBOOKING! Now I have the perfect outlet for my creativity and a way to preserve all of my little angels' milestones....NOT! I am now the proud owner of enough books, stampers, stickers, glitters, embellishments galore and other paper accessories and cutting and gluing instruments that I could easily open my own store. I have to this date completed only 2 actual pages! Ahhh, new frustrations. I am however a picture freak and have actually filled one laptop to overflowing with digital memories and have had to purchase an external hard drive for just such things. How can one accumulate over 10,000 pictures in under 7 years? (my first digital was given to me at Christmas only 7 years ago) This is not counting the thousands of pictures stored in photo albums, shoe boxes and other nooks and crannies through out my cluttered home.
Painting was a joy at one time as well. I took specialized art studies for over 6 years in school and to this day, other than the pieces completed for class and grades, I have done nothing more than fairyland murals and construction sites on my kids' bedroom walls. Being a member of the dance team has resulted in nothing more than "shaking it" on the club dance floor maybe 3-4 times a year. After all, my husband doesn't take me out for much other than dinner, and there would certainly never be any dancing. A coveted "girls' night out" is about all we muster for the dancing fix.
My point in all this ranting? Is it truly the relaxing outlet we have been looking for and does it fulfill the purpose if we have to rearrange everything and schedule it in along with everything else? I would love to have time for a regular aerobics class each week, a surprise date night, or night alone without meetings to attend, dishes to wash or laundry to fold. So how does the modern woman have it all, do it all, and ENJOY it all without needing therapy, a life coach, medication and a nanny? If you know the answer, please email or text me and I will schedule time to look at the site, read the book or attend the class.
I now that we are often referred to as "harried" and yes, we will nag the hell out of any small thing as long as it bugs us and we want it addressed. But really, what do you expect when you you seem to forget we are "superwoman"? We spend our days chasing kids, getting them up and dressed and fed and off to school, running errands, finding lost bills, picking up things that have never really been put away, washing and folding clothes that have not been worn but somehow find their way back into the dirty laundry, discovering dishes under the bed, (or couch) that once contained...????? who knows, and sooooooo much more. Many of us do this for multiple children, some while holding down a job...or two, and some without husbands or partners that pitch in and help carry the load. So I ask you, when our lives are so hectic and patience tested...when and where and HOW do we get our "calgon" moments?
For some of us that moment is just 10 minutes of peace and quiet huddled on the closet floor hoping no one finds you until you've found your sanity that somehow got lost along with the baby's favorite blanket earlier that day. I can't remember when I have ever been able to enjoy a long hot soak that washes away the days worries and relaxes tense muscles and basically restores the spirit. Partly because my bathtub is WAY too small for such ventures and filled with children's bath toys, and partly because the youngest boy refuses to use the bathroom downstairs and therefore the upstairs must remain open for the kids as well. Now I do admit, I have a hot tub and this has proved very relaxing. However it comes with the price of increased electric bills, chemical balancing, (1 accidental chemical burn on 75% of the body) and regular maintenance that dampens the thrill. It is more often than not always used with friends or family members so this is not a guaranteed "Calgon" moment finder either. So where else do we turn?
I am an avid reader, which I find very relaxing. I LOVE to get lost in the stories of intrigue, paranormal activities and futuristic worlds. This outlet too comes with backlash. The excessive need to finish the story and inability to put good books down has led me to many a sleepless night. So engrossed have I been that only the squealing of the 6am alarm as pulled me out of it enough to realize I read all night and forgot to sleep. (Damn Vampires!!!) Let us not forget the entrapment factor of multiple books in a story line which can lead to added frustrations when you complete the first book only to realize you must now wait 10 months for the next book to be released! Oh cruel publishers!!! Why must you torment us so?!
So I turn to other hobbies to get my mind off first the kids, the job, the housework, and now waiting for the next 38 books that have various release dates from several different favorite authors. SCRAPBOOKING! Now I have the perfect outlet for my creativity and a way to preserve all of my little angels' milestones....NOT! I am now the proud owner of enough books, stampers, stickers, glitters, embellishments galore and other paper accessories and cutting and gluing instruments that I could easily open my own store. I have to this date completed only 2 actual pages! Ahhh, new frustrations. I am however a picture freak and have actually filled one laptop to overflowing with digital memories and have had to purchase an external hard drive for just such things. How can one accumulate over 10,000 pictures in under 7 years? (my first digital was given to me at Christmas only 7 years ago) This is not counting the thousands of pictures stored in photo albums, shoe boxes and other nooks and crannies through out my cluttered home.
Painting was a joy at one time as well. I took specialized art studies for over 6 years in school and to this day, other than the pieces completed for class and grades, I have done nothing more than fairyland murals and construction sites on my kids' bedroom walls. Being a member of the dance team has resulted in nothing more than "shaking it" on the club dance floor maybe 3-4 times a year. After all, my husband doesn't take me out for much other than dinner, and there would certainly never be any dancing. A coveted "girls' night out" is about all we muster for the dancing fix.
My point in all this ranting? Is it truly the relaxing outlet we have been looking for and does it fulfill the purpose if we have to rearrange everything and schedule it in along with everything else? I would love to have time for a regular aerobics class each week, a surprise date night, or night alone without meetings to attend, dishes to wash or laundry to fold. So how does the modern woman have it all, do it all, and ENJOY it all without needing therapy, a life coach, medication and a nanny? If you know the answer, please email or text me and I will schedule time to look at the site, read the book or attend the class.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
meet Mama Bear
So my friend called me Mama Bear at a National Convention when I was six months pregnant. It was our first time at a National Jaycee convention and fearing we might get lost and separated, and not wanting to run up our cell phone bills, I brought my husband's walkie talkies. Getting into "trucker" mode and really wanting to sound "professional" on her walkie, my friend's first shout out was, "Breaker, breaker, Mama Bear...this here is Lost Sheep. What's your 20?" Now this was funny, especially considering we had only been in the hotel for an hour before she became lost. LOL And like I said, I was 6 months pregnant with my 3rd child, (although you couldn't really tell) and thus it has stuck ever since. She continues to call me that and it has rubbed off to many of our mutual friends. I have even been introduced to some of her friends that don't know my real name.
As my children take up a significant portion of my life and of course top billing on the priority list, I decided that this would be where I rant and reminisce about any and all this of significance in my somewhat ordinary life.
As my children take up a significant portion of my life and of course top billing on the priority list, I decided that this would be where I rant and reminisce about any and all this of significance in my somewhat ordinary life.
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