really it's more like 6:45!!

I love this group that I found, once again through Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee!  Sarah Mae is so inspiring in so many ways and this 5:16 group is a real challenge for me - I was relieved that she made sure to let us all know that we didn't actually have to be up then, just that we needed to to cut out some time to just spend with God at the beginning of our day.  I have know several women throughout the years that are able to get up before everyone else in their household and dedicate some time to reading and prayer - I am NOT a morning person, as I have stated multiple times - so I prefer to do this after everyone is out of the house and I have a better chance of not being interrupted.  On tuesday mornings I am often either at my rosary group or at a moms' group at church, so I always get a little extra on those days, but I know that my day is better if I give some time to God before I really get to my running around!  Sometimes I say my rosary in the shower or the car to squeeze in a little extra time during the day, but I know I am at my best when I am alone and even better when I make it to the perpetual adoration chapel at church!  As lent begins to wind to a close over the next week or so, I am more and more grateful for my faith and the strength that it gives me through Him!!

monday minis.....

Myspace Monday Comments


OK, so I think that I will start a new tradition on this blog with my "monday minis"  - I'd love to have some cute little graphic that I can use each time - but since I don't know how to do that, I will wait for someone to offer to make one for me!! (hint, hint!!) 

• it snowed yesterday - seriously, it snowed lots and lots!  the ground was too warm for it to accumulate, but it snowed for a couple hours - on March 30th, go figure!
• Little S made the most fabulous gameboard and game pieces for her project on black holes for school - we are so proud of her!!  she did some great stuff with glitter spray paint and paint pens, glow in the dark glue and glow in the dark modeling clay!!
• I had a lot of fun in my PRE class yesterday - we reach the account of the Passion of Christ in the book of John and it led to a lot of good discussion!  I really enjoy this 5th grade class!
• I think I gave myself a minor case of shin splints on the treadmill saturday - got a little enthusiastic - I think it may have been the music and a few extra aggressions I was getting out of my system!  had to take yesterday off
• I think I am actually starting to enjoy working out - it's all because of Lori!  love ya lady!!
• Only 4 more days till our DC trip!!  we are all sooo excited!  gotta get some new tennis shoes since my current ones are totally worn out and I will kill my feet with all that walking if I don't
• with all our late fees, I think it would be cheaper for us to buy books than go to the library - we really suck at getting things back on time - which is why we now have a pass at Blockbuster - so no more late fees with them at least!!
• my weeping cherry tree is starting to blossom!!!  
• the rabbits are eating all my tulips - I wish my old neighbor Carrie was still here with her biodegradable pellet gun - not that it even scared them away, they acted like they didn't even feel it!!
• I am going to reorganize my office today!  wish me luck!!!
• I am involved in a perpetual game of phone tag with my sister!  Every once in a while we connect, but lately our relationship involves leaving messages for each other answering questions that the other person left for you and responding in kind with more questions of your own!!
• I am determined to be totally caught up on laundry - spring and winter clothes, sheets and towels before we leave for spring break!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       That's good for today!                                                                                                                I'm off to reorganize the office!!                                                                                                                 Have a great monday!!

preparing ourselves for spring

Can I get an "Amen" from the crowd?  I am not the only one whose clothes shrink during the winter, am I?  Certainly others have the same issue, right?  Especially those darn bathing suits!!  Well, my dear friend Lori and I have begun preparing ourselves for the inevitable warm weather for which we will begin shedding layers and exposing our alabaster skin to daylight!  In an effort to reduce the surface area and therefore the amount of glare that others in the vicinity are exposed to, we have started a morning exercise/therapy session.  We gather 3 mornings a week and essentially she tortures my sad little out of shape body, leaving my muscles whimpering but my adrenaline flowing!  This is the way exercise should be - you hardly notice the torture because you are enjoying the company so much!  Nothing like friend therapy (it's not just cheap, it's free) and taking out your aggressions on some hand-weights!   We've known each other for several years, but you get to know a person at a whole different level when you are sweating, groaning and heavy breathing together - mind out of the gutter, we're exercising!!

Anyway, I am grateful to have a friend who will guide me through this new "hobby" of mine - one who will laugh with me, cry with me, push me, challenge me, call me out when I need it!!  Lucky me! 

My guilty pleasure, another one!!!

It's true!!  I love The Tudors!  It all began when I read one of Phillipa Gregory's books - I started with "The Other Boleyn Girl" right about the time of the first season of The Tudors.  It was the beginning of the end for me!  I am totally hooked!  I truly, honestly enjoy the story line - I swear!  Ok, so Jonathan Rhys Meyers is easy on the eyes.

Ok, his eyes are easy to look at - those piercing baby blues!!

And his body doesn't suck either!

Seriously, who would watch a show about Henry VIII if he looked like the real guy?

Honestly, THIS guy was a lady's man?  Was it all about the money and the power?  I know that looks aren't everything - they really aren't much of anything in fact, just our outer shell.  It's what's inside that really matters.  And there certainly was plenty inside the real Henry!  He was a big boy - and a stinky one at that - he had a severe leg injury that that never healed - it was putrid, rotten and stunk like only rotting flesh can.  Gross!  And he was STILL a lady's man - unbelievable!  Thank goodness MY Henry isn't the awful guy his inspiration was! ;)

guilty pleasures...

I look forward to this time of year for many reasons, but I have to confess, this is one of my major weaknesses!  

I love love love love love Reese's peanut butter eggs!  Yes, the pb cups are quite good, they can get me through the rest of the year, but there is something about the peanut butter to chocolate ratio in the eggs that exceed all their other products by a landslide!!  I can't, nor do I want to, eat just one!

or for that matter, two!  I do have to muster up some serious will power to not down an entire bag of them!  If I didn't have to look half decent for my sister's wedding, I'd be on at least my second bag this far into the season, but I am exercising some restraint!

I you haven't tried them, I strongly recommend a trip to the store!  You won't be sorry!  Your waistline might not thank you, but your taste buds will, I promise!!!

Writers Workshop....

I love these writers workshops that "Mama's Losin' It" does!  Always a wide variety of topics to choose from - some more challenging than others, some that I would never touch - at least not out here in bloggyland!  This week I chose one that I think could get interesting and as I start, I have no idea where it will take me!!

List 10 things you can do in 3 minutes.... I assume that she meant 3 minutes each and not 3 minutes total for all 10 things!  At least that's the spin I'm taking - hope that's ok Kat!!!

1.  prep the coffee pot and get it brewing at the beginning of the morning

2. "quietly" remind everybody that they are going to miss the bus - 100 times!

3. check my email

4. say a decade of the rosary - on a good day - otherwise, maybe 5 minutes!

5. check my voicemail

6. put on my makeup

7. look at my daily calendar and get overwhelmed

8. look at my to do list and acknowledge that I will never get to it all in one day

9. leave my sister a voice mail at home, on her cell and at work and never actually talk to her!

10. pull clothes out of the dryer (not yet folded), put the stuff from the washer into the dryer and start it, load the washer and start it!!

perhaps it would be easier to say what I CAN'T do in 3 minutes!!

1. drink my first cup of coffee

2. decide what to cook for dinner

3. have a conversation with any of my girls

4. have a conversation with my sister

5. write a blog entry

6. drive Little S to school every day since she won't ride the bus!

7. take a shower

8. decide what to wear for the day

9. fold the laundry fresh out of the dryer

10. decide on a movie at Blockbuster

Ok, that's good!!

my blog is all messed up

I just have to say that my blog is all messed up!  Things keep posting a day or two earlier than they are supposed to.  Every once in a while I sit down and write a couple entries at a time and this week everything is haywire!!  Is anyone else having that problem????