Thank GOD it's Friday

People say TGIF all the time. Heck, even I do it without thinking about what it really says sometimes. But today, during a nice stress-talk with my Mama as we both rushed to work, I was just drowning in my own stress. It has just been a BAD week, a BUSY week, and a DIRTY week and there is no end in sight. I was, at that moment, stressing about how messy my house was and the fact that my MIL is coming to spend the night tonight and I might just die of embarassment. Mama said, "Leslie, she loves you. Just clean your toilet, take a deep breath, and move on." (My Mama is a get to the point kind of lady, which is what I need when I get in to one of my stress-fits.) It was so simple, but suddenly, it made SO MUCH SENSE.

I needed to stop focusing on the STRESS of cleaning for company and turn my attention to being THANKFUL that she was coming to watch Tucker Saturday while I go to a meeting for the hubs.

I need to stop focusing on how exhausting it can be to have to run errands to finish making some tutus and turn my attention to the check I got in the mail yesterday for a finished tutu that I can now put in my bank account for some fun when I get some free time.

I need to stop focusing on how BAD of a mother putting my 19 month old in a high chair outside of SONIC in JANUARY (though I promise it wasn't too cold - I didn't even have on a jacket) to feed her a chili cheese dog (which she LOVES, by the way) makes me feel and start focusing on HOW MUCH FUN T had dancing to the music and pointing at all the cars.

I was born an optimistic Chicken Little (if such a thing exists). My inner being wants to constantly scream, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" I spend most of my days playing what I like to call "Pollyanna", finding the silver lining to any situaiton. I don't do it for others. I do it to force my brain to find the GOOD - to be POSITIVE. Most days I succeed.

But then there are weeks like this one where the sky actually seems to be caving in on me. I don't think you can even call what I've been doing this week "treading water". I have felt like I'm going under, and when I get there, I revert immediately to my inner Chicken Little.

Sometimes it takes someone telling me to "Clean your toilet and take a deep breath," to refocus my thoughts and remember that not only does my MIL love me (thank goodness), but GOD LOVES ME, even in all my Chicken Little-ness. Even when I can do nothing but wallow in my own self-pity, exhaustion, and frustration, GOD LOVES ME and cares about my happiness and well-being.

And in these times of desperation on my part, God always sends a ray of hope. He sends a wake-up call from my Mama or a night of goofing around in WalMart with Tucker filled with laughter. He sends a stumbled upon job description that gives me hope that I really COULD find a job that doesn't irritate and depress me.

So for those of you having a Chicken Little kind of week, "Clean your toilet and take a deep breath." God loves you. There are always rays of sunshine to be found if we can only bring ourselves to see them.

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie


P.S. - If what you need to pick up YOUR day is a little free happy won on someone's blog, you can find this:

HERE

Giant Letters!!!

Can you believe how CUTE that GIANT letter is?!? I'm thinking it would look awesome (in a "B" of course) at the bottom of my stairs. What do you think? 6 La La's is giving this puppy away!!! Woohoo!!! I want to win. Don't you? (Blog giveaways are one of my new favorite things! ha!)

L&S,

Leslie

This Is Your Life

These days? These days, my life is pretty much...

A TON of this:

and tons of THESE:

WAY more of these than I want:

A lot of these (to hold back the sweaty hair):

Trying to get all of THIS:



Off of THIS so I can use it more:

Making a few of these:

Trying to catch up on some of THIS:

Trying to eat MORE of this:

And drown myself in this:

What about your days?

L&S,

Leslie

Oh, Tuesday, how you did me wrong!

Well, folks, it's 8:52pm on Tuesday night and I am JUST NOW getting to my blog for the first time today. Does that tell you anything about MY day? First Jillian kicked my butt and then my job did!

I'm having a mixed-feeling struggle in my workouts right now. On one hand, I can tell my muscles are really tightening up and strengthening. I'm feeling confident enough in Level 1 that I'm considering trying Level 2 tomorrow. Drew says I look like I've lost weight and "LOOK GREAT!"

But I'VE GAINED HALF A POUND!!!!!

WHAT?!? I know it will eventually come off because I am working HARD during this video - I mean VERY HARD! But I've been eating very reasonably, snacking on fruit and veggies instead of junk, and drinking lots more water. UGH!!! I've decided to reach my 10 pound goal in time, I may have to continue Shredding at 5:45am and then do 30+ min on the treadmill each night after I put T down to bed. :( NOT COOL! But I am not giving up on my goal! (Even though I really, really want to at this point. haha!)

The people who do the studies that say you can't give up sleep and expect to lose weight obviously don't have full-time jobs and 1 year olds. When ELSE am I supposed to exercise if not getting up early or staying up late?!? And now it looks like I'm going to have to do BOTH of those things each day.

Ok, I'm done complaining for the day. Tomorrow I will have a better attitude, Level 2 on the Shred, work will probably still eat me alive, and the hubs is leaving town for a few days so I'll be single mom-ing it, but I'll do healthy dinner, get T to bed, then listen to one of my new audio books while hitting the treadmill with the crickets chirping in the background from the monitor (T's white noise machine). I will survive and I WILL lose weight!

Love, Shipoopies, and Sleeplessness,
Leslie

Post #2 for the Day

Many of you probably know (and maybe even ENTER) that Regis and Kelly have a "Beautiful Baby" contest (with Parenting Magazine) each year. The entries are due Friday (which is why I'm getting this in a second post today - immediate results needed). I can't decide which picture to enter for Tucker. You only get one entry. It has to have been taken during the last month (goodbye great shot that was in the Christmas card), and it can't have been taken by a professional (goodbye pictures by Rebekah). They emphasize in their tips close-ups, showing personality, smile, etc. Can I get you guys to comment which you think would be the best entry for this contest (not necessarily your favorite, if your favorite is based on knowing Tucker like mine always are)? Each of these has things I love and things that make me question it. (The two main things I want to get in a picture are her adorable smile AND her great blue eyes, but I can't seem to get both in one picture!)

Number 1

(Eyes but no smile)

Number 2

(Adorable but you can't see the blue eyes)

Number 3

Number 4

(Cute face and good eyes if someone could help me fix the coloring - stupid new camera that I haven't quite figured all the way out and I have no idea with photo editing)


Number 5
(Drew thinks her hair is too unruly in this one and it's not her huge cheeked smile, but still a cute one.)



Number 6
(SO her personality, but you can't see her eyes and it was taken on the iPhone so the quality's not the best. Not sure how much that matters.)



See why I'm not sure? Help, please! :)

L&S,
Leslie

Meme Mondays - "We now do TAX RETURNS!"

You know what I love (ok, maybe only in an "I love to laugh at it" sort of way, but...) about America? We are a nation of MULTITASKERS!!! We are SOOOO busy and our time is SOOOOO valuable that we can almost NEVER do 1 thing at a time. We proudly proclaim ourselves the kings of multitasking (when most of us secretly wish we could just sit and do nothing every once in a while).

The multitasking fever is EVERYWHERE. WiFi at every restaurant and coffee shop because you couldn't POSSIBLY sit and eat without surfing the web! Picture-in-a-picture on TVs because who can be satisfied with just ONE television show at a time?!? Even my excersise video (thanks, Jillian) boldly states that we can't JUST do bicep curls. We must "work the small muscles in with the legs because they don't burn enough calories!" (Alright, this one's valid, but it still stinks when you're falling-down exhausted!)

We see all of this so often, that usually we don't even NOTICE the multitasking happening. But yesterday, I passed a multitasking opportunity that could NOT go unnoticed! "City Automotive" - who, according to their signage, does standard auto repair and window tinting - had this sign hanging in large, bold letters: "We now do TAX RETURNS!" What?!? I almost spewed hot coffee out of my mouth laughing at this sign! (And immediately flashed back to a bit from one of my favorite comedians, James Gregory - and thus texted my father to make him flash to James Gregory as well!)

I mean, this is combining two of the LONGEST, most BORING and EXPENSIVE chores in American life into one GIANT crapfest!!! WOOHOO!!! SIGN ME UP! ***

But it did get me to thinking, "What two random things would YOU love to be able to do together?" Me? I'm thinking Exercise and Sleeping - that way I wouldn't FEEL the pain and sweat OR lose sleep to exercise. :)

What are your ideas?

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

***I do get that if the husband is a mechanic and wife is an accountant, this certainly makes sense in THEIR lives, but really, this is a RIOT! :)

Where did she get THAT?!?

Tucker is starting to really develop her own little personality. I mean, I guess she's always had a unique personality, but now that she's talking (constantly) and walking (everywhere) there are particular traits that are really starting to stand out. It's fascinating to see her develop - to imagine what these traits will be like when she's 4, 10, 18, 25. And I, as I'm sure most parents in complete denial about their own ridiculous characteristics, sit and wonder, "Where did she get THAT?!?"

For instance, yesterday when we were leaving daycare, she was walking down the hall and popped into every single door and boldly waved and said, "Bye bye!". She even walked into the manager's office as if she owned the place, planted her feet, looked him square in the eye and said, "Bye bye!", turned around and walked out. (She's only 19 months, so this is hilarious to me!) And I thought as she asserted her control and importance in this place where she spends her days, "Where in the WORLD did she get this social-butterfly-ness from?!?" (Stop laughing, mother!) I mean, seriously!!! I'm not like that AT ALL!!! No one has EVER waited on me to say goodbye to 50 people as we left somewhere. And Drew? NOOOOOO, he's as quiet as a mouse - never talks to anyone! (Seriously, mother! Stop laughing!) I mean, she must have just grabbed this outgoing personality from THIN AIR!

And this morning, after we got dressed, she asked, "A Tuh-ter's Tote" (Where's Tucker's Coat?). So we walked to where the coats are and I picked up her warmest brown suede coat to which she replied, "No," shaking her head. I stood in confusion for a moment and then had a thought. Maybe she was not just confusing "yes" with "no" or "coat" with "milk". MAYBE she was having a strong opinion about something. So I picked up a different coat and showed it to her to which I got a RESOUNDING, "YESSSSSSSSSSS!" My 19 month old already has strong opinions?!? And has no problems expressing them? WHERE could she possibly have gotten that? Drew and I are both just kind of "go with the flow" kind of people - never having strong opinions one way or the other - never feeling the need to demand our way. (Ok, now I can hear you ALL laughing.)

It suddenly hit me! This child is going to be... (insert ominous dum-dum-duuuuuuuum!) LIKE US!!!!!!! I mean, I always hoped she'd look like us and be delightful, intelligent people like we are (haha!). It never crossed my mind that as a 2 year old, she would also be an opinionated, strong-willed, social, goober of a person like we are! Man, we are in TROUBLE!!! :)




By the way, Kelli is hosting Free 4 All Fridays at Random Thoughts of a Supermom! It's a SUPER cute travel mug that I've been talking myself out of buying for months now, so I'm pretty excited about the chance of winning it. :)

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

A Spattering We Go

Hi, All! Today I'm going to do what I like to call a Spattering. (This just means many dis-jointed topics/pictures/videos/thoughts.)

The first thing is maybe the MOST random. Those of you who read regularly probably know how much I like to show off my consignment sale finds. Well, T's finally getting into one I bought last fall and I wanted to show you! When I found LINEN PANTS (a REAL weakness of mine) made by ANN TAYLOR LOFT (only my FAVORITE store IN THE WORLD), I freaked out I was so excited!!! We FINALLY fit into them and wore them today! They are ADORABLE!!! (My cute subject matter, however, refused to be still this morning.)


Agenda item number 2 - Tucker is now into labeling things by their owner/user. Her favorite things to identify are shoes ("Mama's shoes", "Daddy's shoes", "Tuh-ter's shoes") and "Mama's juice" (which is what she calls my big water bottle because it's a bottle and she sees me fill it from the fridge water thing and shake it - which is how I make her juice - pour juice, add water from the fridge, and shake it). The FUNNIEST thing she has recently adopted in her labeling is her catching onto our team colors. For those of you who don't know, Drew and I are avid fans of rival teams. :) I am a die-hard Bama fan (born, bred, and alum) and the hubs is now a die-hard LSU fan after his two years getting his Masters there. So, I wear red A LOT and he wears purple A LOT!!! In T's mind, this means that anything red is Mama's and anything purple is Daddy's (including a bunch of purple tulle she found this morning in its pre-tutu stage). Imagine her confusion the day she found in a pile of laundry a purple shirt ("Daddy's!"), carried it to Daddy, to hear him say, "Nope, that's Mama's." She put that down, grabbed D's red sweatshirt, carried it to me saying, "Mama's". Poor thing! haha!

Third spatter - Yesterday, one of my posts included the fact that noone can make Tucker laugh quite like her Daddy. Last night, I was reminded of one ammendment to that statement. TUCKER makes Tucker laugh as much as Daddy does. :) haha!
*I apologize for the quality and angle of this video, but I was trying not to impede the action and laughter with my camera phone.*

(Also note that she's laughing at her tilting her head back and forth - yep, that's all it takes!)



Last item on the agenda? An excerpt from my inner monologue when the alarm went off at 5:45am this morning:

Good Leslie: "No snoozing. Must get up and exercise!"
Evil Leslie: "Just SLEEP IN! You can ABSOLUTELY do the video later on today in all your free time."
Good Leslie: "No, just get up now. You'll never get to it later on today. You always say that and never do."
Evil Leslie:"Yeah, but THIS TIME will be different. Get the sleep and worry about exercise later."
Good Leslie: "Remember how good it felt yesterday to think all day that your exercise was already done for the day? Just get up."

It continued for a while, but I did get up in time to get the video done before time to get the family going! Weirdest things so far? My calfs are the sorest part of my body even though there's no exercise specifically programmed for them, I have had cramps in my FEET all day, and the area between my big toe and the one next to it on my left foot fell asleep for about 30 minutes. Thanks, Jillian! :) haha!

Ok, consider yourself officially spattered! :)
Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

3 in One Day!!! Lucky, lucky readers!

So I've been trying to blog almost everyday in an effort to do more than just post pics of T. :) However, posting 3 times in one day is just NUTS, but here I am doing it. :-Dhaha! My reason for posting a THIRD time is I wanted to show off something I made this weekend. I've been sewing some very simple things for T for a while now (thanks, Paige and Mama for your support and knowledge), but I've pretty much only made pillowcase dresses/tops and basic pants to match them. I decided (mostly because upon viewing one of my most difficult outfits made so far, Drew said, "It looks good. Are you ever going to make anything DIFFERENT?!?") to try something different. Now, I'll just say that the reason I like pillowcase dresses is that I don't have to use a pattern. Patterns stress me out! They make it not fun for me. I began thinking I would make the basic pillowcase dress, but change the top so it didn't have ribbons (at my mother's suggestion). However, the day I was going to try it, Tucker had on a little jumper dress that was sort of like overalls at the top and I decided I could probably make something like that using that dress to look at and for measurements and thus still not need a pattern. I went into the project fully expecting I might have to just trash it, but it actually turned out pretty stinking cute. It's a teensie bit too big, but she can wear it now with it a little roomy and continue wearing it for a while as it tightens up. :) I don't expect it to be sold in stores anytime soon, but I am pretty proud of myself for trying something new AND glad that I have a new something to sew in my bag. :)

L&S,

Leslie

Wordless Wednesdays...Almost

My wish for all of you is that you have both someone in your life who you can make laugh like THIS and someone in your life who can make YOU laugh like this. For Tucker, Daddy is the ONLY PERSON who can get THIS kind of laugh. He is her good-time guy for sure!

L&S,

Leslie

OUCH!!!

Like many people, I'm sure, I made a goal to do some serious bad-habit fixing this year. Most importantly, I want to fix some bad eating habits and get back to exercising regularly. It's a little bit about my confidence, a little bit about my looks, but it's most importantly about fixing my bad habits before I pass them onto Tucker. I would love for her to learn nothing but good habits so that she doesn't spend her whole life battling food and weight. Soooo..... the first thing I did was set a short-term goal, and I'm going to put it here, out in the universe, actually written down (or typed out) as added encouragement for reaching it. I set the goal of losing 10 pounds before the weekend I go to the parents' for Blast from the Past (February 27th). That was 10 pounds in 2 months, which is a TOUGH goal, but not so daunting that it's impossible. I'm trying to be realistic, but also TOUGH.

I've started by subbing in some of my favorite healthy things for some of my favorite not-so-healthy things, which has been good, but I have learned many times over that for ME, diet is not enough. I can maintain with diet, but I can't LOSE unless I exercise regularly. So I began reading about and hearing about (from friends) a workout video called "The 30 day Shred". From everything I read (and I read a great deal) and everything I heard, it is INTENSE. It's only 26 min including warm-up and cool-down, which means it's relatively easy to fit into the day (which is always my biggest problem). There are 3 different levels - start with 1 and work your way up. You're supposed to do it for 30 days and see BIG results. (The package says, "Lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days," but those kind of comments always strike me as hilarious because "up to 20 pounds" just means you won't lose more than that. Zero pounds lost is included in "up to 20 pounds", just FYI. haha). One of my friends said she lost 6 pounds in the first week, though, so I figured it's worth a shot.

It's done by Jillian Michaels (from "The Biggest Loser"), and I have to admit, I'm NOT a fan. Her trainer style is a large part of the reason I don't watch that show. I'm not a fan of being belittled and put down as a motivation tool, nor am I a fan of cocky people, and all of that basically sums her up, so I was a little weary of that part of the video (and though she's not mean in the video, she definitely shows that cocky side). However, I found that even with that, I like the video.

Wondering where it gets the name "The Shred"? My guess is it's called that because it literally SHREDS your muscles into pieces in the first 10 minutes of the video. :D haha! It kicked my big ol' batookus!!! (There's actually even an exercise she calls "butt kickers", which is basically running in place, but you pick your feet up enough to kick your own butt.) It is HARD, but the good thing is it's done in cycles (which I like). You do 3 minutes of strength training, switching between one move that targets one muscle (arms, pecks, back usually) and then one doing arms and legs together for 3 minutes. Then you do 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs. And there are three cycles of that 3, 2, 1 pattern. So, even though your muscles are exhausted at the end of each section, you're only doing it for 3 minutes at the MOST, so you figure, "I CAN do this for 3 minutes no matter now hard it is."

So there's the goal and the process so far. I've done it 2 days in a row (One of those days I couldn't sleep the night before and still did it. The second day, T woke up at 5am and wouldn't go back to sleep, so I was sleep-deprived both times and still did it. ) I am COMMITTED to not missing any days for this 30 day program. We'll see how it goes. I'll put updates occassionally as I go. :)

Love, Shipoopies, and EXHAUSTION,
Leslie :)

Meme... Tuesdays???

Doesn't quite have the same ring, does it? Maybe "Tardy Tuesday" is better? haha! Sorry, guys, but it was a holiday from work yesterday and I took full advantage of it. :)

I'm back today with a play along game. It's desert island time. Answer the questions on my blog and then if you wish, post them on your own blog and comment to let me know you've done so. :)

If you were stranded on a desert island...

1.) What food would you miss the most?

2.) What three music albums/cds would you most like to have?

3.) What 3 books would you take along?


*Find my answers in the comments section.*

L&S,
Leslie

Do Not Attempt or Allow Somersaults

As part of my resolve to reach my goal weight, I'm trying to create easier ways to get some action in my life. I have the treadmill and I do enjoy using it, but that generally means getting up at 5:45am, and since I don't generally get to bed until midnight, that's a time of day I don't enjoy. We're working on the bedtime and as a result the getting up to the treadmill time, and I have a few videos for days when it's too cold to go into the garage. But I decided that I needed something that I can move on while watching TV, because I'm realistic. Some days I won't wake up at 5:45 and I will want to watch some mindless TV in the evenings. So I got one of THESE:

I'm sure at this point, those of you who know me are expecting a "Leslie busted it off of that mini-trampoline" story, but you are wrong. (Though, let's be honest. It's probably coming in the near future.)

I got the trampoline out of the box and began putting it together one night when Drew was still at school and was quickly stopped in my tracks when I read THIS warning in the instructions (in all caps and bold): "ALWAYS USE TWO OR MORE STRONG PEOPLE TO UNFOLD OR FOLD THE CIRCUIT TRAINER TRAMPOLINE. FAILURE TO USE TWO OR MORE STRONG PEOPLE MAY ALLOW THE RAILS TO SPRING BACK INTO THE FOLDED POSITION AND STRIKE SOMEONE WHICH CAN CAUSE SERIOUS BODILY INJURY OR DEATH."

I immediately put the trampoline down. That is NOT a story I want told at my funeral! "How'd it happen?" "Well, she was putting a mini-tramp together, it snapped closed and killed her dead right there."

While I was waiting on Drew's return so we would have "two or more strong people", I decided to read more of these fabulous instructions and warnings. Here are some of the real gems from the "Trampoline Use Instructions".

*Do not attempt or allow somersaults. (This thing is maybe 2.5 feet in diameter.)

*Do not allow more than one person on the trampoline at a time. (Again, 2.5 feet in diameter)

*Use trampoline only with mature, knowledgeable supervision (at which point, Drew said, "Are you sure YOU'RE going to be able to use it without me here?").

*Do not use the trampoline as a springboard. (I don't promise to never use it as a springboard onto my couch, but I'll try.)

*Learn fundamental bounces and body positions thoroughly. (???Are there mini-tramp training classes that I missed?)

*For skill training, contact a trainer certification organization. (Apparently there ARE mini-tramp training classes I missed out on. Who knew?!?)

*Avoid bouncing when tired. (I have to be mature AND full awake?!? I'll NEVER get to use this thing!!!)

*Keep objects away which could interfere with the performer. (Performer??? I hope to never have an audience while on this thing.)

*Do not use when trampoline is wet or in windy conditions. (So in the moment when my living room ceiling falls in on a rainy, windy night, that is NOT the moment to hop on the mini-tramp and work up a sweat. Got it.)

Here's wishing you a safe, healthy, bouncy day!

L&S,

Leslie

Oh, My Little Goober

Here's two videos of the little goober being herself. :)

In the first one, she is doing all the things one of her littel books instructs. The last page (because you can't hear over my laughter) says, "Hands up high and wave goodbye." She anticipated and when Drew says, "Hands up high," she skips that and just says, "Bye Bye!"




I think T sensed we were taking the tree down finally because I caught her, for the first time, just staring at the tree - walking around it, taking it in - finger on chin like she was really thinking hard about it all. Then we delve into some animal noises and body parts. We've got some new body part names down pat that are pretty funny. :)




L&S,
Leslie

Kablam! Kaput! Kaplooie!

Picture the scene.

It's Atlanta, just after dark. Snow/ice came on Thursday. It's now Monday and there's absolutely no change in the ice or snow. (This is a first for me. Our snow/ice never lasts more than 48 hours.)

I had just picked T up from daycare, driven to Sonic (healthy, I know) to get us some dinner, gotten home, carried T, my purse, and the bag of food inside.

I'm on the phone with Nan yacking about this and that.

I leave T inside while I run (insert an ominous "Dum..dum...duuuuuum!) outside to get the two drinks that I couldn't possibly carry at the same time as the baby.

T, of course, is SCREAMING and crying at the door with her constant fear that I'm going to leave her at the house by herself (not sure how this fear developed) as I RUN outside to grab these drinks, picking up the pace because of her crying.

I successfully get both drinks without pausing my conversation or dropping my phone. I walk to the rear of the car to lock the doors back. (For those of you who don't know, my stinking back door doesn't lock with the button, so I have to lock them with the key at the back door.)

And that's when it happened. That same dad-blasted spot of ice that caused my near-splits in heels on Sunday got me in my big, rubber-soled, "snow-shoes" as well.

Down goes the phone - BAM! - to the concrete. Down goes my butt - BAM! - to the concrete. Down goes the LARGE cup of fruit punch - SPLASH! - to the concrete (and my pants, and my phone). (Miracle of miracles, the Route 44 Cherry Limeade - my personal crack cocaine - did NOT spill, which is GREAT since I needed it to help heal my wounds and ego when I got back inside.)

So here I am sitting in ice and VERY COLD fruit punch, digging my phone out of the liquid, listening to my baby SCREAM from the door. And, of course, the fruit punch caused the parts of the driveway that were more snowy than icy to become much more icy, so now I'm surrounded by ground that my shoes WILL NOT grip. So I have to flip over to my knees and crawl to the grass so I can get back on my feet.

I'm WAAAAAAY past trying to act all non-chalant in case a neighbor witnessed it. Even if they weren't watching, I'm sure anyone close by quickly turned their attention to me as I yelled my way down to the concrete and ice. Time to tuck tail and RUN back inside -- well, carefully snow-walk as quickly as possible without busting it again back inside, anyway.

The negatives of this story? MAN am I sore! I fear my phone will go kaput very soon with some hidden fruit punch in the wrong place. My driveway is now frozen red. My courderoy pants AND underwear are now red.

The silver lining? I was NOT holding the 19 month old when I busted it. No one had a camera on me when I busted it. I did NOT spill the cherry limeade (yipee!!!). AND, I have a fabulous snow story finally. It only took me 30 years. :)

L&S (and icy safety),
Leslie

Meme Monday

(If you want to read MORE "Not Me Monday" entries, go to MckMama's site. )

Time, once again for "Not Me Monday", folks! Do you remember how it's played? It's your chance to confess all your "mommy sins" without all that pesky guilt. :-D haha! Ready?


I did NOT become a complete hermit during the days of ice that wouldn't melt here in the ATL. If you saw some lady enter her home Thursday morning after a quick stop at the store for chili (to eat while watching Bama win the National Championship) and not set foot past her mailbox again until Sunday for church, it was NOT me. I assure you I would never become quite THAT much of a hermit.


I am also NOT the gal who was SOOOOOO determined to take T on a walk in her new wagon (thanks, Santa) while it was snowing (just barely even a sprinkle), that I took her looking like THIS...


I am most assuredly NOT the kind of mother who would drag her kid SCREAMING in irritation because she couldn't find her hands ("Ah hand? Ah hand? Ah hand?") through her built-in mittens, just so she could have some FUN. (Do you SEEEEEE the fun?)

I'm also NOT the chick who almost did the full-on splits THREE TIMES yesterday in her driveway when she got home from church. Nope, I'm smart enough to AVOID the ice patches that are still covering my driveway when wearing HEELS, so I would NEVER do the slip, slide, fall, grasp the car bumper before you TRULY hit the ground, stand up and walk away non-chalantly only to repeat it all twice more thing. Promise. :)

What did YOU not do this week?

L&S,
Leslie

Number THIRTEEN!!!

In celebration of Bama's National Championship, I thought I'd share our latest version of "What does an elephant say?"

Roll Tide!

L&S,

Leslie

Are YOU Ready?!?

Tucker's ready to ROLL with the Tide! ARE YOU?!?

ROLL TIDE!!!

L&S,
Lesie

Worldless Wednesdays

WOAH!!!!!

L&S,

Leslie

A Decade

I realize it's a bit late for a New Year's reflection post (aren't those supposed to be what we're toiling away doing on New Year's Eve?), but as I was reading other peoples' "reflecting on the past decade" posts, I realized just how much of an adult I've become. (Laugh all you want to, those who know me, but keep your snide remarks to yourself. tee-hee!) What I mean by that is this: (Andi, I can hear you clear as day in my head mocking that sentence saying, "I need a noun somewhere in there, Leslie." ha!) In my head, it seems that when I say, "Ten years ago, I was..." it should include the words, "Elementary School" or "playground". Heck, at the VERY LEAST, it should involve high school, but alas, it involves NONE of those things anymore. Ten years ago, I was living on my own (with much blessed help from mumsie and popsie, of course), more than halfway done with college, being a refuge for all my poor friends with horrid roommate situations. (I got TWO roommies by offering a safe-haven from ridicuous roomies.)

I realize to some of you, this is probably laughable as you say, "Ten years ago my kids were older than you are now!" and I'm sure that's very accurate and one day I'll say the same thing, but for ME, this is a major milestone. I have just finished what is probably the most eventful decade of my life. I'm sure all decades in one's life (before this one and after this one) are filled with many things, but I'd say the decade I've just completed must have the largest number of MAJOR events one can live through.

In the past ten years I graduated college, got my first job, moved to two different states (and back again), got my first paycheck, paid my first rent check (and many subsequent ones), got MARRIED, had my first (and PLEASE tell me NOT my last) career change, lost my sweet Anna, bought my first condo AND house (at separate times, of course), turned 30, and had my first child. That's ALOT (or "a parcel of land" for my father's sake) of important moments in a life for one ten year span, and that doesn't include all the tiny mundane things that seem so momentous at the time.

And I must say, even with all the disappointments and heartaches, it has been an AMAZING decade. God has brought so many wonderful things into my life. I have learned so much about myself, this world, and God. I have changed so much about myself, how I view this world, and how I connect with God. My life is NOTHING like what I imagined 10 years ago, and yet I can honestly say (cheesy though it may sound) that it is beyond my wildest dreams. God has blessed me over and over and over and continues to do so.

I hope that all of you can look at the last decade and see how FANTASTIC it has been (despite any suffering that is there) and I also wish you all a new decade beyond YOUR wildest dreams.

L&S,
Leslie

Meme Monday

Alright, guys! I'm back in the regular swing of things, thus my blog will return to normal posts as well. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and vacation surrounding it. :) The Bowers family had much fun, relaxation, and JOY filling our time.

Today, we're going to share our weekly plan for the first full week of the new year with "This Week I Will Be Mostly..." Ready?

This week, I will be mostly...

~eating cabbage soup (jump-starting the weight loss with a fad diet, then keeping it up with regular exercise and healthy eating).

~starting an exercise routine.

~FREEZING!!!

~trying to get my brain wrapped around work once again.

~beginning more research into returning to school.

~making invites for a friend's baby shower

~doing a million different needed things with pictures - blogging them, printing them, getting them ready to scrapbook, and figuring out some new photo organizing/editing software I got for Christmas.

~missing my husband as the first 3 months of any year are always filled to the hilt with things away from the house for him. :(

Man, looking like a busy week! How about yours?

L&S,

Leslie