Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Time change, schmime change

I am not a fan of moving my clock's time forward and back ever year. It seems unnecessary. And once you have children, it causes all kinds of unnecessary anxiety.

A week ago, I was moderately ok with my girls waking up at 7:30 every morning. That's a normal waking hour and it's pretty reasonable to assume that Mom needs to get her day going at that point. We'd wake to sounds of squeals or shrieks or laughter or talking or a mix of all four and I'd get up and start my day. We'd eat by 8 or 8:30 and by 9:30, we'd be ready to go somewhere or do something before lunch.

Suddenly, the time changes and now the girls are waking me up while the clock insists that it's actually just 6:30 am. I am cranky and disoriented and not at all well rested. I beg them to go back to sleep and they do not and we're up and eating breakfast by 7:30 and ready to DO something by 8:30. Meanwhile, nothing interesting is open and it feels too early to grocery shop but we have to if we want to be back home in time for Lily to take her first nap at 9:30. Yes. 9:30AM. My 18 month old is taking a nap at 9:30 AM like she did when she was 4 months old.

Why does this have to happen? The time they wake hasn't really changed. Internally, they sleep and wake by the same clock no matter the time of year and I should be able to follow along and just enjoy being up and half done with the day's tasks before 10am.

It seems to me that the answer to this problem that I'm sure more that one mom faces is to actually USE the time change properly. It was meant to help farmers, right? So we should return to farmers' hours and just enjoy the extra sleep gained by being in bed at 8pm. If I slept from 8:30 till 6:30, I would wake up happy and ready to go, too.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Lily'isms

About 3 weeks ago, Lily started saying "Bess you" when she'd hear someone sneeze. It's adorable and often prompts a round of 'bless you's from everyone else in the room. While we were in Oregon last week, the girls had a hard time sleeping, even though we all shared a room. On one of our last nights, Lily woke up in the wee hours and after calming her down, we got to listen to her talk to herself for a while. She sneezed and then a few seconds later, we heard her say 'bess you' to herself. Even on very little sleep, it was adorable and funny.

Today during dinner, she was reaching for the bread and starting her fake 'uuuuuhhhhhh!' cry. I asked her if she wanted bread and she started to giggle in anticipation (just like her sister!). When I handed her a little piece, she said 'teh-choo, sum!'.  I don't think she's actually put words together like that before. She must have been taking notes this past week.

This little girl is so huggy, it boggles my mind. I don't think Izzy was this affectionate at the same age. Lily will sit with me and just turn and hug me over and over. She only gets tired of it if I try to hold her too firmly. All on her terms, I guess. That's a good thing. I want my girls to be sure of themselves and strong willed about their personal space.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

My first Friday in a long time.

As most SAHMs could tell you, there is no such thing as a "Friday" or a "weekend." When Wednesday rolls around, SAHMs don't rejoice that their work is nearing an end of any sort. Fridays might as well be Mondays and weekends are just more days of not getting enough sleep and having things to do. I've been trying to change this for myself because I don't want to be cranky all week long. I guess I'd rather be cranky Monday through Friday and sort of relax at least on Saturday. It's hard to just leave laundry sitting out or toys on the floor or bathrooms uncleaned. After all, that work won't go away simply because it's the weekend, it just means you get to do it later. And my motto has always been "better now than later" so it's doubly hard to resist the urge.

All that said... I cannot WAIT for Friday this week. We'll be getting up early and cleaning, tossing out leftovers, making sure the dogs' yard is clean, packing and double checking all sorts of things. Because we. are. going. to. Oregon. Yep! We are packing up the kiddos and Nana taking off to the most beautiful part of the U.S. for a week.

Hopefully, the airline won't screw up and leave us wandering the airport for HOURS this time...

Friday, October 15, 2010

Curtains!

After a few years of complaining about the blinds in our living room, I've finally gotten around to taking them down and putting up curtains instead. They aren't anything super exciting but they are definitely more attractive than bare wall and blinds that only sort of work. I only hope that the girls can refrain from pulling them down.

 This morning, I walked into the girls' room in time to see Lily putting Izzy's shorts on her head. The look of concentration on her face and the expression of satisfaction were just priceless. I scooped her up and said "Let's go show Daddy" and she says "leh go, leh go!" She was so proud of her hat. She took them off again in our room so she could see to climb up on the bed but then when I said "Silly girl, those are sister's shorts" she replied with "no, nuny hat!" I had no idea she knew how to put those words together! She amazes me every day.

I think I've become hooked on Grey's Anatomy. Kind of makes me wish I'd actually stuck with the show when it first started. I remember thinking it was good but we must have had too many shows to keep up with.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

This IS how I relax

Fighting the urge to go to the store and get next week's shopping done. I fully intend to start relaxing on Saturdays but it's hard to break a habit. I'm not going to pretend that every day has some major project or goal... if they did, I wouldn't have a hard time remembering what I did ALL WEEK. But I'd like to think that I am at least a little productive in every 24 hour period.

Yesterday it was laundry and baking. Today, we went to shul with the 'rents and enjoyed a Bat Mitzvah. I'd forgotten how much fun those can be. I'm a little bothered about not finding more people to chat with but it occurs to me that I could be the more outgoing one and not wait for someone else to do all the work. Izzy will learn that it's ok to go out and get new friends and not always wait for them to come get us.

Lily has figured out that words make sense every time you use them. I think she was under the impression that they only work occasionally but now she's started to use them appropriately and it's exciting to see the comprehension lighting up her face. On the way to lunch, I asked her what she was doing and she said "sit down." She's started using "all done" (but she says it more like 'aaw doh') to let me know she's done eating or done having her diaper changed or done throwing a hissy fit. That's the big one to me... the fact that her little brain can understand that I WANT her to be all done and she CAN be all done and picked up is just astounding.

This brings me to another topic. The baby fever. As full as my hands and head are with taking care of these two girls, I find myself missing being pregnant and caring for a tiny baby. It doesn't really matter that the baby fever is coming back but it's still there. Oh well. Time to re-tackle preschool for Izzy and get some projects started for Hanukkah. Depriving myself of any and all free time is exactly how I will get over wishing for another kid. :)

The boy is looking at a boat on craigslist. I would LOVE to have a boat but I feel like I should be the uber-responsible one that nixes the idea. We don't need to spend the money, we don't need the extra work of taking care of it, yada yada. But... it's a boat. And it's pretty. :)

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Nothing like a 3 year old putting you in your place.

Last night, Chad pointed out a stop sign to Izzy, saying, "Look, there's an octagon." To which she replied, very patronizingly, "Aaww... yeah, and a stop sign, too."

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Five things this week

Five things I love to hear:

I love yous.
My giggly girls.
Birds singing in the early morning.
Happy music.
My girls singing to each other.

Five things I used to say I didn't like but really did and now I REALLY do.

Getting carded.
Being called 'baby' or 'sweetie' by strangers. When it's just clearly second-nature and Southern. Not when it's lecherous and skeevy. ;)
Sleeping in till the middle of the day. Doesn't happen so this one might not be true but I'd like to bet it is.
Cleaning my house. This one only really works when the girls are asleep and I can enjoy the effect for longer than a minute.
Super sappy movies.

Chad is out of town till Thursday. I still do NOT like when he goes on trips. I always feel like I'm leaving part of my insides at the airport when I drop him off. I wonder if they see my heart on the x-ray when they scan his carry-on?

Friday, September 17, 2010

Huh...

Mooing the grass?

Last night, Justin came over to help Chad run some cabling from the attic down to the living room. Our network connectivity from down here has been pretty shady lately and we were hoping it was only the wireless thinger on the XBox that was at fault. I was worried that when it came time to drill from the outside, we'd end up with more than one hole in the wall and there'd be something to patch and paint again. Turns out my husband is amazing and everything went relatively smoothly. Hooray! Not only did we not end up with multiple holes, we now have access to our Netflix Instant queue again. :) This makes mommy HAPPY!

Today, the yard guys showed up. I'm pretty sure they were supposed to hit us last week but they didn't and the grass was completely out of control. Toys were missing, bones were disappearing (sad doggies!) and mosquitoes were finding places to breed. Ugh. GIANT mosquitoes. The kind I thought were Alaska natives. I need to fog the yard again and maybe get some extra and fog the neighborhood. Drive by fogging. :)

Izzy is fascinated by the guys outside. "Why they mooing the grass, Momma? Why do they moo it?" I don't think she's getting it when I explain and re-explain that it's "mow," not moo. "Ok. But why they moo it??" To make it pretty, baby. "Oh. They moo it to make it pretty. That's funny."

Sourdough bread is making my house smell delicious. I wish I could remember when I put it in the oven so it wouldn't be a guessing game. Nobody wins when you have to guess the right time to turn off the oven.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Baby's first blisters.

We had family over last night and Izzy was so excited to have friends to play with that she put on shoes that were WAY too small. :( After running around outside for a couple of hours, she was trying to come in and got knocked into the doorway by Pullo. After comforting her for that, I put her down and she started to WAIL. Her shoes had rubbed blisters on one heel and the other ankle. Poor kid couldn't walk without screaming about it. After washing her feet off and putting some E on the blisters, she seemed to be ok for a while. Sure, she crawled around instead of walking but she wasn't crying any more.

After putting her to bed, she woke herself up a couple of times, I'm assuming by rubbing her blisters too much in her sleep. Finally convinced her to let me put antibiotic and bandages on them and this morning she seemed fine. Even put shoes on and went running around like normal. We splashed in water a bit and had to take the shoes off so now she's back to crawling on the floor or asking me to carry her around. Who knew blisters were so incapacitating?

Lily's discovered saying 'mine' and 'mommy'. I know there's something else we noticed her saying but I can't think what it was. Her sense of humor is changing every day. She likes to make silly faces for the camera and say 'cheese'. Oh! she tells the dogs to 'sit', too. I think she hears me say it every time they come in so as soon as they walk around her, she says 'doggy sit!'

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Just a little recycling.

I found this when looking at some 2005 entries (I'd rather you left them alone... most of them are crap. heh)

"When the end of the world comes, it won't be referred to as "Judgment Day".
Rather, it shall be called "T-Day", when Mr. T ends the world by simultaneously pitying all six billion fools on this planet to death."

Poor little babies...

Just read an article Here about how few babies are exclusively breastfed for a significant amount of time. It makes me sad for all those babies and mommas that don't get to enjoy extended bf'ing time. I know some women try bf'ing and find it doesn't go smoothly, some have to go back to work and don't feel they can pump while there, some find formula fits into their current lifestyle better than whipping the girls out, and some just don't want to. It's still a shame. I wouldn't trade the 16 months of nursing with either of my daughters for anything. Not more free time, not more sleep, not more claim on my own body. Nothing. It's the best way to feel bonded to your child, I think. Those moments of peace and relative quiet help you lose focus on the frustration that comes with parenthood and find forgiveness for your own shortcomings as you realize you can provide not only nutrition but a sense of security and love.


Of course, like any parent can tell you, those moments of peace and reflection can get lost mighty fast. The crying and whining now filling my ears has completely derailed me. It's hard to write about how much you love your children when they're pouting because you won't turn on the tv or let them sit on their sister.

Reality checked.

Monday, September 13, 2010

E I E I O

Lily has discovered the joys of repetitive sounds. Today, she's been bringing me the See and Say and demanding "E AH E AH OO". I guess it's one of the easiest tunes to sing along with when you're a year old. Seems like the only other one she's latched on to has been "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," because she can say 'be bat, be bat' a lot.

Received an order from LectraLock today. Finally, I can cover outlets that are in use and keep the girls from un/re plugging everything 50 times a day. Of course, as soon as I got started installing one lock, Lily ran off with the screw driver and stuck it through the grill of a box fan and scared herself silly. At least it was through the front side and not the back, into the guts of the fan. I foresee many 'holy crap, what has she done NOW?' moments in our future. It's not enough that she's fearless about trying new things... she has to look for things that no child should attempt.

Yesterday, I started a batch of sourdough bread. Of course, after mixing up the sponge a bit, I forgot to attend to it till nearly 10 hours later. It didn't seem to be any worse for the neglect so I kneaded it a while and left it to rise. The recipe calls for an hour and a half of resting time but it was so late, I figured maybe I'd risk leaving it longer than that. Surely the girls could be trusted to wake me in the wee hours so I could come back down and bake the bread. Right? No. Not last night. Last night, they slept like BABIES. So this morning, I came down to the kitchen at about 8 and the dough had apparently had enough of my shenanigans and decided to make a break for it. Thankfully, dough is not the fastest entity and it only made it a few inches out of the bowl and onto the counter. I don't know if you can ruin sourdough (well, aside from letting the starter grow mold or something)... it currently is in the form of two huge loaves and smells delicious.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Possible progress is better than none at all.

I am so behind on many things. School stuff for Izzy, sewing projects, crafts I promised to people this year (Hey, if you want something, please tell me if you have a preference on type. Otherwise, you'll just get soap. heh.) Cleaning. Training the dogs. Getting rid of toys. Getting rid of unused kitchen items. Blah.

But yesterday, the Izzy and I went to synagogue and I feel so much lighter as a result. It's really been weighing on me over the last few months that I need to have some purpose in my spiritual life. My regular life has purpose: don't let the children win. But I think if I want to have even a whisper of a chance of succeeding in that arena, I need to have the rest of my house in order. So, yeah. We went to shul and she was excited about the singing and the snacks. But it just felt so nice to be somewhere with people of common purpose. I didn't expect to feel so much better after going. I think the key moment was saying the Shema. You close your eyes and say it with everyone in the room and yet you are entirely alone in your declaration.

The last few years have flown by me and I wonder if that happens because I don't have clear "checkpoints" during those months. The occasional holiday is great but they don't have special meaning to me in most cases. Thanksgiving/Christmas are times to get together with family and I love that but I don't find a resonating meaning behind them. I have this urge to embrace more potent holy days.

Anyway. Moment of clarity, maybe?

Friday, September 10, 2010

Ovid

All things may corrupt when minds are prone to evil.

***********************************************

Nothing in the entire universe ever perishes, believe me, but things vary, and adopt a new form. The phrase "being born" is used for beginning to be something different from what one was before, while "dying" means ceasing to be the same. Though this thing may pass into that, and that into this, yet the sums of things remains unchanged.
We're hearing lots of new words from Lily these days. She says her own name, tho I'm sure she doesn't know that it IS her name. But "YeeYee" is miles ahead of where I thought she'd be at this age. She's also saying "Sorry" and "tiki" (thank you) a lot. It's hard to encourage a kid to say 'thank you'... your only rational response is to say 'you're welcome' and then it just sounds like you're correcting them. Here's your sippy, baby. "Tiki" You're welcome. "But... I thought I was supposed to say thank you. Fine. You're welcome for taking this sippy from you. Whatever, dude."

I need to convince Lily that she does NOT in fact want to sit inside the new china cabinet. Maybe we'll need to baby-lock the doors. She opens them far to easily and then proceeds to cram herself in to the tiniest space. Might work to just encourage her to stuff her bears, etc. in there. Then there's no room for her but she still gets to play.

My mother-in-law will be moving back out soon. I do not like this. But I do like that she'll be moving in with a dear friend who needs the company and comforting. So it's all good, I guess. We'll just have to get better at planning/hosting family dinners or my kids my stage a revolt and also try to move...

Summer needs to hurry up and make way for Autumn. I'm tired of the heat. And I want to wear my comfy sweat pants, which I will insist on wearing rather than actually get around to buying normal, grown-up mommy outfits. It's just too complicated.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

So THAT's how composting works.

Months ago, I started a small compost pile in the back corner of the yard. I had initially tried compost buckets but it seemed like nothing was happening. Well, not nothing. The ants were very appreciative of the ready-made house I'd given them. I dumped the buckets in the corner of the yard and let the ants go at it there, instead. I've been pretty good about adding fruit cores and rinds to the pile but it never really gets any bigger. Must be decomposing, right?

Yesterday, I discovered the true fate of my cantaloupe rinds and apples cores. The dogs are eating them. They must think I've lost my mind, traipsing out to the end of the yard to put treats out for them.

The funny part is that we have a dog poop "pit" going. So as they eat my organic refuse, I pick up their messes and put it deep in a hole to further decompose and disappear. It's doing some good down there, I suppose but it's not really what I had in mind...

Monday, August 30, 2010

List of New

New words for Lily: baby, "doh" (go), dog

New concept for Izzy: telling mama no and actually hoping to mean it.

New skills for Lily: climbing on the back of the couch, putting herself in her booster seat, putting hats on correctly. :) That last one is great because we have SO many little hats and she loves to put them on. Dress-up parties are all the rage.

Sophie is doing well. I think she's still got a few weeks of adjusting to the household but she's sweet and very pliable. Correcting her once or twice seems to get a point across pretty effectively. She's miles ahead of Pullo in that respect, as, two years on, he still is very pig headed about things.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Latest addition


Sometime in the last couple of weeks, Nicole sent me an email with a link to a funny article about a dog. This dog apparently surprised the daylights out of a jogger in OK by jumping on him and licking him. I thought it was a cute story and really wanted the dog. I told the boy about this dog and while he thought she sounded great, I could tell that this wasn't going to be anything more than an "awww!" story.

This changed a few days later when the boy asked if I'd found out anything more about this dog. Where she was, if anyone had claimed her, etc. A drive to Oklahoma wouldn't be SO bad for a dog. Right?

I emailed the girlfriend of the guy who found this pup and she said a rescue group from Utah had heard about her and just picked her up. Utah. UTAH. That's... like... UTAH! So far away. We briefly considered a quick road trip with the girls. But then that left Pullo here and Mom stuck taking care of him. Also, that would mean 20 hours in the car EACH way with the kiddos. Argh. I love my girls but I didn't want to do a 40 speed-trip with them.

Just not meant to be, huh?

I suggested that the boy could find someone who'd want to take a quick road trip to go get the dog, if he really thought she was worth it.

Many emails with the lovely Lorraine from H.A.R.T. of Utah later, we were approved to adopt "Lilah."

The boy and Bryan left Saturday morning and drove aaaaaaaaaaall the way to Mesquite, Nevada to pick up this doggie. Yup. She's that special. Or Pullo is that lonely. Or we're THOSE suckers.

Anyway. After a brief standoff, the dogs have acclimated to each other and are apparently now the best of friends. They chew on each other's ears and faces and toes and Sophie has taken over every bit of Pullo's territory. I think he likes it, despite all the "aww, Mom!" looks he gives me.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Things I'd rather not be doing right now

The list is NOT a mile long, but it FEELS a mile long.

Dishes.
Laundry.
Putting all 250 4" balls back in the kiddie pool.
Hanging clothes in the closet.
Cleaning up the stove.
Sorting junk on the counter.
Sweeping.
Mopping.
Feeding the dog.
Vacuuming.
Picking up dress-up shoes, hula hoops, dolls, coloring papers, phones, books, purses, play money, the tent, the princess couch, blocks, dishes, stuffed animals, ad infinitum.

Yard sale is imminent. I'm thinking next weekend. Bye-bye baby stuff! Go clutter someone else's house.


Lily is walking everywhere. It only took her 14 months. ;) Unfortunately this means that it's also getting more difficult to keep an eye on her. And she climbs on everything. Chairs, couches, tables, play kitchen hutch, love sac. She has no fear. It's terrifying for me because I've made it 3 years with no hospital visits and she's gonna end up being the one getting stitches or a cast first.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Things I love to hear...

"I luh you so much, Mama"

"Good job, Mama!"

"I luh you, baby sister!"


Kids are awesome.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Counting down or counting up?

Do you count down to birthdays or count up to them? Count downs seem like they're normally for things you aren't particularly looking forward to. So maybe you count up to your 25th birthday and count down to all the rest.

Anyway. We're counting the days till Lily turns 1. ONE! I can't believe almost a year has gone by since we had her. Last night, I had a moment of sadness when I realized I couldn't really remember what I'd done all day with the girls just the day before. I finally figured it out but then I had to stop thinking about it because most of the days prior to that were just a blur and I didn't want to actually depress myself. I need to work harder at making note of the little moments, taking pictures and video, writing down all the silly things.

Lily has figured out waving. She waves backwards but it's so precious. And she waves with both hands. :) I think sometimes she's trying to figure out if there's a way to do it to mean 'come here' rather than 'bye-bye'... Adorable, no matter which she means. Chad caught her trying to climb on the couch the other day... she'd turned a little toy upside down and kept pushing it against the couch to stand on it. It won't be long till she masters the furniture. She's so quiet most of the time that I'm sure she's going to be the one getting into everything.

Izzy will be 3 in about 2.5 months. I'm so not ready for that! I don't know how I'll get around to actually sending her to school when the time comes. I absolutely dread it. I don't trust other people with my kids. :( At least I don't have to send her to preschool and all that. I'm convinced that a lot of kids have issues in school simply because our societal structure encourages parents to send them away to classes before they're really ready to adapt to that environment. Maybe I'm just selfish and I don't want to share my child's time.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Bring it on, Spring!

Every year, the time change surprises and annoys me. I'm ready for it to be done with already. Surely we could function just fine without changing our clocks twice a year. Would it really make that big a difference to people to just keep 7am where it is? Cows and such wouldn't know the difference, I'd bet you a dollar. That said, if changing the clocks makes Spring hurry up and get here, I'm willing to give this whole time-change thing another try. I've got the planting itch.

Speaking of trying things... I have some "Oikos" in front of me. Greek yogurt is WAY thicker than the yogurt I'm used to. Very odd. It tastes a little goat-y. Did I buy goat yogurt?? wth... it doesn't SAY it's made with goat milk but there's a distinctive upper-rear palate zest... Oh well. I'll live. At least it has blueberries in it. :)

Lily is 10 months old today. TEN! What happened to my tiny baby?? (Yes, I said it again. I will probably continue to say it, like every other mother, every 6 months for the rest of my natural days.) She's in what I call the perfect baby zone. Still roly-poly and cuddly but also learning how to snatch food, clap her hands and cackle at everything. 2 months till the big 1 and I'm getting excited. Also, starting to miss being pregnant but I'm sure that'll pass. All I need is a good session of both girls crying and maybe a muddy disobedient dog and I'll be SO glad to be done having babies.

Ugh... I have blueberry seed or skin stuck in my teeth and it's not coming out. How are we even aware of something that small being stuck in the crevice of a molar, anyway? It seems impossible... get a tiny seed stuck in your teeth and you'll know it but if your glasses are on your head, you'll continue to scour the house for 'em.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Soggy Mondays aren't so bad.

This morning, Izzy woke up at 7 like normal but after a bath and some snuggling, she went back to sleep. This NEVER happens. I was going to wake her up at 9:15 but she didn't respond to me stroking her hair so I let her lay there a while longer. I think Pullo must have thought I'd given up too soon because he went to check on her while I tried to get Lily to lay down and I heard cackling and 'Oh, Pullo, you so silly!' coming from our room.

The verbal skills of a 2.5 year old are always changing and impressive. This morning's fun sentence was "I did wake up and I want to get down and find and put on my tutu!"

Watching "Sid the Science Kid" with Izzy and the dog on the show isn't even a little bit anatomically correct. And they call this educational television. At least "Dinosaur Train" had an episode segment that was all about poop. Izzy thought that was pretty fascinating.

Lily is pulling up on everything these days. I'm not ready for her to be walking but it's exciting to see her reaching all these fun milestones.

Yesterday, Chad said something about having lots more kids. Izzy didn't take too kindly to that and told him "No, just two kids. 1 kid, 2 kids." I guess she figures she's sharing the spot light plenty these days.

No Gold for Team USA. :( Stinking Canada... I knew it would probably work out this way but it's still disappointing. Oh well. At least Brenden Morrow brings a shiny medal back to Dallas. Partial bragging rights are better than none at all! :)

Monday, January 4, 2010

New Year! New teeth!

Ok, not for me, tho... for Lily. She has two little tiny teeth and is just itching to use them on something yummy. She's working on learning to crawl. I wish I could remember being this age because it SEEMS like it would be terrifically exciting to be learning new stuff all the time. She looks like she's very pleased with herself when she gets up on all fours and starts to rock. Won't be long and I'll be wishing she didn't know how to crawl, as I chase her out of everything.

In 5 months, Lily will be ONE! I don't like to think about this at all. I was so thrilled to be having a second baby to enjoy all the baby stages again ad now she's moving along, inexorably moving towards toddlerhood and then childhood. Argh. Babies don't stay babies for long enough.

Tried out some new yoga poses today. Half Moon and... some sort of chair pose. Dear lord, it just about burned my thighs and calves up. I know it's good for me because I'm nowhere near as limber or toned as I'd like to be but jeebus... must it hurt so much? I'm determined to be in better shape, though. Not being fat isn't good enough, I need to actually be FIT!

New Year's resolutions: I didn't make any this year. Not even an Uber List. I need to, though. I have many crafts and projects I'd like to tackle this year, not to mention a kitchen/bedroom to reorganize and declutter. I'm determined to get rid of STUFF. If/when we have to move again, I don't want to have so much to pack or get rid of 'last minute'. It's exhausting to carry all this around.