Richard's birthday: the celebration.....

On Friday night, we met some friends from Houston at Baby A's up in north Austin. This is a fairly new location and it was fantastic! They also had their neighbors down with them and the neighbors met up with some family, so we had quite a dinner with strangers. But it was fun!

Richard's friend Jason was planning a party for tonight (Saturday night) for his wife, Kimberly. It was to be a surprise. Jason wanted Kimberly to think that they were going to Z-Tejas to celebrate Richard's birthday. So, when they arrived, she was SHOCKED to see all of their family and friends waiting for her! I was even more shocked because on the menus, Jason had them put, "Happy Birthday Kimberly and Richard!" What an awesome friend! Richard was treated like royalty too. He loved it. What was a huge surprise party for his friend's wife was also a party for him! Kimberly had birthday on the 5th. We've celebrated their birthdays together a few times....but nothing like this before!

We had THE BEST food. We had pleasant conversations with people that we had just met. I even exchanged email addresses with a girl from Austin that we sat by. Who knew complete strangers could be so much fun? We also got to meet and sit with Kimberly's parents. I must say that when Richard and I grow old, I want to be like them. They are so lively and energetic! They are VERY sweet people.

The quote of the night came from Richard. He said, "This is the BEST birthday I've ever had!" Everyone signed the menus for him and Kimberly. Complete strangers signing and saying the nicest things! I told Richard that even if he never sees some of them again, he'll always remember how he spent his 30th birthday!

What a night! But I'm ready for my babies to come back tomorrow! I miss them! I can't wait to see them!

7-7-07

Today is my hubby's birthday! He's 30 now! He finally caught up to me! ;) Yes, he was born on 7-7-77. Every time I pick up a prescription for him, they always ask for his birthday and when I tell them, someone always has to comment about it. Usually I get, "Oh wow!" or "How lucky is he?" We didn't win a huge jackpot in Vegas when we went, so I wouldn't say he's that lucky. LOL!

I just read an article that said that 40,000 couples will marry today. That's up from the usual 15,000 that marry on any given Saturday. I bet those people really had fun coming up with stuff to plan their wedding. Like I bet some deliberately had 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen. I bet a lot will marry at 7pm. Some brides will probably go all out and have a 7 tiered cake. Some brides probably chose 7 types of flowers for their bouquets. You get the idea.

I read that a couple in Victoria didn't ask for gifts. They asked for lottery tickets (which personally I think is kind of tacky). I guess they think that they'll get lucky today of all days. And if they don't win today, then they never will! LOL!

My "other" dog.....

Calli (Lisa and Nate's Yorkie) has been here with us since Friday. My dad brought her up here with him after Lisa went to Rockport. We are taking her back home today. Calli is a wonderful dog and we love her to pieces. She fits right in and is never any trouble at all. What made me laugh this week is that we've discovered that she's VERY protective of Mia! Zoe will start trying to play around with Mia and annoy her and Calli will chase her down and give her a piece of her mind! Mia NEVER sticks up for herself and lets Zoe walk all over her, but not Calli! Zoe will leave Calli alone 99.9% of the time because she knows that if she doesn't, she'd better watch her ass! LOL!

We are off to *try* to have a nice July 4th in St. John. We are going to Lisa's in La Grange tonight. I will come back sometime on Thursday. The girls will be with Lisa through Sunday! How about that? I get me some peace and quiet later this week! YIPPPPEEEE!

Everyone stay dry! *smooches*

Get out!

Today I was in Old Navy without the kids and witnessed the complete meltdowns of two children. The first was from a little boy that must have been a little older than Maeve. I saw him in the store for a while and he was a terror. He kept yelling and kicking and screaming. I overheard whoever was taking care of him (couldn't tell if it was his mother or his nanny/babysitter....she truly looked young) say, "You sure are being mean today!" Um, RED FLAG! He must have heard those words because from there it totally went downhill. He was kicking her, screaming, laying on the floor, etc. It was bad. She continued to shop and keep her cool all while he was screaming and carrying on. I kept thinking, "You need to get him out of here woman!" Nope. Clearly, there were stares from other people. She did end up buying something and yes, he remains screaming at the top of his lungs at the checkout line. Ugh. FINALLY, the girl left and was carrying him out of the store like a sack of potatoes. I refuse to call her his mother because I'd hope that his mother wouldn't put up with that nonsense. But she might have been his mother. I don't know.

Tantrum #2 came from a little girl that was with her mom and they were checking out ahead of me. The little girl wanted a mini football. Her mom gave it to the cashier to scan and she had a fit! OK, first off, I have always explained to my girls that yes, the cashier will take it away for a bit and then you'll get it back. That seems to make the process a lot easier. This mother didn't do that. Then after she did check out, the little girl was still there kicking and screaming on the floor and the mom is like, "Bye! I'm leaving! Are you going to stay here?" Geez! Take your kid already and get the heck out of here!

Apparently there were a lot of tantrums in Old Navy this weekend. The girls at the front talked of some really bad incidents that happened yesterday. And one woman told them, "Sure makes you want to use birth control, huh?" OMG! I just laughed. Too funny!

My rule of thumb is that if my kids EVER did that in a store, we would drop whatever we had in our hands to buy and leave immediately. I don't tolerate behavior like that at all. Luckily, my kids are good in stores and I can talk sense into them pretty easily. We ate out last night and they were perfect. Honestly, it's all about making them understand where they need to act appropriately. And if little two year old Maeve can understand that, then anyone can! It's not the kids' fault, it's the parents'.

Um, where am I again?

So today I had another appointment with the acupuncturist. I was a running a little early and had some time to spare, so I thought I'd drive up Mopac a bit and check out The Domain. WOW. Can you say uncomfortable? I felt weird just driving down that main street. Dang! To one side, I see Louis Vuitton and on the other side, I see Tiffany and Co. Then a little way down, I see Barney's and Betsey Johnson. Um, am I in Austin or on Rodeo Drive? It was so surreal. I can't imagine what it would have felt like to get out and walk in and out of the stores. I couldn't afford a thing! LOL!

Back to the appointment....it went great. I'm going once a week. I can totally tell that my sessions are having an impact on me. I've been doing a lot of research on the subject as well and I ate shrimp twice this week. Why? Because the iodine in shellfish helps the thyroid. I never knew that ANYTHING diet wise could help. But it does! One thing I've learned is to always do your research and seek 2nd opinions or alternatives. One day I might be able to wean off my medication all together. Imagine that! And they said that I'd have to take it for the rest of my life!

Things are a lot calmer this week. I like that. After last week, my sanity needed a break. ;)

Happy weekend! Hope you're dry whereever you are!

Thanks Chelle!

SCATTERGORIES…it’s harder than it looks!

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up!

Your Name: Kim(berly)

Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Kenny Rogers

4 letter word: Kind

Vehicle: Kia

TV Show: "Kids Incorporated" (LOVED that show!)

City: Kyle (it's the next town south of here!)

Boy Name: Keanu (as in Reeves! YUM!)

Girl Name: Kelsey (Kyra was almost a "Kelsey" BTW.)

Drink: Kool-Aid

Occupation: King (LOL! Wouldn't it be nice to be royalty?)

Flower: Kalimeris (had to look this one up, sorry)

Something you wear: Keys (Do they count? Because I wear them all the time! LOL!)

Something you do: Kiss

Color: Khaki

Sport: Kickball

Something that you like: Key Lime Pie

Celebrity: Kelly Clarkson

Food: Ketschup

Something found in a kitchen: Knives

Reason for Being Late: Kids

Cartoon Character: "Krypto the Superdog" (Ugh)

Something You Shout: "Keep out!" (LOL!)

I tag anyone who wants to do this!

Updates galore.....

Ok. I'm sorry that last post was a real downer. It's funny how things can change in the blink of an eye. Again, I think we all have angels that circle around us here on earth and if we're lucky enough, one of them comes in contact with us and changes everything. That happened to me on Wednesday afternoon.....just hours after I wrote that last post.

I have a friend that I teach Body Flow to downtown. She's been through some rough times as well. She was in a car accident in November and still hasn't bounced back totally from that. Instead of really pushing the physical therapy, she also found the wonderful world of yoga. This has helped her healing tremendously. After my class on Wednesday, I talked to her and found out that she was seeing a new chiropractor and acupuncturist. I had always wanted to try acupuncture. She gave me the name of this place and so Wednesday afternoon, I was on the phone calling and verifying benefits. Yes indeed, it's covered under insurance. I only pay $30 every time I go. On Thursday morning, I had an appointment. WOW. I can't say enough good things about that place. Amazing. I met with the chiropractor first and he evaluated my spine and said that it was in "great shape" (thank you Body Flow!). He soon sent me off to the acupuncturist. I always wanted to have this done, but I was skeptical. I told him how I was having troubles with my thyroid and how it was messing with my hormones and my moods. I told him how I was on day 8 of my cycle and I just wanted it to go away! LOL!

So he got started. He pushed on areas around my belly button and one time I almost jumped off the table! As soon as he put a needle in, he pushed there again and the tenderness was gone. Amazing. He did the front of my body and then the back. He does leave the room for a while so that the needles can find the pressure points and do their work. I was so relaxed. And I have to say that on Friday, my period was GONE! All gone! So I guess he took care of that!

He explained to me that since I caught my hypothyroidism early and I'm on a low dose of meds., that he can work with me to restore my thyroid function fully. Imagine that! I told him that yes, it's hard for me to imagine being on medication for it for the rest of my life. So, we'll see what happens. I have another appt. this Friday.

I have to tell you too that the needles DO NOT hurt going in. I know that they look like they do, but they don't. He also performed moxibustion, which was very interesting. That didn't hurt either.

I'm not a skeptic anymore. After the appt., I felt so rejuvenated and relaxed. I hope that the treatments continue to work well for my condition.

I should be able to post more this week. Last week was crazy. Kyra had summer camp and my cousin was here. Things should hopefully slow down soon.

Oh, and if you have a moment, pray for Richard. He has issues that I don't want to go into. They do involve his "bum" though. He's in quite a bit of pain right now. Poor guy.

Thoughts.....

I'm sitting here on a Wednesday morning and we are having some pretty nice thunderstorms right now. They aren't scary, just nice. It's always nice to feel the cooler air outside and hear the rain and know that we won't have to water our yard for at least another week! :) In the summertime, that makes me happy!

I really don't know where to begin to talk about my personal issues. All I can say is that I'm going through a very rough time right now. Something just isn't right with me. I'm being very proactive about it and taking steps to feel better. I've been angry with my doctor and very persistant too! I think that I even had the nurse on my side yesterday on the phone, so that's a plus! I mean, why else would she suggest breaking my pills in half to up my dosage? LOL! So yes, once again, I'm questioning my thyroid dosage. My levels are "normal" according to the labs, but the range of "normal" is so big! That's why I am trying to work my way into the lower range of "normal". It's only then that I think I will feel better. I know my body better than anyone right? This shouldn't be a big issue with the doctors, but it is. Lab results don't tell the entire story. I think once in a while, they should ask, "So just how are you feeling?" Ugh. I'm not resting until I regain full control over my health. I don't like feeling icky.....especially when I have a wonderful husband, two beautiful children, and two cuddly dogs to love. ;)

My thyroid isn't the only issue right now. Since it is out of whack though, it's causing my hormones to go crazy. That could be another reason why I don't feel so good. So, we'll just have to wait and see how that all plays out. In the meantime, I'm going to talk to my OB/GYN about switching my anti-depressant. I've been on the same one for years and I think it might be time for a change. That can't hurt either, right?

It's so hard for me to accept that I have issues.....health issues. I know it's not a big deal and yes, I can get help and if I don't get the help that I want, then I can just find another doctor. But the bottom line is that there's something wrong. That bothers me. I have no control over it. I just have it. It's not like heart disease or diabetes. I can't control it with diet and exercise. It's just there. But what I can do is take control of my life and insist on getting all of the right answers. I also realize that I need to de-stress my life, so all of the Yoga that I have been doing is helping tremendously. I used to just live to work out. Now I work out to live. It's funny how that has changed. I think that fitness is a bigger part of my life now than ever before. It makes me feel good. It helps me cope. It keeps me sane. And that is good.

Wow! 6 years!

Happy 6th birthday to my "baby"! I can't believe you're 6! WOW!

Make it stop! Please!

Well we survived the weekend. Kyra's party was awesome. Lisa and I cleaned my dad's house like it hadn't been cleaned in years on Friday. We went to Target and spent $500 on new things for him....including a vacuum cleaner. He was very appreciative of that. It was a nice weekend! It went by fast though!

So my sister decides to buy this for Kyra for her birthday.

Guess who's played with it more than Kyra so far? That's right. MAEVE!

I think we have a little cheerleader in our future. But....Kyra is starting cheerleading tomorrow night at the dance studio. So it should be an interesting summer.

I think they say "Bella" over 100 times in the DVD. I'm NOT kidding. Richard said, "Please turn that crap off. It's enough to make anyone crazy!"

It is cheesy. VERY CHEESY. But isn't that the point of cheerleading anyway? ;)

I soooooooooo cannot wait for my sister to have kids. Paybacks are a bitch. I'm going to get her kids the loudest and most obnoxious toys......not to mention the ones with a gazillion pieces!

Then SHE can deal with the headaches! ;)

Until next week.....

We will be in Victoria this weekend. We are leaving this afternoon (Thursday). We are celebrating Kyra's birthday a week early. I'm soooooo ready for some time away. I've been working out so hard lately, so I'm ready for a break from that too.

See y'all next week! :)

Nature's fury.....

We had some really bad storms on Sunday night. My friend Anna was caught in the middle of one and I talked to her on the phone till she got home. That's how freaked out we both were. She lives about 30 minutes west of us. So as soon as I got off the phone with her, I whisked the dogs outside and let them potty. We have Calli (my sister's dog) this week and storms really bother her. So, Kyra and I both sat on the sofa with the dogs and prayed. We lost power a little after 9 and it was out for over 2 hours. I have NEVER heard such bad wind in my life. I swear that it must have been 100 mph. We got the "straight line winds" that you always hear about. Anyway, here is a tree that's out in our front yard. Since the tree is on the other side of the sidewalk, it's technically not our tree. We live on the corner, so it's the neighborhood's tree. It just snapped the sucker in half! Crazy! There were trees down everywhere around here. Now I'm scared because the tree is leaning toward our fence. Richard said that it's nothing to worry about. But still. I'm just thankful that we are fine and there was no damage to our house.

Maeve slept through the entire thing and Richard was at work. So, Kyra slept with me on Sunday night. Just when the house was getting unbearable hot, the power came back on. Ahhhhh.....

Our town was on the news on Monday afternoon. So I guess it really was bad here. :(

Recital pics.....

Just because.....

Things are going to change (again)......

If you remember a while back, I blogged about wanting to rid myself of all the negativity in my life. I know that it's hard to escape sometimes. I mean look at the world that we live in right now. There's negative everywhere. It's all over the news. We hear about more soldiers dying overseas everyday. It makes me sad.

I even catch Richard saying negative things and I tell him to please stop saying them. Little eyes see and little ears hear, ya know? I do correct Kyra too when she says something that's not very nice that I don't want to hear.

I just want to purge myself of negative and focus on more positive things. I do read a lot of websites and blogs and chances are that if there's a lot of bitching and moaning going on, then I'll choose not to visit there anymore. I can't stand it. Every once in a while, I take a look at my blog and see how much negative there is in it. I try to eliminate negative posts. I don't want to bring anyone down with me. I hope that reading this blog is an enlightening experience and I hope that it brings a smile to your face once in a while. I choose not to go on and on about bad things. That's not what I want you to hear about anyway. Instead I'd like to focus on my childrens' achievements and my personal growth. I want you to be informed about what's going on because I don't see many of you too often and I know that you want updates. This is the best way for me to let you know what's going on. If you choose to read, fine. If not, then that's fine too.

The bottom line is that I want a change in my life, so I'm taking steps to make it happen. If you want a change in your life, then you have to make it happen too. Bitching and moaning about it won't help. You can't just snap your fingers and everything will be ok. It doesn't work that way. You are in control and life is what you make of it. Life is too short to focus on all the negative. Be happy for goodness sakes! Take some time and make a list of positive things in your life. We all are blessed and have so much to be thankful for! Most of us have it made in that we have the basics of life....food, shelter, love, friends, and family. I think that's all you need to get by.......

1 down and 12 more to go.....

Today was Kyra's last day of Kindy! WOW! Where did this year go? Seems like yesterday that we walked into her classroom for the first time and she was a little apprehensive about being left there. I was a wreck. Did I really have to leave my baby in such a strange place?

That all changed soon though. She grew to love and trust her teacher who she will miss tremendously (me too!). She learned more about letters and numbers and learned to read! Her imagination grew by leaps and bounds. So did her independence. She was forced to be a responsible student and loved it! My baby made friends! She got her feelings hurt once or twice. She got a perfect report card all year long. She got an award for Caring (which makes me so darn proud). Kyra had a wonderful year. She'll never forget it either. I can still remember so many things about my year in Kindergarten! I still see my teacher from time to time and am sure to give her a big ol hug!

I've been feeling really great the past few days. I think the hormones have evened out a bit (yay!). I have more energy that I've had in months. Yesterday, I was outside with the hedge trimmer and having a ball! Richard was laughing at me. He mowed, so the yard looks nice. Plus we've gotten so much rain! So he'll have to mow again next week! ;)

With all my newfound energy, I decided to take Maeve's crib down today. She's been sleeping in a twin bed for almost a month now. It was time. I did it all by myself when Richard was gone with the girls this afternoon. It was kind of bittersweet. I know that I'm completely DONE with kiddos, but part of me will always long for that little being to be all snuggled up in the crib and blissfully sleeping. *sigh*

So, Kindy is over and the crib comes down. What a day!

I think my next post will be about Maeve and her talking. This kid can talk! Oh my goodness! She NEVER shuts up! We are in SO.MUCH.TROUBLE!

In a fog....

I'm sorry for the lack of blogging this week. I've been feeling horrible since Sunday. I felt worse on Monday. Tuesday was better....a lot better. And today it's Wednesday, and I still have a rollercoaster of emotions. This is so difficult. I can tell that my body is thoroughly confused from being on two different medications that are trying to regulate the hormones. It's crazy! I know that this too shall pass. A few months down the road and things will be A LOT better! I just know it! My hormones have been out of whack for so long that it makes sense that it would take a while to get them back to normal. But I just want to feel like myself again! I'm tired of feeling sluggish, moody, and just being an overall pain in the ass. I know I'm not fun to live with right now. I swear that the hormones weren't even this bad when I was pregnant. BOTH TIMES! I'm telling you folks, it's bad! The thyroid is a critical organ in the body and when it's messed up, it throws EVERYTHING off! I feel so icky. It's hard to explain and I hope that none of you ever have to go through what I've been through. Thank God that you are normal and healthy because it sucks when you're not.

I'm going to check back with my doctor in a month and get bloodwork done. We'll see where my levels are and if my dosage on the thyroid meds. needs to be increased. I'm on a very low dosage right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if I had to increase just a little bit. I still don't feel 100% and it might take me a while to get there. This is a total trial and error situation.....you have to work to tweak your optimal dosage. This could take months.

I've learned a lot about thyroid disease within the last few weeks. Thank God for the internet! I've researched so much! I've come to grips with the fact that this is something that I have no control over. It just happened. I even found a statistic in a magazine that was very interesting. It said that 5-6% of women who are post-partum get hypothyroidism. I think that's what happened to me when I quit nursing Maeve. My hormones never returned to normal. I quit nursing her a year ago, so my thyroid just slowly shut down after that.

I think every "bump in the road" that's been thrown my way throughout my life has been there for a reason. I'll get through this. I'm already so in tune with my body and I know when I don't feel right. I thank God that it occured to me to get my thyroid tested. Everyone deserves to live their best life. I just hope that my best life returns soon! ;)

Friday randomness.....

-ONE MORE WEEK of school! I'm really looking forward to not getting up so damn early! I know it'll take Kyra a while to learn to sleep a little later. But I'll be patient. I guess. ;)

-I have mixed emotions about the Grey's Anatomy finale last night. I only started watching the show halfway through this season, so I know I've missed out on a lot. I want to buy seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. I think I'll do that this weekend. I've heard on message boards how good season 1 was, so I can't wait to see it!

-My dad told me something last night that made me laugh....and more importantly, made me not care (in a good way).

-PMS has reared it's ugly head, but it's a lot better than it was last month. Thank God! I think the meds. are working!

-Richard has been totally pissing me off lately, but again, I think that PMS is partly to blame. The other part to blame is just his lack of common sense!

-Every single day, Walmart calls my name......"Kim, you need this...." or "Kim, you need that...." I hate that it's so close to the house now!

-My appetite has returned after being gone for a long time. I'm like ravenous hungry all.the.time. Ugh.

-I still want to lose 10 lbs. *sigh*

-I have to go to the grocery store this weekend. I despise going to the grocery store on the weekends!

-Hopefully doing Yoga in a bit will chill me out some!

Technology has finally caught up with us.....

Tonight I was reading Kyra a book and it was a fictional story about an Owl taking pictures of his friends Rabbit, Hedgehog, Snail, and Mouse with his camera that had film in it. Things kept happening and he was wasting his pictures away. First he had 12, then he only had 11, 10, and so forth. After a while, Kyra noticed this, was frustrated, and said, "I don't know why Owl just doesn't start deleting pictures off of his camera!" OMG! LOL!

This clearly means that Kyra has no idea what film in a camera actually is. *sigh*

My how times have changed!

One of my biggest pet peeves.....

I hate it when people say that they are depressed. Are you really depressed or are you just sad? Because there is a HUGE difference. You more than likely have control over your emotions if you're just sad. Sure we all have moments in life when something brings us down. But being clinically depressed is a totally different story. You don't want to feel depressed, but you can't help it. You want to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the train won't take you there. You want to get off of the rollercoaster, but it won't stop. In other words, you have no control over how you feel. There's a chemical imbalance somewhere in your body and that's why you feel the way that you do. I've been there, done that. THREE times, in fact.

After I had Kyra, I thought that being a mother would be the greatest and most wonderful thing ever. I had this precious little baby. She was plump and perfect. She was a spitting image of me as a baby. I wanted to take care of her and nurture her. Or did I? Shortly after Kyra was born, things spiraled out of control. I felt lost. I was afraid to be alone with her. I wanted someone around to help me. I was a mess when Richard went back to work. I couldn't handle the easiest of tasks. I didn't feel like me at all. When Kyra was 6 weeks old, I decided to talk to my doctor about it. She immediately put me on medication, which slowly but surely helped me out of the hole that I was in. I felt so much better within a month. Finally, I could enjoy my baby!

After Maeve was born, I didn't wait 6 weeks. When I felt myself going down that same road, I got on medication just days after she was born. I was very scared about taking it since I was breastfeeding, but everyone assured me that Zoloft is one of the safest drugs to take while breastfeeding. Again, I felt so much better and able to cope with being a mommy to a 4 year old and a newborn baby. I enjoyed motherhood with my two girlies.

Round 3 hit me pretty hard a few months ago. Something wasn't right. I just thought that my dosage wasn't enough, so my doctor increased it. It helped some, but there were other symptoms coming out as well. I thought that maybe my cycle had something to do with how I felt. I looked into PMDD. My doctor put me back on birth control to see if that would help. In the meantime, I found the cause of my depression, anxiety, weird cycles, being cold all the time, tired all the time, and heart palpitations. My thyroid was out of whack. Finally an answer! That explains so much! When your thyroid isn't functioning properly, it messes so many things up....from your metabolism to your thinking (I had brain fog for a while). The first thing that my OB/GYN said was, "Well now we know why your Zoloft hasn't been working as it should have!"

The bottom line is that sadness and depression are two totally different things. Prolonged sadness can lead to depression. You just have to listen to your body and know when something is a little "off". Don't wait to get checked out either. We all want to feel our best. So it's important that you see your doctor right away.

Airing out the dirty laundry.....

With all of the medical issues that I've had lately, I took it upon myself to talk to a therapist. This isn't my first time in therapy. Actually, it's my THIRD! Just to clear the air, you aren't some sort of freak if you go to therapy! I hate that stereotype! More people than you think go. You probably have a friend or family member that is going right now (and you might not even know it)! Some people want to talk about their experiences there and some don't. I won't go into extreme detail, but I will say that I have found someone for the first time that I really like. All of the ones before were fabulous, but I seem to really click with this one. Thankfully, Richard's employer allows each of us 8 FREE sessions per year if we need them! I think it's wonderful! I have taken full advantage of the opportunity and have been 4 times since February.

I've learned a lot about myself. I've learned a lot about how I should handle certain situations should they arise. I've learned that I'm STILL going through stages of grief. Right now, I think I'm in the anger stage. Am I angry at my mom for dying? NO. But, I do think that I feel anger toward other things in my life. Not my family. Not my friends either. But there's something in particular that has bothered me for a long time. I even posted about it a while back. We have had the chance to discuss it and I'm proud to say that the year is 2007 and I'm all about putting this certain circumstance behind me. I'll say that yes, it does involve a person. It involves a person that wants to have NOTHING to do with me. Yes, it hurts. But my therapist said something the other day that totally struck a chord with me. She said, "Hon, if this person doesn't want to respond to you, then they probably wouldn't make a good friend anyway. They probably treat others like they treat you. Do you really want to call a person like that a friend?" I don't. I had never thought about it like that before. It's really this person's fault that we aren't friends. Not mine. I'm not going to blame myself anymore. I'm not going to even try to contact this person anymore. I just don't give a shit anymore. I'm angry. I'm bitter. And it feels so damn good to get that out in the open!

I'm totally sick and tired of dwelling on this. It's not healthy. I have better things to do in my life. This person will NEVER come to their senses, so I'm not going to waste my time. I've had enough. I'm so blessed to have the wonderful family and friends that I do. I would hope that those that know me feel the same way.

Therapy is a great thing. It NEVER hurts to go if you need to. I've been alone and I've been with Richard. I don't regret any of the sessions. Each is a learning experience. I wish more couples would go through therapy before getting divorced. I think it should be mandatory. Maybe there would be a lot more reconciliations. We could use more love in the world anyway! :)

Thursday Thirteen....

Because I haven't done one of these in FOREVER.

Thirteen things that I want:

1.) A fancy, schmancy heart rate monitor.
2.) For the announcement to be made next week by NBC that "Friday Night Lights" will indeed be picked up for a 2nd season.
3.) Some Photoshop software so that I can get started on digital scrapbooking. I REALLY want to put my time and energy into starting this project this summer.
4.) For it to be July....because I heard that the cast and crew of "Friday Night Lights" will return to Austin in July to prepare to shoot a 2nd season. I really miss my man. *sigh*
5.) For Richard to find me a decent cable so that I can listen to my ipod while driving. Whatever cheap crap he ordered off of ebay DOES NOT work.
6.) To go to Corpus this summer and spend some time down there with friends....and Hilary!
7.) For Zoe to be completely potty trained FOREVER!
8.) For Zoe to loose all of her puppy teeth so that she stops chewing up everything in the house!
9.) The 1st season of "Friday Night Lights" DVD that comes out on August 28th. (Are you seeing a trend here? I'm totally obsessed. *sigh*)
10.) For the Serrano's and Chipotle to open soon in Southpark Meadows!
11.) For my mood and my energy level to keep improving!
12.) To lose 10 lbs. That's it. That's all I want!
13.) For school to be out, so we can all sleep a little later! :)

My Maeve.....

-First of all, it wasn't teeth that were bothering Maeve for the past week. Kid had horrible sores on her tongue! Owwwww! I have no idea where she got them from. I think she either bit her tongue and caused injury OR the blisters came from sucking her fingers too much. Anywho, she was in a lot of pain this week and refused to eat or drink pretty much anything for a few days. She lived off of popsicles. Today, I saw a different child. She finally wasn't clinging to me for dear life all day long. Thank God. That'll all change tomorrow though because I'll take her in for her 2 year appt. and that means shots. Ugh.

-My 2 year old counts to NINE! OMG! I have no idea where she picked this up from, but it is the cutest thing to hear! She puts her head in her hands and just counts away....as if she's playing hide and seek. So funny!

-Maeve also sings "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and it is absolutely the most adorable thing to hear. I love it! I need to video her doing it. I just love that sweet little voice!

-I got a little DVD for Maeve with a lot of childrens' songs/nursery rhymes on it and she sings away to it. She even knows how to work the DVD player by herself. She knows where the open/close button is and Richard took a black Sharpie marker and colored the "Play" button black, so she knows what to do after she has it in there! LOL! Lazy daddy!

Kids!

-Yesterday, I picked Kyra up from school. I went earlier and went into her classroom as they were getting ready to leave. They had a sub, so they were playing the quiet game. One student gets to sit on the rocking chair and everyone is quiet and then that student picks another one to come and sit in the chair, etc. Kyra got picked after a while. She was looking around and one boy was making noise. Then Kyra says loudly, "Trevor, I'm NOT going to pick you because you're not being quiet!" It was so funny to see her so feisty! At least she was being honest! Then she went right back to being quiet again! LOL!

-Kyra and I were wrestling on the carpet yesterday with the dogs. We were trying to get Mia to save us from the "beast" (Zoe). Yesterday, I clipped Zoe's nails. She was being a bit too rough with Kyra, so Kyra took it upon herself to go into the kitchen and grab 2 HUGE oven mitts! LMAO! She said that she was protected from Zoe now! PIMP! Kids and their ideas!

-Yesterday, Kyra said something that wasn't too nice, so I politely said that I didn't like her anymore. Then she yells, "You HAVE to like me! I'm your kid!" LMAO!

Never a dull moment around here, I tell ya.......

Funny!

What do you get if you cross a donkey with an onion?

Most of the time you simply get an onion with long ears, but every once in awhile, you get lucky, and get a piece of ass that brings tears to your eyes!

Mr. Thyroid and I.......

I went to the doctor today to follow up on my appt. from last week. They drew blood last Friday and I thought that I was just having my cholesterol and my T4 levels checked, but to my surprise, they checked A LOT of different things....glucose, triglycerides, oxygen levels, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, etc. Everything came back perfect! My T4 level was within normal limits, but it was a little on the lower end. So, my doctor wants to keep me on 50 mcg of Levothyroxine for 3 months and then have my blood checked again to see if my TSH level has changed. I'm fine with that. I'm feeling a lot better this week and I can tell that I'm gaining some energy back, which is great for as active as I am. I am in a better mood too and I feel like I can think clearly again and don't have that "brain fog" going on. So, I'm getting there.

Since my T4 level was within normal limits, it looks like we caught this thing in the nick of time. The T4 test tells us exactly what the thyroid is doing. Since that test wasn't that bad, I am probably considered "subclinical hypothyroid". That means that we caught this in its early stages.

Ever since my mom died, I am very much in tune with my body and I really try to pay attention to what it's telling me. Sometimes I obsess over every little thing. So while being so aware might be a blessing, it can also be a curse. I do live with fear in the back of my mind that I will die young. However, I am dealing with that issue. I'm talking to a therapist about it. She has a lot of good things to say. She tells me all the time that she sees that I'm taking care of myself the best that I can and have all of my bases covered. But the fear will always be there. It'll never go away. I think that all I can do now is trust in God and have faith and just live every single day to the fullest! I have learned to appreciate the little things.

There's not much new to report with the family. Things are sort of hairy here this week. Richard is going back on shift tomorrow night. Mia is a lazy dog. Kyra is reading better than I could have ever imagined at this age. Maeve is screaming in pain all day long and I'm losing it. I think she's cutting her 2 year molars. Zoe is pooping and peeing all over the house again. Lovely. I told Richard that I'm *this close* to putting her up for sale. Anybody want a cute chihuahua who is a pain in the rear? ;)

"Country" music?

The "country" music that's out these days is HORRIBLE! OMG! I heard this song ("Ticks") on the radio this morning. It just might be the worst song I've ever heard. The worst part about it? Brad Paisley sings it! I usually like his songs! Ugh!

Then there's crap like this out there too.

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a list of the worst country song titles.

-How Can I Miss You If You Won’t Go Away?
-You’re the Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly
-I’ve Been Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart
-I Keep Forgettin’ I Forgot About You
-She Got the Gold Mine and I Got the Shaft
-My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend and I Sure Do Miss Him
-I Changed Her Oil, She Changed My Life
-Drop-Kick Me Jesus Through the Goalposts of Life
-Thank God and Greyhound She’s Gone
-If You Don’t Leave Me Alone I’ll Go and Find Someone Else Who Will
-I’ve Got the Hungries For Your Love and I’m Waiting In Your Welfare Line
-I Fell in a Pile of You and Got Love All Over Me
-My John Deere Was Breaking Your Field While Your Dear John Was Breaking My Heart
-I Wouldn’t Take Her to a Dog Fight Because I’m Afraid She’d Win
-They May Put Me In Prison But They Can’t Stop My Face From Breaking Out

WTF? Seriously.

Makes me so glad that we got to hear some TRUE talent last night from the likes of Adam Hood, Matt Powell, and Sunny Sweeny. Now *that's* good music!

Randomness......(again)

-Maeve had an absolutely fabulous birthday at her Papoo's house. The party was simple and fun! We had cake and pizza! Kyra has now decided that she wants a "Papoo Party" too in June! LOL! I guess we'll have to add some sprinklers and a swimming pool to the agenda next time!

-We put up a swing in my dad's backyard for the kids. It's hanging from the big oak tree. It kicks ass! Even Richard took a turn on it! (dork)

-I am feeling better this week. I'm still not 100%. It will definitely take a while to get there. At least I know what's wrong. My T4 levels came back fine, so it looks like we caught this in the nick of time. I'm very thankful for that. I will follow up with my doctor on Friday. I will probably have to go in every month or two to have bloodwork done to check my TSH level to see if it's coming down. But that's fine with me! At least I'm getting closer to feeling like myself again!

-Richard is officially FINISHED with his training. He goes to "B" shift this Saturday night. He's very nervous. Pray for him. I know he'll be just fine.

-Maeve now knows how to say "markers" and she asks for them instead of the crayons. Great. Once again, thank God for washable markers!

-Maeve is now in her "big girl bed". The crib is still up, but it's going to come down soon. She doesn't even bat an eye at it anymore. She climbs right into her twin bed for naps and bedtime. We have a rail that we put up for her. She's actually sleeping very good at night. Her covers stay on her better and she doesn't whine for us to come into the room and cover her back up. I'm kind of happy, but kind of sad at the same time. The crib will be put away FOR GOOD. *sigh* The only thing left is potty training (and she's nowhere near ready for that).

-Parents SHOULD NOT let their children push the little grocery carts at the store. It's not cute. It's annoying. I wish they'd all get out of the way!

-Maeve just wrote what looks like "hi" on her hand with the marker! I'm not kidding! My kid can spell! LOL!

-Dear Zoe, please stop doddling in the house. You do it behind my back ALL.THE.TIME. It's not funny. Your daddy is tired of it too and he's tempted to put your crate outside and have you stay out there!

-I just heard that it might be 90 degrees on Friday! Nooooooooooooo! I'm not ready for the heat!

-I can't believe that school is almost out! WOW! Time flies! I'll soon have a 1st grader! *sigh*

-I just took a video of Maeve singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". I'll try to put it up soon.

Finally! An answer!

I found out this week that the reason why I've been feeling so crummy lately is because my thyroid is acting up. My body isn't making enough thyroxin, so I have hypothyroidism. This explains so much! My doctor got me started on meds. today and hopefully the fog will lift soon! I'm so tired of feeling sluggish and moody all the freakin time! I want to feel normal again! I'll keep you posted.

Tonight, I took the kids for a walk in the wagon. Do you know how hard it is to pull BOTH kids in a wagon? They wore me out! At the beginning of the walk, Kyra said, "Mommy, if we are going up a hill and it's too hard for you to pull us, I'd be delighted to get out and walk." DELIGHTED? LMAO! What vocabulary she has!

There's something else that she said to me about little boys and their little boy parts, but I'd rather not post that here. I was ROLLING though! So funny!

We are going to Victoria this weekend to celebrate Maeve's birthday. I can't believe that my baby will be TWO on Saturday! WOW! Time flies!

Who the heck flipped the switch?

OMG. So I just turned 30 all of a month ago and over the last few months, my symptoms of PMS have escalated. They are HORRIBLE! I have never had trouble before! I feel like the devil for 2-3 days leading up to the arrival of Aunt Flo! I thought that it was just me, but apparently, it's common for women to have worse PMS during their 3rd and 4th decades of life. So is this what I have to look forward to in my 30's? Geez!

I am anxious to hear if any of you out there reading this know what I'm talking about. If you or someone you know has gone through this, please tell me all about it. Right now I'm on 100 mg. of Zoloft and I THANK GOD for that! ;) Otherwise, I'm sure it would be so much worse for me to handle!

I'm also thankful that I have the internet to look for info. about this sort of thing too. This week, I plan on calling my doctor as well to see what she thinks. Hopefully, with a few little tweaks, next month will be much better! :)

Hi, my name is Kim.....

....and I am completely addicted to iTunes.

*sigh*

While the kids are away.....

We painted our bedroom this weekend and rearranged furniture. Our bed is at an angle in the corner. We also bought new bedding at Walmart. Thoughts? I really need to wait for daylight to take a better pic! Sorry!

The hoodlums will return tomorrow. I'm meeting my sister in Bastrop tomorrow afternoon. They have been in La Grange since Friday afternoon. It's eerily quiet around here. Oh wait, Mia and Zoe have made up for that! ;)

Kid funnies.....

Today Maeve just wasn't herself. I finally called the doctor around 4:00 and since it was so late, they said that I should just take her to the after-hours clinic in North Austin. We were in and out of there in 30 minutes. As I suspected, she has an ear infection. So it's antibiotics for 10 days. Maeve has never had an ear infection, so this is new territory for us. It wasn't really bad either.....just at the beginning stages.

So we are in line at the HEB drive-thru waiting to drop off the prescription to get filled and a commercial comes on the radio that has a phone ringing in it. Maeve says, "Hello?" It rings again, and Maeve says, "Hello!" By the third time, she was ticked off and yells, "Hellooooooo?!" LOL! I was cracking up.

We get home and the kids are taking a bath together and I hear Kyra say, "Maeve, I love you. I'm so glad that you aren't dead." OMG! PIMP! Apparently Kyra thought that Maeve was deathly ill. I had to explain to her that her ear hurts and it's infected. Kyra never tells Maeve that she loves her though, so I was just soaking that up!

I.love.these.kids.

*sigh* They grow up so fast.....

Today Kyra lost another tooth. That's #2 (technically #3 though since she had one extracted when she was 2 years old). The other one had fallen out after she ate something, but she pulled this one out today all by herself. Actually, she said that she put her mouth against the edge of the computer desk and wiggled it until it fell out! LOL! How funny is that? She's a smart girl. She's very excited about the Tooth Fairy coming tonight. ;)

I also officially signed up Maeve for preschool today after leaving a check for supplies. She was on the waiting list, but I got a call last week that there will be a spot available for her in the fall. I took her with me and she wanted to play on the playground and swing and she was getting down all of the books in the office. This kid is going to LOVE preschool.....especially out there where Kyra went. She'll go on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:45-2:00. I'll do a lot of volunteering out there (that I didn't get to do with Kyra) and I'll be able to have lunch with Kyra more often. So this is a good thing. Still it's hard to believe that the time has finally come for Maeve to go too!

Easter was good. The kids had fun. The weather was crappy though. Ugh. I was so happy to see the SUN today! Gosh how I've missed it!

However, we are all still suffering with allergies. Ugh. I can't wait for the oak pollen just to go away. It's bad this year. Of course, then the mold will be in full swing. :( Hopefully, our bodies will adjust and get a break soon.

Tomorrow night is the season finale for my favorite show, "Friday Night Lights". I can't wait to see it. I'm a little sad that the season is over with, but I can't wait for the DVD release this summer. Oh, and it's pretty much in the bag that there WILL be a 2nd season, so thanks to all of you who voted a while back. I'm so pumped that this fabulous show will continue on and that the cast and crew will return to Austin where they belong!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

From bad to worse.....

WTF is up with this weather? Here's the forecast for EASTER weekend.

Friday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 68. Northeast wind between 10 and 15 mph.

Friday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 42. Northeast wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Saturday: Periods of rain and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 50. Northeast wind around 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Saturday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a low around 36. North northeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. North northeast wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

***OMG! Guess that we will be indoors at my sister's house on Saturday. *sigh* I guess I know to pack warm tonight. Geez! This weather is crazy!

I'm sure it'll wash some of the pollen out of the air. But I'm highly allergic to mold and I'm sure the rain will make that worse. I can't win for losing!

Happy Easter everyone! See you next week!

Achooo!

Ugh. No wonder I've been miserable. This oak is everywhere (notice the yellow on everything?) and I'm highly allergic to mold. I REFUSE to go back to the doctor for a prescription, so last night I went to the store to grab some homeopathic stuff that you let melt under your tongue. And you know what? IT WORKS! Screw the doctors! LOL!

I.hate.pollen. :(

Oh really?

Let me just preface this by saying that Kyra was in one of her moods all day today. She's only 5 1/2, but I swear that she's in some pre-hormonal stage or something. Ugh. She pestered her sister all day long and would get in Maeve's way on purpose. Everything from her was very dramatic today. Richard had enough after a while and sent her to her room (Go Daddy!). This is the conversation that I had with Kyra this evening.

Me: "I'm so glad that tomorrow is Monday and you get to go back to school."

Kyra: "Yeah, I was pretty lazy this weekend and need to get back to work."

LMAO! How old is she again?

My sister and brother-in-law came for a short visit today and her cousins and her uncle were here this weekend too. I would hardly say that she was lazy and didn't do anything!

Out with the old, in with the new(er).....

R.I.P. dear old Mitsubishi Galant
March 17, 1995- March 31, 2007

Yep, it's gone. Today was the day. I saw my car driven off by someone else. It's really gone. *sigh* I sincerely hope that they take good care of it. I could go on and on about so many things that went on with that car. But I choose to just say that it was a good car. I can't complain. I got it with 8 miles on it and it left today with 138,000 miles on it. Not bad. Gosh, what a ride it was.

It was time for it to go. Sometimes you gotta quit while you're ahead. And that's exactly what we did. We knew that before too long, it would give out on us.....I mean *really* give out on us. So, we chose to take the high road and try to sell it before things got too expensive with keeping it going.

We were with just one car for a few hours today. This afternoon, Richard and I left the kids with his brother and my niece and nephew who are here visiting. We went to Spicewood and picked up a used 2000 Mitsubishi Montero Sport. So, we upgraded just a little bit! LOL! It's in pretty good condition. As always, Richard will get it there. I have no doubt. He'll baby this thing and get it to where it needs to be physically and mentally. LOL! I thank God everyday that my husband knows so much about cars and does all of the maintenance himself. He's a dream to have around. AutoZone is his best friend! LOL!

And guess what? Our new ride is WHITE too....just like our suburban! Pics to come.....we need to baptize (aka wash) this thing first.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that it has a sun roof?! Saweeeeet!

Fly-by post.....

I'm sorry that I haven't been around lately to update this thing. The truth is that I *have* been around, but I haven't felt like blogging much. Maeve is still asleep this morning, so I thought I'd try to get some "me" time in. Forgive my "random thought" format here. There's been so much on my mind lately.

-First of all, Maeve went to sleep in her crib last night, but I heard her around 11:00. She was barely awake, so I put her in the twin bed in her room. Guess what? She's still there! My big girl! Boy does she toss and turn though! She's not sleeping in our bed anytime soon! LOL! We actually transitioned Kyra to a big bed when we moved into this house. Kyra had just turned 2. So I guess it's probably going to be that time soon. I'm having a hard time with the fact that the crib will go FOR GOOD this time.....no saving it for future babies. *sigh*

-Kyra is flooring me with the amount of reading that she is doing at school and here at home. I've heard that she's one of the top readers in her class. She loves to read. She reads EVERYTHING now though and that's quite annoying. Yesterday, she was reading what I was typing! LOL! So I have to be very careful with my content now! ;)

-As for Maeve, she's talking A LOT now. The other day, Zoe was being her hyper puppy self and Maeve said, "Zoe excited!" Woah! Where did that word come from? She's a total ham right now and does the funniest things. I love it.

-Zoe and Mia are getting along quite well. They actually cuddle up against each other once in a while and go to sleep. It's so cute. They also do their play/fight thing too. Mia is definitely kept busy these days. Zoe is doing very well with pottying outside. I'm very proud of her. She's been using the doggy door and goes out by herself a lot. This morning, I have to take BOTH of them to the vet for check-ups. That ought to be interesting.

-Richard is still training on days right now. I love it. He'll soon move back to nights though.....probably within another month. Hopefully, the better pay will kick in soon too. I'm sooooo ready for that.

-As for me, I'm still teaching for the gyms and am in choreographyland right now. I have new choreography to learn for both Body Step and Body Flow that I have to teach in a few weeks.

-I'm in love. I got an ipod. I use it to run and can even hook it up to the stereo at the gym when I teach! So handy!

-I paid $2.33 for gas the other day. Two days later, it's up to $2.43. WTF?

-Only two more new episodes of "Friday Night Lights" are left. I'm excited to see how this season will end, but I'm sad that it's all over with. I'm going to go through serious withdrawals this summer. That is until they come out with the DVD, which I hope they do soon. I also am praying every single night for a season 2! The cast wants to stay in Austin and we want them to stay here too! Besides, I want my eye candy back! LOL! If you haven't watched this show, you're missing out. I think it's the single greatest show on TV right now. And it's NOT all about football either! It's so much more than that! You can watch all episodes online on NBC.com!

-I think our Easter plans are to drive to La Grange on Friday afternoon after Kyra gets out of school. We'll celebrate with family on Saturday afternoon and then drive back up here on Saturday night because Richard has to work on Sunday. So it'll be low key for the girls and I on Sunday. I like it that way. Oh and Kyra should have had off for Good Friday, but we have to make it up because of the ice that we had in January.

I think that's all for now. I hope that brings everyone up to speed. I'll try to be a better blogger from now on!

Song meme.....

I've been tagged (again) by the lovely Jen.

"List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what they are. They must be songs you are presently enjoying. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to."

You might just be surprised to hear what I'm listening to right now. LOL!

1.) "Faster Kill Pussycat" by Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy (We agree on this one Jen!)

2.) "Face The Music" by Conjure One (Can you tell that I'm learning Body Flow right now? LOL!)

3.) "What Goes Around....Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake (Because every girl needs a little JT!)

4.) "Hole In The Head" by The Sugababes (Ok, I just have to say that some of the music that comes out of the U.K. ROCKS and this is a good example!)

5.) "Who Knew" by Pink (Love her! Thanks Jen!)

6.) "Purify" by Balligomingo (Another song that should be on a Body Flow release!)

7.) "Breathe Me" by Sia (Another Body Flow favorite of mine. Will I ever get tired of this song? NOPE!)

***Oh and a little side note on #7.....it really is one of my favorite songs EVER. It was on Body Flow release 35 and as I was teaching it one day at the gym, this person was working out at the gym. He was right outside the glass and I could see him. You all know that I adore him. ;)
Anywho, I came across this on YouTube and thought, "Wow, what a coincidence!"

OK, I guess I have to tag people. I don't know if I can come up with 7 people! LOL! Who all reads this blog anyway? OK, I know that some that read my blog don't have blogs themselves, so you can just email me your answers! LOL! (See Jen, I can break the rules too!)

1.) Chelle
2.) Mary
3.) Kimmy
4.) Sheila
5.) Susan

Crap. That's all I got! Feel free to chime right in even if you're not listed here! ;)

My girls....

Kyra got a haircut and a new outfit yesterday. She looks so grown up, doesn't she?

And Maeve LOVES the swing! She could be outside all day long. My dad says that Lisa was exactly like her at this age. She loved to swing and be outside and she'd cry when she'd have to come inside! That's my Maeve too!

Man of the house......

From another email that I got from the fabulous Kimmy!


The husband had just finished reading a new book entitled,
"You Can Be THE Man Of Your House."

He stormed to his wife in the kitchen and announced, "From now on, you need to know that I am the man of this house and my word is Law. You will prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, and when I'm finished eating my meal, you will serve me a sumptuous dessert. After dinner, you are going to go upstairs with me and we will have the kind of sex that I want. Afterwards, you are going to draw me a bath so I can relax. You will wash my back and towel me dry and bring me my robe. Then, you will massage my feet and hands. Then tomorrow, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"

The wife replied, "The f**kin' funeral director would be my first guess."

A Richard funny....

Wednesday was Richard's first day off of the week. Kyra came home from school and wanted to go to our town's park to see the new playground equipment. So Richard took her and Maeve.

They were gone for about 45 minutes. Richard comes in shaking his head. I immediately ask, "Oh no, what did Kyra or Maeve do?" He said, "It wasn't Kyra or Maeve. Look at the shirt that I wore!"

He had on his "Hooters....Daytona Beach" shirt that my brother-in-law gave him a few years back. LOL!

Richard said that he was mortified because there were a lot of mommies and kids at the playground.....not to mention Kyra's P.E. teacher too! LMAO!

Note to Richard: Take a look at what shirt you have on before you go to a kid friendly place next time! ;)

The things they do.....

I took Maeve in the jogger this morning and ran my 4 miles. It was cloudy at first, but then the sun came out and warmed things up. She LOVES the stroller. It's her absolute favorite thing to be in that thing for 45 minutes or so. We talk about birds, trees, trains, etc. She sees other dogs and "barks" at them. She sees kids and says, "Hi!" On the way back into our neighborhood, we were alongside a fairly long stretch of road. As the cars were driving by, Maeve would lift up her shirt and say, "Hi truck!" OMG! I was horrified! It was funny though. I bet they all got a kick of seeing a toddler in a stroller lifting up her shirt. I got deja vu. I have this picture of my preschool class and a little girl is lifting up her entire dress and you can see her underwear. *sigh* Kids.

Maeve is obsessed with calling every vehicle a truck. My dad is here this weekend and of course, she's always quick to point out Papoo's truck.

It's going to be a busy week ahead. More on that later.

They're too young for this!

Just to preface, K and J are Kyra's best friends at school. They are girls.

B and H are little boys that are in Kyra's class.

Kyra just told me that K has B and H as her boyfriends. J was mad because she doesn't have boyfriends because K took them away from her.

I told Kyra that everyone should be friends. They'll have plenty of time for boyfriends when they are MUCH older.

Kyra said, "Well, they ARE older! B and H are already SIX, I think!"

She doesn't get it. *sigh*

I asked Kyra if she has a boyfriend and she said no. Thank God. ;)

And something Kyra asked me tonight.....

"Mommy, when I'm in 2nd grade, can I get my own cell phone?"

WTF?

Um, no.

Something that my husband always asks me.....

"So have you come to the end of the internet yet?"

Nope. ;)

An open plea.....

For those of you looking for a really good show (besides American Idol), please watch "Friday Night Lights" on NBC. I am in love with this show. I've seen every single episode and love it. It was ordered a full season, but I'm wanting a 2nd one! It tapes near Austin and one of the guys that I have a major crush on works out at one of the gyms that I teach at. I saw him today and almost got to meet him in person. He tucked out of the gym just minutes before I left. Ugh.

If you want to watch a few episodes, go here to get caught up. It's such a good show. It's on Wednesday nights at 8/7 central. I really think that they should move the show to Sunday nights when they have a 2nd season. There's so much competition on the other nights of the week. I just want to see it find its audience on a good night.

So please watch it. I really think that it would take off if people knew how good it was. It's my favorite show on TV right now.

Well crap.

Richard worked his old shift last week.....Wed., Thurs. and Fri. nights. He had Saturday off. Sunday he started working days. This week, he's working Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He called me this afternoon and informed me that he has to take 2 8 hour classes on Thursday and Friday of this week. Lovely. He's getting paid for them, but those are his days off! The thing is that they only offer these classes once a year and these classes mean a pay raise. So I'm all for that.

So again, he has off this Saturday and then has to work Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday next week.

Is it NEXT Wednesday yet? I need a break. The kiddos drove me crazy today. Thank God Kyra goes back to school tomorrow. I'm heading to the gym for some sanity. ;)

An internal shower.....

Lately I've felt like I need to get some of the negativity out of my life. It's not healthy. Maybe it's because Lent has begun. I don't know. I just feel this overwhelming need to cleanse my mind a little. We always shower on the outside and I like to think that my shower on the inside happens when I take a Yoga class or teach a Body Flow class to release all of the toxins within my body. Right now, my brain just needs a break. I need to fill my head with more positive people, quotes, websites, etc. I'm tired. Really tired.

I need to relish in the happiness that's right under my nose. I need to push all of the drama aside for now. I need to focus on me, my husband, my children, and my doggies. I need healing. And I think that I'm getting there.....slowly but surely.

Kicks my ass every time.....

Today I taught Body Step. I have a class on Sundays now. I have a decent crowd. Today I only had 10 people. That's probably because the weather was so nice today. There were a lot of people walking outside and working in their yards in our neighborhood.

I taught release 62. It was the release that I trained on back in February of '06. I haven't done it in a while since I've been teaching the new stuff with release 66. OMG. Every single time I teach this class I think I'm in better shape than the time that I taught before. WRONG! I was sucking air! That release takes my breath away. It NEVER gets easier. I'm pushed to my cardio limit (and probably my maximum heartrate) every.single.time. I sweat like a pig. By the end of the class, my body and my brain are spent. It's the most intense 55 minutes.

But I do give it my all. Why? Because of course I have to. I'm an instructor and I have to motivate the members. But I also want to challenge myself as well. Results only follow with hard work. I have the mentality that "I'm here for 55 minutes, so I might as well make all of those 55 minutes count." Another instructor said that "if you work out for 55 minutes, you add 55 minutes to your lifespan." I like that mentality too.

I honestly didn't know how I worked out before Body Step. I know that I didn't work as hard. Maybe that's why I'm seeing results now. I just needed that extra push. And now I think I have it! :)

Future tattoo artist.....

And God Bless the person that invented washable markers! You are my hero! ;)

The end of an era.....

Richard got hired on at AMD (which is now Spansion) in June of 1997. Since then, he's worked "D" shift. "D" shift is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday nights and then every other Saturday night. Tonight is his LAST night to work this shift. His co-workers are having a party for him. They will be feasting on Rudy's BBQ (so jealous!) and numerous desserts. On Sunday, he'll start working during the day on "A" shift. He'll be training on days and then when he's done with that, he'll go back to nights on "B" shift. "B" shift is every other Saturday night, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights. So that'll be an adjustment. His old boss and some former "D" shift workers are now on "B" shift, so he's excited about seeing them again.

He's very excited about his promotion and is ready to get to work! He's a quick learner, so I know he'll do great! And, he's been waiting for this opportunity for 10 years! :)

Beautiful!

This is Kyra's spring portrait. When I dressed her that day, I completely forgot about it being school picture day. I thought that I was in love with her fall photo, but this one is gorgeous! It's my favorite one yet of her. It just captures her personality so well right now.

They sent the pictures home and you can buy as many as you want. If you buy them all, it's $40. I think I'm going to buy them all. They also have keychains and bookmarks with her picture on it. So cute!

She just looks so big and grown up in this picture. *sigh*

Little old ladies and used cars.....

A cute one! Thanks Kimmy! Margaret, you'll like this one! I think that you could substitute the old ladies with a blonde and the joke would be just as good! LOL! Just my opinion though.... ;)

It was a small town and the patrolman was making his evening rounds.

As he was checking a used car lot, he came upon two little old ladies sitting in a used car.

He stopped and asked them why they were sitting there in the car.

Were they trying to steal it?

"Heavens no, we bought it."

"Then why don't you drive it away."

"We can't drive."

"Then why did you buy it?"

"We were told that if we bought a used car here we'd get screwed ...so we're just waiting."

Happy President's Day!

Conversation with Kyra this morning:

Me: "Kyra, today is President's Day."

Kyra: "I know, we've been talking about President Lincoln."

Me: "So do we have a President right now? Who is he?"

Kyra: "No, we don't have one. He's in jail."

OMG! LMAO! I have no idea where that came from. Funny!

I did tell her that we do indeed have a President, he's not in jail, and his name is President Bush. She thought that was a weird name! ;)

Confessions.....

I know that I haven't exactly been a regular blogger lately. I'm sorry for that. Getting a new puppy has shifted a few things around here. The kids keep me busy too. There's always something to do or someone to tend to.

Everyone went to bed early tonight, so I thought I'd hop on here and write something. I'll give ya'll some updates.

First of all, you may or may not know that Richard indeed did get a promotion at work. This has been 10 years in the making. An opportunity finally came up for a maintenance tech position. Richard interviewed and he got it! We are very excited. He'll train on days for a while (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and every other Wednesday). Then he'll work nights again on "B" shift. "B" shift is opposite of the shift that he's working right now. So he'll work every other Saturday night, Sunday night, Monday night, and Tuesday night. I'm actually looking forward to him having the end of the week off. That'll be interesting.

Kyra is still loving school. She amazes me with her reading skills and comes home every day with a different story to tell. She adores her teacher. She's doing very well. She's very excited that she gets to check out 2 library books now....just like the 1st graders do. *sigh* First grade. I'm not ready for that yet. She's not either. When I mention it, she says, "I don't ever want to leave Kindergarten!" I know the feeling, hon!

Maeve is such a funny little girl. She's talking A LOT. She's just a little comedian and does the silliest things. I'll try to start remembering them so that I can post them on here. She loves to dance and cries when we have to go home from the dance studio that Kyra goes to. I see another $40 per month being spent within another year! LOL! She'll attend preschool in the fall at the same place that Kyra went to. She will love it. She's a social butterfly. I can't believe that she'll be TWO soon. Wow. Where did the time go?

Zoe and Mia are getting along as well as can be expected. Mia wants to steal Zoe's food, so that's an issue. Like Mia needs any more calories! LOL!

As for me, I'm taking it one day at a time. I haven't felt like myself lately, so I decided to take it upon myself to get some help. I'm so familiar with this help. ;) I'm taking stronger meds. now and seeing a therapist. I'm looking forward to better days ahead. I've felt this way before. I know what to do when I feel myself sliding into a deep hole. I don't have to feel like this. And I don't want to either. I want to be a wonderful wife and mom. I can't let my emotions get the best of me.

I don't know why I feel the way I feel. Something triggered this imbalance in my body and I'm going to find out what it is. I really hate how people think that if you're depressed, you can just flip a switch and everything will be fine. It's not. Healing takes time. It's not something that will go away on its own. No amount of material things will cure it. You have to use the resources available in order to come out of it. Resources are so important. I learned this the hard way. I felt horrible after Kyra was born. I ignored it for a long time. I wish I wouldn't have. After Maeve was born, I felt that downward spiral again and got help immediately. I'm glad that I was able to recognize how I was feeling and do something about it.

So now you know more about me than you ever wanted to know, right? LOL! Actually, I have many friends that have been in the same position that I have at one point or another. So it's common. I'm not alone. And I'm comforted by that.

Have a great week! I'll keep ya posted.

Meet Zoe!

Yes, her name is Zoe (Zoey). I think that she looks like a Zoe!

She had a very good first night at her new home and had a very

good checkup at the vet today too. She's sleeping on my lap as I type

this. She's so spoiled already! I'll upload some video once I figure out

how to do that!

21 months and counting.....

She doesn't even look like a baby anymore does she? :( *sigh*

He did it!

Richard got the job! He's thrilled! I'm very excited for him and very proud!

Stay tuned. Many exciting things are yet to come!

Lost....

My mood has been horrible lately. I have ups and downs. Sometimes I feel like I've lost my sense of self.....like every day just passes by and I don't know who I am or what I'm about. I HATE when I get in this rut. I think a lot of it has to do with lack of sleep and sunshine. I want some awesome weather for a while and I just want to feel like "me" again.

Around 1 in the morning, Pukefest 2007 ensued. First it was Maeve. Then about 30 minutes later, Kyra started. Ugh. We were washing sheets and shuffling kiddos and clothes around till about 3 this morning. Kyra had one more episode and then that was it. She woke up in a cheerful mood this morning (always does), but I kept her at home anyway. Maeve was a different story. She woke up grumpy (usually does) and threw up one more time this afternoon. She's had horrible diarrhea today though. It stinks SO BAD. Poor baby. She didn't drink or eat much at all today. I'm hoping that the both of them get a good night's sleep and that I do too (I need it). I also pray that I don't get what they had. I hate being sick. It only adds to my bad mood.

Richard fed them some sausage last night and I think that was a big "no no". Either they got sick from that or they just caught a bug that's going around. My brother-in-law was sick all weekend till today. Apparently that crap is going around. I don't want it. I need to be well for my kiddos!

So I'm off to bed. It's not even 9:00. YAY! Must.have.sleep.

Until next time.....

Pizza anyone?

The top 5 pizza sales days are:

1. Super Bowl Sunday
2. New Year's Eve
3. Halloween
4. The night before Thanksgiving
5. New Year's Day

Fun facts to know and tell about pizza, according to FranchiseHelp and USA Today:

* 94 percent of Americans eat pizza regularly.
* 93 percent of Americans have eaten pizza in the last month.
* Pizza is America's fourth most-craved food, behind cheese, chocolate and ice cream.
* Americans consume over 100 acres of pizza a DAY, about 350 slices per second. And that's on a regular day--not Super Bowl Sunday or Halloween!
* Pizza accounts for more than 10 percent of all food service sales.
* Approximately 3 billion pizzas are sold in the United States each year.
* On Super Bowl Sunday, pizza delivery drivers can expect $2 tips to sometimes soar as high as $20.
* Domino's delivery drivers will log about 4 million miles on Super Bowl Sunday.
* Delivery sales of pizza spike the most during close Super Bowl games.
* There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States. These pizzerias represent 17 percent of all restaurants.
* Frozen pizzas that could be purchased in grocery stores were first introduced in the United States in 1957 and soon became the most popular of all frozen food.

And her vocabulary increases.....

Overheard in the bathtub tonight......

Maeve: "Move Kyra! Move!

***LMAO! I just love how I hear new words daily. She's getting too smart!

Let us pray.....

Things have really intensified around here. Richard is working on getting promoted at work. Richard's been with his company for almost 10 years and has never "moved up" as far as his status goes. Well a maintenance position needs to be filled now and instead of shifting people around, they are moving a WFT (wafter fab tech....what Richard currently is) up to a maintenance spot. Richard has wanted this for a long time. An opportunity just never came up before.

So on Monday, Richard has to endure 4 hours of interviews. He's nervous. It's between him and one other person. Based on what he's told me, he has a pretty good chance.

Right now, he works "D" shift, which is Wed., Thurs., Fri. nights and then every other Saturday night. If he gets the job, he'll move to "B" shift, which is every other Saturday night, Sun., Mon., Tues. nights. So it's the opposite of what he's working now.

Just say a quick prayer for him. I would appreciate it. This would be so great for our family right now.

And while I'm asking for prayers, I'll mention that Richard's sister is having some exploratory surgery on Wednesday. I just got off of the phone with her. She's also very nervous and scared. So a quick prayer for her would be appreciated too.

I'll keep you posted.

What happens when a 5 year old watches "American Idol"....

Kyra: "Mommy, that blue thing over their mouth and that beeping noise means that they said a bad word. Daddy told me so. So what did they say?"

***LOL! I just said that it was a bad word and she didn't need to know what they said. I just hope that Richard didn't tell her anything either.

Holy toddler meltdowns batman!

O.M.G. They are HORRIBLE! Wow. Kyra never pulled stuff like this.

Oh are we in for a long ride! And to think that she's not even TWO yet!

*sigh*

I want the sun back!

Yesterday was beautiful, wasn't it? I ran my 4.2 miles outside in the afternoon. My mp3 player wasn't charged up, so I ran without music, but I didn't care. THE SUN WAS OUT! The kids even played outside for most of the day. Georgeous and not a cloud in the sky! But we were warned that it would be short lived though. And it was.

Today it's dreary, cold, and about to be wet again. Ugh. I like winter, but I want the sun to shine too!

At least the ice is staying away this week! :)

Friday Five #1......

On Fridays, I thought it would be fun to post links to five different websites that I frequently visit.....just so you can get a better idea of how I make use of my precious (*coughwastefulcough*) time on the web.

Here are my 5 picks for this week....and yes, they all have a theme. *blush*

D-Listed

Perez Hilton

Go Fug Yourself

Celebrity Baby Blog

Pink Is The New Blog

Icicles....

This is what is hanging off of my house at the moment! Aren't they HUGE?

Day 4.....

We are currently on Day 4 of being couped up in the house.

This crap better melt. SOON.

My patience is almost gone. :(

Greetings from snowy/icy/sleety Central Texas!

Wow. I've never seen such strange weather. We had been hearing since late last week that we were going to have ice on Sunday. Well Sunday came and went. Then we heard that it was coming on Monday. Monday was worse. Thank God it was a holiday. Last night, they canceled school for Tuesday. Today it has been sleeting/snowing consisently. It looks like school will be canceled tomorrow too. Great. Richard and Kyra ventured out to HEB just now. I can't wait to hear stories from there.

Kyra and Maeve have been playing out in the sleet/snow today. The majority of what we've had is sleet. But I hear that snow is on the way tonight! We are supposed to get 3-4 inches! I'm happy that the freezing rain has stayed away and I welcome the sleet/snow. It's a lot easier to venture outside in!

On another note, today is my Granny's birthday. I guess she's creating a winter wonderland from Heaven for Kyra and Maeve to enjoy! :)

Whereever you are, STAY WARM!

Funny Bud Light commercial....

Richard and I were cracking up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h62Zq2sVCmQ

I would post the video directly, but YouTube doesn't like my blog for some reason. :(

The end is near.....

Kyra was 2 years old when she moved from her crib to the twin bed. Right around her 2nd birthday, we moved out here, so when we moved, we didn't even set up the crib. The transition was a piece of cake. She loved her bed and was fine sleeping in it alone.

Maeve is now almost 21 months. I'm beginning to think that she doesn't like her crib anymore. She screams in there sometimes (not all of the time though). Last night, she and Kyra stayed at their godparents' house and they had her on a mattress on the floor and she did fine. She's surrounded by pillows and loves it.

This will be the end of the crib. FOREVER. I wanted her to be in it till she was at least 2, but it doesn't look like she'll make it that long. I wanted time to prepare for this. I'm not ready yet. My baby is still a baby, right? *sigh*

Like I said, she and Kyra stayed with Melissa and Dean last night and LOVED IT. Maeve had a ball keeping up with Kyra and Jake. Maeve doesn't need her mommy around so much like she used to. She's so well adjusted and just goes with the flow. Maeve is my cuddlebug. She will cling to anyone that lets her cuddle with them. And who wouldn't want to cuddle with her?

I've been tagged.....

The lovely Jen is at it again.....

5 things that you probably don't know about me.....

1.) I MUST put on chapstick before bed. I absolutely cannot go to sleep without it. So weird, I know. But I hate dry lips and it's usually at the end of the day when I have them.

2.) When cleaning out the dishwasher, I put all of the clean dishes on the counter first. Then I put the dirty ones in the dishwasher. Then I put the clean ones up. This drives Richard CRAZY! It started when I was pregnant and my belly kept getting in the way. So I would just do it this way. And I STILL do it this way. *sigh*

3.) On the heels of #2, I must sleep with a pillow between my legs at night. My knees cannot touch each other. Again, this was a pregnancy thing that stayed with me. I did it then to straighten my spine and keep pressure off of my back.

4.) I shave my legs out of the shower. If I do it in the shower, I always seem to miss a few spots. And that bothers me.

5.) I hate scary movies. If I watch them, then I have nightmares that go on for days. So I avoid them all together.

Papoo owes Kyra more money.....

We got Kyra's report card yesterday. Perfect again! :)

Her teacher commented that she "really progressed this 6 weeks."

I'm so proud. Richard looked at it this morning too....something he usually never does. I think he feels the same way.

My dad always tells Kyra that he'll give her money if she has a good report card. Looks like he'll be paying up yet again! LOL!

Maeve funny....

I just heard her sneeze. Then she said, "Bless you!" LOL!

There are countless other cute things that she's doing right now. I'll try to think of them all and save them for another post.

I just love her to pieces.

A pee in your pants kind of day....

Today ROCKED. Jen knows why. ;) I had to call her because I was flipping out! I mean REALLY flipping out.

I teach Body Flow downtown on Wednesdays at noon. I love that class. I have the most awesome members that come and it is indeed the highlight of my week.

Kayte is a girl that works at the gym down there. She and I talk a lot when we see each other. Some random dude told her "bye" today. He was random, but he was HOT. She told me that he is a stunt person/extra for "Friday Night Lights". FNL tapes here in Austin....in Del Valle in fact. My friend Scarlet is so lucky because she lives there! LOL!

Anywho, I told Kayte how much I LOVE FNL. I have seen every episode (still haven't seen the movie though). I told Kayte that I think the guy that plays "Tim Riggins" is so hot. I'm obsessed with him. He's just gorgeous.....total eye candy.

What Kayte said next made me almost jump out of my skin.

Kayte said, "Oh Taylor? (That's his real name) He comes in here to work out all the time......"

I said, "What? You're kidding, right?"

She wasn't. She even went on to say that she felt like a dork asking for his autograph for a friend of hers. She said that he was happy to oblige. Apparently, he's flattered that he's even noticed around here.

Oh, I'd notice him.

My next question was what time he usually works out at the gym. Kayte told me early afternoon. My class is done at 1:00.

So you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be looking just a teeny weeny bit nicer when I teach at the gym on Wednesdays! LOL! I swear that if I saw him, I would be on Cloud 10! I'd be shaking. Hopefully I'd be able to teach my class. (And please God, don't let him EVER decide to take a Body Flow class).

Top story for today....

So this is what has the city all stirred up right now.

There's a forum on another tv station's website and people are just being idiots. You know there's always those people that like to think the worst when something like this happens. They jump to conclusions and say things to scare others. Ugh.

I'm just thankful that I don't have to teach downtown till Wednesday. Hopefully all of this mess will be cleared up by then.

I have weird kids, part 2......

Fun with "recycled" Christmas gift bags.......

And you know what else might be fun?

I kept ALL of the notes that were passed to me during high school. This includes some that were mailed. ;) Why? I don't know. I probably should have parted with them a long time ago, but I get a kick out of reading things from a long time ago, so that's probably why I kept them. They are around here somewhere.....either tucked away in a closet or in the attic. I'm not sure.

So I'm thinking that it might be fun to go through them and read them. Granted it would take me a week to probably read all of them. There were LOTS. It would just be fun to see how my crushes changed on a weekly basis and who I was mad at at the time....stupid stuff like that.

I'm just in a very melancholy, nostalgic mood, so that's probably why I'm bringing this up.

So chances are if you wrote something to me between 1992 and 1995, I'll find it. ;)

Something I'm thinking of doing this year.....

In high school, I hated to read. I only read the novels that we were assigned because I HAD to. I also confess that I bought Cliffsnotes for all of them. I skimmed through the books and then read the Cliffsnotes. It must have been enough to get by because I passed. LOL! Actually, I did more than pass. I was an A student in English. To this day, I have no idea how.

What I'm getting at is that I read A LOT of books in high school, but I don't remember most of them. I'm thinking of checking out each of those books and reading them again and seeing if I enjoy them more as an adult. Crazy, I know. I think as an adult, I've come to appreciate the opinions of others a lot more. After all, adults WROTE these books. Would a 17 year old appreciate the opinion of someone in their 40's or 50's? Most likely not.

So if you want to discuss books like Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby, Great Expectations, Catcher In The Rye, The Hobbit, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, 1984, The Scarlet Letter, A Tale of Two Cities, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Wuthering Heights, then let me know. I have no idea which one I'd start with. Any suggestions?

We'll see if this actually happens though. I have to cram a lot into my busy life. ;)