Thanks For.....

I'm a little late, but you have to forgive me. Between Thanksgiving, and making sure everyone came home from NYC in one piece, I'm surprised I remember my name right now!

It's that time of year again folks!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and between the frantic cleaning, cooking, homework, calgon take me away craziness that always ensues, its time to take a minute to count our blessings, and look at what we are thankful for!

I am thankful for the permanent marker drawings on the wall. (Oh yes, he did!) It means I have a three year old, when others struggle for that very thing. (It also means that #2 is not afraid of me and thinks he can just be cute and cuddly and snuggly and all will be forgiven.....Ok, I'm a sucker for a bear hug!)

I am thankful for my conversations about girls, and school, and swim practices. It means #1 trusts me enough to talk to me about what is going on in his life. (Although I have to admit, conversations about girls is making me go grey well before my time!)

I am thankful for my love, my heart, my everything. It means that after almost fourteen years, he is still my all, and even in our worst moments, we've stuck it out and made it out the other side. (Although I swear, if you dutch oven me one more time..........)

I am thankful for the mess in my house. It means this is a home, and we live here. It means we play, and laugh, and run and jump, and spend time together.

I am thankful for my family squabbles. It means my family is still here to squabble with.

I am thankful for the taxes I pay. It means I am employed, and can provide for my family.

I am thankful for the gazillion pounds I will gain this holiday season. It means that we can afford food. (Please god not a gazillion!)

I am thankful for my homework. It means I am getting an education, and that five weeks from today, I will graduate!

I am thankful for the knock down drag out fights  over the last piece of pumpkin pie with my friends. It's the friends part I'm thankful for, but if you don't put down that pie, I'll hurt you!

I am thankful for the new memories that will be created, and the memories that have already been.

I am thankful for the tears I have shed, and the smiles that have seen the light of day. I am thankful for bed time stories, and "Ah, he pooped on me!" I am thankful for bruised knees, and butterfly kisses; for a lifetime of anniversaries, and a past mixed with mistakes. It means I have lived. It means I am alive, and full of family, and love, and hopes and dreams.

What are you thankful for this year?

Here We Go!

T Minus four days until we leave for New York City!

We are surprising #1 with a weekend in the city for his thirteenth birthday. (I am frantically trying to ignore that my first born, beautiful baby boy is flat out going to be a teenager. I am going to weep, and then bury my head in a tub of chocolate cookie dough ice cream. But since that's probably a million WW points, I guess I'll just have to bury my head in some veggie sticks. SOB!)

I am totally excited!! I have never been to NYC before. I am salivating over all the possibilities, The Rock, Tiffany's, Central Park, Natural Museum of History, Tiffany's, Serendipity, Tiffany's, FAO Schwartz, Times Square, Tiffany's....do I sense a theme here? (Theoretically, I hope I can convince #1 that he must go see the 8th wonder of the world, and all of it's sparkly splendor, but somehow I don't see that happening.) Have you ever been to NYC? Any places I can't miss? Any places I should cross off my list? We have a day and a half in the city, so it's not tons of time, but we are trying to make the most of the time we have.

NYC isn't completely up and running, but it's getting there. If I didn't know better, I would have said Mother Nature was having a good laugh at my expense, since Sandy was born the day after I booked the hotel.

It has taken all of my self control not to tell #1 either. I totally want to jump up and down on the couch, and go "Guess freaking what???!!!" But that will spoil the surprise. Although he may guess something when we wake him up at the crack of dawn to "go shopping," and we don't stop in one mall for eight hours. Maybe he'll sleep the whole way?

I'm nervous about #2. He's three going on thirteen, so he thinks he can do everything all on his own. He wants to walk by himself, and if no one has to hold any ones hand, then he doesn't have to either. And to top it all off, he's a darter! I never thought I would be one of those moms who puts a backpack leash on their kid, but I'm telling you I am one clothes rack peek a boo game away from buying one in all styles! I don't him to get lost, or worse... Big dudes shoulders can only take so much, and the tiny tot refuses strollers, wagons, carts..oh boy. I see a lot of meltdowns in our future, but I'm hopeful that I'm wrong. Just in case, does anyone have any distraction techniques?

Wish us luck, fun, and happy journeys!

Writer's Workshop - Let the WInter Games Begin

I can't believe that it's the eighth of November already! Where has this year gone? Any minute now, we'll be breaking out our parka's and ski boots while the smell of hot cocoa surrounds us. (Ok, I don't actually ski. It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that people actually want to spend time out in sub zero weather, for FUN! Too cold for me. I like cocoa though...)

Tis the season! Winter will soon be here, bringing with it snow, and cold, and Christmas, and holidays, and cheer. What better way to start winter off then a bucket list of all the things I want to do this season? (Can hibernate be an option?)

1. Make every Christmas candy/cookie/fudge/punch/cocoa/breakfast/dessert on Pinterest. I may gain all of the  71 lbs I just lost back, but it'd be worth it!

2. Snowball fight with the kids. (Or at least watch them snow ball fight. Anti cold and all) Dude #2 really wants to play in the snow this year. It'll be his first time, because he was too little last year. And dude #1 really wants to too, although he has never wanted to before. I am dying to see them do this! Granted, I think they are going to last a total of five minutes before they are desperate to come inside and sit on top of the heater.

3. Start elf on a shelf. I didn't do this with #1. I didn't even know about it. I know, where was I right? Pinterest teaches me so many things!

4. Go on a vacation! What better time to appreciate warm and sunny weather then when it's -42 degrees out?



5. Stop being afraid of driving in the snow. People all joke that we Buffalonians drive 90 mph on the thruway in a blizzard, while on a cellphone cooking our dinner. (I have seen that.) Sure, lots of crazy people do. Me? I'm the person on the thruway driving 5 mph, white knuckling it all the way. And I've lived here my whole life!

6. Watch "A Christmas Story" for 24 hours straight. I love that movie! "You'll shoot your eye out!" I always get outvoted when it's on TV, but I'm a gonna make it happen!

7. Learn to craft.....something. When you're stuck inside, and the kids are asleep, what else is there to do? People on Pinterest must have lots of time on their hands, they can make all sorts of nifty things out of a paperclip and an empty toilet paper tube. Maybe I can start by not gluing my arm to the floor?

8. Catch up on reading. Sure, I read all the time...law books, art books, cases, memorandums. All school stuff. My Kindle has a back log of books I am dying to sink into. When school is in session, I turn into a hermit. Thank god it's only a few more weeks!

9. Graduate! That's right folks, this December is my last month at ECC! While this is not the end of my college career, I will still be the proud owner of an AAS in Paralegal studies! Whoop Whoop!

10. Make frozen bubbles with the kids. Ok, I know I said I'm all anti-cold and all, and I am! But I don't want to miss a minute of making memories with my family. And this is super cool! Go outside on any day when it’s below 32 degrees F and blow a bubble and then catch it on the bubble wand. Wait a few moments while it freezes - it will turn into a cool crystal ball before it shatters! It's fun and sciency at the same time, what more could you ask for?



What's on your winter to do this season?

I linked up with Mama Kat, who always manages to get me to put down my school work to blog. Go check her out!

Songs That Make Us Sing Saturday - Zumba Obsessed

I have become Zumba obsessed.

Faithfully, four to five a week, I am zumba-ing my heart out. Since I am not the most coordinated person in the world, my arms don't quite keep up with my legs. So while in my head I feel like a fly girl, in reality I probably look like Napolean Dynamite drunk. That's ok though, because it is still part of why I am alot smaller then I was a year ago. And it's fun! I don't feel like I am actually exercising, and I'm slowly teahcing myself some rythm.

The best part is the music. I heart the music zumba uses. It's catchy, fun, and you can't help but shake something when you hear it. I can't understand half of anything they say, because even though I have been with my spanish speaking husband for almost fourteen years, my entire knowledge of Spanish consists of water, milk, and "Oh my god!!"

So this is my song for the day. Shakira's Waka Waka. It's fun, and dancy, and when I hear it, I remember why I am on this journey of rediscovery.

I linked up with Not Just Another Mom of Twins and Because I'm the Mommy, the two people behind Songs That Make Us Sing Saturday. Check out their blogs, and share what song makes you wanna sing!

They are not like us!

I am obsessed with knowing what stars are doing.And I'm not talking about the night time stars. I buy US Weekly and In Touch and Life&Style like they're going out of style! It's one of the few vices I have left, and I cherish it.

But after being a faithful stalker (reader! I swear I meant reader!) you start to see a trend. It's those head slapping, WTF were you thinking moments that you think to yourself, "Really?? Don't you know any better?" And then you wonder if their "people" or entourage or whatever you call them do the same things.

So to all you future celebrities, or rock stars, or reality TV stars out there, here is a list of somethings you should never ever do when you become famous.

1. Leave the house with no drawers on. You would have thought this was a duh, but it's not. You would think that with all the money celebrities have, they could afford a pair of underwear. Because let's face it. No matter how properly you try and get out of a car, that micro mini you have on is going to ride up and flash your vajay to the whole world.

2. Spend millions and millions of dollars on crap, and then complain you're bankrupt. Does anyone really need a personal psychic, and healing crystals, and 5 homes, and the head of an old dinosaur? No. Do you need to spend 3x what a car is worth, just because a sheik owned it? I don't think so. Didn't they ever hear of saving it for a rainy day? Ok, go shopping and have expensive dinners, I get that because I can be a food snob. But seriously, quit complaining when you have no money left!

3 .Get mad when people wanna bring up the bad crap you did in the past, and then trash a dressing room to show how angry you are. That's not gonna help your image any. I'm just saying.

4. Spend more time in rehab and jail then you do on your career.

5. Cheat on your wife/husband etc, and then say you have a sex addiction. Now, yes, sex addiction is a real problem. People do suffer from it. But you can't tell me that every single celeb suffers from it. Just admit, I like sowing my oats. People would still think your an ass, but at least your an honest ass.

6. Show off your size zero body 2 weeks after giving birth. Speaking from experience, the last thing I want to do after having my kids is work out, or parade around in a bikini. Don't blame it on good genes, etc, cause that's just not possible. It also makes the rest of us feel inadequate and inferior, because we're covered in baby spit up and haven't slept in thirteen days.

7. Say you had to fix a deviated septum. Either all of these Hollywood starlets were dropped face down when they were younger, or they're lying. Just say, I hated my schnoz, and I wanted a cute one that doesn't look like Pinocchio's nose!

8. Get mad at the paparazzi. First, they have a job to do to. Second, if you didn't want people to star, gawk, and follow your every move, you should've become a school teacher. 

I could think of more, but I think you get the drift!

I lost a member of Big Time Rush. Or a small child or two!

As of Saturday, I have lost 71 lbs.

That is crazy right? 71 lbs? I was carrying around 71 lbs of extra something on me! That's a member of Big Time Rush. That's a Backstreet Boy. That's almost the weight of my twelve year old!!

Fourteen years ago, I was a nice, skinny, high school senior. (What a hottie I was! I tell you, if I could go back to when I thought I was fat and I wasn't...)

Soon after, enter child #1. I gained 60lbs during my pregnancy. (Sorry no pics, I can't seem to find one. It's quite possible I burned them all lol) Fine, all I craved was McDonald's, and mac n' cheese. But still. He could have been born a teenager with all of that weight. I think I just kinda thought my skinny teenage body would just bounce back on it's own, but it doesn't work like that. And anyone who has a child knows that when they finally, finally, FINALLY go to sleep, the last thing you're doing is hitting the treadmill. Maybe in my dreams I was, but I was hitting the bed first lol!

I did lose some of the weight. But I was no where near my skinny high school self above.

And then over a couple years, I gained more back. I can bake your socks off, and of course I was gonna try everything that I baked. And I hate cooking, so sure, let's go out to dinner! And oh, let's have popcorn and M&M combo mix at 10pm at night!

Enter baby #2. When I got pregnant, I was already 25lbs heavier then I was in high school. Strangely, during this pregnancy, I craved nothing but fruit, veggies, and yogurt. But I weighed the same when #2 was born as when #1 was born, because I started out much higher with #2.

And the cycle repeated itself. Dream treadmill, baking...until one day I woke up and saw:

Was that me? Where the heck was my neck? Why did my husband not tell me I had no neck!? Why did he not tell me every time I asked him if this shirt made me look fat did he not say, yo, eat an apple?? What the heck happened????

Don't get me wrong, I knew I had gained weight. But I didn't really see myself looking like that. I thought I carried my weight well.

So I decide to change things. I wanted my skinny high school body back. I wanted to show my kids that you can be healthy, and that you can do anything that you put your mind to. I wanted to shop in a section that didn't have a plus in its title.

One year later, thru Weight Watchers and Zumba, I'm 79 lbs down, and 8 pant sizes smaller =

The hubs is 40 lbs down. Combined we've lost the equivalent of our two kids.

I'm not done yet. I keep changing my goal, because I have exceeded my original goal beyond my wildest dreams. But I did it. Weight Watcher's helped me. Zumba helped me. Not wanting to be the 600lb woman helped me. It's been a battle the whole way, because some days I just want to sit on the couch and eat Doritos. But that's how I got to my before. 

If I can do it, anyone can. And if you need a cheerleader, I'll be there! I know what it's like.

 

 

 

 

It's been ages

I'm still here, and still alive!

Winter break wasn't nearly long enough, because it was right back to school and homework and tests, ug. So no blogging time.

And then when I was done with school, I had to help #1 get ready for finals and end of his year.

Plus in the middle of all that there was a wedding anniversary, #2's birthday, and a bunch of other birthday's and parties.

And then my hubs suffered a loss in his family, so I wanted to be there for him.

But I'm back! It only took me seven months lol!