Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Long, long time ago…

February 24, 2011

…in a living room far away :-). Well, okay, it was in our other house not so far away, but the older boys were little and so it does seem like it was long ago and far away from where I am today. Come with me down memory lane.

I was walking through Wal-Mart today in the magazine aisle and I saw one of my old favorites – Victoria magazine – and I leafed through it just for old times’ sake. It was then I remembered how I used to make time for me by having a cup of Irish Mocha Mint, the window open on an early spring day, and looking through the latest Victoria magazine. Ah – that was precious time indeed! The magazinewas (and still is) beautiful – beautiful houses on Cape Cod, beautiful food, beauty products – well, you get the picture. It was a break from my whirlwind days of boys, toys, and housecleaning. A break into a world of beauty and romance. I really don’t do much of that anymore. I think it’s something I need to get into again because at the core of my soul I am an incurable romantic feminine woman. A woman who loves wearing skirts and dresses, who loves dressing up to go someplace special, who loves pretty jewelry and perfume. My boys have a hard time viewing me like that, but that woman is still inside me somewhere. Maybe, now that I have a little more time again, it’s time to bring her back out. I think it’s time to find a special pleasure like my coffee and Victoria, and find some me time again. Hmmm….

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Music Monday…er…Wednesday

February 16, 2011

Today is clean up and catch up day and what makes cleaning up funner? Music, of course! So, I cracked out this fantabulous boxed set and started with disc number 7. Well, Joe said he wanted to listen to Disc 3 after that and that’s what is playing now. And as I was listening I thought – DUH – let’s talk about this set! So, let’s set it up shall we?

Back in 2008 when I was happily buying songs from the 80’s for my collection, I wanted to find a compilation album of as many of my favorites as possible. Well, those cd’s are few and far between or there aren’t that many songs on them, so I was content with building my own collection. That is until I found Like Omigod! The 80’s Pop Culture Box (Totally). It is a seven disc boxed set of most all the great songs from the 80’s with a few lesser knowns thrown in. Well, I thought about it and thought about it, but when I saw I could get it for 1/2 price at Amazon, I jumped on it. I knew I wasn’t going to find it for that price again and it would be my birthday present to myself that year. I couldn’t lose!

The day it arrived I was ecstatic and the first song I listened to was “Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Peter Schilling – remember that one?? I hadn’t heard it in over 20 years and it just seemed right to start with that one. I cranked up the volume and started dancing right away to it – I think my kids thought I was crazy. No matter, they were soon singing along every time I played it :-). I think I went through a disc a day (there are 20 songs on each disc) and it was wonderful to hear them all again.

There is a booklet that comes with this set that gives history behind the songs, also what was going on the world at that time, and lots of photos that will bring back memories and make you say, “I remember that!”. The set also starts off at about 1979 and ends with “Roam” by the B52’s which came out in 1989. The first two songs are “Whip It” and “Video Killed the Radio Star” which really characterized the start of the video generation along with the start of MTV. So, really, as you listen through the discs, you are going on a 10 year journey through music history – I really like that aspect of it.

There are 142 songs total on here so I can’t list them here, but you can go to Amazon following the above link and click on Listen To Samples to see all the songs and listen to snippets of them. Also, I don’t think it’s widely available anymore, but you can still find it used at places like Amazon and Ebay, and sometimes at your local used game/video/record stores if you’re lucky. That makes me even happier that I bought it when I did because it really is a collector item which makes it one of the best purchases I ever made! Take a look and enjoy! Now, if only there was a 1980’s video collection somewhere – still waiting for that to happen.

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Weekend Gallery

February 13, 2011

I think it’s been awhile since I put up a Weekend Gallery so I’m going to put a picture or two up from some events from the last few months that I’ve not blogged about – November and December were rough months around here. Without further ado – Weekend Gallery.

Maggie turned 10 in October

Becky and Katie turned 7 in November

Christmas Haul!

Elves Matt, Jeff, and Chris brought this for the family

Helping Dad with the dishes.

Maggie sitting on a snow monolith Feb 12 2011 - still plenty on the ground.

Stand By Your (Snow) Man - Becky made this one

Joe's Omelet Recipe - He did a good job of cooking it too. He was inspired after watching Worst Cooks in America

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Blizzard 2011 Take 2

February 12, 2011

Yes indeedy, we got more snow this week – another 12-15 inches on top of the other 12-15 inches we got the week before. It seems more like the North Pole here lately – especially when temps get to 20 below zero! I took some more pictures and here’s the dig out Tuesday afternoon once the snow had stopped. Enjoy!

Looking out the front door and down the steps. Wait a minute - where's the steps??

Okay, the door is open now - let's find those stairs!

Mike found the first step!

I think he found another step!

All uncovered! Now to make a path to the van.

A lot more snow covered the van this time. We had to sweep the roof off.

The big pile of snow between us and our neighbors.

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Snow Humor

February 11, 2011

Overheard at lunchtime Tuesday:

Katie: I can’t wait to go outside and eat some snow!

Me: I wouldn’t eat the snow.

Maggie: Yeah, you don’t know where it’s been!

Becky: The sky?!

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Yes, it really was that cold this morning!

February 10, 2011

When I got up this morning, the local news channel was reporting that the temp in our town was 25 below zero. Yeah right, I thought – the town thermometer is broken again. However, once it got light out I did look at our outside thermometer and indeed it said -20!! YIKES! Who knew it would ever be that cold here!! We also received another foot of snow yesterday and we are buried again. I’ll add pictures later when I can get in the office again – it’s way too cold in there now (I’m borrowing Jeff and Chris’ computer at the moment). Anyway – hope you are warm and snug and comfy wherever you live! I can’t wait for this weekend when we’ll have spring like warmth. Bring it on baby!

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Music Monday

February 7, 2011

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blizzard pics for some talk about music. :-)

Many moons ago I started listening to music at night as a way of helping me go to sleep. I had a little portable radio and it was perfect in our London flat. The year we moved back to the states, I asked for a stereo system. Do you remember those? It had a record player, a radio, and (I think) a cassette player. Everything I could want. I had already started collecting 45’s and now my collection was about to really grow. I spent alot of time with that stereo listening to music in my room and daydreaming my days away as only a teenage girl can.

The years went by and I moved out on my own and my stereo and now 300 count singles collection went with me. Whenever I was down, I played my favorite songs to listen to, sing to, cry to. Music has always had a place in my heart since I started listening to it, and even more so now that I was on my own and making my way through the world by myself.

More years went by and I married and then started to have children. Once the kids came along I was too busy to spend time sitting around with my stereo daydreaming and so my music went by the wayside for a few years. Then, one day, a few years down the road, I started listening to the radio again and I started to pull my records out again and listening to them. Well, trying to listen to them. My singles were mostly scratched and dusty and did not play well anymore – if at all. One day I made the decision to put them on the curb because, “I don’t really need them anymore”. Some of the songs only served to remind me of time and relationships gone by and I didn’t want to re-live that anymore. Or so I thought. Not to mention that cd’s had started to arrived – a whole new type of record – so out those singles went. All 300 of them. *sigh*

When I started to listen to music again, I also started to go to vintage record stores to pick up cd’s of albums I once had and started listening to them again. Those cd’s were like little time capsules – could pop one in and go back in time to a place I had long forgotten. It was again soothing to me. I decided to start collecting my favorites again so I’d have them to listen to. Some days I pined away for those singles I put on the curb, but there was no way to get them back. Not yet.

More years go by and technology had bumped up a notch and now there was digital music. It is amazing to me how far all this has come and now we can put hundreds of songs on little tiny players instead of dragging around big boom boxes (raise your hand if you remember those – hehe). One day I decided to check out Napster to see what all the buzz was about and found that I could replace my singles by buying mp3’s of the songs!! And so the collecting started once again not denying my inner self who put all she had into those songs – memories, emotions, dreams – it’s all there. My first act was to start replacing my 80’s collection and over the last few years I have pulled together a good collection of my favorites from that time. It is wonderful to hear those songs again and memories (and tears) come spilling out when I hear some of them for the first time in 20 or more years.

After I collected my songs I wanted to get them off my computer and in a format I could take with me so I had the kids show me how to burn cd’s. Well, that’s easy! Now I not only know how to burn cd’s but also to sync the music to my mp3 player. It’s not quite like having singles stacked on a spindle on a record player, but it works. My new “albums” have names like “Mom’s Music” and “80’s Summer Mix” and it is so much fun singing along in the car to all my singles again.

Where is all this leading to you might ask? Well, a few months ago I lost someone special to me and it has been really hard to deal with. So, what did I do? I put all my mp3’s on my player one day and that night I put on the headset and listened to my music – just like I used to do all those eons ago when I was younger. It has been therapeutic for me to do this and I can think, cry, and sometimes just listen to the music and words without thinking about anything at all.

So now it seems it has all come full circle and I am good with that. It is fitting and right to do that again.

If you’re wondering, I’m mostly done collecting my 80’s songs and I’m ready to move on to the next decade – the 70’s. Disco will live again – bwahahahaha!

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Weight Loss Goal Progress

February 3, 2011

I thought I’d update as each month passes as to how I’m doing on my weight loss goals for the year. As you know my goal is to lose 60lbs in 12 months and I’m taking small steps to get there. I want to find out where my problems are and make the necessary changes in habits that will stick for life. Am I still going to eat chocolate? You bet! Am I still going to enjoy coffee and other foods? Yes – food isn’t the enemy (most of the time anyway), it is necessary for survival. It’s just that some of us use food in ways we’re not supposed to. I have used chocolate as a way to block pain in much the same way as an alcoholic does. Luckily that habit is on the way out. When I made the connection last year of what I was doing, I was able to finally stop. Every once in a while I’ll have chocolate as a way to make me feel better, but more often than not I eat it to enjoy it.

Also, for a long time I haven’t eaten as much food as I should and my body is hanging on to everything I put into it. So, that’s another thing that needs to change. I actually kept track of my eating last August and it was amazing to me how little I ate and how poorly I ate. So, I know that needs an overhaul.

I need to drink more water and that’s been a real challenge for me, but that’s the FIRST thing I’m working on. If I have bottles of water in the house I’m more likely to drink so I either need to keep more bottles of water in the house or get a cup that is like a water bottle that I can drink out of easier. I don’t know why this is, but I need to go with what works right now.

I did start exercising a week ago – yay! I decided to get exercise dvd’s from Netflix and have a variety so I don’t get stuck in just one. I started with Leslie Sansone’s Walk At Home 5 Day Slim Down. It is really good and the basic 1 mile walk is very simple which is great for a beginner like me. You can mix and match the workouts to your heart’s content as you make progress too. She is about my age as well – a definite added bonus in my book – I want to see someone my age looking good, staying healthy, and encouraging me along the way. Now, I admit I didn’t exercise for a few days, but today I jumped back in and feel so much better! So, this may be an exercise program I can stick with. I used to have these fantastic Esquire vhs tapes called Great Body Workout and they were really good – very similar to what Leslie Sansone does. However, when they remade them for dvd they were not the originals and so once our vcr was replaced with the dvd player that was the end of that. I’ve never found anything I liked until now. SO, I’ll keep you posted on how this goes.

I also took out Sansone’s book Eat Smart Walk Strong and I may invest in that one. She helps you find your problem areas with eating and build better habits over time. That is just what I’m looking for!

I also started taking Vitamin D3 and I think that is helping too. I really think I have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in the winter and it probably is lack of Vitamin D to some extent. I found a liquid version that doesn’t taste too bad so I’m giving it a one month test to see if it really makes a difference and then stick with it if it does. I do need to start taking my B vitamins again as well – that would probably help with energy until can get my food habits more on track.

Okay, I think that’s all the news on that front. I’ll keep updating so that I have a record of my thoughts and progress along the way and also to encourage you if you are walking the same road as I am. Oh, and for what it’s worth I haven’t lost any weight yet, but I’m also just beginning so I’m not going to worry about it. At least I’m maintaining my weight and I’m okay with that. What I am losing is bad habits and that’s a start!

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Blizzard 2011

February 2, 2011

Yesterday Feb 1, 2011 was quite an historic day here and I’ve got the pictures to prove it. Drifts in our backyard are really deep and I think Jeff and I may be intrepid enough to wade through it this afternoon. For about 4 seconds maybe – it is COLD out there baby!
The snow started overnight and then really began in earnest after dawn with a brutal wind helping to swirl the snow into little whirlwinds and drift it into unusual patterns. We watched the snow piling up in the yards all day and marvelled at the beauty of it. At one point I measured a drift next to the back door and it was 9″ deep just to the first step! There was still snow on the ruler and we looked at the sparkling ice crystals on it – a very dry snow yet but beautiful. That is one thing about nature – it can be mesmerizing, beautiful, amazing and yet so terribly dangerous all at the same time.

Luckily we didn’t lose power or satellite and now the battle is on to make sure that no pipes freeze. I’ll be keeping water faucets dripping overnight as the temps dip to below zero. Say a prayer for us on that front!

College classes were cancelled, Mike’s office was closed for the day, and Matt is 40 miles downstream in a hotel so that he can get to work. I have to say, I’m not thrilled about his getting out and about on the roads Thursday, but the main highways should be cleared. We’ll see. I’m envious though – a two night hotel stay sounds like a vacation to me!

So, it’s going to be a long week or two with snow on the ground, but as long as I can get out this weekend to get more food in the house I’ll be okay. I’m counting down the days to March when warmer weather arrives. In the meantime, here are the pictures I took yesterday.

Here is the snow drift that is against the door - made sure to open the door carefully so we could see how high it would get over the course of the day.

This is looking from our office to the gate - it was 9am.

Two cinder blocks half covered in snow with elf hats - that was interesting.

The snow is drifting deeper against the door now.

The cinder blocks are now covered

And the grill awaits the return of spring.

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