Happy Leap Day

As you know, yesterday was a rough day. But I did have a little moment of dancing joy thinking about today being Leap Day. I felt like this:

I may have even " leaped" a little. The prospect of having a whole EXTRA day made me think of all the things I could get done. We are always saying we don't have enough time but every four years, we get an extra 24 hours to do magical things. These are 24 hours to do things you normally wouldn't. This is a time to do great things!!

And this is how my Leap Day has gone. Youngest came in my bathroom at 4am not feeling well. He came and laid down with us and a couple minutes later it started thundering and pouring. Big Dog is terrified of thunder and tries to lay on us during storms. This does not work when there are three of us in the bed. I got Big Dog to lay down next to the bed while I pet him. Youngest fell asleep but was making this kind of soft clucking noise in his sleep, almost like he was sighing every time he took a breath. Hmmm...I have heard him make that noise before and it is usually right before he...

Not fast enough, he shot up and threw up all over me and my side of the bed!! This is NOT how I was planning on starting my Leap Day. We stripped the bed, stripped Youngest and got him all cleaned up. He was able to go back to sleep but I wasn't. It was still thundering so Big Dog seized the empty bed opportunity and laid on me until the storm was over. Of course we were crowded on the dry side of the bed but Big Dog had no problem finding enough space to lay on me.

Youngest had a couple more explosions thru out the morning but he seems to be feeling better this evening. But then again, he felt ok yesterday evening, too. I am hoping he can go back to school tomorrow if not, Husband is able to spend the day with him. I am anxious to get out of the house.

It is a beautiful Leap Day here. Nice enough to have the windows open and actually look forward to Spring. I am forever thankful that we did not have a rough winter. I have new pool passes and am ready for Summer!

Ok Weight Warriors....
How did you do this month? I did not lose nor did I gain. Just kind of stuck. I am going to focus more on weight training, more water, more fish, and cutting my portions in half. And I will NOT be watching Food Network between 3pm and dinner time!! If any of you want to do a March challenge, let me know.  I am always up for new challenges.

I hope you all were able to enjoy your Leap Day and maybe did something you don't usually do. Me, I have more laundry to fold.

Here's to a Magnificent March!!

Cat

A day of sadness and sickness

Youngest came home Monday afternoon with a stomach bug. I stayed home with him today. It has been a long 24 hours and I am hoping he is better enough to go to school tomorrow.

Middle child's stomach is upset. The upside to this is he can stay home by himself if need be. The downside is, well, he doesn't feel good.

For those of you not in the state I am in (not the emotional or physical state, the actual STATE),we had a school shooting in Chardon, which is about 3 hours north of here. I would not know anything about Chardon except a good friend of mine from College went there and has kids in the school district. They were the first ones I thought of. My friend's son knows one of the victims thru ski club and he and his wife had the horrible task of trying to explain how something like this could happen in their community. I don't know much about Chardon but  I believe they are a community that fights hard to keep their families safe. I believe at times like this, this is the most comforting thing you have: knowing the Community stands with you.

I cannot find a bright side to this, though maybe I will in the future. Perhaps the bright side is how the Community has come together to sell ribbons and magnets to earn money for the victim's families. Perhaps the bright side is how it put my College friends back on my radar. Most of them are too good to forget.

We may not be in College anymore but we will always be family. I appreciate them reading my blog. I am touched more than they touched me in College. Ha Ha, that was a joke. Trying to be positive :)

Have a good evening.

Cat

Daytona(stressing all the vowels)

I am thrilled that the Daytona 500 was postponed until 7pm tonight. I woke up Sunday morning with the mother of all colds. Eyes watering, nose running, feeling like I was hit by a truck. I was up long enough to get the kids something to eat (though I can't remember if it was breakfast or lunch) and Husband got me some Non-drowsy meds and some Nyquil. I took some of the Non-drowsy at noon and promptly slept until 4pm. I think I made people dinner, took some Nyquil at 8pm and was out at 10pm. Had a good night sleep and felt much better this morning.

Worked overtime today and was called at noon to get Youngest who was having tummy issues. Seems the DHA I gave him this morning did not agree with his stomach. He was fine by the time I got him home and am hoping he can make it thru tomorrow. I have his IEP meeting at 1:30pm, so I pray he makes it until then.

I am really excited that Husband and Work Husband (Lunchlady Lance) are all about getting healthy and losing some weight. It makes my day to day so much easier when my Husbands are on board with my goals. And the cherry on top is that Husband (the one I am legally married to) told me that I "motivate him". Wow, that is enough to get my butt in gear to get more fit.

Speaking of, I think I am going to focus more on circuit training and weight lifting. I see more results in body tone with weight lifting but I still need to do aerobics for mental health.

I hope everyone is doing ok. I am getting used to my laptop and am not letting any small people on it.

Have a good night and go Patrick and Gordon!!

Yee haw, Boogity Boogity Boogity!!
Cat #24

Pictures, ADD, and new things

My foray into photography has taught me a couple things: I do not enjoy it as much as I hoped I would and I do believe I have ADD. I can't seem to stay focused on more than two things at a time. I like to focus on nutrition and exercise, but beyond that, I tend to wander...aimlessly. Perhaps it is because I didn't enjoy taking pictures as much as I thought I would, perhaps I am a scatter brain. Hard to be objective about myself.

But realizing that a new camera would not be in my future, I used my overtime money and bought and inexpensive laptop. I was going to get a netbook but realized I liked a full size keyboard better and I wanted something I can play/burn cd's on and play dvd's. Husband and I checked out several this morning and ended up bringing one home. I am still getting to know it but so far, I like it. Our home computer is 9 years old so it is fun to have something that is up to date. And now the kids can be on the old computer as much as they want. Win win.

I am happy to report that I had a really good week. Primarily because Youngest had a good week. It seems the diet change and vitamin supplements have helped. Here's a snapshot of the supplements that are taken in this house

I will be adding a Magnesium supplement as soon as it gets here. Not all of these are taken by one person, I take the majority but the kids take two to three of them.

 I am really excited because Husband has decided to lose some weight and eat the way I eat. We stocked up on a lot of whole wheat products and are eating a lot of lean protein, fruits and veggies. The kids are on board, too, so I am hopeful that our family can keep making healthy changes.

Daughter found her lost library book this week!! Husband said it was a Lenten Miracle.

I had a great night out with my Sis in Law Thursday night. It is always good to catch up with her and eat some good grub.

How are my Weight Warriors?? I am not going to hit my Feb goal but I am ok with it. My Sis in Law reminded me of how much I have lost and more importantly, how long I have kept it off. I am not giving up on my goal of 142, but I feel good as long as I stay under 150. This coming week I am going to focus on moving more and getting more exercise minutes in. I hope you all are doing well and keeping your eyes on the prize.

I am looking forward to Spring. I want to plant a container garden but want to find some off the beaten path containers. Looks like I will be hitting some flea markets and thrift stores. Oohhh...I will have to browse Pinterest for ideas...there goes hours of my life I will never get back!

I hope you are all having a good weekend.

Cat

Lent

I am not Catholic but I am married to one and my kids are all baptized Catholic. I try to give up something during every Lent just to "play along" with the religious die hards (that's a joke) in my house. This year I am giving up negativity and complaining. I credit my Brother with this revelation after a brief conversation we had a couple days that started with him asking "What do you have so much to complain about??". On the upside, at least he reads my blogs but his comment got to me. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer all the time. My good friend reminded me that my blog is my place to vent, but I would imagine it gets boring hearing about the downer stuff that happens in my life.

But for the next 6 weeks (Lent is 6 weeks, right?) I am going to be Patty Positive and really make an effort to not complain or be negative about the things that go on in my life. YAY me!

This is my picture of the day. I wear these three wedding bands daily, though I do take the bottom one off and put on my engagement ring when I go to work or run errands (For a long time I didn't wear my engagement ring because 1) it didn't fit and 2) I was always worried a stone would fall out or something would happen to it. But my Boss told me I should wear it because 1) Life is short and 2) He liked it enough to put a ring on it. Her words (and Beyonce), not mine. So I wear it now. It is a sapphire in the middle with diamonds around it: Think Lady Di but much smaller!).

The bottom band, the widest of the three, was given to me by my late Great Aunt (The ring was my dad's mom's wedding band) at one of my Wedding Showers when I was marrying Husband numero uno. I never thought much about the ring but the older I get, the more sentimental I get and though I don't remember my grandmother (she passed away when I was 3-ish), I like to wear it. The ring on the left is my wedding band and the ring on the right is a white gold wedding band Husband gave me on our 10 year anniversary. I also like to think it represents my three kids. But my Boss calls it the wedding bands of past, present, and future. As in: I all ready have wedding band three in case there is a Husband number three.

My boss think's she's funny.

Just a couple small things to share:

*If you start putting away 10 bucks every Friday from now until Nov 30, you will have $410 to spend on Christmas. Cash, no credit cards needed.

*I have gone hard ass with keeping white foods away from Youngest and guess what? Two good days in a row. I have also added iron to his vitamins and Zinc. Hoping to get some chewable magnesium tablets ordered by the end of the week. We have been eating mostly protein, fruits and veggies. I have cut out bread and have noticed a HUGE improvement in my skin. I am working on getting the family on board and some of the dietary changes can help Middle child with his anxiety. He was all for it.  It takes some planning to not eat pizza and mac and cheese for every meal, but I can tell the kids feel better eating less processed foods. Husband even lost some weight!!

Speaking of,
How are my Weight Warriors?? I am down a little bit and feel like I am in a groove again. Got a HUGE walk in this afternoon and will be walking with my co-worker several days after work. I definitely feel like I can stick to my clean eating when I don't make rice or potatoes for Husband. Lately he has gotten into the habit of saying "I will eat what you are having". That is a huge relief. The kids even ate steak yesterday and liked it! Youngest has been craving carbs but I have been trying to keep them out of sight. I think he can do them paired with high protein, but I don't want him to know about that yet. Tonight he ate cheese pizza with Flaxseeds (this in addition to the iron and zinc!) all over the top and two whole chicken breasts. He said he felt great and he drank his water with the Zinc in it. My kids are definitely the kids that "if you put it out, they will eat it". I have made it my job every afternoon to turn off Foodnetwork, put on HGTV, and prepare snacks for the kids.

I think I have lost weight just not having Foodtv on all the time. So we are heading in a good direction.

This was longer than I wanted but I wanted to share the good things that are happening. Two more days left in the week and we can relax!

Thank you all for reading.

Cat

Totem Poles

I think Totem Poles are really cool. They tell a story of a people and how they live. And someone took the time to carve them out of wood.

We met this fella on our Mohican trip

Pretty cool as far as I am concerned.

Have a good night. Ash Wednesday tomorrow for all my Catholic friends and family. Yay.

Cat

Our trip to the Farm

It seems like a Spring tradition in our family to head north about and hour and a half and go to Malabar Farm. This is a real working farm, completely with all the farm animals, and Bogey and Bacall were married at the Farm's Main House. I think that's pretty cool. Primarily because this place is in the middle of nowhere, how did movie stars hear about it??

Here are some pics of our adventure today.

This is he Main House of the Farm house. It goes on for a bit off to the right. Very cute and charming.

When we came around the corner of the chicken/turkey coop, we scared the turkey's so much that they all started gobbling at once. That in turn scared the boys, which just made me laugh harder. The cluster of  feathers in the back are a bunch of really pretty chickens. The rooster was crowing and that was the first time the boys heard one.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Cows. To me, they are like big, slow dogs. I could look at them all day. And this guy in the front was happy to look back.

This gal came right up to me and after sniffing my camera, posed for a profile picture. Such sweet animals. I have a thing for ducks, too, but there weren't any there for me to take a picture of. And please don't let my Mom know I have a thing for cows and ducks, I will get boxes of cow and duck stuff in the mail. And I really don't need that.

Lastly

DAM!!!!

We went over to Mohican Park and we always take the kids to see the Dam because they think it's fun to say Dam and not get in trouble. We are simple folk.

I hope you had a great day!!

Cat

Christmas

Yes I know Christmas has long past, but I have kept out this little ornament because it makes me happy.

It is a not so good pic of it (ok, maybe photography isn't my thing), but it is a cherry red bell with a simple silver top and silver string. I keep moving it from room to room as if to my surprise myself with it being there.

A reminder that simple things can bring joy and be beautiful.

Enjoy your day off tomorrow if you are off. I need to think of something for us to do, a road trip perhaps...

Have a good one!

Cat

Trying something different

Hi gang!
I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Despite a rocky week, yet again, with Youngest, we had a great couple days of celebrating Husband's birthday. His mom came and stayed for a couple days and we all really enjoyed the visit. Nice to spend time with Nanny and for the kids to see her more, too.

I want a new camera. I have two that are fine but I really want one that has a kick butt zoom but Husband doesn't think this expense is necessary. And he's right, it's not. HOWEVER, I am going to post a picture every day to see if I really enjoy photography as much as I think I do. After a few weeks, if I am really into it, I will spend the cash on a new camera and forget about asking for anything else the rest of the year. Boo. That sucks.

Speaking of sucking, Middle child lost their last basketball game today by ONE point. This was their season: wins and losses defined by 1. They all cried at the end of this one and I was almost in tears, too. They weren't so sad about their loss but that the season is over and they won't see each other any more. I really liked the kids and parents of his team and will be sad to not see them every Sat, too. It was a really exciting season and was glad to see them end it with a 9 wins 3 losses record. Such good kids, I wish them the best.

Ok, so back to my camera. I will post a pic every day. Most of the time I will tell you what it is, some of the time I will ask you what the heck I do with it, and some I will just make you guess what it is. My mom sent Husband a box for his bday so there are all kinds of things I don't know what to do with in there!

Here's today's pic

One is yellow the other is orange. What do I do with these?They are made out of silicone.

I hope my Weight Warriors are doing well. I am at 147.5 and was happy not to gain while Mom in law was here. I made Husband a Triple Fudge cake with melted peanut butter in the middle and on top (oh and peanut butter chips in the batter). I am not a cake person but it was darn good. Good enough that Middle child wants  it for his bday next month. I watched a lot less Food tv while she was here and I think it kept the weight off. Need to get back to reading and working out.

Have a great rest of your weekend. Will post pics every day in an effort to "earn" my new camera!!

Rock on,
Cat

Husband's Birthday

Tomorrow is Husband's smahcakughmdyy birthday (I will not reveal his age..unless there is money involved). I am copying off Ree Drummond's blog about thing's she loves (it was a Valentine's Blog) and using it for/about my Husband on his birthday. Her list of things she loves was pretty long, I will try to keep mine a little shorter.

To my Husband, some of the things I love about you:

*Your pretty blue eyes

*The Grinder

*Your ability to keep the Title of Block Champion of wrestling the 4-5 year old age group in our old hood.

*You will take Daughter anywhere, anytime, even if there is 3 feet of snow involved.

*You comfort me when I am a sobbing mess.

*Your ability to help the neighbor's suicidal raccoon.

*That though you say you don't like animals, let me keep a menagerie of them in our house. And you help me build a fortress around the baby bunnies outside last spring. We lost that fight but at least we tried.

*You drive a car that is 15 years old and only rarely complain about it.

*You love what I cook, even when it sucks. And that you say "Thank you for dinner" every night.

*You have fought for our Country and continue to do what is right to keep us free and safe.

If you have never had the pleasure of meeting my Husband, you really should make the time to meet him. He will literally do anything for anyone, give the shirt, shoes, belt off his back to help someone. He sees the good in everyone and believes everyone deserves a chance, maybe two, in this lifetime. He will drive around when the weather is bad in the hopes he can help someone out. Seriously, who does that?

My Husband does.

I wish you the best birthday ever and I am soo thankful to have you in my life. Your kids and I love you like no one else can and we are so happy to celebrate another birthday with you!

Big Smoochie Lovin,
Cat

Happy Valentine's/ Tuesday to you!!

Whether you got some of these:

 Or one of these:

Or even one of these plastic gems:

I hope you had a great day today. Many people love you, plastic heart ring or not.

With that said, I feel like since I started my February weight crusade, Life has done nothing but crap on me. It is like Life was thinking "Oh yeah? This is the month you are going to get yourself together and lose the weight? HA. Not this month sister". But for all the stupid stuff I have been dealing with the last two weeks, I have some friends that are dealing with far worse. Like serious stuff. I have taken a lot of time away from what I need to do for me to get fit in order to help them. But I do that intentionally. Sometimes it is easier for me to deal with my crap when I am helping someone with their crap. Makes me feel like my crap is more manageable when dealing with really heavy issues. This takes it's toll on me, emotionally, but I am hoping it will help me "snap" things back into place and get back to where I need to be with eating and working out. I have not given up on either, it has just taken a backseat. Hopefully it will be riding shot gun again soon.

Have a great Wednesday and let's have a great rest of the week!!

Cat

The week of The Lost

Last week sucked. Daughter lost a $30 library book that is checked out in my name, Middle child lost his phone and house key, and after a frustrating and wasted trip to Youngest's school, we did find his library book. In his classroom, in the bin marked "return to library".

By Friday, I was over all the people in my house and not only did not want to talk to them, but I didn't want to blog about it either. I was so sick of the drama and didn't want to take up anyone else's time with it. I was reduced to a puddle just about every night last week and I was done with it.

I am hoping this week goes better. I have Valentine's Day and Husband's birthday to look forward to and I am trying to move past how much my kids annoy me sometimes.

Weight Warriors
How are we doing? I weighed in Sat morning at 148lbs. I got a good workout in today and am feeling more positive about weight related things. I am not happy with Husband who continually ignores my No Fast Food in February mantra, but I am proud of Middle Child for not giving in. The possibility of a new Xbox game is more enticing to him than a Timbit. The rest of my family is failing. Again, trying to get over it.

Let's have a great week. Make sure those you love know it. Not just on Valentines Day but every day. Life is short. Embrace those around you.

Cat

For my Weight Warriors

Hey gang,
How has your February been so far? I weighed in this morning at 149.5. I keep bouncing back and forth between that and 148.5. It is frustrating and I am wondering a couple things:

1) Is my working out at least 30 minutes a day hurting me instead of helping? I am not putting my all into these workouts because my legs are tired from doing something every day. Maybe it is better to do 40 minutes 4-5 times a week than doing 30 minutes every day?

2) I cannot keep my sodium levels below 2000 mg. Did you know that egg whites have sodium in them? I sure didn't! This is steering me back towards more of the Paleo diet. I am going to try to eliminate one processed food item (I have been big on real bacon bits and feta cheese the last two weeks) every couple days and see if I notice a difference. I know going back to protein and veggies will help with the sodium issues.

3)It is really easy to want to give up and I do have those moments of "ah..screw it". But I am determined to get the weight off so I am going to need to switch things up. Do you have any workout ideas or foods that help you lose the weight?

I am off to Youngest's school to look for the elusive missing library book. Wish me luck!

Cat

Unacceptable Valentine's gifts

Husband wondered out loud this morning what to get me for Valentine's Day. This is actually a no brainer occasion because I don't like chocolate so it is a card an heart balloon for me.

But it did make me think about things that I would not want to receive on Valentine's Day. Husband helped me compile the list as I am feeling very brain dead today. And also note, these are things that Me, a 42 year old mom and wife would not want to get. You may want some of these things and that is perfectly ok. No judging here.

* Any perfume that does not come in smaller than a Liter bottle

*Anything from Vermont Teddy Bear. They have a 4 1/2 foot tall teddy bear now to "keep you company when your man isn't home". Ok, I have three little people in my house that are all over 4 1/2 feet tall that keep me company when my man isn't home, it costs $100, and I am FORTY TWO years old. No more stuffed animals for me.

*Gym membership

*Shoes that can make my butt look better (I all ready have a pair and my butt still looks the same)

*A new vacuum cleaner 

*A tattoo of my loved ones face anywhere on my body. Or a tattoo of his name, that's the KISS of death in a relationship.

*Cold cuts. Daughter thought that would be a lousy Valentine's gift and I concur.

I am sure you all have some good ones you can think of and I would love to hear them.

A note about the heart balloon: Husband gives it to me and I happily give it to Youngest as he has a real love affair going on with balloons. It makes him feel special and isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about?

Almost half way thru the week. Yay!!

Cat

Weekend Update

Hi gang!
 Most of your are watching the Super Bowl, as I am, and it is half time: perfect time to bang out a blog!! I am hoping the Giants win, though Lunch Lady Steve, who I work with, knows Nate Solder: Offensive something, #77 on Pats, he is a rookie and does really well. So I kind of want him to win a Super Bowl in his rookie year, but I want Giants to win more.

Family Game Night Friday night went really well. It was warmer than usual here so all the neighborhood kids went outside for a game of Flashlight tag. I made it my role to sneak outside and hide in the dark and scare the kids as they ran by. ahh...good times. Then we had a dart gun fight with Daughter and her friend, followed by a really good game of

.

Daughter and her friend kicked our butts. Though some of the words were questionable:

Me: I don't think "assphyizzle" is a word.

Daughter: Sure it is.

Me: Use it in a sentence.

Daughter: Ok. "get your hands off my assphyizzle".

Hmmm...not sure what to do with that so we let them have it.

We all went to Middle child's basketball game Sat morning. They lost by one point and the basket the other team's kid made was ESPN worthy. I have NEVER seen a 4th grader make a shot like that. His mom was right in front of us, and despite looking like someone from Mob Wives, I told her what a great shot he made. She had tears in her eyes. Good to know someone gets as excited over their games as I do. And note to other parents: please be a good sport. Your kids are watching how you react.

(Side note: I keep getting texts from people about Madonna's  Half Time performance: my dad wants to know "what's wrong with her?", my other friends are telling me how boring, poorly choreographed and lip syncy she is. Glad I am on the computer!!)

The rest of Saturday was napping and getting in my 30 minutes of aerobics. I have been 5 for 5 so far and have added 50 sit ups, every day, to the mix. Took some of the kids to the library and got to catch up on my smut mags, as well as check out some new books.

Today was pretty normal: laundry, long walk, some reading, a trip to Target. Kids have been great all weekend and over all, it has been a really great weekend. Good to have those after a couple crappy weeks. I have a somewhat busy week coming up but plan to manage it best I can. Daughter is at her dad's the next two weekends and Middle child's basketball games are at 9am the last two Saturday's. I am hoping to slow things down an enjoy family time like we did this weekend.

I hope you guys had a great weekend and we have a good week. Keep up the work you are doing on being healthy. I can't, in good conscience, post a Weight Warriors post as I have had chips, wings and beer tonight. But I can tell my daily 30 of cardio is paying off. I feel smaller, more energetic, and mentally sound. I have been doing weights, too, and have amped that up a bit. Let's have a great week and send me a note on how you are doing. 

Thank you all for reading. I know some of these posts are about as lackluster as Madonna's performance tonight, but sometimes the life of a mom and wife isn't that spectacular!!

Good eating and living to you and yours!!

Cat

I never wanted kids

Growing up, I never babysat because I didn't like kids. More specifically, I was afraid of other people's kids. I tried to babysit once and ended up calling my Mom to come help me because the kids wouldn't go to bed (fast forward 35 years and I still can't get MY kids to bed). If you would have told me, when I was in high school, that I would have three kids, I would have laughed you right out of the hallway.

I wish that before having my adorable offspring, someone would have sat me down and told me what my life would be like. Of course my Mom gave me the "it's hard work, and life's not fair" speech about mothering but there were some really important things left out of that speech. Like:

You will clean poop out of places you never knew poop could get into
Someone will pee in your new snow boots
You will at times be jealous that your Daughter is pretty and smart
You will have a child that will test every ounce of your resolve every single day
You will go to three different grocery stores in one day to get the best price on groceries
You will drive a mini van and actually like it
You will be soo jealous of people that don't have kids and the freedom they have
You will pop a processed chicken nugget into your mouth without thinking twice
You will sit at endless parent/teacher conferences/games/practices/ER visits
You will go to war with your child's school over a "supposed" lost library book
You will tell your kids math isn't that important just to get out of helping them when you really don't understand it yourself
You will wish for and hate summer break all at the same time
You will be thrown up on more times than you can count
No one will care that you are an excellent cook
You will cry at every single on of their birthday's because you don't want them getting older
Someone will pee in a peanut can on a trip, every time
You will think that everyone around you has their crap together better than you do
You will be jealous of the mom with 4 kids who has a banging body
Your husband will hate to see you cry
Laundry and dishes become a never ending Olympic sport
There are times you will feel unloved, unappreciated, unshowered, unable to make a good decision
Sometimes you will want to runaway

Had I know all this and more, I would have taken a really hard look at what lays ahead of me for the next many decades. Maybe would have thought about just having two and not three.

But then I would have missed out on being the person these little people have made me. I spend so much time trying to teach them things that it is me that has learned the most over the last 14 years. I would not be able to empathize with other parent's of kids with issues, I would not be so compassionate about education and making sure all of my kids educational needs are met, I would not be as patient as I am today, and I would not know so much about Hot Wheels/Dinosaurs/Twilight Series/Taylor Swift/Xbox, etc.

Parenting is hard and being a kid is hard sometimes, too. Take some time to have some fun with your kids this weekend. It will make everyone happy and you will be glad that you had them.

Party on peeps!!
Cat

Pick up the phone

In this age of texting and emailing, we forget how to pick up the phone and actually talk to someone. I called my sister in law last night, at her request, just to chat. I cannot remember the last time I called anyone just to chat. But it was a great conversation, good to catch up on each other's lives, and it was nice to actually hear the LOL. Texting and emailing can't take the place of the sound of a friend's voice. So pick up the phone next time you want to share some news, you will make someone's day.

Daughter is having a friend spend the night Friday night: the same Friday night we decided to reinstate Family Game night. This will include a dance party, board game, and perhaps a Wii Bowling Tourney. We used to do this when the kids were smaller and for some unknown reason, got away from it. But I am excited it is back and if anyone around here has the Wii Dance Party, I would love to borrow it. Though the sight of me and Husband busting a move may be enough for Daughter's friend to never want to come back! But I will take that chance.

Weight Warriors:
I have a February challenge for you: I challenge you to get in 140-210 cardio minutes a week. You can do it in any increment you want, any exercise you want, but I want you to try to get at least 20 minutes in everyday this month. If it's walking your dog 10 minutes in the morning and 10 in the evening, that's great. I do the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds dvd's and they are basic: walking in place, side steps, kicking, knee lifts, and kickbacks (lifting your heel behind your leg). I have done these dvd's long enough that I don't even have to watch them to know the moves and you can often find me watching tv and doing the moves for 20-30 minutes. I figure if I am going to dedicate a half hour to watch Parks and Rec, I can darn well walk in place. I would rather do that than get on the dreadmill, though I still do that, too. We need to make moving part of our lives, it has to become priority and with that it will become second nature.

Even though the Groundhog saw his shadow and we have 6 more weeks of winter (um...we haven't had winter yet here), it is only about 3 or so months until the pools will be opening up and we need to dig out that swimsuit. Think about that while you are working out!!

Have a great Thursday every one!!

Cat

Blew a fuse

I had a crappy day yesterday. Crappy day at work (this is nearly impossible to do but managed it anyway), crappy day with two out of the three kids, ate crappy, felt crappy.

Woke up this morning with the leftover crappy attitude. As I was rushing to make Husband's breakfast, our microwave stopped, and all the lights in the back of the house went off.

I had blown a fuse.

 Ironic, yes?

I looked around and realized I had too many things working at once, turned some things off, and went down to reset the fuse.

This is a good reminder that many things working at once does not mean they are working well together. Reminds me to slow things down, focus on the important things, do what is important to me.

My mood is lighter because of a blown fuse. Who knew??

Weight Warriors
I am much better at giving advice than taking my own. But it is a new month and it is crunch time. We have 4 weeks to hit our goals and I know we (me, included) can do it if we slow down and focus on what we need to do. No more blown fuses.

Have a great Wednesday everyone. We are close to the weekend again!!

Cat