Intentions

The end of January 2010 is quickly approaching. That means that there are only 11 more months of shopping left before Christmas....Yikes! The beginning of a new year always brings new goals and hopes for a better tomorrow. Some people make resolutions while others (like me) have good intentions of just being a better person. Those intentions might turn into a list similar to this one.

1. Donate more to a favorite charity.

2. Volunteer at least 2-3 days per week at a local organization.

3. Read more to the reds.

4. Set aside more family time a week.

5. Complain less and be thankful for what we have.

If you notice, no where on that list have I listed anything that is just about Me. I didn't do that purposely, it just worked out that way. By nature I'm one who tries to take care of everyone else before myself and at the end of the year I down right exhausted. Ya see my good intentions might have made me feel more accomplished or fulfilled that I helped someone else out, but in the end I didn't take care of Me. It's important to always remember to take care of your own personal happiness and health as well.

So where is the balance between the two??? That's a great question that I am still trying to figure out. What I have come to realize that I can spend my entire day doing domestic goddess things or making sure everyone is fed, clean and happy BUT if I go to bed exhausted or not having done one thing (outside of everyday necessities) for myself, then I haven't accomplished much. Take time each day, even if it's only 10-15 minutes to do something just for yourself. Have a cup of tea and a cookie while sitting in a nice comfy chair. Read the newspaper in a quiet room of the house. Go to your room, lock the door behind you and veg out for a little while.

When you set out with good intentions to be a better person and give back, make sure that you give back to yourself as well.

xoxo

Me

Vintage Red 1/19/10

Can you guess which Red this is??

Weekly Photo - A.K.A. Vintage Red

While going through some CD's a few weeks ago I found a ton of vintage red pics that I just went gaga over. So each week I'm going to devote a blog post to one of my favorite vintage red photos. The title of this weeks vintage red...I'll hold him, but I'm NOT touching him.

NYE

New Year's Eve - We decided that this year we would bring the reds along with us to the NYE party being held at the FESM (Portuguese Hall in Manteca where Mr. G. is a member of...well I guess I am as well). Anywhooooo, since my sister was coming along with us we decided the reds would be her dates for the evening. I mean come on, who wouldn't want those two very handsome boys as escorts. She even made them each a boutonniere that matched her dress. Granted Lucas wanted to rip it off within the first minute but it was the sweet thought that counts. I'm sure by the time prom comes around he will learn better manners.

My sis and I greeted everyone as they entered the hall to make sure they had tickets and pass out their party hats. The reds ran around the hall with the other kids and Mr. G was behind the bar making sure everyone got more than their fair share of drinks that night. Dinner was steak and shrimp so of course the reds ate everything in sight....FAT CHANCE. Let's see, one consumed bread and butter while the other had bread and a few bites of steak. Dinner was over with around 8:30ish and the youngest red was passed out on a makeshift bed of four chairs by 9pm. Some date he was. The eldest red partied with us until after midnight and enjoyed his first glass (ok maybe 4) of sparkling apple cider. It was a fun way to say goodbye 2009 and HELLO 2010!!!!

2010 - What Matters

Wow...what a crazy end to 2009. My sister and nephew arrived on the 17th (12 hours late) and it has been crazy busy non stop fun ever since. We managed to shop for and hold the bake-a-thon, visit relatives, have numerous family gatherings, get a pedicure, go to the beach, shop, visit Chuck E Cheese for the first (and maybe last time), stop by the 133 for a few drinks and just catch up. In between all of the fun I also took care of 2 sick reds. Of course they couldn't be sick at the same time because that would be too easy on a mommy. I tried sooo hard to keep myself healthy but I too game down with a sick bug and am hoping to be 100% in a day or two.

2009 was filled with many great memroies of family fun that I hope the reds will always remember. Our summer at the beach house in Anchor Bay is still something that Lucas brings up every so often. Samuel's first day of kinder was another wonderful moment for Mr. G and I.

2009 also brought sadness to our family with the loss of Granny Franny. We love her dearly and miss her everyday. The reds were so fortunate to have had her in their lives, even for a short period of time. The holidays weren't the same without her but we keep her in our hearts and our thoughts.

The end of 2009 was a career bummer for me. For the first time in 10 years I was unemployed and didn't know what to do with myself. I've done lots of soul searching and thinking about how it has impacted me. Honestly, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me at that moment in my career. It cleared out the fog and gave me some much needed sun.

2010 will be a time of change and growth for me professionally and personally. I have to let go of the toxic things in my life and make room for what really matters most. What matters most to me might be number 5 on someone elses list and that's ok. Like a snowflake, no two "what matters" lists should be alike. Coming up with your list should be so easy and a little like the Would you rather game. Would you rather work 60 hours per week so you can walk around in $300 designer jeans OR work 40 hours per week and be happy in your Target jeans. To me the answer is very easy, but I've also never been a person that has to have the designer labels for all to see. At the end of the day the material items do not matter. What matters is how you lived each day and if you really cared about the important things in life. So my challenge to myself and to everyone else is to purge the bad in 2010. You have to start with yourself and decide what matters to you.

xo

Me

Could Not Ask for More....

When you have small kids everything is simplified. For example instead of saying we have X number of days until Santa arrives, we replace days with sleeps. The reds understand that in 9 more sleeps they will wake up and hopefully Santa will have brought them what they asked for. The one challenge I have is trying to get the reds to fully understand how fortunate they are, especially during these very harsh economic times.

Last Friday I took the oldest red to get some new jammies. As I drove up to the store I noticed all the uniformed men and women standing outside the doors and realized they were holding a Toy for Tots drive. What a perfect opportunity to try and teach a very important lesson about giving to others!!! As we walked up, the oldest red asked why they were all standing around with candy canes and in costumes. I explained to him that they were in their work uniforms and are collecting toys for boys and girls that might not get any for Christmas. Just then I thought...what if he asks me why Santa won't bring them toys...thankfully he didn't because I didn't have a prepared response for that.

We headed to the toy section, which thankfully had an entire aisle of toys priced just right. The first toy spotted was a train set (of course). The next toy we got was an overstuffed floppy teddy bear that was the perfect size for night time snuggles. We purchased our items and the oldest red insisted on being the one to put the toys in the bin. He proudly walked out the doors and dropped them in the bin. His reward was a candy cane. My reward was far greater than that. The lesson itself stuck with him and I know this because just yesterday he asked me if I knew the names of the kids that would get the toys we bought for them. That moment reminded me of a few lines from one of my favorite songs.....

And these are the moments,

I thank God that I'm alive.

And these are the moments,

I'll remember all my life.

I've found all I've Waited for,

And I could not ask for more.

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Me

60 Minutes

This morning we needed to leave the house by 7:45am so that I could fill up the non-environmentally friendly Pilot, drop the littlest red off at daycare and take the oldest red to school. Friday's I work in the classroom so I try to get in at least 2 cups of coffee to make it through the day. Well this morning I had exactly 1 hour (because we woke up LATE) to do the following:

• Shower, dry hair, flat iron hair, throw on some mineral powder and mascara, brush teeth and get dressed.
• Feed the reds breakfast.
• Get the reds dressed which is no easy task when the youngest red refusses to do anything by himself and mama doesn't have time to waste.
• Brush the reds teeth and hair.
• Demand that they both use the bathroom before we leave the house (don't ask).
• Make the oldest reds lunch.
• Check on one of the household cats that scratched his eye last night and made it bleed...like I have time to deal with feline issues.
• Make sure homework was finished and fill out the reading log because I forgot to last night.
• Find the lost coat of the littlest red.
• Find the reading log of another boy in the oldest reds class that was accidently sent home to our house.
• Make coffee so that I can function with a class of wild 5 year olds that eat pencils and other things they shouldn't eat (use your imagination).
• Grab something to eat for Me.
• Deal with at least one meltdown by the youngest red (happens every morning so we just add it to the routine).

Well we got out of the house at exactly 7:45am but a very cruicial to do list item was sacrificed. Yep, you guessed it...the COFFEE. I wanted my coffee so bad but there just wasn't time. I figured since I have to stop by the gas station, I can grab a cup there. HUGE mistake. I opted for the french vanilla premade coffee that comes out of that machine. You know what I'm referring to. The one that says, Only fill 3/4 of the cup. Yeah that one. I also didn't have time to eat so I thought I would grab a round maple doughnut. Sugar upon sugar. The coffee was so sweet that one sip was enough to throw it out. Oh and that doughnut was filled with custard. Now why would someone go and ruin a perfectly good thing by filling it with custard???? They need warning signs for that. A tired mom that hasn't had any coffee doesn't want to bit into what is supposed to be a yummy thing and find this disgusting surprise. It's not right.

So I'm giving myself a Kudos for getting out of the house on time, even though I didn't take care of my cruicial needs. And my words of advice, skip the premade crappy coffee and stick to the old fashion doughnuts or your old friend Hostess.

xoxo

Me