The Downside to Exercising...

LESS TIME FOR READING!!!

Wahhh... I have barely read in the last week! I finished my last book on April 17 and just started a new one today. Well, I tried starting it on Saturday but read about 2 pages and passed out asleep on top of the book. I was going to start The Sunday List of Dreams... one of the community boards that I joined on SparkPeople is a bookclub and that was their choice for April. As I already had the book sitting here at home, I thought now would be a good time to read it. HA! Fates are playing a trick on me. The damn book sat in one spot for months!!! Then I pull it out to read it and the freakin' thing disappears!!! I kid you not! Gone... vanished!

So I decided to go with a series that has been a favorite of mine recently... Sookie Stackhouse. I am reading Dead as a Doornail. The only problem is that after my dismal attempt to start it on Saturday night, I have had no time to read at all!!! So today I was determined to MAKE time. I went to the mall for a haircut and afterwards went to B&N for lunch and some much needed reading time. It felt so good just to sit there with a book in my hands and lose myself in someone else's world. Gawd, I have missed that.

Then after coming home... I was almost feeling down that I hadn't gotten a bike ride in today. It was 70 degrees when I left for the mall and by the time I came home it was in the 50's, gray and drizzly. What I wanted to make for dinner was missing one ingredient... I was going to drive to the grocery store and then after a quick check outside decided to bike there. The girls even came with me. On the way there it was fine... but on the way home it started to drizzle. But the funny thing was... it felt great! Even the girls had fun... we were riding our bikes in the rain. People probably thought we were nuts! But, you know what... I still managed to get in a 30 minute bike ride today! Woo Hoo!

So now I am off to bed... with my book... and lets hope this time, I make it past two pages.

Good things:
1. A fresh new haircut (that I actually like!)
2. Quiet reading time at B&N
3. Riding in the rain

Snowy Day in April...

Remember back on February 2...when the groundhog (take your pick) came out of his hole and if he saw his shadow we would have 6 more weeks of winter (which is what our local groundhog did) or if he didn't see his shadow, we would have an early spring (which is what happened to Punxatawney Phil). Well, either way early spring or 6 more weeks of winter... both have passed! February 2 was 9 weeks ago!! We should definitely be into spring by now... enjoying the tulips and daffodils poking their heads thru the sun warmed dirt.

But not this year... oh no... we had to get a freak snowstorm that dumped at least 8 inches on us. I didn't hear any totals yesterday but I did have to drive in it. After getting stuck in my driveway (which this winter was almost unheard of... we bought great tires for the van), I then had to traverse the roads and only go 1.5 miles away. But the road was horrible!! And the more well traveled 4 lane road wasn't any better... all I had were two little tire tracks to the pavement to follow. I am not normally a "fraidy cat" when it comes to winter travel... hell, you should've seen me take the road when I was trying to get to the airport during our first snowstorm of the year on Dec 1st. I was trekking down the interstate then. Of course, I was trying to leave town then and nothing was going to stop me whereas, yesterday I was just trying to take K2 to a friend's house for the afternoon.... yeah, nothing in it for me. Although when I picked her up a few hours later, the roads weren't much better and I said "to hell with it"... if I had to be out driving in that crap than I was going to get something out of it for myself so we did a trip to the library to pick up some holds and then stopped at Starbucks. Funny how I hated driving in the slop for 2 miles but then extended my trip to 10 miles to get a little enjoyment out of it.


But I will admit that it was very pretty outside... the snowfall was one of those big wet heavy snows that just covers everything. Yeah, it was purdy... but I also knew looking at it that I wouldn't have to look at it for very long. Barely any time for it to turn to that grey sludge that most snow on the road turns into. Today the temps hit 40 degrees and the snow is already well on its way to melting.

What a Beautiful Weekend!

In the reality of what my friend is facing with losing her great-niece, I was reminded how lucky I am to have healthy, happy children. I tried to focus on that this weekend and just watch and enjoy them.

The weather was perfect... warm 60's yesterday and reaching into the mid 70's today. K2 had a girl scout fitness program yesterday that I didn't have to chaperone. I dropped K1 off at the library to work on his research paper and K3 and I went to my favorite hangout... Barnes and Noble. I bought her a new book, Amelia's 6th Grade Notebook, her new favorite series (at least this week) and a cool bookmark that helps her keep track of her reading minutes. Then we went down to the cafe to have lunch... I can't resist those Turkey, Cheese, Chipotle Panini sandwiches! K3 had a frapuccino and I had iced tea. Then it was time to pick up K1 at the library and take him for a haircut. My preference short!... his preference long (basically take it back up out of his eyes). So I thought to myself... how horrible is it really for his hair to be longer? Is this really worth fighting over? Nah... there will be other fights that I will need to enforce my will... this really doesn't have to be one of them. So when he sat in the chair and she asked how "we" wanted it cut... I told her, "It's his hair.. ask him." The final result... it's not horrible... I really do prefer it short but my little boy is growing up... have to let him "win" some.

Today was even more glorious than the yesterday. Yesterday the kids did manage to find some time to play outside. This morning K1 said to me, "I discovered playing outside." When I asked him what he meant, he said how good it felt to be outside playing and goofing around with his sisters. So after a late breakfast, they were back at it.... climbing trees, playing mini-tennis on the driveway, riding scooters and running like loons throughout the (1 acre) yard. And when K1 and J ran to do errands, I was even invited to play tennis with K2. Normally, I would have declined using dishes or something as an excuse, but not today... today I rejoiced in being able to play with my kids.

In honor of the great weather, we did steaks on the grill and enjoyed a great dinner. Then afterward, despite it being dark, J and I went for a walk. The temps were still in the 70's at 8:00p.m.!! Now my kids are all settled for the night, I Revvved (finally!), showered and am sitting back with a mug of green tea. I am lucky and completely blessed... I have my health... 3 fantastic children... a husband who completely loves me... really... what more do I need?

Well, maybe a piece of chocolate... :)

LIFE... it's a Good Thing!

Let it Snow... Let it Snow... Let it Snow!!!

Normally I would not be jumping up and down at receiving over 12 inches of snow but we haven't had that much snow this winter and the last time it snowed this much I was trying to leave town (which I did thru some determination and some AWESOME friends!) so I didn't get to enjoy(??) it. But this time, it fell on a weekend...J's boss took the trip this week so he was home and in all honesty it was really very pretty.

But due to the amounts that fell, we all went out to shovel and it took us 3 hours and it still wasn't done (a little remains yet). This is the joy of having a foot of snow fall on a driveway that is 4000 square feet (one square of it being 40 ft X 40 ft). The temps were actually very mild... I was out in just a turtleneck and sweatshirt. The worst part however was the entrance to the driveway where the plows had piled up the snow 3 ft deep... J, K1 and I took turns at tearing that lovely work down.

The kids never complained the whole time we were out there and actually had some benefit from it. They built a snow fort right outside our backdoor. They used to do this when they were younger but we haven't had enough snow in the last couple of years at any one time for them to build one. This year... no problem.

Here are some pics of our snowfall and their fort... Enjoy!






Our mailbox which sits 52 inches off the ground... thanks to the snow plows it is now almost buried (I suck at editing photos..)













K2 adding a second entry (or escape route???) to the snow fort.

















K3 do some cleanup work on the sidewalk and adding more snow to their fortress.

My Book Store Trip...

The kids are home from school today because of the cold weather...quite stupid is you ask me. If they were going to cancel school, yesterday was the day that it should've been canceled...however, our school district was only 1 of about 3 that were open. The rest of them in the surrounding 5 counties were closed. Temps were -2 for a high and windchills were -30. Plus, did I mention that the buses were running 20-30 min late...yeah, I was not a happy camper yesterday. I seriously think that they canceled school today to make up for yesterday (although there are quite a few schools canceled today as well). My guess is that they received lots of phone calls from irate parents. For me, it doesn't really matter all that much... my kids get to watch for the bus from inside the house... our back door offers a nice view of the road that the bus comes down. So really they are not outside for very long.

Since I had to go outside to take K2 to a friend's house, I decided to make the most of it and hit some bookstores. First stop was B&N... I had to get my Chai after all. I mostly looked around...I thought the new Lori Foster book was out today but didn't see it. Then I found two of the Darcy books, Mr. Darcy's Daughters and Exploits and Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy on the clearance rack. I had been looking at them at Target but instead was able to buy them both for under $5.00 each... not bad.

I am also on the hunt for some books for a woman in England. She very kindly offered to buy a book that my K2 desperately wants but isn't published here in the States yet. All she asked in return was the same kindness. No problem! I love book shopping and seriously don't need to buy any more for myself. So shopping for someone else... that I can do! I found a few of the titles on her list but decided I would stop at Half Price books on the way home.

I ended my B&N shopping trip with a sandwich and Chai latte in their cafe... very nice...no kids...some seriously needed quiet time!

My next stop was Half Price books. I found a few more titles from A's list but picked up the two that I have not been able to find new in the stores... they are older and are probably special order ones. I also found a book that Farmwifetwo mentioned on her blog, Rumble on the Bayou. It seemed interesting and since I didn't have to pay the new book price, I grabbed that one too. Plus, I took a small bag of books, mostly children ones, in to sell to them. I was offered $8 for what I took in and was pleased with that. So my shopping trip here only cost me $1.15.

So three books for me... two to send out to a British friend... a good day.

Winter Blahs...

I don't know if it is winter in general or more specifically the arctic cold temps that we have had for a few days but I have felt like crap lately. I'm moody and just hate it. Little things have just set me off lately. I am trying to focus on the positive to try to draw myself out of this funk.

On Suz's BB, I am sure there are people complaining about my cheerleader attitude this week but so what. I have recieved lots of encouragement from some of those ladies in the past (and still do) but I rarely post back any support. I am hoping that by reading every post and replying back with something positive that I can come away with feeling better too. Don't you feel better when something you say or do makes someone else smile?

I have also been thinking alot about friendships lately... why some friendships work and others fail. I have some friendships that are over 20 years old, a friend from high school that we have fallen to just sending Christmas cards to and three from college (two of those from my first days of dorm life). Two of these live fairly close and yet we see each other only a couple times a year usually at one of our kids birthdays. The third college friend lives 3 hours away but we talk weekly and see each other once sometimes twice a year. Then I have newer friends who I have known less than a year, with a couple having become extremely important to me.

When a friendship ends or goes thru rocky periods how does it affect you? For me... I usually end up blaming myself...going thru lots of self-doubts wondering what it was I did, what could I have done differently. There tend to be lots of tears and emotional upheaval. However, I am coming to the realization that sometimes it isn't just me...sometimes it's the other friend or a combination of the two. But trust once trampled on is very hard to replace...especially with no explanation offered.

I know that I have lots of work to do in being a better friend. I worry too much about saying the wrong thing that lots of times I say nothing and this too may send out a message that I don't care. I don't consider myself a great communicator and really need to work on that... maybe that will help too.

There is a website called 43 Things where they encourage you to list 43 things/goals that you want to do. They can be long term, short term... whatever you want. On my list, two of my items involve friendships. I just need to figure out which ones require work... and which ones are worth putting the effort into...

Here's Hoping that Famous Rodent is Right!

Today Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow which is supposed to mean an early spring. HA! Tell that to the weather gods... arctic blast is headed our way. Today's high is supposed to be 11° today and it goes downhill from here... In fact, Monday our high is supposed to be -2° ... yes, you heard me right! That is supposed to be our HIGH for the day! I couldn't wait for February but holy cannoli... not if it's going to have temps like this all freakin' month... I want a do-over!