You can say no, I promise

  It is hard to say no.  Especially to your children.  They want things and want to do things and you cannot always say yes.  The oldest son and youngest stepson have two very big financial wants that we just cannot swing right now.  Oldest son is wanting to upgrade his car and youngest stepson wants to go to Europe next summer with school.  Both things are pricey and honestly, just not feasible right now and let's face it, luxury items.  Oldest son has a working car so upgrading is not possible right now, especially since we are looking at sending him away to college next year.  And honestly, we are not going to go in financial straits to send a 17 year old on a 10 day European vacation.  Colleges afford international travel opportunity in abundance that is part of tuition costs and will not break the bank.  Hubby and I have been told we are selfish and do not care or respect our children's wishes.  Well, I think it is crazy to break your back for luxuries.  And like I said earlier, it is perfectly okay to say no when your child wants something.  If I gave my kids and step kids everything they asked for, we would have to get second and third jobs.  Heck no.  We live within our budget and anything outside of this just cannot happen.  Sorry, kids.

   Rapid topic change!  How is your fitness life going?  Mine is lacking at the moment.  I have been travelling the state for my job right now, and am utterly exhausted when I get home.  I need to find the energy to do something though, because when I am not active, I miss it.  I feel like such a slug. Especially when I know I have spent 6 hours sitting in a car driving.  I need to get up and get moving.  My goal this week is to walk some at least every day.  Even if I am dog tired, I am going to get up and move.  I am also going to try and find a yoga class.  I need a stress reliever and I think yoga would be the perfect thing.  I feel like life is coming at me on all sides lately.  Calgon, take me away!   Not from the family, just the stresses.

  Hope you are having a beautiful Sunday.  The weather is beautiful and perfect for spending it on the soccer pitch watching my favorite soccer coach and son play.

Hugs!!!

 

Labor Day fun

  Hello!!!  How was your Labor Day weekend?  Mine was full of romance, razorbacks, fun, relaxation, color and family.
 The romance came Friday night in the form of a lovely and romantic dinner at Cheers in the Heights with my hubby.  The night started off with happy hour with the yayas, came home, said good bye to my kids and then hubby and I changed out of work clothes and into going out clothes and had a yummy dinner.  The weather was great so we sat outside.  We had guacamole, chips and split a Kobe burger.  This was our first Kobe burger.  It was fantastic!  Highly recommend.  This was my first visit to Cheers in the Heights.  People seem shocked at this, but I just do not think about going.  It definitely warranted a return visit.  Soon.
  Saturday was Razorback time.  We had a great trip to the Farmer's Market downtown and finally got to purchase a beautiful glass cross from Judd Mann.  Go see him.  He has fabulous stuff.  We then spent the afternoon cheering on the Razorbacks with some great friends.  Even though we lost, it was still a great game. I am a hog fan, win or lose.
  Sunday was fun.  Hubby and I painted the hallway and then headed out to the Village pool for our year end cookout.  We had so much laughter my stomach hurt.  I am truly lucky to have such great friends.  I know I say this a lot, but I really am lucky.  Stepson was our lifeguard so I knew we were kept safe.
  Monday was relaxation, color and fun. Hubby painted our dining room while I spent the majority of the day relaxing at the pool with my yayas.  It was a beautiful and perfect day.  I came home after achieving a lovely light brown on my skin and got ready for a family dinner.  The kids were home by then and we all took my parents out for dinner.  Friday is my mom and dad's 49th wedding anniversary and Saturday is my dad's 78th birthday, so we had much to celebrate.  I ate too many appetizers so ended up eating my dinner for lunch today.  I am not complaining.  It was a yummy lunch.
 So, I believe it is safe to say that we had a great Labor Day weekend.  I love my hubby, friends and family.  I have a pretty fabulous life and certainly appreciate it.  I hope your eyes are open enough to appreciate all the fabulousness in your life.  It will pass you by if you let it.

Hugs!!!!
 

Travelling in Arkansas

  Good Evening blogging world!  It has been a crazy and busy week.  I have been travelling our beautiful state this week for work and I am sleepy.  Tuesday I was in Batesville, Wednesday in Wynne, today in Pine Bluff, and tomorrow I will be in Hope.  My little roadster is getting some miles this week.  I only have one travel day next week to Barling, but the next week I am at it again.  The good thing about all the travelling I am doing is I am able to see parts of Arkansas I have never visited.  There is a yummy smelling bakery in Batesville, a beautiful library in Wynne, and Pine Bluff is well, Pine Bluff.  I have been there before, so nothing to report.  Plus, I was in and out of Pine Bluff and was not able to venture around.  In the other towns I have meetings in the morning (hello 5:30 wake up), a break and then another meeting in the afternoon so there is time to kill.  I forgot my Kindle yesterday, so I went to Walmart and picked up the book Orange is the New Black.  I did not realize the tv show was based on a book.  So far it is pretty good.  I will be glad to get back into it when I have completed my assigned readings for book club.

  Who is looking forward to the 3 day weekend?  Me!!!!!  I am also very excited because it is the first Razorback game of the season.  Woooooo, Pig, Sooie! Hubby and I will be going to our friends to watch the game.  It is a tradition we started quite a few years ago and we love it.   The kids are with their other parents for the long weekend, so it is just hubby and I.  I am also looking forward to some romantic time with the hubby.  It is has been a while since we have had a kid-free weekend so we are going to take advantage of the time.  I am also seeing some pool time this weekend - hopefully on Saturday if it does not rain, so cross fingers.

  Short post today, as I am sleepy and ready for some downtime.

Have a fabulous Thursday night!

Hugs!

Words

  Words.  They can lift us up or bring us down. One word can make or break your day or mood.  Mean, ugly, worthless, hateful, bitchy, useless, fat, horrible, just writing these words sours my mood.  Happy, nice, helpful, beautiful, friendly, sweet, so much better.   Words can have long lasting effects.  Do you remember being scolded as a child?  I do.  Vividly.  I am not saying it was not deserved, but I do remember it.  Lasting effects.  How are you using your words?  To lift up or bring down?  Hopefully it is the former and not the latter.   If someone does utter those hateful words to you, try your best to ignore.  Know your self worth and brush it off.  Easier said than done, I know, but try.

  How was your weekend?  Mine was laid back.  I stayed home, for the most part, and got some much needed things done around the house.  We are painting the dining room and hallway this weekend so I wanted to get some cleaning, sorting, getting rid of done.  We moved in to hubby's house when we got married, so we are working on making it our own.  Not that it has been difficult.  It was quite bachelor/boy decor when we moved in.  It is amazing what some decent paint will do to the look of a place.  I am in search of a dining room table now.  Hubby had one and lost it in the divorce which is a shame because I really liked that table.  It was just the right size for any kind of activity.  Wink wink. Oops, family blog here, sorry.  So we are now on the hunt for a new dining room set.  The one we have now belonged to my parents and one of my weekend projects was doing some repairs, but I think I was only able to do a band aid fix and it is time to replace it.  Luckily it is Labor Day weekend and you know what that means, Sales!!!!  My favorite.   Maybe I will get lucky and a Groupon will pop up.  I love those things.  Do you use them?  We have eaten on them, traveled on them, and exercised on them.  They are awesome!!!!

  Hope your Monday is happy.  Loving the sunshiney weather.  It makes my heart happy!  Give someone a kind word today.

Hugs!

Ice Bucket Challenge

  Have you done the ALS ice bucket challenge?  Have you donated?  I have.  I think it is a brilliant idea.  Raising awareness, having fun, and collecting donations for research?  What more do you need.  Quit hating on this idea.  There is always going to be those who just do the challenge and never donate.  Who cares?  It is on them, not you.  So far they have raised lots of money that they would never have seen had this not happened.  Kuddos to them.  Get your challenge done or pay the $100.00.

Have a fabulous weekend my friends.

Hugs!

Change

  Change can be a good thing.  I am making small changes in my life that are making a huge difference.  Some of them are as simple as getting up 15 minutes earlier so I can get in the office earlier to take care of minor things before everyone gets there.  It is our busy season at the office, so at 8:00, we are hitting the ground running and I want to be ready.  I am also starting to eat lunch at home more.  I love going out to eat, but I tallied up what we spent on eating out the past few weeks and I did not like the total.  Luckily, I only live 5 minutes from the office so this is an easy thing to accomplish.  I am also going to start meal planning again.  I got out of the habit, and there are times when I get home and I do not feel like cooking, so we will get pizza or something equally as bad.  I think that is okay every once in awhile, but I do so much better when I meal plan.  Hubby and I have a fabulous arrangement.  I cook during the week and he cooks on the weekend. This works out great since he has soccer stuff 3 days a week and I make quick easy meals, where he likes to do stuff that is a little more elaborate. I am also making some minor changes that I will not elaborate on right now, but it is doing wonders for my mental health.  I am a fixer.  I do not like when things are out of sync and I want to fix them when they are.  I have finally realized, with the help of hubby, that there are some things I will never be able to fix and that I just need to learn to deal with it.  Simple, huh?  Difficult to carry out? Yes, but I am managing.

  Speaking of change, hubby and I went to the boys' open house at Catholic High last night.  As a parent, I think this is so important to attend. It really is the only time you will get to meet your child's teacher and get an overview of what to expect for the upcoming year.  Remember I blogged earlier about being a guide for your child?  Last night gave hubby and I some great tools on how to guide our boys this year.  Selfishly, it is also a great time to catch up with friends I have not seen in forever and it is a bit of a mini reunion.  I still love the shock of people I went to high school with who learn I am married to my hubby.  We are such the cliche'.  Mount graduate marrying a Catholic High graduate. I still laugh about it.

   Are you making some changes in your life?  If so, remember, it is the small stuff that can make the biggest difference.

Hugs!!!


 

My dad is a student

  This handsome guy, otherwise known as my dad, had his first day of school yesterday.  He is taking Applied Calculus at ASU Beebe.  Now, my dad already has a degree, 3 actually, yes, he is Dr. Daly, not Mr. Daly, as is the misconception and another pet peeve of mine.  He earned that PhD, call him Dr., dammit!  Anyway, I digress.  At 78 years young, he still does some scientific research and felt he needed a little refresher course in math.  So here is, on his way to class.  I talked to my mom last night and he had a great first day.  He said some terminology had changed, but other than that, it is still calculus.  Now, what you may not know is my dad is also a professor.  He taught sophomore medical students Parasitology and Immunology for many years at UAMS.  Chances are if you see a doctor in Arkansas, he was a student of my dad's.  He has also taught a genetics class, nursing students, and many more.  So, my dad knows a thing or two about a classroom.  It should be an interesting semester for him to say the least.  Me, I am very proud of him and wish him well.  I am so glad I am out of school.  I am done studying!

  Hubby had a doctor's appointment this morning so we can try and narrow down this allergy thing.  We hate to dismiss a whole area of food when it could just be a spice.  He is hopefully going next week to get the allergy test.  He had an appointment scheduled at 7 am and it was almost 7:20 before he went back.  Grrrr....we definitely let them know of our disapproval.  The nurse said the appointment was just a suggested time.  Suggested time?  What the hell is that?  I questioned this and she started to go on and on about some nonsense and I just cut her off.  An appointment is an appointment not a suggestion.  If that was the case than my appointment at 2:00, I may show up at 2:30.  I doubt very seriously I would be seen then since I was late.  Suggestion my  ass.  

  Have a fabulous Wednesday!  It is hump day

Hugs!