Wife-ing, Momming, Blogging, Planning, Cooking (Sometimes!), Crafting, Traveling, Having Fun, and Minding My Biscuits
Leaving my Target run and as I’m loading my things on the belt at the register I start thinking to myself, this is weird, literally every single thing I am purchasing is in a cardboard box. Right about the time I’m thinking this through the cashier looks up at the belt and says, “Wow, everything you’re buying is in a box!” and gives me a funny look…
What can I say, at least I’m consistent in my weirdness. 🤷♀️🤦♀️🤣
I swear I start every post by SWEARING that I’m going to start updating this regularly. And then three months go by… Three months where I did NOTHING but work (from home, mind you), keep my kids alive, and collect more cats. I mean, it’s not that I lack the TIME to post regularly, but sometimes the effort can be hard to find.
To be completely honest, this is ALL getting to me – and not in the best way. I’ve been mostly hiding in my personal bubble and kind of hoping it will all go away or at least seem, well, not so awful. I really think the worst thing of all about this time in our lives is that humans can be downright cruel to each other. I’ve seen close friendships ripped apart, day after day, by differences in political opinions, personal preferences, opinions being rammed down each other’s throats, and every single one of us too proud/stubborn/whatever to admit that maybe….. maybe our way ISN’T the only path to be followed, and maybe EVEN THOUGH we don’t agree with the opinions or beliefs of our friends that we should respect them enough to treat them the way we wish to be treated. The world right now is absolutely 100% depressing, and it’s no wonder I choose to collect cats and hide out in my house and play with planners even though I really have nothing to plan.
Choice. It’s a simple matter. Each action we take, each word that comes out of our mouths is a choice. A choice you have the right to make, I’m not arguing that. But also keep in mind your CHOICES affect those around you. Words scar, actions harm, and everything we do is being filed away by our youth, our children, as an example of how to act in the future as an adult. Really, THAT is what scares the shit out of me. My daughter, and now I’m seeing my son as well, are both hyper-aware of the world around them. They hear when you do not think they are listening, they see what you don’t think they’re paying attention to, and their memory is impressive. My daughter, at 3 years old, could remember the exact location of a place I’d taken her to for ice cream ONCE a year previously. My son, at three years old, knows the location of all of mommy’s favorite Starbucks (parenting fail on that one, probably) – but what is getting “saved” to that memory right now that is going to affect who they become as an adult? Will they think it’s ok to break family and friendship ties with harsh words and accusations because of a difference in political beliefs? Will they remember all they’ve seen in the news and all the adult discussions going on around them in hushed tones? Will they be the kind of people that can love and appreciate others no matter their differences?
And how do I teach them to respect others when we’re all running around acting like righteous fools?
Maybe this is just a brain dump, and maybe I’ll end up catching a bunch of flak for it, but I hope not. I’ve been in such a funk, and probably a lot of it is the isolation speaking… I’m such a people person that I feel like I’ve lost all those except my closest family and a tiny few friends. Maybe that loss is cutting deeper because I see so many others cutting those they love out of their lives over things that may or may not matter in the end. It’s frustrating, it’s tragic, and it’s very very dark. I’m not even sure the light is there or that this horribly long tunnel of 2020 has an end.
I’m sorry if I am rambling and none of this makes sense, it’s therapeutic for me to blab it all out onto the page and get the thoughts out of my head. Maybe it does make sense and you too are feeling the darkness. If so, leave a comment, send an email, reach out to me or someone you love and make a connection, however fragile it may be. You never know, the person you reach out to may need that connection just as much as you do.
Tomorrow, back (maybe LOL) to posting cat photos and random crap on Instagram. But hopefully today’s deep thoughts stick and mean something for someone out there. Stay safe, stay bright, and be that person that brings light to others. <3
I’m tired, y’all. Just… tired. The anxiety and mental stress of wondering constantly if I’m doing the right things for my family and myself. Wondering how this is all going to affect the kids in the long run. Wondering how our economy is going to come out on the other side. Worrying about all the small businesses that probably won’t make it or will suffer if they do. Wondering how everyone else is feeling. It’s draining, and it’s scary, and it’s currently all-consuming.
I ventured out to the grocery store today, and while it wasn’t quite as bad as I had built it up to be in my mind, it was still a very sobering experience. There were literally NO canned goods on the shelves, people were snapping up packages of ground beef faster than the worker could put them on the shelf (I will say, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice all the shoppers and employees were to each other). No pasta, no bread, no toilet paper or paper towels. Lunch meat was so picked over there was barely anything left. Oddly enough there was plenty of produce, but that’s a puzzle for another time, most likely because it spoils so quickly? Who knows.
It’s kind of like a really bad dream that you can’t wake up from. Everything is so uncertain, the outcome isn’t written. You have people who are holed into their homes refusing to step foot in the light of day, and then you have people who don’t seem to give a shit what happens or who it happens to. Scary stuff, y’all.
I was actually going to try to write something funny and lighthearted tonight, but I just don’t really seem to have that in me, so I’m going to cut it here, go do something calming to my mind and come back at it tomorrow.
Here’s hoping tomorrow is a better day for us all. <3
Well, not really, but after THIS INTERVIEW with me from Kristin from Exploring Domesticity came out on her blog today I kinda feel like it.
(If you can’t get that link to work here it is in all its glory: https://exploringdomesticity.com/jamies-mom-life)
Seriously y’all, after a really tough, trying day with both kids (the boy in particular) I actually needed to read through this interview again myself and remind myself all of the little joys in parenting and ALSO to stay as low-key as I possibly can. Believe me, it’s hard enough sometimes taking my own advice, but it’s fairly sound….. I think.
Make sure you take a look around while you’re over there, such a fun website full of awesome tips! <3
Yesterday Wade made fun of me when I invited him to do day 2 of 21 day fix with me. He laughed at my silly workout, but he did it. 1/3 of the way through he got real quiet, 1/2 of the way through he started grunting and moaning, and by the end he was toast. I’m pretty sure he went off to the living room to cry after that. #LegDay 😂
BUT.
He showed up today, and worked out with me again.
After leg day it was hard enough just squatting down enough to make it to the toilet seat without groaning, and now with Upper Fix and the “Bonus Abs” I feel like raw meat. 😂😂😂
Also, I went to Sprouts today and came home with a much better selection of healthier foods and produce, and rid our pantry of most of the items that would cause me to stray off-course.
I CAN do this.
Dinner tonight:
-Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs trimmed of fat, with a citrus poultry spice blend in the air fryer (I ADORE my air fryer!!)
-Brown and Wild Rice Blend
-Avocado
-Banana for a nighttime snack. ❤️❤️❤️
From my teens to my late twenties I was always rail thin. Seriously, no meat on my bones, stick figure thin. I’m certainly not trying to brag, that’s just how it was. My high school nickname was “Twiggy”.
For quite a while now, since I started fertility drugs before I had my daughter, I gained what I’ll call “The Mom Muffin”. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not much weight, maybe 30lbs extra, but I didn’t make much of an effort at all after I had her to get it off. I always joked that I was just going to have another baby and there was no point.
Well, second baby came along in June 2017, and here we are, TWO YEARS LATER and it’s still there. It’s time to do something about it.
Now, don’t get me wrong…. I don’t WANT to start eating healthy and exercising, I LOVE my chicken fried steak and my grande Starbucks. However, I’ve gotten to the point where I hate my reflection in the mirror MORE than I love those delicious things. We planned a beach trip this year at the end of July with the kids and I started trying on bathing suits and was completely depressed with each suit I tried on… so much so that I just stopped trying them on.
So here I am, trying my best. I’m NOT going to try to sell you anything, so don’t worry about that, accounting my #MomBod journey in my blog is basically just for me, for accountability. I want to be my BEST me, both for myself AND for my kids. I want to be able to chase them around the yard and be around to see them start families of their own. So here starts my journey.
I’m not going to post a before photo here, because I’m not quite that brave yet, but I took one last week when I started out. I’ve been in the “mode” for a week now and I’ve learned a few things:
I started the 21-Day Fix exercise program yesterday, after struggling through a couple of self-led workouts, so I’m excited about not having to decide what to work on each day. I also ordered the containers that go with the 21-Day fix eating plan, so hopefully that will get me on the right track eating-wise.
I know this is about the most boring blog post I’ve done, but again, personal accountability! If any of you are going through or starting up the same life change, I’d love to hear about how it’s going for you. Maybe we can motivate each other!! Tomorrow I have a different blog post planned, and you’ll probably enjoy it more, but for now, this is me!
Happy Tuesday y’all!
Doling out the unsolicited advice this week with Exploring Domesticity – love her blog, and I hope you’ll check it out! 23 of us mommy-folks share what made new motherhood a tad easier for us.
(Now we just need an article on how to make second-kid motherhood easier, because WHEW, it’s no joke.)
Link straight to the article here:
https://exploringdomesticity.com/new-mom-advice/
I’ve been wanting to try “shaker” projects for a while, and actually have had the tools to make them for quite some time and never taken them out of the package! Whoops!
So I sat down last night at my craft table after the kids went to bed and gave it a shot. It sucked. Seriously, I could NOT make that dang fuse tool work to save my life. I got more and more frustrated and finally just gave up and went a different route and laminated the thing so I could say I actually got something done.
But since I stay up late (vicious afternoon nap cycle for the win/lose) I spent some time last night on YouTube trying to figure this thing out. I didn’t find much that was helpful, lots of videos of people using their fuse tool with zero issues (doesn’t help me at all), and finally found this random video of a lady who gave some tips as she had the SAME issues I was having.
This morning I woke up and decided to give it a try…. It’s not perfect, but it was WAY less frustrating than last night’s projects!!
I used this We R Memory Keepers Fuse Tool I purchased a while back on Amazon, except instead of using the fuse tip, I used the CUTTING tip, which they don’t bother to tell you ALSO fuses. Woot! I have the silicone mat from We R Memory Keepers, but I really thing the tempered glass surface will do better and provide a cleaner fuse/cut, so that arrives tomorrow. Thank you so much, Amazon Prime. 😉
Hope you enjoy today’s project! What is everyone else working on this weekend?
