Work It, Girl

I know, I know, I did it again. I left you all for a week with no warning. HOWEVER, I had good reason, I swear!

MOMMY GOT A J-O-B! That's right, I am going back to work...FULL TIME. Last week was spent scrambling around trying to find interview clothes (thanks, Jodi), remembering how to put makeup on so it didn't look like my four-year-old did it (thanks, YouTube), re-learning how to walk in heels so I didn't break my freshly makeup-ed face (thanks, Carrie Bradshaw), and reviewing my dictionary for words other than "stop", "don't", "put that down", and "here, let me wipe that" (thanks, Merriam-Webster).

It was a success, and as of May 9th I am employed. I definitely have mixed emotions going into it - like how am I going to adjust from being home full time to being in an office full time (and away from my kiddos)? And also, how am I going to fit in any kind of writing with working full time and being mommy? I don't know the answers, but I know it's all going to be okay.

So. What does this mean for the good ol' blog, and for you, my wonderful friends? It means I need to go away for a bit. I wish I could say that I could pull this transition off and maintain the blog at the same time, but the truth is, I am not insane THAT organized! I wish I had a stockpile of posts just waiting for me to hit "publish", but I don't. I'm a pantser, a day-to-day kind of girl. So that's exactly what I'm going to do: take this day by day. I might pop in to post from time to time, but for now, I'm going to focus my energies and brainpower on settling into the new job.

You know I'll miss you. And in case you don't know...I'LL MISS YOU.

If A Tree Falls In The Forest

This morning started off in an ordinary way -- making breakfast, watching cartoons, getting kids dressed for school...the regular mom routine. It wasn't until I dropped my oldest off at school at 9:30 that I turned on the radio and heard about the devastation in Japan caused by an earthquake, and subsequent tsunami. I was completely shocked. I'm still in shock.

We go about our lives sometimes, completely unaware that there is a world full of other people out there, and that a great number of them are suffering. I remember feeling a similar way when 9/11 happened. I was in London, England, and had just spent a beautiful morning walking through the Museum of London, completely unaware of the tragedy that was unfolding back home. 

Except this time it's not my homeland, it's someone else's.

My prayers are with the Japanese people, and anyone else affected by these natural disasters. 

I'm In A Food Coma

Internet, the next time I decide to start eating right and exercising, remind me NOT TO INVITE MY MOTHER TO VISIT. I apologize for the unannounced break I've been taking, but I will return on Monday with plenty of things to entice you, I promise. Have I mentioned it's baseball season? Well, it is. Uneventful to the general public, but for this wife? Of a Varsity coach? THE INSANITY, I TELL YOU.

If you need me in the meantime, I'll be stuffing my face with pancakes. And bacon. And maybe even a biscuit. I KNOW - THAT'S DOUBLE CARBS! Did I mention it's baseball season? And I'm a single mother now? And my mommy is here to baby me for a week? STOP JUDGING ME, INTERNET.

See you Monday!

Whistle While You Work

I woke up smiling today, and that is NOT something that happens very frequently, trust me (or just ask my husband, remember he got me this shirt?). It could be the gorgeous weather outside, which is sunny and cold enough to drink a caramel apple cider (my favorite!) without sweating to death.  However, I'm pretty sure it's because we're all healthy again, having put the terror that is the stomach virus behind us.

TANGENT ALERT: Why on earth is it referred to as a stomach bug? A bug is something small (unless you live in Florida - then I get it. Those palmetto bugs are HUGE!) that can be easily squashed. Calling the heinous and destructive virus that went through our house a "bug" just doesn't seem to do it justice - stomach ninja or stomach assassin seems more appropriate, don't you think?

I'm off to clean up some of the aftermath of last week. Wish I had some furry forest creatures like the lucky, er, girl up there in the picture to help me do it - WHY CAN'T FAIRY TALES BE TRUE??? But before I go, I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who sent prayers and well wishes our way this last week...I appreciated them so very much. 

Whose fairy tale would you like to live?

a) Snow White

b) Sleeping Beauty

c) Cinderella

d) Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

(My answer is D - she might live with a beast, but he's got a GREAT library!)

What Day Is It?

*Photo courtesy of Google Images

I've just recovered from a vicious stomach bug, which attacked 3 of the 4 people in this house. I can honestly say I have never loved my husband (the only one spared from this horrifying virus - you'll see why in a moment) more than I do right now. He is my hero, my knight in shining armor, wielding his can of Lysol like a sword and slaying the invisible germs of death with ease.

Internet, I can do colds. I can do sore throats, stuffy heads, coughing, and sneezing. What I CANNOT do is puking. And OHHHH THE PUKING that happened in this house two nights ago. Oh, I'm sorry. Does the word "puke" make you uncomfortable? PUUUUUUKE.* At one point, I'm pretty sure I asked the Good Lord to take me home, and I'm almost sure I meant it. I wanted to die. I thought I was dying.

Every once in a while I would see a strange Avatar-like creature with a blue face and blue hands. I thought it could be an angel, only the angels I'd read about in the Bible weren't blue. Only after the fever broke did I realize it was my sweet husband wearing a blue medical mask and blue latex gloves on his hands, deftly avoiding the plague that was upon us. I married a smarty, Internet.

Today is the first day I'm actually able to get out of bed without feeling like I'm going to fall over, what with all the dehydration and lack of food and all. And it feels GLORIOUS. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the weather is lovely. I'm going to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air this weekend, and I hope you all can do the same.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

*I apologize for my rudeness. I blame the virus. I believe the adorable cat picture makes up for it? No? I'll try again next week.

Is There A Dog Barking?

I mumbled that exact question to my husband sometime in the middle of the night last night. His response? ZZZZZZ. Then I hit him gently prodded him and said, "Do you hear that?" He didn't. About 10 minutes later, our youngest child came into our room crying and saying his throat hurt. Then he let out a sound that was not at all childlike, more like what a child might sound like if it swallowed a grenade and then burped.

So I took little man back to his room and snuggled for an hour before he fell back to sleep. This morning we went to the doctor, because we're headed into the weekend and I did not want to have to make a trip to the ER if this thing got worse. Plus, I'm going to a conference starting today, and didn't want to leave the husband with a sick kid and no meds. 

My doctor said it first, "Was it a seal-like barking sound?" Why yes, actually, yes it was. I wonder if doctors are required to take a zoology class in med school to learn to identify animals by their barks, because she totally hit it out of the park. One yucky throat swab and a few tears later, he was diagnosed with croup. CROUP. Ugh. One prescription and a Spiderman sticker later, and we were headed home.

Here's hoping your weekend doesn't involve a barking seal - unless you're going to the zoo, because that's WAY more fun.

Mommy's Getting a Makeover

Is it fall yet? Because I always get this stirring in my bones when fall is around the corner - time to change things up a bit. A few weeks ago, I gave myself bangs. If you knew me in the early 90's you know that this is MAJOR because I had an unfortunate bang situation for most of my adolescence (thanks, Mom!). I might try to color my hair (what I have left of it anyway) tonight...who knows.

AND as you may have noticed (or may have not, so I'll blatantly point it out to you) This Mommy's Life has a new look. Yep, it's still the same blog, just under new management. Mommy's getting her act together. I hope you like it - it is TOTALLY me, except it's missing something. Hmmm. OH! How could I forget, the BIRD ELEMENT. We all know I'm a crazy bird lady.

When I went looking for pretty birds, LOOK what I found on Etsy! LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL PRINTS!

Those last two are my favorites! I can't wait to sell my first book (fingers crossed/toes crossed/eyes crossed/KrisKross'll make you JUMP JUMP! I told you...early 90's), because I will buy up this ENTIRE Etsy shop by YumiYumi.

Enjoy your Monday, everyone. I'm off to Starbucks to get a pumpkin spice latte, because it's fall...right?

OOPSIE!

SOMEONE forgot that yesterday was Wednesday, so SOMEONE didn't post their regularly scheduled material. Something that SOMEONE never forgets. Oh, wait, yes...SOMEONE DOES.

So I totally let Wednesday slip by me. My apologies. It's probably because I didn't really have any ideas rolling around for my usual Writer Wednesday post, you know, the ones where I WOW you with all of my helpful writing information, like in this post and this one here. Wait, what? What do you mean they only prove that I'm not good at sticking with a schedule? Whatevs.

All I really have to say on this Writer Thursday (Yeah, I renamed it today. BECAUSE I CAN, that's why.) is that sometimes when reading around the writer's blogosphere (you know the one that holds all the other writers and agents and editors, oh my), I start to feel really small. Like how you feel when you stare up at the stars in the massive expanse of sky at night. Will I ever be noticed? Can people see me? Do I matter?

Just my melancholy thoughts for today. Maybe I need to stop listening to my Tori Amos station on Pandora. By the way, have you heard of Pandora? I always have it on when I'm writing and need inspiration. You just type in your fave artist or song, and it plays similar music for you. See? I have good stuff here people!!!

 Do you ever feel, I don't know, insignificant?

What's Creepier than Creepy?

Did you ever play that game in school? What's Grosser than Gross? Welcome to What's Creepier than Creepy? 

So the hubs and I have been kicking around the idea of expanding our family for a while now. Truth be told, our youngest son (we have two, 5 and 3) has been giving us a run for our money, so the idea of a third child has pretty much been kicked out the door as of late.

However, 'tis still a possibility...someday.

Should I have another child (or children, since I have the ever terrifying, yet realistic possibility of twins in my family), you can rest assured that I will NOT be registering for a set of these:

What's missing in this picture? Oh, that's right: ARMS. Yep, those are DISEMBODIED hands that snuggle your child, so that they can sleep. 

Except, in my sick and twisted mind, they're hands that ARE NOT MY OWN just waiting for me to leave the room so that they can STRANGLE MY BABY. Okay, maybe I watched too many episodes of The Addams Family growing up, but seriously? There's a market for these creepy things?

Happy Friday. I'm off to throw away every pair of gloves in my house.

She's Baaaaack

Well, almost.

Just wanted to give everyone a head's up: This Mommy's Life will be back on MONDAY, MAY 3rd!!! 

The break was much needed, but I'm ready to be back in Blogland along with all you beautiful people. 

So mark your calendars (yeah, as if it's THAT important)...and come back for a new round of insanity and things I've burned in my oven! 

I think I at least deserve a t-shirt

I survived the weekend!!! And I owe much of that success to my sweet husband who allowed me to stay in bed and rest ALL DAY on Saturday to nurse a sinus headache SO BAD that I thought my eyes were going to jump out of their sockets.

Although, after lounging around most of the weekend trying to get better, I ignored something VERY. VERY. IMPORTANT.

THE BEAST. 

Here's a bird's eye view for you.

   

And here's a measurement.

That's right...18 inches. That's a foot and a half of laundry! And it's probably about four feet wide. Ugh.

I have to say, that's even AFTER that sweet of husband of mine did this.

I like to imagine that the lost socks in my dryer evolve into shirts, shorts, and underwear. That's the only logical explanation for the excess of laundry. That, or the fact that I LOATHE laundry...yep, maybe that's a better reason.

So, if you need me, I'll just be drowning somewhere in that mound of clothes.

Not So Fun Friday

I woke up this morning with a terrible sore throat, so I dragged myself to the doctor's office with my oldest (and sickest) child in tow. She informed me (after a rather nasty throat swab) that I do not have strep throat (hooray!) but that I do have a massive sinus infection (oh, crap). 

The pharmacist at Publix was all, "You again?" and I was all, "Yeah, me again. NOW GIVE ME MY DRUGS AND NO ONE GETS HURT." 

So right now I'm just praying that my youngest son will not catch what his big brother and Mommy have, because I don't think I can handle it at this point. 

I won't leave you on such a sour note...after all, my goal with this blog is to make you laugh. So I hope you do when you watch this clip that my friend Allyson sent me this morning. I've seen it before, but it never fails to make me laugh out loud. 

Have a lovely weekend - and may you all stay healthy!!! 

And now a post about time management

So...

In an effort to keep my sanity, I've been thinking really hard about how I can be more consistent in my blog posting schedule, still be able to read all of my favorite blogs, and also FINISH MY NOVEL. This is what I've come up with:

I will (to the best of my ability) be posting on my blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This schedule just works for me because those are the days my boys are in preschool and I have a little extra free time!

-Mondays will be "Mommy Mondays" where I focus on one of the many facets of motherhood and parenting (hopefully I will come up with something better to talk about than poop, although I do know there are a few of you who LOOOOVE when I talk about poop! LOL)

- Wednesdays will be "Writer Wednesdays" where I discuss whatever aspect of writing is inspiring me at the moment (or causing me to bang my head against the wall - because let's be honest, that happens to me A LOT). 

- Fridays will be "Fun Fridays" where I talk about whatever I feel like. Like if I want to show you items I've managed to burn in the oven THAT WEEK, for instance.

If I decide to throw a blog in on a Tuesday or Thursday because I feel like it, THEN I WILL. It's my blog - and I'll write if I want to. How's that for an explanation? ;)

I hope you'll like the new format and that you'll keep reading. Thank you to all my followers and commenters - you make me feel very special. 

Fix You

A few months ago, the hubby and I had the pleasure of seeing Coldplay in concert, and let me tell you, it was PHENOMENAL. If you like their music, it is well worth the money to see them live if you get the chance.

If you like their music and you can't make it to a concert, then I have a little treat for you. My very favorite song of theirs is "Fix You". I get tears in my eyes every time I hear it. The hubby surprised me by making this video for me...a little taste of the concert set to that song. Hope you enjoy it :)

*If you watch closely, around the 3:39 mark, Chris Martin knocks his microphone right off of its stand. Kinda funny.

Happy Friday!

Just When You Thought It Was A Good Idea...

...to put your doughnuts in the oven, so the kids wouldn't see them and incessantly WHIIIINE for one. I think you all know how this one ends (and if you don't...read here).

IT'S NOT!

Oven: 2     Beth: 0

I know, I cried too. Wait, you weren't crying over the DEVASTATING LOSS of burning doughnuts? Oh. Yeah, I didn't either. 

Now some of you might think, "Well they're only a little melted...you could probably still eat them." Believe me, I tried. Notice the gaping hole on the bottom left where there is only a charred remnant? Yep, that was where I tried to salvage one last precious Boston Creme doughnut to no avail. They were just too burned on the bottom. If you look closely you can see the oven rack outline on the bottom of the box. Impressive, no?

Don't worry, I'll be here all week.

OH SWEET SUNSHINE!

The sun has graced us with its presence today...FINALLY! 

I was literally cursing our reproductive choices in not having more children, because I really thought we'd be needing some more strapping young males (or freakishly tall females like myself!) to build ourselves an ark. The rain in Georgia has been HORRIBLE! I'm sure you've seen us on the news. No? Well, here you go.

With the days of rain came the inevitable cabin-fever crazies! My children have been horrific - which makes for a very exhausted Mommy and Daddy. But stories like this make me thankful to have those children, horrific or not.

I inadvertently took it out my blog...didn't post at all while it rained. Maybe God really DOES like my blog, since now we have sunshine??? No, really, the rain hasn't made me go mental, I'm just REALLY excited about the sunshine. 

Moving on.

Blog I did not. But write I did! I made some really good progress with my novel. The rain and clouds provided just the right mood to let me write a really difficult scene. 

Does your environment affect your writing? Do you have a special place where you write? For my non-writing friends, does the weather affect your mood?

How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Dinner

I was on Facebook earlier, updating my status and sharing my frustration about a woman who had SCREAMED at her (I assume) daughter at Chick-fil-A (in my book the second happiest place on earth - Disney World being THE happiest), sending the little girl into hysterics. 

The little girl couldn't have been older than 3, so the Overprotective Defender of the Defenseless part of my brain kicked into high gear. I wasn't thinking about where this insane woman was coming from; whether she had gotten fired that day, hadn't received child support from her estranged husband, or whether she was bullied as a child. 

I pretty much just wanted to punch her in the face. My most Christian response? Of course not. I'm sure the look on my face spoke volumes, because the woman quickly took her sobbing daughter and left. 

In hindsight, I know I shouldn't have judged. We've all been there - where we've lost our patience with our spouse, kids, co-worker...whomever. I just couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. Maybe it's the weather. We're on Day 3 of rain here in Georgia. It let up for a little while this evening, hence the trip to Chick-fil-A. 

SO...here's the part where I attempt to change the subject because I'm not proud of myself for my knee jerk reaction to this woman. Although, when I tell you what I'm about to tell you, I'm not so sure it's going to make me look that much better. 

I'm pretty much going to admit to being a 15 year old trapped in a 28 year old's body. 

I'm watching Vampire Diaries* tonight. 

I saw the season premiere last week, and given my Twilight obsession (yep, that's me flying my freak flag proudly), I'm tuning in again this week. They are VERY similar...hmmm.

*I'm going to make myself feel better and say that it's "research", since maybe someday I'll attempt to write a young adult novel. :)

I Got Nothin'

It was a very rainy, very looong day in this house. 

My brain is fried. 

I'm kicking back, watching some TV with the hubby, when this E-Trade commercial comes on. I laughed so hard I almost peed myself. Nothing funnier to me than a talking baby. My friend Wendy Miller over at All in a Day's Thought did a post not too long ago about commercials, so Wendy, this one's for you!

Enjoy...I'm going to BED!

In Memory...

I'm reusing a post I wrote last year on 9/11. My thoughts and prayers are with all the families who lost a loved one that day, and to all the people who give their lives daily to keep us safe.

Where were you?

9/11....

I always remember 9/11 with sadness, and I'm still in shock that this happened to our country. For me, it's a bit surreal because I wasn't actually IN the U.S. when it happened. I was in London on a study abroad semester in my junior year of college. I still remember like it was yesterday.

I had just left the Museum of London after a really nice morning just walking around and learning about the the fascinating new city I was now living in. I remember sitting quietly in the courtyard of the museum just enjoying my surroundings and not having a care in the world. I was alone, and I wasn't afraid at all. 

I left the museum after picking up a few presents for people back home and started walking toward the tube. Looking back, it seems like people were in a little more of a tizzy than normal for the streets of London, but I didn't seem to notice at the time. I got on the tube (or subway if you will) and began my short ride back to our flat. I remember looking across the seat from myself at a man reading the paper, and I remember seeing the twin towers on the front page. It looked like they were on fire, but I dismissed it as one of those Enquirer "end of the world" scenarios that trashy magazines use to scare people.

As I exited the stairs leading out of the tube I was stopped by an older woman in casual business clothes. She asked, "Are you American?". I was taught to answer this question hesitantly because people in foreign countries (even England) don't always take kindly to Americans. She looked fairly harmless, so I said, "Yes, I am." She quickly asked me if I knew about what had happened in the States and I said that I didn't. I quickly found the nearest newspaper stand (which is never far away on London streets) and read it for myself...two hijacked planes had flown into the World Trade Centers.

I learned later that there were two other planes, one that crashed into the Pentagon and one that crashed into a field because the passengers fought back.

There is no place like home when tragedy strikes, but I was so thankful to  be in the UK if I could not be in the U.S. when 9/11 happened. It felt, and still feels like a piece of home to me.

Love It/Hate It

Love It:

- This Prius commercial...it makes me smile.

- My new haircolor - it's finally a normal color like this, which is nice, since I'm used to walking around looking like this.

- This song by One Republic. I CANNOT stop listening to it.

Hate It:

- That the second toe on my right foot decided it didn't need a toenail today. Ouch.

- That my dishwasher makes that low "mooing" sound JUST like my breast pump used to...only LOUDER.

- It's Fantasy Football season...no further explanation needed (can I get an amen ladies?).

What are you loving or hating?