Brothers

Sparky told me the other day that at one point during the night he woke up and found a sweet little Tiger all curled up in bed with him. Sparky has no idea when the little man crawled into his bed, or how long he stayed. He just rolled over and went back to sleep and at some point Tiger woke up and went back to his own bed. It's these sweet little stories that melt my heart. Tiger obviously needed his brother in the night and had no qualms about crawling into Sparky's bed in order to be comforted, and Sparky, being the great big brother that he is, had no problems with his little brother hanging out with him in the night for a bit. These two bros are friends, and I hope it will always be this way.

On an unrelated side note, I am completely sucked into the show Duck Dynasty right now. I just love their family dynamics, the brothers in particular. Plus, the show just strengthens my desire to live out somewhere on some land where I can just do whatever I want with chickens that roam free and a pond for my kids to fish and catch frogs. Also, it makes me want to shoot guns.

Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.

I am gearing up to start working out tomorrow. If I actually raise my heart rate tomorrow then I will consider the day a success. After I succeed in my goal for tomorrow, then I just need to do that every day from now on for the rest of my life. No pressure. But after I couldn't get yet another skirt on today, I am ready. Bring on the sweat. Bring on the pain. And sugar, I will miss you. But I might still be able to slip you in once or twice a week. I don't think I'm really ready to go cold turkey on that one, especially since it is Mint Cookies and Cream season at Graeters. As an added incentive, I am attempting to run another 5k at the beginning of March. My goal for this race is to actually run a solid mile without stopping. My goals are small. My desire to run is microscopic.

Go Team!

An epiphany which has led to a goal

Today I was at Costco picking up some chicken for dinner. As I meandered through the isles, I had a sudden and extreme desire for brownies. This could have something to do with the delicious smells wafting through the store from the bakery, but perhaps not. Perhaps my body just really, truly, desperately needed brownies. We'll never know. What I do know is that brownies were not on my list, but brownies were now sitting in my cart. How they got there is a total mystery. As I was checking out, I opened up my wallet to get out my money so that I could pay and my driver's license caught my eye. I decided to take a closer look to see when it expired, which turns out to be this year on my birthday. Then the though struck me to look at the weight that was listed on my license and so I took a closer look at that. And that's when it hit me. The weight that has been listed on my license has not been my actual weight for many, many years. Whenever I renew my license, they never ask me if my weight has changed and so I never change it. So, that's when it hit me. BAM, like a smack on the back. What if? What if I worked really hard and actually got my weight down to the number that was on my license. That would be pretty cool. So, that's what I am going to do. I am going to work really, really hard from now until my birthday in July and I am going to get my weight down to what is stated on my driver's license. That's the kind of goal I like, the kind I can work with. But first I need to make some brownies. The chocolate is for my mental health you know, and that is just as important.

And just because a blog post is always better when it has pictures, here are a few random shots from my Instagram.

 Tiger has been spending a lot of time playing in rice for his sensory needs.

 These are some pajama pants that Tiger received for Christmas. Seriously hilarious, but perfect at times to help keep a boy warm who doesn't like to wear clothes.

Finally, my love. Those who know him shouldn't be surprised by this shot. He's also wearing a t-shirt under his coat. It gives me shivers just looking at this picture.

This is how my boys play with Legos

 

 

Tiger is all about the Lego guys. Really, he could care less about any of the bricks or actually building anything. He just wants to play with the guys. I just have to try really hard to not think about how much money I have spent on Legos just so that my boy can have the Lego guys only to tear them apart to create new Lego guys which inevitably causes him to loose their body parts.

He's a bigger boy now

The first tooth has fallen out of this boy's head and he handled it just like I would have, and did, when I was little. He was queasy and freaked out and probably a little light headed as he held his tiny little tooth in his hand. I know this because to this day I still can't handle the sight of a loose tooth. The sight, or even the thought of a loose tooth makes me feel queasy and freaked out and sometimes even a little light headed and so I was very familiar with the look on Tiger's face as he held his newly lost tooth and felt the hole in his mouth where his tooth once resided. As freaked out as we both were, I was very happy that this tooth had finally come out because he had basically refused to eat for almost 24 hours because the tooth was so loose and he was so freaked out by the feel of the loose tooth in his mouth. Luckily, on this momentous day,  I was finally able to convince him to eat some lunch and right before we were supposed to leave for the bus stop, out popped the tooth. The timing couldn't have been more perfect and Tiger couldn't have been more proud to have finally lost a tooth. 

And just for kicks, here's a picture of Sparky when he was missing the exact same tooth.

My boy and I

He kills me and I love him!

Sunshine

Operation Cheery House is underway. In an effort to make my house more warm and welcoming and less depressing for myself, I have started painting the blue room. It is now in the process of turning into a lovely, light, buttery yellow. So much happier. So far I am loving the color and the room even looks so much bigger and less imposing. Yep, I am well on my way to happier surroundings. Plus, it's also one of the things I can check off of my "Things to do to sell this house" list. That is quite a long list and so I really need to get cracking on it.

Sunday

Today my boy got sick at church and I had to bring him home. Poor Sparky. He was such a trooper and waited until we got home before he allowed all of the fluids to come out of his body. Once that was done he bounced right back and is now his usual chipper self.

We are back to 9:00 am church. It is delightful. As much as I deeply dislike getting up early, I love having a nice and long relaxing Sunday afternoon. It is going to be particularly lovely when summer comes around.

My very most favorite kind of donut is a simple cake donut generously dusted with cinnamon and sugar. The granulated kind, not powdered sugar. These, for some strange reason, are very hard to find around these here parts and so this afternoon I attempted to make some myself. They were pretty good, but not quite perfect. Regardless, I'm sure it was the perfect way to start my new-year healthy eating regimen, because nothing says healthy like deep fried sugar.

Starting tomorrow I am going to start getting up at 6:00 am every morning. Every single morning. OK, maybe on Saturdays I will sleep until 7:00 am, but other than that I am going to get up at 6:00 am. Even as I type that time I feel a little part of myself die inside. There is nothing I despise more than waking up early, but sometimes it's necessary to take drastic action when you are trying to make things change. I have done an extensive study and it turns out that whining doesn't make things change, actions make things change. Bummer, because I've tried the whining so now it's time to try action. Wish me luck because I need it.

It's been known to happen

Sometimes, instead of cleaning the kitchen or prepping the front room for painting like I am supposed to be doing, I sit around and take pictures of myself with Photo Booth. I'm easily distracted like that.

Goals

These are my goals for this upcoming year, in no particular order:

1. Acquire my own bathroom. I am sick and tired of sharing a bathroom with a bunch of yahoos. They're cute little yahoos, but yahoos nonetheless.

2. Acquire a new house in which my own bathroom will be placed.

3. Embrace my forehead. I have forehead issues. It's not something I am proud of.

4. Embrace my roots. Not my ancestral roots. I'm fine with those. I'm talking about the dark roots of my hair. I'm getting older. My hair is getting darker. It's just a fact.

5. Learn to love exercise. OK, maybe not love, but at least accept that it needs to become a permanent part of my life. Again, I'm getting older and gravity is not kind. Nor are all of the fried foods that I love so much.

6. Mail all birthday cards/presents on time this year. I am absolutely horrible about mailing things. Not bills, because those come with a pretty hefty penalty, but with everything else I am the worst!  Seriously. It once took me 2 1/2 years to mail a Christmas gift to my mother-in-law. Also, I have yet to mail out any Christmas gifts or cards for this Christmas that just passed. See, I am the worst. I apologize to all friends and family members right here and now. I have no excuse.

That is all for now. I don't want to overwhelm myself. Plus, I do have several goals that are more of a personal and spiritual nature that are not to be shared, so I think I have my hands full.

Happy New Year!!