My Pet Peeves

This may not be the most positive post in the world, but it is one I have been running through my mind the past few days. I decided to go ahead and write it. This is my Top Ten Pet Peeves!

10. Yarn skeins/balls that have a knot in them where the manufacturer/ spinner broke the yarn and simply tied it back together. This is especially annoying when it is a yarn that has a repeating colorway.

9. When my 5 year old doesn't flush the toilet, especially after going Number 2. Seriously, SO gross!

8. Sponge Bob Square Pants & Miley Cyrus...enough said I think.

7. When the plastic bag rips while carrying groceries, and it never fails that that bag contains the pickle jar. Does anyone else's heart stop just briefly as they grab the bag to make sure the pickle jar doesn't fall? I guess this just means I should switch to fabric bags.

6. Having to turn socks right side out after doing laundry. Now I understand why my mom would get mad at me for leaving them inside-out. Sorry Mom!

5. Walking through the house and stepping on Cheerios. They inevitably stick to the bottom of my foot and I carry them elsewhere throughout the house. It doesn't matter how often I vacuum, they are everywhere!

4. Walking out of the house, thinking I look at least decent. Then I get to where I am going and look down and see a big slime of snot all over. GROSS!

3. People that cut me off in the grocery store. I try to pay as much attention as I can while shopping to other people around me. If you cut me off, at least take the one second it would take to say, "Oh, I'm sorry." Do NOT just stare at me like, "What the hell are you looking at?". Really, what happened to old fashioned common courtesy?

2. When you smile at someone and they do not even acknowledge you. This drives me insane!! Even if you are having a bad day, how difficult is it to just tip your head as if to say, "Yeah, I see you. Thanks for the smile. I'm not having a great day, but I appreciate your trying to make it better."?

1. People that ask me, "What do you do all day?" or "You don't work?" or another question of that nature when they find out I am a Stay At Home Mom. This seriously pisses me off. Just because I do not bring in an income doesn't mean that being a Stay At Home Mom isn't a MAJOR job.

Okay, I feel better now! What about you, what are YOUR pet peeves?

One Hot Mama

I know that I have totally discussed this subject before, but you get it again because I am frustrated at myself and it's my blog, so there (Imagine me sticking my tongue out and stomping my foot). Okay, now that I am over the 2 year old tantrum (I am surrounded by them daily!), I will explain. I know that society expects women to be a certain size, look, etc. I know this and although I am constantly comparing myself, I REALLY try not to. I really do. But it is difficult. But, I am a mommy. I have born and nursed 3 children and my hips and boobs are the evidence of that (never mind the loud little kids running around the house!). In my mind I know this, but when I look in the mirror, it is VERY difficult to remember. I don't have a personal trainer. I don't have a private chef making me perfectly nutritious meals. I don't have a nanny that can take care of the kids so that I can DO those prior things. I am just a regular mommy. Again, I KNOW this. Why can't my brain accept it? I know I have mentioned it, but I have gained some of the weight that I lost last year back. It is really difficult for me. I am doing the Biggest Loser Contest and when I stepped on that scale on Tuesday morning, I PROMISED myself that I would NOT berate myself, no matter WHAT it said. Well, I kept that promise, but I seriously about fell off the scale. I just can't believe that it went that far. I made myself make a promise to myself that I will NEVER ever weigh that again and that I WILL be happy with what I see in the mirror. When I see my hips, I will look at my beautiful children and smile. When I see that my boobs aren't exactly up as high as they used to be, I will remember those little faces buried into my chest. I have to learn to be confident. I HAVE TO!! What kind of example am I setting for my daughters when I feel badly about myself? I want L and J to be confident about themselves. I WANT that for them. So, I will learn to be confident in my appearance. I WILL. I want that for my children, for my husband, and for myself; especially for myself.

So, in that mind, this morning when I was working out, I was listening to my Blackberry and the song "One Hot Mama" by Trace Adkins came on. I've heard this song I don't know how many times. But for some reason, this morning, the lyrics REALLY actually made sense to me. I have decided that this song is going to become my mantra. I have to learn to believe this. The link to the video is here. And the link to the lyrics is here. I think that any mommy reading this should really check it out and start to live by it. Remember, we are ALL "One Hot Mama"s!!!

Sorry for the rambling that totally went on here. I just had a lot of rambling in my brain!

Humble Pie

This morning was an example how one experience can make you feel so many emotions, it is difficult to even comprehend them all. My beautifully talented daughter, L, sang at church this morning with the Little People’s Choir. They do this twice a year, at Valentine’s Day and at Thanksgiving. It is about 10 kids all under the age of about six standing in front of the altar singing their little hearts out and doing a little sign language. What they lack in music ability, they make up in pure enthusiasm and volume. It is just about the most adorable thing you could think of! L stood up there before mass and sang “Jesus In The Morning” with a huge smile on her face. Then after Communion they sang “His Banner Over Me Is Love” complete with arm motions. It is so cute! I was lucky enough to be able to cantor this morning as well. I really enjoyed it; the music selection our choir director came up with was great. The “Allelujia” was particularly fun, as it was very soulful and I was able to play with it a little bit. My cousin and L’s Godmother came to mass with her family to watch L. It was great to see them. Well, the homily this morning was fantastic. I have typed and re-typed trying to explain as Father did, but I am really unable to do it justice. Just know that it was very moving and inspiring. Well, I stopped into the Sacristy to tell Father how much I enjoyed mass and particularly his homily. He thanked me and then gave me one of the best compliments I think I have ever been given. He told me that he truly enjoys my singing during mass and finds it inspiring. WOW! For a Priest to find something I do inspiring was both humbling and flattering at the same time. Then L stuck her head in the door and Father told her what a great job she did singing too. He told me what a beautiful family I had and he was so thankful that we belonged to the church. Seriously, I did not think it was possible to feel so humble, flattered, proud, and inspired all in one morning. I truly felt God’s presence this morning and am grateful that I have found my way back to the church.

It has really been a wonderful weekend. Yesterday, we went to my niece’s 4th birthday party. It was a lot of fun. We went to a skating rink and everyone had a great time. E and I even got to skate hand in hand. Yes, it was completely corny and cheesy, but so fun. It brought back a lot of fond memories of skating parties when I was younger. We even put L and J in skates! They weren’t really sure the first time around, but started enjoying themselves once they forgot about falling and just tried to enjoy themselves. Then we went to Mass this morning and afterwards L and I went to WalMart for a couple of supplies. She asked me if I would make Banana Pudding for dessert tonight. After her wonderful performance this morning, how could I even refuse? After we got home I did some computer work and then we cleaned the house. The toys are all in their boxes and the laundry is all done. It’s been a good day!

The computer work I did today was to get a Biggest Loser Contest set up. I really didn’t expect it to be huge, but seriously, we are talking about a lot of people! I am so excited. The winner of this contest is going to win a lot of money. I am going to quite literally work my tail off to give myself the best shot possible to win. I started gaining back some of the weight I took off last year, and I just refuse to let it go any further. I want to hit my goal! I am seriously excited about this!
With Love,
Theresa

Back To Blogging

I am seriously so excited! I now have a fun new little toy that will enable me to blog much more often and should make it much more convenient to do so! I am very excited about this. In case you can't figure it out, I just got a new computer. Be patient with me though as I am still trying to figure out the new bells and whistles! :)

So, you are probably wondering what has been going on? A lot of course! The kids are crazy and we are all super tired of this weather. Last week it snowed and iced and we couldn't really get out much. Then, to top it off, L had Strep. This was our first experience with the dreaded sickness. I really felt bad because apparently she had had it for a week and I wrote all her symptoms off as the stomach flu. But, she tested positive for it and we got her on anti-biotics and she is doing MUCH better now! Back to her normal self and eating us out of house and home. I swear the kid has a hollow leg!!!

J is doing OK. Speech therapy is going very well and she is doing great! I am trying to get the paperwork in order for her to get going with GLASS where she will actually go to Pre-school anywhere from 1 to 3 days a week for therapy. She really is speaking so much better though. The other night at dinner, she said a full prayer. I was so happy, I had tears coming out of my eyes.

Our Captain Stinky-pants, aka M, is getting so big. He is just a big bulldozer. I'd call him a bully, but he's so sweet about it I just can't. He gives these huge open mouthed smooches that are just adorable. He is starting to say many words too. He is saying "mama", "bye", "cracker", "tractor", and "boo". It is very cute. If you ask him where people are he will point to them. He loves to play with his basketball goal and throw everything like it is a ball.

Things in my life are OK. I have been trying to get back onto the weight loss track, but I just have no motivation. Actually, let me clarify that. In my mind, I have the motivation, but am having trouble making actual progress with it. I have decided to start my own Biggest Loser Contest on Facebook and hope that that will help with the motivation, since it did at this time last year.

I have been doing a lot of knitting. I hope I can get some pics up of things here shortly. I have had a lot of people ask me to make things for them. I just have trouble pricing myself. There is NO WAY to actually get paid for the actual work I put into them, but I would like to make a LITTLE money. I am trying to do some research to figure out how to better price myself. Anyone have any other advice?

I have been reading a lot this year. I need to fix my list at the right of the books that I finished in 2010. I also have a list to put up for 2011. It seems like I am reading a lot of Para-normal fiction recently. I just finished Kitty Goes To Washington by Carrie Vaughn. I did enjoy it. I like how the books take a different perspective on the genre. It seems that most of the para-normal fiction genre revolves around a main character vampire with werewolves in the background. Kitty in these books is a werewolf and the books are all about how she struggles to keep her human life in balance with the Wolf inside of her. I am currently reading Kitty Takes A Holiday and am enjoying it too!

What else? Well, I am super duper tired of this weather. I want spring. I know I live in the WAY wrong state for not liking cold weather, but I can't help it. Actually, I don't mind a little of the cold, but this is getting ridiculous! At least I have pretty and fun knitwear I can use!

Finally, just in case you were wondering, my grandfather is doing okay I guess. He fell earlier this week so that set him back a little bit. He is okay, just a little sore. We are hoping that he will be out of the hospital and home by the end of the month. Thanks for all of the prayers!

I hope that you all have a wonderful day! God Bless!
With Love,
Theresa