Garden Gnomes

Well, we have officially broken ground on the garden spot! Hannah is so excited! We are still in the early phases of development, but it is coming together nicely. We have about a 20 by 10 foot area and are clearing out the grass to one foot below yard level. We are then going to pour a curb around it to keep all future grass from arriving. My hopes with the new garden are to teach my children where vegetables come from and how we need to work to get them. We are going to try a completely organic system. I have been researching organic pesticides and we are going to give those a shot. I hope to plant Marigolds around the perimeter to keep some bugs out and strategically plant others to grow best. I hope it works and the girls don't get too bored with it too early! Wish me luck!

Becoming Myself

I need a hobby. I don't feel like I have anything just for me. I would really like to do something crafty, but I just do not have time. I would really, really, really like to go to culinary school. I wish there was one around here. If I could manage not working, I would be in my kitchen all day long trying new recipes.
I have discovered a fondness for fish too. I don't know how to cook it, but I find it mighty tasty! My husband doesn't eat things that he doesn't understand. He only eats things he is comfortable with. Chicken Fried Steak....steak fried like a chicken. This he can wrap his head around. Tacos....nothing but hamburger and cheese. Fancy! My options are limited. I love my kitchen. Daniel built it just for me and I think it is wonderful. I wish it had more counter space, but I have learned that you never have enough counter space. My girls are just getting old enough now that they love to help me! That makes it even more fun for me. They really are more into tasting absolutely everything. If you eat at my house, odds are on you are eating something my children have had their hands in by way of their mouths!
I am hoping that this summer when things slow down at work, that I can experiment more in the kitchen. I would like to try some healthier things. Maybe find a way to get my girls more involved in eating (they are very picky). Maybe get my husband to try something new! Who knows, I may just make a hobby happen!

Maintainence....Not Just For Your Car

It's been a while. I have missed warmer days. I can't wait until it is consistent enough that I can go outside with my girls and go for walks. I have learned a lot over the winter. This winter has been the most stressful season I have ever been through, but I feel as though I have come through with flying colors. Work has been unbelievably difficult for me. There have been many times when I could have easily thrown in the towel. probably more then I can count. I have had a difficult time with coming to terms with Big H going to school this fall. It has been eating at me all winter. I am just not ready.
But through it all, I have maintained my weight! Usually in the winter I pack on the pounds! Not this year! I maintained! I have also learned that I am beautiful! even if my kids are the only ones that think so. And my husband. I have learned to not shrug off when he tells me I am hot or that I'm "lookin' good." I will take advantage of this. As long as he isn't repulsed by me, things can be alright! I am working really hard at concentrating on the things I love about myself. I'm a great mom. I work hard. I am dependable to a fault! And in this process I have discovered that there are even things about my body that I am no longer ashamed of.
I have big boobs. Always have they been my Nemesis. Now they are my friends! I have stretch marks, but I also have two wonderful little girls to go with it! They were worth them!
I am slowly getting there!

I don't have to run fast, I just have to run faster than you!

Okay, so the hus dropped me off three miles from home yesterday. On a dirt road. It was almost dark. Anyone see where I'm going with this? Skunks! Taht's where I'm going! Skunks! Big ones! Fluffy ones! Ones that wanted to dimember me and eat me as I slowly died! I didn't have my cell phone (first time for everything) and I was miles (1) away from civilization! I had been walking for all of, oh, three minutes, the dust had hardly even settled from Daniel driving off, and there he was! I assume it was a he because if it had been a she, it would have just grazed along in the brush like Flower on Bambi (this is my minds interpretation of what a female skunk does).
Anyway, I had no more than put my arm down from waving goodbye to my children, unknowingly for the last time, when I saw movement. Slowly at first, a fluffy black and white figure came into my view. Coming at me from the south. He stopped. For a brief period we looked at each other as if to come to an understanding about who was the dominant figure in this scenario. Then I realized that it was not me!
That skunk lit into a sprint across the pasture in my direction that Superman could not even touch! I stood there. Frozen. What was I to do? All of my farm experience told me to stand still and let him go where he would. But my mind said, "No! Run you idiot! It's a freaking skunk!" The mind won out and as I passed him by a mere few inches ( six yards) I could not get my body to stop.
I ran 100 yards to safety! And now that I was sufficiently paranoid, I had to keep looking over my shoulder, sure that he was after me. The rest of my walk was spent praying for Daniel to come pick me up and scouting for other vermin. I think I will stick to the walking trail from now on. I have never seen a skunk there.

Are My Thighs Actually Slimmer or is it the Shorts?

I have, to date, lost 9 pounds. This is even according to the cattle scale at the hospital. I had to cut in front of children getting physicals just so I could weigh myself. I am thinking about taking a weekly trip down there just for that purpose.
I walked 4 miles the other night and burned a record breaking 587 calories! It's my own record, but who cares right? It was really hard to push my three year old in the stroller. The wind was blowing into us making the stroller act like a sail trying to send me the opposite direction but my legs really got a workout! i had to push myself extra hard not to quit. Nan was having so much fun though. We even saw a Horny Toad. She had never seen one and thought we should take it home. It could sit on her lap!
It really adds something to it when you have to keep up a conversation with the kid. My abs were getting a workout too because I had to keep stooping over to ask her to repeat what she had just said. It took us over an hour to get to our destination, but it was well worth it!

God Bless Pitbull!

I have found my inspiration! Yesterday while I was playing with my phone, I realized that I could stream a really awesome radio station out of Berlin. (As in Germany! Woot Woot!) I can now have a beat when I exercise!
So I set out on my walk last night at about 8:15 pm. I had the radio flowin' and my spirits were high. After about ten minutes, I realized that I was kind of beeboppin' on down the road. I was dancing while I was walking! I'm quite certain that my children will be taken away when the authorities are notified of my severe brain damage! I was having a great time.
At about mile 2, this song came on that I had never heard, but I fell instantly in love! Lumidee's Dance! It samples Whitney Huston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody! I love it! So I was riding pretty high on that when Pitbull came on. I love, love, love, love, love Pitbull! His beats just always get me moving! I got a few strange looks from people, but what the hell did I care. I was having a blast. In fact I was a bit disappointed when the husband called to come pick me up.
I ended up going just over three miles, but it was awesome! I would however like to take this time to apologize to all the passers-by that had to hear me sing. Sometimes the excitement is just too much for me to contain and I gotta sing and dance!
Oh, and I've lost 7 pounds!

I Will Get up the Hill

Four miles! Woot! Woot! I feel exuberant! I went further then I thought I could! My bike ride was great. I went east of town last night. My goal was to make it to the bridge. When I made it to the bridge (easily, I might add) I decided I wanted to go up the big hill, just so I could go down the big hill. It's the kid in me I guess. I did not, however, make it up the hill. I got about a quarter of the way up. Then I turned around and went down. It was still a lot of fun. I can't wait to try it again tonight.
I also got my husband to eat squash. I feel accomplished!