Monday, November 7, 2011

I Like The Simple Life . . .

Simplicity - to be simple

Even the definition itself has no flash to it, and it does nothing to draw attention to itself.  Its just a word that has an itsy-bitsy meaning.  Three words . . . that's it.

We've been trying to learn the art of simplicity.  Stuff around our house got CRA-ZY a couple of weeks ago, and it was time for a few things to come to a screeching, whiplash causin' halt.  Really, people.  We just couldn't take it anymore.  Life had really starting wearing all of us down, and we were just too busy with school, church, housework, activities . . . get the picture?  None of this stuff is bad, it was just all driving us crazy.  Craig and I sat down together for a few nights (after a Hiroshima sized emotional outcry from me sitting on the bathroom floor) and tried to come up with some ways to make life not-so-crazy around here . . . and guess what?  These little resolutions are working!  I've learned that I don't have to crawl around on my knees wiping up every little spot on the kitchen floor.  The boys have learned that it really won't leave them oxygen-less if they make a few trips up and down the stairs helping with laundry.  Craig has learned that the receipts can usually pile up for one more day, and Daisee has learned that, well, sometimes its ok to eat tortilla chips for supper (just keeping it real, ok?).  My super-duper mom came over one day and gave me a hand with the school session of the day and helped me kinda get a jumpstart on trying to 'keep' everything done.  By using the word 'keep', I don't mean that my laundry basket has been totally empty or the bed was neatly made every single day, but everything has been manageable.  And as far as our schedules go, don't be surprised to hear a 'no' come from us for a little while.  We've got all the love for you our hearts can hold, but we're in the process of retrieving our minds back from the little green people that took them so try and understand, k?  We've just gotta SLOW DOWN!

Daisee has made the transition from her baby bed to a 'big girl' bed.  I so expected the worst, seeing as how when we first put it in her room she gave a hearty 'get out' while she pointed to this foreign object being placed in her territory.  We left it in there for about a week before we realized she wasn't even thinking about closing her eyes on this contraption as long as her baby bed was still in there.  So, what to do?  We took the baby bed apart and hauled it out of there.  Time to get a little 'cold turkey'.  We braced ourselves for a long night.  However, to our 'could've-knocked-me-over-with-a-feather' surprise, the kid has slept on this thing since the first night her baby bed took the hiatus.  Check out my FB page for the first-day video ( I would post it here, but see FB for the sad story of my phone).  This was taken after she kinda became accustomed to seeing this in her room.

Ryan got his first promotion in CAP.  He's now a cadet airman.  He's been trying to pass his PT's (physical training exercises) for a couple of weeks, so when it got down to the wire, I started taking him out and running with me.  This was the last step he needed for his promotion, and we were determined to get his mile-run time to where it needed to be.  We were still short by a few seconds, but he did so well on his shuttle run that they gave it to him.  I ended up going to the airport and running with him the night of his test (no, I'm not a 'copter mom . . . they encourage parent particiption) and I kinda think they were impressed with his effort, 'cause he definitely worked hard.  I was super proud of him.  He'll be able to attend the official awards ceremony in December, and I probably won't have ANY pictures of that . . . whatever.

Gavin attended his Upward basketball evaluations tonight.  Craig said he did a really good job, and tried super hard at everything.  Gavin wanted to play as long as Craig could be his coach, so we've tried to make sure those things both happen.  This will be the first time that he's participated with any kind of sport, so I'm excited to see what how he does.  Y'all know that Gavin is my 'little big man', and his size may make it a little tough for him to play this particular sport, but I can assure you that he'll put his heart and soul into it.  Gavin knows to do nothing less with most things he does.  Sweet, sweet kid, he is.  I can't wait for his first game in a few weeks.  Wait for the world-famous underdog video when he gets the winning shot :).

Craig still enjoys his new job.  He's really having to get used to being in a smaller office with less, however, much more close-knit co-workers.  He says everybody there has a character from 'The Office'.  I won't go into a whole lot of detail on that, but if you know any of those characters, well, then you might actually would like hanging out with Craig for the day.  Seriously, though, he enjoys working with everybody there and is continuing to enjoy NOT driving to Birmingham every day.  Most days he's able to pick up Daisee from dayschool and bring her home, so we're all able to have lunch together.  Good stuff.

So, as for me, I'm totally excited to see some size 10 pants in my dresser drawers.  I'm so not being over-dramatic when I say that I absolutely can't remember the last time I wore a size 10.  I mean, did I EVER?  Last January I seriously started an effort to try and get healthy, and thanks to the support of a fabuloso man, the staff and equipment at Fitness One, and especially the GOOD LORD, I've reached my goal.  That's not to say that I wouldn't mind shedding a few more pounds, but my main plan right now is just to maintain.  I'm hoping that doing this won't be too hard to do.  I've purposely tried not to change the way I eat, simply because I like to eat and I LOVE to cook.  Restrictive dieting puts so many limits on you, and that just wasn't realistic for me.  I guess I just started making myself more aware of what and how much of what I eat, and just doing that made a little difference, I think.  The biggest contributor, though, was just starting a consistent exercise program.  I combined weight training with lots of cardio, and now I can't imagine NOT doing any kind of exercise.  I just feel better, you know?  I know that a size 10 isn't what the models are wearing, but a size 2 or 4 just isn't me.  If I looked like that people would wonder where the rest of me was hiding.  My goal is just to be healthy according to my own standards, and that's what's important. 

Ok, so my plug for today is for you guys to sit down and re-evaluate life.  If you've left your keys in the freezer at any time during the last week, you may be too busy.  When you find your keys, take some time with somebody you love, or, even better, just with GOD, and go to the park.  Walk around, look at the changing leaves, and resolve to find the enjoyment of just BREATHING for a while! 

Love,

1 comment:

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