The New Face of Whip Its?

I'm not sure what to say about this. I'm not sure what to say about the fact that I bought it. Have I reached a new low? Admittedly I am feeling lazy as summer rolls to an end. There are a million pancake mixes out there that only require you add water... and I bought one in a spray can???? In my defense, the kids were begging me, and going to the grocery with the kids is like strolling the market in Mexico. The constant barrage of "buy this" "please please buy this, your so pretty" "I'll do anything if you buy this, please" wears a mother out!

And as for the Whip Its part... I laughed my head off picturing a bunch of moms standing around doing a WI before making their kids breakfast. For the record, I have not done a Whip It in 20 years - it's so 80's.

13 Weeks to 40

I am turning 40 in 13 weeks and leaving for a long vacation in Jamaica in 14 wks. I am now officially in freak out mode. I am meeting with a personal trainer 3x a week, eating healthy and trying wanting to quit smoking. I know, I know, the whole smoking thing is so 89', stinky, stupid, and bad for me, I know this - that's why I'm wanting to quit. Anyway, I'm wanting to roll into 40 in the best shape of my life. Healthy, strong, and looking so good other girls call me Bitch behind my back. I understand this may sound vain, it is. And I don't give a shit.

I have come through the first 40 with lots of my brain cells intact, a group of amazing girlfriends, a cool house on an even cooler street, a husband that I love, 2 really funny & happy kids, and a reputation that I am proud of. And my hope for the next 40 is more of the same plus a body that is HOT. My trainer says if I do what he says I will get to that place. I'm thinking of posting a before and after picture. That does feel a little cheesy. What the hell, I love before and afters so I probably will. I will feel like such an asshole if I look the same in 14 wks because I screwed around and ate like a horse. OK, that may be just the motivation I need.

A Community Garden Kicks Ass

Its time for a Community Garden update. After practically forcing my neighbors to join me in the CG, that for awhile was a garden of one, things have really taken off. What was once an ugly empty lot at the end of our street is beautiful. It is kicking ass! I have harvested more tomatoes than I know what to do with, cantaloupe, bell peppers, jalapenos, purple bells, onions, and eggplant. While it is a CG, it is actually comprised of several individual gardens. A community space of gardens. I built it this way because I have the best neighbors in the world, who like to drink and enjoy other extracurricular activities that some times leave us/them zoned out, lazy and forgetful. Meaning that the garden may or may not get watered or tended when it needs to so this way each is in charge of their own space. There is a very strong sense of community and we help each other out whenever its needed, unless of course someone forgets what they were gonna do. This makes it sound like I live on a street filled with Alzheimer's patients. I am so happy that it has worked and how beautiful the space is now. Magnolia Community Garden Rocks!

Family Vacation Detox

We are home from family vacation. I don't even know where to begin. I'm grateful that we were able to go on vacation, that everyone came home safe and well ("well" is debatable when considering my mental health), that the children got to enjoy the beach and that there was a bar right beside the pool. Now onto the good stuff. The not so grateful parts: every time I told the kids "no" my in laws told them "yes, if its OK with your mom" - which makes me always look like the killjoy, one family member only needs a couple of drinks to get drunk (thanks to weight loss surgery) and 3 to get shit faced and is a very paranoid drunk, sand in the sheets, and the BEST one of all......... a family member posted pictures of me in my swimsuit on Facebook. This part sent me over the edge and required Xanax to pull me back. Who does that? I would never ever put a picture of one of my friends (or family) in their SWIMSUIT on the Internet unless they asked me to. Hell even movie starts want their photos airbrushed before the world sees them! I am in serious Family Vacation Detox.

Please, if you love me, Photoshop me

I can honestly say I would never post an ugly picture of anyone on Facebook. Even someone I didn't like. I sure wouldn't want someone to do it to me. So when a well meaning friend posts an ugly picture... Maybe it's my vanity speaking, maybe so, but I when someone I haven't seen in 20 years looks at a photo I've been tagged in I wanna look good! I was just your normal HS girls with way too much eye shadow and way big hair wearing Units outfits. I feel like a good bottle of wine, that I have only gotten better with age. I would like my pictures to reflect that! Mr. Shug says I have a really high self esteem - I'm not wearing Units and purple eyeshadow anymore so it should be higher than in HS. I'm saying all this because after a 40th birthday dinner for a friend/neighbor I woke up thinking that she might be posting pictures. I normally wouldn't fly out of bed to check but before the dinner (7pm) I had stopped off a little earlier (3pm) for a couple of drinks with another friend. Suffice to say when I arrived at the b-day dinner I was very composed but secretly had a really good buzz going. All this led up to me really enjoying the picture taking. I did make a mad dash for the computer and sure enough in nice big print "_____ has tagged you in 7 pictures". I untagged myself as quickly as possible from the really bad ones and left the halfway descent picture of me and Mr. Shug. There still there for all the FB folks to see. I have to live with that. But from now on I am going to be so selective when friends are taking pictures unless it is my BFF's who would never post a bad picture. If your humming "Your So Vain" right now I don't even mind, because I just might be - today.
Units

Deep in love, not a lot to say...

Mr. Shug comes home to night. He left last week for the mountains. Mountain biking with some friends and opening the cabin for the summer. I can't wait to see him, hug him, love on him. He is everything I want. And there is a part of me, that I can't explain, that will miss the easiness of having him gone. I feel a little ashamed to even type it. He is the love of my life, kind and gentle, funny to the core, and still gives me butterflies. And yet, when he returns from a trip I always feel these screwy mixed up feelings.

Facebook Adult Supervision

When I first got on Facebook I accepted every friend request that came my way. The friends that I had lost touch with over the years, the people from high school that I had always wondered what had happened to, the friend of the friend that I got drunk with a few years back (what was their name? they sure were fun, I think), the crush I thought I would always like, the people I went to HS with but didn't remember (you went to HS with ____, be their friend), moms from the kids school, the list goes on and on. After I got over the new of FB I realized I needed to do a clean up. Things had spiraled out of control and the friend list was full of people I didn't really know or care about. I decided to use the closet method - if I hadn't sent a message directly to them or worn them in the last 6 months they were off the list! This felt almost as good as cleaning out my closet and went a whole lot faster. The problem was solved! Sadly, new problems continue to arise. The request from family members (she parties that much?), my trainer (no need to see me chowing down on a big fat burger), my friend's mom (feels too much like adult supervision), you get the drift. So how do you get off the hook? And for all those out there who have their boss on their friend list, wake up people. If you have know idea what I'm talking about then please check out http://beanieandmrt.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-you-shouldnt-friend-your-boss-on.html, and then take your boss off!