Thoughts Along Life's Highway

I don't like spiders and snakes (and other random thoughts at 4AM)

It’s 4:06 AM and I’m wide awake.  WIDE-stinkin’-AWAKE.

It’s been one of those nights.

Little Bit came stumbling into our bedroom around 1:00 because her alarm clock had gone off in her room and woken her up. SuperMan put her back to sleep but then I was waking up every fifteen minutes because I was afraid he wouldn’t come back to bed and he’d miss his alarm clock going off. Finally, I went and got him so we could all sleep properly (read: I could sleep properly!) and all was well.

Storms were blowing in and there was a lot of thunder and lightning, but I drifted back to sleep in spite of the light and sound show outside.

And then it happened.

The thing that is GUARANTEED to ruin my night’s sleep if it happens.

That sick, gross, scare-the-PJs-off-of-you feeling.

You know the one.

The one when you feel something CRAWLING ON YOUR ARM while you sleep!

oh.my.gosh!

I was out of the covers in no time – cowering at the foot of the bed like a scared little thing. I had slapped the heck out of my arm, and I think I killed whatever it was, but there was no way to know for sure.

Poor SuperMan was awakened by my gymnastics (and shivering, quivering and whimpering, probably) and came around to turn on the lights and check to see if he could find a carcass or something. (and this is why we call him SuperMan – I mean, waking up at 3AM to rescue your wife from random bug attacks! totally awesome!)

The creature was no where to be found.

Which, really, didn’t make me feel any better. The rational part of my brain said he was probably long gone (or dead) but the emotional wreck part of me (that was clearly in charge at the time) said that he could be anywhere, lurking and waiting to crawl on me again.

Sleep just wasn’t going to happen.

So, here I sit at my computer with a cup of chamomile tea and watching the storms out my office window.

Good thing I don’t have any early-morning meetings today. I may need a nap later.

But, you know, I shouldn’t be surprised.

It’s been one of those weeks.

Tuesday, you will notice, had no blog post.

That was because I was suffering from PTSD (not really) from a dentist’s appointment.

Last week I broke a crown while munching on some peanuts as my afternoon snack.

So, Tuesday morning I went to get the crown replaced. It’s a long story, but it was a temporary crown that had gone way past it’s “Best if Used By” date.  They were going to give me a new temporary and order me a new permanent crown.

Now, you have to bear in mind one thing: I DON’T DO DENTISTS.

I have a serious, major fear of dentists. There aren’t many things that get me as anxious as dentists – except maybe bugs crawling on me in the middle of the night…

But I had no choice. I had to go and get this raggedy piece of tooth fixed.

And there I sat, Tuesday morning, with my little green “bib” on my shirt trying to read (and reading the same paragraph forty-seven times without knowing what it said) and waiting for the dentist to come in.

I won’t bore you with all the details – but it was a Murphy’s Law kind of visit. They broke two temporary crowns on two of my teeth while trying to fix the one that was broken. I think we went through five or six temporaries before they got two to work on the two teeth they were working on.

It was fun, let me tell you.

I had so much adrenaline running through my system I was a quivering, shaking mess.  I could barely walk out of there because my legs were like jelly.

And I had two of my girlfriends giving me moral support as I gave them blow-by-blow accounts from my cell phone.

And I get to do it all over again in a couple weeks when the permanent crowns come in.

Oh joy.

Oh, I see SuperMan is up – getting ready for work. I guess I’ll go chat with him while I finish my tea.

Thanks for keeping me company this morning.

I hope your week has been a little less eventful than mine. Or, if it has been eventful, it’s been more fun!

Back to school (almost)

We’re in the countdown to the first day of school here…

And, believe it or not, I’m actually looking forward to it.   While I was so terribly excited for the girls to get out of school back in May, I am equally excited about them starting school again in a few weeks…

Here are a few reasons why:

• While I love (initially) not having a schedule, the lack of routine causes us to slip into some not-so-good habits – staying up too late, sleeping in later than we should, eating junk, etc.  I’m looking forward to getting back into a structure/routine and getting us all back into some healthier sleep patterns.
• And the eating thing is a big one, too. I have been so good about menu planning, but in the past few weeks, that has slipped as well, and I found us eating out a lot more in the past two weeks than my body or my budget really prefer. When we are in school, I am much more disciplined (I have to be!) about meals and meal planning.
• I’ve enjoyed having the girls around me this summer, but to be honest, I think we are all starting to get on each others’ nerves a little bit.  It will be nice for them to have the stimulation (and distractions) of school and their after-school activities and I am looking forward to being able to work for several hours uninterrupted each day.
  Sad, I know, that I’m looking forward to work – but it is always a challenge in the summertime to balance working from home with two little monkeys running around asking to go swimming, to eat (constantly!) etc.  The ability to segment my day into “mommy” and “professional” times will be a very welcome change.
• Back to school also means that summer is drawing to a close – which, while I have loved summertime, is wearing out its welcome here and we’re all ready for some change in the air and cooler temperatures. Honestly, I’m getting tired of my summer clothes! I’m ready to pull out some fall colors and long sleeves.

So, bring it on… bring on the new school clothes, book bags and lunch boxes.  Bring on the fall leaves and tumbling temperatures! I’m ready for you!

del.icio.us Tags: mama kat's writers workshop,random thoughts,back to school shopping

if Momma knows everything…

Big Girl and I were riding in the car together last night – headed out to check out some new purchases a friend made – we’re purse-junkies & wanted to see what she’d gotten…

While we were driving, she told me something about birds and flying – can’t remember what it was -  when I asked her where she learned that she said, “Ammi told me”

(Ammi is my mom)

I said, “Ah. Well, she would know. She knows everything.”

To which Big Girl replied, “Huh? I thought YOU knew everything! You mean she does TOO!?!”

And I laughingly responded, “Baby girl, where do you think I learned it from?”

She said (completely straight-faced) “Pop-Pop. He knows everything.”

I didn’t quite know how to respond. You see, in my family, the legend goes that Momma (my momma) knows everything and I have always joked that I’m the inheritor of this knowledge bank, which will then be passed on to my girls one day when they are mommas.

Never in this picture has Pop-Pop, or any male in the family, featured.

Up until now.

What’s cute about this is the reverence in which my girls hold their grandfather.  They think he really does know everything there is to know about everything.

Big Girl continued, “Whenever you ask him about something, he always has lots of wisdom to share. He’s very smart you know.”

Yes, baby girl, I know.

Monday, Monday...

Can’t trust that day….

Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way…

Well… it’s Monday. That’s for sure.

I have another weekend hangover. What a busy summer we are having!  I am not complaining. It’s all been fun.  Just busy.

Mondays roll around and I feel like I’m still spinning from the weekend. I look around the house at the detritus of the weekend revels and wonder where it all came from and who made this mess? Oh, yeah, we did.

I think I may look back on this summer in future years as the summer of the whirlwind. That is what it feels like we are in… a whirlwind. Things happening back-to-back with barely time to catch our breath before the next adventure begins.

But I feel so lucky that we’re having such fun.

I’m working this morning (in between my real work) on the photos from our adventures this past weekend – especially our mini-vacation-crammed-into-one-day Father’s Day extravaganza.  If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you’ve seen a few of the photos already.  There were massive quantities of food, horses, waterfalls, rapids, walking, shopping and mountains in our day. It was awesome… and we are all wiped out today from the fun. But it was oh, so worth it.

Today will be quiet – nothing big – some conference calls for work, maybe a trip to the grocery and the bank – a good recovery day.

Oh, and no, no menu plan yet  this week. At this point, I only know what we have planned for tonight. The rest of the week will come later.

What does Scarlett O’Hara say?  Tomorrow is another day? (is that right?)

del.icio.us Tags: family,father's day,menu planning

When things don’t go according to plan

I think you probably can tell by now that I’m a planner.

I’m one of those people who does everything with a plan.

everything

I’ve lived by to-do lists and long-range plans for years. As long as I can remember.  Even if they are not written down, I have them in my head.

As a young woman, I had five- and ten-year plans….plans that included which age I’d be married, have my first child, etc. I had it all figured out.

And, as Life would have it, those plans didn’t quite pan out the way I had imagined.

Of course, they turned out just fine in the long run, they just happened on a different timeline than the one I had imagined.

That’s how the past week has been, too.

I had imagined this week to be slow and easy, with the girls resting and relaxing (after our hectic last week of school, holiday weekend and crazy recital-filled weekend) I was planning to get all sorts of work done on my work projects – maybe even doing a little extra here and there.

Alas, that was not to be.  BOTH girls got sick.

Can you say “toss the plan out the window?”

I mean, seriously – just chunk it on outta there.  ‘Cause it just ain’t happenin’ this week.

Late, late nights nursing miserable girlies.  Busy days refereeing cranky girls and administering medicines.  Washing, drying, comforting, cooking, cleaning and doing it all over again.

Work? Well, I fit that in here and there in fits and starts. In between four doctors’ visits and all the nursing/mommy duties.  Thankfully, I have a very understanding boss and a flexible schedule.  I’ll be catching up today and tomorrow for sure, though.

It was a miserable week. Honestly.

But, in the middle of it all, I kept reminding myself that what I was doing was the most important thing of all.  And trying to focus on the fact that while my plans weren’t going to pan out, everything was going to be OK.

And that is a tough lesson to learn, my friend. 

Especially for someone like me… who likes to be in control and on task in everything she does.

It’s hard to relinquish that control, go with the flow, and accept that sometimes you can’t plan everything and manage that plan to fruition.

Now, I don’t know why my plan for this week didn’t happen… or what the bigger picture was in all of this – except maybe to remind me of this very thing I’m writing about? – but I do know that the more I fought against the changes, the more they happened.  The more I rebelled against going with the flow, the more I felt like I was trying to swim upstream.

It wasn’t until yesterday afternoon, when I was just about at my breaking point – just about in tears because I couldn’t get photos to print for my Project Life project (NOTHING went right!!) - that I realized I just needed to chill out, give up, and let things go for a little while.

So I spent last night intentionally trying to relax and let go. I didn’t check email or Facebook.  I didn’t worry about whether or not the pictures printed.  I let SuperMan put the girls to bed and I ate an apple and watched some mindless TV for a little while.

And, after a good night’s sleep, I am feeling much better today. Much more able to cope with whatever life throws my way.  And to roll with the tide.

I’m sure it won’t last long.  I already have post its with lists all over my desk – things to do today, things to get at the grocery store, office supply store, WalMart, things to cook for Sunday night’s dinner with our Small Group, etc.

I will be back in my full-forced planning mode very shortly.

But, hopefully, I’ll be better able to flex when the need arises.  This week was a good lesson that when I don’t it is just not worth it.

 

del.icio.us Tags: planning,motherhood,random thoughts

Saturday in the Park

We're visiting family this weekend - enjoying a little break after the hectic end of the school year.

It's hot as blazes down here - in the 90's every day - but the weather is beautiful if you don't mind the heat and humidity.  Which, ironically, I don't seem to mind as much as I used to. I'm sure it's the fact that I'm almost half the size I used to be. There's a lot less of me to heat/cool these days and I seem to gravitate more towards heat than cool now. Quite the change.

But enough about me.

I wanted to share with you what Mom and I did today.

We went to the farmer's market.

So fun.

They have a weekly Saturday market down in Forsyth Park. If you're ever in Savannah for a visit, it's worth a trip - even if you only go to people watch.  But Mom and I managed to go together and we had such fun.  They had beautiful veggies, organic fruits, meat vendors (with organic, grain fed beef, etc.) It was a bonanza of goodness.

We cooked some of these patty-pan squash for dinner tonight. Grilled them with olive oil, garlic and salt/pepper/onion powder. Soooo good.

It was fun to hang around with Mom and check out all the stalls.  The girls were off on an adventure with SuperMan (story to come) and so we had some good one-on-one time.  Something we don't get very frequently and that is very special indeed.

The rest of the day was relaxing and even included a nap and some serious swing-time. They have the greatest swing in their backyard and I love stretching out in the sunshine and watching the clouds go by as I swing.  

Awesome weekend - and we're just getting started.

 

Good enough

This was in my inbox the other day:

Dear Incredible Girl,

When you've done all that you can do, and you still feel like you have so much further to go, when you feel like all that you have to give still isn't nearly enough, when it seems that you will not be able to keep up everything that needs to be kept up for one minute longer --
stop and breathe.

Look. Really really look at what you are expecting of yourself.

You are an incredible girl. You are amazing and strong and brilliant. But friend, you are also a human being. You cannot do it all. You cannot always hold everything together perfectly, and you cannot be perfectly composed every single day. It's okay to have 'off' days. It's okay to feel weak and overwhelmed and have meltdowns once in awhile. It's okay. YOU are okay.

Everything is going to be okay. It is.

Let yourself have days to be a perfectly imperfect human being. Let yourself feel what you need to feel and process your life the way you need to process it. Let yourself BE.

Bad days will pass, overwhelm will dissolve, and the sun will come up again tomorrow morning, just like it does every day. There will be a brand new sparkling day waiting for your tomorrow, waiting for you to hold hands with all of the joy that it is offering.

You are just right. You are doing great. You are fabulous!

And you are very very very very loved.
xoxo

"A little bird told me" - your Daily Truth from The Brave Girls Club
www.bravegirlsclub.com

 

I just love this.

Absolutely love it.

Why is it that we hold ourselves to impossible standards?

Why do we feel like we must be perfect in everything we do?

And when we fall short (as we almost must do) we feel like we’re worthless and berate ourselves instead of celebrating our successes and accomplishments, no matter how large or small?

When did this become the norm?

And why?

And is this what we want to teach our children?

That good enough is never good enough?

I don’t.

I want my girls to push themselves to be all they can – to stretch beyond what they think they can do and find out what they really can do but I also want them to learn that, as long as they have tried their best, that is good enough.

That they don’t have to measure their success by external yardsticks – by what others think or what others expect – but by their own hearts and their own rulers. 

That giving it your best effort is good enough.

And learning to be okay with that.

And maybe, just maybe, while I’m teaching them, I’ll learn it myself.

Just in case you were wondering

I’m a week into having my new phone and I just have to say, I am loving it.  Is it bad to be in love with technology? Because I am.

I have joked that I went over to “the dark side” but I am beginning to think that it might be the opposite.

Seriously.

This is the first phone I have had in a loooong time that I haven’t had to reboot it, kill applications, or take out the battery to reset things. It’s been cruising along, responding to all of my needs without a single hiccup or issue.

And it is making some parts of my life easier – for example, I am doing a great job with my Project Life pictures now – the nifty apps and great camera make it fun to snap pictures – and I don’t have to carry another camera with me (or forget it at home, which usually happened) to capture the everyday.

I’m loving the Instagram app. But I’m sure you’ve heard others rave about it.  It’s just totally cool. I’m also enjoying playing with the Project 365 app, but I have to admit I’m using Instagram more to push my pictures to Facebook & my Project Life blog – it’s just easier to use one application for the editing and publishing.

I’m still figuring things out – like yesterday when I was sitting in the doctor’s office trying to make my ringer go to “mute” and kept setting off the ring tone. LOL Everyone kept looking at me like “what in the heck is she doing?” and I just couldn’t stop giggling because the harder I tried to make the phone be quiet the more noise it made.

Almost like it was a toddler and was determined to disrupt.  It just tickled me and I almost stood up in the waiting room and said “Sorry, it’s a brand new phone and I’m still figuring it out. If you know how to make it shut up, will you help me?”  But, I didn’t.

And speaking of the doctor’s visit – what is it with making you sit in those freezing exam rooms with nothing but thin paper gowns on for almost an hour  only to see the doctor for a grand total of five minutes?  I mean, really? I spent more time frozen and waiting than I did with the doctor. At least there is nothing wrong with me. *pshew* (or at least nothing the doctor needs to worry about, anyway!)

Back to phone-dom. I’m sure that previous paragraph was TMI for some of you. :-)

Other apps I love?

Hmmm…

I’m happy with the SyncML program I have to sync my email and contacts. Because of the interface with my work email this program works beautifully.

I also like Netflix.  Love that I can download and watch a video on my phone (my phone for Pete’s sake! Who would’ve thunk it?)

Any of you iPhone users have any other suggestions for me?

I love these guys

Ever have one of those moments where your breath is taken away because you’re just overwhelmed with love?

Yeah, me too, every time I look at this picture.

I’m a lucky girl.

I love these guys so much!

We are BORG

Well, we did it.

We finally succumbed.

After fighting with my Droid phone all week last week on my business trip (and losing the battle most of the time) I decided I’d had enough.  After driving down the freeway in California with no idea where I was going – and my lovely Droid decides it’s time to lock up/freeze/go into la-la land… After turning my fully-charged phone OFF for a 3 hour flight, only to turn it on when we land and find a 90% DEAD battery (um, ok, where did the charge go?)…. I was done. Finis. Kaput. ENOUGH already.

SuperMan’s phone, coincidentally decided that it really didn’t want to charge on a consistent basis, either. His blackberry was over 2 (almost 3?) years old and it had been used and abused enough.

So, I bit the bullet and decided to get us both new phones.

and not just any new phones…

iPhones.

Yes, we did it.

We are BORG.

We have been assimilated.

I can’t really give you a thorough review of the phones yet, because they just arrived yesterday and I’ve made a grand total of ONE phone call on mine, but I can tell you this. They were the easiest to activate, set up and load up of any smart phone I’ve had to date. And that includes all the extras I have to set up for my work access (VPN, chat, email, etc.) Super simple.

His and hers.

Yin and Yang.

(excuse the messy desk, please)

Aren’t they pretty?

We’re so excited. You’d think we’d gotten a puppy and not a phone.

The girls are thrilled, too.

Big Girl got my “old” ipod touch.  Little Bit inherited Big Girl’s ipod nano.

So, we really are BORG.

But it’s OK.

It’s like I told someone the other day.  You get what you pay for. And with Apple, you may pay a little more, but you know it’s high quality.

I’ll post again in a month or so and let you know what I think about the day-to-day responsiveness and use. It will be an interesting comparison to what I had.

Although, I have to say… I think my poor Droid was just overtaxed and underequipped (memory-wise) to handle what I tried to make it do. I have talked to TONS of people (including total strangers in the airports last week- I did an informal poll to see what people thought of their phones) and lots of people (with newer Droids) were thrilled with theirs.  I think mine was just not configured to handle what I needed it to do.

WE ARE BORG.

"Gel" Manicure: Day 11

I decided to treat myself to a mani/pedi right before my trip last week. The ladies at the nail salon talked me into getting a “gel” manicure. It’s where they put a gel/polish compound on your nails and “cure” it under a UV light for 2-3 minutes. The manicure is supposed to last for 3 weeks and I figured even if it only lasted for one week, that was longer than the manicures I usually get. I’m a frequent hand-washer and I’m hard on manicures.  So, I thought, why not? Pretty nails for the meetings & travel would be nice.

So, here is what they look like – 10 days out from the manicure.

I got a lot of compliments on my nails last week & over the weekend. Which was surprising, because that’s not normally something people notice or comment on (for me, anyway)

You can see there is a little growth of my nails, but they still look nice. 

I did have one casualty – this morning – I think it is from all the hand washing I’ve been doing with this dratted cold I have. The corner just peeled up. The nail underneath doesn’t look bad – I was worried that this might damage my nails (they told me it wouldn’t, but I was skeptical) but they seem to have survived okay. So, a week and a half out, I’m still satisfied with the manicure.  Would I do it again? Probably. For a special occasion.  On a regular basis? Probably not. It is just more high-maintenance than my life is geared for right now.

But I’m enjoying the pretty nails while they last. :-)

Love Bends

I was inspired to make this on Sunday night after an awesome message at church that morning. I thought I’d share with you…

I’m still doodling, as you can see, when the inspiration strikes me. It still feels a little strange, but it is relaxing at the same time.

Click here to download your own copy.

It's not Instagram, but I like it

I don’t have an iPhone. Therefore, I don’t have Instagram. I love the Instagram photos I see online, but I’m not going to give up my Droid phone for an iPhone just for the app, that’s for sure.

I have, however, found a pretty cool photo program (or two) for my Droid phone.

One in particular I really like -

Retro Camera is a program with five different “cameras” you can use to shoot with - (quoted from their website)

The Bärbl - An East German classic, naturally faded with a scratched film and medium vignetting, the perfect all-round choice.
The Little Orange Box - The Soviet Staple with aggressive cross processing and scratched square film. It's crappy plastic lens leaks in light and exhibits strong vignetting. Black and white option for even more emotion.
Xolaroid 2000 - Its inspiration is obvious! We love the candid snapshots this camera produces - you simply can't fail, every shot is a keeper. Blue / Green cross processing effects and timeless contrast. Black and white option for that classic touch.
The Pinhole Camera - A DIY gem and more unpredictable than Schrödinger's cat. Full bleed developing and vignetting through the roof, be sure to give this cardboard chimera a go.
The FudgeCan - The perfect rig for outdoors; developed on square film that wasn't quite stored... or developed right. But therein lies the charm that'll make your pics with this beauty, memorable and instantly nostalgic.

I am finally getting around to playing with it, after having it installed for a couple of months and totally forgetting it’s there.

Here are a few shots I took last week:

I think this one was with the Little Orange Box camera.  And these two are with the Xolaroid …

And this one, I think, with the Bärbl camera.  

I think someone was finished having her picture taken – and I love the note – I didn’t see it at the time but it was a note between her and my mom, written on the menu. Sweet.

Have you found any non-iPhone apps that you love?

Five on Friday: Things I'm Loving Right Now

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite things with you – things that just make me happy these days.

1. My Tervis Tumblers -
   
   I’m loving them – loving the fact that they keep hot things hot (like my mocha protein shakes in the mornings) and cold things cold (like my fruit smoothies and “sweet” tea)
   
   I love the happy patterns I have, the durability, the “sippy cup” tops for when I’m mobile (or the kids have one to drink in)
   
   They’re not cheap, but I use mine enough that I think I’m getting more than my money’s worth.  I use them every.single.day.
2. Dry-roasted Edamame
   
   Oh, my. Have you tried these?
   Sooo, sooo, good.
   
   It’s like a cross between popcorn and roasted peanuts in terms of flavor (and addictive qualities)
   
   They have 13g of protein per 1/4 cup serving – and it is hard to eat only 1/4 cup, trust me!
   
   It helps satisfy my salty-snack cravings while getting some protein in my day.
3. Beatrice
   But you already know I love her.  I spend so much time these days with her. I take her everywhere I go.  She’s become my bestest friend.
   But don’t tell her I’m trying to figure out how I can sneak one of these into my budget this summer:   I wouldn’t want her to find out and get jealous of her cousin’s hold on my heart.
4. The Daily Digi’s monthly membership
   
   What a great deal!  You get over $50 worth of digital scrapbooking products for a monthly membership fee of $7.50. That is awesome.  But they don’t usually stop there… almost every month I’ve gotten an email with some type of members-only special. (love that!)
   
   And all of the products are beautiful, top-quality originals. I am hardly ever disappointed and I use almost every single kit I receive.Additionally, members get this kit, just for signing up. How cool is that?
5. My calendar
   
   Well, actually, it’s called “My Book” and is an adaptable planner.
   I love it because of two things… the fact that it’s tiny enough to fit in my purse (and not too heavy – I have the small size) but mostly I love it because I can customize it to my tastes.  I decorated the slip-in cover with scrapbook papers that made me happy and then added 4x6 photos in the page protectors (there is a page protector/photo page at the beginning of each month) so I am carrying around all my favorite pictures of my family.
   
   When I get tired of the photos, or the decorations on the cover, it’s a simple task to swap them out and put new things in. Us short-attention-span girls LOVE that.
   
   There’s also plenty of room for me to track our family activities and even put a little note about the day if I choose.

What about you?

What things are you loving these days? 

Anything you want to share with us?

This is what happens, boys and girls...

… when you don’t watch your taco shells as they warm in the toaster oven.

Good thing Big Girl is so observant!

She was helping SuperMan get dinner on the table Friday night – we were having tacos and fajitas and he was busy finishing up dinner on the stove.

All of a sudden, Big Girl shouts, “Flames, Daddy, flames!!”

I came running and threw open the front door. (not to run away, mind you)

SuperMan carried the (burning) toaster oven out to the front porch.

The shells were toast – literally.

As was the toaster oven.

Thankfully, nothing else was harmed, the fire was contained to the inside of the toaster oven, and we had more taco shells (I know you wondered) for dinner.

Never a dull moment around here, I tell you.

You are not your past

I saw a tip on Jillian Michael’s Facebook page the other day:

The past doesn’t define you, your present does. It's ok to create a vision of the future because it affects your behavior in the "now". But, don’t dwell on past mistakes, learn from them and focus those lessons in the moment. That’s where change can really happen. Remember that transformation is a present activity.

It really struck me.

I thought about how many decisions I make based on my own view of myself, which is based on my past.  Who I used to be – overweight, unfit, unhealthy – is not who I want to be in the future.  Why do I do things based on that image of myself?

If I don’t want to be that girl anymore, I should be behaving as if I were the girl I want to become – not the girl I was.

Living life as if I were already, fit, healthy, happy, etc.  - whatever the characteristics are of who I want to become.

As someone once told me - “Fake it ‘till you make it.”

Why wouldn’t this apply here as well?

Why wouldn’t we behave as if we were already who we wish to be, thereby manifesting that in our lives, rather than sentencing ourselves to continue to live the patterns of our lives which we no longer desire?

Some days, I think the universe is trying to send me a message.  I’m wondering if this is the one I need to learn right now.

Especially because this FB post was followed in a couple days by this in my inbox:

It came from these wonderful ladies…

Have you read any of their stuff? If you haven’t, I’d encourage you to do so.

And then challenge yourself today -

What are you doing based on an old definition of yourself?

Is that who you want to be in the future or do you want to be somebody different?

And, if you'd like a little reminder. You can download this:

I’ve got mine posted on the wall above my monitor so I see it all day long.

Happiness in a box

Hi! Thanks for visiting!

If you're reading this and haven't taken a minute to answer the survey I've posted earlier this week, I would really  appreciate it if you did and it won't take but just a minute.

Now, on to today's post:

 

I have a little addiction – I think I’ve already confessed it to you before.

I am a purse-a-holic.

I love handbags, tote bags, purses, clutches, pretty much any kind of bag.

And one of my favorite brands is Vera Bradley.

I have a ton of them.

And, the addiction is made worse now that I’ve “friended” them on Facebook and get daily specials emailed to me.

My, oh, my.

This was the case last week when they had a one day only special on the cutest little hobo bag – and lo and behold it was available in PINK! (I love pink)

What a perfect spring bag – hee hee.

Now, I’m thinking I may have to get the matching wallet and eyeglass case.

Hmmm….

The merger

We have a local (statewide) lottery – which is supposed to fund higher education scholarships.  They advertise pretty heavily and I am in love with the current commercial.

These kids are just so stinkin’ cute.

“We can open channels to Eu-rope, A-sia, and even South America.”

Love it.

Things I'm loving right now

Aside from the warmer weather, here are a few things that make my heart go pitter-patter right now:

Asher’s Sugar Free Chocolates

I stumbled across these in WalMart the other day. They are the best-tasting sugar free chocolates I’ve found. Perfect for one of “those days” when only chocolate will make things better.

If you have any diabetics or post WLS patients that you love, these would be a great gift.

They have a caramel-marshmallow confection that reminds me a lot of the scotchmallows I used to love.

 

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lip Gloss

I think I shared this before as something I love.  This is one of the only lip glosses I’ve ever used that doesn’t dry out my lips and make them feel gunky.

They stay in my purse all the time - love them.

I can’t live without my Click these days. I have one almost every day. There is a chocolate mocha flavor (think coffee + hot chocolate) and a vanilla latte flavor. I love them both.  I make them cold and then heat them in the microwave for a minute or two to have my own “starbucks-esque” drink that fills me up, gives me tons of energy and a great protein boost to my day.

 

This is my go-to cleanser these days.  I love how gentle it is on my sensitive skin and yet how it just decimates the makeup and grime of the day.  My face feels fresh and clean when I use it and my moisturizer absorbs readily – without the need for a toner step in my day.

Speaking of moisturizers…

I love this one. I am truly a Philosophy girl when it comes to my skincare routine. Love how they go on so easily and you don’t have that gunky feeling like some moisturizers have.

And this cute little recipe book – I’m in love:

I’ve bought three of them and I’m putting all my recipes in them.

There’s a blue version, too, if that suits your fancy (or kitchen decor) better:

They’re just too cute – and I love the three-ring binding so I can move things around quickly and the pages lie flat when I’m using it.

What about you? What sort of things are you loving these days?

Spring's Tease

It’s been warm here this week.

In the 70’s the last couple days.

It’s been wonderful.

I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation.

I want to sit outside and soak up the sun, feel the breeze on my face and listen to the birdies chirp.

*achoo*

and sneeze.

darn allergies.

But -

as I sit and soak up the rays and revel in the milder temperatures, there is a part of me that wonders if it is all really, truly happening…

or is this just a tease?

Will we have another spring “blizzard” like we did in ‘93 when we were snowed in for a week in April?

One never knows.

I’m kinda thinking we might.

But, until then, I’ll enjoy what we have.