5 Goals for 2015

Like every year around this time, I find myself sneaking back here, to my tried and true blog, apologizing for the weeks months I've been away, and promising to do better.  So here goes: I promise to do better. I promise I will try to do better, anyway.

It's also around this time of year that I sit down and take inventory of the last 12 months.  In 2013, my goal was to give more of my time and talent (because my treasure was quite limited) by becoming more involved in charity work and volunteering.

By early 2014, it was clear that I needed some of that time back to focus on my family and on better developing my talents-- which would hopefully create a little more treasure to pitch in at home. This inspired me to come up with 28 Ways to {better} LOVE Myself.  I am happy to say that I've kept up with MOST of the promises I made to myself, and 2014 was one of my happiest and most peaceful years yet.

So what goals have I set for 2015?

1. First and foremost, I will continue to refer to my 28 Ways to {better} LOVE Myself, because we all need to securely fasten our oxygen masks before helping those around us.

2. I will remember to count my blessings more regularly.  It's easy to get so overwhelmed by life's occurrences that we forget to be grateful for all of the wonderful things that we do have.

3. I will set small personal and attainable goals (take the kids' clothes to the consignment shop, finally learn how to use my embroidery machine, clean out the cabinet under my sink, organize my desk) which will make my life easier and give me a sense of tangible accomplishment.

4. I will be less angry at my 5:30 a.m. alarm. There is nothing that I can do about the time my kids start school, so getting worked up every single morning is pointless and unhealthy.  I will try to find the silver lining in my early morning wake-up call, even if it's still too dark outside to see the clouds...

5. I will go on regular dates with my husband.  My kids are 12 and 14 and no longer consider sitting at grandma's house watching a VHS copy of Blue's Clues repeatedly a successful Friday night. This, and the fact that I really do dig hanging out with them, has caused a major dip in date nights. I realized last night when Hubby suggested revisiting our honeymoon destination (Sandals resort) and my initial response was "no, because the kids can't come", that maybe he was trying to tell me something...and maybe I should listen.  We truly love you, kids, but Mom and Dad need some alone time.  Want me to go into detail?...yeah, I didn't think so. You can unplug your ears now.


What goals have you set for the new year?  Tell me in the comments!

Back to School: An Epic Tale of Boxes, Bronchitis, Downward Dog and Lockdowns

Today marks the end of the second week of school.  It has been, inarguably, the longest two weeks I've had in recent recollection. Even more so considering how quickly summer vacation flew by.

I wasn't ready for summer to end, but decided to be positive and jumped right out of bed when my alarm went off in the middle of the night bright and early (at 5:30 a.m.) on the first day of school. Other than having to sign approximately 3,236 papers for school and visit Target a whopping 6 times for school supplies, the first few days were pretty great and I was able to get everyone, including myself, in bed by 9 p.m.

First day of school

 Then the weekend arrived.

My mother-in-law sold her house in less than a week on the market, and the time to pack and move had arrived.  Hubby, the kids, and I went over to help.  My job was to go through all of the photos she and her parents had collected over the last 65 years, combine them and store them in plastic tubs.  Actually my job was to pack said photos, but since the majority of them were strewn through dusty, silverfish infested boxes, falling out of photo albums whose sticky pages had long since lost their stickiness, or tucked away in the drug store envelopes they originally came in, I figured this would be a much better option.

Here is one of the old pictures I found at MIL's.
Here are Hubs and I when we were around 19 circa 1995.

Since MIL hasn't found a permanent place, Hubs and I offered to store her furniture and boxes  in our garage, which meant a major, two-day long garage rearrangement.

A good part of my garage was filled by donations for the charity yard sale I will soon be working, so those items had to be hauled to a different storage location. Hubby and I moved things right and left until we finally had the garage looking like I'd wanted it to look since we moved in 15 months ago.  It was a nice 30 seconds until the box truck with MIL's items arrived.  Thankfully, we played a lot of Tetris when we were kids and we able to fit it all in nicely.

The next day, my daughter called me from school complaining of a cough and sore throat. The pediatrician diagnosed her with sinusitis and bronchitis.  Ain't nobody got time for that!  I had to go back and forth to the pharmacy three times until they figured out that the cough medicine wasn't covered by our insurance and the doctor recommended an OTC instead.

Phew...I'm tired just thinking about it...

Last night my buddy Marcy invited me to yoga to try and relieve some of the stress of the last two weeks. This was a great idea since I had been wanting to try yoga for years to relieve my chronic back pain.  It really was a great idea, except that 15 minutes into it I realized this was more Cirque du Soleil in an oven than the chanting, relaxing and stretching I had pictured in my head.  About 40 minutes in I refused to do anymore downward dogs.

OK, I didn't actually refuse. It was more like my brain was spinning in my head, and my ears were ringing, and my boob sweat was rolling up into my eyes, and I didn't know what the heck any of the poses were, and I was getting nauseous from looking around to see if I was doing any of it correctly, and I was pretty sure they would have to call 9-1-1 if bent over again.  Thankfully, the last 10 minutes rocked.

I have not given up on yoga...I just think I will start with the senior citizens class and work my way up to the class set in the Sahara Desert.

So, this morning I woke up, still a little light-headed, but my body felt pretty amazing. Both kids were able to go back to school, and I planned on painting a table my MIL had given me to use in my studio while I listened to my new audiobook.  I ran out of the Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint I had been using, and as I went to wash my hands and run to the stockist, the house phone started ringing off the hook.  No one ever calls me on my land line, so when I looked at the caller ID I saw it was my son's high school.

All I remember the recorded message say was "suspicious student", "in custody" "lockdown", "law enforcement", and "safety sweep of the school." I quickly texted my son, got online and saw the newspaper article that stated that my daughter's middle school (right next door from my son's) and a nearby elementary school were also on lockdown due to a student who was wearing a trench coat and claimed to have guns.  I texted my kids, and my son replied that he was in lockdown in his 4th period class but was OK.  My daughter didn't reply right away, but by then the reports stated that her school's lockdown had been lifted and that the students were in no danger.

I decided to drive to my son's school myself, and when I arrived, the street was filled with concerned parents, cars parked on the side of the road and police cars blocking the school's entrance.

My son's principal has a twitter account, and he updated it often. I was able to keep in touch with my son via text while I waited for news.  Three hours after the initial lockdown, after crouching against a wall the entire time, skipping lunch hour, and with only one supervised bathroom break, the lockdown was lifted.  Parents like me flooded the front office to take our tired and hungry kids home. Actually, we went to McDonald's. A situation like this deserves salty fries and a Coke.

Safe and sound.

Later on, we learned that there was no evidence of any weapons at the school, but it has raised a huge concern. How safe are our kids?  How can schools prevent weapons from entering the building?  What if another kid wants this kind of attention? Should the teachers have water and food supplies in their classrooms?

It's all a little much for me to think about this evening.  Tonight I will just think of how thankful I am that my kids are safe and sound.

If you've made it this far, thank you!  My readers always brighten my day!

28 Ways to {better} LOVE Myself

Author's Note: This post was originally written on 1/31/14 with the intent to post on 2/1/14.  But I worked 11 hours on Saturday, so I decided to #14 and #1.  Then on Sunday I #28.  Monday, I finally #3. So today (Tuesday) I was able to #19! :)

~~~~~


My friend Autumn came up with a challenge recently.  She decided to use the month of February as a time to reflect and explore ways to greater love herself.  She challenged her friends to do the same...expose the ways that your own self-love is in deficit, document it, and work on making the changes necessary to love yourself more.

Her first challenge was to post an unfiltered selfie:

So, here I am warts and all.  I am wearing my college sweatshirt (because it's cold, rainy and dreary as hell outside.) I have smeared mascara and no lipstick.  My hair is in second-day, dirty-hair waves. This is me...most of the time.

Autumn's post struck a chord with me.  As much as I care about myself, I don't always TAKE CARE of myself. I tend to put other people's needs first, or simply put off my own for no good reason.  I find myself exhausted--A LOT.  Too exhausted to worry whether I'm due for my Pap, or if, according to Instagram, my last haircut was 22 weeks ago.

I started to think of all of the ways I withhold love from myself and made a list of 28 ways I plan to truly LOVE myself in the month of February.  Some of these are simple and some are much more involved.  Many of these are very personal but I think most of us can relate on some level.

1. Go to bed earlier. I often spend my evenings in front of the computer for work or catching up with my DVR.  There are nights when I don't crawl into bed until 2am.  When my alarm goes off at 6, I wake up angry and exhausted, and start my day off on the wrong foot. I will go to bed early. Documents, emails, and t.v. shows will have to wait until I can get to them.
2. Schedule my doctor's appointments.  I will no longer postpone calling the OB/GYN or dermatologist until something starts to look or feel funny.  I will make my appointments, and stick to them.
3. Make an appointment with my hairdresser.  I will no longer allow my hair to grow out all flat and raggedy.  I won't take the sewing scissors into the bathroom and crookedly trim my own bangs just to avoid the 10 minute drive to get my "courtesy bang trim".
4. Take some things off my {figurative} plate.  Last year my goal was to give more of my time, talent and treasure.  While that still holds true, I've learned rather quickly that when it comes to volunteering, I have to set my limits.  When I can, I will.  When I can't, I won't. Period.
5. Take some things off my {literal} plate.  I've lost somewhere between 20-25 lbs in the last year.  I plan to keep it off.  If that means steamed broccoli over mashed potatoes, or sautéed spinach over creamed spinach, I can handle that.  I will love myself by making better food choices.
6. Count my blessings.  It's easy to shove all of the good things in my life to the back of my mind when I am inundated with work or other stresses.  I will bring those blessings to the forefront, remember them, and thank God for them.
7. Say "no" when I need to.  I won't let myself get in over my head.  If I can't, I won't.
8. Say "no" when I want to.  I will love myself more by choosing NOT to do something I implicitly don't want to do. 
9. Say "yes" when I really want to, but feel guilty about it.  I will buy the shoes, or get the pedicure, or eat the mini Snickers bar stashed away since Halloween.  If you know me, you know I NEVER go overboard when it comes to shopping or sweets, so if I really want it and I can afford it, I will say "yes" to it.
10. Say "yes" when I want to, but am being lazy or nervous about it.  I will meet my friend for lunch, even if I'm in the middle of laundry. I will take my kids to the beach even though I have to cross a bridge and parallel park. I will drive to the Magic Kingdom, even though it's an hour away and I have to remember that I parked in Ursula 95.
11. Forgive.  I will forgive someone even if they haven't asked for forgiveness. Even if they don't know what they have done wrong. Even if they pretend not to know what they have done wrong.  I will forgive and forget because it makes ME feel better.
12. I won't compare.  I am truly happy where I am in life.  So, maybe I am renting, and maybe I've been driving the same car since before my 5th grader was in preschool.  I don't need what others have to be happy.  I just need to stay happy.
13. Value my life experiences, and subsequently my informed/educated opinions.  I have had many experiences in my years on this earth.  I have gone to college, grad school, have had two children, a miscarriage, moved far away from home and back again.  I've had money to spare and counted pennies for dinner.  I've planned a wedding and countless birthday parties. I have helped my kids with hundreds of hours of homework.  I  passed a kidney stone, helped  my mom recover from a heart attack and through open heart surgery.  I own a small business and have managed several larger ones.  I've suffered through my parent's divorce and remarriages and second divorces. I am not JUST a homemaker or my husband's wife.  My wide range of experiences have helped me form valid and educated opinions and I will remember that more often. 
14. Go with the flow.  Plans change, stuff happens. The best laid out plans can be destroyed in two seconds.  But the truth is, something better often comes along.  Last week we were supposed to go to NYC for my birthday.  Then came a snow storm, so we changed our plans and went to Disney instead.  Best. Trip. Ever!
15. Embrace my age.  I just turned 38.  3-8.  Two years away from 40.  Three years past the point in which becoming pregnant would put me at "advanced maternal age". 8 years older than my mom was when she had me. Seven months from my oldest entering high school and my youngest entering middle school.  I am 38, and so far I am loving it!
16. Embrace my face.  My skin isn't as tight as it used to be.  I have crows feet and dark under-eye circles.  This is what I look like.  Maybe one day I will inject myself up with botulism and stretch my cheek skin behind my ears.  But for now, I will embrace it. It's the only face I've got and it needs love, too.
17. Wear the two-piece. I've got some pregnancy battle wounds (stretch marks), and my belly button is pretty sad.  I'm nowhere near a size zero, but I will still rock that two-piece.
18. Smile more.  A bagger at the grocery store told me I had "such a great smile!" the other day.  I'm pretty sure he was just trying to get me to smile.  I am known for having an unintentional "resting bitch face".  I will smile more, and hopefully get some smiles back.
19. Write more.  I used to identify as a writer.  I had two parenting columns and a personal blog where I would journal my thoughts and experiences (good and bad).  Somehow I let that part of me go and I will love myself more by getting it back.
20. Love more. I will tell those I love how much I love them. Often.
21. Let go of those who don't truly love back. When you love someone you accept them as they are; you don't judge them or try to change them.  You realize that what may work for your life, family, or career may not work for someone else and vice versa.  When you love someone you don't feel the need to give them unsolicited advice.  Loving someone is about enjoying their company and not about confrontation.  You love someone for who they are and not to try to turn them into a version of you.  I will love those who love me, and let go of the ones who don't.
22. Halt the drama.  I will avoid situations which bring unnecessary drama into my life.
23. Limit venting to 10 minutes.  Whether I am venting, or someone is venting to me, I will limit it to 10 minutes then I will change the subject or hang up the phone.  No one should have to hear someone else complain nonstop for an hour. 
24. Let it go to voicemail.  If I am eating a meal, spending time with my husband or watching a movie I will let the phone go to voicemail. 
25. Get organized.  Nothing makes me happier than knowing where something is when I need it. 
26. Create for the simple joy of creativity.  Painting furniture, decorating, sewing, writing.... These are things I love to do, but only find the time to do for work. I will make time to do these things for me. 
27. Stand up.  One of the ways I haven't loved myself recently is by not standing up for myself when I should.  I am non-confrontational to a fault and often deal with people who are quite the opposite.  I always feel like I am on defensive mode against this kind of person--always having to explain WHY something is or isn't a particular way.  I find myself preemptively defending myself just to try to avoid the inevitable confrontation.  I will stand up for myself, and if it continues to create confrontation I will refer to # 21.
28. Relax and enjoy my family.  I will love myself by doing the one thing I enjoy the most: spending time with my husband and kids.  Whether it's watching a movie, having lunch or catching up with Switched at Birth and The Fosters, these are my HAPPIEST moments ever!

Here is another unfiltered selfie with my new 'do (and much better weather!)  Woot!