Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Taking Care of Yourself

I know that I very rarely put myself first.  There are so many people and things higher up on my list.  Every now and then I need a reminder that I need to take care of myself.  I kept putting off going to the doctor thinking that I could treat myself and that I have been through this before so I will just roll with it.

I've dealt with acid reflux and ulcers before.  I figured I would just go the over the counter route and I would be fine.  I had went to urgent care twice over the Christmas break thinking that it was breathing problems.  Turns out it was GERD.  I kept putting off going to the doctor.  Everyone out there has done it.  "Oh I'll just go one more day...I'm not feeling that bad...I'll make an appointment tomorrow" type of thoughts where winning out.  Except on Monday with I woke up and it felt like my stomach was eating my insides as a snack.  I was convinced that something was going to hop out of my stomach like in that scene from SpaceBalls.  I know its a parody of the Aliens one but I have never seen Aliens.  SpaceBalls on the other hand I have on Dvd.

So back in I went.  I'm completely frustrated because I was on track and eating well.  Turns out that my body didn't agree with what I was eating.  And when my stomach feels like it its turning inside out so it can eat itself I tend not to eat well.  Because the only thing I want is bread.  I think I had half a bagel three times yesterday.

While I was going through all of this a friend of mine ended up in the hospital.  With heart problems.  She has a family and a super busy life.  She had been tired for awhile a long with some other symptoms.  She went in thinking it was her gallbladder and ended up in the hospital.  Luckily, she is back at home with her family now and resting.

It was a huge reminder to me that I need to take care of myself.  I take care of the Hubs and Clover.  Not to mention all of the house duties and chores.  If I don't take care of myself then there is no me to take care of everyone else.  So even though I tend to put others first, I need to learn how to put myself higher up on the list.  I need to make myself a priority when I am not feeling well.

Do me a favor and take care of yourself too!  Meanwhile I will ignore my stomach telling me that I want a carmel apple empanada.  Insert the collective gasp from everyone who knows me because I just admitted that a small part of me wants Taco Bell.        

    

Me and My Emotional Attachment

I can't help it.  I really can't.  I try and try but I always end up keeping stuff I probably shouldn't keep.  Staring into my closet it's even more clear.

I need to get rid of some stuff.  I don't even wear half of the stuff in my closet.  But there it hangs.  All because I can't seem to get rid of it.  I'm trying to be better just in case it is a learned trait.  It not something I want Clover doing.  Ohhhhh too LATE!  She is already a "Keeper".  Out of all the traits she could have inherited from her Mom?!?  She couldn't have picked up my quick wit (ha!) or my love of run on sentences?  Noooo she had to pick up on my inability to let stuff go.

For instance there is a pair of jeans in my closet that my Mom bought for me after I had Clover.  They don't even fit me!  Why am I keeping them?  I had a bit of a struggle to get the post baby weight off.  These jeans are three sizes too large.  Three sizes if you count 2,4,6.  Six sizes if you count 1,2,3,4,5,6.

Anyways, the point is that I have half a closet and a garage full of stuff I have attachments too.  

I'm not sure this is even a real post other than I'm just working out frustration with myself.  Perhaps I need therapy.   

Monday, January 14, 2013

Hotel TV

Hubby had to teach a class last week out of town.  Since he was going to be gone Sunday through Friday, we tagged along.  I am a great big o wimp when it comes to staying home by myself.  And even though he had been home for two weeks during vacation I still felt like I would miss him.  So to save everyone from hearing about it, I just went with him.

What was supposed to be a routine trip was full of adventure let me tell you!  First of all Rojo Grande broke down!  Yeah...dramatic pause...we still aren't sure what is wrong with our big red truck.  We took it in Saturday to find out that the service station closed early.  I'm not very happy.  Thankfully my parents were able to spring to our rescue.  My dad spent his only day off coming out to get us.  Part of my rant included that this was our first American car and it left us stuck on the side of the road in the winter time.  It's only three years old.  None of my Hondas broke down one me...EVER.  So there is that.

So after we got home, traded vehicles and got back on the road again we were greeted with rain most of the way there.  Clover has become a pro at car rides.  Which is good because when she was a baby she absolutely hated being in the car.  Being in the car at night...forget it!  She screamed the entire time.  She got a lot better once she could see out of the window.  Now she is a road trip girl!

I was a little concerned since our portable dvd player had died and we hadn't replaced it.  She kept busy.  But since there was no dvd player that meant that I was stuck with hotel TV.  Ick.  We gave up satellite almost  two years ago (maybe more than that).  We use a combo of dvds, streaming Netflix and iTunes for entertainment.  We couldn't justify paying almost a hundred dollars a month for the three channels that we were watching.  So it has been awhile since we have watched any sort of commercial.  Clover has a hard time with hotel tv because she doesn't understand why I can't put on her favorite shows when she wants them.  On the other hand she likes it because she gets to watch shows Mom usually doesn't let her watch at home.  Like Spongebob.

Two days in, we went to the mall and I picked up a cable.  I couldn't take it anymore.  Luckily, I have two movies on my phone that we could watch.

Hotels don't really like it when you do this because they want you to pay for their over priced movies.  

I'm not having any of that noise because I hate commercials and I'm not paying ten bucks to rent a movie.  Luckily the ports weren't disabled on this TV.  Which I have ran into in the past.

I like traveling because it takes the house part out of the equation and I feel like I can concentrate on spending time with my daughter without worrying about if the laundry or dishes are done.  We get to do things just us girls.  She gets to lead these adventures, which she loves.  Hot tub in the middle of the afternoon?  Sure why not!  Scouting a place to snag an Ice cream bar?  Heck Yeah!

So this also includes watching hotel TV.  So on the preview channel they were showing previews of the movies that you can rent on demand.  At $10 a pop I would rather not.  So they kept showing The Possession.  Which I have never seen and since it's a horror movie I will probably NEVER see.  But they kept showing it and apparently it's about a "true" story about a ghost in a wooden box.  Then we went downstairs for a snack to get out of the room for a bit and found this.

We appeased it with a Kit Kat.  So it wouldn't come after us.

Someone should really keep up on their preview channel. 

Adding Art

Since we have been married, Hubby and I have always been on the lookout for art for our home.  When we lived in our apartment we had a huge under the sea painting above the fireplace.  When we moved it didn't seem to go in the room.

Before we painted we had a set above the mantel.  My sis in law painted me a beautiful Poppy triptych ( a painting on three canvases).  I had to google that.  I will admit it.  That will go back up above the fireplace but probably not as high as it was.

Right now we are looking for places for the art we have and on the lookout for new art.  I like personal pieces that have meaning.  Hubby likes pretty things.

Now I am a very crafty girl but I'm not really very artistic.  It's something that I have accepted for a while not.  So I started brainstorming how to create art while not being an artist.


Clover and I collaborated and came up with painting for the entry way.
You are MY sunshine


Lots of contact paper and painter's tape.  I taped, she painted.

I cut out the words and a large circle on my Cricut and taped off everything else I wanted white.

The final piece is above the shoe cabinet so you see it right before you walk out.

I like the way it turned out but it looks pretty simple to me so I consulted some more creative peeps and they suggested that I add a bird in there to break up the orange.  Since the Cricut is still out I can get on that soon.  

I'm just amazed that we painted something and managed not to coat the house in glitter!


  

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Always Watching Me

Some of my days are filled with a lot of laundry and chores and the plain o humdrum of every day life. And then some days are filled with so much WHAT THE <insert a word that doesn't offend you here>??

Just a sample of the weirdness I run into

Hawkeye is watching me do laundry.  

Like literally because he is stuck to the underside of the washer lid.  He was part of the Avengers stickers set that Clover got from the Disney Store when we wondered in during one of their Trick or Treat days.  She handed out stickers and apparently I didn't find him when I did the laundry and he ended up on the underside of the lid after a load of wash.  I will admit that I turned him around because I didn't like that he was looking at me upside down.  Ps.  I have a hard time with the Hawkeye part because in my mind there is only one and he was played by Alan Alda (M*A*S*H reference).  

I found an Into to M*A*S*H here.  It's also where I found this picture.  


Here we have Bilbo Baggins trying to peek at me through the kitchen cabinet.  

There is just something offsetting by having someone staring at you from INside the cabinet.  Even if it is just a little Hobbitsiss.  We took Clover to see The Hobbit and she has found a new obsession.  She LOVED the movie and has added it to her favorites list.  I know that some of you are rolling your eyes right about now and claiming that there is no way my almost five year old could love the Hobbit and have added me to the hipster list.  If you have been reading my posts full of run on sentences you would have figured out by now that my daughter definitely has her own taste.  So when we found the LOTR blu-rays at Target we had to pick them up.  That and they were only $13 a piece.  Needless to say it took ALL darn weekend to watch all of the movies!  She has even requested a Hobbit Birthday party for her big number 5.  Yeah what did I get myself into?  A My Little Pony Birthday would have been so easier.  But Nooooo.  She wants Hobbit.  So Hobbit she shall get!  

This is going to get really interesting.         

Pss. For some reason that picture reminds me of the little Sesame Street cup guy.



Tuesday, January 1, 2013

2013 Has Room. Right?

The last day of 2012 was spent simply.  Hubby and I hung out at home.  The last few hours of the year led to some interesting self reflection and then tiredness won out and I crashed.  I made it to ring in the New Year but unfortunately Clover was up as early as ever.  I feel like I'm dragging already this morning.

That's what caffeine is for right?

So in all my self reflection I have noticed that my attitude over the last year has taken a nose dive.  It's been a good year but it has had it's rough patches.  I've spent too much time dwelling on the negative and that has taken a hit on my sunny disposition.  Not to say that I'm all fairy and gumdrops one hundred percent of the time.  Realistically I have a bit of a sarcastic side.  But I have noticed that I have become a bit more cynical and that's not really okay with me.

I don't really have any resolutions or anything since I rarely stick to them but I think that 2013 might have room for attitude adjustments.

Of course my own and I acknowledge that.  But maybe there is enough to spread it around.