The List

So it's near the end of January here and I wondered this morning about my list of things that I wanted to do/stop doing this year, and just how I'm doing so far. A little housekeeping of the soul, I suppose. So just how AM I doing?

Well, I can honestly say that I have cut the chocolate chip milkshakes out (whether they were chocolate yogurt or not, doesn't matter.) I did have ONE the day after Abby got her braces on, but I've been very good since...as far as chocolate chip milkshakes go anyway. Actually, Scott and I have put each other on a diet. We decided together that by our Ten Year Anniversary in July we'd both like to be fifteen pounds lighter. At fifteen pounds lighter that would put us both just five pounds heavier than we were when we got married. Unfortunately neither one of us has really worked out regularly lately. Scott's been banned from running and all tennis (except the Wii *wink*) until his ankle sprain heals. I've just been 100% lazy. We did move the treadmill into the finished room in the basement so that we'd have access to music and TV while working out, so that has helped. I've lost a whole measley pound in like two weeks. So, needless to say, it's time to buck up in the workout area. :)

Okay, so that was working on #3 and #11. I am trying!

#13 - drink less coffee and more water is going half way well. I've cut the coffee down to one or two cups of sugarless coffee a day. And that's good! I was drinking a full pot throughout the course of a day and had it loaded with sugary creamer. I guess since I took the sugar crack out of the coffee, it's taken the fun out of it, hence drinking less. Drinking more water is another story. I just haven't tried - but I will.

#12 - seeing Zach fully potty trained is just a dream at this point. He still has NO desire to sit on the toilet, any toilet...and we now have witnesses to Zach's turds being on the floor. God help us.

OH! I did have lunch with Abby at school one day (#8), but it hardly counts because I had to drop off Tylenol for her achey teeth and I only stayed at the lunch table for about five minutes. It was enough, however, to make me see that it's easy enough to do and I look forward to bringing her some Chinese soon. Maybe I'll cross that one off early next month.

And last, but not least for now...I kinda did #9 - volunteering to do something I have never done before and am uncomfortable with. Kinda. It counts b/c I've never actually bought a washer and dryer for another person and I was uncomfortable with it b/c the gal was my age and clearly having a very difficult time. We had to come into her house and set up this used washer and dryer only to find that the washer did not work. For almost a week I fretted and worried over this situation, wondering how in the world we were gonna make this right and better for this gal. And in the end, just as soon as I laid down my princess crown and tantrum attitude and let God have it, it all had worked itself out. It was just some loose wiring and a guy friend had to just tighten them up to make the washer work correctly. I don't see it completely fitting the mold of what I had intended when I made the request for myself b/c it's not entirely out of my comfort zone to buy something for someone else in need. I enjoy that, actually. I think I'd like to keep that one on the list to see where else I might be able to stretch this comfort zone of mine.

So, all in all...not too shabby. I haven't given up or forgotten. Hmmm...I'm off to go Googling for a sexy school girl outfit. Gotta keep #10 in mind! *wink*

Being Still in the Midst of Trial

Okay, here is what I've learned about stressful situations. When you are in the midst of a trial or stressful/sticky spot in life and you're really unsure what to do, how to fix it or how to react...be still and calm. Don't do anything that will bring undue attention. All things resolve themselves in time and when it is all said and done, you want to be able to look back and say that you handled it gracefully and not with a big, huge whiney temper tantrum. Oh, and being joyful is a choice. Happiness is a result of external things, but joy comes from the inside; from a place that is unseen by eyes and that God filled with Himself when He walks into your life. Joy is always there; an eternal cistern that never runs dry. When life is just too chaotic for words we can draw from this well of joy, knowing that pain, frustration and this earth are only temporary, but His peace, His love and His kingdom are forever and promised.

We're in the middle of this thing we've taken on and we're still very happy to see it through to the end because we know it's going to help someone else out a lot. The thing is...it's not working out at all like I wanted it to. Now, the devil would just love to steal the joy right out of this errand of God, but I refuse it. I have a choice right now. I can stomp my foot and whine, hoping that things get better. OR, I can pray about it, telling God that I know He's bigger than this hitch in the plans, ask for some help from a few friends and wait for the god-sized plan to work itself out.

In the end of this, I want us all to look back and see God's graceful and merciful movement in our situation and NOT my will, my tantrum and my lack of faith.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Oh...I don't wanna poo anymore

Okay gals, let's have a little girlfriend chat here. Ya know, the kind you have with only your BEST girlfriend that always includes the nitty gritty details you wouldn't dare tell anyone else. Except I'm gonna put it all out there for the world AND my best friends.

So, I have poopie issues. Anyone who knows me well, knows I go days on days without pooing and then suddenly I have to poo and it takes me the whole Columbus Dispatch, a roll of TP and a plunger to finish the week of no poopie hell.

Yea, its' gross, I know it. It's how my plumbing works. So like or lump it.

Seriously though...I was working on day SEVEN of no pooing and my gawd I knew there was half a bowl of that Velveeta cheese and sausage dip stuck in there. It just had to come out one way or another. So I figure I'll try some of this dieter's tea that my mom gave me. I'd tried it in the past and it worked, so why the heck not. I steep a hot cup of this Asian loveliness and wait for results. About, oh I'd say six hours later, I feel a rumble and make way for the bathroom with great anticipation. Take care of business and I'm feeling pretty good. Another day goes by and I'm feeling all achey in the abdominal area and I'm like, I'll give it another go with the tea. Only this time I steep the tea way too friggin long! Yea. I get all sidetracked with a kid or something else and fifteen, twenty minutes later my tea is dark and barely warm. So I take about four good swigs off of it and dump the rest.

Okay, here's where it gets interesting.

About TWO hours later my intestines start making this rumbling and vibrational noise that I can imagine Old Faithful makes right before it blows. Beads of sweat start forming on my brow and I immediately know I'd better make it to the bathroom and fast.

I make it. Don't worry!

But let me tell you what...I had to endure that feeling/noise and dart to the bathroom FOUR MORE TIMES in the next hours. By the third time it felt like I was wiping with a cactus. And by the end of this session my butt was aching and burning, crying out for mercy. My gawd, Woman! WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?

You know how you take a really hard poo and it takes you awhile to walk again, like two minutes of just standing there waiting for the burn to subside. Oh yea, that was me. Except it was more like five minutes and I was doubled over the sink with my head on my folded arms and I was swaying trying to take my mind off of my butt.

And then, even when I could walk again, it took another two hours and two Tylenol Extra Strength for the swelling and aching to stop. It literally felt like someone shoved a boot up my toosh and back out again.

Alright, so why share all these gawd-awful details with you? I share this with you, all my lovely friends and internetty-people to spare you the horror. For the love of all that is holy and sacred in this world, DO NOT drink Tru-Slim dieter's tea that has been steeped too long after you've had a week's worth of backlogged poopie. Your anus will never forgive you and I will surely be pitying you and saying "I told you so."

Bring on the Braces

Today marked two big events. First, it was the first day of our year or so of orthodontia. Abby got the spacers put in today so that next week she'll be able to have a little wiggle room for the braces to go on. Yay! She was all too excited to get this day started because in her second grade mind braces are cool and a big attention getter. :) Can't say I blame her. I always wanted braces and glasses while I was in elementary school. And actually, I went so far as to buy a fake pair of eye glasses and wear them as if they were real. My eighth grade school picture documents the embarrassment.

The second big event was the first big draw on our bank account for the said dentalware. These little stainless steel beauties, complete with your choice of color bands, are costing Mom and Dad a mere $6400. Oh yea...spank me, baby! $3200 for each round. She'll have the braces on for a year to a year and a half, then they'll put in a retainer until the remaining eight baby molars fall out. Then the next round will begin around the age of 12 or 13.

Actually, the money isn't a big worry in my mind...although that IS a crapload of money. The biggest worry about the whole thing is me being the involved Mommy Brusher and making sure she takes care of her teeth/the braces. Not to mention the whining if any pain or discomfort is involved. This child throws herself on the floor whining when we simply request she go brush her teeth in a normal circumstance...let alone having metal in her mouth rubbing her cheeks, having to wear headgear while she sleeps and actually having to pick crud out of her braces. So this should be real fun.

I do have faith in Abby and I am really excited to see what difference this makes in her smile and appearance. It wasn't until today when I saw all the pictures they took of her and her mouth, that I REALLY got a good look at her. I guess when you are with someone day in and day out you tend to gloss over anything that might be askew with their appearance. I mean, I had noticed that her teeth were kinda crooked, but not until today did I get a full sense of what she looks like to other people. And God love her, she's a beautiful girl...she'll ALWAYS be beautiful to Scott and I no matter what, but I can clearly see now the need for the braces.

So...stay tuned for more updates on this. Like when I have to kick the sh*t out of some punk who calls my pretty baby girl Metal Mouth or something equally mean and makes her cry. *polishing my brass knuckles*

Tricky, Tricky Mommy

Recently I helped out at fundraiser for Abby's school and had the ultimate luck of scoring a couple boxes of Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. After we'd packed up all the bought cookie doughs and we're about to head home, the lead gal stood up and shouted to all of us volunteers "HEY, ANYONE WANT A COUPLE BOXES OF COOKIE DOUGH?" All of our heads whipped around and our bodies lunged forward toward her like a group of hungry wolves. Remember, by this time it's nearly eight o'clock at night, most of us haven't had dinner and for the past hour and a half we were frantically packing boxes of Monster cookies, M&M cookies, Mint Choc Chip cookies, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies, Oatmeal Raisin cookies....*drool* Then she added "THEY'RE SUGAR FREE!" and every single sweaty body screeched to a halt, arms flopping to their sides and noses turning up in disgust. Every single one but mine. From back of the pack I'm like "sure, I'll take 'em if you're giving them away." They all swung around to look at me like I was crazy, even the lead gal. But 1) my mom taught me that just b/c something is free doesn't mean it isn't good anymore and 2) I have kids who like cookies and sugar free cookies is even better.

I take my booty home that night and we throw a few of these nuggets in the oven. Then we wait for what we're sure is going to be a disappointment. I mean, come on, how good can a sugar free chocolate chip morsel taste? Isn't that an oxymoron? To the complete shock of our finicky tastebuds, they weren't half bad at all and the kids thought they were getting the real deal. So we got to give them a treat that was guilt free AND sugar-buzz free. Win-win for us all.

I'm thinking I see sugar-free candy and cookies popping into our cabinets asap. They won't know the difference, right? What's a little aspartame compared to taking out the refined sugars and sugar crashes. Don't get me wrong here...we're not going sugar-free {yet} but I think a little mommy trickery in the sweets department could be a good thing in this house.

Incidentally, here is a recipe for a healthier cookie. It looks yummy and I have put it in my recipe box to try. We're gonna use craisins instead of dates though.

Cheers to a healthier year!

No Resolutions, Just Some Things I'd Like to Do

Well, some things I'd like to do and some things I'd like to stop doing. So I was thinking yesterday and today about resolutions and how they are such a good idea, but almost always get forgotten or broken within the first month. I think instead of making one or two resolutions, I'm gonna make a short list of things that I'd like to get accomplished this year, be it something new to try or something I'd like to change about myself. 2008 was fully about surviving the kids. I nearly had a mental breakdown during the Summer just from the sheer weight of the responsibility of THREE small children. But, thanks be to God, I did survive with the help of some good friends, one stronger mother than I and my dear husband. So in 2009 I really want to commit to getting outside of these four wall, outside of my label of "mother" and into the real world where I can enjoy life. My kids are growing and maturing so I can start to focus less on them and more on my marriage, my friends, myself, etc.

Okay, so here's my short list. I have fifteen things on this list so far (more may come along) and I figure that I can try to accomplish one a month. Some are harder than others and take planning and daily commitment, some are one time things, but ALL are doable this year.

• Go on a beach vacation with my hubby
• Run a 5K (or more?) and actually condition so I can have a respectable time
• Lose fifteen pounds
• Get a tattoo that has some personal meaning
• Climb the rockwall in Easton
• Finish the book I started writing a year and a half ago
• Pay ahead on our home loan
• Have lunch with Abby at school
• Volunteer to do something I have never done before, am uncomfortable with and will help someone else
• Have more awesome s*x (with my husband of course) more frequently (see the lose fifteen pounds)
• Cut down the pizzas and milkshakes (see the lose fifteen pounds)
• Actually see Zach fully potty-trained
• Drink more water and less coffee (starting today)
  
• Hike around the Hocking Hills with Scott and Abby
  
• Play tennis with Scott on a real hardcourt, not on the Wii.

Are you committing to change anythings this new year?? I'm curious, let me know!!