Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

There are times when I feel overwhelmed.

Then I sit back and wonder, "Wait.  How do YOU feel overwhelmed when you don't even have a job?"
 
How do moms with jobs do this?

Brains or Beauty? Through the eyes of a little girl.

So, I'm watching Tyra Banks and she has little pageant girls on the stage.

An audience member asks this beautiful little girl, "Would you rather be pretty or smart?"

The little girl pauses, smiles and says, "I'd rather be pretty."

I turn to my own very pretty little princesses who is diligently stuffing her face with vanilla oreo cookies and say, "Would you rather be pretty or smart?"

She wipes the cookie crumbs from around her mouth and says with a big smile, "Smart!"

"Why?" I ask.

"Because if you're not smart, you'll never get a job and make a lot of money!"

I happen to think she's a GENIUS!

52 And Not One Gray Hair!

On behalf of Barbie's 52nd birthday, I'm going to go back in time and tell you all my fondest memory of Barbie as a kid.

Like most little girls, Barbie was a staple in our household.  Back when I was about 10, I use to LOVE playing with my Barbies.  Like most little girls, I wanted everything Barbie had to offer.  I wanted to be Barbie.  She had it all!  She had a DREAM HOUSE!

I think my parents lucked out on the "I Wants" because we were in Germany and the only commercials we got were ones about the military.  But that didn't stop me from wanting all the new accessories that Barbie had to offer.  

At that time, I was in about the 4th grade.  Barbie was the bomb to me.  We'd recently moved to Germany and you know how electronics come with the Styrofoam triangle and rectangle ends to protect them in their boxes?  Well, back then, I had an imagination.  I used those pieces as Barbie furniture.  It. was. awesome.  My Barbie was the envy of her friends with that stylish white furniture all over her living room!  (Well, all over the left corner of my bedroom).  I played with that "furniture" until it crumbled into pieces... or until my parents bought me the BARBIE TOWN HOUSE!  

Yeah, I thought I was on top of the world when Santa dropped off that 3 story 2 dimensional house with the cardboard-painted living room, dining room and kitchen!  With, get this... NEW FURNITURE!!!  Real PLASTIC furniture! 

It wasn't the Barbie Dream House I so desperately wanted (which my sister ended up getting years later  >:-/  ), but I digress.  It was way better than the Styrofoam furniture!

Barbie was my fave.  I loved the fact that my brother was 4 years younger than me because I use to make him come and play Barbies with me at that time, he never seemed to mind.  He'd bring his He-Man toys and Ken would have to fight He-Man for Barbie's love! 

I had such a LOVE for Barbie.  And now I have a daughter of my own.  

But, it hurt me to my heart when a few weeks ago, my 6 year old daughter told me she really didn't care to play with her Barbies much anymore.  She said, "Um, well... Barbies are kinda... BORING."  Huh?  WHAT?  Boring?  Barbie is EVERY WOMAN!  She has seen, done and been EVERYTHING.  She has the best clothes money can buy!  What's so boring about the Barbie Dream House she has in her room (passed down from my sister, since I didn't have one to pass to her... HMPH!), the remote control convertible or the tons of REAL PLASTIC FURNITURE?????  

The good thing is, even though she feels that Barbie is boooring, it hasn't stopped her from getting excited about all the cool Barbie stuff every time we go into the toy section.  The Booooooring comes from not having anyone to play with her.  Mommy can only play so long and the boys, well... she doesn't have any YOUNGER brothers to bully into play with her.  She still wants EVERY SINGLE BARBIE ON THE AISLE!  I'm going to love building her collection!

Where has my concentration gone?

My brain is all over the place.  I kinda wish I had taken a semester off from my classes because I can't find CONCENTRATION in my head these days.  I am at least 2 Units behind in both classes due to this move.  I can't seem to focus when it comes to my assignments.  


You know how you want to start working out, but then you remember you have to do laundry, or feed the dog, or BLOG??  These last few weeks in my classes have been much the same.  Right now, I'M BLOGGING about not being about to do my work when the homework screen is right behind this one!


SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH!

Time to Get My Sexy Back!

Excuse the mess that I have here in my page, y'all.  I'm in the process of teaching myself to design my own blog.  So right now, we are 

****UNDER CONSTRUCTION*****

OooWee, y'all, not only is my blog under construction, but so is my body!  I have been off the workout wagon for 3 months now.  If I was really honest with myself, I'd have to say that I fell off the wagon when Hubs came back in July, but I'm going to continue to lie to myself and pretend that I was working out up until the move came in to play.

So, to motivate myself, I decided to buy myself some new workout gear, because as you all know, nothing makes you feel good like some new duds.  AND, now that I have cable instead of satellite, I have the option of working out to all of those free workout programs that I can access at anytime.  

I don't know what I was thinking, but today I decided to try out some Juillian Michaels.  After 3 months of NO workout activity?  Go hard like that?  Oh yeah, that was smart!  But you know what?  I made it through the 40 minute workout and went on to some butt work.  


And you know what?  I feel pretty darn good!


It musta been the cool new workout pants and tank top. 

Brain Cancer, Round 3

Last week, my dad had a "procedure"  done.  At least, that's what he called it.  

As many of you already know, in 2008 we found out that my dad had brain cancer.  He immediately had surgery and everything was great for a year.  It came back in October of last year, 2 years later.  

He had a second brain surgery.  This one, not as smooth as the first.  He lost his memory due to swelling with this one.  It was extremely unnerving for me to see him like this.  My dad, who has always been the strongest person in my life,couldn't remember who I was.  He would look me directly in my eyes and not know my name.  He stumbled over words and repeated numbers, months and dates that made no sense at all.  The nurses assured us that it would get better after the swelling, but that did nothing for how scared I was at that moment.


On Wednesday, he called me from the hospital again.  The MRI had showed a spot.  Just four and a half months later.  Sigh....


He was preparing to have a procedure done.


Radiation procedure.


Back in October, he was given a choice to have a blast of radiation sent to the cancer spot on his brain or have the surgery.  Since the first one had gone so well, he opted to try it again.  This time, I think that the memory loss after the second surgery scared him... a lot... and he decided to try the radiation.


They screwed a metal halo to his head and sent a blast of radiation to the spot that I so desperately would love to see gone for good.  

On a positive note, the recovery for this procedure was a breeze.  No hospital stay. No pain.


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I have moved all the way across country to Arizona.  The timing couldn't be worse.  The quick return of the cancer this time scares me terribly.  The idea that it only took 4 month to come back this time... sigh... I can't stand to think what happens next.  


He didn't call me until right before the procedure.  He didn't tell anyone what was happening other than his girlfriend and cousin. My sister and brother had no idea.  I know he doesn't want to see me worry, but not knowing is worse.  I feel like I should be in Georgia to be close... just in case... just in case ANYTHING happens.    


Sometimes I can't help but feel like I should have stayed in GA...

Lunch

The Hubs and I had lunch at a Korean restaurant today.  It was actually my first time eating Korean.

I love Chinese, but the two are a bit different. 

Please don't ask me what I ordered because it's not something you can find in the English dictionary, but I was very much okay with my choices. 

What I was NOT interested in trying was the kymshi (or however you spell it)  I can't get over the rotting cabbage thing.

When I was a kid in TX, between the ages of 7 and 9, one of my predominant memories was the Korean lady that lived in our building who use to lay cabbage on a tarp in the sun in front of her apartments until it rotted.  The smell was horrific.  At that time, I couldn't understand why someone would want to eat something that looked like that rotted cabbage and smelled that bad!  I STILL can't stomach the idea.

So needless to say, the kymshi that they put on the table with our meal was still there when we left.


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What's not to Like?

New State.  New House.  New Furniture.  New Mattresses.

We have finally moved out of that cramped 2 bedroom apartment and into our quarters on post.  I wouldn’t exactly call what I am living in “quarters” though.  I was an army brat, you know, and from what I remember, living on post was NOTHING like this!  (yeah, I had to use an exclamation mark because I’m excited)

               When I was a kid in Germany, the quarters were a huge 4 story building with 16 family apartments with 3 bedrooms, and laundry room and storage in the basement.  Pretty much the same when I went back as an adult.  In Ft. Stewart, we lived in a quad-townhouse.  4 families in one building 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms.  I thought that was a nice house. 

               This house is a whole new ballgame!  It is HUGE!  A 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom single family home.  2500 square foot single family home with a formal living room, dining room family room and eat in kitchen.  The kitchen is open to the family room and it has granite countertops.  This house beats out my measly 1800sq. ft. house back in Georgia any day! 

                

The kids LOVE the house.  They were more excited about the house itself than they were to finally get their toys back.  They each have their own room and I have NOT had an argument between Cam and Miss Missy in the last TWO DAYS! 

Hallelujah!!

The schools and the hospital are within walking distance.  Miss Missy’s school is right across the street.  In the morning, I walk her to the corner and she crosses with the crossing guard right up to the school playground!  No work for me!  No bus.  Now waking up before the sun!

The boys go to a different school.  The schools are split K-2 and 3-5.  Their school is also within walking distance.  I can see it from my backdoor.  I walked them halfway this morning and they were at the school in no more than 8 minutes.  They are ready to ride their bikes and take that long ride by themselves, but being the protective mom that I am, I’m just not ready.  There’s tons of construction going on and I’m a little nervous about letting them be around the traffic by themselves.  They are begging to do it by themselves and I’m sure they can, but… THEY'RE MY BABIES!!!!

Okay, the cable guy is coming to turn on my cable and internet today and I’m more excited about that than anything. I’ve been without since Sunday and I’m beside myself wondering what I have missed… on Facebook… because I’m nosy like that…