Tuesday, September 27, 2011

You Pierced What?!?!


The Red Nosed Twins Post Nose Piercing!!


I figured I'd better "go big" and get it all done while I had the chance.....








The Mother Daughter Nose Piercing Bonding Day ;-)

















Well, it happened. Maybe it started with cliff jumping. Maybe it was the "do something afraid" section on my girls accountability list that I have been daily checking off. Maybe it was something that started long before that. Maybe it was a combination of a lot of things. All I know is that when my husband said it was okay for our daughter to get her nose pierce something inside me snapped.




At first I was really mad. "How dare he tell her she could get her nose pierced?!" Back in my teens, I couldn't get my nose pierced. Later on, in my 20's I couldn't get it done either until I just accepted it was never going to be an option for me. Instead, I was kind of nervous and maybe even a little judging about it. A really mean lady I once worked with had her nose pierced. She always scared me. After that, just seeing a nose ring made me shudder. One of my best friends has one. Its just natural on her and it made me stop being afraid of people with them ;-P Well, anyway, it just plain wasn't fair. I should have one. Its part of my ethnic heritage and right isn't it? I'd also been wanting to do my belly button for a very long time. I seethed.



After a while, I asked my husband about it. He was rather noncommittal. Still, something in me didn't seem to rest. Night after long night, I started having nightmares about body piercings. After the third consecutive night of terrifying nightmares, and a lot of prayer, I was convinced that this was something for me to do. Any time there is that much wrestling and opposition going on inside of me, its usually something I'm just needing to do. I don't want to look back on my life and have regrets of things I never got to do. Here was my chance and I was taking it. The day we left for the nice body piercing lady's house, my husband prayed for us and for it all to go well.



All I knew was that I was going to force myself to go through with it no matter what. Now when I think of "body piercing", I think of a guy named "Biff" with whiskers and tattoos all over smoking a questionable substance. He laughs deeply as he downs a brewsky and flicks his butts next to where he is about to pick up the cross contaminated blunt piercing instrument. A bunch of riff raff are drinking and laughing loudly as the victim prays he doesn't contract hepatitis from this particular job. I ignored this imagination. This was my chance. I didn't know what to expect when we got there, though. We were both really pleased and relieved to see that the lady was super nice and very professional. She actually has her own autoclave and sterilizes her instruments. She used high quality surgical steel and adhered to the the strictest of aseptic technique. And man was she good! I could hardly believe my eyes. That lady has a gift and skill unmatched. Not only is she clean, professional, and confident, she knows how to do it in such a skilled way that there was almost no pain. The discomfort there was, was very minimal and extremely short. My nose didn't even bleed. She was quick about her work and very sure of her skills. Its the kind of thing you want for that kind of thing (you know?).



So as it were, me, the one who was gravely offended about her daughter getting her nose pierced, not only scheduling the job, but did her own nose and belly button. On the way home, my daughter was grinning from ear to ear, and about cross eyed from all the times she kept looking at her nose. I knew she was old enough and mature enough to know what she wanted. I also knew I would never be old enough and mature enough to know what I wanted ;-) But I was glad I did it anyway ;-)













Friday, September 16, 2011

My New Exercise Buddy



As usual, I have sadly neglected my fitness blog, but again, with good reason :-) After a long night shift, my husband surprised me by allowing me to stop at the animal shelter. He shocked me again, by actually agreeing to allow me to be the "foster mama" of this little lab puppy :-) Isn't she sweet?!

My usual routine has become "wake up and get that puppy outside to pee"! The good little girl has never had an accident in her box yet, but she did let loose on my eldest when he was carrying her out after 9 hours. Good thing he is so good natured!

After that, school has begun with the children and I am busy getting them started on the day. Puppy has been getting a mile run in several mornings. She is learning to heel. Yesterday she did amazing. Today it was a battle of the wills and she had to learn who was the "Alpha Mama". No fun, but necessary for her benefit and for her future. After that, its check the children's progress.

On any given day, you will find me carrying me tiny pieces of diced up hot dog in my pocket. No, its not because I have fallen off the wagon. Its a suggestion from one of my old co-workers for an economical puppy treat. It works great!! Libby comes when she is called or whistled to, "sits" on command, is learning process on "shake", "lay down" and "roll over". I'm pleased with her progress. Having her is a dream come true and I don't want to jeopardize that with her being unmanageable. Other than a few potty accidents in the house, she's been a real good girl. I am looking forward to extending our runs and having her be a good motivation for me to get out there! It was a super fun time at the lake last weekend when we took her camping along with some of our friends. Our dogs played together in the sand and water fetching sticks and having a crazy good time.


I was relieved and happy to see that my jeans still fit good when I did the summer/fall switch. In fact, 8's are a lot more comfortable and I even have a couple pairs of 6's :-) That is happy for me. Having accounts at several consignment stores has helped me keep up on sizes, and finding cute things that look nice. One magazine article I read long ago said that you have to force yourself to try stuff on on a regular basis. One, because even when we feel "frumpy", seeing even a little improvement can be a great incentive. Another, because when we look good, we feel good. It makes us want to keep trying. Not having money for new clothes shouldn't be an issue. There are always clearance and consignment racks. I regularly take in my stuff as well as things my kids have outgrown. It keeps a steady stream of credit for shopping and keeps frumpies far away ;-)

I hope you are having a good week and accomplishing your goals. I did do a week long coffee fast which was good for me. Been trying to run more with the pup. Restarted a sit ups regime. Though I haven't had any eating plans for a while. Tomorrow I am taking The Sock Fashion Expert to get her nose pierced. I am undergoing some serious soul searching about what or if I should pierce along with her....

Saturday, September 3, 2011

my most STELLAR summer ever (why you haven't heard from me)




Super Fun Cliff Jumping!!


This is my amazing son!!




The Most AMAZING, Romantic, BEST EVER Get Away for our 20th Can you believe my husband bought us a boat?!?
He took me away to remote
Idyllic, even EUPHORIC settings....







Me Cliff Jumping AFRAID!!











Diving....











Isn't this the most romantic setting ever?!!? What more could anybody ask for than a secluded sandy cove?!?












Fun with the kids in the sand, water and sunshine :-)










Maybe our funnest family summer EVER!!




















The most amazing food at my cousin's wedding!!


















The Wedding in Bellingham was sooo romantic!!







































I've had such an incredibly fun and amazing month that I couldn't possibly spend too much time next to a computer. I barely made a few posts on my other blog telling of our cliff jumping, wedding and romantic get away adventures. As for dieting and fitness, well its been haphazard at best. Every week I seem to squeeze in a 7 mile run or two. I'm still some what active, but its hard to do any kind of routine with all the fun going on :-) I did some food fasting too, but again, discipline has been REALLY HARD. Play play play has been the name of the game ;-)


Now that its coming to a screeching halt, I see D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E in the near future and I'm not all that embracing. I just want to be lost on that remote sandy beach in a bikini forever without all the work that looking good in it involves. Selah......


Today our girls accountability group got together and did our thing. I was the only one present with a filled in chart and that was for only one week. I think we all saw the writing on the wall. Time to get back to work for us all!! Oh if mojo were only that simple. After such amazing food, crazy fun, and timeless romance how does one get back to a life of cottage cheese and fitness blog posts? I DON'T KNOW. alas alas boo hoo violin.


So my resolutions this month include but are not limited to :




- a work out day with a friend


- a home school routine that incorporates some kind of fitness routine for me


- a more regular exercise routine


- more disciplined eating


- a new blog name and a new game plan


- some way to make this blog more interesting (if nothing better than to spare my husband of its painful boredom ;-) )




That sounds like a grand start ;-) Okay, tell me how you've been surviving this past divine month?!?