Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

I am having my half way there "BLAHS"......Do you ever have those days, weeks...months for some ...where something is just off?

You can't put a finger on it other than saying...."BLAH"......

Motivation is lacking....enthusiasm is minimal......laziness has crept in.....

I am a little over half way there in my weight loss and I have hit that dreaded plateau...physically and mentally. To the point where I stepped off the treadmill this last week...It just was not in me to exercise....What is the worst thing to do when trying to lose weight?...stop when it is getting the hardest. I will get back on the treadmill...my eating has remained healthy and consistent...I just need to find that spark again!..... I am only 10 pounds away from my end of summer goal......

I am half way there in school.....all my pre-req's are done, now it is on to just the core nursing classes.....getting everything together for nursing school has cost me a small fortune this summer...seriously 63.00 dollars for a scrub top? Updates on vaccinations at 50+ dollars a piece... CPR class...background checks.....and little things here and there that add up....I have not even looked at the books I need to purchase...thank goodness for grants and scholarships in the fall.....

My hair is half way there in growing out and it is at code red levels right now. I am growing it out so it will be easy to pull back when doing clinicals. The length is at that awkward level...I have huge amounts of cowlicks along the baseline of my hair and they are running rampant right now....they are not controllable and I am at their mercy...It is taking everything in my power not to run to my hairdresser and cut it to a comfortable level.....thank goodness my hair grows fast, and though it is annoying right now, it is temporary......

Monetarily things are tight so we have to be creative with extracurricular activities...there is only so many red box movie you can watch, and picnics to the park that can be had...my kids are getting cabin fever...I have cabin fever.....I think the summer "BLAHS" have infected the house.....unlike millions of others our health is good, our bills are paid, and meals are on the table...can't ask for more than that.

Here is the problem with the "BLAHS"...10 pounds from a goal, grants and scholarships, thick full hair, and roof over my head..... are all lost in a cloud of humdrums and tedious parts of life.

So how does one cure the "BLAHS" ?

Get back on the treadmill......realize the extra costs of school will bring nothing but financial gain in the end....buy some hair accessories and deal with it......family financial sacrifices is a temporary bump on the road right now.....

The "BLAHS" will fade away and....

in the words of Bob Marley~

...no truer words have been spoken,,,,,,

Fork In The Road

There is that time in life when you finally approach that fork in the road and you have to decide which direction you have to go. You take a deep breath and you go ahead and make your turn....you are on a new road and headed hopefully on the right path.....

When the twins were born we made a decision for me to stay home. I always knew that me staying at home  was not a permanent choice... but at the time it seemed to be the best decision for us. The years went by pretty seamlessly and then the economy ran over us with a Mac truck. Job change,  job losses, and a constant battlefield of uncertainty. We decided it was time for me to get back in the work force. I was not going to be gone 40+ hours a week from my family only making 10 dollars or less an hour. I was going to make sure it made economic sense for me to work outside the home. So I went back to school with the intent of getting a degree in nursing.

I worked for a little while when I started school as a CNA, but with Adrian's night job at the time and my job went into the night hours trying to find babysitting on Sunday nights and other nights became a nightmare and put a huge amount of stress on us. We desperately needed the extra income I made so we had to figure out a solution. Adrian went and found another job that was not at night and made more money so I could stay at home for a little longer because we did not have many options at the time. The kids were to young to leave at home by themselves for extended periods and we could not afford day care for three kids.....so we put me working for the time being on the back burner....

So fast forward to Monday morning............

I started my job at a skilled nursing center....

...okay so working is not huge...millions of people do it everyday.....

but for me it was that turn on to a brand new road.......

I have been home with my kids for basically the last twelve years....

but as of Monday I will be working...from here on out....until I guess .....I retire......

It was kind of surreal when I pulled up to the job.....

I am officially now on a new path....

....Now...I just hope I made the right turn in the fork of the road......



( p.s......by 9 am on my first day of the job I was highly questioning this decision...The air conditioning was down, I was wrist deep in poop, and having to contend with aloof coworkers...
...nobody said the road be easy I suppose....)

Call Me Crazy!

Happy July...is that what month it is? This summer is going by in a blink of an eye..is it?

Lets see, what is happening in the Brand house?...Apparently the word "energy" is difficult for Makenzie to say ...and I find her trying to say it, ADORABLE...because she is... well...adorable...

That kid cracks me up...and drives me to the brink of INSANITY most days. As of lately she is always wanting to know what we are doing five minutes from now or two weeks from now. She is not my, "live in the moment kind of girl"....she needs to know what is coming next. Even when reading her books she is trying to peek at the end to see what is coming. I think Makenzie hears me saying, "Don't worry about it, just relax and enjoy the moment!" at least twenty times a day.

We borrowed my father-in-laws telescope and set it up the other night to get a close up view of the moon. The twins were in awe of the craters and the magnificence of it,  Makenzie seemed disappointed after her view through the lens. I asked her what is wrong and she said, " Well, I thought there would be more to see....like an astronaut or something!"....sigh...that kid....I wonder if life will ever live up to her grand expectations?


The twins went to their first girls camp...I think they enjoyed it? They are in that teen grumble grumble stage. You ask questions and either you  get a grumble or something that resembles an answer.  I usually get the full story over a course of a few days because I am persistant and keep asking until they surrender and share with me. Most of their days are spent with friends.....and at this point I am the person that provides a bed, food, and electronic devices. They also drive me CRAZY most days with their inconsistent moods but who said living with teen girls was easy.....

I am gainfully employed at a skill care center....I will continue working through school...so I am thinking by the time I hit Christmas break from nursing school and working 12 hours shifts at the care center I should look something like this....so BE WARNED.....

I am finding a theme in this post so far ...."CRAZY".......

So lets go ahead and finish this post off with one of my CRAZY ideas....

So I have discussed my fascination with "Fancy" chickens in previous posts and my need to own some...but I have decided now that I can't just stop at the chickens I need something else to go along with the chickens......

I need fancy chickens.....

I also need a a pack of alpacas that I can shave various hairdos on.....

I also need a pack of fainting goats.....

Call me "CRAZY"...but how entertaining would these barnyard animals be? After a long day at work, I could sit on my porch look out on my land (I would need to move to a house with lots of land to fullfill this barnyard need)...and see all these animals and automatically my day would melt away and all I could do is smile......

a "CRAZY" smile..........

"The Joy Of Enjoying"

When I am on the computer doing homework for school, I seem to find myself coming over to blogger to break up the monotony of learning about human cells and why our bodies do the things they do. On my blog I can write without grammatical judgement (please don't judge me) and lack of any cerebral depth ( I only have cerebal depth at school.. at home any fart joke makes me laugh). When I am finished I move back to the place where commas and rational thoughts matter.

A friend stopped me the other day and gave me an earnest and concerned look and asked, "Why have you not written in awhile?"......"Is everything okay?".......

I felt the urgency to come up with some grand reason as to why I have a lack of words...why I have been silent for a month......

but......the real reason...

LAZINESS!

For me to write would require some concentration beyond what it requires for me to come up with a creative word in Words With Friends or busting down a particularly hard structure in Angry Birds. I have to put a logical thought in a continuous manner when I write.....and I am to lazy to do that right now.

I am not laying around  in my t-shirt and underwear all day watching Real Housewives  ( I only do that when the kids go to bed ).  I have been organizing the house, exercising, playing with my kids,

......looking for work that will work around my school schedule......

The next two years are going to be crazy....school, work, family.....LIFE....

I am just enjoying the silence before the storm.....and enjoying time with my kiddos this summer....

....I am enjoying sleeping in...

....I am enjoying Kenzie climbing in bed with me in the morning and watching some T.V....

....I am enjoying my morning runs....

....I am enjoying the kids friends and all their giggles as they come and go all day....

....I am enjoying my evening walks with my girls and all stories they share with me....

....I am enjoying  our afternoon movie watching just because we can....

....I am enjoying trips to the libraries and the nightly reading of these books....


So my dear friend don't be concerned....life is okay...it is just a quiet summer spent at home.....


just enjoying ......

Who's Awesome?

I wish I could give you the complete  before and after photo but we will call this half-way there photo. Okay, so this before photo was taken right after I had Makenzie but that was basically my starting weight when I started this whole diet thing...... my heaviest weight and what I consider my starting weight.

I think I should get props for not dolling myself up for the after photo...I am au-natural....but hey we are not criticizing the hair and makeup right?!

Me and the kids were flipping through old pictures today and it was one of my twins that said, "Wow, you have lost weight mom!"...so I knew I had this shirt in the back of my closet so I put it on and realized it was big so I had to kinda cinch the back and they took a pic of me...remember... au-natural.....

I am half way there at this point......

so today I took a moment to say........

79 DAYS....79

Summer has officially begun. The kids are home for the next 79 days.....79 days.......79

Supplies, verbal exchanges, and  nourishment  needed for day one so far has been.....

*  3 bowls of Lucky Charms

*  2 AAA batteries for mini Wii remote

*  2 tsps children's ibuprofen

* 1 hug and TLC for child that upchucked her Lucky Charms and children's ibuprofen

* 1 blankie, teddy bear, and pillow pet to console sick child

* 2 cold cut sandwiches

* 2 glasses of milk

* 2 band-aids for child doing dishes and slicing finger on a knife

* 1 glass of ginger ale for sick child

* 1 hug and TLC for child that upchucked her ginger ale

* 2 bananas with nutella

* 3 verbal smackdowns involving  threatening grounding for summer if chores were not done today

* 2 reminders to brush teeth

* 1 hug and TLC for child that upchucked who knows what at this point

* 1 bedroom now being used as an imaginary " HIGH FASHION CORPORATE OFFICE"

* 1 round of Wii London Olympic Games gymnastic competition

* 1 threat to stop demonstrating  Olympic wrestling on the couch

* 2 BBQ burgers and a handful of sweet potato fries

* 2 glasses of crystal light

* 1 hug and TLC for child that upchucked nothing.......just dry heaves at this point...

* 2 bowls of orange sherbet
 
* 1 small glass of Gatorade for sick child

* 1 used notebook now filled with numerous drawings and scribbles

* 2 reminders to brush teeth and wash face

* 3 I love you's and goodnights

* 1 book read to sick child and hopes of healthy tomorrow

* 2 books read in bed

* 3 lights being turned out to rest up to prepare for the .....

next day.......

79 days....79

Why is it?

Why is it.............

That when you are try to make food lifestyle changes...oh hell, lets call it what it is, DIET!.. That everything in your life that you should not eat suddenly becomes an insatiable desire that will not go away? I have three sugar cookies sitting on the counter that make me salivate every time I pass them. I swear one spoke to me and said, "C'mon...you know you want be baby!".....and I swear I answered it back, "Mmmm....yes I do"...as I licked my lips.......

Okay...I will stop before this turns into the next Fifty Shades of Grey novel....but instead called, Fifty Shades of Frosting......

Why is it..........

That sometimes a child can be more profound than the most brilliant of adults?  I was driving in to Costco so I could get some healthy snacking items in my house, so that me and the sugar cookies would stop flirting with one another. My youngest car seat has been in the same place in our Ford Expedition forever now. She has decided that she is tired of this spot and every time we get in the car she moves her booster seat to somewhere else in the car. Really she only has three other spots she can move to but these small moves are apparently profound to her. On our ride in to Salt Lake she says, "Mom, moving my car seat is good for me." ...... I play along by saying, "Why is that?".....She responds by saying, "Because it gives me a whole new look at things, I can see things I have not seen before...she pauses.....and says, "Everyone should move to different seat every once in awhile so they can get a new look at things."

I know the statement was literal for her....she just thinks that everyone should see a different scenic view every once in awhile...or... that was her hint that she would like to ride shotgun at some point in her life. However, the statement made me smile...so simple.....so right. So many hot button issues in the world...maybe some of us should just look at things from a new place...and just maybe we could gain a new perspective.

Why is it.....

I can go over my legs with a razor 50 times and still miss a patch of hair on the back of my legs?

Why is it.....

I had a huge list of things I wanted to get done this summer before I head back to school this fall.....and I have done none of it so far? I will try to cram it all in to the last two weeks of summer because that is how I roll!

Why is it .......

I really want to make this now .......and eat the whole thing...four key words...Pretzel, Cookie, Peanut Butter, Pie...enough said

Why is it....

I will never have abs that look like this?................

.....four key words......Pretzel, Cookie, Peanut Butter, Pie.....enough said!