New Year New You

Is it wrong that I hate that phrase?  It’s a New Year and time for a New You!  Why must we confine change to once a year?  Why shouldn’t we work on ourselves all year long?  And, how many times have I said that I’m happy with who I am, only to use my next breath to tell you how I’m always looking to evolve and change as a person?

When we set a goal, it is something that we work towards; however, when we make a resolution, we just accept that we will break it.  Why do we put ourselves through this every year?

Seriously, it makes my head spin.

As one boyfriend once told me, I’m a walking contradiction.  A dear friend once told me about the same thing; however, along with it he told me that I didn’t share as much with my friends as they thought I did.  Since then I’ve shared tons with him.  I’ve shared stuff that I’m positive he wishes I hadn’t.  I’ll show him who can share!! 🙂

So, I have accepted that I am a walking contradiction.  That I am very happy with myself And that I work to evolve into a better person.  I’ve mentioned previously that my current goal (note the word “goal” and not “resolution”!) is to stop comparing myself to others.  To not give away my Joy in life by comparing MY LIFE to the lives of others.  I am where I am suppose to be.  Every thing that I have done and been through, all of the mistakes and triumphs have lead me to here.  I do not want to become stagnant, so I will continue to move forward in my life and use all of the talents and gifts that I have been granted to help others and myself.

Back to my original rant.

New Year’s Resolutions… it seems to be a vicious cycle:  Make resolution, break resolution – and we all accept it as normal!  Which, if we all accept it as normal, then I guess, technically, it is normal. Maybe it is a cleansing process, maybe we need to have this time each year to reflect.  Time to note where we want to improve.  Maybe the point of this is not the resolution itself, but the making of the resolution.  The time we take to reflect on the past and hope for the future.  I think it’s okay that we break them every year, as long as we keep moving forward, then every year, God willing, we have another opportunity to repeat the cycle.

I can live with that.  I had an interesting 2012.  It was a whirlwind jam packed with interesting moments, heartbreaking tears and wonderful adventures. (This was also the year of the incredibly spiritual experience I like to call the Meatloaf concert, it deserved a shout-out!) I can look back and be proud of who I was.  Now I can look forward to 2013 and all that it holds for me.

What about you guys?  Any good resolutions? Feel free to share them below! I’d love to see how you plan to grow as a human this year!

Happy New Year everyone! Cheers!

I’m bloated…

We had a wonderful Christmas.  It was filled with fun, family and food – oh, and presents!  If you learn anything about me today, let me tell you that I love presents.  I’m not that materialistic, but I do love the fact that someone thought of me and got me a gift.  The anticipation, holding it in my hand and pulling out tissue paper or tearing off the wrapping paper to get down to the bones – it all sends a tingle up my spine!

We made sugar cookies.  They are my mom’s favorite.  I sprinkled white crystals on one of my cookies and said it looked like a pretty snowfall.  My dad said that it’s a good thing the snow wasn’t yellow…

I wrote my initial in the snow!! I laughed so hard at myself I snorted!

This year I worked with Mr. T on the whole “if you’re going to give a gift, take the time to give it properly”.  He got that speech after he decided not to wrap my gift but to gift bag it… which would be fine, except he put it in a baby shower bag. Sigh.  He’s a guy, he’s a work in progress.  It’s the thought that counts.

Here is the Magic 8 ball from my buddy BA. He and Mr. T worked together behind my back. 🙂 It’s perfect. I’d been dropping hints to BA for years about this, but again, he too is a guy. Hints don’t work!

This year we all created video message from Santa to our kids. We hooked the computer up to the TV and sat around and watched and giggled.  Apparently Santa said I was a good girl and knew that I was trying to not spend so much time on Facebook.  Santa told my niece that he was proud of her for working on her temper.  She kinda lost her temper over that one… apparently he was spot on! 🙂

Isn’t this the coolest purse?? It was on my wish list and my sister Amy came through with it!

We have a saying in Texas, “if you don’t like the weather, wait 15 minutes”.  Christmas Eve it was 70 degrees.  Christmas day I was rushing to get my grandmother home before the roads froze from the snow.  Yes, we had a white Christmas! It’s pretty cool, we don’t get them very often – and as pretty as it was, I’m glad we don’t get them often! Not a fan of the cold!

Amazon gift card from my Grandmother so I can get the latest book in a series I read. I should have known she was getting me this a month ago, when she suddenly started reading the series.

All of the kids had a good time.  Mr. T texted me Christmas night and I told him I was getting our Thank You cards prepared, I was making the list of gifts and realizing how blessed we were.  He sent back that he was “very happy that we have been blessed to be able to have a wonderful holiday… and that we can spend time with family”. It really warmed my heart.  I know that as a mom, I won’t win mom of the year, but when I get a text like that, it makes me realize that I’m teaching him about the important things in life.

Santa brought me this! As long as we are speaking of the important things in life!

Mr. T is off camping now.  Every year mom and dad take the grand-kids camping the week between Christmas and New Year.  They got off a couple of hours late today due to the inclement weather and iced over roads, but they made it to the camp site and got set up.

We had a great Christmas dinner, it was so yummy!  I actually brought home left-overs.  I ate them for dinner tonight.  Along with a slice of pumpkin pie and a slice of pecan pie.  That explains why I’m so bloated currently!  But it was too good to pass up!  I would show you a picture, but, well, I ate it.

Shaving Legs

A friend of mine called the other day and told me she totally had a “did that just happen” moment, but couldn’t blog about it on her site, cause it was waaaay too much information.  So, naturally, since I’m happy to share other’s issues as well as my own and make them public (well, how public is it when you have like 9 readers??) I decided to share her TMI story.  

She’s pregnant.  And I mean waaaay pregnant.  Okay, she’s not that far along, but as this is her 2nd child, she started to show pretty darn early.  I saw her the other day and even though she told me not to react, I couldn’t help it, my eyes did the cartoon WAAHOOOGAAA as they popped out of my head and landed on her belly.  I’m sure I covered my reaction just fine… Anyway, there is like this huge basketball under her shirt.  I think that’s the best description I can give, she has a basketball in her belly.  So, she went to shave her legs the other day – and apparently she twisted and turned and propped and bent in all sorts of funny ways.  It’s not easy to shave your legs when there is a basketball constantly in your way!  When she was finally done, and had gotten every last piece of hair, she was exhausted! LOL.  She got out of the shower thanking God that no one saw her attempting to do that!  She told me that the moment she stepped out, after she was grateful that no one saw that, her first thought was “did that really just happen?”.  🙂

Of course, what I didn’t tell her was that it’ll get worse.  At least, it did for me. Let’s travel back in time a bit to when Mr. T was little.  Being a single parent, there are concessions that have to be made for the safety of your children.  When he was tiny, I could put him in his bouncy seat and put it on the floor of the bathroom while I showered.  Now, normally, I would get up before him, shower and get dressed, so that it was done and out of the way, but occasionally life interrupted my plans and so when he was older, I’d plop him in the shower with me.  He was too young and doesn’t remember any of this, trust me.  But, we’d shower together, it got him clean and he really did enjoy sitting at the back of the tub with the random shower of water hitting him while he played with his toys.  Anyway… One day I was washing my hair and felt something on the back of my legs.  I thought he was tickling me.  He was going up and down the back of my calf.  I rinsed my hair, looked down to play along… and the kid had the razor and was shaving my legs.  Moment of panic sets in – how on earth did he get the razor?  Is he okay? Did he cut himself?  Nope, all is good, he was just helping mommy out by shaving her legs like he had watched her do.  

Needless to say, at that point I was much more vigilant about getting up and showering before he woke up.  Which is why, to this day, I’m still an early riser!  I got out of the shower that day going “holy moley, did that just happen??”  

Several years later, once I felt it was safe to retell the story, my aunt got a knowing look on her face about half way through my tale… her son had done that to her, too!  So, it’s a relief to know that Yes, That Really Did Just Happen! 

Christmas sweaters

First off, I lied last night to Mr. T.  I didn’t mean to, but the second half of this post will explain it all.  

Okay, maybe it wasn’t last night – I think it was Sunday, before the game.  Time is meaningless to me, well, not meaningless, but definitely not linear.  Time is not a straight line in my reality. 

The point, we were running through Wal-Mart.  He wanted out of the house, he hadn’t picked out his special ornament this year, and, well, Wal-Mart is open and Hobby Lobby isn’t (which leads me to believe it was Sunday).  We walked past a collection of holiday sweater vests.  You know, those tacky things that are pulled out by women every where this time of year.  I looked at him with a smug smile on my face and said “Aren’t you glad that you don’t have a mom that wears those?!” Okay, first off, I know better than to be smug, it’ll bite me in the butt every time.  Keep reading.  Secondly – did I not state several blogs ago that I was working on NOT comparing myself to others??  Did I not go on and on in detail how it isn’t healthy?? Obviously I’m still a work in progress, but at least in retrospect I recognized it.  And, it was suppose to be funny, a joke, but because I was smug, and it bit me in the butt, now it has turned into so much more than a joke about the stupid Christmas sweater vest!! 

To recap, cause I kinda went off there:  Me to Mr. T: “Aren’t you glad you don’t have a mom that wears these (insert unsaid but thought smugly in my head ‘tacky Christmas sweater vests’)?” 

To which T replied “Yes, I’m glad, but I’m stuck with this” and he tugged on the sleeve of my admittedly bright tie-dye shirt.  Well crap.  That’s beyond true.  I had to laugh, and said something along the lines of “good point, at least with the sweater vest, that’s only one time a year, you’re stuck with tie-dye all year long!”  We also had a laugh, cause my mom is a Christmas sweater vest person. 

The adage “when you point your finger, there are three pointing back at you” was totally true that day in Wally World.  I failed at not comparing myself to others (even though I really meant it as a joke) and I was smug about it as well – and it was pointed out that, well, I have my own little quirk that others laugh about, so I had no right to be smug.  

All of this came from a random joke I was making as we ran through Wal-Mart picking stuff up.  WELCOME TO MY BRAIN.  

It gets worse… 

Tonight is Diva Dinner. It’s the monthly get together of the girls.  Once a month, those of us that can, get together for dinner.  We pick a different place each time (with very few exceptions.) Every October is Diva Date night and we bring our husbands, significant others, I’ve brought a co-worker before, and sometimes, us single diva’s are each other’s date.  For the most part though, it’s just us girls.  And we discuss life, work, kids, grand-kids, each other and whatever comes to mind! It’s just one night a week that we can step away from it all.  Of course, in my case, I still have to cook Mr. T dinner, but I’ve decided that if I get a treat that night, he can too, so sometimes he gets to pick out a jar of spaghetti-o’s or something that he doesn’t get to eat on a regular basis.  But, again, I digress.  I think that I’m stalling – afraid to get to the point and tell you the rest of the story.  

Let me just dive in.  In the mornings I get up and shower and just randomly throw on clothes.  Usually it’s jean shorts and a t-shirt.  It’s freaking freezing down here today, so I threw on my black pj pants and a knit long sleeve shirt.  I sit at my desk and work, and it’s Tuesday, so it’s laundry day, which means I fit in laundry during the day.  I went to my closet to put up two hand wash shirts from last week that have been hanging there and while I was in my closet, I pulled out a pair of jeans and looked for a top to wear tonight at dinner.  As I mentioned, it’s freaking freezing down here so I needed something warm.  It’s our Christmas dinner, so I want something festive.  

I pulled out a Holiday sweater… not a sweater vest mind you… but I pulled out a damn holiday sweater.  Complete with mistletoe.  

Yeah, apparently I am that mom.  See, I told you me opening my mouth would come back to bite me in the butt!!! I started to take a picture to attach, so there’d be the visual component, but I don’t want to torture you!    

Wise Woman

I have become the wise woman of the village.  

DISCLAIMER: To all my friends reading this – just go with it and realize that I love you to death and wouldn’t trade you for the world.  If you begin to think that you are emailing me, texting me or calling me too much, the answer is no, you’re not.  

But, I have become the wise woman of the village.  First off – have you guys met me?? Making me the wise woman is so not the smartest thing to do.  Have you heard what comes out of my mouth? Seriously… you know how twisted I am.  My brain works totally different from most peoples… between jokes about arm pit hair billowing in the breeze and messing with a friends OCD kid, dude, been there done that. 

I love that everyone needs me.  Part of my make-up is that need=love and I have to consistently work at that, remind myself that need does not equal love.  But, really, when someone asks for my opinion or my help, it’s like when you are wearing black slacks and you pee yourself… it’s a warm fuzzy feeling that no one else can see.  

So, believe me when I tell you – despite how much they drive me nuts, I love my family.  And the fact that sometimes my phone blows up faster than I can handle reminds me that my friends love and need me.  

I’m not saying I don’t like being the Wise Woman of the Village.  I’m just questioning everyone else’s sanity in putting me there…  

Victoria’s not so Secret text

So, even though Mr. T is 14, I believe it’s never too late to try something new and maybe start a new tradition.  I saw on Pinterest the Christmas Eve present box – it’s filled with new pajama’s, hot chocolate and Christmas movies.  The purpose is to let your kid open the box on Christmas eve and then have a night cuddling and watching movies in your new PJ’s and drinking hot chocolate.  Well, we always open presents on Christmas Eve (and Christmas morning, too), and since the entire family is together, not sure that this gift would be appropriate to give at that time.  BUT, I could take the spirit of that gift and modify it to fit my life.  So, I bought new PJ’s for me and T.  Holy cow, do you know how expensive  pajama’s have gotten???  Anyway, I have a Keurig, so I have easy hot chocolate and we have a great collection of Christmas movies and now we have the new pajama’s.  I figured when the time was right, I’d pull those out and surprise him and we’d have some special time together.  

Now you have the background, let us move forward.  Last night was kinda chilly down here. And Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was on. Mr. T had stepped away and then there was a commercial and so I took a potty break and that was when inspiration hit.  I saw the stars aligning in my favor.  I went and checked the gift closet, saw the PJ’s and headed out to give them to Mr. T… who was no where to be found…  I called out “Mr. T?  Mr. T? Shorty, where did Mr. T go?” all the hallways were dark and quiet… then I heard a little sound from his bedroom.  

Mr. T was in bed, just after 7:30, covered up, not even watching TV.  “T are you not feeling well? Do you need some meds?”  He requested a couple of Advil, which I brought him and a bottle of water.  I patted his head and murmured all of the appropriate things a mom should utter when confronted with a kid that doesn’t feel well.  Then I went back to the kitchen to do the dishes that he’d failed to do before he crawled into bed.  

A few minutes later, I got this text.  Apparently the Advil kicked in in like 2 seconds!

Nothing like scantily clad ladies to make a boy feel better!

Cowboys Won and other stuffs…

Yes!  The Cowboys won!  I was at the stadium to see it! As of the game Sunday night, we are technically back in the play-off hunt.  After the Redskins loss Monday night, technically we’re even better in the playoff hunt.  Yes, I keep saying technically, cause I have to add that disclaimer when I’m talking about my Boys… They’ve let me down so many times these past couple of years!  But, we beat the Eagles, so I’m happy.  BA and I had a blast, we were able to get to the stadium early enough to partake in some of the tailgating and then, since I’ve only ever walked in, turned left, gone up the elevator and entered the suite I made him walk through part of the stadium with me.  And, since I had such a blast, I will share some pictures with you!  (PS, I am not rich enough to afford suite tickets – or even just the parking pass that allows us to park just feet away from the doors, they are a gift from a client of mine.) (PPS, BA is my boy BFF, we aren’t dating, even though you’ll see him pop up here frequently cause he’s my buddy – we call it the Adventures of Kate and BA.  Okay, now you’re ready.)

Picture of me and BA at the game – I tried to get the stadium in the background, but it’s just too big!

View from our seats in the suite.

Caught a shot of Romo on the big screen!

I had to get some shots of the world famous Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders for Mr. T. He’s 14 after all, he’s way more interested in the cheerleaders than the game!

The players coming out on the field. Let the game begin!

I was also creative this weekend.  About 15 years ago I made a wreath for my mom’s office. She’s hung it up every Christmas since then – but this year she called and told me “the wreath needs to be refreshed”  LOL, that was her word “refreshed”.  One of the balls had fallen off, one was hanging by a strand – it was pretty darn scraggly!  So, I popped all the old balls off – only broke one in my hand and sustained a tiny cut, so I was proud of myself! Cause, if you haven’t figured out by now, I’m not the most graceful of people! I ran to Hobby Lobby and bought all new ornaments and such.  Then, I proceeded to call my other craft buddy Erica and while she was fixing the wreath she made last year for their door, I fixed the wreath for my mom.  We did crafts together over the phone… this is not the first time we’ve done crafts together on the phone!  She lives on one side of the metroplex and I live on the other – so it’s just over an hour drive for us to see each other.  Which, in the scheme of my world, isn’t that bad, but it’s still a long way!  And, I had to pick T up from school later than evening so I didn’t have time to make the drive.  But that’s okay, we talked and shared and laughed and then shared pictures of the finished project.  Now I’m going to share with you.  And, check out Erica’s blog Graced by Emilie, it’s fun to follow her life!

Awesome pick that I bought – kind of a sequined disco ball thing.

New balls and accessories to decorate the wreath.

Finished project!! Disclaimer: the sequined disco ball things look so much better in person!

Have a great week everyone! Sending good energy your way!!

30 Teenagers at IHOP

Yup, that’s what I did last night, sat with 30 teenagers at IHOP.  Yes, that just happened.  30.  I counted twice.  And do you know how much noise 30 teenagers make?  I hope you never have to find out!  But seriously, it didn’t really bother me.  First, my house has always been open to the kids.  It is not uncommon to have half a dozen or more at a time.  Second, despite the noise, they were a very polite and well-behaved group. And, they were having fun.  Nothing in this world sounds better than the laughter that emanates from kids having fun.

How did I end up at IHOP at 9 pm at night with 30 teenagers? Mr. T is in theater and last night was the opening performance of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  He attends a brand new high school, the 3rd in our district, and it’s a beautiful place, and they only admitted Freshmen and Sophomores this first year, mainly because the district we live in is a very proud, full of traditions and supportive district.  When new schools are built and the zone lines change, many parents stand in line to fill out waivers “I went here, so my child will go here.” Having said that, the theater director came over from one of the other high schools, and his students from that school have been so very supportive of the students at the new school.  Several made it to the first performance, they’ve invited them to the theatre group on FB, and they introduced our kids to the opening night (or sometimes closing night) tradition of IHOP.  I was out of town the last time this happened, and my dad took my place and got Mr. T there and he sat at a separate table and drank coffee.  I need to call my dad and tell him thank you.  Now that I know what he endured, I have a much better appreciation for what he did for me!

Here’s a snapshot I took during the performance, and one after of Mr. T and his partner in the play.  Oh, and the play was awesome!

Mr. T as Mr. Beaver. Ignore the heads in there, apparently I tend to only focus on what I’m shooting and I fail to look at everything else in the shot! Plus, I was sneaking the shot and trying not to disturb those behind me! 🙂

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver – the makeup and costumes were rocking! (Side note, this is Mr. T’s girlfriend in real life.)