This much I know.....

.......I cut my hair to look younger....I think for the most part it worked, at least that's what a lot of folks have told me. I even got BANGS. On most days I like them. My hair grows very fast and is already long enough to put in a ponytail. YEAH me!


......I try to eat well. I work out on a fairly consistent basis. Some weeks are much better than others, especially with this "winter" weather....if you don't know, I don't do cold weather!!

......I try to take care of my skin. I've been using a new product called a Galvanic Spa. It is an interesting little "gadget" that I use twice a week. I think it is working b/c my sister gave me a nice compliment on how good my skin looked. I don't need/want plastic surgery, so this is an easy way to combat some of the wear and tear life takes on your skin.

.....I try to dress nicely, not too trendy, definitely not old, not too showy, etc.....we've all seen that "older woman" who is dressing WAYYYY too young and is trying WAYYYYY too hard! I don't EVER want to be that woman!

.....I am trying to "Live in The Moment". I, like many of you, do spend too much time focusing on the past or the future, with not enough regard to the present. I am trying to focus on the here and the now and to also be a much more positive person. However, don't worry, I will still post my thoughts and smart wits here!! ha, ha

Pedometer

Do you have a pedometer? You should. It is very interesting to see how little or much you walk in a day. I'm told 7000 steps is the minimum you should do a day. Here's mine:

The cool thing about mine is that I can upload the steps to Virgin Health Miles and they keep track of it. It is an incentive program through Humana, my insurance. Another cool thing is that I earn "health cash" that I can spend......You can buy stuff through them, or they'll send you a gift card to a store of your choice (Home Depot, Target). I decided to get a Polar watch:

I paid a total of $3 for it b/c the shipping was a little more than I had earned!!!!

It is way cool b/c it tells me my heart rate, keeps track of my workouts, my weight, etc......I did turn off the sound to the heart rate b/c apparently I am running at too hard of a pace and it tells me this....but if I slow down any more, well, I'd be walking! ha, ha!!! Little also kept asking me what my watch was doing.....so, I keep going. If you find me laying on the side of the road, you'll know it is b/c I didn't listen to my watch!!!

Public vs Private School, part II

A friend and I were continuing on this discussion and her son is my daughter's age and she was asking about education and things.

I was telling her a few interesting things:

1. Kindergarten is not mandatory, and many parents look at it as free babysitting. Therefore, with that mindset, it is no wonder that there isn't parental support.
2. Many people think that kindergarten is just a social grade and there isn't much learned.
3. Many people think that kindergarten will teach them: how to tie their shoes, button, snap, colors, shapes, ABC's, etc........

With only those three things in place, it is no wonder that we have children that do enter into kindergarten and are VERY far behind.

This much I know.....

.......growing old sucks. That is great that all of these celebrities "embrace" growing old and celebrate it. Whatever, join the regular folks that don't have personal chefs, personal trainers and plenty of money in the bank!!!!

In the past, if I happened to gain a few pounds, just kick up the running a little more. So, I went to yoga almost daily over Christmas break, and have been running between 4 -6 days a week, AND doing these nifty little strength training workouts with my hubby (yes, he's still working out, I'm SOOO proud of him!)......all of this and I go to put on a pair of capris Friday and there is NO way they are going over the hips!!!! WHAT is this???? Get on the scale and ya know what? I GAINED three pounds!!!! Are you FREAKING kidding me??????? Now then, I know that it takes time, but it used to not take THAT much time and you could see SOME improvement fairly quickly.......UGHHHHH I do hate getting old and your body doesn't do what it is supposed to!!!!

Public vs Private School, part I

I think I am starting to wear my husband down. I am all about sending my daughter to private school. Why? Because I think that if you can afford it, you should. The standards are higher, your child gets the attention they need and they are pushed to their fullest attention.

But Lynette, isn't that what public education does?? Are you freaking kidding me? Heck no. Teachers and administrators are SOOOOO darn worried about the TAKS test that if you are an average to above average student, you are left to survive on your own. Why? Because everyone knows you will pass. However, if you are a needy student, then you will have hours of time devoted to you, so they can ensure you will pass and the school will look good.

I'm not saying my child will be above average, but I know she is at least smart. It isn't my job to teach her everything, however, I will support her in everything she does.

I think when she goes to kindergarten, she will be bored. I want her pushed and extended.

I did a little research about a private Christian school in our area and the tuition will be about the same monthly, that we currently pay for child care. So, we are already accustomed to paying this money, why not continue it, especially since it is for the betterment of our child?

Living in the moment

Yoga has been a part of my routine for over a year now and I truly can tell a difference in my practice. I look forward to going and I love knowing that I am doing this for me and the goodness that it has on me will effect everyone I come in contact with.

Yoga is a mind, body, spirit practice. Something that my yogi talks about is "living in the moment." You can't change what has happened yesterday, not even a moment ago; you can't determine what will happen tomorrow: therefore, don't focus on those things, focus on the moment.

Last weekend when I went to Sunday class, I was griping b/c my husband knew that I was going to go to a 2:00 class and I'm about to leave and he's like, "Well, wait b/c I'm right in the middle of blah, blah, blah....." Are you kidding me? You knew I was going to this class b/c I told you fifteen times and you see me get dressed an HOUR ago........My yogi looks at me and say, "Be glad you have him here."

Me, not paying complete attention, says, "I just wish he'd pay more attention."
Yogi, "Yes, be glad you have him."

Then a flash of lightening hits me and I realize what a dolt I am, for two reasons, 1. Live in the moment Lynette (you know you can't change him!!) 2. Her husband just left for Iraq for the YEAR!!!! She doesn't even have him around to gripe about him!

So, he ain't perfect, but he's mine and I do love him!!!

To all of you, prior to complaining about ANYTHING: LIVE IN THE MOMENT. Will your complaint change things? (I say this honestly and also to myself b/c God knows I do my fair share of complaining!) Be glad that you have someone to complain about, there are a lot of folks all alone in this world. God bless you all!!! Have an outstanding week!

New and unknown waters.....may need some HELP

The other day I was talking to my friend Brooke and she mentioned Face Book and how you can network and that it might be a good idea for my ISR. Well, I'm all about promoting ISR and teaching as many babies as possible to save their lives.

Sunday morning: wake up before Little does! Yeah for a few quiet moments. The laptop is actually next to the bed so I grab it and make the plunge...I now have a Face Book account (is that what it is called???) Not sure how it all works....have a few friends, wow, aren't I special? I do like blogging better b/c it is more creative and my home page is pretty! FB keeps giving me these options of having people be my friends...who are these folks? Do I really want to reunite with someone from junior high or high school??? Not sure.

Then Little joins me...so much for quiet time. I get a message written on my wall, "get a picture!" Ok, patience, I have to wait until nap time.

Did the picture thing, saw that I have a few more friends and added my maiden name to my profile. Don't really know what else I'm supposed to do on it. I guess that I will figure it all out. I figured out blogging, didn't I???

I'll keep you posted. If you have a FB account and want/need a new friend, let me know, I'll look ya up! :-)

Really? Is this you?

I was listening to the radio, on the way to work the other day, and they have those polls that they ask listeners to solve:
"What do 50+% (I'm making up the percentage b/c I don't remember, but it was A LOT) of women have between 7 - 10 of in their closet?"

Me, "Oh, that's a breeze, black shoes, right?" WRONG!!!!

Correct answer: new clothing with the tags on still. Really?? I don't have one item in my closet with a tag hanging on it. Seriously. When I get something new, which I LOVE to buy clothes, I immediately take the tags off of it and wash it or send it to the cleaners (if it needs dry cleaning). I am just SOOOO excited to wear whatever new item I just got....so I TRULY can't imagine taking a new outfit, hanging it in the closet and never wearing it.

So, I ask all of my blogging buddies out there, be bold, respond to my post.....do you have items in your closet with the tags still on them? If so, approximately how many? Also, WHY???? Don't you want to sport it and wear it?

Bedtime update

We have had an exciting time with bedtime for some time now.....and then things settled down and I felt a wave of relief...boy was that one short lived!!! We are back to being 2 1/2 and wanting to be a part of the world ALWAYS and that means not going to bed. She'll tell you she is tired, but doesn't want to go to ni-ni. As a parent, you try all sorts of things and I resorted to having her "rest" in my bed. Well, this was HUGE, big time fun, but within 20 - 30 minutes, she is out like a light....I move her to her bed and all is well. She'll even tell you in the morning that she goes to sleep in Mamma's bed. It isn't perfect, but she isn't yelling, screamming, beating on the door, sleeping on the floor, nada, she's just flipping and flopping around in my king size bed until she gives in to sleep. We even read first, put her baby doll in bed with her and leave the room. Weird, but it works!! :-)

Another good read!

Randy Pausch is an incredible person. I hadn't heard really much about him, just his book, The Last Lecture. This is a very easy read, broken up into a lot of small vignettes, for those busy folks out there. He is a king of multi-tasking (I think he could be my idol!) and time management. He talks about life lessons, being nice and sincere and since he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, truly knows about living in the moment. If you want an uplifting book, by all means, pick this one up. He wrote this for his three children and I think there is something in it for all of us! Enjoy!!!

Already half-way through my next book, will fill you in next week. Until then, happy page turning.

What a blog

Howdy folks,
I was flipping through blogs.....like I have spare time! And this one caught my attention. Actually, I saw the icon on a friend's list of followers and I wanted to see it up close. Anyway, if you want to save some money, and who doesn't, check it out:
http://www.littlepeoplewealth.com/

If you go to her main page, on her top tool bar are all sorts of interesting topics. Be careful, you'll end up staying awhile! Enjoy!

Easy Book

Do you have old calendars laying around? You can make a book for your child with it. Take out the staples, cut the pages in half, put two pages together (dates together, pictures out) and laminate (Kinkos) and then bind (Kinkos) and taaaadaaaa, you have a book. Wordless books are great b/c it allows your child to make up stories and you can discuss the pictures, too. Here is one example:

Going green...or at least greener

Allow me to get up on my soap box for a moment or two.
How green are you? Do you care? You should...why? Because it directly affects your health and everyone else's health and this thing called the EARTH that we ALL live on and should care about and should take better care of, ESPECIALLY if we have children, neices/nephews, etc.....get the idea?

Some people do better than others. I myself try....but still struggle with certain things. I take the re-usable bags to the grocery store (most of the time), but somehow forget to take it to other stores.

I am using cloth diapers on my child 85 - 90% of the time. Is it a pain, sometimes, but I just think of the money I am saving!!!!!

I buy organic products for many household items. Sometimes it is more expensive and I have to debate whether the extra cost is worth it. Most of the time I go with it, especially when it directly affects my health: food and femine products.

Have you changed your light bulbs to those curly ones? Money saver.

Do you unplug most of your appliance (even your phone charger) when not in use? Money saver.

Have you changed your statements to email rather than regular paper mail delivery? Saves time for you opening the mail, saves paper, safer b/c you aren't throwing sensitive information in the trash.

Here is a way cool website that I was forwarded that many of you might find useful. It has a downloadable chart for fruits and veggies: http://www.foodnews.org/. If you've never considered buying organic fruits and veggies, you really should. If you don't know a lot about the whys, read this website for a lot of GREAT information that should inform you and help you make more educated choices.

Recyling: JUST DO IT!!!! If there isn't recycling in your area, you can at least do cans & newspapers. Most schools have the yellow bins for newspapers. You can find a can recycling place near by...it isn't a lot of jingle in your pocket, but until I hear that you are a millionare and don't need that extra change, everything helps. Or, if you know someone that does save cans, save them for that person and ask the person to come by everyonce in ahwile to pick up the bag...I bet they will. Same goes for plastics. My grandmother, bless her heart, has a bin for plastics...and they don't recycle in her community. But, she knows enough people that she can give her recycling to and they add it to their bins. If you live near me, you can do this with me, I don't mind AT ALL!!!

Recycling also means donating items to schools (drama departments love formals and other types of clothing) and Goodwill. Many, many items we throw out can be used/sold again. One man's trash, is another man's treasure. Have a community garage sale and then take the remaining items to Goodwill.

We are filling our land fills with items that can be re-used and recycled. Take the time to make our world a better place.

These are just a few easy things that I do, and think most folks can incorporate into their busy lives. Ok, that's it for now. I'll get off of my soapbox!!

Working out....

.....a lot of folks get on the workout bandwagon at the beginning of the year, and my husband did, too. I run/jog, but not as consistantly as I should or would like. The cold weather doesn't help, b/c I HATE cold weather and if it is windy...well, just count me OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we've been running together which is a challenge for both of us b/c he is faster than me and I like to run farther than him.

Monday he came up with an idea to "mix-it up" and keep him interested (aka: motivated). We decided to run sprints around our block (approximately 2/10ths of a mile). Side note: I am NOT a fast runner!!!). The first lap was hard only b/c you aren't warmed up....laps 2 - 4, not too bad (except that there is one short hill, but it is still a hill)....laps 5 -6: HELLLLLLLL!!!!!!! OMG, I SO wanted to walk, but we were timing each lap and had to shave 5 seconds off of each lap, or you had to run an extra lap....I know he did this thinking that I wouldn't make it...but I did!!! YEAH me.

I'll keep ya posted on how long his training lasts....I really hope he sticks with it. I'm trying to convince him to do some yoga, but he hasn't bought into that yet!!!

Stupid Proof

Ok, I think we have gone TOOO far when it comes to "stupid proofing" things.....do you need someone to tell you the coffee is hot? to take the sun shade down prior to driving? This one is the most recent one I've found. This is my daily breakfast (no comments from the peanut gallery necessary!):

This is what it says on the back (I know you can't read it, but it was the best I could do with my camera phone!) :"TO OPEN LIFT SEAL AND TEAR"

Do we really need directions how to open up a breakfast bar?????? What is the world coming to??????

HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, time has flown by......I just can't believe it. Here we were 3 years ago....




....and here we were this weekend.
My very non-romantic husband surprised me with a night at Gruene Mansion Inn. We played tourists, went to my FAVORITE restaurant, Gruene River Grill, and had a very nice romantic evening. The room was fantastic:




The only downfall to the room was the winding staircase.......the bathroom was downstairs and the bedroom upstairs.....but other than that, it was PERFECT!!!!

Potty training...who knew it could be this much fun?

Back in August, Little used her potty twice in one night. I was so excited, sent out text messages, announced to my hubby that by Christmas we'd be out of diapers.....well, not so, not even close!!!

Bought the cloth diapers and they are working well. She lets us know sooner when she is dirty. She'll sit on the potty, but "going potty" is putting toilet paper in the toilet and flushing, nothing more!

At the sitters, she goes (for real) about 2-3 times a day on the potty....no such luck at home!

However, we are making slight progress...this her polar bear that had to go poo-poo.

Pillowcase dresses

A few months back, I bought one of these adorable dresses. Why? B/c it is just too cute and I wanted a pattern to work from to make my own daughter some. A month ago, I bought fabric to make three dresses......in the back of my head, I was truly trying to convince myself that I'd make the dresses b/f she turns three!! hee, hee

I made three of them over my Christmas break. Can you tell which ones I made and which one I bought????

Yes, this one is camo.....just had to do it...it is a gem of a dress!! :-)

Busy Bees

I could REALLY get used to being home all of the time....I just LOVE it! I had such a productive two weeks...really one week b/c the first week was spent doing Christmas stuff.....almost all of Christmas is packed and in the attic. The only things lacking are the lights on the house and the only reason I didn't do that is b/c I don't really like ladders! But, we aren't turning them on anymore, so that is a start.

We worked in the yard on Friday and mowed and cut down the dead cannons (large green plant with flowers, they line almost the entire back/side of the house).

Saturday Little and I met a friend at a playground and had a BLAST!!!! When I arrived home, I found my entire garage sitting on the driveway and my husband elbow deep in re-organizing our garage! What the heck!!!! We didn't get it all done on Saturday, but finished most of it on Sunday. He even built a work bench. It is pretty neat and tidy. During the process, lots of stuff got tossed, and I even got some shelves just for me!!! One of the things inside the house that needed A LOT of help was the pantry....just too small and way too unorganized. So, I took some of my larger appliances from the pantry and they are now housed outside on my new shelves!! Yeah me!!! So, at 4:00 Sunday afternoon, this is the project I started on.....

Can you see what a disaster this all is? I'd go to the store all the time b/c I couldn't find ANYTHING. I threw away an entire big trash bag of food out!!!!

This is what it looks like now:

Yes, it is official, I'm old b/c I'm excited about what my pantry looks like!!! :-)

Still reading

Oh, I'm just so proud. Be sure to turn down the volumn on my blog's music before you play the video. When she gets to the bath tub page, be sure to listen to who the guy on the boat is!!! The first time we read it, she told me the kid in the tub was her, but she changed that, too!

Wow, what a book!

The Whole Truth

Wow, I know that I said I was reading another book, but it quickly got put to the side b/c my husband insisted I get my oil changed in my car and I had to wait at the oil place, and this book happened to be sitting in my front seat. This was less than a week ago and I have already finished it. The scariest part about the book is that you have to wonder how much of it is true. In his usual fashion, there are twists and turns and many different characters....you have to pay attention and stay on your toes. Our main character is a enforcer of the law, but not in law enforcement. He kills, but isn't a killer. He's not above the law, he's right beneath it, doing the dirty work of the government. So, you have to wonder, are there really people like this? I think yes.

Then there is the introduction of PM firms. What is that you ask? A PM firm is like a PR firm, but instead they spin lies, that seem like the truth. Given our tech savy world and how quickly information travels, the tale is very believable. According to Baldacci, these firms have been used by the government since the Vietnam war....makes you wonder.

So this tale is about a good guy, lots of bad guys, the possibility of global war and a bit of a love story, all blended together, very nicely. You won't want to put this one down.

I'll be heading back to the other one and will keep you posted.

Weird Sightings

Driving through town the other day, sitting at a light and I look over to the vehicle next to me and have to do a double take....it has a large LV sticker on it; no big deal, stands for La Vernia. The weird part is that there are the initials W.H.O.R.E. over the LV. OMG, what is this person thinking???? I strain to look closer and read the small print under the letters, Wild, Hillbilly, Off-Road Enthusiast. Ummm, why on earth would you EVER want that on the back of your vehicle??? I'm thinking you are a dumb hillbilly, don't care what you like to do off-road! The icing on the cake is that it was a woman driving the truck!!! I'd have to be in a pretty darn tight situation to even get in a truck with that sticker, much less drive it!!! I was too shocked to take a pictures, so that will be my new year's resolution: take more pictures, quit staring and snap the picture!