You are currently browsing the 7 quick takes category

7 Quick Takes

  • Posted on May 25, 2012 at 5:04 am

— 1 —

So,  I totally fell in love with this:

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.  Otherwise know as Pride and Prejudice told via vlogs.  Amazingly funny modern take on the classic.  Has some language, fyi.

— 2 —

So I was browsing around the internet, and happened upon these.  I was on the phone with Chad at the time, and I was all like – These are a thing?  Like, people actually think it’s a good idea to put a lid with a straw on a Mason jar?  Only two things should be drunk out of a Mason jar – sweet tea or moonshine.  Now, I’ve had a drink in a Mason jar – I’m not going to tell you which one, either.  I am from Alabama/Mississippi.  But.  I didn’t drink out of a fancy straw when I did.  Just sayin’, is all.

So, what are these for?  Taking your Mason jar drink on the road with you? (Better be tea…)  Giving it to you kids, so they don’t spill? (Might want to rethink – it’s a glass jar, if they drop it, it’s spilling).  I can totally see Mason jar soap dispensers and other country-esque decorations, but the Mason jar drinking straws baffle me. Really. I laughed when i saw the shear number of these things on Etsy – apparently, it is indeed, a Thing.  Who knew, right?

And it’s even on ThinkGeek. Ha!

— 3 —

So my constant battle against laundry is just that – a battle.  I feel like I’m winning the war, over all, but it’s crazy and tiring, and I hate folding the kid’s laundry.  So I end up like this sometimes:

I’m still following the load-a-day system, more or less, and it’s helping a lot. Like, when Brianna was sick last week, the extra laundry was just annoying, not catastrophic.  But I still get behind when we’re busy (or when I try to read all three Hunger Games books in less than a week), and then Brianna runs out of socks and life is unbearable (for her. In sandals).

I’m guessing this is just something I’m going to struggle with forever.  Maybe accepting that fact will make me feel less behind?

— 4 —

Here’s something I can get behind: a new unit of measure, the Kardashian – used to measure attention.  The article pretty much sums up how I feel about celebrities in general, but specifically the ones that are famous just for being famous.  The charts and scientific analysis, however tongue-in-cheek they may be, only make me happier with the whole thing.

— 5 —

I got a kick out of this:

data cake
Image by EpicGraphic

— 6 —

Brianna had her dance recital this week – she had a great time, loved the attention, and did well.  In fact, for the second performance in a row, we caught people filming her instead of their own kids, haha.  After hearing about so many of my friend’s recital experiences in the last few weeks, I’m glad we have Brianna in the program we do – besides being low cost, it’s really more about playing around and having fun, the recitals are no more than 30 minutes, and they certainly don’t stress performance.  I mean, dance is not really a world I want to push Brianna into – if she was really interested in it, I might put her in a more rigorous school at a later point, but I don’t think a three year old should have to sit through a 3 or 4 hours recital or a full day workshop.  And honestly, I’d rather spend the money/time on music lessons or something like it.

Of course, if Brianna gets really interested in it in the next couple of years, I’ll let her try it more… cautiously.   While I’m a great fan of dancing in general, I think the culture of most dancing programs, and the scene in general – specifically the competition scene – can be really hard on a little girl’s self image. And honestly, there’s enough self-image crap out there to deal without without seeking out more problems.

— 7 —

These eagles live right by my house.  Like, you can stand in my yard and see the nest.  And that is awesome.

What is not awesome, is the stupid photographers that follow these birds around.  The baby eagle can hardly stretch his wings without a dozen people snapping pictures of it – and they are all right next to our house.  And I hate that. What I hate more, if when they turn their super-powered zoom lenses toward my house, for unknown reasons, and snap pictures.  Or when they chase the eagles down, going inside the “protected” zone where no one is supposed to go.  Or when they are rude to my family and my neighbors.  They are there, all the time.  Saturdays, people just camp out in the field.  All day.  Sundays, too.  We’ve called the cops, they escort people off every now and again, talk to them sometimes and ask them to be nicer, but they can’t really do much.

So I’ll be sad when the eagles leave.  But happy to have my privacy back.  Thankfully, no celebrities are moving into my neighborhood anytime soon, because that might actually be worse.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Continue reading 7 Quick Takes »

Care to leave a comment?

7 Quick Takes

  • Posted on May 18, 2012 at 7:55 am

— 1 —

You guys.  My life is crazy right now.  I mean, it’s crazy all the time, but it seems extra crazy right now – like the merry-go-round is spinning way too fast – and I can’t quite put my finger on why.

Brianna was sick this week.  A stomach bug, that cancelled her ear tube removal for the third time (first time was hand, foot, and mouth.  Second was scarlet fever).  But! She may not need it done after all, now that’s we;ve put it off so long, so we’ll know more about that later next week-ish.

I think I’m getting sick. Or maybe it’s from sleeping on the couch for two nights so I could hold a bucket out for Brianna to puke in.  Or maybe it’s just stress because, work, life, parenting, hello.

My house is in disarray, which stresses me out.  But all the puke laundry was done yesterday, and an extra load to boot, so I’m not that terribly far behind. I just *feel* behind. If I keep reminding myself I’m not, maybe it will stick.

Meanwhile, here’s some interesting diversions:

— 2 —

No really, my mother’s day was great.  I took a 6 hour nap(!) on Saturday, and an extra 2 hour nap on Sunday.  That’s like, as much sleep as I get in two days, people. Which is why I needed those naps, ha ha.

We went out for dinner Saturday, and Chad ordered take-out on Sunday, so I was super spoiled.  And the kids made me a paving stone with their hand prints, and Brianna’s design sense, and it looks awesome.  And Brianna signed her name, with all the letters in order, in my card, right above Benjamin’s crayon scribbles.

I love my kids.  Even when I’m stressed out.

— 3 —

I spend a lot of time worrying I’m not the right kind of mom. I mean, there’s a ton of stuff I don’t do.  All the time.  I haven’t had Brianna start Bible memory verses, even though she can quote Mother Goose like no tomorrow.  I had completely neglected to work with Benjamin on colors, which Chad helped fix this weekend.  I feel like I should be teaching more, working more with them on skills and emotions and chores and… and… and…

And I’m so often overwhelmed by it. So often. And especially this week, as my feelings of not being good enough tend to increase as my other stress does.  So this post came at just the right time for me.

My constant struggle is to be in the moment.  I just need to keep on – being in the moment.

— 4 —

So I was chatting with a friend this week, and mentioned reading the Bible on my phone.  No joke, the YouVersion app is what keeps me on a reading plan.  And I think that’s kind of awesome.

But my phone is fast becoming an integral part of my life.  I use it to schedule, connect, track, and maintain almost every aspect of what I do.  And that is kind of scary, and kind of awesome, all at the same time. Just a thought.

— 5 —

I buckled down on the diet today.  Seriously.  I went to the doctor last week, and while she had mixed news on what could be done on improving my health concerns in general (nothing serious), the most depressing part of the visit was stepping on the scale.  Looking into the possible things I’m having problems with – none of them are due to weight, but weight plays a factor in making them worse or more difficult to treat.

So.  Eating healthy(er), again.  Which means I have to curb the emotional eating, because yikes I have a lot of emotions, and they all seem to crave carbs. Wish me luck!  Also hope to step up the exercise again, when my xBox hard drive returns from the nether (where it’s being replaced).  And, we might get a Rec Center membership, if Chad and I can ever find the time to go.

— 6 —

This is old, but it still makes me lol: 100 Essential Skills For Geeks. I have an embarrassingly awesome number of these skills, which totally makes me a geek chick, which we already knew.

— 7 —

I totally read The Hunger Games in one sitting.  Due to my awesome cousin, I’ll be reading the second book this week, and probably the third shortly after.  I haven’t decided if I’ll review them all at once, or one at a time, but a review is definitely forthcoming.  I love reading, and I love that my Kindle (and my phone, lets be honest) help me work it into my everyday life – when I really don’t have time to read at all.

As a funny note, my requirements for a purse no longer include fitting a TI-89 (like in college), but now include fitting my Kindle (which is thinner, but wider).  My current purse (a 5 year gift from my company, and the only name brand purse I’ve ever owned) works wonderfully for this. If I ever get a MacBook Air, though, I will totally need to upgrade my purse.

That, if nothing else, should cinch my geek girl cred. My purse size and shape is almost entirely dictated by the technology I feel I need to carry.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Continue reading 7 Quick Takes »

Care to leave a comment?

7 Quick Takes

  • Posted on May 11, 2012 at 9:35 am

— 1 —

My kids say some of the cutest things:

Brianna insists on calling polka-dots “poka-nuts”.  I love this, and hope she never grows out of it.

When Benjamin wants to be carried, he reaches his arms up and says “I carry you! I carry you!”

We put the kids in the bath the other night, and Brianna decided she needed to get back out and sit on the potty.  I went to lift her out, and she yelled “Stop!  My feet will leak on the floor!”.   After Chad and I stopped laughing, we got her a towel for her leaky feet.

Brianna was looking for something pink the other day, and kept saying “I can’t find the pink one!”  Benjamin very helpfully brought her a stuffed penguin, saying “Bran-na, here’s the pen-kwin!”  She had no idea what he was talking about.

Benjamin has decided he wants to go to the beach.  He has no idea what the beach is, I don’t think, but he keeps saying “I want to go the BEACH! I can’t see the BEACH” and pulling us to the door. So we might have to make a trip to the beach soon…

Apparently, Brianna was filmed at church for a mother’s day video to be shown to the congregation on Sunday.  I’m a little afraid at what might possibly come out of her mouth, on camera. It’s either going to be adorable, or mortifying.  Probably both.

— 2 —

I need this error code book:

— 3 —

Since I already geeked you out with xkcd, here’s an article that makes me laugh every time.  If a programming language was a boat.  The last picture is the one that kills me.

— 4 —

I actually bought Brianna a scissors workbook this week.  A whole book of paper – that’s designed to be cut up.  That makes me cringe for so many reasons, but she needs the scissor work (per her preschool teacher) and I don’t have time to hunt down 50 print-out sheets on the internet.  But! If you have an pointers for places to go to get print outs, or ways to work on scissor skills, I’m all ears!

— 5 —

This is how I feel at work sometimes.

Luckily, we have a couple of new people coming on board, which should lighten the workload and improve the standards of our apps across the board.  Yay!

— 6 —

I love this:

Actually, if I could fill my house with word art of witty/inspiring quotes, I probably would.  (Etsy will be my downfall, seriously). There are a ton of them that I love, and I don’t seem to have enough walls.

— 7 —

Tonight, courtesy of my neighbors who are trading babysitting with us, I am totally going on a date with my husband>  Not sure if we’ll make to dinner and a movie, or just dinner, but I am really looking forward to it.  It seems like out life is so busy, we seldom have time for just us… it’s nice to take an evening out and be able to eat a meal without cutting up someone else’s food or bringing a diaper bag every now and again.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!  Actually, Betty Beguiles is guest hosting this week!

Continue reading 7 Quick Takes »

Care to leave a comment?

7 Quick Takes

  • Posted on May 4, 2012 at 11:54 am

— 1 —

So I was just sent this news story. Someone apparently shot the Saturn V rocket in Huntsville.  Could have been n accident (not the firing of the gun, but the fact that it entered the Davidson Center and hit the rocket). Thankfully no one was hurt.

Have I ever mentioned how attached I am to Saturn V rockets?  That particular one used to lie in the back of Rocket Park outside the USSRC, and I loved walking by it when I worked there – the sheer size of it was overwhelming and amazing.  Then, they built a replica of it next to the center (which was a huge politics issue, and ultimately the full plan for a gantry and restaurant, etc,was never finished – just the rocket.

And it was under that replica that Chad and I more or less started dating. Not that we would have admitted it at the time.  When we drive into Huntsville for visits, I love seeing that rocket – it means we’re almost there.  In some strange way, the rocket is home in a way that other places in Huntsville are not. Chad and I joke about buying it to go in our yard, if the HOA would let us (the fact that the base of the rocket is larger than our yard is beside the point).

I was very excited when they moved the real Saturn V to the Davidson Center – it’s really nice, and I love how they are protecting it and displaying it.  And now I’m sad because someone shot it, and I have no idea why.  It seems like a pretty freak accident, if that’s what it was.

Anyway.  Enough space nostalgia. I hope they find out who did it and why.

— 2 —

Brianna still climbs up in bed with me about 2 nights a week or so.  Something will wake her up, and she’ll come snuggle until she goes back to sleep, and at some point I get tired of being kicked/poked/not having enough space, and I carry her back to her bed to wait out the rest of the night.  Or when I turn the light on in the morning, she decides her room is nicer because it’s dark, and scampers off to bed for a few more minutes.

So when she climbed into my bed two nights ago, telling me she was cold, I just rolled over and gave her some covers.  She was right – her legs were freezing!  But I felt nothing wet, and was too tired to ask questions.  So I went back to sleep.  Eventually, I carried her back to her bed, only to discover her sheets were soaked. She had wet the bed, gotten up and changed underwear and then gotten in bed with me.  Which totally makes sense, I guess, if you’re cold.

We has a middle of the night chat about letting mommy know then these things happen, and I changed her sheets and sent her back to bed.

Last night, when she crawled into my bed cold, I thought for a minute and asked “Is your bed wet?”.  Luckily, it was not.

— 3 —

Benjamin has entered the age of the tantrums.  Full blown, laying on the floor, screaming tantrums.  I have no idea what to do with this, any more than i did when Brianna did it.  He too young for logic, so I end up trying to separate him from whatever is causing the tantrum, distracting him, and holding him until it’s over.  But he’s becoming less distractable – maybe because his memory is better?  My point is, it takes more than a banana or some tickles to make him stop screaming.  If two is going to be this bad, I might just ship him off until he’s four.  Not really.  But maybe.

— 4 —

I have been trying (badly at times, like yesterday) to do more fun/educational stuff with the kids.  Brianna has been painting sun catchers, using scissors, writing with dry erase markers, and I even have some beads for her to string on pipe cleaners this weekend or next week to practice patterns and counting.  Bu I’m kind of at a loss for what to do with Benjamin -he’s only a year and a half, so he still puts pretty much everything in his mouth.  I’m thinking I might try homemade (edible) playdough this weekend?  But I would love some more ideas.

Any advice?

— 5 —

Chad discovered that Brianna really likes soccer.  And she’s actually kids of good at it (ie, better than me at chasing/kicking the ball, which probably doesn’t say much, but really, she’s 3). So we are starting to look at soccer leagues.  OMG.  The prices.  I have been so spoiled by our daycare, that offers Stretch-n-Grow and Ballet classes for $35/month/each.  So going into this, I was thinking, sure, soccer’s probably a little more.  Like $40/month, plus cleats, etc.

HAHAHA.  Summer session, which is 6-8 weeks, depending on the league, is $100-$150 depending on the league.  There are a couple of options for 3 year old’s in town, all claim to be positive and fun and blah blah blah.  No idea if we’re going to do it, or put it off another little while because she’s little, we’re lazy, and it’s expensive.

— 6 —

In looking for free concerts to take the kids too, in order to see if they will enjoy it/behave enough for us to buy the family symphony tickets, I stumbled upon the fee schedule for Pearland ISD Dawson High School’s Diamonds (the nationally ranked dance team).  Let’s just say soccer fees are the least of my worries. $600 just for costumes.  Plus fees for trips, competition, other fees, etc – it looked like over $2000.  For a year.

Brianna will need a part-time job to support that type of habit, if she goes that route in high school.  Because man, is that a lot of money.  Maybe soccer isn’t so expensive after all.

— 7 —

I have thrown away/recycled a small trash can full of empty sample packets and little bottles and such this week.  Most  empty, some not. Decluttering for the win! I’ve found a few winners in my sample pile, though – I’ll try to blog about them later.

I also am looking at some sample beauty box programs, trying to find some good products that work with my skin/hair/everything. I started with New Beauty TestTube, and just got my first tube, so I have some posts that should be coming up on that as well.  Not that I want this to turn into a beauty blog or anything – I just want to record what works for me and what I should look into buying later, when I run out of samples, haha.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Continue reading 7 Quick Takes »

Care to leave a comment?

7 Quick Takes

  • Posted on April 28, 2012 at 1:18 pm

— 1 —

It’s totally Saturday.  I know.  yesterday was long, and this sat as a draft waiting for me to finish it.  I only now have time – and only if my kids behave for more than 30 seconds at a time. (ETA: they did not.  I had to finish at naptime, haha)

— 2 —

I love that Chad is musically talented, and can share that with the kids.  A couple of nights a week, before bedtime, they all go into the music room where the kids can play with various toy instruments, bang on the keyboard, and dance to music as their Daddy plays guitar, banjo, or mellophone.

Brianna makes up her own songs, and words, and demands that we let her perform them over and over.  Her latest craze is ROCK.  She says “I’m gonna go ROCK!”, then she goes to the Rock Band drums, says “1, 2… 1, 2, 3″ and starts banging wildly while screaming “I like to ROCK!!”.  Hilarious.

Benjamin just recently has started singing (recognizable) songs, which is adorable.  He’s been singing ABCs for a couple of weeks, but this morning he sang Winnie-the-Pooh and Twinkle, Twinkle.  He loves to hit things with the drum sticks, but isn’t as big on Rock as Brianna, haha.

— 3 —

In my quest for the Perfect System ™ for managing life, work, etc, I’ve finally decided to start looking into GTD.  Power of Moms has a program that I got in free that tailors the system to Moms (imagine that), so I’m planning on starting it this weekend, and seeing how far I get.  Not sure if this is the new Perfect System or not, but it’s worth a try, right?  Also, it doesn’t require me buying a whole lot of extra crap, so that’s certainly a bonus.

So! If you have any GTD resources, or even another system that seems to work really well for you, please share!

— 4 —

I love this (Cracked’s guide to fonts).  Fonts are a big deal here – yes, we’re designers. Thanks.  Also, this (What type of artist are you?).  I’m somewhere between graphic designer and Microsoft painter, lol.

— 5 —

I thought maybe my kids had reached the age where I could take a shower while they watched TV for a couple of minutes this morning (Chad’s at the doctor).  I was totally wrong, and hopped out of the shower 10 minutes later to discover no one watching TV, Benjamin and half the kids’ bathroom covered in shampoo, and Brianna running around with “little bibles” (our passports) that she “rescued” from the “treasure box” (fire safe) so the pirates wouldn’t steal them.  Luckily she did this after she dumped the shampoo on Benjamin, and somehow without sliming/otherwise damaging our passports.

So, after cleaning Benjamin, the bathroom, and relocking/hiding the keys to the fire safe, I’m thinking the TV is not all it’s cracked up to be.

— 6 —

I’ve discovered I love throwing empty things away.  (or recycling them, but getting them out of the house).  So I decided to start with the littlest containers of everything I have, so as to be able to use up/throw away as much as possible as often as possible.  I have a stockpile of body wash, laundry detergent, dish soap, etc, from coupon deals and also from my MIL who sent me home after Christmas with half her stash, so there are plenty of things to choose from.

But I’ve figured out the biggest win is that I’m working my way through my stash of tiny samples of various soaps and face washes and moisturizers, etc.  I kept them, because some of them sample kind of expensive things, and I thought “What if I like it? The I’ll have to buy more and it’s expensive!”, but I hate the idea of just throwing them away.  Some of the newer ones, I donated, but some of them have been in the cabinet for long enough I feel a little bad donating them.  So – I’ve brushed the dust off and started using them.  It’s awesome! Plus, I’ve decided if I don’t like it, there’s not use keeping it until I use it “all” up – it’s a sample, after all. If I don’t like the way is smells or whatever – in the trash it goes.  Amazing.

I’ll probably be noting down products I really like, possibly here on the blog, so that if/when I ever run out of this stuff, I can pick which one I like the most and buy more.

In related news, mentha body wash sounds like a good idea, but is not. Actually – in retrospect, it doesn’t even really sound like a good idea.  I have no idea what I was thinking.

— 7 —

I’m not Catholic, so there were some parts of her message I didn’t entirely understand/agree with, but this interview with Dawn Eden regarding forgiveness and healing really touched me.  She has so many good points, and I think so much of it still applies to my (Protestant) walk with Christ, that I am actually considering buying her book – just to see what else I can learn.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Continue reading 7 Quick Takes »

Care to leave a comment?

Maybe tomorrow I’ll start over

  • Posted on March 30, 2012 at 10:08 am

— 1 —

I missed an entire day of work yesterday, because I went in for what was supposed to be a consult to see if I needed a root canal done on a specific tooth… and ended up with an actual root canal.  After which I did not feel like going in to the office and doing work, and instead went home, took a bunch of medicine and went to bed for the afternoon. But at least they let me “watch” a movie while I was being worked on (and also, Nitrous.  I loves it).

— 2 —

I am totally turning 30 in a few days.  Which everyone kind of expects me to freak out about, and I’m all like, meh. 30. I don’t feel old yet.  I feel out of shape, overweight, and tired all the time.  But not hair-buns-and-pencil-skirts-all-the-time old, ha ha.  I don wonder, though, what things I have missed out on learning in the last 20 years.  For instance – I’m pretty sure that most 30-year-olds, do not need instructions from their dental hygienist to figure out how to brush effectively – I apparently do.  I have this perception that most 30-year-old-moms-of-two-kids know how to keep a reasonably clean house, and don’t do things like, say, forget the laundry in the washer for two days.

— 3 —

Chad keeps asking me what I want for my birthday, and I have no idea. I mean… as per the usual, all of my ideas are intangible or unobtainable. Like – I’d like an extra couple hours in the day.  Every day.  Or maybe once a week. I’d like the house to stay clean for more than one minute while the kids are awake. I’d like to be the “fun mom”, if only for a few minutes at a time.  Sadly, Chad is not impressed by this wish list, and would rather I tell him something tangible and within budget to go get. Ha!  I told him we’re taking a trip to Denver in a couple weeks, that’s probably my present. He disagrees.

— 4 —

I have managed to stay caught up on laundry for a record amount of time now.  And it’s amazing how being caught up on laundry transforms something that would have been a crisis – Brianna wetting the bed two nights in a row after staying dry almost two weeks – into a mere inconvenience.  We have clean sheets, the washer is empty, no problem getting the sheets washed and dried before bedtime so we can go to bed with the spares ready – just in case.  Makes for a much nicer mommy in the middle of the night, and much less stress on everyone.  Chad has been an awesome help with the laundry, too, even washing an extra load when he was working from home yesterday.  So yay us!  The house might be a disaster, but we have clean laundry. It’s the little things.

— 5 —

One of our neighbors is having a party for her daughter, C., on Sunday – C. is Brianna’s age, and she is having a cowgirl themed party.  These neighbors throw the most elaborately themed kids parties I’ve been to – for their son’s one year party, the theme was fishing, and they had cupcakes with fishing poles and gummy fish on them, and served goldfish crackers, and sailboat cookies, and gave all the kids homemade toy magnetic fishing pole pets, and it was really cool.  The mom sews the kids an outfit that matches the theme, and the party generally looks like Pinterest exploded with great ideas everywhere.  And she works!  I am sadly almost out of place – my idea of a theme party for Brianna is to let her pick out matching plates and napkins. And maybe match the cake to that. Ha.  Anyway, Brianna is excited about wearing her boots and cowgirl hat, and we’re all looking forward to it.  But the day Brianna asks me if I can throw her as cool a party as C.’s mom does, I’m moving :-) [Edit: I'm not the only one! Look what I got in my mailbox about 2 minutes after I posted this! Kat, you are amazing - and just what I needed today.]

— 6 —

I started running a couple of weeks ago (literally, this is my second week).  I’m doing Couch to 5K, not because I really like running (I kind of hate it a little), but because I NEED to do SOMETHING. Let me tell you, internets, it is totally kicking my butt.  But I’m DOING it. So.  My new goal is to run in the Pear Run in May.  Anyone want to join so I don’t chicken out?

— 7 —

I have so many weekend projects lined up, but no idea when I’m going to be able to fit them into my weekends. For example, I need to strip & re-caulk our shower in the master bathroom, the kids both need haircuts, I need to weed out all the winter clothes from their drawers, I need to finish Brianna’s quiet book I started, and I need to finish my steampunk goggles. Those are just a few, but this weekend is my birthday (more or less), next weekend is Easter, and the weekend after I’ll be in Denver, dancing & hanging out with Manda.  So I have no idea when I’ll tackle these crazy things, but I would like it to be soonish…  This goes back to needing extra hours in my day.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Continue reading Maybe tomorrow I’ll start over »

2 comments on Maybe tomorrow I’ll start over

7 Quick Takes

  • Posted on March 16, 2012 at 12:26 pm

— 1 —

My children are amazing, and also drive me crazy on a regular basis.  But its the growing up part that getting to me this week – preparing for a yard sale, and going through all the baby things we don’t need anymore with a 19-month-old and a three-year-old.  I cried at the idea of selling the crib bedding, even though we’re set to pack up the crib (for good) here pretty soon.  It’ll be the first time in 3 years with no baby in the house, and that makes me a little sad.

But no sad enough to seek out another :-) This mama knows she has all she can handle at the moment (and sometimes more).

— 2 —

Speaking of growing up, Brianna spent her first diaper-and-pullup-free overnight last night.  And woke up with dry sheets.  I know there will be accidents along the way, but there is light at the end of the diaper tunnel and I can see it! Another year or two and we’ll be done for good! And yes, I might cry a little over that one, too.

— 3 —

I need more sleep. Which might explain the crying, lol.  But no, seriously, the sleep. I think I’ve averaged less than 6 hours a night this week and it’s not working for me.  Only tremendous amounts of caffeine is keeping me upright and functioning. Which is not good for a variety of reasons.

— 4 —

Like my weight.  My caffeine of choice is Mt. Dew. Not diet. I started tracking calories again, and like a third of what I’m taking in is SODA. Which is unacceptable. And probably why I can’t seem to lose this baby weight (is it still baby weight after a year and a half?).

— 5 —

So I’m guessing my goal for next week will be to make getting a good amount of sleep a priority.  Somehow without dropping the ball on housecleaning, spending time with my kids, work, or spending time with my husband. (It seems like I can only maintain 1 or 2 of these things at a time…)  Not sure how I’m oging to manage this, but I guess starting with a firm 10pm bedtime would be a start.

— 6 —

Exercise.  I can’t even begin where to fit this in, and yet I NEED to.  My weight it stupid crazy, and I feel tired and weak and lazy.  The Xbox is down, so no Zumba for me – and I don’t want to pay for it, so no gym.  I need to either fire up my dance workout dvds, start couch25k, or buy a bike (um, more money).  And yet.  The time thing.  I am so frustrated by this – again, I’m not sure what to sacrifice to find this time. Sleep is not an option, per takes 3 and 5, so what else has room to give?

— 7 —

And I supose that is the plight of the modern working mommy. If anyone knows any great ways to sleep and/or workout while cooking dinner or cleaning house, apparently I need them :-)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Continue reading 7 Quick Takes »

Care to leave a comment?