Archive for the ‘Personal Blogs’ Category

Moms and Dads… are you starting to see that restlessness, moodiness, and overall change in the attitudes of your children?  As a getting-to-be-seasoned parent, I am convinced that this has to do with the fact that the beginning of the school year is happening just right around the corner.  For most kids in our area, school starts next week. 

I have a theory that internally, they are excited, yet anxious, about the change in their schedules and social status.  Therefore, they begin to act out.  I see the same behavior out of my twins at the end of a school year and the beginning of a school year.  And, I must add, they drive me crazy the entire time!  The pouting, challenging, mouthiness, and overall moodiness… it’s for the birds.  SCHOOL… just start!

Speaking of which, who is actually willing to wage the school supply wars at Staples the week that school starts and the kids come home with this unbelievable list of things that they “have to have” because the teachers require it?  I think that if the teachers REQUIRE IT, then they should supply it.  I get the girls as prepared as possible mid-summer and avoid the Staples Stampede, but something inside myself just tells me that I’ll end up there next week despite my great desire not to. 

How are y’all coming along with your little ones with school starting?  Are they being “little darlings,” or are they in that “back to school funk” like mine? 

I know most moms are just happy to see their little ducklings leave the house and give them a few more hours of peace and quiet!

Stay cool!

Books I Am STILL Currently Reading

Current Book Giveaway
  

Broken: A Love Story by Lisa Jones.  Three copies are up for grabs! See this post for more information! Rated 9.5 by ANM.

Also, you have only a couple more days to enter the giveaway for WAXED by Robert Rave.  Here is the review and contest link. 

Books that Have Come In…

I have been working, coaching soccer, and keeping really busy with the twins over the past week or so.  I hope that you all are doing well and my best wishes for you all to have a wonderful week!

With one twin off at the movies, I had the other one all to myself yesterday.  We went to the bead store to get some earring clasps to make new jewelry.  Some regular readers may recall that the twins recently had their ears pierced in May.  They want to branch out and wear new earrings.   As I have so many supplies at home, all we needed were a few extras to make some new earrings for the twins.

Gratitious earrings shot...

As you can see, everything from lollipop earrings to ones with angel wings.  Nicole’s creative juices were flowing  (and, yes, Mom helped).  Here are my two pairs (one didn’t photograph well)…

For Mom...

I only had time to make the two pairs for myself.

As I had earlier mentioned, Nicole and I were making earrings while Deanna was at the movies.    We were listening to music and I started to sing. Nicole looks at me and says, “It’s too bad that Dad ruined your life.” 

“What?”

“Well, you could’ve been so much more.  You could’ve followed your dreams and been a singer and an actress,” she answered.

“But, then I wouldn’t have you.”

“What if you could go back and have that opportunity and have 18 billion dollars?” she pressed.

“Nope,” I replied, “then I still wouldn’t have you and to me you are worth more than 18 billion dollars.”

“I am???”

“Yes.”

“But, you were so young and pretty and talented… you could have had it all!” she continued.

“Like I said, I wouldn’t trade my life, because I wouldn’t have you.”

“Yeah,” she answered in a coy and devilish manner, “but, you wouldn’t have Deanna… and that wouldn’t be so bad at all!”

She’s always making cracks about her sister; that was a good one.

Here is one of my “head shots” from when I was singing/dancing/etc:

I certainly do love to sing, but I know in my heart that I was meant to be their mama more than anything else on the face of this planet.  As much as I love to be alone, be a work-a-holic, hide with my nose in a book (or in a blog), I am starting to realize that it is my time shared with them that will be my biggest and greatest memories at the end of my life…  even the day when we grabbed a slice & a coke and crafted earrings all afternoon singing to Tori Amos.    It is true that I was a performing arts major in college and that being a successful singer/dancer/actress would have been an interesting career.  But, I think God had the better plan for me in store!

So… if you could go back, would you do things differently?

Books I Am Still Currently Reading

Current Book Giveaway
  

Broken: A Love Story by Lisa Jones
 

Three copies are up for grabs! See this post for more information! Rated 9.5 by ANM!

OH…. and, keep your eyes peeled for a giveaway of WAXED.  The post is tomorrow.

The Rest

Still underwater at my new job.  I can’t finish any books, I just keep starting new ones.  EEK!  I nearly ran a red light.  The garden looks well.  My adult on-set acne is so incredibly awful that I want to plunge my face in a vat of acid.  OH!  But, I did get rid of one fishtank and consolidated.  This means only 2 fish tanks.  I’m going to have to shop IKEA and see about putting a bookshelf in its place.

HOW are y’all doing?  Have you entered for either of the two above contests?  I LOVED Broken! 

I hope you’re managing the heat, enjoying  your vacations, and loving your summer!

 That’s all folks!

Best wishes for you all to have a wonderful week!

I lie there glaring, staring, fuming… somthing gross smudged on the wall.  What is that? 

There are 8 tufts of Oliver’s cat fur about the floor of the house.  8.  I counted them.  8.

The handles on the refrigerator door are sticky… why don’t the twins wash their hands more when they are cooking?

The dog scratched another hole in the window screen AGAIN!

There is an empty soda can on the couch.

My room is not picked up.

There is a pile of clean clothes that have to be put away.

The carpet needs shampoo’ing. 

The garage is a nuclear disaster zone.

I’m overwhelmed.

This disaster zone is my house.  And, as I look around I also see two teenagers laying down watching television, one lazy yellow dog, and three sleeping cats.  They could CARE LESS what the house looks like.  Dust or no dust, the house is fine.  I go to my sister’s house and feel completely incompetent.  Her house is spotless.  And, she has 2 dogs, 2 cats, 3 kids and a husband.  She works more hours than me.  It’s like she is magical.

I am feeling so disappointed in myself.  I don’t know why, but I have no desire to get up and start cleaning the garage.  I know that I should, but I don’t want to.  I’d rather read… or do work from the office… or blog… or watch tv.  I don’t want to clean it.  I want a magical fairy to come and clean it all for me. 

Oh.

If only I were rich.  Or, like my sister, able to do it all.  How do some women do it all? 

Well, I was wondering this Sunday… how important is it to have a clean house?  On a scale of 1-10, how important is it to you? 

Give me your thoughts in the the voting booth below.

Books I Am Still Currently Reading

Current Book Giveaway
  

Broken: A Love Story by Lisa Jones
 

Three copies are up for grabs! See this post for more information! Rated 9.5 by ANM!

OH…. and, keep your eyes peeled for a giveaway of WAXED.  The post is tomorrow.

The Rest

The new job is keeping me busy  I’m behind on all of my television and movie gossip.  But, I love my new boss and that’s super cool.  I’m a tad overwhelmed with the amount of work that we need to get done in a short amount of time and am hopeful that I can do it… and not let them down!

Other than that… we had our first soccer meeting and I was a total embarressment to my children when I gave my little speech.  We start pactices next week. 

I’m peeling from my sunburn and still haven’t dated in a millennium!

That’s all folks!

Best wishes for you all to have a wonderful week!

We talk about telling white lies, to spare the feelings of others.  Let me share with you that I am most definitely saying those little white lies over the past two days by saying that I am enjoying my Intermediate Soccer Coach Training.  Burnt to a pulp and 11 hours later, I am dreaming of any plausible white lie that I can tell to get out of tomorrow’s 4 hour final hours of classes for the accreditation.  But, I know that it will just catch up with me in the end and I’ll have to suffer the consequences sooner or later.  So, I won’t lie and I’ll go.

We all try not to tell  those nasty little white lies (and, BTW… why are they called “white” when they are a tad dirty?) and yet many of us do…  Some think nothing of it, others they seem  to bother and stick with.  It just eats them up.

I’ve told my share, that’s for sure.  I have also came clean on many of them.  To my surprise, most of the time that I come clean, it didn’t really bother the person at all.  For example, I exchanged my sister’s Christmas gift from jammies to a duvet cover.  She didn’t seem to mind at all.  I felt so much better after I told her.  And, what about telling our children “those little lies” to protect them?    As a mother, I have to tell them those little lies about my past…right?  I mean, God forbid they learn EVERYTHING that I did, right? 

So where is the dividing line?  Where do the little white lies or lies via ommission go from being harmless to harmful?  Is it okay to say that you had a flat tire when you are late for work, but not acceptable to say “Oh, no… don’t worry about it” when you really wanted to say, “damn, that really hurt me?”  If you are religious, do you believe that God views all the lies as equal?  If so, which ones do you actually take the time to repent for?  All of them?  What if I can’t remember them all?

I guess tonight I have to say my prayers for forgiveness for my little white lies today.   They most likely hurt nobody, but I should try to get in the habit of not saying them at all. 

How do y’all handle this topic… or sunburns?  ~

Books I Read This Week

For the TLC Book Tour

Books I Am Currently Reading
 

Current Book Giveaway
  

Broken: A Love Story by Lisa Jones
 

Three copies are up for grabs! See this post for more information! Rated 9.5 by ANM!
 

TV Mania
 

Well, with The Bachelorette over, I’m going to have eyes peeled to Bachelor Pad. I’m hoping for Kent in SYTYCD.   Whale Wars has me hooked.  I’ve fallen away from America’s Got Talent and must catch up.  BUT, Jersey Shore 2 is on and the finale of The Real Housewives has been my guilty pleasure watching of the week.  I’m sooo bad!   

The Rest
 

I got a brand new job and I couldn’t be more thrilled.  This means that I won’t be underwater financially anymore (thank The LORD!)  The twins were away at girl scout camp this past week, so it will be nice to have them back tomorrow.  But, it has been fun sending them those bunk notes!  

Other than that… we’re just preparing for the upcoming soccer season in which I will be the Asst. Coach for the twins’ team.  So, there will be a’plenty o’ mommy-braggy posts about that coming up.

Best wishes for you all to have a wonderful week!

Much to the surprise of others, my much-beloved 3-year old Basset Hound, Claire, is really quite the “bad” dog. Why? She still acts like a pup because we haven’t taken the time to train her like a big girl. Tori, her older sister, is very well trained and extremely well mannered in the house. Why? Because we took the time to train her. For the last month, we’ve been training Claire how to behave off-leash inside the house. Other than a once-a-day cat chase, 2 attempted trash-bin break-ins, and a once-a-night attempt to sleep on the back-room couch, she’s actually doing quite well. She is a people dog and likes to follow one of us around at all times. We just haven’t trusted the girl enough because of her immediate Indy-500 Lap that she does around the house (3 times to be exact) once we let her in <picture cats jumping up onto furniture in every direction>. But, once the Indy-500 Independence Lap is done, and the 3 aforementioned bad habits, she’s rather good. So… we decided to keep her off leash and continue to train her.
 

This leads me to the twins. Why is there no “Big Girl Training Guide” for them? It appears to be trial by fire for one of my girls and the other… well, just a limit pusher with me. No, they don’t do laps around the house, but they certainly don’t seem to naturally adapt to big-girl ways. So… is it boot camp, soft love, or a mix of both? For a long time, I blamed myself for not being a good enough mother to them, much like I would blame a poorly behaved dog’s owner. However, I can’t seem to help my circumstances of being a single mom who HAS TO work to support them. Oh, if only there was such thing as a professional stay-at-home blogger that made enough money to support my household. And, perhaps there are those lucky chosen ones. However, after two years, my blog doesn’t have the type of traffic to bring in the advertisers who would support writing as a full-time career. I must work outside the home. I have to trust my girls to make the right decisions. But, they need that guidance and training to make better decisions and to act like ladies <as opposed to mindless, hormone-crazed goofballs>. Lastly, I must tell you that if I hear any of the following words out of their mouths again in the next 12 months, a soaking wet NERF ball will meet with their body:
 

“Whatever!”
 

“Yeah-Yeah-Yeah!”
 

“Make Me!”
 

“It’s her fault!”
 

“I don’t care what you say, I’m going anyway.”
 

“Brat!” <one saying about the other>
 

My big girl training is much more complex. I don’t do a very good job taking care of myself. Everything and everyone else seems to come first. I don’t eat well, do not exercise well, and am not very nice to myself on most days. I DO the Indy-500 laps, commenting about how filthy the house is and cleaning it up the entire time. I grumble and resent my financial situation often, instead of being thankful for the fact that I am employed. I don’t exercise enough although I TOTALLY need to. The fat around my middle is expanding at an exponential rate. I finally quit smoking, but now find that I am sneaking them when I am stressed <and, I dream of a martini to accompany it>. I haven’t dated in 4 years and I did try eHarmony.com and Chemistry.com. No takers. Big Girl Training is complex with me because I know what to do, but am often unwilling to do it. That’s why it’s complex. I believe that I need to focus on all the things I learned and start doing them and not thinking about doing them.
 

Overall, Big Girl Training is always something that never goes out of style…. Whether it be “Big Girl Panties,” “Big Girl Shoes,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” or “Now, be a Big Girl,” we all need to read the guide and get the training.
 

I only have one question.
 

Why don’t boys have to?
 

Books I Read This Week
 

Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy & Disorderly Life
 

Author: Suzanne Beecher
 

Website: www.DearReader.com
 

Pages: 256 Hardcover
 

Publisher: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster
 

Type: Memoir with Recipes
 

Publish Date: June 1, 2010
 

Publisher’s Summary:
 

“Suzanne Beecher’s happy, loving voice has brought more than 350,000 people to her online book club at DearReader.com, where her daily column offers her candid, thought-provoking reflections on life, inspiring countless readers to look at their “ordinary” lives in a new way. By turns funny and poignant, Suzanne is the reassuring friend across the kitchen table with a refreshing, jaunty attitude about life, even in the face of whatever difficulties it may bring.
 

Suzanne has had her own share of troubles to overcome. Left home alone at an early age, she struggled with difficult and distant parents, dealt with heartbreak, became a hard-working single mom, and overcame two substance addictions and a physical impairment. But along the way, she found comfort in baking and sharing food with her friends and family. She learned to take the good with the bad, and her life is now inspiring proof that faith and persistence are the keys to success.”
 

ANM’s Thoughts:
 

There were some parts of this book that I enjoyed more than others. I can say the same thing for the recipes that I encountered along the way. Some sounded delicious and some I entirely skipped over. It’s true to say that she did encounter obstacles in finding happiness. She was one of the lucky ones who married a man who absolutely adores and cherishes her. Suzanne gets that “happily ever after” story for this lifetime and she deserves it.
 

I enjoyed her quirky, fun voice in telling her tale. I felt for her when she shared about some of her parental issues. Overall, where I started to lose my connection with the author was about ¾ of the way through the book. It seemed that the story seemed to jump around a bit for me a while before that and during this time. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it, it’s just to mention that she lost my attention.
 

She’s a delightful gal… give the book a shot. It just might be the one for you.
 

Books I Am Currently Reading
 

Current Book Giveaway
  

Broken: A Love Story by Lisa Jones
 

Three copies are up for grabs! See this post for more information! Rated 9.5 by ANM!
 

TV Mania
 

This has got to be the worst season of The Bachelorette EVER! Yet, I’m dying to see who she picked… if either of them. You’ve got to hand it to the producers; they’ve actually done a decent job of keeping blogging sources quiet on this one.
 

Does anybody have any favorites on America’s Got Talent so far? 

The Rest
 

Next week, I’m working and then have soccer coach camp. So… I will not be writing my typical Sunday Salon post and most likely will be missing my weekly book review. Thanks for stopping by today. I’ve been lurking about the blogosphere reading your blogs on my lunch hour at work, but haven’t been leaving messages. Your blogs are looking great and it’s great to hear about what you’re up to. Alyce: I love the pics of the boys! Kathy: Your trip pics were cool. Anyway, stay “cool” in this heat and have a great week!