Not Me Monday - Extended Time Off Edition

Welcome to Not Me Monday! (created by MckMama). You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

And I figured – hey – what better time to come back to my blogging roots than on Not Me Monday when I can be in complete denial about my absence. So, without further ado…

I most definitely have not completely ignored this blog the past **cough-cough** 3 months. Lots of good excuses – kids, work, kids, PTO, kids, house cleaning, yard work, kids, facebook, blah, blah, blah. Frankly, I don’t have any good excuses, especially since there are bloggers that use these “challenges” to write their blogs each day. I basically just suck at time management when it comes to my blog, and I need to buck up and get over it.

As the perfectly prepared mother I am, I did not have to go to Hell-Mart, Kohl’s & Target at 9:30pm Saturday night (ya' know - the day before Easter) to get white dress sandals for the girls because I completely forgot they had to actually wear shoes to church.

To add to that, when Frick (Ashlyn) got up the next morning and got ready, I most certainly did not get secretly furious with her for digging in the back of her closet to find last year’s very casual white flip-flops when my brand new purchases did not fit her Project Runway style fashion needs. THREE PAIRS of shoes I bought to give them a choice, but NNNNNOOOOOOOOOO, none of those will do.

It is not even slightly possible that I have been switching my mother-in-law’s toilet paper to “over” every time we go to their house, just because I know she is an “under” person. Nope – would NEVER do that – snicker, snicker…

There is more to come, including another episode of "The Freaks I See in Hell-Mart", pics of one of the girls in her Easter dress and VERY visible snake-head tattoo, and a phenomenal experience I recently had with a Nashville guitar guru.

Dear Diary…

Since my family is currently confined to the house (Chris has contracted h1n1 and is quarantined to our bedroom for 5-7 days – or maybe a little longer if he gives me any “lip”), I have been trying to get some things cleaned out around the house.  I’ve been doing this between setting off Lysol bombs, playing a bazillion hands of Uno with the girls,  and pretending to be the most awesome female gunslinger EVER as I duel with various household surfaces using a spray-bottle of bleach solution.

I came across a box of some of my old things.  One of the most interesting items was my diary when I was 10 through 13-years-old.  I really didn’t have that many entries, but I got a quick snapshot of how my girls will be during those ages.

OH – Mercy!

One entry that stood out was the one below.  It literally made me cringe thinking of the future mother-daughter, door slamming blow-outs that will inevitably occur with my girls.

First, let me defend myself in saying the dances at the Ramada were “THE BOMB” in my hometown, so the fact that they wouldn’t let me go was MAJOR social suicide and totally grounds for my overly-emotional-and-highly-hormonally-charged words.

Second, let me sincerely apologize to my Mother (and Dad too) for this horrible diary entry and for what a pain I must have been at the age of 13.  Yes, Mom – I can practically hear you laughing now thinking of how you can’t wait til I call you telling you of the sagas that will abound when my two are 13.

Laugh it up, Grandma!  (you greatly deserve it)

Time for some Elf-in Fun!

Ah yes…that time of year again…when I waste many a useful minute to create such wonderful entertainment.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Shelley’s Wish List Item

Chris and I have been watching the Amazon daily “specials” for quite a while now.  These little items came up today, but were already sold out when we came across them.  They were 75% off – quite a deal…until you find out how much they normally cost.  See the video below and pay special attention to the cost she mentions about 22 seconds into this lovely CNET review…

Yes – I want a pair in blue, pink and purple please…

The Mouthpiece is KEY!

I’ll let the video speak for itself, but – as a bit of a background – the Nashville Predators (NHL team for those non-ice sport-fans) put on a 4-week workshop (free – woohoo!) for small kids with no hockey experience a couple times a year.

Yep – my girls were ALL about doing it.

So we went for our equipment fitting last night, and here’s the result…

Guess their favorite part of their equipment…

…the mouthpiece!

Jillian Michaels is trying to kill me!

Seriously…if you wake up one morning and find me face down in a puddle of sweat with my sports bra wrapped around my neck, you will know who to blame.

This chick means business!

I have actually always been a Jillian fan.  I’ve watched several Biggest Loser episodes and kinda giggled when Jillian would make some of the contestants cry (I know, I’m awful). 

I know Bob is the “kinder, gentler” personal trainer, but – frankly – I need someone to kick my ass (sorry, mom – pretend I typed “buttocks” there).  I am a competitive person and I totally thrive when I am challenged – something Miss Michaels is apparently VERY good at doing.

Now my cousin & aunt would tell you they need the sweet encouragement of Bob Harper, and I get that – really, I do.  But that just isn’t what I need to get in shape.

So how do I know Jillian is trying to kill me?

About a week ago I discovered workouts available via our cable “on-demand” service.  Jillian has her own category under Exercise TV.   Of course she does, Exercise TV is scared to death of her and will give her whatever she wants.

Jilli (because we are such good friends – that’s what I call her…then we braid each other’s hair, paint our nails and have a pillow fight – sorry, I digress) has this 20 minute workout program as part of her 30 Day Shred program on the “on demand” channel. 

HOLY MOLY!

Now – despite my Botticelli-esque appearance – I have a fairly active fitness background (stop laughing).  I was a cheerleader in high school (shut it!), taught aerobics and was a swimmer.  I have even finished two half-marathons.  Let me tell ya…Jillian pummeled me into a gooey mush.  That first 20 minute workout was a KILLER.  Shoot – every workout of hers since then has ended with me in the fetal position crying for my mommy.

My one consolation is that Jillian is not very flexible at all.  I do smile a little at my self when I can stretch just a few inches further than she can.  Take that, Miss Michaels!

I have now done 5 of her workouts and I keep coming back for more.  I just hope these workouts will help keep the poundage off – especially while I attempt to inhale an entire sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving.

I’ll keep you posted…or maybe I won’t if she succeeds in killing me.

Friends Giving Hope

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to help with a phenomenal benefit concert.  The Friends Giving Hope concert was created to assist five Mount Juliet, Tennessee-area children fighting “Stupid Cancer” – Makenzie, Savannah, Bishop, Karli & Thomas. 

Many of you know that a dear friend of mine has a daughter fighting brain cancer.  Actually, fighting is too light of a term – this 9-year-old girl is giving brain cancer a serious WHOOPIN’!!!  Makenzie Matthews is an amazing little girl and her family is just as wonderful.  Her mom – Kathleen – has been my “twin guru” ever since I met her when my children were toddlers.  Makenzie is a twin (Madison is her amazing sister) and has a little brother (Justin) who is the same age as my girls.  Their dad – Wilson – has always been so incredibly sweet to our girls and refers to them as his “second most favorite set of twin girls”.  I can not say enough about this wonderful family, and I was tickled that I could do something to help in some small way.

As several of you are aware, I am a bit of a computer nerd (shut it!).  I love messin’ around in the graphic design programs and PowerPoint is a definite favorite.  Yes – I realize many of you are dozing off right now due to my extensive description of my “Nerd-ness”.  Well suck it up and grab some caffeine.

Ok, ok…I won’t bore you any longer…below is the slideshow presentation I did for the benefit concert.   Some of it just lists area businesses and individuals who helped sponsor the event or donated silent auction items – that probably won’t be of much interest to those of you outside this area of Tennessee, but I encourage you to watch all of it so you can see the beautiful faces of these amazing kids and their families.

I am truly blessed to have been a part of this event.  Enjoy.