Magical Memories

We're on Day 3 of our Disney Trip. And despite all my apprehensions about coming with three children under the age of 6, I have to say that we've been having a wonderful time and I'm so glad we decided to do it.

The high points so far? The Bibbity Bobbity Boutique Makeovers for my girls on the day we arrived. Giggles was transformed into a full-fledged princess by a Fairy-Godmother-In-Training into a little princess, complete with pixie dust, makeup and a tiara. Chatterbox, ever the rock star, chose the "Pop Diva" package and sported multicolored, spiked hair for the past two days. That was awesome. The other highlights (for me) were the Storybook Dining Princess Lunch at the Akershus Castle in Norway at EPCOT. We got up close and personal with almost all of the royal court: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Ariel, and - GASP! - Cinderella. When I booked the reservation, I was told that the specific princesses that would be in attendance could not be guaranteed, and so we were all excited to see the heavy hitters there. My girls got to ask them questions, take photos, get autographs and give hugs to their favorite Disney ladies. The look on their faces when the princesses walked in? Priceless. We're gonna seek out Jasmine and Tiana tomorrow. Another fave was the Mickey's Phil-Harmagic 3-D movie. It was great! Each night over dinner we've been chatting about our days and recapping our favorite moments. Those times are my favorite moments.

The low point? THE BATHROOM RUNS. I mean seriously. I think I have been to every bathroom in EPCOT and the Magic Kingdom so far. Between the two girls with miniature bladders, lots of water and frozen lemonades, and hours at the parks, I have taken them to the potty a zillion times. It's even caused us to miss a show and get out of line after waiting 30 mins for a ride. Is there a Guiness record for most bathroom trips at Disney? 'Cuz I'm sure that I'm a shoo-in.

Aging gracefully or not.

About 3-4 weeks ago I realized that I'm starting to age. Although I'm going to be 36 in a couple of months and have had gray hair for a few years now, the thought of aging has never actually scared me. I figured it would happen and I would do it gracefully. After all, age is just a number and it's all about how you handle it.

Maybe vanity got the better of me, but I looked in the mirror and my eyes - my eyes!!!!! Suddenly, the circles were darker than I had ever recalled, there were fine lines and then these marks appeared near my eyes. What were they? I still don't know! They look like small burns under my eyes. Then one side of my face, near my eyes also, is suddenly much darker than before. It seems like my skin is changing color and the texture is not as smooth as it once was. All the while I'm still battling adult acne. Sheeeesh!!!!!

Am I alarmed? Yes!!!!!

I turned to Twitter in search of advice about under eye concealers. I got some good tips from Brittany at clumpsofmascara.com in terms of products worth trying, but also a simple reminder that I needed to get some sleep and rest a little. I heeded her advice and got some good rest, but I also headed to the store in search of something that may help. I got a concealer and I'm not really happy with it - maybe because I don't quite know how to apply "fancy makeup" (i.e. anything other than lipstick and some basic foundation). So back to the store I will go because it doesn't make sense that I spent about $100 in products and I still feel like I look like a raccoon.

Rather than continue in this state of flux, I have an appointment to see a dermatologist in the morning. I'll keep you posted.

Are you experiencing these "adult" issues too?

Spring flowers of the week

If I had a life coach...

Yesterday, I received an invitation to apply for an important job. Although it’s just an invitation to apply, and not an offer itself, it’s a pretty big deal that my name was thrown in the pot of possible candidates. The position could be pretty influential in terms of doing good for the community and the city and it could be a great career move for me as well. So, why am I not excited? I shared with hubby and he was very pleased and excited by the opportunity, but I’m pretty torn.

First, I’m torn because I don’t feel the same way as hubby and I don’t think I’m up for the ensuing argument. He thinks it presents a great opportunity while I don’t. He wants to see me succeed but I don’t think he’s entertaining anything less the traditional route. Second, my life’s plan was to transition out of the working-for-someone-else workforce and into the owning-my-own-business workforce by the end of the year, so I wasn’t even thinking about exploring new opportunities. Third, as I encounter more and more issues with princess and we embark on her school career, I feel like more parental involvement is needed, not less, and I think this position will be all-consuming. Last, with all the many things going on in my life, I feel like transitioning to a new job is NOT what I should be doing right now.

Yet, it is a great opportunity and I believe that everything happens for a reason and I don't want to regret passing on the opportunity. I don't know what to do. I feel pretty conflicted and I wish my life coach would help me figure it out - that is, if I had one!

SuperNanny to the rescue

This morning princess told me in a calm, unequivocally confident tone "I'm not afraid of you!"

WTH am I supposed to do with that? She's four and notwithstanding the myriad of issues that I'm already facing (and I say "I'm facing" because Daddy doesn't get down like that) I can't imagine it getting any worse.

I need SuperNanny to come to my house to straighten this chick out because I have no idea what to do and I'm pretty fed up with her constant opposition.

She's four!!!!!!

Advice???

File This Post Under Gross

Brace yourselves because this post is gross. I debated on even writing about it for fear that people would find me disgusting. But my dog is in heat. This means she's on her period and this folks, is quite nasty.

First, let me put it out there. The last thing I want to deal with is another woman in my house having her period.

Second, a dog on her period. NASTY. Luckily, she's not having a heavy flow not leaving spots all over the house. (I can't believe I'm writing thissss!!!). Yet, at least, because this can change in the next few weeks.

My mom told me not to get a female dog for this very reason but I figured I would get her spayed and we would be okay. Thanks to me not doing my research, I didn't even realize that she would have her first heat between 6-14 months of age. We are at nine months of age.

So here I am, on Google, looking up what to do about this situation and learn that she can be in heat for as long as 21 days! Who wants to deal with this for 21 days? Then I came across an ehow.com article that summed up the situation in a few simple steps. The last step was to put a child size under garment lined with a pantyliner on your dog to avoid a mess.

Seriously?? Because the day I find myself putting a pantyliner on my dog is the day my career has hit an all time low.

I should have listened to my Mom!

Bumper Stickers That Annoy Me

The bumper sticker below is officially annoying. Someone at my son's school has this on the back of his Toyota Rav 4 and without fail, I always end up behind him in car line. I mean seriously, do you think this man put this on his car or is it safe to say his wife bought it and "surprised" him with it and one day he walks to his car and it's there?

"Surprise, honey!"

Even if he was out somewhere and found this bumper sticker and just had to have it, I always end up wondering about this man and the wife that he loves so much.

Now, I'm not hating on this man, or his wife. In fact, last year Mr. Jonesie ordered a personalized license plate with my name and the year we met on the front of his car. Needless to say, the plate is now in the garage.

This bumper sticker is officially annoying though. It's the gag me with a spoon type of annoying. Kind of like when people feel the need to engage in P.D.A. in front of others.

One word-- annoying!

I Gave Up

I'm still fairly out of sorts from being overwhelmed lately. And life doesn't seem to be easing up! Over the weekend I ended up in urgent care after experiencing terrible pain; I was prescribed antibiotics and am feeling a bit better. After pushing through the Sunday Dash, I woke up this morning, made it through the Morning Madness and was walking out the door, only to discover that the car keys were nowhere to be found. You might recall that we carpool. Hubby had left for work really early to make a morning meeting. He took the bus, and left his car for me, but he took one set of keys with him. (The spare, I suspect, he has too although he denies it.) The nanny had already left with my car to take the girls to school, so I was all dressed up, late - after tearing the house apart looking for the keys, and stuck. Feeling the meltdown coming on, I took a deep breath and...gave up.

Changed into my jeans and sweater, logged on to tell the office I would be working from home, and parked it on the couch.

Now I know it's not a huge deal and you're probably thinking "get it together, woman." But it just seems like it one thing after another. What scares me is my reaction to the little mishaps; these days I constantly feel like I am going to fall apart. It's so not like me at all. What's wrong with me?

Cheating Celeb Husbands: I've HAD it!

I've kept my mouth shut for far too long. I didn't say anything about Elliott. I maintained my silence about Tiger (did you see the freakin' latest, btw??). I've bitten my tongue about John. I zipped it about David. And there were more. Through it all, I silently fumed and cursed. But today? When I heard about Jesse? I decided I couldn't take it anymore. So I'm breaking my silence.

WTH is wrong with these men? Do they think that having power, success, fame and money gives them license to be jerks? Is infidelity really innate? Is it because they're treated like spoiled brats and never told "no"? They have beautiful, intelligent, loving wives that are good mothers to their children. Is that no longer enough?

Someone please help me out here. I.JUST.DON'T.GET.IT.

The Great Basement Flood of 2010: Finale

Tall, For a Mexican and 2010 Census

So I'm out to eat with my sister-in-law on Saturday and we start talking about my brother-in-law's new girlfriend.

Me: What's she like?

Her: Nice, really pretty. She's actually normal.

Me: Normal- thank goodness. Where is she from?

Her: She's Mexican, but she's actually tall for a Mex.., um, tall.

Me: Were you just going to say she's tall for a Mexican?!

Her: Yes...

We both started cracking up because this happens a lot - people forget that I'm Mexican and they have a little slip of the un-politically correct tongue. Half-Mexican or not, I'm a Chicana. Was born there and until 2007 still had my Mexican citizenship. Although I wasn't offended by her comment, it's easy for people to forget or not even think that I'm (a short) Mexican or of Latina background. I've chalked it up to me thinking that it's because I look more like my dad, who is Haitian. Because of this, I've heard my share of inappropriate comments about Mexicans enough times to not be surprised when it actually does happen.

The bigger issue here, I wonder what options I'll have on the Census form this go around? This can always be a tricky question for me. I've seen some chatter on Twitter about the options for the ethnicity/race/nationality type questions. I hope that this decade they got it right because for the longest I was really confused by the "hispanic non-white" or "hispanic non-black" type choices. I know many hispanics that are black, ie. me. But, even if I wasn't half Haitian, there are plenty of black hispanics. Plenty as in, like islands and countries full of black hispanics.

Keeping my fingers crossed on this question...

The Great Basement Flood of 2010: ACT II

When It Rains, It Pours

Oh that post title would be hilarious if only the situation weren't so sad.

On Saturday night, not 3 days after writing this post, I was enjoying a fantastic evening at Momz Share (more on that soon), when I got a text from my sister who had so graciously agreed to babysit for me while Hubby was out of town. The text read something like this:

"Emergency! The basement is badly flooded."

Ok, so that's exactly what her text said.

All I could do was laugh. I mean really, what else could I do? Ask TeachMama how calm I was. She was in disbelief.

And really so was I. Anyway, I decided to vlog the aftermath. Enjoy the show.

Adding memories to your daily ritual

I am by no means a beauty person but I've found a beauty staple that is doing the job while conjuring up some great memories. How many of you remember Noxema cream?

Growing up in Trinidad, Noxema was a staple in most households, including mine. It was the go to product for my late grandmother, with whom I spent a great deal of my childhood as we lived as an extended family for many years and even when my mom moved out, we moved about 5 minutes away. I think her entire beauty regimen consisted of washing her face with Noxema twice a day! What was even more alluring about Noxema was that it was the only "grown-up" product that my grandmother would allow me to use even as a child.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were talking about our family's skincare rituals and realized that both my grandmother in Trinidad and his in Pennsylvania, religiously used Noxema. Well, we got a bottle - just because. On the first night of use, hubby remarked about the wonderfully pleasant familiar medicinal scent of Noxema! I laughed because he was right, and much to his dismay, I have continued using it.

I have the cleanser and it's doing the job without drying my skin out. But, in all honesty, the real reason I continue to use it is because for that 137 seconds while washing my face, it reminds me of my childhood and it reminds me of my grandmother. What a wonderful ritual to re-institute into my daily regimen? I love that the scent takes me back on each and every use without avail. It makes the day so much more pleasant to be reminded of a loved one when time otherwise does not permit. I hope you can find something to re-integrate into your daily rituals that conjures up beautiful memories too!

Overwhelmed

I am feeling very overwhelmed right about now. It seems like things are in overdrive in all aspects of my life. At work I am bogged down with 2 cases for which I am the lead. In addition, I am on a major taskforce and council that are both in overdrive at the moment. I'm so backed up that I just end up floundering around uselessly from conference call to meeting hoping to make it through the day. At home I am trying to keep my family running semi-smoothly, which is hard when I only have about 2 hours per day, along with weekends, to do it. Homework needs to be done daily, groceries need to be purchased, meals need to be made. Hair needs to be braided, doctor's appointments attended, school reading logs need to be completed, recital lines need to be rehearsed, and box tops need to be collected. Dance classes need to be attended, summer camps scheduled, wedding gifts purchased and quality time spent. Volunteer committments need to be met, fitness routines done, personal invitations honored and phone/email messages returned. With our company, there are conference calls to be had, agreements to draft, events to coordinate, a site to launch, and oh yeah, a conference to plan.

I definitely need a break. Spring break is coming up soon and for that, I am grateful. However, that trip requires lots of planning too! We are headed to Disney World and, while I know we're going to have a great time, just getting there - with the right tickets booked, the right size strollers packed, the right size car rented, and a manageable itinerary planned (complete with the right Disney character breakfasts reserved) - adds another host of things to my already overburdened To Do list.

Breathe, Fergie. Breathe.

"Giving Meaning to a Meaningless Life"

Okay, the title of this post is the most interesting thing about the next audio book I listened to. The Power of Love, by Dr. Laura Schlessinger was not what I expected it to be. What I failed to do is pay attention the description and focused too much on the title. Here I thought I was going to learn about how powerful love is, maybe get a profound, philosophical meaning of love and how love is this or that. Nope. Really, all I got was a summary of the ten stupid things that couples do to ruin a relationship. Then the ten stupid things women do to mess up their lives. And finally, surprise, the ten stupid things that men do to ruin their lives.

Yawn.

I agreed with all thirty things she described as stupid were just plain stupid. Yes, it's stupid for a woman to intentionally impregnate herself to keep a man. Or for a woman to think that living with a man will make him want to marry you if he didn't have that desire before. Stupid. It's also stupid for a man to get married only because it will complete his resume; or for a man to think that protecting his woman means to beat up any guy that looks at his woman the wrong way.

I think a better book would have been to summarize the ten best things women, men, and couples do to make love work.

So the quote in my title is the one thing I walked away from this book with. Some men have stupid independence and believe that they don't need women, women need them. One woman's response to this was to say that women are what give men meaning to their meaningless lives and without women, men would be nothing and couldn't get anywhere in life. Hence, this is why we have to tell them what to wear, what to eat, etc.

Hmmm. This is interesting. This very subject just came up in conversation with a woman I know. She was telling me how frustrated she gets with her husband of 25 years because although he's this great, successful business man that manages several businesses, makes big deals, is involved in various influential organizations around town and Florida, when he walks through the doors of their home, he is clueless and helpless about so many things -like one their kids. Ouch! Don't get me wrong, she loves her husband. But she knows who she's dealing with and knows that she has to completely take care of him.

Do you think women give men meaning to life? Is it fair to say this?

My Bang Up Weekend

{I'm like 2 weeks behind in my posts, so bear with me}

Generally my weekends are a mishmash of errand running, the occasional meal at a "family-friendly" establishment and lots of housecleaning. This past weekend as a nice change from the ordinary. It started with a Saturday afternoon lunch with my JLW small group. How luxurious I felt; lunching with ladies in the middle of the day at a place where you can't order a kid's meal! It's funny, because I almost didn't go. You know...Mommy Guilt. here I was leaving behind my babies on one of the only 2 days per week that I have to spend all day with them. I convinced myself that they wouldn't miss me since they would be napping for most of the time I was out.
Lunch was lovely. I always enjoy meeting new people and I enjoy a good meal even more. {More about my meal in another post!} I even met another blogger and left with plans for a Real Housewives of DC premier party. After that, we hit the pavement and headed for another afternoon indulgence: Georgetown Cupcake which recently opened a location in Maryland - Yippee!! These cupcakes really are sensational. I got some for the girls {Mommy Guilt} and one for Hubby {because I'm nice like that} and headed home.
On my way home I got a call from one of my friends inviting to me to go to a CLUB. In DC. I was like "a what? where?" I have become such a homebody that the prospect scared me. As it turns out, she was feeling the same way and wanted to me come out with her for back up. It was her sister's 25th birthday and she didn't want to be the old lady in the club all alone. And so three of us old ladies ended up having a night on the town that was totally unexpected and a blast.

It started by us going to a game night hosted by a friend of a friend. It was hilarious to be transported back to the days of the booze-laden game nights that I used to go to, replete with single guys and girls checking each other out and hoping to get hooked up. The hostess had even posted a sign in the window written with: "It's GAME NIGHT, Bitchez!!" Ah, youth. Since, "hooking up" was totally not our focus, we were able to sit back and have a great time playing Taboo and Pictionary. The most I drank was a Coke. BUT. BUT! The highlight of the game night was meeting the one and only Carla Hall from Top Chef. She was there with her husband enjoying the festivities. And yes, I was a total lame and told her what a big fan of hers I am and asked to take a photo with her. She was a doll about it and even Tweeted me later that night. Swoon!

Onto the club. We changed into our party clothes and headed to the club. It was a nice venue and we had a good time. I spent most of the evening checking out what the styles and trends were that the "kids" were wearing these days. Freakum Dresses are definitely "in" right now. Too bad for me. To add insult to injury, I saw my co-worker's daughter in the club and she said: "Oh, hi! I should have brought Mommy! LOL." Ha ha, hell. I was thinking: "I am only 10 years older than you chick. Slow your roll." I rounded out the night sweating from dancing and the satisfaction of knowing that even though I was not 25, I could still identify the latest tracks by Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame. We left the club around 2:00am feeling refreshed and revived.

I should be good until 2011.

Ask us anything!

We've added a new feature to our blog where you can Ask us anything! C'mon...ask away; we're looking forward to hearing from you!

Spring blooms

Happy 4th Birthday Giggles!

Giggles turned 4 on Friday! Time is flying. This was a big birthday for her. It seems that "4" is the magic age for a lot of things that are important to her: summer camp, dance classes, the classroom breakdown at school, etc. And while she was looking forward to her birthday, I know that deep down she was also a little anxious. She had some potty accidents, which is rare. She also started sucking her thumb more furiously that usual and became even more attached to her favorite things. So by her actual birthday, Hubby and I were careful to let her know that we were excited for her, but also not to make too big a deal out of it. And she took it in stride. She did MUCH better at her party this year - even though she did ask us not to sing "Happy Birthday" to her at her party. I'm so proud of my little lady. And God knows Mama is in no hurry for her to grow up.

Happy Birthday Munchkin!

Finally Figuring it All Out- Raising My Spirited Child

I'm really into audio books this month and have gotten books on everything from love to parenting. (Okay, really I only got two books, one on love, one on parenting; haven't made it past my first two books.)

The first book I listened too was Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. This.book.is.awesome! I was at my wits end with both of my boys. Youngest is non-stop emotional roller coaster and full of more energy than all three of my children combined. It takes him two hours to fall asleep at night, even when he's exhausted. He is also happy go lucky one second and then crying desperately the next- just because his paper airplane didn't fly "the right way" or because his pants make too much noise when he walks so he can't wear them.one.more second.longer. Frankly, my patience was wearing thin with him.

Oldest, also Mr. Moody, but in a different way. He just gets so upset about things at a much deeper level than most eight year olds should (and this has always been the case with him at every age). Everything with him is a battle; homework, going to taekwondo, doing homework (oh yeah, said that), his frustration with his games, toys, even other kids his age. And sometimes he says things that are so deep- like he's just too smart for an eight year old.

My way of handling these boys was to count down the minutes before bedtime and pray that we all made it to bed without me spinning my head around like Linda Blair in the Exorcist.

ENOUGH!

With all three of my pregnancies I always had the latest baby book on my nightstand and would read every single line like it was the Bible. And then it was all different nursing books. My education stopped there. I realized one day that I needed to be just as proactive about parenting as I was about weaning the kid off the boob. I had no idea what I was doing- duh.

The Spirited Child was a savior! My boys are definitely spirited children. A spirited child is a child that typically is characterized as more than a handful- to put it nicely. Not your usual handful but like a double dose of extra work that makes you want to take a stiff drink just to deal with them. They are usually more aggressive, wild, temperamental, and energetic than your average child. And they can also be more persistent, sensitive, moody, and intense than most children. The more is not just sometimes, it's all the time.

There are generally two types of spirited children - the extrovert and the introvert. My youngest is my extrovert, and my oldest is the introvert. This just adds to the fun of it all for me, of course, because dealing with each requires different strategies.

After listening to the book I've learned how to identify ways to make it a good day while also preventing the triggers to make it horrible day; I learned to diffuse blow-ups; learned how to select my battles; identify the positive in having a spirited child; and most importantly, I know what I'm doing now! Before reading the book I doubted everything I did with my boys, felt guilty for the way I felt about them, and the way in which I communicated with them. There were many days in which I was so drained from being around them I felt like years were being taken from me daily. Not only was it draining me but also draining Daughter- often she'll lock the boys out of her room just to get some peace and quite.

When I popped in the first CD, I swear, Mary was talking to me. It was as if she had been watching home videos of the madness going on at my house and decided to write me my own how-to manual. Over the years I've tried to read other books but never felt like the recommendations would work in my house. This was just the right fit.

If you struggle with a child that is "more of everything" I encourage you to read her book. It will definitely change your relationship with your child in a positive and healthy way.

Tune in on Wednesday for my next review- The Power of Love, by Dr. Laura Schlessigner in which I write about all the stupid things covered in the book.

Have a great week!

RHOC & RHNYC

Orange County ladies

There was so much action/drama on last night's episode that I could barely keep up. Because of more urgent business, I joined the RHOC finale half way through, so I don't have a full picture of what happened before 10:35pm. I will scour the network this weekend for a re-run because it just doesn't seem right that I didn't see the entire episode.

Tamra and Simon

The last 25 minutes showed that Simon and Tamra were so disconnected in terms of their views of their marriage. At one point I wondered whether they were in the same relationship! How in the world could Tamra be bawling her eyes out on one side of the room, while Simon is on the other side of the room saying that things were great. Did Simon really believe that things were great or did he just want to maintain his privacy and put on a good face? Not sure... Notwithstanding, there is definitely more than just a turbulent marriage at issue. Last night's episode really had me wondering why Tamra was so scared of Simon. The twitterverse was on fire with the same question. Did you have the same thought? Have you heard anything more about their relationship?

Tamra and Vicki

With caveat noted above, I don't understand how Tamra was so duplicitous. Just a couple weeks ago Tamra was hanging Vicki out to dry and then last night's episode she's leaning on Vicki's shoulder explaining that she's always had Vicki's back. Tamra...don't you realize that Vicki is going to see all the private interviews and things that were said behind her back? Also, did you get the feeling that Vicki was eager to help Tamra because it was her way of telling her "I told you so!"? That was my impression but I could be totally wrong.

Aside from a few fashion faux pas (read Gretchen) there's not much more that I can comment on based on 25 minutes of air time.



New York City ladies

I enjoyed seeing these ladies again. We played catch-up most of the episode, but I must lament on a couple points:

Ramona's secret

Romana's mantra last night was "I'm renewing myself" - she cut her hair and had some work done (although she vehemently denied it). I don't believe that she suddenly looked 7 years younger because of the sun!!! I think she wants folks to comment on how good she looked so that she could stretch the truth and say it was her cosmetic line. In my opinion, she just needs to own the plastic surgery.

Luann's bitterness

In my opinion, Luann is a stunning older lady. I've always admired her clothes and her look, but I could do without her obnoxious attitude. As you may already know the Countess got a divorce (we'll see it sometime this season) and I would conclude that she's bitter. She had the funkiest little attitude with everyone last night. It was a combination of being the victim, while still riding on her high horse, yet feeling shame and (maybe) regret that her life is a mess. I hope she gets it together; but if she doesn't, I hope she doesn't maintain this attitude throughout the season because she will not be a likable person at all at this rate.

Bethenny's in love

The Skinny Girl got herself a cutie pie boyfriend. She's pretty caught up with her new beau, Jason, and if you watched the aftershow you would know that she's now 6 months preggars. Congratulations are in order for them both. I don't quite know whether I like Jason or for that matter, whether I like Bethenny+Jason, but we'll see.

Can't wait for next week.

Happy to wish my grandfather happy birthday

My grandfather turned 85 yesterday and I'm so blessed that he's healthy and happy. He's in Trinidad and I don't get to see him as much as I would like, so it was great to have a conversation with him last night and know that he's still as witty as can be.

My father was murdered when I was five years old, so I grew up calling my mom's dad "daddy" because he was the only father that I knew. I won't try to paint him as a saint because he wasn't. He was a womanizer and cheated on my grandmother, but at the end of the day, he was "daddy" - the only one that I had!

For all his misgivings I have learned one huge lesson from him - "Don't stress!" Simple enough, right? It's been easier said than done in my short 35 years, but I try to remind myself of that motto ever so often and our conversation last night was no different.

My grandfather lets everything roll off his back - I think it must be an gift because I have yet to come close to being able to let even the small things roll off mine. But seriously, Sunday could fall on Monday as far as he was concerned. He worries about nothing. He symbolizes coolness and faith because it doesn't matter what comes his way, he won't complain. Everything is everything!

As I reflect on our conversation last night and I note that although he's now 85, his memory and wit are still so sharp and I am happy that he can still brighten my day and remind me not to stress. Just live!

I think that's his secret to long life and I hope I can perfect this motto and live to be at least 85 too!

Happy birthday daddy - we love you!

My 30-Day Shred: Day 1

Ok, so I {think} that I've finally had enough. I'm tired of being unhappy with my weight. I know you've heard it all before, so instead of talking about it, I'm gonna be about it. Today was the first day of my 30-Day Shred. Gotta love that Jillian Michaels. My arms are like jelly and my abs are already tight. I'm really gonna try to stick this one out. Not only is Spring Break coming up at the end of this month, but so is my good friend's wedding - for which I ordered a bridesmaids dress one size smaller than normal! I'm not expecting to ever look like Jillian, but I can definitely do better than I look now. So root for me...

Along with fitting in exercise EVERY DAY, the food is what I anticipate struggling with. I like to eat. I like the way food tastes. And I hate sacrificing. Not a good combination. I carefully planned out my meals and snack for this week as I went grocery shopping yesterday. I was doing great until about 11:30am (sheesh) when Hubby called and asked if I would meet him for lunch. I immediately got nervous because I just knew that I would have better luck staying in my office and eating the spinach salad that I brought into work with me. But, my willpower SUCKS and I met him. I ordered the butternut squash soup which was delicious and quickly Googled the potential calories when I got back to my desk. 300 or so. Not bad. Phew.

And then.

I had a meeting after work and didn't get home until after 7pm. Hubby brought the kids to pick me up at the Metro and decided that we should all go out to eat for dinner. Nooooooooo!!!!!!! And so we ended up at BW3 {that's what the cool kids call it} and I ended up with a iced tea and chicken quesadilla. I ate about half and my stomach hurt. It was probably mental. So anyway, tomorrow is a new day. Here's hoping that I stick to my guns.

Speaking of guns, has anyone else tried the 30-Day Shred?