Feelin' sassy

I did it. I joined a gym yesterday. AND I used it this morning. Uh huh, that's right. I got up at 5:00am to go exercise. A little treadmill, a little weights. And when I got done, I used their tanning bed. And then I drove myself home with a giant smile. Because I did it. I started what I hope to be a new lifestyle. And hopefully a newer, svelter me.
Oh, and the tanning? That's not going to be a regular occurrence. Because I'm aware of it's hazards. But I'm also aware of the hazard that awaits me if I don't do some pre-tanning before my trip at the end of the month. A 3rd degree burn across my entire body is slightly more hazardous than 10 minutes here and there. My trip? Oh, well... I'm going to THE BAHAMAS. :)

Christmas

Christmas is one month from today. I'm spending a lot of time "worrying" about it this year. It's not a bad year, it's just an anxious, I need to hurry up and get my shopping done, sort of worry. See, we have extra people for Christmas this year. Our daughter and her boyfriend are coming out for Christmas, for two and a half weeks. I've only been around her a few times, but have a pretty good idea of what she likes. I've never met her boyfriend. It's difficult to not only buy presents for someone you've never met, but never even talked to. And then I put myself in his shoes: he's spending a HUGE holiday with people he doesn't know, in a house he's not familiar with. What a jump for him, too. I know it will all work out "fine" for Christmas, but I want it to be more than that. I want them to really enjoy themselves while they're here. This is the girl's first Christmas with her dad since she was about 5 years old. This is really a big deal. Without making myself insane over it, I'm going to make this is as funfilled as possible. I do wish that we weren't travelling across the state to spend the 24th - 26th with my husband's family, because I don't think anything would be better than our little family being able to wake up Christmas morning in our own house, with stockings and presents from Santa. Maybe there will be snow on the Pass.

When push comes to shove

I had a couple of incidents happen last weekend that caused me to see my life a little clearer. One was with friends, one was with family. I'm not saying that I'm "all knowing" now, but I actually felt my spine straighten and my chin lift up. Literally. I could start to taste what I'm made of. I cannot allow the comments that you feel necessary to make have the effect on me that they do. I won't be crushed by the words coming from your mouth. Our relationship is what it is. I love you, but it's my life. I love you for who you are, and I expect the same from you. If you choose not to do that, it's not my issue. The realization was a little exhausting, but I felt good about it. It felt very "sane".

Not waiting to exhale

I realized about a week ago that I hated the stress monkey that I had become. Between work and personal issues, I was monumentally grumpy. I didn't want to, but I seemed to end up that way by 9am every morning. Ugh. The weekends weren't enough to wash it away.
So I'm done. I'm done with being grumpy. I consider myself a fairly self-aware person and knew the effect of my grumpiness on others. I can't constantly let others get to me and ruin my perfectly good days. I don't have any control over their bad habits, so I can't let them effect me like they have. I'm taking deep breaths. It's amazing what a deep breath can do. Of course, I take a lot of them and people might think I'm hyperventilating. :)
*snifffffffff* *whoooooooooooo*

Blood, sweat and burgers

I spent last Monday night watching Wrestlemania 25 with my husband and my son, staying up well past my bedtime. It was a belated Christmas present to our pro-wrestling obsessed boy. Nothing's greater in the world to a 14 year old than people smashing into each other and the fake drama that surrounds it. My husband and I were both wrestling fans at that age, too, so we're fairly understanding. Of course, we didn't have DVR capabilities to record every ounce of wrestling on TV to watch later. And let's be clear, there's A LOT of wrestling on TV these days. It's on several times a week.
So, Monday night was four full hours of explosions and Kid Rock and half-naked girls and large, sweaty men. Of course, the latter wasn't all that bad. (I may or may not have fallen for several muscular, neckless men during my single days. I will not deny nor confirm this. I discovered I like necks, though, they're kissable. Whew... is it warm in here?) We had burgers and home fries for dinner, one of the boy's favorite meals. I also threw in some mid-Wrestlemania Chocolate and Caramel Crunch-n-Munch that I highly recommend. While we were cooking dinner, my son said "Wow, burgers, homefries and Wrestlemania!" With a small sarcastic drip I replied, "mmm, it's like a little slice of heaven." Without missing a beat, he frantically nodded his head, "Yeah! Really!" I didn't even attempt to help him catch my sarcasm - he was the happiest boy in the world.

Life's little pleasures

Just a few things that I really think are life's little pleasures - that really help you feel that moment in your life.

1. Warm cookies.


2. Clean, warm sweat socks at the end of the day.


3. The smell of your mom or grandma's perfume.


4. Homemade macaroni and cheese.


5. Your dog giving you a little, tiny kiss on the end of your nose.


6. The smell of fresh, cut grass.



7. Having your grandma tell you that "you're a good kid", no matter how old you are.

Homestretch

21. I LOVE green olives. And all things salty.

22. I love to craft. I really love beads and making my own jewelry, but I will try my hand at crafting darn near anything. I restrain myself as much as possible due to lack of space.

23. I'm allergic to a wide variety of foods, some that I really miss: potatoes, chocolate, milk, horseradish, ice cream. *sigh*

24. I'm starting to understand more and more that everyone has different types of friends: work friends, party friends, sit down-and-talk friends, go- have-lunch friends and that it's very rare to find someone that fulfills all of these.

25. My favorite thing in the world is to lie in bed on Sunday morning with my husband while we pet the dog between us. We then get up and drink our fancy, flavored, weekend coffee and read the paper. I really love the down-time of reading the newspaper. I hope they never vanish completely.