This morning, as I was doing dishes, I realized that somehow the number of spoons in my kitchen had dwindled to six. Of course, I assumed that at some point I'd simply find them in my normal morning chores and ensure that they were returned to their proper place. However, I never expected to find a treasure trove of spoons under Sophia's pillow.
I was in the midst of making her bed when I noticed a small wrapper tucked under her pillow. As I lifted the pillow to investigate I was surprised to see three spoons, an empty cheesecake container, and a tub of whipped topping. *sigh* This is not the first time that Sophia has been my little food-stealer. I've seen cookies, candy, chips, scones, ice cream, sandwiches, apples, bananas, trail mix and cheese under her pillow. In addition, she's my most stubborn child and has always needed much more reinforcement than the others.
Thankfully, the tub of whipped topping was not the one that was destined as an ingredient in my key lime dessert for Easter. However, she had opened a brand new tub of it... so I was not very happy this morning.
I've never had a child who stole this much food... especially because there is food available to her in the kitchen. If she is hungry, there is a bowl of fruit that she has access to, so I don't understand why everything ends up under her pillow.
I hear that you either have difficult toddler years or difficult teenage years. I'm looking forward to a perfect teenage Sophia because she's been the toughest thus far.
In seeking to be a woman of substance, a woman who stands tall in who she is and embraces the challenges and joys of life, my thoughts have often turned to the content which I promote and/or write. After all, it is in my writing, my painting, and in any other creative endeavor that I reveal something about myself. In addition, what we post in public forums and how we speak illuminates our character.
It is with these concepts in mind that I must stand up and issue a challenge to my fellow writers. Think about what you post! My goodness, do you realize what your comments concerning Lo J say about you? Would you actually say anything that you post to their faces? Honestly, it seems that the muck that so easily seems to fly through your fingers and onto this site is saying much more about you and your character than any personality on the radio.
In addition, it is with words and creativity that we can bring beauty and thoughtfulness into the world. How can we learn from each other and delve into topics of substance if we start out by exposing the ugliness within?
There is a line between thoughtful discussion or increasing the content that we desire in our entertainment and character assassination. Many of these comments only prove to muddy the true conversation that is capable with this audience.
If you feel so passionately about your position, I ask that you respectfully consider how dwelling on this negativity affects you. After all, as many have stated, you don't have to listen... there is an off switch on your radio!
In conclusion, I challenge you to blog about life... real life... and issues that you are passionate about that don't include character bashing because in this content you reveal more about yourself than you may know.
The other day I was at my Byerlys to use the post office. [Here is my secret... don't tell! The post-office is too busy for me, but Byerlys post office is never busy! So, I go to Byerlys when I have to send a package or get stamps because I can browse the fabulous food (and of course pick up something), smell the fresh flowers, and never wait in line.] I had all 4 kids with me and we were walking through the produce aisle as I had my heart set on a certain variety of lettuce. [Note: I managed to steer myself away from the wonderful goat cheeses this time.]
A nice lady in her possible late 60s to early 70s approached me. Now, typically when I am approached while shopping, the comments revolve around the kids and/or my hair. So, I fully expected her to tell me how she had alot of kids when she was young, how nice the kids were, or just a comment on my hair. As I said, this is so normal, I do not even blink when it happens. However, this comment definitely made me blink.
"Well, one of them is certainly prettier than the other, isn't she?"
I was stunned. I didn't even respond, my brain slowly focused on the words that this seemingly innocent woman had told me. She moved on, and I checked to make sure that Cecelia and Bella had not heard her comment (as I knew Jack and Sophia were blissfully happy in the car-cart and wouldn't have heard anything- and may not even listen to my next instruction). Thankfully, the girls didn't seem to have heard. I watched the woman as she continued down the aisle and was unsure of how I should have handled this. huh? Who says that!
I'm aware that kids have different strengths and different assets. However, I also know that kids revolve from awkward stage to awkward stage... so I've never really spent alot of time analyzing the beauty of Cecelia and Bella. Honestly, it's not a trait I want to spend alot of time comparing the children on because I've worked so hard to teach them about inner beauty and being healthy instead of encouraging "fat" discussion.
As I consider the rudeness of this woman's comment, I continue to ponder why she felt it necessary to comment as she did.
What should I have done??? Do you remember a comment about your physical appearance when you were little? How did it affect your outlook on life?
Yesterday, I went to Jenny Craig in a slump of exhaustion. I believe that I've gained possibly five pounds over the last several months and am stumbling to figure out how to fix it. There are days where I manage to work out several times and feel fabulous, then there are the sick ones. It seems like the last several months have been riddled with sickness. When a child somehow contracts a cold or flu, my body seems all too ready to suc****b. Consequently, the days that I do feel healthy only propel me to the sick ones as I work my body until its defenses are down.
Even when I know that there is a chance of getting sick, the vitamin overloads and extra sleep do not seem to stave off the sickness. Last week, Jack and Sophia had the flu and I did everything in my power to keep from getting sick. Yet, there I was on Sunday morning feeling nauseous in the elevator of our hotel. I knew that if I did not get to the bathroom soon, the result might be disastrous. As I got to the 21st floor, the dizziness overtook me. I stumbled out of the elevator at 6:30am and started to walk down the hall in what must have looked like a drunken swerve. Then, I was on the ground... my head was throbbing and my vision cloudy. I got back up and found my hotel room. As I stood there at the door trying to get the key into the lock, I must have looked like I was on drugs or something. I couldn't see and I knew what was coming which made my insistence that I get this door open now all the more important. Thankfully, I made it to the bathroom, despite my little black-out.
So... yesterday as I went to Jenny Craig, my hopes were not high, my frustration with the way my body has responded to sickness over the last couple of months only punctuated by the large bruise on my head. As I spoke to my consultant and explained everything, she stated that I needed to take it easy. I was stunned... I thought for sure that as she is supposed to help me keep on track with my weight-loss (or my maintenance program as it were), that she'd have me re-focus on my goals. Instead, she recommended that I stop working out and do only minimal low-impact workouts.
So for the next two weeks to a month, I am to recoup and try to get myself completely healthy. Right now, I'm just tired... I hate feeling sick all the time and I hate being weak. I cannot even rejoice with the luck of being told not to work-out. Maybe this is only an indication of just how sick I have been and am that I'm just tired and a little overdone.
Does anyone have an immunity boosting recommendation?
I've had my fair share of waitressing jobs and am a consistently good tipper when we go out to dinner, but I've never experienced this sort of poor service until Saturday evening. On our romantic weekend downtown, we went to FireLake grill at the Radisson and were treated with the worst dining experience ever.
We sat down and did not even recieve an acknowledgement for about 10 minutes. Now, I assume this was because we sat in the bar area instead of in the dining-room because we had not made a reservation. Therefore, I knew that the two ladies that were the bar waitresses must have had plenty of people to worry about. Consequently, I was not put off by the delay in service and remained in a positive mood for the first half of our dining experience. She took our order and got us our drinks.
Then, the food came...
Note: the server did not bring out her own food, so the guy who brought it out was the only contact that we had during this entire episode.
My husband had ordered the cheese burger and recieved a walleye burger. He told the guy what his correct order was and the man took away my husband's food. As I sat there eating my food (because my husband told me to eat it while it was warm), we waited for our server to come over and apologize for the problem and/or try to remedy the situation... but she never came. Finally after another 25 minutes, my husband got his burger (when I had finished my food). The server never appeared during the entire dining experience. She was in the back or something and never asked me how my food was or anything.
At this point, we wished that we had simply gotten room-service at our hotel because at least the food that we'd had the previous night was fabulous!
I flagged down our server after she passed us 3 times without acknowledging us at all. I asked that she bag up my husband's food and give us our bill. He was too frustrated with the service and the frys were soggy... therefore we figured that our time in the restaurant should be finished.
As we left the restaurant, we vowed never to go to this restaurant again.
