Better Days (Or atleast "day")

Today has been better. I woke up and weighed myself as I always do, fully expecting the worst, and I had lost two pounds! That was a nice surprise. Then the cleaning fairy took pity on me after reading my blog and came and made my house sparkle. I cannot tell you how much my mood has improved. Payson continues to squeeze as many bad deeds in while he can before he turns eight and is held accountable for them, but it's somehow easier to deal with being two lbs. lighter with a clean house.
Thank you to everyone for lending a sympathetic ear and offering advice and support. I truly appreciate it. Oh, and the PMS thing was just a joke. I haven't had a period in three years. TMI? Sorry.

PMA or PMS?

After reading Sarah's post about having a PMA (positive mental attitude), I took a look at all the things that have been getting me down lately and tried to turn them into positive things. So here goes:

1. After over a month of the Biggest Losers competition, I have lost a total of two pounds and have for some reason reached a point where all I think about is food. Every second. Every day is a battle to not eat everything in my kitchen.
PMA: I am teaching my daughter to have a healthy body image by not being rail thin. Real women have curves, right?

2. Payson has decided that everything out of his mouth will be back-talk and that he will do the exact opposite of what I tell him to do. He throws everything.
PMA: He is independant, out-spoken and a non-conformist. May have a future career as a quaterback.

3. Macy has started pulling out her eyelashes again after five months of letting them grow back to normal.
PMA: Who needs eyelashes, really? I mean, come on, what are they for?

4. I have no desire or willpower to clean my house or do anything, really.
PMA: I don't over-do things and wear myself thin trying to be the perfect housewife. (My husband LOVES this about me.)

5. I have almost no "me" time and am never alone. I don't even do my hobbies anymore.
PMA: No one wants to be lonely, it's good to be surrounded by family. Hobbies can be expensive.

Oh, who am I kidding? I am in a major slump right now and I don't know why or how to get out of it. Any suggestions? (And don't bother with "up your meds". I'm already on the maximum dose. I know, how depressing is that?)

Wretched, Wretched DVR

To combat the Monday morning blues, I thought I'd give you all a laugh at my expense.
Picture me, sitting on my couch in complete bliss, watching the Oscars be handed out, one by one. Finally, after two hours, they finally start getting to the good stuff. I watch Jennifer Hudson make a very shocked, emotional acceptance speech (totally awesome) for Best Supporting Actress and Alan Arkin (who?) read his off a paper, word for word, robotically, for Best Supporting Actor. Then Best Adapted Screenplay, etc.....okay, we're getting closer. Aaaannnndddd.......that's when my DVR screen pops up, that has a brief description of what you've been watching and then has the options down the side like "delete" or "playback". You know, the one that pops up when the thing you recorded has ended.
I looked at Bill (who had recorded it for me). I looked back at my tv screen. I went into my recorded shows and quickly hit the next one that said "Academy Awards: Arrivals" but it started a half hour after the Oscars ended.
Bill, in all his sweet attempts to help me, had set the DVR to record the Academy Awards, as it was shown on the guide page. For some stupid reason, it was shown as only being three hours long, ending at 8:30, followed immediately by Barbara Walters' thing. He didn't think I wanted the Barbara Walters thing, so he skipped it and set it to record the Academy Awards: Arrivals (whatever that was) that was after it.
So that was where my Oscar night ended. After three hours, just before the good awards started. I was in shock. I pathetically kept trying things on my DVR as if it would suddenly magically appear. I even cancelled DVR which took me back to live TV which had been set on the same channel the whole time and tried "rewinding", but it didn't work.
I was so furious, not at Bill but at the whole stupid situation, and in disbelief that the one night a year that I have a little excitement in my life, got cut short and robbed of all the best parts. I was in the worst mood, and my head was killing me (typical Sunday headache) so I got online and dejectedly read who had won, and went to bed. At 10:30.
So Oscar and I are not on such good terms, and I'm still very bitter. As I no longer feel qualified to give a review of the show, I will at least list the winners. (See supporting role winners above.)
Actor in a Leading Role: Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
Actress in a Leading Role: Helen Mirren for The Queen
Directing: Martin Scorsese for The Departed (his first Oscar ever after a ton of nominations, followed immediately by his second...)
Best Picture: The Departed

Oscar, How I Love Thee

Oscar.

One day a year,

5+ hours devoted to nothing but movies.

All the A-list actors and actresses

dressed in clothes worth more than me

walking the red carpet

all praying they'll be the one

to go home with the gold statue.

Tears of joy, long-winded speeches,

everything about it makes me dream

of walking that red carpet one day.

I think I'll go practice my

acceptance speech.

Dandy Dandee

Per the request of my wonderful sister-in-law, I am updating my blog. Since I really have nothing interesting to say, I thought I would take the time to tell you just how awesome my sister-in-law is. Here's a few little tidbits to illustrate why I love her:
~When I am sick, she brings my whole family dinner
~She always, ALWAYS has a way of making me feel so good about myself
~She is such an example to me of what a wife, mother, and homemaker should be
~She is always striving to be a better person and be more Christ-like
~She thinks I'm funny
~She makes the best chilli in the whole world
~She has the the biggest, best music library (Marilyn may be her competition)
~She married my brother
~She is the best listener and so understanding
~She is always happy
So there you have it, I have the best sister-in-law anyone could ever ask for and I am so happy I spent the first three days after Ryan got off his mission telling him why he should marry Danyelle. I love ya Dandee!!

Life's Simple Pleasures

We all have those little things that make us happy. A little surprise that adds some sunshine to an otherwise overcast day.

One of my very favorite things is when Bill runs to the store for something and comes back with this for me:

A People magazine and a pack of gum. Sometimes it's just the magazine, sometimes it's accompanied with a pop, but either way, it's one of my simplest pleasures.

What little things make you happy?

Color Wonder Confessions

I have a new hobby. It is coloring Crayola Color Wonder pictures. It's become almost an addiction. I have no idea why. I bought some for Payson for Christmas, a Cars one and Thomas the Tank. I sat down with him a few days after Christmas and started coloring.
For those of you who don't know the magic of Color Wonder, the markers are all clear on the inside, but when touched to the Color Wonder paper, the ink turns the color that is indicated on the outside of the marker. So your child can only color on Wonder Color paper, and not the walls or his face. It's really nice if your toddler wants to color with markers.
What they don't tell you, though, is how much fun you'll have doing it. I know it would seem like it's just coloring with markers, but it's not. There's just something about coloring with the clear marker and not seeing anything for a few seconds, and then voila! the color appears.
More exciting than that is that they've "whited" out certain pictures on the page, so that you'll be coloring along and suddenly a picture appears out of nowhere. It's like this unexpected surprise! (Bubbles on Ariel's arm and hair) Or they'll do the opposite, they'll hide a picture within a whited out area so you color over it and suddenly the picture appears. (See Flounder in the background?)
I thought it was fun coloring cars and trains, although the colors were pretty limited. And then I got Macy a girly one so she didn't have to do the cars and trains. And suddenly I can't stop. The new color possibilities are endless! I'm going to have to buy Macy a new book! Every time I walk past it on the kitchen table I sit down and start coloring. I'll finish one and say "This is the last one" and next thing I know I'm flipping the pages for another good one to color. I need help. I really do. But isn't it a pretty picture?