Good Day So Far

So, yesterday was NOT a good day. I started to write a post telling you all about it, but decided against it. Perhaps it was the fact that the reason the downward spiral began was because a certain mommy - who shall remain nameless - had herself a big 'ol tantrum when Hattie would not cooperate with hair time. Or maybe I thought better of airing the dirty laundry due to the fact that I could not decided, at 7PM, if I should say I was ALREADY in my PJ's or, make it real and admit that I was STILL in my pj's. However, SuperModel will be glad to know that I did NOT eat the ice cream that I had been contemplating for dinner. Nope, we had pizza.

Yeah.

I know.

BUT - today is already better. WAY better! Oh so WAAAAAYYYYYY BETTER!!!

Why, you ask?

Because, over at Mama's Losin' It she is givin' away a Hoover vacuum. And, guess what ...

I WON!!!!!!

Oh yes I did!

And, seriously, I could not be more grateful!!! Thank you very much.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go pick up the remnants of Hurricane Hattie and Cyclone Sophie so that, when the vacuum gets here, I can find the floor to clean.

And if I am not back here in five days, somebody please come find me amidst the debris!!!

Picture Perfect Monday - Friends ... IN REAL LIFE!!!

Today, Hattie and Sophie and I took a little trip to McDonald's for lunch ...



where we met up with my bloggy girl Teri from Facedown ...


... so, now I can FINALLY say that we are friends ...


... IN REAL LIFE!!!!!


Now, Teri has always been one of my fave siestas and a few weeks back we started emailing and then texting and then IMing on Facebook, and now I can honestly say she is one of my favorite people that I truly KNOW!!!! It was like finding an instant buddy. Not at all akward, we just started chatting like we had known eachother all along. We even agreed on POLITICS - Shudder - and that is HUGE!!!

However, she may have been scared off by the MAJOR fit that Hattie threw on the way out of McD's, all because she had thrown her milkshake away and I would not let her retrieve it from the trash can. 'Cause I am just that mean!

Poor Teri, nothing like a slam dunk into our craziness. Sophie mooched her fries and Hattie melted down in front of her! I hope she's still my friend!!!

The 3Day ... FINALLY!

These are the people I spent my weekend with:

Katelynn (She was the young and STINKIN' CUTE girl on our team!!)

Sock Monkey (our little mascot!)

Jennifer (she just got herself engaged!)

Becky (She joined us on her OFF week for CHEMO - what a hero!!!)

Suzanne (shown here bustin' a move!)

Kathy (Who refused to cooperate and smile, so this is what she gets!)

Michelle (Who DID smile nicely!)

Tim (Mr. September of the ORIGINAL 60 Mile Men calander of '07. AND who also refused to cooperate!)

Jane (I LOVE this girl, she wasn't on the same crew, but look how cute she is!!!)

These are the places where I spent my time:

Pot-O-John (Oh yeah, pure fun my friends!)

Little Pink Tents (woulda liked to have spent a little more time here!!)

The finish line (at least for day one and day two!!)...

...which we decorated to motivate!!

Here are a few of the people who inspired me:

This guy walked in his BDU's. Walking for his mom and his sisters. Protecting my freedom AND my boobies! What a guy!!!

The walkers - who after walking 20 miles a day, lined up to encourage and bring home the other walkers...

...and then on day three, lined up to cheer on and thank the crew. Oh yeah, I cried!

This lady high fived the walkers with her big pink boxing gloves and declared that she "Fights Like A Girl"!!!

The Survivors - do I need to say any more?

And the way we salute those survivors:
At closing ceremonies, the survivors are the last to enter the arena. Everyone takes off one shoe and raises it in a salute to those who have fought the toughest battle of all. The survivors.

So, pretty much I spent the weekend with a few thousand people who stinking ROCK! They gave up time and money and energy to make a statement. They raised a ginormous amount of money for the priveledge of walking 60 miles in three days. And they smiled the whole time!

And, if that were not enough, they stood in line each night to sign up to do it again next year.

WOW!

So, what can you do?

You can still donate.

You can volunteer for next year.

You can WALK next year!!!

But more than anything else, you can keep prayin' for a cure!

Hot For The Holidays - Week 4

Let me start by saying that, at this rate, I should be hot for the holidays ... in 2012!!!!

I didn't weigh in last week 'cause I was on the Breast Cancer 3Day. Now, let me tell you that I did not walk, I was on the crew. The "Check In" crew to be exact. On that crew it is our job to pep the walkers up in the am and motivate them and welcome them "home" in the PM. Our particular crew chooses to do this with music. And dancing. Lots and lots of dancing. So, given the fact that I danced my fanny off from around 7am to 8:30ish am and then again from around noon til 6:30ish pm - NON STOP!!! - and filled the rest of my day with walks to the store, cleaning of the camp, drinking lots and lots of water, avoidance of the Peppridge Farm tent and snack table and drinking more water, I had high hopes of coming home to a friendly scale. Imagine my horror when that dad burned thing told me I had GAINED FIVE POUNDS!!!!!!

What the hey?!

But did I give up and run for the cookie jar? NO ... 'cause it was empty.

I did however, run for the ice cream ... a very small bowl of sugar free homemade ice cream that was the end of the container, thereby ridding the house of the temptation.

Then, by golly, I pulled up my big girl panties and got down to business. And I am happy to say that as of this morning I am only two pounds up from where I was before the weekend. Still, sadly, two pound up, but three down from Mon. Doesn't that count for something?!?!?!?

Please tell me it does, cause in searching for dinner the other day I ran across a FULL container of sugar free Edy's Fudge Tracks Ice Cream. So, please, I need the encouragement to leave it where it lies in the back of the freezer.

Have a great weekend. And, I promise, 3Day details this weekend.

At Which Point They All Ran Away Screaming "T.M.I.!!!!"

If you are here looking for my Breast Cancer 3Day post, you will have to wait 'til tomorrow. I am here today to do some venting. Oh, yes I am.

And if you are of the male persuasion, I bid you LOOK AWAY NOW!!!!!!

Seriously, ya gotta go.

RUN ... NOW!

We'll wait.

OK, don't say I didn't warn ya.

All righty ladies (and you stubborn men, who are about to run screaming "T.M.I.!!!" at the top of your manly lungs!!!), yesterday I made a mistake of epic proportions. A mistake that someone, namely my hubby, shoulda caught ahead of time. But, seein' as how he IS a man, he cannot be held accountable.

I made two appointments for the same day. Two medical type appointments. The more pleasant of the two being the evening visit to the dentist. And, please note that I - the "white knuckle, fear of all fears (except birds), kicking and screaming, once avoided it for FIVE YEARS, that's how much I loath the dentist" girl - said "pleasant" and "dentist" in the same sentence. Which should be a forewarning to the nature of the first appointment....

Oh yes ladies, I saw THAT doctor first thing yesterday morning. And I can hear ya moaning from here.

So, yeah, I started my day explaining - AGAIN - why a woman of my age does not get the regular visits from Aunt Flo. Not that I was not a popular stop on her tour. In fact, I believe I may have been one of her all time favorite places to visit. Because her visits were L.O.N.G.! Long and eventful. In fact, I don't think that there was a single visit (including the very first "getting to know you" visit - that came AT SUMMER CAMP!!!!!!) that lasted less than ten days. And, yes, I did say TEN DAYS!!!! And that was when I was on the fun pill to keep them regular and maintainable. Oh, yeah, I was that girl!!! The one who missed AT LEAST one day of school a month from 7th grade through my Junior year because I could not go an entire hour without, "ya know", through TWO LAYERS OF PROTECTION!!!!

Suck-O!!!!!

And then I had to explain, AGAIN, how it is that I have a four year old and a one year old in the midst of all of this. Because, apparently, the education process of SOME medical schools does not account for adoption.

Or manners.

Now, to be fair, I have friends and relatives in the medical profession who are MORE thank wise and polite.I'm just sayin' ... THESE brainiacs - not so much!

And THEN I had to endure one of those "talk to ya like you're sittin' at Starbucks, when you're actually DOWN THERE" kinda doctors. Joy of Joys!

And THEN - 'cause, ya know, all that wasn't enough - THEN, she asked about my WEIGHT! Seriously. COME ON!!!!

And after all that, I had to take a trip to the dentist.

Did I mention I love the dentist?

Yeah, I thought so.

So, gentlemen, you who were too stubborn to stop reading when I told you to, the next time a girl says "run away", I bet you'll be more inclined to listen, huh?

Can't say I didn't warn ya!

Have a great day.

And, by the way, I am now on my way BACK to the doctor's office for blood work.

And the hits just keep on comin'!

Picture Perfect Monday - A Weekend With 4,000 Of My Best Friends

***Please note - I did not have a camera, these photos are all taken with my CELL PHONE!!! Please do not mock the quality of the photos!***

Here are a few glimpses of my Breast Cancer 3day weekend ...







... but you will have to wait for the details, cause I am one tired sista/siesta.
Suffice it to say that it was Blessing upon Blessing and then topped off with, ya know, BLESSINGS!!!!

Little Pink Tents

This weekend I am going camping. Camping in a little pink tent that will be sitting in a sea of little pink tents. A sea of little pink tents in the middle of the city. Tents full of people nursing sore feet, aching bodies and blisters. Lots and lots of blisters. Blisters that come from walking, BY CHOICE - twenty miles a day for three days straight. And other little pink tents full of people who - BY CHOICE - will get up around 4AM (or earlier) each of those mornings, brave the chilly fall air and fix breakfast for a gajillion people, ride out into the streets to blaze a trail for the walkers, set up places for them to nourish their bodies, bandage their blisters and rest on that trail and set up fun spots to send off, encourage along the way and welcome the walkers back to their little pink tent homes.

Why, you may ask, would somebody - much less a few THOUSAND somebodies - subject themselves to that? Because we are desperate to put an end to Breast Cancer. DESPERATE!!!

Some of the people I will be camping with have had breast cancer. Some are fighting it now and have chosen to camp and walk and/or crew in between their chemo treatments! Some have some one they love fighting it now. Some have some one they love who have beaten it. And some, like me, have some one they love who have lost the fight.


I will do absolutely everything in my power to make sure that these two little girls (well, not so little anymore!!!), who are faced with growing up without their mommy, do NOT have to face growing up in fear.

I do it because Paula was my very bestest friend in the world. Because her children are two of the most delicious girls on the planet and I love them so very much. I do it because I have two little girls who's family medical histories are sketchy at best and I want them to be protected. And I do it so that NOBODY else has to feel the pain that comes from watching a loved one suffer this stinky disease.

I do it because "Everyone Deserves A Lifetime".

Please say a prayer for us this weekend. Those of us on the crew will be starting on Thursday and the walkers on Friday. Please pray for nice weather, safe conditions, good spirits and A CURE!!!!!!!!!!

***UPDATE*** SuperModel reminded me to have you pray for Hubby & the kids (DUH!!! Thanks SM!), as well as all of the other families at home!***

Thank you so very much! Don't know if I will be back before Monday....

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Picture Perfect Monday - Run Aways

Hattie has found a little freedom now that she rides a bike (these pics show her trike 'cause the bike was stuck behind big stuff and mommy couldn't get to it), so one day last week she decided to run away from home ...

... and OF COURSE Sophie decided to follow ...

... but then I mentioned I was gonna make cookies, so she came back ...

... and, LUCKILY, Sophie followed her home too!

Happy Birthday Farmboy!!!

My Love,

Happy Birthday! And, don't worry, I won't go telling everyone that it's your birthday. This is just between me and you. Promise!

Baby, you are the love of my life. You are my best friend, my partner, my hero and my champion. You are the one I would rather be with than anyone else in the world. You are my heart's desire.

This life with you is a prayer come true. When God brought us together, He Blessed me beyond my wildest imaginings. No one's love can compare to His, but your is a close second. He is the center of us and that is the way it should be, the way it will always be.

When we stood in front of our friends and family and said our vows, I could not have imagined how much more I would mean those words five years later. I promised to love, honor and cherish you. I also promised to OBEY you. My non-churchy friends thought I was nuts, and a few of my churchy friends questioned the choice as well. But I knew that it was a safe promise to make. I would never have married someone that I could not have made that commitment to. I know that your heart follows after God and you live that with your life, so I KNEW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that following your lead in life would only lead me closer to Him.


Remember in "Princess Bride" when it says that Wesley would always answer Buttercup's requests with "As you wish"? And then the narrator says "One day, Butter cup was amazed to realize that when Wesley was saying 'As you wish', what he was really saying was 'I love you'. Even more amazing was the day she realized that she loved him back." Well, that was us, you were always doing little things for me to tell me how you felt, and I was clueless. Until one day (with a little help from Paula), I realized that you loved me. And then one day (after the shock wore off and, again, with a little help from Paula), I realized that I loved you right back. And that love has not stopped growing since. So, when you asked for my heart, what else could I say but "as you wish"? You left my heart with no choice.

So, happy Birthday my Farmboy. Spending these years with you is my best gift in life. Watching you be Dad and hero to the boys and Daddy to the girls makes me love you even more than I already do. I love you more each passing day - more each moment. You are the only man in the world for me.

Forever and Ever.

Infinity and beyond.

No tag backs.

I WIN!!!!!!


Thank you for making ME feel like a Princess Bride on that day and every day since!

Happy Birthday my love!
XOXOXOXOX
Buttercup

Hot For The Holidays - week 2

OK, I was down another pound yesterday ... and then yesterday happened.

Put simply, yesterday was the single worst day in my parenting experience, and it did not end til 5:03 this morning when Sophie FINALLY fell asleep.

It is a well proven fact that I am an emotional eater, so yesterday was a baaaaaaadddddd diet day. We had made oatmeal raisin cookies this week (wheat flour and Splenda people, a girl's best friend!!! Of course, there IS the 2 sticks of butter!) and I had been resisting fairly well, but by 8pm last night, they were all but gone. And then they just kept disappearing. Hmmmm, wonder how that happens?

So, I am only down .5 from last week, making 2.9 total. Not great, but doable.

And the cookies ARE gone now - temptation bye-bye!

There ya go!

Any suggestions? Ideas? Anything? Bueller?