Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

I’m Going To Take All Year

January 1, 2016

It’s January 1 and we all know what January means – resolutions and goals. Especially weight loss and get healthy resolutions and goals. I even downloaded a free book on Kindle Unlimited about goal setting. Good grief – like about 20 goals to work on over 3 months?? I’ll be returning that book!

My caveat to resolutions is this – you are making new YEAR’s resolution – shouldn’t it take all year and not one, two, three or six months? Aren’t we supposed to be making permanent changes to how we live? Yes? Well then, I’m going to take a different approach this year and it’s called the Take All Year approach. Yes, you heard that right – ALL YEAR. Here’s the basic outline:
- Get Healthier
- Lose the Anger
- Declutter/Deep Clean The House
The “plan” for healthier eating is simply make better choices each day. I may pull my old food mover out to help make sure I’m eating all the right things each day, but no calorie tracking stuff – it just doesn’t work for me. I’m also going to read Health at Every Size. I heard about it on a blog from a woman who has gone through weight loss surgery. She figured out why she ate so much, she started accepting who she was, and made small changes with regards to what she ate. I know why I eat the way I do so it’s time to change, and each day can be an opportunity to that change and make better choices for my body and mind.

Speaking of mind, there’s that anger thing. I’ve been in the angry stage of grief for awhile and it’s time to move on. I have found a workbook which I’ll work through (all year) and a couple of other books to read for help as well. And since this is the Year of Mercy I think this could be an opposite virtue to the vice of anger so I will find ways to practice mercy throughout the year. Again, no big changes but making one small choice a day.

As far as decluttering and deep cleaning the house I’ll have all year to work on it! I know it’s going to take time and I’ve got plenty of time to do it. I know how to do it – I just need to get it done. Well, yeah, I know the actual housecleaning is never done but you know what I mean.

So that’s it. I guess if I had to pick a word for 2016 it would be change, but then that should be the process as we go along in life right? Nothing is static – life is always changing and we must change as well. I think it’s called growth. Maybe that should be my word for 2016.

So, welcome 2016 and may the new year and all the new years to come be good ones for us ALL on this earth. We’ve got way too much hatred around here lately – let’s cultivate peace whenever and however we can.

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Still In Christmas Mode

December 29, 2015

And we will be until January 6. Yes, we are those crazy traditional people who keep the 12 Days of Christmas. There is something really special about keeping Advent the time of preparation and slowly adding all the other things in as we approach the great feast day itself. We decided to get our tree on the fourth Sunday of Advent this year and I think that was a good call. It was a week before Christmas so the excitement was grand and I was ready to start preparing more intensely by then.

Christmas Morning was lovely. The last two years the gifts have been very intimate to my thinking. A real true family Christmas that only we could share in.

Now we’re just relaxing and enjoying the warm glow of the Christmas season. Eating treats, playing and talking together, and napping on a cold wintry afternoon that wasn’t good for much else. Soon enough the two out of town boys will pack up and head to their own homes. School will begin again and the whirl of ordinary time – spiritually and secularly – will begin again after Epiphany.

So I will enjoy these days for the coziness and warmth they bring while we have them. Time goes by fast enough – we need to enjoy the time we have now and not worry about what’s going to happen (for we don’t really know anyway do we) and not dwell on mistakes of the past which can make us sad and hopeless. No, let’s dwell in the present as much as we can and enjoy the season of Christmas.

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Christmas Throwback

December 17, 2015

There are many Christmases that stick in my mind as being memorable, but the one Christmas when I was 9 was one of the best.

That Christmas all I wanted was the Dawn Beauty Pageant – it was to me what the Daisy BB Gun was to Ralph Parker. I wished and hoped so hard that I would get it. The commercials on tv probably helped fuel that desire.

On Christmas morning, my brothers and I were up at the crack of dawn and around 6:30 we snuck out to the tree to see what Santa had left. And THERE IT WAS! All set up and ready to play with – that beloved Dawn Beauty Pageant!! I screamed my head off in excitement and I think my mom wanted to wring my head off for waking her up after probably only a few hours of sleep. Hehe – sorry Mom.

I played and played with that pageant all day long. I even received extra dolls and doll clothes as well. It was glorious! A few months later when we left for London, England (my dad was transferred), it went with me. It was one of my favorite gifts and toys I’d ever received. Just thinking of it makes me cry for two reasons: 1) my child’s wish came true and 2) I miss my dad so much at this time of year. He loved Christmas and was always so joyful it was hard not to catch his enthusiasm. He even decorated the tree putting his Santa ornament on at the very top as always.

So, today, I’m remembering that Christmas and also remembering my dad. Love you and miss you.

P.S. Sorry – you’ll have to google Dawn Beauty Pageant to see pictures of it. I was hoping to find some stock picture to add here, but I couldn’t.

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Advent Music Monday

December 7, 2015

That’s right – Advent – we’re not to Christmas Season yet. The Christmas season begins at Midnight at the juncture of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. If you do Advent you know that yesterday was the second Sunday and the second candle on the wreath has now been lit.

Let’s start the season off with O Come O Come Emmanuel because it is THE Advent hymn. It is like a prayer as well – a prayer uttered by the Israelites as they waited for the Messiah to come. It is a prayer uttered by Christians today as we wait for the Second Coming of Christ. And somehow, this year, maybe we’re praying it a little more deeply given the goings on of late.

O Come O Come Emmanuel was prayed as the O Antiphons in monasteries and convents with a Latin text as early as the 12th century. Whoever wrote it goes unnamed. A couple hundred years later the melody as we know it was added and in 1851 John Mason Neale translated the words from Latin to English.

The O Antiphons start December 17 and go through December 23. Each day we reflect on a different name of the Savior and also the patriarchs of the past – kind of like a mini geneaology if you will. So only one verse is sung and we add another each day. These also coincide with the fourth Sunday of Advent – the last week of preparation before Christmas when the excitement and anticipation of Christmas abounds.

The words here are the traditional ones I’ve always known, and the hymn is richer to me now than it ever was. Sing and pray with me now.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

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The Twins Are 12

November 25, 2015

I’m sitting around this morning crying because all of my children are now either teens or young adults. My “babies” are now 12 and it is hitting me really hard. Don’t get me wrong I love my kids as teens and adults – you can have a real conversation with them, shopping with them is now fun, and you can share movies and books that you enjoyed when you were that age. Nevertheless I do miss the sweet smell of a newborn. I miss carrying babies with their little heads resting on my shoulder deep in sleep. I miss their sweet baby toes and giggles. I even miss the busy toddler stage where everything was new and exciting and “no” was the big new word they liked to toss around.

All too soon though, they grow, start more formal schooling, grow some more and BAM there it is. Teens. And just when you’re getting good at that stage – BAM – they move out and on to college, jobs, and travels. Sigh. It really does go fast.

So, while my daughters are celebrating being big girls now, I’ll be remembering days gone by. Yes, I have had eight children and you’d think I’d had my fill (and some days I do feel like that), but overall it’s not true. I love them all and I’m so very glad I had them all.

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Weekend Gallery

November 22, 2015

Welcome to Weekend Gallery – where I post pictures of things that are happening in my life or pictures of weird crap I see in stores. Shall we?

Here we have the tale of two Kens…

This one is Suave Ken – almost reminds me of the 1980’s!

And this is Geek Ken. The tie’s not bad actually.

See that cheese guy on the box? Doesn’t he look an awful lot like Spongebob? Or maybe he’s just trying to look like Suave Ken.

I actually thought these were cute – Ninjabread Men! My daughters want me to get them. I dunno – every time I let them decorate gingerbread men we always end up with ones that are missing limbs or zombies. (Actually – I don’t mind.)

Ah – Darth Vader and Stormtroopers! My oldest daughter put the arms up like that. Whoo – go Darth!

And now a couple of items for those who enjoy playing video games.

Animal Crossing Amibos! From left to right we have Cyrus, KK, and Reese. I’ve also seen Mable and Sable around as well. I have to say I love Animal Crossing! We got the first game in January of 2004 for the Gamecube and there hasn’t been a year when someone has not been playing some version of it. In particular, I have really enjoyed it – lots to do and it’s not ompetitive.

And last, Baby Mario and Luigi – awwwww aren’t they cute? My kids played Yoshi’s Island for awhile. The music was really good and it was just a really sweet game. Except for that fuzzy part – blech – made me dizzy just watching it.

There you have it – a little bit of everything. Stay tuned for more from Oh Crap land!

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Wednesday Wisdom

November 18, 2015

Today’s quote is from “A Little Princess” written by Frances Hodgson Burnett and is timely seeing how Thanksgiving and Christmas are almost upon us.

“If Nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that.”

In other words, even when you have nothing physical to give, you can give out of the capacity of your heart. This could be time spent with a lonely person. Or helping someone across a street or getting them something from a high shelf at Walmart. Little acts of kindness can really mean a lot. We usually equate giving with actual things, but sometimes the thing is intangible but means infinitely more.

So, let’s remember to give what we have when we can this holiday season. Even if all you can put in the Salvation Army bucket is a dollar, remember that if 100,000 people each give a dollar then that’s $100,000. Your dollar combines with the others to make a lot. It’s all good. I’ll end with a familiar nursery rhyme that wraps up this sentiment:

Christmas is coming
The goose is getting fat
Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat
If you haven’t got a penny
A ha-penny will do
If you haven’t got a ha-penny, then God Bless You.

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Weekend Gallery

November 15, 2015

I’m going to call this the “you gotta be kidding me!” edition. Over the last two weeks my kids and I have seen more stupid Frozen stuff than I would like to look at in a lifetime. In fact, one Frozen item is two much – the movie was out 2 years ago for cripes sake – who the hell cares anymore???!!! My disclaimer – this stuff makes for good blog fodder. Roll ’em – and pass the antacids.

Kleenex. Oh and if you look on the box they are “cool touch” – just like Elsa. *oh snap*

Okay, here’s the promised string cheese picture. Each cheese stick package features a different character. Spare me.

Bagels – did I show you the bagels?

Did you see that they are BLUE? OMG…

Frozen Yogurt – HA – see what I did there? Better hang on because it’s getting worse people. How about…

CHICKEN NUGGETS!! In frosty Frozen shapes.

And the piece de resistance – Pasta and peas!! Really? REALLY?? Be thankful I didn’t take pictures of the Olaf pasta shape stuff. I wish he’d just melt away but unlike Frosty never be back again any day.

Well folks, that’s enough of the Frozen stuff – NO MORE! And I mean both on my blog, but more importantly, on the local store shelves. As if.

Next week will be fun stuff – I do so enjoy finding weird stuff and also cool stuff to take photos of. Come back when you can.

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A Tuesday in November

November 3, 2015

I’ve been enjoying the wonderful fall weather we have been having lately. The temps have been cool to almost cold and on really nice days, the sun comes out showing the tree plumage off in all its glory. Fall has become one of my favorite seasons although November comes with a price. For Catholics it is a time to remember the saints and the souls. For our family we mourn the loss of a brother and father. On a more personal level, there was the loss of a wonderful man who gave so much to so many.

Lately I have been watching a lot of Nigella Lawson’s old shows. I watched all the Season 2 episodes of Nigella Bites and now I’m going through her Feasts shows. The ones I want to watch the most at this time of year are the Christmas Kitchen episodes but they are not online anymore and no cooking channels show them which is a pity. They were amazing and it really fired you up with your own ideas for Christmas cooking and baking and decorating. Not to mention that visually they were just plain relaxing and lovely to look at. At least I have her Christmas cookbook and I’m glad for that!

I’ve been treating myself better too and realizing that I might actually be getting to know myself and who I am by allowing myself to listen to and do things that I really like without fear of guilt or judgment. It’s about damn time!

I’m still on a roll with my own brand of self-help (which is just helping myself) without anyone else’s ideas to sway me one way or another. That has been very freeing and far less confusing. I will say Flylady’s way did help me to get uncluttered once and for all and to set and maintain some routines so that was helpful. But I graduated that and am on my own and can do it on my own. Once in a while I read all my cleaning books but realize I know how to do all those things so I just need to do it.

Relationships are something altogether different and I do need more help with those so books can be incredibly helpful – it’s just hard to find the right books and even then it’s take what you need and chuck the rest. It really has been better to me to stop relying on these outside sources to tap the wisdom inside myself. Cliche? Maybe, but we all have it.

Anyway, off to start my day with a shower then housework and school. Routines, yes, but done in my way in my time.

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October Update

October 30, 2015

So, it’s almost the end of another month and I really haven’t posted a personal update in awhile…I think. This month has been very busy especially since I chucked all my self-help book ideas out the window. It really comes down to this: do the housework, grocery shop and make the meals, wash the clothes, get school done, pay the bills, take care of and spend time with the kids. Lately I’ve figured out how to sneak in things for me like staying in my pj’s binge watching Nigella Lawson on a Sunday morning, and listening to calm jazz music while flipping through magazines while resting in bed. I’m finally giving myself permission to do these little things for myself and I feel better for it.

This month has been studded with lots of dental appointments, including daughter #3 getting four baby teeth pulled. On top of that, daughter #2 broke her glasses beyond fixing, but we were able to get in quite quickly the next week for an appointment. It has taken another two weeks, but her new glasses came in and she’s happy.

Son #4 finally got his driver license and I’ve been letting him run around on his own so he gets more confident and to give him more freedom. He is in heaven.

As for me, I just rolled up my sleeves and started getting things done instead of wondering how I was going to get it all done while not getting much done. While I’ve forgotten things this week, I am getting caught up. A side effect of this has been not snacking nearly as much and I sleep better at night. Both will help me lose weight…I hope.

On the unfortunate side, our very old van is giving us fits and I ended up walking home last Saturday while my husband biked to the van to either get it started or get some help to get it started (and of course the bloody thing started right up for him – rawr). That was after a full morning of grocery shopping and I really messed up my right foot from all that walking. After a few days of painkillers it finally eased up and it is better. I am not wearing shoes around the house at all either and I think that is helping too. Needless to say, as a mother of a large family, I cannot have problems like a bum foot or a broke down van.

I finally remembered to pick up the Halloween candy for the kids yesterday which is good because son #5 asked if there was going to be candy this year. Phew! Saved.

The Christmas Countdown has started and I have a few things done thanks to The Christmas Countdown: 30 Days To Festive Bliss by Alison May. Alison has lots of ideas like stockpiling stamps, wrapping paper, tape, and toilet paper so that you don’t run out just when you need them. So each time I go to the store I pick things up I know I’ll need and I feel secure knowing it’ll be there when I need it. Thanks Alison!

I think that’s it. Now it’s time to run along and get ready for the day. I’m running some towels, dd2 will take her shower and it’s off to the races: take ds4 to work, dd2 to her dental, and then to the eye doctor to pick up her glasses. At home it’s DIY for lunch and then school basics in the afternoon. A dinner of creamy pasta and probably drop after that. So glad it’s almost the weekend when I’ll be grocery shopping, doing the Mr. and Mrs. Claus talk with my husband, birthday shopping for one of the twins…lather, rinse, repeat.

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