30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 4

4. What is your middle name and how do you feel about it?

My middle name is Elizabeth and I've always loved it. I was named after my maternal grandmother (even though she went by Betty - such an old school 40s kind of name and it fit her.) I loved it and her so much I knew that when I had kids I wanted to name my daughter Elizabeth, too. Luckily, Brian was ok with that! So we have a third generation child with the name Elizabeth. Oh, and not Liz or Lizzie, or Beth. Elizabeth. Or Biz if you're family or a close family friend. ;)

~with much love, always

30 Day Blog Challenge Day 3

3. What are your 5 biggest pet peeves?

Ok, I hate to admit this because it makes me sound kinda like a bitch but I probably have way more than 5 so it's hard to narrow the list down (but since that makes me sound like I'm perfect and a complainer, we'll stick with just 5.)

1. Hearing people chewing - whether on tv, in real life, movies, etc. I can't stand that sound. At all. And don't get me started on Big Brother After Dark - had to stop watching because those people (ahem, Rachel) don't realize that when they're wearing a mike and chewing, it's AMPLIFIED by about 1000%. Ugh. This also includes ice chewing which I hate. And I'm totally guilty of. Whatever. #doublestandard
2. Whistling. Hate it. And this sucks because I really like Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" - just don't like the whistling part of that song. My kids and husband whistle on purpose. Just to annoy me.
3. People that don't follow traffic rules. Use your blinker. It's there for a reason.
4. People that don't use common sense. 3 & 4 kinda go together. For example, when dropping off your child at school, do not stop in the middle of the circle drive just so your lazy ass child doesn't have to walk an extra 25 feet. Pull ALL the way forward so the rest of the parents can drop off their kids as well. I promise that you and your child will survive and things run much more smoothly because of you using your common sense.
5. People who don't move out of your way in the grocery store even after saying excuse me. Twice. Asshole!

So many more but this is a good start.


~ with much love, always

30 Day Blog Challenge Day 2

2. Where you'd like to be in 10 years

Wow, 10 years from now, I'll be 50 years old so at that point I really hope that I am the confident person that I always pretend to be. The kids will be in college or beyond and I hope they are good, confident, productive citizens, passionate about life, successful and doing what they love. I'd like to be happy and content with my health and weight. I hope Brian and I are still married and are out having a great time traveling and loving life. Other than that, I just hope we're all healthy, parents are still alive & healthy, and we've learned from our mistakes and are living life to it's fullest.


* ok, all that sounded cheesy and contrived. I just want to be happy, fit, and healthy and want the same for everyone I know (but that would be a lame ass blog post.)

~ with much love, always

30 Day Blog Challenge Day 1

So, I found a blog challenge that should make it pretty easy for me to blog (unless I forget), little topics that don't require too much effort on my part (I'm lazy.) So, unless I have something really important to share this is what you'll be getting for the next month. ;) Enjoy.

1. Discuss your current relationship status. If single, discuss why and how you feel about single life.

My current relationship status is married. I can honestly say that I don't think I'd enjoy being single in this day and age. When Brian and I were separated for 6 months, I went out with some friends and saw how the single women of my age and older were behaving with younger men and it kinda disgusted me. Now dont get me wrong, the flirting and excitement of the "chase" is always fun but I don't think missing out on certain things is worth being single. I always have a date when I want one, clean, safe, sex whenever I want, a guy who can cook, clean, is handy around the house, and a great dad to our kids. Kind of hard to imagine having all that while being single. Thanks but I think I'll stay married. ;)


30 Day Blog Photo Challenge Day 1

1. Anything Goes

I'm going to combine this Day 1 photo with a little gratitude. I'm grateful for my feet and shoes for giving me the strength to walk, run, get me places I need to go, keep  me healthy, allow me to play with my kids, and just support me without fail. Thank you feet.









~ with much love, always

Well that didn't last long! Ugh. So after my last proclamation that I was going to post 3-4 times a week, I proceeded to go out of town for the weekend and then come with with a wicked sinus infection that had me in bed for 21/2 days. Then Elizabeth got sick and stayed home from school one of those days. Then Brian got sick. Man, sometimes life just hands you a big basket full of crap and says, "Here ya go! Have fun!" Nate's my only healthy one! (Thank goodness!)

Anyway, feeling a little better now - although coughing like crazy which ruined a chance for a run this morning with my favorite running partner, Julie. It's been a couple of weeks and I'm so afraid that I'm going to have a crappy time again for my 5k.

Stats for weigh in:
Starting weight: 158.6 (2/24/11)
6/17/11: 157.0
9/1/11: 155.1
9//15/11: 154.0

So NOT proud of this but it is what it is.


Now, on another note, I'm trying really hard to not be one of those moms that complains when her kid doesn't get invited to every birthday party because believe me that shit gets expensive. However, Elizabeth is breaking my heart today. She hangs out with a small group of 4-5 girls at school and I thought they were all pretty close... until I find out that one of them invited all of the other girls to her birthday party/sleepover. Except Elizabeth. She's heartbroken. Now, I know this goes on all the time and the parent's excuse is that she could only invite 3 girls, not 4. Blah, blah, blah. Trust me, I get it. But when my daughter comes to me with crying because she has no one to play with today because all her friends are over at the other friends house, it kinda pisses me off. I've consoled her and she feels a little better but I  know her feelings are still very hurt. Trying hard to not be Mama Bear and turn this into something much worse... it might cost me a lunch date or shopping trip with Elizabeth, though. :)


~ with much love, always

Name Change

I changed the name of my blog. Since I'm a work in progress, I figure my blog is too. Actually, someone once said that the words "random" and "musings" are now the most overused, overrated words in the blogging world. It freaked me out a little (even though I create it a year and a half ago) and so I went with this title instead. Don't be surprised if it changes again; I'm finicky like that.

Potato salad vs.... Potato salad

Everyone has their own recipe for certain foods in life - cookies, spaghetti, brownies, stroganoff, etc. But one food that causes division among married couples is potato salad (and tuna.) Everyone thinks their recipe is the best ever (or their mon's recipe, anyway.)

The other night we were having a fabulous brisket that Brian smoked along with a mix of other foods that weren't enough for 4 people to eat so I made little bits of several things- baked beans, squash, a loaf of bread. Brian asked me to make potato salad. He said to call his mom and get her recipe. I told him that I had a perfectly good recipe and I would make that. So, I proceeded to go to the store to make sure I had all then ingredients: potatoes, red potatoes (I would have also added a sweet potato but my family wouldn't have eaten it), red onion, celery, eggs. I came home and cooked the eggs & potatoes all while multitasking, of course. I ended up spending a couple of hours from start to finish making it.

It was fabulous! Brian tasted it and said something was missing and here's where it gets ugly. His family adds sweet pickles to everything. Everything. Tuna, macaroni salad, potato salad, egg salad, etc. I'm not kidding, they'll add pickles to it all. And I hate pickles. They make me gag. So, he was a little upset that I made this huge bowl of potato salad and it wasn't good to him at all. That's a bit of an exaggeration if you ask me. It just needed a little kick for him to enjoy it. I just asked him to pull a large portion out and he could add as many pickles as he wants to his version of it - everyone happy. He tried to get the kids to try it but Nate wouldn't even try my un-picklized version but Elizabeth tried it and hated it (she's not a pickle eater either.)

It all worked out in the end and the entire meal was great regardless of which version of potato salad you enjoyed. It's just funny how one little ingredient can make or break a recipe for some people.

~ with much love, always

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Worst blogger ever.

I have been so bad about writing lately. Ugh, I don't know why. Well, I do. Over the summer, it was hard with the kids around constantly. I mean, everywhere I went, there they were! Lol! Now, we're finishing our fourth week of the school year and I've been so busy being one of the VP's for the PTO (why did I say yes??!?) that I haven't had to do anything (including calling my best friend, whom I miss so terribly I want to cry.) I am so tired by the time I do all my PTO work, meetings, volunteering at Mayo (and being a team leader for those volunteers as well), cleaning, homework-helping, marketing, dinner-making, spending time with husband, that I just am too exhausted to write. Tweeting is about as much writing I have been doing (and 140-character thoughts suck.)

So, I am making a promise right here and now to write at least 3-4 times per week for the next month. I have a friend who committed to every single day for 30 days. She's crazy. But anyway, this is my commitment and I will own it; whether I succeed or fail, I have put it out into the universe.

Oh, and an update on my constant struggle in life:

Starting weight: 158.6 (2/24/11)
6/17/11: 157.0
7/15/11: 154.6
9/1/11: 155.1


~with much love, always