Because Daddy Says I Can

I'm sure you've seen these JuiceBoxJungle ads in your internet travel - they're everywhere! Well, one reason we signed on to host these ads is because their episodes are really thought-provoking and touch on some of the real issues facing parents out here.

I meant to post about episode "Grandma Says I Can" for a while now, but I just couldn't find the time. There is a new episode online now (see sidebar) about another very interesting issue - pacifiers or not.

But, back to the point at hand...my issue isn't grandma it's hubby. Watch the episode below and replace "grandma" with "hubby" and tell me what you think.

I am the iron fist in our house while daddy is fun daddy. That's great for princess because fun is always around, but it vilifies me because I come in like clouds on a sunny day. It is getting better, I must admit, as hubby tries to stand behind my decisions more, but it's still an issue.

Have you faced a similar issue? How did you handle it? Let a mama know because I'm lost with this one...

More parenting videos on JuiceBoxJungle

It's party time!

We are having an itty-bitty party tonight. Our lovely bloggy friend Amy over at Resourceful Mommy has honored us (and 9 other blogs) by having a site warming party tonight on Twitter – yeah!

So what’s a site warming party? Amy explained that “In order to give back to those bloggers who are so supportive of the SiteWarming community, once a month [she] will choose ten blogs to SiteWarm in a free for everyone community event.”

How do we do it? We gather on Twitter from 9 pm to 10 pm EST and follow the hashtag #community or follow @resourcefulmommy or @slpowell, as they will be hosting the party. That way, we can all interact with people, whether you are following them or not. And you can win prizes!

Prizes you say! How do you enter the Contest? To enter the Community SiteWarming contest, please RSVP on Resourcefulmommy.com then visit our site or any of the others on Amy's list and do any or all of the following:
1. Comment on one of our blog posts - any one!
2. Subscribe to our blog feed via Google
3. Follow us on Twitter - @themamalawblog; @justicefergie; @justicejonesie; @justiceny
4. Bonus entries if you tweet about this event and let us know.

Every time you enter please leave a comment on this post telling me what you did.

Now...onto even more fun stuff! A winner will be randomly drawn tomorrow at noon. The coveted prize for joining us for our party is a Nokia 5310 XpressMusic phone.



Hope you'll join us - looking forward to making some new bloggy friends. See you tonight!

Full House

So the kids were gone exactly three weeks. Yes, three weeks. Every July the Hubs and I take them to Kansas where my parents live. Before we hightail it head back home, we normally spend a few days, maybe a week, with my folks and then the Hubs and I are foot loose and fancy free.

Yes, I said foot loose and fancy free. That's southern for no kids to worry about for a long, long time.

So what did we do with our time?

We took a "staycation." Staycation means staying home, not paying for travel, and acting like a tourist in your own city because the economy has sucked out all your real vacation money and you really have no choice but to stay home.

We went bowling, we went to the movies, I did some projects around the house. So did the Hubs. I worked on planning Blogalicious. Went to some more movies. Did some more work on Blogalicious, and then went to BlogHer.

By the second week I was missing my kids terribly. I kept going in their rooms and tidying up. Reorganized things at night. Smoothed out their bed comforters. Checked on their fish.

I was pretty pathetic. What's worse is my two Mama's boys cried or whimpered every.time.I.talked.to. them. "Mommy, I need you." "Mommy, I miss you." "Mommy, I need you to tuck me in, only you can do it."

What did Missy do? She wasn't worried about me. In fact, she was too busy to talk to her Mama. Not only does she love spending time with my parents, she's so independent, she really doesn't need me. She's my kid that will go to college out in California or something and leave two weeks early because she's so excited.

So everyone came home late last night and my heart was beating through my chest as I waited for my family to appear from behind the airport's secured area. When Little B saw me he started crying with relief. Oldest was grinning from ear to ear. Little Missy looked at us and tried to suppress her excitement. She's too cool to act like she actually missed her parents. Of course.

So the house is full again. It's loud. I've already broken up several fights. I've already threatened several of them with their lives if they didn't straighten up. I made a huge meal. I forced some of them to eat it, "or else." I made another meal because not everyone wanted the original meal. I was awakened in the middle of the night because Little B crawled into our bed. I already had to pry open Oldest's mouth to make sure that he did in fact brush.his.teeth(!) before he went to his friend's house to play. The Hubs left early for work, which I'll assume for his benefit, was a coincidence.

This weekend I'll be school shopping because my younger to are back to school next week. I'll be the parent driving across town looking for that one school supply that can't be found anywhere except on Ebay shipped from the U.K., or something like that. You know, the usual routine. And I love it.

Did you take a vacation or staycation this year? If so, where too?

Happy Wedding Anniversary!

Happy nine years to me and the Hubs!! On July 29, 2000, I choked through my I do's in the church that would later serve to baptize three of our two kids. On that day I married my soul mate.


Here is us in 2000 on our honeymoon....man, we were young!



And here we are last month at the wedding of his younger cousin.

Man, we still look young!!

My other other lover?

A while ago Fergie lamented about her frustration with folks asking her "how do you do it?" - Fergie's issue was an important one - our quest for work-life balance.

I must inquire about a less important issue but an issue nonetheless - Social Media-Work-Life balance. Is it possible? I am asking that question because I feel the room closing in on me as I try to keep up with 2.0 (I'm scared to think of the effect that Net 3.0 is going to have). I have to stop and question why is it 11:29pm and I'm on the blog, with a window open to my email and one open on FB. The only thing that I'm missing is Twitter. When I venture onto one of my FB personas or sign into one of my few handles on Twitter I'm there for hours simply trying to catch up. My blackberry is constantly vibrating and as soon as it goes off, I'm there to check it.

What's worse is that I'm in bed, with the light on as my husband sleeps. Is 2.0 causing me stress? Is it my paramour? Am I neglecting my life for it?

What are you doing to handle 2.0? Is it at all manageable?

Better Tuesdays: The Home Stretch

Holy crap. When did it get to be almost August? it seems like it was just the other day when we embarked on our BetterU journey. I started off so strong: exercising 3 to 5 times a week; eating well; etc. But somewhere around the beginning of July (ok I know exactly when) my heart-healthy habits took a backseat to...life. It's true what they say - being healthy is a lifestyle and the diet choices and workout routines have to be integrated into your every day.

This is hard for me because I tend to abandon the healthy routine when something unusual comes along. This time it was our beach vacation to the Outer Banks that threw me off. Then it was going away to Chicago for BlogHer. It's so hard for me to stick to my diet while away from home. I think it's because I feel like I'm not enjoying myself if I'm not eating what I want to eat and then I'm not really on vacation then, am I? This mentality is killing me! How do I get over it?

I also heard someone talking about how "taking the weekend off" of her diet sabotaged all her progress. I am totally guilty of that. Monday thru Friday I am great. I plan my snacks, my meals, enter my WW points, exercise - but come Saturday I kind of give myself a break for the weekend...and wipe out all of my hard work from the previous week in the process.

So, my BetterU goals for this week are:

Resume my exercise routine. This one is hard because really my only time is in the evening and between getting home from work, making dinner, getting the kids ready for bed and planning Blogalicious, I barely make it to bed before midnight as it is.

Stick it out through the weekend. It's all about maintaining.

Lose at least one pound. I put on 4 of the 8lbs I lost already and it's so upsetting. I'm a yo-yo dieter. I feel like Oprah.

Only poorer.

And without Bob Greene.

Or Art Smith.

Dammit, I'm not like Oprah at all, am I?

Happy Birthday Fergie!!!!

When Mommy's away princess will have her way

I was away for a couple days at BlogHer in Chicago (incidentally, I had a blast) and I returned from the conference a little early. Much to my surprise, I returned home and princess had had a ball. Apparently, daddy went to Sears shopping for god only knows what and princess must have stumbled across a Hannah Montana showcase because there was a plethora of random items H.M.-related in MY bed when I returned.

• H.M. flip flops - two sizes bigger than she wears and she can't even walk in them!
  
• H.M. socks - really, is it that serious? The H.M. logo is on the bottom of the foot so no one will ever see it! (see pic)


• Three dresses that must have been on or near the display because otherwise daddy would never have bought them


• H.M. hair accessories out the wazoo - about eight hairbands and 50 million elastics - by the way, her hair is about 4 inches long; it's going to be at least a few years before she can even use these things

Clearly, when mommy's away princess reigns the day - so it worked out well for both ladies in my household -- mommy got some me (and girl) time and princess had her time!

I'm Feeling All Warm And Fuzzy Inside

OMG, BlogHer was a blast! I met so many of the women I stalk women behind the blogs that I follow that I was trying my best not to act all silly and star struck in their presence.

I had a few reservations about going to BlogHer but I have no idea why. I have no regrets for going and in fact, can't wait until NYC next August, where BlogHer 2010 will be. The conference itself was great, but that's nothing compared to hanging out for three days with all these wonderful women who share their funny, inspiring, or heartfelt stories with me (okay, and the rest of the world). I also really enjoyed meeting the women whose tweets make me stop in the grocery store and start cracking up to myself.

There is so much to say that I don't even know where to start! Today, I just want to say hello and give big hugs to some great women I got to meet "In Real Life" (Blogher's theme this year) and who helped make my weekend so much fun.

From left to right, Denene from My Brown Baby, MommyDaddyblog, Christie aka Chatterbox from My Life, A Work in Progress, Lorrain aka Ask Wifey, Me, Renee, and BabyMakin(g)Machine. It was so great to meet these ladies and see Renee again.

I also met Beth from I Should be Folding Laundry, she won the award for Best Eye Candy Blog, MochaMomma (she is fun.ny!), and Mommy Wants Vodka, and of course, our title sponsor for Blogalicious, Mrs. Sowell from MomNoir! She is awesome and divalicious- perfect fit!

I'll fill you all in more later because I have to unpack my SIX bags from the trip (four of which are mostly swag) check emails, return phone calls, get my house ready for the kids who are coming back in TWO days, and more.

I can't wait to see my kiddos again. My stomach flips just thinking about hugging and kissing on them.

Smooches!

BlogHer Day 1: First Impressions

Justice Jonesie and I are sitting on the floor in the "Blog to Book" session at BlogHer. We're on the floor because the session is packed. The session is packed because the conference is huuuge. There are 1,500 women here and it's surreal. A couple of impressions from the first day of my first BlogHer:

• Everyone here has an interesting story.
• Marketers understand the power of social media to advance their brand.
• BlogHer is not the place to come if you want to get some rest.
• The legendary swag is awesome; but shouldn't be the main reason that we're here.
• The moms who brought infants are either super brave or super crazy. Or both.
• Girls just wanna have fun.

More updates to come!

Ford Drive Experience at BlogHer

Yesterday was our first day at BlogHer - well, really it was pre BlogHer because the conference doesn't offically start until today. We spent the day with Ford, which was really cool.

I'll be honest, I wasn't that thrilled before because my impression of Ford is not good. But, they've come up with some really innovative technologies AND what's most impressive is that they're changing their cars with women in mind. Yes, I said it - there are 2010 models with rear and side view sensors (for those hard to back out of mall spaces); refrigerated compartments in the rear seat (to keep your drinks, formula cold); pocketbook hideaways; and parallel park assist that will actually park the car for you. There is one model that I want and many of us were hoping that in return for our time, there were keys in our lunch boxes - but no such luck! So, our day with Ford was fun and interesting.

Off we go!!!!

BlogHer, watch out 'cuz here we come ... see you there!

BetterU: Woman on a Mission

We are about halfway into our 12 week BetterU program. I've been working out at least three times a week. I keep track of my workouts on a calendar hanging in my closet. I use my calendar as a daily visual to remind me to get to the gym and also, pat myself on the back for accomplishing my weekly goals.

The jeans I wore in our photoshoot here on the right- getting just a little snug. So have I lost a pound? No. In fact, it seems like my scale is moving the wrong way. Or broken. It must be broken. Clearly, it's broken. Because after all this work, I should see some sort of results, right?

I sulked about my weight ga broken scale for a few days. Sulked might be an understatement because I was not at all pleased about the situation.

But the reality of it is, goal #1 for my BetterU campaign was to tone up and build some lean muscle. I figured that sure, I would drop a few pounds in the process but never thought I would gain weight break my scale in the process.

But I know what's wrong here. I need to watch my food intake. It's really simple. I need to stop eating until I'm stuffed and stop when I'm satisfied. I eat a lot have a very healthy appetite and eat my three square meals plus two snacks. My problem is with meals. I normally get up for seconds and even if I'm cooking healthy meals, no need to eat two portions of it, right?

So, for the next six weeks, I'm going to keep a food log. This will help me see what I'm really taking in and help me to maximize all that time at the gym.

What are you doing for the next six weeks?

Don't forget to visit our friend and best selling author, Joshilyn Jackson, to see how she's coming along in her BetterU makeover!

My goals for BlogHer

I'm looking forward to some relaxation time since it's going to be ONLY the second time in princess' life that we are going to be apart. I figured I would sleep in, relax at night, catch some sun and maybe some shopping, but from the looks of things, my itinerary is so full that I'll need some time off when I get back home! There are crazy parties and events (which start way too early for my liking), lots of discussions and tweets - all in all, lots of hype. I'm looking forward to it (oh, especially our event on Friday night "Lush Experience"). Wish me luck in achieving my goals!

You Knew This Was Coming

Remember my post on Friday that I wrote when I was bitten with the I-can-fix-all-things-myself bug?

Project #1 was to fix the curtains Hubby put up about six months ago. Two hours after I started my little project, I realized clearly why Hubby kept putting off the project re-do himself. First, I couldn't get all the darn screws out of the wall. Then, I couldn't put the screws I did get out back into the wall. I didn't have the strength to get the screws all the way into the stud. Man, did I work out my triceps that day. I was beat and sweaty after that project. (What? I am trying to become a BetterMe, triceps are important these days. )

I gave up with the project half-done and screwed up. (Pun intended). Needless to say, never got around to project #2.

The Hubsters is trying to fix it now. He had to saw.off.the.screws that I got half-way in. When I was trying to take them out, and put them back in, I stripped the screws bare. (In my defense, they were already kind of stripped before I even started.)

I better go because Hubster is in the middle of trying to fix this and he keeps cursing and slamming drawers. I tried to get him to at least look at the camera but he wasn't in the mood. Sheesh. When he uses my good towels to wash his car and ruins them, I don't walk around the house slamming linen closets!

(For the record, I offered to help him and he declined. So I decided to post about it. It's so therapeutic.)

Saturday

I had the best day on Saturday. It's not often that I say that because usually, for me, the weekends are all about rushing to get all of the errands done that I don't have time for during the week. Or shuttling the kids to birthday parties that are overcrowded and stressful. For the most part, come Sunday evening, I am exhausted. But...this past Saturday was exactly what a Saturday is supposed to be.

It started off with me taking Chatterbox and Giggles to their very first swimming lesson. Sitting poolside, cheering my babies on as they learned to blow bubbles underwater and kick (i.e. splash the crap out of their instructor) to their heart's content was great. Indoor-pool-chlorine-headache and all. Next we made a quick stop at Target to pick up a birthday gift for my friend's son. (Note to Target: I think it's great that you're remodeling our local store, but really? Do you have to completely reorganize the aisles in the entire store? Why are the feminine poducts clear across the store from the rest of the toiletries? Hmm?)

Then it was off to the birthday party. Hubby and L'il Buddy met us there. The party was at our local pool, which is eight counts of awesome. Suffice it to say that we spent the next 3 hours lounging around and in the water. The weather was beautiful, the company was great, the kids were having a blast and the adults even got a chance to relax. At one point, Hubby and I even found ourselves floating around the lazy river in tubes sans children. We don't know how it happened but we were able to joke and chat and hold hands like teenagers, uninterrupted, for a good 11 minutes! After the party we all went for an evening drive and out to dinner. A perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Ah Saturday. When can I see you again?

Shower Yourself Beautiful with Suave (It's a Giveaway!)

Let's face it - we're busy. More often than not, we barely have time to get through our daily to-do lists let alone carve in time for pampering. (I wish!) Sometimes, the only "me time" we get is those few moments alone in the shower. Why not take that time to Shower Yourself Beautiful? Suave and Holly Robinson Peete want you to indulge and rejuvenate yourself and are giving you the chance to to just that!

Suave sent me a fab Shower Yourself Beautiful gift set to try out and one to giveaway to a lucky MamaLaw fan.

The gift bag contains the following New Suave products:

a 12 oz. bottle of Naturals Wild Cherry Blossom Indulgent Body Wash infused with cherry blossom extract;

a 12 oz. bottle of Apricot Exfoliating Body Wash infused with apricot and coconut extracts; and
a 18 oz. bottle of Suave Skin Therapy Advanced Therapy Moisturizer.

Check out this piece of awesome - Suave is so convinced that you'll love their skin care line, that they have a "beautiful skin guarantee." Get beautiful skin, or get your money back. You can't beat that with a stick!

Thanks Suave, for "getting" moms and meeting our needs!

To win, all you have to do is (1) become a follower on this blog (if you aren't already) and (2) leave us a comment with a quick tip on how to pamper yourself when you're pressed for time. Add our button to your blog and/or tweet about this giveaway for an extra entry and come back to let us know. Giveaway ends Sunday, July 26 at midnight.

The Tale of the Dining Room Table

If you know me, or have even been around me for 11 seconds, then you probably know that I am going batsh*t crazy that my children have ravaged the insides of my house beyond repair. Ok, perhaps that's a little on the dramatic side, but coming from a formerly Type-A person who was very neat and orderly, it sure feels that way.

I suppose The Deterioration of My Pretty House all started with us having to move our coffee table down to the basement when Chatterbox started walking. We didn't want her banging her head (or her toys) on our glass table and injuring herself or breaking the furniture. After that it was downhill. Giggles arrived and soon, our once bright beige area rug in the living room slowly became overrun with random pieces of dried play-doh, faint juice stains from leaked sippy cups and crayon tips ground into the fibers. We figured, why bother replacing it now? Let's just ride out the toddler years before we get new things. Stray pen marks on the leather couches soon followed, along with mysterious pencil hand tracings on the Venetian hallway walls. Mickey Mouse stickers littered the French doors to the deck and the dining room carpet suffered from uncanny portions of meal after meal ending up on the floor instead of in the kids' little mouths.

Ah the dining room. Though I realize calling it that is a it of a stretch since the term "dining room" invokes visions of a color-coordinated Pottery Barn catalogue, boasting a sleek table and chairs surrounded by soft hues on the walls and chic light fixtures and uncluttered sideboards. That is not what my dining room looks like. You already know about the carpet and the French doors. In addition to that, picture an overflowing "craft cart" for the kids, a Jumperoo shoved in the corner, a highchair in the other corner, our decorative vase put out of reach onto the buffet (about 9 months after L'il Buddy's arrival), and then...THE TABLE AND CHAIRS.

This is where my rope ends. Our dining room table is in such bad shape that I literally sigh out loud every time I see it. It's scratched, written on, the varnish is peeling, and there is even a worn index card taped to the side of it labeled "la mesa" for the children's bilingual learning pleasure. The chairs are rickety and the cushions, once beige, are now unrecognizable; stained beyond comprehension. I used to cover the table over with various tablecloths because I couldn't stand to look at it, but it ended becoming too much of a pain to cleanup after meals and the kids would bunch it up while trying to do their crafts/homework and complain about it. So off it came. We've come very close to replacing the dining set on multiple occasions, only to reconsider and say "why bother?" After all, L'il Buddy will be tearing it up next.

And so follow my questions: How does your dining room or kitchen table survive the daily wear and tear? What kind of table do you have? How do you maintain it? How do you maintain your sanity? I am in search of a new dining room table. And peace in my soul.

Photo courtesy of Pottery Barn. Lest you think it was an actual photo of my dining room. Which, I can assure you, it is not.

Armed and Dangerous

I've got a drill in my hand, a stud finder, ladder, and a laser light that helps me make sure that I hang things correctly. I also have some extra time on my hands because my kiddos are visiting my parents in Kansas. Too bad I don't have this tool kit to lug my tools around with. Isn't that cute? I found it here.

So what am I up to? Fixing things that need some fixin'. First, I'm going to fix the drapes that the Hubs hung over a year ago in our bathroom. He hung them way too low. Next, I'm going to figure out why our fire alarms keep beeping all the darn time. No, it's not that they have a low battery. They are electrical and don't need a battery. I Googled the problem and apparently it's dust. So I'm going to try to vacuum them all, one more time, before I rip them all out of the wall. (Two have already been yanked in the past year. Need to work on a solution to this problem!)

So that's two semi-major projects for me. No need to over-do it the first day.

P.S. Anyone know if I really need to use those plastic thingies with the screws when I drill something into the wall?

What do you want/need in a car?

We are gearing up for BlogHer next week - we're busy planning our wardrobes, figuring out our itineraries and most importantly checking all the details for our Blogalicious Lush Experience on Friday night (check it out here...shameless plug).

One of the many activities that we have planned is the Ford What Women Want Vehicle Tech and Quality Event. We're going on a tour of a plant where we will be able to meet some members of the Ford team and hear from them why they believe that Ford is different! I hope that we will be able to see for ourselves as well, and that the experience is going to be more interactive than demonstrative - I hope! In my opinion don't tell me that your product is great, let me try it and I'll tell you!!!!

Maybe I shouldn't be writing this post because my experience is a little ... hmmmm, let's say tinted. I drive a Jaguar that I hate and can't wait to get rid of. I've had it for about 2 1/2 years and it's been the worst car experience ever! I'm literally counting down the days until I can get rid of it. What's a little terrible is that fact that my model is said to be made by Ford. I don't know for sure - it says that it's made in England, but apparently all the parts are Ford parts ... but who knows!

For the first year and half that I had the car it was in the shop about 7 or 8 times for various reasons - actually, it was NEVER the same reason which was a little frustrating. And that's not what I expected or wanted in a car. Granted, it was a used car, but it was only a few years used when I bought it so I expected that everything would be fine. At that time princess was just over a year and going out with her was like throwing dice. I may have made it out to a location, but I was never sure whether the car was going to bring me back home. And being stuck in a place behind God's back is not very re-assuring especially when you have a toddler. So, my number one requirement is reliability! Now, of course I like all the frills and thrills that come with a luxury car - but if you're stuck on the side of the road waiting for Triple A, what use is plush leather seats with heat warmers or rain sensor wipers (I don't have those, but you get the gist). I would say that my rear sensors are absolutely lovely though. I'm so dependent on them that I don't think I'll be able to parallel park without them ever again.

So, I am very interested in seeing how things have changed at Ford and what we can expect from them in the future. I have my opinions about what I want/need in a car, what about you? What would you like to see in a car? Please leave me comments because I'll be taking them all with me - this is your opportunity to share with Ford what you want/need in a car.

A little woman

I just put princess to bed after her second wakening tonight. Usually, by this time of night (a little after 10 pm) I'm pretty annoyed by these "surprise visits". I usually take a hard stance and either scream (okay, shout a bit) or threaten to take away a toy/stuffed animal/book. But tonight was a little different.

I went up with her and sat in my glider with her on my lap and I rocked her for a while. Actually, I rocked her until I started to cry. While rocking, I pat her butt and stroked her arm and played with her hair. I was reminded that she's just a little baby! She was so vulnerable and sweet and although she is almost 4 years old and well over 3 ft tall, she's still a baby.

I tend to forget that a lot. I treat her more like a little woman - I'm usually really stern and harsh (although she really doesn't listen to me). I reason with her and I expect her to know better (ALL.THE.TIME). I've reflected on my tone with her before, wondering whether I was just too hard. Then I brushed the thought off reasoning with myself that I needed to be logical and reasonable and stern because there really is no other way that I would get her to grow up to be a rational and reasonable and strong woman, right? I have to be strong for her to be strong!

Then tonight I felt so sad because that could not be the way. It can't be the way because she's just a baby. I've got to check myself and remember that I have to find a way to teach her to be strong but I've got to do it in a way that she knows that I love her. Teaching a girl to be a strong AND loving woman is a lot more difficult than I thought. I figured that any woman could teach another to be a woman. But my tone and way with her may succeed in raising a strong woman but there is little hope that I would nurture a loving one and what success would that be?

Another memorial for MJJ

You know I love Michael Jackson and was heart broken at the news. I cried all day last Tuesday - while at work, without any shame or clearly, any professionalism - and I posted a couple times in tribute (no one commented by my second post (probably tired of MJJ, as you probably are now) and made me feel like I was the ONLY MJJ fan out there, but that's fine - I.own.it!). But, I just must share what my mom did in tribute - I thought it was so cute. From her email:

"I held a breakfast memorial for MJ on Sunday at home from 9.30 am. When I was inviting the family they were all laughing at me; but we all had a good time. It was about 15 of us. We were dressed in Black; put up posters of MJ; made 2 posters with his information, history, songs etc.; we also got magazine pictures of him and different people. Got a hat like his black hat and one sided gloves. Granddaughter and myself wore them and we also put some one sided gloves around the house. Aunty even brought KFC in memory of MJ. We played his songs while we ate and chatted and afterwards we played his videos (we bought a special one of his show in Budapest). I forgot to say, we even said a prayer for him. We wrapped up about 4 pm, and we all had a great time."

You're a real fan mommy. How sweet - I wish I was there! Rest in peace MJJ!

Better Tuesdays: Summer Vacation Sabotage

Last week we went on vacation to the beach. And I intentionally suspended my food diet because, well, it's not a real vacation for me if I can't enjoy my food! And eat I did. Hey, I'm just keeping it real. So while I didn't go crazy, I definitely didn't stay within my daily WW points. I had ice cream and North Carolina BBQ ribs and snow crab with butter and ice cream and pancakes and beach fries and ice cream and Italian sausage and ice cream and more snow crab legs with butter and fish tacos and fried mahi mahi and stone crab claws and did I say ice cream?

BUT! I did go for a jog twice once and "hiked" up the tallest active sand dune in the Eastern United States. So that must count for something.

Suffice it to say, I gained back 3lbs last week - eeek! So I am back on the grind. Yesterday I woke up at walk/jogged a mile at 6:30am, had a low fat sushi lunch and a small portion of ziti for dinner (hey, I gotta ease back into it). So pray for me this week. I'm back to eating to live instead of living to eat!