Happiness

Discouraged by my lack of inspiration to up-keep this blog, I have been searching for a purpose. And I think I've found it.

I'm a little bit of a news junkie. My homepage is cnn.com. I browse the topics daily for news that will interest me and I typically read for the first 5-10 minutes of my morning. Today I found this article -- "10 instant tips to be happier now". I'm not sure what made me read this particular article, but it caught my eye. And thus, I have found my inspiration.

You see, the past couple of months have been tough on my relationship with E. She is in this really (excessively) needy stage and I find myself rejecting her neediness. I don't think this is the right thing to do, but I'm typically in a pretty foul mood when I get home from work (read: I'm not happy at work), so her neediness is irritating to me (read: happy moments at home are few and far between). Ridiculous, I know. I want to change. I need to change.**

I haven't put very much thought into what my "Happiness Campaign" will entail, but I need to make changes to both my work and home life. I plan on documenting the changes in this blog and how they affect my relationship with E.

As part of this - I also plan on re-reading a book I read a few years ago called "The Power of a Positive Mom".

**I would like to point out that I'm not an unhappy person, but my life recently definitely hasn't been rainbows and sunshine. This stems mostly from the stress of my new job.

Smiling Spider

This was pretty cute.

All is well. I still haven't found my camera *tear*.

E loves school. She has learned SO much. Every day she comes home with a new song.

We went to the dentist this week. E got a DinoFlosser (floss with a grip shaped like a dinosaur). She's been walking around with it for 2 days, and at night she sleeps with it under her pillow. What an odd child I have!!

Lost

I have somehow managed to misplace my camera. So, until it can be located, I will not be posting any photos.

I must say that I am at a loss. I hardly ever misplace things. I have this weird thing that's called putting-something-in-the-same-place-every-time-so-I-never-lose-it syndrome. Some people mis-diagnosis this and say it's OCD. I disagree. But that's not the point. Now that I've lost my camera I feel as though my brain might explode. I won't be able to accomplish anything today until I have located my camera and placed it in it's proper home.

If you have seen it or know of it's whereabouts, please contact me ASAP. I have so much I need to get done today and I feel as though my day is ruined.........

Pictures

Me, Nat, D and Skip at the O's game

Our trip to Pittsburgh... the first picture is looking out over Pittsburgh, the second is E running through the hose in Nat's mom's backyard, and the third is from the Children's Museum.

These are from our trip to New York... Janmarie with her cake, and JP's Eagle ceremony.

These are from our trip to SC. The first two are with Auntie Lulu at her PhD party. The third is with Goolsby's son (E had just gone tubing and here she's "driving" the boat.)

And who could leave out E and her friends at the Wiggles concert. (It was actually pretty fun.)

(Sorry about the formatting. It's a little hard to control.)

Tearing My Heart Out

After a wonderful weekend spending time with Tia and Oompa (and my family and Brian) I left to come home and E stayed up there. She's staying the week because her daycare is closed and Tia offered.

Well, I talked to her yesterday evening and she says to me "Mommy, I want you to come pick me up." "I can't," I say. "But I WANT you tooooooo....." And then my heart was ripped out of my chest.

I talked to her this morning and she seemed in a much better mood. She had made herself some chocolate milk (the all-time best comfort food). She had climbed the ladder at the playground (very exciting!) She reported many details to me, then politely asked if I would like to speak with Tia. While I was talking to Tia, she said "Oh, wait. I forgot." Tia handed her the phone. "I love you, Mommy." "I love you too, Doodlebug." -- and my heart was ripped out of my chest... again.

I miss her. But I'm glad she's spending quality time with Tia and Oompa.

To Antietam (again)!

Nat's mom is in town for the week. Her birthday is today, so my mom is making dinner tonight and Nat and I are attempting a lemon meringue pie. Then tomorrow we are headed to Antietam for a wonderful weekend with Tia and Oompa.

E spent her first night without a diaper on last night... and guess what happened! She peed --- in MY bed! I guess that's my fault. But whatever. I tried. She hadn't peed in her diaper at night for 3 weeks, so I thought it would be ok. I guess that's what I get for thinking.

My blog isn't currently allowing me to post pictures. So I will do a separate post later of just pictures.

Peace!

Uber Prepared!

So I'll be heading up the road tonight... we'll be staying at Tia's, then finishing the drive up to the Rivenbark's house tomorrow morning. Some friends of the kids will be riding up with me and E, so the car will be a little cramped, but I think it will be a good trip.

I started prepping for the trip on Tuesday. I made a list of things I need to get done before I leave - like stop at the bank, stop and get gas, go to the grocery store, pick up E's meds... stuff like that. Then I made a detailed list of things I need to remember to bring - like clothes, shoes, socks, underwear.. the normal things -- and then things I tend to forget - phone charger, deoderant, cords for the dvd player, Chesney and Blanket. The reason why I'm telling you this is that I make lists so I can be properly prepared for a trip like this, and Nat things I'm crazy, obsessive, and a little bit anal. Why can't it just be that I'm prepared? (Or as I like to call it "uber prepared.")

I went to the store last night to pick up some snacks and stuff for the car, so I wouldn't be tempted to get food when we stop for breakfast or for gas. I picked up some granola, trail mix, apples and bananas. I also made some homemade lemonade (with my leftover lemons) for the trip. I tasted it this morning and it is quite tart, so I hope I remember to sweeten it up before we head out.

I read another blog this morning about a lady who is doing a cleanse that is basically a vegan diet, but she talked about how she got a sinus infection after about a week and her doctor told her it was because of her cleanse. I've had a stuffy nose since yesterday, and I'm thinking it could potentially be from my cleanse (though I'm done now), but I also cleaned out my gutters Tuesday evening and it could be the fact that I'm allergic to cleaning out my gutters.

Lemonade and the Zoo

At the end of Day 3 I had already lost 10 pounds, and so decided that this was enough. Sunday night I had some orange juice and soup. Monday I spent most of the day drinking oj, then added in some fruit. Now I'm having fruits and vegetables and soup. Last night I had some rice too. It's been a good thing. I feel better... sleeping better at night, no caffiene during the day, and I've lost about 13 pounds total.

I'm heading up to New York this weekend to see the Rivenbarks (which, by the way, I'm really excited about.) So we'll see how I manage in the car and up there. E is also really excited about going.

Last week E went to her first day-camp and had an awesome time. It was Safari Week at the community center and she got to go to the National Zoo last Thursday. Her favorite thing to see was the elephants and enjoys re-enacting them washing themselves and laying down. It's really stinking cute.

Day 3

It's been almost 72 hours since my last meal. I feel pretty good. I've been sleeping a long time at night. But I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. I woke up too late to go to church this morning, so we'll just be going to Sunday School. T gave me a hard time yesterday about not making it to the worship services. And I actually feel kind of bad this morning about not making it.

Speaking of which... I saw T, and her foster son, M, and a lady from T's church yesterday. They came down for a camp meeting, so "we" had lunch at Stoney's. I, of course, did not eat. I'm really proud of myself actually. That was a huge temptation and I resisted. I didn't even lick my fingers off after removing the fried part from E's shrimp. I find myself having to think constantly about what I put in my mouth. Last night E had mac and cheese. A couple of noodles squirted out of the bowl last night when I was making it and I would normally have popped those in my mouth. But I didn't, I just threw them back in the bowl.

People have said that the 2nd and 3rd day were the hardest. Day 2 wasn't too bad for me, so I don't know what Day 3 will hold. I do know that I had a really hard time Friday night when I went to pick E up from my mom and dad's house. They had steak, corn-on-the-cob, and fresh homemade bread. It smelled fantastic.

Insane in the Brain

I'm piggy-backing on a fast that my good friend DW finished this week. It's the Lemonade Fast. DW did his for 10 days. I think I'm just going to do mine for 5... just to see how it goes.

Anyway, I started last night with the salt-water flush. Nothing happened. I drank a laxative tea this morning. Nothing happened. So I'm curious to see what will happen once things start happening. I started drinking the lemonade this morning. It's not too bad. A little spicy.

I did some research in preparation for this and I think this will be really good for me. I have a couple of reasons why I'm starting this fast, the main one being that I think it will be a good kickstart to the diet I'm putting myself on. The other reason is that I'm hugely dependent on caffiene to get me through the day. It's an addictive and expensive habit to have, and it needs to stop.

There are also beneficial side-effects from this fast. It cleans out your system, and we all know that with the way I eat my system could use a good cleaning out. It helps clear up your skin. It helps with PMS, cramping, etc.

They recommend that you remove snack foods, junk foods, etc. from your house. I didn't do this because I have E and Nat. So I'm just going to have to have a strong will-power. I know I can do it. The hardest part will be to resist the urge not to finish E's dinner when she's done. Last night I made her a pb&j. She just eats the middle part, so there's always the crust left over and I've always eaten it. Nat took one for the team and finished it last night. What a good friend!

That's enough for now. I plan on doing a daily update on how I'm doing. The thing that stinks the most right now is the HUGE caffiene headache that started about 7:00 this morning. Gah!