comfy*cozy*crazy

Sunday, rainy Sunday

Seems we've.spent the whole weekend in the house. It's been raining. A lot. But sometimes it's kinda nice to have an excuse not to go anywhere. So my quote for today is... The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.  ~Thomas Jefferson Here's to a great week!

How to spend a Saturday

Sleep in. Stay in bed until at least 6:00 am.

Make everyone breakfast before you get your coffee. You don't really need it, after all, you DID sleep in.

Hop in the shower while everyone is eating. If their mouths are full they can't scream your name. Hurry up, though, somebody might need a refill.

Throw on the cleanest things you have available. Nobody's asking for perfection, it's Saturday. If you have a little time, a hairbrush and some makeup would be a nice touch.

Rush the children off to all of those activities that you signed them up for to keep THEM busy.

Upon returning home try hard to ignore their cries of "I'm bored!" Hide in the bathroom if needed.

Try to wait out the chaos. Eventually they will all settle into something they find interesting. If you're lucky, it'll be something that the whole family can share, like a movie, a TV show, a meal. 

Trust me, it's worth the wait.

 

Five for Friday

1. Today I spent a sweet day with my littlest. He had no school and the two biggies did. So we snuck off all sneaky-like to the zoo. He's fascinated with animals right now, and gets much more excited about this stuff than the other two. 

2. The weather here is kicking my butt. Last night it got down into the 30's. This weekend, we're supposed to hit 90. I keep asking my husband to move to Florida and he says it's too hot. I say, at least it's consistent. And Mickey lives there.

3.  We're in the final countdown, last week of school. Only three more days of lunch to pack!

4.  Going out for a girl's night. Gonna see Bridesmaids. Can't wait.

5.  I really don't have five. I'm exhausted from my zoo trek and have had 3 cups of coffee today to keep me perked up to go out tonight. I may have to grab a fourth. Planning on enjoying the three day weekend and hope for at least one day of decent weather. 

I will now be freezing all of my bananas.

I normally don't post about food or recipes, I'm not a food blogger. But I am a food eater. And if you know me, you know that I have been a Weight Watchers member forever for about 3 years. So everything I eat costs points. And I'm always looking for a bargain. 

Today I was craving ice cream, I had a couple teenyweeny Skinny Cow ice cream cups. I checked the points on them...4. FOUR POINTS for like, two tablespoons ice cream. Bargain? Nope.

Crap.

So I remembered I had this banana that I popped in the freezer because it was almost overripe. Sometimes I freeze them for smoothies. And I remembered that I had seen something amongst my favorite foodie bloggers about making ice cream out of a frozen banana. I believe I saw it here. So I pulled out my mini food processor, popped in the banana and let it whip. It took a while, few minutes, and I ended up adding a couple of tablespoons of half and half, to loosen it up a bit. But when it was done? 

Heaven. For only one point. 

It made about 3/4 a cup. I did add a drizzle of caramel to top it off, so really two points for the whole deal.  And again, since I am not a food blogger, I have no pictures to show you. Plus I ate it so fast my camera never had a chance. 

Yummy. Hit the spot. Total bargain.

Thank you, Roni.

That is my public service announcement for the day. 

 

On being present...(the Oprah post)

So, Oprah's done today. I watched the show this morning, coffee in hand. I had planned to watch it later from the DVR, but my curiosity got the best of me. It was a fine show. Relaxed, contemplative, calm. She spoke from the heart, remembering special moments from the past 25 years, thanking her viewers over and over again, reminding them of some of her most valuable lessons. There were no giveaways, no surprise guests, the fanfare had already happened on the past two shows. This was her time to reflect and say thank you.

I thought it was sweet. There was something that she said, though, that kinda got me in the gut. She has said before that God whispers to us, and we should listen. That the whispers come to us as little things that make us go, "hmmm." And when we ignore them, they get louder, finally knocking us in the head. I remembered that I have had a few of those whisper moments while watching her show. I wasn't an everyday watcher, but I kept her on the DVR, watching when something I found interesting was on. Today, she said a something that knocked me over the head. She was talking about her favorite teacher, one that made her feel validated, special. This teacher basically changed her life, made her feel that she is enough. She went on to say that we, as human beings, really just want to be heard. We should say to the ones we love, "I see you, I hear you, what you say is important to me." I had a little whisper that said, "Hmm, I hope my kids get to have a teacher like that." 

And then the brick hit me.

I'm supposed to be that teacher. (Duh.)

Yes, it would be fantastic for them to have a great school teacher that gave them that kind of attention, but what if that never happens? 

I get so caught up in "stuff" sometimes. Phone calls that have to be made, cleaning, laundry, lists of my many "to-dos." I can't even count how many times I tell my kids, "Hold on, I'll be right there!" How many times has one of them wanted to show me something that they felt was important (like a video on the computer, or some goofy commercial on TV) and I glanced over at them and said, "Uh-huh." never giving them what they really wanted. 

How do I feel when I'm not being heard? I get pissed off. I feel dismissed, upset, unappreciated. How do they feel? Do they notice? I notice when people give me the brush-off. I'm their mom, the most important person in their lives, at least for now. Soon they will stop asking me for help, or approval. Probably sooner than I'd like. 

So, on Oprah's last show, she finally got in my head. I need to be more present. I need to be that teacher for my children. They will grow up knowing that they have a voice, that they matter. I mean, I know that they are important, they mean the world to me. But they need to feel it. 

Life isn't perfect. I'm not saying I'm going to be the perfect parent. But everyday, I have the chance to do the best I can. Didn't Oprah say we should live our best lives? Good thing I was listening, huh?

 

Ten on Tuesday, the "Where have you been?" edition

1. Really? Has it been that long since I have written a blog post? Really?

2. I have no excuses, I've thought about it often but just have been too distracted with life to post about it.

3. I'm blogging from my new toy. Husband got me an iPad for Mother's Day. Apparently he doesn't care what the house looks like or if the children are dressed in clean clothes, because if he did he wouldn't have given me this most awesome piece of technology that has become my favorite time sucker.

4. Can't seem to catch up with laundry. Trying to find out if there's an app for that.

5. Christopher made his First Communion. We stressed over how he would do on the big day. He wore his suit and tie, walked up to the priest and took Communion like all of the other kids, sat back down and said, "I can handle this." Way to go, buddy.

6. They just opened a Starbucks inside my Target. Don't they want my kids to go to college?

7. I just finished watching Oprah's big blowout superstar studded show. I'll bet that was a little spendy. But, seriously, it did make me tear up a few times. I'm in Chicago, so I've seen Oprah since before she went national. I've seen Giant Shoulder Pad Oprah, Big Hair Oprah, Too Skinny Oprah, all the way though LiveYourBestLife Oprah. I even got to go see a show once. And while I stopped watching daily when I graduated college, it'll be weird to not have her on tv at 9 every morning.

8. I think it's finally sinking in that we are skipping a trip to Disney this year. I think that is one of the reasons husband got me the iPad, to dull the pain a little. Don't think it's working.

9. Summer vacation starts in 10 days. I'll still have to get up at the crack of dawn, and nothing really changes around here in terms of busy, but you know what makes me so excited? I won't have to pack those lunch boxes. What is it about filling those lunches every morning that makes me so stinking tired?

10. I'm gonna try real hard to be more consistent here with the blogging. For real. I'm not ready to give it up just yet. So stay tuned, all three of you.

Bonus: writing isn't so bad on this contraption, but the auto correct thing is driving me crazy! I should do a whole post without fixing the auto correct, just to see what comes out. Could be fascinating! 

Spring cleaning.

I just realized that my last post was two weeks ago, and it also had the word Spring in it. Except it's still cold. Today's weather, damp and grey and chilly. 

Whatever.

I've been a lazy blogger. But it's not because I've been lazy. Au contraire mon frere (in other words, No way, Jose).  My time has been spent tending to my list o'stuff.

I've been trying to figure out what my children will be doing this summer, so their brains don't rot. It's funny, I remember when I was a kid, there weren't summer camps and activities that we were signed up for to keep us occupied. We went outside, and when we were done we came back in. But it's not that easy anymore, for various reasons, to just ship the kids outside on their own for hours on end. I need to be with them, or at least within peeking distance. With one child with special needs and one child who's 5 years old and well, let's just say, he needs supervision, I really don't feel comfortable with just saying, go outside and play. So we need a bit of structure. And structure costs money, honey.  We're working it out. I've finally got a couple of ideas and don't feel as lost as I did a couple of weeks ago.

And there's the house. I know I said I haven't been lazy, per se, but if you stepped into my home you would all me a big fat liar. So, in order to rectify the situation, I have called in a professional. No, not a cleaning lady. But we are having are whole house carpets cleaned, which means I need to clean before the cleaners come. Nothing like having someone look under your beds to get your booty moving. I have five days. Five. 

I'm also back in the Weight Watchers game. Not that I was gone, really. But I have mixed things up a bit, and feel refreshed and re-energized. Whether or not that shows up on the scale is another story. But I'm not as worried about that now. I'm miles away from where I started, so I don't have that desperate, get it off quick feeling. I also know that I am fitter than I was a year ago, and unfortunately, that means that to get results, you gotta work even harder. I'm doing what I can, consistently. That's the best I can do. I'm really starting to feel like I'm sick of talking about it, though. So the super-charged weight loss posts are probably going to fade away. So are the woe is me I can't move the scale posts. I'm done with the pouting. It is what it is. I'm taking care of myself, I'm taking care of my family. We're in a good place. What else can I wish for? 

Warm weather would be nice, though. (I know, I know, suck it up.) 

 

Springing ahead.

Yes, the clock on the wall has changed, but the one in my brain has not. I'm trying trying trying to shake the sleepy but it's tough.

On the upside, we have been seeing slightly (very slightly) warmer temperatures and a smidge of sunshine here and there.

Yesterday, after school, the girlie wanted to play outside. The backyard is a mess and there's not much to play with, so she decided to get a little artistic.

She spent an hour and a half on the driveway. I'd peek out and see her with her head down, wearing down one chalk after another. Occasionally she'd stop to chat with a neighbor who was out walking the dog and asked what she was doing.

When she came back in she got to work on her homework, and afterwards seemed much more relaxed. She had woken up in an awful, post time change funk and the fresh air and sunshine seemed to work wonders.

It's funny, I really didn't want her out there on the driveway all alone. I didn't think it would be much fun. I thought she'd end up making me come out there with her and I had so much to get done before dinner. But she insisted, she really wanted to be out there. 

She knew exactly what she needed. Thank goodness I listened to her. She came back a much happier kid. 

Maybe I need to do the same thing for myself once in a while. Hmmmm. Something to ponder, yes?

 

 

Come on, Spring!

Seriously. 

I don't know how much more I can take.

It's gray, gloomy and cold.

Not really snowing, thank God, but we're getting either flurries or rain. And not the pretty, Spring-like sprinkles that make the grass smell all pretty. The cold, freezing rain. 

Ugh. 

I've ditched my treadmill and started doing some exercise videos. I'm dying to get outside and take some walks. 

But it's too stinking cold. 

Every now and then we get a little glimpse of what is to come. This weekend we'll switch those clocks back (or forward, whatever) and have longer days. Which will be nice once those longer days are actually SUNNY and WARM!

The weather also has my little one working on his second coughycold in the past three weeks. We're off to the doctor this morning to check him out. Here's hoping he doesn't pass this one on to me. I got the last one and, quite frankly, I've had enough, thankyouverymuch. 

That is all. 

 

Thursday Thoughts...

Haven't been much of a blogger lately. Thoughts are swimming around in my head and I can't seem to get them to settle.

The weather is killing me. I'm sick of my treadmill and want to go outside and walkwalkwalk in the sunshine. But I'm just too cold. 

I'm fighting a stupid head cold that I received so lovingly from my littlest, who *coughcoughcough* loves to *coughcoughcough* snuggle with his *coughcoughcough* mama. Especially when he's *coughcoughcough* sick. 

I'm searching for another way to get some exercise in that does not involve a new piece of expensive equipment, or an expensive gym membership. Yes, I could go run outside for free but there's that pesky Chicago weather. 

I'm struggling with some thoughts about my middle son, Christopher. He's progressing in school, he is more socially aware, but there's this nagging mommy guilt that I should be doing more for him. 

My house is in chaos. It's a mess. Nothing is organized. And I have zero motivation to do anything about it. 

I don't want to eat my vegetables today. And my fruit is all boring. I want chocolate. 

I want to go hang out with my friends, but everyone is busy with their lives. 

Can you tell I'm a little on the cranky side? 

There's another issue that's made me cranky and I'm working on a blog post about it. It's not about my kids, or weight loss or Disneyworld. Something's been bugging me and I need to vent so I can move on. 

So, nothing is really wrong. Everything is really fine, I'm just in a weird, scrambly place in my brain. 

Maybe I should go eat my vegetables.