I went to the Y today for what my doctor called “an active rest”. I’m STILL trying to work through hamstring issues, and I’ve decided to work through them by running and being in pain. A winning strategy, I know. But my doctor suggested “active rests”, where I rest my hamstring while doing other things, so while getting back to running, I’m also throwing in some time on the bike.

Which I hate.

Riding a stationary bike makes me feel like a hamster on a wheel. Yes, I know you’re going to say it’s not that different than running on a treadmill but I’m here to say that it IS different, okay? I don’t know why, it just IS. Also, biking makes my bum sore. (more…)

This isn’t even a joke question.

Yesterday I was with a member of my activities committee, planning our next activity. It’s a mother/daughter campout, and we decided the theme should be “treasure seekers”. There’s lots to do with that, including some good scriptures about seeking the treasures of heaven, and we can hand out some fun little treasure/pirate themed favors and do some treasure/pirate crafts for the little ones (there is no age limit to this event, so we have to come up with stuff to do for 2-16 year olds). We were looking online for little things to get, and my friend said, “Fake tattoos would be fun, but that’s your call. I don’t want to offend anybody.” I looked at her like she was nuts, and she swore that SOMEbody would get offended. She said somebody was offended at the idea of face-painting once, because, she quoted, “We don’t write on our bodies.” (more…)

We lost our little Charlie between the week of Christmas and New Years.  Remember him?

After that, our plan was to go “dog-free” for a little while, and then eventually get a girl puppy. The dog free thing just didn’t happen.  I got crazy puppy hungry.  I was a whack job to live with.  I was constantly looking at picture of dogs at the county shelter, the humane society, and craigslist.  I visited the shelters, and saw many old, male, pit bulls.  Seriously a lot of pit bulls.  I looked at breeders.  I decided thousands of dollars was too much to spend on a dog.  I dreamed of dogs. And it soon became very clear that our “dog-free” period was going to be much, much shorter than planned.  Because come what may, I was getting a dog.

And so, we found some puppies that I wanted to look at.  And we went, and looked, and ended up with 2.  Because I loved one and DH loved the other.  If you don’t like to look at picture of other people’s pets, feel free to leave now. (more…)

Today I cheered a comment on FB that said something like, “Yay for sleeping through the night and using the potty!” This IS an exciting time in ANY mother’s life, and I felt the excitement. But then I thought, Oh my goodness have we become a boring bunch. Are mothers boring? Is motherhood just sort of a boring time? My mother once told me she complained of boredom to her sister after she had her first child, and my aunt replied, “That’s okay. You can handle a decade of boring, can’t you?” Come over and tell me what you think about boring, and if you’re NOT boring, please tell me how you stay funky, over at Segullah

It’s sometimes fun to recognize yourself in your kids.

Sometimes it’s not.

(more…)

I just looked at my last year’s resolutions.  I remembered all year that I was working on touching my toes, and guess what?  After about an hour of yoga, I can barely do it.  I wouldn’t say that worked out so well for me.  My hamstrings, they don’t like to stretch.  Still, I persevere.  They will do what I tell them to do.  I also went over the grocery budget goal.  Oopsies.

So, this year I am having a hard time coming up with anything.  It’s not that there aren’t things that need to get done, or that I can’t improve in any way.  It’s just that, well..this past year, a lot of Truly Awful Things have happened in our ward to Truly Wonderful People.  And it makes me sad.  (Not that I’m happy when bad things happen to bad people.  Bad things are just….bad.)

It does make me want to set a goal to “be more grateful”. Which I know is a vague goal, and vagueness bothers me, but that’s the one thing I really want to do.  

So to make the vague specific, I am buying a new gratitude journal and keeping it.  Writing stuff down is good.  It helps.

If nothing Truly Awful has happened to you this year - be grateful.  Hold your loved ones close.

Also, I would like to stay out of the hospital this year.  That is all.   

It’s New Year’s Day. Yay, Happy New Year! I was trying to think of something pithy to post, about, you know, goals and renewal and stuff, and I got looking over old posts. Then I got looking over other people’s old posts, and then just caught up in lazy surfing of some of my favorite blogs, wondering if they have changed over the years as much as we have.

And then I was reading an old post from another blog, a post I don’t ever remember reading. It was a good post, though, and it made me smile. Then I read the comments, and I got to one where I thought, “Totally. I agree 100%. Awesome comment, just exactly what I was thinking,” and then I checked to see if I knew the commenter, to see who is this person I have so much in common with because we think alike and she must therefore be a potentially awesome lunch date. (more…)