New Year's Ever - Goodbye 2011

Sitting down for a moment on New Year's Ever - a break from cleaning out my 2nd pantry, enjoy a glass of wine, and just breathing for a moment.
Reflecting on this past year and looking into a fresh new year, 2012, I know I don't want the usual Resolutions - lose weight, sleep more, spend less - blah blah blah.
I thought about my resolution last week.  It's simple, yet encompasses it all!

My New Years Resolution is simply..... To Be Happy!

That might seem ridiculous, but I don't really focus on MY happiness.  I focus on the kids happiness, my husband's happiness, making friends and coworkers happy, my family happy.  Enough!  I'm putting me first (and of course my kids, ha ha ha).  So everyday I need to make decisions to make myself happy.

Silly, but prime example today - we go to Walgreens to pick up a prescription.  There are 2 lines, one has two vehicles in it, and one has none.  Of course we go to the one that is empty.  The machine looks complicated, has warnings on it.  My husband says I'm just gonna shut this, I said no, let's just go inside.  He seemed confused, but I knew, sitting there waiting for the person to get to us, to then tell us how to use the machine, and exchanging medicine and debit/insurance card through a drive through bank-like overhead machine was going to end up ticking me off.  It was much easier and less stressful to just go inside.  And wha-lah!  It was!  Even my husband said, "Good thinking, babe!"

In the pursuit of happiness, I'm also giving up coffee.  Don't freak out - that'll be my job.  Four weeks ago I gave up Sweet N Low (other than if I have Starbucks insanely strong coffee - which is rare).  I didn't think i could do it, but all the warnings etc about cancer I just needed to stop.  I ran out of Sweet N Low and just didn't buy anymore.  I do, however, still use Creamora Pumpkin Spice creamer.  Not necessarily a good trade off, but considering I was using both Sweet N Low AND the Creamora, it's better.  I've been steadily increasing my tea - I like Twinings Chai tea.  Oh it's so good!  Well today, I found Twinings Chai Pumpkin Spice tea - so we'll see if I like that!

My Chai and then y new Pumpkin Spie Chai teas

Around the corner I grabbed our new container of coffee.  When we got to the check out I looked at the tea and looked at the coffee and asked my husband, "You ready to go cold turkey?"  His eyes got big as he took into consideration what I was asking, and said, "Yeah, let's do it!"  So I handed him the container of ground coffee, he set it aside and that was that!  We have enough ground coffee at home for ONE MORE pot of coffee (perfect since tomorrow is New Year's Day).

 The last of our ground coffee

I'm not saying I'll never have coffee, but I'm looking forward to giving the old coffee pot a rest, and increasing the use of my awesome red tea kettle. 
Another item that is going to get some rest -  wine!  GASP!  I know, I know, everyone just get yourself together!  We'll get through this!!!  ha ha ha  Hubby and I have decided to enjoy our wine on the weekends only.  We did buy a box of wine today for New Year's Eve, but it had better be full and waiting for us next Friday, too!!!
I believe in evenness, ying/yang, what goes up, must come down, one door closes/another door opens.  So when I decrease my coffee, I increase my tea.  If I'm decreasing my wine, I need to increase my water!!!  Balance, I like that - it makes me happy; and, I look forward to yet another fork in this path I call my own.

Peaceful Christmas

What a peaceful relaxing Christmas Day I'm having. 
My children got me the Charlie Brown Christmas CD and DVD.  The music is so relaxing, the soft piano playing in the background while I'm cubing potatoes for my world famous (okay, just famous by those who know me) mashed potatoes.  I'm still sipping on my Pumpkin Spice coffee (3 weeks without Sweet N Low, now) and wondering if I want to use my One Hour Massage gift card tomorrow, or wait til next week- starting the new year off right!
The kids are playing Kinect and I don't mind cuz they're jumping and swinging their arms and legs - so they're getting exercise, instead of IMing each other from their DS's.  Max is laid out across the ceramic floor snoozing, half waiting for a potato cube to drop.  Milo, well being a cat she's off hiding somewhere looking ticked off and secretly plotting ways to trip the dog when he walks past the bed she's hiding under.  Hubby is napping it out on the couch while Christmas Story is on the tv.
Soooo  relaxing!!!

The downside?  Kiddos are still a little sick.  We snuck out last night and went to infect the Catholics for Christmas Eve service.  Thought we'd sit in the far back away from everyone, not pass the Peace (or germs).  We discovered Catholics are just as obnoxious in church as Lutherans.  Now I can say that, because I'm Lutheran and I see first hand how there are few of us that go to church anymore actually  respect the sanctuary.  I can also say it because I used to go to the Catholic church with my mother-in-law when we visited and she would roll over in her grave if she saw the behavior in that church last night.  We left before communion, which made me sad because I hoped my hubby would partake.   The kiddos were tired, white, and peaked looking by 9:30pm.  It was a valiant effort for Christmas Eve service, but just wasn't in the cards. Also, my brother and his family are in town and we aren't able to get together with them until my son is contagious-free.  Maybe tomorrow I'll call the dr and see what they say.

But it is relaxing today - I'm taking it all in, enjoying it, and am thankful for this gift of Peace that God has granted me this year.

Merry Christmas!!

My Favorite Christmas Music

I thought it'd be a wonderful idea to put together all of my favorite Christmas music to share!
Hope you enjoy it!


Wham ~Last Christmas - my ALL TIME FAVORITE Christmas song!!!


BandAid - This song ROCKS and totally blew We Are The World out the door!!!
Chris, Remember rocking out and singing this on the way to our AAPC meeting that one year??


No Doubt - Oi To The World - I love this crazy rocking song!!! **Note to your runners, it's a great song to finish up your run, I did that all through Christmas
one year - ahhh, my younger days! OI!!!!



U2- Baby Please Come Home ~Ahhh, man, brings back memories! Love this song!



O Holy Night~ Josh Groban. If this doesn't touch your soul, I don't know what will.


All I Want For Christmas - Mirah Carey - This is Elaine's favorite Christmas song - we sing and dance to it with Owen!



You betta shut yo mouth! Mele Kalikimaka by Jimmy Buffet - my dream is to listen to this on the beach on Christmas Day with a drink in my hand!!!


I like this song, but the video is the best.



Go Snoopy!!! Charlie Brown Christmas

Where are you Christmas-Faith Hill
- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

This appears to be my song - Where Are You Christmas ~ Faith Hill


Wizards in Winter - Who doesn't love to play air piano to this?!?!?!?!


Okay, getting goofy (raunchy), but Justin Timberlake CRACKS ME UP! Dick In A Box

And wrapping it up - from this past Saturday - I Wish It Were Christmas!!!
Jimmy Fallon, Kris Catan, Jose, and Tracey Morgan - Saturday Night Live

Today's lunch brought to you by the letter V for Veggie Tray!
I had brought a can of Progresso Sante Fe Chicken veggie soup, but one of the ladies from the other department was coming out of her meeting and asked if I wanted this.   Heck ya!
The crazy thing is, it all tastes SOOOOO GOOD!  Can you over do it and pig out on veggies?  Sans the celery - yuck!
I've been having a single egg, with sprinkle of garlic salt and SMALL pinch of cheese on a honeywheat piece of toast for breakfast every morning.  It's quick, it's easy and it's soooooo good!
The scale finally dropped a pound this morning!  Nice to finally see, but needs to keep on dropping.  I haven't done my yoga in 2 days, but am definitely gonna hit it tonight!
I always say my motivation is hard to come by.  Well today, while working, the song Porn Star Dancing came on.  ha ha ha  You can't really be sexy dancing to that song without even half way looking like those women.  And then I thought, if I could get these 40 lbs off, I'd be way closer than I am now, and how I'm robbing myself of feeling good!  Certainly this is no "How did you do it" story for Oxygen magazine or Dr Oz, ha ha, but I may have to install a stripper pole now.  JUST KIDDING!!!!!

The "Beach" ~Day 202

Lately I've been thinking about two places - which couldn't be further apart.
North Carolina and Arizona.
When Cory and I worked on the road, we lived in both these places.   At first we didn't like North Carolina cuz we were downtown Charolette - downtown any big city is nothing to write home about.  Once we got further out - in tiny towns, it was awesome and we loved it!  Always said of all the places we traveled, North Carolina would be the one place we'd consider living.
Arizona- Ugh.  Hot, sandy, cactus, hot, very open, hot, road runners, hot, tarantulas, hot.  But still it was pretty.  The sun setting down over the cacti at night, the rocks, th every openness of it all - it was beautiful.  I could never live there, though, too hot.  Although there were cooler times, Nov-Jan, it was still H-O-T!  And Nashville is hot enough in the summer to replicate and remind me why Arizona was not for me.


But today I remembered Hvegas has a beach.  So I jumped in the van and drove down.  If ever I was unsure if I liked beaches or not, this would push me over the edge to not.  the sand was mostly rock, it was a dirty area, the smoke stacks across the lake did not provide a great background.  Every shot I took, every angle I attempted, did not help to photogenically hide the bad and insinuate the good.

 I thought maybe if I could find a place around here that was serene and open and I could run my fingers iin the sand, that I don't know, maybe I could relax and think and enjoy myself.

 Yeah, not so much....

 Nice smoke stacks off to the right

And I don't EVEN want to KNOW where THIS path leads!  It's not one I'm forking onto for sure!!!

Once the thought of the beach here entered my mind, I had to try and go and see if it was a smaller replication of what I remembered.

I guess I'll keep my traveling memories in my mind and return to my yoga mat for some peace and mediation!

 Namaste!

I don't Get It

I don't get it.
I have lost total connection.  I feel like, what I guess, an alcoholic feels like "the next day"  - "Im never gonna drink again."
Only I say, I'm not eating cheese again.  I'm not eating pepperoni again.  I'm not drink wine again (caloric worry, not the alcohol part).  Chips will never touch my lips again. 

I also feel like Scarlet O'Hara (without the 18" waist) ~ Tomorrow I'll exericise.  Tomorrow I'll eat better.  Tomorrow I'll say No!  I'll worry about it tomorrow!

What the hell is wrong with me?!?!

OMG What a Week

This has been a week, let me tell you!
I started my new hours 9-5:30pm.  The bonus with my job is that if I get there at 8:30am, they don't care if I start work early!  So Monday I went in at 6:30am cuz my hubby was home.  That was great!  Cuz I left early to go to an appointment at 2:30pm.  Then Tuesday was the true test day. And boy was I tested!  My son decided everyday forward he would be slow, unagreeable, fussy - you name it.  By the time I left for work I was stressed!  Got the kids to my parents house and held on to see what 8am traffic was like.  A breeze!!!!  I got to work at 8:27am one day 8:36 the next day!  But, the 5:30pm traffic is HORRENDOUS!!!  I don't get home until at least 6:30pm every day.  Thursday was an added bonus with fog thick as a wall and the temps at 32 degrees which ended up causing a 170 car accident - 45 of which were a pile up, and 1 person died.  As you can imagine, traffic was a mess!  Coming home that night - a barge ran into the bridge downtown and MORE traffic issues. Friday was a repeat of fog and frost so everyone was at a snails pace.  And this week was also month end - with a new 1/2 floor of old NICU peds, it was just a stressful week.  My jaw, my neck, my shoulders, even my ear and my throat hurt. 
So when I opened the mailbox to see this:

 I was excited!  Now I bought it for hubby for Christmas, but we broke it open last night.  I didn't get to do my yoga until this afternoon, but MAN DID IT FEEL GOOD!  Surprisingly I found my yoga sticky mat right away, rolled it out amongst the football yelling from downstairs, my daughter crunching Sunchips over the couch watching me, and a dog that sneaks up and tickles me with his whiskers as meditate.  It was wonderful.  You can see the chaos amongst me here:

 But I am excited and looking forward to doing my yoga in the morning and evening as often as possible - hopefully every day.  Even hubby is going to join me.  I talked to my daughter and she is going to do it with me, too!

Speaking of holiday stress, one of the greatest weatherman, Don Harman from Fox 4 in Kansas City took his life Tuesday night.  He apparently fought a long battle with depression.  It was shocking and so sad for so many of us that liked him!  He was always hilarious and making people laugh!

Ever since we moved to KC back in 2002, I always watched him in the morning.  The entire morning show was entertaining and fun, but he was the star!  I remember rocking the kids in the am, watching the morning show.  It became kind of joke, cuz I said he was hot in a pair of jeans.   No one else seemed to agree with me, but that was okay!  A couple of times I had emailed him regarding the antics on the show or beautiful but strange clouds out my kitchen window and he'd immediately reply!  He did tons of charity events to helps kids and adults. And he will be greatly missed!