Two right shoes

.....so I decided that today I needed to post a FUNNY story....maybe not POSITIVE but funny none the less. My son Mack just started gym (well P.E. since now its not called gym LOL) and Health this semester (its now a joint class not two separate ones LOL...showing my age aren't I)...anyway he wears a uniform to school everyday (dress shoes too LOL) and he takes tennis shoes and gym clothes to go running/jogging/walking for class. So everyday I say "do you have your clothes for gym" and he says " I think so...I think I got everything" well that's should be enough right, I shouldn't HAVE to check a 12 yr olds bag...so I don't responsibility is a big deal with me. So he goes to school yesterday, and gets off the bus, walks in and says "OMG I am gonna kill either Osten or the babies" I said for what this time? Here it comes....he DIDN'T check the bag for gym and had TWO, yep TWO RIGHT shoes (gives a new meaning to LOW LEFT FEET LOL). So I said why didn't you call...well (GYM TEACHERS NAME HERE LOL) said I'd be fine to run in two right shoes. OMG can you imagine how sore his ONE foot was LOL. I would have given anything to see that because he can be a bit LOUD and DRAMATIC some days LOL.

I guess the moral of this story is CHECK your bag and if not, well it'll be a blog story to make all us MOMS out there smile. Oh and today he DID check his bag and said "I didn't forget anything and I do have two right shoes" Smiled didn't you....TWO RIGHT SHOES LOL.

Happy Wednesday gang!!!

My kids....

....are truly FANTASTIC. I am writing this BEFORE report cards come out on Wednesday but not because they'll be bad...nope I already know one has straight A's and the other one has A's and B's on the grading period and on his finals....so its not their grades, its not even the fact that my freshman is getting a Varsity Wrestling letter this year or that my 6th grade is doing EXCELLENT in Latin, and is the Troop Historian for his Boy Scouts. Its not even that my two little ones (although in some fibbing and blaming each other stage) are learning to clean up their rooms on a normal time schedule (I set the clock for 10 minutes and they HAVE to be done or MOM comes in...and no one wants mom in their rooms LOL). Nope and although all these things are GREAT, its not that, its that I just LOVE them. I would love them if they brought home all F's ( I might not be happy but I'd love them LOL).

Some days being a mom is HARD (whether you are a SAHM or a working mom) its just plain hard. But some days I forget and get testy and bitchy and well just downright mean. I am tired, and its trying to day in and day out do the same things, but I can honestly say that I love how they make me feel, how they allow me to share in their lives. I thought the older they got the more I'd miss out on, and I'm sure I will miss stuff when they get girlfriends (which let me say I am so NOT ready for LOL), but for right now, I am gonna appreciate and treasure the love, the laughter, and the friendship that we share.

If you haven't told your kids today that you "love them" do it, and watch 'em look at you like you have two heads for a second...but they say "love you too mom" right back at you...its AMAZING.

I'm still learning

....yep at my age I'm still learning. I am learning LOTS of things...like I'm old, LOL and I am a bit more computer savvy, and something about graphics and well I'm learning more and more about myself everyday.

I know that I have taken TONS of things in my life for granted, but this year I have been making a conscious effort to PAY ATTENTION, and APPRECIATE my life. I read a passage in a great book Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral that went like this:

"I was just thinking about how much you mean to me...but I want you to know that I never take you for granted and the I remember everything you did for me and without you I don't know what I would do...."

And I thought about this passage for a long time after I read it, and realized that its how we all live or lives, we don't forget or appreciate the things people do for or with us, but we don't talk about it either, we tend to...not take it for granted...but become complacent in what goes on in and around our lives. I don't want to do this anymore. I mean first off I'm not a spring chicken, and I am not the healthiest (as far as being overweight and less active than I should be LOL), that I don't want to mess around and MISS out on my life.

I love my kids, and my husband way too much for that. So I do have my pedometer Walk to Iraq with my fellow blogger Chaos Mommy and I am doing it in support of her, her husband, and my health. I want to be the "all that I can be" I think that was a military slogan at one time too LOL....see how its hard to separate yourself from that life LOL.

So today I challenge you to APPRECIATE your life, and to TAKE CHARGE of what you want in it, and around you. Stop and smell those flowers today (and if its still cold and no flowers are there, just take a DEEP BREATH). Have a GREAT week-end everyone.

its UNDER RATED

...sex that is. I mean we've been having it for 17 years now LOL but as with a lot of married couples sometimes it gets put on the back burner....life just gets in the way. So today I made up my mind IT WAS TIME.

You know we live for our kids, and some days it dawns on me that if we don't work on us, then there will be no us when the kids are gone. So after yesterdays "nasty express" I decided to put forth more effort into being what I WANT to be...you know POSITIVE LOL.

Today came his 1st month of his "beer of the month club" that I got him for Christmas so that, and a great Honey BBQ dinner, and me being NICER helped out A LOT. So do (as a married woman) forget to give yourself YOU time. I mean most days are filled with "HAVE TOO's" and I FORGET to take care of me.

So in the midst of all of it I took an amazing bubble bath, and gave myself a conditioning treatment, and read a few chapters ALONE in the bathroom....and OMG it was as great as the sex LOL, I mean time alone in the bathroom as a mom it almost UNHEARD of now isn't it LOL. But today I got both...was a GREAT Monday...hope the rest of the week pans out as well LOL.

Happy Monday gang.

So here is what I figured out.....

NO matter how POSITIVE I WANT to be, some days its just ok to be pissy. I mean I personally have my OWN insecurities issues but someday I can't no matter how hard I try I can't be supportive. I know hubby is stressed and tired of his job, and the constant PT he has to do (nope unfortunately he wasn't blessed with a small waist and big neck LOL), and the fact, like the rest of the world, we live paycheck to paycheck...but ya know what me too. I mean I would love to be skinnier, and not get disheartened with my life (kids, house, all of it), and I would love not to have to look at a price tag ever. But you know what that is life, sometimes its just what it is, you have to make the best out of life.

So today I yelled, and although I meant it, I do feel bad, I tend to be NASTY and I never just let it die. I mean I keep rehashing it with curt comments and it just fuels the damn fire. So most of the time if I'd just shut the hell up it would help the situation diffuse but nope not me I get it in my damn craw and keep going. So how do I change that? I mean sometimes I feel like if I don't say anything, then I just stew and it isn't gonna get any better...and whether I am right or wrong its all on my feelings and sometimes they are HARD to deal with.

Ok so now that I used my POSITIVE blog to VENT...now what? I mean I am not saying I'm sorry because one, its who and how I have been for 17 years, and two changes need to be made....and not all by me. I remember when he brought home a 6 pack of beer and a bouquet of flowers. Not that this is all that's expected but once in awhile I really WANT...no I NEED to feel appreciated. Guess I'll wait and see where the night goes....please let it be MORE POSITIVE tonight than it has been the past few days.

Off to be a cheese head (only by process of elimination since the Browns aren't in the playoffs *cry*) but on the other hand that Brett Farve is a good looking older quarterback (and yep I tell hubbyt that too LOL).

Happy Sunday fellow bloggers.

I am being POSITIVE

yeah, yeah thats right its what I keep telling myself this week...remember it is my New Years Resolution...to be POSITIVE...but OMG is it truly possible? I mean now I have made it longer than previous resolutions LOL. But 365 days of POSITIVE do you think that is possible at all, or would it be a Guinness Record? Hmmmmmmmm now there's an idea, maybe I could set a record LOL.

Well lets see I do have a few GREAT things from the past week to brag about, lets see the kitchen and living room are DONE still...and are staying clean WHOO HOOO. Osten got an 88% (a high III) on his math EOC (the state proficiency test) so that's EXCELLENT...if you even know he is the person "Math for Dummies" was written for LOL he hates, it, and PANICS...I mean PANICS (white knuckles, sick, head on desk during tests LOL) so he only needed an 80% (a low III) to pass the class, and he did it. Mack will be the color guard next week at a Boy Scout function, and he got a 95% on his keyboarding final....with a great, big, red WOW!!! on it. They are doing great.

Shayne will be home for the next four days and although I do love him, and want him here, OMG I dread it too, I mean the house is always messier when he's here, I NEVER get control of the darn remote, he moves from the bed, to the chase lounge, to the bathroom and then my computer chair, just enough to INTERFERE with my flippen schedule. HOWEVER being POSITIVE (LOL) I will be glad to have him here to talk too (if I want too LOL). He is a good man, so it'll all be fine...besides he does have to go to the ALL day wrestling tournament on Saturday so that'll be like my day off LOL.

Anyway, today I'll be back on CLEANING schedule this AM so I can be ready for the influx of family (kids are off school tonight till Thursday too) this week. Maybe I'll leave the laundry to do, throughout the week, I mean I MAY need an escape to the laundry room LOL

I hope the week-end is great for all of you...we are hoping for the dusting to an inch of snow we MAY get tomorrow afternoon LOL.

Motivation.....

....where does it come from? How do we find it? I don't know where or how to find it sometimes, and the past 18 months of my life I have endured a deployment, a LONG readjustment to Shayne being back home and now to the inevitability of a move this summer. I have slowly become more and more LAZY in my approach to cleaning, and just life in general.

So you'd think with the new "POSITIVE" me that I'd get on a cleaning tear and "GIT R DONE" now wouldn't you? Well you'd think but I was LACKING in that elusive MOTIVATION. I wanted to get moving and clean my house and do my laundry, and play with the babies (well they aren't babies anymore but they are preschoolers LOL so they still play some LOL). But I just couldn't do it. No instead I did what my sister and I lovingly define it as the "HURRICANE CLEAN" and that's just where you tear through the house and toss it WHEREVER you can so it LOOKS clean. I am EXCELLENT at this LOL.

However today I NEEDED to get up and do it. Maybe its one of those signs I am so looking for in life all the time. So I sat down with my sweet tea (OMG gotta love Smithfields sweet tea), and made a list, then I could feel the sheer "YUCKINESS" of the HUGE list, so I sat a little while longer and than from NOWHERE, I got up...I got cleaning and decided to ATTACK this from a different angle. Instead of DOING IT ALL in one day and then feeling like I failed because I didn't' get done, I decided that with a list this long it was time to BREAK it down some. So the game plan is to clean ONE room.....just ONE every day till my house is cleaned back to the point I want it. I figure that one room GOOD is only an hour maybe 90 minutes, then I can "HURRICANE CLEAN" the rest of the house and by the end of the week OMG I'll be able to sit in CLEANLINESS LOL.

Maybe getting back to what I KNOW and was PROUD of will help me continue down the year of POSITIVES for me. I mean look, today I ACCOMPLISHED something BIGGER than yesterday, and I did without whining....OMG I am improving. So to answer the ORIGINAL questions, I don't know where it comes from or how to find it, I just know when we NEED it we can find it.

Happy Monday my fellow bloggers.

How did it start.....

....oh man I just saw the best commercial its a couple kissing, and then rewinding back to the beginning of their relationship (now never mind its some match.com commercial LOL) but it got me thinking about the FIRST time. No sillies not THE first time...that was so LONG ago I don't know if I remember LOL but I am talking about the FIRST time Shayne and I met. Oh my gosh he was so handsome, a big bear, but with those amazing dimples. We met in passing early fall 1991, as he was friends with my sister. Then in January 1992, I met him again, but this time he was BUILT, and I mean BUILT...he had beard (which just so you know you could still see his dimples through), and his hair was cut, and well he was just breath taking....can you say that about a man? I don't know, but it does get my point across LOL.

We did things together that I had never done before, we hiked a hill to a HUGE rock, and walked down by the creek. We parked in a TINY car down by a bridge and the woods (holy cow I was in college and was still PARKING LOL what a hoot), and we walked across these OLD train tressles (what an amazing view that was).

Eventually we got married (yes there was MORE in between the last paragraph and this one LOL), and everything we do is a FIRST. I mean it was the first time we celebrated Christmas in a new state, then apart, then MORE in debt than before LOL, but you get my point. Life is full of FIRST TIMES, and we miss them and take them for granted. I thought I learned that when he was deployed last year, but I guess not since some commercial about dating (maybe that was the sign LOL)reminded me of some very GREAT POSITIVE moments in my life. Gosh do I love that man...even more today than I did 17 (holy crap SEVENTEEN) years ago....he is truly my HERO (wonder if I've told him recently...note to self...tell hubby he ROCKS).

Happy Blogging gang.

My horoscope today......

says "Your home life needs extra attention today. While it could be physical or structural, more likely it involves someones feelings, so be prepared for a long discussion that might not quite reach resolution."

Now I don't really put all my EGGS in one basket on the horoscope band wagon but today's wasn't very POSITIVE now was it? Hhhhhhmmmmmmmm hope this doesn't mean there is a FIGHT brewing, I was just thinking how GRATEFUL I am for my life, my kids, and my husband, and how PROUD I am of all of them.

So do I worry and wait about what MIGHT happen or do I make a conscious effort to NOT fight.....or do I NEED to have an argument? I mean do I follow the stars or just hope bedtime comes fast and quick with no MAJOR issues LOL?

Well my POSITIVE for today is that I am warm with pride and love for my family, my husband and my life....and as far as those stars go, well I hope they stay up in the sky and light my path tonight and not mess around too much inside, I'm really too tired after last night primary coverage to deal with it all LOL.

Happy Wednesday everyone (Hump day just sounds Vulgar now doesn't it LOL)

The smell.....

....you know the one the "Spring Air" you can't describe it, the can't bottle it, its just there and only at certain times. The best is it doesn't have to necessarily have to be Spring. I was looking back at my Missing you blog and about the 1st picnic of the season while my husband was deployed, and the air kinda just hit me. I quickly opened all the windows in my house and sat down....and OMG there it was that "Spring is here" smell. Didn't motivate me to exercise but it did motivate me to REMEMBER another GREAT memory in my life, which leads me to this moment today.

My POSITIVE for today is that We, as a family, are coming out of the FUNK that we have been in as individuals, and as a family. You know the one that gets you depressed, and funny, and lazy, and well just all around funky. I find us starting to TALK more than we have in the past few months, I find us LAUGHING A LOT more than we have. I guess that the stresses of LIFE IN GENERAL can get to all of us.

Isn't it funny how a simple smell, memory, or moment make EVERYTHING CLEAR in your life. Gosh I love that "Spring Air" smell don't you?

A family that

.....Plays together, and Laugh together doesn't have much to worry about right? Well my POSITIVE today is that even though we are 800 miles away from home here we sit as a family watching and cheering and YELLING really loud about the Ohio State game.....and hang on yeah there might even be some swearing if they drop the ball again LOL. But we are having a GREAT time......

So as I sit here listening to my phone ring every couple minutes as my son's friends call and razz him or eat humble pie because LSU messed up, I find myself smiling. I wonder if when they are grown up and gone if they will sit and laugh and cheer with their kids?

The moments like these when we are all DOING something TOGETHER are what make being a family WONDERFUL.

On a POSITIVE note today.....

......um I am looking deep for one at the moment MAYBE it will appear later on LOL. But so far this AM I slept in, well not really in I got up at 2:45am couldn't go back to sleep till 3:30am therefore didn't get up at 4am now did I? LOL I hate to start the day feeling I am behind already...not that I would have done anything major but I MIGHT have LOL.

Anyway, I just dropped off my son for a wrestling tournament (the bus is leaving at 6:30am) and what a nice few moments in my life, I mean he was tired, and REALLY, REALLY nervous but it was just us. We drove, and I teased him and he smiled.....took my money, and then said I love you when he got out of the car. Now its not that the kids and I don't say that to each other all the time....because we do. But this morning I actually FELT the words from him. I miss the days when he'd run and hug me, jump on my lap, and kiss me tons, but I do see the young man he is, and the man he is becoming. He is a great kid with a wonderfully kind heart....I realized today that I just take for granted that they are good kids. I don't want to do that anymore....I mean I miss out on so many moments if I do that. Nope today was another MOMENT I want to remember, and hold in my heart. And it will get me through the fact he just called and told me he forgot his wrestling shoes, and they are leaving in 10 minutes can I get them back down to the school for him...LOL Kids gotta love them.

Guess I didn't have to look too far for my POSITIVE today now did I? Have a great week-end my blogger friends.

Baby its cold outside.....

now I know that's a song and all LOL but my butt is freezing. I moved from Ohio to North Carolina to be WARMER....I am thinking it would be better to have SNOW then I'd be expecting 14 degrees at 8:45 AM.


Anyway today I want to talk about my grandpa who used to say to me "accomplish ONE thing everyday and then you haven't wasted the day." Well I never really put any thought into that I just blew it off as old folks talking ya know. Never mind that as cold as I am today I am feeling like a really OLD person LOL So I gave this some thought and decided it so applies to my BABY STEPPING NEW YEARS RESOLUTION now doesn't it? So today I have picked up the house already, dressed the babies, got the older boys out the door to school, hubby up and out to work, showered, and fed everyone including the dogs breakfast, and I'm blogging TWO DAYS in a row...so I've accomplished SOMETHING. I am sure that isn't exactly what Grandpa meant by this phrase, but it'll do for today.

Now that I have only 2 loads to wash (which I will get done soon) I think I am gonna go appreciate the fact that I have two little furnaces here ready to watch a movie with me, and love the fact that today I get to sit for a little while and laugh with them. Life is too short to be SERIOUS all the time, so today I did SOMETHING and now its PLAYTIME.

T.G.I.F. my fellow bloggers

Today is.....

...the first day of the rest of my life. Well maybe NOT the first day but its how I am going to approach life this year. Ya know I did A LOT of soul searching the past few weeks and realized I am a BITCH....not something to be proud of either. I mean what do I really care what other people do with their lives, or what they get...I have two new cars (I owe, I owe, I owe still LOL). 4 AMAZING kids, of which two are NEVER in trouble in school and get FANTASTIC grades...I have a husband who loves me whether I am 150lbs or 300lbs (although he'd prefer me at 150 LOL). He's in the Navy so we get to move and have ADVENTURES. No, all in all I have a GREAT LIFE. So this year as 2008 unfolds I am going to be POSITIVE about life, less BITCHY, and I'm gonna GET HEALTHY...not today will I do all of them but BABY STEPS and by years end I'll be who I SEE myself as being instead of who I have BEEN.

Happy New Year all my Blog friends