Day 50

We’re ramping up for fishing season at our house. David has been teaching the kids how to cast in the front yard.

Day 51

Big Girl had her first softball practice ever on Monday.

Day 52

I’m sure you’ll be seeing lots of softball photos.

Day 53

I received my autographed copy of Scary Mommy Confessions and started reading it. LOVE me some Scary Mommy.

Day 54

I realized Thursday night at about9:30 that I had not taken a photo. The challenge for that day was “shoes” and these were laying on the floor right next to me.

Day 55

I snapped this Friday morning getting ready for work. I have no idea what I was thinking.

Day 56

Saturday we took the kids out for Mexican food for lunch. Bud decided his chips tasted better if he was sitting in my lap.

Friday Bud had to stay home from daycare because he was sick. I had a project for work to complete so I took him to my office to pick up some notes so that I could work at home.

As we rounded the street corner he looked at my office in building in kind of awe. I thought it was so cute because to me it is just a building, and not a very big one at that. My current office is on the third floor of a ten story building. When I worked in Houston I had an office on the 26th floor of a downtown high rise. I don’t think we have any 26 floor buildings in the entire town I live in now.

I turned the corner and parked in the garage. As we got out of the car and walked to the building Bud said, “Momma, you work in da big city?”

I realized to him that was exactly what I did. “Yeah, sort of. You want to push the buttons for the elevator?”

He let out an excited, “YEAH!” and ran into the building anxious for a new adventure.

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I’m guessing by now you’ve noticed that there is no Share Your Awesome this week. I know (some of) you guys love it, and I love it too, but I need a little break. I hope you can understand.

Two weeks ago I wrote about my biggest challenge to living a healthier lifestyle… exercise. I would love to say that tons of things have changed in the last two weeks, but that would be a lie. I don’t do that.

I made a commitment to exercise 15 times in the next 30 days. In the last 14 I’ve managed to exercise four times. I promised that I would not let myself make any excuses. Then I went out of town and got sick, sick, sick and did nothing but lay on the couch and moan for almost a week.

I posted a while back about not looking back, but focusing on the goals that are right in front of us. I can still meet my challenge if I focus and eliminate distractions. Is that likely? Not really. Am I going to give up? No. I’m not.

How about you? What have you done in the last two weeks to meet your goal and what are you going to do for the next two weeks?

February is National Heart Health month. Even if it’s only 5 more minutes a day, what extra step will you take to stay fit?

For your chance to win $750 complete these two steps:

1. Share the challenge with your friends.
2. Tell us that you’ve invited your friends to join the challenge AND share the extra step you’ll take to stay fit below.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats Company. The opinions and text are all mine.

Official Sweepstakes Rules.

I have a confession. I’ve never been good at sports. At least not any sport that requires any type of hand eye coordination. Football, softball, volleyball, tennis? Nope. Nada. Not for me.

Now dance? Dance I can totally get behind. Turn on some music and ask me to shake that thang and I can do it. Just don’t ask me to throw a ball. Or catch it. Or hit it.

Another confession? I’m terrified I’ve passed my ineptitude on to my children. I know lots of things are genetic, but I’m hoping and praying that the ability to catch, hit, and throw is not.

See, Big Girl started coach pitch softball this year. She has wanted to play for awhile, but we just weren’t ready for her to do it yet. (Actually it was David that wasn’t ready.) Now that Bud is old enough to play t-ball we decided to sign up both of them.

Monday was her first practice. I was pretty worried. I sat in my lawn chair with the other parents on the sidelines and watched the coach teach the girls how to hold their mitts to properly catch the ball. Then I sat and watched as he threw it to them over and over and over. And I watched Big Girl miss it over and over and over.

Now I know this is her first year, and a lot of the other girls have played before, and of course they weren’t catching every ball thrown to them either, but still… My momma heart was just breaking.

I just want my baby to be so good at everything (even though I know that isn’t possible). I don’t care if she is the best, but I would like for her to at least be somewhere in the middle. I just don’t want her to feel like she isn’t good enough… at anything.

After practice she ran up to me so excited, just beaming.

“Momma, did you see that really great catch? I know I missed the ball a lot, but that one time… that one time was a really great catch.”

Oh my sweet girl… I know I have so much to teach you, but I also have so much to learn.

This post was inspired by Sellabit Mom whose precious girl helped me have a new perspective.

I’m linking this post up with Parenting by Dummies for Wordful Wednesday and Things I Can’t Say for Pour Your Heart Out.

When I was 12 or 13 my cousin and I got in a fight. As in a me on top of her with fists fight. My parents had recently divorced and we were spending a lot of time at my aunt’s. One morning my cousin and I were laying on the floor watching TV when she started aggravating me.

I don’t even really remember what she was doing, patting me I think. If you know me in real life then you know I hate to be touched. Just… don’t. I’ve never liked it. Anyway, she kept tap, tap, tapping me on the leg and when I finally got enough I rolled over and knocked the hell out of her.

Now I’m sure this wasn’t the first time we got in a fight, or even the last time, but this time stands out because of something that was said by my aunt. Our moms came running into the room to break us apart, and my aunt said, “Jennifer you need to quit wearing your feelings on your sleeve.”

Huh? I’m pretty sure I turned around and looked to see to whom she was talking. I have NEVER been one to wear my feelings on my sleeve. Oh no, I keep them very tight to my chest so that no one can see them. I was especially guarded during this time of my life. The whole point of the fight was that I was pissed and I acted on it. Period.

Today I read a post by Gigi about friend breakups. It really hit me because I have a very close friend going through something similar. Someone she thought was a friend hurt her in a way that, to her, is unforgivable.

She talked to me about ending the friendship. My advice was that she needed to think long and hard about whether that is something she wanted as a permanent solution. Once it is done you really can’t go back. I explained that ending relationships has never been hard for me, but I don’t recommend it for everyone.

I don’t know if this is a learned skill or something I was born with, but I’ve always been good at building walls to block the pain. I very rarely give second chances. If you hurt me then you are gone, and it is most likely that I’ll never even look back. My motto is “fool me once… fuck you.”

I’m not saying this is a good way to be. I’m not even sure why I’m like this. I don’t recommend it for other people. I don’t think forgiveness is a bad thing. I think it is actually better for the fogiver than the forgivee. Sometimes I wish I could be one of those people, but I just can’t.

What about you? Are you a forgiver or a wall builder?

Photo Attribute

Oh Monday, you spiteful bitch. I’m guessing you know how much we hate you so you have conspired to make yourself as awful as possible. Kind of like Edith…

Speaking of Edith, did any of you catch the season finale of Downton Abbey last night? NO SPOILERS, but YAY!!!!! And? Boo. Yeah. That part sucked. But I’m really looking forward to next season when Shirley MacLaine joins the cast as Grand-Mama. So fun.

In other news, Bud got his very first “he was a very bad boy” note home from school on Thursday. From what I could gather he was playing with some other boys and they broke a bunch of toys by tearing off the heads, arms, and legs. He hasn’t done anything like that with his toys at home, and I could never get him to admit that he was guilty. I just got a lot of this:

I’m hoping it isn’t the start of bad behavior and was just a one off thing.

Big Girl has her first softball practice today. She is starting coach pitch ball this spring. She is super excited. She will be on the same team as her very best friend, and her VBF’s grandfather is the coach. We had our first parent’s meeting last night, and I think it will be a good season. This is our first experience with Little League so I’m hoping it goes well. We also signed Bud up for t-ball, but he doesn’t have a coach assignment yet.

The crud seems to be on it’s way out. I’m back at work today and both kids are back in school. Well, they are back in daycare. School is out today for President’s day, but our office isn’t closed. I’m just glad we’re all on the mend. Except for my sister in law. She has pneumonia. We’re praying really hard that she gets well soon.

That’s pretty much what has been going on in our world. How about you guys? Anything good?

Day 43

It always feels good to come back home. Especially when you feel like crap and want to just go to sleep on the sofa watching bad TV.

Day 44

Waiting for the doctor.

Day 45

New James Avery for Valentine’s. My love for this jewelry has saved David on many a holiday.

Day 46

Back to work.

Day 47

Thursday the crud hit Big Girl, and I had to take her the doctor. Where I discovered our pediatrician is decorating his new office with faux animal mounts. I’m not thinking that was the best option.

Day 48

Bud is really into his “DS” (Leapster). Most nights he has trouble going to sleep after his nap at school so he plays until he is tired.

Day 49

I made this cake I found on Pinterest. The cake was probably the best I’ve ever made, but the frosting pretty much sucked.

This week’s featured blogger is Sharon from Speed Skating Mom, and she is also the head writer at the Yummy Mummy Club. Let’s get to know her better.

1) How did you get into blogging?

I started blogging in July 2007 in a blog that is now defunct. Essentially the whole thing began because I truly believe that parenting is the hardest gig in the world, yet we all put on these masks where we hide how truly hard it is. So I figured I would just write about how craptastic I was in hopes of making other mothers who read it feel better and that they aren’t alone. That morphed into a job at YummyMummyClub.ca where I also write a blog called The Inside Scoop which has absolutely nothing to do with hysterectomies. Not that I have anything against hysterectomies. I may need one at some point and if I do I’ll apparently have the perfect blog name for when I write about it. Then last year at the age of 41 I decided to take up speed skating even though I had only skated three times in my adult life. SpeedSkatingMom.com was born.

2) Your personal blog has kind of a unique title. Tell us how you got into speed skating.

The short answer is I’m a mom and I speed skate. The long answer is that my oldest son started short track speed skating two years ago and I was completely against it. You know what you don’t want to do when you sign your child up for speed skating? Google ‘freak speed skating accidents’. Half a year in he participated in his first speed skating meet and that was when I saw my first live race. I had seen short track speed skating on television but watching it live in person was completely different. When speed skaters are doing it right their blades make no sound on the ice. It’s a silent ballet of strength. I was hooked and knew I wanted to try it.

I phoned the speed skating club the next day and they told me to come out and try a class…so I did. I spent the entire first class just trying to stay upright using a combination of pinwheeling arms and promises to whatever holy entity would listen that if they would just keep me upright I would quit drinking wine for the rest of my life.

I lied.

The speed skating club was kind enough to let me come out for the last 10 classes of the season. Then I signed up for another season. I’ve now been at it for a year and while the pinwheeling arms have decreased, I’m still slow and have a long way to go. The great short track speed skaters can skate 500 m in less than 40 seconds. It takes me about 2 1/2 minutes.

3) I saw you have a hubby and two sons. What’s it like being the only girl in the house?

There’s a lot of pee on the toilet seats. It’s like they’re trying to control a fire hose or something. I mean, how hard is it to aim? Seriously.

4) If you could travel anywhere in the world you wanted, where would you go?

Anywhere with a long track speed skating oval – I’d love to try long track because there’s way less chance of me killing a fellow speed skater on a larger track.

5) What is your favorite post from the last three months?

I don’t really have a favourite post. I could go back through every single post and rewrite it in some way which is why I try never to read anything I’ve written because I would literally drive myself insane. What I’m most proud of is working every day to spread the message that moms need to take time for themselves. It’s so, so important. My mother died unexpectedly at the age of 59 when I was ten weeks pregnant with my oldest son. Three years ago my family and I were in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. It’s really driven home the message to me that we can’t take life for granted and moms need to stop always putting themselves last. There is no selfishness in wanting to pursue your dreams and passions. Think about it. Would we ever sit down and tell our children that they can follow their dreams but first they need to ensure everyone else in their life is happy and only then can they get on with the dream chasing. Yet this is what moms do. We put ourselves last thinking there will always be time somewhere in future. Only the future isn’t a guarantee. So we need to go out and live our lives to the best of our ability.

Now let’s see who will be featured next week!!! Here are the rules:

1. Link up a favorite post you wrote this week.
2. On the post you feature link back to my blog. Something like, “I’m sharing my awesome with Momma Made It Look Easy and you can too.” It can be in the tiniest print at the very bottom of your post. Or you can grab my “Share Your Awesome” button from the sidebar and use that.
3. Link directly to your blog post and not your home page or a landing page. If you don’t know how to find the permalink just let me know and I’ll help you.

Next week I will randomly pick one participant (that hasn’t previously been featured) to feature on my blog. Please follow all of the rules. I will delete you if you don’t. And while it isn’t a requirement, it would be really great if you would check out some of the other blogs that link up, and also, comments are always great. The posts so far have been awesome and I’m sure they will be this week too.

Please share that you are linking up on Facebook and Twitter so that we will have plenty of people join in. I will try to share all of your posts.

I know it the day where I normally post about Weight Watchers, but I don’t really have an update this week. I’ve been sick. I fell off the wagon a little bit. Blah, blah, blah.

Plus, I can’t get my newest obsession out of my head to really think about anything else. I was going to skip writing at all today, but then I thought why not tell you about my love for Downton Abbey.

Have y’all watched this show? It is simply amazing. Quite possibly the best show I’ve seen on television ever. It is cleverly written with great plot twists, and the acting is superb. My only complaint is that there seem to be only seven episodes per season. Here is a rundown of the characters.

Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham played by Maggie Smith – I love, love, love her. I want to be this character when I grow up. She is the perfect blend of meddlesome, witty, and caring. She doesn’t mind handing out the sharp barb or sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong. David said, “she always leaves the room with a zinger.”

Robert, Earl of Grantham played by Hugh Bonneville – He is the steadfast leader of the family that feels honor bound to take care of his family legacy.

Cora, Countess of Grantham played by Elizabeth McGovern – She is an American that saved the family legacy with an influx of cash when she married Robert. Together they have three daughters, but no sons to inherit the estate and title. She is often in an uncomfortable partnership with her mother in law to do what they think is right for the girls in the family.

Lady Mary Crawley, the oldest daughter played by Michelle Dockery – Mary is having to come to grips that her life is not going as easily as she had planned. At times Mary is her own worst enemy with the situations she finds herself in and the decisions she makes. Disappointed that she will not be allowed to inherit the title and estate, she searches to find the proper husband.

Lady Edith Crawley, the middle sister played by Laura Carmichael – The quintessential middle child and “ugly duckling” of the family she is constantly at odds with her older sister. The biting lines the two trade back and forth are some of the best in the series.

Lady Sybil Crawley, the youngest sister played by Jessica Brown-Findlay – Sybil is the sister that loves a good cause. As the youngest she isn’t worried about finding an appropriate suitor or as involved in the family issues. Actually she is too busy trying to find her own… but in a good way. Sort of.

Matthew Crawley played by Dan Stevens – Matthew is the reluctant heir. After the current heir dies in the sinking of Titanic (don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler), a frantic search is made to find the new heir. As a distant third cousin and son of a “middle class” doctor he has had no relationship with the family until he was needed.

Isobel Crawley played by Penelope Wilson – She is the widowed mother of Matthew. Having been raised in the professional middle class she comes to the family with an entirely different set of values that often has her butting heads with Violet and Cora. The scenes that pit her and Violet at opposites are some of the best. Both of these actresses are stunning.

That’s the family, but what makes the show so fantastic is that it also follows the stories of the servants as well. I can see this post is already getting too long so I’ll write another next week discussing the personalities of the staff.

Do y’all watch the show? What do you think about it? Who is your favorite character? If you aren’t currently watching but want to you can find season one streaming on Netflix and all of the current episodes from season two or available on PBS.

I turn off the alarm and roll over to find a little boy snuggled down in the covers next to me. He must have had a bad dream and crawled in during the night. I’ll be glad when he starts kindergarten and we can eliminate his daily nap and get him on a better sleeping schedule.

Seconds later an acrid smell hits me. The stench of burning food permeates the air. About that same time David walks out of the bathroom, and I ask, “what is that smell?”

“The beans were left on low last night and burned.”

I can only imagine the mess that will be. I stumble out of bed and into the bathroom to take a shower. A little less than an hour later I’m dressed and leaving the bedroom.

I walk into the kitchen and inspect the dried bean and ham mess. Yuck. I turn on the water and fill the pan half full in hopes of rescuing it from the charred remains of last night’s dinner.

I grab my breakfast sandwich from the garage freezer and put it into the microwave. Then I wash out my coffee mug and start a cup brewing. A bag is pulled from the cabinet below the sink and I start filling it with my lunch for the day. Frozen meal, yogurt, apple, grapes and a cheese stick.

All done with that I check the school lunch menu to see if I need to start making a sandwich. Ahhh, chicken sticks. She’ll eat that. Chicken sticks? How many different ways can they reconstitute chicken? Oh well, the state has deemed it healthy so I will let that assuage my mom guilt for not preparing an all natural pb&j on organic bread with fresh sliced fruit. I glance at the menu again. See… peaches. That’s healthy. I’m still a good mom.

I take my breakfast from the microwave, doctor my coffee, grab Bud a pair of jeans from the clean laundry, and head to the living room to check on everyone’s progress.

Zero. Zero progress.

“Big Girl! Get dressed! Why do we have to do this every morning? I really don’t like it.”

“I don’t like it either.”

“Then why do we have to do it.”

She starts putting her clothes on. I start my laptop and load up the last five minutes of Downton Abbey that I didn’t finish last night when the wifi cut out for some random reason. I knew I missed the cliffhanger. Of course she’s pregnant. I figured that would happen.

I close the laptop and swallow down the last of my breakfast sandwich.

“Teeth brushing time. Everyone in the bathroom.”

I head to the bathroom to fix Bud’s toothbrush and then into his room to get his underwear and shirt for the day.

Back in the living room, “EVERYONE brush their teeth now. The TV is going off if you don’t get a move on.”

Check the clock. We are moving in on the time when everyone should be finishing up so that we can be on time.

They schlep out of the bathroom. “Bud, go take your pull up off.” He heads to the couch instead and starts inspecting the candy he got at school yesterday for Valentine’s.

“Big Girl, you are going to have fix your hair today. You have school pictures. I think you are going to need my help.”

“I can do it.”

“I doubt it,” I mutter.

Into the kitchen to grab her tap shoes, which then go into her backup. I check to make sure her leotard is still in there and then I select a pair of pants she can wear over it since I can’t find her dance shorts (and I don’t want to listen to her whine about the tights).

She comes back into the living room. “Mom I want to wear two braids with these green and blue bows.”

I look at the clock. “I’m not sure we have time, but I’ll try.” Truthfully we should be heading out the door right now. I take the brush and start sorting out the tangles anyway.

“Bud, go take that pull up off right now and put your underwear on.” He dances around the living room instead.

I get all the tangles out of her hair and start dividing into two sections so I can braid it.

“BUD! GO! TAKE! THAT! PULLUP! OFF! RIGHT! NOW!” He heads into the kitchen singing.

I start braiding one side of her hair has he waltzes back into the living room bare assed. “Put your underwear on.”

“I can’t.”

“You CAN. Now help me out and do it. Ponytail holder?” I start on the other side.

“Bud, you’ve got those underwear on backward. Take them off and turn them around.”

“I can’t.”

“DO IT.”

Off go the underwear. “I’m naked!!!!!”

“Ponytail holder?” I snap in the bows and lead her to the bathroom to add some hairspray in hopes that it will hold her bangs back until after the group photos are made.

Back in the living room she starts putting on her shoes, and I get Bud dressed.

“Where’s your other shoe?”

“I don’t know.”

Ugh. How can both shoes not be together when he took them off at the same time? Back into the kitchen to get the other pair of shoes he hates.

Back into the living room to put his shoes on. Glance at the clock. Ten minutes late. “Big Girl… get your backpack.” Bud and I start into the kitchen. I’m turning lights off as we go.

“Don’t turn the lights off on me. I’m getting my stuff ready.”

“That stuff should have been ready. We HAVE to go. Move it.”

Everyone is in the kitchen and being pushed toward the door. I grab my lunch, my purse, a bottle of water, and head into the garage.

Big Girl climbs in the car and starts buckling in. Bud climbs in and I buckle him as he cries for his jacket and some ring he left inside that he wanted. I hand him a jacket and tell him the ring will have to wait.

In my seat, I start the car and start backing down the driveway. Crap. I forgot the slip for the photos. Back in the house, unlock the door for my mom that I also forgot, grab the slip, back in the car, and we are on our way.

Stop at the light. Fill out the photo slip. Write a check and tuck it into the photo envelope. Hand it to Big Girl with instructions to give it to her teacher.

Drop off Bud.

Drop off Big Girl.

Head to work.

Just another day for a working mom.