What do you think? Could YOU do it?

Last night at dinner, Aidan thought he'd be all slick and throw me a challenge.   
"MOM!  I challenge you to a full day with NO electronics!  Do you think you could do it?!"

I say hell yes, Aidan, bring it on.   I really could.  I could pack up my phone, put away my iPad, turn off the computer, the tv, the iPod, all of it.   It really wouldn't be an issue for me at all.   At first Erynn starts squealing and saying nononononono!   I laugh at her.  Really girl?  It's only 24 hours.  Give me a break.   I'm serious.  24 hours with no electronics is NOT that big of a deal.  Get outside.   Pick up a book.   It would really be a non-issue for me at all.   However, I do love that he threw in my face "Mom, that means NO PICTURES of us for a whole day!"  Love that boy - yes, he tossed out that I take too many pictures.   Well, he'll appreciate it one day, trust and believe.

So, Erynn turns it around and says "Okay I accept your challenge."   Now it's Aidan, Erynn and myself that are all for it.   Then we look down the other end of the table.   Ryan and John are standing firmly against it.  FIRM.  Nope.  They will not give in.   Heads shaking back and forth with a vengeance.  Ryan looks like we've asked him to cut off his right arm.   John actually looks the same.  God forbid either one of them go without tv or an iPad.  John is on his phone 24/7.   You all joke and think I'm bad?  I got off of FB for 3 wks with no issue at all.   I was shooting for a month but gave in early because it was my friends birthday and her hubby was giving me a hard time.  So I did give in early.   But I VERY happily offered to go off and start again for a full month but was met with VERY loud arguments that I should not.   So I haven't.   But I have definitely cut back my time on FB.  And I'm enjoying it.  I do not need electronics to get through my day.   I really want to do this little experiment.  Why the hell not?   Is it THAT big of a deal to go without for a day?   Have an "old fashioned" day as Aidan said last night?   (which cracked me right up because think about it.  How far back do you really need to go?  LOL)

So, I ask.  Could YOU do it?  Could you put down that phone, computer, iPad/Pod/whatever.  Could you back away from all of it for an entire day?   What think?  Give it a shot and get back to me!   I'll be blogging about our day when I make it happen........because it's going to happen!  

Trick or Treat!

Ahhh, Halloween.  Where people can act the fool and get away with it.  Blaming it on a holiday and thinking we all don't know any better.  I see you.  I know the truth.  Nah, I'm just kidding.   

I admit it.  I was one of those people for a hot minute.  I thought I'd be cool and get all suited up in Ryan's football gear.  Not thinking for even a minute that the stuff would actually fit me.  GTF out of here, whaddaya know - IT FIT!   Pads and all.  Now I really wanted to parade myself around town with a sign on my ass saying "YES, THIS IS MY EIGHT YEAR OLD'S GEAR I'M WEARING ON MY 37 YEAR OLD BODY!!!"  But I didn't.  Truth be told, I think they have lead lining those football helmets because after about 5 min in it (long enough for me to get photographic proof that yes, I was doing the damn thing HA!) I had a headache and legit had to take some Aleve to make it go away LOL!!!   However, now I know why those poor kids look like bobble heads running up and down the field!  

Every year we go out Trick or Treating with our friends, the W Family.  It's tradition.  They used to live down the street, but they sold their house this year and now they live on the other side of town.  Sad, but at least our tradition continues on!  Their little boy, S, idolizes Ryan.  It's SO stinking cute.  This year they ended up with the same costume.  It was hysterical.  They were doing this little dance and singing "we wag our tail back and forth."   Adorable. Below is the kids all lined up ready to go.  I tried to drag it out as much as possible because it just doesn't seem right to be going out when it's still light out but TOT ran from 4-8p this year and we could only hold the kids off for so long.

The loot.  OMG how disgusting is this?  Between my three kids they scored 622 pieces of candy.  Yes, we counted.  146 pieces of it I threw away because it was the stuff I won't let my kids eat.  Gummy type candies, sugar sticks, lollipops, that kind of thing.  But the rest of it they scooped up and had to put into 2.5 Target shopping bags.  NO, I will not let my kids eat it all. I've already started taking it into work.   No kid needs to eat all of that candy.  Gross.  But, it was a major haul needless to say.  There just didn't seem to be as many kids out this year.
 

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Kiddo update!

Aidan has finally found his niche in the sports world!  He started Fall Soccer this year and he absolutely LOVES it.  Check out that smile!  

Here he is with his team on picture day.  The best part is he is GOOD at it so it's such an ego boost for him.  He loves the sport, he's good at it and he fits right in.  I think this is definitely going to be it for him.  He had practice two nights a week and then practice and a game every Saturday.  That's a lot of sports time but so worth it to see the smile on his face.  After trying Baseball and Basketball and not wanting to keep doing them I'm so glad he found something he loves.  Now he's just deciding if he wants to do Spring and Fall.......he's going to have to get on that soon because try outs are next week!
 

And then this happened.  Aidan fell on the playground at school and he sprained his knee.  So that put him out of soccer for three weeks.  We're hoping he'll be able to play tomorrow and then for the last game on Saturday.  Fingers crossed!  Now, before you even say it.  There is NO bad knee juju in this house......so don't even go there!  It didn't happen at home, you hear me!  It happened on the playground....could have happened to anyone!  LOL

Ryan started Football in August and let me just tell you what a TIMESUCK that is!  OMG!! Practice 4-5 nights a week and then the games are on top of that.  Holy hell what a commitment.  JC I wasn't even ready for it.  In the beginning it wasn't so bad b/c it was so close to my surgery that I was working from home.  But once I went back into Boston I missed a lot of the practices.  They started at 4:30p and most days I don't even leave the office until after 5p.  Then add the commute and forget it.  John had to bring him but that wasn't hard b/c John works nights AND he ended up having to be a coach so he had to be there anyway.   So, Football.  Ryan LOVED it!!!   He played his last game this past weekend and I'm sure he'll be back next year.  This past game was amazing.  We crushed the other team - 22-0 AND Ryan scored his very first touchdown.  What a GREAT ending to an amazing season.  My kid is a baller.  I love it.  He chose Gronk's number and he should get to keep it his entire career.   Now it's Fall/Winter and Ryan will start Basketball.  

Erynn started Fall Soccer as well and LOVED it.  Like her big brother, she was really good at it too.  She's definitely going to play next year but hasn't decided about Spring Soccer yet.  The urgency isn't there for her as she won't have to try out if she does decide to play.  Tryouts are only for the older kids.  She is playing Basketball like Ryan.  I'm officially the Mom whose life revolves around her kids and their sports.  How did this happen??  ;-)

Orrrr, Erynn will be the first girl on the boys soccer team.  This is how we do in the Foley house.  One night when making dinner we decided to put on Ryan's football shirts.  She got in FULL GEAR and suited up.  I was just excited that my 8 year old's shirt fit on my 37 year old body!  LMAO!!!

In school all three kids are doing great.  They got their first semester mid-term reports and we're really happy with all three!!  I'm still at the school every Friday copying for Aidan AND Ryan's teachers.  What a treat that is.....I'm there for at least 2 hours and the LEAST amount of paper I've gone through so far is 7 reams.  I feel like I need to go to confession after as I'm single handedly killing forests all on my own now!  But, the teachers tell me every week how much they appreciate it and seeing the boys' faces light up when I walk into the room makes it all worth it.  They love having me in there so, as long as they need me (and as long as my job permits me to keep the compressed work week!) I'll be there.  

Longest break ever!

How the hell do I come back after 3 months of not blogging?   JC.  I don't even know where to start.  It was a busy / hellish / long 3 months.  I feel like I should do a separate post for each kid.  So I will because this is my blog and I can.

Okay, let's get this party started.......I had my surgery on July 25th.  It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life.  I was so ashamed of myself, I can't even lie.  I've had surgeries........(here's the TMI but this is my blog and you'll just have to flipping deal with it HA!) two separate breast surgeries to remove 5 tumors, 3 children (one where the epidural never kicked in), a needle biopsy they had to do 3 times to get what they needed and a partial hysterectomy that couldn't be done laproscopically so I have a full on 6in c-section scar.  Plus one other surgery that I really won't make you hear about b/c it's even too TMI for me.   I was so NOT prepared for the amount of pain I got from an effing KNEE.   RUKIDDING ME?!  I felt like the damn thing had been amputated.  It was ridiculous.  Then there was the humiliation.  I couldn't even go to the bathroom without getting help because I couldn't get out of bed.  It was horrible.  Talk about humbling.  I never want to go through anything like that again.   It's still not over.  Three months later and I'm just starting to go up / down stairs the regular way, I'm in Physical Therapy 2x a week and I'm still not able to do a lot of things that I absolutely took for granted.  I will get random sharp, shooting pains through my kneecap, a burning sensation through my scar and my knee will lock up and then release with a huge POP sound that other people can hear.  But, I keep reminding myself that I am ONLY three months out from surgery.  PT and my surgeon keep telling me how amazed they are with my progress, how they see some people that still can't even bend their knee all the way like I am more than capable of doing at this point.  Yesterday I wore my first pair of heels since JUNE!   Now that, my friends, was a major milestone for me.  I am a HUGE fan of heels.  Not wearing them for the past four months has almost killed me.  (yes, dramatic, I admit but again, this is my blog)  I wasn't able to wear my absolute favorite pair of wedges all summer and I wanted to cry.  But, drama aside, I made it through.   Now we're into fall which brings dresses and knee high boots.  So, like I said, yesterday I put on my first pair of heels.  I had PT and an ortho check up and they were both happy and impressed to see I was pulling off the boots so progress is progress and I'll just keep swimming!

Work.  Well, this has been a banner month.  I found out that my entire team is being packed up and shipped to Geneva.  You might say YAY!  That's amazing, what a great life experience!!  I would absolutely, 100% agree with you.  (and hell yes, we would have moved!!)  IF I were eligible to go.  But, alas, I am too far down on that totem pole to be considered to relo.   So, I'm stuck with no job.  Displaced as they say.  But, on the upside, I was told that I am "top rated" and they will not let top rated people leave.  So, it looks like I will get *some* kind of job.  Just not sure what that will be.   I'm VERY realistic though and I'm 99% sure it's going to be a demotion b/c there just aren't any EA positions open on our campus.  That's just the reality.  Reality sucks b/c I've been there for 14 years and it took me all that time to get to EA.   However, I won't give up and when an EA role does open, I'll go for it.  As long as I land on my feet then that's all that matters, right?  Starting over somewhere else after all this time would be my nightmare.

Home.  Kids are awesome.  Absolute lights of my life and my reason for being.  Like I said, I'm going to post separately about them b/c they have so much going on.  They keep me going every single day.  John and I are having growing pains right now.  I don't know how else to put it.  We've been really lucky the last 13 years b/c we've never had any real issues.  That's a blessing.  No marriage is perfect, including ours, that is 100% true.  Everyone has their issues, including us.  But we've never had any real issues.  I guess now it's our turn?  I don't know.  That's all I'm really going to say about that though b/c even though this is my blog I'm still not one to blast my business all over the place.  Everything happens for a reason and I'm confident that no matter what everything will work out however it's supposed to.  

Friends/Life.  Surgery was a real eye opener for me.  I had people checking in on me every.single.day that I didn't expect it from and people that I thought for sure I would hear from never checked in.  Now I am NOT a drama queen at all, not in the least. I don't expect ANYONE to stop for me.  EVER.  That's just not how I live at all and anyone who knows me, knows this.  If we make plans and you need to canx last min, shit happens honey, it's okay.  And I won't hold a grudge!  Now I know I did not have heart surgery, I had knee surgery.   But I still had surgery.   A text message, a FB note, a phone call, vm, anything would have been appropriate.  I"m  not looking for your undivided attention.  Hell no and I would have hated it.   But just a simple checking on you would have been okay.  I was shocked when I didn't hear anything at all from some.  But then random coworkers that I NEVER expected to hear from were texting me!  WHAT?!   I got flowers from people I never would have expected them from.  It was like some crazy, upside down/backwards day.   But, it is what it is.  You learn things, you take them in and you move on.   That's just all you can do.  I've made some new friends and had some new connections that have amazed me.   Like instant, soulmate type stuff which is crazy to me.  We went to a football fundraiser a couple of months ago and I randomly made a comment to this woman that was standing next to me and now we're hanging out with her, her husband and their kids multiple times a month.  We have SO much in common with them - instant click.  The funniest part - their kids weren't even playing football.  They just went to the fundraiser b/c friends of theirs told them they should go b/c it would be fun.  How crazy is that?  See, everything happens for a reason.  

So, I guess that's my update in a very long rant.  The gist of it anyway.  There's always more but who has time for that ish?   ;-)

Holy shit, this is me!!!!!

A friend shared this on FB (where else would we find anything these days if it weren't for FB or Pinterest???) and it makes total sense to me!!  Absolute, 100% total sense.  I feel like someone captured me on paper and wrote me up in a nice, neat little list.  Clearly there are more facets to me - please - like I'm just that easy to write up.  But, seriously, this is me!

This… this is my soul song, people.

1.  You're not anti-social, you're selectively social.  

2. At any given point, you have one (maybe two) best friends who are your entire life. You’re not a “group of friends” person. You can’t keep up with all that.
(this part isn't completely true.  I do have groups of friends but not all that I see on the regular.  But maybe this isn't what they are saying??  Maybe they are talking about a person or a couple of people that I stick with day in and day out?  If that is the case  - YUP, STILL ME!)

3. Social gatherings that are supposed to be “rites of passage” like prom and dances and other such typical nonsense is just… not for you. You don’t understand it. You want nothing to do with it.

4. When you do choose to grace a party with your presence, you are the life of it. You’re dancing on the table and doing body shots until 3 a.m.

5. … You then retreat into three days of complete solitude to recover.

6. You go out of your way to avoid people, but when you inevitably have to interact with them, you make it seem like there’s nothing in the world you’d rather be doing.

7. Dating is weird, because you’re smiling and laughing and talkative at dinner, and then you don’t want to answer their texts for four days, because like, you just want to be left alone…

8. You’re accused of being flirty with everybody, which is hilarious, because in reality, you can only tolerate like four people.

9. You retain an air of mysteriousness about you, completely unintentionally. (There’s no mystery. You just feel no need to update the social sphere on what’s going on in your life every two hours.)

10. Not to mention the fact that you either have days in which you’re tweeting and status updating every five minutes… or you delete your accounts for a month.
(Hello, blog much? I'll go weeks at a time keeping up and then you won't hear from me for a month!  LOL)

11. You become unintentionally awkward because you at once feel the need to be a social life jacket for other people, though you’re just as uncomfortable yourself.

12. You’ve never really understood the whole “introvert vs. extrovert” dichotomy (can we call it that?) Because you’re… both…

13. You’re always thrown into the ringer because people think you’re best suited to be the one who gives the presentation, confronts the boss, gives the speech, etc. Meanwhile, you’re practically throwing up over the thought of it.

14. You ebb and flow between wanting to be noticed for your hard work, reveling in the attention and achievement you receive, to sinking and panicking over the thought of somebody else paying more than 30 seconds of attention to you.

15. The entirety of your being is a conundrum, so needless to say, indecisiveness is your Achilles’ Heel.

16. You’re at your happiest in places like coffee shops and cafés: surrounded by people, but still closed off and keeping to yourself.

17. You prefer to travel alone, but meet up with people once you’re there.

18. It’s taken you years to figure out that you’re shy. Literal years. And when you tell people, even your closest family members, that you’re “actually just shy” they pause, and then their eyes go big, and they go: “Oh my god you so are.”

Falling apart and a fabulous new accessory

It's official.

I'm falling apart.  Or snapping, tearing, stretching, whatever.  It's all the same isn't it?  I refuse to say I'm getting old because you are only as old as you feel and I don't feel old most days.  

Until last weekend.  (well, a week and a half almost)

I'm tickling my middle......Ryan.  Yes people, I said tickling.  Who knew that laughing and tickling your son could be such a dangerous thing to do!!  Watch out people!   So, I'm tickling, he's trying to escape, he slides over juuuuust ride and BAM!   My knee pops out.  But it doesn't pop back in.  Oh no, it's not going to be that easy.  I pick him up, lightly toss him over to my left and I start yelling.  Not at the top of my lungs but my voice is most definitely raised.  I'm yelling for my husband and I'm telling him that my knee is out.  I am absolutely in agonizing pain.  I look down and you can quite clearly see, through my jeans, that my knee is out to the side of my left leg to the point that my jeans are completely distorted.  John is telling me he's calling 911.   Now, not my finest moment but I yell NO!  We can't afford the $600 ambulance bill!   He says what do you want me to do???   I tell him I'm going to try and fix it.   No, not because I'm a badass.  But because this isn't my first rodeo.   This is the 5th time I've dislocated this particular knee.  To be fair, it's been 8 years since the last time.   Also, I might as well say the last time I landed in the ER and I came out with a hip to thigh immobilizer along with Physical Therapy for 8 weeks.  But I'm keeping it honest here.   So, as I said, I've been down this road before.  So I bend my knee (screaming) and I kick my leg out.   Damnit.   This knee isn't going ANYWHERE and it now feels like someone is jabbing a white hot poker through my kneecap.   Shitshitshit.   I try to shimmy myself down off the couch.  Agony.  Yup, we're calling the ambulance.  

It literally takes them about 4 min to get there.  They assess the situation.  I'm sobbing, although trying to keep it together because I don't want to scare my kids.  They don't see me cry.  Ryan is crying and holding on to his teddy bear for dear life because of course he feels responsible.   EMT's have to cut off my jeans.  (this is noteworthy b/c of course they are my "skinny" days jeans and my favorite pair to boot.  Effers.)   They strap my knee into an immobilizer, put me on a body board to get me out the door and then they put me on a stretcher.  Into the ambulance and off to the ER I go.

At the ER they load me up with Morphine and get me comfortable.   My knee gets put back in place.  I get xrays.  Nothing is broken.   Well, thank God for that - imagine the strength of my son's booty if he BROKE a bone?  Oh my.   I'm given the immobilizer, two prescriptions and the number for an Orthopedic surgeon to follow up with on Monday because the Dr that saw me in the ER listened to my history and told me that, unfortunately, he thinks I'm going to have to have surgery.   Super.

Fast forward to Ortho on Thursday.  He examines my knee, is poking, prodding, pulling at it.  He looks at my knees side by side and tells me that my left knee isn't even located where it should be on my leg anymore.   Me, being the wiseass that I am, look down and tell him it looks okay to me.   He laughs.  I say but, then again, I'm not the one who went to school for this.  He laughs again.   He said I like your style.  I said hey, if you can't laugh it's a pretty sad life.   He starts manipulating my knee again and I started to tense up.  He asked if it hurt and I said it does but you're freaking me out right now because I'm feeling like it's going to dislocate again.  He said oh yeah, I could pull it out right now if I wanted to.   I said please don't!!   He said he thinks I've torn my PCL but the MRI will confirm.  He said I don't want to ruin your day.  I said I'm a straightshooter, just tell me.  He's 99.9% sure that I'm going to need surgery.   I said look, I'm 37 years old and I have 3 young children.  I want and need to be able to play with them.  I'm not 90, I have a long life in front of me.  Let's just do this.   He said I love it!   Let's get you  your MRI, get the results to confirm what I already know and get this done.  I said great - laproscopic, right?    Then he crushed my world to shit.  Ohhhhhhh.....no.   Um, say what now?   No, no laproscopic for you.   With this kind of injury and the placement of your patella there is just too much to do.  We're going to need to make a 3-4 in incision "here," we're going to drill two holes into your bones "here," and we're going to cut the muscles on the other side of your patella "here" that are pulling too tightly and causing your patella to dislocate so easily.   Well alrighty then.   

So, there you have it.  When everything is all said and done though I'm going to have some kick ass battle scars to show and a knee that will never pop out again!   There's something to be said for chicks with scars.   They're hardcore!!  ;-)

Annnnnd - my new fabulous accessory!   I'll have this bad boy until the end of the summer.   My kids think I look like a robot or a bionic woman.  I'll take it!  (silver linings here people, it's all about perspective - right?)

Obsessed you say???

It might be true.

We might have a slight camping obsession when my middle child requests it as his birthday party theme!  LOL!!!  But boy oh boy did I have fun with this one.   I love letting my kiddos pic the theme for their birthday parties.  Wait.  Let me correct that.  I love letting my kiddos pic the theme for their birthday parties and Pinterest has a multitude of things to pic from!   As soon as that theme is picked, Mommy goes crazy.  I start googling, pinning, ordering, buying in stores, you name it.   I love it.  I'll do anything to make my kids happy.     

So, Ryan's 8th Birthday was May 26th.  Yup, Mommy screwed the pooch on that one.  Memorial Day weekend?   Great job.   Yeah, yeah, it's not like I did it on purpose.  The little bugger was 6 days late.  Not my fault.  But I can't have his birthday party on a holiday weekend so we had his party on June 8th instead.  I typically don't do Sunday parties ever.   For me, Sundays are for family time and relaxing.  Just spending the day together.  Whether it's a jama day if it's not nice out or a beach trip or whatever.   I normally don't want to spend the last day of my weekend running around like a maniac and hosting 20-30 children.  Not my idea of a relaxing before I go back to work.   I know, call me crazy.   BUT, Ryan's Godfather works for the postal office and the only day they are closed is Sunday so there we go.

Anyway, camping.  Ryan said that's what he wanted and that is what Ryan got.  I went on Pinterest immediately.  I found some great ideas for the cake and free printable labels and signs.  I found an awesome t-shirt on Etsy along with rock candy sprinkles I needed to finish off the cake correctly.   Scrolling through some other similar parties helped me build other ideas off of what I could serve.   The kids all loved what we had and the adults thought I was amazing/crazy.  I can't lie - it feels nice to get the kudos.   But that's why we do it, isn't it?   Yes, we do it for the kids - absolutely!   But it's nice sometimes to show that we CAN do it all.  Especially on the days that we feel like we're barely hanging on by a thread!   Then you have that GREAT day and you realize that you have those rockstar moments and they carry you through.  It's a great feeling.   

Okay, okay.  Let me get to the pics........isn't that what blogs are for anyway?  Aside from me running my mouth!  This was one of my favorite parties.  Enjoy!

Welcome sign at end of driveway

The Birthday Boy!

Some of the food - we had "Fish n Rods, Campfire Flames, Woodland Fruits n Berries, Cold Worm Salad and Bug Juice"

Kids lining up for Bug Juice

Campfire Cake and Cupcakes

Campfire Cupcakes

That smile, right there........yeah, that says it all

S'mores Party Favors

Most of the kids that attended

Day 31

Self portrait and explain what you liked most about this challenge. 

Okay - here is my self portrait.  Excuse the wind blown appearance.  I took the kiddos to my gf's campsite for the day and we were outside.   That might excuse the extra pink cheeks too - I got a little sun! 

What I liked most.....I liked that this challenge helped me get back into blogging regularly. I liked that it help me think, really think, about myself. It helped me open up - put myself out there.  It helped me let "you" know me. It helped me save even more truths and stories and brought back some memories - both good and bad.  It helped me remember why I started blogging and makes me want to continue.  I need to get off my ass and be more active here. Maybe then I'll start getting more readers. Or maybe, I'll actually publicize my blog!  *gasp*  Maybe that won't make a difference but maybe it will. Maybe someone will think I'm funny as hell and they'll want to read what I have to say.  Maybe not, but whatever, that's cool.  I'm still gonna keep on cracking away at this thing. Hopefully with more regularity and even more of my personality coming through. 

Thanks for making it through with me!

Day 30

What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Hmmmmm. I can honestly say I do not have a favorite. There is no flavor I go running to. I don't buy ice cream a whole lot when I go to the grosh, so it's not something I always have in the house. If i DO buy it I guess I buy Rocky Road. Is that the chocolate with the marshmallow and almonds swirled in?  That's the one I buy.......made by Breyers. 

If we take our kiddos to Dairy Queen I will get either a mini Oreo Blizzard made with vanilla ice cream or a small twist cone dipped in butterscotch. 

If we're out at some little old ice cream joint and they happen to carry it.....I'll get bubblegum. Yup, call me a 12 year old but it happens from time to time. There's just something about it. And yes, when it happens, I'm one of those absolutely disgusting types that saves all of the bubblegum in a napkin off to the side until the very end. Then I chew it for 5.2 seconds, until I realize what it really tastes like - then I spit it out. Because, if you have ever had bubblegum ice cream, you know how foul those little bits of bubblegum really are.   True story.

Day 29

What is your favorite time of the year and why?

Okay, I just can't narrow it down to one so I'm not going to.

I love Summer because of the glamping, the beach trips......toes in the sand anyone???  The longer days with the kids, the warmer days, the family time, the FUN.  I love wearing flip flops or running around outside in the grass with no shoes on at all.  Water balloon fights in the front yard and not being able to go outside til we're dry.  Sitting on the front porch at night talking.  I love it!!

I love Fall because we're still glamping but add in cooler nights by the campfire, apple picking, baking with the kids kicks back up again because it's not as hot out and I don't mind turning on the oven.  I love seeing the leaves change, I love wearing my boots, jeans, sweaters and cute scarves. I'm not talkin the big keep-you=warm scarves here, I'm talking about the cutsey lemme match my outfit ones.   I love cuddling up under the blankets and snuggling with my babies.  

Then Christmas-time.  The whole season.  And not for the presents.  I love seeing it all through my kids eyes again.  The carols, the lights, the tree, the decorations.  The sentimentality, the traditions, the spirit.  All of it.  It's just so (at the risk of making you gag with the sheer cheesiness of it) magical.  We love driving around to see all the lights.  Beautiful.  

So, there you have it.  My favorite times of the year.  There's no way I could narrow them down but I think you can forgive me.  

Days 23-28

A lot to catch up on here.  Mia culpa.  Between the weekend and some personal shit I've got going on I've fallen behind.  I'll make up for it all in one whack

Do you have a hobby?

I really don't think that I do??  Maybe reading?  Or glamping in the summer?  Aside from that I can't really think of anything I'd say that I do with any regularity that would count as a hobby.  Does laundry count?  I do that pretty damn regularly but I think hobby = something you enjoy doing and laundry definitely doesn't fall under that category.   So, no, I guess I don't have a hobby.   Next day please.

Describe your most embarrassing moment.

I think the most embarrassing moment for me probably happened on my wedding day.  John and I are up at the altar with my Maid's of Honor and his Best Men.  The priest is going through the ceremony and we're all up there just jibber jabbering away.  It was a full Catholic ceremony.  At one point John tells me one of his best men tells him he has a wedgie.  I say well, do you???  He says I don't know, I don't think so and does this little butt wiggle.  Yes, we're up in front of the whole church.  I start to lean back to look and then whisper NO, I'm not looking!!   Then I lean over and whisper John says Jim says he has a wedgie!  I told him I'm not gonna look!  We start giggling.  The Priest does the Holy Communion and we're all watching over our shoulder at the people coming up.  Some of them I don't even know.  One chick looks like Tropical Hooker Barbie.  I'm not even joking.  I say to John, who the hell is that?!   He says he THINKS it's his cousin.  He isn't even sure.  I turn to my MOH and I say "his side" all snarky.   Yeah, yeah, I know.  Then I look up and notice the video camera and I whisper to John do you think it can pick up what we're saying??  He says no, but I bet the microphone I'm wearing can!   I immediately go stock still.  Then  I lean over again and tell my MOH what just happened.  For the rest of the ceremony you see us all trying to be so good and so still but we'll erupt into a fit of giggles every now and then because we know everything we said is going to be on the video tape.  That's probably my most embarrassing moment.  I can't think of anything else.  

Describe your location

This one is easy.  I'm at my desk at work.  Here's half of it.  :-)

What's your favorite food?

I don't have just ONE favorite food.  But I'm an easy to please girl.  Stop laughing.  Seriously.  Most people would tell you I'm picky.  And I am - SUPER picky.  I own that 100%.   I know I am.   BUT - I like classic, "normal" foods.   Steak, potatoes, pasta, salad, bread, chicken, burgers, that kind of thing.  I LOVE raw veggies........carrots, broccoli, cukes, tomatoes, green beans, green peppers.  I love to cook.  I don't eat a lot of seafood at all.  I like Haddock and I like calamari.   That's about it.  Just not one for seafood at all.  Not a fan of Mexican either.  The closest I get is making tacos at home.  So, not one favorite food for this girl.  Sorry!

List 3 online friends you've never met in real life but hope to soon

Ohhhhh, good one!!!!   This one will be tough because I've been VERY lucky and I've been able to meet most of the girls that I really really really wanted to from my Mommy board.  Let's see.

1.  LeAnne.  For sure.  We've been talking for years, email almost every.single.day, have so much in common and I've been DYING to meet her.  I feel like I know her already because we do talk so much but it would be SO nice to meet her in person finally.

2. Ronlyn.  I was SO close to making this one happen last week.  She and her husband were in BOSTON and we were slated to meet right by my work but then my personal life hit the proverbial fan and I had to rush home.  I'm devastated.  *THIS* close and then it didn't happen.  I don't know when we'll have the chance again.  Again, we've been talking for years.............gosh, over 13-14 now I think!!  Ronlyn is my dirty book reading soul mate.  When I need another book to read she tells me where to go.  She was there for me in an instant last week and I'll never forget it. 

3.  I can't pick.  There is more than 1 person that fits in this slot so I'm not going to narrow it down.  Yup, I'm taking the easy way out and I'm pleading the 5th!!!  

What's your guilty pleasure?

Ummmmm?  I have no idea?  I honestly can't think of a single thing!!  

Day 22

What do you do when you're home all alone?

HA!!   OMG, this is hysterical.  I have 3 kids, what is this alone you speak of??  All alone??  I can't even pee alone!!  The only time I get to pee all alone is at work and even that is suspect.  Sometimes I have coworkers chatting me up in there!!  LOL!!!

Okay, okay, I'm just being fresh.  I totally do get some alone time because my husband is awesome and he will take the kids places every now and then.  Especially when we're camping.  On Fridays I do get about 2 hours to myself after I'm done volunteering / copying and before the kids come home from school.   

So, what do I do in those two hours?  If I don't have a hair appt or a dr appt then it could be any of the following:
laundry
cleaning up the house
checking email, facebook, my Mommy board online
catching up on the DVR - I'm always SO far behind.  I think I have the entire season of Revolution on there right now.  I'm not even joking.
Reading a book.
I'd love to say nap - but that never happens
Grocery shopping

If we're camping and John has taken the kids to the playground or the indoor pool (I can't go for more than 20 min b/c the chemical smell gives me a migraine)
do the dishes from whatever meal is in there
sweep up the floor
pick up anything lying about - I am SUPER OCD about the camper b/c it's limited space and I can't stand anything being out of place.
read

I think that's pretty much it.  I live a very exciting life, can't you see?

Day 21

What is your biggest fear?

My gut answer is dying.  I've always been afraid of death / dying.  For as long as I can remember, as far as I can think back, I've been terrified of it.  If I think about it long enough I'll have a panic attack.  It completely overwhelms me.  I'll panic, break down, cry.  It's debilitating.  But I try not to let it get that far.

Now that I have kids I'm afraid of something happening to them.  I try not to be that batshitcrazy Mom who thinks about it all the time.  I am raising them the right way (I think) so they know right from wrong, don't talk to strangers, don't go with anyone you don't know, make the right decisions, etc.  But I am well aware that there is only so much that I can do as a parent.  BUT, I'm here.  I made it this far.  I'm trying to have faith that they will be okay.  Although this world is a scary as hell place.  Things are SO damn different from when I was a kid and YES I realize my Mom just came out of my mouth but you know what I mean.  I can't even handle watching the news anymore because I am flabbergasted by what I see there!  It scares the hell out of me.  I pray that nothing ever happens to any of those three because they truly are the lights of my life and I can't imagine my life without them.  They are my entire world, my end all be all.   

Day 20

What do you collect?

Currently?  Nothing.  

I'm not a big collector of things.  I don't do clutter.  So I don't want a whole bunch of "things" cluttering up my house.  

For a while I went through a Willow Tree figurine phase.  I like those.  Some people think they are creepy because they don't have faces persay.  

Anyway.  I don't collect them anymore because I have the ones I wanted.  Once I say I like something John tends to go a little nuts and buy a bunch of them all at once.  Take the Alex and Ani bracelets for instance.  I bought one and then for any holiday/occasion I all of a sudden was getting them and now I have 7.  Oy.  He can get a little out of control.

So, yeah.  I'm not a collector.  

Holy $#%!............I did it!!!!

And I'm alive to tell the tale!  LOL!!!

I ran my first 5K on Saturday and I did pretty damn well.  I am really proud of myself.  Not something you hear out of my mouth very often but I really am.  I signed up a week before, I didn't train but I gave it my best effort and I ran it in 38:20.  I'm told that is a really great time for someone who isn't a runner and I'll take it.  

Now you know me and my mad storytelling skills so here is how it all went down. 

5:45a that morning I wake up........to torrential downpours.  W.T.F.  I couldn't go back to sleep after that.  I kept thinking to myself (okay, I might have been talking out loud to myself LOL) you're joking.  I'm going to get up off of my lazy ass and run for the first time in my life and THIS is the weather this is going to happen in?!  Really?!?! 

8a:  I'm ready to go and YAY - the rain has stopped!   YAHOOOOOO!

8:10a - Gael picks me up and we head out.  John and the kids will meet me up there in a little bit.  

So we get there and we hang out basically.  Turns out the kids started at 8:30a and the adults were starting at 9a.  So they do their speeches, they do their ceremonial things and the kids start off.   OMG they were the cutest things ever!!!   They get to run .6 miles and we all cheered them on.  Some of them were SO tiny and I'm not ashamed to say could totally kick my ass in any run, any day of the week.   Had I participated in the .6 I'm sure I would have been smoked by every single last one of them.  Must be nice to have endless amounts of energy. I don't know what that is like anymore.  *sob*

9a rolls around and it's my turn.  I'm terrified and I'm wondering where the hell my mind vacationed to when I decided it would be a good idea to say yes and register for this. WTH was I thinking?  I'm not a runner. (Scratch that.  I wasn't a runner because I'm told I now am.)  Anywho.   The guns go off - YES, literally, the GUNS WENT OFF.   After I wet my pants I took off.  Were guns really necessary?!  I honestly felt like ducking for cover but I would have been run the hell over by all of the people behind me if I had!   So I'm running - wait, I'm RUNNING!!!  Nice!  Off we go, we're running, it's great.  I can't keep this up forever, clearly.  I didn't train.  So I go a fairly respectable distance and I have to walk.  I'm realizing I have a fast walk though because Gael has to jog to keep up with my walk.   So we're just trucking away and we get to a point where Gael points and says "Yes Girl!  You just passed the 1 mile marker."  I literally turn to her and say Excuse me, you are fucking kidding me.  She says what, you're doing awesome!!  I want to cry.  I thought that was the 1 mile LEFT MARKER.   OMG.   I tell her I can't do it.   But of course I keep on going.  I'm not stopping, I'm just a big baby and I am hating this.  But I'm still running and walking when I need to.   Run, walk, jog, rinse, lather, repeat.   I do what I need to do and I push through.  

I get to where I can see where we need to go to finish and I push through and start running..........down the shoot I go.  38:20 is my final time.  I go and get water.  I get a banana.  I try not to fall over/pass out/puke.  I am sore but I did it.  Hell, two days later I'm still sore.  But I. Did. It.  I ran my first 5K............and I'm doing it again.  June 14th - bring on the next one!!!!  Maybe I'll actually train this time.....what do you think?  

My first official BIB!!!!!

Tiff and I before the 5K started

Mandy, Tiff and myself - we did it! (they weren't newbies but I was!)

The kids were proud of their Mama.  So cute!!!

Day 19

List 5 Blogs you read on a regular basis and why

Ummmmmmmmmm, I don't have 5 blogs I read on a regular basis!  

The ones that I have saved here on my blog aren't updated regularly enough for me to check them every day.  (come on you slackers.......get on it!  LMAO!!  If that isn't the pot calling the damn kettle black, I don't know WHAT is!  HA!!!)   I do check in on them to see if they HAVE been updated and, when they are, I definitely read them.   

But, other than that, I've got nothing.  

If you have a blog that you want me to read.............POST it here and I'll be happy to!!! :)

Day 18

Where are you happiest?

I am happiest anywhere my family is and we are all together. 

I am happy when we are at home and having a pajama day. If it's a rainy day and we're having a pj day, that's even better. 

I am happy in the summer when we're all at the beach together.  We usually do a trip with a group of friends and it's such a great time. 

I am happy when it's one of our Glamping weekends!  It feels like a mini vacation because we get away from home. If it's nice we're poolside all day, we're relaxing, having fun and spending time together as a family with no other obligations. It's wonderful. 

That's it, that's all I need for me to be truly happy and be at my absolute happiest. To be surrounded by the four loves of my life. There are other things that make me happy, for sure. But my happiest is being with them. 

Day 17

When and why did you start blogging?

I started blogging on January 23, 2009. 

I started blogging because I had been on an MSN message board for YEARS and it was closing down. I had so many posts on that board that were so important to me. Stories of my journey of TTC (trying to conceive) our first son, all the ups and downs, the meds, the procedures, the emotions, the negative pregnancy tests, the tears, FINALLY my positive pregnancy test, how I told John.  Stories of my sister in the hospital after her first seizure. Getting pregnant with Ryan.  Buying (and selling) our first house. Building our house. Etc, etc, etc. just things I didn't want to be gone forever now that MSN was shitting down its message board. So I decided to start a blog where I could copy and paste all of my most important posts and life events. 

That's how my. Log was born. I've tried to be good about blogging. Some days I'm good. Other days I really suck.  But it's here, it's mine and I will keep on trying!