Childbirth Through a Child's Eyes

Last night my 4 year old daughter was talking to us about what happened when she was born. It went something like this:

Her: Mommy, I remember when I was born. Daddy was holding me just like this (she motions as if she is holding a baby).

Daddy: Yes I was and I was very happy to see you.

Her: I remember that Grandma was holding me too.

Daddy: Yes she was.

Her: (looking right at me) And what were you doing mommy?

Me: Oh nothing...just hanging around.

I laughed and figure that she won't need me to explain what mommies do in childbirth. Perhaps she will experience it herself.

Lost Highway

Last weekend someone really sweet gave me the new Bon Jovi CD called "Lost Highway." I have to say that I love, love, love this CD especially the title track. .

Hey, hey, I finally found my way
Say goodbye to yesterday
Hit the gas there ain’t no brakes on the lost highway
Yeah I’m busting loose, I’m letting go
Out on this open road
It’s independence day on this lost highway.

When I was in college my friends and I would analyze song lyrics trying to make sense of them. But for a long time I stopped doing that. Now I just enjoy music by the way that it makes me feel when I sing it or blast it in the car. That's what this song does to me...makes me feel carefree and invincible.

Besides that it is sung by one of the sexiest men alive (#2 to my dear H) in my very humble but absolutely precise opinion.

But my opinion was not just recently developed. That happened long ago way back when I, too, had big hair. You see, big hair was not just reserved for rock bands. We all had it. It was like a disease. You weren't cool unless your hair was big and I always worked on getting mine to be really big. I remember when I first started to like Bon Jovi and I actually was envious of their hair.

But now I have come to like Jon Bon Jovi no longer for his hair (because he cut it back in the 90s) but because he is a genuinely nice guy and I love his music and his music is stuff that my kids can listen to without giving me a heart attack.

And now there is a new song to add to my crazy list of iPod songs called "Lost Highway." It will go right behind "Story of My Life", "Bad Medicine", and "Complicated" some of the band's lesser known songs that I love adoringly.

Rock on Bon Jovi!

My First Blogging Job

I have been off my blog for a few days but for good reason. You see, I applied for this blog job. I didn't want to tell that to anyone because it sounds really geeky but I figured why not get paid to blog if someone is willing to pay you. So I applied for a multitude of blog subjects and I got chosen to start a blog about NBC's hit TV show "The Office."

I am so excited about this and I keep telling myself that the revenue coming in will help to pay for my kid's high school tuition....er, or maybe it might only cover the cost of one book....either way, I think it is really cool and neat that the blog owner wants me to do this.

I get 40% of the revenues generated by the blog and I am determined to make it a huge success. I have been spending the past few days thinking away of how to make my blog really original with themes and widgets for countdown to premiere day. I am going to do a weekly pep rally for the new episodes and Office Gossip where I will post about the stars of the show. I will carnival about it and I will also ask all of my friends to comment on it to improve the successes. I will link to amazon where they are selling season 1, 2 and 3 on DVD. There are so many options I can do with this...it's amazing.

In a couple of days I will get back to this blog in regular fashion but for now I have some work to do...if you will excuse me.

I Am Swimming

Mission Statement

I was on the computer this morning and on the desk was Kevin's new high school handbook. I looked at the cover and on it states "Peace, Justice, Service."

The mission statement says "Chaminade-Madonna, Catholic and Marianist in its identity, educates the heart and soul as well as the mind and body. It is a family-like community in which individuals of all backgrounds shape and share their faith, achieve excellence, and become caring participants and leaders in the service of community, church and those in need."

I am more confident today than yesterday at my decision to send him to such an awesome school.

Happy Birthday to Me

Tomorrow I am going to be 24 years old...or is that 42? I can't remember. I think I might have dyslexia. And every birthday that comes and goes I always set aside some time to think about the state of my life as I change another year and think of where I am and where I want to go. I have to say that tomorrow I will give myself a B+ which is probably one of the highest grades of all time.

Why that is isn't easily explained because some of it can't be put into words but I think I can touch on highlights.

Number one would have to be the state of my marriage. I have to rate that an A+. I really couldn't ask for more and I really can't expand on it too much more.

Number two would have to be the state of my family. All four kids are doing really well in school and in life. They are all thriving and I am so proud of them. I can hardly put that into words either. I have learned how to accept each one of them for their individuality. There have been moments where that has been difficult. For example, last year when Ryan started middle school he really struggled with his study habits. Quite honestly he didn't have any and I struggled to teach him. He was so unlike his older brother who is so intelligent that he really doesn't need to study much. With Ryan I worked harder and took less for granted. I will never forget his first semester midprogress report. Straight D's. I thought we were looking at something more serious developmentally. But Ryan and I worked through it. I took him out of his sports program and we worked hard. He brought every D up to A's and B's and his first report card made us cry. Every day is a new joy, a new struggle, a new lesson learned but I couldn't have asked for better kids to walk this path with than the ones I have.

Number three would have to be my mental state. I have been in some really dark places in the past 10 years. Some that I don't care to return to. Some that I am still feeling the aftershocks of. Some that I still don't have closure. But with a lot of hard work I am overcoming a lot of those problems. When I was little I overheard my grandmother tell my mom that I was "going places." When I asked what that meant (I think I was not yet a teenager) my mom told me that it simply means that I will be really successful in whatever I do in life. I have never forgotten that. I think that in the past 10 years I have let my leadership qualities slip a lot and I am slowly bringing those back.

Number four would have to be friendships. It has been a long time since I have had a group of friends that I could call my own. And this year I decided that I needed to do something about that. I searched within myself to try to be a better friend thinking that doors would open for me at that point. I opened doors in places that had never been obvious to me and reached out to people just in the spirit of being nice to others. What I found was a few new friends from work and a few new friends that I have reconnected with and the list is growing every day.

Number five would have to be my career. I feel a major shift growing inside of me but in order to not jinx it I will expand on that at a later time.

I believe that birthdays should be meant to celebrate life and achievement and I am so happy and glad to be spending tomorrow with people who mean a lot to me and with my husband and kids who have inspired me to be better than I could be.

Hernia All Gone

Today I went face to face with this.

It was a long day to say the least. I was all prepped and ready to go. No food or drink since last night. Egad. No hair up-dos or makeup. Yuck.

I got there at 8 am and was not put under until 11 am. I don't remember a thing after that except when I woke up in the recovery room there was a woman in the next bed over from me who just had a C-section and they had just brought her baby to her. I laid there and remembered when I had my own kids. Though I didn't have any by c-section I remember the joyful memory of holding them in my arms right when they were born.

Anyway I was laying there all alone and kept wondering if they told Greg that I was ok and laying there by myself. Finally I heard his voice talking to a nurse and realized he was really close by. He finally came behind the curtain and I was really happy to see him.

They moved me to the second phase of the recovery where they gave me something to eat and drink. After about a half hour we were able to leave the hospital. The area is extremely sore and pretty swollen and I am enjoying a few days off work to recover. I am glad to have this problem taken care of.

When It Rains It Pours

I still haven't gotten off the rollercoaster. I am really dizzy too.

Today was just an extension of yesterday. Here is what happened. I was in charge of running a big workshop today in front of 30 supervisors. It was an all day event. I coordinated everything. I was in charge.

Until lunchtime when I was taking a break and for some odd reason I went online to check my banking account status. As I clicked away things started going from good to bad to worse. When I checked account balance and saw the numbers $0.00 I knew something was not good. Trying not to panic I starting clicking away and went into the acccount. I saw that someone wrote a check for almost the full amount of the remaining balance of my account. I clicked onto the check (my bank allows you to see a scanned copy of the written check) and saw that someone defrauded a check of mine. A couple of checks were stolen from my car. They forged my signature and wrote a check for a very large sum of money.

Remember that I am supposed to be running this workshop and the break time is almost over. I am stuck in the middle of what could potentially be a huge financial crisis for myself and a good career move for me. I didn't know what to do so I run out of the meeting room and grab a nearby phone and call Greg. I tell him what it appears happened and I email him a screenprint of the check. I tell him to get in the car and drive to the bank right away and see what happened.

I went back to the workshop and put on the best acting job I could. I tried not to look panicked. I smiled a lot and cracked a few jokes. I listened to the supervisors talk and I even took some notes. I introduced some guest speakers too. All while in a deep state of panic deep inside.

The workshop ended and I checked my cell phone that was put on silent. A missed call from Greg. Oh Dear God...what did he find out? I called him back after I practically shoo-ed everyone to leave. I hope they didn't think I was rude for not staying to linger.

Greg was at the bank and telling me step by step of what we are going to do. First, get a police report. Done. Second, go by the bank tomorrow where there will be forms waiting for us to sign. Third, it will take 5-7 days for the bank to redeposit the money back into our account. Fourth, the bank will go after the people to recover their money. Fifth, if the police find the people we have elected to press charges.

All in all it was a pretty light day. How was your day?

24 Hour Rollercoaster Ride

It's been a rollercoaster for the past 24 hours and I am hoping to get off of it soon before it completely wipes me out.

I don't even know where to begin. I had a disgusting run-in with my boys' father yesterday. I can't even begin to discuss the subject but let's just say that he continues to shock me with his narcissistic attitude. He doesn't usually shock Greg but even yesterday he shocked Greg.

After the run-in we went to church. Just what I needed to put me in the right frame of mind with God. Though church does have a way of bringing me back to center when things are going tough I have to say that it was a tough one yesterday.

Needless to say I was not in a good frame of mind at all in the afternoon or evening. I muddled through. Naturally I had a lousy sleep and couldn't concentrate for anything. I often ask myself why I let some people get the better of me. I guess my answer would be that in my life I have no choice but to deal with this person as he is the father of my boys and I must deal with him on a regular basis. We don't see eye to eye on anything and he is an egocentric narcissist. That tends to get overwhelming for me. Oh well.

I wake up this morning feeling somewhat better than the night before. Today is the first day of school and I am trying not to let yesterday get to me today. I pray before I get out of bed. I am hoping that helps. The daily grind is officially staring at 6:30 am. Boys are out of bed and Kevin is busy running around nervously getting dressed for his new high school. The others are doing the same.

It's a bittersweet morning for me. My boys are growing and I am seeing a new first today. Kevin's first high school all dressed up in tie and belt. No more down to the knees shorts with rumpled shirt. Ryan packs himself off to middle school without his brother beside him for the first time. Kelly is in a new pre-K class with lots of rules and loads of learning and homework. Jack goes to a new class with a huge plastic Fisher Price treehouse. How cool is that?

We get through breakfast and get out the door. I have to get Kevin to his new school early because we need to get him his lock for his locker and I have to help him carry all 6 textbooks to the locker. I think he would just rather I evaporate. Greg reminded me that while he thinks I am hip, cute, and cool, my kids are a different story and I am still MOM (the old geezer who doesn't know a thing about life). Alrighty then.

He goes off to meet his friends and I look back at him for just a few minutes. Enough gushing. I get Ryan off to school and luckily he hasn't reached the I-will-never-again-be-caught-in-public-giving-my-uncool-mom-a-kiss stage yet so before he gets out of the car he gives me a huge kiss and hug. I needed that badly.

In the meantime Greg was off with the little ones getting them to their preschool. I had a little time leftover so I ran up to the preschool and peeked into their classes to see how they were doing. Contented as usual.

Everyone is settled and I am off to work. I feel like I need a vacation already.

Good Bye to Summer 2007

Monday is the official sign that summer is over. School is starting and another new year of memories. Kevin starts high school, Ryan back in middle, Kelly starts VPK and Jack goes to a new class too.

We had a great time this summer and I made a short video that sums it up nicely.

Declutter Your Space

One of my very favorite blogs is Zen Habits. I don't get a chance to read everything in this blog but many times I do get the highlights. Yesterday I read one of the newer articles and I loved it. I am going to start applying some of the concepts in my own home and hope to start living a bit more minimally. The idea is to declutter your home and in doing so allows you to declutter your mind and overall life. This is definitely something I can and will do and will post some before and after pictures as soon as I can.

That said, today is Thursday which means "do-everything Thursday". Grocery shopping, general house cleaning, and lawn mowing. All of that in preparation for my upcoming book weekend. I will be posting as to which books I am going to read over the weekend. Happy "do everything" Thursday.

Preschool Prep

Last night we attended an orientation to meet our little princess' new VPK classroom and teacher. According to the state, VPK stands for Volunteer Pre Kindergarten program. According to us it stands for Very Perfect Kid.

I don't mean that in a literal sense because I will never admit to anyone that any of my kids are perfect. In fact they are far from perfect. They have many flaws just as every other kid on earth.

But perfect to us means something far different. Perfect to us means perfect FOR us. Her entrance into the world was everything coming full circle. I already had two boys and was sure that she was going to be another boy. It never really crossed my mind that she would be a "she". But there she was...my tiny little princess. She was perfect for her dad as he never quite imagined having his own little girl. She was perfect for me because of the opportunity I have to establish the same type of mother-daughter relationship that I shared with my own mother. She was perfect for the boys because, well...er, because they had a new doll to play with. Sometimes I think she just ends up getting in their hair.

The good news is that we couldn't be more pleased with the Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten for our "Very Perfect Kid".

Banana Bread Gone Missing

At the request of my Hot Husband and dearest teens I baked a yummy loaf of banana bread yesterday. Maybe I was persuaded by the amount of disgustingly over-ripe-and-practically-dripping-with-mold bananas that I had in my house. Yes, banana bread is so much better when you add bananas that have practically liquefied on the countertop.

It takes me less time to make banana bread than it does to make my bed in the morning. I have made it that many times. I have to say that it does come out better tasting than any banana bread I have ever tasted. Sometimes when I make it I try to add a little surprise for my family...something extra that peaks their interest. Yesterday it would be little tiny chunks of semi-sweet chocolate inside. Mmmmmmmmm.

I timed it really nicely. It finished baking just after dinner so as to ensure my family a really nice dessert. I took the bread out of the oven and placed it on the counter to cool. I then walked away to do a few things in the office while the bread cooled. The rest of the gang sat in the living room letting the meal rest in their stomachs. About 10 minutes later I returned from the office to the kitchen.

I came back to the counter and found the bread gone. Literally gone with a few crumbs sprinkled around. I turned to everyone ready to shout "OK I admit it..we have ants. But I didn't realize there were THAT many to have eaten this bread so fast." But as I got closer to the living room I looked at their faces and noticed everyone was licking chocolate off their lips and sprinkling the crumbs off their shirts. It was then that I realized that I DO have ants...they come by the ages of 40, 14, 12, 4, and 2. And I love them all.

There are no better words that can express to a cook how much you enjoy their food than watching the aftermath of the eating process. I suspect I will be making banana bread for a very long time to come.

Basic Yummy Banana Bread
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of flour
Chocolate chips, nuts or anything to add extra yummy flavor

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

In Memoriam.....

of my Uncle who died this past week.

Curl Up With a Good Book

Today is Friday so that means I will be getting ready for another marathon reading weekend. I have created this reading habit on the weekend without really meaning to. Here is how it happened.

Driving home on my long vacation trip from South Carolina to Florida in early July, I got so bored that I decided to open a book that I took along just in case that would happen. The book was called "The Lovely Bones". I had heard of it on a Today Show book club review a few years ago and bought the book. But I never opened it and it sat in my drawer. I have always meant to read it but in all honesty I rarely read fiction and reading in general has never been my interest.

On the trip home I started reading the book and found myself enthralled. I couldn't put it down. I was disappointed at each rest stop when we had to eat or do something that would force me to put it down. By the time I got home a new love grew inside of me. I started blogging about it and then I decided to put a link on my blog as to the latest book I am reading.

When I got home I saw another book in my office that a coworker loaned me called "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood". I couldn't tear myself away from that one either. I finished it up the next weekend.

A few days after that my sister-in-law told me about a book she was reading called "Momzillas". I checked it out of the library and decided to read it the following weekend. I loved that one too.

During the week I was searching on the internet for a local networking group in my area and when I googled the search one of the top sites that came up was "The Ft Lauderdale Girls Book Club". What a coincidence. I clicked on the site and started reading. They were 40+ members strong and do more things than just reading. They have an event every month such as potluck dinners, wine tasting, cruises around the intracoastal, etc. They also have monthly meetings to talk about the book of the month. I joined and am waiting my first meeting to get the book for next month.

As I was looking through their website I noticed that one of the books they read in the past was called "The Undomestic Goddess." I figured that even though the club already met on it maybe I should read it just in case they make a comment on it at some future meeting. I checked the book out of the library and it also became my next weekend book. I also completely fell in love with Sophie Kinsella. I am now on my second book from her called "Confessions of a Shopaholic." It will be my weekend book for the weekend coming up.

I have finished a total of 5 books so far since the beginning of July and I feel so accomplished in this area. I stumbled upon a love that I never knew I had and learned of this new genre called Chic-Lit that I never knew existed.

What is more important is that by taking my weekends to involve myself in a good book I feel rejuvenated and calm. I actually take the time to relax, read quietly, laugh within the book and dream little dreams. My imagination takes me places that I always wished I went and I feel the anxieties of my normal life subside. I look forward to my weekends now because I know that means a new book I will have read and enjoyed.

Adventures in Mall Shopping

I believe that there are two kinds of women...those who love mall shopping and those who loathe it. No matter how hard I try I think I end up in the latter category. I do give it the ole college try but often find myself frustrated afterward and wonder why I have provided myself with endless hours of torture only to remind myself of my debts and other financial committments.

Originally I went to the movies with my teen and tween but after the movie was over they asked me if we could pass through the mall that was beside the movie theatre. Reluctantly I gave in because of certain fears and overall pessimism due to my past mall experiences. Today would prove to be no different.

Once entering the mall from the 100 degree heat I was rather pleased that the air conditioning provided some relief. It wasn't until we started walking along that I was accosted by one of those kiosk workers insisting that I go over and try on some makeup. "Do I look that bad that a perfect stranger has to suggest to me that I need to wear makeup" was what I was thinking. It then dawned on me....I WAS wearing makeup! Sigh. I quickly move along and politely say no thank you.

We are walking along very nicely...Kenneth Cole (nice), some really fancy jewelry store, Foot Locker, then in my sight...HELLO KITTY! I LOVE Hello Kitty. Oh, I wish I were young again. I would totally get into the whole Hello Kitty thing. The line of purses and backpacks are too precious. And they don't just come in pink anymore. There is plaid...a rich dark blue and red plaid. And then there is Chococat which is a line of dark brown and beige similar to Burberry. How delicious! I walk in and get some really great ideas for Christmas gifts. The mall shopping is starting to look up.

We keep moving on passing many kiosks in the middle when another kiosk worker jumps in front of me asking me to try their latest product. I look over and see that it is Proactive...you know, the acne face products that Jessica Simpson touts? Oh great...not only do I have poor makeup on but now I have a face full of zits? I run over to a mirror and look and say to myself "no zits but I see a new wrinkle." What?

Moving along. We pass by many more stores and I do more window shopping while the boys run in and see the latest sportswear. Geez, these malls are filled with so many sneaker stores just enough to max out mom's credit card.

We turn around to head out of the mall and to the car. I think about the experience...the makeup lady, the zit medicine lady, the overpriced sneaker store. Even Hello Kitty cannot turn my mall experience around. I think I will go back to my online shopping.

I Can't Stand My New TiVo

First of all, I want to say that I really love TiVo. It has really become my way of life with regards to television watching. I don't know what I would do without it especially when it comes to the children's shows. My kids love to rewind and replay some of their favorite shows. I have shows on season pass that are really convenient such as Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Scott Baio at age 45, and Dr.90210. Hey, I never said I was a deep person when it comes to my TV. So a few months ago when my TiVo machine went **kaplut** I was really lost. NO! This couldn't be happening to me. What is a mom to do?

We called Directv and since our current machine was under warranty that they would be able to send us a brand new machine free of charge. The new machine was even better with more bells and whistles than I knew how to ring. Great. Or was it better?

We got the machine and hooked it up and were excited to see all the great new things with TiVo. The new blue lights on the machine, cool new buttons, and another new remote control that requiring another degree in "TiVo language." Needless to say we were really disappointed to find that performance-wise not only were there less bells and whistles than before but the old functions that were made newer performed WORSE.

For example, one of the main features of TiVo is the ability to fast forward or rewind through the current programming you are watching. The old machine allowed you to do this seamlessly without skipping or jumping. The new machine jumps back or forward at least five minutes and you can't see it on the screen until you press play and then find out you went too far forward or back. So you do the process again and again until you get to your intended spot in the program. It's terribly annoying.

Secondly, most functions on the new machine take at least 4 clicks more than the old. Good luck trying to figure out what season passes you have. You have to go through the menu, try to figure out which categories lead you to your season pass list and then go through that list.

One of my favorite features of TiVo was the ability to slow down the programming to half speed. So if you wanted to read something on screen such as credits or some wording or even if you wanted to see something in slow motion you could do that with the hit of a button. Not so on the new TiVo. There is no way to set your program in slow motion. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal but, believe it or not, it is once you get used to it being there. Men love this feature especially during ball games.

All in all, my HotHusband and I are constantly wishing that we could call Directv and get our old machine back working again. Sometimes newer is not always better.

Grandma's Potato Ricer

Isn't it funny how the simplest thing can conjure up a memory of long ago?

Today I was in Target browsing the aisles when I remembered that I needed one of those pizza cutter wheel gadgets. So I wandered over to the kitchen gadget wall and start looking it over. There were vegetable peelers, graters, apple coring thingamajig, and dozens of other items. I glanced over a potato ricer and had to chuckle. When you put a cooked potato into a ricer and push down on the potato it squishes and the potato comes out of the bottom in tiny little pieces of potato that look like worms. It mashes the boiled potato. When you add milk and butter to it you have yummy mashed potatoes.

But that is not what made me chuckle. You see when I was a little girl my grandma had this really old-fashioned potato ricer. She used it all the time to make mashed potatoes and her potatoes were THE BEST! They were creamy but with little tiny chunks in them because of that perfect ricer. Both me and my sibs loved those potatoes. I can taste them now...that's how good they were.

When my grandma died I remember my mom asking each of us if we wanted to take something from the things she left behind. We all took a few things but my brother wanted that ricer. I was crushed because I kind of wanted it too but it was the only thing he wanted so I didn't say anything. The funny thing was that potato ricers are sold at Target for something like $10 each. Today I realized that I think the ricer story had more to do with the memory that the ricer created rather than the gadget itself.

Those mashed potatoes tasted so good but the memories of my childhood and time spent with my family and grandparents tasted even better.

The Great Wine and Cheese Adventure

I have blogged in the past about my general feelings about wine and cheese. I don't hate wine. I just have not yet acquired a taste for it. Someone needs to tell my HotHusband that $5 bottles from CVS Pharmacy do not make for great tasting wine. On the other hand, I do hate cheese. My mom used to say "never say hate" but I can safely admit that I hate cheese.

Which leads me an invitation that I received in the mail last week for an event on August 21.

That's the day after my eldest offspring's first day of high school. This will be his first experience in private catholic school. He has to wear a white button down shirt, blue pants with a logo at 25 bucks a pop, penny loafers, a tie and a belt. No more shorts down to the ankle showing any kind of butt crack. That night there is going to be a social event for the parents of incoming freshman...a wine and cheese social! Great. I hate cheese and I don't care for wine. I should have a great time.

I want to go. I have to go. I need to go. This is my chance to kiss up, er...get to know, the teachers. It's my chance to meet the other children who are also pulling at their clothes wondering how in the world they went from oversized shorts that showed off the latest in underwear boxers to blue pleated "you may as well pin me with a sign that says big square is here" pants . It's my chance to gain invitation into the mom cliques.

Wait. I just thought of something. I am starting to feel the very same anxieties as when I, myself, started high school. Except this time I am 25 years older and a lot wiser!

Shout Out to Karen's Carnival

Karen has quickly become one of my favorite bloggers. Judging from her blog, she is a professional writer and while she writes way better than me I am hoping to learn a thing or two by frequenting her blog.

Karen hosted a carnival this weekend with 76 posts! Yikes! and she did an amazing job...it was my first carnival entry so I was really excited to see my post "Life Is Just a Bowl of....Earwax." It was such an amazing carnival that I decided to link to it in a few places on my blog like right here....

Carnival of Life

Karen has the best graphics on her site and I absolutely love them. Enough gushing about Karen. Just go there and tell her yourself.

The Doctor Says I Have What?

A hernia?!?! I wonder how I got that? I also never knew I had it. I found out about it in a really totally crazy way. You see, I was showing my belly button to my regular doctor after inquiring to him about getting it pierced. It's a whole over-40 and I-need-to-do-something-to-feel- younger thing. He inspected my navel area and said, matter of factly, "are you aware that you have an umbilical hernia?" Imagine my shock. First I said "a what?" and then I said "does this mean I can't get a belly piercing?"

He said I could get the piercing but I had to take care of the more important hernia first. So off I go to see a surgeon who specializes in hernias.

I get to my appointment and the surgeon consults with me and asks me lots of questions regarding my medical history. I mention to him that my brother had a similar hernia last year and had to have surgery to fix it. I wonder if there is some sort of correlation. I started thinking that we were all born by the same obstetrician so maybe he didn't know how to cut an umblicial cord. Perhaps I need to alert the other sibs! I also wondered how long I have had this and never known it. I just thought I had an outie belly button. And to think that my outie could have been fixed all these years pre-pregnancy when my stomach was flat and not stretched and actually looked sexy.

We review the procedure. Only 30 minutes of actual repair work. Easy peasy. But there will be 4 weeks of recovery time. What? I don't have time for that. I am a mom to 4 kids. I comply with the doctor and said "yes sir, I understand." What limitations do I have during recovery?

1. I can't lift or pick up my kids. Great. Tell that to my 2 year old who still clings to me at the hip every waking moment.
2. Can't exercise or run. Darn, do I REALLY have to put off my marathon training another 4 weeks. Rats.
3. No crazy, rough sex for 4 weeks. Woah Nellie. Did I really need to hear that?
4. No pushing or straining your bowel movements. Ok, I thought #3 was a bad comment. This was WAY too much information.

Any more information doctor?
See you in the hospital in a few weeks.

One more thing doctor..
Do you do belly button piercing?

Help Me With My Addiction

My name is Terry and I am an addict. Hi Terry


What is your addiction, you ask? Diet Coke

Seriously. It's my only vice. And I have to nix it and soon. I am trying to get my body prepared for marathon training. Yes I am a psycho-masochist if there is such a word. For some strange reason my psychiatrist, er..life coach, thinks I need to step out of my box so what could be more out of the box than pushing your body to do something that it was never intended to do. Running for almost 4 hours straight. Well, the brighter side is that it is going to held at Walt Disney World which is technically the happiest place on earth. I will let you now how happy I am on marathon day.

Back to the Diet Coke. You see I like Diet Coke. Correction, I love Diet Coke. Further correction, I cannot live without Diet Coke. I have heard it is not good for you. Something about heart disease and rats. But seriously, I think it will slow me down in my training. Never mind the fact that I run slower than a snail. I am certain the cause of the problem is the diet coke. So I have to quit but I am not sure how to do it.


Here is my daily diet coke ritual.

• Morning diet coke - when everyone else is drinking coffee I am grabbing for the silver can. But I need my caffeine.

• Lunch diet coke - I need something to get me through the humdrum salad sans dressing because a leafy greens with no dressing is good for my marathon running.

• Mid-afternoon diet coke - this is a must if I am going to get through the rush hour traffic in Miami, the city formerly known as the Land of Road Rage.
  

I will take any and all suggestions on what I can do to kick this habit. And while you are at it, any suggestions on how to pick up my running pace? It would be awfully embarrassing if Mickey and Friends were to pass me by at mile marker 20.

America's Got Talent

Do you know this show? I have to admit I have never watched it. I just don't have time in my busy schedule to watch much TV. Combine that and the fact that I just cannot take David Hasselhoff seriously makes another reason I don't watch.

But I have seen the commercials and I do know what the show is about. Basically a bunch of people try out to have the opportunity to show their talent.

Which got me thinking about my talents and am currently reviewing them to see if I have a shot at this. Here are a few that I have come up with...

1. Changing poopy diaper in left hand while putting kids socks and shoes on with other hand.
2. Paying bills online with tiny toddler under feet trying to unplug computer while 4 year old princess is whining about wanting to play on the "pom-puter".
3. Cooking dinner, helping with the latest Geometry problem, and fixing the playstation game all while trying to coax tiny toddler and ms. princess to stop jumping on the couch.
4. Trying to take a 1 minute shower without any interruptions pertaining to fighting, crying, or general calls of hunger or boredom.

Whichever I pick I am certain that I will be able to do it faster, better, and with more enthusiasm than anyone else could.