My Consolation Prize

I've decided that when a Little Old Lady tells you that your children are beautiful, it's really her way of consoling you for the fact that they are also terribly ill-behaved.

When Mama ain't happy...

Yesterday, in the immortal words of Alexander, I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I even kinda, sorta wanted to move to Australia. all. by. myself.


I ranted, I raved, I eerily resembled a shrieking banshee, I'm sure. At least in the eyes of my children, anyway. My four year old even had the balls to inform me that I was "being a mean, mean mommy." The brave child and I then decided we were going to start over. I was going to try to be nice and he was going to attempt to be slightly more cooperative. I told him that I was going to do the dishes and he could pick up his room like I had previously been begging him to do and then we could see if we couldn't have a fun afternoon.

He retorted that I was, "still being a mean, mean mommy." I told him even nice mommies make their kids clean their rooms.

Ya know what, though? After about 20 more minutes of bellyaching, he actually picked up his room. A bit after that my 3 year old told me I was wonderful. Then the 21 month old went down for a nap and the older two actually helped me pick up a bit and then watched a movie quietly. If I hadn't seen the change for myself I would've thought that a Stepford Wives-like switch had happened. Instead, in reality, my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day somehow managed to turn into quite a pleasant one.

Now, I know this was more of an anomaly versus everyday life. I know that nine times out of ten I can be the nicest or not so nicest mom ever and my kids will continue on in their previously established moods. However, just this once, I was reminded that the saying, "When Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," goes both ways. That sometimes, when I'm not happy, my children aren't happy...and when I am happy, my children might actually decide to be happy too.

So, while this insight most likely won't cause any huge tidal waves of change in my little corner of the world, I'm hopin' that maybe, just possibly, it might cause a bit of a ripple effect. Maybe the next time I'm having an Alexander-worthy bad day, I can just decide to stop.

stop the yelling.
stop the crying.
stop the threats.

and see if I can't just start the day over.

Stressed

I've been a bit stressed lately. Why... is a topic for another day. Today's topic is the result of stress. Sometimes when stressed I get depressed. I shut-down. I don't want to do anything, see anyone, or talk to anyone. This happens rarely and is usually coupled with something else (ahem, pregnancy hormones pumping through my body). Normally I get agitated and focus my energies into cleaning.

And I clean and clean. In two days alone I cleaned my kitchen, living room, laundry (this included folding and putting away the clothes, which I hate), swept and mopped my entire house (which is no small feat considering my entire house, except for the bedrooms, is a combination of laminate and tile flooring), and dusted. All of this on top of my day-to-day taking care of the kids, making dinner, and the hours I've spent outside of the home attending to other things. What makes it even better is I haven't given in to the second part of my stress-ness - eating junk food. I like my comfort food and have been craving a nice juicy burger all week. Instead I've made dinner at home and kept within our new healthy-living eating habits. Tonight's menu: Veggie burgers, hopefully it will curb my burger craving. Hopefully.

My husband has said I need to get out by myself, maybe go to Barnes & Noble or something. However, due to obligations in the evenings between the two of us this hasn't happened yet. Maybe it's time to take this energy to the spare bedroom and finish unpacking and finally set up my office?

All of this has made me curious - what do other people do when they are stressed? Are you a cleaner like me? Or do you curl up with a pint of ice cream and a good chick-flick? And how do you manage your stress? Do you have a hobby that helps take your mind off things? Or do you go drool over all of the books at Barnes & Noble?

a plea for help

I know I don't usually go this route with my posts, but my good friend Mekayla asked me to help some good friends of hers, Steve and Nikki Gutierrez, and I'm more then willing to in any way I can.

Steve and Nikki were married on May 25th of this year. Less then two months into their marriage and just barely after they moved into their newly purchased home, Steve was in a very serious motorcycle accident. The other driver was cited, but Steve almost lost his life and then almost lost his right arm. At this point in time, it is believed that his arm will never properly function again. Other major injuries include a fractured skull, fractured vertebrae in his lower neck, a broken arm between his elbow and shoulder, and damaged ligaments in his left knee, not to mention innumerable cuts, bruises, and contusions.

The results of this poor couple's bad luck? Steve is going to need a lot of physical and occupational therapy and he likely won't be able to work for months or year (and even then having to deal with a damaged right arm). Nikki, his wife, has already had to miss a lot of work and is likely to continue having to miss a lot of work as her husband will require almost constant attention, especially in the upcoming months. To top it off, they estimate the medical bills alone could exceed $1 million dollars, only about one-third of which will be paid for by insurance, at best.

What can we do to help? Here's a few ideas...

First off, a website has been created for the couple at http://helpsteveandnikki.com/. Go there to find more detailed information, pictures, and updates as well as multiple ways to help support them both financially and emotionally.

Feel free to donate whatever you're comfortable with, even if it's just a few dollars. A few dollars from a lot of people can make a big difference!

Help to spread the word! Tell others about the website, become a fan of their facebook page, tell your friends and family Steve and Nikki's story, and so forth. There's also a list of possible ways to help spread the word on the website.

Offer words of encouragement to Steve and Nikki through the form on their website or via facebook. They've really been touched and encouraged by all of the comments so far. They literally had hundreds of fans the first day the facebook page went live at the end of last week and it continues to grow every day. It has been such a blessing to them!

Lastly, any positive thoughts or prays you can send their way are always, always welcome. I'm sure they need all the help they can get!

Thanks so much for your time and listening ear everyone! Here's the website for y'all one more time: http://helpsteveandnikki.com/

Where's Eye of The Tiger when I need it?

Recently I've taken up running. Shocking, I know. I enjoy my runs for the most part: they're a much-needed time-out before the littles wake up, there's the mild feeling of superiority one gets when healthy habits are being established, and, as an added bonus, I get to have the occasional guy check me out in my workout duds.

There is one thing that my morning runs are missing, however...

Music.

Those rare occasions in my life when I worked out regularly always had some kind music to go along with it, most likely because I'm a dance/aerobics girl. So, I miss it. To make a long ramble longer, what I'm really doing is asking for suggestions. What do you work out to? What gets your blood pumping and your feet moving? I have a few I like, but they're more circa 2002 (which would be the approximate time of my last I work out :P) and getting a little stale. So, how 'bout you?