Positive thinking and Status Updates

If you've been reading since I started this blog, then you'll know that I've been trying to change my life around in a very positive manner.  If you haven't been, go into the archives, you've missed some good posts! Yes, I know, it's also been quite awhile since I've blogged.  Life is busy, and also good.

Looking back in time since starting my blog project I can really say that I've seen the impact of the power of positive thinking.  I'm using facebook as my example because that is where I share the most with the largest amount of people.  Before, I posted a lot of bitchy and snarky comments.  I even went as far as mocking and bullying of other facebook users.  Something I'm not incredibly proud of anymore, even it it was fun at the time.  I have instead stuck to the good things in my life and even tried to to put an optimistic spin on the bad ones.  This past week for example, our hot water tank died.  It leaked all over the basement and made a big mess.  I was frustrated and upset but instead of sharing my downheartedness with the world, I put a positive spin on it. "Jennifer Cook  Sick kids....check....dead hot water tank....check....soggy basement to clean...check....got anything else for me?" I viewed it as a challenge to be met and overcome instead of a crushing burden.  Now that the new tank is installed and we again have hot water, I feel great about overcoming this obstacle.  I didn't even melt down over it, even if I felt like it at some points.  Positive thinking has helped me over come a number of obstacles in the past several months.  Perhaps you've noticed that I no longer write about bad things?  And that I also love to post about funny ones. :)


I am unapologetic that I have posted a serious blog today.  I also hope to perhaps inspire at least one person to give an optimistic outlook a try.  It really does make things better.

SkinnyPoodles

I've had dreams of grandeur that I'd one day wake up and be skinny.  Yes, I'm always this unrealistically optimistic.   It is one of the greatest things about me.  (Well I think so anyway.)

Last week I decided that maybe there was a little more work required to this skinny thing.  I shopped around for a free calorie counting website.  A friend of mine suggested www.livestrong.com, using the MyPlate application.  I instantly fell in love and made it my home page.  (I need alarms and reminders for everything, so when I open my browser this is a great way to shock the bag of pretzels out of my hand.)

I have to say that calorie counting is much easier and also much more difficult than I'd expected.  Some foods shock me with their low cal counts.  Fresh veggies are like eating nothing and fill you up pretty well.  Others, OMG WTF was I thinking putting that into my mouth!   I haven't yet taken (nor do I plan on) a trip to any fast food venues since I started calorie counting.  I don't think I want to know just how awful that quarter pounder with cheese and extra pickles is.

I'm happy to report that I'm one week into this new, healthier, skinnier lifestyle and I'm about eight pounds lighter.  I was most impressed when my favorite pair of capris (that were skin tight all summer long, resulting in my wearing them much less than I'd prefer) are now baggy.  YAY!  Unfortunately it's getting much to chilly for my legs to be out, so the adorable pink and gray camo capris will have to be retired, perhaps for good.  What a good excuse to go clothes shopping in the summer for new camo pants!

My darling husband has gotten in on the cal counting action as well.  Even though he is a few days behind me we have already begun to see the results in baggier pants.  He made dinner tonight and it was nice to work together to figure out portion sizes and cal counts.  He packed up the leftovers in single portions for my lunches.  How sweet. :)

I'm excited to be on the road to one day waking up skinny.  I'm sad it isn't happening overnight, but I'm now up for the much more realistic challenge.  I've got my partner in crime on the journey with me and that makes it an easier and more triumphant ride.

Pee Pee on the Potty

A few months ago I started potty training Kyrie.  She did really well for awhile.  She could keep a pull up dry all day long.  She wouldn't tell me if she had to go, but if I put her on she went.  I was putting her on the potty every half hour or so.  It went well for about a week or so and then she got annoyed and bored with this half hour potty routine.  She refused to go on the potty at all.  I figured she just wasn't ready and so I gave up for a little while. 

Since then she's turned 2 and started talking more.  Granted she's not a dazzling conversationalist yet, but she's got a budding vocabulary.  I hope that she's old enough now to put together the words and the sensation "Pee pee on the potty."  Today we broke out the big girl panties.  I've got lofty goals of having her potty trained RIGHT NOW! (or this week.)  I keep hearing stories about how easy little girls are to train.  "Oh I had my daughter potty trained in a weekend!"  While I'm slightly more realistic, deep know I know it might not (probably won't) happen in a week, damn it I'm still going to try!

Ah so this is the terrible twos they talked about...

It's come to my attention that the "terrible twos" are really only for girls.  Or at least that's been my experience.  When the boys were two, they were wild, they got into everything and destroyed a lot of stuff.  Really it isn't much different now that they're 5 & 7, they just talk more now.  Of course they had the occasional temper tantrum and Matthew was the master of screaming and angry fits of rage, (again, not much has changed) but for the most part they were very manageable two year olds.  The real terror began when they were three.  They knew their boundaries, knew what was wrong, weighed their options, and did the bad stuff anyway.

Since then we've been blessed with a beautiful little girl.  She just turned 2 on August 18th.  She is sweet and adorable, that is, until she doesn't get what she wants.  She doesn't talk a lot because her three older brothers talk for her.  She does have a few very clear words though, like stop, let go, move, and SHOES!  (Yes, totally my shoe obsessed child.  She wears at least 6 pairs a day, most of which do not belong to her.)  When she wants something, she takes it, and when you make her give it back she screams.  When she comes into the kitchen because she wants something, if you do not give it to her immediately she goes into a tiny impatient rage.  Yes she's even to the "throw yourself on the floor and scream til you can hardly breathe" stage, complete with kicking.  She is full of attitude and drama and she's only been 2 for a few weeks.  Despite this outrageous behavior she is still sweet and adorable, and she knows it too.  She's already mastered exploiting the cuteness.  She endlessly bats her eyelashes and even breaks out the pouty lip when necessary.  She and Conrad have the most adorable pouty lips ever.  Yes, I'm totally a sucker.  Ask me about it again in 10 years, I hope to be immune by then.

And so you see, NOW I know what they were talking about when they said "terrible twos."

*UPDATE*  It seems I've forgotten a few words she's mastered.  She just brought me a Spiderman Pez, stuffed it in my face and yelled "MINE."  I'm pretty sure she wanted me to open it so she could eat the candy.  I told her it doesn't belong to her and instead of flipping out, she contemplated this for a second and asked, "Why?"

Kneed some relief

It's almost 1:30 in the morning and I'm up because my knees hurt so bad I wanna cry.  I got up to take one of my arthritis pills and of course I've gotta stay up for a bit and eat something or else my stomach will be a mess.  Nights like tonight I feel like such an old lady.

My knee story starts around two years ago.  After Kyrie was born I was still having a lot of pain in my right knee.  I figured once the preggo thing was over that it would just go away on it's own, but unfortunately it didn't.  When it got to the point that I was afraid to climb the stairs while holding my newborn daughter I decided it was time to go to the doctor.  They did x-rays and pumped me full of cortisone to start.  The first shot worked great for about a month and then the pain came back.  I had a reaction to the second shot.  My knee swelled up and I was in unbearable pain.  After that I scheduled surgery. They didn't know if they'd find anything they could fix because nothing showed up on x-ray or MRI but I was willing to give it a shot, anything to make the pain stop.  Last April my surgeon performed arthroscopic knee surgery, repaired a small meniscus tear, and scraped way more arthritis than any (then) 27 year old should have.  After the recovery (which by the way is WAY longer than they prepare you for) I had a fantastic pain free summer.  When fall rolled around though it was back to the same old routine.  I went back much earlier this time though to avoid the severe pain I'd experienced before.  My surgeon decided I needed a new round of shots called hyluronic acid.  I'm sure I spelled that wrong, but what it boils down to is some cushioney pain relieving gel made from rooster combs.  The treatment consisted of three shots spaced one week apart.  It is supposed to be a wonder drug that they shoot up all the athletes with.  Again it worked great and I was pain free for most of the winter.  Spring rolls around (notice a change in season patterns here?) and I'm back at the orthopedic surgeon, in pain again.  It hasn't been long enough to have another round of rooster shots so he prescribed me an NSAID (non steroid anti inflammatory drug.)  Hello wonder drug I love you!  After just 3 days of taking it I was pain free again and having a great summer.  Summer however is coming to a close and here I am, having a light snack at 1:30am so I can take my drugs and hope to get some sleep soon because my knees (yes both, now the left one hurts as well) hurt so darn bad.  I'll be calling my surgeon in the morning to have him reevaluate the right knee and decide a course of action for the left.  I can't believe I'm even considering it but I may ask for a script for another round of physical therapy.  I know eventually this will all lead back to surgery and at least one knee replacement by the time that I'm 40.  (Why did I have to be so good at playing catcher in softball?  It was fun but my knees hate me now.)  I'm still working on coming to terms with that but ya gotta do what you gotta do I suppose.  If it means I'll be able to keep up with the kids, bring on the chop chop.

Things That Make Me Happy :D :D :D :D

As promised here's an entry about things that make me happy.

Puppies, kittens, bunnies, pretty much anything small, baby, cute and cuddly, yup, those things make me happy.  Who doesn't wove cuddling with wittle warm fuzzies!   Yup, I'm such a girl, get over it.

The hubs, kids, and I have a camp just off Pymatuning Lake.  I love going there, spring through fall, to hang out with them and forget about life for awhile.  We have campfires, roasted hot dogs, loud music, swings, and burnt marshmallows.  It's a beautiful escape and it makes me happy.

Reading great blogs makes me happy.  I enjoy hearing about others tales of triumph and woes, especially if they're written in a great format.  Here are 2 of my favorites.
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/
Ali Brosh and her incredible paint animations always crack me up.
http://www.epbot.com/
Jen from Cake Wrecks writes about her life.  She's awesome.
Go check them out!

I found out recently that my husband actually reads my blog, and that makes me happy.  He hadn't said anything about it previously, but after reading the Things That Piss Me Off post he had to tell me that it was pompous.  I agreed with him.  I'm just happy that he reads what I write.

The five minutes before they kids get into trouble and they're laughing and squealing joyously makes me happy.  I know that something bad is going to follow, but living in that giggly moment is awesome.

Having the kind of friend you can call at 2am for something important or no good reason at all makes me happy.  I've been without really good friends for a long time.  Being a stay at home mom means that I don't get out a lot and don't meet a lot of new people.  I've been fortunate enough to recently make a great new friend by accident really.  We both have small children and a lot of other things in common and I'm not sure how I got along for so long without someone like her.

Finding my inner girl has made me happy.  I never thought I'd be so thrilled to strut about in ruffly sundresses and kick ass heels.  I liked these things as a kid but outgrew them during that 90's grunge stage.  My girly is back with a passion now, from my long curly hair to my pink painted toe nails. 

I'm sure there are plenty of other things too, but this is it for now.  I plan on making another list by the end of summer.  Maybe without the pompous pissed off things before it. :D

Things That Piss Me Off (an angry rant)

I hate being late for things.   I cringe at the thought of making up a story for the host so that we can have an excuse for our tardiness.  Everyone knows I'm a terrible liar.  What I hate more than being late is people who are supposed to meet me and are late.  Please, call me, tell me your crazy why I was late lies and lets get on about our days.  I can't stand to sit and stew and wait for you.  Lateness pisses me off.


When we are sitting in a crowded restaurant and I can hear your lips smacking, your food crunching, and mad soup slurping sounds from across the table, we have a problem.  Even more than that, if you try and talk to me with food spewing forth from your mouth, I will stop you.  I will ask you to finish your mouthful, and then speak to me.  When your mouth is so full that corn is dribbling down your face while you try and babble, we have a problem.  When we are at a fancy wedding or other upscale venue and you finish your food and drink and then proceed to belch loudly and giggle like children, you are offensive.  I will be embarrassed to be seated with you.  Cover your mouth and behave civilly.   If you can not behave with proper table manners when in public, we have a problem.  Eating noises, talking with your mouth full, and poor table manners piss me off.


If you do not get along with other adults, that is fine.  We can't possibly all like each other.  When you take this dislike out in a public forum it is in bad taste.  I do not want to read it (ok maybe I do, I love the gossip.)  I do not want to be stuck in the middle of it.  Can't you see the damage that you're doing to yourself and the people around you?  Childish adults piss me off.


We've all at some point opened up the refrigerator and been taken aback by the foul stench emanating from within.  No matter how many times you've searched and searched you still can't find the stinky offender.  Only days later do you realize it's that bag of mushy goo stuffed in the back corner.  What on earth was that?  How did it get back there?  Why does it smell so bad?  Rotten things in the back of the fridge piss me off.

I'll be updating and adding more things that piss me off as I think about them.  Tomorrow instead of being pissed off, I'm going to start a "things that make me happy" blog.